Paul's Grand European Tour 9

The striking scenery of Romania which qualifies for some writers this month in the Grand European Tour

Opening Words

I am reading Blaming by Elizabeth Taylor for my 50 Modern Classics challenge.




"Istanbul was cool. Domes and minarets across the water from where the ship was berthed were a darker grey than the sky. It was a great disappointment after sunnier places."

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

Poetry

This poem celebrates a favourite book - The Moon and Sixpence in which Maugham imbued his loose portrayal of Gauguin with some of his own subtle sensibilities.



Strickland on the Page in Tahiti

In what gaudy colours
did he daub your life?
The moon, a sepia hued sixpence
cast a tepid pastiche.

Rather than those furrowed lines
upon his face you painted
the native ladies of Papeari.
Were your daubings primitive,
or were you smeared?

The artist's hand placed heart
upon canvas.
The author's pen entertained
with half-truths.


Where did Maugham the author end and Strickland/Gauguin the artist take up?

BOOKS READ IN 2025 (1-75)

By the way my completed dates are using the British system of DD/MM/YY

First Cycle



1. Colonel Chabert by Honore de Balzac (1832) 101 pages Fiction from before the last decade. (Completed 1/1/25)
2. Forest of Noise by Mosab Abu Toha (2024) 77 pages Poetry/Plays (completed 1/1/25)
3. Now Then by Rick Broadbent (2023) 433 pages Non-Fiction (Completed 2/1/25)
4. The Hunter by Tana French (2024) 467 pages Thriller (Completed 4/1/25)
5. Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood (2023) 293 pp Fiction from the last decade (completed 5/1/25)

Second Cycle



6. The Great Fortune by Olivia Manning (1960) 318 pp Fiction before this decade (completed 7/1/25)
7. Stag's Leap by Sharon Olds (2012) 89 pp Poetry/Plays (completed 8/1/25)
8. The Wild Places by Robert Macfarlane (2007) 321 pp Non-Fiction (Completed 12/1/25)
9. The Reborn by Lin Anderson (2010) 424 pp Thriller (Completed 25/1/25)
10. The Cold Millions by Jess Walter (2020) 337 pp Fiction from this Decade (Completed 28/1/25)

Third Cycle



11. Lost Empires by J.B. Priestley (1965) 308 pp Fiction before this decade (Completed 28/1/25)
12. After You Were, I Am by Camille Ralphs (2024) 71 pp Poetry/Plays (Completed 28/1/25)
13. The Junior Officers' Reading Club by Patrick Hennessey (2009) 327 pp Non-Fiction (Completed 29/1/25)
14. Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths (2013) 390 pp Thriller (Completed 31/1/25)
15. Fen by Daisy Johnson (2016) 190 pp Fiction from the last decade (Completed 31/1/25)

Fourth Cycle



16. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin (2009) 237 pp Fiction before this decade (Completed 1/2/25)
17. The Power of Geography by Tim Marshall (2021) 356 pp Non-Fiction (Completed 2/2/25)
18. Macbeth by William Shakespeare (1606) 97 pp Poetry/Plays (Completed 2/2/25)
19. Night Blind by Ragnar Jonasson (2015) 210 pp Thrillers(Completed 4/2/25)
20. Take it Back by Kia Abdullah (2020) 373 pp Fiction from the last decade (Completed 5/2/25)

Fifth Cycle



21. Nagasaki by Eric Faye (2012) 109 pp Fiction before this decade (Completed 6/2/25)
22. The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks (2015) 287 pp Non-Fiction (Completed 7/2/25)
23. Alphabet by Inger Christensen (1981) 77 pp Poetry/Plays (Completed 8/2/25)
24. Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson (2012) 427 pp Sci-Fi/Fantasy (Completed 9/2/25)
25. The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane (2023) 379 pp Fiction from the last decade (Completed 10/2/25)

SIXTH CYCLE



26. Silence by Shusaku Endo (1966) 201 pp Fiction before this decade (Completed 15/2/25)
27. In the Land of the Cyclops by Karl Ove Knausgaard (2018) 297 pp Non-Fiction (Completed 16/2/25)
28. God's Gift to Women by Don Paterson (1997) 56 pp Poetry/Plays (Completed 16/2/25)
29. Our Fathers by Rebecca Wait (2020) 334 pp Thriller (Completed 16/2/25)
30. The Other Americans by Laila Lalami (2019) 301 pp Fiction from the last decade (Completed 20/2/25)

Seventh Cycle



31. Dart by Alice Oswald (2002) 48 pp Poetry/Plays (Completed 21/2/25)
32. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (2012) 294 pp Fiction before this decade (Completed 22/2/25)
33. Afternoons with the Blinds Drawn by Brett Anderson (2019) 278 pp Non-Fiction (Completed 23/2/25)
34. Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson (1946) 203 pp (Completed 27/2/25)
35. Othello by William Shakespeare (1602) 145 pp (Completed 28/2/25)

Eighth Cycle



36. Nesting by Roisin O'Donnell (2025) 382 pp (Completed 8/3/25)
37. Selected Poems 1969-2005 by David Harsent (2007) 133 pp (Completed 8/3/25)
38. Zero Days by Ruth Ware (2023) 339 pp (Completed 15/3/25)
39. The Pigeon Tunnel by John le Carre (2016) 342 pp (Completed 16/3/25)
40. The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (2024) 258 pp (Completed 31/3/25)

Ninth Cycle



41. Selected Poems by Zbigniew Herbert (2007) 249 pp (Completed 31/03/25)
42. Picture Her Dead by Lin Anderson (2011) 438 pp (Completed 4/4/25)
43. Poetry for and Other Chronic Conditions by A.K. Davidson (2024) 55 pp (Completed 5/4/25)
44. Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout (2024) 326 pp (Completed 14/4/25)
45. The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk (2008) 728 pp (Completed 19/4/25)

Tenth Cycle

46. The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey (1975) 538 pp (Completed 20/4/25)
47. Richard II by William Shakespeare (1595) 109 pp (Completed 20/4/25)
48. Blaming by Elizabeth Taylor (1976) 168 pp (Completed 7/5/25)
49. The Blue Bird by Maurice Maeterlinck (1908) 287 pp (Completed 9/5/25)
50. Wild Grass by Ian Johnson (2004) 292 pp (Completed 12/5/25)

Eleventh Cycle



51. Original Sin by P.D. James (1994) 551 pp (Completed 13/5/25)
52. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (1977) 178 pp (Completed 16/5/25)

CURRENTLY READING

THE GRAND EUROPEAN BOOK TOUR



January : Prelude - 19th Century Europe : https://www.librarything.com/topic/367210 - Colonel Chabert by Balzac

February : Nordic Nations : https://www.librarything.com/topic/368107
1. Night Blind by Ragnar Jonasson (Iceland)
2. Alphabet by Inger Christensen (Denmark)
3. In the Land of the Cyclops by Knausgaard (Norway)
4. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (Sweden)
5. Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson (Finland)

March : Warsaw Pact : https://www.librarything.com/topic/368897
Selected Poems by Zbigniew Herbert

April : Ottoman Empire
The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk

May : Non-National Languages : https://www.librarything.com/topic/370571

June : Caesar to Meloni
July : The Germanic World
August : Anita Fameulstee Memorial Month (Benelux)
September : Books About European Places

October : La Belle France
1. Nagasaki by Eric Faye

November : Iberian Peninsula
December : Back to the Future : 21st Century in translation

British Author Challenge (Hosted by my friend Amanda)



January - The stage : https://www.librarything.com/topic/366934#8710962
Lost Empires by J.B. Priestley

February - Kia Abdullah : Take it Back & Adrian Tchaikovsky

March - Norah Lofts & Gerald Durrell

April - PD James & Paul Bailey
Original Sin by PD James

May - Nancy Mitford & Paul Scott

June -
July -
August -
September -
October -
November -
December -

American Author Challenge (Hosted with occasional assistance this year by my friend Linda)



JANUARY - Pacific North West : https://www.librarything.com/topic/367006
The Cold Millions by Jess Walter

FEBRUARY - American Muslims (Guest Host) : https://www.librarything.com/topic/367970#n8746462
1. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin
2. Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
3. The Other Americans by Laila Lalami

MARCH - Stewart O'Nan (Guest Host; Katie)

APRIL - Appalachia - The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey

MAY - Pulitzer History Prize Winners

JUNE -
JULY
AUGUST -
SEPTEMBER -
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER -
DECEMBER

NON-FICTION CHALLENGE



Hosted this year by my friend Benita. Challenge thread is here : https://www.librarything.com/topic/366835

January - Award Winners : The Wild Places by Robert Macfarlane
February - Maps : The Power of Geography by Tim Marshall
March - Espionage : The Pigeon Tunnel by John le Carre
April - Revolutions :
May - China : Wild Grass by Ian Johnson

Big Book Challenge



Link to thread : https://www.librarything.com/topic/368910#n8778254

March - Fyodor Dostoevsky or alternatives

April - Orhan Pamuk, Nikos Kazantzakis or much further back
The Museum of Innocence

May - Iberian Tomes : Cervantes, or alternatives

50 Modern Classics of the last 50 years

1975 : The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey
1976 : Blaming by Elizabeth Taylor
1977 : Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Women's Prize Longlist (Announced 4/3/25)

1. Aria Aber, Good Girl owned
2. Kaliane Bradley, The Ministry of Time owned
3. Jenni Daiches, Somewhere Else owned
4. Saraid de Silva, Amma owned
5. Karen Jennings, Crooked Seeds owned
6. Miranda July, All Fours owned
7. Laila Lalami, The Dream Hotel owned
8. Sanam Mahloudji, The Persians owned
9. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Dream Count owned
10. Roisín O’Donnell, Nesting READ
11. Rosanna Pike, A Little Trickery owned
12. Rose Ruana, Birding owned
13. Lucy Steeds, The Artist owned
14. Elizabeth Strout, Tell Me Everything READ
15. Yael van der Wouden, The Safekeep READ
16. Nussaibah Younis, Fundamentally owned

Family Photo



My three ladies sans Pip enjoying the drive around NZ.

Books Added in 2025

January & February Books 1-64 : https://www.librarything.com/topic/368611#8767173

March & April Books 65-124 : https://www.librarything.com/topic/369865#8810025

May

125. Ice Cold in Alex by Christopher Landon
126. The Last Enemy by Richard Hillary
127. A Hazard of New Fortunes by William Dean Howells
128. Much in Evidence by Henry Cecil
129. Murder in the Basement by Anthony Berkeley
130. The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
131. Fascination by William Boyd
132. Marathon Man by William Goldman
133. Mourning Diary by Roland Barthes
134. The Night Guest by Fiona Macfarlane
135. The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry
136. Fire on the Mountain by Anita Desai
137. After Midnight by Irmgard Keun
138. Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers
139. Rescue : Czeslaw Milosz by Czeslaw Miosz
140. Gliff by Ali Smith
141. The Voyage Home by Pat Barker
142. The Lowlife by Alexander Baron
143. The Lost Paths by Jack Cornish
144. Rough Justice by Wendy Joseph
145. How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin
146. Nature's Ghosts by Sophie Yeo
147. Eurotrash by Christian Kracht
148. The Night Alphabet by Joelle Taylor
149. The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
150. Real Americans by Rachel Khong
151. Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq
152. Antibody by Rebecca Salazar

Book Stats

Welcome to my 9th thread of 2025

Happy new thread, Paul!

Thank you, Irene and well done for being first up!

>18 PaulCranswick: I got lucky. I was catching up on LT threads and saw yours. I was afraid I might be too early, but you had a welcome post up, so I jumped in. I'm rarely first on anyone's new thread.

>1 PaulCranswick: What beautiful scenery! It's an area I am unfamiliar with beyond when it crops up in fiction.

>19 atozgrl: Very welcome timing anyway, Irene.

>20 justchris: Thanks Chris. There is one famous Romanian author who writes in German.

Happy New thread Paul.

Thank you dear Kerry

Setting off back to Kuala Lumpur shortly. I will finish my set up later and also get on to the Great European Tour thread for May.

Happy new thread Paul!

>25 quondame: Thank you, Susan

Happy new thread!

Happy New Thread, Paul.

>21 PaulCranswick: Yeah, that's outside my reading scope. My reading habits aren't so refined. It's more like international thrillers that pass through Romania somewhere along the plotline.

Happy new one!

Stopping in, extending my greetings. I have read Blaming. I only rated it 3 stars and I usually like books on this subject matter.

>27 amanda4242: Thank you, Amanda.

>28 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deb.

I have just arrived back after a five hour drive from Pinang. A little bit on the shattered side, but I will try to get up the Grand European Tour Thread before I go and sleep.

>29 justchris: I like those too, Chris. I am something of a magpie reader - I like and soak up most things - very heavy science based science fiction, pulp fiction and self-help books aside I enjoy reading most things.

>30 figsfromthistle: Thanks Anita!

>31 Kristelh: I did notice its mixed reviews. So far I am enjoying it but it isn't her at her prime, I would hazard.

>34 PaulCranswick: Published posthumously, I believe.

>35 booksaplenty1949: Yes it was indeed.

Happy New Thread, Paul.

>37 SirThomas: Thank you, dear Thomas

Happy New Thread and beautiful picture!!

>39 hredwards: Thank you, Harold

I have toiling in the garden and not online but something said today was LT thread day. And, I get to say happy new thread to you! Thanks also for keeping my thread a little warm.

Beautiful picture of Romania!

Happy new one, Paul!

Happy new thread, Paul!

I got a lot of books this week if you care to check them out on the 'This Just In' thread :)

Happy whatever!

>41 witchyrichy: Thanks for the lovely message, Karen. I am pleased to see you any day.

>42 drneutron: Thank you, Jim

>43 alcottacre: I will go over and have a peek dear lady. xx

Happy New Thread, Paul! It's amazing that I got here so soon. As quickly as my free-ish time is contracting, I don't know when I'll manage again. I will add that I love Elizabeth Taylor, but I haven't read Blaming. I think that A View of the Harbour remains my favorite, and it was the first one I read.

My very best to you and your dear family!

>46 LizzieD: Lovely to see you, Peggy. Isn't it funny how often our favourite novels by an author is the first one we read.

>3 PaulCranswick: Good novel. I just finished Maugham's The Razor's Edge a few days ago, which I enjoyed.

Happy new thread, Paul, and hope you have a good weekend!

>48 ChrisG1: Any novel that can get me scribbling poetry is held as top notch in my view, Chris.

>49 bell7: Thanks Mary - you too.

Happy new thread, Paul

Hahaha Arlie....great minds and all that as I was just over at your thread wishing you the same!

Happy new thread Paul!

Thank you neighbour.

Sorry for the delay but the May Grand European Tour thread is up

https://www.librarything.com/topic/370571

In May it will be slightly different as we are looking at Non-national languages.

>47 PaulCranswick: If i hear about an author who sounds like someone up my alley my usual practice is to start with his or her first novel. Ideally one sees a writer of obvious promise and then gets to follow his/her increasing mastery of the novel form. But sometimes that first novel was a fairly feeble effort and is only back in print because the author went on to much better things. Hard to see what all the fuss is about.
And of course “favourite” novels aren’t just about literary merit. A novel can strike a magic note at a certain point in life. Twenty years later its former appeal seems a mystery.

>56 booksaplenty1949: I do agree that literary merit is not so conclusive when we list our favourites. There are all sorts of reasons why we take to a particular book. For me some stories stand out for their brilliance.

Of my favourite books written in my lifetime A Fine Balance, The Covenant of Water, The Orenda and Half of a Yellow Sun stand out as being brilliantly written as well as great stories.

Just checking in here.

>58 thornton37814: And very welcome as always, Lori. x

Happy new thread, Paul!1

>45 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Juan. I always value your input.

Happy whatever!

>60 banjo123: Thanks Rhonda. Always a pleasure to see you.

>61 alcottacre: Et tu, Juana

Happy new thread, Paul.

>63 Familyhistorian: Thank you, Meg.

Happy newish thread and happy Sunday, Paul!
So a book by a South Tyrolean (Italian) author who writes in German would qualify for the challenge I guess? I‘ll try and find a short one.

>65 Deern: I am not a strict interpreter of rules, Nathalie so of course I am going to say it qualifies.

>65 Deern: Saw an interesting movie based on Berge in Flammen, a 1931 novel about WW I in the Tyrol which would meet your description.

>67 booksaplenty1949: Not familiar with that one or whether it is even translated but it looks an interesting read.

We had a nice day today (Sunday) as two sets of our friends called by ostensibly for the six of us to go for a walk around KLCC park. Well we didn't make it but had a few hours of great company before lunch in Suria KLCC (TexMex) and I even managed a quick stop to my bookstore! (See next post)

My Japanese friend Kimura Masao has had a stent inserted recently and celebrated his 64th birthday yesterday. We were joking about taking care of each other's health so we could meet up to celebrated his 84th birthday in 2045!

Sunday additions:

135. The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry
136. Fire on the Mountain by Anita Desai
137. After Midnight by Irmgard Keun
138. Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers
139. Rescue : Czeslaw Milosz by Czeslaw Miosz
140. Gliff by Ali Smith

Happy New Thread, Paul. I hope all is well in your world. Love that majestic topper. Where is that location?

>71 msf59: Nice to see you, Mark.

The topper is Romania.

happy new thread and my dad went to Romania once! He gave me a dollar in their currency I think

>73 louisisaloafofbreb: Thanks Lily. Romania uses the Leu as its currency which is worth about 4.3 to the dollar.

>74 PaulCranswick: Woah that's kinda cool :o

>75 louisisaloafofbreb: Romania is a very interesting place, Lily. We had previously a friend in the group from there, Liliana, who I miss seeing around here.

>76 PaulCranswick: Woahhhh I wish I could have met them :( Romania is awesome (my dad sent me pics) and its amazinggg- wait- have u seen Denmark? My dad went there too (ik a bit off topic) I was only 9 when he went tho

Hi Paul, mate. Happy New Thread and congrats on Leeds becoming Championship Champions and the fact that Farke has been confirmed as manager going into the Premier League. I saw on Look North this evening highlights of their parade around the city, estimates of around 150,000 were on the streets to see it.

>78 johnsimpson: Thank you, John. I am, of course, ecstatic. On the season we clearly deserved it and the scenes in Leeds yesterday were extraordinary. With decent recruitment I think we have the credentials to comfortably survive.
Speaking of survival Pope, Bashir and Crawley are extremely fortunate to be retained for the Zimbabwe test.

>4 PaulCranswick: Happy new thread!!

>80 ocgreg34: Thank you Greg.

CARTOON

This echoes one of the most famous political ads of all time from the 1970s. Not entirely comfortable with the sentiment but I don't understand how France can be allowed to let the migrants cross - they cannot by definition asylum seekers if they are "escaping from France".

PULITZER PRIZE

Pleased to see that James by Percival Everett won the Pulitzer Prize. It was very good in my humble opinion.

PULITZER POETRY

The poetry prize was won by Marie Howe for her New and Selected Poems.

She is not a poet that I am especially familiar with (although, of course, I had heard of her).

Here is a poem of hers Postscript

What we did to the earth, we did to our daughters
one after the other.

What we did to the trees, we did to our elders
stacked in their wheelchairs by the lunchroom door.

What we did to our daughters, we did to our sons
calling out for their mothers.

What we did to the trees, what we did to the earth,
we did to our sons, to our daughters.

What we did to the cow, to the pig, to the lamb,
we did to the earth, butchered and milked it.

Few of us knew what the bird calls meant
or what the fires were saying.

We took of earth and took and took, and the earth
seemed not to mind

until one of our daughters shouted: it was right
in front of you, right in front of your eyes

and you didn’t see.
The air turned red. The ocean grew teeth.

PULITZER Novel/Fiction Winners that I have read:

1. 1921 The Age of Innocence
2. 1928 The Bridge of San Luis Rey
3. 1932 The Good Earth
4. 1939 The Yearling
5. 1940 The Grapes of Wrath
6. 1945 A Bell for Adano
7. 1953 The Old Man and the Sea
8. 1961 To Kill a Mockingbird
9. 1967 The Fixer
10. 1968 The Confessions of Nat Turner
11. 1972 Angle of Repose
12. 1973 The Optimist's Daughter
13. 1975 The Killer Angels
14. 1989 Breathing Lessons
15. 1992 A Thousand Acres
16. 1993 A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
17. 1994 The Shipping News
18. 2006 March
19. 2007 The Road
20. 2010 Tinkers
21. 2020 The Nickel Boys
22. 2021 The Night Watchman
23. 2022 The Netanyahus
24. 2025 James

I’ve read #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24. I just bought #10 at used book sale and have 23 on the shelf.

>86 Kristelh: I have a further 42 winners on the shelves, Kristel!

I have read others too and only recently actually started to accumlate them. I need to go back to last years thread to see how many I've read.

ETA

Pulitzer
1. 1919 THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS - Booth Tarkington Hoopla, 11/20/22
2. 1921 THE AGE OF INNOCENCE - Edith Wharton
3. 1922 ALICE ADAMS - Booth Tarkington
4. 1925 SO BIG - Edna Ferber8. 1926
5. ARROWSMITH - Sinclair Lewis (Declined) library
6. THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY - Thornton Wilder
7. 1932 THE GOOD EARTH - Pearl Buck
8. 1935 NOW IN NOVEMBER - Josephine Winslow Johnson 5/27/21
9. 1937 GONE WITH THE WIND - Margaret Mitchell
11. 1939 THE YEARLING - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
12. 1940 THE GRAPES OF WRATH - John Steinbeck
13. 1943 DRAGON'S TEETH - Upton Sinclair
14. 1945 A BELL FOR ADANO - John Hersey
15. 1951 THE TOWN - Conrad Richter
16. 1953 THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA - Ernest Hemingway
17. A DEATH IN THE FAMILY - James Agee
18. 1960 ADVISE AND CONSENT - Allen Drury 3/27/21
19. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - Harper Lee
20. 1965 THE KEEPERS OF THE HOUSE - Shirley Ann Grau OWN audible play 3/23
21. 1966 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF KATHERINE ANNE PORTER - Katherine Anne Porter READ some
22. 1967 THE FIXER - Bernard Malamud
23. 1969 HOUSE MADE OF DAWN - N Scott Momaday, Nov 2023
24. 1972 ANGLE OF REPOSE - Wallace Stegner OWN 2/11/23
25. 1973 THE OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER - Eudora Welty
26. 1975 THE KILLER ANGELS - Jeff Shaara
27. 1976 HUMBOLDT'S GIFT - Saul Bellow
28. 1979 THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER - John Cheever Read some
29. 1980 THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG - Norman Mailer
30. 1981 A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES - John Kennedy Toole
31. 1982 RABBIT IS RICH - John Updike
32. 1983 THE COLOR PURPLE - Alice Walker
33. 1987 A SUMMONS TO MEMPHIS - Peter Taylor
34. 1988 BELOVED - Toni Morrison
35. BREATHING LESSONS - Anne Tyler OWN
36. 1992 A THOUSAND ACRES - Jane Smiley OWN 4/20/21
37. 1994 THE SHIPPING NEWS - E Annie Proulx
38. 1995 THE STONE DIARIES - Carol Shields
39. 1998 AMERICAN PASTORAL - Philip Roth
40. 1999 THE HOURS - Michael Cunningham
41. 2001 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY - Michael Chabon
42. 2003 MIDDLESEX - Jeffrey Eugenides
43. 2004 THE KNOWN WORLD - Edward P. Jones
44. 2005 GILEAD - Marilynne Robinson
45. 2006 MARCH - Geraldine Brooks
46. 2007 THE ROAD - Cormac McCarthy
47. 2008 THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO - Junot Diaz
48.2009 OLIVE KITTERIDGE - Elizabeth Strout
49. 2011 A VISIT FROM THE GOOD SQUAD - Jennifer Egan
50 2013 ORPHAN MASTER'S SON - Adam Johnson OWN
51. 2014 THE GOLDFINCH - Donna Tartt
52. 2015 ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE - Anthony Doerr
53. 2016 THE SYMPATHIZER - Viet Thanh Nguyen
54. 2017 THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD - Colson Whitehead
55. 2018 LESS - Andrew Sean Greer READ 12/22/21
56. 2019 THE OVERSTORY - Richard Powers OWN
57. 2021 The Night Watchman (hoopla, audio) COMPLETED 1/3/21
58. 2023 Trust
59. 2023 Demon Copperhead
60. 2024 Night Watch
61. James - Percival Everett

>87 PaulCranswick: Bet you don’t have too many from the first 25 years. A textbook example of how it is not always possible to evaluate lasting qualities in a newly published book.

>88 Kristelh: I just posted my list above. I have a hard time finding the older ones.

>88 Kristelh: That is an impressive performance, Kristel.

>89 booksaplenty1949: You are right. I have three unread which won in the first 25 years. So Big, Laughing Boy and Arrowsmith.

>91 PaulCranswick: I will hunt down the rest of them someday, Kristel.

CARTOON

Finished my 38th book today Menaud, Maître-Draveur—my May “Non-national language” pick—-so I am on track to get to 75 this year. Once I get through Le rêve for the Zola Challenge, and Bowling Alone, I plan to start on Life and Fate. Wish me luck.

>94 booksaplenty1949: I will always wish you luck, my friend.

For myself I will finally add a book in my "read" column in about an hour when I get my lunch break.

>94 booksaplenty1949: Thank you. Medical challenge on the horizon, so welcome good wishes from the other side of the world. Sense of community has been an unexpected blessing from a website I just got involved with to play with my books. Who knew?

>96 booksaplenty1949: Indeed. Take good care of yourself as I need and value your company in these parts.

BOOK # 48



Blaming by Elizabeth Taylor
Date of Publication : 1976
Origin of Author : UK
Gender of Author : Female
Pages : 168 pp
Challenge : 50 Modern Classics of the Last 50 Years

A short and fairly ponderous end of life novel, that is elegiac and thought-provoking.

Elizabeth Taylor was an admirable stylist and this is still superior writing even though it is not of her very best.

>82 PaulCranswick: I sort of see what you mean Paul, but to me the issue is that there are no legal routes for anyone to come to the U.K. to claim asylum any more, except for a very few countries (maybe Ukraine I think). Certainly not very many countries where people actual are endangered. And asylum can only be claimed once someone is in the U.K. And it doesn't seem fair to me that we expect other countries to take all the asylum seekers just because they arrived there first.

>82 PaulCranswick: >99 SandDune: It is also forgotten that many other European countries take a lot more asylum seekers than we do. Those that want to come to the UK do so often because English is their second language. I won't get into the arguments that the anti-migrant groups wrongly propound.

>99 SandDune: No I get the point and agree with you largely, Rhian, but there is an obvious difference between an economic migrant and a genuine asylum seeker and it is extremely difficult to separate the one from the other.

>100 Caroline_McElwee: I am certainly not an anti-migrant, Caroline, being an expatriate in a largely welcoming foreign country for 30 years. I do think though that when we look at numbers things like population densities and the ability of national infrastructures to cope need to be considered. A person does not have an automatic right of abode wherever he or she wants to be but certainly we should always give protection and succour to those threatened and genuinely in fear of their lives in their home countries.

Paul, how I love visiting your threads! Filled with wonderful books, great recommendations, and a smattering of so many lovely covers!

I've added Tamed by Alice Roberts, Night Blind by Ragmar Joasson, The reborn by Lin Anderson and A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths.

>13 PaulCranswick: I love the family photo wherein everyone looks happy!

>102 Whisper1: Thanks Linda! I like my thread to be colorful but your's is definitely the most visually appealing thread in the group!

>101 PaulCranswick: Birth rates are such in the developed world that without immigration the national population will decline. Japan is the obvious example.

>104 booksaplenty1949: It really is a difficult issue. Here in Holland birth rates are low, population is growing because of immigration. Big housing shortage for young people, means a lot of negativity about refugees. At the same time lots of jobs can’t be filled, more workers are needed.
I met the homeless guy standing at my supermarket. Asked him if he wanted to do a job for me, I needed some help. Turns out he’s an illegal Nigerian. Spent several years working in Italy, now he moved to Holland. I was glad with his help! But he’s in a lousy position, he will not get asylum, no chance. So no house, no legal work, no care. Nice and decent guy.

>104 booksaplenty1949: It is a quandary for sure. Immigration is a necessity with declining populations but can it be managed? It is a pithy statement to say that nations should target those people that they need as a society but the world is not as neat as that and disregards many in turn.
I think that wherever possible we should separate asylum and immigration but again it isn't easy to do that either.

>105 EllaTim: Yes it is difficult, Ella. It is also a groundswell issue as - in the main - the highly educated and reasonably affluent minority recognize its necessity to a lesser or greater extent - it is the less affluent, less qualified majority that resent the potential competition that mass migration presents - and the racist dogwhistles that are blown on erosion of culture / invasion etc serves to stoke up people's baser instincts.
I don't know the answers or where the best of the middle ground is but politicians and people on both sides of the argument should realize - as with your Nigerian friend - that is is a human problem, and that needs compassion and sensitivity.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/370684

>107 SilverWolf28: Thank you, Silver. I need this readathon.

Friday lunchtime additions:

141. The Voyage Home by Pat Barker
142. The Lowlife by Alexander Baron
143. The Lost Paths by Jack Cornish
144. Rough Justice by Wendy Joseph
145. How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin
146. Nature's Ghosts by Sophie Yeo

3 fiction
3 non-fiction

BOOK # 49



The Blue Bird by Maurice Maeterlinck
Date of Publication : 1908
Origin of Author : Belgium
Gender of Author : Male
Pages : 287 pp
Challenges : Nobel Winners; European Grand Tour

This is a moralistic play supposedly for children which follows the adventures of brother and sister Tyltyl and Mytyl.

They seek the blue bird of happiness and confront mortality and the dangers of life in the meanwhile whilst eventually coming to see the value and joy in the mundane and the emptiness of materialism.

I don't know about the children of the Edwardian era in Western Europe but I think this is too deep for the children of today. Rather than set them thinking I think it would send them to their smart-phones instead.

Maeterlinck won the Nobel Prize. I'm pretty sure that this is not the reason.

I realise with Maurice Maeterlinck that I have now read something from 80 of the 121 Nobel Literature Laureates.

>111 PaulCranswick: I may have heard of 80 of them. List gives new meaning to “mixed bag.”

>112 booksaplenty1949: Very much a mixed bag. I don't know how the heck some of them were chosen.

Started a new Lynton Lamb mystery, Worse than Death. Unlike with the first book in the series, understanding the plot does not seem to require deciphering incomprehensible cricket-speak, but I am puzzled by the fact that patches of sodden straw indicate to the detective that there had been “Bowling for the Pig.” Sure.

Happy whatever, Paul! I'm jumping back in, having fallen off several threads ago. Hope all is well.

>114 booksaplenty1949: That would flummox me too as it is an expression I am not familiar with either.

>115 foggidawn: Lovely to see you, Foggi. I am doing reasonably well all things considered!

>114 booksaplenty1949:, >116 PaulCranswick: At a traditional English Summer Village Fete there would be the option to win a pig (usually a piglet) by bowling at skittles. The pig would be on show in a small enclosure, probably lined with straw and the pig would leave evidence of its presence in the straw.

>118 CDVicarage: Thank you. Google research eventually partially helpful re nature of the sport but still left connection to sodden straw unexplained. In the process I saw a very tempting antique brass inkwell on eBay featuring skittles and a pig. Emily Dickinson says of a book “How frugal is the chariot/That bears the human soul” but my experience is that trying to combine reading and frugality is not an easy task.

>118 CDVicarage: Thank you, Kerry. One learns something new every day.

>119 booksaplenty1949: Frugality is not a "virtue" I possess in abundance!

>120 PaulCranswick: I think it would be difficult for a man with 16,000+ books to convince us otherwise.

>121 booksaplenty1949: Well yes, I suppose there is that!

CARTOON



Some cartoons make me smile and some make me think. This is downright scary.

Dropping in to say hello! Hope all is well.

>124 figsfromthistle: Things a bit bogged down, Anita. I feel unusually tired and a bit downcast. I'm not sure whether it is world politics or the project grinding along that is affecting my mood, but it is impacting my activity in the group and my reading certainly.

School choice is a tough call and I am a graduate of the state school system in the UK and it served me well.

Both of my siblings chose to educate their children privately. My brother's two children have both completed their studies. Lydia my eldest niece is currently on an engagement as a singer aboard a cruise liner and her brother, Ryan, also into performing arts is in his final year at LAMDA and is signed with acting agency United Artists.

My sister's three children are a little younger. Annabel the eldest has just graduated school and is a karate black belt and very active raising funds for the Prince of Wales Hospice in Pontefract. Christian and Elizabeth are still in school.

My sister messaged me the day before yesterday as the kid's school, the Wakefield Independent School, is closing as it cannot cope with the VAT the government has put on school fees. Many families sacrifice a lot to send their children to such schools and they have all been kicked in the teeth by government.

The State School system has done great service to the public but cannot cope either - the privately educated children will now have to be accommodated somehow back into a state school system that the state cannot afford and that those children are not well equipped to deal with. My sister doesn't know what to do as the other private school options locally are too expensive for her.

BOOK #50



Wild Grass by Ian Johnson
Date of Publication : 2004
Origin of Author : USA
Gender of Author : Male
Pages : 292 pp
Challenges : Non-Fiction Challenge

For someone who obviously knows his subject so intimately I don't know how his conclusions were so spectacularly wrong.

He expected the Chinese communist system to wither and possibly die under the weight of the pressure to be free. He says :

This book is an attempt to portray this untenable situation and hint at the sort of more open, fairer country that Chinese people want. .

Johnson casts a practised journalistic eye over three extended examples of change agents / malcontents - one looking at legal redresses, one looking at urban renewal and one trying to uncover the reasons behind her mother's death in custody for being a member of Falun Gong. The three pieces read like the extended articles they probably are but they are no less interesting for that.

I have many ethnic Chinese friends (Malaysians) and I find them loyal, trustworthy and honourable as well as extremely diligent and industrious. I admire Chinese people greatly.

The Chinese state on the other hand is unscrupulous, rapacious and a danger to life as we know it. The Trump Administration for all its uncouth blundering is right to identify this problem which has amounts for 30% of its total trade deficits.

This book identifies the human cost of the Chinese system of government - for many I believe it hasn't gotten a whole lot better in the 20 years since this book was written.

Sorry to hear that you are tired and down dear Paul. I hope that it doesn't last long and that things will improve at work.

>128 Kristelh: Thank you, Kristel.

This project has simply gone on too long, I think!

>125 PaulCranswick: Reading is a reflexive activity and that can make it a challenge when “reflecting” brings up too many difficult thoughts. Even something apparently “escapist” can hit a nerve. I’ve been through this in my time and it sucks. Thoughts and prayers, dear distant friend.

>130 booksaplenty1949: Thank you. Flunks are difficult to explain. I do suffer from depression sometimes although I am pretty good at keeping it hidden.

>126 PaulCranswick: That's a very difficult situation, Paul.
Education is the basis for a fulfilling life, I hope your sister finds a good solution.
I hope you feel better soon - I can probably spare myself the advice to read a good book...

>131 PaulCranswick: “Keeping it hidden” is tempting but probably not the best strategy.

>132 SirThomas: My sister is a tough cookie who has faced and overcome many challenges in her life to be relatively successful. She suffers from dyslexia but is a well regarded family lawyer.

Thanks for the kind words, Thomas. I have one or two options when it comes to things to read!

>133 booksaplenty1949: Almost certainly correct but I do need some sleight of hand and poker-playing-skills in my job.

>134 PaulCranswick: Well, the workplace has its own demands. But the personal sphere is different. One has to take as well as give.

>135 booksaplenty1949: Yes. I do tend to internalize a lot of stresses and strains mainly to protect Hani who doesn't cope with stress quite so well and already has high blood pressure. She does marvel sometimes why my own blood pressure is invariably only slightly above normal when I have so much to face on a daily basis and am not exactly a figure in the finest trim.

BOOK #51



Original Sin by PD James
Date Published : 1994
Origin of Author : UK
Gender of Author : Female
Pages : 551 pp
Challenges : BAC

This is the ninth Dalgleish mystery and quite possibly the best one too.

In the world of publishing the new CEO of Peverill Press (invented) is murdered and the Yard team come to unravel the mystery with almost infinite skill and patience.

Possibly a tad too long but this is excellent stuff and a writer - at 74 at the time - at the absolute peak of her powers.

CARTOON

I added a couple of books yesterday as a result of Hani sending me to KLCC in the evening to "do errands"

147. Eurotrash by Christian Kracht
148. The Night Alphabet by Joelle Taylor

Both books have generated plenty of interest on various book tubes over the last months.

>138 PaulCranswick: *snort* Reminds me of all the people who order double cheeseburgers and jumbo fries and then get a diet coke.

>140 amanda4242: Hani would be guilty of that! She actually likes diet coke!

>125 PaulCranswick: Paul, I hope you feel more energized soon. I'm sorry your project seems to be chugging along.

Take care of yourself. You watch over so many in your life, I fear you forget how very important you are to so very many!

>143 Whisper1: I do feel the burden of those in my care sometimes, Linda.

Your messages always serve to lift up my spirits a little. xx

>126 PaulCranswick: After waiting so long for Labour to come back in, I'm not a huge fan of this government. My left-leaning friends in the UK aren't either, and are regretting voting them in.

>140 amanda4242: Personally, I hate the taste (and the idea) of the sweeteners they put into 'diet' drinks.

Hiya Paul!

I hope you are over your book funk, it looks like and I am sorry you are feeling depressed. It's something I also , used to be quite troubled with , but not often now, knock on wood. I have taken an antidepressant for about 30 years, and the one I have been on for about 20 years is working for me, plus I think life is less anxiety and depression provoking for me as my kids are grown and happy for the most part. I don't care for diet drinks either.

>145 humouress: I'm disappointed too to be fair. I honestly despair of the globalist agenda and Labour has betrayed its heartland support. Whilst I will be happy that the two party system seems to be teetering I am more than a little apprehensive about the level and type of support Reform are attracting. There are a few real fears for me:

(i) My "small is beautiful" and ecology over environmentalism is liberalist and my anti-globalist viewpoint is not centred around an uber nationalistic approach to things. The hubris racist pandering to the worst instincts of voters appalls me, whilst I recognize that the post-industrial areas outside of the Home Counties have been abandoned by successive governments.

(ii) I am very proud to be British and I believe that there is a lot to value in our past whilst recognizing that there is some infamy rolled into the gloriousness. We should look forward to an open and engaged relationship with the rest of the world and that means sensible trading and alignments where needs dictate. Some of the Little-Englander posturing by Reform is embarrassing and unwelcoming to minority groups.

(iii) I think we should recognize the need for a modicum of immigration and try to manage it in a way that boosts our economy and way of life and doesn't threaten to collapse our social welfare infrastructure in the process. This does mean making choices about who can and who cannot come to the UK - someone wanting to come to the UK for economic reasons should be needed by our economy. Entirely aside from this, we should still give aid, succour and shelter to a fair number of asylum seekers and set out a sensible basis for how these poor souls will be accommodated into our society. Would Reform safeguard these deserving few or turn a cold cheek? I don't want to be part of a cruel society.

(iv) We should recognize that diversity in our culture can add to and broaden our existing culture and this should be welcomed, but other cultures by the same token need to be respectful to and understanding of what we currently view (if we do) as a British way of life - and those secular core tenets should be established. Freedom of speech is very important and must be safeguarded whilst never being absolute. Polite discourse and even disagreement is often a positive thing within parameters of decency. Expressing of an opinion that is disagreeable to some other people should not be a matter for the police but a direct threat of or direct incitement to violence is and should remain unlawful.
I want to see the good in and recognize the value of all in our society and not cast anyone aside or prejudice any particular group.

I am still a member of the Labour Party and hope we can be a force for positive change. We have inherited a difficult situation from a hopelessly inept predecessor but the handling of the winter fuel allowances and the grooming gang scandal enquiry calls have been blows to my belief in our future prospects. Whilst I understand the reason for the policy aims of Nett Zero it is being managed blindly both without a proper view to the economic consequences as well as its likely impact to our ecology.

>146 louisisaloafofbreb: Great to see you, Lily.

>147 vancouverdeb: Thanks for sharing that, Deb.

I do not, as a rule, take medication for anything much - other than ventolin for my asthma.

Like you I DO NOT imbibe diet drinks.

>149 PaulCranswick: Yeah, haha gotta for sure update my amount of books I've read

Hi Paul, I do hope your funk or depression is soon resolved. In my younger years I did experience some mild depressions but with age those periods are less often and when I see signs I quickly work on diverting them.

I appreciate your laying out of your beliefs in 148. So very well expounded.

I am one who likes the taste of diet soda's over the real stuff which tastes too sweet to me but years ago now, I decided to not drink either. I on rare occasions will imbibe but mostly I choose other things that might be a bit more healthy. I try to avoid any industrialized foods if I can.

Maybe a sore subject; but how's your sleep, your diet, and exercise? I think this all can help with depressed moods. Work stress is work stress and a different subject but if you take care of the other stuff, maybe that will not be so overwhelming. Take care of yourself, dear Paul.

Before she married, my mother kept house for her widowed, Type 1 diabetic father. The only “artificial sweetener” available was saccharine, which has a metallic aftertaste in any significant quantity, so desserts were not in her repertoire and soft drinks were not on the menu. Thus my “sweet tooth” was relatively undeveloped and I have not had to look around for sugar substitutes with long scary names.
Apparently all babies show a preference for “sweet” but in cultures where “hot” is characteristic of the local cuisine they switch their allegiance to that flavour quite early. The UK and its “white dominions” were historically not among those places. An acquaintance was an aide to a local politician of Jamaican origin and part of her job was to keep a small bottle of hot sauce in her purse so he could sprinkle some on the offerings on the “rubber chicken circuit” and thus get through the meal.

>150 louisisaloafofbreb: Look forward to seeing what you have been reading.

>151 Kristelh: I am feeling a lot better, Kristel, but not really enjoying my work just now.

Thank you for the nice comments on my poorly formulated dissection of what is ill with the country of my birth and my heart. I am ill at ease at a world whereby polarities seem to be becoming the norm - dialogue and discourse are at a premium and there seems to be no effort to work together to find common ground.

I don't really take what we term as soft drinks - I am a coffee, tea, water and whiskey kind of guy really!

Diet, exercise and sleep. Not fantastic on all counts but Hani is trying to get me to eat better, and exercise and sleep more. Your message is really appreciated, Kristel.

>152 booksaplenty1949: I have more of a preference for savoury over sweet really, although I am fond of ice cream and chocolate too!

>142 PaulCranswick: I do that. I only drink Diet Sodas since I was diagnosed Diabetic a few years ago.

>155 hredwards: Nice to see you, Harold. Take care of yourself.

>148 PaulCranswick: Well said, Paul.

Sorry to hear you’ve been feeling down. Me too, unfortunately. I hope your work will pick up and you can finish that *** job that is taking so long!

I’ve not been reading today, but I’m watching my favorite pick-you-up, a YouTube of deepsea creatures. I’m a bit strange, I guess.

>157 EllaTim: Thank you for that very nice message, Ella.

I don't think that you are strange at all by the way. x

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/370870

>159 SilverWolf28: Thank you, Silver.

I feel myself slowly coming out of my funk.

I'm with you, Paul, don't see the appeal of soft drinks. Good to see that your funk is on the wane.

>111 PaulCranswick: Congratulations! I'm working through them as well and just started "The Problems of Philosophy" be Bertrand Russell.

>161 Familyhistorian: Thanks Meg, I am feeling a lot more chipper!

>162 ocgreg34: He is one that I have managed so far, Greg. I like some of his writing on faith and I read his detailed History of Western Philosophy many moons ago during university days.

>153 PaulCranswick: I updated my list, I gotta read more tho- gotta verify my library card tho

>164 louisisaloafofbreb: I am looking forward to using my own library card too when I get back to the UK, Lily.

>165 PaulCranswick: Yeah- I for sure have to get it verified bc I want to use it a whole lot more

>166 louisisaloafofbreb: Our system is perhaps a little different in the UK. My library card doesn't seem to have a validity period on it.

>167 PaulCranswick: really? this is the first time I've had to verify my card

>167 PaulCranswick: It is quite some time since I tried to use it of course, but I don't see how it could be invalid.

>169 PaulCranswick: yeah- the pin is the same- which is the last 4 didgets of ur phone number

>169 PaulCranswick: My library card is plastic and has no date on it but must be “renewed” by computer every year to keep the card number active. I assume this is necessary to keep contact info up to date. In case there has to be a raid to get overdue books back.

>170 louisisaloafofbreb: Same where I live—-I guess the libraries of the world got together on this.

BOOK #52



Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Date of Publication : 1977
Origin of Author : USA
Gender of Author : Female
Pages : 178 pp
Challenges : 50 Modern Classics (3/50)

This starts as a fairly conventional and somewhat mundane YA work of fiction describing normal teen concerns, but goes from the ordinary to the extraordinary as the relationship between the main characters develops and what happens to them unfolds.

I'm only disappointed that I waited so long to read this book.

>170 louisisaloafofbreb: That is interesting, Lily, I would have thought those same four numbers could crop up multiple times, no?

>171 booksaplenty1949: I suppose mine might turn out to have adopted the same policy as I haven't used it for so long. I will find out later in the year, I hope.

>172 booksaplenty1949: You are pretty screwed without a mobile phone these days! I don't know how my late mother would have coped today. She never had a computer, a laptop or a mobile phone. People are being hugely disadvantaged unless they sign up to the digital age.

No freedom of choice at all these days.

I forgot my Friday lunchtime additions:

149. The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
150. Real Americans by Rachel Khong
151. Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq
152. Antibody by Rebecca Salazar

>175 PaulCranswick: Doesn’t have to be a mobile phone #. I assume your mother had a landline. And it’s the password, not the card number, so the fact that many people have the same one is no bigger a deal than with a credit card.
No doubt people who weren’t “on the phone” back in the day were similarly disadvantaged. The telephone was invented in 1876 and was only installed in 70% of American houses by 1954. What did people do in a fire or a medical emergency? Send a letter? And speaking of letters, in 1840 only 50% of British women could read. No doubt this was a huge disadvantage for the other 50%. Progress will always leave some people behind. That doesn’t mean it isn’t progress or that we should regard it as a serious violation of freedom of choice.

>88 Kristelh: Have read 15 on this list. Ranged from first-rate to a complete waste of time. Would not regard receipt of a prize as any guarantee of lasting literary merit.

My sister doesn’t have a cell phone, has never had one and I have even offered her my old one. She thinks they are a waste of time . She isn’t technically challenged . By contrast my 83 year old mom has had a cellphone for 15 or more years. It’s partly just individual preference.

>177 booksaplenty1949: Maybe I didn't express myself very well as I am not by nature a Luddite and I can certainly see the benefits of progress. In 1847 the Bronte sisters all released novels using men's names to get published and George Eliot was named thus for a reason. It is barely a century since women got the vote in the UK and race relations have improved immensely during my lifetime. I remember black soccer players being subjected to monkey chants from the terraces of football grounds in my schooldays and I was considered weird because I thought it disgusting.

I guess I was lamenting a loss of personal freedom. Now we are being surveilled and controlled more than ever before. The steady removal of cash from the system worries me a lot because Governments are not always benign and will soon be in a position to take what they want at the press of a button.

>178 booksaplenty1949: We certainly agree here. I thought that some of the winners were superb but some were absolute tosh too.

>179 vancouverdeb: It is a matter of choice, Deb, or should be. Nowadays in Malaysia you cannot really do any banking much without the use of your mobile phone. Some places don't even accept cash payments.

>180 PaulCranswick: The surveillance part is worrying, I agree. Of course “Cash is King” in the criminal/tax evasion world, so each system has its drawbacks. Young people seem unfamiliar with cash. Coins, especially, are mysterious. COVID revealed to businesses how much time and effort went into counting, safeguarding, and depositing cash. Many have never gone back.

>182 booksaplenty1949: I am not a conspiracy theorist and the timing was perhaps coincidental but it was a convenient time for government's to switch over the financial system and take the cash largely out of it.

>183 PaulCranswick: Here it was mostly local businesses in COVID times. One has only been able to pay income tax by bank transfer for at least a decade, for example. No cheques, let alone cash.

>172 booksaplenty1949: guess so

Paul, library cards in the US do not have expiration dates on them, they just need verification to make sure they are accurate for address, etc. In Florida I validate my card every two years, in Minnesota it is yearly. I think your card may need some kind of updating as you've been out of the country for quite sometime.

I haven't read The Bridge to Terabithia but I know it is a book that I should read someday.

If you are unable to afford a mobile phone in Minnesota there are programs that will give you one. They aren't lame either. Unfortunately, because people don't care for them they often are damaged and they have to reapply for them.

I see you picked up Heart Lamp which is on the Booker International short list. Have you any of the others? Have you read any of them. I have not read any of them this year.

My library card says it has an expiration date, but it really just means every few years I have to go in and make sure my contact info is up to date.

>184 booksaplenty1949: There was definitely a move during the lockdown to wean society off cash transactions and whilst I use my phone and find it useful, I don't like being essentially forced to use one. Not all progress is positive. Until smart phones I am sure that you could remember all your important numbers - how many now?
Before people became reliant on calculators and spreadsheets they were able to compute themselves and mental arithmetic skills have plummeted dangerously over the last two decades.

>185 louisisaloafofbreb: It is probably a question of ignorance on my part to be honest as I suppose they would still want to verify you live locally and will return the books.

>186 Kristelh: It does make sense, Kristel, for verification purposes.

My objection to mobile phones is not its cost it is that there is a compulsion nowadays to become dependent upon them. I should have the right to choose that I don't want to do my banking on my phone as there are inherent security issues in doing so. I should have the right of using cash to pay for things. I should have the right to receive proper notice in written of my bank statements rather than having to accept it by email.

>187 Kristelh: I have five of the six shortlist (all of which are quite short) but haven't gotten to any of them yet! The remaining one Small Boat is not available here yet.

>188 amanda4242: It is by now fairly obvious to me, Amanda, that it is a fairly universal practice that library cards will get periodically verified and that, even at 58 years old, I can learn something new every day.

>191 PaulCranswick: Should have added that library card can be renewed in the library. Clerk enters new expiry date and any new address etc on his/her computer. Borrower doesn’t need to have/use one.
I don’t use self-checkout in the grocery store, either.

>189 PaulCranswick: Probably, the library is close to my school, although I should probably ask my parents if I can return the one book I finished- then figure out what to do bc its not letting me verify the card, even though my number hasn't changed

Lots of people in my neighborhood are actually not computer or mobile phone literate. Not really. They are a bit older than I am, say over 75. They are trying to get used to the digital age, but it’s hard for them, and when things go wrong they don’t know how to handle it. For those people there should still be an alternative. But to be fair, I am used to digital stuff, but when I was moving house I had a lot to arrange, and I also found it a lot easier to get someone on the phone, instead of that chatbot!

>190 PaulCranswick: Yes, Paul, I agree that we should have the option of doing things the paper way. Many businesses are now starting to charge fees for credit card use and they do accept cash.

I have heard the Small Boat is quite good so hopefully you'll find it.

Just as happy that bus drivers in my city are no longer trying to make change or sell me a strip of little cardboard tickets while negotiating traffic. They just drive the bus while I press a pre-loaded plastic card against a reader. Or a credit card. Or my cellphone. I regard this as progress.

So you can’t go into a bank in Malaysia and with draw funds, or deposit, or pay a bill without a cell phone? That is surprising. Here, you don’t need a cell phone to do that . I’m don’t think my library card expires . No date on it . I use it a lot of course. I’ll ask next time I am at the library.

>197 vancouverdeb: VPL card expires every five years, according to the website.

>198 booksaplenty1949: I use the Richmond Public Library.

>198 booksaplenty1949: I should add that I had the same library card for 24 years without renewing it . But perhaps because I use the library often, that keeps it current? I’m not sure .

>200 vancouverdeb: I see it is a very small system. I guess they feel that if you are using it you are local and they will be able to track you down, although that seems a bit casual.

>192 booksaplenty1949: I am not surprisingly with you on personal checkouts much to Belle's irritation - I thrive on personal interaction and always engage the shop assistants. If we automate everything then a whole swathe of decent people will not have anything to do.

>193 louisisaloafofbreb: I can't currently lend 'em so I have to go and buy 'em!

>202 PaulCranswick: I can use my library card now haha, I forgot I lost the original one so I had to get a new one with a whole new number- and have you seen Monster Jam? its SOOOO COOL!

>194 EllaTim: I am fairly tech-able but it isn't me I am thinking of, Ella. As you say the older and less privileged people are being left behind and cast aside.

Sooner or later you won't be able to vote without your mobile phone and imagine the scope for manipulation and cheating as there will be no physical receipts.

In my personal opinion there is no proper substitute for personal service - calling bank or utility call centres is an exercise in frustration and irritation. Press 1 for this and 2 for this and a wrong step gets you diconnected and back in a ten minute queue.

>195 Kristelh: Exactly, Kristel. We went from vinyl and 8-track cartridges, to cassettes to CD's and now we are all streaming and my CDs are obsolete and manufacturers rarely even make CD players anymore.
Then they realize it is killing their business and they "bring back" vinyl.
Let people choose.

I am a bit frustrated because there was a single copy of the book in Kinokuniya and I didn't pick it up then and now I have to wait for them to get some more copies.

>196 booksaplenty1949: Hahaha that is so true as I had never any change!

They did something amazing here a few years ago as the city has a number of toll roads which had several payment options - you could pay cash, you could use a "touch and card" which could be topped up, similarly a "smart-tag" with the touch and go inserted into a machine that sits in your car and eventually a RFID.

With seemingly no warning the operators suddenly stopped accepting cash and it caused absolute chaos for several days.

>197 vancouverdeb: You can still go to the bank, Deb, and draw cash but it is a palaver. They will not accept deposits though which they insert you put into one of their temperamental machines. I think that they work on the premise that if they make the service so bad you will embrace the only alternative.

>198 booksaplenty1949: I never thought we would have an absorbing convo about the administration of library cards internationally!

>199 vancouverdeb: I see you have four branches to choose from, Deb. One of them (Brighouse) is also the name of a small town in West Yorkshire very close to where I was brought up.

I also note that you open on a Sunday which is tremendous - I don't think that the public libraries in my home area in the UK open on a Sunday.

>200 vancouverdeb: I hope my library in Wakefield has the same system as yours, Deb.

>201 booksaplenty1949: Made me smile - I thought of the Library Detectives hunting down errant lenders.

>203 louisisaloafofbreb: That is good Lily.

I don't really watch too much TV, I'm afraid.

>208 PaulCranswick: They came to Cincinnati and I watched them live, it was really loud but it was so good! One of the monster trucks did a flip!

>209 louisisaloafofbreb: Trucks are not really my thing, Lily, I have enough trouble parking my Honda or Hani's Toyota.

>210 PaulCranswick: Haha, I don't drive- yet

>211 louisisaloafofbreb: I hope you'll be better at parking when you do than I am!

Hi Paul and happy Sunday! :)
Belatedly adding my South Tyrolean (don‘t know if it’s done that way all over Italy) library card experience: here it is the „health card“, a kind of ID that’s now used/ linked to all kinds of services, not just in the health sector, and also has my tax number on it. It is renewed automatically for the locals every couple of years, as a foreigner I actively have to renew it every five years, bringing several documents, like photo ID and a recent salary statement. So if you don’t return your books, they can easily find and charge you. :)

In theory you can still pay in cash everywhere, but if it’s something like 4.75 and you pay with a 5 or 10 euro note, they’ll often ask „do you have 75 cents, we‘re out of change“, so you’ll pay digitally in some way.

They recently switched the „bancomat“ cards (what once was an ec card, for payments and withdrawals) into a debit card issued by a credit card company. The process of registering it online and installing the required app - while the old card was just picked up at the bank against a signature - was so complicated that even I had to call the bank for support, to learn that the wonderful app was down that day. For weeks, there were queues of people at the bank who needed help getting that stupid card registered on a smartphone app. I do my online banking exclusively on my office computer, while the ID app is on the phone. If I do both on the phone, the ID automatically authorizes the payment on the banking app, and I don’t like that.

Banks here still deal with cash and I don't think that is going away anytime soon.

>198 booksaplenty1949: I have a VPL card and have a vague recollection of having to renew it once in the last 20 years. I imagine it would be different if I didn't use the library constantly.

>214 Familyhistorian: Interesting Meg. I'd never heard of needing to renew a library card prior to this thread. Live and learn.

>205 PaulCranswick: That is hassle, Paul. You can deposit cash here, though if you deposit $10,000 cash , it will be scrutinized in case you are money laundering. I know stores that only take cash here, on is Dave's barber shop and it is suspected that they money launder ( not by the police, as far as I know) but by Dave and my hairdresser where they take cash, credit or debit.

I hope your library in Yorkshire also does not require you to renew your library card.

Paul, I was a juvenile credit offender at my library here in Richmond in my teens. I lost a book and was afraid to face the librarians. I waited until I married and had taken Dave's last name. A friend accompanied me to the library as I bravely applied for a new library card under my new name. I had gotten a letter from the library claiming I was a juvenile credit offender. That scared me quite a bit. Since then, no further infractions. You've got to take those librarians seriously!

>215 vancouverdeb: My local library system no longer charges fines for overdue books. Presumably these fines led people who owed them to stop using the system, and were harder on the more vulnerable. But I guess one has to draw the line at a never-returned book, lest the shelves be emptied.

>216 booksaplenty1949: My library tried doing away with overdue fines and just charged for lost items or those not returned after several months, but people were keeping books out for months and ignoring return reminders and then going ballistic when they'd get a bill. The library went back to 25 cents a day fines and it seems to be working better.

>217 amanda4242: My library system has a limit on renewals even if there are no other requests for the item. It seems reasonable to me to just hold on to the item until I’m finished with it, if no one else is waiting. Not sure if a 25 cent a day fine would alter my policy.

>218 booksaplenty1949: Mine has three week checkouts for most items, with two renewals of three weeks each if there are no other requests so I don't often run out of time before I finish a book. The 25 cents is really just a token fee to get people to return stuff in a timely manner and you can check out as long as you have under 20 dollars in fines.

>213 Deern: That is a very interesting way of doing things, Nathalie, a sort of multi-purpose card and not a bad idea.

Over here many places quite blatantly refuse cash payments now but I had to smile yesterday as I usually use the valet service at the local mall as Hani and I tend to squabble over parking spaces. As I handed over my car I overhead another customer complaining vociferously about the "cash-only" service!

Your experience with the bank card is fairly typical, I'm afraid.

>214 Familyhistorian: I think you have hit on the right point, Meg. Regular use prompts no questions but if you haven't used it for five years like me it may well trigger something.

>215 vancouverdeb: I think money laundering is something they purport to watch for although I am certainly not convinced it is anywhere near as widespread as they fear.

A credit offender at the library? Wow, Deb, I didn't know such things existed but the image of your trepidation when getting a new card was vividly created and made me smile knowing what a good person you are. xx

>216 booksaplenty1949: Not something I had previously thought a great deal about, but I do think that there should be consequences if you agree to lend a book for four weeks and don't return it on time or at all.

>217 amanda4242: Yes, Amanda, because drawing the line over when to impose some penalty would have been problematic I guess.

>218 booksaplenty1949: Extremely slow readers (I'm not sure that this group is full of those) may suffer in that system but if I am 300 pages into a 400 page book and enjoying it then I'll take a two or three day fine to finish and return it.

>219 amanda4242: How many books can you take out at any one time?

>223 PaulCranswick: I think it's supposed to be 25, but the self-checkout system doesn't block you once you've hit that.

>224 amanda4242: Wow 25 books at a time seems quite a lot!

>224 amanda4242: Your post surprised me, Amanda so I did online checking of my own "local" (UK) services and apparently it is 24 books in Wakefield.

In Sheffield where my apartment with Hani is the maximum is 20 books.

>225 PaulCranswick: It's probably a lot for the average library user, but I've often thought it was a bit low!

We're also allowed 25 ebook checkouts at a time.

>227 amanda4242: We are a group of avid readers (of course we are since that is largely the point of the group) but even amongst this fairly impressive crowd your reading stands out.

In Sheffield you can loan books for three weeks and they are renewable up to three times (12 weeks total). I could handle that, I suppose.

Hi Paul! 25 books at once? Dang. I was feeling good with my lowly 3-5. LOL

>229 Berly: I don't think I would ever take 25 books out of the library at one go, Kimmers. Maybe 8-10.

Lovely to see you, by the way.

>230 PaulCranswick: Can only imagine taking books out in double digits for some kind of research project. Or maybe to take out of town for a vacation by a lake. Bottom of my trunk definitely lined two deep with library books when I went to camp as a child. But for day-to-day reading even a multi-tasker such as myself seldom has more than four on the go. Do others extend to dozens? Or is it a question of difficulty getting to the library?

Actually I didn’t have a library card for most of my adult life once I graduated. I started my LT account in 2011 but only 65 of the 4,680 books I’ve catalogued were taken out of the local library, all since 2022. I guess the idea of a book I would want to read but not own was (really) slow to take hold. Some of that has to do with our reading challenges here. Also now see most mysteries as love ‘em and leave ‘em unless there is a collectible cover.
Am interested in the difference between a book as something to read and a book as a collectible object. I have 39 books in my formal “unread/unreadable” collection but I’m sure several hundred more are effectively there. Sentimental value, signed by author, great cover art—these can all keep books on the shelf one would never care to pick up and open.

>205 PaulCranswick: Yup, we got caught by that when they changed. We used to keep Malaysian coins for the toll - but then they changed to the 'Touch and Go'. I think they've changed again recently?

It's rare that I borrow a physical library book these days; I use Overdrive and can borrow from 4 different libraries, for which I have cards. As far as I know, the Singapore card doesn't expire. The one from the shire where my parents live has to be renewed (or validated?) every three years, even though I keep borrowing e-books on it. So far, the one from the neighbouring shire hasn't expired or needed renewing yet. I got a library card from the city where my son is going to university; I have a vague impression that it might expire at some point but I've had it for less than a year. I did used to also use my sister-in-law's card, from a library in the US but she actually uses her card for more than borrowing books - I think it's linked to council services and other stuff.

But if I do borrow a physical library book, I can usually call in to extend the loan if I'm in the middle of reading it and it's about to expire.

holy shit, this is cool, so do we talk about anything or?

>231 booksaplenty1949: I have never gotten to a dozen. I think around ten is the most I have had "actively" on the go at any one time. Usually the more books I am trying to read the more I am struggling.

>232 booksaplenty1949: I have not really had a regular library experience since my university days. My first memories of books and reading seriously was via the mobile library that visited our village every Monday. I used to love poring over the books there and almost always chose books way too old for me.....but they helped me grow up.

>233 humouress: Yes, I guess Singapore drivers would have gotten caught out badly by the unannounced changes. Coins are not at all possible at the tolls nowadays.

I will be interested to see when I do return to the UK whether my book habits change from an avid buyer back to a library anorak?!

>234 jazzymelendez: Welcome to the group!

Yes my thread is pretty much open for discussing anything within reason so long as the discourse is respectful, courteous and not hate-filled.

>235 PaulCranswick: I’m sure I’ve mentioned before trying to locate a copy of Singing Out of Tune by Bryan Guinness, first husband of Mitford sister who later married Oswald Mosley. A not unimportant novel in the Bright Young Things era, regularly mentioned in memoirs, etc, but not available to buy new or used, for love or money. Finally found a copy in university library 4,000 miles away, which delivered it to my local public library. Amazing.

>173 PaulCranswick: That is on TBR list. Glad to hear you liked it.

>231 booksaplenty1949: I have many many books checked out at a time. Mostly e-books, but over 1/2 dozen paper at this time. Some of those I read a chapter or two per renewal, some I never get around to reading. I get books from 3 local library systems all of which are very easy to get to.

>233 humouress: I've never heard anyone mention "council services" in the US. City, county, state, federal services all exist, but are usually called out by type rather than any generic.

>237 booksaplenty1949: That is incredibly impressive and also why libraries should be cherished and supported.

>238 hredwards: Well worth a few hours of your time, Harold. Nice to see you dear fellow.

>239 quondame: Of course, Susan, you are another of our number who could probably manage 20 books in three weeks.

"Council services" is a very British expression. In the UK we do not have a Federal system of Government but power is devolved to local government councils who run and implement many local services - or at least that is the idea!

>240 PaulCranswick: My theory is that all copies of Singing Out of Tune on the open market were bought up by Guinness family and burned. Only the few in libraries survive.
Why the current library purge in some US states is alarming.

At home recovering from surgery and feeling low although not in any pain, fortunately. At noon joined my book club where every week we read through a work out loud for an hour, and finished Book 6 of The Aeneid, so that’s enough of worthwhile capital-L Literature for today. Now working my way through a cocktail and By Hook or by Crook. No apologies.

>242 booksaplenty1949: You could be right on that and it is a concern to me that older books can be so difficult to track down.

>243 booksaplenty1949: Take good care of your my friend.
No apologies needed for the cocktail and I would gladly share one with you.

>239 quondame: As Paul suggests, 'council services' was my interpretation. It was personal stuff - maybe driving licences and so on? - so I didn't enquire closely.

>245 humouress: “My old man’s a dustman/He wears a dustman’s cap/He wears gorblimey trousers/And he lives in a council flat.” “Council services” are “municipal services” in North American terms, under the control of a city council.

>246 booksaplenty1949: Indeed and almost right.

It is actually a dustman's hat in order to rhyme with council flat. Oh and Lonnie Donegan sang "cor-blimey" not "gorblimey".

But now I can't get the bloody tune out of my head!!

>246 booksaplenty1949: Here is a brilliant live version of Lonnie Donegan performing said song in 1961

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODEShfdxoR0

>247 PaulCranswick: Of course it’s no “cap”—-it’s a rather unique-looking headpiece. What was I thinking? Thank you for the clip.

>190 PaulCranswick: This!

I don't want to do anything potentially harmful to me on a device without a keyboard, that relies on auto-incorrect to "fix" typos, where accidentally touching the wrong place can cause un-reversible actions, and putting it in your pocket can trigger random activity ("butt dialing").

If you wish to use tools of this level of reliability and quality to manage your money, go ahead and do so. But don't be surprised if the transaction(s) "you" do aren't always ones you intended.

I'll use it as a phone, or as a camera, or to play games, or maybe to look up something on the internet - but that's about my limit.

And if some vendor demands I use a phone instead of a desktop, they clearly don't want my business.

>249 booksaplenty1949: I had forgotten what a good all round entertainer Lonnie Donegan was.

>250 ArlieS: Arlie, I guess I have a bit of that too. My bank insists that I have a phone app which I hugely resent to be honest.