KiwiNyx 75 books for 2010

This is the third year in a row that I've attempted 60 books in one year. Haven't quite made the magical sixty yet but when I saw this 75 book challenge, I knew it was one for me. Now just got to find the extra time to read 15 more books...

Here is my list so far:

1. The Road - Cormac McCarthy
2. What I Loved - Siri Hustvedt
3. Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett (play)
4. Silent on the Moor - Deanna Raybourn (Lady Jane Grey mystery series)
5. The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
6. Tunnels - Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams (YA, Tunnels series)
7. The Tao of Pooh - Benjamin Hoff (reference, philosophy)
8. The 10pm Question - Kate de Goldi (New Zealand)
9. Deeper - Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams (YA, Tunnels series)
10. Freefall - Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams (YA, Tunnels series)

11. The Penelopiad - Margaret Atwood (classical fiction)
12. The Floating Brothel - Sian Rees (reference)
13. Waterloo: Napoleon's Last Gamble - Andrew Roberts (reference, war)
14. Galileo: The Genius who faced the Inquisition - Philip Steele (reference)
15. Galileo's Dream - Kim Stanley Robinson (sci-fi)
16. The Legend of Colton H. Bryant - Alexandra Fuller (true-story)
17. Rena's Promise - Rena Kornreich Gelissen (true-story)
18. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
19. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan (YA, Percy Jackson series)
20. Persuasion - Jane Austen (classic)

21. The Other Queen - Philippa Gregory (historical fiction)
22. Son of a Witch - Gregory Maguire (fantasy)
23. Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs - Linda Olsson
24. Lost - Gregory Maguire (fantasy)
25. Colonel Brandon's Diary - Amanda Grange
26. The League of Extroardinary Gentlemen - Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill (graphic novel)
27. Posession - A. S. Byatt
28. The Complete Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi (graphic novel, autobiographical)
29. The Seven Days of Peter Crumb - Jonny Glynn
30. The Messenger - Markus Zusak

31. The Navigator - Eoin McNamee (YA, steam-punk)
32. City of Time - Eoin McNamee (YA, steam-punk)
33. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman (YA)
34. Black Hole - Charles Burns (graphic novel)
35. The Neverending Story - Michael Ende
36. 30 Days of Night - Steve Niles (graphic novel)
37. The Manual of Detection - Jedediah Berry (detective mystery)
38. Commando: Anzacs at War - edited by George Low (comic compendium)
39. The Thermodynamics of Pizza - Harold J. Morowitz (scientific essays)
40. A Dog With No Tail: A Modern Arabic Novel - Hamdi Abu Golayyel

41. Formula 1 The Ultimate Guide (reference, sport)
42. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
43. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer
44. Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons - Lorna Landvik
45. Piano Rock - Gavin Bishop (NZ, YA, autobiographical)
46. Deogratias - J. P. Stassen (graphic novel, war)
47. Looking for Jake and Other Stories - China Mieville (short stories)
48. The Sanctuary - Raymond Khoury (thriller)
49. The Winter Ghosts - Kate Mosse
50. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (classic)

51. 84, Charing Cross Street - Helene Hanff (true-story)
(20mins quick read) - The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8 by Thomas Ott
52. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
53. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
54. Slightly Out of Focus - Robert Capa (autobiographical, war, photography)
55. A Week at the Airport - Alain de Botton (observational)
56. The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery
(30mins quick read) - Johnathon Livingstone Seagull - Richard Bach
57. Pyramids - Terry Pratchett
58. Small Gods - Terry Pratchett
59. Incognito - Ed brubaker and Sean Phillips (graphic novel)
60. Hogfather - Terry Pratchett

61. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (classic)
62. Jane Austen, In Style - Susan Watkins (reference)
63. The Secret Supper - Javier Sierra (religious suspense)
64. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: The Authorised Adaption - Tim Hamilton (graphic)
65. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - Winifred Watson
66. Eleven Hours - Paullina Simons (thriller)
67. The Machine Stops - E.M. Forster (sci-fi)
68. Galatas 1941, Courage in Vain - Lynn McConnell (military history)
69. The Art of Travel - Alain de Botton (observational)
70. Un Lun Dun - China Mieville (alternative london, YA)

71. The Tiger Rising - Kate Di Camillo (youth fiction)
72. The Tale of Despereaux - Kate Di Camillo (youth fiction)
73. A Christmas Odyssey - Anne Perry (victorian mystery)
74. What the Dog Saw - Malcolm Gladwell
75. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
76. The Kind Diet - Alicia Silverstone

(Will keep adding to this list as I read more..)

Not bad I guess although I probably need to pick it up if I'm to make the big 75.

You're off to a good start. I think 75 books is probably a bit optimistic for me, but I'm having fun with my challenge, and I do love being part of this group. Any favorite reads so far?

Welcome to the group! Looks like you have made a great start to your reading year!

Welcome! Looks like we share some reading interests :) Also, my husband read the Tunnels books this year and really liked them, but I haven't got around to it yet. What did you think?

Welcome! Nice start to the year.

Welcome neighbor (!), great start, I had planned to read Robinson's Galileo's Dream, what did you think of it ?

I can now add:

23. Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs - Linda Olsson

And thanks for the welcomes.

AMQS - Favourite reads so far would be 'The Thirteenth Tale', the 'Tunnels' series, 'Persuasion' (I read this once a year as it just reminds me how good a story can be), The Legend of Colton H. Bryant (amazing read and a true story, I thoroughly recommend this one), 'Rena's promise' (again, very good and based on a true story), and the Linda Olsson book I just finished is very good too.

dk_phoenix - The Tunnels series is well worth the effort and like many series, the first book is actually the weakest. If you can hold on initially until you get to the part where they officially enter the underground world, then you'll love it from that point on.

bryanoz - Galileo's Dream is an exercise in patience at times, as the mathematical, scientific and physical explanations can become very intricate, confusing and mind-boggling but the actual story itself is a good one. It sticks very closely with what really happened in the life of Galileo, obviously adding the plight of the futuristic jovian world whose story parallels Galileo's. Not as good as the Mars Trilogy but worth a read if you're a Robinson fan like me.

Now to choose my next read...

Which Linda Olsson book? I am currently trying to read Astrid and Veronika but I am in school full time. Spring semester finishes in about three weeks, so I'm drowning in final papers and projects. I love that I can just slip in and out of their lives as I have a chance to read, but I may just start over once my semester is over because I really want to give the book my full attention.

Thanks KiwiNix, Galileo's Dream is now on my 'books to be read when I want a challenging read' list, right after Stephenson's Anathem.
Also nice to see The Tao of Pooh on your list, there is much wisdom there, cheers !

Astrid and Veronika are the main characters in 'Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs'. Sounds like the same book but a different title for a different country I guess. And I agree, you move in and out of their lives with ease whenever you feel like it.

The Tao of Pooh I really enjoyed. Already eyeballing The Te of Piglet sometime this year. Very interesting stuff. Also halfway through The Thermodynamics of Pizza which is a fascinating read. Lots of mini-essays on the physics behind everyday occurrences. Will add it to the list officially when I finish it.

The Thermodynamics of Pizza? Hmmm. Gotta look into that one.

Yep, that's the one and I love it so far. I have this bad habit of reading about 2-4 books at a time, usually a mixture of non-fiction, history and science but it can mean that for some books it will take me forever to finish them. Picked the habit up after watching my 13 year old do the same hting on a weekly basis. Currently she has about 6 books she's reading.

Hi KiwiNix, welcome to the group! Reading 2-4 books at once is not considered to be a bad habit here (or if it is, it's one most of us are guilty of)!

Review of Gregory Maguire's 'Son of a Witch' and 'Lost'.

Okay, I read these two books to kind of make up for the fact that I couldn't get my hands on a copy of his 'Wicked!' novel without buying it - this being a book for my book club this month. And I am so pleased I didn't fork over any money.

This guy has a great imagination but his style of writing I found so utterly frustrating. I started with 'Son of a Witch' which is a loose sequel to 'Wicked!' and for probably the first 150 pages I was simultaneously flipping back to his map of Oz to find out what and where he was talking about, and tearing my hair out at yet another new character/race/religion/leader/family member that the author drops in with no warning or explanation.

I got the distinct feeling that we the reader should already know what goes on in the author's head so who needs the buildup of descriptive explanations normal books utilise. Who do we think we are?

I actually found a copy of 'Wicked!' in the bookshop and sat down to read the first few pages of that offering and even though I knew his version of the land of Oz and a few characters by then, I was still as lost as ever and immediately frustrated because of it.

To be fair though, there is something in the story and I enjoyed the second half of the book, but that was only after I finally had all the setting sorted out and I had yelled for long enough at the book.

Now, 'Lost' is also based on an existing story, this one being 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens, and the premise is that the main characters ancestor was really the inspiration for the Ebenezer Scrooge character, having met the young Dickens and told him of his ghostly encounters when he was young.

The problem here, apart from the similar frustrating style of 'I'll just jump into my narrative and let the reader catch up later' is the fact that the main girl, Winifred Rudge, is a complete and total loser. I hated her character. She suffered a loss in her past and she hasn't let it go, she hasn't moved on with her life, and she walks around being miserable and making others miserable but all the while she thinks she is normal and it is others who are acting oddly.

Now, I've come across this before where the author writes a totally self-indulgent whiny lead character and it makes me hate them and therefore the whole book every time. Why do they do it?

This one also has a better second half but Winnie is still her own bitter twisted self and nothing can really help the story, although I must say the ghost in the story pulls off self-centredness with aplomb.

To summarise, Gregory Maguire has taken well-known stories and twisted them into his own vision and expanded on them or used them as a base for his own tales but he hasn't necessarily pulled this off to the standard I expect in a good book.

I am still intrigued to read 'Wicked!' one day, I already know the setting and the characters so it should make it easier, but I won't be spending $28 on it. If I want to pay money to be frustrated, I'd rather buy an early Gus van Sant movie.

Nice review! I had high hopes for Maguire, but had pretty much the same reaction to his writing you did.

I have not really heard enough good things about Maguire to make me want to run out and read one of his books immediately. Looks like I do not need to make the effort.

Posession - A. S. Byatt (a review)

I loved the premise of this novel, two scholars stumbling across a long forgotten secret: an illicit affair between two well known victorian poets, one of them very married. I once read a brilliant book about a lost Shakespeare play and all the mystery and intrigue that followed the discovery and so my hopes were very high for this offering, especially with that Booker Prize tucked firmly underneath its belt, but I'm not sure it really delivered and it was definitely not as good as 'The Book of Air and Shadows' by Michael Gruber which is the book I just mentioned.

But for all that, this one is very well written and does keep you intrigued as you follow the story and slowly learn more clues as to where the secret takes you. My big gripe and it's not so much a gripe as a disappointment in myself and my headspace, is that the author has written a lot of victorian poetry to back up the story and the hunt for clues and these pieces are stunningly written and very detailed. The gripe is also that they are stunningly written, very detailed, and some pieces are pages long.

Unfortunately I was not prepared to undertake the poetry, which really deserves and demands the correct attention, and while I could skim the longer passages for key words crucial to the story, I just could not find the headspace to focus solely on the poetry itself. This is a real shame. Some verses are written in a style similar to Spencer's Fairie Queen verses, and so are very heavy in mythology, allegory, and fantasy as well as the normal metaphorical style of the victorian poets. It can get heavy. Thankfully, the shorter verses were easy to absorb and thoroughly enjoyable, this author is very versatile and talented.

So, to summarise, a well-written novel of giddy intellectual heights supported by original victorian verses by the author. A story of suspense and intrigue with a couple of tragic romances entangled along the way. A novel that should satisfy and one that I will return to when I feel in the mood for some excellent poetry.

#17: I really like that one too. I am glad you enjoyed it!

Wow, I can't quite believe I've already reached 30 books and it is only mid-May. I feel very focused to reach the 75 book goal and am thoroughly enjoying reading my way there.

Here is the list of 30 so far:

1. The Road - Cormac McCarthy
2. What I Loved - Siri Hustvedt
3. Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett
4. Silent on the Moor - Deanna Raybourn
5. The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
6. Tunnels - Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams
7. The Tao of Pooh - Benjamin Hoff
8. The 10pm Question - Kate de Goldi
9. Deeper - Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams
10. Freefall - Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams
11. The Penelopiad - Margaret Atwood
12. The Floating Brothel - Sian Rees
13.Waterloo: Napoleon's Last Gamble - Andrew Roberts
14. Galileo: The Genius who faced the Inquisition - Philip Steele
15. Galileo's Dream - Kim Stanley Robinson
16. The Legend of Colton H. Bryant - Alexandra Fuller
17. Rena's Promise - Rena Kornreich Gelissen
18. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
19. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan
20. Persuasion - Jane Austen
21. The Other Queen - Philippa Gregory
22. Son of a Witch - Gregory Maguire
23. Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs - Linda Olsson
24. Lost - Gregory Maguire
25. Colonel Brandon's Diary - Amanda Grange
26. The League of Extroardinary Gentlemen - Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill
27. Posession - A. S. Byatt
28. The Complete Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi
29. The Seven Days of Peter Crumb - Jonny Glynn
30. The Messenger - Markus Zusak

And a special mention for the Markus Zusak novel which is the first result of a recommendation I found on this site. I own his 'The Book Thief' book which I simply adore and this offering was just as good. Thankyou so much for the heads up on that book and I am definitely keeping my eyes open to start my own collection of his works.

#19: Congratulations on being ahead of your goal!

I am a fan of I Am the Messenger as well. I am glad you liked it.

I think you're going to make it! I'm only at 21 so far and have 4 on the go at once- but I'm told it's not really about numbers!

Good start to the year with The Road- did you see the movie? I love love loved the book and the movie was the closest a movie has come to being like I imagined a book. So although it was harrowing, I loved that too. (So harrowing....I still re-view sections of it in my head and shudder to think of that life being a reality).

Is it also called 'I am the Messenger'? I didn't know that. Great author though.

As for The Road, harrowing is the perfect word for it. I was actually quite disturbed by certain pages of imagery in the book, it was such a callous fight for survival, but overall it was a very well-written book. I am still impressed how the author managed to convey so much about his characters with so little dialogue. I haven't seen the movie yet but I will. I think Viggo Mortensen is one of the better actors in this world and thought he was perfect for the role of the man.

The Complete Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi

I think that this graphic novel should be compulsory reading for anyone truly interested in our world. It is an autobiographical depiction of growing up in war-torn Iran, through countless wars and revolutions. It follows Marjane's life from about 10 years old until her early twenties and is a fascinating insight into a previously untold slice of human history and the story of a country with its history usually so well guarded.

The drawings themselves are so wonderfully basic that you admire the simplicity and understand that this allows you to really focus on the story at hand. Whether this is just the author's preferred drawing style or whether it was done intentionally, whatever the case it helps make the impact of the novel even more real.

You learn a lot about the coming of age of our author and what a long and at times very desolate journey that was. She is not afraid to bear all unto scrutiny by her peers and this honest approach is one of the things I enjoyed most.

I'm not so great at summarising the recent history of Iran as she does so I've borrowed someone else's words to give you an insight into some of the things you learn while reading Marjane's tale:

"Starting in 1979, the year that the Shah of Iran was overthrown in a popular uprising,.. we learn the history of this unique country that lies between the Arab world and Asia. Throughout its history, whether as Persia or Iran, the country was constantly under attack and being invaded by one foreign power after another. After World War Two, the father of the last Shah of Iran led a revolt sponsored by the British in return for allowing them access to Iranian Oil. Instead of the republic that most people had hoped for, they merely replaced one dictator for another.

The uprising in 1979 started as a popular rebellion against the tyranny of the Shah, but was corrupted. A great many of those who helped ensure its success ended up imprisoned, tortured, and eventually executed by the new regime. Any chance that there might have been for the overthrow of the religious leadership was quashed by the American-sponsored Iraqi invasion, as those in power seized upon it as an opportunity to quash what remained of the opposition. Political prisoners were given two choices - die on the front lines as cannon fodder or be executed. After eight years of war, nothing was accomplished save for the deaths of close to a million Iranians, ensuring the elimination of any opposition to the religious authorities."

Imagine growing up through all that, while being the great grand-daughter of the last Shah of Iran and with two very intelligent and polictically motivated parents who were constantly protesting about the injustices happening in their country.

What can I say? Read this one, you won't be disappointed.

#23: That was the first graphic novel I ever read (although I did not realize it at the time), and I agree with you - readers will not be disappointed in it.

Glad to see that you enjoyed it.

Just found your thread! Really liked your review of Persepolis - have vaguely had my eye out for it for a few years, but had forgotten about it.

Have owned Possession for a long, long time but still haven't read it. I will probably get through The children's book first although that one has already been sitting here 5 months!

Great review of Persepolis. I have that one in my pile. Looks like I need to get to it sooner rather than later!

The Complete Persepolis is now on my TBR mountain, thanks for the review KiwiNyx !

Glad I could persuade Persepolis on to more TBR piles!

Here's one that I still don't know how I feel about:

The Seven Days of Peter Crumb by Jonny Glynn.

I originally picked this one up because of the simple but effective portrait on the cover. The premise sounded promising: our hero has seven days left to live and he was told to write everything down about this last week and it begins with something like: "I am not a good man, I am not a bad man, in seven days I will be dead.." I was intrigued.

And the writing is quite good, it is very easy to read and the book itself is not that long so a nice filler novel to prepare for the next lengthy tome. My problem with it was that as you read further into the week of Peter Crumb, you discover just how messed up this character is and what an utterly evil pyschopath he really is and this character I wasn't really prepared for.

Still, I read the book and it remained a quick and easy read but it left me wondering about the author and how on earth anyone could imagine somebody this twisted. I know I could never write a character this wicked and overall, I'm still not sure if I liked it or not. It's a few hours of my life that I'll never get back but it's not necessarily a bad book, just a subject matter I wasn't really in the mood for and the paragraph on the back cover simply doesn't prepare you for Peter Crumb.

I think I will give Peter Crumb a pass. I am not sure I want to be in the mind of a psychopath.

Interesting premise, but not for me, I think!

I've been so busy I have neglected my other online life so I'd thought I'd do a quick wrap-up of what I've read recently and bring myself all up to date.

The Messenger - Markus Zusak

Fantastic author, I've become a little addicted to his unusual writing style and this one starts so well with a group of friends arguing with each other, eventually disarming the bank robber that unwittingly began the conversation. From there we are taken are a rather unusual journey of self-discovery. I really enjoyed it and will write a proper review when time permits.

The Navigator and City of Time - Eion McNamee

These two are aimed at teens but every now and then I'll find myself perusing the kids bookshelves because the change of pace is what keeps my passion for literature so alive I think. Anyway, these books were quite enjoyable, filled with an ancient fight of good versus evil with the twist being that these other beings exist in a time that runs differently to that for humans. The Navigator is of the human world though, and it is his job to save the day. Okay, that is condensing it quite a bit but you get the idea. What I enjoyed here is that the concepts of existence in other time dimensions aren't dumbed down for the reader, despite the target age-group. I like that angle from this author.

The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

Again, an author I rate very highly although nothing has quite matched the first book I ever read of his: Neverwhere, but this one is pretty good all the same. Again, target market is teens but again, the subject of death isn't particularly dumbed down and you finish the book wondering why cemeteries have such a frightening reputation. My 13 year old also just read this and thoroughly enjoyed it so 2 for 2.

Black Hole - Charles Burns

Right. This one is really quite strange and not something I would have normally picked up (the husband found it at the library). It centres on the stories of 4 high school kids in the seventies who have been exposed to a mutating disease that is ripping through the local high school and ostracizing quite a number of kids. It follows their struggles with the disease and with their peers but what is bizarre is the images (this is a graphic novel) and particularly in the dream sequences. I found myself asking 'what was that about?' at the end of the book and the idea just doesn't seem to make a successful transition from interesting thought to engaging, structured novel.

Okay, quick reviews to make myself feel more on top of my reading. It's hard managing two lives sometimes..

#31: I am a big fan of Zusak's I Am the Messenger, so I am glad you enjoyed that one.

From your list, I am adding the McNamee books. I have already read Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, which I loved.

Thanks for the reviews and recommendations!

I am having fun today. I finally upgraded my account so I can really get stuck into adding my entire library on here - it will take me a while but there is no limit now. It's a great feeling to be finally cataloging everything I own.

Otherwise, I seem to be reading books at the moment that while enjoyable, have just not gripped me and therefore my reading is plodding along at a snails pace. Oh well. Still on target for 75 I think.

ps. how do you all get the book titles to show up as links? I've tried the brackets thing but am obviously doing something wrong..

Congratulations on upgrading your membership! Personally, I think it is the best $25 I ever spent.

Sometimes the brackets for the Touchstones work, sometimes they don't, so it is probably not anything you are doing wrong!

Did you use square brackets?

Quick run-down of my recent reads:

The Never-Ending Story - Michael Ende

What an odd book. It is a great story and well-written but it is really 2 books in one and the two halves don't really gel together. We begin with Bastion as the peripheral 'watcher' character following the journey of Atreyu as he works to find the answer to the nothing destroying Fantasia. This part is a fast paced, action-packed tale that I really enjoyed.

From here the story moves to follow Bastion himself as he uses his imagination to create Fantasia once more. This time Atreyu and Falkor are the peripheral characters as we focus on Bastion and his increasingly self-centred idea of the perfect world and his perfect image. The character changes and he is not so easy to identify with, also this tale meanders along, slower than the first and is overly less satisfying.

I liked the book but I had to force myself to keep reading the second half at times and felt that it was really a trilogy that ran out of steam, so it was condensed hastily into one book.

Yes, the brackets work. Thankyou.

30 Days of Night - Steve Niles

A graphic novel of the vampire horror genre and a strange wee offering. The artwork however, is brilliant. Beautiful and horrific all at once, a real skill. A very simple premise: a small Alaskan town copes with 30 days of night every year as part of the winter sun patterns and a group of vampires decides to have an extended feeding frenzy. I called it odd more because I am not really a horror fan but I enjoyed this one. No vampire romances or anything else that doesn't belong, just your basic good versus evil plot-line. Apparently a pretty good movie too.

Love your interesting, eclectic reads!

Eclectic is one of the best words for my library I think.

The Manual of Detection - Jedediah Berry

In an unnamed city we follow the story of an nondescript clerk who works at the mysterious and imposing 'Agency' writing and filing reports for one of their most successful detectives. Then he wakes up one day to discover his detective has gone missing and he has been promoted to detective and literally thrown in the deep end with only a copy of The Manual of Detection (handbook for detectives) and a sleepy assistant to help him.

And so we follow Charles Unwin and his investigations to try to get his old job back and to find his detective. We meet some fantastic evil characters who have literally fallen off the back of a circus truck, and uncover a rather cunning plot to take over the city. A well-paced detective novel with a difference, mostly that the detective is not one, and a very good first book. I especially like the excerpts from the manual itself, here's one below:

"The coded message is a lifeless thing, mummified and entombed. To the would-be cryptologist we must offer the same advice we would give the grave-robber, the spelunker, and the sorcerer of legend: beware what you dig up; it is yours."

#41: I have that one to read. I need to bump it up the stack a notch or two!

>41 KiwiNyx: ooh, that one sounds good!

Commando: Anzacs at War

This one caught my eye because I do enjoy military history, my father has edited quite a few books on NZ military, and I am an army kid afterall. Grandad fought in WW2, I met Charles Upham a few times - double Victoria Cross holder, and Anzac Day is a very special day in my family.

The Commando comics I discovered broke the mould for comic book formats. The editor in the 1950's wanted to add some Australian stories but the formats were different to the British ones. They chose to repackage as a smaller comic book with unspecified page count capabilties which meant that stories could be a lot longer. Apparently, this caused a mini-revolution in the comic book world and these Commando tales were almost more like a short novel than a quick comic.

This collection includes 12 stories about Anzacs, beginning in 1860 with the Maori Wars in New Zealand and going right through to the Vietnam War. Most of the stories are about Australian heroes but I appreciated the few kiwi touches here and there.

Now don't think this will be a quick read. This collection is about 780 pages long and took me quite a few weeks to get through but I did really enjoy the tales, although the word 'cobber' was getting on my nerves towards the end. From what I can tell, these stories are all fictional but you could easily believe that they're based on truth, the Anzacs have long held a reputation for fierce opposition in battle.

If you're interested in military stories and the Anzacs as I am then you will enjoy this one, otherwise, possibly not this compilation but there are still 4 new stories released monthly and the focus is on all battles, modern and ancient so there's bound to be something in there for everyone, especially if you have a son.

#44: That looks like one I would really enjoy, but the chances of my getting hold of the collection are probably non-existent. Still, I will put it in the BlackHole just in case I am lucky! Thanks for the recommendation.

The Thermodynamics of Pizza - Harold J. Morowitz

A collection of 52 essays ranging from innocent investigations into the truly mundane such as coffee, to the development in recent centuries of metaphysics. Morowitz is a biophysicist by trade but he also has a long history of writing essays and his specialty is to view it from a scientific slant. Take the title essay for example, why is pizza always so hot that it burns the roof of your mouth? This question is expertly investigated and even to someone not scientifically bent, really accessible and interesting reading.

In fact, the best essays I discovered were the ones about the common everyday things: the whole food chapter is great, as too are the medicine and people chapters. There are gems of essays scattered throughout the book but there are also a few musings that you really do scan over very quickly. I tried to read everything thoroughly but I did get bored during the data classification segments and the metaphysical musings. Still, this is not a book you read all at once. I actually started it last year and only picked it up occasionally at first as the essays are lovely and brief and you can fit a couple of them in while you're waiting for whatever.

Recently, I've been reading it a lot more and it is surprising how long this 250 page book will take. But I do consider the thermodynamics of pizza every time I now order pizza and I have other new knowledge such as sailors who still navigate today by the pre-Copernicus geocentric view of the earth, or the fact that the Physicians Desk Reference is a popular library book for wannabe pharmaceutical practitioners with no jobs if you get my meaning.

I will leave you with his thoughts on the religion Kabbala:
"Thus, what began as the search for the inner nature of divinity on occasion deteriorated into a mumbo jumbo of not-understood symbols inscribed on amulets. Cabala moved from religious awe to numerical prestidigitation."

I enjoyed being coached into thinking deeper about things I wouldn't normally give a second thought to. I enjoyed the brevity of the essays; it allows you to fit the book easily around your other reading and into your life. And I enjoyed learning some new things.

#46: I like the sound of that one! Thanks for the review and recommendation.

>46 KiwiNyx:, I like the sound of that one, too, plus it has "My Brother" written all over it, so to speak, and he has a birthday coming up. Thanks!

To answer your question on your thread AMQS, the books I bought this week for 40% sale are:
Looking for Jake by China Mieville, a recommendation from a fellow LibraryThinga for the author and their work..
Ines of my Soul by Isabel Allende, still hoping to read at least one of her books this year..
One day the Soldiers Came: Voices of Children in War by Charles London, this one looks like a real heart wrenching read about what really happens to the people, especially the kids, in war-torn countries.

Looking forward to them soon. At the moment I think I might tackle Anathem by Neal Stephenson, an enormous behemoth but I feel in the right frame of mind for it. I have just finished another book which I will do the review of soon.

Oh yeah, have reached the end of my next decade. Halfway through the year and I reached a tally of 40 so far. Am pretty stoked with that:

1. The Road - Cormac McCarthy
2. What I Loved - Siri Hustvedt
3. Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett
4. Silent on the Moor - Deanna Raybourn
5. The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
6. Tunnels - Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams
7. The Tao of Pooh - Benjamin Hoff
8. The 10pm Question - Kate de Goldi
9. Deeper - Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams
10. Freefall - Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams
11. The Penelopiad - Margaret Atwood
12. The Floating Brothel - Sian Rees
13. Waterloo: Napoleon's Last Gamble - Andrew Roberts
14. Galileo: The Genius who faced the Inquisition - Philip Steele
15. Galileo's Dream - Kim Stanley Robinson
16. The Legend of Colton H. Bryant - Alexandra Fuller
17. Rena's Promise - Rena Kornreich Gelissen
18. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
19. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan
20. Persuasion - Jane Austen
21. The Other Queen - Philippa Gregory
22. Son of a Witch - Gregory Maguire
23. Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs - Linda Olsson
24. Lost - Gregory Maguire
25. Colonel Brandon's Diary - Amanda Grange
26. The League of Extroardinary Gentlemen - Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill
27. Posession - A. S. Byatt
28. The Complete Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi
29. The Seven Days of Peter Crumb - Jonny Glynn
30. The Messenger - Markus Zusak
31. The Navigator - Eoin McNamee
32. City of Time - Eoin McNamee
33. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman
34. Black Hole - Charles Burns
35. The Neverending Story - Michael Ende
36. 30 Days of Night - Steve Niles
37. The Manual of Detection - Jedediah Berry
38. Commando: Anzacs at War - edited by George Low
39. The Thermodynamics of Pizza - Harold J. Morowitz
40. A Dog With No Tail: A Modern Arabic Novel - Hamdi Abu Golayyel

Congratulations on passing the halfway point of the challenge!

Looks like a pretty good list!

A Dog with No Tail - Hamdi Abu Golayyel

This is a book I so wanted to enjoy more than I did. There is a lot of promise in the ideas here and it did win a prestigious literary award, however it fell very flat for me and I'm not entirely sure that this is wholly related to the trials of translation or the cultural differences.

I was annoyed straight away after the first few pages because of four little words on the cover: A Modern Arabic Novel. This is no novel. It barely scrapes through as a coherent piece of writing at times but a plotline with character development in the traditional sense of the definition it isn't.

The book begins slightly confused as each short tale jumps about to a different time and place in the life of our main character. Once you get used to the style, it is quite enjoyable and different and I was halfway through and reading and having great expectations of where it was all going, unfortunately I was disappointed. The second half seems to deteriorate somewhat into the musings of a petulant teenager, and the cultural differences get more and more pronounced towards the end of the book.

If I could rename this book it would be something like: A Modern Egyptian Slacker Tale, as this is essentially what we're reading. A group of Bedouin men do occasional labouring work and our author is the main protaganist. Rather than upskill and focus on better paid positions such as plumbing and plastering, this group of men embrace their low positions as a matter of misguided macho pride. At first I thought this was a major cultural difference that I didn't understand but I now think it is just a symptom of growing up poor in a male dominated society:

"And every one of them, educated and unlettered alike, worked as manual laborers .. yet they were ashamed to work as doormen, loaders, and drivers' mates, or even as craftsmen in the construction gangs. He'd carry dirt but he wouldn't work, that was the boast."

It appears that to work as a labourer was 'the' rite of passage for men of this area of Egypt but after boasting to your friends, it was quite another thing back in your home village as our author would go to great pains to portray an educated and successful man to family and village left behind when he returned. These men appeared to embrace the two-faced nature of their way of life with gusto, another element of confusion for an already confused book.

The one exception is the character named 'the doctor' who seems to have a very short attention span so ends up trying nearly every employment position mentioned. His adventures are intriguing but just another diversion in an already disjointed tale and I couldn't help wishing that the author would focus on his own story more. The time he spent in jail for example was one of the better passages and solely written about him and his journey through life.

I do understand that the circular directionless way of life for these men is one of the themes the author wanted to portray, 'dislocated and unplotted'. In this he is quite successful but as a memoir to investigate where his own sense of purpose and identity comes from, I think it is less effectual. We never learn why and when he finished his life of a labourer and focused on his writing, just that he has the opportunity to write in an empty house they were fixing as one of his building jobs.

The writing style is so simplistic and emotionless and as already stated, quite immature at times. The book tries to be too many different things, tries to be too clever for its own good, and tries to say more then it actually does. If the author has focused on his own memories, limited the jumps along the time-line, and gave us more honest facts of his life leading up to and then after his time as a labourer, then I believe this book would have been an incredibly great tale.

However this is all just my opinion and I have to keep reminding myself that I was reading the winner of the Naguib Mahfouz medal for literature. I would just really love to know their judging criteria.

#53: I would just really love to know their judging criteria.

I could say that about a lot of the judging committees!

Hi KiwiNyx, what you reading ?

Yes, been very AWOL recently, so busy at work and very little mind space to write anything. However, have read these three below in the past couple of weeks, will try to get little reviews up soon.

41. Formula 1 The Ultimate Guide
42. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
43. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer

Other than that, have almost finished a book club selection - Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons which is pretty good and am halfway through China Mieville's selection of short stories (BryanOz, I think you were the one to recommend that author to me), am a third of the way through Malcolm Gladwell's What the Dog Saw, and have begun Neal Stephenson's Anathem which is doing my head in slightly, hence the other distractions to read.

Anathem has begun with the most in-depth descriptions of a different world and culture and a convent like set-up and the way they run their year, decade, millenia etc. It has gone into enormous detail about how a certain clock works (very intricate) and hasn't really focused on the characters enough for my liking yet.

I think when you undertake such a huge creative novel where you have essentially made up every aspect of that life as Stephenson has done in Anathem, then you should not spend the first 50 pages of the book trying to explain it all at once. I wonder how many people gave up after the first 20 pages.. It is hard going but I will persevere because I think the story is about to get really good, ie, he is concentrating on his main guy more, and I hate not finishing what I started.

>53 KiwiNyx:: tries to be too clever for its own good

I think a lot of 'literary fiction' falls into this category, particularly books that win certain awards...

#56: I hope works slows down for you soon, Kiwi!

Hope things settle soon for you KiwiNyx, will be interested in your reviews of The Book Thief and Guernsey Lit books as I enjoyed those two.
My copy of Anathem is sitting on the bookshelf daring me, you have inspired me to tackle it soon !

Right then, some quick reviews:

41. Formula 1 The Ultimate Guide is just that, a very comprehensive reference book of all things F1 related. I am a car fan and especially the Grand Prix world circuit and have actually quite a comprehensive collection of reference books on this subject already.

This one earned some big brownie points though, a. by being one of the most recent offerings on Formula 1 racing and so included the latest stars of the sport: Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and their peers, and b. as well as including the history of the sport, the great drivers over the years, the technological and safety advances, the circuits themselves and the governing bodies, it also explains pit stops, tyre choices, car design, testing, and is just very well-written. I would recommend this to anyone with even a minor interest in F1.

42. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak is one I first read 3 years ago and loved every minute of it and only read again this soon because my book club chose it. I simply cannot recommend this book highly enough and truly believe it should be required reading for all. This is a very talented author and the character of Death as an otherworldy voyeur is a touch of genius.

Hey, at least work slowed up enough to allow you to post some reviews!

43. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

This book really touched me right from the story of how a 70 year old found herself writing her first ever novel, to how her niece finished the manuscript after her passing and then to the actual characters themselves and the realisation that it was all based on the true story of german occupation on the islands during World War 2 and the horrific tales that occurred during this period. I was blown away.

It isn't something you'd consider to be a big part of WW2 but the conditions the locals were reduced to living through after 5 years of occupation was a real eye-opener. Also, the conditions of the POW's who were put to manual labour, barely fed or clothed (even through the bitter winters), and housed with the animals if they were lucky. And this is just the background, the incidental extra information written to back-up the characters and their stories. Needless to say that I've read a lot more about the Germans on Guernsey since then and it is quite fascinating.

But, to the novel itself. It is written purely in letter form and we follow an authoress who is struggling to find a new subject to write about when she begins an unexpected correspondence with some residents of Guernsey and members of their beautifully named book club (you'll have to read the book to find out how the name comes about) just after the end of the war.

It is a beautiful tale of discovery, friendship, and love set amongst a great deal of tragedy and is quite the page turner. I loved every minute of reading it and completely devoured the words within. Highly recommended.

#62: I love that one too. I am glad you enjoyed it as well, Kiwi.

44. Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons - Lorna Landvik

The name of this one would have normally had me running but as I'm sure we all know, you should never judge a book by its cover (or title) and this turned out to be a wee gem of a book.

After the first few chapters I was immediately thinking there is some connection between the 5 women in the book, all living on Freesia Court, and the silly ladies from TV's Wisteria Lane in Desperate Housewives. But thankfully that is where the comparisons end.

Over 4 decades we follow the lives of 5 characters living on the same street, who become the closest of friends by remaining true to their monthly book club and the unusual title they call themselves.

We follow these women through loss and tragedy and new beginnings; secrets, guilt, regret and lies; abusive husbands and finding your inner strength; political activism and compromised ideals; and cheating partners, and rebirth - just to name a few. The glue that keeps them all close is their love of books, their love of getting together to discuss the books, and their children that all grow up together.

It is a touching novel and one that leaves you sad and hopeful at the end. I really enjoyed it and suggest you look beyond the odd name to the beauty within.

#64: I enjoyed Landvik's Patty Jane's House of Curl several years ago, so I will give that one a shot as well. Thanks for the recommendation.

I really enjoyed Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons. You're right -- it's not as light as you might expect. I enjoyed Patty Jane's House of Curl as well, but I think I liked Bon Bons more. Loved Guernsey, too!

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons! Sounds hilarious, Ill have to read that one- thanks for review. My partner likes to tease me saying Im like Peggy Bundy from "Married With Children" - merely because I own a pair of leggings, and I happen to like chocolate (which he likens to bon bons!). Fascinating title. I always judge books by covers and titles, I cant help it :-)

KiwiNyx thanks for your book reviews, it's always nice when someone likes books that I liked ! The Angry Housewives book sounds good, I'll find it, thanks again for the review !

Well I just finished reading Piano Rock by Gavin Bishop, my 45th book of the year.

It is essentially a memoir of the author's childhood years spent living in Kingston, Southland, New Zealand. His family were there for about 5 years and he had many interesting tales of life in the 1950's New Zealand.

The writing style didn't grab me at all but the book is a quick and easy read. What I did enjoy was the telling of the way things used to be done 60 years ago. How women found it a huge embarrassment if they didn't have a selection of home baking available when needed - they set aside a whole day per week just filling up all their baking tins, and the beautiful thing is that my Grandma used to do this as well.

The small town Guy Fawkes night where a big bonfire would be lit and fireworks were let off together. Catching eels and fish in the streams, making huts out of whatever you could find in the bush. I just loved reading about things that sadly don't happen as often anymore.

It is a rather odd memoir as it only captures a few years of the author's childhood, and the chapters are a bit disjointed, the memories don't flow together into a story at all. But still, it is an insight into the past that I did enjoy.

I have a copy of Piano Rock but still haven't read it, I really should. It's a beautiful looking book. Have you read any of Jack Lasenby's children's books set in 1930s Waikato, I was especially taken with Old Drumble.
I've been dipping into William Taylor's memoir Telling Tales: a life in writing.

#69: I would probably like that one for just as you say - an insight into the past.

>69 KiwiNyx:, that does sound interesting. I remember reading somewhere about housewives being ashamed if their front doorsteps weren't scrubbed- how things have changed!!

I agree, it is a gorgeous looking book, beautifully bound. I haven't read Jack Lasenby but I will look out for those, there is always something nice about reading books set in places you've actually been.

Well, I've just called in to work as both my girls aren't well and I save my sick days for them rather than myself. This means I can squeeze some more reading in today which is nice. I am still slowly going through Anathem but it is such a behemoth of a book that until I get to a part where I am hooked and beginning to live and breathe the story, I'll keep delving into other stories to fill my wandering mind.

Such a luxury to be able to read more.

I'm so sorry your girls are not well. Hope they feel better soon!

I hope the girls get well soon, Kiwi!

Thanks, you always know kids are off when they can't eat dessert and actually want to go to bed early.

Well, I finished 2 books yesterday which was very nice. One I read right through and the other I've had on the go for a couple of weeks so I knocked it off.

Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda - J. P. Stassen

is a harrowing tale of what happened in the Rwandan genocide. It is told in graphic novel form and follows a young man and his experiences both in his life afterwards and using flashbacks to life before and during the massacres. This book is so sad. The pictures thankfully aren't very graphic considering the subject matter but still incredibly powerful and you can't help but feel deeply moved by this telling. It is a part of our history that should never have happened, ever. Highly recommended.

Looking for Jake and Other Stories - China Mieville

A collection of short stories by a new writer for me and quite an interesting collection. Looking for Jake, The Ball Room, and The Tain were excellent short stories with an odd twist to them, an otherworldy malignancy in the air. A few others such as Familiar and An End to Hunger were also good but I felt something was missing, the stories weren't as complete. And then there was the very odd Reports of Certain Events in London where the author is the main character. I actually really enjoyed this one and 99% of me knows it's a fabrication but it is written in such a way that you begin to think, what if that really did happen.. very unusual.

I recommend checking out the Wikipedia entry for this writer, he is a very interesting character and one who has decided he would like to write in every genre which I admire. This collection is quite good, not great but I don't think short story collections ever are because you never have the same flow for the entirety of the book as you can get with a great novel. Still, taken one at a time these are enjoyable short escapes. The only one i really didn't get and didn't enjoy was the short graphic novel On the way to the Front - confusing and flat. Other than that, not bad at all.

#76: I will look for Deogratias. I have read a couple of books about the Rwandan genocide and am always looking for more books about it.

Man, I have been in the biggest Book Funk I can remember ever being a part of. I must've picked up at least 15 books in the last few weeks and tried to get started to no avail. I specifically got Dorian Gray and Gate of the Sun out from the library as I'd read a bit about them both and they made me commit a book first - I gave up on them both! It may be just my headspace at the moment but 'tedium' is a good word there.

I am so grateful to Kate Mosse whose The Winter Ghosts book has finally found me hooked into a good story again. And I did finish #48, Raymond Khoury's The Sanctuary a couple of weeks ago which was a nice diversion. I must write a review for that one.

Any requests for ways to get out of a book funk would be greatly appreciated.

I know why it is, my husband is overseas until September and I'm out of sorts, normal routines are changed, I'm busier with the kids and work and house etc. and it's thrown me for a loop.

In other proud parent news, my 13 year old daughter shaved her hair off today for a cancer fundraiser. She has so far raised just over $950 and I am so proud of her. Her head feels funny and fuzzy though but it's on the shoulders of an awesome kid.

>78 KiwiNyx:, wow- cool kid to shave their lid! Good on her. I recommend getting a feel good easy book from someone whose taste you trust! Maybe a cheesy easy will get you back in the mood? Either that or just keep trying- one has to grab you soon!!! Good luck

Sorry about the book funk, Kiwi. Maybe fall back on one of your comfort reads? Sometimes they help!

Congrats on the cancer fundraising. Sounds like your daughter is terrific!

KiwiNyx your daughter is an absolute champion ! Can I donate $50 to get her over the $1000 mark ? If it is possible let me know.
As for your book funk, how about not reading any books for a week, just watching TV or walking or magazines or something else, and having a surefire great read waiting. Just my thoughts, good luck with it.

Some good suggestions there, thanks guys. My feel good standard is usually Persuasion by Jane Austen (I read it every year) but I've already read it in 2010. Maybe Pride and Prejudice then. Afterall, it is sitting right beside me as I type.

BryanOz, what an amazingly generous thing to say. If you want to have a look at her journey, the link is here: http://www.shaveforacure.co.nz/view_event_profile/2891

Her inspirations are Imo and Master Bob but they sounds like cartoon characters, they were actually two people who died from leukemia that she knows, one very young and one quite old who was her tae kwon do instructor.

And wanna know something funny, this funk has affected movies as well. I'm fidgety and can't focus. Everything, even work. Perhaps I'm just impatient for my husband to come home although he travels away quite often with work. Surfing the TV channels is about the most I can cope with at the moment but I barely stay on a show for 10 minutes before I'm off again. So annoying.

Strange times re: books and movie trough, sit tight, I'm sure it will pass soon. If there's one sure thing, it's times passing. Had any luck in the last week?

Thanks for that. I have had luck.

I took some very good advice and went back to an old favourite and so have found myself indulging once more in Pride and Prejudice. Also, I managed a mini-marathon watch of the sublime BBC mini series of the very same with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. There is simply no other version that compares to this excellent production. Thank you Jane Austen.

My copy of 84, Charing Cross Road has arrived and from the first few pages I can see that I'm really going to enjoy it. I was surprised though, I had somehow formed an impression of its being a novel. Not sure why. I think I getting hungry for more books about writing and this is a very good thing.

#84: I do hope you enjoy 84, Charing Cross Road, Kiwi!

>84 KiwiNyx: I thought it was going to be a novel too- but when I looked it up at the library was surprised to see it catalogued elsewhere! It's on my list....I really want to get onto it! Glad your book appetite is back.

I hope you love 84, Charing Cross Road! I'm discovering Persuasion for the first time -- on audio on my way to and from school. It makes my commute much happier!

Hope your reading is going well KiwiNyx, hope you are not too upset about the thumping we just gave you in the netball !!

Ouch ! Have just watched the second netball test in which the Kiwis handed us a true thumping I trust you are all smiles ! And happy reading !

I hope you like 84 Charing Cross Road. And Bryanoz, I am off to look up the NZ Herald website and see the result!

Another vote for 84, Charing Cross Road, OK I'll have to read it.
cmt score was 59-40, with kiwis always ahead by 15 or so after half time, and that's with Van Dyke off after quarter time, Tutaia and Wipiiti played well, 3rd test on Sunday afternoon in Auckland.
KiwiNyx just heard about a major earthquake hitting NZ hope you and family are ok.

Yep, major earthquake activity down here at the moment. Massive one in Christchurch in the south island, quite a lot of damage down there, over 100 quite decent size aftershocks and then a couple more earthquakes today in the north island, plus flooding and landslips so we are all go.

Thanks for your thoughts, we luckily live in a beach town near Auckland in the north so I have avoided it all. My family in Christchurch weren't so lucky and a couple of friends have been hit really badly though so it has hit home. I also grew up down there and know the city really well. My girls are going there in a few weeks to spend the school holidays with the family so that will be an eye opener for them I think.

Okay, I have completed another group of 10 so here's the list:

41. Formula 1 The Ultimate Guide
42. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
43. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer
44. Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons - Lorna Landvik
45. Piano Rock - Gavin Bishop
46. Deogratias - J. P. Stassen
47. Looking for Jake and Other Stories - China Mieville
48. The Sanctuary - Raymond Khoury
49. The Winter Ghosts - Kate Mosse
50. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

We could probably add # 51 as well, 84, Charing Cross Road which I finished quite speedily. Very pleased I seem to have my passion for reading again and that I've passed 50. 75 isn't looking so unachievable as it once was...

A run down of the 4 most recent reads:

The Sanctuary - Raymond Khoury

A thriller based in the middle east following the urban legend of eternal life and the fountain of youth. A young scientist accidentally gets mixed up with some bad people who will stop at nothing to get what they want. The mystery is good, the read is enjoyable, the ending slightly convenient and contrived but the book will easily hold your interest for the duration. I only read it because I'd long heard of this author. May try some others later on.

The Winter Ghosts - Kate Mosse

Quite short compared to her other more well known tomes but very enjoyable even though it follows the same formula that all her books follow: a dual story, 100's of years apart set in the same southern region of France. With this one she again delves into the history of the persecution of the Cathars but this time the two worlds cross over and intertwine. A good read.

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

I am an absolute Austen fan with Persuasion being my normal go-to Austen book but I am so pleased I reread this one this time as I find something more to appreciate in it with each new read. She certainly could write a good book and the characters in this one are perhaps the most well developed and complex of all. Easily my close second favourite Austen. A great classic.

84, Charing Cross Street - Helene Hanff

I am so pleased I sourced this book and now own a fantastic hardcover version, Hanff had me laughing at her gorgeous and utterly inappropriate writing manners and the pictures she painted for me: "SLOTH: i could ROT over here before you'd send me anything to read." She was brilliant and I can just imagine her writing this in between swigging her gin and puffing on her cigarettes. The relationship she had with the shop and it's people is priceless and a great read. Thank you everyone for the excellent recommendation.

Okay, finally caught up on my reading list, gawd, that feels better.

Oh, Bryan Oz, I'm actually a rugby and Formula 1 girl myself. I had no idea there was any netball on. So I'm gathering it was a 1 - each thumping? That sounds fair to me.

I am glad you enjoyed 84, Charing Cross Road, Kiwi! It is one of my all-time favorites.

Some more books read. Firstly I finished a stunning graphic novel that I can't spot anywhere and suspect that my husband has taken it to his work to show some of his colleagues. It was very short and I won't officially list it as a book read this year because of that but I highly recommend if you find a copy anywhere to give it 20 minutes of your time and be impressed.

The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8 by Thomas Ott is a modern masterpiece of abandoned human logic. The number in question is seen when wanted to be seen and given meaning when there may not be any to give. It reminded me slightly of Hurley's numbers in the TV show Lost (just before I gave up on the show..) and how his lottery numbers kept coming back to haunt him. This book is very good and beautifully drawn.

And then my # 52. for the year and a recommendation from fellow wonderful LT book lovers; The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Thankyou thankyou thankyou. What a stunning book this is. It hooked me straight away and the language and imagery transports you to Barcelona easily. I loved our hero Daniel and his very unusual journey into adulthood, investigating the dangerous and troubled life of a mysterious author and the people that he knew. Every character is beautifully developed and lusciously individual and this novel is another modern masterpiece.

I read the last 350 pages last night for 6 hours straight while I was tucked up in bed fighting a particularly nasty head cold and I simply could not put it down until the last word was read at 1am this morning. What I especially loved is that the ending does justice to the story and is worthy and satisfying - there is nothing worse than a great novel and a flat, contrived ending. Thank you for the great heads up. If you haven't read this one yet, put it on your TBR list asap.

Wow, we do have some things in common...I love anything Jane Austen. I want to read 84 Charing Cross Road and The Shadow of the Wind very soon, glad you enjoyed them!

I starred your thread and will try to drop by more regularly!

Hi, KiwiNyx! I'm glad I found thread. We both seem to share quite a few similar reading tastes. Looking forward to seeing what else you read this year.

Thanks guys, I starred your threads as well and will be waiting and watching for your next book reviews with interest.

I am always happy to find more Austen lovers. Speaking of, has anyone read Juvenilia by Jane Austen? It covers her earliest, short stories, plays and letters, and I've read a few excerpts from them and she was quite the comedienne. I may have to order this one in specially as I have all of her other writings, plus the unfinished stories yet my collection suddenly seems lacking.

Now, a minor miracle for me as I've already finished another book for the list but that is in part to this cold/flu thing that is keeping me in bed at the moment.

53. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett (some slight spoilers in this wee rant following..)

This book was cute, whimsical and an easy read but I just finished the last page and my first thought was, 'Is that it?' I am really happy that the Queen discovered reading and improved her mind, and also very happy for her that she now plans to write but I could have easily continued reading about this second chapter in her life and the book just finishes, almost as though the author himself got bored and decided to leave it as one of 'those' endings where the reader has to allow their imagination to carry the story onwards. I'm really hoping a sequel is on the way and The Uncommon Writer will hit bookshelves soon because I want more.

Is this the flu talking? Possibly, I am a bit muddled with this sick-bug thing that has placed my head in a vice and won't let my tissue box escape my clutches, but this book just felt like a whole piece of it was missing. It is an enjoyable read but not a great read.

53- You're right - I could have read about the Queen for several more books! But that book was delightful...and the ending was perfect, in my opinion. :)

#96: Adding The Number to the BlackHole. I love The Shadow of the Wind and am glad to see it has found another fan!

54. Slightly Out of Focus - Robert Capa

Wow, what a find, and what an incredible guy. I was browsing in the World War 2 section of the library and the cover of this one just caught my eye as it is clearly nothing more than an old war photo which is out of focus.

Robert Capa is a gutsy and dedicated Hungarian photo-journalist who captured 5 different wars between 1936 and 1954. His photos are legendary and his story makes incredibly entertaining reading. The fact that he reinvented himself as a reclusive american genius when sales had stalled early in his career, complete with a new name and history, also that he counts Ingrid Bergman amongst his girlfriends and Steinbeck and Hemingway amongst his closest friends speaks volumes when it comes to imagining this charismatic character.

He originally wanted to be a writer and has obvious talent in this area as well, the style being one of a confessional describing his endless drunken adventures, illegal alien arrests and doomed tale of love with a pink headed girl, dotted with many of his pictures form WW2.

An intriguing and captivating read that I thoroughly recommend.

#102: I need to read that one! Thanks for the recommendation.

55. A Week at the Airport - Alain de Botton

Originally bought for the husband as he knows the new terminal 5 at Heathrow fairly well now, but I wanted to read something from this author also, however, this one was very average for me and I don't think it's a true reflection of the author at all.

This book was actually a contract from the airport, they wanted a writer in residence for a week to write about the ins and outs of the airport, the way it works, the highs and the lows. Pretty much everything really and de Botton delivers this for sure and there are some real highlights where he describes touching scenes of two lovers parting, or the potential insights of the local shoe shiner. Where he doesn't deliver is in the actual delivery itself. The observations are very impersonal and brief, nothing is expanded on, occasionally to my frustration, and it really does read like a company review at times.

De Botton does his best but I suspect he was compromised slightly with the time restrictions and the limitations of the incidents and the behaviours he was privy to across just 7 days. He gave us a short insight into everything but it always came across as not enough for me and while the book is an easy read and relatively short, I would have preferred and enjoyed a more indepth observation of the Terminal and its people.

It reads like a company article at times and this is why I think it possibly isn't a good example of his writing and why I'll take this one with a grain of salt and move on to some of his other work. I am however very intrigued to discover that every single bag at Terminal 5 is housed on a small yellow mattress, multiple stacks high, while inside the building and while awaiting travel to the plane itself. Imagine if all the people were also housed in that way while waiting for their flights..

I think I'm actually jealous of baggage!

#104: I think I'm actually jealous of baggage!

LOL! I think I can skip that one of de Botton's from the sound of it.

I hope you enjoy your next read more, Leonie.

I'm with Stasia on this one. The idea sounds great, but the lack of a personal touch makes me want to pass on it, too.

I saw this one in the flesh at the bookshop not long ago and thought it looked rather short, interesting that it was commissioned by Heathrow. When he's good he's so so good, but when he's not.....

#104> I read his The Art of Travel last year and really liked it, I got A Week at the Airport out from the library at the same time but never felt much like reading it, think I'll keep it that way.

The Art of Travel is sitting at my dining table at the moment which I do plan to get to this month with a bit of luck. Just wanted to share this great haiku from the book I'm reading at the moment, The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I've never been much for the haiku as an art form but this one, and the others in this book, are really resonating with me.

The cat here on earth
Modern Totem
And intermittedly decorative.

I love The Elegance of the Hedgehog! I hope you enjoy it as well.

56. The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery

I really enjoyed this one. If I had to sum it all up in one sentence I would say: An amazing journey of self-discovery through the eyes of others, of observations on life, and of friendships found.

This book was just such a treat to read and I was beautifully surprised when I discovered that yet again, I am reading a book where the characters are fondly recalling passages from Leo Tolstoy novels, and yet again I find myself reading a novel which touches ever so slightly on the core ideas of philosophy.

We folllow our main character who is a hermit like concierge with one true friend and a passion for russian literature and philosophy, who has to deal with the nouveau riche on a daily basis who assume that their wealth has also given them insight and quality and who look down on poorer fellow humans.

Slowly she meets other like minded individuals and you are so happy for her, she deserves this slice of happiness after hiding from the world for so long. You really connect with her and want the very best. I won't say any more for fear of spoiling the end but I did have a tear on my cheek when I read the last page so this is now the second book to have ever affected me so.

Highly recommended.

#111: I love that book! I am glad you enjoyed it, Leonie.

I loved that one too!

I agree KiwiNyx, a great read !

111- I have that one on my shelf, taunting me as I type..."read me...read me..."

Glad you enjoyed it!

30 minute quick read Johnathon Livingstone Seagull - Richard Bach

I was killing time and very conveniently spied this book in Borders just as one of their big comfy armchairs became available so I could hardly turn down fate could I.

I actually think I own this one, have definitely read it before, but I suspect it is in one of the many boxes of unpacked books we keep in the store-room off my studio downstairs that haven't been opened since we sold our last house in 2004. Like I said - fate.

This is a touching guide to life cunningly disguised as a book about one bird's quest to master the art of flying. Pretty much, we're told to follow our dreams and reach for the sky. Here is one example of seagull wisdom:

"How much more there is now to living! Instead of our drab slogging forth and back to the fishing boats, there’s reason to life! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!"

57. Pyramids - Terry Pratchett

My first ever Pratchett novel and I really rather enjoyed it. I've started with The Gods Trilogy which are 3 stand-alone books set in the DiscWorld universe and strangely enough, based on Gods.

In this one we follow Teppic, a newly graduated assassin and newly appointed King of his desert kingdom after his father had an awkward fall when believing he was flying like a seagull, and dies. Teppic struggles to control his adviser and then very embarrassingly loses his kingdom. There isn't a dull moment here.

Pratchett's humour is existent but not over the top, in fact it is quite subtle and often left to dwell amongst the many footnotes Pratchett seems to enjoy so much which I wasn't expecting but was quite pleased about. What is left is a novel that is fun and easy to read without being too silly as the cover led me to believe. I'm halfway through the next one already and will probably be reading quite a bit more of Pratchett in the future.

A good light escape.

I have not read any in the Gods Trilogy. I may have to investigate those after I finish the Tiffany Aching series.

#117 Hi KiwiNyx, great that you enjoyed Pyramids, perhaps one of Terry's less venerated books. If you appreciate Terry's subtle humour you have many joyful reads ahead !

I want to try Pratchett one of these days.

I've tried Pratchett a couple of times, and just can't get into the story all that much. I've been told, repeatedly, that his YA Discworld stuff is great, though.

I decided to start with the Small Gods Trilogy precisely because I know how many books he's written in the DiscWorld series and my TBR pile would get its nose mightily out of joint if I bumped up 43(#?) novels to the top of the list.

I really did enjoy Pyramids, a very fun read and easy enough to get into as is the one I'm now halfway through Small Gods and I'm finding I'm enjoying this one even more. Can't wait for Hogfather which is the third book.

How wonderful to find a trilogy you enjoy so much. Happy reading!

58. Small Gods - Terry Pratchett

Okay, so this is now my favourite Pratchett book, although I've only got two to choose from so far, but this one is very good. Pratchett has written a very intelligent satirical look at religion and belief, set in the Discworld Universe and using his great blend of wit and writing skills.

Omnia is a very religious society where every part of life is governed by rules of the State and where the great God Om is held up as the reason for all things, even the unnecessary torture by the deacons of the church and the excessive rituals. In actual fact, no one actually believes in the god Om anymore, they just do what they have always done because they believe in the rituals and life order that has been created for them and know nothing better.

Our main character is a novice called Brutha who meets a talking tortoise who turns out to be the great god Om, except he is in danger of non-existence due to the whole inconvenient 'Gods only exist because people believe in them' thing. Brutha is the last true believer of Om and through their adventures together, Om learns that it isn't people who need to love and fear their Gods, it is the Gods who need to love and respect their people lest they vanish forever.

There is a controlling evil guy who is plotting to start war with the neighbouring countries and who leads the Quisition, the torture unit of Omnia. There is a prophetic journey through the desert by Om and Brutha, a voyage of self-discovery for both in many ways, and then there is Brutha himself, a simple gardening novice, illiterate and red-faced but the most devout and honest person and who carries this novel with ease.

I really enjoyed this novel and while the writing and humour is evident and the book is great fun, there is a message just sitting under the surface if anyone is willing to see it. A fresh, unbiased look at religion without any hang-ups. A very good book.

59. Incognito - Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

An enjoyable graphic novel about super-heroes with a twist. In this one we follow Zack who is a retired super-villain now in the witness protection programme and on heavy drugs to dull his super-powers. He is sleep-walking through life and trying to find something to live for.

He heads down the drown your sorrows route and accidentally discovers that certain drugs will neutralise the medication they give him and his super-powers return. He finds himself falling into the new role of super-hero, secretly going out at night and dealing with the bad guys in town. But he is noticed and old friends and foe start to re-emerge.

Essentially a bad guys versus good guys scenario except our good guy used to be a bad guy and some of the bad guys are also trying to kill some other bad guys. I won't explain it because as you read the novel, you learn more about the back stories of all the characters and the plot falls into place.

But I did enjoy this and it wasn't the normal formulaic super-hero storyline which I appreciated.

#125: That one looks fun. Thanks for the recommendation, Leonie. I will see if I can locate a copy.

#124 Great review KiwiNyx, I completely agree ! Humorous and wise !

I really enjoyed Small Gods: I'm glad you did too.

I've just realised that I'm in the unusual position of trying out a new author with a substantial list of books to his name at a time of literary devourment in my life. I think I'll keep a track of which books remain my top 3 favourite Pratchetts.

129 - 'literary devourment' - I like that!

Wow! Lots of good titles on your thread! I need to read more Pratchett. Thanks for the recommendations.

Karen O.

I'm another testing the waters with Pratchett. I enjoyed The Colour of Magic enough to want to try more.

I should also point out that this is literary devourment on KiwiNyx time. I am a thorough and careful reader (ie. slow) and my list so far is more books than I have ever read in a year so definitely fits the bill in my opinion. I am scratching my head what to call such a time if you are Stasia for example (of whom I am very jealous of whenever I see her list of books read so far this year) - literary assimilation perhaps?

#133: I would answer if I understood the question :)

Ah, a nice way to say that I wish I could read as fast as you. To devour as many books as you do in a week would be such a treat.

#135: To devour as many books as you do in a week would be such a treat.

I guess it has its good and bad points just like everything else. Believe me, there are times I wish I could read just one or two books a week. That just does not seem to work for me though.

60. Hogfather - Terry Pratchett

Number 60 seems surreal to me, the most books I've ever read in a year - ever! Very cool. Anyway, Hogfather I already had a soft spot for as the brilliant TV mini-series with David Jason is a delight to watch - highly recommended.

This actually worked to the books' disadvantage while reading as during the first 1/2 of the book, I was constantly thinking of how they had portrayed something or other on the screen and I had to work hard to focus solely on the writing. (This is precisely why I usually follow my own rule of always reading the book first!).

But, the second half changed and I enjoyed the writing for what it is: an intelligent interpretation of what happens when belief is threatened in a magical universe.

Unlike the other two Pratchett books I have read recently, this one really does live up to expectations in terms of judging a book by the cover. It is very silly in places and chaotic and colourful; just as the cover art leads you to believe.

What I'm noticing with Terry's writing is that he layers over the fun stuff with incredibly subtle observations which are so cunningly woven in to the fabric of the book that you barely realise they're there. I am guessing he is a very intelligent man.

But, to the story itself: a shadowy force in the universe, with an intense passionate hate for humans, plots to rid the world of the Hogfather thereby throwing all human belief into jeopardy. "Humans need fantasy to be human" as Death explains.

Death becomes a hero of sorts, stepping into the Hogfather's role (like Santa Claus) while the plot is slowly uncovered and the many different sub-plots are tied together.

I hope that makes sense but that is as much as I feel I should say without giving the whole story away. So far, I think I still prefer Small Gods but this one is growing on me more now that I've finished it and I'm still thinking about it. There is certainly a lot of food for thought in a Terry Pratchett novel.

#37: Number 60 seems surreal to me, the most books I've ever read in a year

Very cool, Leonie! And the year is not over yet!

I love Hogfather: I'm thinking that I must re-read it at Christmas.

Congratulations on setting a new record for the most books you've ever read in a year! (And still with plenty of time left to make it to 75 for a really impressive new total!)

Congrats on the new record!! I should be able to top my record this year too, and I agree it seems very surreal to me too! And all the Pratchett love over here is making me rethink my stand on Discworld and give the series a try again.

Congratulations on 60 books! I'm going to try to remember that your name is Leonie. Never knew what to call you when you comment on my thread. :)

Thanks guys, 60 might just become my new favourite number for a while. Only took me 3 years to get there!!

Right, a quick round up of the last 10 books read so i can move onto the next ten:

51. 84, Charing Cross Street - Helene Hanff (true-story)
(20mins quick read) - The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8 by Thomas Ott
52. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
53. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
54. Slightly Out of Focus - Robert Capa (autobiographical, war, photography)
55. A Week at the Airport - Alain de Botton (observational)
56. The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery
(30mins quick read) - Johnathon Livingstone Seagull - Richard Bach
57. Pyramids - Terry Pratchett
58. Small Gods - Terry Pratchett
59. Incognito - Ed brubaker and Sean Phillips
60. Hogfather - Terry Pratchett

Some touchstones are being touchy today..

Highlights were definitely:
84, Charing Cross Road; The Shadow of the Wind; Slightly Out of Focus; The Number; The Elegance of the Hedgehog; and Small Gods.

With the exception of the de Botton Heathrow book, they were all very good reads but the ones above shone more than the others for me.

61. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

This one was chosen as I haven't tackled Dickens before (another author to keep a list of faves) and there has been a plethora of Dickens activity on LT in the last few months and I just didn't want to feel left out. I thought this would be a nice easy beginning to my Dickens experience and I was right.

The story is stunning, very original and engaging but what I most loved was the language. I would read the beautiful prose and just couldn't stop myself smiling at the gorgeous sentences I was taking in:

"The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went." - See what I mean? Gorgeous.

We all know the story of Scrooge and his ghostly visitors so I don't think I need to expand upon the plot too much, all I can say is that I loved reading this book and it is the perfect way to begin with Charles Dickens so thank you every one for the recommendation.

My only trouble now is choosing a new handbag book...

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work - Alain de Botton

Another attempt at a de Botton book for me and one that I really couldn't get into at all. I did read the full chapter on Painters as I am a painter myself but it just delivered gross generalisations about painters and made me quite grumpy. We do not all spend ten years sketching, studying, and painting an oak tree just to get the leaves right; and I realise that he very pointedly writes about this one artist and not the whole world ensemble but still, to choose such an extreme example of an artist for a book such as this was I think the wrong choice.

I then thought that maybe I had an emotional reaction to the Painting chapter and so peeked at all the others and the conclusion was that I didn't like any of it. The writing style is very dry and impersonal and nothing in the words could engage me and entice me to continue turning the pages. I read his observational Heathrow book earlier this year and although I found it very average, it was miles better than this one.

I won't count this as a read for the year as I only part read it and speed-glanced through the rest but I just wanted to share the experience.

Hi KiwiNyx, great that you enjoyed A Christmas Carol, can I humbly suggest David Copperfield for your next Dickens ?
I know what you mean with de Botton, I found his On Love : a Novel interesting if you come across it and are prepared to try one more of his.

Great reading lately! I read A Christmas Carol aloud a couple of years ago. We loved it. I have never read Terry Pratchett, and it looks like I need to!

I still read A Christmas Carol every year even though I can recite the story by memory. I love Dickens, love his use of language, his humor, his characters.

62. Jane Austen, In Style - Susan Watkins

For a non-fiction book, this one was as engaging as a novel and just as easy to read. Watkins takes us through an in-depth look at the styles of the Georgian era in English history, describing what life would have been like for Jane Austen. She has broken this investigation into 5 chapters: Grace and Manners; The Country House; Interior Styles; Fashion; and Entertainment and with the exception of the interior chapter, I was quite smitten.

She also cleverly weaves excerpts form the Austen novels, along with snippets from the many letters Jane Austen wrote or those that were written to her by family, and this interaction between fact and fiction illustrates the many styles of the day and is beautifully done.

I never knew much about the Georgian era before but it was a time of great changes, both in lifestyle and in the people themselves, and I have learnt so much more than what you can gleam from the stories. I read this book across two days which should be a testament in itself as to its readability, and would recommend it as a great companion piece for the Austen novels.

#148: My daughter Catey is a huge Jane Austen fan and that book sounds perfect for her. Thanks for the recommendation, Leonie. I will see if I can find her a copy.

Hi Bryan, thank you for the David Copperfield heads up. I will definitely be reading more Dickens and just can't believe I waited this long to begin. Also thanks for that de Botton title, the reviews are quite good and I am intrigued with it.

For all those that haven't yet tried Pratchett, he is worth a go and I will slowly keep reading a few more and writing up what I think. I definitely prefer it when he delves into the observational takes on life (Discworld is an alternative earth really so he can do this easily) and he really is quite clever in his satirical rants.

A Christmas Carol read aloud would be a great thing to do with the kids and I can easily see it becoming one of my standard re-reads for the future.

Stasia, I love hearing about more Austen fans. My daughters know P&P and S&S almost by heart but only through the BBC and movie adaptions. They're not quite ready for the books but at least I've shared the love of Austen with them and have them hooked, much to their fathers horror.

Speaking of classics, I'm toying with the idea of setting myself a classics reading challenge next year, make a list of some of the most famous books ever written and try to knock them all off over a year. Of course, each tome I've thought about is at least 700 pages long so i could be setting myself up for a huge fall..

Wow, you've got an early start on the Christmas-themed books! Haha. I really should read Hogfather, I saw the mini series about 4 years ago... and though I didn't like it at the time, I hadn't read any Pratchett then, so I suspect I'd feel differently now that I'm familiar with the Discworld setting and mythos.

#150: Why limit yourself to a year? Why not make it a 5 or 10 year project?

Oh no re: The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work! I loved that one. I found the essays on each vocation a real insight into that persons life. I couldn't put it down. Isn't it funny; how different 2 people can read something so differently..... not the book, it wasn't that funny. (Although the chapter on the transmission engineer who liked to walk under pylons for fun, he was quite funny).

KiwiNyx great idea with the classics challenge !
I have a similar challenge going, I use the book The Novel 100, by Daniel S. Burt, an American Literature professor, in which he ranks the best 100 novels.
I started at no. 1 and haven't looked back. There have been wonderful reads like Don Quixote and Middlemarch, and a few disappointing reads, it could make a useful reference in your choice of classics. Good luck !

>142 KiwiNyx: Right there, you read 3 of my favorite books, right in a row (84, Charing Cross Road, The Shadow of the Wind and The Uncommon Reader).

I tried a classics challenge before, and like you say, I keep coming up against these huge volumes that just keep turning me off of the challenge. Maybe I'll try it again next year.

>154 bryanoz: I've never heard of The Novel 100. I'm going to have to look into that book. Thanks for the recommendation.

Here is a link directly to Daniel S. Burt's list: Top 100 and thank you for the idea. I should have no trouble making my own list with that guideline. And yes, I can see that this could turn into a 5 yr plus project. LT has made me very aware of the holes in my classical reading and I really want to rectify this.

Tapestry, I'm thinking if I write about trying to read these great novels on here while I read them, it might make it more fun to keep going. That's the idea anyway.

DK, Christmas reading, I hadn't noticed but you're right. I wonder what other Christmas themed books I can find.

Megan, I'm thinking de Botton is a polarising author, you either love his style or hate it and so far he is far too dry and impersonal for my tastes but I haven't given up just yet. I have to agree about the transmission engineer though, it was the only part of the book that put a smile on my face, albeit briefly.

The Christmas Mystery, by Jostein Gaarder !!

If you do not mind children's books, Leonie, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is an excellent one!

156- I'm trying to fill in the gaps in my classical reading as well! Thanks for the link.

Leonie, a book I would suggest to you is Book Smart by Jane Mallison. I really like the way she has the book set up: She provides a list of 10 books for each month of the year, so you can pick and choose your own reading course for the year.

She does not restrict the choices to just classics though. January is 'Towering Works to Read in Translation,' February is 'Some Notable Biographies,' March is 'Young Men on a Quest,' April is 'Strong Women, Admirably So and Otherwise,' etc.

If you are interested in the book lists she suggests for each month, let me know and I will provide them for you. I am going to use this book for at least next year - 1 book per month - and am starting in January with Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf.

Ok, 3 more books for the TBR list. It's getting long now...but worth it as I've already read some gems from it.

Book Smart is especially intriguing because I think I will definitely be tackling some of the biggies next year. I might even wander down to the library and see if it's there - thanks.

And can I just say that Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf is one of my favourite books ever. I adore the poem and he makes it so easy to read. I hope you enjoy that one Stasia.

#161: I hope you get a chance to check out Book Smart, Leonie. She does not stick to just 'the classics,' but includes other reads and along with the classics that she does mention, she also includes suggestions of modern books to go along with the classic.

I will let you know how I feel about Beowulf come January :)

63. The Secret Supper - Javier Sierra

I picked this up as it was translated by Alberto Manguel of whom I had already noted a recommendation from LT readers for his own writings. Also, this religious conspiracy genre is relatively new to me, I've only read one other and that was this year - The Sanctuary, and so I'm still treading waters to see if it's something I want to read more of.

After a stilted start, this novel quickly hooked me with its page turning revelations, secrets and mysteries, and the enormous draw of having the plot centre around da Vinci's painting The Last Supper. I am an enormous fan of Leonardo and he is always my first answer when asked 'which person (past or present) would you most like to meet?'

The story follows an inquisitor from Rome, Father Leyre, who visits Milan and stays at Santa Maria della Grazie at the time when Leonardo is painting his famous mural. Clues have been sent to his office of heretical goings on in Milan and especially accusing da Vinci of incorporating certain mystical signs within the painting itself.

The back story is the persecution of the Cathars in France 200 years earlier and how the few remaining escaped and took refuge in the Lombardy region around Milan. One belief is that people don't need a church or a priest to talk to God, and this is a major reason why the Vatican felt threatened and initiated the burning of their villages and the subsequent persecution, denouncing anyone who is exposed as a Cathar of heresy and sentencing them to death. Sierra only touches on this history lightly but I've read a few books about the Cathar history recently.

There are many characters in the book who are based on the real people of the day. The Duke of Milan and his wife, Leonardo and his assistants, the prior of Santa Maria, the pope and his advisors - there is a full list at the back of the book which I found fascinating.

The story itself is well paced and interesting. I enjoyed it and while I don't rate it as a memorable read, I would recommend it as a great couch book. While there is absolutely no proof to believe any of the accusations depicted in the book, Sierra has picked up on the fact that there are unusual qualities within the composition of The Last Supper and it is this that he uses to create the intrigue in the book.

Another great thing for me is that after I read the book, I wanted to know more about the ideas and people and so spent about 3 hours reading on the internet to learn more about this particular decade in Milan.

Lastly, I may have chosen this book as my husband was recently in Milan and he went to Santa Maria della Grazie hoping to see the mural. He didn't know that you have to book about a month in advance to get a viewing but he did buy me a black rosary from the church which is a treasured thing to me and more so after reading so much history about Leonardo and the church itself.

A longer review than normal for a better than average book. I think I will keep reading a few more in this style, who knows, I might finally get around to reading Dan Browns book one day..

#163: Nice review, Leonie. Please post it to the book's page so I can give it a 'thumbs up.'

Found your thread again! I didn't like The Da Vinci Code which is the only Dan Brown I've read but I think that may have been because the religious conspiracy aspect didn't interest me so if you enjoy that then I would say it's probably worth a try.

Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco is supposed to be similar to The Da Vinci Code but 'better' but I haven't actually read it.

And yes, post your review!

I will do the review thing soon, thanks.

It's funny, I was talking to my bookclub yesterday about The Da Vinci Code and their reactions weren't great either. Maybe I won't bother. Speaking of the club, we have chosen a real solid read for this month although we've all acknowledged that we might not read it by the next meeting - Anna Karenina. I'm quite excited to get started but have 5 half finished books that I really should complete first.

And I have Foucault's Pendulum around here somewhere, another good title for next year I think.

64. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: The Authorised Adaption - Tim Hamilton

Lazy reason - I chose to read it as I bought it last year for $5 which was such a good deal for a graphic novel and it is quite a well known story and I was too tired to get up and fetch my other book and this one was right next to me at the time.

It is an unusual tale of our fireman, Montag, who begins to question his life and more specifically, his job. Firemen in this novel start the fires, responding to alerts that are sent by people dobbing in other people. It is a crime to own books and the firemen respond by setting the books and homes, and occasionally the owners, on fire. Montag goes up against the system, butting heads with his scary unstable boss, and daring to believe there must be more to life.

Our fireman questions the sanity of such a world and begins to secretly save a few books at a time. He is married to a woman who he barely knows and they have little in common. She is an example of a deadened soul, gliding through life with the aid of pills and TV. His journey is ignited by a 17 year old neighbour who is a rare soul that stops to appreciate all the little things in life and he starts wondering from that point on.

This adaption is good, the artwork is a bit basic but suits the passionless society of the story itself. Another modern classic to tick off the list even though it covers burning books which made me squeal inside just a little bit.

#167: I think I will stick to the original of that one, although the graphic novel version does look interesting.

#166 Ooh, Anna Karenina, I read that a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Hopefully there will be some good discussion at your book group.

#167 I still haven't read the original of that one but it's on the list!

Yep, I think I will still look for the original ray Bradbury for that one as I'm finding out that occasionally graphic novel adaptions can be a lot weaker - I started a graphic novel version of Terry Pratchett's Guards! Guards! yesterday and I am so lost and confused and not enjoying it at all. We'll see if I continue with it.. although I heard that the original is a great book and loved by many.

65. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - Winifred Watson

This was a recommendation from some fantastic LT'er and it really is a wee gem of a book.

Set in pre-WW2 London, we follow the life of Miss Pettigrew who is a middle-aged, penniless and out of work governess who hates her profession and who isn't particularly good at the role either. She needs to find a post or her landlady will throw her out of her room that very day so she applies for a governess role at the house of a gorgeous starlet and her day begins.

Without giving too much of the story away, we find over the course of the day that Miss Pettigrew is an intelligent and logical person, full of good morals and opinions but who has also been incredibly sheltered all of her life and who really hasn't deviated from what she believes is the normal way to live and to wish for the normal things one wishes for, such as stability.

What Miss Pettigrew discovers about herself through encounters with the socialite and her many friends is the real crux of the story. She discovers spunk, resolve, power and a bit of attitude. She finds she has wit and a whole lot of sass. She discovers there is a whole new side of her that has been waiting for an opportunity to emerge and she discovers how to let go and enjoy herself. It's a fantastic journey.

An easy enjoyable read that I highly recommend.

171: Kiwinyx, I loved Miss Pettigrew--it's one of my all-time favorites. There is a movie, also pretty good. Has Frances McDormand as Miss Pettigrew.

Great review!

Karen O.

OOoh! I LOVED Miss Pettigrew...what a delightful story. I've heard the movie is good - haven't seen it though - I do MUCH better with books than movies these days...
Glad you loved it as much as I did!!

#171: I am glad you enjoyed Miss Pettigrew too! I agree with you - it is a wee gem of a book.

#171 I'm glad you liked that one: I loved Miss Pettigrew, too. The book is excellent; I liked the film a lot, as well, though not quite as much as the book.

66. Eleven Hours - Paullina Simons

A thriller that was offered to me by a fellow book club member and I couldn't say no despite thrillers not really being my thing.

However, I will admit that this one was a page turner and had suspense and action from the start to the end. The writing is accomplished and it is hard to put down at times, but..

..but, it is what I call an airport book. You buy it to read on a long flight and then pass it on when you're finished. It's an average read but not a book that needs to be kept in your personal library. It's a 'my mind is overloaded and I need something easy to read' book.

The story centres on Didi, a heavily pregnant woman who is abducted from a shopping mall. Her kidnapper doesn't seem to want money and he teeters back and forth between being nice and a violent psycho. Her husband is beside himself and every second chapter is from his point of view and the search to find her.

As I said, this story is well written and a page turner but what irritated me were the increasingly frequent references to christianity. I felt these religious overtones actually pulled the story down a notch or two as they added no value to the plot and seemed contrived and only written in as a nod to the authors own beliefs perhaps. At the very first mention, I almost put the book down for good - that's how much they didn't work with the rest of the story.

So, in summary, a thriller that will keep you in suspense but I don't recommend it unless you are bored and can't get into any heavier reads.

#176: I own that one, but have not read it yet. It looks like it can wait to be read for a while longer.

Nice review of Miss Pettigrew. It's been on my wishlist for quite awhile -- need to get a copy!

My book club will also be reading Anna Karenina. It will be our January book. I've never read it, so I am really looking forward to it!

So is the graphic novel adaption of Fahrenheit 451 abridged? Or changed? I haven't heard of something like that being done to a novel before. Did the author consent? The original version is on my list, and Id be interested to have a flick through the one you read, but not sure if I'd read it.

I think Eleven Hours was a Whitcoulls book giveaway about 7 years ago in the Sunday Star Times, and that put me off. (Spot the book snob!) But I couldn't put Simons' The Bronze Horseman down and remember reading it at my inlaws' place one Christmas and sneaking to our room early to read a bit more. I liked the second one, Tatiana and Alexander, a lot less. There's a third that I haven't read too.

Stasia, Cushla, I think Simons is a very good writer and a lot of her other books have great reviews, I'm just not really a thriller reader and the constant God stuff really didn't work here. However, The Bronze Horseman looks more my genre and I will definitely be looking out for that one.

Anne, I'm starting Anna Karenina at the end of this week after I finish all of my half read books and I am looking forward to it as well. I'll let you know what I think.

Megan, the Hamilton Fahrenheit 451 is an authorised adaptation but I would say it is definitely abridged, just because they seemed to use the artistic style as part of the method of portraying the mood of the story instead of words.

I own quite a few novels that have been adapted into graphic form and I love both styles and usually own both forms if it's something I really like. I read Gaiman's Neverwhere, the novel, and then went straight out and bought the graphic novel version which is very close to the original. I also own the translated Beowulf and then two graphic novel versions, plus many complete Shakespeare volumes and a brilliant graphic version of Twelfth Night. I love the genre because it can add another dimension to the story if done properly.

67. The Machine Stops - E. M. Forster

A novella really but a very engaging story and scarily accurate considering it was written in 1909.

It speaks of a future where everything is controlled by The Machine to the point where human beings cringe at the thought of being touched by another or looking outside at the open sky. Their every whim is attended to at the touch of a button and they communicate by instant video messages and can view archived images on the cinematophoes. They live underground in a warren of futuristic anthills and do not cope with change well at all. Babies are chosen to survive only if they show no athletic ability so to eliminate as many possible rebellious souls to the isolated and dull existence that has evolved.

I enjoyed this read and was directed to it by my 13 year old daughter whose english teacher has told them that anybody who uses the internet today should read this story. It is a reminder of how we don't want to become.

I also enjoyed Tatiana and Alexander although I have not gotten to the second and third books in the series.

I just finished Miss Pettigrew too and really enjoyed it!

Also loved your review of Eleven Hours although I will be giving the book itself a miss. I tried The Bronze Horseman by Simons and struggled through about 400 pages before giving up. Just not my thing.

And The Machine Stops is a Forster I hadn't heard of before so I will look out for that one.

#179 Megan, not only did Bradbury consent to the graphic novelization of Fahrenheit 451, he gave permission for it to be updated for the project. Books that were published after 1953 (publication date of F451) were added as books being memorized by the rebels.

68. Galatas 1941 Courage in Vain - Lynn McConnell

A history of the battle for the town of Galata on the island of Crete during World War 2 and read as my grandfather fought on Crete, although his battalion was more involved with the battle for Maleme airfield.

For this account the author draws on the memories of about 20 key personnel active during the fight and intersperses the account with excerpts from their personal diaries or memoirs. This does add a very personal touch to the battle history but it also became very repetitive. However you can't help but learn of the terrible battle and the sacrifices made there, on both sides, and by the local people as well.

The New Zealand divison had just been evacuated from a hellish experience fighting on the Greek mainland and were headed back to Egypt when they were diverted to Crete and dropped off. Germans were planning to take Crete and the island was considered a strategic point in the defence of east europe and the middle east.

The Germans first did bombing runs on the island before dropping thousands of paratroopers in to secure the key objectives. My grandad has a photo he took lying on the hills on Crete and looking towards the sky which is filled with hundreds of German parachutes.

There was roughly about 8 days of fighting on Crete in all and due to the troops being under-equipped, (very few tanks, anti-aircraft guns and radio units made it to the island), and due to some enormous miscommunications from HQ and bad decisions from the mostly British high command, the end result was a harrowing retreat across rugged terrain and a hurried evacuation. Incidentally, hundreds of men were left on the island and either surrendered and became POW's or evaded capture and hid in the mountains but that is another story - 2062587::On the Run, Anzac Escape actually.

This book brings home some of the terrible conditions that our troops fought under during the war and also made me understand perhaps a little better why my grandad had nightmares after the war. I find military history an incredibly important genre to keep reading as we can never forget these immense sacrifices done years ago but for us all today.

What is also quite a nice aspect in this book is that the author also includes memories from German soldiers and this viewpoint is very interesting. They considered the New Zealand soldier to be the toughest unit they ever faced in battle and they had so much respect for us that they raised a monument to the German and New Zealand lives lost on the island after the war, despite other ally countries fighting there. The Cretans have since taken the monument down as anything German painfully reminded them of the many executions of the locals after the evacuation.

The battle of Galatas was a victory then defeat for after finally liberating the town from the Germans and losing hundreds of lives in the process, the decision was made to abandon the town and begin a retreat. After reading this history you realise that it was this erratic command that was the real reason Crete was lost to the Germans in the war.

A read that is more for people interested in this part of World War 2 or who have a personal connection to Crete like I do.

Cannot get touchstone to work, go here if interested:
http://openlibrary.org/books/OL11146627M/Galatas_1941

#186: I find military history an incredibly important genre to keep reading as we can never forget these immense sacrifices done years ago but for us all today.

I agree with that 100%, Leonie. Thanks for the mention of the book. I will see if I can track down a copy.

Its amazing to read a book about something you have a family connection to isnt it, it makes it so much more real. It's so easy to forget today what went on then and how much people suffered- we have it easy today in that regard.

I absolutely agree. There's another great NZ book, Stand for New Zealand: Voices from the Battle for Crete which are some memories of a few New Zealand soldiers in Crete, each having a chapter and my Grandad is in there so that's pretty cool.

My Dad has started to research and edit a lot of military history books in recent years so there's a few out there now with a personal connection, I even helped work on one with him once, Marching Onward. Growing up in the army life, you can't help but have an interest in all things military.

..touchstones not working today....

69. The Art of Travel - Alain de Botton

I read this as I've become stubbornly determined to find a book of his that I could enjoy and with this one I think he gets the formula right. He mixes personal incidents and observations alongside memoirs from great writers and images from artists and this collaboration of observations make the book a much easier read then the others I have attempted.

Essentially the message is to stop, slow down, and look around every now and then because you could be missing out on a wee detail in life that you would have otherwise missed. It's a good message and stands alongside investigations into our reasons and motivations for travel and other such personal view points.

It's not the easiest of reads at times but I did mostly enjoy it.

I also started The Architecture of Happiness and while this one falls back into his more impersonal style, it also was easier to read then the others I've tried. I didn't finish this one as I ran out of time and after the travel book I really now have had a de Botton overload, but it showed promise.

#190: I already have that one in the BlackHole. Thus far, I have only read de Botton's book on Proust and that is it.

I read The Art of Travel last year and really liked it, I also watched his dvd documentary on Philosophy: a guide to happiness.

Ooh, that Dvd sounds quite good. Maybe that is the way forward for me and De Botton.

Stasia, the Proust one I think will appear here one day when I am ready to tackle Proust himself which will happen, especially after recent reviews.

And now, just because I'm bursting with pride and can't hold it in any longer, I have to share my 13 yr old daughter's achievements.

We went to the Academic Excellence Awards evening last night at college and she won the English cup for her year and then the Overall Academic Excellence award for her year. The English cup she was hoping to win and it is about 20cm high, the other one she was very surprised about and the cup is about 3 times as big.

I am brimming, overflowing and bursting with pride. She is a year 9 which is the old 3rd form for NZ'ers and whatever year you would be in if you were 13/14 for overseas people.

That was all. :)

Wow! Congratulations to your daughter, Leonie!

Congrats to your daughter! It's wonderful to watch them achieve, isn't it.

I love the film version of Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and have been wanting to read the book for awhile now. I'm glad that it comes so highly recommended!

Congrats to your daughter!!

That's so cool for your daughter, wow on the cup! Sounds huge.

I'm glad you liked Bottons Travel one, I want to find it at the library soon. He sounds an interesting guy, I like his style too. But I admit it can get dry at times, and sometimes I think the book topics are just a framework within which to weave his philosophy musings. But that can be ok too!

# 197 - sounds very much like Bill Bryson sometimes, especially his most recent. Write a book nominally about something, but really just used as a framework to chat away about things that interest him. Which, as you say, is ok!

Thank you everyone, she worked hard all year for this so I'm really happy it was recognised.

Notmyrealname, thanks for visiting, I can see the similarities between de Botton and Bill Bryson as I read his Shakespeare book last year although I find Bryson's style easier to read but that could just be my personal preference.

Congratulations to your daughter! What an honor, but she must have worked very hard. I can see why you're so proud of her!

Loved your review of Galatas 1941. I can tell you that the wounds and history of WWII are very much alive in Crete today. This book sounds fascinating.

Congratulations to you and your daughter!

Wow, congratulations to your daughter Leonie!

70. Un Lun Dun - China Mieville

Read because of what other LT people have said and sneakily taken from the husbands bedside table and read through around and over his bookmark.

This one for me I felt was very strongly influenced by Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere and to a lesser degree I picked up a bit of the styles of J.K. Rowling and Philip Pullman. But, it isn't in any way a copy at all. This is a very original and engaging story that is well written and fast-paced. I really enjoyed reading it.

It is a young adult piece of fiction following Deeba as she discovers another London and realises that it is in grave danger and her London will soon follow. With this knowledge she finds the strength to fight the smog enemy and meets some great characters and friends along the way.

I didn't gain any insight from this novel, nor did I finish the book thinking that this book will resonate with me for a long time. I just simply enjoyed it for the good storytelling and would recommend it to all.

Congratulations to your daughter Leonie, I bet you were so so proud seeing her walk over the stage!!

Wow, that book sounds fascinating and bizarre. I'm not sure Ill go on to read it though- Im going to try and read a steampunk novel soon though- the concept intrigues me. Have you read any?

I must say that Un Lun Dun is a very good book and I was quite tired when I wrote the review for it and I know I didn't do the book justice. It is also considered a steampunk novel on some lists.

One of the best Steampunk novels I've read so far is the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman which is where the film The Golden Compass comes from. I loved this trilogy and thought they were incredibly well-written books.

Also read The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Howl's Moving Castle, The Manual of Detection and I would even say that the Tunnels series falls into this genre, as does The Navigator books.

I'm just introducing myself to the style as well but I do like what I've read so far.

Have you read Boneshaker? It's a pretty good steampunk book.

I enjoyed Un Lun Dun earlier this year too and His Dark Materials trilogy is also very good. Still haven't read Boneshaker.

Recent reads for the last month:

71. The Tiger Rising - Kate Di Camillo (youth fiction)
72. The Tale of Despereaux - Kate Di Camillo (youth fiction)
73. A Christmas Odyssey - Anne Perry (victorian mystery)
74. What the Dog Saw - Malcolm Gladwell (observational)
75. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy (russian classic)
76. The Kind Diet - Alicia Silverstone (nutrition)

Will review them properly later.

Congrats on hitting 75!! =)

Congrats, and Happy New Year! I'd been wondering where you were :)

I was just thinking of you the other day, Leonie. I hope everything is well with you!

Congrats!

Congratulations!

Congratulations on reading 75!

Thanks guys, wasn't sure I was going to make it once I started to read Anna Karenina which took me about 6 weeks to finish in the end!

Everything is well, I just stopped all internet activity after the Pike River Mine Tragedy. I'm not too sure why, I just felt like I should give up some things I enjoyed as a silent gesture to the people who were going through hell and back.

Anyway, books quickly in review:

71. The Tiger Rising - Kate Di Camillo (youth fiction)

Cute wee book written for children but unusual in the fact that the heavy themes were very vague at times and such that only adults would really get the deeper meaning.

72. The Tale of Despereaux - Kate Di Camillo (youth fiction)

Really lovely tale of courage, friendship, love and forgiveness.

73. A Christmas Odyssey - Anne Perry (victorian mystery)

Unusually dark tale of one man's quest to help a friend and find a missing son who has become lost in the underground life of London wrought with drugs, prostitution, murder, kingpins etc. in victorian London. A really enjoyable read about the depths of friendship and the courage of a few acquaintances to help a distraught father.

74. What the Dog Saw - Malcolm Gladwell (observational)

Gladwell always delivers with his books and this one is no different. Composed of a whole lot of published essays he's written over the years, he offers an insight into common-place or exceptional circumstances that we all would recognise and provides an intelligent alternative way to appraise them. The title story follows a case that the Dog Whisperer Cesar Milan worked on with Gladwell following him around and from there he goes to an indepth analysis of how Enron collapsed. Very interesting.

75. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy (russian classic)

I've finally read a Tolstoy and was quite surprised by the style. It is very beautifully written and the tale spans a lot of people over quite a few years but still maintains the same pace the whole way through. I wasn't expecting all of the french phrases that Tolstoy includes, nor the many different sub-plots that the story covered. In a way, I thought that the tale of Levin and Kitty was focused on more than that of Alexei and Anna and as I preferred the first couple and their story, I didn't mind at all. My only real disappointment was the ending, after reading such an expansive novel, the ending was almost out of character and only vaguely mentions what happens to all the peripheral characters while we read about Levin's struggle to understand his reason for being on the earth. I will be reading other reviews on this one with interest. ps. this is the short version, this book demands a more thorough review which I will get round to soon.

76. The Kind Diet - Alicia Silverstone (nutrition)

Not at all what I expected. I quite enjoyed the buildup to the recipes, Alicia's journey and the information she provides regarding quite a few food myths was really fascinating. What I was really disappointed in were the recipes themselves as she maintains a group of core ingredients in her pantry that are not easily available outside the US and the amount of pre-packaged ingredients for a vegan diet really surprised me. I haven't tried a recipe yet because the ones I can source are very basic and I prefer more flavour in my food but i recommend the first half of this book as a very interesting read.

Book #75 was quite a book to finish the challenge!

#216: Leonie, I recently read The Kind Diet too. I have only tried one of the recipes thus far, the Lentil Stew, and it was terrific. I would think that the ingredients for that one would be easily found - there was nothing prepackaged in it.

Congratulations on hitting 75! Great book to hit it on too!

I do hope you will join us for the 2011 group: http://www.librarything.com/groups/75booksin20111#forums

I also recently read The Kind Diet. I've made the azuki beans with kabocha squash a few times.Once with butternut squash. It's pretty good. The only pre-packaged thing I tried from the recipes was the mochi. The mochi looks scary , but tastes good. You should be able to find a number of the ingredients Silverstone uses in Asian markets. I consider the book just sort of a starter book. If you're really serious about veganism or macrobiotics you'd move on to better books.