CatyM's Reading List for 2009

My 2008 books have only been listed on my blog, but I thought in 2009 it would be good to list them here, too. I'm hoping to make serious inroads into my TBR pile and wishlist (currently standing at 129 and 207 books respectively) - and then to refill them both with lots of new suggestions.

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Here's the full list for 2009, updated as I go (but without touchstones because I'll be tearing my hair out by Easter if I have to fix them all every time I update):

January
1. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett (999/V Books to make me laugh; 121 pages; rated 4½)
2. Everything and the Moon - Julia Quinn (999/IV Romance; 372pp; rated 3½)
3. Raven Black - Ann Cleeves (999/VI Crime, Thriller & Mystery; 376pp; rated 5)
4. The Food of Love - Anthony Capella (999/IV Romance; 310pp; rated 4½)
5. Service with a Smile - PG Wodehouse (999/V Books to make me laugh; 224pp; rated 4)
6. Lord of Scandal - Nicola Cornick (999/IV Romance; 377pp; rated 3½)
7. The China Governess - Margery Allingham (999/VI Crime, Thriller & Mystery; 267pp; rated 3½)
8. People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks (999/IX Other TBR; 372pp; rated 4½)
9. Miss Verey's Proposal - Nicola Cornick (999/IV Romance; 299pp; rated 4½)
10. The Convenient Marriage - Georgette Heyer (999/IV Romance; 272pp; rated 5)

11. The Temptation of Rory Monahan - Elizabeth Bevarly (185pp; rated 4)
12. When Jayne met Erik - Elizabeth Bevarly (184pp; rated 4)
13. Mrs Pollifax Pursued - Dorothy Gilman (999/VI Crime, Thriller & Mystery; 232pp; rated 3½)
14. Secret Cinderella - Dani Sinclair (250pp; rated 2)
15. Decent Exposure - Phillipa Ashley (277pp; rated 4)
16. If on a Winter's Night a Traveller - Italo Calvino (999/VIII Repeated recommendations; 260pp; rated 3½)
17. A Civil Contract - Georgette Heyer (999/IV Romance; 375pp; rated 5/5)
18. Jingo - Terry Pratchett (999/V Books to make me laugh; 461pp; rated 4/5)
19. Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum - Richard Fortey (318pp; rated 5/5)
20. The Discovery of Chocolate - James Runcie (999/IX Books from my TBR; 247pp; rated 2½)
5779 pages (of which 204 c/f from 2008 >> 5575 in 1/2009)

February
21. The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde (999/V Books to make me laugh; 373pp; rated 4)
22. The Heir and the Spare - Maya Rodale (293pp, rated 3)
23. Dark Fire - C J Sansom (999/VI Crime, Thriller & Mystery; 579pp; rated 4½)
24. Slightly Scandalous - Mary Balogh (374pp; rated 4)
25. You've Got Male - Elizabeth Bevarly (379pp; rated 4)
26. Marrying the Captain - Carla Kelly (275pp; rated 4½)
27. My Lord Footman - Claire Thornton (298pp; rated 4½)
28. To Deceive a Duke - Amanda McCabe (299pp; rated 3½)
29. Housemaid Heiress - Elizabeth Beacon (296pp; rated 3½)
30. The Good Neighbor - Sharon Mignerey (217pp; rated 3½)

31. Slightly Wicked - Mary Balogh (342pp; rated 4½)
32. The Sassy Girl's Checklist to Living, Loving and Overcoming - Michelle McKinney Hammond (999/1 Christian Spirituality and Theology; 182pp; rated 3½)
33. My Nerdy Valentine - Vicki Lewis Thompson (339pp; rated 4)
34. Talk Nerdy To Me - Vicki Lewis Thompson (355pp; rated 2½)
35. A Comfortable Wife - Stephanie Laurens (297pp; rated 3)
36. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer (999/VIII Repeated recommendations; 240pp; rated 4½)
37. Speed Dating - Nancy Warren (253pp; rated 1)
38. Slow Hands - Leslie Kelly (210pp; rated 2½)
39. Once a Cowboy - Linda Warren (246pp; rated 4)
40. Irresistible Forces - Brenda Jackson (249pp; rated 1)

41. Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch - BJ Daniels (250pp; rated 3½)
42. Kiss Me Deadly - Michele Hauf (272pp; rated ½)
43. Stranded with a Spy - Merline Lovelace (244pp; rated 4½)
44. The Luck of the Bodkins - PG Wodehouse (385 pp; rated 4)
45. The Marriage Bed - Laura Lee Guhrke (374pp; rated 4)
46. Slightly Married - Mary Balogh (342pp; rated 5)
47. Simply Unforgettable - Mary Balogh (999/IV Romance; 343pp; rated 4)
48. The Bride's Baby - Liz Fielding (187pp; rated 3½)
49. Price of Passion - Susan Napier (187pp; rated 2)
50. Snowbound - Janice Kay Johnson (276pp; rated 4)

51. Baby Bonanza - Maureen Child (175pp; rated 2)
52. A Very Special Delivery - Linda Goondight (250pp; rated 3)
53. 44 Scotland Street - Alexander McCall Smith (326pp; rated 5)
9707 pages, making a total of 15282 pages so far in 2009

March
54. Hide in Plain Sight - Marta Perry (247pp; rated 3)
55. The Suspicions of Mr Whicher - Kate Summerscale (999/II Non-fiction; 314pp + notes; rated 4)
56. Heart of the Sea - Nora Roberts (999/IV Romance; 369pp; rated 3½)
57. Dancing in the Moonlight - RaeAnne Thayne (250pp; rated 4)
58. Simply Love - Mary Balogh (373pp; rated 5)
59. Simply Magic - Mary Balogh (326pp; rated 4)

60. Pale Moon Rider - Marsha Canham (422pp; rated 2)
61. Espresso Tales - Alexander McCall Smith (342pp; rated 4½)
62. Love Over Scotland - Alexander McCall Smith (999/IX TBR books; 355pp; rated 5)
63. Slightly Dangerous - Mary Balogh (393pp; rated 4½)
64. Simply Perfect - Mary Balogh (343p; rated 4½)
65. Seducing Mr Darcy - Gwyn Cready (374pp; rated 1)
66. Unmasked - Nicola Cornick (374pp; rated 5)
67. The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse - Robert Rankin (999/V Humour; 343pp; rated 4)
68. Friends, Lovers, Chocolate - Alexander McCall Smith (277pp; rated 3½)
69. Slightly Tempted - Mary Balogh (386pp; rated 4½)
70. Slightly Sinful - Mary Balogh (378pp; rated 5)

71. Friday's Child - Georgette Heyer (999/VIII Group; 376pp; rated 5)
72. The Money Man's Seduction - Leslie LaFoy (174pp; rated 4½)
73. The Right Attitude to Rain - Alexander McCall Smith (999/IX TBR; 314pp; rated 5)
74. The Careful Use of Compliments - Alexander McCall Smith (999/IV Mystery; 246pp; rated 5)
75. Hot Water - PG Wodehouse (999/V; 294pp; rated 5)
76. Pistols for Two - Georgette Heyer (205pp; rated 5)
77. Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett (999/V; 411pp; rated 3)
78. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka (324pp; rated 4)
79. Approaching Easter - Jane Williams (999/I; 126pp; rated 4)
80. The Cellist of Sarajevo - Steven Galloway (999/VIII; 223pp; rated 3)
8559 pages, making a total of 23,841 pages so far in 2009

April
81. The Bad Quarto - Jill Paton Walsh (999/VI, 269pp; rated 4)
82. The World According to Bertie - Alexander McCall Smith (329pp; rated 5)
83. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (999/VII; 443pp; rated 4)
84. Inferno - Dante Alighieri (trans. Dorothy L. Sayers) (999/VII; 289pp; rated 5)
85. Blest Atheist - Elizabeth Mahlou (999/II; 255pp; rated 2½)
86. Money for Nothing - PG Wodehouse (999/V; 307pp; rated 5)
87. The Warden - Anthony Trollope (999/VII; 284pp; rated 4½)
88. Beyond Heaving Bosoms - Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan (999/II; 291pp; rated 4½)
89. The Adventures of Sally - PG Wodehouse (295pp; rated 5)
90. The Gargoyle - Andrew Davidson (999/IX, 499pp; rated 3½)

91. Decline and Fall - Evelyn Waugh (185pp; rated 4½)
92. The Sweetheart Season - Karen Joy Fowler (352pp; rated 3½)
93. Dogs and Goddesses - Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart & Lani Diane Rich (372pp; rated 3½)
94. Barchester Towers - Anthony Trollope (999/VII, 526pp; rated 5)
95. Scandalous Lord, Rebellious Miss - Deb Marlowe (297pp; rated 2½)
96. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe (152pp; rated 4)
5145 pages, making a total of 28,986 for the year so far in 2009.

Continued here from 1 May 2009.

Prompted by comments in my 2008 75 Books thread, the size of my TBR pile (currently standing at 140 books I already own and we won't mention the wishlist), and the fact that I woke up this morning thinking about books categories (don't ask), I joined the 999 Challenge.

Thread here.

Right, here we go.

1. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett

I think I annoyed several family members today by repeatedly giggling as I was reading this. I've also moved a couple of books that were referenced in it considerably higher up the TBR list. Very witty, and a great book for book lovers. 4½ out of 5

The Uncommon Reader sounds great! I've added it to my own wishlist :o)

I loved The Uncommon Reader too and giggled my way through it as well. I found so many times I identified with all the little things she'd do too - now we all know why she carries that handbag around with her wherever she goes! ;)

>4 missylc: I put it on my wishlist after reading lots of positive comments and recommendations on LT - and having read it I would definitely recommend it.

>5 ktleyed: I laughed when she made them go and fetch the book before they can leave for the state opening of Parliament. I've done something similar... although not for an important public occasion! And perfecting the art of reading in the car while still waving to the crowds. Me, I read in the kitchen while I'm cooking - book in one hand, and listlessly stirring wooden spoon in the other.

I read the book just before Xmas. It was one of my favourites for humour for 2008 - though I forgot to add that category on my list!!

I had a good time with The Uncommon Reader last year, too, and suspect I will be reading it again this year as well.

The Uncommon Reader was a delight. It seems like it was written for people like us, who love to read more than anything else. And I just loved the ending!

2. Everything and the Moon - Julia Quinn

I enjoyed this book. It required considerable suspension of disbelief, but once my disbelief was dangling just below the ceiling I did get quite intrigued by it. The heroine is bordering on TSTL - but you can see why she does some of the things she does, even when (a) said action is practically suicidal or (b) she probably ought to have got over those hangups by now. The hero can be overbearing, annoying and far from stupidity-free himself - although he can also be charming. Their main Big Misunderstanding is understandable (sorry) but it takes them far too long to fix it and stop being unreasonably suspicious of one another and to stop behaving like idiots. That said, it's entertaining and fun, and has some very sweet moments. Some of the secondary characters are wonderfully silly and very likeable. The book is well structured and well paced, and although there are a couple of mistakes they are not significant. I think this now completes my reading of Quinn's back-list; this wasn't one of my favourites, but I did enjoy reading it. 3½ out of 5.

>6 Eat_Read_Knit: Caty. what a great phrase: "cooking - book in one hand, and listlessly stirring wooden spoon in the other." I might use that! I think it's the word "listlessly" that conjures up the image - brilliant!

- TT

>10 Eat_Read_Knit: Caty, I enjoyed your review of Everything and the Moon but I found the italics a bit too much to read.

- TT

Review de-italicised. Hope that's better?

>13 Eat_Read_Knit: Much better- thanks.

- TT

#10 - I'd heard this wasn't one of her best, I'll get to it eventually, there are still so many Julia Quinn's I haven't read, this will probably be one of the last one's I read. Wasn't it one of her first - if not her debut?

#6 - Yup! You'll catch me doing the same thing too in the kitchen! It's a great way to while away the time when a recipe says, "simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally"

>14 TheTortoise: Good!

>15 ktleyed: Yes, it's one of her earlier books - first published 1997. I think Splendid was her first book, then two follow-ons, then this one.

#16 Ah, thanks, I have Splendid on my list to read this year.

3. Raven Black - Ann Cleeves

The body of a teenager is found lying in the snow. The whole community thinks they know who is responsible – the same man they also consider responsible for the disappearance of another girl some years earlier. As the effects of the girl’s death ripple out into the community, old secrets come to light.

A tense and subtle story. Cleeves cleverly shows the personalities and relationships in a way which hints that there is always more than the reader can quite grasp. Every portrayal is subjective, and every character has secrets or thoughts that they are trying – not always with much success – to hide. Detective Jimmy Perez is an appealing and rounded character, and a quietly competent detective. The reader is never quite sure who is truthful, and what is true – and never sure, either, who is responsible for the crimes. The layers of personality and community are carefully described and delicately peeled away to reveal an astonishing and dramatic conclusion.

I was absolutely hooked on this story, and suspicious of almost everyone. The tension and drama wound tighter and tighter as the story neared its conclusion, and I felt absolutely compelled to keep reading. (When a reader picks up a book over their Saturday breakfast and continues reading in their pyjamas until lunchtime, unable to put the book down long enough to shower and get dressed, the author is doing a very good job.) I was very surprised by the final revelations, and very impressed by the skill with which the author concealed and yet hinted at the truth throughout the book. 5/5

I read one of Cleeves' books last year, the only one my local library has in point of fact, and am obviously going to have to go further afield to track some of hers down. The review of 3 makes it sound like a must read for me!

Raven Black sounds perfect for my TBR list for this challenge!

I've added The Uncommon Reader as well. Having newly discovered LibraryThing, I'm enjoying what a delightful treat it is to be able to discuss books and learn of so many new finds out there. This is too much fun!

Where have I been?

>21 BeeHoney: Well, wherever you have been in the past, it's probably safe to say you'll be around here an awful lot in the future. LT is a little... addictive.

Oooh, Raven Black sounds excellent! Onto my wishlist it goes.

4. The Food of Love - Anthony Capella

Bittersweet and well-written, this is the Cyrano de Bergerac-esque story of an Italian chef and the American art history student that he falls for. The fact that I was so caught up in reading this book that I very nearly burned a risotto is more than a little ironic. 4½ out of 5.

After such a good start start to the year, the first clunker is going to come as a nasty shock.

>4 missylc:: I loved that book, Caty and am glad to find someone else who has read it.

I just saw that Capella has a new one out called Various Flavors of Coffee that you might enjoy. I have not read it or The Food of Love, but they are both going on to Continent TBR!

>26 alcottacre:: It was on my Christmas list along with The Wedding Officer. Sadly, everyone thought I needed only mysteries, fantasy and science fiction for Christmas. Still, my birthday is less than 2 months away and I can hope. :-)

Raven Black sounds really good, once in a while I read a crime novel, and I like the idea it takes place in the Shetlands! Nice review - thanks!

>26 alcottacre:, 27 I had already added The Wedding Officer to my wishlist - now I have added Various Flavours of Coffee as well.

Caty, I am simply going to have to stop reading your thread - every one of your books looks exactly like something I would love. I can't read all my books and yours, too!

I thought I was the only person who tried to read a book while cooking dinner!

Has anyone read any books by Penny Vincenzi?
-or the Agatha Raisin series by M. C. Beaton?

#31 Bee: I have read the first 10 or so in the Agatha Raisin series and find them to be enjoyable cozies, but I have not read any of the Penny Vincenzi books.

>31 BeeHoney: I 've read a couple of the Agatha Raisin series, but although I liked the writing I couldn't get on with the characters. I've been getting around to trying some of M C Beaton's Hamish Macbeth books. Penny Vincenzi's books have never really appealed to me.

>30 sjmccreary:

*hangs head in shame*

I humbly promise to make sure I read some some bad books that no-one else will ever want to read.

>31 BeeHoney:: I've also ready the first bunch of Agatha Raisin...I'm with CatyM in that I didn't really warm to the characters. I've read the first bunch of Hamish MacBeth books, also. The characters are more enjoyable, though the books start to feel the same after a while.

I was going to make the exact same comment about Agatha Raisin and Hamish MacBeth that Tad just did, so I guess I don't need to.

However, I find myself unable to resist a new Agatha Raisin book whenever it comes out - Hamish MacBeth, too. Fortunately, they all read quickly.

A series I discovered last year that reminds me a little (in a twisted sort of way) of Hamish MacBeth are the Inspector Montalbano books by Andrea Cammilleri - they are set in Sicily and are delightful. The first is The Shape of Water.

>37 sjmccreary:: Oh no, another series I have to start...

>37 sjmccreary: The Shape of Water looks good - onto the wishlist it goes.

Hmmmm; I think I'll wait on Agatha Raisin. I'll give author Penny Vincenzi a try and let you all know, but there are currently too many other TBR books ahead of her. Must be off to The Uncommon Reader and Raven Black

What number did I get to? Oh, yes.

5. Service with a Smile - PG Wodehouse
A fairly run-of -the-mill Wodehouse; a well-written and amusing farce with the usual pig-napping and revolving engagements at Blandings, but not one of Wodehouse's outstanding books. 4/5.

I have never read any P.G. Wodehouse and ordered my first one of his last night. I cannot wait until it gets here so I can finally give him a try!

>42 alcottacre: I love PG Wodehouse. I didn't think this one was anything special by Wodehouse standards (there are lots I've enjoyed more, especially the Jeeves and Wooster books) but even the ones I like least I still think are good enough for at least a 3½ rating.

Which have you ordered?

I ordered How Right You Are, Jeeves. I hope it is a good one!

>44 alcottacre: Oh, yes - it's excellent.

6. Lord of Scandal - Nicola Cornick

Historical Romance. Very engaging but somewhat implausible. I was never fully convinced by the villain, who was nasty in many ways but didn't seem to manage any of them properly, and I found it odd that a hero who fought so hard to establish his own legitimacy would be so dismissive of the illegality of his own marriage. The heroine also seemed inconsistent, although it is at least acknowledged that she is very much on the fringes of society, accepted because of her money and not bound by normal conventions. The examination of the cult of celebrity and the fickleness of society is very good, though, as are several of the minor characters.

I wanted to rate it higher than this, because it really is very entertaining, but the book really didn't seem to hang together, which is unusual for this author's work. If my disbelief was suspended just below the ceiling for the Julia Quinn, for this book I had to hoick it up until it was in danger from low flying aircraft. On pure entertainment value, I could give it 4, maybe even 4½, out of 5. As it is, I'm going for 3½ out of 5.

I was planning to read some of the gigantic tomes from the TBR this year; now I have an added incentive.

I signed up for the Chunkster Challenge. Not sure which books I'll be reading for it yet, but I blogged about it here.

7. The China Governess - Margery Allingham

The search for a young man's true identity digs up some skeletons that certain people would prefer remained buried. An intriguing mystery, but I think not one of Allingham's best. 3½ out of 5.

I haven't been counting pages here, but I have been making a note of them and I'm up to 2047 pages so far this year. Eek!

I got The China Governess on audio from my library and it was just great! The reader got all the voices just right, from Campion to Lugg and everyone else. I wish her books were still in print.

8. People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks

Very powerful - gripping and well-written. The historical passages were wonderfully rich and vivid; however, I was a little disappointed that some of the modern passages, particularly the ending, were not quite as convincing. On the whole, thoroughly recommended. 4½ out of 5.

Intriguing thread. Thx. -- Susan

>51 suslyn:. Thanks.

9. Miss Verey's Proposal - Nicola Cornick

Historical Romance. Better than Lord of Scandal, I thought, and more to the standard I expect from Cornick. I could believe in these characters not only as people, but as people of their time. The gradual and uncertain progression of the relationships - not only of Miss Verey with her Duke but also of both their brothers with their respective ladies - was both entertaining and convincing. Nothing seemed a foregone conclusion, despite the fact that you know in a romance novel it pretty much is. 4½ out of 5.

#50 I read People of the Book last summer and loved it. It was my first exposure to Brooks, but this year I'm planning to read some more of her stuff. Not perfect, but near enough to please me!

I highly recommend her Year of Wonders as well!

>54 alcottacre: Darn it, I was doing so well at not adding more books to my wishlist this week until you mentioned that book.

#55: Ummm, sorry (Stasia is slinking away into a corner somewhere)

>56 alcottacre: Well, since adding that book I've added three more from other threads and ordered a second-hand textbook on sixteenth century social history via Amazon, so I don't think I can reasonably blame you!

(Self-control? What's that?)

(Self-control? What's that?)

Isn't that what you exercised by adding only 3 books and ordering only 1 text (and 2nd hand at that)? Without strong self control, I'm sure it would have been far more!

Don't forget that Brook's March is excellent as well. I loved People of the Book and Year of Wonders.

10. The Convenient Marriage - Georgette Heyer

A re-read for about the eighty-fourth time - I'm a Heyer addict - but I haven't read it for several years and I acquired a shiny new copy of my own a few weeks ago. Wonderfully drawn characters, intelligent writing and 1770s period detail that's the next best thing to time travel. Not my favourite Heyer novel, but still a 5/5.

>60 Eat_Read_Knit: This is a fun one. Horry's a hoot :)

11. The Temptation of Rory Monahan - Elizabeth Bevarly
A category romance that I read back when it was published in 2001, and that I came across again a few weeks back. I felt sentimental about it, so I got hold of a copy via BookMooch. It wasn't quite as good as my memory of it, but I did enjoy reading it again. Having quiet, academic types as hero and heroine makes a nice change. 4/5

12. When Jayne Met Erik - Elizabeth Bevarly
Ditto. Not academics this time, but unusual and well-developed lead characters once again. Also 4/5.

13. Mrs Pollifax Pursued - Dorothy Gilman
I'd been looking forward the this cosy thriller, but it didn't live up to my expectations. I liked the main characters, but the pace was too slow to keep me interested and my attention wandered: the book was just too easy to put down. I do like cosy mysteries - but this one could have been wearing an angora cardigan and pink bunny slippers while drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows in front of a log fire. Just too sweet. 3/5. I'll keep a casual eye out for other books in the series, but I won't be unduly distressed if I never get to them.

14. Secret Cinderella - Dani Sinclair
I mooched the two Elizabeth Bevarly books on a 3-for-2 offer and picked this category romantic suspense as the third. It looked intriguing. It was passable, but neither the romance nor the suspense lived up to my expectations: there were just too many stupid characters with improbable pasts doing irrational things. An interesting villain, though. 2/5. Maybe 3/5 on a good day. Today is not a good day.

I think it's fair to say that the general tone of the Mrs. Pollifax series doesn't change much in tone. I enjoy it, but I admit that reading it book after book would probably be a little much.

Hi Caty

I'm curious regarding your book # 5. Service with a Smile - PG Wodehouse

Is this one book in a series of many? What would you recommend to read as his best or first, ie which one should I read first?

Thanks also for your well-written comments.

Hi Whisper

Service with a Smile is one of Wodehouse's Blandings books, and one of the books in the overlapping Uncle Fred Series. I don't think it's necessary to read them in order, although I expect others would disagree. I've not read all the Blandings books, but I'd recommend Something Fresh (which is also the first of the Blandings series) or Leave it to Psmith (which also overlaps with the Psmith series).

My favourite Wodehouse stories are the Jeeves and Wooster stories, and I'd recommend starting that series with Right Ho, Jeeves.

I'm glad you find the comments helpful - I'm never quite sure how much to say about the books.

(Now let's see if I've got the html and touchstones right.)

Hmmm. Apparently I have, but I can't spell.

>64 Whisper1: & 65: I would definitely read the Jeeves books over the Blandings books.

Tad
I've learned to trust your judgments re. books. The Jeeves books will be added to the ever rapidly growing TBR pile for 2009.

Thanks for your response Caty.

>60 Eat_Read_Knit: Caty, I'm enjoying your thread here. I've not read any Georgette Heyer to date but I have Frederica and Sprig Muslin on audio. Hopefully they are good for a Heyer newbie..?

>65 Eat_Read_Knit: to 67 I just finished Leave it to Psmith yesterday. Brilliant, 5 stars! I find the Blandings novels to be every bit as entertaining as the Jeeves series. But I agree that Jeeves is the best starting place. My favourites so far have been Carry On, Jeeves and Thank You, Jeeves.

I imagine one Heyer is pretty much like another... not really a starting place. Enjoy.

>68 digifish_books: Yes, they're good for a Heyer newbie. As suslyn said, you can pretty much begin anywhere with Heyer. Hope you enjoy them.

I haven't finished any more books in the last few days, but I'm in the middle of so many that I'm beginning to lose track of them all. As an aide-memoire for me, I'm currently actively reading:

If on a winter's night a traveller - Italo Calvino (999/VIII)
The Sweetheart Season - Karen Joy Fowler (999/IX)
Dry Store Room No. 1 - Richard Fortey
The Sermons of John Donne ed. Gill (999/I)
Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett (999/III)
War and Peace - Tolstoy (999/VII)
Holiness - J C Ryle (999/I)
Decent Exposure - Phillipa Ashley
Dark Fire - CJ Sansom (999/VI)
Voices of Morebath Eamon Duffy (999/II)

I really need to get some of these finished.

I had to do that too (refresh a list of what's going on) and came to the same conclusion! Clear the ranks!

>72 suslyn: Yes, I spotted your list when I was catching up on all the other threads after updating this one. I'm glad it's not just me - I see you've got even more on the go than I have. I was managing to keep track of them on my 999 list, but now there are just too many. I didn't even count three or four books that I was reading and haven't touched for weeks, and which have gone back on the shelf. I'll probably have to start them again whenever I do get round to them.

I haven't had time to read for more ten minutes in a sitting for several days. I'm heading off to do some proper reading now, before I start getting serious withdrawal symptoms.

CatyM and suslyn
I like your idea of posting the books you are currently reading as a way of keeping track.
I think I'll copy this idea.

Thanks!

Finished off two from the list.

15. Decent Exposure - Phillipa Ashley
Romance. Not sure whether I'd categorise it it as chick-lit or contemporary.

Entertaining but not excellent. Likeable and well-written characters. Plausible plot, and a few nice comedy moments. It's very English - which doesn't exactly say a lot but I can't think of another way of describing the distinctive tone. The Lake District setting is lovely, and almost another character in itself. 4/5

16. If on a Winter's Night a Traveller - Italo Calvino
You want to read If on a Winter's Night - but Your attempts to do so lead to You beginning several books, none of which are what they purport to be, and encountering an Other Reader trying to do the same.

This exploration of writing and reading is fascinating and bizarre. It's also at times humorous, hard-going, tedious, mocking, insightful, entertaining, profound, pretentious, beautiful and/or frustrating. I found the middle part of the book very hard to get through, but whizzed through the opening chapters and didn't have too much trouble with the later sections. I found the ordinary chapters/meta-narrative/plot/ whatever-else-you-want-to-call-it far more meaningful and engaging than the interposed opening chapters.

I think I need to come back to it at some point in the future. It can go back on the shelf until it becomes a Book Read Long Ago Which It's Now Time To Reread - at which point I may or may not reread it. On balance, 3½ out of 5.

17. A Civil Contract - Georgette Heyer

I first read this book a good dozen years ago - a borrowed copy - and marked it down as not one of my favourite Heyers. While I've been building up a collection of Heyer's books, this has been well down my list of priorities. I recently picked up a near-new second-hand copy for £0.75 and I've really enjoyed re-reading it. It was better than I remembered; I think I was probably oblivious to the subtlety and complexity of the characters and relationships when I read it as a teenager. Revised rating 5/5.

What a find!

>71 Eat_Read_Knit:: wow, Caty - what a list!!

I really want to read that Calvino.

>77 suslyn: I picked up nearly-new copies of Heyer's Friday's Child and Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford Chronicles for £0.95 each at the same time. I was quite pleased. :o)

>78 FlossieT: As long as I don't have too many that are similar to another, I can keep them separate in my mind. I'm never quite sure whether I'm doing better when I rush through books and miss things, or keep putting them to one side and forget things. I re-read a lot, though, so I reckon that what I missed/forgot the first time around I should catch the second time.

And I'd certainly recommend the Calvino. It's the kind of book that you can't really describe adequately, and you can't be sure whether it will fascinate or irritate other people. Definitely one of those 'everyone should try it' books.

And while I'm here...

18. Jingo by Terry Pratchett
I didn't feel as though I was really into this book - but despite that I kept picking it up again, and I got through it in 36 hours. I thought it was good, but it didn't appeal to much as some of his other books have. Darker, perhaps? Or maybe I just wasn't in the mood for that style of book, or that theme. 4/5.

19. Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum - Richard Fortey

This an an absolutely fascinating look behind the scenes of the Natural History Museum in London. Fortey's erudite and humourous descriptions are wonderfully entertaining - irrespective of whether he is writing about people, expeditions or the strange habits of small and revolting creatures. As we're led through the labyrinthine recesses of the NHM, we're taken on a delightful journey through taxonomy, palaeontology, biology, botany, entomology, mineralogy - and any number of other ologies which were never this interesting at school. The discussion of museum politics is intriguing, and that of the crisis in funding is informative; the scientific content is engrossing, as is the information about the remarkable people who undertook the work.

A word of advice, though - probably best to avoid reading the opening pages of the chapter on insects while eating lunch.

5/5

Oooh, that looks like a great read, CatyM! Another one for my wishlist!

That sounds incredibly interesting!!! I'll definitely add this one to the list. I'm intrigued, how did you come by this book?

#80: I agree with the other ladies, it does look interesting. I will definitely be looking for it. Thanks for the recommendation!

>82 dk_phoenix: I went into a high-street bookshop to buy Reading Lolita in Tehran and spotted this lurid paperback with cartoon bugs and dinosaurs on the cover, prominently displayed on the 'just published' stand. The title made me curious, so I started flicking through it, and I was hooked. I had to buy it and read the rest. If I'd gone into the shop a couple of weeks later when it had been relocated to the popular science aisle, I'd have missed it completely.

20. The Discovery of Chocolate - James Runcie

A young conquistador, Diego de Godoy, sets sail in 1518 to seek his fortune in the New World. His Mexican lover gives him an elixir that will slow the process of ageing and keep him alive for hundreds of years. She also shares with him the secrets of chocolate. After the lovers are separated, Diego spends centuries roaming the world - sharing the secrets of chocolate, meeting famous historical figures and seeking love, peace and some sort of purpose.

I'm not sure why, but this book didn't appeal to me. It wasn't bad, but the writing seemed a little disjointed; having compared the page count with the Amazon listing I wondered whether the copy I was reading was actually abridged (although, having investigated this, it doesn't appear to be). It also had a strangely detached, surreal and philosophical quality to it that reminded me a little of Voltaire - but without the depth. And I'm not terribly keen on Voltaire. I didn't dislike the characters, but then I never felt that I knew them: it was more as though I were watching them from a distance. On the chocolate scale, this was supermarket own-brand: edible, but a pale simulacrum of the real thing. 2½ out of 5.

21. The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde

999 Humour category. Copy of the post from my blog about this book:

Wandering through the LibraryThing forums recently, it seemed as though everyone and their dog was lauding this book.

(Cue fluffy white Highland Terrier. It quirks its ears in interest at the word 'dog' - then peers superciliously down its nose, over the top of a pair of black-rimmed half-moon reading glasses. It raises an eyebrow and comments drily, "As a matter of fact, I much prefer James Joyce," before licking a paw and turning the page of a tatty paperback volume of the same.)

Ahem. Anyway, The Eyre Affair sounded as though it would be entertaining, so I decided to try it. In an alternate 1985, literature detective Thursday Next is battling an evil master criminal who is threatening great works of literature by kidnapping characters from within them. I loved the premise, and I thought the characters were great, but the plot seemed a little loose and choppy at times. I couldn't work out the significance (if any) of the vampire, for example; at least the temporal distortion on the M1, which initially struck me as unnecessarily convoluted, did make sense in the end. (Because, you know, temporal distortions cause such a mess in a book if they're not used properly.) I found the first half of the book slow-going, although the second half drew me in more. Summary? I liked it, but I didn't love it. 4/5.

I've heard from a Fforde fan (or is that a Fforde Ffan??) that the first book is more of a 'set up' and the next books in the series get better and better.

But I can't tell you from my experience. I've only read the first one myself!

Angela

> 86 & 87

I love the Thursday Next books and often end up laughing out loud. I find that I don't even try to figure out if they make sense, but just give myself over to the insanity. It's an act of faith.

22. The Heir and the Spare - Maya Rodale

Historical Romance. I'm not quite sure what I think of this book.
Characters: convincing as people, but not always convincing in period setting.
Plot: interesting and well-constructed. Relationships between the characters were interesting and well-presented.
Writing: very variable. Lots of places where I couldn't decide whether it was poor/clumsy grammar or sentence construction, or idiomatic American English that was just out of place. (I'd estimate 3/4 the former and 1/4 the latter.) The copy errors didn't help.
Period setting: variable, not wholly convincing. Some anachronisms and behaviour that is totally unconvincing for the period. Very little period colour.

This wasn't a terrible book, but it was a disappointment to me because I'd read quite a few good reviews/recommendations. I was surprised at how regularly I came across clumsy sentence construction - enough so that I began to wonder whether I was right, and whether it actually was ungrammatical or unnecessarily convoluted. I suspect - although I'm not sure - that some of this is down to the use of casual or idiomatic American English in the narrative, which jars with the English period setting. It didn't live up to what I was expecting. I'd been planning to get hold of the sequel; I shan't avoid it, but I shan't make any special effort to get hold of it either. 3/5.

Quite a few to catch up with.

23. Dark Fire - C J Sansom
Also counts for the 999 and Chunkster challenges. A wonderful crime novel set amidst the religious and political upheaval of 1540s England. 4½ out of 5.

24. Slightly Scandalous - Mary Balogh
Entertaining historical romance. My first by this author, and I really enjoyed it; I've added the rest of the series to the wishlist. 4 out of 5.

25. You've Got Male - Elizabeth Bevarly
Contemporary romance. Enjoyable and emotionally charged. Also 4 out of 5.

26. Marrying the Captain - Carla Kelly
Historical Romance. Character-driven with a very strong emphasis on personalities and relationships rather than external conflict. The characters are very well written, and the period detail is also impressive. Very, very good. 4½ out of 5.

27. My Lord Footman - Claire Thornton
Historical romance set in Paris in July 1789. Good period detail and well-rounded characters. Very enjoyable. 4½ out of 5.

28. To Deceive a Duke - Amanda McCabe
Another historical romance. Good, but not spectacular. I didn't warm to either of these characters when they appeared in the linked book To Catch a Rogue, but I was more sympathetic to them by the end of this book. The primary subplot sometimes felt as though it were bolted on to the story, rather than a real part of it, but the resolution was entertaining enough. 3½ out of 5

29. Housemaid Heiress - Elizabeth Beacon
Yet another historical romance. Excellent characters, convincing villains and a generally well-constructed plot. Good but not spectacular. 4 out of 5.

30. The Good Neighbor - Sharon Mignerey
Christian Romantic Suspense. This is the kind of Christian fiction I can cope with: Christian characters, faith-based plot elements, minimal preaching. Christianity is part of the characters' world-view, rather than the raison d'être of the book. I liked the main characters, and found the suspense plot both satisfyingly suspenseful and also straightforward enough to allow the characters rather than the plot to take central stage. The gradual revelation of the villain's identity was well done. I did feel that the ending was rather abrupt, but I can appreciate that it is as much a new beginning as a resolution. I'm dithering between 3½ and 4 out of 5. Is 3¾ a cop-out?

31. Slightly Wicked - Mary Balogh
Back to the historical romance. Very well written with excellent characters; this book comes before Slightly Scandalous in the series, but I didn't feel either suffered greatly from being read out of order. There were a couple of plot devices/tropes that I'm not keen on and will often avoid, and the plot was quite formulaic, but the characters and the writing were more than good enough to keep me interested. 4½ out of 5.

32. The Sassy Girl's Checklist to Living, Loving and Overcoming - Michelle McKinney Hammond
I'm often quite wary when I'm confronted with books on Christian living by American writers of whom I have never heard, and who have pictures of themselves plastered on the front cover of their books. I was, however, quite impressed by this book. I disagreed with some of the conclusions and suggestions, but that's good: reading only things that confirm what you already think isn't exactly the best way to grow in understanding. I really appreciated the sound, down-to-earth advice and comment in this book, and enjoyed the informal writing style. I was also pleasantly surprised by how little I noticed the cultural differences between American and British expressions of Christianity and attitudes to Christian living (because, frankly, sometimes American writers make reserved, introverted, Anglo-Saxon, stiff-upper-lip, did-I-mention-English me want to run screaming for the hills). Tough to rate this sort of book, but I'm going for 3½ out of

Hmph. Touchstones don't seem to like me today.

CatyM

Congratulations on reading 32 books thus far! Way to go!

Caty, One Night for Love and A Summer to Remember by Mary Balogh are kind of prequels to the Bedwyn series that you are currently reading, so you might want to check those 2 out as well. They are stand alone books that touch on the lives of the Bedwyns.

>92 alcottacre:. Thanks - I shall add them to the wishlist.

>91 Whisper1: Thanks Whisper

Two more to Add:
33. My Nerdy Valentine - Vicki Lewis Thompson
34. Talk Nerdy to Me - Vicki Lewis Thompson

I'm going to revise my total target for 2009 from 125 to 200. Not that I'm actually working to a real target, but there's not much point in ticker with a target for the year that I'm likely to reach in April or May.

Hmm. I was going to write reviews for the last two, but I'm struggling to come up with much to say.

I like Thompson's writing style, and I thought the lead characters in both books were likeable and engaging. Both books were humorous with improbably entertaining plots, although I enjoyed the first book more than the second.

I've rated them at 3½ and 3 stars respectively. I'd have scored both higher but for the volume of sex-themed content in both. Not the sex scenes between the hero and heroine of each book - neither story was unusual within the genre in that respect - but the activities of the minor characters and all the sex-themes food, drinks, art, sub-plots, desk contents, conversations with neighbours... ad infinitum. Individually many of these things were amusing, and some contributed nicely to the plots; the cumulative effect was distinctly over-the-top, and it swamped the other aspects of the plots and the characters' relationships with one another.

(Of course, it could just be that my moralistic streak is more active than usual this week - but I don't think that's it.)

35. A Comfortable Wife - Stephanie Laurens

It was only the promise that this book was very tame by Laurens' standards that prompted me to read it. I got so fed up with reading a dozen pages and then having to leaf through yet another gratuitous, repetitive and over-long bedroom scene to look for the next part of the plot that I gave up reading Laurens. This book was okay, but a little bland: the ending was a foregone conclusion by about the 1/3 mark, and even the potentially lively subplot petered out into a prosaic resolution. Decent characters, though, and a focus on the relationship rather than external conflict. 3/5

36. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer

After the eighty-seventh person (or thereabouts) told me I ought to read this, I broke the rule of a lifetime and bought it new in hardback - albeit from Amazon, with a whacking great discount that took it down to more or less the price of a paperback. I'm not supposed to be buying ANY books brand new at the moment. I liked this book enough that I don't regret spending the money on it, but not so much that I'm kicking myself for not reading it months ago when it was first recommended to me.

I shouldn't think there's any need for a for a summary of the plot - mainly because the entire population of LT seems to have read this already. I loved the writing in this book, even if the tone was eerily reminiscent of 84 Charing Cross Road at times. The pace was gentle, but moved forward sufficiently to keep me interested; the characters were varied and well-written. I enjoyed reading this, and I've recommended to two more people already. However, I couldn't quite bring myself to give it 5/5. I can't quite put my finger on precisely where it fell short; I think maybe it was just a little too gentle in places. 4½ /5

#96: I like Stephanie Laurens' books, too, especially the Bar Cynster series, but I completely agree about the gratuitous sex scenes. In one of her books, I think it was 11 pages of contortions. I have just gotten to the point that I completely skip them so I can get on with the story, because she does have decent characters in most of her books that I truly like.

I like your review of book #36 -- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, especially your comments that it was "just a little too gentle in places." I agree with this statement!

>97 alcottacre: I read a few of the Cynster books and skipped most of the sex scenes, and enjoyed the books a lot - but after I'd done that with about my seventh book form the series, it irritated me too much and I gave up. Like you say, Laurens writes good characters.

>98 Whisper1: Thanks.

Having read in the romance group about the 16 free ebooks from Harlequin to celebrate their anniversary, I thought I'd take advantage of the offer. I've not read a lot of category romance over the last few years, and what I have read has almost exclusively been historicals, but six or eight years ago I was reading a lot of them. And free books are hard to say no to.

I've read four of them so far. Either they were bad choices for me, or my tastes have seriously changed, or the only reason they're free is that no-one will pay for them. I've drafted some comments/reviews, but at the moment I'm working very hard to tone down the criticism in some of them.

37. Speed Dating - Nancy Warren (253pp; rated 1)
38. Slow Hands - Leslie Kelly (210pp; rated 2½)
39. Once a Cowboy - Linda Warren (246pp; rated 4)
40. Irresistible Forces - Brenda Jackson (249pp; rated 1)

#99: Caty, when my mother and I were collecting romances together, I used a couple of different romance review sites to find the best that were available: www.romantictimes.com and www.theromancereader.com. They do a wide variety of the romance genres - everything from serial romances to paranormals. You might want to use those as resources in determining which romances are the best fit for you.

On another note, if you see a romance in my library that you would like, please let me know and I will send it to you (with a couple of exceptions).

>100 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia, that's really kind of you. And I'll have a look at the websites, too.

>90 Eat_Read_Knit: Caty, I see you have read Dark Fire. Did you read Dissolution, the first in the series? I have Dark Fire and Sovereign but not Dissolution. Do I need to read that first?

- TT

>102 TheTortoise: Yes, I read Dissolution - but it was a couple of years ago. I'd say that although it may very well be helpful to read it first, purely because it is the first and introduces the main character, it's not absolutely necessary to read it first. There are a few references to Dissolution in the later books, but nothing that I'd say is significant. I think that anything the reader needs to know about things that have happened before is adequately explained.

I couldn't really remember much about Dissolution when I read Dark Fire, and I didn't find that to be a problem. Neither did I find it too much a problem when I read Sovereign before Dark Fire, although again I suppose reading them in order might help to make a few things a little clearer.

(Which reminds me - I must find out whether Revelation is out in paperback yet.)

(&£*^%! touchstones. Grrr. I think they're all working now.)

Okay, I've had a crack at commenting on the romances. Copied from my blog:

*********

I've tried to be nice, and I can't do it, so I'm posting these comments with this caveat: this is purely my opinion. It's not gospel, nor do I think it is. Just 'cause I loathed a book doesn't mean it's objectively bad. I mean, I loathe plenty of stuff that's won major international prizes. I know perfectly well that my opinion is probably not worth the pixels it's displayed on. Okay?

Right. Here we go.

37. Speed Dating - Nancy Warren
Now, it may just be pond difference, or just my personal taste, or humour that is passing me by, but I didn't like this book. I was unconvinced by the romantic relationship, although I could see the hero and heroine as friends, and there was too much in their lives that was left unresolved. I was unconvinced by the characters' development, and the writing style didn't particularly appeal to me: I was being told stuff, but I couldn't see it. And the only reason the final scene with his ex didn't turn the book into a wallbanger is that I was reading the ebook on my laptop and I can't afford the repair bill. If that's meant seriously, it's promoting what is in my opinion a seriously warped and unhealthy understanding of marriage; I'd struggle with it in something written in the 1920s let alone in the last couple of years. 1/5.

38. Slow Hands - Leslie Kelly
Another free ebook. Somewhat entertaining, but not great. The standard of writing disappointed me, too, and I really noticed the common category problem of how to get meaningful plot and character development into such a short book. I wasn't terribly impressed - although I wouldn't go quite so far as to actually call it bad. 2½ /5.

39. Once a Cowboy - Linda Warren
Interesting premise, believable characters, well-paced plot. A good book, but. In this case, it's a two-fold 'but': firstly, the story of the hero's family circumstances was well written, but the twist at the end for the heroine was just far too cheesy. Secondly, the minor characters were great, but some of their backstories seemed to be given undue prominence. I'm guessing this was part of a series, and the author couldn't resist filling us all in on the plot of the other books. This is a characteristic of books-in-a-series that irks me: if I've read the previous story, I don't need to be told it all again; if I haven't read the earlier book, I don't want to hear all about it because (a) the characters are minor characters to me and the minute detail of how they met their spouse just isn't relevant to this story and (b) now there's no point in me reading the other book because I already know what happens. Allude to it, by all means; just don't give me chapter and verse. All in all, a solidly entertaining 4/5.

40. Irresistible Forces - Brenda Jackson
Remember the previous comment about pages of backstory given for barely-present minor characters? Applies here too. And concentrating so hard on selling me the next book at the expense of developing this one is kinda counter-productive, you know? Why do I care that the sister who's appeared in three paragraphs in the whole book is now expecting triplets by some unknown man? That is the next book, right?

This book struck me as being a novella-length story padded out with (a) vast amounts of highly improbable sex (Yawn. Hello? Plot, anyone? No? Okay, I'll just go and have a coffee - or should that be a fortnight's holiday? - and come back when you two are done, shall I?) and (b) extensive details about siblings and cousins who, even never having come across the author or line before, I'm pretty darn sure are characters from related books. There was barely any discernible plot - about enough to keep a novella going. It was as though the initial plot scenario had occurred to the author, and the characters were almost superfluous. Too much narrative, too much of the narrative is backstory, and despite being told (and told... and told... and told...) what the characters are like, we never see it. 1/5.

41. Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch - BJ Daniels (Romantic Suspense)
I was pretty sure I'd worked out quite early on who the villain was, and I turned out to be right, but I was never absolutely sure. There was enough in there to keep me guessing. I could quite understand why the heroine was too hurt to ever question the Big Misunderstanding, despite the fact she was wrong - but the hero behaved like a grade A certified idiot about the whole thing. At least he came back and sorted it all out eventually. I thought the characters were well done, and the strange dynamics of family squabbling was very convincing. The book was well-paced and suspenseful. 3½ out of 5. Maybe a 4 on a good day.

42. Kiss Me Deadly - Michele Hauf
I think this is probably a book that serious readers of paranormal romance might very well enjoy a great deal. But me? I've never really tried paranormal romance, but since this book was free I though I'd try it to see whether I was as uncomfortable with the genre as I expected. I was - if not more so. This was just so far out of my comfort zone that I only made it to the end by skimming large passages. I couldn't possibly review or rate it fairly. On my personal 0 to 5 rating scale, it's a solid -8 with additional ick points; it is impossible for me to overstate how horrible I thought this was, and how hard it was to keep reading. Why did I carry on? I was determined to get to the end so I could at least say I've tried the genre and KNOW that I don't like it - but, my word, was it difficult.

That said, the book seemed technically polished and well-written, although I think chapter 4 would have been better either as a prologue or a flashback. It was internally coherent, with well-developed characters. If vampire romance is your thing, you'll probably love it. Me, I'm off to find several gallons of brain bleach. And a crucifix, just in case.

(On LT I rated the final one as ½, seeing as -8 isn't actually possible.)

Aaaaaaaaand another one.

I do have a life. Honestly. I've just mislaid it somewhere.

43. Stranded with a Spy - Merline Lovelace (Romantic Suspense)
Well paced and inventive, with solid characters and a believable relationship. I really like the geographical detail and local flavour. Although I could instantly spot the subplot which was going to lead to a later book in the series (and yes, I checked - their story came out last October), it didn't feel intrusive: these characters are actually part of and relevant to THIS story, not just tacked on for the sake of making a series. If you absolutely must set up future books in the current one, this is how to do it. 4½ /5

44. The Luck of the Bodkins - PG Wodehouse
45. The Marriage Bed - Laura Lee Guhrke

Both reasonably enjoyable, both rated 4/5.

46. Slightly Married - Mary Balogh

Excellent. 5/5.

#107: I really like Mary Balogh. Are you planning on reading the rest of the series?

>108 alcottacre: Yes! This was actually the third of the series that I'd read, so I'm getting them out of order. After reading the first one - Slightly Scandalous, which I think is really number 3? - I decided to get hold of them all.

This one is my favourite so far. I've been picking them up at a discount book shop, but so far the shop hasn't had any of the others in. I liked this one so much that at any minute I may crack and do something highly reckless and seriously expensive, like ordering the rest on next-day delivery from Amazon.

#109: Don't forget about the prequels I mentioned in message 92, either. They are both very good as well.

I understand completely about wanting to get an entire series in-house! I do reckless things all the time - gets me into trouble, but do I learn? Heck, no!

>110 alcottacre: I haven't forgotten - they're on the list too!

Good. You will not regret reading them, I promise you. Balogh does not write bad books.

>104 Eat_Read_Knit: Caty, Thank you for your very entertaining reviews!

>107 Eat_Read_Knit: Caty, what made Slightly Married excellent?

- TT

I think that what made Slightly Married so good was the subtlety and complexity of the characters' personalities and relationships. Not just the main characters, but all the minor characters too. They were all very well-rounded and very convincing, and very different from one another.

I appreciated how hard the main characters worked to do what was right; they were sincere and pragmatic, they thought about what they were going to do and why, they worked hard and cared about people - and they didn't have martyr complexes about things they wanted to do but couldn't. Neither were they perfect. They just got on with life as best they could. They were also very self-aware and emotionally mature, and the relationship between them reflected that.

The focus was (of course) on the main characters, but they were shown as members of families and communities rather than in isolation. There was enough plot to keep things interesting, and it was written in such a way that the characters' personalities and growth and changing relationships were delicately revealed through it. Rather like peeling the layers off an onion. The pace of the changing relationship between the main characters, and the relationship itself, was very convincing, and the book as a whole was very successful in achieving "show, don't tell".

>114 Eat_Read_Knit: Thanks Caty. Your last comment about "show, don't tell" is the problem I am having with Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood. Too much description and not enough action. I have read 54 pages and have had to give up. I read another two books and then went back to it. Just couldn't face it so started another book: An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P.D. James. Not my usual fare, but much better!

- TT

47. Another Mary Balogh - though this time from another series: Simply Unforgettable. Very good, but I didn't like it as much as the last one. The writing was excellent once again, but I was sceptical about how consistent the heroine's behaviour early in the book actually was with her general respectability and strong moral code elsewhere. The hero was an overbearing spoiled brat - and absolutely adorable, especially once he grew up a bit. 4/5.

I've now had about as many romance novels in a row as I can take: now reading 44 Scotland Street and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher.

I'll be interested in your thoughts on The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher. I just got a copy last week, but have not yet had a chance to read it.

After the first half of 44 Scotland Street, a bit of Mr Whicher and several cantos of Dante's Inferno, I went back to some more of the free Harlequins.

48. The Bride's Baby - Liz Fielding (Harlequin free ebook)
Has just about all of my romance novel don't-likes, but I actually quite enjoyed it. Very well written, and the tension and uncertainty are well maintained right to the end. However, I'm not convinced by the declarations of love and the proposal at the end of the book* - I just don't think that their relationship is that well developed yet - but it's all very sweet and lovely. 3½ /5

49. Price of Passion - Susan Napier (Harlequin free ebook)
Didn't like the characters or the plot premise, and initially gave up after page 32. Flicked through some of the rest after reading some positive reviews. It improved towards the end, and I ended up reading more than I skimmed over, so I'll count it as a book read. 2/5.

50. Snowbound - Janice Kay Johnson (Harlequin free ebook)
Meatier story - more substance and strong sub-plots. Sympathetic characters, tough issues well handled. Solid, emotional, touching romance. 4/5

51. Baby Bonanza - Maureen Child (Harlequin free ebook)
Liked the writing style, but the characters seemed a little two-dimensional and I wasn't convinced that they had any real connection or commitment beyond the fluffy hearts and flowers stuff. Also had no sympathy with their situation, and their histrionics irritated me. 2/5

52. A Very Special Delivery - Linda Goodnight (Harlequin free ebook)
Personalities, faith elements (this is Christian Fiction), main plot and subplots were all sound, and the writing was okay, but somehow (and I can't quite put my finger on how) this book was less than the sum of its parts. It was a little saccharine in places, and although I thought it was quite good, I was disappointed that it wasn't better. 3/5

53. 44 Scotland Street - Alexander McCall Smith
At last! A proper book! One with real pages and everything!

This book actually left me feeling Very Annoyed: now I either have to read these books out of sequence**, or actually wait to start the follow-up. It is Not Fair.

I adored this book. The characters just leap off the page and, even though there isn't a great deal happening, the book just zips along. Bruce is fascinatingly repellent, Domenica is just fascinating - and little Bertie is wonderful. 5/5.

*That's not a spoiler when it's commenting on a romance novel, right?
** I have the second sequel, Love over Scotland, waiting on my shelf - but not a copy of Espresso Tales. I feel a trek round the second-hand book shops coming on.

Woo Hoo! Caty - 50 books. Congratulations.

>119 alcottacre: Thanks!

I confess that I didn't expect to average the equivalent of a 347-page book a day during February.

I'm enjoying The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, but didn't quite manage to get to the end of it before the end of the month. (Not for want of trying, though...)

#120: I will be interested in your thoughts on Mr Whicher - I just got in my copy the other day.

I didn't realize that there were free e-book Harlequins... I'll have to check that out.

I must have slept through A Comfortable Wife because I remember enjoying it and don't keep stuff on my shelves (usually) with gratuitous sex. Gonna' have to take another look. I've really been enjoying your thread!

>122 suslyn: Thanks.

The free Harlequins are here. There's one book from each line they publish, I think.

54. Hide in Plain Sight - Marta Perry
Another of the free Harlequins, this time Christian* romantic suspense.
It was okay. By the standards of romantic suspense, there wasn't a great deal of romance or suspense. It was, however, a nice story. I know 'nice' is a bland word, but nice is what this is: it's sweet and cosy and gentle with just the occasional bit of drama. It reminded me of the cartoon films for kids that have the guidance warning 'mild peril' on them, despite the climax of the story being life-and-death stuff. The faith element is convincing, the hero and heroine make a nice couple, and there's an interesting twist to the suspense. Enjoyable, cosy fireside reading. 3/5.

* I know they call these 'inspirational', but that irritates me. I think it's the difference between US and UK usage. Or maybe it's just me. 'Inspirational' implies to me that it's got some generic/non-specific religious or philosophical element - as much folk wisdom, crystals and fortune cookies as organised religion or various kinds. The kind of thing people mean when they say, 'I'm not into organised religion, but I'm a very spiritual person'. However, these books are, and are intended to be, explicitly Christian stories. And, yes, that ought to obvious from the fact that they're under a marque called 'Steeple Hill' with a logo that looks like a church, but it still irks me.

I actually quite like these books, and it's a shame they're not published in the UK. I can see why, though. No real market for them. The only place I've ever found them here is a Christian bookshop - where of course they're imports, and cost significantly more than you'd pay for a Harlequin Mills & Boon on the high street.

55. The Suspicions of Mr Whicher - Kate Summerscale.

I liked this book a lot, but I did think it could have been better. There were some parts that seemed more like prurient gossip than analysis of historical documents (which I think is an issue of style and tone rather than content) and some parts that were quite repetitive. The absence of proper footnoting drove me insane. There are pages and pages of notes in the back, with source references and comment, but nothing in the text to refer you to them. Either you skip back and forth to see whether there's a footnote for that paragraph, or you ignore them completely. Presumably this was done to give an informal tone instead of making it seem academic, but it irritated me no end.

Having got the criticisms out of the way, let me say that I did enjoy reading this book. I enjoyed it a lot. I found the social and literary history absolutely fascinating. The history of the police force was very well covered, and the account of the change in public perception of the detectives was fascinating. It was also interesting to see the inner workings of the Victorian police, and to read about the detective as a person rather than just as a detective.

I very much enjoyed seeing how the development of detective fiction related to events then current in the news, and liked the way this analysis was woven into the narrative; The Woman in White and The Moonstone are both on my To Read pile, and I'm very keen now to read them and to see how the attitudes and events surrounding this case come out in them.

The book is well researched, well constructed, and written in an engaging style. I'm giving it 4/5.

#55: I am glad you forewarned me about the lack of footnoting in the book because, like you, it will drive me nuts!

>126 alcottacre:: Stasia, in that case you should watch out when you get onto Proust and the Squid as it does the same thing :( It's obviously a new trend in non-fiction that they want to market to a wider audience...

#127: That kind of thing drives me crazy (-er) because I like to be able to see if I can track down original sources and read them. I often copy entire bibliographies from books tracking down the reference material. Thanks for the heads up!

>128 alcottacre:: indeed. What I ended up doing was just reading through the notes as if they were a separate chapter and only flipping back to the main text to anchor myself if a title or the quotation that marked it really caught my eye. Fortunately quite a lot of it was very scholarly articles on brain science so there wasn't too much flipping back and forth!

(sorry for the threadjack, Caty!)

>129 FlossieT: That's quite alright. :)

*wanders off to investigate Proust and the Squid*

That looks interesting. Now, where was I...?

56. Heart of the Sea - Nora Roberts

Slick, well-paced romance; a typical Nora Roberts. Didn't really do it for me, though. I found the paranormal elements mildly irritating - although when compared to full-blown paranormal romance, the occasional charm, curse, ghost and passing faerie doesn't bother me that much.

My main problem was that I didn't like the characters, especially the heroine. She tells the hero one thing, means something slightly different, then changes her mind completely but doesn't say anything to anyone - and then berates the hero not only for acting on what she told him at the beginning, but also for not intuitively knowing she didn't mean it. Stupid woman. And the hero wasn't much better. I liked the heroine's brothers and sisters-in-law better: I might track down the preceding two stories, despite the irritating faeries. 3½ out of 5

#130: Jewels of the Sun is the best book in the trilogy, IMHO.

>131 alcottacre: I've seen a couple of other comments/reviews on the trilogy that said the same. I've added both to my wishlist, but I'll keep an eye out for that one in particular.

Today I wandered into the discount book shop where I've picked up several Mary Baloghs recently, hoping for more. They had Simply Love, so I bought that one, but no others; I had to pay a whole £2.99 for it, instead of getting 2 for £5 like a did last time. *sulks*

Actually, that additional 49p is nothing: I went from that shop to WHSmiths, and picked up the only Mary Balogh that they had - Simply Magic - for the full cover price, plus Alexander McCall Smith's Espresso Tales (to satisfy the craving from #118) and Nicola Cornick's Unmasked.

I have no self-control. Please don't tell my bank manager.

Speaking of having no self-control - I forgot to list this one, which I finished yesterday.

57. Dancing in the Moonlight - RaeAnne Thayne

Another of the Harlequin free ebooks. I quite liked this one. The heroine is returning home after losing part of a leg while serving with the army in Afghanistan; I know next to nothing about the related issues which the book touches on, but it seems to me that the story is both well researched and sympathetic to this. I thought the characters were appealing and well-rounded, and the book was well written and well paced. 4/5.

Did I mention that I have no self-control? Yes, I thought I had. I was supposed to be doing paperwork today. What I was *actually* doing was reading Simply Love and Simply Magic by Mary Balogh. I'll just read a couple of chapters before I start working, I thought - and I was doomed for most of the rest of the day.

58. Simply Love - Mary Balogh
This historical romance was an extremely powerful and well-written story. Both the hero Sydnam Butler and the heroine Anne Jewell are scarred individuals, albeit in different ways. The character portraits, along with the progressing relationship between the main characters, are portrayed with sensitivity and subtle, intricate detail. So, too, are the wider family relationships and the gradual formation of a new family. The character development is engrossing and poignant, and the plot, though straightforward, is convincing. 5/5

59. Simply Magic - Mary Balogh
I couldn't decide whether I'd have liked this better had I not read it immediately after the previous book; there are some similar plot elements - family estrangement features in both - and the stories overlap a couple of scenes are repeated from a different perspective. On the whole, I think I gained some things from reading them back-to-back, while other aspects suffered a little. This book, like Simply Love, is also focused firmly on the characters and the relationships between them, rather than external conflict. It's good - well-written, with a variety of complex characters that come alive through the book - but it doesn't have the punch of Simply Love. 4/5.

I am not sure whether it is further evidence of my lack of self-control that I have today ordered the final book in this series, plus the three remaining books from the Slightly series, from Amazon - or evidence of having *some* self-control that I settled for free shipping rather than next-day delivery.

You crack me up, Caty!

free shipping isn't to be bypassed! ;->

60. Pale Moon Rider - Marsha Canham
This book dragged at times; at 422 pages, it would have been better paced with a hundred pages cut out. It also had a tendency to descend into ludicrous melodrama. The dialect was unconvincing, and there are several glaring errors, anachronisms and typos/confused homonyms. (A bout of sickness causes a person to 'wretch', for example, and the hero comments that he is better at playing Chopin than Mozart - but Chopin wasn't born until 1810, fourteen years after the conversation takes places.)

We get info-dumps on the French Revolution and the war with France - and yet the chronology seems a little vague or confused. The story is set in 1796 - about April of that year, to judge by the comments regarding Napoleon in Italy. The narrative on page 57 gives the impression that it is six months or so since the heroine fled the Terror. The plot takes place over a very short space of time. Yet elsewhere, it's 'more than a year' since the events in Paris - and it has to be at least 22 months because of the references to Robespierre, who died in July 1794. Unless I'm missing something, of course, which is always possible.

All in all, I was distinctly underwhelmed with this book. It wasn't all bad - I've read far worse. There were parts where I was intrigued by the story, and kept reading to know what happened next, the characters were reasonably well written, and the plot was well constructed. However, I thought it was too long, too often unconvincing, and lacking in character development. 2/5.

61. Espresso Tales - Alexander McCall Smith
62. Love over Scotland - Alexander McCall Smith
44 Scotland Street is becoming my favourite series by Alexander McCall Smith. Both these books are fantastic, and I shall be getting my hands on the next two books as soon as is humanly possible.* The character portraits and the acute observations on human nature are wonderful - so accurate and detailed - and the subtle humour is extremely engaging. It's such a cliché to say that the characters leap off the page - but they really do. Their personalities are vibrant and complex, human, real - even those characters who appear only briefly. There are times when the less-likeable characters do good things, and times when the you dislike the likeable characters. They're rounded. They have foibles and annoying habits - and none of it is described, but all of it is there.

The narrative in each book is gentle but well-paced, and the short instalments work well. The way the characters' stories are intertwined makes the books flow well, too, and also sustains interest. 4½ and 5 out of 5 respectively. I have three of McCall Smith's Isabel Dalhousie books in my to read pile. I intend to get to them very soon.

*Okay, when I have some money and I can justify buying more books. Or when I spot them in a charity shop. Or for my birthday. Whichever comes first. And I see that book 5 is out in paperback not long before said birthday. What a fortunate coincidence.

63. Slightly Dangerous - Mary Balogh
64. Simply Perfect - Mary Balogh

Both good historical romances, with the excellent character portraits, sound pacing and strong emotional content I'm coming to expect from Balogh. I think it would be possible to read Slightly Dangerous without having read the rest of the sequence, but it's better read in the light of them. Simply Perfect ought, I think, to be read after at least some of the other Slightly and Simply books - although the characters are introduced, there are events and references which mean more when there is greater understanding of the background. 4½ out of 5 each.

65. Seducing Mr Darcy - Gwyn Cready

Occasionally humorous and entertaining, but mostly crude and shallow. Underdeveloped characters, a chaotic and unstructured plot and an absence of any real relationships made this romance unengaging and disappointing. 1/5.

#135 I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one. I'll just read a couple of chapters, or check LT, and then I'll get to work. Only the "get to work" part never seems to happen!

66. Unmasked - Nicola Cornick

An excellent historical romance with an innovative and suspenseful plot, well-written characters with strong personalities and a great deal of depth, and convincing relationships between the characters. The story also has superb period detail and lots of local flavour, and deals well with some emotive themes. It also has good historical notes and useful suggestions for further reading at the back. 5/5

67. The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse - Robert Rankin

Humorous, silly and very, very clever. I'm not a great fan of the fantasy genre, but I quite enjoyed this book. 4/5

There's a sequel that's as good - The Toyminator. Loved 'em both!

>144 Eat_Read_Knit: I'll keep an eye out for it!

68. Friends, Lovers, Chocolate - Alexander McCall Smith
I was absolutely certain that I had never read this book, but once I started it I realised that I had read it before. It was still reasonably entertaining - not least because I read it long enough ago that I couldn't remember exactly what was going to happen. The characters are well written, and the plot meanders gently along, accompanied by philosophical reflections and amusing asides. However, I didn't like Isabel Dalhousie as much as I liked the 44 Scotland Street characters, and this book seemed a little drier than those in the other series. Not dull or dessicated, but a little less vibrant. Still a good read, though. 3½ /5

69. Slightly Tempted - Mary Balogh
70. Slightly Sinful - Mary Balogh

Two more excellent historical romances, with strong characters, strong plots, and strong writing. Both have common romance plot devices on which I am not keen - revenge and amnesia respectively - and yet I went through the first book in one sitting and the second in two.* Both had characters doing silly, odd or irrational things from time to time. Both had a strong cast of well fleshed out supporting characters. Both also fitted well into the Slightly series and gave a greater insight into the family dynamics and relationships which run through the books.

Both also had irritating copy/layout errors: a paragraph break and several blank lines mid-sentence in one, and a missing word in the other. Am I imagining it, or is this becoming more prevalent?

Both were going to have a rating of 4½ out of 5 - but I gave in to sentimentality over the scenes of Alleyn's return to his family (which made me blub more than any book has for months), rated emotional punch over the characters' occasional irrationality and gave Slightly Sinful a 5.

*It would have been one sitting if I could have taken the book to the dinner table with me.

71. Friday's Child - Georgette Heyer

I'll be joining in this discussion, but for now I'll just say: a wonderful comedy of manners, with great characters and excellent period detail. I'd not read this particular Heyer for a few years, and really enjoyed revisiting it. 5/5.

72. The Money Man's Seduction - Leslie LaFoy

A quick read, and a humorous and engaging romance, despite the horrible title. 4½ out of 5 as a category romance.

Having picked up some category romance recently after not reading it for several years, I'm finding I don't enjoy it as much as I used to. Even the books which I enjoy leave me underwhelmed by their brevity and narrow focus. Ah well. Tastes change.

Yes, you are right! Our reading tastes do change. For a long time, 99% of my reading was historical books, historical novels and anything having to do with India, Britain, Scotland, Ireland.

Then I went through a holocast reading phase followed by philosophy and psychology books in my quest to try to figure out just how something so terrible could happen.

I'm tempted to add The Money Man's Seduction to be huge tbr pile. I must need new glasses, or a cup of coffee, when I first read the title I thought it was The MONKEY Man's Seduction. I had a vision of a small, impish yellow toothed fellow wearing a red tam, carrying a cup while making screeching noises. Ok, I'm headed for the coffee pot.

>148 Whisper1: That would be quite a change from the usual hero of a romance novel!

73. The Right Attitude to Rain - Alexander McCall Smith
74. The Careful Use of Compliments - Alexander McCall Smith

When I read Friends, Lovers, Chocolate (a whole week ago!) I was told that The Right Attitude to Rain and The Careful Use of Compliments were better. I agree. I liked Isabel Dalhousie more in these book than in the other, and all the characters seemed more present, somehow, in what was happening. Although there wasn't a great deal of plot in the first of these, it seemed as though more was happening to the characters in this book than in the previous book. Certainly the narrative seemed to be more coherent, and to have more direction. The second had more plot, and a noticeable (although still gentle and restrained) mystery element. 5/5 for both.

75. Hot Water - PG Wodehouse

Just how many people can be masquerading under false names and trying to break into the safe in one château? The answer would seem to be somewhere in the region of eight - and when you add in a few engagements (mostly secret or fake), blackmail plots, private detectives (also mostly secret or fake), political conspiracies, and drunken lizards, chaos is bound to ensue.

Very, very funny. A particularly farcical farce, filled with characters possessing a superabundance of character. The plot is completely, splendidly ridiculous. The language is a treat, and the sheer insanity as the whole thing builds up to an absurdly complicated climax is wonderful. Pure entertainment. 5/5.

#150 What a delightful review. I've never read any Wodehouse, but I'm going to try this one. It sounds like too much fun to miss.

>150 Eat_Read_Knit: Caty ~ I have Hot Water waiting on my to-read list. I simply can't get enough of Wodehouse lately. Thanks for the great review!

>151 sjmccreary:, 152 I've read quite a lot of Wodehouse recently, and had been finding some of the them to be 'more of the same old stuff' - entertaining but not outstanding. I really loved this one, though, and annoyed most of my family by giggling at regular intervals throughout it. This is definitely one to read.

sjmccreary, if you want to try some of his other books too, the Jeeves and Wooster books are consistently excellent.

I'm enjoying your thread :)

#153 Thanks - I tried a Jeeves book once years ago, but it was the wrong book at the wrong time and I've avoided Wodehouse ever since. I put Hot Water on hold at the library and am looking forward to it, and to giving Wodehouse another try.

>154 suslyn: I'm glad. And thank you.

76. Pistols for Two - Georgette Heyer

A volume of short stories - mostly romances, but also a crime-ish tale and one that's uncategorisable. At least, it is at this time of the morning when I've not had any coffee.

I have read all these stories so many times that I practically know them off by heart, and I love them all, but I think my favourites are A Husband for Fanny (wherein a doting mother discovers she has been somewhat mistaken about the man who seems to want to marry her daughter), Night at the Inn (wherein a traveller is somewhat mistaken about the ethics of his landlord) and Hazard (wherein an inebriated nobleman is somewhat mistaken firstly about his own matrimonial availability and then about his fiancée's elopement with another man).

I needed some light relief: I've got through 250 pages of Great Expectations, but it's a slog.

Edited because a lack of coffee is no excuse for such execrable grammar.

#156: I love your explanation of why one of the stories is uncategorisable (although, personally, I think if you can spell that early in the morning, no coffee is really needed!)

Yet another Heyer for me to track down . . .

77. Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett.

Technically good, I think, but it didn't do it for me. I don't know whether it was the characters, or the themes, or something else, but I didn't enjoy this book as much as the others I've read by Pratchett. I never felt that I had much idea what was going on, and got the impression that I needed to have read others earlier in the series to understand the characters and the plot properly. Some very funny moments, though. 3/5.

I was going to include Pratchett in my month's reads but, as it turns out, I was overestimating my reading speed and am running out of time. Oh well, April's as good a month as any for my first Pratchett - and judging from your review, I'm glad it's not Carpe Jugulum!

>159 girlunderglass: It wasn't bad, but I don't think it would be a good place to start.

78. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka

Definitely not the 'hilarious' comic novel the blurb promises, but at least I knew that going in. There are many comic moments, but also many tragic or poignant moments. The characters are well written, and stop just short of becoming caricatures. The family relationships are well portrayed, and the changes in the family dynamic are believable and moving.

There is obvious wit and flair in the writing, and the story is well paced. However, I found the writing very choppy as it bounced back forth through history and between characters. I also found the changes between past and present tense in the writing to be a distraction, but I think that's just my personal preferences coming to the fore.

The issues of immigration, ageing, domestic abuse, and sibling rivalry are tangled up together, and I did feel that perhaps they were so entangled that they weren't always as well developed as they could have been.

4/5.

>150 Eat_Read_Knit: Caty, I am a big Wodehouse fan, so Hot Water with a teabag, sounds just like my cup of tea! They have a copy available at my local library, so I am looking forward to a good laugh!

~ TT

>162 TheTortoise: I don't think you'll be disappointed.

79. Approaching Easter - Jane Williams
Well written, with lovely pictures and some nice literary allusions. A thoughtful, meditative exploration of lent and Easter through themes including love, anger, fear and power. A very nice devotional book.

I disagreed profoundly with some of the theology, but when I began the book I was pretty sure that this would be the case; I'm well aware that I'm in a different theological tradition to the author.

The first half of the book would get a 5/5 - but I don't think that I can justify giving it such a high rating when, no matter how well it is written, it makes theological statements which I believe to be flawed. But then, to what extent is it fair to penalise a book simply for propounding conclusions with which you disagree? On the basis that there's some justification for so doing when the disagreement is over the theology of the cross and the book is about Easter, and therefore the disagreement is pretty central to the whole thing, I'm going to rate it as 4/5 with the additional observation that it will probably have more appeal if your theology is broadly Anglo-Catholic. And that it does us all good to read things we disagree with from time to time.

#163: I read things I disagree with all the time - it's part of the reason I read. I have a very good time arguing with the authors and have even been known to put notes in the margins propounding my point-of-view and why the author is so obviously misguided :)

>164 alcottacre: Stasia, very well put. I do that. too!

# TT

Yes, I actually do that a lot, especially with textbooks and similar things. I'm somewhere in the middle of A Radical Encounter with God, and it's margins are filled with notes of agreement, disagreement, complaints about poor referencing and comments developing the points the author is making.

I thought about making notes in this one, but it didn't seen quite right somehow to do it to a nice glossy devotional work when the author was saying exactly what I had expected her to say. If I hadn't known in advance that I was getting something written from the perspective of a different theological tradition, I'd probably have been less inclined to ignore those bits and move on.

80. The Cellist of Sarajevo - Steven Galloway

This book examines the minutiae of the lives of three people during the siege of Sarajevo. The characters' reflections on their lives before the war come as a jarring reminder that none of us is immune from war, that it can erupt in countries that are apparently stable and that when it does so it decimates the lives of ordinary people. Many of the descriptions of daily life and the choices that must be made are powerful and poignant, and the writing is reflective and atmospheric.

Nevertheless, I didn't feel gripped by this book. While I was quite intrigued to see what would happen to the characters, I didn't feel caught up in their fate. I found it quite hard to distinguish between Dragan and Kenan, and had to keep consciously reminding myself whose story I was reading; few of the characters seemed to have distinct personalities, and seemed at times little more than canvases on which the author paints his reflections on the civil war. The blood and dirt of war is in the book, but it still often feels remote, like war watched on a 24 hour news channel rather than from the inside.

I couldn't help thinking that the message might have been better conveyed if the main part of the story had stretched over a longer period of time - even just three or four days - and a little bit of the oft-repeated detail of crossing roads under sniper fire omitted in favour of the other threats that were faced. That the struggles, threats and deprivations were sustained is stated, but not really conveyed. We see the struggle to get water, but not the effects of the lack of it. Neither do we get much sense of the 'enemy' or the black market other than as a vague malevolent presence.

On the whole, I thought that this book was reasonably good, but did not live up to the rave reviews I've read. 3/5.

#167: Sorry you did not like the book as much as I did, Caty. I hope your next read is better for you.

>168 alcottacre: But wouldn't life be dull if we all liked the same things!

81. The Bad Quarto - Jill Paton Walsh

An entertaining cosy mystery. 4/5.

Edited due to OCD re typos. (I'm told there are people who can actually leave a typo in a post even once they've noticed it - but that can't be normal, surely?)

#169: Not normal for me anyway. But whoever said I was normal - not me :)

82. The World According to Bertie - Alexander McCall Smith

Another instalment from the 44 Scotland Street series. I love the vibrancy, fine detail and psychological consistency of McCall Smith's characters. I also love his turns of phrase, social insights and relaxed writing style. 5/5.

83. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

I've never been a Dickens fan. I loved A Tale of Two Cities, but I never managed to get to the end of any of the others until now. I found this book easier to read than I was expecting it to be, but still something of a slog in places. I can certainly believe that it made a more engaging serial than it does novel. The pace is slow and ponderous, and I didn't find that I was particularly gripped by any of the characters.

However, the characters are well drawn, and the plot is (despite its slowness) well constructed. The characters grow and develop, and are gradually revealed in greater detail as the book progresses which sustains interest. There are some entertaining comic moments, as well as a great deal of atmosphere, tension and poignancy.

I'm not going to be rushing headlong into a massive Dickens-reading binge, but I'm glad I read this one. 4/5.

I loved Hot Water - I heard it as an audiobook last year. It was great! And Pistols for Two is another good one.

#172: Caty, we are going to do a group read of Bleak House in June. You might want to consider joining in - it is still a couple of months away, so I do not think it would count as a 'massive Dickens-reading binge'.

>174 alcottacre: I will think about it!

84. Inferno - Dante Alighieri (5/5)

I first tried reading this about ten years ago when I was studying medieval history, and didn't get very far. In fact, I can tell you that I got to the end of Canto 5, because that's where the margin notes in my copy finish.

Reading it now, I can't imagine why I didn't get further. This was a translation by Dorothy L. Sayers (first published 1949), and I found it very accessible and easy to read. In her introduction, Sayers explains that she has stuck to the terza rima in which the original was written, sacrificing (she says) a little verbal accuracy in favour of retaining the speed and rhythm. She also explains at some length her approach to the rhyme-scheme and metre, her use of a wide range of English vocabulary including some colloquial phrases, and the ways in which she has tried to preserve the humour and tone of the original. I think that Sayers achieved great success in this: the vocabulary is gloriously rich, ranging from phrases which are positively Shakespearean all the way to the contemporary vernacular, and just about everything in between. The poetry is evocative and flows well, and the various tones and changes of mood are superbly conveyed.

The book has extensive notes on the significant people encountered by the character of Dante in his journey through hell, and on the symbolism and imagery used by Dante the writer, which are not only engaging and well-written but also exceedingly useful. The introduction sets out the historical context in some detail, which is also very helpful: I could have given a detailed history of the Guelfs and Ghibellines ten years ago, but I was more than a little reliant on this information to refresh my memory. The diagrams and maps of Dante's hell are also beneficial, as is the glossary of all the characters encountered. Together, the poetry and notes make this a very accessible translation for those who are unused to poetry, unfamiliar with the historical figures, or both.

I found the story (if I can call it that) to be more easily understood than I had expected it to be, and also more entertaining than I had anticipated. I did, however, find that the various circles of hell began to merge together in my mind as in some cases there was either little detail given about them or they were very similar to other circles.

I expected most of the symbolism in the book to pass me by - most symbolism generally does - but between Dante's own explanations and that in the notes I was able to appreciate far more than I expected to, and to overlook much less than I feared. The commentary on the political situation at the time, as well as that on the Church, is very definitely partisan - but is nonetheless insightful.

I have the remainder of the Divine Comedy in the Sayers translation awaiting me on the shelf, and am now very definitely looking forward to reading it.

85. Blest Atheist - Elizabeth Mahlou

No Touchstone. This is an Early Reviewers book, and I want to make sure I do a proper and considered review rather than just posting off-the-cuff thoughts. I'll post a rating and review in the next few days.

Review of Blest Atheist:

This memoir follows the author’s life from an abuse-scarred childhood in which religion was used a weapon and from which learning was one of the few escapes, to an adulthood working in linguistics education and parenting both special needs and gifted children – and to considering anew the existence and nature of God.

Mahlou is highly articulate, and expresses herself clearly and with erudition. Her writing draws on a broad vocabulary, and shows the character of people and places well. That Mahlou is well-read is demonstrated by the quotations she includes. However, the structure of the memoir is erratic, and for much of the book bounces back and forth in time in a way which makes it hard to follow. This is exacerbated by extensive sections of personal history being largely omitted – yet occasional anecdotes relating to these periods being included. There is no sense of chronology or progression, and little obvious thematic structure.

Familiarity with Russia and with the attitudes of the Cold War is assumed by the author, who also habitually refers to incidents and to people without adequate explanation or context. The reader can be left wondering, ‘why are you telling me this?’ or ‘who is this person?’ As a reader with a good education but no great familiarity with Russia, and for whom the fall of communism is a vague childhood memory (and the Cold War itself something too recent to have been studied in history), I would have appreciated more detail. I needed more detail. However, when Mahlou writes of her work with special needs children – her own and others – she does a much better job of including sufficient background.

In part 2, Mahlou turns the focus onto her adult experiences of religion, leading to new discoveries and a startling conclusion. I enjoyed reading part 2. It has a more defined structure and a sense of direction, and the narrative is easier to follow than in the first part of the book. However, had this not been an Early Reviewers book which I was determined to finish, I am far from certain that I would have made it through the first 180 pages to reach the start of part 2.

Mahlou comments that she and her siblings have forgiven their mother for the abuse inflicted upon them, and explains that she has written under a pseudonym through a desire not to hurt her mother by revealing her history. This, to me, seems at odds with the way Mahlou repeatedly returns throughout the memoir to the subject of her childhood to add additional recollections of abuse, and with the prominence she gives in her memoir to that part of her life.

The book describes at length Mahlou’s achievements in overcoming the effects of childhood abuse, in being a ‘Good Samaritan’ able to help others, and in successfully raising special needs children, often going against official advice, policy and medical opinion to do so. It touches briefly on her career in linguistics and education, and very briefly on her time in the US Army. Her personal and professional achievements are undoubtedly considerable. Nevertheless, there was a self-congratulatory tone to many passages in the book which grated on me, and a pharisaic triumphalism in being a better Christian than those who had professed faith but practiced or turned a blind eye to child abuse. (I do not suggest that this sentiment was intended, or is held by the author, merely that it is the impression given in places.)

In summary: the writing was good and the story has potential to be interesting, but the poor structure, gaping holes in the story and often self-congratulatory tone make reading the book difficult and unedifying.

Rating 2½ out of 5.

Sounds like one on which I will pass. Glad not to have to add that one to the Continent!

86. Money for Nothing - PG Wodehouse

Oh, wonder! Oh, joy! An exuberant romp through the English countryside, accompanied by highly intelligent dogs, inebriated young Cambridge boxing blues who confront burglars with quotations from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, and still other young men who argue with their Better Self and Stone Age Ancestor about the best way to win the girl.

Double-crossing criminals become double-crossees, romance is in the air, and splendidly moustachioed sergeant-majors are duped by the owners of health resorts designed to slim down gouty old gentlemen suffering from a surfeit of port and stilton. And as if all that were not enough, the vicar is inflicting musical torture on the village and the chemist’s shop is the biggest hotbed of gossip in three counties.

Throw some of the sharpest and funniest turns of phrase to be found anywhere in the English language, and you have what can only be described as an absolute corker of a book. In fact, I deeply resent the fact that I have to give it back to the library.

5/5

All right, Caty, I finally got Hot Water checked out of the library and haven't even started it yet (actually, my teenage son wandered in, poked around the stack of library books, tucked that one under his arm, and hurried off upstairs to his room - I haven't seen it since) and now you tell us about another that sounds too good to pass up. I'll have to just make a note of Money for Nothing and wait until I finish HW (if I ever get it back from my son). Thanks for pointing out so many great sounding books.

>181 sjmccreary: You're welcome - I hope you enjoy them. When you finally get them, that is.

I have decided the simplest strategy to follow is: 'if it's by PG Wodehouse, drop everything else and read it'. Even the ones I like least I'd still class as 'good'.

87. The Warden - Anthony Trollope

I really enjoyed this book. There is a lot of social and political comment, and I needed to use not only the notes in the back of the book but also my very dusty recollections of 19th century political history from my 1996 A level to get me through it. The characters have well-defined personalities, and if there is not really a great deal of plot, then than is more than made up for by the insights into human nature and society.

I found Trollope's writing far more accessible than that of Dickens, and I'm looking forward to reading Barchester Towers, which is already waiting on my bookshelf.

4½ out of 5.

Edited because 'I posted it after midnight' is not an acceptable excuse for grammatical incoherence.

#183: I have really been enjoying my Trollope reading, too, although I have not gotten very far with it (only 3 books in the Barchester series). My problem with The Warden was total unfamiliarity with the offices of the Anglican church, which probably made the book harder for me to read than it had to be, but I still enjoyed the book.

I think you will enjoy Barchester Towers more than The Warden. I know I did! I look forward to your review of it when you get a chance to read it, Caty.

Money for Nothing is a Wodehouse I don't have... I will need to rectify this situation! Thanks for your great reviews, Caty :)

#184 Yes, I've been told by several people that they enjoyed Barchester Towers more than The Warden. I'm hoping to get to Barchester Towers pretty soon.

#185 Rectify it! Straight away! Go straight to the bookshop! Do not pass go and do not collect £200! (And I'm glad you're enjoying the reviews.)

88. Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels by Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan.

An examination of the romance genre by the ladies who run the romance novel blog Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. It's irreverent, funny and sometimes crude - but it's also wide-ranging and well-informed. (Much like the blog, in fact.) From an examination of awful romance covers through analysis of the heroes and heroines to the major plot tropes to the history of the genre and current and future trends, the book covers every aspect of the genre. It pokes unapologetic fun at bad plots and worse prose - but also discusses Jungian shadow archetypes and analyses the ways in which romance fiction has reflected trends in feminism and legal and social change.

It's fun, it's entertaining, and I *so* have to play the board game on pages 118-9.

However, it is probably not a book which will be enjoyed by those who are offended by explicit descriptions of sex or by bad language. Or by polysyllabic erudition, for that matter.

4½ out of 5.

>180 Eat_Read_Knit:: In fact, I deeply resent the fact that I have to give it back to the library. -- I recognise this feeling: I find that those sorts of books have a funny way of leaping spontaneously onto the counter when I'm in the bookshop, or into my Amazon basket ;-)

#188 You too? It's amazing how expensive trips to the library can be in the long run, isn't it?!

#189: It's amazing how expensive trips to the library can be in the long run, isn't it?

Boy, don't I know it? I cannot tell you how many times I have read a library book and then decided I absolutely needed a copy of my very own!

Pinched this from Stasia's thread.

1) What author do you own the most books by?
Georgette Heyer (47)

2) What book do you own the most copies of?
The Bible - 16 copies in 11 different translations, including three study bibles. Plus a Greek New Testament (which I can't read), an Interlinear Greek with NIV and KJV, and a volume of the Apocrypha (can't lay my hand on it to check the translation). Several of these I inherited when my grandmother died and several others were gifts, but I think I purchased ten of them for myself.

3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
I noticed, but I was more bothered by the fact they started with 'what'. Shouldn't it be 'which'?

4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Am I allowed minor characters? Because I always rather liked Captain Gideon Ware in Georgette Heyer's The Foundling.

5) What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children; i.e., Goodnight Moon does not count)?
I don't know precisely, but it'll be a Georgette Heyer. Probably the aforementioned The Foundling, Arabella, Devil's Cub, Cotillion or The Quiet Gentleman.

6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Can't remember. When I was eight it was Charlotte's Web. Will that do?

7) What is the worst book you've read in the past year?
The Last Year of Being Single by Sarah Tucker

8) What is the best book you've read in the past year?
One? I have to pick one? Okay, excluding re-reads it'll be either 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith, or The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë, or Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson. Or possibly Going Postal by Terry Pratchett. Or Leave it to Psmith by PG Wodehouse.

9) If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
Again I ask - one book? One? Okay, Leave it to Psmith. Because at least then everyone would have a couple of hours of laughter and frivolity to enjoy.

10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature?
No idea.

11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
I rarely watch movies. Maybe If on a winter's night a traveller, just to see how they do it. Now someone's going to come along and tell me it's been done, aren't they?

12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
I don't know. I sometimes think it's a bad idea to make anything over 200 pages into a movie because there's so much that has to be left out.

13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
Well I once dreamt I had a very fat publishing contract, which is pretty unlikely ever to happen, but weird? Can't think of anything. I don't often remember dreams, though.

14) What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?
The Da Vinci Code

15) What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
Complicated-difficult? Or emotionally difficult? For the former, and if we're only counting books I finished, If on a Winter's Night a Traveller was difficult and recent. Don't know about the most difficult ever, though.

16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?
The Tempest, I think. Which is about as obscure as a Tuna Mayo sandwich.

17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
If we're talking food, French. But I guess we're talking literature. In which case, probably still the French, on account of being marginally less depressing.

18) Roth or Updike?
Never read either.

19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
Ditto.

20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Milton.

21) Austen or Eliot?
Austen.

22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
-Poetry and plays are significant gaps, although I'm reading more than I used to.
-Late twentieth and twenty-first century literary fiction is a hefty gap. And it's not a gap I'm actively plan to plug. I've read some and I find it almost universally depressing, inaccessible and overrated. I'm a philistine and I don't care.

23) What is your favourite novel?
Including fluff, Georgette Heyer's Cotillion.
Excluding fluff, Anne Brontë The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

24) Play?
Not big on plays. Quite liked Jean Anouilh's Becket, though.

25) Poem?
Poetical work - Dante's Inferno
Something that fits on one page - don't know. Something by John Donne.

26) Essay?
I can't remember any particular essays that I've read. I know I looked at some stuff by Voltaire, Rousseau, Mill and Swift when I was at university, but I don't recall what. And I certainly don't recall what was in it. Still, I expect it did me good at the time.

27) Short story?
The Great Sermon Handicap by PG Wodehouse (found in the collection The Inimitable Jeeves). I'm frivolous as well as a philistine.

28) Work of nonfiction?
Excluding the Bible, probably Standards of Living in the Later Middle Ages by Dyer or The Trial of Doctor Sacheverell by Geoffrey Holmes. Both absolutely fascinated me when I read them at university.

29) Who is your favourite writer?
Georgette Heyer. Or PG Wodehouse. Ooh, or Dorothy L. Sayers. Shall I toss a coin? No, wait, there's a flaw in that idea...

30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Dan Brown? Or maybe Stephanie Meyer, but I've not read any of her books so I don't know for sure.

31) What is your desert island book?
The Bible. Although there are about 200 others that I'd occasionally wish I'd brought instead.

32) And... what are you reading right now?
The Gargoyle, The Adventures of Sally, Pillars of the Earth, War and Peace, Holiness, The Voices of Morebath, Selected Sermons of John Donne and probably half a dozen more that I've left somewhere with a bookmark in and forgotten about.

(Edited because it seems that I am in fact a quasi-literate frivolous philistine.)

(And edited again because I noticed a typo. Took the opportunity to expand my answer to number 22 and fix some stroppy touchstones, too. Does that make me an obsessive-compulsive quasi-literate frivolous philistine?)

89. The Adventures of Sally - PG Wodehouse

Another Wodehouse classic, which this time sees the unfortunate Sally gaining and losing both a fortune and several suitors before finding domestic bliss in an unexpected quarter. Add in the difficulties of explaining the duties of a scrum-half to a bewildered American and keeping several large dogs - not to mention several Broadway actresses - under control, and copious quantities of Wodehouse wit and style, and you have the makings of a wonderful story.

90. The Gargoyle - Andrew Davidson

Not bad. Weird, over-rated and too long for the story, but not bad. 3½ out of 5.

And I was glad that I held off on the second part until after I'd finished Dante's Inferno, because without that context it would have been less accessible and even more weird.

91. Decline and Fall - Evelyn Waugh

A wide-ranging and very entertaining satire, which is clearly the illegitimate offspring of a PG Wodehouse novel and Voltaire's Candide.

4½ out of 5

92. The Sweetheart Season - Karen Joy Fowler

Vivid writing and strong characters, and also an interesting premise. However, it never really went anywhere or did anything, and the writing wasn't gripping enough to make up for that. Too easy to put down and ignore - it took me a couple of months to read this, and most of the time it was sat on the shelf while I read something more interesting. 3½ out of 5.

93. Dogs and Goddesses - Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart and Lani Diane Rich

Paranormal-ish Romance

This book wasn't bad. It wasn't as good as I expected a book from these writers to be, but it wasn't bad. It zipped along merrily like all good frivolous entertainment should, and it had some good comic moments. I liked the characters, even if they were a bit two-dimensional. I read the book in an afternoon, and forewent half of my evening meal because I didn't have time to cook and finish the book before I had to go out. I enjoyed it, especially the second half.

But...

It didn't hang together well. It didn't come together as a collaboration, didn't have a single, consistent voice. In places, you could almost see the joins. The plot also seemed to have whacking big holes; suddenly days or weeks had gone by without a mention, which was disconcerting, and it was hard to keep track of what was currently happening in the villain's plans for world domination.

And there were too many main characters and too many dogs. I don't mind the dogs, but if I have to keep track of three heroines, three heroes, three (grand)mothers, several different sets of mystical powers, two or three ancient and warring deities, an evil minion and several acolytes, I can't keep track of seven dogs as well. It's too much.

In addition, too many of these main characters had prominent roles right from the beginning. It was a good hundred pages before I could get each goddess matched up to her hero, her (grand)mother and her dog in my mind without having to stop and think, 'wait, who is this one again?' By page 200, I had the hang of most of the acolytes and mystical powers, too. The second half of the book was a lot easier to read than the first, and I think that a lot of the confusing stuff will become clearer if I give it a second read-through. Giving it a second read-through will not be a hardship - but it shouldn't be necessary

In summary - a decent read, but not as good as it ought to have been.

3½ out of 5.

Oops. Forgot the rating. That's what you get for posting at midnight.

>196 Eat_Read_Knit: I didn't think there was such as thing as too many dogs! :)

The book sounds complex. I enjoy Jennifer Crusie now and then. Disappointing that the collaboration didn't go better. Thank you for the excellent, thoughtful review.

94. Barchester Towers - Anthony Trollope

Great. 5 out of 5. Will come back and do a proper review later.

#198: Will come back and do a proper review later.

I look forward to seeing it! I read that one last year.

Okay. Barchester Towers. Here we go:

Wonderful! I absolutely devoured this book.

I was massively entertained by the Machiavellian manoeuvrings of the oily and ambitious Mr Slope and the autocratic Mrs Proudie as they each sought to capture the bishop and become the acknowledged éminence grise of the diocese - for all the world as though it were an established diocesan office and the only thing to settle was who would occupy it. (Although would either be happy with that title? What would the Low church Evangelical equivalent be?)

Leaving aside the wannabe éminences grises, the other characters were also splendidly rendered. There's a realism to all of Trollope's characters that I love. They are very human: neither wholly bad nor wholly good, but instead full of ambitions, foibles, faults and graces which make them very complex and very realistic.

The plot is straightforward - the arrival of a new bishop causes conflict between High and Low church parties in Barchester - but the twists and turns as the characters interact make it very entertaining. The writing is wonderful - vivid and rich, with lots of literary and political allusions. (I recommend reading an edition with notes - especially if you're unfamiliar with the Church of England, Victorian politics, and the history and literature of ancient Greece and Rome - and keeping a dictionary close at hand.) It also has a warm, conversational tone and no small amount of humour and tension, despite the serious moral, political and social comment woven into the narrative throughout.

I think that that there are several tests of great literature, and in my opinion all the social comment and technical linguistic skill in the world are of little merit if the book is easily put down and forgotten about. I finished this book just before 2 o'clock this morning because there was NO way on God's green earth that I was putting it down and going to sleep without having reached the end. Not negotiable, no matter what time the alarm was set for. Sleep? Irrelevant. Who needs to sleep when there are books like this to read? The narrative was compelling, the writing addictive and the comment insightful. This is great literature and a great read.

#200: One of the things I appreciated in reading Barchester Towers after reading The Warden is that it did not get as bogged down (at least to me) in my trying to figure out all of the ins and outs of the Anglican church hierarchy. I think Barchester Towers was much more straightforward in that regard and overall, a better book.

Are you planning on reading the next book in the series, Doctor Thorne, anytime soon?

Ah! A book that keeps you up at night! What more could you ask for? :D
I've never read anything by Trollope to this day, nor do I own anything by him and this looks like a good one to start with, thanks!

>201 alcottacre: I'm planning to read the whole of the rest of the series as soon as I can get my hand on them!

I read that one this year too, and I just loved it! I was a little bogged down at the beginning with trying to keep all the ecclesiastical stuff straight, and probably should have read The Warden first, but once I got launched into the book, I couldn't put it down! And what a great ending! It was just right, I thought. He does such a good job of making all the characters round and complex, and getting you to care about people you didn't much like at first glance.

95. Scandalous Lord, Rebellious Miss - Deb Marlowe

Meh. Picked this up because I wanted something quick and frivolous. It's not dreadful, but I had the villain and his motives accurately identified by page 75 (so the Big Revelation on page 235 was something of an anticlimax), the political stuff was superficial, and the emotional stuff was unconvincing. I was constantly being told that the heroine was unconventional and scandalous and unacceptable, but I couldn't see it. Well, until she and Lord I-Want-To-Be-A-Respectable-Politician started getting naked in semi-public places on a regular basis. Which was totally unconvincing (a) for the period setting, and (b) for the characters.

Still, the writing was decent, and the pace was okay. Not great, but not a disaster. 2½ out of 5.

What is recommended reading order, then, for Trollope? I'm totally unfamiliar with him and willing to give him a try.

>206 sjmccreary:

The Warden and Barchester Towers are the first two books in the Barsetshire series. I think that Barchester Towers is the better book, but The Warden does provide some good background. I don't know how necessary it is to read the rest in order, although I'm planning to.

The Palliser series is also supposed to be good, although I haven't read any of those yet. The first two are in my TBR stack.

There is a Trollope group where you might be able to get more helpful suggestions.

I loved your response to Barchester Towers! LOL can I relate!

ETA now I'm super intrigued. I've only read one A Trollope and it was so depressing I never wanted to go there again. Same kind of response to the much-praised, yet held in less than esteem by me, Sons and Lovers. Might give Trollope another go.

>208 suslyn: Trollope...depressing?! Was it perhaps The Way We Live Now or Sir Harry Hotspur?

>207 Eat_Read_Knit: I read the Barset series during 2007/2008 and loved it, esp. Barchester Towers and The Small House at Alington. I recommend reading them in order if you can, or at least leaving The Last Chronicle until the end. I'm reading the Palliser series this year and while I loved Phineas Finn, my current read, The Eustace Diamonds, is proving more challenging!

Sorry for liberally peppering your thread with Trollope touchstones, Caty ;)

Okay -- I'll give him another go :) And, sorry, have no idea which volume it was...

>210 suslyn: You might enjoy Rachel Ray, suslyn. It is romantic and very readable!

Rachel Ray? I think I saw that one in my TBR.

*ferrets through several shelves*

Oh, yes, there it is. I might bump that one up near to the top of the list. I'm reading Things Fall Apart and The Mind Readers at the moment, and finding both of them depressing and hard going. I could do with something light and intelligent.

Belated congrats on 75 :)

What a great thread. You have certainly been busy this year already. I have taken a few for my ever increasing TBR mountain. Thanks.

Oooh just noticed your goal -- if you keep this up you'll surpass it!

>213 suslyn:, 215 - Thanks ;) (And I shall do my best to!)

>214 dianestm: - Glad to be of service (it's all part of my cunning plan to justify my own ever-expanding TBR by doing my best to increase everyone else's exponentially too.)

96. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe

I picked this book up on a whim in the Red Cross bookshop: I'd never heard of the book or the author, but the back cover blurb looked interesting and it was only £1.20.

I found this pretty hard to get into. The prose was stark and dispassionate, and although I found it interesting I felt no connection to the characters or involvement in the book. However, as the book progressed I became more involved. The personalities and history became more compelling, and the interactions between cultures horrifyingly gripping in an impending-train-crash kind of way. Very powerful. 4/5.

I had a similar reaction to Things Fall Apart when I read it last year. I also knew nothing of the book, but now think it will be an excellent candidate for a future re-read (a rare thing for me).

#216: I felt the same way when I read Things Fall Apart several years ago, and I am so glad I stuck with it. Terrific book.

This is starting to take a while to load up, so:

NEW THREAD FROM 1 MAY HERE.