souloftherose's (aka Heather's) 3rd 75 Book Challenge thread - the reading goes on

Third thread?!?

First thread and books 1-68, Jan-Apr here, second thread and books 69-150 here and my introduction is here




August
#144 The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
#145 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
#146 Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
#147 Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
#148 Graceling by Kristin Cashore
#149 Across the Wall by Garth Nix
#150 Robots and Empire by Isaac Asimov
#151 Un Lun Dun by China Mieville
#152 The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
#153 The Stars Like Dust by Isaac Asimov
#154 Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
#155 J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter
#156 A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters
#157 The Currents of Space by Isaac Asimov
#158 Apple of My Eye by Helene Hanff
#159 Storm Front by Jim Butcher
#160 The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

September
#161 An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah
#162 Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley
#163 Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
#164 I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett
#165 China Trade by S. J. Rozan
#166 Soulless by Gail Carriger
#167 Changeless by Gail Carriger
#168 Blameless by Gail Carriger
#169 Sapphique by Catherine Fisher
#170 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Burrows
#171 The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff
#172 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
#173 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
#174 Blindness by Jose Saramago
#175 This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart
#176 One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters
#177 The Genesee Diary by Henri Nouwen
#178 The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
#179 Winter Rose by Patricia A. McKillip

October
#180 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
#181 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
#182 Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
#183 Coraline by Neil Gaiman
#184 Mixed Magics by Diana Wynne Jones
#185 The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
#186 Q's Legacy by Helene Hanff
#187 Glory in Death by J. D. Robb
#188 The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
#189 Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
#190 The Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
#191 Twilight Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
#192 Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
#193 The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
#194 The Last Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
#195 The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
#196 The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston

Following you around, and first to post by the looks of it. :)

Hi there, welcome to your 3rd 75 (yes, I know you finished reading #152 a few days ago - I'm 12 books behind myself on write ups).

Got you starred! Looking forward to your review of Un Lun Dun.

You've got me wanting to do a re-read of the Asimov foundation books... Hmph. maybe I will!

Me too -- that is on my long term wish list, rereading most of the sf I read long long ago in a land far far away....

I am so very impressed both by the number of books you read thus far and the quality of the reads! Congratulations Heather.

Wow!!! I am envious of your already having read Windup Girl and *#@*)^ whatever the name of the shipwreck one is....... And 152!!!?????!!!!! At your rate I might actually read my library before I die in another 50 or 60 years! Congratulations for sure!

Found you again, Heather!

Found you and starred you! I'm amazed at the quantity of your reading... :)

Hi Heather! A little late with this response, but I had a similar reaction to reading Graceling. I liked it alright, but was a little surprised to see Katya held up as a role model by so many. Yes, she's a strong character, but she's got some deep issues, too. I thought Fire was better, though.

Hello, everyone! Lost my own thread for a while there as I forgot to star it or update the link I have on my profile page (face palm!).

Regarding the quantity of my reading (and I should point out that I am no Stasia and that a lot of the 152 books were short and mainly pictures) I've had a lot of time off work this year, my husband has long term health problems and for those and other reasons I don't really do much except read when I'm not at work. We actually went round to a friend's for dinner and a board game on Friday evening and I am sad to say that I spent most of the evening wanting to curl up on their sofa and fall asleep... But it was really nice to see them and I think things are getting better slowly.

Regarding the quality, I just read what you guys tell me to!

#8 Peggy, I'm still scared to work out how long it will take me to read through my TBR piles and wishlist. And I'm still incapable of going more than a week without visiting the charity book shop and leaving with 5/6 books so it's only going to get worse...

#11 Glad it's not just me on the Graceling front and glad Fire is better. I will get it out of the library at some point.

Reviews, reviews, reviews

#151 Un Lun Dun by China Mieville



I liked this one but didn't love it. It's a YA book about an alternative London (Lun Dun). Inspired by Lewis Carroll, Joan Aiken, Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. It was a very slow start by after the first third the story developed nicely. Other than that I can't think of much to say about it really. Just below a 4 star read for me.

#152 The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff



A sequel of sorts to 84, Charing Cross Road, this is Helene Hanff's diary of her visit to the UK following the publication of 84, Charing Cross Road. I found this a humorous record of the places she saw and the people she met on her visit, similar in some ways to Bill Bryson's travel books. Not as wonderful as 84, Charing Cross Road but still a keeper for me. 4 stars

#13: Now that you have read 84, Charing Cross Road and The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, you need to give Q's Legacy a try, Heather!

#14 It's next on the list! I am trying to read Apple of my Eye by Hanff first (it counts for the TIOLI challenge) and I'm struggling to get through it at the moment.

I am glad to hear that Q's Legacy is on your radar. It is probably my second favorite of her books.

I'm going to look for Q's Legacy - thanks Stasia. I really liked 84 Charing Cross Road but didn't enjoy The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street as much.

#17: I hope you can find it, Cushla!

#13 - I also ended up enjoying Un Lun Dun but not loving it. It was my first Miéville and does leave me really keen to try his adult books.

Oops, I am behind with reviews again!

#153 & 157 The Stars, Like Dust and The Currents of Space by Isaac Asimov



I have a great fondness for Isaac Asimov so although these were the worst of his books I've read so far I still enjoyed reading them. At some points they were so bad that they started being funny. The Currents of Space was slightly better than The Stars, Like Dust. So not recommended unless you are reading the complete works of Asimov or really want to read an example of some bad 1950s science fiction.

3 stars and 3.25 stars

#154 Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks



This one was better written than the last two but I enjoyed it less because of the frequent overly gruesome scenes which seemed completely unnecessary to the story.

This was Banks first science fiction novel and his first Culture novel and the best bits of the book were the bits about The Culture although these were two few and far between. I thought the first half of the book could have been left out entirely without any detrimental effect on the plot and I didn't care about any of the characters. So meh I'm afraid.

I've read The Player of Games before which I thought was superb so I know this novel doesn't represent Banks at his best. If you haven't read anything by Iain M. Banks before don't start with this one, try The Player of Games instead.

3 stars

#20: I think I will skip everything in that post, Heather. I hope you enjoy your next reads more than those!

I finished Consider Phlebas yesterday and probably enjoyed it a bit more than you, but do agree that The Player of Games is the better read. I really didn't enjoy the bit on the island with the Eaters.

#21 My next reads were really good, I will probably post the reviews tomorrow.

#22 The Eaters part was quite horrifying. The opening scene where he was drowning was also pretty grim. I think I wouldn't have minded quite so much if I hadn't felt that the story would have been no different if those passages had been left out.

#155 J.R.R. Tolkien - A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter



I don't read many biographies although this book left me wondering why I don't read them more often. This is an authorised biography and Carpenter was given access to Tolkien's papers and letters as well as conducting interviews with family and friends. The biography is very readable and Carpenter clearly felt a great deal of respect and affection for Tolkien which shines through when reading.

Although it's not possible to have a biography of Tolkien without mentioning his books this is more of a record of his life than a detailed criticism of the books he wrote. The only thing that annoyed me was that Carpenter seemed to feel he had to keep apologising for Tolkien's life not being 'interesting' enough for his readers. Tolkien lived a fairly normal life as far as I could see which was reassuring to this reader.

If you're at all interested in finding out more about the man who wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings then I would recommend this book.

4.5 stars

#24: I will have to see if I can locate a copy. Thanks for the recommendation, Heather.

#156 A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters



My husband is a big fan of Ellis Peter's Cadfael series and so I have been meaning to read them for a while and this month's TIOLI challenge to read a historical mystery was the perfect excuse to pick up the first book in the series (and it's a book acquired before 2010 - yay for reading from the TBR pile!)

Cadfael and some of his brothers from the Benedictine monastery in Shrewsbury travel to Wales to retrieve the bones of a dead Welsh saint in order to take them back to the monastery. Understandably the local Welsh residents aren't too happy about the remains of their Saint being taken away.

This is a very gentle read but not insubstantial. The solution to the mystery itself seemed secondary to the characters of the villagers and the impact on them of the monks' visit. I will be slowly working my way through the rest of the series.

3.75 stars

It's a great series and, quite fortunately, so long. :-)

That's one of those series that I keep meaning to get around to but simply haven't done it yet. I'll get to it one of these days... I often take this book on vacations, meaning to read it, and it sits in my bag, all alone... poor little thing.

#26: I enjoyed that one too, Heather. I am glad to see that the Brother Cadfael series has gained another fan.

I'm glad you liked the Carpenter -- I thought it was a remarkably good biography about someone who had lived a very quiet life -- he focussed on the right things -- T. the writer, with just the homelife necessary to round him out, don't you think? And his tenacity, that he lived all of his adult life with this story and developed it into something amazingly beautiful and coherent is thrilling isn't it? That draws me as much as the actual stories, maybe more now that I am older.

I also think I enjoyed Consider Phlebas more than you, Heather. In fact, Banks is high on my list of Important Writers of Hard Scifi. I do have to say that the section on the Eaters is the most disgusting thing that I've ever read - and I've stomached some pretty disgusting stuff. For some reason, it grabbed me on some unexplored, vascular level. Yick. My favorites are Excession and Use of Weapons. I haven't read any of his general fiction, but I have friends who respect that too.
I haven't read a Brother Cadfael in many years, but I think I must have most of them. They are certainly formulaic, but it's a formula that I enjoy, so I'm glad to know that they are lurking in the library.

#27 Well I'm looking forward to slowly working my way through the rest of them, with the emphasis being on slowly. I've lost track of how many different series I've started this year!

#28 Poor book! Maybe your next holiday will be the one when it gets read!

#29 Thank you! Have you read them all Stasia?

#30 I enjoyed the Carpenter much more than I expected to. I normally have to read non-fiction in smaller chunks but it was as readable as a novel to me. As you say, a quiet life, but a good life without giving the impression that it was therefore an easy life (or any easier than anyone's life is). I agree, reading about how much work he put into the stories and the worlds behind them will make them that much more meaningful when I reread them. It's also made me want to read some of his less famous stories now that I know more about why and when he wrote them.

#31 I had many indepth discussions with my husband about why I didn't like Consider Phlebas so much and so far I am in the minority at home and on here. For some reason it just didn't work for me. I do struggle with some of the more disturbing things Banks writes, I found those bits of The Player of Games hard too but in that book I thought they were more integral to the story so I was willing to bear with them I suppose. We have most of his sci-fi novels on our shelves so I am planning to read them all at some point, except Use of Weapons which my husband has warned me will be too disturbing - what did you think of that one? On his non sci-fi books I've tried to read and abandoned A Song of Stone which again was just too disturbing but my husband speaks highly of The Business which is also on my list.

And I have 3 more reviews to finish off my August reads but I didn't get to them today because I needed to finish The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende for the TIOLI challenge. Not sure what I thought of that one, starting to think that magical realism novels are not for me.

#32: Not at this point, but I imagine I will get to them all sooner or later, especially since the author of the books is deceased and not writing the series any more.

I've read all of Banks's novels, both the "M" sf ones, and the mainstream ones without the "M". Use of Weapons is generally regarded as the best of the Culture novels, but it's also quite a disturbing book. If you're really squeamish, then try Matter or Excession or Look to Windward. I don't recall anything especially gruesome in those three. My favourite Banks sf novel is Against A Dark Background, whic his not a Culture novel and is great fun.

Of the mainstream novels, I think The Crow Road is probably the best one, followed by Whit. Complicity is gruesome. A Song of Stone and The Business are among the weakest.

I've read the intro to the Cadfadel series, but haven't started the first book yet. I think I will enjoy the series once I start. :)

I read one of the Ellis books a while back and really enjoyed Derek Jacoby in the BBC series. He was perfect for the character of Brother Cadfael.

#33 That's my approach with all the series I keep starting, I'll get to them at some point!

#34 Hearing Use of Weapons described as the best Culture novel makes me want to read it anyway. We have all the other Culture novels you mentioned as well as Against a Dark Background so I will read those first and then see.

#35 By intro do you mean A Rare Benedictine? I couldn't decide whether to read that before the rest of the books or afterwards.

#36 It's been so long since I saw the BBC series. Maybe once I've read the books I will have to rewatch the TV episodes.

37- Yep, A Rare Benedictine. I liked it, but I've been told it's nowhere near as good as the books in the series.

You know your own stomach, Heather. I thought Use of Weapons was brilliant. In fact, I even reviewed it, so you can check and see what I thought on finishing it if you want to take the time.
I didn't read A Rare Benedictine first, and I'm not sure whether I've read it at all, so I don't know whether it makes a difference.
(Kudos to Derek Jacoby! I loved him in I, Claudius.

#39 Peggy your review has made me want to read it more! I will be sensible though and read the other books before making a decision. The husband has said he found the ending worse than the Eaters in Consider Phlebas.

And it is the 4th September and I have still not commented on my last few August reads, so without further ado:

#158 Apple of My Eye by Helene Hanff



Another one from my Helene Hanff omnibus. Helene is given the task of writing a book for visitors to New York city and as a lifetime inhabitant of The Big Apple realises that she has actually never got round to visiting most of the usual tourist spots. So she rounds up a friend and they 'do' New York together.

I didn't enjoy this as much as her other books but I think that's partly because I've never been to New York and I'm not really interested in visiting that city (apologies to any New Yorkers who read my thread). Having said that, Helene did successfully convey her own great love of the city and I would recommend this book to someone who had an interest in new York or who was planning a visit.

3.5 stars

#159 Storm Front by Jim Butcher



So I finally jumped on the Harry Dresden bandwagon! A kind of urban fantasy noir mystery starring a slightly inept, almost terminally unlucky PI (paranormal investigator) who just happens to be a wizard. This was a fun, light read and I could almost hear the Chicago accents in my head as I read it.

I've heard the series gets better as it progresses so I will get the other books out of the library at some point although I would say the first one was not a keeper for me.

3.5 stars

#160 The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende



I wanted to like this book, I really did, but I have come to the conclusion that magical realism and family sagas are not for me. I could tell the writing was really good but the book itself was a bit too weird and everyone was too unhappy/odd. So, the quality of the writing and my not really enjoying it have averaged out at about 3.5 stars (again). I'm glad I read it but it won't be one I'll read again and I may wait awhile before trying another Allende or any other Latin American fiction.

ETA: A " to fix the html

Hi, I followed you here. :)

I've never been to New York either and don't plan to visit any time soon, though it's perhaps my loss.

Regarding Tolkien's "boring" life, how does it compare to Lewis? Did he suffer from the loss of a loved one as well?

#41 Hello and welcome!

Tolkien lost his father when he was very young (3 I think) and his mother when he was 11/12 (don't have the book to hand to check the exact ages). I think the loss of his mother affected him a lot, Carpenter mentions that he struggled with patches of deep sadness throughout the rest of his life and attributes this to the fear that people would leave him as his mother had. I would really recommend it if you can get hold of a copy.

I haven't read a biography of Lewis and his autobiography Surprised by Joy is, guess what?, still in my TBR pile.

August summary

Books read = 17
Books read for TIOLI challenge = 16!
Pages read = 5,498
Ratio of male to female authors = 10:7
Books I own = 10
Library/borrowed = 7
Books I own acquired before 2010 = 1

August books of the month:

This month included some great non-fiction reads and some enjoyable but not stellar fiction.

Fiction/YA:
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Non-fiction:
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter

>42 souloftherose:: souloftherose,

Did Tolkien have health problems early in his life?

Maybe I really should read Carpenter's book, but I too have a sizable TBR pile.

#44 Yes, Tolkien was born in South Africa and the heat made him feverish and unwell (it isn't clear from the book what the exact illness was, possibly they didn't know) so he moved back to the UK for an extended visit with his mother and younger brother. His father was supposed to join them back in England but died shortly after they left.

I cam empathise with the problem of the sizeable TBR pile.

>45 souloftherose:: souloftherose,

Thanks for the information. Judging from his photo, he had a delicate constitution, perhaps a sensitive temperament as well. That's why I was asking.

We have just had the fantastic news that we are getting a cat on Tuesday!

From the Cats Protection website:



Erica
Female Tabby - approx 1 year old
I'm Erica and I'm about a year old. I had 3 kittens and there was no-one to look after us. I got very thin from feeding my babies because the only food I got was from scavenging. Then I found a lady who fed me in her garden and she told Cats Protection about us. She put my kittens into her shed to keep them safe from foxes, but I was wary of people so I had to be trapped. But now I am in a nice CP foster home. I am the friendliest girl - I love to be stroked and fussed. I am putting on weight now because I get plenty of food - 4 meals a day and a few snacks in between! My kittens are not quite ready to be homed yet, but once they are I would like a new home where I get lots of love and grub! My kittens are pictured in another listing.

We went to see her on Friday evening and she is so much more beautiful than the photo. We've been waiting to hear all weekend whether we can have her and they called today to say yes!

Lovely news about your cat adoption - she looks adorable.
Please don't give up on Latin American fiction just because of Isabel Allende, I've only read one of her books and will not be rushing to read any more. Try something by Mario Vargas Llosa.

Nice kitty! :)

Wonderful news, Heather!

Hooray! She looks like a lovely cat. :)

Kudos to you for rescuing a beautiful kitty. If my allergies weren't so bad, I'd have a whole house full of rescued kitties!

What a beautiful cat! We just rescued a one year old cat also. I hope she brings as much joy to your home as Oliver has brought to ours.

Congrats on your kitty!! Ours was a street rescue and she's just wonderful.

I'm a fan of Cadfael too... easy, undemanding. Met it first through the TV not realizing it was based on books, so when I saw one I grabbed it.

I have those old Asimov bad SF too -- and I enjoy them LOL

Congratulations, Heather. She looks just beautiful!

Thank you for all the cat congratulations :-) I am both excited and nervous about going to pick her up tomorrow, it feels like a big responsibility. I am going to take some more photos when we have her home because she is more ginger/red than in the photo above. She's still very thin and will need lots of feeding up!

#48 I do have some Mario Vargas Llosa on the wishlist (Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter) and it hasn't been tagged as magical realism so I will give it a go!

#52 Allergies are rubbish Angela. I think I am allergic to dustmites (they've never done any tests so that was the doctor's best guess) but pets don't seem to make it worse so I am ok in that respect.

#53 We will have to swap cat photos!

#54 Does yours have a name yet Susan?! I think I am going to enjoy Cadfael, I have another one lined up for this month. I completely agree about the Asimov!

And first couple of books for September:

#161 An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah



A book of short stories by a new Zimbabwean author, I've had this checked out of the library for a while now after it was recommended by kidzdoc but was prompted to finally read it by CatyM's TIOLI challenge this month (and the fact that it was due back at the library on the 4th with no renewals remaining!).

I really enjoyed these stories. They were about the people of and life in recent Zimbabwe and there was a lot of variety in the types of stories and the people they focused on. I read it because it was about Zimbabwe but the writing was so good that I think I would have enjoyed the stories and found them interesting whatever the subject. I felt Gappah did a really good job of helping me to understand life in Zimbabwe without making it feel like that was what she was doing (if that makes any sense).

4.25 stars. Recommended.

#162 Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley



A really fun comic/graphic novel about the 23 year old Scott Pilgrim, a Canadian who doesn't have a proper job and plays in a band. There's a slightly surreal fantasy element to the story (in order to date the girl of his dreams, Scott must first defeat her seven evil exes who just happen to have superpowers). I enjoyed this a lot although unfortunately this volume of the comic ended with a 'To be continued...' which means I now want to read the next five volumes right now. Recommended if you want something light and frothy (in a good way).

4 stars

September plans

There are far too many books I want to read this month :-(

Books that arrived from amazon that I want to read asap:

I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett
Changeless by Gail Carriger
Blameless by Gail Carriger
And I also want to reread Soulless just because.

To many possible reads for the TIOLI challenges this month to list but shared read possibilities include:

Aberystwyth Mon Amour by Malcolm Pryce (reread)
China Trade by S. J. Rozan (Mount TBR)
The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff (library but been wanting an excuse to read it for ages)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin (Mount TBR)
This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart (seriously old Mount TBR)
Winter Rose by Patricia A. McKillip (just arrived via bookmooch)
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (seriously old Mount TBR)

Other reads
One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters (seriously old Mount TBR)
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson (last month from BM)
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (seriously, I started this in March for the group read and haven't picked it up since then)
Blindness by Jose Saramago (group read - Mount TBR)

Hmm, and there's another 10 or so I could read/would like to get to...

ETA: And I have The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot and Sapphique by Catherine Fisher (sequel to Incarceron out from the library.

I'm really looking forward to reading An Elegy for Easterly this month - although I probably won't get to it until the second half of September. We seem to have several TIOLI books in common this month, with the Pryce and Crispin as well as the Gappah and I Shall Wear Midnight.

Late to the party, but now that I've got you starred I'll go back to wishlist some of your recent reads. Most notably, the Helene Hanff's if I haven't already done so and the Cadfael series.

Congratulations on your imminent arrival!

Congratulations on being acquired by Erica! (By all means check out my profile pictures of Chibby, Elle, Tully, and Hilfy Bit!) Elle and her babies wandered up into our yard to get away from the other cats that a neighbor left when she moved. Another neighbor was feeding the whole bunch by agreement. We took in all three a week or so after our sweet Dandy died, and I don't think either of us has regretted it a minute. Cats take awhile to adjust, but patience and food and brushing and sweet-talk and loving all help.
Looking at your waiting list, I want to put in a word for Rozan. I don't think China Trade is her best by any means, but I have enjoyed the series. She alternates narrators from one book to the next. Good stuff!

Oh what happiness to have a new cat! I love her name too.

And what marvelous treats you have in your bookpile-- among them This Rough Magic and The Eagle of the Ninth all books I've actually REread -- and I don't do that much!

#58: Wow! Looks like you are going to be very busy in September!

Yes, our kitty finally got a name (we think it's the final LOL): Papanasi which is pronounced pap•en•osh -- it's a wonderful ROmanian dessert LOL

Thank you for all the messages - I have time for a very brief kitty update.

Since we brought her home the poor scared kitty has spent most of her time hiding under the bed in our spare room although she did eventually come out to eat and do her other business once we had gone to bed. Sadly the business got done on our rug rather than in the cat litter tray but (so far) everything else has been done in the cat litter tray (and as Dan pointed out, at least she didn't have an upset stomach!).

Then joy of joys - last night she came out and we had a lovely stroke and a bit of a play, but then kept me awake all night (again) miaowing until she finally settled down at about 5am in her new hiding place which is behind the laundry basket in our wardrobe. And she's still there and we think may have come out since but hasn't touched the food I put down for her at breakfast time.

She's absolutely gorgeous and I'm torn between hoping she decides to come out this evening for a stroke and knowing I need to get some sleep.... I will get photos at some point but at the moment we're just concentrating on not scaring her. She's still quite thin and was having four meals a day with the foster parents so I'm a bit concerned that she hasn't eaten today.

And I'm this anxious about a cat - how do people cope with babies?!

In book news, I finished Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson and I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett. Both very good and proper thoughts will be posted at some point. Currently enjoying The Count of Monte Cristo.

Ok, that was quite a long update. Apologies for the waffle, as you can probably tell I feel a bit lost about what to do with our poor Erica.

how do people cope with babies?!

Same except that the cat adjusts to the house and learns where to eat and do its business much faster!

I also meant to post that gray tiger with white trim is my favorite color of cats. Congratulations!

#67 She's actually got quite a bit of ginger/tortoiseshell to her as well but it doesn't show up in that photo. And thank you!

Good luck with Erica, Heather. I am sure she will adjust soon.

wonder if she'd like a cubby of her own? my folks made one for their cat in the bottom of dad's office closet and she likes it a lot. It's also the room in which she spends the night and where they have her food etc. She has free range of the house during the day, but actually lets them know now when it's time for her to go to bed. Guess she's not going to get to it until they shut the door :)

Gosh, well I was going to catch up on some reviews today but have been reading instead and early evening sleepiness has hit!

We think Erica is slowly adjusting, she is venturing out for longer each time and has started exploring some of the other rooms in the flat. The living room is still too big and scary for her! She was much less noisy last night and I'm hoping that will continue so I can catch up on my missed sleep!

#70 I think her own place would be a good thing but I'm not sure how we'd get her to go there at the moment. She has a few places she uses to hide away at the moment.

I've been reading easy books, China Trade by S. J. Rozan which I really enjoyed and currently rereading Soulless by Gail Carriger in preparation for reading my shiny new copies of Changeless and Blameless.

I hope Erica adjusts quickly for you, Heather. Sounds like she has made a good start with venturing out on her own.

Welcome to mommyhood, Heather! Erica sounds adorable.

Give Erica time--it's a huge change for her and she will adjust. A cubby can be a cardboard box, on its side, with the bottom flap taped up and the top flap open, and a towel in it. She'll find it if you put it near where she's hiding out.

Thanks for all the good wishes. Roni, I think we will try your cubby idea - thank you!

I think Erica is definitely settling in. She has stopped yowling at night (so I think it was either anxiety or establishing territory) and she has started playing which is so much fun to watch! Of course, she has completely ignored the cat toys we bought her and instead chosen a piece of polystyrene packing foam as her current favourite.

I have also managed to get a picture of her being cute

She does look cute! Glad to hear she is settling in, Heather.

Definitely cute!

HI Heather

I'm sorry I'm so far behind on your thread. I love the photo of your new cat. What beautiful markings. The burnt orange, gray, black, white and brown all come together in a lovely tapestry. I particularly like the way in which her legs are symmetrically banded.

#76 & 77 She is cute and really likes having her tummy stroked even though she is still very nervous of us moving around.

#78 Linda, please don't worry about being behind. I really like Erica's gingerness (being not a little ginger myself) and Erica is the Latin name for the heather plant family so she seemed the right cat for us to get!

Due to cat and pre-holiday tiredness I realised I haven't posted any reviews of my September books so I will try and get caught up now.

I have 4 days left at work this week and then I'm not back at work until the 7th October. I can't wait. We're going to Devon for 6 days to stay at a place called Lee Abbey which is a Christian conference centre in Exmoor but not an actual abbey. We're not actually going for a conference either, just a holiday (full board so no cooking - wooo!) and they have a library(!).

Here's a photo of the main building from when I went a couple of years ago (in May when the weather was beautiful - no idea what the weather will be like at the end of September).

First couple of books for September:

#163 Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson



This is (so far) a stand alone fantasy novel from Brandon Sanderson who is one if my new favourite fantasy authors. Sanderson is renown for creating unique magic systems in his fantasy novels and Warbreaker is no exception. This time the magic system is based on colour and something called 'breath'. It sounds strange but the magic system is so well thought out and explained that the book could almost be a science fiction novel. And then there were all the usual plot twists that I've come to expect from Sanderson.

Whilst this didn't blow me away in the same way that his Mistborn series did this was still a very good read.

4.25 stars

#164 I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett



This is the latest in Terry Pratchett's YA series starring Tiffany Aching as a young witch and, sadly, I believe he's said it will be the last in this Discworld sub-series. I really enjoyed this one although I'm finding it difficult to explain why.

4.5 stars

Glad you are having a break--but what is going to happen to Erika while you are gone? Cat-sitter? She will adjust, whatever, but it's too bad it's so early in your relationship.

Best cat toy ever--crumple up those little stiff paper magazine inserts into balls and throw them for her!

I'm impatiently waiting for I Shall Wear Midnight to be released in the US.

#83 My parents live round the corner from us so they will come round to look after Erica (in payment for us looking after their dog when they go on holiday). When we got Erica from her foster parents we did mention our holiday but they seemed to think 3 weeks should be enough time before hand not to unsettle her. I'm feeling a bit less certain about it now as she seems to have taken longer to settle in than they expected (she had her kittens with her at the foster home and I wonder if that made a difference).

At the moment she seems to prefer having the flat to herself, she's much more confident when we're tucked up in bed so perhaps she's looking forward to it too? The cat books/web pages I've been reading say we should try and wake her up in the daytime by playing with her so she sleeps at night and we tried it today (now she's confident enough to play) but she has refused to budge from her hiding place under the sofa and has retaliated by not coming out at all so far this evening so I'm not sure that's helped.

Oh, Heather, how marvelous and maddening: a new cat! When I saw her picture I immediately fell in love. She'll have you and hubby trained in no time, I'm sure. I'm so glad you got her, as you obviously have the patience and love she needs.

Your reading list for this year is amazing. About Pratchett: did I read that he has Alzheimer's or was (one can only hope and pray) hallucinating and it was someone else? (Not that I would wish it on anyone; you know what I mean.) I became a fan of Tiffany Aching immediately upon meeting her, and like ronincats, I'm eagerly awaitin I Shall Wear Midnight.

Yep, I'd say that Erica has "cute" down pat (paw). When you get back, maybe she will have missed you.... What a gorgeous place for a holiday! Enjoy!

I could have sworn I posted a comment here to the effect that I was glad you enjoyed I Shall Wear Midnight as much as I did. Apparently I imagined it, so... I'm glad you enjoyed I Shall Wear Midnight as much as I did.

>47 souloftherose:: I loved Erica's story and the fact that you adopted her. Your love and patience will pay off in the long run. I can see a long and happy future for your new family! I love both cats and dogs, although we've only had one cat in our married life (of 42 years!).

I thought I was through with being tied down with a pet when our Yellow Lab died after a long happy life about 7 years ago. Well, six years ago, there was a Lab (almost white) dumped in our neighborhood. You guessed it. Lucky became ours after a futile search for his owners (bad people) or a new home. He wasn't shy at all; in fact, after the 'honeymoon' when his bloody paws healed, he decided to become Lord of the House and we had quite a time with his aggressive behavior, but he has settled in to be the perfect companion. I wish you the same happy ending with your Erica.

Edited to wish you a happy holiday!

I hope you have a wonderful trip Heather!

#87: That happens to me frequently, Caty. Nice to know I am not the only one.

Have a great trip, Heather!

Erica is such a beautiful cat! :)

#85 Hi Gail! I'm sure Erica will have us properly trained soon! Sadly Terry Pratchett has been recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

#86 She certainly does!

#87 Thank you Caty!

#88 Thanks for sharing the story about Lucky Donna. And I like the photo of him enjoying the chair in your library!

#89 & 90 Thanks for the holiday wishes - now only 3 days left at work and probably more than 3 days worth of work left to do...

#91 Thank you Angela!

#165 China Trade by S. J. Rozan



I really enjoyed this detective novel. Lydia Chin is a Chinese American PI, hired to recover some chinaware stolen from a local museum. Her colleague Bill Smith helps her out on the case and I thought the two characters were really well done and the relationship between the two was especially good. In some ways it reminded me of J. D. Robb's In Death series (I read Naked in Death earlier this year) but with less gruesomeness.

Definitely a series I want to continue with. 4 stars.

Finished catching up just in time to say hello before you're off to Lee Abbey.

I hope you have a lovely restful time there. I've never been but have always heard such good things about it. And I hope Erica uses the time well to continue settling in while you are away. She is beautiful, and I'm sure it won't take her too long to relax and feel at home with you and in the flat. I'd love to have a cat myself, as well as the dog - we always had both at home - but sadly I have developed a cat allergy so I have to make do with wheezing over friends' cats when visiting!

I'm so glad you enjoyed the Carpenter biography of Tolkien. That is one of the relatively few biographies I've read: in fact I read it precociously early at about age 12, straight after I read Lord of the Rings first time - and it was what inspired me to go and study Anglo Saxon, Norse and Celtic literature at university. I hope you do go on to read some of Tolkien's other stories - I love the various shorter tales like Farmer Giles of Ham and Leaf by Niggle.

And also glad you enjoyed the beginning of the Cadfael series. For me the original medieval murder mystery series. When I first came across them, it was shortly after The Name of the Rose had been published and been much hyped, and I thought it was someone cashing in on the idea of a monastic medieval sleuth. But when I checked publication dates, it was clear that Ellis Peters had been writing the series long before Eco's book. Very different of course - none of that over-clever knowing style of writing, just simple story telling, but she does it very well and with sympathetic characters. I think I've read them all over the years, though this was long pre-LT and I might have missed the odd one. Perhaps time for a re-read to check...

Look forward to catching up more when you return from your break.

I was bummed to hear that Prachett has fallen into the clutches of Alzheimer's. I am treasuring all the Prachett books that I have in my library.

Good review of China Trade, Heather. I haven't read anything by this author before so I'm going to add this to my obese wish list.

#93: Glad you enjoyed China Trade, Heather. I have only managed to read it and one other in the series, but it is a series to which I will return I have no doubt.

>93 souloftherose: & 96 I am a great fan of the Chin/Smith books, and I believe I've read all but one. I also think that Rozan improved over the course of the series. I can't understand why she's not better known. She certainly deserved her awards, I think!

#94 Hello Genny. I am so looking forward to Lee Abbey that I am slightly worried it will be a horrible anti-climax and not at all as nice as I remembered! Not that I'm the sort of person who worried about things... One of the best things was that there are frequent tea & coffee breaks between meals with cake :-) And we could always drive to the nearest town for a Devon cream tea...

Glad to hear you're also a fan of the Carpenter biography and Cadfael series. Some friends visited this weekend and returned The Summer of the Danes which was the missing volume in our collection and was causing us much confusion because we were sure we had a copy (and I could even remember what it looked like) but it wasn't catalogued on LT or on our shelves. But mystery solved!

#95 I know Caro, it seems selfish of me to mind though because I'm not thinking of his family or how it will affect him, just the fact that he might not write more books! I couldn't see any sign that it has affected his writing so far in his latest books although I think he has said he finds typing a lot more difficult now.

#96 & 97 I'm definitely joining the Rozan fan club. Based on how much I enjoyed the books I was surprised there are so few copies on LT and that the ratings seem so low.

Erica is a cutie for sure! Will you be leaving her alone when you vacation at the abbey? My two cats seem to be content when we leave for two weeks at a time and leave food and water in automatic feeders. A friend comes in to change the litter. They complain a little upon our return but they soon get over it. Have a great time, Heather!

Books #166-168

Soulless (a reread), Changeless & Blameless all by Gail Carriger



I'm going to comment on all three books in one post. I read Soulless earlier this year (way back in January) and have been waiting to get hold of the second and third books ever since. Once they arrived I treated myself to a reread of the first book to get myself warmed up.

These are light, fun books that intentionally do not take themselves too seriously. In an alternate Victorian period, the British Empire has risen to power because it has successfully integrated the supernatural vampires and werewolves into society to the extent that they act as special advisers to Queen Victoria.

The main character, Miss Alexia Tarabotti, is delightfully strong-willed, pragmatic and feisty as well as being renowned for having a figure slightly larger than is strictly fashionable (hurrah for non-stick thin heroines). There's a strong, gruff and handsome male character in the style of Mr Rochester (swoon), a delightfully air-headed best friend with a disastrous taste in hats as well as a posh British butler, parasols, dirigibles and other steampunk essentials.

Despite all the light-heartedness I realised that several characters have actually grown very dear to me and there was a chapter in the third book which almost had me in tears.

As you can tell, I really enjoyed these books, they're unashamedly silly but really good fun steampunk, paranormal romances. I have a sneaking suspicion that the author is either really like Miss Tarabotti in real life or would like to be and clearly she has far too much fun writing these books. They've been described as Jane Austen meets P. G. Wodehouse and although I wouldn't think they will ever have (or deserve) the status of Jane Austen's works I think that gives you some idea of the style of the books.

There are another two books due to be released in this series and they are lined up as must buys for me. All between 4-5 stars.

ETA: Bother, the covers are all different heights.

#99 Hi Lynda. we're going to leave her but my Mum will come round to refresh the food and water bowls and clean the litter tray. We will only be gone for 5 nights so hopefully she will cope.

I *love* the Paranormal Protectorate series... but I feel so impatient, I can't believe we need to wait a whole other year for the next book! Then again, we were definitely spoiled by having the first three release so soon next to each other. That's certainly not typical.

#102 It does seem a long time away - is it July?

I am having an 'I know it's not logical but I can't quite stop myself' complete panic about the cat. I can't find her. She wasn't about this morning when I got up for work which I thought was unusual but now I've got home Dan says he hasn't seen her all day. I've looked in all her usual hiding places, she doesn't seem to have used her litter tray or had breakfast (can't remember exactly how full her food bowl was this morning but she certainly hasn't eater her normal amount.) She shouldn't be able to get out of our flat. Where is she?

Lost cat after only two weeks, worst cat owners in the world ever.

Don't get too frantic Heather. She must be there somewhere. Under or above, she'll pop out when you least expect it.

Perhaps she's in a cabinet, closet, a room w/closed door? Good Luck!

ETA: cat face didn't work out.

I hope she shows her lovely face soon, Heather.

I'm sure she's around somewhere, Heather. Maybe just having a lovely snooze when you were looking for her, or thinking this is a game, and coming out only when you're not looking. I'm sure she'll pop up just when you least expect it.

Oh brother, can I ever sympathize! Check the closets very carefully and let us know!

Hope Erica turns up soon.

I've never been to Lee Abbey, despite it being only a couple of hours away. I hear very good things about it, though. I hope you have a good time!

Heather

Any news about your kitty? Did you find her?

Kitty update - she's back!

We looked everywhere then eventually went to bed hoping she was just being shy and would come out once we stopped moving around. Started to hear faint mewing noises which we eventually realised were coming from.... outside! Miss Erica had somehow climbed out of a window (we're not on the ground floor) and done some unscheduled exploring outside.

Dan went out to try and find her only to see a tabby cat with white paws run away very, very fast. So, eventually I went to sleep and Dan stayed up with food to coax her in and about 2am managed to convince her that it was safe to come up to him and then she realised that the door to our flat led to the inside of our flat which smelt all familiar and she ran in.

So she's back, miaowing away gently and seems quite pleased to see us. Phew!

Woot! Glad to hear that Erica has ended up back where she belongs. Great news, Heather.

Whew! What an adventurous kitty you have there. Glad you found each other and she is inside safe and sound.

What a relief. Brrrrrrrrr.

Hooray! Glad Erica is back home safely.

YAY!!! Bless everybody's heart, including Miss Erica. And special thanks to Dan who sounds like my kind of man. DH would do that - has done similar acts of kitty care.

Glad she had bonded enough to you and your place to be able to return and get your attention!!

Good news!

That's great, Heather. She may have gotten out, but clearly she considered your place her home and returns to it. She's a shy kitty alright, but there's no doubt she likes you now. :)

Erica's so adventurous... I think she might be related to Jennie and Thomasina...

Yaaay... I'm glad you found Erica .. or she found you again ... or you all found each other ... or ... heck, I'm glad she's back home!

Thank you all! So glad she came back, I had managed to get myself into quite a state last night imagining all kinds of horrors. We have a cat who is both shy and strangely adventurous!

Only just read about Erica's big adventure - I'm so glad she has found her way back. As Ape says, she clearly recognises where home is now and wanted to get back, which is great. Now hopefully you can get a good night's sleep without worrying!

Scary when they disappear. I couldn't find our kitten, went out on the balcony and noticed she was in the yard... apparently she'd fallen off. Happily she was no worse for wear.

She's beautiful!!

Thx for the tip on Sanderson :)

#123 Poor kitten - what floor are you on? Thank goodness she was ok!

I've enjoyed all of Sanderson's books I've read. Only 3 have been published outside of the US afaik (his Mistborn series) so I don't suppose they will be very easy to get hold of in Romania.

#169 Sapphique by Catherine Fisher



The sequel to Incarceron which I read in August and is reviewed somewhere on my previous thread. It would be impossible to go into the details of the plot without giving away spoilers for those who haven't read the first book but I felt this was an excellent follow up to the first book.

Incarceron had so much mystery still largely unresolved at the end of the first book that I was quite worried about whether it would be possible for Catherine Fisher to produce a satisfying resolution to all the plot threads in the second book. But I think she managed it fairly well. Recommended for lovers of YA dystopian fiction. 4 stars.

Pleased your furkid came back. She sounds like a sweetie.

#125 Thanks calm.

Book #170 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Burrows



I don't suppose there can be many people in the group who haven't heard of this book! This is a lovely story told throughout by letters in a style which reminded me of 84, Charing Cross Road except that this book is entirely fictional. The cosyness of some aspects of the book is nicely offset by the much sadder details of the conditions the Channel Islanders had to live through during the German occupation in WWII which prevents the book from becoming too saccharine. I fell in love with all the characters and laughed ad cried my way through this book.

It was also a very interesting read as a work of historical fiction. Although I would have said I knew a fair amount about life in Britain during WWII my knowledge of what life was like for the Channel Islanders under occupation was almost non-existant - I only found out the Channel Islands were occupied during the war 5 years ago when I went to visit a friend in Jersey.

If I'm not the last person in the group to read this one then I definitely recommend it. 4.5 stars

And my favourite quote:

"That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you to another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive - all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment."

Book #171 The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff



My favourite book of the month so far and my first ever by Sutcliff. This is a children's book but other than the absence of themes which would not be suitable for children there is nothing in my mind which distinguishes this from an adult novel. A fantastic work of fiction set in Roman Britain in the 2nd century AD, we follow the fortunes of Marcus, a young Roman centurion who is posted to Britain, as he travels far to the north of Britain outside Roman territory to recover the Eagle of the lost Ninth Legion who marched into the mists and never returned.

An incredibly written book which has left me wanting to read everything Rosemary Sutcliff has ever written. I've also learnt that they are making The Eagle of the Ninth into a film, possibly due for release next year.

I received The Eagle of the Ninth for SantaThing last year, and haven't yet read it--but it sounds like I really should! Unfortunately I won't get to it in time for this month's TIOLI.

Trying (unsuccessfully) to catch up with threads, Heather. Your cat is beautiful (and I am not a cat person)--I'm so glad she turned up for you! You've read some good books lately, but most were on my already-read or TBR lists to start with, so I'm safe.
Have a wonderful holiday! (or am I too late for that too?)

Book #172 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot



A fascinating and also disturbing look at the life of Henrietta Lacks, the black woman behind the HeLa cell line which are still used by scientists in research today.

Fascinating because the book is well written and I was even able to surprise my Cambridge chemistry PhD educated husband with some of the facts in this book. Disturbing because the details of the cancer which produced the famous cells and eventually killed Henrietta are quite graphic but mainly because of the details of how Henrietta and her family were treated in the 1950s (and sometimes later) and the extreme poverty in which the family lived.

The title of the book comes from the fact that Henrietta's cells were the first immortal cell line. Immortal because they can divide and therefore reproduce an unlimited number of times as long as they are given enough food and space. Normal cells can only divide a finite number of times before they die.

The book is a tribute to Henrietta's life and also tells the story of Rebecca Skloot as she tries to write the book. In my mind, the real heroine of the book was Henrietta's daughter, Deborah Lacks. Whilst Deborah's brothers were more interested in getting their rightful share of the money they felt people had made from growing and selling their mother's cells to scientists, Deborah wanted to find out about the mother who had died when she was a young child. Despite a poor education (she could only read magazines with the help of a dictionary) and very poor health Deborah was determined to not only discover what had happened to her mother, but also to understand it and make sure her mother got the recognition she felt she deserved.

Rebecca Skloot became very close to Henrietta's family whilst researching and writing this book (which she apparently funded using a student loan and credit cards). She has donated a portion of the book's proceeds to the Henrietta Lacks Foundation to be used for scholarships for Henrietta's descendants as well as health insurance.

4.5 stars

So relieved Kitty came home! I got nervous just reading about it; it must have been dreadful for you. I hope she learned her lesson and will now stay close to those that love her.

Added Eagle of the Ninth; sounds wonderful.

Hooray! Another Rosemary Sutcliff fan! Lots mor3 for you to enjoy. One of my favourites, rather a dark story, is Mark of the Horse Lord. (Can't do touchstone - no square brackets on my phone which I'm using.)

#130 Well we have certainly learned our lesson about keeping the windows firmly shut! Hope you enjoy Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliff was an author I hear about in this group so I'm more than happy to pass the recommendation along.

#131 Hooray indeed! I've actually been very happy to find 3 of her books in the charity bookshop and one was The Mark of the Horse Lord in a lovely old hardback. The others were The Silver Branch and Sword Song. I think The Silver Branch will be my next Sutcliff read because it's the next in the Dolphin Ring cycle but I will definitely look forward to The Mark of the Horse Lord.

I am glad you enjoyed Eagle of the Ninth. I did as well. Sutcliff is one of the writers I would probably never have discovered without LT. Anita is a big fan of hers and passed her favorite titles on to me. Sadly, most are not available at my local library.

You have had some great recent reads, Heather! Congratulations on that.

I've read every single Sutcliffe more than once! So thrilled you loved it. What a feast of reading you have before you! She was, of course, immersed in the history of the period, but I read in an interview years ago that she wrote the story then went back and did the necessary research -- she said it was amazing how often that whatever she had written was more or less accurate and all she had to do was add small details. I've always remembered that.

Hey Heather, it's quiet over here. You must be enjoying your vacation at the Abbey. Hope you're having a great time and the weather is outstanding.

I'm back! Our time at Lee Abbey was good, it was lovely to have meals cooked for us and a library to sit in and read :-)

As often happens when I have time off work I have been absolutely exhausted so lots of the things I was hoping to do while off work have not got done and I have been struggling with feeling rather frustrated with myself.

But, it does mean I have got lots and lots of reading done (although that also means I am really, really behind on posting my reading here). And Erica has settled in beautifully and now sleeps on the end of our bed and doesn't spend all day in her hiding place under the sofa. We took her to the vets yesterday for her first set of vaccinations and although I can't say she enjoyed the experience, she hasn't hidden herself away again as a result.

Right, I'm off to catch up on threads. Book updates soon!

Welcome back Heather. I'm glad you had a good week. Sounds as though you needed the rest so don't berate yourself over things not done while off work. And you did do lots of reading, so that's ok! Look forward to the book updates when you have time to do them (I'm still not quite up to date with mine either).

And I'm so glad to hear that Erica is more settled (despite trip to vet) and has adopted your bed. She sounds like a great addition to your home.

If Erica loves you after a trip to the vet, all is very well indeed! She is obviously a complex purrson. I also add my little Io! for Rosemary Sutcliff and bemoan our current educational system again because most of the teens I taught could not read and enjoy her.

Welcome back! Sounds like Erica missed you--a lot! Looking forward to your reading summary when you get to it.

Ah, absence does make the heart grow stronger, at least in Erica's case. Glad to see you had a relaxing vacation.

172 books! Incredible! Congratulations!

Phew - finally caught up on you!

You've been reading some wonderful things these last couple of months - I hadn't realised how much our reading overlapped!

So glad you loved Eagle of the Ninth - but you have to promise me that you're going to line up Warrior Scarlet soon too ;o) - I had a fantastic revelation the other day that, because I read Rosemary Sutcliff most when I was small, there are a whole bunch of books I didn't know existed (because at the time, there was no internet, they weren't written in the books themselves and my local library didn't have any more). I'm very much looking forward to slowly working my way through the rest...

Re Iain M. Banks vs Iain Banks, I've only really read his mainstream (non-M) stuff, but what I have read, I've mostly enjoyed a good deal. One of my mates rabidly recommended The Algebraist to me and I did try to read it, I really did, I just found it too frustrating and had to give up in the end. I've come to the decision that 9 times out of 10, sci-fi just isn't for me, however much I enjoy fantasy. I'll probably give it another go at some point, but...

Re I Shall Wear Midnight, my mum bought it for me recently. I haven't had to buy myself a Terry Pratchett book since I was at school and read everything he had written in one go (just up to Pyramids - my favourite - at that point...) - they miraculously seem to appear for me before I realise they've been released ;o) Haven't got round to reading it yet, but I'm sure I will soon.

She also commented that it may be his last when she gave it to me. I hope not (after all, he's published 4 since he was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's in 2007), but I suppose there will come a point... - has he made any statements about his writing lately that I've missed?

Erica is just gorgeous - I'm very jealous - and glad she turned up for you the other day!

Actually he's working on a third Moist van Lepzig book right now. He's having to dictate the books these days, but I think he is also working on another book too.

>142 flissp: Science fiction is as broad a classification as "literature"--there are all types. May I recommend to both you and Heather some excellent character-driven soap opera, the Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold (start with either Shards of Honor or The Warrior's Apprentice but realize these are her earliest writing and it gets exponentially better as she goes on) and the Liaden Universe books by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (start with Agent of Change). All of those are also available in omnibus editions with their sequels as well. These are great stories, with marvelous characters and good action--they are among my all-time comfort reads!

I'll add my hearty "Hear! Hear!" to Roni's comments about science fiction and especially that of Lois McM. Bujold......I'll also add that I very much enjoy Iain M. Banks's work, but The Algebraist is one of my much lesser favorites. Excession really works! He does seem to be polarizing though.

Glad you are back safe and sound, Heather! I am also glad to hear the Erica welcomes you back too.

#143 Re Terry Pratchett: Good to know (although the Moist van Lepzig stories are probably my least favourite, so boo to that...). Now I think about it, I read on Neil Gaiman's blog that they'd met up and discussed an unnamed project recently, so I don't know what the rumours are about that...

Re Sci-fi: Well I'll agree with you there - I actually really hate to pigeon hole books (so many could fit into multiple categories), and I will keep trying things out, I just do know that those times I've tried to read classic sci-fi books, I haven't got very far (with the exception of Joe Haldeman). So... Thank you for those recommendations, I shall definitely investigate!

Thanks for the welcomes. Today was my first day back at work and to celebrate, my brain decided to get me feeling nice and panicky about it so that I couldn't sleep last night. Once I got to work it was all fine of course...

#142 Warrior Scarlet is added to the wishlist but sadly not available at any of my local libraries. I'll keep an eye out for it second hand.

I got put off Iain Banks mainstream by A Song of Stone which I thought was dreadful but as the ratings on LT seem to agree perhaps I picked a bad choice to start with. Are there any particular non sf books by him you would recommend?

What a nice mum to buy you Pratchett!

#143 Lois McMaster Bujold is definitely on my list Roni! I have one of her fantasy books on my bedside table (where it has been for the last few months!) and I mean to try her sf at some point too. So many books, so little time...

re Mr von Lipwig I enjoyed Going Postal a lot but was less sure about Making Money. I think the next Lipwig book is going to be about tax and I am a tax adviser - I don't know whether that will make it more enjoyable or less really!

#144 We have Excession and The Algebraist! I will read them one day (I will).

#146 Exciting Pratchett/Gaiman collaboration! And Mr Gaiman met Diana Wynne Jones who is feeling better and planning/writing books?!? That was very exciting to hear. Also a Neil Gaiman Dr. Who episode to look forward to at some point :-)

Genre classifications also confuse me. I keep trying to work out why I like certain genres/sub-genres and I still don't know. I'm hoping if I read more I will figure it out one day!

Speaking of why I like/dislike certain types of book, last night I finally gave up on a book I had been trying to read. The book was The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons and it was sent to me as part of a marketing survey by HarperCollins. Fortunately I don't actually have to review it so I don't feel too bad about giving up (I did drag my way to page 400 out of 650 pages of very small print!).

I thought it was going to be a historical fiction novel set during the siege of Leningrad in WWII and the author is Russian by birth which I thought would make it even more interesting. Unfortunately it's also the tale of some very annoying star crossed-lovers whose love will tear apart their families! And it does until the family all die around page 350. Then there's some more angst and eventually some sex and we're still only just over half way through the first book in a trilogy. Having read the comments on the other books I found out that life continues to through all kinds of problems at the unhappy couple until the end of book 3 and decided I really couldn't be bothered. The writing itself wasn't bad and the book has a very good rating on its work page, but I think I am a complete curmudgeon when it comes to this type of romance. The couple both behaved stupidly which led to them hurting everyone they (supposedly) cared for including their own relationship. Bah, humbug!

According to this:

http://www.paulkidby.com/news/july2010.html

the next Discworld book is a Sam Vimes book called "Snuff". Maybe that's after the Moist one? Either way, I could not be more excited. :)

#148 Sam Vimes is my favourite Discworld character - that's fantastic news!

I love Sam Vimes as well, so I'll look forward to that. I just managed to get the latest Tiffany Aching book from the library so it's very near the top of the TBR!

For mainstream Iain Banks - My favourite is The Crow Road. He has written quite a range - (some weirder than others) - but I like most of his mainstream books though I'm with you on Song of Stone, that was verging on awful:)

#147 "And it does until the family all die around page 350" - I know I shouldn't chuckle, but I couldn't help myself!

I was incredibly pleased about the Diana Wynne Jones part too. I enjoy Terry Pratchett, but Diana Wynne Jones is true love ;o)

I think the Neil Gaiman Dr Who episode is supposed to be the 3rd of the new season (now where did I get that figure from?) so it should be along in the new year - woo! (except, for some reason, I'm always more excited about Dr Who before it happens than when it's actually happening...).

"What a nice mum to buy you Pratchett!" - indeed she is :o)

Re Warrior Scarlet, if I ever see a copy around anywhere, I'll send it to you...

Re mainstream Iain Banks, I haven't read too many as yet, but I thought that Whit was excellent - definitely made me think too.

#147 I think I have my childhood copy of Warrior Scarlet still on the shelf upstairs - I'll check and will happily lend it to you if you want to start there. Also have Mark of the Horse Lord and one or two others. I only knew a few of Sutcliff's books in childhood but had the joy of discovering there were others, more recently.

Re Iain Banks, I would second the recommendation of The Crow Road - that was my first and remains my favourite of his. I've read most of his non sci-fi, some are a little more violent and explicit than I feel comfortable with. I couldn't finish A Song of Stone. Whit on the other hand was another I did enjoy more.

Glad to hear there is plenty more Pratchett in the pipe-line. And sounds like you've done well to get as far as you did with the Horseman book.

Heather

I'm currently reading
Pre-Raphaelite Women by Jan Marsh. The illustrations are lovely. I thought of you!

#150 Thanks for the recommendation calm, I will look out for The Crow Road.

#151 Whit has also gone on the list. Thanks for the offer to keep an eye out for Warrior Scarlet for me :-)

I'm still not convinced about Matt Smith as the Doctor so I was really excited about the last series but then quite disappointed when I watched it. I'm hoping I'll get more into the next series.

#152 That's very kind of you Genny. Given the size of my TBR pile and how long it takes me to get round to reading the new additions I think if I borrowed the book from you it could be years before you got it back! I think Rosemary Sutcliff is one of my authors to buy so when I have run out of her books (I own 3 more which are unread) I let myself buy some.

#153 Linda, that looks like a lovely book. I will have to get it out of the library at some point.

I am very behind with book reviews so I am going to attempt to catch up. Still on September's books:

Book #173 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling



Many years ago, I used to eagerly anticipate the next book in the Harry Potter series and I reread the entire series each time a new book was released. However, I haven't read them since the final book came out and I decided I wanted to reread the whole lot in preparation for part 1 of the final HP film which is due for release in December.

Perhaps because the later books get quite a lot darker, I'd forgotten just how funny the first book in the series is and there were quite a few lines which made me laugh out loud. Very enjoyable. If you haven't read the books and you're not allergic to fantasy then you really should.

Book #174 Blindness by Jose Saramago



What can I say about this book? A plague of blindness has struck the inhabitants of a nameless European city. The government enforces a quarantine and puts those who are sick and those who have been in contact with the sick under military guard in a unused mental hospital. Other than dropping food parcels off at the door of the hospital the military refuse to intervene in any internal matters and inside the hospital any attempt at order quickly breaks down.

Saramago's writing style was unlike anything I've ever read before. Rather than try and explain it myself I have copied the following paragraph from wikipedia:

"Saramago's experimental style often features long sentences, at times more than a page long. He uses periods sparingly, choosing instead a loose flow of clauses joined by commas. Many of his paragraphs extend for pages without pausing for dialogue, which Saramago chooses not to delimit by quotation marks; when the speaker changes, Saramago capitalizes the first letter of the new speaker's clause. His works often refer to his other works. In his novel Blindness, Saramago completely abandons the use of proper nouns instead choosing to refer to characters simply by some unique characteristic, an example of his use of style to enhance the recurring themes of identity and meaning found throughout his work."

Although that might sound rather daunting it was actually surprisingly easy to follow. I have no doubt that Saramago is an amazing writer and I would have to give the book 5 stars for its literary merit.

However, I also found this book incredibly disturbing. Once they realise that the outside world will not interfere with whatever takes place in the mental hospital, a group of male inmates take charge of the food supplies and will only hand it out in return for payment. Once all the jewellery and other personal items have been exhausted they ask for the women in the hospital to be sent to spend the night with them as payment. What they do with the women is described in detail.

Also, as the inmates are blind they are unable to use the toilets properly and once the water supply shuts down they are also unable to wash. It felt like the characters were walking around covered in excrement for a large portion of the book (and Saramago was not backward in reminding the reader of the state of his characters). By the time I'd finished reading I actually felt dirty myself.

Neither of those points stop this being a good book, but they did stop this rather squeamish reader enjoying the book. Although a masterpiece, this is not a book I would consider reading again and I'm still unsure how to rate it. It's rated at 3/5 stars in my catalogue which is probably the average of how good the book was and how little I enjoyed it. Very guardedly recommended.

And I'm happy to announce that today is my first Thingaversary!

I've really enjoyed the last year of LibraryThing (I may be a bit of an addict). For my Thingaversary present I have ordered a copy of Terry Pratchett: Guilty of Literature by Andrew M. Butler which has been on my wishlist for absolutely ages.

I also had a small trip to the charity bookshop yesterday where I picked up the following (for £1 each):

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier
The King's General by Daphne du Maurier
The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie
A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh
The Calculus Wars by Jason Socrates Bardi (I'm a maths geek)

and some Bookmooch parcels arrived yesterday:

Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War by Clive Barker (hardback and illustrated)
The Stars, My Destination by Alfred Bester

Weeeee! I now have mild book acquisition guilt but I'm also feeling very happy :-)

And currently 14(!) books finished but not reviewed on my thread. Currently reading The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver which I was rather nervous about starting because it's quite a chunkster but the writing flows easily and I'm really enjoying it so far.

Happy Thingaversary Heather! That sounds like an ideal celebratory present-to-self, and a good haul of books from charity shop and bookmooch too.

I made a brief start on The Lacuna too - just a few pages, then got distracted with two other books. I'd better get back to Kingsolver to make sure I do finish that within the month. Glad to hear that it flows well, I'm looking forward to getting into it soon.

(I can't wait to get to The Lacuna! And I share some book acq! guilt because I just ordered some used stuff from AMP, to wit: The Straight Man, A Glastonbury Romance, and a used DVD of "Lost in Austen"! Yippeeee!)

Congratulations on your Thingaversary, Heather! Many happy returns!! And many happy books!!!

Happy Thingaversary, Heather!

Just list the books you've read, and then review the ones you felt strongly about!

Looks like you got some winners. Let me know how you like the Pratchett book--I'm interested.

Happy thingaversary! The Calculus Wars sounds interesting (I'm a math/physics geek too). How'd you like it?

Happy Thingaversary!

Blindness sounds like a very interesting book. I've heard about it a lot of times but never actually paid attention to the description, dismissing it as something too literary for my tastes. Maybe I should give it a try.

Happy Thingaversary, Heather!

Some good acquisitions there, especially the Thingaversary present. I'm now significantly less likely to read Blindness than I was before I read that review: I am, like you, a rather squeamish reader.

Happy Thingaversary and that is a great book haul!

Happy Thingaversary! :)

Happy First Thingaversary, Heather! Great haul!

Happy Thingaversary! I can't believe how much I am looking forward to being one year old in January!!!!!

Thank you for all the Thingaversary congratulations!

#160 I haven't read The Calculus Wars yet Jim and goodness knows how long it will sit in the TBR pile for! Since joining LT, it's very rare that I pick up a book that I haven't heard of before (there are so many recommendations to read). Once I got back home and checked the book page I realised it doesn't have great reviews, but I might enjoy it more. We'll see.

#161 Blindness wasn't as literary as I would have expected (coming from a Nobel Laureate) and was quite readable so I would say give it a try.

#162 It's reassuring it's not just me, Caty. I think most other people on the group read found it disturbing but that didn't necessarily negatively affect their appreciation of the book in the same way it did for me. I think I should probably just accept that I am just a wuss when it comes to that kind of thing.

#166 Do you have plans for your Thingaversary present Lucy?

And still in September reads:

Book #175 This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart



Now I was sure that this was an old book of my mum's that I had *ahem* borrowed, but when I mentioned it to her and showed her the book she had no recollection of ever reading or owning it so I have no idea where my copy of the book came from.

This was a fairly gentle adventure/romance story written in what felt like a slightly old-fashioned style (published 1964) and set on the island of Corfu. There were a lot of references to The Tempest which I would probably have appreciated more if I had read or watched the play more recently. I gave it 3.75 stars.

Book #176 One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters



The second book in Ellis Peter's Cadfael series and it felt like the series had ramped up a notch in quality (and the first book was by no means bad).

Set in Britain during the period known as The Anarchy, the town of Shrewsbury is under siege by King Stephen's forces. When they win through, King Stephen orders all the men in the defending garrison to be hanged. Brother Cadfael and the monks volunteer to lay out the bodies of these men afterwards and when Cadfael comes to count the bodies he finds there is 'one corpse too many'. Cadfael is not prepared to let this murder go unavenged and in one of the best scenes in the book (imo) eloquently makes his case to the King's aide to be allowed to investigate who has killed this man. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. 4 stars.

#168 I'm glad you enjoyed the Ellis Peters - plenty more good ones to come!

I need to get on with the Peters series. Thanks for the reminder, Heather. One Corpse Too Many is next up for me!

#169 I'm hoping to get to the next in the series, Monk's Hood, this month (it would fit the pollysyllables prohibited challenge) but I have had less reading time than usual and I have many books lined up for the month. We shall see!

#170 I hope you enjoy it Stasia!

Still in September:

Book #177: The Genesee Diary: Report From a Trappist Monastery by Henri Nouwen



Henri Nouwen was a 20th century Dutch-born Catholic priest and writer. This diary records the 7 months he spent on sabbatical in a Trappist monastery. Nouwen was a gifted writer and psychologist and throughout this book he is unfailing honest about his feelings and shortcomings. I found this a very helpful book to read and meditate on. 5 stars

Book #178 The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas



This was a reread of an old favourite for me. This is an epic novel with the adventure and romance of The Three Musketeers combined with themes of redemption and good and evil which reminded me more of a Dostoevsky novel. Definitely recommended, this must be the 4th/5th time I've read this book and I still love it. 5 stars.

And squeezing in the last of my September reads.

Book #179 Winter Rose by Patricia A. McKillip



This is a retelling of the fairy tale of Tam Lin. It was quite a strange book and it just didn't grab me for some reason. Possibly it wasn't the best book to read after The Count of Monte Cristo. Only 3.5 stars but I have heard such good things about McKillip that I will probably try some of her other books at some point.

Thanks for bringing Henri Nuwen back to my attention, Heather. On the wish list it goes!

What Peggy said!

Sorry you did not enjoy Winter Rose more. I very much enjoyed that one. I do hope you will give McKillip another try.

I love Henri Nouwen's books, but have not read that one. And I've never read The Count of Monte Cristo. I wish it was as easy to extend one's likely remaining reading-years as it is to renew a book from the library.

Hi there Heather!

I'm adding Winter Rose and The Genesee Diary: Report From a Trappist Monastery to the ever expanding tbr pile.

I find such interesting books on your thread!

#174 I wish it was as easy to extend one's likely remaining reading-years as it is to renew a book from the library.

We'd be gazillionaires if we could create an elixir!

I'll have to find the Nouwen. When my mother remarried (I was 12) we moved to the Genesee Valley -- we used to eat 'Monk's Bread' when it came directly from the Trappist monastery! We also ate their honeys and jams. (Eventually they sold out to Pepperidge Farm, who knows why....). We also would sometimes go to Midnight Mass with our catholic friends at Christmas because it was so incredibly beautiful. I went a couple of times.

I'm glad to hear the Cadfadel series gets even better in book 2! I just read book one and I liked it, but didn't LOVE it. I plan to keep reading.

I really need to get cracking on The Count of Monte Cristo! I've started it (my first time!) and just haven't kept at it. I know it's good, I know I'm going to love it, but I'm trying to read too many good books at once - that's all!

It's been a busy week and I hadn't realised how long I'd gone without posting here.

Peggy, Stasia, Genny, Linda and Lucy - I hope you enjoy the Nouwen. He's one of my favourite authors although I haven't actually read many of his books but The Return of the Prodigal Son which is one of Nouwen's later works is one of my all-time favourites. It's one I've read several times and each time I end up underlining more passages in the book (I do often mark non-fiction books in pencil as I read). Eventually I suspect my copy will be completely underlined throughout!

#174 "I wish it was as easy to extend one's likely remaining reading-years as it is to renew a book from the library." Definitely!

#177 Lucy, they mention the bread a lot in the book. Nouwen spent quite a lot of his time washing the raisins they used in the bread.

#178 I've been exactly the same with The Count, Angela. I started it in March and read my allocated 100 pages for that month as part of the group read and then stopped until my holiday at the end of September! Maybe because it's so big and I wanted lots of time to immerse myself? Although I enjoyed all of it, I've always found the first 1/3 of the book slightly less absorbing.

A cold this weekend has meant I've been curled up on the sofa alternating between books and the Star Trek movie weekend on Film 4 (I'm a geek!) rather than catching up on LT. Looking back at my October reads so far they all seem to have been fairly light reads but I am halfway through The Lacuna and should get it finished this month.

Some quick thoughts on some reads this month:

Book #180 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling



Another reread, slightly darker than the first book. Five stars for nostalgia and rereadability.

Book #181 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Book #182 Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins



This is the series everyone's been talking about recently as the third book in the trilogy, Mockingjay, has just been released (and is waiting for me at the library so I'm hoping to get to it this month).

YA fiction set at some point in the future where our heroine is forced to fight the death as part of a reality TV show. I expected to enjoy these but they had been so hyped up that I wasn't expecting them to live up to the hype but they almost did. Enjoyable and well-written. I gave 4.5 stars to both.

Book #183 Coraline by Neil Gaiman



A nice spooky book for older children which I read as part of bell7's 'Not Quite Horror' TIOLI challenge. Gaiman is a very imaginative writer and this book won both the Hugo and Nebula awards for a novella (I have no idea where you draw the line between a short novel and a novella but the awards give me the confidence to say this was a novella at 185 pages!) Very good and about as spooky as I can comfortably take my reading. 4 stars

Sorry to hear you have a cold, Heather, but at least you have some good books to curl up with!

Hope your feeling much better today, Heather.

#180 - Seems like a nasty bug is infecting quite a few LT'ers these days. Hope the cold is better, Heather.

Just checking in to say hallo! Hope the cold's vanished by now and that you enjoyed all the Star Trek ;o) (did you make it through the entire weekend's films?!).

Glad you enjoyed Coraline - it's a wonderfully spooky story, isn't it? ...and I was also a huge fan of The Count of Monte Cristo. I keep meaning to reread it at some point, but it's such a tome (however quickly it's possible to read it), that it always gets waylaid behind books I haven't read yet. Have you seen the Gerard Depardieu TF1 serialisation? Miles better than the more recent film (yes I know it's hard to imagine Gerard Depardieu as the pale & emaciated Edmund Dantes, but he's a good enough actor to pull it off extremely well). It does mess around with the ending, but it's forgivable (particularly in comparison with the newer one!)...

I've also got the first Cadfael book (bought on a whim in a 2nd hand book sale) - our whole family used to love the Derek Jacobi series and my parents recently bought a DVD boxset, so we've been rewatching them together (although they keep watching them when I'm not there - grrr!) ;o) Must get round to reading it...

...ooh and woo for Mary Stewart, however silly This Rough Magic is. Did you notice all the stylish nylon mentions (sorry, just rediscovered this one last year and it made me giggle). Not one of her better ones, but still fun... I keep meaning to reread The Crystal Cave, which is head over heals my favourite of hers.

Cold is better thanks but I've been left with a very annoying and lingering cough. So far I've got through a whole bottle of cough medicine and it doesn't seem to have helped much.

#183 So many people in the group have had nasty colds that I've been wondering if we have somehow caught it off each other over the internet?

#184 Hello Fliss! We didn't watch all the Star Trek films properly, more had the TV on as background noise and paid attention to the ones I remembered being good (the one with the whales, the one with the Borg).

Thanks for the tip about the Gerard Depardieu Monte Cristo. I will see if it is available from lovefilm (although my rental list there is like my wishlist here - it would take me several years to watch all the films!)

The Crystal Cave is definitely one I will look out for then. I think the Arthurian theme may appeal to me. I didn't particularly notice the nylons although I will be sure to look out for them if I reread it!

And an entirely random comment to say I had to de-ice my car this morning! It's only 1 month into autumn...

I concur with the recommendation of The Crystal Cave - that and her other Arthurian books The Hollow Hills and The Last Enchantment were until recently the only books of hers I had read, and it is 30 years since I've read them, but I certainly loved them at the time and I've a feeling they may appeal to you too.

Edited to add: sorry to hear the cough is lingering so long. I had a bit of a cough but not so bad - hope yours clears up soon. We could do without this freezing cold snap so soon...

I loved the Arthurian Stewarts too!

Back to add that I've had to scrape windshield at least three times and we have snow in the forecast tomorrow. I am NOT ready for that!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, The Crystal Cave is definitely on the wishlist after all those recommendations!

I'm very excited to report that I think the cough is a bit better today so hopefully it's improving.

#187 I'm sure our cold snap is nothing compared to yours Lucy! Hope the snow tomorrow is not too bad.

Glad you are feeling better. I am prone to coughs that can last a month or more after the actual illness myself, so I know how nasty they can be.

Indeed glad to hear the cough is improving. Mine is just about gone, though I daren't risk singing yet.

#189 & 190 Thank you both. It's not been a dreadful cough, just very dry and wouldn't go away.

And I have just found out that my local library finally has Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny on order :-) Reserved!

#191: Bury Your Dead is terrific, Heather! I hope you enjoy it.

Hello, found your thread and just saying hi.

I just finished Mockingjay and I saw on the TIOLI page that you're done as well, so I came by in search of your thoughts.

Just posting to say I am still alive but doing lots of prep for a job interview this week so although I will be reading I probably won't have much time to note down my thoughts/comment on other's threads until then.

#192 Thank you Stasia, it feels like I've been waiting for ever for my library to order a copy and I keep having to remind myself that it's only been a month since it was released!

#193 *Waves hello to KiwiNyx*

#194 I did just finish it. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first two for reasons I will try and explain later this week.

Heather, wishing that you may knock 'em dead at the interview, leaving them with just enough left to offer you the job forthwith!

Adding good wishes for the interview - what day is it? Hope it leaves you with time to finish The Lacuna - I'm 2 thirds through now and hope to finish in the next couple of days...

Good luck!

Good luck with your job interview, Heather!

The LibraryThing addiction has proved stronger although I am going to hold off on catching up on the books I've read until the weekend when I have a beautifully free Saturday to spend some serious LT time!

Thanks for all the best wishes about the interview. I don't feel that I am coping very well with the interview anticipation at the moment. Trying to keep reminding myself that even if the interviewer thinks I am unsuitable for the job they are unlikely to tear me to pieces for daring to apply for it! And I don't think I exaggerated on my CV so hopefully they know what they are getting!

The interview is Thursday morning. I will be very glad when it's all over!

#197 I finished The Lacuna last night (couldn't sleep) - I thought it was brilliant and the ending was more moving than I expected.

Good luck, just be yourself, that's the best advice I ever got about interviews.

#200: Good luck, Heather!

Think lots of positive thoughts, and let us know how it went! :)

Good luck!

I agree re the Lacuna's ending, and the whole book: just finished it today.
Your interview is probably over by now - I hope you were able to be yourself, and you and they will know if it's the right job for you. At least you can relax soon now it's over.

I just have to read The Lacuna next with all this good stuff you're saying and with my admiration for Kingsolver!!! *sigh*
I'm champing at the bit to know how the interview went, and I think that Genny has the right of it. Let us know soonest!!!

Hello! Thanks for all the positive thoughts and best wishes :-)

I had the interview this morning and thought it went quite well. Just heard back from the recruitment consultant to say that I didn't get the job but I was number 2 out of 4 and the other 3 candidates were all more experienced than me. The reason I didn't get the job was because ideally they were looking for someone with more experience so I am actually quite chuffed that despite that they placed me above two of the other candidates. The first choice has actually been doing the job on a temporary basis so having heard that I am not all that surprised he was the first choice.

So, I will see what else comes up and keep plugging away at my current job.

As I'd taken the rest of the day off work I went out to lunch with my husband, took the cat to the vets for her second round of vaccinations and had a small trip to the second hand book shop where i picked up some real gems for £1 per book!

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson in a pristine Persephone Classics edition
The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (ostensibly for my husband)
Foreigner by C. J. Cherryh
Transformation by Carol Berg

And I picked up The Last Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko from the library.

So all in all, I think a good day. :-) Am going to curl up on the settee for the rest of the evening with the Lukyanenko. Nearly the weekend!

Sorry you didn't get the job - but well done indeed, you must have impressed them to come in at number 2 despite lack of experience. I hope the right thing does come along for you soon.

And what a great haul of books - I've only read one of those but heard of most of the others, mostly through LT. Enjoy the evening!

Sorry you didn't get the job, Heather. I'm glad the interview went well, though: you must be really encouraged by that.

Good haul from the book shop!

Bad luck about the job but great feedback form the consultant. And a fantastic haul at the bookstore, I actually picked up Miss Pettigrew from the library and will be reading it next week and looking forward to it.

Sorry you didn't get the job but what the consultant told you must have been really encouraging.

Wow! What a great haul you picked up!

Sorry about the job though.

Heather, you must be proud of yourself! I didn't realize that somebody was applying for the job who had already been doing it. To rank above two with more experience is fabulous.... And look at how much more polished you're going to feel at your next interview with this experience under your belt.
Sincerely,
Your Aunt Polly-Anna
Meanwhile, back in Lizzie's skin, I have to say that I went to a used bookstore today too. I wasn't looking too carefully since I've just spent a mint on books, so all I came away with was A Rule Against Murder. I'm glad to get it, but you really scored!!!

I agree with Peggy -- you did very very well and that augurs well for the future. Nice haul too!!!!!

Sounds like a great "performance" at the interview--that has to be a confidence builder and great practice for the future. And what a book haul!!

>207 souloftherose:: Heather, it would be tough interviewing for a job against somebody who is already doing the job. Just chalk it up to experience I suppose...and enjoy those new books. They ought to put a smile on your face!

Heather, it's usually tough to top a temp who has been doing the job for a bit. Makes for a very smooth transition, but you came incredibly close to getting it!! That is quite a complement and a real confidence booster. Hand in there, whatever is meant for you is sure to come your way.

Great hall of books makes a nice consolation prize.

Ditto what Donna said...and Lynda!

Oh gosh, thanks for all your kind messages :-) I do feel quite positive about not having got the job although when I woke up this morning I realised how tired I was! Luckily I can have a very quiet weekend.

#213 Hope you enjoy A Rule Against Murder Peggy!

And onto some book reviews. I've realised it's been two weeks since I actually posted about what I've been reading...

Book #184 Mixed Magics by Diana Wynne Jones



Another gem from Diana Wynne Jones. This small book contains four short stories which all feature Chrestomanci in some way. Of the four stories, two (Warlock at the Wheel and The Sage of Theare) were ok and the remaining two (Stealer of Souls and Carol Oneir's Hundredth Dream) were superb so the book ended up with a four star rating overall.

Although I would say that the other books in the Chrestomanci series stand alone, with this one I would recommend not reading it unless you've already read Charmed Life, The Magicians of Caprona and The Lives of Christopher Chant.

Book #185 The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett



I felt like I was the last person on LT to have read this small book that so many people have recommended to me.

The plot could easily sound silly or gimmicky: Queen Elizabeth II is walking her corgis in the palace gardens when she comes across the Westminster mobile library. She goes inside to investigate and once inside is far too polite to leave without checking out a book. Although she doesn't really enjoy the first book she reads, she goes back for a second and then she's hooked.

Any one who loves reading will recognise a kindred spirit in the Queen as she discovers just how much reading can take over your life.

"What she was finding also was one book led to another, doors kept opening wherever she turned and the days weren't long enough for the reading she wanted to do."

"Had it been Her Majesty's responsibility to prepare meals, to shop or, unimaginably to dust and hoover the house, standards would straightaway have been perceived to have fallen."

Five stars and one of those books that I will recommend, lend and give to friends (in fact it's going to my mum next along with The Lacuna).

Book #186 Q's Legacy by Helene Hanff



Another sequel to 84, Charing Cross Road and The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street. For me the first chapter of this book was the best, where Helen explains how she developed her love of reading and talks about the books written by quiller couch that inspired her so much. This chapter, of course, made me add a whole bundle of books to my 'if I love to 100 will I ever be able to read all these wishlist'.

After that, the book was a similar format to The Duchess. Helene travels to London, this time because they are making a TV series of 84, Charing Cross Road and writes about the people she meets.

I think the first chapter spoiled me slightly because after that, I felt slightly disappointed to move away from the discussion of books and go back to Helene's travels. But overall it was still fairly good. If you enjoyed The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street then this is more of the same, otherwise I would just read the first chapter and take notes of the books she mentions!

3.75 stars

Book #187 Glory in Death by J. D. Robb



The second in Robb's In Death series featuring Eve Dallas. I didn't enjoy this as much as the first book, they felt too similar to me, particularly Eve's relationship with Rourke which seemed to follow exactly the same pattern as book 1. So, far from dreadful but nothing special. I know there are a lot of fans of this series on LT so I may try continuing another time. Do the characters develop more in later books?

3.5 stars

Book #188 The Woman in Black by Susan Hill



Another short book, but a wonderfully Victorian gothic ghost story which I read for bell7's 'Not Quite Horror' challenge. Of course, it's not a Victorian gothic novel it was written in 1983 but Susan Hill has done a really good job of emulating that type of literature. If you enjoy Wilkie Collins or Dracula then I'd recommend giving this a try.

4.5 stars

Some good books there! I'm glad you enjoyed The Uncommon Reader: I love it. I think I shall add The Woman in Black to the wishlist: I liked Hill's The Man in the Picture when I read it earlier this year, and it sounds like this one is good too.

You're not the last to read The Uncommon Reader. I bought it as a Christmas present when it first came out, for a friend who is a great Alan Bennett fan. I read about half of it while I was wrapping it up, but had to finish wrapping before I could finish reading! So I never did find out how it all ended. All the recent reviews on LT keep reminding me to get my own copy and finish it finally - after all, it's not a long book!

#221: Heather, yes, the characters in the 'In Death' series do develop as the series goes on. I primarily read the books for the interactions between the characters and their relationships.

#222 The Uncommon Reader was so good. I doubt I would have read anything by Alan Bennett without seeing this particular book recommended so much (in my mind he's very literary) and I'm so glad I did!

Hope you enjoy The Woman in Black.

#223 You should definitely read it Genny. If I say another copy in our charity bookshop I will send it your way. Although having said that I asked my husband not to let me go there for a while - I bought roughly 40 books last month from various sources!

#224 Thanks Stasia. I will try the next book in the series at some point.

Books #189, 190, 191 & 194
Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
The Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Twilight Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
The Last Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko



I'd read the first book in this series (Night Watch) last year and never quite got around to reading the other books. Madeline's October TIOLI challenge to read a book by an author with a long surname (>10 BookAngel_a: letters) gave me the excuse to reread book 1 and work my way through the others.

To start with these books don't sound like anything particularly special: an urban fantasy series with vampires, werewolves and magicians fighting in the eternal war between the Light and the Dark. There are absolutely loads of books knocking around in this sub-genre at the moment. But these ones stood out for me.

Firstly, they're written by a Russian author and mostly set in Moscow. How cool is that?!

Secondly, the war between the Light and the Dark isn't quite as clear cut as you might think. Each book is split into three sections and each section stands alone as a separate story. Over the course of each book you see how the three stories are really all connected and earlier assumptions you may have made about certain characters and their motives are sometimes reversed as more is revealed. And again, over the course of the four books you see how everything that's happened in an earlier book actually feeds through to the current book and perhaps means something different to what you originally thought. The question is asked again and again by characters in these books, what is the real difference between those who fight on the side of the Light and those who fight on the side of the Dark? If the Light is willing to sacrifice people to advance its cause, how is it any better than the Dark? I think I'm still trying to work out some of the plot twists and philosophical implications in my head.

On rereading, the first book started off weaker and slower than I remembered but it was still a solid read and the series really gets into its stride through books 2 and 3. Book 4 (which is currently the last book in the series) has potentially left things open enough for another book whilst still being a satisfying, if slightly bewildering, conclusion.

So don't think of these books as yet another urban fantasy series, think of them as a modern Russian author musing over age-old philosophical questions about the nature of good and evil. But with vampires. 4-4.5 stars

As an aside - despite the book covers and the tags here on LT I definitely wouldn't say these books were really horror (and I am a big wuss when it comes to anything remotely horroresque).

Sadly, although Lukyanenko seems like a fairly prolific author from his author page, I can't see that any of his other books have been translated into English yet (and my Russian is definitely not good enough to cope!). Hopefully the success of his Night Watch series will spur the publishers on!

Great reviews. I love Wynne Jones but haven't read the Chrestomanci series so I should get on to them. Also those extra Helene Hanff ones are now on the TBR list and the Susan hill gothic novel looks great.

#227 Thanks Leonie! I only discovered DWJ this year and I've been working my way through her Chrestomanci books as well as some stand alones. So far I haven't read one I didn't like so I would definitely recommend them.

The discussion here was the guide I used for the reading order but they mostly stand alone quite well although some characters pop up in several books.

Hope you enjoy the Helene Hanff and the Susan Hill. Again, I think they were both authors I had never read before finding this group.

I still have several reviews to write up and a post to complete above but having come back from a lovely meal with my parents with accompanying glass of wine I don't think my concentration is at its best!

Thank you for that link, I'm sure my daughter owns them all - I should know as I buy them! I adored Howl's Moving Castle and Power of Three.

#226: Looking forward to your comments on those. I bought the first one, but have not read it yet.

Glad you finally got around to The Uncommon Reader. I found it to be uncommonly good too!
I'm adding The Woman in Black to my wishlist. Sounds great for a blustery winter's night.

Long review for msg 26 has now been added (and there were a panicky few seconds when I hit submit and thought LT had lost it all)

#230 I hope you enjoy it Stasia. The first book starts out slightly slow and clunky so bear with it.

#231 Hi Lynda! I was actually quite pleased I didn't read The Woman in Black on a blustery night - I would have been far too scared to get to sleep! I recommend reading it in the morning unless you're made of sterner stuff.

Onwards, with the reviews:

Book #192 Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins



It's impossible to review this without major spoilers for all of the books in this trilogy so SPOILER ALERT!

First off, let me say I enjoyed this but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first two books. I don't think this was because the quality of the writing dropped. I think it was because I found Katniss so much harder to sympathise with this time around. I appreciate this poor girl has been through some truly hellish experiences over the last two books and so it is unfair to judge her so harshly but she came across as more self-centred and selfish this time around.

I think a lot of this was to do with Peeta's initial absence and then the reversal of his feelings for Katniss. For so much of the first two books we saw Katniss through Peeta's eyes and he really loved her. With that gone, she came across as a slightly self-centred teenager which is quite normal especially given what she's gone through but still left me feeling confused and disappointed for most of the book. And there seemed to be even more violence than before.

So far from bad, but difficult not to be disappointed after the earlier books. 3.75 stars.

I really have to get to the Night Watch series. Impressed that you read the whole series without being sidetracked.
Ditto on your thoughts on Mockingjay, I would have liked more 'oomph' in this last book, though I know many have been delighted that Collins wrapped up the trilogy like this.

Book #193 The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver



This was one of my top reads for the month and yet I am completely stumped about what to say about it!

This is a beautiful, slow story and Kingsolver's writing is also superb. It takes place in Mexico and the USA from the 1930s to 1950 and touches on communism and McCarthyism but none of those things feel like the main point of the novel. I'm not sure what the main point was but I don't really care. I have lent my copy to my mum and will try and force it on most of my other friends who I think could be interested in a 670 page book. It was just wonderful.

5 stars.

And then on to some children's/YA books to finish off the month:

Book #195 The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud



This was a complete impulse read because humouress added it to the TIOLI challenge and I saw it and thought "Ooo - I have a copy of that!" It was a good antidote to a busy week - a tale of a young magician, the djinni he summons and the trouble he inadvertently causes and then tries to fix. The characters are very humourous and it reminded me of a slightly older version of the Artemis Fowl books. I will definitely get the other books in the series from the library. 4 stars.

Book #196 The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston



I think it was Stasia who recommended this one to me. Published in 1954 this is a lovely old-fashioned children's story about a boy who goes to live with his great-grandmother in a very old house which still seems to be inhabited by the children who lived there centuries before. Although this is sort-of a ghost story, the ghost children are friendly so this is not a particularly scary book. It was magical and charming and wonderful.

4.5 stars and again, I will be reading more by this author.

The house this story (and the later books in the series) is based on, where the author herself lived, is near Cambridge and you can see photos here. I am hoping to go and visit it next time I am Cambridge way.

And that's October!

I enjoyed reading your reactions to the Lukyanenko books. I think Jim (drneutron) first brought my attention to them but I was hesitating because of the horror tags--I also am a real wuss when it comes to horror. From your description, I'm going to go ahead and put them in my wishlist to give them a try at some point.

And talking about how much difference is there between the good people and the bad people, I think the culmination of Mockingjay definitely speaks to that! I cut Katniss a little more slack than you do because I see her as definitely suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and her actions are very much consistent with that, as opposed to being selfish and self-centered, so I interpret them differently. And whooeeeyy, there WAS a lot of violence, wasn't there? Especially in that last trip. Luckily I don't visualize it so it doesn't affect me as viscerally as movies do, else I'd not be able to read the book.

Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus trilogy is great and his Heroes of the Valley is also excellent. Have you tried Chris Wooding's The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray?

Well done for catching up on your reviews - I'm lagging behind with mine again, partly because I don't know what I'm going to say about The Lacuna - but I too gave it 5 stars, which I hardly ever do!

I'm so glad you enjoyed the Lucy M Boston book. I read several of those as a child and loved them. Then a few years ago I went to stay in a retreat house in Hemingford Grey and discovered that the house which you mention was just a short walk along the river from there, so I had a lovely time visiting it - well worth it.

Glad you liked Lukyanenko's books! They're faves of mine.

#235 I don't think there was anything in them to make them horror so hopefully you will enjoy them Roni.

I think I probably was too harsh on Katniss. I just found it disappointing after rooting for her so much in the earlier books to have her so withdrawn in this one.

#236 I have The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray in my TBR pile but I haven't read it yet. I was going to try and read it last month but didn't manage to squeeze it in. It would count for the Z challenge this month but I am probably already over committed!

#237 I'm glad it's not just me who's lost for words with The Lacuna.

Just seeing the photos of the Green Knowe house at Hemingford Grey was magical. The room with the rocking horse and the toys was exactly how it is described in the book!

#238 Thanks Jim! Your reread earlier this year spurred me on to reread book 1 and read the rest of them.

The Children of Green Knowe definitely sounds like something I have to read.

Oh I am a HUGE fan of the Green Knowe books and Lucy Boston!! I managed to captivate my daughter with the books at exactly the right moment, so she loves them too. There is sort of a chronological order to them, worth following...... although not strictly necessary, I don't think.

Well, I ended up placing an Amazon order... The Children of Green Knowe, plus Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog for the time travel challenge, though I probably won't get to both this month... look what you've done to me!

And I added in The Crocodile on the Sandbank to complete the 4-for-3 offer, but I can't blame you for that one ;)

How come all the books you've been reading recently all have really cool covers? :)

#243: The 4-for-3 got me today too - Amazon is a dangerous place!

Yes, I did recommend The Children of Green Knowe. I thoroughly enjoyed the first couple of books in that series and you remind me that I need to get back to it.

Thanks for your comments on the 'Watch' series. I will have to try and locate my copy of the first one and go from there.

The Stroud books are already in the BlackHole, so I am dodging that particular book bullet. I am skipping your comments on Mockingjay (no offense) since I have not read it yet.

#242 Thanks for the tip Lucy. I am mildly obsessive about reading books in the right order when I can so I will try and do that with this series. I have book 4 but I can get hold of the other books from the library

#243 Mwah-ha-ha!

#244 Because I'm cool? Actually I didn't like the UK covers for the Hunger Games series, I thought the US covers were much better. Less cluttered.

#245 *Waves to Laura*

#246 Well then thank you! Do not apologise for skipping the Mockingjay comments; I did the same thing before I got to my copy. The only problem is that now I can't remember whose comments I skipped! I think I'll have to trawl through the conversations section of the book page at some point...

So you dodged all my book bullets? Not fair!

October summary

Books read = 17
Books read for TIOLI challenge = 15
Pages read = 6,155
Ratio of male to female authors = 7:10
Books I own = 10
Library/borrowed = 7
Books I own acquired before 2010 = 0 :-(

October books of the month:

Children's:
The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston

Fiction:
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

New thread including November plans is over here.

#247: So you dodged all my book bullets? Not fair!

People dodge mine all the time :)