PAUL C WITH A CLEAN SLATE IN '22 - Part 28

SCENES FROM MY PAST

Getting closer to the here and now and this of course is Singapore, where I spent a year in the mid 1990s and worked intermittently ever since. Had to include this of Marina Bay Sands which was a project I managed claims for for the South Korean company Ssangyong. They used to fly me to Singapore on Monday mornings and back again on Friday evenings. A rewarding and magnificent project as impressive as anything I have worked on before or since.

The Opening Words

As I stated in my last thread, I will try again Stephen King this month by reading 11.22.63 (of course we in the UK put days before months before years in its logical sequence, ahem!).



"I've never been what you'd call a crying man.
My ex-wife said that my 'non-existent emotional gradient' was the main reason she was leaving me (as if the guy she met in her AA meetings was beside the point). Christy said she supposed she could forgive me not crying at her father's funeral; I had only known him for six years and couldn't understand what a wonderful, giving man he had been........"

Interested ...................................?

Books Read First Quarter

JANUARY

1. American Dream? A Journey on Route 66 by Khor Shing Yin (2019) 160 pp (AAC) - GN
2. The Forward Book of Poetry 2022 by Various Poets (2021) 155 pp - Poetry
3. Absolution by Murder by Peter Tremayne (1994) 274 pp - Thriller/Mystery
4. Somewhere Towards the End by Diana Athill (2008) 183 pp - (NF Challenge) NF
5. My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk (1998) 671 pp - (Asian Book Challenge{ABC}) Fiction; 1001
6. The Thief and the Dogs by Naguib Mahfouz (1962) 158 pp - (World Books/Food) Fiction
7. The Children Who Stayed Behind by Bruce Carter (1958) 216 pp - (BAC) YA Fiction
8. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (2021) 114 pp - Fiction
9. Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar (2020) 343 pp - (ABC) - Fiction (?)
10. Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings (1982) 192 pp - SF/Fantasy
11. Days in the History of Silence by Merethe Lindstrom (2011) 230 pp - Fiction/Holocaust
12. The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty (1972) 208 pp - Fiction; Pulitzer
13. My Two Worlds by Sergio Chejfec (2008) - 103 pp Fiction/Rebecca NYC reads
14. Hana's Suitcase by Karen Levine (2002) - 131 pp Non Fiction / Holocaust
15. Last Train to Istanbul by Ayse Kulin (2002) 384 pp Fiction / Asian Book Challenge
16. Up With the Larks by Tessa Hainsworth (2009) 278 pp Non Fiction
17. Cheryl's Destinies by Stephen Sexton (2021) 88 pp - Poetry
18. Hotel Bosphorus by Esmahan Aykol (2001) 246 pp - Thriller/Mystery / Asian Book Challenge
19. The List of Books by Frederic Raphael (1981) 154 pp - Non Fiction / Reference
20. Disquiet by Zulfu Livaneli (2017) 163 pp - Fiction / Asian Book Challenge
21. Turkey : A Short History by Norman Stone (2017) 185 pp - Non-Fiction
22. Black Out by Ragnar Jonasson (2011) 247 pp - Thriller/Scandi
23. The Wild Iris by Louise Gluck (1992) 63 pp - Poetry
24. A Foolish Virgin by Ida Simons (1959) 216 pp - Fiction
25. Tarka the Otter by Henry Williamson (1928) 329 pp - Fiction / 1001 Books
26. The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens (1969) 224 pp - Fiction / Booker Winner

5,715 pages

FEBRUARY

27. The Nest by Kenneth Oppel (2015) 244 pp - Fiction
28. Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria (2021) 156 pp Non-Fiction/ABC
29. Redemption Ground by Lorna Goodison (2018) 164 pp Non-Fiction
30. The Blue Between Sky and Water by Susan Abulhawa (2015) 288 pp Fiction /Asian Book Challenge
31. Door into the Dark by Seamus Heaney (1969) 44 pp Poetry
32. The Yellow Wind by David Grossman (1988) 218 pp Non-Fiction/Asian Book Challenge
33. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (2017) 343 pp Fiction / Booker Winner
34. If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin (1974) 197 pp Fiction
35. The Wrecking Light by Robin Robertson (2010) 90 pp Poetry
36. The Others by Sarah Blau (2018) 239 pp Thriller /ABC
37. Portable Kisses by Tess Gallagher (1992) 80 pp Poetry/ AAC

2,063 pages

MARCH

38. Rise Like Lions : Poetry for the Many edited by Ben Okri (2017) 258 pp Poetry
39. Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin (1958) 179 pp Non-Fiction
40. Intimacies by Katie Kitamura (2021) 225 pp Fiction / Asian Book Challenge
41. Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi (2013) 283 pp Fiction/ Asian Book Challenge
42. Songs of Mihyar the Damascene by Adonis (1961) 116 pp Poetry/Asian Book Challenge
43. Tales of the Tikongs by Epeli Hau'ofa (1983) 93 pp Fiction /Short stories
44. The Twits by Roald Dahl (1980) 87 pp Fiction /YA
45. The Historians : Poems by Eavan Boland (2020) 67 pp Poetry
46. Night Haunts by Sukhdev Sandhu (2007) 144 pp Non-Fiction
47. The Old Boys by William Trevor (1964) 170 pp Fiction
48. Autumn by Karl Ove Knausgaard (2015) 244 pp Non-Fiction/Memoir
49. The Fell by Sarah Moss (2021) 180 pp Fiction
50. Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner (1926) 203 pp Fiction
51. Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi (2018) 243 pp Fiction / Asian Book Challenge
52. Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney (2021) 337 pp Fiction

2,829 pages

Books Read Second Quarter

APRIL

53. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (1979) 180 pp Science Fiction/1001
54. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy (1874) 389 pp Fiction/Re-read Reassessment
55. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (1961) 128 pp Fiction/Re-read Reassessment
56. Mrs England by Stacey Halls (2021) 425 pp Fiction
57. The Moon and Sixpence by W Somerset Maugham (1919) 215 pp Fiction /Re-Read Reassessment
58. Poems : Giosue Carducci by Giosue Carducci (1907) 175 pp Poetry / Nobel Prize winner
59. White Mughals by William Dalrymple (2002) 501 pp Non Fiction / Shared Read (Stasia)
60. Weaveworld by Clive Barker (1987) 722 pp SF/Fantasy; BAC; Guardian Books
61. The Saddlebag by Bahiyyih Nakhjavani (2000) 253 pp Fiction /Asian Book Challenge
62. Pilgrims Way by Abdulrazak Gurnah (1988) 281 pp Fiction
63. A Village Life by Louise Gluck (2009) 71 pp Poetry/AAC wildcard
64. Brighton Rock by Graham Greene (1938) 269 pp Fiction/Re-Read Reassessment

3,609 pages

MAY

65. Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung (2017) 251 pp Fiction/Asian Book Challenge / Short Stories
66. Peterloo : Witnesses to a Massacre by Polyp (2019) 109 pp BAC / Graphic Book
67. Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid (1985) 148 pp 1001 Books
68. The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allen Poe (1844) 99 pp AAC/1001 Books/ Short Stories
69. Sovietistan by Erika Fatland (2014) 470 pp Non-Fiction/Travel
70. The Kids by Hannah Lowe (2021) 79 pp Poetry
71. Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin (2010) 228 pp Short Stories
72. The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles (2021) 420 pp Fiction
73. The Devil's Dance by Hamid Ismailov (2016) 405 pp Fiction / Asian Book Challenge
74. The Bell by Iris Murdoch (1957) 350 pp Fiction / Re-read
75. War : How Conflict Shaped Us by Margaret MacMillan (2020) 289 pp Non-Fiction
76. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (1859) 394 pp Fiction / Re-read

3,242 pages

JUNE

77. Has the West Lost It? by Kishore Mahbubani (2018) 91 pp Non-Fiction/Asian Book Challenge
78. Selected Poems : Anna Akhmatova by Anna Akhmatova (1985) 147 pp Poetry
79. The 3 Mistakes of My Life by Chetan Bhagat (2008) 258 pp Fiction/Asian Book Challenge
80. Murmur by Will Eaves (2018) 176 pp Fiction
81. Bessie Smith by Jackie Kay (1997) 194 pp Non-Fiction / BAC
82. The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue (2020) 295 pp Fiction/Capitals-Dublin
83. A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam (2007) 287 pp Fiction/ Asian Book Challenge
84. Promised You a Miracle by Andy Beckett (2015) 387 pp Non Fiction / History
85. Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree (2018) 732 pp Fiction / Asian Book Challenge
86. The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare (1983) 135 pp Fiction
87. All the Names Given by Raymond Antrobus (2021) 77 pp Poetry
88. Batlava Lake by Adam Mars-Jones (2021) 99 pp Fiction / Capitals-Pristina
89. A Girl in Exile by Ismail Kadare (2009) 186 pp. Fiction / Capitals-Tirana
90. Ludmila by Paul Gallico (1959) 65 pp Fiction / Capitals-Vaduz
91. Zorrie by Laird Hunt (2020) 161 pp Fiction
92. First Love by Gwendoline Riley (2017) 167 pp Fiction / Capitals-London

3,457 pages

Books Read Third Quarter

July

93. Imperium by Ryszard Kapuscinski (1993) 337 pp Non-Fiction /ATW (Poland)
94. The Late Sun by Christopher Reid (2021) 77 pp Poetry
95. The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka (2011) 129 pp Fiction / Asian Book Challenge
96. Waiting by Ha Jin (1999) 308 pp Fiction / Asia Book Challenge
97. The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson (1993) 507 pp Fiction / Capitals- Vienna
98. Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman (1998) 125 pp Non-Fiction
99. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (1995) 188 pp Fiction
100. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (1749) 877 pp Fiction /BAC / 1001 Books
101. Breathtaking by Rachel Clarke (2021) 217 pp Non-Fiction
102. The Mothers by Brit Bennett (2016) 275 pp Fiction

3,040 pages

August

103. The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono (1953) 42 pp Fiction
104. The Master of Go by Yasunari Kawabata (1951) 182 pp Fiction / Asian Book Challenge
105. Nemesis by Rory Clements (2019) 445 pp Thriller / BAC
106. Aesop's Fables by Aesop (bc 570) 212 pp Fiction / 1001 books
107. Earthlings by Sayaka Murata (2018) 247 pp Fiction / Asian Book Challenge
108. Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami (2001) 176 pp Fiction/ Asian Book Challenge
109. A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman (1978) 634 pp Non-Fiction

September

110. Downsizing by Tom Watson (2020) 244 pp Non-Fiction/TIOLI #1
111. My Brilliant Life by Kim Ae-ran (2011) 203 pp Fiction / TIOLI #2 ABC Challenge
112. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey (2020) 279 pp Non-Fiction/NF Challenge / TIOLI #6
113. High Windows by Philip Larkin (1964) 46 pp Poetry / TIOLI #16
114. Treacle Walker by Alan Warner (2022) 152 pp Fiction
115. The Barefoot Woman by Scholastique Mukasonga (2008) 153 pp
116. The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon (1957) 138 pp Fiction / 1001 Books

Books Read 4th Quarter

October

117. Asterix le gaulois by Rene Goscinny (1961) 48 pp Graphic Novel/OPEN LIBRARY
118. The Murderer by Roy Heath (1978) 210 pp Fiction/ATW - Guyana
119. A Girl's Story by Annie Ernaux (2016) 156 pp Fiction / Nobel Winner
120. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (1959) 246 pp Fiction
121. Ransom by Michael Symmons Roberts (2021) 88 pp Poetry
122. The Crofter and the Laird by John McPhee (1969) 159 pp Non-Fiction/AAC/OPEN LIBRARY
123. Britain's Royal Families by Alison Weir (1989) 331 pp Non-Fiction
124. Jubilee Lines edited by Carol Ann Duffy (2012) 134 pp Poetry
125. 11.22.63 by Stephen King (2011) 740 pp SF/Fantasy
126. The Blue Sky by Galsang Tschinag (1994) 201 pp Fiction/Asian Book Challenge/ATW - Mongolia
127. The Punch by Noah Hawley (2008) 245 pp Fiction
128. Crewe Train by Rose Macaulay (1928) 277 pp Fiction / Capitals - Andorra la Vella
129. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (2022) 386 pp Fiction/Booker/ATW - Sri Lanka
130. Happiness by Aminatta Forna (2018) (2018) 309 pp Fiction / ATW - Sierra Leone/BAC

CURRENTLY READING

BOOKERS, PULITZERS, NOBEL WINNERS, 1001 BOOKS FIRST ED. & ETC

I have an ongoing challenge to read all the Booker Winners, all the Pulitzer Fiction Winners, something by each Nobel and all the 1001 Books First Ed Books. I will track my progress here:

BOOKERS READ BY DEC 31 2021 : 34 / 57
BOOKERS IN 2022 : 2 (36 / 57)
The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

PULITZERS READ BY DEC 31 2021 : 19 / 94
PULITZERS IN 2022 : 1 (20 / 94)
The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty

NOBEL LAUREATES READ BY DEC 31 2021 : 74 / 118
NOBEL WINNERS IN 2022 2 (76/119)
Poems by Giosue Carducci
A Girl's Story by Annie Ernaux

1001 BOOKS FIRST ED READ BY DEC 2021 : 319
1001 BOOKS IN 2022 8 (327)
My Name is Red
Tarka the Otter
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Annie John
The Purloined Letter
Tom Jones
Aesop's Fables
The Lonely Londoners

GUARDIAN 1000 BOOKS READ BY DEC 2021 : 349
GUARDIAN BOOKS IN 2022 5 (354)
My Name is Red
Lolly Willowes
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Weaveworld
Tom Jones

WOMEN'S PRIZE WINNERS READ BY DEC 2021 : 7 / 26
WOMEN'S PRIZE WINNERS IN 2022

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE



January - YA - The Children Who Stayed Behind by Bruce Carter
February - Mo / Renault
March - Between the Wars - Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
April - Weaveworld by Clive Barker
May - Comics, Graphic Novels & Audiobooks - Peterloo : Witnesses to a Massacre
June - Bessie Smith by Jackie Kay
July - 18th Century - Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
August - Espionage - Nemesis by Rory Clements
September - Sequels/Adaptations etc -
October - Lawrence Durrell & Aminatta Forna

AMERICAN AUTHOR CHALLENGE



January - Graphic Books - The American Dream? A Journey on Route 66 by Khor Shing Yin
February - Tess Gallagher - Portable Kisses
March - Bernard Malamud
April - Louise Gluck (Wildcard) - A Village Life
May - Nineteenth Century - The Purloined Letter
June - John Dos Passos
July -
August -
September - Pulitzers
October - John McPhee - The Crofter and the Laird

ASIAN BOOK CHALLENGE 2022

Here is the link to the General Thread
https://www.librarything.com/topic/337731#n7692635

These will be the monthly jaunts for the ABC challenge.

JANUARY - Europe of Asia - Turkish Authors link to thread
https://www.librarything.com/topic/338244
1. My Name is Red
2. Last Train to Istanbul
3. Hotel Bosphorus
4. Disquiet

FEBRUARY - The Holy Land - Israeli & Palestinian Authors
Link to thread : https://www.librarything.com/topic/339017
1. The Blue Between Sky and Water
2. The Yellow Wind
3. The Others

MARCH - The Arab World - Writers from the Arab world
link to thread https://www.librarything.com/topic/340000
1. Frankenstein in Baghdad
2. The Songs of Mihyar the Damascene
3. Celestial Bodies

APRIL - Persia - Iranian writers
link to thread : https://www.librarything.com/topic/340943#n7802013
1. The Saddlebag

MAY - The Stans - There are 7 states all in the same region all ending in "Stan"
link to thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/341521
1. The Devil's Dance (Uzbekistan)

JUNE - The Indian Sub-Continent - Essentially authors from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
Link to thread : https://www.librarything.com/topic/342060#n7866381
1. The 3 Mistakes of My Life
2. A Golden Age
3. Tomb of Sand

JULY - The Asian Superpower - Chinese Authors
Link to thread : https://www.librarything.com/topic/342727#n7879104
1. Waiting by Ha Jin

AUGUST - Nippon - Japanese Authors
Link to thread : https://www.librarything.com/topic/343245#n7895968
1. The Master of Go
2. Earthlings
3. Strange Weather in Tokyo

SEPTEMBER - Kimchi - Korean Authors
1. Cursed Bunny
2. My Brilliant Life

OCTOBER - INDO CHINA PLUS - Authors from Indo-China and other countries neighbouring China
1. The Blue Sky

NOVEMBER - The Malay Archipelago - Malaysian, Singaporean and Indonesian Authors
1. Has the West Lost It?

DECEMBER - The Asian Diaspora - Ethnic Asian writers from elsewhere
1. Homeland Elegies
2. Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World
3. Intimacies
4. Night Haunts
5. The Buddha in the Attic

I was able just about to cover the whole of the continent and I didn't include one for Russia as most of the authors are decidedly European in their ethnicity and leaning.

AROUND THE WORLD IN BOOKS SINCE 2021

Around the world in books challenge. I want to see how many countries I can cover without limiting myself to a specific deadline. Continued from last year.


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 AFRICA
44. Malaysia - Strangers on a Pier by Tash Aw ASIA PACIFIC
45. Mexico - Sudden Death by Alvaro Enrigue AMERICAS
46. Latvia - The Hedgehog and the Fox by Isaian Berlin EUROPE
47. Malawi - Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver AFRICA
48. Turkey - My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk ASIA PACIFIC
49. Egypt - The Thief and the Dogs by Naguib Mahfouz AFRICA
50. Argentina - My Two Worlds by Sergio Chejfec - AMERICAS
51. Iceland - Black Out by Ragnar Jonasson - EUROPE
52. Jamaica - Redemption Ground by Lorna Goodison - AMERICAS
53. Palestine - The Blue Between Sky and Water by Susan Abulhawa - ASIA PACIFIC
54. Israel - The Yellow Wind by David Grossman - ASIA PACIFIC
55. Iraq - Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi - ASIA PACIFIC
56. Papua New Guinea - Tales of the Tikongs by Epeli Hau'ofa - ASIA PACIFIC
57. Oman - Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi - ASIA PACIFIC
58. Iran - The Saddlebag by Bahiyyih Nakhjavani - ASIA PACIFIC
59. Tanzania - Pilgrims Way by Abdulrazak Gurnah - AFRICA
60. Antigua - Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid - AMERICAS
61. Uzbekistan - The Devil's Dance by Hamid Ismailov - ASIA PACIFIC
62. Singapore - Has the West Lost It? by Kishore Mahbubani - ASIA PACIFIC
63. Ukraine - Selected Poems: Anna Akhmatova by Anna Akhmatova - EUROPE
64. Bangladesh - A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam - ASIA PACIFIC
65. Albania - A Girl in Exile by Ismail Kadare - EUROPE
66. Poland - Imperium by Ryszard Kapuscinski - EUROPE
67. China - Waiting by Ha Jin - ASIA PACIFIC
68. Greece - Aesop's Fables by Aesop - EUROPE
69. Rwanda - The Barefoot Woman by Scholastique Mukasonga - AFRICA
70. Guyana - The Murderer by Roy Heath - AMERICAS
71. Mongolia - The Blue Sky by Galsang Tschinag - ASIA PACIFIC
72. Sri Lanka - The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka - ASIA PACIFIC
73. Sierra Leone - Happiness by Aminatta Forna - AFRICA


Create Your Own Visited Countries Map

100 NOVELS 100 AUTHORS

1 Things Fall Apart Achebe, Chinua
2 Watership Down Adams, Richard
3 Half of a Yellow Sun Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi
4 Jack Sheppard Ainsworth, William Harrison
5 Northanger Abbey Austen, Jane
6 The Twin Bakker, Gerbrand
7 Another Country Baldwin, James
8 The Black Sheep Balzac, Honore de
9 Silence of the Girls Barker, Pat
10 The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett
11. Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres
12 The Sheltering Sky Bowles, Paul
13 Orenda Boyden, Joseph
14 Rumours of Rain Brink, Andre
15 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
16 Wuthering Heights Bronte, Emily
17 The Good Earth Buck, Pearl
18 The Plague Camus, Albert
19 Jack Maggs Carey, Peter
20 O' Pioneers Cather, Willa
21 The Woman in WhiteCollins, Wilkie
22 To Serve Them All My Days Delderfield, RF
23 David Copperfield Dickens, Charles
24 Crime and Punishment Dostoevsky, Fyodor
25 Justine Durrell, Lawrence
26 Invisible Man Ellison, Ralph
27 The Round house Erdrich, Louise
28 Passage to India Forster, EM
29 The Promise Galgut, Damon
30 Sea of Poppies Ghosh, Amitav
31 I, Claudius Graves, Robert
32 The Quiet American Greene, Graham
33 The Growth of the Soil Hamsun, Knut
34 The Return of the Native Hardy, Thomas
35 The Go-Between Hartley, LP
36 Plainsong Haruf, Kent
37 The Rainbow Troops Hirata, Andrea
38 Les Miserables Hugo, Victor
39 A Prayer for Owen Meany Irving, John
40 The Dig Jones, Cynan
41 Mister Pip Jones, Lloyd
42 The Far Pavilions Kaye, MM
43 Small Things Like These Keegan, Claire
44 The Dictator's Last Night Khadra, Yasmina
45 Darkness at Noon Koestler, Arthur
46 The Unbearable Lightness of Being Kundera, Milan
47 To Kill a Mockingbird Lee, Harper
48 The Grass is Singing Lessing, Doris
49 If Not Now, When? Levi, Primo
50 The Road to Lichfield Lively, Penelope
51 How Green is My Valley Llewellyn, Richard
52 Lovely Green Eyes Lustig, Arnost
53 Palace Walk Mahfouz, Naguib
54 The Fixer Malamud, Bernard
55 A Place of Greater Safety Mantel, Hilary
56 One Hundred Years of Solitude Marquez, Gabriel Garcia
57 The Moon and Sixpence Maugham, W Somerset
58 Bel-Ami Mauppasant, Guy de
59 The North Water McGuire, Ian
60 Docherty McIlvanney, Hugh
61 A Fine Balance Mistry, Rohinton
62 The Redundancy of Courage Mo, Timothy
63 The Colour of Blood Moore, Brian
64 The Bell Murdoch, Iris
65 A House for Mr Biswas Naipaul, VS
66 The Financial Expert Narayan, RK
67 Hamnet O'Farrell, Maggie
68 1984 Orwell, George
69 Jean de Florette Pagnol, Marcel
70 Cry, the Beloved Country Paton, Alan
71 The Sunne in Splendour Penman, Sharon
72 The Memory of the Forest Powers, Charles T
73 The Yellow Birds Powers, Kevin
74 The Shipping News Proulx, Annie
75 The Wedding Queffelec, Yann
76 All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
77 Shame Rushdie, Salman
78 The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark
79 Fame is the Spur Spring, Howard
80 Golden Hill Spufford, Francis
81 The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck, John
82 This Sporting Life Storey, David
83 Waterland Swift, Graham
84 The Gift of Rain Tan Twan Eng
85 The Heather Blazing Toibin, Colm
86 Lord of the Rings Tolkien, JRR
87 The Road Home Tremain, Rose
88 The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists Tressell, Robert
89 The Children of Dynmouth Trevor, William
90 Breathing Lessons Tyler, Anne
91 Sacred Hunger Unsworth, Barry
92 Rabbit, Run Updike, John
93 The In-Between World of Vikram Lall Vassanji, MG
94 Fingersmith Waters, Sarah
95 Ethan Frome Wharton, Edith
96 The Nickel Boys Whitehead, Colson
97 Night Wiesel, Elie
98 A Picture of Dorian Gray Wilde, Oscar
99 The Shadow of the Wind Zafon, Carlos Ruiz
100 Germinal Zola, Emile

GENRE BOOKS

FICTION FROM THE EUROPEAN CAPITALS
(Started 1 June 2022)

1. DUBLIN (Republic of Ireland) - The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue COMP JUNE 22
2. PRISTINA (Kosovo) - Batlava Lake by Adam Mars-Jones COMP JUNE 22
3. TIRANA (Albania) - A Girl in Exile by Ismail Kadare COMP JUNE 22
4. VADUZ (Liechtenstein) - Ludmila by Paul Gallico COMP JUNE 22
5. LONDON (England) - First Love by Gwendoline Riley COMP JUNE 22
6. VIENNA (Austria) - The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson COMP JULY 22
7. ANDORRA LA VELLA - Crewe Train by Rose Macaulay COMP OCT 22


Create Your Own Visited European Countries Map

BOOKS OF THE MONTH

January - Small Things Like These
February - If Beale Street Could Talk
March - Intimacies
April - Mrs England
May - Sovietistan
June - The Pull of the Stars
July - Tom Jones
August - Strange Weather in Tokyo
September -

BOUGHT AND READ IN 2022

1 Opium Abdoh
2 The Blue Between Sky and Water Abulhawa READ
3 Mornings in Jenin Abulhawa
4 There Was a Country Achebe
5 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Adams READ
6 The Wasington Decree Adler-Olsen
7 The Aeinid Aenid
8 Trouble With Product X Aiken
9 The Naked Don't Fear the Water Aikins
10 What a Strange Paradise Akkad
11 Leave the World Behind Alam
12 The Angel of History Alameddine
13 The Pact We've Made Alammar
14 Cwen Albina
15 The Book of Three Alexander
16 Boys in Zinc Alexievich
17 Bitter Orange Tree Alharthi
18 The Bread the Devil Knead Allen-Agostini
19 Salt Lick Allison
20 The President's Gardens Al-Ramli
21 In the Country Alvar
22 Animalia Amo
23 A Golden Age Anam READ
24 The Bones of Grace Anam
25 The Good Muslim Anam
26 Fantasyland Andersen
27 The Abyss and Other Stories Andreyev
28 All the Names Given Antrobus READ
29 Twilight of Democracy Applebaum
30 Red Famine Applebaum
31 Dear Future Boyfriend Aptowicz
32 The Golden Ass Apuleius
33 Eichmann in Jerusalem Arendt
34 The Travelling Cat Chronicles Arikawa
35 Under the Blue Aristide
36 The Dollmaker Arnow
37 Mad Boy Arvin
38 A Kind of Intimacy Ashworth
39 Ghosted Ashworth
40 Stet Athill
41 A God in Ruins Atkinson
42 Transcription Atkinson
43 The British are Coming Atkinson
44 Dearly Atwood
45 The Testaments Atwood
46 The Push Audrain
47 Mansfield Park Austen
48 Northanger Abbey Austen
49 Bunny Awad
50 Tower Bae
51 How the World Thinks Baggini
52 The Dark Lake Bailey, S
53 A Peace of the World Baker- Kline
54 I Will Miss You Tomorrow Bakkeid
55 When We Were Birds Banwo
56 The Powerful and the Damned Barber
57 Heading Inland Barker, N
58 The Women of Troy Barker, P
59 Night Boat to Tangier Barry
60 Shadows on the Road Barry, M
61 King Cnut Bartlett
62 Last Days in Old Europe Bassett
63 The Inseperables Beauvoir
64 Promised You a Miracle Beckett READ
65 Two Tribes Beckett, C
66 Staligrad Beevor
67 Humboldt's Gift Bellow
68 The Victim Bellow
69 Lucky Breaks Belorusets
70 The Personal Librarian Benedict
71 The Mothers Bennett READ
72 A Manual for Cleaning Women Berlin
73 The Diary of a Country Priest Bernanos
74 The Autumn of the Ace Bernieres
75 Poetry Will Save Your Life Bialosky
76 The Wars of the Roses : The Bloody Struggle for England's Throne Bicheno
77 Civilisations Binet
78 Rift Birch, B
79 Britain 1851-2021 Black
80 The Manningtree Witches Blackmore
81 Lorna Doone Blackmore, RD
82 Selected Poetical Works of Blake Blake
83 The Others Blau READ
84 Heritage Bonnefoy
85 The Beast of the Camargue Bonnot
86 The Hiding Place Boom
87 Two Serious Ladies Bowles
88 Plain Pleasures Bowles
89 White Crysanthemum Bracht
90 Stay With Me Till Morning Braine
91 Illyrian Spring Bridge
92 The Ascent of Man Bronowski
93 Vilette Bronte, C
94 Wuthering Heights Bronte, E
95 Maud Martha Brooks, G
96 The Clocks in this House All Tell Different Times Brooks, X
97 Seven Ways to Change the World Brown
98 Assembly Brown, N
99 Stand on Zanzibar Brunner
100 Notes from a Small Island Bryson
101 Glory Bulawayo
102 Moneyland Bullough
103 Dark Avenues Bunin
104 The Shape of Things to Come Burch
105 Reflections on the Revolution in France Burke
106 Case Study Burnet
107 Evelina Burney
108 Junky Burroughs
109 Perfidious Albion Byers
110 The Poetry of Lord Byron Byron
111 The Road to Oxiana Byron
112 "August 1914 : France and the Great War Cabanes
113 Money and Power Cable
114 The Ruin of Kasch Calasso
115 Multitudes Caldwell, L
116 Mr Palomar Calvino
117 Riccardino Camilleri
118 Three Light Years Canobbio
119 Careless Capes
120 The Kingdom Carrerre
121 The Lost Girls of Rome Carrisi
122 Nostalgia Cartarescu
123 Queenie Carty-Williams
124 O'Pioneers Cather
125 And the Ass Saw the Angel Cave
126 Don Quixote Cervantes
127 Moonglow Chabon
128 The School for Good Mothers Chan
129 Red Earth and Pouring Rain Chandra
130 Love and Longing in Bombay Chandra
131 Naked Earth Chang
132 Bestiary Chang, K-Ming
133 The Paris Library Charles READ
134 The Canterbury Tales Chaucer
135 The Immortals Chaudhuri
136 My Two Worlds Chejfec READ
137 Grant Chernow
138 The Wish Child Chidgey
139 Remote Sympathy Chidgey
140 Echoes from the City Christensen
141 Peril at End House Christie
142 Cursed Bunny Chung READ
143 The Hunt for Red October Clancy
144 Time and Power Clark
145 Civilisations Clark
146 I Wanna Be Yours Clarke
147 Breathtaking Clarke READ
148 The Dark Knight and the Puppet Master Clarke
149 The Sands of Mars Clarke, AC
150 The End of the Day Clegg
151 Hitler's Secret Clements
152 A Prince and a Spy Clements
153 The Death of Jesus Coetzee
154 The Boy With the Tiger's Heart Coggin
155 The Netanyahus Cohen
156 The Future of Capitalism Collier
157 A House and It's Head Compton-Burnett
158 Manservant and Maidservant Compton-Burnett
159 310. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
160 Dignity Conran
161 Fate Consiglio
162 Confession of the Lioness Couto
163 Love in Idleness Craig
164 The Lie of the Land Craig, A
165 A Vicious Circle Craig, A
166 A Very Nice Girl Crimp
167 Dr Finlay's Casebook Cronin
168 Transit Cusk
169 Second Place Cusk
170 A Winter's Promise Dabos
171 The Anarchy Dalrymple
172 All Our Shimmering Skies Dalton
173 Damnation Spring Davidson, A
174 Kolymsky Heights Davidson, L
175 Beneath Another Sky Davies
176 West Davies, C
177 Justice on Trial Daw
178 Roxana Defoe
179 Bomber Deighton
180 Blood, Tears and Folly Deighton
181 The Profiteers Denton
182 Meditations of the First Philosophy Descartes
183 Trust Diaz
184 Martian Time-Slip Dick
185 They Dick, K
186 David Copperfield Dickens
187 A Spare Life Dimkovska
188 Desert Flower Dirie
189 Crime and Punishmen Dostoevsky
190 The Gambler Dostoevsky
191 The Guts Doyle
192 Jerusalem the Golden Drabble
193 This Living and Immortal Thing Duffy, A
194 The Generation Game Duffy, S
195 In the Name of the Family Dunant
196 The Dud Avocado Dundy
197 Justine Durrell
198 Balthazar Durrell
199 Mountolive Durrell
200 Clea Durrell
201 White Eagles Over Serbia Durrell
202 Monsieur Durrell
203 Suspicion Durrenmatt
204 The Cry of the Go-Away Bird Eames
205 The Informers Easton Ellis
206 Murmur Eaves READ
207 The Mother Edwards
208 The Witches of St Petersburg Edwards-Jones
209 Manhattan Beach Egan
210 After the Sun Eika
211 Flamingo Elliott
212 The Rack Ellis
213 The Waiting Years Enchi
214 The Dangers of Smoking in Bed Enriquez
215 The Sentence Erdrich
216 Returning to Rheims Eribon
217 The Office of Historical Corrections Evans, D
218 Telephone Everett
219 The Trees Everett
220 Ex Libris Fadiman READ
221 The Volunteer Fairweather
222 In the Darkroom Faludi
223 Everything is True Farooki
224 Sovietistan Fatland READ
225 Wild Palms Faulkner
226 Soldier's Pay Faulkner
227 Colossus Ferguson
228 Doom Ferguson
229 The Days of Abandonement Ferrante
230 The Story of a New Name Ferrante
231 Then We Came to the End Ferris
232 The Europeans Figes
233 The Whisperers Figes
234 The Body Snatchers Finney
235 The Package Fitzek
236 Effi Briest Fontane
237 A Tall History of Sugar Forbes
238 The Good Soldier Ford
239 The Longest Journey Forster
240 The Outsider Forsyth
241 A New Name Fosse
242 The Other Name Fosse
243 In the Wolf's Mouth Foulds
244 The Turner House Fournoy
245 Booth Fowler
246 Padagogy of the Oppressed Freire
247 Political Order and Political Decay Fukuyama
248 Identity Fukuyama
249 Unsettled Ground Fuller
250 The Great Crash 1929 Galbraith
251 Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch Galchen
252 Take Nothing With You Gale
253 Small Circle of Beings Galgut
254 Portable Kisses Gallagher, T READ
255 The Lover of Horses Gallagher, T
256 Mrs Arris Goes to Paris Gallico
257 Fate is the Hunter Gann
258 Of Women and Salt Garcia
259 Treacle Walker Garner READ
260 The Checklist Manifesto Gawande
261 The Yellow House Gayford
262 My Cleaner Gee
263 Breakout at Stalingrad Gerlach
264 Surviving Autocracy Gessen
265 Enbury Heath Gibbons
266 Until I Find Julian Giff
267 Gigi Colette
268 The Gardens of Mars Gimlette
269 The Man Who Planted Trees Giono READ
270 The Day of Silence Gissing
271 The Death of a Mafia Don Giuttari
272 A Florentine Death Giuttari
273 Talking to Strangers Gladwell
274 The Fine Art of Invisible Detection Goddard
275 Coromandel Sea Change Godden, R
276 Elective Affinities Goethe
277 Wilhelm Meister Goethe
278 Darkness Visible Golding
279 The Double Tongue Golding
280 Olga Dies Dreaming Gonzalez
281 Redemption Ground Goodison READ
282 The Mother Gorky
283 The Dark Circle Grant, L
284 The Greek Myths Graves
285 Straw Dogs Gray
286 Old Men in Love Gray
287 The Heart of the Matter Greene
288 Brighton Rock Greene READ
289 Our Man in Havana Greene
290 A Burnt out Case Greene
291 The Quiet American Greene
292 The Human Factor Greene
293 The End of the Affair Greene
294 Down Among the Wild Men Greenway
295 Rose Nicholson Greig
296 The Zig Zag Girl Griffiths
297 Matrix Groff
298 Delicate Edible Birds Groff
299 The Storyteller Grohl
300 Liar Gundar-Goshen
301 Pilgrims Way Gurnah READ
302 Memory of Departure Gurnah
303 Dottie Gurnah
304 Paradise Gurnah
305 Admiring Silence Gurnah
306 Red Birds Haif
307 The Last Family in England Haig
308 Burntcoat Hall, S
309 The Familiars Halls
310 Mrs England Halls READ
311 The Foundling Halls
312 The Quarry Halls, B
313 The Last White Man Hamid
314 For the Glory Hamilton
315 The Pages Hamilton
316 The Left Handed Woman Handke
317 The Great Alone Hannah
318 The Four Winds Hannah, K
319 The 1619 Project Hannah-Jones
320 21 Lessons for the 21st Century Harari
321 The Art of Fielding Harbach
322 Below Deck Hardcastle
323 Enon Harding
324 Far From the Madding Crowd Hardy READ
325 The Mayor of Casterbridge Hardy
326 Tess of the D'Urbervilles Hardy
327 The Woodlanders Hardy
328 Jude the Obscure Hardy
329 I Who Have Never Known Men Harpman READ
330 The Other Black Girl Harris
331 Tender Harwicz
332 Shadowless Hasan
333 Ill Feelings Hattrick
334 The Wall Haushofer
335 Dear Child Hausmann
336 Pandora's Jar Haynes
337 The Mere Wife Headley
338 The Murderer Heath READ
339 The Paper Palace Heller
340 True at First Light Hemingway
341 Death in the Afternoon Hemingway
342 A Moveable Feast Hemingway
343 Never Again Hennessy
344 A Small Revolution in Germany Hensher
345 Too Far to Walk Hersey
346 The Glass Bead Game Hesse
347 Emergency Hildyard
348 Men Who Feed Pigeons Hill
349 A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons Hindley
350 The Outsiders Hinton
351 A Man Hirano
352 A Lie Someone Told About Yourself Ho Davies
353 The Age of Empire Hobsbawm
354 The Age of Extremes Hobsbawm
355 Dominion Holland
356 Cathedral Hopkins
357 Moonflower Murders Horowitz
358 The House of Silk Horowitz
359 The Hunting Dogs Horst
360 Southernmost House
361 All Change Howard
362 The Windsor Diairies Howard
363 Only Killers and Thieves Howarth
364 The Book of Mother Huisman
365 An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding Hume
366 Zorrie Hunt READ
367 The Evening Road Hunt, L
368 Jonah's Gourd Vine Hurston
369 Island Huxley
370 The Morning Gift Ibbotson READ
371 The Slaughterman's Daughter Iczkovits
372 Headlong Ings
373 In One Person Irving
374 Bullet Train Isaka
375 Klara and the Sun Ishiguro, K
376 Common Ground Ishiguro, N
377 The Prince of West End Avenue Isler
378 The Devil's Dance Ismailov READ
379 Fault Lines Itami
380 The Librarian of Auschwitz Iturbe
381 The Will to Believe James
382 The Golden Bowl James
383 The Tusk that Did the Damage James, T
384 The Loves Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois Jeffers
385 The Changeling Jenkins
386 Middle Passage Johnson, C
387 Fen Johnson, D
388 Wild Grass Johnson, I
389 My Monticello Johnson, JN
390 A Deeper Shade of Blue Johnston
391 Hitman Anders and the Meaning of it All Jonasson
392 The Pugilist at Rest Jones
393 Realm Divided Jones, D
394 Palmares Jones, G
395 Corregidora Jones, G
396 Breathe Joyce
397 A Girl in Exile Kadare READ
398 Prolgemena on any future Metaphysics Kant
399 Imperium Kapuscinski READ
400 Travels with Herodotus Kapuscinski
401 The Emperor Kapuscinski
402 The Sound of the Mountain Kawabata
403 Before the Coffee Gets Cold Kawaguchi
404 Breasts and Eggs Kawakami
405 All the Lovers in the Night Kawakami
406 Bessie Smith Kay READ
407 This is Going to Hurt Kay
408 Every Fire You Tend Kaygusuz
409 Ask Again, Yes Keane, MB
410 Complete Poems of John Keats Keats
411 For the Good Times Keenan, D
412 A Disaffection Kelman
413 The Transition Kennard
414 The Answer to Everything Kennard
415 The End of the World is a Cul-de-Sac Kennedy
416 Painting Time Kerangal
417 Roundabout of Death Khartash
418 Things in Jars Kidd
419 My Brilliant Life Kim READ
420 See Now Then Kincaid
421 A Gift of Love King, Jr
422 Writers and Lovers King, L
423 Beast Kingsnorth
424 River Kinsky
425 Intimacies Kitamura READ
426 A Separation Kitamura
427 Why We're Polarized Klein
428 The House in the Cerulean Sea Klune
429 Autumn Knausgaard READ
430 Winter Knausgaard
431 Spring Knausgaard
432 Summer Knausgaard
433 War and War Krasznahorkai
434 The Light That Failed Kratsev
435 Last Train to Istanbul Kulin READ
436 Gods Without Men Kunzru
437 Build Your House Around My Body Kupersmith
438 Grey Bees Kurkov
439 Salt Kurlansky
440 Cod Kurlansky
441 Telex from Cuba Kushner
442 The Answers Lacey
443 Paul Lafarge
444 Wherabouts Lahiri
445 Modern Gods Laird
446 Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures Lam
447 Maid Land
448 Good Neightbours Langan
449 The Couple Next Door Lapena
450 The Praetorians Larteguy
451 Lady Chatterley's Lover Lawrence
452 A Town Called Solace Lawson
453 Salka Valka Laxness
454 Silverview Le Carre
455 The Goose Fritz Lebedev
456 Free Food for Millionaires Lee, MJ
457 Songbirds Lefteri
458 Lanterne Rouge Leonard
459 The Grass is Singing Lessing
460 Hana's Suitcase Levine, K READ
461 Things I Don't Want to Know Levy
462 Real Estate Levy
463 The Cost of Living Levy
464 Days in the History of Silence Lindstrom, M READ
465 Severance Ling Ma
466 The Wind on the Moon Linklater
467 Pleasantville Locke
468 She Lies in Wait Lodge
469 Martin Eden London
470 The Kids Lowe READ
471 Foreign Affairs Lurie
472 The War Between the Tates Lurie
473 Border Songs Lynch
474 Crewe Train Macaulay READ
475 The Night the Rich Men Burned Mackay
476 Tenderness MacLeod
477 Mother Mother Macmanus
478 War : How Conflict Shaped Us MacMillan READ
479 Collected Poems : Louis MacNeice MacNeice
480 The Colony Magee
481 From India Mahadevan
482 Has the West Lost It? Mahbubani READ
483 The Cruel Way Maillart
484 Gossip from the Forest Maitland
485 Manchester Happened Makumbi
486 The Silent Woman Malcolm
487 Nocilla Dream Mallo
488 Nocilla Experience Mallo
489 Nocilla Lab Mallo
490 Fly Away Peter Malouf
491 Aue Manawatu
492 Seasons of Purgatory Mandanipour
493 The Glass Hotel Mandel
494 Tangerine Mangan
495 Buddenbrooks Mann
496 Shadowplay Marshall
497 Batlava Lake Mars-Jones READ
498 Sorrow and Bliss Mason
499 You be Mother Mason
500 The Four Horsemen Mayhew
501 Governing the World Mazower
502 How Beautiful We Were Mbue
503 How to Disappear McAllister
504 Child of God McCarthy
505 Suttree McCarthy
506 The Crossing McCarthy
507 All the Pretty Horses McCarthy
508 Cities of the Plain McCarthy
509 Blood Meridian McCarthy
510 Greenlights McConaughey READ
511 Shakespearean McCrum
512 The Mermaids Singing McDermid
513 Little Girl Lost McGilloway
514 Lean Fall Stand McGregor
515 Pure Gold McHugh
516 The Rules of Revelation McInerney
517 Paradais Melchior
518 Three Rings Mendelsohn
519 The Exhibitionist Mendelson
520 Lenin on the Strain Merridale
521 Carthage Must Be Destroyed Miles
522 Utilitarianism Mill
523 Norwegian by Night Miller, D
524 A Children's Bible Millet
525 Go Big Milliband
526 Paradise Lost Milton
527 Nathaniel's Nutmeg Milton, G
528 Four Soldiers Mingarelli
529 Age of Anger Mishra
530 The Bettr Half Moalem
531 Black Mamba Boy Mohamed
532 King of the City Moorcock
533 The Sport of Kings Morgan
534 The Naked Ape Morris
535 The Bluest Eye Morrison
536 Adventures in Morocco Morrison
537 Maps of Our Spectacular Badies Mortimer
538 My Year of Rest and Relaxation Moshfegh
539 The Fell Moss READ
540 Signs for Lost Children Moss
541 Nightcrawling Mottley
542 The Barefoot Woman Mukasonga READ
543 Lives of Girls and Women Munro
544 First Person Singular Murakami
545 Colorless Tsukuru Tasaki Murakami
546 Convenience Store Woman Murata
547 The Bell Murdoch READ
548 The Sandcastle Murdoch
549 Under the Net Murdoch
550 The Time of the Angels Murdoch
551 The Confusions of Young Torless Musil
552 Male Tears Myers
553 Beastings Myers
554 Pnin Nabokov
555 Pale Fire Nabokov
556 How High We Go in the Dark Nagamatsu
557 The Boat Nam Le
558 Blanche on the Lam Neely
559 Open Water Nelson
560 Ratlines Neville
561 Little Fires Everwhere Ng
562 Outlawed North
563 We Were the Mulvaneys Oates
564 The Man Without Qualities Oates
565 The Diving Pool Ogawa
566 The Memory Police Ogawa
567 Ten North Frederick O'Hara
568 Dog Park Oksanen
569 Rooms Oliver
570 The Ministry of Bodies O'Mahony
571 Running in the Family Ondaatje
572 Daydreams of Angels O'Neill
573 Almost Love O'Neill
574 Dark Neighbourhood Onwuemezi
575 The Nest Oppel READ
576 There, There Orange
577 Chouette Oshetsky
578 The Man Who Died Twice Osman
579 Wildland Osnos
580 Gentlemen Ostergren
581 The Swimmers Otsuka
582 The Buddha in the Attic Otsuka READ
583 The Portrait Otten
584 The Road to War Overy
585 Peaces Oyeyemi
586 The Book of Form and Emptiness Ozeki
587 Daughters of the Labyrinth Padel
588 Silent House Pamuk
589 The Red-Haired Woman Pamuk
590 Benjamin's Crossing Parini
591 Love in the Big City Park
592 Travelling in a Strange Land Park, D
593 Appaloosa Parker, R
594 The Dutch House Patchett
595 The Moon and the Bonfires Pavase
596 The House on the Hill Pavese
597 The Wanderers Pears
598 An Instance of the Fingerpost Pears
599 The Brothers York Penn
600 The Essex Serpent Perry
601 12 Rules for Life Peterson
602 Beyond Order Peterson
603 Mama Amazonica Petit
604 Prague Phillips, A
605 The Secret Lives of Church Ladies Philyaw
606 Capital in the Twenty First Century Piketty
607 Elena Knows Pineiro
608 The Sense of Style Pinker
609 The Colossus Plath
610 The Death of Socrates Plato
611 Poetics Poetics
612 The Glass Pearls Pressburger
613 Within a Budding Grove Proust
614 The Kingdoms Pulley
615 Some Tame Gazelle Pym
616 The Lady from Tel Aviv Rabai Al-Madhoun
617 The Italian Radcliffe
618 The Fountainhead Rand
619 The World Made Straight Rash
620 English Pastoral Rebanks
621 The Behaviour of Love Reeves
622 The Late Sun Reid READ
623 Daisy Jones and the Six Reid
624 The Wolf and the Woodsman Reid
625 The Way Back Remarque
626 Purposes of Love Renault
627 The Evenings Reve
628 The Wave Rhue
629 Hard Choices : What Britain Does Next Ricketts
630 Pandemic Riddle
631 A Shock Ridgway
632 First Love Riley READ
633 My Phantoms Riley
634 Stiff Roach
635 The Storm of War Roberts
636 News of the Dead Robertson
637 Beautiful World, Where are You? Rooney READ
638 Many Different Kinds of Love Rosen
639 Oreo Ross
640 This Sky One Day Ross, L
641 Looking for Mr Goodbar Rossner
642 Call it Sleep Roth, H
643 The Humbling Roth, P
644 Statistics Without Tears Rowntree
645 Sleeping on Jupiter Roy
646 My Dark Vanessa Russell, K
647 On Politics Ryan
648 Holes Sacher
649 Fireflies Sagasti
650 China Room Sahota
651 Ours are the Streets Sahota
652 Ariadne Saint
653 The Teacher of Cheops Salvado
654 Seasons in the Sun Sandbrook
655 Who Dares Wins Sandbrook
656 State of Emergency Sandbrook
657 Never Had it So Good Sandbrook
658 White Heat Sandbrook
659 The Tyranny of Merit Sandel
660 East West Street Sands
661 Push Sapphire
662 The Double Saramago
663 The Wall Sartre
664 Time's Monster Satia
665 The Collapse of Globalism Saul
666 The Power of the Dog Savage
667 Without a Claim Schulman
668 After Sappho Schwartz
669 Mouthful of Birds Schweblin READ
670 Ottoman Odyssey Scott
671 Son of the Century Scurati
672 Vertigo Sebald
673 The Butt Self
674 Desiree Selinko
675 Once Upon a River Setterfield
676 Mercies Sexton
677 Sonnets Shakespeare
678 King Lear Shakespeare
679 Selected Poetry of Percy Bysse Shelley Shelley
680 The World to Come Shepard
681 The Real Iron Lady Shephard
682 The School for Scandal Sheridan
683 The Stone Diairies Shields
684 Body Surfing Shreve
685 Should We Stay or Should We Go Shriver
686 Our Country Friends Shteyngart
687 Improvement Silber
688 Prep Sittenfield
689 Money and Government Skidelsky
690 The Country of Others Slimani
691 Spring Smith, A
692 The Road to Unfreedom Snyder
693 Orwell's Roses Solnit
694 The Gallary of Vanished Husbands Solomons
695 August 14 Solzhenitsyn
696 The Moon and Sixpence Somerset Maugham READ
697 Cakes and Ale Somerset Maugham
698 Of Human Bondage Somerset Maugham
699 The Painted Veil Somerset Maugham
700 The Razor's Edge Somerset Maugham
701 In America Sontag
702 The Dictionary of Animal Languages Sopinka
703 The Quest for Cosmic Justice Sowell
704 The Interpreters Soyinka
705 Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth Soyinka
706 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Spark READ
707 The Sign of the Beaver Speare, E READ
708 Light Perpetual Spufford
709 The New Oxford Book of War Poetry Stallworthy
710 My Cat Yugoslavia Statovci
711 The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck
712 Closed Circles Sten
713 In Memory of Memory Stepanova
714 Seveneves Stephenson
715 Britain Alone Stevens
716 The Black Arrow Stevenson
717 Earth Abides Stewart
718 In the Days of Rain Stott
719 Dead Man's Embers Strachan
720 Oh William Strout
721 Roadside Picnic Strugartsky
722 Havana Year Zero Suarez
723 Asylum Road Sudjic
724 Sweet Bean Paste Sukegawa
725 The Last Green Valley Sullivan
726 The Silence of Scheherzade Suman
727 Law in a Time of Crisis Sumption
728 A World Without Work Susskind
729 How to be well Read Sutherland
730 Katalin Street Szabo
731 The Histories Tacitus
732 Animal Tadeo
733 Three Women Tadeo
734 The Listeners Tannahill
735 Blaming Taylor
736 Misbehaving Thaler
737 Picture Palace Theroux
738 The River Between Thiong'o
739 Learwife Thorp
740 Chinatown Thuan
741 The Great Level Tillyard
742 The Magician Toibin
743 The Books of Jacob Tokarczuk
744 Anna Karenina Tolstoy
745 This Sovereign Isle Tombs
746 Crashed Tooze
747 Swing Hammer Swing! Torrington
748 The Inequality Machine Tough
749 Lonely Castle in the Mirror Tsujimura
750 A Distant Mirror Tuchman READ
751 On the Eve Turgenev
752 Smoke Turgenev
753 Virgin Soil Turgenev
754 Vinegar Girl Tyler
755 Rabbit Redux Updike
756 The Neighborhood Vargas Lllosa
757 Another Now Varoufakis
758 Adults in the Room Varoufakis
759 Myra Breckinridge Vidal
760 Breakfast of Champions Vonnegut
761 The Order of the Day Vuillard
762 KL : A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps Wachsmann
763 The Castle of Otranto Walpole
764 Hench Walschots
765 The Cold Millions Walter
766 The Final Revival of Opal & Nev Walton, D
767 The Philosopher King Walton, J
768 Downsizing Watson READ
769 Fools Crow Welch, J
770 Remember Me Weldon
771 Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through Weldon
772 Kipps Wells
773 The Cutting Room Welsh
774 The Machine Gunners Westall
775 Harlem Shuffle Whitehead
776 Zone One Whitehead
777 The Classical School : The Turbulent Birth of Economics Williams, C
778 This is Happiness Williams, N
779 Four Letters of Love Williams, N
780 The Dictionary of Lost Words Williams, P
781 Resolution Wilson
782 Land Winchester
783 The Surgeon of Crowthorne Winchester
784 Still Life Winman
785 The Shepherd's Hut Winton
786 The Right Stuff Wolfe
787 Ten Great Works of Philosophy Wolff
788 The Female Persuasion Wolitzer
789 The Interestings Wolitzer
790 The Waves Woolf
791 The Years Woolf
792 The Man With the Compound Eyes Wu Ming-Yi
793 Trouble with Lichen Wyndham
794 Madam Wynne
795 20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth Xiaolu Gao
796 Cold Spring Harbor Yates
797 Moscow Stations Yerofeev
798 Nightbitch Yoder
799 Briar Rose Yolen
800 Run Me to Earth Yoon
801 Fieldwork in Ukrainian Sex Zabuzhko
802 Ten Lessons for a Post- Pandemic World Zakaria
803 The Fellowship Zaleski
804 We Are All Birds Zayyan
805 The Hidden Pleasures of Life Zeldin
806 Between the Wars Ziegler
807 Black Shack Alley Zobel
808 The Attack on the Mill Zola
809 A Love Story Zola
810 The Conquest of Plassans Zola

Added 810
Read 55

BOOK STATS

Books read : 109
Books added : 720

Days per book : 2.23
Projected total : 188
LT yearly best : 157

Pages read (completed books) : 25,893
Daily average : 106.56
Projected total : 38,893

Longest Book : 877 pages
Shortest Book : 44 pages
Average Book Length : 237.55

Gender
Male : 56
Female : 51
Various : 2

Genre :
Graphic Books : 2
Poetry : 14
Thriller/Mystery : 4
Non Fiction : 17
Fiction : 48
Short Stories : 3
SF/Fantasy : 3

Origin :
USA : 18
UK : 32
Turkey : 3
Germany : 1
Egypt : 1
Ireland : 4
Norway : 3
Argentina : 2
Canada : 4
Iceland : 1
Netherlands : 1
Jamaica : 1
Israel : 2
Iraq : 1
Syria : 1
Papua New Guinea : 1
Oman : 1
Italy : 1
Tanzania : 1
Iran : 1
South Korea : 1
Uzbekistan : 1
Antigua : 1
Various : 2
India : 2
Bangladesh 1
Singapore 1
Russia 1
Albania 1

Challenges :
British Author Challenge : 5
American Author Challenge : 4
Non-Fiction Challenge : 1
Asian Book Challenge : 21
New Nobel Laureates : 1
1001 Books First Edition : 3
Guardian 1000 Books : 4
Around the World Books : 17
Holocaust Reading : 2
Booker Winners : 2
Pulitzer Winners : 1
Rebecca NYC Reads : 1
Fiction from European Capitals : 4

Next is yours

Happy new thread, Paul!

>20 FAMeulstee: I reckoned you would probably be first up at this time of day, Anita and very welcome too. x

Virtual bookshelf is yours dear lady:

>21 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul, just what I needed. My virtual books need some more room ;-)
Indeed, this time of day gives me a fair chance to jump in first.

>22 FAMeulstee: You, like me are invariably around at this time. You because you are up early, me because I rarely sleep!

>23 PaulCranswick: I sleep 6 hours a night, Paul. Going to sleep between 1:30 and 2:00, and up between 7:30 and 8:00, it is now 13:11 over here, I think six hours earlier than where you are.

>24 FAMeulstee: To be fair, Anita, that is quite respectable! I had gotten the impression you were a much earlier riser!

Happy new thread!

>26 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita. Another early riser!

>27 PaulCranswick: Ha! Not today. I managed a weekend off so I slept in. I would normally have started my day 3 hours earlier ;)

>28 figsfromthistle: A lady after my own heart, Anita, as I am invariably up with the birds!

Wordle 469 5/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩
⬜🟨🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

A bit cumbersome today but safely home.

Happy new thread, Paul. What exactly is in the flat top part of those buildings in your topper, the part that seems to connect the 3 towers?

>31 jessibud2: It is full of restaurants, hotel facilities and viewing decks etc, Shelley and impressive it is too. A challenge to build the three towers together and then connect them because they are not designed to be straight but to lean.

Happy new thread, Paul!
>1 PaulCranswick: Impressive, as you said - and beautiful.
>2 PaulCranswick: I hope you will enjoy it.

>33 SirThomas: Will be bedding down with Mr. King shortly (metaphorically, of course).

Thanks as always for your kind wishes, Thomas.

Happy New Thread, Paul. Love the Singapore topper. How far are you into the King novel?

Greetings Paul. Happy New Thread. Another wonderful topper.

>35 msf59: Thanks Mark. Barely started with King. Just picked it up and realized I needed to set up the new thread.

>36 Kristelh: Thank you, dear lady x

October's Asian Book Challenge thread is up:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/344819

Off to Indo-China and those other countries surrounding China (non-Indian)

Happy new thread, Paul!

11/22/63 is the only King I've read and I liked it, so I'll look forward to your thoughts. His newest book, Fairy Tale, also intrigues me, but I think I'll wait 'til the library holds list dies down a bit.

>25 PaulCranswick: You think in UK time, Paul, we are one hour ahead.

If I counted right this is post 7,500th to your threads this year, congratulations!

>39 bell7: Let's hope I like it more than Carrie, Mary - I am confident I shall. xx

>40 FAMeulstee: Well counted, it was indeed number 7,500. Already betters the year's leading numbers for 2020, 2019 and 2015.

BOOK #117



Asterix le gaulois by Rene Goscinny
Date of Publication : 1961
Origin of Author : France
Pages : 48 pp

No it isn't Asterix the Cigarette. It is the Gauls against the bungling Romans with magic potions, hair tonics, a plot to seize Rome and some great names.

Actually read twice once in English and once in French. I obviously found the former easier than the latter although I did enjoy the effort in comprehension much aided by the excellent graphics.

Happy new thread!

>42 PaulCranswick: I love Asterix!

>43 amanda4242: Thank you, Amanda.
I might go and look for some more of them, Amanda, but I definitely do need the comfort of an English version to fully appreciate the French language version.

I liked the picture of what has become the Singapore signature. It was featured in the movie version of Crazy Rich Asians. I took my mother to see that movie and she thought that building was made up. We had quite a discussion about it after the movie. My questions about the building:

1. Is it one building or three or four? What do the builders say?
2. Is it fully occupied? Or are sections of it empty due to rental costs or other economic reasons?

A belated happy new thread, Paul.

>42 PaulCranswick: I loved the Asterix books as a child, and remain fond of them. One of the happier ideas of my school teachers was encouraging us all to attempt to read them in French. (I grew up in Canada, so French was a compulsory subject, for those of us in English-speaking schools.) Many of the puns are different, particularly in the names, so even if you've read the English translation, there's more to enjoy in the French original. IIRC, I also, a lot more recently, read one in German translation, to exercise my execrable German.

>2 PaulCranswick: One of my favorite King-novel endings of his entire career. *I* liked the James Franco-starring miniseries, too. (Hulu in the US, no idea internationally, it was so long ago now.)

>1 PaulCranswick: What a stunningly beautiful building complex that is!

New thread orisons, PC. My latest is up now, too.

Happy new thread and what a beautiful building up top!! Also an Asterix fan. Read them in French class and then again when my kids took French. Very fun. Happy weekend!

>1 PaulCranswick: Just WOW!

>44 PaulCranswick: If you can find it, I recommend Asterix in Britain.

>45 benitastrnad: That is an interesting question and I counted it as one project. The three hotel towers are interconnected of course in one development (they were built at the same time by the same contractor and the "hull" which is a sky park - the hotel facilities include swimming pools, restaurants and a running track. I would call it one building or even four buildings in one. It has retail and a conference centre and a casino but the 2,560 hotel rooms are almost always fully occupied.

>46 ArlieS: I wish I had grown up with them too, Arlie, as they look a lot of fun. I am known to favour the occasional pun so I did appreciate the names of the characters.

>47 richardderus: I am getting into it, RD.

Marina Bay Sands took over from the Merlion as the icon of Singapore I would say. I don't think Merdeka 118 will outstrip KLCC Twin Towers in the same way despite being 227 metres taller.

I did notice that you have a new one and it will be my next port of call and then Kimmers who I notice has also copied us with revised digs.

>48 Berly: Ha-hah! and there you are Kimmers! I was just talking about you!

>49 mdoris: I have worked on some pretty challenging projects, Mary, and that one - I have to say wasn't too bad from a commercial and contractual point of view other than with some of the subcontractors, but technically some of my colleagues were really put to the test and found up to the task.

>50 amanda4242: I will look for it, Amanda. xx

Happy Newish threads.

I'll say that yesterday, I kept watching for a new thread with such antici........................pation. But alas, given the mysteries of time, I missed the start. LOL

On the Asterix front, I have no memory of where they came from but I have a distinct memory of reading these books at my Grandmother's house when I was a kid. Fond memories.

>54 mahsdad: It is less than a day old, Jeff!

I vaguely recall that there was a TV cartoon show of Asterix but I don't think that I ever read the books before.

Happy new thread Paul!

I've read King's Dark Tower books and some of the short stories. I disliked his writing in those, but he can invent and tell a story.

>56 quondame: Thank you, Susan.
I am not completely sold on his writing style still but there is definitely a maturing detectable in the current read compared to his debut novel.

Happy new thread, Paul! Beautiful topper!

>58 banjo123: Thank you, Rhonda. x

Happy new thread, Paul! Wow, your thread topper is just stunning. Congratulations!

>60 AMQS: Thanks Anne, lovely to see you. x

Of all the toppers you've had, this is my all-time favorite. All I can say is WOW!!!!

>62 Whisper1: And we are only in October, Linda! xx

I wanted to celebrate the new month and the new thread with a visit to the (relatively new) Japanese bookstore in Pavilion 2. I still prefer my Kinokuniya but this is a very decent alternative. I got:

811. Dominion by Peter Ackroyd
812. Dakota Kill by Peter Brandvold
813. The Romantics by Peter Brandvold
814. The Red Prince by Helen Carr
815. The House on the Lake by Nuala Ellwood
816. So Big by Edna Ferber
817. On Tangled Paths by Theodor Fontane
818. What You Have Heard is True by Carolyn Forche
819. A Fistful of Shells by Toby Green
820. Why We Get the Wrong Politicians by Isabel Hardman
821. The Junior Officer's Reading Club by Patrick Hennessey
822. Finisterre by Graham Hurley
823. Stalker by Lars Kepler
824. The Government of No One by Ruth Kinna
825. The Centurians by Jean Larteguy
826. The Flight Portfolio by Julie Orringer
827. The Devil in the Flesh by Raymond Radiguet
828. Ransom by Michael Symmons Roberts
829. So Sure of Death by Dana Stabenow
830. Germinal by Emile Zola

I have four volumes of Ackroyd's history of England and this is the fifth. The final one will be added soon too and I'll read them all including the two I read already, again.
Brandvold's two books are together in one attractive volume but I must admit to having never heard of him. I do like westerns though.
Carr's book is a history of John O' Gaunt father of Henry IV and best remembered today for his deathbed speech in Shakespeare's Richard II.
Ellwood's book caught my eye by it's cover and I liked the synopsis.
Ferber's book won the Pulitzer and I am collecting all of those.
Fontane's book caused a minor sensation in Bismarck's Germany as it was deemed salacious (can't wait!).
Forche is a poet and activist on El Salvador and I have heard good things about this memoir.
Green's history of West Africa (one of my personal interests) is much lauded.
Let's see if Hardman can answer a question that has often had me wondering.
I like Hennessey's title at least which is apparently about the modern soldier.
Kepler's book is fifth in a series I'm collecting but crazily haven't yet started!
Kinna's book is concerning the first political philosophy that attracted me - anarchism.
Larteguy's famous novel goes from Vietnam to Algeria in a powerfully violent squall.
Roberts is a poem whose individual poems I have oft admired but this is the first time I have seen a collection of his locally.
Stanebow writes mysteries set in beautiful Alaska - I place I long to visit.
Germinal is one of my absolute favourite novels and I no longer had my copy which left me when I left my long time girlfriend in England in deciding to relocate to Malaysia and she took revenge by throwing away all my books! I want to re-read all the Rougon-MacQuart books next year and need to add a few more to my shelves first.

Look at you go!! The books would keep me busy for 10 years! LOL. Hope you get to a few of them soon. : )

>65 Berly: I have read 54 of the books I have bought this year Kimmers - trouble is I have bought a further 776 that I haven't gotten to yet!~

I don't have enough shelves! LOL But I totally enjoy your reading purchase lists, so don't stop. Ever. : )

>64 PaulCranswick: I jus got the first Rougon-Macquart book from the library, Paul. I haven't read any Zola yet.

>67 Berly: I'll just have to live somewhere bigger, Kimmers, when I run out of space! No intention of constricting my compulsion (at least whilst I can afford it) much wiser dollars than wine, women and song even though of less immediate gratification!

>68 FAMeulstee: He is quite possibly my absolute favourite novelist, Anita and that is saying something. I now have 13 of the 20 Rougon Macquart novels back on the shelves. My favourites are :
1 Germinal
2 La Bete Humaine
3 Earth
4 The Debacle
5 L'Assommoir

I will read them in order next year.

>69 PaulCranswick: I will try to read them in order, Paul, but some are hard to find. My own library has only a few of them, so all others have to come from libraries outside my province. That takes time, and a fee of 4.50 Euro for each book.

>64 PaulCranswick: #825 The Centurions has the absolute coolest-ever origin story! Even if he made it up, whole and entire, it's a great tale.

>70 FAMeulstee: I am able to order the ones I don't have on Book Depo, Anita.

>71 richardderus: I have had my eyes open for that one for a goodly while, RD, and finally tracked it down this morning.

Wordle 470 4/6

⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩
🟨⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Felt that I should have gotten that one quicker

Happy new one, Paul!

>74 drneutron: Thank you, Jim

Happy new thread, Paul!

>76 curioussquared: Thank you, Natalie.

Wordle 471 3/6

⬜⬜⬜🟩🟨
🟩🟩⬜🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Pretty pleased with that one!

Went to the cinema with Yasmyne and Belle last night which is my first trip there since before the lockdown (3 years, I guess). Saw Where the Crawdads Sing based on the book by Delia Owens (which I haven't read yet) and I enjoyed it's evocation of place.

Anyway I took advantage of the evening trip to see what they had done to the exhibit stands at Kino (they change them the first of every month) and couldn't resist the following:

831. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
832. Triflers Need Not Apply by Camilla Bruce
833. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
834. Mexican Gothic by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia
835. The Truants by Kate Weinberg

So I managed to get the last of the outstanding Booker longlist/shortlist.
The others were on the October "creepy counter".

I enjoyed Mexican Gothic, hope you do too!

>80 drneutron: I have heard plenty of positive news about that one, Jim. Looking forward to it and, anyway, I love the cover.

>1 PaulCranswick: I've read a little about that building. didn't know you were involved with it!
Happy new Thread!!

>82 hredwards: My role in the project was hardly pivotal, Harold, but I was certainly involved with it, though Ithink some of Ssangyong's subcontractors rather had wished I wasn't!

Happy new thread, Paul. I have a collection of Ackroyd’s books too. I really should read one.

I have wanted to read Lionel Shriver for ages especially your #833. I had better do so soon! I have her new book of essays on reserve at the library Abominations : Selected Essays from a Career of Courting Self-Destruction. I have watched her being interviewed and she is very interesting and thoughtful.

>84 Familyhistorian: His first two volumes of the History of England are very accessible, Meg, and well worth a read.

>85 mdoris: She is an interesting lady, Mary, and not universally liked which is not always a bad thing!

Wordle 472 6/6

⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Staggered home. One of those that annoys by having numerous possible right answers and all you do is trust to luck.

READING STATS AFTER THIRD QUARTER

Books Read :
September : 7 (sorry guys)

Q1 : 52 books
Q2 : 40 books
Q3 : 24 books
Q4 : 1 book

Year to date : 117 books

Pages Read :
September : 1,215 pages (ouch)

Q1 : 10,607
Q2 : 10,308
Q3 : 6,193
Q4 : 48

Year to date : 27,156

Gender :
Books 117 :

Books by men : 62
Books by women : 53
Various : 2

September Book of the Month.

A tough one this but I think I have to choose :

The Barefoot Woman by Scholastique Mukasonga (if only for its first and last chapters).

CURRENT READING

I am actually making reasonable progress this month to date :

11.22.63 by Stephen King
The Murderer by Roy Heath
The Crofter and the Laird by John McPhee (read on Open Library) for AAC

Am I reading it right? You acquired over 835 books thus far this year. Congratulations are in order. My question is where do you put them all?

>90 Whisper1: You are reading correctly dear lady.

If you are ever in Kuala Lumpur I will gladly show you!

A little late this time around. Happy new thread Paul! Lots of King talk to follow, which has been interesting. The opener picture is amazing, as always.
>79 PaulCranswick: I just started Mexican Gothic the other day and am suddenly seeing it mentioned all over. Need to finish that first for a book discussion this Thursday, but then I plan on focusing on The Blue Sky, been looking forward to it since I ordered it.

>92 WhiteRaven.17: Lovely to see you, Kro.

I will start The Blue Sky this weekend.

Happy New Thread Paul.

>94 johnsimpson: Thank you, John

Wordle 473 4/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟨🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

That was a fairly straightforward day!

>88 PaulCranswick: I was so pleased to see Mukasonga mentioned in the context of a Nobel Prize for Literature on one of the guessing/gambling sites. I don't necessarily think she's quite that high in the world League Tables, but she is a Black African and works in a European/colonial language, so who knows.

>97 richardderus: I thought the opening chapter of The Barefoot Woman was as impactful as any opening chapter I have read in aeons, RD. I am invariably wrong when it comes to forecasting winners of things like the Nobel Prize but it would not break my heart of she was rewarded.

BOOK #118



The Murderer by Roy Heath
Date of Publication : 1978
Origin of Author : Guyana
Pages : 210 pp

I cannot believe that this novel is not better known.

Portrait of a pretty disturbed individual which very effectively charts his descent from a nondescript existence to one - fueled by resentment, jealousy and insecurity - marked by a single random act of extreme violence.

Very effectively takes us into the mind of Galton Flood and the paranoia that causes him to unravel.

Recommended.

Wordle 474 3/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟨⬜⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

A bit of an inspired third guess!

> The Murderer sounds really interesting. Your review propels me to add it to my TBR list, and read it as soon as I can find.

Ooops, up to 101 so quickly. My reading funk has included reading threads, though I'm slowly coming out of the funk.

I see you have been enjoying the bookshops again. I think as I'm (slowly) reducing additions, you are picking up the slack Paul!

Just ordered the new Jorie Graham volume, and have the new Ada Limon to hand.

>101 Whisper1: The main character is to Guyana what Raskolnikov was to Russia!

>102 Caroline_McElwee: Lovely to see you, Caroline. My book additions are fizzing along this year although I am a little disappointed at the dearth of new poetry volumes available locally.

The Nobel Prize for Literature is to be awarded on 6 October 2022 and as usual I will have a stab at it and that will not just be a cruel pun in forecasting that it will not go to Salman Rushdie. Could well go to an Asian born author though or someone from the Americas and I predict it will be a lady.

My tip to win is Maryse Conde but don't be surprised to be surprised!

>86 PaulCranswick: I really should take one of Ackroyd's books off the shelf for a read soon. It's just that there are so many other books on my shelves vying for attention. You should know that feeling, Paul. I enjoyed his London Under but that has the advantage of being a much thinner book.

>105 Familyhistorian: I found some of his fiction a little dry to be honest, Meg, but he writes history like a true storyteller and we get swept along with him.

>106 PaulCranswick: I've never read any of his fiction, Paul. I didn't know that he wrote any.

>107 Familyhistorian: Plenty, plenty, Meg.

He won the Whitbread Prize (became the Costa Prize) in 1985 for Hawksmoor and was shortlisted for the Booker in 1987 for Chatterton.

Here is his complete oeuvre:

https://www.fantasticfiction.com/a/peter-ackroyd/

>108 PaulCranswick:, I've read Hawksmoor and it was a bit hard to read but I really ended up liking it and it has stuck meaning I've not forgotten it. I enjoyed the Cathedrals in the book.

>109 Kristelh: Much of his fiction is historical fiction but vignettes from particular periods. I don't recall reading anything by him that was in any way contemporary, Kristel.

His writing of fiction does reward close attention.

Giorgia Meloni's election in Italy is an interesting phenomenon and a victory that goes against the globalist euro-state polity that the unelected officials in Brussels seem to insist upon.
She is a conservative and whilst some of her policies sound like a call for common sense, I don't much care for some of the anti-immigration and anti-islamic rhetoric that is mixed in with her appeal. She is hardly neo-fascist though in calling for a embracing of Freedom, God and Country.

What is a little sinister though is Ursula Von der Leyen announcing that the EU has "tools" to counter act anything Italy might envisage that does not fit their world view. Best argument for Brexit that I have seen to date.

This is what Meloni said :

“They want to call us parent 1, parent 2, gender x, citizen x, with code numbers. But we are not code numbers … and we’ll defend our identity. I am Giorgia. I am a woman. I am a mother. I am Italian. I am Christian!”

All fine up to a point but underneath the surface she may also be saying we are against anyone who is not the same as them too which is more scary still. We have to get to a world where she can defend herself and her views as a woman, mother, Italian and Christian and still be fine, accepting of and not prejudiced against those who do not fit into these boxes quite so readily.

Happy new thread Paul!

I see you finally arrived in Singapore ;0)

>112 humouress: A revisit, Nina!

ANNIE ERNAUX of France has won the NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE

She was fancied to win but I didn't expect yet another French winner.

>110 PaulCranswick: I enjoyed his take on Frankenstein. First book of his I'd read. Read London Under recently. Will have to check out some of his other history.

>108 PaulCranswick: Ooh, he was/is prolific. Thanks for the link, Paul. Not that I need any more encouragement to burying myself in books!

>111 PaulCranswick: The problem with all those "I am" statements is...no one says you *aren't* those things. They say you're not the ONLY STANDARD THERE IS, which is why the forms are moving away from your precious white christian mommy self as the only other parent for a man's child. (The man she's not married to, BTW.)

"It's MY IDENTITY they, those faceless powerful bureaucrats, are TAKING AWAY FROM ME!" is only reasonable if they are disadvantaging you. If your itty-bitty fee-fees are so so so tender that leaving room for others to describe themselves in ways you don't, you are the problem, Gentile Signorina Meloni.

Asinine that this resonates with grown-up people.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/345002

Happy new thread, Paul!

>114 PaulCranswick:
When I heard the announcement this morning on the radio I was surprised. My first thought was "Another French author?" The radio said that there have been 17 women to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. There have been 16 French winners of the Nobel - the most winners from any country. Looking at it that way, it is no surprise that this year's winner is French and there have been 4 French winners since 2000. It is getting to be a no brainer that the winner will be French. I had hopes that with the reforms in the Swedish Academy that the Nobel Prize for Literature would have a larger view of the world, but ...

That is not to say that Erneux isn't a good author. She probably is.

>115 hredwards: I think I have his book on Frankenstein, Harold, so I must go and seek it out.

>116 Familyhistorian: Almost Joyce Carol Oates-ish in his prolific nature, Meg!

>117 richardderus: Every action is wont to beget a reaction, RD. It is certain that the cancel culture will breed this type of leader. Fascist she is not; asinine she may well prove to be. Live and let live is my motto and always has been.

>118 SilverWolf28: Thank you, Silver.

>119 EllaTim: Thanks Ella. Lovely as always to see you here.

>120 benitastrnad: I have to say your thoughts echo my own when I got the news - another French winner!!!!!? The under representation of the Americas, Asia and Africa in the Prize is becoming more than just an embarrassment.

>114 PaulCranswick: I stopped paying attention to the prize when they gave it to Bob Dylan.

>124 amanda4242: Yeah, not exactly a high point for the Academy I feel, Amanda.

Wordle 475 4/6

⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩⬜🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I must have spent 10 minutes trying to figure out what the fourth guess could be and I was left with only one option that I could come up with. I was right!

Hey Paul! You're keeping busy, as usual!

>127 The_Hibernator: How lovely to see you posting Rachel! I know your family is running you off your feet in the best possible way but my selfish self is glad that you were able to get on line and into the group for a little while. xxx

>128 PaulCranswick: Funny thing is, I'm currently playing D&D with the family, but I'm typing during down-times while listening to what's going on. So, I'm multi-tasking family time.

>129 The_Hibernator: Toughest job in the world, being a Mom, and surely one of the most rewarding whilst certainly the most underpaid!

>120 benitastrnad: Including Annie Ernaux there have been 15 winners from France, and she is the third in this century. Four winners from the UK (two as second nationality), and two from the USA. The winners from Canada, South-Africa and Tanzania also write in English, so writing in English still gives the best chance to win in the 21st century ;-)

And yes, to me she is a great author.

>131 FAMeulstee: Annie Ernaux is not the issue, Anita, and anybody will attest that she is a top, top writer. The problem is that the world of literature is not limited to the European nations.

>132 PaulCranswick: I agree that is an issue, Paul.
I was only reacting on the wrong numbers mentioned in that message, and on It is getting to be a no brainer that the winner will be French.

>133 FAMeulstee: And I would agree that Dutch writers have been unfairly overlooked. Surely at least one of Harry Mulisch or Cees Nooteboom should have merited consideration over the years. Mulisch has of course been dead for more than a decade and Nooteboom is already in his very late eighties and will not have many more years to win.

I could have done without some of the English writing winners in truth. Bob Dylan especially.

Wordle 476 5/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟩⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

This one gave me some trouble because I almost forgot American is a foreign language

>134 PaulCranswick: I would love to see Astrid Roemer as first Dutch winner :-)

>136 FAMeulstee: Thank you for that pointer, Anita. I am of course not familiar with her work because very sadly it has not been available published in English - until October 2023! Her book Off-White is about to be released as her "English language debut" and will apparently be followed by more of her work. Having read her profile it would seem to me that the lady from Suriname would be an excellent choice.

https://www.bookdepository.com/Off-White-Astrid-Roemer/9781949641257?ref=grid-vi...

>137 PaulCranswick: That makes me happy, Paul! I haven't read that one yet, it is her latest I think. We have it on the shelves. I will read it before the English translation is released.

>138 FAMeulstee: I am intrigued certainly because the absence of certain wonderful writers due to language barriers does frustrate someone with acquisition-al tendencies such a me!
I will pre-order it for sure.

I am sad to see that the creator of the Inspector Banks series of crime books, Peter Robinson has passed away
at the nowadays young age of 72.

He may have settled in Canada but his books were firmly grounded in his West Yorkshire roots.
I have read about the first 20 of the Inspector Banks books and always enjoyed them. Book 28 in the series will be published next year.

>131 FAMeulstee:
I went back and counted again and realized that you are correct. I counted Maurice Materlinck as French. He was actually from Belgium. But then Samuel Beckett could be counted as a French author since the Nobel committee cited him for his work in both French and English. If you look at the entire list it is heavily tilted toward white male Europeans, and primarily northern Europeans. For a committee that says it doesn't want to make political statements that in itself is a political statement.

I have not read any of Erneaux's work and I have no doubt that she is a quality author, but there are many quality author's from many other places on the globe whose work has had a huge impact on people. It is rather remarkable that there has only been one winner from China and one from India. I know that the Nobel Prize for Literature is not a numbers game but really, shouldn't this prize be more of a reflection of our entire globe?

I forgot to put up my Friday lunchtime haul from yesterday:

836. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
837. The Glamour Boys by Chris Bryant
838. Solar by Ian McEwan
839. Metamorphosis : Selected Stories by Penelope Lively
840. The City of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
841. Bonsai by Alejandro Zambra
842. Before My Actual Heart Breaks by Tish Delaney
843. The Other Slavery by Andres Resendez
844. The End of Everything by Katie Mack
845. The History of England : Volume VI - Innovation by Peter Ackroyd

Owens' book was a must after watching the movie (I do prefer to do it the other way round). I got the free gift of......two cinema tickets with the book purchase! Gave them away to the book cashiers who are on first name terms with me anyway as their (officially) best private customer (four of the last seven years I bought the most at their store).

Bryant is writing about the gay rebel MPs who pushed the then Chamberlain government into war readiness against the Hitler threat.

Solar is a rare book of McEwan's that didn't own or I haven't yet read.

Dear dear Penelope Lively turns 90 in the coming year and this is a selection of her short stories. I have actually had lunch with her and her inspiring late husband during my Warwick days (pre her Booker win) as Dr. Jack Lively was my course tutor at the time and a simply wonderful man. Another reason to explain why she was my first ever BAC reading pick.

Zafon, has sadly and very prematurely passed and he is undoubtedly my favourite Spanish language author.

Zambra is making waves in Chile as the next big thing there.

I loved the blurb for Tish Delaney's book.

Resendez was shortlisted for the National Book Award for his history of the slavery of the Native American - the latter being a subject of keen interest to me.

Mack is apparently quite the clever clogs.

Volume 6 completes the series of Ackroyd's history and I am about to start them again at the beginning.

Did you have a go at Worldle today Paul?

>141 benitastrnad: I sort of agree with you, Benita, but in fairness I think we need to look at it in a generational way - maybe over the years of the current century to see if the trends are changing and they are but not by so much.

8 of the last 19 winners have been ladies which is an improvement in balance certainly (43%) especially when it is considered that only 9 of the first 100 were women.

China have won twice this century, as has Africa (both using English as their medium) and over the last 23 awards 16 different countries were the origin of the respective laureate (17 if Doris Lessing counts as Zimbabwe which I believe it shouldn't).

You are right, Benita, it is still imbalanced and will always reflect the likes and prejudices of the Nobel academy but it should be an award that they select on whatever their criterion of merit is and not a revolving award to pander to political correctness. My own choice on my notion of merit would have been Maryse Conde although Cees Nooteboom, Milan Kundera, Adunis, Ismail Kadare and Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, all men admittedly would be worthy winners too IMHO.

>143 humouress: I did at >135 PaulCranswick: Nina and I was unimpressed by the mutilation of the King's English!

>139 PaulCranswick: I know how that feels, Paul. Only reading in Dutch limits my choices.
I hope Astrid Roemer's books will find their way in English. Despite winning the major Dutch oeuvre award AND the Dutch-Flemish oeuvre award, she still hasn't a large Dutch audience.

>141 benitastrnad: I do agree that white male's dominate the list, as the prize originates from north/west Europe, and reflects the time. And the 'world' wasn't much larger in the starting years. But there is some progress in this century, like Paul said in >144 PaulCranswick: . The Swedish Academy is still all white, with only 6 female and 10 male members, and two vacant places.

>146 FAMeulstee: You have me a little excited at the anticipation of a "new" voice being available to me, Anita.

>147 FAMeulstee: The gender numbers are certainly better recently but I do wish Asia and Africa and the Americas (not only the USA) got more of a look in.

>148 PaulCranswick: I just found an other book by Astrid Roemer in translation will be published next year: On a Woman's Madness (Over de gekte van een vrouw).

>149 FAMeulstee: I saw that too, Anita and it is released a little earlier (February next year) but only in hardback at the moment.

>145 PaulCranswick: Worldle, not Wordle. I do agree with you - it's one more hurdle to leap to include 6 letter words as well as 5 letter words.

I do hope they don't rotate who they award the prize to strictly according to gender. Can you imagine missing out just because you published in a year that it's due to go to a different gender?

>151 humouress: I am a firm believer in things being decided on absolute merit basis regardless of gender, sexuality, language, nationality etc but of course one person's view of merit will differ from another person because the evaluations are subjective and not objective. We will all bring our personal interests and prejudices to bear upon the choices of the things we like and appreciate and esteem.

>151 humouress: I just looked at Worldle and I of course got it in 1, Nina.

Wordle 477 2/6

⬜🟩🟨⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Channeling my inner New Yorker.

Happy Saturday, Paul! I haven't read anything by Ernaux, and am afraid that I am not at all up to date with Nobel prize reading. I still want to read something by Gurnah. (he was actually in Portland for a lecture series, but I didn't manage to see him. I heard he was really interesting though.)

>155 banjo123: I have heard that Abdulrazak Gurnah is a very good lecturer, Rhonda. I haven't seen him either but have read a few of his books.

Giorgia Meloni is too conservative for my liking but she is doing a good job of exposing the hypocrisy of the "globalist" Europeans especially Macron over his policies towards Africa.
The way to address the migrant problems besetting Europe have much more to do with tackling the root causes of misery in Africa than they do with border policies. I find the Italian leader's call for robust border controls and an end to illegal immigration verging on the xenophobic but I do like the way she throws back the words of Macron back down his dissembling throat.

This is conservative nationalism of a populist kind but it should not be labelled as fascist or even neo-fascist as it is not such by any fair definition of the word and she is to be demonised by the West at the West's peril.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhXyjnbl8lA

>157 PaulCranswick: my wife suggested I read this https://www.democracynow.org/2022/9/26/giorgia_meloni_italy_prime_minister_fasci...

>158 RBeffa: It is a quite typical demonisation of someone who has been democratically elected but doesn't fit in with the globalist consensus.

Had the reporter been more honest, her policy platform may have been mentioned which whilst it does intend to promote the traditional family as the Italian ideal it does not advocate prejudice against those who don't fit in with that glib packaging. Whilst she personally is opposed to abortion there are no plans to end the Italian on demand abortion rights up to 13 weeks. Whilst she is anti-illegal-immigration (and I suspect, as a nationalist she is anti-immigration full stop) and she certainly seems anti-Islamic in some of her rhetoric, she also promotes root cause aid to the developing world. She is not a fascist by any fair definition of the term but she is clearly right wing. My comments are not meant to be misconstrued as advocating for her or her ideas, some of which I despise, but to call out the smears, untruths and blatant hypocrisy of those who pretend to support democracy but only when its exercise does not inconvenience them.

It is far more nuanced than the gaslighting by the media. People do go on a journey of self discovery with regard to their beliefs - Liz Truss was a Liberal for heaven's sake - and I was a particularly militant socialist. Now she is clearly a conservative and I am a Social Libertarian - caring freedom (my own awkward definition).

I have some concern over her policies and ideals for sure because she is not on my side of the aisle in politics but I am more concerned about un-elected officials in Brussels having the gall to say they have the "tools" to thwart the democratic will of the Italian people. I don't see that she is as right wing as the sinister Berlusconi and I am more concerned about his presence in her government than her place in it, because she does appear to be a person of conviction and integrity.

I like Varoufakis very much and I agree with him on a lot of things but he is also guilty on occasion of a politico's hyperbole. Just as he was right to call out Germany's shabby treatment of Greece when it needed forgiveness of its debts and Greece's rights to make its own decisions about its own future within the European family, so should Italy have the same rights.

If she starts to trample on the rights of the minorities there I will stand very much corrected but I don't see that happening in 2022.

>159 PaulCranswick: thanks for your feelings on this Paul. My opinions lean toward your thoughts plus some of my own that I would not be able to articulate nearly as well as you can. I always dislike the Hitler card being played although it is rarely called that these days.

>160 RBeffa: I certainly think she should be watched carefully and be judged by what she actually does, Ron. World politics is very interesting at the moment, dear fellow, but more than a trifle frightening.

BOOK # 119



A Girl's Story by Annie Ernaux
Date of Publication : 2016
Origin of Author : France
Pages : 156 pp

Read for the obvious reason that Ernaux just received the Nobel Prize and I aim to read something by all the Laureates. Does she deserve her win? Not for me to say but I can vouch for the fact that she can certainly write.

This is a bit of a genre bender in that it is something like a third-person memoir in which she reflects back on monumental events from her youth - monumental for her at least. There is a detached acuity to her reflections that feel almost intrusive. It is confessional to a fairly self-degrading extent and painfully compulsive at the same time.

I would have thought this gives a good idea of her oeuvre and her talent which is considerable.

>162 PaulCranswick: So great Paul to have your immediate feedback about the recent prize winner!

>140 PaulCranswick: I was very sad to hear about Peter Robinson. One of my first go to places on the internet when I got online at home was an email based crime fiction readers' group, which included regular books for discussion - the founders of the group had been unhappy with groups who claimed to do book discussions and never discussed any book properly. One of the first books I read because of the group was In a Dry Season, one of Peter Robinson Alan Banks series - the discussion was back in 2000 and it was at the time the most recent book in the series still. I've read all of the novels since (17!) and 7 of the 9 previous ones (amazing to think that "first" one now seems a long time back in series terms - although the years have clearly passed since, I think the characters haven't quite aged in real time.

Lots of crime writers and readers have shared their memories of meeting him. I think I heard him at an event reading a poem about his grandparent's home, near the one where he was brought up in Armley, Leeds.

>163 mdoris: I would need to read more of her writing, Mary, but she made an impression for sure.

>164 elkiedee: And of course he was one of our own being a West Yorkshire native. I like his books too.

Wordle 478 5/6

⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨
⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜
🟨🟩🟨⬜🟩
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
After 3 I was safe enough.

BOOK #120



The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Date of Publication : 1959
Origin of Author : USA
Pages : 246 pp

I'm not sure that I would describe this book as frightening but it is certainly creepy.

Psychological mind games will obviously freak one out.

I have not read Shirley Jackson before but I shall definitely read her again. Very superior writing in exposing our baser instincts.

>167 PaulCranswick: - I read Jackson for a course eons ago. I vividly remember The Lottery and how that creeped me out but for some reason, have blanked out my memory of reading this one. Maybe that's a good thing and just as well because I don't enjoy creepy/scary/gory, as a rule.

>167 PaulCranswick: A very fine first Jackson indeed. We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a perfect follow-on for the next...same kind of eerie, peculiarly wrong atmosphere, but told in a more, um, directly discernible way.

>168 jessibud2: It was apparently a middling successful Netflix show but it was definitely a creepy piece of writing.

>169 richardderus: I have a couple more of her books, RD, and will want to get to most of her stuff in the near term. Don't be surprised if your valued recommendation gets added to my shelves very soon.

BOOK #121



Ransom by Michael Symmons Roberts
Date of Publication : 2021
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 88 pp

His writing is elegant but rarely struck a chord enough with me to draw me in and have me re-read verses or poems.

Able to recognise his talent without particularly enjoying this collection. His poem "Beheading the Horse" is probably the poem here that I would have loved to have written, although the central section of twenty poems "Vingt Regards" are unevenly effective too.

Not awful but not overly recommendable either.

Hi Paul - Amazing building, amazing topper.

And amazing book haul as always, to to add to your list of books already purchased this year in >17 PaulCranswick:

You've probably answered this before over the years, but do you tend to buy new or used books? And do you add them to the LT "Your Library" as you purchase or as you read?

Several interest me, but especially The Other Slavery by Andres Resendez. Today is Columbus Day in the US - a federal holiday to commemorate Columbus's discovery of the Americas. Many of the Native tribes mark it as a native commemoration day instead- the beginning of European subjugation of their peoples. There have been various movements in the US to formerly replace or eliminate Columbus Day and it has happened in a few states. Mostly the movements have been blocked by cries of racism by Italian-Americans (and federal government employees who get the day off).

>172 streamsong: I add them as I buy them, Janet, as I consider them part of my library read or not.
95% of my books are new but there is one used bookstore online in KL that I use.

I will read The Other Slavery soon as it really caught my eye too.

Lovely to see you . xx

Wordle 479 3/6

⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Very satisfied with that one!

BOOK # 122



The Crofter and the Laird by John McPhee
Date of Publication : 1969
Origin of Author : USA
Pages : 159 pp

A big shout out to Linda for including McPhee in the American Author Challenge this month. He is a writer I had heard of but was entirely unfamiliar with but I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

McPhee traces his tribal/clan roots back to the isle of Colonsay in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland and spends a summer there immersed in their lifestyle and habits. Brilliantly written this is far more of the Crofter than the Laird (then an absentee) and a remarkable portrait both of a way of life disappearing and the unsullied attractions of what was close to a subsistence existence. Clear and accessible prose but informative and enlightening too.

It is a part of the world that I know and am incredibly fond of and one I aim to specifically visit when I return to the UK in the very near future.

Recommended.

>140 PaulCranswick: It was sad to hear of Peter Robinson's death. His Inspector Banks was a favourite sleuth while the setting of Yorkshire was a major draw for me. The added bonus was that he lived in Canada. The only book I did not like was one where he rehashed a particularly heinous crime that took place in Canada. Maybe it was just too soon after the real thing but I thought it was lazy.

Your wordle posts are interesting. My son and I play our version of the game on paper. We take turns choosing a word and guessing. We have realized that there is some cleverness required to choose a challenging word.

>176 VivienneR: Lovely to see you dear Vivienne. I do need to get back to some of the series I loved to follow up until recently and concentrate less on "literature" which is definitely slowing down my reading!
Wordle is an interesting game but the NYT is a bit devious in showing an anti-English bias sometimes in its choice of words!

Wordle 480 5/6

⬜🟨🟩⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Really?!!!

BOOK #123



Britain's Royal Families by Alison Weir
Date of Publication : 1989 (updated in 2008)
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 331 pp

I am a respecter of rather than an advocate for the British Royal Family. I would vote for their abolition in any referendum but I find the history and the vagaries of family and succession eminently fascinating.

Am I anti-royalist because Richard III was usurped and hacked to pieces at Bosworth Field in 1485? Dunno but the machinations of monarchy have always held a fascination for me and Weir (whose views on the War of the Roses makes me grind my teeth) does a remarkable job of genealogy of tracing the various Royal Houses from 770 to 2000.

Hi Paul, I saw that you expressed an interest in the Reading Through Time Group. We are a small group of LTers who love to read about history - both fiction and non-fiction. We have monthly themes and we are in the process of choosing the 2023 themes and hosts. We also set quarterly dated periods so people can read about a certain time over a three month period.

Here's a link - come on over and check us out:

https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/8853/Reading-Through-Time

>180 DeltaQueen50: Thank you for that, dear Judy. I do love history and will certainly come and look you chaps up!

Wordle 481 5/6

⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟨⬜⬜🟨🟨
⬜⬜🟨🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Laboured! Or as most of you would say "labored".

>182 PaulCranswick: Can't count me among those who spell the word that way, Paul.

I read with interest your review on The Crofter and the Laird particularly as the book was about Colonsay and written by a McPhee, a name that was in the majority on that Inner Hebridian island, at least in the past. The Inner Hebrides figure prominently in my family history.

ETA Good to see that Judy sent you the link to RTT.

>183 Familyhistorian: No, Meg, I wasn't referring to my Canadian cousins, who still write the King's English!

You would love that book given your antecedents, the details are extremely interesting.

>175 PaulCranswick: The Crofter and the Laird arrived yesterday from reliable Abe.com -
so good to have another McPhee to look forward to.

I loaned out my copy of Oranges - will look for another -
it's a nice calm one that's worth a 3rd reading.

>14 PaulCranswick: love those covers...apart from the Rebecca cover, which is just odd! I'm not sure it captures the story, but is certainly of its time.

>16 PaulCranswick: I must get my hands on Sovietistan!

I got the wordle today in 5 (grr) and didnt get yesterdays at all!! (Which was IONIC.)

>185 m.belljackson: I hadn't read McPhee before, Marianne, but I really like the clear and unfussy writing style.

>186 LovingLit: It isn't the best cover of Rebecca, Megan, for sure but it is the one I have which is what I am always faithful with. I got yesterday's Wordle but I must admit that the word choice did surprise me somewhat.

Wordle 482 4/6

⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Fair to Middleton.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/345144

Friday Additions

846. Orlando King by Isabel Colegate
847. Orlando at the Brazen Threshold by Isabel Colegate
848. Agatha by Isabel Colegate
849. Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner
850. Exteriors by Annie Ernaux
851. K. by Roberto Calasso
852. Damned If I Do by Percival Everett
853. Meridian by Alice Walker
854. Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy
855. A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale
856. The Morning Star by Karl Ove Knausgaard
857. Melmoth by Sarah Perry

Colegate is an author who intrigues me as to how she has been so constantly lauded but still remains stubbornly obscure. The three books are together in one volume of trilogy.
Lerner's book is one I have been on the look out for.
I will add anything I can find by Ernaux as she fascinates me.
I would have thought that Calasso was on the Nobel committee's mind and is unfortunate to have passed before being recognised. His type of intellectualism seems to be out of vogue these days.
Everett's books are finding a wider audience and I was surprised to see it yesterday.
I think almost every bookstore has The Color Purple but Walker's other work is rather shamefully overlooked.
McCarthy is surely the next American winner of the Nobel if he lives long enough.
Patrick Gale is an author I have made a habit to collect without reading!
Knausgaard is a fascinating character and I loved his Autumn.
Perry is a very promising author.

>189 SilverWolf28: Thank you Silver!

Wordle 483 3/6

⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I almost got it in 1! Very lucky to get it in 3.

More Additions:

858. The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark
859. Light of the Moon by Elizabeth Buchan
860. The First Kingdom : Britain in the Age of Arthur by Max Adams
861. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel
862. The Prime Ministers We Never Had by Steve Richards
863. Traitor in the Ice by KJ Maitland
864. My Turn to Make the Tea by Monica Dickens

Spark's is a replacement book to re-read.
Buchan looks like the sort of yarn-mistress I often appreciate.
Adams is an interestingly illuminating historian of the Dark Ages.
Mandel's book has been, as usual, well received.
Maitland ditto.
Dickens Junior Junior always entertains.

All the best on your way towards 1000😉
Have a wonderful weekend, Paul!

>194 SirThomas: It is likely Thomas that I will hit that number this year, Thomas!

Thanks as always for your friendship, dear fellow.

Happy Weekend, Paul. Looks like those books are treating you well. I may have to try Annie Ernaux. I had not heard of her before.

>196 msf59: Her work has brevity and sensitivity, Mark. Makes a welcome change from the verbose ramblings of some authors much in vogue these days.

>197 EveHawthorn: Eve Hawthorn has gotten spiky.

Wordle 484 5/6

⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟩⬜⬜🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Another day with too many options

BOOK #124



Jubilee Lines edited by Carol Ann Duffy
Date of Publication : 2012
Origin of Author : The Commonwealth of Nations
Pages : 134 pp

Carol Ann Duffy is the only lady to be Poet Laureate and she was, in my view, incomparably successful and inclusive in the role.

This was published to celebrate the 60th Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth back in 2012 and Duffy asked 60 poets to take one year each from her reign and write a poem about that year. Some of my favourite present poets are represented here including the current poet laureate Simon Armitage, Don Paterson, Duffy herself, Gillian Clarke and Liz Lochhead.

I preferred some of the "earlier" poems the most as I appreciate the feelings of nostalgia many of them invoke.

I should quote from 1966 my birth year which was the task of Liz Lochhead and the last verse of her effort which charts the coming feminism of Germaine Greer with:

"This photo's saying nothing, is black and white, opaque.
A frozen moment not a memory.
The boyfriend with the Pentax took it for the sake
Of taking it, a shot among many others, randomly,
To see how it would develop. Didn't imagine it'd make
An image so typical it'd capture time so perfectly.
How does she feel? Hey, girl, did it feel strange
To be waiting for the a-changing times to change?"

Lots of good stuff in here for poetry lovers and those who enjoy modern history too.

And this is mine for her 70th Jubilee and her final one.

Queen Mum (2022)

My mum left this world a year before the Queen
Though her majesty was eighteen when she came -
My mum wasn't looked after quite the same.

Had mum been alive she'd have shed a tear;
She loved the Queen and all she stood for.
I loved my mum more.

The monarch precipitated national mourning;
She was all we had known on the throne.
My mum died alone.

>201 PaulCranswick: Sad.

>202 quondame: Thank you, Susan.

Sums up the last couple of years for me. I am still bitter at not being able to be with my mum when she passed away and, though I admired the Queen as a person, I don't much care for the institution she represented with such dignity.

>201 PaulCranswick: I really like your poem, Paul. It reminded me of a thought I had when my younger son was born. His birthday was about the same time as that of Prince Harry. Prince Harry had fireworks to celebrate his birth. My son did not. Doesn't everyone's newborn child deserve fireworks?

I really feel meh about the monarchy so I avoided watching any news coverage of the death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth. My favorite memory of her, though, was once when she came to visit Washington, DC, and a woman on the street went up and hugged her (not knowing protocol of behavior with a queen). That was so spontaneous and wonderful. I saw nothing wrong with it. That was the end of my following any news about the Queen, although I know she was beloved ny many. The pomp of royal living is just not me. I did like Princess Diana, though, and was very sorry about the life she was forced to live with Camille being the apple of Prince Charles' eye and Diana's untimely death. Now I feel sorry for Prince Harry's wife, Meghan. I'm glad they both decided to leave royal life mostly behind.

I am also sorry that you were not able to be with your mum when she died.

Paul, thank you for sharing your wonderful poem with us!

>204 SqueakyChu: Thank you, Madeline.

I guess to be fair my poem was more about the one dearer to me. I am not a Royalist and don't much care for any of them. I don't like Meghan to be honest as she seems to be a manipulative social climber par excellence who ditched her "friends" along the way to attain her goals, but my main contempt is saved for Prince Andrew who represents everything wrong about the institution of monarchy.

>205 mdoris: Thanks Mary.

I had the opening verse in my head as I went to sleep last night after finishing the anthology. I put down the other two verses straight onto the thread to be honest.

Thanks for sharing your poem to your mom. I am so sorry that you were not allowed to be with her. She should not have had to be alone and you should not have been kept away. I pray you only have sweet memories.

>208 Kristelh: Bittersweet, I suppose, Kristel and that is because what stays with us longest is normally how things ended up. That cannot take away my so many rich memories but it did take away something from me that I can never recapture.

>201 PaulCranswick: >204 SqueakyChu: But our families have us. I don't even remember there being fireworks when Prince Harry was born.

>210 humouress: It was probably more the case of the current King being bemused and wondering - "is he mine?"

Another addition arrived this morning. A gift from my SIL.

865. A Winter War by Tim Leach

A coming voice in historical fiction, no doubt about it.

A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam,
And for a brief moment its glory and beauty belong to our world.
But then it flies on again,
And though we wish it could have stayed,
We feel so blessed to have seen it. (A gift from Hospice that I received in mail yesterday). I changed lucky to blessed.

“You don’t think you’ll live past it and you don’t really. The person you were is gone, but the half of you that’s still alive wakes up one day and takes over again.” Barbara Kingsolver. (Also came in Hospice Grief letter).
It’s been 1 year and 1 month since my husband’s passing.

>213 Kristelh: Thank you for that lovely post, Kristel.

((((Hugs)))) to you dear lady.

>182 PaulCranswick: ...since "Labour" is a political party, not an actual word...

;-P

I'm beginning the recovery period from my dear, sweet Valerie's visit to me. She came from Texas to get a tiny touch of cool weather before it's too late...and we were busy the whole four days.

Isabel Colegate's The Blackmailer has been on one or another wishlist of mine for aeons without ever making it to the cart, still less the checkout. That is really weird, but apparently typical.

I'll trip the light fantastic past the light verse review. I'd far, far prefer to read about KL's light-rail system.

Lovely week ahead, PC!

>215 richardderus: Hahaha I'll give you the last word, actual or otherwise!

The Blackmailer almost made the cut for me too, RD.

Good to see you having good familial moments, dear fellow.

Wordle 485 4/6

⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟨⬜🟩🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Today's word surprised me but after three I couldn't see how it could be anything else.

About nine hours to the Booker Prize announcement.

I will forecast that Shehan Karunatilaka will win the prize but my fingers are crossed for Claire Keegan.

BOOK #125



22/11/63 by Stephen King
Date of Publication : 2011
Origin of Author : USA
Pages : 740 pp

If you had the power to go back in time through a portal with a fix date what would you do?

I think that the convoluted and admittedly overly long consideration of this question by King would answer that it is complicated and that, in the final analysis the personal outweighs the historical, or does it?

My second try with Stephen King and it took me a while to really get into it but I did end up enjoying the ride back into the late 1950s and early 1960s. I will not wait a another decade, even through this portal to try another of his books!

>219 PaulCranswick: On 11/22/12 or as you would show the dates 22/11/12, a longtime friend wrote to me saying he was a third of the way through Stephen King's book and he couldn't put it down. He went on in detail about how much the book had him thinking. Writing to me on 11/22 seemed like one of those odd coincidences and I bit the bait. I read a number of King's books in my 20's but moved on from him and whenever I nibbled I did not get interested again. I got the book and jumped right in. 11.22.63 worked for me and I'll agree with your comment that it was convoluted and has an overly long consideration. But I still loved the book.

Maybe one has to be an American to get fully caught by this. I was in the 5th grade when Kennedy was assassinated and I can still remember things clearly. Most people who lived through that remember it strongly as well. In the book I was particularly caught up in all the business that happens in Texas concerning Oswald and the 'regular' people who appear in the story there.

I had hoped you would like it more.

eta: I got the book from the library the next day and dove right in. I even had a photo taken, which i will assure you is rare. https://pics.cdn.librarything.com//picsizes/f2/b7/f2b783c97eceaf6636734563251437...

>219 PaulCranswick: I am so glad you ended the read on a positive note, PC. It's my hands-down favorite of his books. The ending dance...well...*sniff*

I'll hope you can repeat the experience! His œuvre is, in my experience, pretty hit-or-miss for my reading tastes.

>220 RBeffa: Ron, I don't think you have to be American to get immersed in it. My enjoyment was qualified but there was certainly enjoyment - the bits with Jake and Sadie and earlier with the Dunnings were a better read than the surveillance of Oswald - but overall the book was well in credit.

>221 richardderus: The last scenes brought a sniffle, RD, for sure. Not high literature but very good fiction.

>218 PaulCranswick: One of the rare occasions when I predicted correctly!

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka wins the BOOKER prize



https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/prize-years/2022

>222 PaulCranswick: Jake and Sadie made the book.
Eta I probably didn't express myself properly regarding Oswald. I liked how King caught the feel of the era and the people there in Texas. The yellowcardman stuff was a distraction. I don't recall if I understood that part of the book.

>224 RBeffa: Indeed, Ron.

Wordle 486 4/6

⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟩🟨🟩
🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Back again to my default setting!

BOOK #126



The Blue Sky by Galsang Tschinag
Date of Publication : 1994
Origin of Author : Mongolia
Pages : 201 pp

How rich you can be when you have next to nothing.
You have the wind blowing across the steppe.
You have the clear, sharp, ice laden air
In the shadow of the Altai mountains.
You have the warmth of your yurt
And the fermented milk that greets and ends your day.
You have the company of the prosperously growing dunghill.
You have luxury of a freshwater stream.
Your riches are the sun and the moon.
Your comfort is a hard life well lived.

Recommended.

My only son turn 23 today. Seems like yesterday I was holding him aloft in Johor Specialist hospital and naming him Kyran Yousuf Adrian (poor fellow!).

Here is brooding in Amsterdam about a decade ago:

>228 PaulCranswick: What a great picture Paul!

>227 PaulCranswick: I just finished reading this yesterday, it was an interesting read. Didn't know it was a first in a trilogy - do you plan on reading the others?

>228 PaulCranswick: Hope he had a good birthday. October is a great month (bias as mine is coming up here in a week itself) and is feeling good about his early twenties and still celebrating in some way as I feel it's around that age that that tends to stop happening.

>228 PaulCranswick: Definitely one taken by his mother, Mary!

>227 PaulCranswick: I would read them, Kro, but don't see them available in the stores just at the moment.

There does seem to be a disproportionate number of birthdays in October!

Happy birthday Kyran!

October is the best month for birthdays :0)

>232 humouress: I would selfishly vote for September, Nina, but of course I would!

>233 PaulCranswick: You are sadly misguided, Paul.

>231 PaulCranswick: Yes, I suppose I haven't had a moment yet to check their availability myself.

Yes, there always is, I like to blame that on February being the month that lands 9-months prior. Ha!

>235 WhiteRaven.17: Hahaha, I thought you might say that, Nina!

>236 PaulCranswick: I did have a look and the second book is available in hardback at about $30 on Book Depo. Not yet I think!

There isn't much else to do in February, I guess. :D

Happy birthday to Kyran!

>236 PaulCranswick: You can celebrate a bithday in February :-)
And I think October births are not to blame to February, January more likely.

happy birthday to Kyran :)

My wife was born in February and died in October, so there is some link (at least for me)

>237 FAMeulstee: Early Feb takes us to late October, Anita. Just about OK. A Valentine's Day conception running its full course makes 7 November due date.

>238 paulstalder: That is a sweet-sad remembrance dear fellow. ((((HUGS))))

Happy birthday to Kyran!
>233 PaulCranswick: I am totally with you, Paul.

Happy Birthday, Kyran. I am glad you enjoyed the King book. I completely agree about it's length. That has happened with many of his books but once again his ideas and storytelling chops are first rate. I just added The Blue Sky, after seeing it on Lisa's thread. Sounds like something I would like.

>240 AbbyVaughn: With $3000 a month how would I buy all these books, pay for three houses, keep my dear lady happy in the UK, put my son through university in London, get Belle ready for medical school, bankroll my eldest girl, make sure dear Erni has enough groceries and coffee to keep all of us happy?

>241 SirThomas: Thanks Thomas. Good man and wise too!

>242 msf59: Thank you buddy.

I am sure that he could have shaved 20% of the book and it would have been even better. Great storyteller but, boy, he really needs an editor that can persuade him that less is more.

Twenty-three...wow. That's a great birthday, PC, and you named him well.

Cheers to Kyran!

>244 PaulCranswick: Pretty much all of his books fall into that trap... 😀

>241 SirThomas: *shakes head sadly*

>228 PaulCranswick: Happy birthday!!! Handsome fellow must take after you Paul!

>245 richardderus: Thank you, RD, very nice of you to say so.

>246 drneutron: I also have The Stand and Under the Dome on the shelves which seem unwieldy tomes too.

>247 humouress: *Smiles, knowingly!*

>248 hredwards: Funny Harold because Yasmyne used to tease him that he was adopted (he isn't) because of his singular look!

Happy birthday Kyran! Adding my vote for October as the best birthday month :)

>251 curioussquared: I really ought to do the stats, Natalie and see which month would be the most identifiable with group members.

Wordle 487 4/6

⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Satisfied from Kuala Lumpur.

>228 PaulCranswick: Happy Birthday wishes to Kyran, and as good as he looks brooding, I do hope he feels less need these days. 13 is brutal.

>254 quondame: I am happy to report that Kyran is in a great place at the moment. He loves his courses, he has quite famous historians and international relations experts tutoring him in London (I was impressed that he knows Orlando Figes for example an author I have several books of on my shelves), he is very much in love and the presence of his mum ensures him a smooth and regular supply of cash!

BOOK #127



The Punch by Noah Hawley
Date of Publication : 2008
Origin of Author : USA
Pages : 245 pp

I don't honestly recall buying this book but I started War by J.M.G. Le Clezio and realised I was not in the mood for a plot-less dissection of human nature - I wanted a story but I needed something to replace that book in my TIOLI challenge. Saw this hiding on the shelf above Winifred Holtby and thought, "what the heck?"

Sometimes spontaneous decisions pay-off but as this book tells us sometimes they backfire. I loved this novel about a dysfunctional family coming together for the memorial of the late father. I thought the train-wreck of a mother was perfectly drawn, horrifying and believable at the same time.

Perceptive and with tremendous characterisation and plotting it managed to be profound in its contrivance. I have read some much more celebrated stuff recently but I enjoyed few more than this.

Very much recommended.

I have done something that I have not really done before in that I have taken the week off from work this week for what is ostensibly a reading week!

Productive so far in that I am closing on having read 7 books in 5 days and my reading mojo is flying high!

I am completely unstressed and Erni is providing good food and sufficient coffee!

I will return to work on Tuesday and I expect to have completed my TIOLI sweep by 24th October (a week to spare).

Belated happy birthday to Kyran! Sounds like you have are having a lovely week, and hope that continues through the weekend :)

>257 PaulCranswick: That...is, is...unprecedented, for sure, but also a huge surprise.

I'm very glad you've chosen to do this! Bravo for your new behavior, PC, and long may it reign.

>257 PaulCranswick: Sounds fabulous! A week just for reading...although I did a bit of reading while at the beach last week, but my reading does not hold a candle to yours. :D

...and unlimited coffee! Bliss!!

>258 bell7: I am in a good place just at the moment, Mary. We are going to have some big fights and challenges in the coming months so I thought this was a good time to rest up and enjoy myself.

>259 richardderus: Unprecedented for me, RD, for sure. Only checked my emails a coupla times too. I concocted a rather aggressive move against one of our subcontractors to land today and I was able to respond to my messages; "sorry I am on leave until Tuesday and do not have access to the company server in the meanwhile" (true as far as it goes but it doesn't stop me sending mails).

There was a without prejudice exchange of correspondence between myself and the Managing Director of our facade contractor. It centres on the fact that they have a judgement against us but some of the amounts have since been paid to them. My mails offered to pay them the balance unpaid and close the matter - they wanted more than that but acknowledged some of the monies as paid. We overrode the "without prejudice" rules by pointing out it affords no protection if it is being used to cover up an impropriety - that impropriety being that their official position does not acknowledge the subsequent payments (an attempted fraud).

>260 SqueakyChu: The coffee is indeed bliss, Madeline. Speaking of which...............

I am buzzing on the TIOLI this month by the way.

>257 PaulCranswick: That sounds perfectly delightful.

>263 ArlieS: Just finished another coffee and settling in for a few hours solid reading before sleep. I got up at 8.30 this morning after 7 hours of sleep. I haven't done that in ages, Arlie.

>262 PaulCranswick: I am buzzing on the TIOLI this month by the way.

I didn't miss that! Kudos to you!!

>265 SqueakyChu: I have really enjoyed the challenges this year (and trying to come up with some myself) and two sweeps in a calendar year will be a first for me, Madeline. I cannot keep up the relentless pace of Stasia, Susan, Suz and Anita who so regularly clear the board and read more books than there are days but in spurts I can cope!

>261 PaulCranswick: (an attempted fraud) which can never be covered by "without prejudice" agreements, can it? Nothing can legally and properly prevent conspiracy to break the law from being outed, surely?

And it would be the definition of conspiracy, I'd think, since their internal processes are never down to the actions of one individual....

I took some reading days last week. I was sick with what turned out to be a cold. (I thought I had finally caught COVID due to my close contact with students in the last 2 months, but 2 negative tests said NO.) I took three days off from work, and got three books read on those days. It was a very nice time to be at home in the quiet. I didn't have unlimited coffee, but I did have enough coffee to satisfy.

>267 richardderus: Certainly was my view of it RD and the Judge agreed with me too!

>268 benitastrnad: Lovely to see that you continue to avoid the virus, Benita and long may that continue! I have noted this year that you have been adding books to your library at a faster rate than me and am impressed - all acquisitions?.

So happy that your enjoying some reading mojo. Happy Birthday to your son.

Sounds like some difficult times ahead.

>269 PaulCranswick:
I use LT as a stash for books I want to read. The books I have acquired are listed as "Your Library." Anything that is a title I want to read or is owned by a library I can use is listed as "wishlist" and "Your Library." The bottom line, is that if it has wishlist in it - I don't own it. So in the last month I have added 16 books to my collection because I went book shopping to fill in some series titles that I am reading. In September I added 3 books to my shelves. All the other titles are books that I might want to read. I enter in what library they are in - if there is one, so that before I make a purchase I check to see if the book is available from a library.

I do not have 13,000 + books in my house. I also don't have books that I have read. Once I read them - out the door they go to other happy homes. Out of the 14,000 titles listed in my account I have read approximately 1,600 of them. I probably have that many on my shelves or in boxes in my house and the rest are in libraries or just books I want to read.

For example, the last book I read Three Rings: A Tale of Exile, Narrative, and Fate by Daniel Mendelsohn is a book I got through our Inter-Library Loan program and it came from the Iowa State University Libraries. I never owned it, but I entered it into my database on 9/30/22. I am guessing that is the day I requested it from ILL.

I added lots of books in the last month, because I went back and added the titles for series that I had previously only listed one title. That caused my database to grow by several hundred titles.

Basically, my LT list is a database of all the books I want to read, with a paltry 1,600 titles that I have managed to read.

I think I have read 86 books so far this year. 22 of them were books I owned. The rest came from various libraries. If you want to know what I have read - I put enter those as "read but unowned." And just in case anything happens to LT, I also keep a written book diary of what I have read that I started back in 2004.

I really need to do what Mark is doing and read from my own shelves before I go to a library - but free books tempt me so!

Look at you taking a week off! Enjoy your reading week.

>270 Kristelh: I need to cash in while I have it, Kristel!

>271 benitastrnad: Thanks for that explanation, Benita. I am more of a magpie than you certainly and don't give them all away although I do give a fair few of them up. Of my near 14,000, I have about 10,000 give or take in the house, I have given away around 2,500 and the rest are split between books I want to buy or were recommended to me (less than 1,000 I guess) and books I read earlier but don't own anymore (usually those I read at a much younger age) plus perhaps 200 or so that are still with me but in the UK.

>272 benitastrnad: I have close to three decades of reading on my shelves that either I haven't read yet or want to reread. Since I keep adding I will do well to start to run that number down. I would use my library (despite the books I own) if I had one near me.

>273 Familyhistorian: Self indulgence for once, I felt was merited, Meg. I am making the most of it!

>257 PaulCranswick: Very well done Paul, that sounds like a superlative idea!!!! Enjoy your reading......

>276 mdoris: So far I am indeed enjoying it, Mary. A little bit disturbed by the office this morning but manageable.

Wordle 488 3/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Not really sure where I pulled that one from but I was convinced even as I was typing it!

>257 PaulCranswick: What a great plan for your week. I heartily recommend it!

>279 quondame: It could become a habit, Susan, if I'm not careful!

Tomorrow will be busy (Friday) so I moved my book day to Thursday and took Belle to lunch. Afterwards with her looking on disapprovingly I added:

866. The Muse by Jessie Burton
867. Free : Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi
868. The North Ship by Philip Larkin
869. Torch by Lin Anderson
870. Deadly Code by Lin Anderson

Jessie Burton is one of the new generation of British authors I want to get to. The Ypi book (do we know how to pronounce that surname?) is very well lauded. Larkin's book gives me a clean sweep of his four published collections. And books 2 and 3 in the Lin Anderson Rhona MacLeod series which has been very strongly recommended to me by a friend (I have number one on the way via Book Depo).

>257 PaulCranswick: Enjoy your reading week, Paul.

>282 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita. I am sure that I will do. xx

>281 PaulCranswick: I've pronounced "Ypi" like "E.P." as in the old record format, and no one's corrected me...so there's that.

Jessie Burton wrote The Miniaturist, which I got on Kindlesale some time back and made it 3% into before realizing it was the wrong time to try it...covid...and then I forgot about it until you mentioned her.

Hmmm

>284 richardderus: That makes sense, RD, I will go with that!

I have The Miniaturist too on the shelves and must get to that one soon.

Wordle 489 4/6

⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I am in good-ish form at the moment.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/345259

Thank you, Silver.

Just popping in to wish you a wonderful weekend with a lot of good books, Paul.

>289 SirThomas: Thank you, Thomas

New thread time, too, I think.

>257 PaulCranswick: Good for you Paul, a well deserved week off. I've had a short working week myself which was very nice.

Belated felicitations to Kyran too.

>281 PaulCranswick: I have the Lea Ypi near the top of the TBR mountain Paul.

>291 Caroline_McElwee: Thank you, Caroline. I have enjoyed this last week but I must admit that I have been persuaded to come in to the office this Saturday morning to check over some agreements with Sub-contractors. Boo!