Alexandra_book_life: Booklife in 2026 part 1

New year, new thread! I hope there will be many good books in 2026.

To everyone at the Pub - Happy New Year! :)

Happy new thread!

>1 Alexandra_book_life:
Happy 2026 and happy new thread.

Happy new year and happy new thread!

Another Happy New Year and new thread!

Happy new thread! I hope 2026 offers much warmth and enjoyment.

>1 Alexandra_book_life: Happy New Thread and Happy New Year!

>2 haydninvienna: >3 pgmcc: >4 Karlstar: >5 hfglen: >7 jillmwo: >8 clamairy: Thank you very much, everyone! ❤️

>6 Bookmarque: Oh, this is lovely!
Thank you so much 🥰

Happy new year to you and your family! I hope it’s a wonderful one for you!

Happy new year, and here's to a 2026 full of excellent books for everyone in the pub!

>11 Sakerfalcon: >12 libraryperilous: Thank you very much 🫶

>1 Alexandra_book_life: And a Happy New Year to you as well! I hope many fabulous new books await you.

Happy new thread!

>14 terriks: Thank you very much 🥰

Happy New Year and new thread!

>16 Narilka: Thank you very much! 🫶

Happy reading and posting in 2026.

>18 Meredy: Thank you very much! 🥰

Hello, my first finished book of the year! It's Whiskeyjack :)

>20 Alexandra_book_life: I really have to get back to this series! Thank you for the review and the gentle nudge.

>21 clamairy: You are most welcome 😉 I hope my gentle nudges are working.

Happy Belated New Year and new thread.

>23 mattries37315: Thank you very much 😍

I finished The Miracles of the Namiya General Store. What if my expectations were too high?

Here is to Kingfisher's paladins! I enjoy these books so much :)

We'll be back at work/school on Monday - later than we planned. We celebrated New Year in Spain and were supposed to fly back on the 7th of January, after some sun, nice food and long walks. Storm Francis had other ideas! We were not effected, there was just one day of strong winds and lots of rain. Our flights still got cancelled and they rebooked us for the 9th.

Our employers and the school were very understanding ;) It also meant that we were stuck in Spain for 2,5 extra days. (Poor us...:D)

So we went on a day trip to Murcia. We've never been there. As it turned out, it was a lovely city to visit.

Murcia cathedral was wonderful! It took hundreds of years to build, so there is a Gothic part, a Renaissance part, and a Baroque part. This is how you time travel :) Our little boy loves churches and cathedrals (yes!), so we were all happily exploring for an hour and a half.

And here are some photos from inside the cathedral:

>29 Alexandra_book_life: Gorgeous! Just gorgeous. What a wonderful set of memories to have and to hold on to...

>29 Alexandra_book_life: Fabulous pictures! You poor tortured soul, having to spend another 2.5 days in this obvious hellhole! ;)

Kidding aside, I'm so happy it turned out so well, and that you weren't impacted by the storm that disrupted your flight. What a wonderful way to spend New Year's! The weather looks beautiful.

As Jill said, terrific memories for you and your family!

>29 Alexandra_book_life:
Brilliant pictures. The place looks wonderful. Well done in turning a disastrous flight delay into a wonderful experience.

>28 Alexandra_book_life: Oh, to be trapped in Spain …
Beautiful pictures!

>28 Alexandra_book_life: >29 Alexandra_book_life: Beautiful, thanks for the pictures. Sounds like a great vacation.

>29 Alexandra_book_life: wow, how beautiful! the architecture of that time is amazing. I imagine the acoustics inside the cathedral are exceptional!

>30 jillmwo: Thank you! I am so glad we decided to go there.

>31 terriks: We were both unlucky and very very lucky, I think :)
Thank you!

>32 pgmcc: Thank you! I am very happy that everything turned out so well :)

>33 catzteach: I know! :D
Thank you!

>34 Karlstar: Thank you!
I think I will have very happy memories :)

>35 Darth-Heather: Thank you!
They had two beautiful organs in the cathedral, I would have loved to listen to them.

>27 Alexandra_book_life:, >28 Alexandra_book_life:, >29 Alexandra_book_life: What amazing photos! Thank you for sharing. That's a serendipitously wonderful start to the year for you!

>42 Sakerfalcon: Thank you!
"Serendipitously wonderful" is a great way of putting it :)

I am reading a couple of rather long books right now ;), so it's nice to "dilute" them with some manga - Ranma 1/2 Vol 4

I thought I'd spend part of my Sunday with Small Things Like These. Now I just need to breathe for a while.

>45 Alexandra_book_life:. I have that one sitting on the pile because @clamairy had recommended it at some point last year. Now, I am thinking I should move it nearer to the top.

>46 jillmwo: I'm with @clamairy, I can't recommend it highly enough...

Goodness, Murcia is beautiful! Thank you for sharing the photos.

>48 libraryperilous: I am very happy that we went there! Thank you 🥰

>28 Alexandra_book_life: >29 Alexandra_book_life: Such gorgeous photos! Thank you for sharing them.

>45 Alexandra_book_life: I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed this. She's such a phenomenal writer. I just wish she were more prolific. I read this once a few years ago and then listened to the audiobook right around the holidays. Loved it just as much the second time around.

>50 clamairy: Thank you 🫶 I am very fond of Murcia now!

I checked what other books Keegan has published and was somewhat sad to see how few there were. Oh well, you can read and reread. Her writing is amazing.

>27 Alexandra_book_life:, >28 Alexandra_book_life:, >28 Alexandra_book_life: I love your photos, beautiful 😍, and I see you've read a book by Claire Keegan, me too but Antarctica a collection of short stories, I'n new to her writing and read this after it was mentioned in a group where I've created a short story challenge. And now I have a second book Walk the Blue Fields, not read yet but I know I will enjoy it.

>52 AnishaInkspill: Thank you! 😍
I'd love to read more by Claire Keegan, so was thinking of checking out Antarctica 😊

>53 Alexandra_book_life: fantastic, let me know how you find it, and if you like short stories feel free to have a look / join the challenge https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/25000/26-Short-Stories-for-2026, it's easy going.

I originally created it to keep up my reading, there were too many days last year I didn't read so I'm trying change it this year. So far it's working but it's only January 😂

>54 AnishaInkspill: I do like short stories! Let's see what happens 😉 Good luck with your reading!

Yay, I finished Ilium! Our book club discussion will be interesting, I think 😉

>56 Alexandra_book_life: That is a great summary of that book. I read it a long time ago and I admit, there were times when I just really had no idea what was going on.

>57 Karlstar: Thank you! 😊

I'll be reading the sequel, maybe I will understand everything then 😁

I am very happy about this weekend's book choice 😊 - One Way Witch

>20 Alexandra_book_life: That might possibly turn out to be my first book bullet from you.

Marvelous pictures. What a treat!

>56 Alexandra_book_life: Oh, yikes. That sounds like it was fun at times, but I think I'll be taking a hard pass. The book in >59 Alexandra_book_life: sounds a lot more like my kind of thing.

>60 Meredy: I am happy to hear that! This is a very enjoyable series 😊 (It was book 3.)

Thank you! 🥰

>61 clamairy: Ilium was sagging under its own ambition, I think. I understand you! 😊

Nnedi Okorafor is a very interesting author, I appreciate her books.

>63 Alexandra_book_life: I've just started Death of the author by Okorafor and am very much enjoying it!

>64 Sakerfalcon: It's on my to read list 😊 I'll be looking forward to your thoughts then!

Aaaand here is a classic mystery! Thank you, book club 😊

I received a lovely package today! It's my birthday next week, but my in-laws don't trust the postal services, so they sent their present early 😊

It's cheese! 🧀🧀🧀

I now have:
- Caprin de St-Julien (a French goat cheese of some kind, I've never heard of it)
- Bleu d'Auvergne (a French blue cheese that I like very much, yay)
- Camembert de Normandie (yummy)
- La Marotte (something French made from ewe milk)
- Saint-Marcellin (a French soft cheese that I love, but I haven't had it in ages!)
- Vesterhavsost (a Danish hard cheese I've never heard of)
- Comté
- Le Trou du Cru (something French that is described as "pungent" when I google it. Nice!)

I am having cheese tonight, don't try to stop me 😁😁😁

>67 Alexandra_book_life:
Early Happy Birthday!

That is a great gift.

A restaurant near our place in France puts Bleu d'Auvergne in one of their gallettes. It is delicious.

We love roast camembert with cloves of garlic slipped into little slits on the top and honey poured over the cheese.

Comté is very good. The older the better.

Enjoy your cheese fest!

>67 Alexandra_book_life: what a lovely gift - I'm excited for you, these sound like an adventure! I will be interested to know what the 'pungent' one is like. Please report back!

>68 pgmcc: >69 Darth-Heather:

Thank you, thank you 😊🧀

I will report back, I promise!

So, here is my cheese report:

Caprin de St-Julien - a nice soft goat cheese. Not amazing, but nice. 3/5

Bleu d'Auvergne - is Bleu d'Auvergne, always. I like it better than Roquefort, it has a similar vibe, but a softer, smoother taste. 5/5

Camembert de Normandie - I wish it was slightly more mature, but it was still good. 4/5

La Marotte - the texture was similar was Appenzeller, but the taste wasn't as strong. A nice cheese. 4/5

Saint-Marcellin - This cheese is asking for Monty Python. "I don't care how fucking runny it is. Hand it over with all speed!" 5/5

Vesterhavsost - Gruyere-like texture, lovely strong taste (stronger than Comté!). 5/5

Comté - lovely, what else can I say? 5/5

Le Trou du Cru - the smell was pungent indeed, it was almost bitter. The taste wasn't as strong as the smell would have you believe. It felt like a smellier version of Vieux Chimay. 5/5

🧀🧀🧀

>71 Alexandra_book_life:
It sounds like the cheese fest was great. Did you have a nice wine to accompany the cheese? Grapes?

I've decided to get Olympos, the sequel to Ilium out of the way. I like it, but I am not over the moon about it. We'll see how it goes.

I liked this, though:

Chapter 5

"Agamemnon is back."
"No shit?" says Mahnmut.

I need to talk to him about his vernacular vocabulary, thinks Hockenerry.

(Mahnmut is a cyborg.)

Chapter 8

"Oh, no," said Mahnmut, "you've been reading that French person again."
"Proust," said Orphu. "That French person's name is Proust."

I am still busy rereading The Iliad, yay. I will probably read Book XV tomorrow.

>72 pgmcc: I am very happy!
No wine for me tonight 😉 Some other time, I think. But I had nice crackers and tea!

>74 Alexandra_book_life:
You cannot just say, "Tea". We need detail. Nosey parkers Enquiring minds want to know.

>71 Alexandra_book_life: Sounds like you thoroughly enjoyed your gift :) Happy Early Birthday!

>71 Alexandra_book_life: Mmm! I'm glad the cheese feast was delicious!

>75 pgmcc: 😁😁😁🫖🫖🫖

It was Earl Grey with orange blossom.

>76 Narilka: >77 Sakerfalcon:

🧀🧀🧀

Thank you!

>67 Alexandra_book_life: What a nice gift! Seems like a great selection.

>80 Karlstar: Yay! I agree, thank you 😊

>67 Alexandra_book_life: & >71 Alexandra_book_life: The Happiest of Birthdays to you, and oh, what a delightful package to receive! So happy for you!

>82 clamairy: Thank you, thank you 🧀🎉

Happy birthday! 🎂 I'm glad it was fun!

The cheese sounds delightful. 😋

>84 terriks: Thank you, thank you 🧀🥳

Happy belated birthday! Your in-laws sound like they are talented at gift-giving :)

Have you read Pat Barker's The Silence of the Girls? I found it a very compelling retelling of the events in the Iliad.

Edited: added first "the" in title

>86 libraryperilous: Thank you! 🥰 I've been savouring all the cheeses.

My book club read The Silence of the Girls last year. I had very high expectations! I remember finding the first chapters very compelling. For various reasons, the rest of the book didn't quite work for me. Oh well...

We've had a very nice weekend. We went to Vienna for a family gathering, traveling there on Friday and getting back on Monday. There was a lot of happy loud chaos and nice food 🥰 It's lovely when my family manages to gather together like this. It doesn't happen as often as I'd like.

We also had time to try something called Kaiserschmarren at a lovely café we stumbled into. Now I want to have this every day, but it probably wouldn't be healthy...

Our son was very impressed with St. Stephen's cathedral, so we ended up going there three times - on Friday, Saturday and Sunday 😁 I agree, it is impressive!

We also went to
Albertina and had a wonderful time. My favourites were two paintings by Natalia Gontcharova, as well as Chagall, Cezanne, and Signac.

>88 Alexandra_book_life:
Colour me impressed too.

>89 Alexandra_book_life:
The paintings are great. Thank you for sharing the pictures.

>89 Alexandra_book_life: Lucky you! We've been to Vienna three or four times but I think that last time we saw St Stephen's it still had scaffolding round it.

Kaiserschmarrn is one of the world's great desserts!

>89 Alexandra_book_life: Great pictures! No wonder your son was so taken with the cathedral - looks enormous!

Chagall always makes me feel dreamy. ❤️

Glad you had fun!

Thank you for sharing those gorgeous photos. I am happy to hear you all had such a wonderful time.

>90 pgmcc: >91 haydninvienna: >92 terriks: >93 clamairy:
Thank you, everyone! 🫶🫶🫶

>89 Alexandra_book_life: I loved Vienna when I visited in 2019. We didn't have time to go to the Albertina so thank you for sharing the photos. I desperately want to go back and see the places we missed. I agree with your son, Saint Stephen's is a great cathedral.

>95 Sakerfalcon: Oh, I hope you will have a chance to go back! 🥰

Lovely photos! Signac is an underrated artist. I find his pointillist seascapes soothing.

>97 libraryperilous: Thank you! 🫶

I like Signac's paintings very much, they shimmer and pull you in.

>88 Alexandra_book_life: Those photos of St. Stephens are lovely. It's massive.

>88 Alexandra_book_life: What a great trip, thanks for the pictures.

>99 jillmwo: Thank you! 🥰

>100 Karlstar: Thank you! 🥰

I needed the experience of having finished something, as I read and read all my long books 😉
So I picked up So Late in the Day. It was great, of course. Edited to add: for some reason I cannot find only this short story on LT, all the touchstones send me to a short story collection that includes So Late in the Day.

>103 Alexandra_book_life: I'm going to have to get my hands on the whole collection soon. Thanks for this.

That cathedral is impressive! Vienna. A bucket list destination for me. Glad you all had a great time!

>88 Alexandra_book_life: That cathedral is impressive. They sure don't make buildings like that any more, it's such a shame.

>105 catzteach: Thank you! 🫶
I hope you will get a chance to visit Vienna.

>106 Narilka: I also wish there were more building like that around!

>104 clamairy: You are most welcome 🫶

I'd like to get the whole collection too.

Phew, I finished Olympos!

>110 Alexandra_book_life: Yikes. Another hard pass. I think I've read all the Dan Simmons I'm likely to read at this point. (I've read the first two in the Hyperion series and I think I'm good.)

>111 clamairy: I suspect that I have also read all the Dan Simmons I'm likely to read 😁 Yay.

Same here. I read, somewhat hesitatingly, but not without enthusiasm if that makes sense, The Terror and that was enough for me.

>113 Bookmarque: It makes perfect sense 😉 I've read very mixed reviews of The Terror, while some people in my book club have praised it. I don't think I'm in the mood to pick it up any time soon 😊

I said: why don't I read The Penelopiad? I expected to like it a lot more than I did.

Your first line reminded me of this from The Fifth Element -

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2287140008296986

Were you channelling that??

>116 Bookmarque: 😁😁😁 I wasn't thinking of The Fifth Element, but I wouldn't put it past me to channel something like that subconsciously 😉

>115 Alexandra_book_life: Normally, I like or at least feel neutral toward Atwood’s books, but I absolutely loathed The Penelopiad.

>115 Alexandra_book_life: Hmm. I've been indecisive about picking up any Atwood - never read anything from her.

I was at a bookstore this afternoon, and I can tell you I'd have been in better shape if I'd been looking for Atwood books instead of Kate Atkinson.

This book was also there. Alas, only 2 from Atkinson, both of which I've read.

>118 ludmillalotaria: I'm not the only one then! 😁

>119 terriks: I hope that Atwood has written better books than The Penelopiad.

I wish you luck in finding a bookstore with lots of Atkinson books 🥰

>121 Alexandra_book_life: Thank you! I had much better luck on my last run there than yesterday's - though I still found some fun stuff. :)

I finished The Master of Djinn! Thank you, P. Djèlí Clark 😊

>123 Alexandra_book_life: If I wanted to start this series where should I start. The Dead Djinn Universe series page lists this as book 1 of the series but you mention previous books and the series page has three previous books that have order numbers of 0.5, 0.6, and 0.7. Usually that means that these were prequels that were written after the first book but in this case they seem to have been written in that order.

>124 jjwilson61: I would start with the short stories/novellas 0.5, 0.6, 0.7 😊 They introduce the characters and the world very nicely. I hope you will like them!

>123 Alexandra_book_life: Ooh. The Dead Djinn series is a consistent go-to for you? I have had the first in the series for a while. I'll move it up in my tbr.

>126 BrokenTune: This series just keeps on giving 😉 The novellas/short stories are probably better structured than The Master of Djinn. Some authors are better at short form, I guess! Anyway, I highly recommend this universe 😊

>123 Alexandra_book_life: I really need to get around to this one.

>128 libraryperilous: I hope you will enjoy it! 😊

Here is another journey with Nnedi Okorafor's characters - The Daughter Who Remains

>123 Alexandra_book_life: Thank you for mentioning this. I have a short story by that author (set in the same Dead Djinn universe) on my Kindle and I'm thinking I need to give it a try.

>131 jillmwo: You are welcome! 😊 I hope you will like it.

>123 Alexandra_book_life:
Like @jillmwo I have a story by this author on my kindle that I have not read yet, A Dead Djinn in Cairo.

>133 pgmcc: It's definitely a good one! 😊 I hope you will enjoy it.

This wasn't planned, but sometimes books just come to you - On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous.

>135 Alexandra_book_life: Oh, those quotes are lovely. I have had a physical copy of this book on my shelves for around 4 years now. It looks like it's time I read it.

>136 BrokenTune: Maybe it's time? 😊

I thought is was beautifully written.

>135 Alexandra_book_life: That sounds wonderful! I will be adding it to my wishlist.

>138 clamairy: I hope this book will speak to you as well 🤗

I finished my book club homework, and not a moment too soon. The meeting is tomorrow 😉 Anyway, it was The Man Who Saw Seconds.

There is always time for T. Kingfisher stories 😁 Toad Words was a very nice collection.

>141 Alexandra_book_life: I don't usually do short story collections, but that one looks quite good!

>141 Alexandra_book_life:. Based on that set of stories, it would be an interesting comparison with Angela Carter's collection, The Bloody Chamber. Have you read Carter's book?

>142 clamairy: I really enjoyed these stories! Recommended 😊

>143 jillmwo: I haven't read anything by Angela Carter! She is on my list of authors to try, and has been for some time. It would be interesting to compare her with Kingfisher, once I get around to it. Thank you for the reminder 😊

>145 Alexandra_book_life: This is just my 2 cents worth...

Carter's The Bloody Chamber is a brilliant re-imagining of the Bluebeard folk tale. I have only read a couple of Kingfisher stories, (The Seventh Bride and Snake-Eater). My (admittedly limited) impression is that her writing, while dealing with dark themes, comes across as somewhat pastoral in nature; sure there's some tension but you get the feeling throughout that everything will work out for her protagonist in the end. Carter's writing is more bold and (sometimes) hallucinatory, especially in something like The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman. I have enjoyed what I have read from both authors but can't say that I see much similarity in style. In short, you will likely have a better time with Carter if you approach her works not expecting similarities with Kingfisher.

>146 ScoLgo: Thank you! 😊
I suppose it will be better to see how these authors approach the same story, for example, without expecting similarities. You and @jillmwo are making me very curious.

>146 ScoLgo: I agree.

I had a lot of fun with All of Us Murderers 😁

>149 Alexandra_book_life:
I have that book sitting on my Kindle. I read your first paragraph and averted my eyes. Your post encourages me to get to it soon.

Direct hit! You sank my battleship. Ahem, it went on my Audible wishlist. Nice shootin' Tex.

>150 pgmcc: Good, good, good 😊 I hope you will enjoy it!

>151 Bookmarque: Ha, ha. Good to know 😊 I hope you will like it!

Oh, this was a nice book for when you are in the mood. I was definitely in the mood for We'll Prescribe You a Cat

>154 Alexandra_book_life: oh this is excellent timing - someone gifted me a copy of the sequel, but I hadn't read the first one. If this book is self-contained, I might be able to read We'll Prescribe You Another Cat without missing anything.

>149 Alexandra_book_life: I'm so glad you enjoyed All of us murderers as much as I did! I really enjoyed how she used the Gothic tropes to explore some topical themes without making the book feel too modern.

>154 Alexandra_book_life: This is on my TBR pile!

>155 Darth-Heather: I am glad 😻 In the first book, there are some mysterious details about the clinic, but I think you can go ahead and read the sequel anyway.

>156 Sakerfalcon: Yay! I also liked her Death in the Spires. I hope K.J. Charles will keep playing with various tropes in interesting ways.

I hope you will like Nakagyō Kokoro Cliniic for the Soul 😻

>158 Alexandra_book_life: Oooh, I like the sound and look (especially this cover) of Death in the Spires. I'll look it up.

>159 BrokenTune: Nice 😊 I hope you will enjoy it!

I decided that it was time to read another mystery, and chose The Noh Mask Murder. Both @jillmwo and @pgmcc read it last year 😊 I enjoyed it as well!

Great reviews!

All of Us Murderers has hit me. Congratulate yourself on another direct BB!

>162 terriks: Thank you! 🫶

I am happy to hear about the BB 😉 I hope you will enjoy this book.

>163 Alexandra_book_life: I'll be sure to let you know. ;)

I am done with my book club homework for next week - The Night Ends With Fire, and I am very relieved 😁

>154 Alexandra_book_life: If you've not read them, the Kamogawa Food Detectives books might be good when you're in a similar mood. :)

>161 Alexandra_book_life: Ooh, this one sounds right up my alley.

>166 libraryperilous: Kamogawa Food Detectives books are on my tbr! Thank you for reminding me :)

I hope you will have a good time with The Noh Mask Murder.

I am a bit sad to be done with The Iliad, but I am very happy I decided to do this.

>168 Alexandra_book_life: Could you do the whole Iliad like that, please please?

Years, decades, since I read the Iliad (Lattimore translation) and it really was a gore-fest. I might give the Cowper one a shot.

As to Pope, I have in mind that somewhere Samuel Johnson said of it that "It is magnificent but it is not Homer", but I can't find a source.

ETA: Some more vague memories, as to reading the Iliad as an anti-war poem:
•   someone, possibly C S Lewis saying that the message of it is that here on Earth we must enact Hell
•   someone else quoting one of the Achaeans saying to someone else, probably Helen that it was the will of the gods that here I am, afflicting you and your children.

>168 Alexandra_book_life: Well, you may have found it a bit annoying in places, but you clearly express a real enjoyment. I mean, your review may drive me out into the world to see what versions of The Illiad might be available for ready money.

And @haydninvienna is right. I'd thoroughly enjoy a full retelling in the style you have set forth there in the review.

>169 haydninvienna: Could you do the whole Iliad like that, please please?
That would be quite an undertaking 😉 But thank you!

You might be thinking about Richard Bentley (an eighteenth century classical scholar), who was quoted by Samuel Johnson: "It is a pretty poem, Mr Pope; but you must not call it Homer."

And I hope you will like the Cowper version, if you decide to give it a try. There were passages in it that I preferred to Pope, and vice versa.

>170 jillmwo: It will be interesting to see which versions of the Iliad you can find! I am happy that I could give you some inspiration.

One of my GR friends has just confessed to owning 23 translations of The Iliad, I am still reeling.

You are giving me such ideas... and I thank you 😊

>171 Alexandra_book_life: Turns out I was thinking of Bentley, but he may not have been quoted by Johnson. This proved harder to run to earth than I expected. I couldn't find it in either Boswell or Mrs Thrale. If you plug "It is a pretty poem, Mr Pope, but you must not call it Homer", you'll get quite a few references to Bentley's saying it, but the only hit that gave a source was Oxford Reference, which gave the source as volume 4 of The works of Samuel Johnson, edited by John Hawkins and published in 1787. Fortunately Project Gutenberg has the right volume of an 1825 edition of Johnson's Works, and the sentence appears in a footnote to Johnson's Life of Pope (one of Johnson's Lives of the English Poets, which make up two volumes of that edition).

Here is where it gets interesting.

In Johnson's own text of the Life of Pope, Johnson says "Of his vain desire to make Bentley contemptible I never heard any adequate reason.". But in the Collected Works of 1787 and later, there is a footnote, presumably not by Johnson, as follows:

[150] Bentley ... and Pope, soon after the publication of Homer, met at Dr. Mead’s at dinner; when Pope, desirous of his opinion of the translation, addressed him thus: “Dr. Bentley, I ordered my bookseller to send you your books: I hope you received them.” Bentley, who had purposely avoided saying any thing about Homer, pretended not to understand him, and asked, “Books! books! what books?”—“My Homer,” replied Pope, “which you did me the honour to subscribe for.”—“Oh,” said Bentley, “aye, now I recollect—your translation:—it is a pretty poem, Mr. Pope; but you must not call it Homer.” H. Some good remarks on Pope’s translation may be found in the work of Melmoth, entitled Fitzosborne’s Letters. Ed.

I don't know for sure who "H" was, but it might have been "Hawkins", the editor in 1787, and "Ed." must be the later editor of this collected edition. The editor isn't named in this volume (which is volume 8 of the edition) and Gutenberg doesn't seem to have volume 1 (grr). Sir John Hawkins was a friend of Johnson's and an executor of his will, and wrote the first Life, so Hawkins could well be the source of the story.

Pope did not love Bentley. Here's what Pope had to say about him in The Dunciad:

Thy mighty scholiast, whose unwearied pains
Made Horace dull, and humbled Milton's strains.
Turn what they will to verse, their toil is vain,
Critics like me shall make it prose again.
Roman and Greek grammarians! know your better,
Author of something yet more great than letter;
While towering o'er your alphabet, like Saul,
Stands our digamma, and o'ertops them all.

>173 haydninvienna: Wonderful, excellent literary detective work. I love this 💪📖

>173 haydninvienna:. As Alexandra notes, you show an enviable degree of skill in research.

Just like several others here ;), I've been reading Jane Austen's Bookshelf. I am done :)

>176 Alexandra_book_life: Just catching up, and I am happy that you enjoyed the Romney book. I agree that it was infuriating to read. Even though things for women writers have improved substantially, there is still need for improvement.

>177 clamairy: There are still so many things I'd love to improve...

Thank you 😊