Caty M's 2010 Reading - Chapter 3

Continued from my second thread. (First thread is here.)

I don't think I said anything on the introductions thread that isn't in my profile, but for anyone who is curious and hasn't seen it yet my post is here.

*Adopts TV announcer voice*

PREVIOUSLY, ON THIS THREAD...

January
1. The Bride and the Beast - Teresa Medeiros
2. Framley Parsonage - Anthony Trollope
3. Night Shift - Nora Roberts
4. The Wee Free Men - Terry Pratchett
5. When a Lady Misbehaves - Michelle Marcos
6. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
7. Ukridge - PG Wodehouse
8. The Accidental Countess - Michelle Willingham
9. Tulip Fever - Deborah Moggach
10. The Medieval Papacy - Geoffrey Barraclough
11. Duke Most Wanted - Celeste Bradley
12. Poetic Lives: Shelley - Daniel Hahn
13. The Tiger in the Smoke - Margery Allingham

February
14. The Cinderella Deal - Jennifer Crusie
15. The Catholic Church from 1648 to 1870 - Friedrich Heyer
16. Wyrd Sisters - Terry Pratchett
17. Maskerade - Terry Pratchett
18. Going Postal - Terry Pratchett
19. Powder and Patch - Georgette Heyer
20. The Mistress of Hanover Square - Anne Herries
21. A Hat Full of Sky - Terry Pratchett
22. The Three Evangelists - Fred Vargas
23. Bad Boys Online - Erin McCarthy
24. Innocent III: Leader of Europe - Jane Sayers
25. Accidentally Yours - Susan Mallery
26. Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett
27. The Faithful Bride - Rebecca Winters
28. Discovering Daisy - Betty Neels
29. How to Engage an Earl - Kathryn Caskie
30. A Short History of the Papacy in the Middle Ages - Walter Ullmann
31. Holy Disorders - Edmund Crispin
32. Island of the Heart - Sara Craven
33. Husband for Hire - Susan Wiggs

March
34. The Anubis Gates - Tim Powers
35. Miss Buncle's Book - DE Stevenson
36. Doomsday Book - Connie Willis
37. Sam the Sudden - PG Wodehouse
38. Evil and the Justice of God - NT Wright
39. A Bride for Jericho Bravo - Christine Rimmer
40. An Unsuitable Attachment - Barbara Pym
41. The House at Pooh Corner - AA Milne
42. Brat Farrar - Josephine Tey
43. Thief of Time - Terry Pratchett
44. What the Librarian Did - Karina Bliss
45. Out of Control - Julie Miller
46. Gone with the Nerd - Vicki Lewis Thompson
47. Simply Scandalous - Carly Phillips
48. Fantasy Lover - Sherrilyn Kenyon
49. Reaper Man - Terry Pratchett
50. The Widow's Tale - Mick Jackson
51. Jar City - Arnaldur Indriðason

April
52. Friday Dreaming - Elizabeth Bailey
53. The Case of the Gilded Fly - Edmund Crispin
54. As She Climbed Across the Table - Jonathan Lethem
55. The Last Hero - Terry Pratchett/Paul Kidby
56. Barmy in Wonderland - PG Wodehouse
57. Instant Attraction - Jill Shalvis
58. Wesley for Armchair Theologians - William J. Abraham
59. Instant Gratification - Jill Shalvis
60. Instant Temptation - Jill Shalvis
61. Catholicism for Dummies - John Trigilio and Kenneth Brighenti

May

62. Eric - Terry Pratchett
63. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson
64. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - JK Rowling
65. Fludd - Hilary Mantel
66. The Pothunters - PG Wodehouse
67. Mrs McVinnie's London Season - Carla Kelly
68. How to be a Bad Birdwatcher - Simon Barnes
69. Rooms - James L. Rubart
70. Cheerful Weather for the Wedding - Julia Strachey

June

71. Frozen Assets - PG Wodehouse
72. Wintersmith - Terry Pratchett
73. Ten Things I Love About You - Julia Quinn
74. The Man in the Picture - Susan Hill
75. Thomas Aquinas: A Very Short Introduction - Fergus Kerr
76. Are Women Human? - Dorothy L. Sayers
77. Purple Hibiscus - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
78. Psmith, Journalist - PG Wodehouse

July
79. Alone of All Her Sex: The myth and cult of the Virgin Mary - Marina Warner
80. The End of Mr. Y - Scarlett Thomas
81. Soul Music - Terry Pratchett
82. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
83. Sonnets from the Portuguese and Other Poems - Elizabeth Barrett Browning
84. Murder with Peacocks - Donna Andrews
85. Swan Song - Edmund Crispin
86. A Guide to the Birds of East Africa - Nicholas Drayson
87. Murder with Puffins - Donna Andrews

August
88. Her Royal Spyness - Rhys Bowen
89. The Last Continent - Terry Pratchett
90. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Alan Bradley
91. The Lacuna - Barbara Kingsolver

And the list from this point on:

August cont'd
92. Buried for Pleasure - Edmund Crispin
93. The Gladiator - Carla Capshaw
94. Empress and Handmaid: Nature and Gender in the Cult of the Virgin Mary - Sarah Jane Boss
95. Murder is Binding - Lorna Barrett
96. Palace of Illusions - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
97. Bookmarked for Death - Lorna Barrett
98. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
99. Remarkable Creatures - Tracy Chevalier
100. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - JK Rowling
101. Less than Angels - Barbara Pym

September
102. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - JK Rowling
103. Women of the Silk - Gail Tsukiyama
104. Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name - Vendela Vida
105. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - JK Rowling
106. When the Emperor Was Divine - Julie Otsuka
107. The Secret Countess - Eva Ibbotson
108. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Jean Dominique Bauby
109. The Hired Husband - Judith Stacy
110. Trusting Ryan - Tara Taylor Quinn
111. The Case of the Missing Books - Ian Sansom

October
112. Sourcery - Terry Pratchett
113. Bet Me - Jennifer Crusie
114. Death of a Dentist - MC Beaton
115. Death of a Cad - MC Beaton
116. The Holly Tree Inn - Charles Dickens and others

Currently Reading:
Palace of Illusions - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
La Dame aux Camélias - Alexandre Dumas fils

Officially currently reading, but more accurately 'abandoned for weeks but seriously intending to get back to very soon':
Swann's Way - Marcel Proust
The Holly Tree Inn - Charles Dickens
The Earth: An Intimate History - Richard Fortey
Possession - AS Byatt
The Crimson Petal and the White - Michael Faber
Encounters with God - Sister Wendy Beckett
The Breeze of the Centuries - Michael Reeves
A Plain account of Christian Perfection - John Wesley
The Victorian Governess - Kathryn Hughes

And books I'm hoping to read this month:
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
Arctic Chill - Arnaldur Indriðason
Hard Times - Charles Dickens
Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded - Simon Winchester
Women of the Silk - Gail Tsukiyama
The Boy Next Door - Irene Sabatini

Edited to add some more of the officially-currently-reading-but-almost-forgotten books.

I like the TV announcer voice idea! lol

Hi Stasia. *waves*

*wipes feet on mat, takes off shoes before entering new thread*

Hi, Caty!

92. Buried for Pleasure - Edmund Crispin

Genre: Crime/Mystery
Published: 1948
Pages: 176
Acquired: Purchased March 2010
Why I read it now: Something short and fluffy between tomes.

Rating: 4/5

Plot in one sentence: Professor Gervase Fen becomes bored of academia and decides to stand for parliament, but when he arrives in the sleepy country town at the heart of his constituency to start campaigning, he discovers it to be entangled in a web of blackmail and murder.

Comments: The mystery is quite entertaining but not very mysterious: when Fen and the man from Scotland Yard had an esoteric, 'It is obvious, isn't it?' discussion about the culprit, I suspect I was supposed to think, 'No it isn't,' and spend the next six chapters confused, not correctly deduce the culprit and agree with them.

However, despite the unmysterious mystery, this is a very entertaining book: the comic touches usual to Crispin are all there, from the rector's poltergeist to the homing pig living at the pub (rather like a homing pigeon, but eats a lot more), and from the peculiarities of the escaped 'lunatic' to Fen's discovery that politics is much less fun than he expected.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 25:67

Hi Darryl.

Stasia, just watching that gif makes my arm ache!

Hello Caty. Still following you around, even if I don't always say much! :)

Yeah, mine too!

Buried for Pleasure sounds fun, even if it's less than mysterious

Got you starred!

Hi Caty

I'm very far behind on all the threads, but wanted to let you know I'm breezing by to say hi.

Hello Stephen, Luxx and Roni!

Luxx, it is fun. Reading the other reviews, other people seemed to find it far more mysterious than I did, so maybe it was just a lucky guess that I picked out the culprit so early.

I got slightly carried away at the charity shop this afternoon, and came away with:
The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver (I had it wishlisted already, but I really wanted to read more of her after enjoying The Lacuna so much.)
Drown - Junot Diaz (it sounded familiar, and sure enough when I got it home it was in my wishlist; after reading the first page in the shop, I'd have bought it regardless.)
Starbook - Ben Okri
Murder is Binding - Lorna Barrett
Bookmarked for Death - Lorna Barrett

ETA - And hello, Linda!

#15: Nice haul, Caty!

Hi Caty, just passing by. Looking forward to hearing what you think of Palace of Illusions and Cloud Atlas as I loved them both.

Nice haul from the charity shop.

*Starred*

#8 That's the only Edmund Crispin I've read so far. I didn't guess 'whodunnit' but I am absolutely useless when it comes to figuring out mysteries so that doesn't tell you very much!

#15 Nice haul! The Poisonwood Bible was well worth getting.

Found you again! :) Oh, and the universe wants me to remind you to read Louise Penny. (*mischievous grin*)

Found and starred you again!

*Waves hello to everyone new since #15.*

#17 It's looking promising: I really liked Palace of Illusions, and Cloud Atlas is excellent so far.

#18 Did you enjoy it? If so, I'd definitely recommend giving some of the others a try. Sometimes I get them, sometimes I don't; I'm not sure in retrospect whether this was an obvious solution or a lucky guess for me.

#19 *Sings: Lalalalala, I can't hear you.* (Welcome, though.)

#20 Hi Marie!

I'll be curious to see what you think of Starbook. I bought it at Foyles in 2007, but haven't read it yet.

I'm not going to do a full review for all of these, but...

93. The Gladiator - Carla Capshaw
Christian Fiction/Historical Romance. Set in Rome, c. 80AD. I picked this up after reading this review last year at the Dear Author blog; I don't have much to say that wasn't in that review. Decent Christian historical romance, for those that like that sort of thing, although let down a bit by the ending. I suspect I'd have loved it five years ago, but my tastes have shifted away from these shorter romance novels. 3/5.

94. Empress and Handmaid: Nature and Gender in the Cult of the Virgin Mary - Sarah Jane Boss
I had to study a couple of chapters of this, and then I decided to go back and read the rest. I didn't agree with all the conclusions, but it was interesting. However, it's adapted from a doctoral thesis, and it reads like it, so it's really one for those with a serious interest in sociology, gender studies and/or Mariology rather than the casually interested. 3.5/5

95. Murder is Binding - Lorna Barrett
A cosy mystery which, for me, just crept across the line from cosy to twee. Plus, I worked out the whodunnit well in advance of the reveal. Some decent touches and a couple of unusual plot twists, though, so might be of interest to the serious cosy mystery fan. 2.5/5

Edited to correct rating

96. Palace of Illusions - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Genre: General Fiction/Mythology/Historical Fiction/Literary Fiction
Published: 2008
Pages: 360
Acquired: Last Friday, Waterstones
Why I read it now: Started it last Friday while waiting for the bus home - shiny and new, and quite literally straight from the shop - and just had to keep going.

Rating: 4.5/5

Plot in one sentence: A retelling of the Mahabharata from the perspective of Draupadi/Panchaali, the wife of the five Pandavas brothers.

Comments: I'd been intending to read this for a while - long enough for one recommendation to become at least four, from Richard, Stasia, Caroline and Luxx. (I expect there were others, but those are the four I have jotted down.)

I can't decide whether my complete unfamiliarity with the Mahabharata hampered my reading of the book or not: on the one hand, I doubtless missed a lot of nuances, on the other, I came to it without any expectations or presuppositions. In any event, it was better for me to come to the book with no background understanding than not to come to it at all.

The storytelling, prose, characterisation and atmosphere were all extremely vivid, and although I needed sometimes to refer to the family trees, and occasionally to look up some details about the original, as I was going along, I never felt out of my depth. There was a - how to put it? - a universality to the story, requiring experience of nothing more than being human to appreciate it. Panchaali is not a sympathetic character - she is vengeful and petty - but she is sympathetically wrought, and her story is fascinating.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 27:69

Edited for typo

Darryl, I'll be sure to post my thoughts on that one when I get to it. I picked it up on a whim after skimming though a few pages and liking the voice, so I'm optimistic.

#24: I am glad you enjoyed Palace of Illusions. I did too.

Nice review of Palace of Illusions, Caty; I must get off my duff and buy this book (hmm, there should be a Borders coupon in my e-mail Inbox).

I loved Sister of My Heart by CBD and enjoyed the sequel, but this is one of her books I don't think I have.

#26 Thanks, Stasia

#27 Hope you enjoy it, Darryl.

#28 This was my first Divakaruni book, although I've had Mistress of Spices in the TBR for ages. Oddly enough, there was a copy of Sister of my Heart in the charity shop yesterday; I didn't pick it up because I thought it sounded a bit chicklity, but looking at it now, it looks like it's not. If the copy is still there on Monday I might buy it.

Hopelessly behind....but just doing my bit to say "hi" and add to your thread. I'm in such a reading stupor, I can't even make intelligent comments.

Do yourself a favor, Caty, and skip Divakaruni's One Amazing Thing, which isn't IMHO. If Richard had not praised Palace of Illusions so highly, I would never have picked it up based on my experience with that book.

Palace of Illusions is already on the TBR pile. Your comments mean I want to read it soon.

Bump Mistress of Spices up that TBR:) I read it first and loved it. I also love your review of Palace of Illusions. It's a really good book. I still have the Maharabhata to read (bought after reading Palace).

Hi Tina!

#31 Well, that's shame. If I'd been able to get it from the library I might have risked it, but they don't have it so I'd have to pay for ILL even if not buy the book. At the moment the 'read this!' and 'avoid this!' recommendations are evenly balanced, so I think I will just let it linger way down at the bottom of the wishlist for the time being, and wait and see.

#32 Hope you enjoy it.

#33 Will do! I'm hesitant about adding the Maharabhata to my wishlist, but only because of the size of it. I'm quite intrigued by it, and if it was shorter I'd definitely give it a go soon. I think I am going to wishlist it, but it might be quite a few years before I get around to reading it!

#34: Catey got One Amazing Thing as an ARC, so I borrowed it from her or I would send it your way. You might like it better than I did :)

#35 Possibly. It's odd that I'll cheerfully read something based on a single positive recommendation, but I'm always reluctant to NOT read something based on a single negative recommendation - even when it comes from someone whose judgement I trust!

#36: I always hope I am wrong when it comes to negative reactions to books. I think that some books just work better for some readers than others.

Well put Stasia! I agree! So many people loved Eat, Love, Pray. I thought it was a silly foray into self absorption. But, heck, now it is a movie!

#37 I agree. I always feel slightly guilty, as well, when someone reads a book I've recommended and doesn't like it, or when I don't like something that someone else loved. But really, like you say, it's just that no book works for everyone and different books work for different people.

ETA: Linda, no matter how many people say I 'must read' that one, that it's fantastic, I can't summon up the slightest interest in trying it.

#21 I have Crispin's The Moving Toyshop which I picked up from the charity bookshop so I will definitely read that and may get the others from the library.

#24 I think you're now the fifth recommendation I've had for that book!

I hope you enjoy The Moving Toyshop, Heather: I didn't when I read it, but I think I just didn't quite get, or wasn't in the mood for, Crispin's style at the time, and I'm meaning to re-read it. Once I read one of the others, something clicked and I thought "oh, that's what he was doing in The Moving Toyshop" and it all made sense, and amused me even in retrospect.

I'm wondering now whether the other four recommendations are the same four that I had, or whether there are lots of other people out there recommending it. Are you going to give in and read it?

Wonderful review of The Palace of Illusions. See, LT is good for more than just killing time online!

#41 I felt the same way about Buried for Pleasure so I will give The Moving Toyshop a try and then see.

Re Palace of Illusions, I will read it at some point...

"You are Catherine Morland of Northanger Abbey! You love a good Gothic romance - so much, in fact, that you'll fool yourself into thinking you're living one! You are imaginative and naive, which is at once endearing and perplexing. Perhaps your heart is TOO pure...but it is adventurous. After all, you love a trip to Bath or a stay at an ancient Abbey." hmmm... then again, maybe not! LOL

#42 Thanks, Luxx

#43 In that case, I hope you get on okay with both of them!

#44 Susan, I'd have thought you were probably more of an Elinor.

14:46

97. Bookmarked for Death - Lorna Barrett

Genre: Cosy Mystery
Published: 2009
Pages: 286
Acquired: Charity shop, August 2010
Why I read it now: After being disappointed with the first in the series (Murder is Binding), I wanted to get the pair finished

Rating: 2½ out of 5

Plot in one sentence: The owner of a bookshop specialising in crime novels discovers a local celebrity author dead in her shop at a signing.

Comments: This suffered from the same faults as the first book; I don't think it was worse, but I think I was less tolerant by book #2. In both cases, the mystery plot is sound but large parts of it are easily guessed, the characters are not bad but can be a little flat, the writing is not great and the overall effect is treading a fine line between cosy and twee.

There is too much telling and not enough showing, and sometimes the dialogue is unconvincing, and seems only to be there explain plot points and there is a tendency to info-dump. On the plus side, there's some definite development in the relationship between the sleuth and her sister over the course of the two books.

I was very tempted to give up on this one, but ultimately I did see it through.

Lesson learned through reading this book: Avoid crime novels with "Includes Recipes!" on the cover.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 27:70

Hah. Excellent "Lesson Learned." :)

#45 "Lesson learned through reading this book: Avoid crime novels with "Includes Recipes!" on the cover."

*Chortles*

Pinching this from Stasia's and Kerry's threads. Using books read this year:

In school I was: The Uncommon Reader
People might be surprised I’m: The Last Hero
I will never be: Accidentally Yours
My fantasy job is: The Gladiator
At the end of a long day I need: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
I hate it when: When a Lady Misbehaves
Wish I had: Miss Buncle's Book
My family reunions are: Out of Control
At a party you’d find me with: The Bride and the Beast
I’ve never been to: Jar City
A happy day includes: Soul Music
Motto I live by: Ten Things I Love About You
On my bucket list: The Last Continent
In my next life, I want to be: The Man in the Picture

One or two of them are actually accurate. (Mmmm, pie.)

Edited to change one answer to something less grammatically correct but more acceptable in sentiment.

Love the answers (especially the family reunions one!)

hmmm... don't know if I can do another (>48 Eat_Read_Knit:) I agonized over the first one I did. LOL

As for Elinor... In my youth I was definitely the other sister. Elinor's got it too much on the ball for me to measure up, but thanks

Susan, I found this one harder than the first one, but possibly because I was trying to avoid repeating answers and trying to pick accurate(ish) answers; in the end I had to either give up on the quest for even remotely accurate answers to some questions, or give up on the quiz. And the last one's kind of tricky when you don't believe in reincarnation. But it was still fun. And if it's not fun then there's no point in doing it, right?

Stasia, my family reunions have all been very nice, restrained, low key events, with people who like each other and get along - but if anyone's ever written a book entitled Pleasant and Uneventful I've never come across it.

#48, 51 Don't know which tickles me more - your original answer about family reunions, or your explanation!

47- I laughed at that too! :)

98. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

Genre: General/Literary Fiction
Published: 2004
Pages: 529
Acquired: Charity Shop, July 2010
Why I read it now: TIOLI 'weather' Challenge

Rating: 5/5

Comments: Cloud Atlas presents six lives in six nested narratives, each distinct and yet all linked. Each has its own literary style, each has a very strong protagonist, each is superbly written, and each supports the others to create a magnificent whole.

In the nineteenth century, Adam Ewing fills his journal with detail of his time in Polynesia and his voyage home. In the 1930s, the louche, opportunistic and cynical musician Robert Frobisher writes letters from Belgium to his friend Sixsmith in England - and in 1975 the scientist Sixsmith appears in a thriller as the author of a report on a nuclear facility which looks likely to get journalist Luisa Rey and others killed as they try to bring the story of its suppression to the public gaze.

The manuscript for the thriller falls into the hands of publisher Timothy Cavendish, whose unfortunate experience of incarceration is eventually made into a film, which is watched by the genetically altered 'fabricant' Somni after her escape from slavery in a dystopian future. And generations from then , Somni is worshipped as a deity and become a figure of hope to a post-apocalyptic society over whom the spectre of despair and slavery hangs.

The themes of truth and falsehood, freedom and slavery, hope and despair, and what precisely makes one person different from (and the same as) another, appear and disappear from the narrative - interweaving, foreshadowing, echoing through the stories.

Not one of these threads is dropped, not one of these narratives is weak, not one of these characters is anything but convincing. The use of six different narrative styles is effective - each works individually, none becomes a stereotype, and the whole becomes more than the sum of the parts. The interweaving of themes and motifs is subtle and highly effective, and the nesting of the stories one inside another supports this beautifully.

Very highly recommended.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 27:71

#54: Glad to see you enjoyed that one, Caty!

Nice review of Cloud Atlas, Caty!

#55/56 Thanks!

54: Wow! Fantastic review. I'd never heard of this book before now, but you made me want to look into it. The premise sounds like it would be hard to pull off, but it sounds like it was done perfectly.

What a fabulous review of Cloud Atlas Caty. I'm glad you enjoyed it too.

#58/59 Thanks!

Marie, I kept expecting that Mitchell would drop one of his threads, or that one section would fall short of the others, but it never happened. One of the other reviews likens it to juggling blindfold while standing on one leg, and it being amazing that he never drops anything: that's absolutely accurate. It just hangs together perfectly.

And now for the next one:

99. Remarkable Creatures - Tracy Chevalier

Genre: Historical Fiction
Published: 2009
Pages: 352
Acquired: Amazon, Spring 2010
Why I read it now: I've been meaning to get to it for months.

Rating: 4/5

Comments: Lyme Regis, Dorset; c.1805-c1825. Mary Anning is a fossil hunter - but as a working class girl her life is dominated by the need to put food on the family table, and she's largely ignored by the scientific establishment. Elizabeth Philpot, a middle class spinster of some education, fares a little better, but even so her life and fossil-hunting are circumscribed by the constraints imposed on her sex.

The two women tell their stories in alternating chapters, sometimes overlapping, sometimes leaving much unsaid as they recount some twenty years' worth of memories. They speak of their friendship and their work. They describe their struggle to understand what the fossils are and how they fit with the account of creation they have been taught. They recount their battles with the scientific establishment and with the expectations of their families. They demonstrate just how much of a gentleman's club some areas of science were in the nineteenth century, and how much consternation there was over these discoveries.

These two women come alive in the pages of this novel, and it is a pleasure to read their stories.

Chevalier's postscript sets out which parts of her narrative are taken from known history and which are her own speculation, and she also provides a short list of further reading about these fascinating women whose contributions to the science of geology were overlooked in their own day.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 28:71

I am glad you enjoyed that one, Caty!

100. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - JK Rowling

Genre: YA Fantasy
Published: 1998
Pages: 341
Acquired: BookMooch
From the (3 month+) TBR pile? Yes - March 2010
Why I read it now: Because I felt like it.

Rating: 4/5

Plot in one sentence: After a horrible summer holiday, Harry Potter just wants to gets back to Hogwarts, but something is trying to stop him - and when he does make it back, disaster and evil await.

Comments: I liked this one more than the first in the series. I was planning just to read the three I have and probably not bother with the rest, but now I'm more inclined to read through the whole series. I read the first one in May: I shall probably not go three months before reading the next one.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 29:71

#60. Remarkable Creatures sounds really intriguing. I'll keep my eye out for it. The only Chevalier I've read previously was Girl With A Pearl Earring a few years back, which i remember enjoying.

Hi, Caty, and thanks again for the cool graph on my thread. Catching up with you has been fun and has moved a few books up the TBR stacks.

>24 Eat_Read_Knit:: I've been wanting to read Palace of Illusions for some time now. Moving it up...

45: LOL! Guess I'll stick to reading recipes in cookbooks.

48: Love your answers to that quiz. I'll give that one a go when I start my new thread.

54: Cloud Atlas can't be moved up much further. I'll read it after I have a break from The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet which is my current read. It's also a good one. Have you read Black Swan Green by Mitchell? He's a very versatile author.

Tabatha, I hope you enjoy it. I have Girl with a Pearl Earring in the TBR pile: I really ought to read it soon.

Donna, you're welcome again. :) Hope you enjoy Palace of Illusions and Cloud Atlas. I didn't try any of the recipes from the mystery stories: they might have been perfectly good recipes. But I think that on the whole, if a mystery comes with recipes then it is probably a bit too fluffy a mystery for my taste.

I have Black Swan Green in the TBR pile. I really want to read The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, but my local library doesn't have a copy. I'll have to get in the queue for an ILL from another branch or wait for the paperback to come out - although the hardback is so beautiful I'm having a hard time resisting it.

Some good reading from the TBR pile!

The third Harry Potter book is my favourite I think, although I'm planning to reread the whole series before the first part of film seven is released in December. And of course book 3 would count for Back to School September TIOLI challenge....

Heather, I did think that I might list The Chamber of Secrets if I didn't finish it before the end of the month, but I read it much faster than I expected to. I haven't listed the next one in the TIOLI wiki, but it is on my list of other possibles.

I wish I could read the Harry Potter books for the first time again! :(

I read the first four in 8th grade, thankfully. Those seem to be the ones adult readers have the most trouble with. I enjoyed the final books of the series in high school/adulthood though!

#68 I've made a start on the third one, which I'm also really enjoying. If the later ones are better for adult readers, I shall definitely carry on with the series.

101. Less than Angels - Barbara Pym

Genre: General Fiction
Published: 1955
Pages: 262
Acquired: Purchased from Amazon, March 2010
From the (3 month+) TBR pile? Yes
Why I read it now: Because I felt like it.

Rating: 3.5/5

Plot in one sentence: The lives, loves and academic woes of a group of young anthropologists are played out against a background of mildly eccentric families, neighbours and more senior academics.

Comments: Not Pym's best, and the ending is rather abrupt, but there are some amusing characters and the social observation is entertaining.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 30:71

#69: I read that one earlier this year and agree with you - not Pym's best.

Before I start with the September books, I had better do an August summary:

Total books: 14
Books from TBR pile: 7 (hooray!)

Total pages: 4869 (most in a month since March)
Total pages for 2010: 28,706
Mean pages/book: 347.79 (highest monthly average this year - amazing the difference a couple of chunksters makes)
Mean rating: 3.714 (lower than any month since February, but caused by lots of average/meh books rather than any real stinkers)

Rating distribution so far this year:


This matches the overall pattern for my library fairly closely.

Books by male authors: 4
Books by female authors: 10
(Year so far: 43 books by male authors, 58 by female)

Mean publication date: 1997 (the newest monthly average so far this year: lots of fairly recent books this month, and far fewer of any significant age that in previous months)



Author nationality:
UK: 7
US: 5
India: 1 (though US resident)
Canada: 1

I definitely need to make more of an effort to read books that are not by British or American authors: I have them in the TBR, but I don't seem to be reading them:



Genres:
Christianity/Church history: 1
Crime: 5
Romance: 1
Fantasy: 2
Historical Fiction: 2
General Fiction: 3

TIOLI:
6 completed:
Her Royal Spyness - Rhys Bowen (Historical Mystery)
The Last Continent - Terry Pratchett (Another world)
The Sweetness at the bottom of the pie - Alan Bradley (Historical Mystery)
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell (Weather)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - JK Rowling (Begins with H)
Less Than Angels - Barbara Pym (Classic - VMC)

8 others completed:
The Lacuna - Barbara Kingsolver
Buried for Pleasure - Edmund Crispin
The Gladiator - Carla Capshaw
Empress and Handmaid: Nature and Gender in the Cult of the Virgin Mary - Sarah Jane Boss
Murder is Binding - Lorna Barrett
Palace of Illusions - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Bookmarked for Death - Lorna Barrett
Remarkable Creatures - Tracy Chevalier

Out of the planned reads for August:
4 completed
4 ongoing but incomplete (as below ***)
8 not started

In the currently reading pile at the end of the month:
***Swann's Way - Marcel Proust (group read) - way behind schedule, haven't touched it for weeks
Possession - AS Byatt - haven't touched it for weeks
The Crimson Petal and the White - Michael Faber - haven't touched it for weeks, but it's listed for the September TIOLI so hopefully I shall get back to it
Encounters with God - Sister Wendy Beckett - haven't touched it for weeks
The Victorian Governess - Hathryn Hughes - haven't touched it for weeks
***The Earth: An Intimate History - Richard Fortey - read a few pages in August, need to get back to it properly because it truly is very interesting
***The Holly Tree Inn - Charles Dickens - read a few pages in August and really, really, REALLY need to get on with it now
***La Dame aux Camélias - Alexandre Dumas fils - making slow progress, as expected
The Complete Fairy Tales - Charles Perrault - haven’t touched it in weeks
Harry Potter and the Prison of Azkaban - JK Rowling - about 70 pages to go, will finish September 1
The Breeze of the Centuries - Michael Reeves - haven't touched it in weeks
A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (Annotated Edition) - John Wesley - haven't touched it in MONTHS

And plans for September.

I've listed 15 TIOLI books on the wiki:

1. Aberystwyth Mon Amour - Malcolm Price (LT 3 letter combo yth)
2. In This House of Brede - Rumer Godden (LT 3 letter combo thi/Building)
3. To The Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf (Building)
4. Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name - Vendela Vida (N/S/E/W)
5. South Riding - Winifred Holtby (N/S/E/W)
6. An Elegy for Easterly - Pettina Gappah (N/S/E/W)
7. Daddy-Long-Legs - Jean Webster (Education)
8. The Crimson Petal and the White - Michael Faber (white)
9. Independent People - Halldor Laxness (chunkster)
10. Mrs. Tim of the Regiment - DE Stevenson (title)
11. The Frogs - Aristophanes (controversial)
12. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister - Gregory Maguire (fairytale retold)
13. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - JK Rowling (Education)
14. The Moving Toyshop Edmund Crispin (LT combo ing) RE-READ
15. When the Emperor Was Divine - Julie Otsuka (Title in the title)

I've identified another 15 possible TIOLI reads but not listed them on the wiki:

16. The Thirteenth Tale - Dianne Setterfield (LT 3 letter combo thi)
17. Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston (LT 3 letter combo ing)
18. The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents - Terry Pratchett (LT 3 letter combo ing)
19. Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos - Donna Andrew (LT 3 letter combo ing)
20. The Making of a Marchioness - Frances Hodgson Burnett (LT 3 letter combo ing)
21. Love Lies Bleeding - Edmund Crispin (LT 3 letter combo ing)
22. The Captive of Kensington Palace - Jean Plaidy (LT 3 letter combo) (Building)
23. The Beckoning Lady - Margery Allingham (LT 3 letter combo ing)
24. The Case of the Missing Books - Ian Sansom (LT 3 letter combo ing)
25. I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith (Building)
26. North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell (N/S/E/W)
27. Lady Audley's Secret - Mary Elizabeth Braddon (title)
28. Ninety-three - Victor Hugo (nine)
29. Mrs Harris Goes to Paris - Paul Gallico (title)
30. The Secret Countess - Eva Ibbotson (title)

Realistically, I shan't read more than about 8 of these; several are very short or already in progress.

There is also the currently reading pile at the foot of the previous post: most of the books are de facto abandoned, but I really do intend to get back to them, even though I know myself well enough to know that in practice I probably shan't touch many of them any time soon. Target for the month: finish two of them.

I've read more than half of Mrs Tim of the Regiment already, as though I didn't think I'd finish it, it fitted into both last month's TIOLI and this one.

I'm also planning to join in Aberystwyth Mon Amour and Daddy Long Legs. I'd love to read/reread these but don't think I'll get there - I don't own 6 and 8. I've seen a charity shop copy of 8 but it's a very awkward sized TBP

3. To The Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf (Building)
4. Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name - Vendela Vida (N/S/E/W)
5. South Riding - Winifred Holtby (N/S/E/W)
6. An Elegy for Easterly - Pettina Gappah (N/S/E/W)
8. The Crimson Petal and the White - Michael Faber (white)
15. When the Emperor Was Divine - Julie Otsuka (Title in the title)

*twitch* I...LOVE all the charts and graphs!!!

I really need to find a program somewhere online that'll let me make some of my own before the end of the year.

102. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - JK Rowling

Genre: YA Fantasy
Published: 1999
Pages: 435
Acquired: BookMooch, March 2010
From the (3 month+) TBR pile? Yes
Why I read it now: TIOLI; to follow on after book 2

Rating: 4/5

Plot in one sentence: After accidentally blowing up a visitor, Harry runs away from the Dursleys - but his own escape coincides with that of a dangerous convict from the wizards' prison of Azkaban, a murderer who the Ministry of Magic expect will come hunting for Harry...

Comments: I wasn't as keen on this as book 2 - the characters were as strong, I enjoyed all the backstory, and it wasn't dull - but it seemed to lack something of the zip of book 2. It felt too long and drawn out. I'll definitely carry on with the series at some point.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 31:71

I love all your stats! I'm going to have to come back and take a closer look after work today. How fun.

You're getting to the good stuff in the HP series, Caty. Book 4 is a favorite for a lot of people I think. #'s 4 and 6 were mine.

#73 I noticed we had a couple of books in common in the wiki. How are you getting on with Mrs Tim? Crimson Petal is a real chunkster: I'm not surprised you're not keen to wrestle with a hefty copy.

#74, 76 Thanks. Stats and spreadsheets are fun.

Stephen, I hope you manage to find something that's inexpensive and co-operates with your dial-up. Sadly, I have no helpful suggestions: I use Excel.

Stephen, I'm glad to hear book 4 is a good one. I don't know when I'll get to it, though: I only have copies of 1 to 3 at the moment. I think, now that I've started, I shall probably try to find cheap second-hand copies of the rest (to match the first 3, which I shall keep for the time being) rather than borrow them from the library.

I could use Excel if I had it. Oddly, my computer didn't come with the microsoft programs installed (Not even Microsoft Word, it had WordPerfect instead...) and I don't think I have any discs lying around here. I'll find something though!

Yes, you put down so many tempting choices, I couldn't resist putting my name down for a couple. And although Mrs Tim #1 isn't a library book, Mrs Tim #2 is and also starts with "Mrs Tim" so fits the TIOLI chalenge.

Okay, one more pretty picture and then I will stop playing. Reading by month and genre so far in 2010:

Wow - I am entranced by all these stats! I should start paying attention more to what I read every month and maybe I'd actually get through my TBR pile and less from random pick ups from the bookstore. (LT makes me do it, I sware!)

I especially love that you listed what categories you read and where the authors are from. I think if I mapped mine out too I'd read mostly American and British authors and from the same categories. Ah, so helpful!

Wow! My eyes are smarting from the spectacular light being given off by these charts. Amazing!

Oooh - shiny statistics!

>82 Eat_Read_Knit:: That looks like the Rocky Mountains, Caty!! Or maybe Picasso's interpretation of them? You are a chart and graph wizard. Btw, I liked it so much that I moved the graph you did for me over to my new thread. Hope that's okay with you.

I have a question for you. When you quit reading a book for a matter of weeks and go back to it, do you have to reread or at least skim parts of it? There have been a few interrupted books for me, but the time lapse seems to interfere with my enjoyment of the book. I read part of Middlemarch, took an extended trip, came home and had to start over! I'm thinking it would have worked better with a nonfiction book.

I love the statistics and graphs, Caty! I'll have to give this a try in the future.

I like the genre chart a bunch. You listed a Frances Hodgson Burnett I've not read... hmmm...

Gee, I think I'll go scrap a secret garden :)

Hi There Caty...

Would you mind sending a message to me at lcl1@lehigh.edu with instructions regarding how you do these charts?

Thanks!

#86 Yes, that's definitely okay. Sometimes I find I can pick up a book where I left off without any problem, occasionally I'm completely lost and end up starting all over again. Most of the time I skim through the last few pages, maybe the last chapter, to remind myself what was happening. It depends on the book.

#87 Thanks, Darryl.

#88 Thanks, Susan.

#89 I'd be happy to, Linda.

Thanks Caty!

I was doing my shift at the charity shop this morning and they just happened to have the fourth Harry Potter in a very good condition paperback for £1.60, so I bought it. Not going to read it just yet, though.

Linda, you should have the email by now, but my email programme seems to have the hiccups at the moment (keeps asking for passwords and refusing to send things) so if you haven't had it let me know and I will resend from another address.

In other news, I've won Maps and Shadows in the August ER, which I thought sounded very interesting.

#93: I requested that one but did not get it, so I will be interested in seeing what you think of it, Caty.

#94 It seemed to be a very popular one - I was surprised (but very pleased) to get it.

I have been resisting The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, determined to wait until the the paperback was out or the library acquired a copy: today my willpower disintegrated like a soggy tissue. (Is anyone else prone to leave tissues in jeans pockets and accidentally put them through the washing machine, or is it just me?)

I went into Waterstones and bought not only Jacob de Zoet (and for a fiver more than it would have cost me from Amazon: *sigh* instant gratification is expensive) but also I Shall Wear Midnight. I am trying to feel guilty - but at the moment I am failing, and also trying to work out how I can work them into this month's reads.

Question primarily (but not exclusively) for any passing British people: what would be your reaction if you were driving out of a car park, you passed the Way Out sign - and then you saw a sign which said not 'Thank You' or 'Goodbye', which would be reasonably normal, but instead "Cheerio!"? Yes, with an exclamation mark. Unusual? Or are there lots of signs like that in car parks up and down the country, to which I have hitherto been oblivious?

(It made me smile: I use the car park a couple of times a month on average, but I've never noticed the sign before.)

Ha ha, instant gratification is expensive but sometimes so worth it. And if the guilt isn't coming, it probably wasn't meant to, right?

I lived in England for about a year and never saw such a sign. I've also never seen such a thing over here in the US, though I doubt they'd make one that said 'cheerio'. Sounds awesome - take a picture!

*goes off to find out about The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet*

Fun fun -- We did see a "zebra crossing" sign in Inverary -- very official looking. Cracked me up!

I don't remember ever seeing a zebra crossing sign at a zebra crossing. Maybe it's a Scottish thing.

I love the 'heavy plant crossing' signs that you get near big building sites/roadworks etc: I always get a mental image of a 30-foot tulip crossing the road.

ETA: #96 Yes, probably: they're both books I've been intending to buy, just not yet, so it's not like I went on a mad spree buying books on a whim.

Edited again for typo

Lucky you! I Shall Wear Midnight isn't available over here until the end of the month.

My copy of I Shall Wear Midnight arrived today!

#99 :( Still, that's not too long to wait.

#100 Hooray!

103. Women of the Silk - Gail Tsukiyama

Genre: Historical Fiction - China, 1919-1938
Published: 1991
Pages: 278
Acquired: Amazon, July 2010
From the (3 month+) TBR pile? No
Why I read it now: I've been wanting to get to it for a while

Rating: 4/5

Plot in one sentence: Hard times in eight-year-old Pei's village cause her parents to send her to the silk factories, where the work is hard but Pei discovers freedom and friendship among the sisterhood of the silk workers.

Comments: Gail Tsukiyama evokes the place and period well, and shows the relationships among the silk women - and between the women and their families - beautifully. I shall look out for more of her books.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 31:72

#101: I have that one in the BlackHole already. Unfortunately it is not available at the local library. I am off to see if it is available for the Nook. . .

Yaaay... glad you've read Women of the Silk and that you liked it, Cat. You should check out some of the other books for her.

I've not been disappointed by anything I've read of hers so far. The first Gail Tsukiyama book I read years back was The Samurai's Garden. I've made my way through all her other books and the only one left that I have yet to read is The Language of Threads. I am holding out on this because I'll be sad that there aren't any more of her books after I'm done with that.

Caroline, I think I'm going to read The Street of a Thousand Blossoms next (I love your review of that one) and then I shall move on to The Samurai's Garden. Unless I come across second-hand copies of others first, that is.

Stasia, I hope you manage to find it!

And, pinching this from Stasia's thread:

1. The last book you gave five-stars to: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
2. The last book you were unable to finish: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
3. The last book you bought: I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell. Together, yesterday. Technically I suppose the last book was the Mitchell, as the cashier rang that one up second.
4. The last book that made you cry: I think it was Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Purple Hibiscus
5. The last book you borrowed: Medieval Thought: The Western Intellectual Tradition from Antiquity to the Thirteenth Century by Michael Haran. From the university library, unsurprisingly.
6. The last book you received as a gift: In the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport - although since then I've received a gift voucher which I used to buy In This House of Brede. Both were thanks to wonderful LT friends.
7. The last book you found disturbing: Depends on your definition of disturbing, but probably The End of Mr Y.
8. The last book you read that made you laugh: I'm reading I Shall Wear Midnight at the moment, and that's giving me some good laughs in places.
9. The last book you really felt you got lost in (the good kind of lost): if we're talking late-for-something-because-I-just-had-to-read-one-more-chapter-that-turned-into-three-more kind of lost, it was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
10. The last book you reread: The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett

Completely unadventurous and unsurprising: nothing there going back more than about 3 months.

#104: I am glad you enjoyed the quiz, Caty.

#101 Women of the Silk has gone on the wishlist.

#104 Nice quiz! I will need to think about my answers to that one.

#106 Hope you enjoy it, Heather.

104. I Shall Wear Midnight - Terry Pratchett

Genre: YA Fantasy
Published: 2010. Last Thursday, to be precise.
Pages: 350
Acquired: Waterstones, last Friday
From the (3 month+) TBR pile? Definitely not!
Why I read it now: It's a new Pratchett book: reading it now was practically compulsory.

Rating: 4.5/5

Comments: Tiffany Aching is now fifteen. No longer a trainee, she is the witch of the hills. She spends her days and nights delivering babies, setting broken limbs, bandaging sores, clipping toenails and doing a hundred and one other thankless tasks for the people of the chalk. Just occasionally, she also gets to eat, sleep and do a little bit of magic.

But someone somewhere doesn't like her very much. And they've woken up some old fears, and the fears are spreading. Witches are being threatened again. In fact, anyone with books with strange symbols and languages, or a cat, or a warty nose is becoming a target for hate. And the Thing - a Thing with no eyes but a lot of hate - is coming after Tiffany...

Tiffany has grown up a lot in this book: she's a little worn down by the responsibility, and she's suffering the normal romantic tribulations of a fifteen year old girl. The story is very focused on her, and her role within her community. That won't be to everyone's taste - the Tiffany-must-beat-the-supernatural-threat plot is only one of many, and if one thing disappointed me slightly it was that the final confrontation was resolved without much suspense and drama.

The supporting characters were strong, both the old friends and the new characters, and the Thing chasing Tiffany was wonderful horrible, in part because of its subtlety. The character development of Tiffany herself, of Roland and of the new characters Letitia ("Halfway between a salad and a sneeze") and Preston ("When I'm on night duty and somebody comes to the gate, I have to say 'Who goes there, friend or foe?' To which, of course, the correct answer is 'Yes'.") is excellent.

All in all, I think this a wonderful addition to the Tiffany Aching series.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 31:73

#107: Ah, I did not realize that one was in the Tiffany Aching series, the only one of Pratchett's I can say that I have enjoyed a bit. I will look for it - some day :)

You've just reminded me that I haven't read anything by Prachett for a long time ... it's time to rummage through my TBR Tower and see which Prachett books I still have in there

just popping in to be sociable... I have missed too many post to catch up :P

Mmm, can't wait for I shall Wear Midnight to get here to the States! Yum!

>98 Eat_Read_Knit: Exactly -- we almost drove 40 min each way out of our way to go back and get a photo so we could make a scrap page with it! LOL

#107 Glad you enjoyed that one. I have added mine to the TIOLI wiki too and will hopefully start it soon.

#108 Yes, it's number 4 in that series. I liked it a little less than The Wee Free men, but a little more than A Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith.

#109 *Gasp* What a shocking oversight! I hope there's something good lurking in the TBR.

#110 Hi Kath

#111 How long is it now? A month, or six weeks or so? It's so much harder waiting for books to come out when you know they're out already somewhere else, isn't it?

#112 I'm glad I haven't just been failing to notice them!

#113 I hope you enjoy it too.

105. Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name - Vendela Vida

Genre: Literary Fiction
Published: 2007
Pages: 266
Acquired: July 2010, Amazon sale
From the (3 month+) TBR pile? No
Why I read it now: TIOLI challenge

Rating: 4/5

What's it about? When Clarissa Iverton is 28, her father dies. Or rather, the man she thought was her father dies. As she is sorting through the house after the funeral, she finds her birth certificate - which tells her that she was born in Finland and her real father is a man she has never heard of. Angry and grieving, and distressed by the discovery that her fiancé knew about her parentage when she didn't, Clarissa sets off for Finland to discover the truth about her father and about herself.

Comments: Vida's spare, almost clinical, prose serves the story well: it is haunting and compelling despite its lack of warmth, much like the landscape in which much of the story takes place. Clarissa isn't always a pleasant character - she doesn't always cope well with what she discovers, and her judgement isn't always wise - but she is very well portrayed. There are few surprises as the plot unfolds - most of the major developments are hinted at in advance - but the narrative is nonetheless absorbing. Not a cheerful read, but recommended.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 31:74

#115: I already have that one in the BlackHole. I will have to get to it soon!

Can I fit in the Vida book? I have at least already bought it.

#116 Hope you enjoy it, Stasia.

#117 I found it very readable and got through it pretty fast: you might manage it.

On September 1, I said of the Harry Potter series: I'll definitely carry on with the series at some point.

On September 2, I said I'd picked up a second-hand copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire but added: Not going to read it just yet, though.

Late last night I wanted something to read in bed. The two books closest to hand were Goblet of Fire and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. Since Jacob de Zoet is a heavy hardback, I thought I'd read a couple of chapters of the Harry Potter. I wasn't planning to read it yet, but to find something else I'd have had to get out from under the covers...

I can’t believe I did this. *Buries head in hands with shame*

I had stuff I needed to do today. *Sobs*

106. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - JK Rowling

Genre: YA Fantasy
Published: 2000
Pages: 636
Acquired: Charity shop, last week
From the (3 month+) TBR pile? No
Why I read it now: I tried not to, dammit, but my willpower was insufficient

Rating: 5/5

Plot in one sentence: After a summer holiday enlivened by a trip to the Quidditch world cup final, Harry sets off for his fourth year at Hogwarts where he encounters danger, girls, more danger, low-life tabloid journalists and even more danger.

Comments: Definitely my favourite of the series so far: far more mature than the previous books, and the pace and plot were sustained well over the longer book. And yes, darker than the earlier books too, but still a lot of humour and entertainment in there.

But the next one will have to wait until I come across second-hand copy.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 31:75

Ha ha ha! They are terribly addictive so don't worry. :)

Haha, and with that I think I can officially welcome you to the Harry Potter fan club! :P

I'm glad you liked it so much Caty. I hope you continue to like the series when you can find copies to read! :)

I'm sitting here with my mouth open at the thought of you reading a 636 page book inless than 24 hrs!! I don't know how to do that, darn it.

I even got 8½ hours' sleep last night. And cooked a proper evening meal.

And ended up with a headache, probably from staring at the pages all day...

ETA: And failed to get *any* of my paperwork done.

#119: Hah. Yeah, that was the turning point in the Harry Potter series for me when I went from "these are lots of fun" to "Holy Crap On A Cracker!"

Welcome to the Harry Potter club! My local charity bookshop occasionally has copies of the later books in the series. Is it helpful or not if I look out for them for you?

I seem to remember they always used to release the new books at midnight on Friday evening (or should that be midnight on Saturday morning) so I would just make sure I had a clear Saturday, pick the book up and read all day.

#124 That was it exactly.

#125 Thank you very much for that offer, Heather: it's very kind of you and I really appreciate it. However, since I volunteer two half-days a week at our local charity bookshop down here, and we also get copies in fairly regularly, I expect I shall be able to pick them up fairly soon without putting you to the trouble.

Glad you enjoyed the latest installment of HP. LOL

Good comments for Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name, pleased to know that someone else enjoyed it.

Loving the Harry Potter love:) At least you don't have to wait for them to be published! I hope the next books turn up for you soon.

#119: my willpower was insufficient

I say that a lot too! Glad you enjoyed your HP book, Caty.

#127, 128, 129 - Thanks!

107. When the Emperor Was Divine - Julie Otsuka

Genre: Historical Fiction/Literary Fiction
Published: 2002
Pages: 144
Acquired: BookMooch
From the (3 month+) TBR pile? Yes - it's been here since March
Why I read it now: TIOLI 'title in the title' challenge

Rating: Tough to decide: I'm wavering between 3½ and 4 out of 5. I'm going for 3½ out of 5, though a little reluctantly because 3½ makes it sound mediocre when it isn't. However, I liked it less than any of the other 4s I've read this month and I think there's enough of a difference to merit a distinction. Call it a high 3½. 3¾ rounded down.

What's it about? In 1942, a Japanese American family - a mother and her two children whose names we never learn - are taken away from their home and sent to an internment camp in the Utah desert, classified as enemy aliens. Imprisoned for three years, separated from their husband and father and rejected by those they called friends, their family, home and identities become casualties of war.

Comments: The anonymity of these characters is very effective, and this story is a powerful testimony to the damage that is done when we divide people into us and them, and proceed to demonize, denigrate and disenfranchise them. (And let's face it, that's something we never seem to learn not to do. Sadly.) The writing is good - very evocative - and there are some wonderful details in the characters' actions and in the family situation.

However, sometimes this felt more like an exercise in creative writing than a fully developed novel - something to showcase techniques as much as a story to be told and characters to be given voice. The gaps in the narrative, and its brevity, made me feel that there was something missing, and the whole thing felt a little too self-conscious. Powerful, recommended - but not flawless.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 32:75

Edited to change my mind over the rating. I'm indecisive like that.

#130: Powerful, recommended - but not flawless.

I agree with you about that one. I would call it 3 3/4 too. I enjoyed it when I read it - I thought the matter-of-fact tone throughout the book suited it well.

Interestingly enough, I JUST checked When The Emperor Was Divine out from the library earlier today. I'll be reading it later in the month, once I knock the bigger books out first. :)

#131 I thought the matter-of-fact tone throughout the book suited it well.

I agree: it's very understated, which works. I'm sure there are books out there dealing with this or similar subjects that are filled to the brim with histrionics, high tension and drama, but this works better without them.

#132 I hope you like it, Stephen.

I seem to be alternating serious reads with frivolous YA books this month:

108. The Secret Countess (AKA The Countess Below Stairs) - Eva Ibbotson

Genre: YA Historical Fiction, possibly YA Historical Romance
Published: 1981
Pages: 344
Acquired: Charity shop, August 2010
From the (3 month+) TBR pile? No
Why I read it now: TIOLI 'title in the title' challenge

Rating: 4/5

Plot in one sentence: Forced to flee the Russian Revolution, Countess Anna Grazinsky takes a job as a maid in an English country house, where she hides her origins and tries not to fall in love with her engaged employer.

Comments: This is good historical fiction pitched at YA level. It deals with the effects of World War One more than with the Russian Revolution, but both are covered, as is the rising popularity of eugenics in the period.

The characters are endearing (except when they're not meant to be), the plot is well paced and entertaining, and the writing is excellent. There's a healthy dash of humour as well. Mostly the romance element is a background feature, although it takes over somewhat at the end. This was heading straight for a score of 5 - until the convoluted manoeuvres required to give Anna her happily Ever After got too silly and the whole thing got far too saccharine. It was good, but it gets a one star deduction for morphing from historical fiction with a bit of romance to implausible schmaltz.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 32:76

Caty, I really admire the way you review books, especially the 'plot in one sentence.' That's all I need to know about the book; I'm much more interested in knowing what other people think about the book.

#133: Rats. My local library does not have that one.

#108. Ooh, glad to see your positive review for that one. I've been keeping my eye out for it and will continue to do so.

Hi CatyM, some great books and reviews here ! I've had Cloud Atlas sitting there for a few years, your review has tempted me to read it soon !
Also with Divakaruni I rated her The Mistress of Spices highly and will read Palace of Illusions after your review, thanks !

Somehow I have managed to go over 10 days without completing any more books. I'm not entirely sure what I've been doing with myself, because I feel as though I've been reading a lot. I must pull myself together and get something finished.

#134 Thanks, Donna!

#135 :( I hope you manage to find a copy somewhere.

#136 I hope you enjoy it when you do get a chance to read it!

#137 Thanks! I hope you enjoy Cloud Atlas. I have The Mistress of Spices in the TBR pile: I am determined to get to it soon.

Edited for typo

I am really late to the party, but I loved your review of I Shall Wear Midnight. I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Thanks, Luxx. I hope you enjoy it too.

Caty

I'm sorry to be so far behind on the threads, especially since yours is one I enjoy tremendously.

Linda, I don't think you've missed much!

109. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Jean-Dominique Bauby

Genre: memoir
Published: 1996
Pages: 139
Acquired: Borrowed
From the (3 month+) TBR pile? No
Why I read it now: I was bored. It was there, it was short, and it has been on my wishlist for years but I've never worked up the enthusiasm to buy it.

Rating: 4/5

What's it about?The memoir of a man who was left with locked-in syndrome after a brain stem stroke at the age of 43. He dictated the book to an amanuensis by blinking when the correct letter of the alphabet was read out.

Comments: Interesting, but not gripping. The language is poetic - probably too much so for some, but I liked it. I also liked the focus on the experiences and emotions rather than medical detail. It was definitely worth reading, but not the massively inspirational experience that some people led me to expect.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 32:77

I saw this movie a few years ago and really liked it, though it is really sad. It's been on my wishlist for awhile too so I'm glad it's worth reading.

#142: I own that one! I wonder where I put it? *muttering to self*

Good review, Cat. I loved this book and still have it. I know there was a movie but I haven't seen it. I am afraid it may not be as good as the book.

#143 It's definitely worth reading, Marie.

#144 "Do you remember where you were when you last had it?" (When is that ever a helpful question?!) Hope you track it down.

#145 Thanks. I haven't seen the film either. I can't imagine how they could turn that kind of narrative into a film - although I thought the same about 84, Charing Cross Road, and loved the film.

How have I gone so long without posting on your thread Caty? The Eva Ibbotson book sounds like great fun so I have added it to my wishlist.

#146: Oh, I know which room it is in. My problem is which stack is it in!

#147 It's been two whole weeks! *sniff* Twenty whole posts.

I feel so... *sob* neglected.

*Wails* How could you abandon me?

*Blows nose very loudly*

*Hiccough*

;)

You haven't been missing much, Heather. Hope you enjoy the Ibbotson book.

#148 Well, at least if you know which room it is that narrows it down to about 47 stacks, no more than a couple of thousand books to look through.

I don't feel like I'm in a reading funk at all, but somehow I'm just not reading much or finishing anything at the moment. Hopefully I can get something finished in the next couple of days: I'm off to Wales next week for a residential for my course, and on the basis of the residential back in the spring I shan't get much reading done while I'm there.

Have a great time in Wales, Caty.

I know what you mean about not finishing anything. Big tomes do that to a gal.

Caty

Would you mind posting photos of Wales? My father's family was from Bangor Wales

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangor,_Gwynedd

I hope to go there some day.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly omg... I think I would need prozc after reading that one. :P

Where in Wales? Have fun.. don't just work !

#151 Thanks, Stasia.

#152 I'll try to take a few, Linda.

#153 Lampeter. If it's like the last session, there will be lots of fascinating lectures and plenty of work, but also some excellent food and nice people.

I'd love to go to Wales some day. Of course, my mental images were all formed by "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain".

#149 I had no idea it had been that long! I must have slipped back into lurking mode because I've definitely been reading your thread in between.

Hope the conference goes well and the lectures are fascinating, the people nice and the food good!

I have made absolutely no progress with my current tome (The Count of Monte Cristo). I'm hoping some uninterrupted, less tired reading time on holiday will help me finish.

CatyM...today's your lucky day! I'm unlurking on all the posts I'm following just to let you know that I'm still here. Have enjoyed your comments and your reading. I will say that The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was one of my favorite reads a couple years ago...it's an exquisite book.

*wonders how things are going*

142: I love your reason for reading it!

150: I feel as though I ran through this month (which I now see has five days left) just reading and reading and reading. Of course, there are other times when I can't settle down to much of anything.

I hope your Wales journey is safe and productive...and do come back and tell us about the food.

#155 I liked that film: fluffy but entertaining.

#156 I do that with other people: lurk, then realise I haven't posted for weeks. Hope you get chance to spend some quality time with the Count on holiday!

#157 Hi Tina! Nice to see you again. :)

#158 Hi Kath.

#159 Thanks, Gail. Strange how these moods take us, isn't it?

Some very fluffy comfort reading over the few days, thanks to a migraine and some other stuff. Nothing major - the migraine was the most significant, and on the migraine scale the ones I get are very minor - but enough to rule out reading anything that required concentration.

110. The Hired Husband - Judith Stacy
Historical Romance set in Los Angeles, 1897. Meh. Decent characters but not much done with them; flimsy plot. 2½ out of 5.

111. Trusting Ryan - Tara Taylor Quinn
Contemporary Romance. Not exactly cheerful - major themes include sexual assault (NOT between the lead characters, and not graphic), teenage pregnancy, abortion, family members with depression, and adoption - but notable for the fact that the heroine is significantly older than the hero. More substance than your average fluff read, and actually not bad: scrapes a 4/5.

112: The Case of the Missing Books - Ian Sansom
Not much of mystery, and the humour didn't work for me a lot of the time. It was better than I thought it was going to be after the first 80 pages, though: if you can get past the poor Cold Comfort Farm imitation, it passes a few hours, and there are some amusing moments. This one scrapes a 3/5.

#160: Sorry to hear about the migraine, Caty. I hope you are feeling better now.

And I'm back after only a day! Sorry to hear about your migraine, they're horrible however minor on the scale.

#161 *Calculates when Stasia posted* I was feeling fine by then!

#162 Thanks, Heather.

And I'm back from Wales. The lectures were very good, and I have been very busy. I particularly liked the session Achieving success on your MA essay, which explained why writing an essay is like making an oatmeal chocolate-chip cookie, and involved the eating of said cookies as part of the learning-to-plan-the-essay process.

The non-lecture-visual-aid food was excellent, too, although three-and-a-half days is just about the maximum time I can manage three cooked meals a day, and probably longer than I ought to. Particularly notable were last night's lamb tagine with apricots and Tuesday's chocolate pudding.

I don't have any more completed books to comment on, and I didn't get round to taking any photos. Sorry.

Off to deal with my 51 emails (far fewer than I expected!) and catch up on some threads.

Glad you are back safe and sound, Caty!

#164 Thanks, Stasia

Right. September summary, and then I shall be all caught up.

Total books: 11
Books from TBR pile: 5

Total pages: 3456 (a number I'm finding very amusing: I couldn't have got that total on purpose if I'd tried!)
Total pages for 2010: 32,424

Books by male authors: 3
Books by female authors: 8

Mean publication date: 2001

Author nationality:
UK: 5
US: 5
French: 1

Genres:
Crime: 1
Romance: 2
YA Fantasy: 3
Historical Fiction: 3
General Fiction: 1
Memoir: 1

TIOLI:
8 completed:
1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - JK Rowling (Education)
2. I Shall Wear Midnight - Terry Pratchett (Paranormal being)
3. Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name - Vendela Vida (N/S/E/W)
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - JK Rowling (Education)
5. When the Emperor Was Divine - Julie Otsuka (Title in the title)
6. The Secret Countess - Eva Ibbotson (Title in the title)
7. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Jean-Dominique Bauby (LT 3 letters ing)
8. The Case of the Missing Books - Ian Sansom (Controversial)

Best reads of the month:
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
I Shall Wear Midnight
Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Currently reading pile at the end of the month: exactly as at the start of the month, except the Harry Potter has been replaced with Aberystwyth Mon Amour.

Nice summary, Caty! One of these days I might do one - or not :)

Welcome home from Wales. It sounds like your conference was a good one.

Sorry to hear about your migraine. There are quite a few of us in our group who suffer from these wicked, nasty things!

Co-incidentally, I'm posting at 4:14 a.m. because I have a migrane that awoke me from a deep sleep. Ah, blessed fiocet will kick in about 15 minutes from now.

Fluffy reads are wonderful when you are not up to par.

I hope you feel better soon.

113. Sourcery - Terry Pratchett

Genre: Fantasy
Published: 1988
Pages: 270
Acquired: September 2010
From the (3 month+) TBR pile? No
Why I read it now: I want to finish reading the Discworld series this year.

Rating: 3½ out of 5

From the back cover: There was an eighth son of an eighth son. He was, quite naturally, a wizard. And there is should have ended. However (for reasons we'd better not go into), he had seven sons. And then he had an eighth son ... a wizard squared ... a source of magic ... a Sourceror.

Comments: The Rincewind stories are not my favourite Discworld books, but this was okay. There's not the social comment that you get in the later books, but it's a nice adventure with some humorous moments and nice puns.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 35:78

Thanks, Stasia. Summarising your books could be quite a task!

Thanks, Linda. The migraine is now long gone, fortunately. I hope yours is soon gone as well!

Glad your headache is gone, Caty, and I hope Linda's is now a thing of the past as well.

Have any of the LT sufferers of such tried the nasal spray thing that you use the instant you recognize the symptoms? My daughter used to have them badly (fourth straight in the female line to be so blastedly burdened); she had quite good success with whatever this medication is; unfortunately I can't remember the name of it at all. Mine stopped almost completely after eye surgery and glasses with a prism in one lens. They (the headaches, that is) are truly excruciating misery. My sympathies to all who have them. I dread the day when one surfaces...

Caty, I'm glad your trip went well and understood completely your remark about three cooked meals per day. It's just too much food unless one is, of course, doing farming or other strenuous work.

I'm trying to get into Pratchett more; some I love, some not at all. Do you have any recommendations other than the little series of which I Shall Wear Midnight is the fourth installment?

#170 I've never tried the spray, or anything else specific for migraine. I usually find 24 hours or so on the maximum dose of over-the-counter ibuprofen or aspirin gets rid of it. 48 hours tops. Paracetamol has no effect at all.

As for the Pratchett, I favour the City Watch series (especially Guards! Guards! and Thud!), and quite like the Industrial books (especially The Truth and Going Postal). I'm less keen on the Rincewind, although I loved Unseen Academicals, and I find the Death and Witches books variable.

Mostly, though, I think it depends on what chimes with individual taste - there'll be plenty of people who favour Rincewind and Death, and can't stand Moist von Lipwig - so it will be a case of working out which you like most. And to that end, if you haven't seen it before, the reading order guide can be quite useful in showing how they all fit together.

The Industry books are my favorite Pratchett books as well, and the Guards books come in pretty close. Death and Susan are some of my favorite characters, but I'm not as enthralled with their books. My partner likes Guards books and wizard books, my best friend prefers the witches. There's a little something for everyone...

171 and 172: Thanks to you both for the recommendations. Guards! Guards! seems to be a pretty universal favorite among those who have similar tastes with my own. And the reading order guide is really helpfu.

#173 I hope you enjoy that one, Gail.


114. Bet Me - Jennifer Crusie

Genre: General Fiction/Chick Lit/Romance
Published: 2004
Pages: 469
Acquired: About 2004, probably
From the (3 month+) TBR pile? Nope
Why I read it now: I wanted something both light and intelligent, so I pulled this one off the shelf for a re-read. For about the eighth time.

Rating: 5/5

Comments: Yes, this book is pink. (Okay, yours might be blue. But mine is pink.) Yes, it has shoes on the cover. Pink and shoes.

You know it and I know it. This means chick lit.

But this is the apogee of chick lit. This is chick lit for people who do not read chick lit. This is a great, multi-layered, character-driven story packed with humour and style that just happens to be centred around a boy-meets-girl story and to mention, on occasion, shoes.

Minerva Dobbs is 33, fairly sensible, a conservative dresser, risk averse but mostly comfortable in her own skin. Being sensible, Min she knows she'll never be skinny, but she also knows her appearance will never break mirrors, and once her sister's wedding is over and her mother gets off her back about being able to fit into her bridesmaid dress she'll be going back to eating butter and doughnuts with a (nearly) clear conscience. She has wit, intelligence, a good (if slightly dull) job and and very good friends. She is, moreover, a nice person.

She also has a horrible ex, David. The thing about David she really hates is not the fact that he dumped her because she wouldn't sleep with him (although she's not precisely pleased about that), but the fact he did it three weeks before her sister's wedding: now, her mother is nagging her about being dateless as well as being too big for the bridesmaid dress. David was a toad, but he was a toad that was keeping her mother happy. Even toads have some redeeming features.

In a fit of drunken amphibian pique, David bets his business acquaintance Cal a serious chunk of money that Cal cannot seduce Min within a month. Cal tries very hard to tactfully decline the bet, being willing only to bet a pittance on being able to take Min to dinner. He's so tactful, though, that his friends don't notice he's declined the bet.

Cal also has a horrible ex. No, that's possibly unfair. Cal has a deluded ex, who thinks he's still in love with her. Like Min, Cal has wit, intelligence, a good job and very good friends. He is also a nice person. Yes, he takes Min to dinner on a bet, but he soon sees past her boring suit. Cal likes Min. A lot.

Min also likes Cal. But Min doesn't want to like Cal, because she overheard David making the bet and she doesn't realise Cal refused to join in. And this is where things start to get complicated, because Min refuses to take the situation lying down (pun totally intended).

And so Min and Cal's story unfolds, interwoven with several excellent and well-developed plots involving the families, friends and exes of Cal and Min, plus an insane cat named Elvis.

Altogether excellent. Intelligent and fun. And ignore the pink and the shoes: just because this isn't serious and depressing literary fiction doesn't mean it's superficial, inane or irredeemably girly.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 35:79

Edited to re-number correctly

I was ready to glaze over the review when I saw the book cover, but you make it sound so intriguing! She sounds like one of those relate able main characters that make the book enjoyable.

#175 Definitely: Min is a great character, and her personality really comes through in the book. There's a lot of depth to all the characters. I'm not going to pretend it's not in any way chick lit, but it's definitely the kind of book that also has (deservedly) broader appeal: I'd say it straddles the line between chick lit and general fiction.

Wow! You've made me almost want to read chick lit; didn't see that coming.

#174: I have read a couple of Crusie's books and enjoyed them, so the next time I want some chick lit, I know where to turn!

#174 I didn't bother putting that book on the wishlist. I went ahead and ordered it from the library. It may be just the thing to break the reading slump I've been fighting for nearly a month now.

#177 Only almost? ;)

#178 Stasia, I love her books, and I think this is one of her best.

#179 I really hope you enjoy it!

#180 I hope so - I've read one other Crusie book and loved it. I'm just disappointed that, according to the cover shown in the library catalog, the book I'm getting will be blue instead of pink!

#174: Bet Me's not a personal favorite of mine, though I do enjoy it, but I definitely agree that it is a great one for people who otherwise wouldn't look twice at "romance" or "chick lit." I've had lots of success with "You don't like romance? Try one of these!" with a variety of Crusie's books. Smart and funny has universal appeal.

#181: But the blue cover has the appropriately whimsical cherry shoes on it! Nothing to be disappointed about there.

#168 I think you summed up my opinion of Sourcery fairly accurately - some funny bits but far from Pratchett's best.

#170 For migraines I take some Anadin Extra (paracetamol, aspirin and caffeine I think) with the forehead strips you can get which cool your head down and a dark room. That usually works. I haven't heard of a spray.

#171 My favourites are also the City Watch books!

#173 Hope you enjoy Guards! Guards!, it's one of my favourites.

#174 It's pink - eek! See, I immediately thought that would mean I wouldn't like the book but your review makes it sound really good.

ETA: Correct horrendous you're/your mistake

Just stopping by to say hello. You've read quite a variety of books!

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly sounds like one I might like.

#182 Smart and funny has universal appeal. It certainly does, Tabatha! Which are your favourites? This whole discussion is reminding me that I haven't yet picked up Wild Ride or Crusie's latest solo effort.

#183 Never judge a book by its colour. ;) If you borrow it from the library, and try a minimum of 50 pages, then the worst possible outcome is that you don't like it and you've lost an hour finding that out...

#184 Hope you enjoy it, Terri.

If you borrow it from the library, and try a minimum of 50 pages, then the worst possible outcome is that you don't like it and you've lost an hour finding that out...

Very wise words!

186. :) Just repeating the advice everyone around here gives me when I'm dithering over whether to try something.

October 18th is my three-year Thingaversary, so according to the rules I get three shiny, brand new, guilt-free books this month. I'm pretty sure I shall fail on the guilt-free part, because I really shouldn't be buying books, but somehow I have a feeling that I shall end up with the three anyway.

At the residential last week, we were (as always) encouraged to pick and choose from the lectures on offer rather than stick purely to the 'official' programme for our course. (Some of us don't necessarily need much encouragement.) Anyway, I went to a lecture on Anselm's Proslogion, which I think was officially for the students on the Systematic and Philosophical Theology course, but which was very interesting. It was interesting to see how the theology and philosophy in Anselm's writing is also contemplative and devotional, and very different to the more analytical tone of Thomas Aquinas.

So after I got home I paid a little visit to Amazon, and my first Thingaversary present to myself is Anselm of Canterbury: The Major Works, which includes the Proslogion. Now I just have to find time to read it. And track down some secondary literature on the subject. And find time to read that...

#187: If you discover how to find time, would you let me in on the secret? I always need more time than what I have!

Catching my breath after reading through all 188 messages - I've been slow to catch up on your thread after my summer break and September slump. Now I can't remember all the interesting things I've read, but I have added Cloud Atlas and Let the Northern Lights to my wishlist for starters, and almost added Bet Me thanks to your review, despite the pink cover and the shoes! I'll certainly try to look out for Crusie as being a more satisfying writer in the chick-lit genre.

Interested to hear of your first choice for Thingaversary present. I had missed the thread about the rules, so thank you for drawing it to my attention:). I've only read excerpts of Anselm,as quoted by others - it must be interesting to give him proper attention. What other lectures did you opt for on your residential. And I wonder what your other two Thingaversary present books will be?

#188 Stasia, unless there's a giant red pause button on the side of the world somewhere, I think we're both doomed.

#189 I hope you enjoy the Mitchell and the Vida, Genny. I think I shall have to choose at least one ridiculously frivolous Thingaversary book to make up for Anselm.

Those who are not history/theology geeks - look away now. ;)

The full list of sessions:
~various administrative sessions on course options, using the library, how to write an essay
~Anselm's Proslogion: Proving God's Existence?
~The Prince's Guide to Cultivating Inner Stillness: Applications of Hesychia in Post-Byzantine Politics
~The Question of History and Historical Jesus Research
~Celtic Religions and Theology: Definitions and Approaches
~The Gospel of John: Its Puzzles, Riddles and many Surprises
~Radical Orthodoxy
~Hagiography, History and Pseudo-History in the Cults of Saints
~Parity, Equivalence or Incommensurability? Classical Anglican Teaching on the Ministry and the Eucharist

I'd have liked to go to Saint Augustine on the Trinity and to Christian Doctrine: The Divine Nature, but they clashed with other sessions. I forewent Actuality and Potentiality in Theology and Philosophy because, although it sounded interesting, I was fairly confident on the basis of previous sessions that it would be way over my head.

The sessions on Anselm, the Historical Jesus, Radical Orthodoxy and the Anglican Eucharist were particularly good, and the session on John's gospel was an interesting look at some of the big themes.

I'm with you on skipping Actuality and Potentiality. The others I have at least some vague idea what they might be about. Makes me wish I was back studying again - there's always so much more to explore.

But yes, I think a frivolous book choice is also called for!

#190:

#185: I love Welcome To Temptation, Fast Women and Agnes And The Hitman.

I just finished her latest solo book and I really liked it. It's a ghost story with a dash of romance.

Her last couple books have definitely been darker in tone and the romances play much smaller parts than previously, but the wit and humor is still in full force so I have been enjoying them.

I wasn't so keen on Fast Women (I liked it but didn't love it) but I am definitely with you on the other two.

I must pick up the newest ones some time soon: I shall have to find out when the paperbacks are due out.

Abandoning Legend in Green Velvet - Elizabeth Peters at p89/324 due to (i) annoying over-use of badly written dialect, (ii) extensive and irritating infodumping and (iii) stupid and irrational characters.

I suspect that, had I continued, I'd have been adding (iv) egregious caricature and (v) ridiculous plot contrivances to the list; it was too early to say for sure, but I wasn't inclined to read on and find out.

#195: I cannot say that I blame you about that one! lol

#195 Am wiping that from my mind as I have yet to try any Peters..
nothing personal ~

#196/197 I am still going to try one of her Amelia Peabody books as I'd planned, but I just couldn't carry on with this one. It has a much lower average rating than any of the Peabody series, so I'm definitely not giving up on Peters as an author.

Kath, I know lots of people like her, so hopefully you will be one of them.

It's always so difficult for me to verbalize why I don't like a particular book but you were really able to pin down why you disliked Legend in Green Velvet so well. Very good Katy. I'll be able to easily pass this one up.

#195 Hope your next read is better Caty.

#195...Other than that it was OK? You gave me my laugh, and cry, for the day. Like you I do like the Amelia Peabody series (although it took me a while to do so), so it is gratifying that you clarified it's not the author, just this particular one that engendered such a strong reaction.

#199 I'm not always able to articulate it coherently, Bonnie: I often find that if I dislike or am bored by a particular book, I have no idea why.

#200 So do I!

#201 I haven't read any of the Peabody books yet, Tina, although I do plan to. I'm optimistic I will enjoy them, in part because they seem generally much better liked than this one, and in part because I liked her non-fiction book Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs.

#202: Amelia Peabody is much more level-headed than the heroine of Legend in Green Velvet if I recall correctly, Caty. Admittedly, it has been a long time since I read LiGV so I cannot be 100% sure of that. Also, since it is a series, the characters of the Peabody books do change throughout (especially Ramses), and there is a lot of wry humor spread throughout as well. I thoroughly enjoy the Peabody series - the first book in the series was my introduction to audiobooks and I have been hooked on both the series and audios ever since.

I tried The Copenhagen Connection by Elizabeth Peters and felt pretty 'meh' about her as an author but it sounds like the Amelia Peabody series is worth checking out.

I think I will be avoiding Legend in Green Velvet...:)

#203 Thanks, Stasia, that's good to know.

#204 I've not come across The Copenhagen Connection, Marie. It sounds as though it ought to be interesting, but is likely to contain a lot of the things I disliked in Legend in Green Velvet.

115. Death of a Dentist - MC Beaton

Genre: Crime
Published: 1997
Pages: 228
Acquired: March 2010 via BookMooch
From the (3 month+) TBR pile? Yes
Why I read it now: I wanted something undemanding

Rating: 3/5

Plot in one sentence: PC Hamish Macbeth discovers the local dentist dead, and discovers no shortage of suspects in his hunt for the killer.

Comments: Meh. This was my first Hamish Macbeth story. I got on better with it than with Beaton's Agatha Raisin series, but I wouldn't go so far as to say I liked it. I didn't like the characters, and much of the middle section bored me. I have a couple of other Hamish Macbeth stories in the TBR; I shall read them, but beyond that I probably shan't bother with the series.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 36:79

Sorry to hear that you didn't care for Hamish Macbeth. Maybe he'll grow on you a bit after you read a couple more. Some are definitely better than others, but as a whole the books are written according to the same formula. They're not my favorites, but I like them because they're reliable and quick. Good for when nothing else quite appeals. Or as something light in the middle of a bunch of heavies. They're good on audio. And Hamish Macbeth is more enjoyable than Agatha Raisin IMO too.

I didn't like my first Hamish Macbeth book either. I didn't like any of the characters - I didn't even like Hamish himself all that much. But he was the best of the lot. I'm planning on giving him another try sometime though, in the hopes that he will grow on me.

I agree wtih Sandy (#206) The Hamish Macbeth stories are great in audio. Some of them are a bit hard to swallow, but they are the perfect way to put your finger in the dam of a overpowering reading funk, or to recover from a deeper read.

Hi Caty, wow you read some great books and I really love your reviews, and as someone else wrote earlier, especially the plot in one sentence pieces. I've already bookmarked loads of books just from your third thread alone.

#206, 208 I don't really get on with audio that well myself (just personal preference) but in the abstract it's good to know they work in that format.

#207 I did like Hamish, but I'm with you on the secondary characters.

#209 Thanks, Kiwi. I hope you enjoy the books you found!

116. Death of a Cad - MC Beaton

Genre: Crime
Published: 1987
Pages: 259
Acquired: WH Smith, March 2010
From the (3 month+) TBR pile? Yes
Why I read it now: To see if it was better than the other Hamish Macbeth book.

Rating: 3.5/5

Plot in one sentence: Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, daughter of the local laird and object of Hamish's affections, brings her fiancé home for an engagement party, and at said party an obnoxious guest is murdered.

Comments: It was better than the first one I read, but still not great. I liked Hamish more, and some of the secondary characters were okay. You know how some genre books are written to a formula, and you know perfectly well that they are, but they don't feel formulaic? This one felt formulaic. And with a couple of exceptions, including Hamish, I didn't believe in the characters at all. The whodunnit was quite clever, though.

I shall read the one or two others from the series that I have lying around, but probably shan't acquire more.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 37:79

Today is my third Thingaversary. After buying The Major Works of St Anselm as my first Thingaversary book, I have today acquired The Wizard of the Crow and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I think the Harry Potter is frivolous enough to offset St Anselm!

Happy Thingaversary! We must have joined about the same time...my 3rd is coming up in November.

Thanks, Angela!

Happy Thingaversary Caty and good selections. I've got The Wizard of the Crow on my shelf. It's gotten some raves from other LTers.

Happy THingaversary! Haven't heard of The Wizard of the Crow - that looks interesting...

Happy Thingaversary! It's always good to have a reason for buying books, not that it's ever necessary. :)

Thank you Bonnie, Genny and Marie!

Happy ThingDay! It's such fun reading your threads and watching your reads. You have greatly expanded my horizons (and my TBR pile). Okole maluna and enjoy.

ThingDay! Love that word. Have a great ThingDay and enjoy the new books.

Catching up, after a few weeks of missing your thread. Happy thingday too from me.
Backup to The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - this was a favourite read of mine and I recommend the movie - it is very good, French but with an American director, perfectly captures the essence of Bauby's lost life.

Thanks Tina, KiwiNyx and Kerry!

Tina, I shall remember your comment when I start feeling (as I often do) that my reading tastes and choices are very narrow, and take heart!

Kerry, I'm still a little sceptical about the film, but I might give it a go: since reading the book, I keep hearing good things about the film.

Just had a chuckle at the Amazon recommendations system: I wandered over to Amazon to check the price of the Diving Bell DVD with a view to possibly putting it on my Christmas list, and under the New for You section on the homepage I have a recommendation for a Lego Hogwarts. I know I recently bought Harry Potter 5 from them, but somehow I don't think I'll be playing with the Lego figures: I used to quite enjoy playing with Lego, but that was at least 20 years ago.

I'm also amused by the connection between Mrs 'Arris Goes to Paris, which I bought, and Purls of Wisdom, which they think I would like. And by the fact that the 'Frequently Bought Together: customers buy this book with...' suggestion on the Purls of Wisdom page is Auntie Mame. I wonder if anyone has decided to take up knitting on the basis of a recommendation related to a novel?

I get a kick out of the recommendations too, Caty, especially when I am doing Christmas shopping and looking for items for the girls. I then get all kinds of recommendations for stuff I would not look at twice!

Stopping by to wish you a belated happy thingaversary!

Hope you enjoy your Thingaversary books. HP 5 should be good and I've had Wizard of the Crow on my wishlist after a couple of recommendations in this group so I'll be interested in hearing what you think.

#222 Lego Hogwarts! That's the sort of thing that makes me wish I knew some children I could 'buy' it for and then play with myself. Although looking at the price, maybe not.

And now I can stop feeling quite so guilty about my unread Early Reviewers books.

117. The Holly-Tree Inn - Charles Dickens and others

Genre: Fiction, Short Stories
Published: 1855 (2009 Hesperus Edition)
Pages: 129
Acquired: Early Reviewers, April 2010 batch (arrived May 5)
From the (3 month+) TBR pile? Yes
Why I read it now: I'd been part way through for months, having ground to a halt after Dickens' somewhat tedious introductory tale, and was struggling to get interested again. The guilt of having an un-reviewed ER book from April was finally more than I could bear.

Rating: 4/5

ER Review: This collection of short stories was the 1855 Christmas edition of Dickens' Household Words. The seven stories by five different authors (Dickens contributed three) are presented as stories recounted to a snowbound traveller, whose own tale bookends the selection.

As you would expect, the collection encompasses a variety of themes and styles - there is a typically Gothic tale from Wilkie Collins and a piece in verse by Adelaide Anne Proctor - yet all are quintessentially Victorian stories. Some are better than others (I thought the contributions by Wilkie Collins and William Howitt were the strongest, and found Dickens' introductory tale a little tedious) but all are pleasant to read and they sit well together.

The 2009 Hesperus Press edition helpfully includes a short introduction, notes, and brief biographies of the contributors. It's also an attractive, high-quality edition, making a nice winter read for fans of Victorian writing.

Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 38:79

#223 I'm glad its not just me!

#224 Thanks Heather. If the Lego Hogwarts had been cheap, I might have been tempted to revisit my childhood, but not at that price. When did Lego get so expensive? (*Reminds self that 20 years' worth of inflation could conceivably have something to do with that, and tries not to feel like own grandmother reminiscing over buying something for sixpence three farthings...*)

There's always the Lego Quidditch match for £20, though.

Now, how old am I again...?

#225 I thought that one sounded interesting when I saw it listed for the ER programme. Glad you enjoyed it and now you can be guilt free until the next ER book arrives!

I have two books I need to read and review for ER but they're only from August and September. Hopefully I'll get at least one of them polished off this month.

#226 But the Leo Quidditch has hardly any proper Lego!

I do wonder whether children's toys are more expensive now or whether I was just blissfully (and selfishly?) unaware how much my poor parents had to shell out for my Christmas/birthday presents. I was really into the Sylvanian Families when I was younger and built up quite a good collection over the years.

#227 I have another ER book on the shelf from the August batch, but it didn't arrive until October 1st, so I have a couple of weeks before I can really start feeling even the tiniest bit guilty about that one.

But the Lego Quidditch has hardly any proper Lego

True!

I think, taking inflation into account, they're probably the same now as they were 20-30 years ago. I kind of knew the price limit where "No you can't have it: it's too much" kicked in for Christmas presents, but I didn't have much conception of either how much that sum of money really was and what else could be bought with it, or what the cumulative total of all the small presents was. And I don't think that was ununual: most kids seem to be pretty unaware of money, unless the family has particularly difficult financial circumstances.

(I'm still pretty rubbish at dealing with money, but I suspect that's a whole different thing.)

Happy Thingaversary! Mine comes up this weekend and I'm heading out to the bookstore this morning to buy two books released today by favorite authors, Lois McMaster Bujold and Connie Willis.

I have August and September ER books as well, but as neither has arrived yet, I'm not worrying about them.

Congrats on the Third Thingaversary and the books you bought. I have my fourth coming up in March and I'm already planning my buying spree!

Caty, you're making good progress on your TBR books. I noticed that you are almost at a 50:50 ratio. Of course, I had to count mine and was very happy to discover that of my 92 books read, 53 of them were books I own(ed). I've already passed some of them on. I need to continue in this vein because somehow those stacks are still growing!

Thanks, Roni. Congratulations on your Thingaversary! Those new releases were good timing.

Thanks, Donna. *Checks TBR stats* Well, I'm still quite a way from 50:50, but I am doing better!

#231: You are doing better, I am doing worse :)

>231 Eat_Read_Knit:: I'm going to stick to talking about books and leave the math alone. I looked at it wrong! This is what you wrote: Current TBR:non-TBR ratio = 38:79. I "interpreted" it as: "Current TBR:Total Books." My powers of observation are suffering today! However, it's still impressive that you've read 38 books on your TBR pile. And, that 117 books read is nothing to sneeze at either!

That short stories collection sounds very interesting. Had to laugh at the Lego comments. We actually own a bit of Harry Potter lego (my daughters love lego) and it is pretty cool stuff although ridiculously expensive. This is one huge upside to kids, the toys you're allowed to sudenly buy, no questions asked.

#232 It probably won't last: in a few weeks' time, it'll be the other way around.

#233 I should have been studying last night, but instead (and I really didn't have time - aargh. Bad me. I know better.) I was playing with graphs because I wanted to see how much better I am doing at reading from the TBR pile now than in the spring/summer.



This fascinates me, for reasons too long and boring to go into - but you can certainly see the effect of receiving books for my birthday in the spring!

#234 Sigh. The things my family is missing out on, given that none of my generation have reproduced yet! :)

Happy belated Thingaversary!

Amazon recommendations are a laugh, and Netflix recs can be just as bad.

234-5 - A Lego store recently opened in our mall, and my partner was delighted (we have two young boys, so Legos will invade sometime in the next decade, I'm sure).

#235: Somehow, I doubt it seeing that I have 60 library books here at home again :)

#236 I predict many years of lego-strewn floors in your house: watch where you step, it can be painful!

#237 :)

Start with a set that comes in a good plastic storage box - it's much easier when you're picking it all up each night,

Wow! I'm a little late here, but I must say, your charts are AMAZING!

I'm always surprised at just how many migraine sufferers there are in the group. There are a lot of us here.

>240 Copperskye: - I've thought of that, too. I wonder if there is a correlation between migraines and eye strain from frequent reading?

Oh god, I hope not.

Personal question, so I don't actually expect an answer .... but do our (female) migraine sufferers use hormonal birth control? I had chronic migraines from 16-21 (one a month for an entire week), and they almost disappeared when I stopped taking birth control pills.

Thanks, Joanne. Excel does most of the work, but I do like playing with the graphs. :)

I'll answer the personal question: no, I don't. However, I think there is supposed to be a confirmed hormonal link. I'm sure I remember reading that three times as many women as men get migraines, and that for some it is linked to the menstrual cycle or the pill.

I've never come across a link to eye strain in any of the stuff I've read on migraine. When I have eye strain, I get a completely different type of headache.

I also love the graphs Caty! At the end of the year I am going to follow your lead and go graph crazy on my thread :-)

#241 Yes to the hormonal birth control but I had my last bad migraine about 5 years ago (woo!) which was some time before I started taking the birth control.

I did come off one type of birth control because it seemed to be giving me headaches (although looking back I was also really stressed at work so it may have been that rather than the pills).

I know my doctor once tried to give me estrogen patches to combat my migraines, but they did little good. It was a huge relief when they stopped coming as frequently, and now I can usually turn to plenty of ibuprofen and rest (and, occasionally, a Maxalt).

Migraines are evil.

"Migraines are evil."

I completely agree!

Stopping by to say hello!

#243 Thanks, Heather. I shall look forward to seeing the graphs.

#246 *Waves hello!*

We had a bag of really nice children's books donated to the charity shop this afternoon, and I got intrigued by some of the titles. I am not putting these on my books read list, even though technically I did read them: The Incredible Shrinking Hippo (which had both me and the other volunteer giggling) and "Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth. The sloth book is by the author of the magnificent Very Hungry Caterpillar, which 27-ish years ago I would have told you was my absolute most favouritest book ever. The pictures were lovely - very bold and colourful - and if I had children I would definitely have bought that one.

I also revisited my childhood by flicking through (though not reading: I was there to work!) The Tiger who came to tea, a short Paddington Bear book (I think equivalent the first chapter/section from the original) and Tiny Tim. And now I have an urge to re-read Paddington Bear properly.

How old am I again? (Other than six days older than the last time I asked, during the lego discussion.)

Conor is obsessed with The Very Hungry Caterpillar - I'll have to look for the sloth book. I have some of my old Paddington books and a few I've acquired recently. And I'm about to order a couple of reprints of the Wombles books from The BookPeople (along with a bunch of other stuff, some for the kids now, and they will eventually grow into the Wombles!)

#247 Paddington Bear! I think these, like the Winnie the Pooh books, should definitely be read as adults as well as children. There's a lot of wisdom in WtP and Paddington and I have spent years trying to master my own 'hard stare' in the manner of Paddington Bear. I also feel a reread coming on and an urge to fill the gaps in my Paddington collection

ETA: And The Wombles - wow! I hadn't thought about the Wombles for years...

I have concluded that I definitely have to re-read Paddington Bear. But I have Winnie-the-Pooh here in the TBR waiting for a re-read, so Paddington will have to queue.

Ooh, just noticed it's time for a new thread. Hang on a sec...

Okay, here it is: http://www.librarything.com/topic/101232