Helenliz escapes to another world: pt 4

I'm Helen and I'm head of quality in a small firm that makes inhaler devices for delivery of drugs to the lung. It's a small team and I love my job. (Usually)

In 2022 I had a little bit of a refinement of categories, and most of those return. So that's the theme this year? I re-read Mort recently, and it reminded me of how much I enjoy the Discworld series. I'm not a huge fan of fantasy, but this I adore. Pratchett holds up a mirror to the world, but it doesn't necessarily show us as we appear, but as we are. In which case I am using titles from the Discworld series for my theme and cover pictures for the category images.

Currently Reading


Currently reading
Erasure
Death on Gokumon Island (audio)

The List

DNF
The Bone Clocks, David Mitchell. Too big for a sensible bed book & just too woo-woo for me.
Metropolis Thea von Harbou. Really very odd and needed too much concentration for listening in the car. Decided to call it quits early.
Mexican Gothic. Gave it 100 pages and a week. Just had no desire to pick it up. Lots of potent, no substance. Just don't care what happens to any of them.

January
1. The Talented Mr Ripley, Patricia Highsmith, ***1/2
2. Rebuilding Coventry, Sue Townsend, ***
3. My Darling from the Lions, Rachel Long, ***
4. Light Perpetual, Francis Spufford, ***
5. The Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliff, ***
6. Ghost Wall, Sarah Moss, ****
7. Run, Ann Patchett, ***
8. Dearly, Margaret Atwood, ****
9. Der WackelZahn, David Mills & Julia Crouth, ***

February
10. The Secret Seven, Enid Blyton, ***
11. Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka, ***
12. The Red house Mystery, AA Milne, ***
13. Flowers for the Judge, Margery Allingham, ****
14. Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens, ***
15. Chivalry, Neil Gaiman, *****

March
16. Kiss of the Spider Woman, Manuel Puig, ***
17. Five on a Treasure Island, Enid Blyton, ***
18. Two Stories, Sally Rooney, ***
19. The Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare, ***
20. The Amber Fury, Natalie Haynes, ***
21. The Lantern Bearers, Rosemary Sutcliff, ***
22. Fatal Isles Maria Adolfsson, ***
23. My Pen is the Wing of a Bird, various, ***

April
24. The Case of the Late Pig, Margery Allingham, ***
25. The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett, ***
26. Surfacing, Margaret Atwood, ***
27. The Judge's House, Bram Stoker, ****
28. Cotillion, Georgette Heyer, ****
29. Crook O'Lune, ECR Lorac, ****
30. The Map of Salt and Stars, Zeyn Joukhadar, ***
31. The Cat Who Saved Books, Sosuke Natsukawa, ***

May
32. Cocktail Time, PG Wodehouse, ***
33. Stone Blind, Natalie Haynes, ***
34. Post after Post-Mortem, ECR Lorac, ****
35. The Lantern Men, Elly Griffiths, ***
36. The Listerdale Mystery, Agatha Christie, ****
37. The Fatal Rivalry, George Goodwin, ***
38. East Anglia in Verse, various, ****
39. Wombling Free Elisabeth Beresford, ***
40. Of Love and Other Demons, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, ***
41. Agatha Christie: Twelve Radio Mysteries, Agatha Christie, ***
42. The Toll-Gate, Georgette Heyer, ****

June
43. Dancing Girls, Margaret Atwood, ***
44. Blood & Sugar, Laura Shepherd-Robinson, ***
45. Service with a Smile, PG Wodehouse, ***
46. Betjeman's Britain, John Betjeman, ***
47. Dancers in Mourning, Margery Allingham, ****
48. A Short History of Coffee, Gordon Kerr, ****
49. Here Comes the Sun - Nicole Dennis-Benn, ***
50. Love and Other Thought Experiments, Sophie Ward, ***

July
51. The Decameron Volume 1, Giovanni Boccaccio, ***
52. A Deadly Affair, Agatha Christie, ***
53. Midnight at Malabar House, Vaseem Khan, ***
54. Caleb's Crossing Geraldine Brooks, ***
55. The Victorian Chaise-Longue, Marghanita Laski, ****
56. Foster, Claire Keegan, *****
57. Helgoland, Carlo Rovelli, ***

August
58. The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle, Kirsty Wark, ***
59. The Landlady, Roald Dahl, ***
60. The Visitor, Roald Dahl, **.5
61. The Decameron Volume 2, Giovanni Boccaccio, ***
62. Poirot, The Greatest Detective in the World, ***
63. This Charming Man, CK McDonnell, ***
64. Fashion in Shrouds, Margery Allingham, ***
65. The Guest, Emma Cline, **
66. Everyone on my Family had Killed Someone, Benjamin Stevenson, ***

September
67. Before the Fact, Francis Iles, ****
68. Bath Tangle, Georgette Heyer, ****
69. Sure and Certain Death Barbara Nadel, ***
70. The Color of Air, Gail Tsukiyama, **
71. Bog, Fen & Swamp, Annie Proulx, ***
72. Caste Isabel Wilkerson, ****
73. Sprig Muslin Georgette Heyer *****
74. Electra Euripides, ***
75. Orestes, Eurpides, ***

October
76. Golden Hill, Francis Spufford, ****
77. Long Live Queens, Emma Marriott, ***
78. The selfless Act of Breathing, JJ Bola, ****
79. The Girls of Slender Means, Muriel Spark, ****
80. Mr Campion and Others, Margery Allingham, ***
81. Waiting for the Last Bus, Richard Holloway, ***
82. Babes in the Wood, Mark Stay, ***

November
83. Baggage, Alan Cumming, ***
84. Tiger Lily, Jodi Lynn Anderson, ***
85. If Cats disappeared from the World, Genki Kawamura, **
86. Raven Black, Ann Cleeves, ***
87. April Lady, Georgette Heyer, ***
88. Great Goddesses, Nikita Gill, ***
89. Fortunately the Milk, Neil Gaiman, ****

December
90. Marple, various, ****
91. Electra Sophocles, ***
92. Monstrous regiment, Terry Pratchett, ***
93. A MOnster Calls, Patrick Ness, *****
94. The Art of Dying, Ambrose Parry, ***
95. Snow Puppies, Barbara Bazaldua, ***
96. Erasure, Percival Everett, ***
97. What you need to be warm, Neil Gaiman, ***
98. Last Night at the Lobster, Stewart O'Nan, *****

Category 1: Women authors
Book Wyrd Sisters


The Wyrd Sisters are the witches of Lancre and are a trio that fall out more than they get on. As three very different women, this is where I will store my books by women authors.

1. The Talented Mr Ripley, Patricia Highsmith
2. Rebuilding Coventry, Sue Townsend
3. My Darling from the Lions, Rachel Long
4. The Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliff
5. Ghost Wall, Sarah Moss
6. Run, Ann Patchett
7. Dearly, Margaret Atwood
8. The Secret Seven, Enid Blyton
9. Flowers for the Judge, Margery Allingham
10. Five on a Treasure Island, Enid Blyton
11. Two Stories, Sally Rooney
12. The Amber Fury, Natalie Haynes
13. The Lantern Bearers, Rosemary Sutcliff
14. Fatal Isles Maria Adolfsson
15. My Pen is the Wing of a Bird, various
16. The Case of the Late Pig, Margery Allingham
17. Surfacing, Margaret Atwood,
18. Cotillion, Georgette Heyer
19. Crook O'Lune, ECR Lorac
20. The Map of Salt and Stars, Zeyn Joukhadar,
21. Stone Blind, Natalie Haynes
22. Post after Post-Mortem, ECR Lorac
23. The Lantern Men, Elly Griffiths
24. The Listerdale Mystery, Agatha Christie
25. Wombling Free Elisabeth Beresford
26. Agatha Christie: Twelve Radio Mysteries, Agatha Christie
27. The Toll-Gate, Georgette Heyer
28. Dancing Girls, Margaret Atwood
29. Blood & Sugar, Laura Shepherd-Robinson
30. Dancing Girls, Margaret Atwood
31. Here Comes the Sun - Nicole Dennis-Benn,
32. Love and Other Thought Experiments, Sophie Ward,
33. A Deadly Affair, Agatha Christie
34. Caleb's Crossing Geraldine Brooks
35. The Victorian Chaise-Longue, Marghanita Laski
36. Foster, Claire Keegan
37. The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle, Kirsty Wark
38. Fashion in Shrouds, Margery Allingham,
39. The Guest, Emma Cline
40. Bath Tangle, Georgette Heyer,
41. Sure and Certain Death Barbara Nadel,
42. The Color of Air, Gail Tsukiyama,
43. Bog, Fen & Swamp, Annie Proulx,
44. Caste Isabel Wilkerson,
45. Sprig Muslin Georgette Heyer
46. Long Live Queens, Emma Marriott,
47. The Girls of Slender Means, Muriel Spark,
48. Mr Campion and Others, Margery Allingham
49. Tiger Lily, Jodi Lynn Anderson
50. Raven Black, Ann Cleeves
51. April Lady, Georgette Heyer,
52. Great Goddesses, Nikita Gill,
53. Marple, various,

Category 2: New authors
Book: Mort


Mort was my first Discworld book, given to me for my 16th birthday. And I just loved it. As my first, this will be where I will put those authors I have not read before.

1. The Talented Mr Ripley, Patricia Highsmith
2. My Darling from the Lions, Rachel Long
3. Light Perpetual, Francis Spufford
4. Der WackelZahn, David Mills & Julia Crouth
5. Kiss of the Spider Woman, Manuel Puig
6. Two Stories, Sally Rooney
7. Fatal Isles Maria Adolfsson
8. My Pen is the Wing of a Bird, various
9. The Map of Salt and Stars, Zeyn Joukhadar
10. The Cat Who Saved Books, Sosuke Natsukawa
11. The Fatal Rivalry, George Goodwin
12. Blood & Sugar, Laura Shepherd-Robinson
13. A Short History of Coffee, Gordon Kerr
14. Here Comes the Sun - Nicole Dennis-Benn,
15. Love and Other Thought Experiments, Sophie Ward,
16. The Decameron Volume 1, Giovanni Boccaccio
17. Midnight at Malabar House, Vaseem Khan
18. The Victorian Chaise-Longue, Marghanita Laski
19. Helgoland, Carlo Rovelli
20. The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle, Kirsty Wark
21. Poirot, The Greatest Detective in the World
22. The Guest, Emma Cline
23. Before the Fact, Francis Iles,
24. Sure and Certain Death Barbara Nadel,
25. The Color of Air, Gail Tsukiyama,
26. Bog, Fen & Swamp, Annie Proulx,
27. Caste Isabel Wilkerson,
28. Long Live Queens, Emma Marriott,
29. The selfless Act of Breathing, JJ Bola
30. Waiting for the Last Bus, Richard Holloway,
31. Tiger Lily, Jodi Lynn Anderson
32. If Cats disappeared from the World, Genki Kawamura
33. Great Goddesses, Nikita Gill,
34. Electra Sophocles,
35. A MOnster Calls, Patrick Ness
36. Last Night at the Lobster, Stewart O'Nan

Category 3: Translations & German
Book: Witches Abroad


In this the three witches leave their little kingdom and venture to foreign parts, with exactly the consequences you'd expect of the inexperienced traveler abroad. In this I will put books in two categories, those I read in English that have been translated and books in German. I've been trying to learn German to show that you can teach an old dog new tricks and so reading in German is a struggle at present.

1. Der WackelZahn, David Mills & Julia Crouth
2. Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
3. Kiss of the Spider Woman, Manuel Puig
4. Fatal Isles Maria Adolfsson
5. My Pen is the Wing of a Bird, various
6. The Cat Who Saved Books, Sosuke Natsukawa
7. Of Love and Other Demons, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
8. The Decameron Volume 1, Giovanni Boccaccio
9. The Decameron Volume 2, Giovanni Boccaccio
10. Electra Euripides,
11. Orestes, Eurpides,
12. If Cats disappeared from the World, Genki Kawamura
13. Electra Sophocles,

Category 4: Book Subscriptions
Book: Going Postal


In Going Postal, Moist von Lipwig escapes death on the condition that he sorts out the Disc's postal service. He'd be responsible for delivering my subscriptions, so this is where I will put those books that arrive in the post.

1. My Pen is the Wing of a Bird, various
2. The Map of Salt and Stars, Zeyn Joukhadar
3. Here Comes the Sun - Nicole Dennis-Benn
4. Midnight at Malabar House, Vaseem Khan
5. The Color of Air, Gail Tsukiyama,
6. The selfless Act of Breathing, JJ Bola,

Category 5: Heyer series read
Book: Lords and Ladies


I'm not sure that the events in this book quite match Heyer's usual romance format. As her books usually involve a Lord meeting a Lady and various trials ensuing before the happy ending, maybe there is a commonality. This is where I will be putting my Heyer series reads.

Finished
✔️ The Black Moth (g) 1921 Finished 01Jan18, ****1/2
✔️ Powder and Patch (g) 1923 Finished 05Feb18, ***
✔️ The Great Roxhythe (h) 1923 Finished 30Apr18, ***
✔️ Simon the Coldheart (h) 1925 Finished 7May18, ***
✔️ These Old Shades (g) 1926 Finished 31May18, ***
✔️ The Masqueraders (g) 1928 Finished 17Jul18, ****
✔️ Beauvallet (h) 1929 Finished 08Sep2018, ****
✔️ The Conqueror (h) 1931 Finished 25Dec2018, ****
✔️ Devil's Cub (g) 1932 Finished 31Jan2019, ****
✔️ The Convenient Marriage (g) 1934 Finished 12Mar2019, ****1/2
✔️ Regency Buck (r) 1935 Finished 08May2019, ****1/2
✔️ The Talisman Ring, Georgette Heyer Finished 10Aug2019, ***
✔️ An Infamous Army, Georgette Heyer Finished 13Oct2019, ***
✔️ Royal Escape, Georgette Heyer Finished 14Feb2020, ***
✔️ The Spanish Bride, Georgette Heyer Finished 28Mar2020, ***
✔️ The Corinthian, Georgette Heyer Finished 17Jun2020, ****
✔️ Faro's Daughter, Georgette Heyer Finished 25Aug2020, ****
✔️ Friday's Child, Georgette Heyer Finished 10Oct2020, ****
✔️ The Reluctant Widow, (r) Finished 24Jan2021, ****
✔️ The Foundling (r) 1948 Finished 21Apr2021, ****
✔️ Arabella, (r) 1949 ****1/2 Finished 19Jun2021
✔️ The Grand Sophy, (r) 1950, **** Finished 25Jul2021
✔️ The Quiet Gentleman (r) 1951, ****1/2 Finished 24Sep2021
✔️ Cotillion (r) 1953, **** Finished 15Apr2023
✔️ The Toll Gate (r) 1954, **** Finished 31May2023
✔️ Bath Tangle (r) 1955, Georgette Heyer, **** Finished 10Sep2023
✔️ Sprig Muslin (r) 1956, ****, Finished 23Sep2023
✔️ April Lady (r) 1957, *** Finished 17Nov2023

To be Read
Sylvester, or The Wicked Uncle (r) 1957
Venetia (r) 1958
The Unknown Ajax (r) 1959
Pistols for Two (short stories) 1960
A Civil Contract (r) 1961
The Nonesuch (r) 1962
False Colours (r) 1963
Frederica (r) 1965
Black Sheep (r) 1966
Cousin Kate (r) 1968
Charity Girl (r) 1970
Lady of Quality (r) 1972
My Lord John (h) 1975

Category 6: Non-fiction
Book: The Truth


As non-fiction readers we like to imagine we are reading the truth. So this is where my non-fiction will be stored.

1. The Fatal Rivalry, George Goodwin
2. A Short History of Coffee, Gordon Kerr
3. Helgoland, Carlo Rovelli,
4. Poirot, The Greatest Detective in the World,
5. Caste, Isabel Wilkerson
6. Long Live Queens, Emma Marriott,
7. Waiting for the Last Bus, Richard Holloway,
8. Baggage, Alan Cumming

Category 7: Audio
Book: Soul Music


I don't listen to a lot of music, but I do listen to audiobooks in the car. Seeing music and audiobooks engage the ears, this is where I will put my audiobooks.

1. Rebuilding Coventry, Sue Townsend
2. My Darling from the Lions, Rachel Long
3. Run, Ann Patchett
4. Dearly, Margaret Atwood
5. The Secret Seven, Enid Blyton
6. Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
7. Chivalry, Neil Gaiman
8. Five on a Treasure Island, Enid Blyton
9. Two Stories, Sally Rooney
10. The Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare
11. Fatal Isles Maria Adolfsson
12. Surfacing, Margaret Atwood,
13. The Judge's House, Bram Stoker,
14. The Cat Who Saved Books, Sosuke Natsukawa
15. Cocktail Time, PG Wodehouse
16. The Listerdale Mystery, Agatha Christie
17. Agatha Christie: Twelve Radio Mysteries, Agatha Christie
18. Dancing Girls, Margaret Atwood
19. Service with a Smile, PG Wodehouse
20. Betjeman's Britain, John Betjeman
21. A Short History of Coffee, Gordon Kerr
22. A Deadly Affair, Agatha Christie
23. The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle, Kirsty Wark
24. The Landlady, Roald Dahl,
25. The Visitor, Roald Dahl,
26. Poirot, The Greatest Detective in the World,
27. The Guest, Emma Cline
28. Bog, Fen & Swamp, Annie Proulx,
29. Long Live Queens, Emma Marriott,
30. The Girls of Slender Means, Muriel Spark
31. Waiting for the Last Bus, Richard Holloway,
32. Baggage, Alan Cumming
33. If Cats disappeared from the World, Genki Kawamura
34. Great Goddesses, Nikita Gill
35. Fortunately the Milk, Neil Gaiman
36. The Art of Dying, Ambrose Parry

Category 8: Reading years and lists
Book: Interesting Times


In 2022 I challenged myself to read a book published each year I've been alive. I am going to extend that backwards towards the start of the century, aiming to reach 1950 this year. This reading through time should be interesting, hence the selection of the title.

1351: The Decameron Volume 1, Giovanni Boccaccio
1891. The Judge's House, Bram Stoker,
1922: Flowers for the Judge, Margery Allingham
1934: The Listerdale Mystery, Agatha Christie
1936: Post after Post-Mortem, ECR Lorac
1937: The Case of the Late Pig, Margery Allingham
1939: Mr Campion and Others, Margery Allingham,
1942. Five on a Treasure Island, Enid Blyton
1949: The Secret Seven, Enid Blyton
1953: Cotillion, Georgette Heyer, The Victorian Chaise-Longue, Marghanita Laski
1953: Crook O'Lune, ECR Lorac
1954: The Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliff, The Toll-Gate, Georgette Heyer
1955: The Talented Mr Ripley, Patricia Highsmith,
1956: Sprig Muslin Georgette Heyer
1959: The Lantern Bearers, Rosemary Sutcliff
1961: Service with a Smile, PG Wodehouse
1963: The Girls of Slender Means, Muriel Spark

Category 9: CATs
Book: Small Gods


The Egyptians worshiped cats: I think they remember this. Most cats behave as if they are gods, albeit little ones. This is where I will put my CAT reads. I expect to participate in RandomCAT & AlphaKit, and will see what other CATs are selected.

Hosting:
RandomCAT in April
SeriesCAT Trilogies in May
KiddyCAT Siblings in October

January
AlphaKIT: I & S: Rebuilding Coventry, Sue Townsend; Light Perpetual, Francis Spufford, The Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliff, Ghost Wall, Sarah Moss
Classic CAT - Adventure: The Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliff
Random CAT - Hidden gems: The Talented Mr Ripley, Patricia Highsmith
Series CAT - new to you series: The Talented Mr Ripley, Patricia Highsmith,
KiddyCat - Picture books: Der WackelZahn, David Mills & Julia Crouth

February
KiddyCat - Mysteries: The Secret Seven, Enid Blyton
AlphaKIT - J & F: Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka, Flowers for the Judge, Margery Allingham
Classic CAT - over 100 years old. Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
Random CAT - Second or Two: Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens

March
Random CAT - Water: Five on a Treasure Island, Enid Blyton, Fatal Isles Maria Adolfsson
AlphaKIT - G & A: The Amber Fury, Natalie Hayne, Fatal Isles Maria Adolfsson
Classic CAT - made into a film: The Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare
Series CAT - YA : Five on a Treasure Island, Enid Blyton
KiddyCat - Historical fiction: The Lantern Bearers, Rosemary Sutcliff

April
RandomKIT - 7 ages of (wo)man: The Case of the Late Pig, Margery Allingham, The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett, The Judge's House, Bram Stoker, The Cat Who Saved Books, Sosuke Natsukawa
AlphaKIT - D & W The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett, The Cat Who Saved Books, Sosuke Natsukawa,
KiddyCAT - fantasy for middle grade The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett, The Cat Who Saved Books, Sosuke Natsukawa,
Series CAT - can be read out of order Crook O'Lune, ECR Lorac
ClassiCAT - detective/mysteries: The Case of the Late Pig, Margery Allingham, Crook O'Lune, ECR Lorac

May
RandomKIT - Royal names: The Listerdale Mystery, Agatha Christie, The Fatal Rivalry, George Goodwin, The Toll-Gate, Georgette Heyer
KiddyCAT - classics Wombling Free Elisabeth Beresford
SeriesCAT - trilogies
AlphaCAT: U & C: Cocktail Time, PG Wodehouse, Post after Post-Mortem, ECR Lorac, The Listerdale Mystery, Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie: Twelve Radio Mysteries, Agatha Christie
ClassiCAT: Children's classics Wombling Free Elisabeth Beresford

June
RandomKit - Walls Dancers in Mourning, Margery Allingham
AlphaCAT - B & K. Blood & Sugar, Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Betjeman's Britain, John Betjeman, A Short History of Coffee, Gordon Kerr,
ClassiCAT: Humour Service with a Smile, PG Wodehouse

July
RandomKit: Muppets Midnight at Malabar House, Vaseem Khan, Helgoland, Carlo Rovelli,
ClassiCAT: Always wanted to read The Decameron, Giovanni Boccaccio

Category 10: BingoDog
Book: The Colour of Magic


In the Colour of Magic, Twoflower, the disc's first tourist, arrived in Ankh Morpork. He is accompanied by his luggage, which is of sapient pearwood, and has the property of following its owner anywhere and everywhere. In this is reminds me a lot of a dog, following it's owner hither and thither. Hence I will put my BingoDog reads in here.

✔️1: Features music or a musician Light Perpetual, Francis Spufford,
✔️2: Features or is set in an Inn or Hotel Sprig Muslin Georgette Heyer
✔️3: Features a member of the cat family (as big a cat as you like) The Cat Who Saved Books, Sosuke Natsukawa
✔️4: The next book in a series you've started Flowers for the Judge, Margery Allingham
✔️5: A book by an author that shares your sign of the zodiac Rebuilding Coventry, Sue Townsend
✔️6: A memoir Waiting for the Last Bus, Richard Holloway,
✔️7: A bestselling book from 20 years ago Monstrous regiment, Terry Pratchett
✔️8: Book with a plant in the title or on the cover Surfacing, Margaret Atwood,
✔️9: A book with switched or stolen identities The Talented Mr Ripley Patricia Highsmith
✔️10: A book that taught you something The Fatal Rivalry, George Goodwin
✔️11: A book with a book on the cover The Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare
✔️12: Features something art or craft related Fashion in Shrouds, Margery Allingham,
✔️13: Read a CAT A MOnster Calls, Patrick Ness
✔️14: A book with a small town or rural setting Ghost Wall, Sarah Moss
✔️15: A book on a STEM topic (Science Technology, Engineering or Maths) Helgoland, Carlo Rovelli
✔️16: A book with an LT rating of 4 or more Chivalry, Neil Gaiman,
✔️17: A book by a local or regional author East Anglia in Verse, various
✔️18: A book involving an accident The Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliff
✔️19: A book featuring a journalist or about journalism This Charming Man, CK McDonnell,
✔️20: A popular author's first book The Amber Fury, Natalie Haynes
✔️21: A book on a topic you don't usually read The Judge's House, Bram Stoker,
✔️22: A book with a number or quantity in the title The Secret Seven, Enid Blyton
✔️23: A book by an author under 30 Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
✔️24: A book set on a plane, train or ship Five on a Treasure Island, Enid Blyton
✔️25: A book in >1000 libraries on LT Run, Ann Patchett

Happy new one Helen. Those retro Pratchett covers take me straight back to my school library: those books used to fly off the shelves.

I feel like I should know some bestsellers from 2003... Google tells me Dan Brown!

>14 charl08: Thanks. I love the anarchic nature of them.
I feel like I should know some bestsellers from 2003... Google tells me Dan Brown! which might be why this square isn't yet filled... I have some standards, you know!

Happy new thread, Helen!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread. I love revisiting lists.

Thanks all! September round up coming soon, once I finish catching up on entries.

September round up
Read:9 (74)
F/M: 6/3 (46/29)

Audio: 2 (29)
Paper:7 (45)

Owned: 3 (19)
Library: 5 (54)

New authors: 5 (27)
New books: 8 (61)
Re-reads: 1 (6)

Hello and Happy New Thread Helen! Looking forward to how you will finish up your reading year.

Happy new thread, I am also looking forward to seeing how you close out your reading year!

Happy new thread! It's always fun revisiting those Discworld covers. I especially like seeing the Luggage on the Colour of Magic cover.

Thank you all.
I have a couple of finished to report, but had a busy weekend away. We went to Ashdown Forest, which is the area that AA Milne lived and set the Winne the Pooh stories. I got a good long walk in on Saturday (and caught the sun) and a shorter walk on Sunday. It is misnamed, there are more ups than downs (or at least, that's what it felt like). Weather amazing for October. Not a forest in the gothic imagination sense, more a medieval landscape, mixed deciduous woods, Scots pine clumps, load trees, and grass/heather/bracken/gorse moorland open land with lone trees.
Will put up some pictures tomorrow.

Book: 75
Title: Golden Hill
Author: Francis Spufford
Published: 2016
Rating: ****
Why: read another by him earlier in the year & this came up
Challenge: hmmm.
TIOLI Challenge #7. Read a book where adding or removing a letter makes a new title

Difficult to review this without reference to the major (and to me, unexpected) plot twist at the end. Mr Smith arrives in New York in the mid 18th century and presents a bill for payment to a merchant for a huge sum of money. It is due at next quarter day, which is Christmas. And so Mr Smith spends the next 2 months in New York. His position is very unclear, as we're not told what he is there for, or in what capacity, is he merchant, trader, conman or there for political ends? He meets those in charge at the time, and a motley crew they turn out to be. Then there is the mixed Dutch/English merchant and coffee house classes. He suffers the issues of the newly arrived, in finding his feet, but, in one sense, fails to help himself by remaining a bit of a mystery - what is he there for? That all becomes clear at the end and was not at all what I was expecting. It is a quite astonishing sleight of hand that pulls this particular tablecloth out from under your nose.
For a lot of this I wasn't sure what to make of it, and I'm still not sure that most of the rating isn't down to the final 20% of the book. Part of me wants to read it again and see if there are clues I missed.

Book: 76
Title: Long Live the Queens
Author: Emma Marriott
Published: 2019
Rating: ***
Why: it was available on audio
Challenge: Woman Author, new author, non-fiction
TIOLI Challenge #14. Read a book narrated by a woman with a reference to a female character in the title

A short run through some of the Queens that have maybe fallen off the radar. I was quite pleased that I had at least heard of most of the British ones. Rather British focused, some of those from further afield were the more interesting. It was noticeable how many of these ladies had had their reputation besmirched by those that came later, either trying to erase them or by presenting them in an adverse light. Brief and enjoyable a listen.

I've had Golden Hill on my Kindle since shortly after it came out...

>25 Helenliz: I definitely need to read it again. I have 0 memory of a twist!

>26 katiekrug: I would say it's worth a read.
>27 charl08: well it caught me entirely by surprise, maybe you saw it coming and didn't think it was a twist?!

>25 Helenliz: Golden Hill sounds intriguing! Added to my library list!

In other news, 100 jigsaw puzzles arrived yesterday. 3 large boxes, one smaller. I can no longer see my dining table. Fortunately we've been taking orders and have sold 3/4s of them already. Another order placed!



>29 VivienneR: It'll be interesting to see what everyone makes of it.

>30 Helenliz: New orders already ? Impressive stuff. Have you had to revise your fundraising goals ?

>31 charl08: Not really got any fundraising goals: The treasurer's aim is to use any profits from merchandise to cover the big ticket items in the anniversary year (centenary dinner, social events etc). Should we make any money by the end then we'll work out what to do with it.
Not that I don't have plans, you understand...

Book: 77
Title: The Selfless act of Breathing
Author: JJ Bola
Published: 2021
Rating: ****
Why: Shelterbox book club
Challenge: New author, subscriptions
TIOLI Challenge #1. Read a book with the number of title letters divisible by 5

This could be quite a difficult read, centered as it is around depression and the intention to end a life. Michael is a teacher in London, from the Congo and having arrived as a refugee when a child. we see his interactions with some of the children in the book and he seems to be an effective teacher, providing a positive role model for the disaffected youth. His father returned to the Congo and is believed to have died there as a result. Michael is suffering a prolonged depression and decides to quit his job, go to America and, when the money runs out, end his life. His story is told in 2 parallel strands, in the first person in his time in London and in the third person in his travels around America. How he intends to actually die is never made terribly clear, it is as if he wishes to cease being rather than to die, if that makes sense. I really felt for Michael. Having suffered depression myself, the tiredness, the effort required to actually make it through the day, the inability to open up about it all felt very real and painful. My route out of it was counseling and I can't recommend it enough to those in a similar position. We don't always know what is happening in Michael's head, I'm not sure he's always honest with himself, and so there remains an element of ambiguity about the fate of his father and his father's role in his life. His relationship with his mother seems frozen at that mid teen age, when his father left, and they have both fallen into a role that satisfies neither well. When his mother wants to change and marry someone Michael can't deal with this, possibly because they have never properly processed the leaving and death in the first place. There's a hell of a lot packed into this, a lot of it raw and painful but it is not without some optimism. People can make a difference to each other, it can be a case of the right person at the right time.

>33 Helenliz: Sounds interesting, Helen. I'll see if my local library has a copy for me.

Book: 78
Title: The Girls of Slender Means
Author: Muriel Spark
Published: 1963
Rating: ****
Why: it was available on audio
Challenge: Woman author, audio
TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a book narrated by a woman with a reference to a female character in the title

This is mainly set between VE & VJ day in London. Set in the May of Teck club, the house is an organisation that offers rooms and society to girls who have moved to London for work. We meet a number of the girls, mostly those living on the top floor. They all come vividly to life (as does the Schiaparelli dress, which leads a life more exciting than the girls!). Into this comes Nicholas Farringdon. We hear about him as he aims to get a book published in the timeframe and also as he's been martyred in a future timeframe. I wondered how this was going to end, and it does with a bang. It also is potentially the cause of the events we hear about in the future. It is a fascinating slice of life at a very different time, and feels like a period piece. I wonder if it did at the time, being written almost 20 years after the period the bulk of the book is set.

>35 Helenliz: - I have this one on my shelf (along with several other Sparks) - sounds like I should get to it soon. Nice review!

>36 katiekrug: I think it merits attention.

>34 charl08: This was one of those good but not necessarily enjoyable reads. Be interesting to see what you make of it.

Might not be around much, but will try and keep this up to date. Dealing with MiL, who may be approaching the end of the road. My main focus is supporting my husband. Then we'll need to deal with a house that would make a good candidate for one of those extreme hoarders programmes. Wish us luck.

>38 Helenliz: I'm sorry to hear this, Helen - wishing you all the luck and love in the world.

>38 Helenliz: Wishing you luck and sending strength. Take care of yourselves too.

>38 Helenliz: Wishing you all the best for what looks to be a tough time ahead.

Book: 79
Title: Mr Campion & Others
Author: Margery Allingham
Published: 1939
Rating: ***
Why: series read
Challenge: Woman author, CAT
TIOLI Challenge #??

13 short stories with Campion solving mainly society based mysteries. he fits well in his environment and there is enough variety that they don't become too similar. They do share a tendency to tell you the solution & how Campion arrived at it, rather than let you spot it yourself. but that's probably artifact of the format. He works well in this format, this was a nice change of pace.

Thanks all. Hoping for some more answers today, as his sister is going into the hospital and wants to talk to a doctor, rather than rely on what their mother has been telling them; turns out to not have been the entire truth. It's the sudden change of perspective that's unsettling.

Finished Mr Campion and Others not sure what I want to read next.
Can't decide if Waiting for the last Bus is a good one to be listening to now or not either! Maybe timely.

>38 Helenliz: >43 Helenliz: Sounds hard Helen, sending you and your OH lots of sympathy.
I was enthused by a decluttering thread on here, but not got much further than that in RL. So much stuff...

>38 Helenliz: - Wishing you strength and patience, Helen.

>38 Helenliz: Best of luck to you, Helen. End of life for an aging parent is difficult as are the family dynamics that accompany it. And the decluttering in her house - I hope there are many of you to help clean it out.

We're here for you when you need us.

>44 charl08: I know what you mean about the stuff. After we cleared Mum's house I started have a clear out. I've got less good at it. His mother's house would be best cleared with a flame thrower...

>45 katiekrug: and patience hmm. how did you know that's one virtue I lack significantly! >:-)

>46 threadnsong: It is the one silver lining of having lost both parents early, I don't have to deal with that element. I said to him at the weekend; we've cleared a house once, we can do it again. And we're better placed this time, having learnt from the first one. I will feel free to have a rant/vent as needed. Don't worry about that bit!

Wishing you all the qualities you will require, Helen. Feel free to rant/vent here as much as you want/need.

Wishing you all the patience in the world as you support your man and his in-laws. I'm glad your SIL spoke to the doctor and good luck clearing the house.

Blessings and peace to you both. I will keep you in my prayers.

Sending my good wishes and blessing along as well, Helen.

Thanks all. Seems things might not be quite how they appeared. She is on palliative care, but only as they have reached the point they can no longer treat the cancer she's had for a number of years now. But end of life is not imminent. The biggest problem seems to be that she's not looking after herself properly; not eating, not taking her medication etc. Which is why we saw her a few weeks ago, when she'd come out of hospital last time, she seemed reasonable and has gone downhill again since. They are looking at releasing her home later this week, with increased carer support. So we're back in this holding pattern, she wont get any better but there's no immediate end point.
When the times comes, I'd rather someone bomped me on the head. I'm not sure that wouldn't be kinder all round. Life has to be for living, not just the prevention of dying. (says the person in her early 50s, I accept that perspectives can change)

>52 Helenliz: Thanks for that good news! It is a reminder for us as senior citizens to take care of each other and ourselves.

In case you felt like an hour or three of mindless distraction (it's the sort of thing I'd sometimes need in your circumstances, I think), can I recommend the London Tube Memory Game, which has been driving me up the wall! I can't believe how many stations I've forgotten, it's clearly been far too long since I lived in London! https://london.metro-memory.com/

>54 Jackie_K: that's going to keep me quiet for ages! Excellent shout. >:-)

>55 Helenliz: I'm now up to 44.7% and I am really scraping the barrel of my memory to dredge out stations. There are some really obvious ones I'm missing, I'm sure!

>56 Jackie_K: that's pretty good going. I've got a couple that I used to travel through on a daily basis and have no recollection of.
Some lines I reckon I'll get the termini, but fail on the outlying stations. Never went to zone 6 on the central line...

>57 Helenliz: I'm finding it easier to remember some of the obscure outlying stations than some of the ones I travelled through for years. Yesterday I had to give in and look up "the station between Bank and Old Street that begins with M" because I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was called (I was close with "Moorfields", but not close enough!). If I hadn't looked it up I wouldn't have been able to sleep!

>54 Jackie_K: >55 Helenliz: Argh! Couldn't remember the name of the station I changed at every day for a year, nor the one after/before my home stop. (In my defence, it was a long tube journey! )
I am nowhere near 40% despite having done quite a bit of zone 6 and the orange line (before it was orange!) Lots of fun though, thanks for posting.

Book: 80
Title: Waiting for the Last Bus
Author: Richard Holloway
Published: 2018
Rating: ***
Why: Filling in bingo squares
Challenge: New author author, Bingo
TIOLI Challenge #1. Read a book with the number of title letters divisible by 5

This was either great or awful timing, we're currently dealing with his mother as she approaches her end.
Richard Holloway, former Bishop of Edinburgh, has seen a lot of both life and death in his years as a parish priest and as a man who is now in his 9th decade. He reflects on how we live and what happens to us, and those left behind, when we die. He admits to not having the answers; while he is in the Christian tradition, he is human enough to admit to doubts and to allow for a continuum of belief, no polarised debate here, it is nuanced and measured. He freely admits that he is nor scared of death, but also accepts that in other people that may play a role - he uses the analogy of dealing the hand of cards we have been dealt by fate through life. It is a broad ranging set of thoughts as well. The chapters on dying explores the near death experience, that on grief looks at spiritualism and attempts to contact the dead. The attitude to the medical profession and the end of life chimes with my own - life should be for living, not just an avoidance of death. Putting off death is only of use if life itself has value - the language of battling death and illness dominates but is possibly not helpful.
I was intrigued to hear that some of my views are not so very different from his, even thought we come at life from quite different angles.
All in all, I think this was the right book at the right time, some of this will do me good and I will try and take some of it to heart.

>60 Helenliz: Oh that does sound good. I do like Richard Holloway. Going to add that one to my wishlist.

>61 Jackie_K: It was an interesting listen.

We went to see his mother today, which I will gloss over. In more important news, we won the quiz this evening. One mixed bag of snack size chocolates split between us. >:-)

>52 Helenliz: I'm a few years older, not by much, and I do agree with you. I hope when my turn comes I will be able to just drift off, instead of being pumped through with drugs to extend my life for no reason at all. And >60 Helenliz: it sounds like Richard Holloway agrees with you.

Enjoy your London Tube Memory game!

Book: 81
Title: Babes in the Wood
Author: Mark Stay
Published: 2021
Rating: ***
Why: needed to escape for a while.
Challenge:
TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book with 300 pages or more

This rocks along at a fair old lick and while I think it is intended at a YA audience it doesn't shy away from the darker side of human nature along the way. Into Faye's Kentish village arrive a family of German Jewish children, which allows an exploration of prejudice against Germans, and the horrors that the Jews were suffering at this early stage of the war. Into this comes the local landed gentry, and a tree of life that seems to be everyone's prize. Faye runs into everything, headlong, as usual, but she also has some moments of introspection that contrast nicely. The contrast between the war and the local is well balanced, and the village events are described with a sense of fun.
As a piece of escapist literature, it worked exactly as hoped. I enjoy these and will be looking out book 3.

October round up
Read:7 (81)
F/M: 2/5 (48/34)

Audio: 3 (31)
Paper:4 (49)

Owned: 1 (20)
Library: 6 (61)

New authors: 3 (30)
New books: 7 (68)
Re-reads: 0 (6)

October
75. Golden Hill, Francis Spufford, ****
76. Long Live Queens, Emma Marriott, ***
77. The selfless Act of Breathing, JJ Bola, ****
78. The Girls of Slender Means, Muriel Spark, ****
79. Mr Campion and Others, Margery Allingham, ***
80. Waiting for the Last Bus, Richard Holloway, ***
81. Babes in the Wood, Mark Stay, ***

Escapism sounds good, I'll have a look for the series (starting with book one, of course!)

Congratulations on the quiz success too. Chocolate sounds better than the beer we used to occasionally win (and have to drink before close!)

>64 Helenliz: - I'll have a look for this series. It sounds like the kind of thing I like to listen to while I puzzle.

>67 katiekrug: I admit to being biased as the author is a friend, but these books really are good, and the audiobook narrator (the amazingly-named Candida Gubbins, who sounds like a character from the series) is fabulous. I'm not a big audiobook listener, but she really is brilliant.

>68 Jackie_K: - Always good to have a personal endorsement! I just listened to the sample on Audible and the narrator does sound great.

>67 katiekrug:, >66 charl08:. I hope you enjoy. I read the first one on recommendation from Jackie, as it contains what is the best description of church bellringing I have read (and I've read a few stinkers). I read the second one as Faye is an endearing character and it's a great setup.

Book: 82
Title: Baggage
Author: Alan Cumming
Published: 2021
Rating: ***
Why: he has a good reading voice
Challenge: Non-fiction, Audio
TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book where the author's name consists of 11 or fewer letters

I'm not familiar with Alan Cumming as an actor, I'm not sure I could pick him out in a lineup. I came to this having listened to his previous memoir "Not my Father's Son". He has a very nice reading voice. In this, he reflects on his life since leaving home, how he came to be an actor, his acting adventures and the associated life. It is rather lively, and while there are lost of tales, there is little introspection. There's a lot of telling us that he's funny, brave, outspoken, but very little evidence of it is presented here. There are any number of sexual encounters, but they seem to fall into the same repeated categories, the poor choice, the one night stand and the long term relationship. It all felt a little repetitive , not to say superficial, after a while.
Some of his thoughts on memory or response to earlier experience are valid and worthwhile, but these are scattered thinly through the book. I'm not sure that I know the person behind the book any more now than I did previously. It's all entertaining enough, but it feels that there's a flair and less substance.

Started & Finished Tiger Lily on a work trip to Germany. Decided April Lady wasn't up to the rigors or foreign travel - all that being shoved in & out of bags & the like.
Started Raven Black on the return flight.
Too tired to report more, but really good trip.

Just to say that my mother in law died just after midnight.
Now comes the hard bit

>73 Helenliz: I'm sorry for your loss, Helen. I know you were hoping it would not drag out too long, but that doesn't make the loss any easier. I'll be thinking of you as you support your husband and deal with all the aftermath.

>73 Helenliz: Sympathy and condolences to your family, Helen.

Condolences and wishes for strength to you and your husband, Helen.

My condolences for your loss, Helen. Wishing you all strength and grace in the coming weeks and months.

I'm sorry for your loss, Helen.

Sympathy to you and your husband, Helen.

My condolences, Helen. Even when it is expected it is still a blow.

>73 Helenliz: Sending sympathy Helen. That seemed very fast, I hope that means she wasn't having to cope with long term pain.

>73 Helenliz: Oh Helen, I'm so sorry. Thinking of you and your husband.

I'm so sorry to hear this, Helen. All my best to you and your family in this difficult time.

Book: 83
Title: Tiger Lily
Author: Jodi Lynn Anderson
Published: 2012
Rating: ***
Why: sucker for a retelling...
Challenge: New author, woman author
TIOLI Challenge #6. Read a book where the last word of the title is an animal or plant

I feel the need to go & read Peter Pan again after this. Tiger Lily gets a back story, and it's a right rollicking tale. The world that's built is convincing and builds on what you remember of the Peter Pan story. The narrator is Tinkerbell and as a silent observer she makes for a good narrator. The changes that come as a result of Tiger Lily's own actions are many and varied. The implications change her life for ever. As in a lot of YA books, this seems to take our heroine somewhat by surprise. It's got some depth to it though.

Thanks all.
We made a very preliminary start on the house on Friday, I've got 3 carrier bags of financial stuff to sort through. He & his sister are talking about it all, which is good. I think we'll need to go back up next week to register the death, then we can start making moves on stopping accounts and the like. There are advantages of having done this once before, the second time you at least have a road map.

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss, Helen. Much love and support to you during this difficult time.

Book: 84
Title: If Cats disappeared from the World
Author: Genki Kawamura
Published: 2012
Rating: **
Why: title sucked me in...
Challenge: New author, translation,
TIOLI Challenge #3. Read a book where a color is part of the title

This is an interesting surmise, I'm just not sure it worked as the central character didn't seem to have enough depth.
One day the young man who tells this story finds out that he has an incurable brain tumour and has only a limited time to live. At which point he starts writing a bucket list and wishes he has longer. At which point the devil appears. Dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, like you do. And he is offered a bargin, remove one thing from the world and gain an extra day of life.
And so he vanishes phones, movies and clocks. He gets the chance to have one more experience with each item before it vanishes, so one last phone call, one last movie etc. The surmise is interesting, what would you get rid off for one more day on the earth. But the execution seems rather poor. The central character meets up with an ex girlfriend who adores movies, and when he vanishes then, he barely gives a moments thought to what it would mean to her life. Maybe that's why they are ex... The 4th offering is cats and at this point he declines the offer. Along the way he revisits parts of his life, reviews his relationship with his mother and the broken one with his father. He is somewhere in his 30s, we find, but at times he is very childish and selfish, not considering anyone else apart from his mother and the cat.
Good idea, but the central character and the execution let it down.

Sorry for your husband's and your loss, Helen. Thinking of you as you go through sadmin and grieving.

>73 Helenliz: You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Book: 85
Title: Raven Black
Author: Ann Cleeves
Published: 2006
Rating: ***
Why: Recomendation
Challenge: Woman Author
TIOLI Challenge #3. Read a book where a color is part of the title

This is a detective tale that makes good use of its setting, Shetland is as much a character as a location. It starts with Fran Hunter finding a girl's body. Catherine Ross lived in the same house as Catriona Bruce, who went missing some decade ago, was never found and the case never solved. The locals have their eye on Magnus Tait, an old man who lives alone and who is a little slow at times. He was questioned about Catriona and is now questioned about Catherine. There are lots of strands in here, with the relationships between some of the key protagonists reflecting the small town nature of the community, there's not a lot you an do without someone knowing about it. It's atmospheric and keeps you reading to the end.
I'd read her first novel, A Bird in the Hand, this is a lot tighter.

Thanks all. The "sadmin" goes on. Hoping we can get the death certificate sorted this week, then things can start to move. Looking at house clearance and estate agents next.

Book: 86
Title: April Lady
Author: Georgette Heyer
Published: 1957
Rating: ***
Why: Heyer read
Challenge: Woman Author, Heyer
TIOLI Challenge #12: Read a book to escape your current situation

Previous review: Not as good as some of the others of her books I've read. I kept feeling that this could all have been sorted out by an honest conversation at the end of chapter 1 and saved us all the bother. But I also know that's a very 21st century perspective and it does not necessarily do to apply current thinking to previous ages.
A rather insipid selection of characters, although Dysart is by far the most dynamic of the bunch and Felix is amusing whenever he appears. I'm not too sure what Nell saw in Giles, and while he does unbend at the end, it didn't feel consistent. People spent far too much time telling something to person A when they should just have told person B and been done with it. Based on my previous experience, this was a bit of a let down.

Re-read: I warmed to it more this time. I still think that an honest conversation on page 1 would have saved half the trouble in the remainder of the book, but never mind. It feels, unusually in a Heyer, that while Letty & Jeremy's match may be a love match, you can't help feeling that it is a bad move for all concerned.

Had a day out yesterday in London. Work have an away day and we'd arrange it for for the second half of this week. I didn't make the entire thing, not wanting to leave him alone overnight quite yet. Add that I've not been well (the universe really has decided to kick me while I'm down) and a couple of nights away wasn't going to happen. but I went down for the day, attended the cookery school, where we cooked & ate a meal together, then had a walking tour of Clerkenwell. I left to come home when they went off to the theatre. It was good to be out and escape the current situation for a while.
I took a picture of the book Christmas tree at St Pancras station - but it came out crap. https://stpancras.com/news-events/st-pancras-2023-christmas-tree At the base are 8 niches where you can sit & listen to a 5 minute excerpt of a seasonal book. Someone had fun with that one. >:-)

Your day out sounds very nice. Sometimes a change of scenery can be so helpful in re-setting one's head.

>73 Helenliz: Sorry to hear of your loss Helen. Wishing you the strength for what comes next.

>28 Helenliz: I really liked Golden Hill. Looking forward to his new one.

The book Christmas tree looks amazing. I didn't realise you could sit and listen to book clips too. Your work outing sounds good. Always think it's a shame to have to do them with colleagues (might just be me though!).

Book: 87
Title: Great Goddesses
Author: Nikita Gill
Published: 2019
Rating: ***
Why: Looked worth a try
Challenge: Woman Author, New Author, audio
TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book where the last word of the title is an animal or plant

This is a collection of poems, each a short vignette of a Goddess, monster or mortal. Some tell of their nature, others of specific instances. Some even take the immortals and put them in a mortal world, how would they cope, how would it have mellowed them. They are variable in length and there is a requirement to be fairly up on your mythology, or some of the names and back stories will be missing (a couple threw me, I admit). The best are those torn between two opposing forces, Persephone, for example. It was noticeable that the monsters are all female - difficult women seem to have been vilified for all time.
I listened to this, I'd quite like to see a copy, I think it might be interesting to see how it is arranged on the page.

Book: 88
Title: Fortunately the Milk
Author: Neil Gaiman
Published: 2013
Rating: ****
Why: Wanted something light
Challenge: Audio
TIOLI Challenge #4: Read a book whose title includes some kind of food

After a long day being audited (we passed, btw) I needed something light and fun and this was perfect. Mum is away and in her list of instructions is don't for get to buy milk. Dad does forget, of course, so goes out in the morning to buy milk for the children for their cereal. And this is what happens to him. Just great, fun, but not at all lax, the plotting is tight and convincing throughout. Excellent and just right hit the spot. Read by Neil himself, who I would listen read the phone book, so this was a delight.

You'll all be very proud of me, I've decided to abandon Mexican Gothic. I've been reading it for about a week and just not having any desire to pick it up.

In which case, on paper I am now reading Marple.

Good on you for abandoning Mexican Gothic. I was not a fan...

>95 Helenliz: Ooh, I liked Marple. Almost tempted to reread it, as I doubt I'd remember the solutions!

>94 Helenliz: Fortunately the Milk is a great book, we read it lots during lockdown as our then 6yo got it for her birthday a few months earlier. The paper book has great illustrations.

>96 katiekrug: Thanks for the validation. It wasn't bad, but I couldn't find any enthusiasm to read it.
>97 charl08: I'm like that with most mysteries, give it a year or two and I have no more than a vague inkling who might have dun it.
>98 Jackie_K: It was! I can imagine that on paper the illustrations would be a great part of the story.

I seem to have another cold. ho hum. In positive news, it was our wedding anniversary at the weekend. We had a couple of days out, he went ringing, I went for a walk. A couple of days not doing sadmin was good for him. Bottle of wine Sunday night, seeing our marriage is now old enough to drink & vote!

Happy Anniversary!

>99 Helenliz: Happy anniversary! You must have got married a couple of years before us - we celebrate 16 years next month.

I discovered an ability to forget whodunit with crime novels, especially Agatha Christie, even in my teens.

Happy anniversary.

>100 RidgewayGirl: thank you.
>101 Jackie_K: 26th November 2005 for us. We'd been engaged for almost 10 years before that. Next year we'll have been dating for 30 years! Happy anniversary for next month.
>102 elkiedee: It's a useful skill. Sometimes even if I do know who dun it, working out how they get there is almost as interesting as not knowing in the first place.

Congratulations on your wedding anniversary! A pleasant celebration was needed as a break from sadmin.

Being able to forget (or ignore) whodunit has meant I've been reading Agatha Christie repeatedly for several decades!

November round up (because I'll finish neither of my reads tonight)
Read:7 (88)
F/M: 4/3 (52/37)

Audio: 4 (35)
Paper:3 (52)

Owned: 1 (21)
Library: 6 (67)

New authors: 3 (33)
New books: 6 (72)
Re-reads: 1 (7)

November
82. Baggage, Alan Cumming, ***
83. Tiger Lily, Jodi Lynn Anderson, ***
84. If Cats disappeared from the World, Genki Kawamura, **
85. Raven Black, Ann Cleeves, ***
86. April Lady, Georgette Heyer, ***
87. Great Goddesses, Nikita Gill, ***
88. Fortunately the Milk, Neil Gaiman,

Plus an abandon Mexican Gothic.

>104 VivienneR: Yup, a bit of a break away from it and having a weekend of normality is good for the soul.

Book: 89
Title: Marple
Author: Various
Published: 2013
Rating: ****
Why: Sucker for a Miss Marple.
Challenge: Woman Author
TIOLI Challenge #8. Read a book that fits any of the "page 2" challenges for 2023

A set of 12 authors each provided a short Miss Marple story in this anthology. As with any anthology, it is a mixed bag. Some tried a bit to hard to be different, moving Miss Marple to New York, Italy or a boat to Hing King, each of which felt a bit too far fetched to work. Other stuck more closely to home and they fared better. In one instance the voice of the teller was the first person, in this case the vicar finding yet another body in his house. There were a few quite successful ones with MIss Marple in a village location with an old friend each time. The most successful was by Natalie Haynes, and was the one that I was sure I'd read before, it had Miss Marple at Gossington Hall with Dolly & Arthur Bantry, Henry Clithering, Raymond & Joan. The missing jewels were carefully hidden, and I was sure I'd read that hiding place before - and I was right, as it was inspired by a book that the jewel thieves' nephew was reading and I have also read. It was very cleverly done, used a known setting and known characters and a borrowed plot. Simple but effective.
It was interesting that while some of the stories made reference to Miss Marple's youth, none tried to set a story in her younger days, she remains a little old lady in each of these stories. Maybe we can't imagine her any other way.

Book: 90
Title: Electra
Author: Sophocles
Published: 414 BC
Rating: ***
Why: Comparison to the same play by Euripides
Challenge: New Author
TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book with at least three letters of "December" in the title

Read as a comparison to the same play by Euripides. This seems to contain more long monologues of explanation. The way that various people don't recognise each other felt a bit far fetched. Electra not recognising Orestes, when she'd been told he was dead I could sort of understand, but some of the others not so much. The interplay between the sisters felt stronger here, while the action is entirely male driven.
Of the two, Euripides is bloodier and more dynamic, with Electra given a far more active role than in here.

Another saturday spent at the house. Had the estate agent round to value it and "well I never" featured in the conversation that followed.
Came home with a random assortment of odds & ends (bean cutter, anyone?!) Also his collection of Thomas the Tank Engine books, his baby book and Simon Jenkins' Thousand Best Houses which seems to me to be a dip in & out book (that one's for me).

>109 Helenliz: The bean cutter isn't a small orange rectangle of plastic with sharp blades inside, is it? My mum's is around somewhere. I think!
Assume it also comes in other colours. But I've never seen any others in the shop.
I have managed to persuade my dad that maybe we can get rid of one bag of books from the living room shelf. I am hoping this doesn't mean I also have to do the same with my books.

>110 charl08: no this is a circular plate with 3 cutting blades, in a blue metal frame thingy with a rotating handle.
No, never seen one like it.

Home, had his mother's funeral today. She went into church Tuesday evening, then we all went for a meal. Today we did some admin in the morning, then the funeral and then home, Made for a couple of tough days. But we all got through it and he seems to be bearing up OK.
I *may* have come home with another book, this time England's thousand best churches. Oh, and the button box.

Finished Monstrous Regiment, but a review will have to wait.

I'm sorry about the rough few days, but glad your husband seems to be holding up. Take care!

I finished A Monster Calls last night. Whoever it was caught me with that book bullet was a bang on the mark. It's horrible and very very real and captures the whole mixed emotions of grief like nothing I've ever read.

>112 katiekrug: I think he's doing OK. He's talking to me about it, so I'm taking that as a win.

Book: 91
Title: Monstrous Regiment
Author: Terry Pratchett
Published: 2003
Rating: ****
Why: penultimate Bingo square
Challenge: Bingo
TIOLI Challenge #14. Read a book whose title or subtitle or author’s name includes the word “men”

Polly decides to cut her hair and join the army to search for her brother. She thinks she's done quite well on the belching, farting and nosepicking, but forgot about the other thing that separates boys from girls - and makes amends with a pair of socks. The platoon in under Sgt Jackrum, who takes them under his wing. He's a larger than life character, who (in current business speak) manages upwards effectively (in other words, bosses the poor Lieutenant Blouse about like nobody's business). The platoon have a few lucky scrapes and soon it turns out that they are being searched for by an entire army and their legend has grown in the telling. Unfortunately, the legend turns sour when they rescue the rest of the army that are imprisoned in the castle keep - the rest of the army not being impressed at being rescued by a bunch of girls.
As with any discworld novel, there's a twist in the tale, but lets just say that the girls are as good as boys at being boys, but are often better at being themselves.

Re-read. The trouble with re-reading is that you know the twist in the tale and this, therefore, loses some of its tension and anticipation. It's still a fun read, but the first time's the charm here.

Book: 92
Title: A Monster Calls
Author: Patrick Ness
Published: 2011
Rating: *****
Why: bullet from someone that fits RandomCAT and so finishes my Bingo square
Challenge: Bingo, CAT
TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a book for Santa's Reindeer Genre rolling challenge

I don't know that I can do this justice. At one level it's a well trodden story, boy struggles with his mother's illness and imminent death. However, in few cases does a monster show up. In this one a walking Yew tree comes along and strikes a deal with Conor, the tree will tell 3 stories, then Conor will tell one. And so we get 2 stories where good and evil and not clearly delineated, and a third where it would be hard, again, to tell where the good and evil lie. Conor's story relates to a nightmare that doesn't become a reality in all regards.
Supposedly a Young Adult book, this is an excellent depiction of how complicated people, emotions and grief can be. It gets right into the dichotomy that you may want the person to not die, but you also don't want them to carry on living in their current state; it's too painful, even though you know what comes next will also be painful. It got right to me. For anyone who has ever lost someone and for those that might do so.

I read AMC earlier this year and thought it was very powerful and well done.

>116 katiekrug: that'll be you with the bullet then.
Well aimed, m'lady.

>115 Helenliz: It's such a lovely book. Ness is one of my favorite authors.

>116 katiekrug: -I read it earlier this year too and really liked it. I had read his book The Cane Wife almost 10 years ago and took a BB for this one about the same time. I couldn't believe it took me so long to get back to his writing. I'm wondering if Katie's nudge was what sent me back to it.

>118 KeithChaffee: that's good to know, what would you recommend of his?

>119 dudes22: that Katie has a lot to answer for, although in a positive sense on this occasion!

>120 Helenliz: - :D

Book: 93
Title: The Art of Dying
Author: Ambrose Parry
Published: 2019
Rating: ***
Why: Someone reminded me I'd read book 1 previously
Challenge: Audio
TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a book with a variant of death in the title

Will Raven has qualified as a doctor and we find him at the book's opening traveling Europe to broaden his experience (in more ways than one). In a street brawl he protects his friends with his surgical knife. This event echoes through the book (there's a fair amount of portentousness about this that I found hard to engage with). Back in Edinburgh, he takes up a post as Dr SImpson's apprentice and finds that while he has been away Sarah has married a DR Archie Banks. Archie has throat cancer and is dying, Sarah, pregnant with his child. It all leaves Will rather mixed up. Into this comes an accusation against Dr Simpson about the death of a patient, who is the wife of a fellow doctor. This sets Will & Sarah off to investigate, along the way, Will thinks he's on the verge of discovering a new fatal disease, Sarah wonders about some more human agency. It gets complicated and there's a lot of plot lines to try and tie up, some of them rather too neatly.
The most interesting thing,about this, to me, is the attitude of the medical profession to their activities. IN a time when to operate was to risk death by infection, there is a certain reluctance to invade the body space. Will wants to do something, rather than noting, and it is that attitude that represents the more modern view of the medical profession. It also raises the question of extending mercy at death, with two different scenarios offered here, one of whih almost ends with Will dangling on the end of the hangman's noose.
The final two chapters clearly set up a third book.
I listened to this and I found that it helped to have different narrators narrate the chapters told from their perspectives.

>3 Helenliz: I've got Mexican Gothic in the box to go to the library. DNF for me too. I also have The Beautiful Ones on the shelf but I'll give it a try.

>120 Helenliz: Most of Ness's writing has been (like A Monster Calls) YA. The stand-alone novels More Than This and The Rest of Us Just Live Here are both very good. The three books of the "Chaos Walking" trilogy --The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, Monsters of Men -- had the bad fortune to be published just a few months after the three books of the "Hunger Games" trilogy, which sucked up all of the attention; I think that Ness's trilogy is better, and the quality more consistent from start to finish than Collins's, which I found less interesting with each successive book.

I liked his adult novel The Crane Wife, though not as good as his best YA work.

I haven't read his first adult novel, The Crash of Hennington, but then again, not many have; it predates his commercial/critical breakthrough. Of his other YA work, I haven't yet gotten to Burn, and I didn't care for Release, a sort of riff on Mrs. Dalloway; or And the Ocean Was Our Sky, a heavily illustrated reimagining of Moby Dick from the whales' point of view.

If I had to pick just one, I'd go with The Rest of Us Just Live Here. It's a variation on the Chosen One story centered on all the ordinary kids at a high school where a group of special kids are constantly running about trying to save the universe.

>124 KeithChaffee: Thanks for that, Keith. I'll see what the library has got & take care not start in the middle of a trilogy!

>123 clue: There seems to be quite a band of us that gave up on that one. *shines the club badge*

Book: 94
Title: Snow Puppies
Author: Barbara Bazaldua
Published: 1996
Rating: ***
Why: Read to Hamish after ringing this morning
Challenge: New author, woman author
TIOLI Challenge #6. Read a book connected to this season of the year

The 101 Dalmatian puppies are experiencing their first Christmas. They are told that humans give presents to show they care, so the puppies want to give something for their humans, Roger & Anita. They discount ideas like a bone or a ball and then come up with the idea of making snow puppies. Much of this short book is given over to this exercise. The illustrations are cute and clear, but there are potential pitfalls. We'll leave aside how spotless the snow looks after 101 puppies have made snow sculptures and trodden coal dust from the coal shed . Charming, nonetheless.

Season's Greetings one and all.



Tom Gauld hits the nail square on the head again.

>127 Helenliz: This would be a great way to do a book Christmas tree! Love it :D

>127 Helenliz: Happy Holidays. I need one of those trees.

Book: 95
Title: Erasure
Author: Percival Everett
Published: 2001
Rating: ***
Why: Read something by him earlier in the year.
Challenge: hmmm.
TIOLI Challenge...

This might be one of those books that cleverer than I am. Felt like there's a moral hiding in here, I'm just not sure what it is. Monk Ellison is a writer, not a commercially successful one. In frustration at the state of literature that seems to think that the only black voice is written in dialect, he writes such a book. It turns into a runaway success and Monk isn't exactly happy about that. He wants to point out the erroneous assumptions being made about the author and the book's contents, only that would reveal himself as the author. He;s dug himself into a hole and there's not obvious way out. Along side this, we deal with the family, a Dr father who is dead, doctor siblings having various degrees of success in their lives and mother with dementia. Monk is forced out of his academic comfort zone in two directions at once. I;m not sure he;ll ever be the same again.
I suspect that it's a telling critique of race in America, I'm just not sure what lesson I'm supposed to be reading into this. My take is that each person is an individual and that to expect any one voice to represent any group of people is superficial and lazy. Treat each person on their own merits and each book ditto.

Book: 96
Title: What you need to be Warm
Author: Neil Gaiman
Published: 2023
Rating: ***
Why: Its in a good cause
Challenge: hmmm.
TIOLI Challenge #12. Read a book with some connection to 12

A found poem, constructed from responses to Gaiman;s asking people what they needed to be warm, in both a literal and metaphorical sense. Each page spread is illustrated by a different artist, in the same limited colour palette of greys & orange. There's a couple of pages of commentary by the artists and they explain what they were aiming for in their illustration. Profits go to UNHCR.

>128 rabbitprincess:, >129 lowelibrary: I'm wondering if I can't get one for next year... Then I could fill it >:-)

>130 Helenliz: I don't know if you're a movie person, but the film adaptation of this one just came out, under the title American Fiction. Good chance it will be one of the year's Best Picture nominees.

>133 KeithChaffee: I'm a very periodic movie person. Release in the UK in February. Thanks for that tip.

Book: 98
Title: Last Night at the Lobster
Author: STewart O'Nan
Published: 2007
Rating: *****
Why: It's seasonal
Challenge: New author, CAT,
TIOLI Challenge #6. Read a book connected to this season of the year

This is well nigh perfect. It tells of the last shift at the Red Lobster, a chain restaurant that is shutting down on the 20th December. Manny, as the manager, has to deal with a short & disgruntled staff, a snow storm and his own personal life, which is a bit of a mess. In love with a waitress, Jacquie, his girlfriends, Deena is pregnant and he has no idea what to get her for Christmas. If you want a plot driven book, then this is probably not for you, there isn't a lot of plot. What it is instead is a character study, what makes people tick, why the continue to care (or not) when they are on the verge of losing their job.
It put me in mind of the writing by Claire Keegan, that same lack of action, the same focus on the small details of a life. Slightly less sparse and pared down, this is by no means a bloated book in need of an editor. It makes for a very good read.

BTW - this is Katie's fault, She reads it each Christmas, and I can understand why.

ABTW, I seem to have missed a book earlier in the year. I'm not re-numbering all the reviews, but this is book 98, despite the last one seeming to be book 96.

>135 Helenliz: - Oh, I'm SO pleased to see that you loved it, too. I love how there's not a lot that happens but there is a lot going on. O'Nan is a great writer of ordinary people and ordinary lives. He's a favorite of mine, and I am hoarding the remaining books of his I haven't read yet...

>135 Helenliz: Last Night of the Lobster is O'Nan's best book, and he has written many very good novels.

>135 Helenliz: - I'll add my 2 cents and agree with Katie and Kay. I read it last year and loved the setting and the book.

>135 Helenliz: You mentioned Keegan, so I will have to look for this one. I love her stories.

Just for a laugh. The BBC's showing a number of Agatha Christie adaptations and a series by Lucy Worsley over the holidays. They've produced this quiz to identify which character you might be.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4SZHM3TVqqvLc2D39hrxVbr/personality-qu...

I turn out to be the Butler. Not sure how I feel about that.

>139 charl08: It's similar in the way there is next to no plot and it is quite tightly written. It's certainly not fat & bloated.

Good to see I'm not alone in admiring this one, I feel in good company. >:-)

>140 Helenliz: - I also got butler.

I chuckled at the "No reason, just pick one of these things" question.

>142 katiekrug: Ahh, must be the classy option. And the choice for that question: I was very hard pressed there!

I was tempted by the frying pan because I thought it was funny, but I went with poison because I'm not very strong, and I wouldn't want to get blood on my clothes.

>140 Helenliz: I'm the curious pensioner, apparently. Bah humbug.

I'm the curious pensioner and in reality I could be described that way.

>140 Helenliz: Great quiz! Thanks for sharing it!

>145 charl08: >146 clue: I am joining the Curious Pensioner club as well!

I am the heir to a massive fortune! Too bad it isn’t true.

>148 LadyoftheLodge: I can think of worse clubs to be in... Shame it's not real.

Hello curious pensioners. Do you solve the crime or get killed for being too nosey?

Book: 99
Title: Traitor's Purse
Author: Margery Allingham
Published: 1950
Rating: ***
Why: Series read with Liz
Challenge: Woman author
TIOLI Challenge #12. Read a book with some connection to 12

This is another very different book from those earlier in the series. In this we start with Albert in hospital, having been unconscious and with amnesia. He overhears a conversation that has him believing that he's about to be charged for killing a police officer and the feeling that there is something urgent he needs to do. And so he scarpers, dressed in fisherman's oilskins. A car chase ensues and any number of odd events take place from there. Set in the start of WW2, this has quite a different feel from the earlier novels as well as a very different narrative tale. I did wonder how he was going to recover his memory and that takes place a little too neatly, but it was one way out of the situation. The final chapters are at a breakneck pace as Campion strives to stop a swindle that would put the country's economic stability at risk.
I listened to this and the narrator had a somewhat annoying habit of making Campion sound like a blithering idiot. I admit that he is, at times, an entitled arse, but he;s not actually stupid. That aside, this was a good entry in the series, but I;d not try and read it first. Like Campion at the start, you'd be a touch too much at sea.

And I think that's probably it for the year. Hitting 100 would require a very short book that I could read quickly and that feel a bit like cheating just to hit a number. So I'm calling it quits on 2024.

Read:10 (99)
F/M: 3/7 (55/44)

Audio: 2 (37)
Paper:8 (62)

Owned: 5 (26)
Library: 5 (72)

New authors: 5 (37)
New books: 9 (81)
Re-reads: 1 (8)
(no, I'm not sure those numbers add up either).

December's reads
90. Marple, various, ****
91. Electra Sophocles, ***
92. Monstrous regiment, Terry Pratchett, ***
93. A MOnster Calls, Patrick Ness, *****
94. The Art of Dying, Ambrose Parry, ***
95. Snow Puppies, Barbara Bazaldua, ***
96. Erasure, Percival Everett, ***
97. What you need to be warm, Neil Gaiman, ***
98. Last Night at the Lobster, Stewart O'Nan, *****
99. Traitor's Purse, Margery Allingham, ***

Best of the year:
Well I gave 5 stars to 5 books, I must be getting soft in my old age. Those that set my world alight were:
Chivalry Neil Gaiman,
Foster Claire Keegan
Sprig Muslin Georgette Heyer
A Monster Calls Patrick Ness
Last Night at the Lobster Stewart O'Nan.
If forced to pick one, Foster was my book of the year.

There were an usually high number of abandons for me, with 3. (yeah, I know that's not high, but it is for someone who goes for years at a time without abandoning.)
The Bone Clocks was far too woo-woo for me.
Mexican Gothic just left me not caring what happened to any of the characters
Metropolis was on audio and I think it was just a bit too flowery and complicated for driving.

In terms of the dross, a couple of books only got 2 stars, the lowest rating I gave this year. I can't recommend anyone read
If cats disappeared from the World, The color of air, The Guest, The Wee Free Men or My Darling from the Lions.

I finished my Bingo card, but only just. I fell off the CAT wagon over the summer and never really got back on. I'm thinking of trying to read some longer books in 2024, and ignore the numbers game for a bit. I also have a busy year of ringing anniversary and we'll start the year still dealing with his mother's estate. Hoping 2024 is a little bit better, brighter and more chocolatey than 2023. See you on the other side, I've set up home here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/355676

Nice round-up, Helen! All in all, it seems like it was a good reading year for you.

>149 Helenliz: I'm another Curious Pensioner. I think that probably means I get murdered about halfway through the book.

>151 Helenliz: Great roundup, Helen, and I'm glad you continued with abandoning books when needed. I also read Wee Free Men and on the page I was meh about it. But then I listened to it on a road trip a few Thanksgivings ago and the audio of it made all the difference.

Hoping you have a peaceful and healing 2024, and much joy in your ringing!

>154 threadnsong: Wee Free Men is my daughter's current book at bedtime, and she is really enjoying having it read to her.