kidzdoc in 2014: TBRs, Theatre and Jazz, Part 3

Currently reading:

    

The Axeman's Jazz by Ray Celestin
Trusting Doctors: The Decline of Moral Authority in American Medicine by Jonathan B. Imber
The Old Child & Other Stories by Jenny Erpenbeck

Completed books:

January:
1. Homage to Barcelona by Colm Tóibín (review)
2. 1914: A Novel by Jean Echenoz (review)
3. How I Became Hettie Jones by Hettie Jones (review) (TBR)
4. How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America by Kiese Laymon
5. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordechai Richler

February:
6. Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and Its Secret Past by Giles Tremlett (TBR)
7. Christmas in Purgatory: A Photographic Essay on Mental Retardation
by Burton Blatt & Fred Kaplan
8. Down's Syndrome: The History of a Disability by David Wright
9. Lizard Tails by Juan Marsé (TBR) (review)
10. The Comedians by Graham Greene (TBR) (review)
11. No Name in the Street by James Baldwin (TBR)
12. The Amazing Bud Powell: Black Genius, Jazz History, and the Challenge of Bebop by Guthrie Ramsey
13. An Unexpected Twist by Andy Borowitz (TBR)

March:
14. The Enormity of the Tragedy by Quim Monzó (TBR)
15. Between Friends by Amos Oz
16. Chewing Gum Dreams by Michaela Coel
17. The Weir by Conor McPherson
18. Wounded: A New History of the Western Front in World War I by Emily Mayhew
19. The Husbands by Sharmila Chauhan
20. We Are Proud To Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915 by Jackie Sibblies Drury
21. Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks
22. 1984 (play script) by George Orwell

April:
23. Inconvenient People: Lunacy, Liberty and the Mad-Doctors in Victorian England by Sarah Wise
24. Ruin Lust: Artists' Fascination with Ruins, from Turner to the Present Day by Brian Dillon
25. Secret Barcelona by Veronica Ramirez Muro and Rocio Sierra Carbonell
26. Barcelona by Robert Hughes
27. Everyman Mapguide Barcelona
28. Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry (TBR)
29. The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer
30. Notes for a Spanish Odyssey by Calvin Baker
31. Kicking the Sky by Anthony De Sa
32. I Am a Japanese Writer by Dany Laferrière (TBR)
33. Gone by Colum McCann

May:
34. The Colonel by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi (TBR)
35. Gasoline by Quim Monzó (TBR)
36. Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje (TBR)
37. Arctic Summer by Damon Galgut
38. Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen
39. Morphine by Mikhail Bulgakov

June:
40. The Missing Year of Juan Salvatierra by Pedro Mairal
41. Quietly by Owen McCafferty
42. Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life by Alex Bellos
43. Shanghai Nights by Juan Marsé (TBR)
44. This Boy: A Memoir of a Childhood by Alan Johnson
45. Vlad by Carlos Fuentes
46. Rochester Castle by Jeremy Ashbee
47. The Sant Pau Modernista Precinct by Richard Rees
48. Lost Luggage by Jordi Puntí
49. Baedeker Barcelona by Baedeker Guides
50. Gaudí: Introduction to His Architecture by Juan-Eduardo Cirlot

July:
51. Barcelona Scams by Jonathan Stone
52. Gaudí: A Biography by Gijs van Hensbergen
53. Paul Robeson: A Watched Man by Jordan Goodman
54. The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat : The Story of the Penicillin Miracle by Eric Lax (TBR)
55. Kieron Smith, boy by James Kelman (TBR)

August:
56. All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu
57. How to Be German in 50 Easy Steps by Adam Fletcher
58. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
59. To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris
60. Nevirapine and the Quest to End Pediatric AIDS by Rebecca J. Anderson
61. Dr. Mütter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz
62. History of the Rain by Niall Williams
63. Family Life by Akhil Sharma
64. When We Are Called to Part: Hope and Heartbreak in the Vanishing World of the Kalaupapa Leprosy Settlement by Brooke Jarvis

September:
65. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
66. The Embassy of Cambodia by Zadie Smith
67. Strictly Bipolar by Darian Leader
68. Little Revolution by Alecky Blythe
69. Doctor Scroggy's War by Howard Brenton
70. Portobello Road: Lives of a Neighbourhood by Julian Mash
71. Joe Turner's Come and Gone by August Wiilson

October:
72. The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee
73. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
74. Before Ebola: Dispatches from a Deadly Outbreak by Peter Apps
75. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
76. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
77. J: A Novel by Howard Jacobson
78. The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke
79. The Crucible by Arthur Miller
80. Liolà by Liugi Pirandello

November:
81. Small: Life and Death on the Front Lines of Pediatric Surgery by Catherine Musemeche, MD
82. Win These Posters and Other Unrelated Prizes Inside by Norma Cole
83. Tales of Belkin (The Art of the Novella) by Alexander Pushkin
84. My Child Won't Sleep: A Quick Guide for the Sleep-Deprived Parent by Sujay Kansagra, MD
85. Transit by Abdourahman A. Waberi
86. Ask Me Why I Hurt: The Kids Nobody Wants and the Doctor Who Heals Them by Randy Christensen, MD
87. The Passport by Herta Müller
88. The Children Act by Ian McEwan
89. Aliss at the Fire by Jon Fosse
90. Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky
91. Wind in a Box by Terrance Hayes
92. The Life of Hunger by Amélie Nothomb
93. Next World Novella by Matthias Politycki
94. Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee
95. Schizophrene by Bhanu Kapil
96. London Under: The Secret History Beneath the Streets by Peter Ackroyd
97. The Fall by Albert Camus

December:
98. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
99. Prehistoric Times by Éric Chevillard
100. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
101. The Good Cripple by Rodrigo Rey Rosa
102. Keep Out of Reach of Children: Reye’s Syndrome, Aspirin, and the Politics of Public Health by Mark A. Largent
103. The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami

Purchased and acquired books (purchased books in bold):

January:
1. 1914: A Novel by Jean Echenoz (1 Jan, Strand Book Store)
2. The Travels and Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Rudolf Erich Raspe (1 Jan, Book Culture)
3. King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild (1 Jan, Book Culture)
4. U.S.A. by John Dos Passos (1 Jan, Book Culture)
5. Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black Masculinities by Mark Anthony Neal (1 Jan, Book Culture)
6. Levels of Life by Julian Barnes (1 Jan, Book Culture)
7. Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat (1 Jan, Book Culture)
8. How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America by Kiese Laymon (1 Jan, Book Culture)
9. My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel by Ari Shavit (1 Jan, Book Culture)
10. Brave Genius: A Scientist, a Philosopher, and Their Daring Adventures from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize by Sean B. Carroll (1 Jan, Book Culture)
11. The Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally (8 Jan, Amazon Kindle e-book)
12. The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark (18 Jan, History Book Club)
13. The Marsh Arabs by Wilfred Thesiger (18 Jan, Michael C. Carlos Museum Bookshop)
14. The Odyssey: A Dramatic Retelling of Homer's Epic by Simon Armitage (18 Jan, Michael C. Carlos Museum Bookshop)
15. Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey by Robert O'Meally (18 Jan, Michael C. Carlos Museum Bookshop)
16. The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis (19 Jan, Kindle e-book)
17. The Tuner of Silences by Mia Couto (25 Jan, Kindle e-book (reimbursement))
18. The New Spaniards by John Hooper (25 Jan, Kindle e-book (reimbursement))
19. Barcelona by John Hughes (25 Jan, Kindle e-book (reimbursement))
20. Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends by John Leguizamo (26 Jan, Kindle e-book)
21. Just Kids by Patti Smith (26 Jan, Kindle e-book)
22. The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles (26 Jan, Kindle e-book)
23. The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land by Thomas Asbridge (26 Jan, Kindle e-book)

February:
25. Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup (6 Feb, Kindle e-book)
26. Christmas in Purgatory: A Photographic Essay on Mental Retardation by Burton Blatt, Fred Kaplan (9 Feb, PDF download)
27. Spain in Mind by Alice Leccese Powers (16 Feb, gift book)
28. The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (21 Feb, Kindle e-book)
29. Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues by Martin J. Blaser, MD (LT Early Reviewers book)
30. The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (25 Feb, Kindle e-book)
31. Wounded: From Battlefield to Blighty by Emily Mayhew (25 Feb, Kindle e-book)
32. Creation: The Origin of Life by Adam Rutherford (25 Feb, Kindle e-book)
33. Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks (25 Feb, Kindle e-book)
34. Far From the Tree: A Dozen Kinds of Love by Andrew Solomon (25 Feb, Kindle e-book)
35. Inconvenient People by Sarah Wise (25 Feb, Kindle e-book)
36. An Unexpected Twist (Kindle Single) by Andy Borowitz (27 Feb, Kindle e-book)

March:
37. Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker: 200 Recipes for Healthy and Hearty One-Pot Meals That Are Ready When You Are by Robin Robertson (3 Mar, gift from Karen W.)
38. Thrombosis & Bleeding: An Era of Discovery by Cecil Hougie (5 Mar, Kindle e-book)
39. On the Rez by Ian Frazier (9 Mar, Kindle e-book)
40. We'll Always Have Paris by John Baxter (10 Mar, Kindle e-book)
41. The Nonexistent Knight by Italo Calvino (20 Mar, Kindle e-book)
42. The Cloven Viscount by Italo Calvino (20 Mar, Kindle e-book)
43. Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino (20 Mar, Kindle e-book)
44. Chewing Gum Dreams by Michaela Coel (20 Mar, Kindle e-book)
45. 1984 by George Orwell (22 Mar, Foyles Bookshop)
46. The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer (22 Mar, Foyles Bookshop)
47. The Weir by Conor McPherson (22 Mar, Foyles Bookshop)
48. A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride (22 Mar, Foyles Bookshop)
49. Arctic Summer by Damon Galgut (22 Mar, Foyles Bookshop)
50. Sol Campbell by Simon Astaire (22 Mar, Foyles Bookshop)
51. Nomad's Hotel: Travels in Time and Space by Cees Nooteboom (22 Mar, Stanfords Bookshop)
52. The Husbands by Sharmila Chauhan (23 Mar, Soho Theatre)
53. The Hill Station by J.G. Farrell (24 Mar, London Review Bookshop)
54. Gob's Grief by Chris Adrian (24 Mar, London Review Bookshop)
55. Falling Out of Time by David Grossman (24 Mar, London Review Bookshop)
56. Plague and Cholera by Patrick Deville (24 Mar, London Review Bookshop)
57. The Making of Mr Hai's Daughter by Yasmin Hai (26 Mar, Foyles Bookshop)
58. We Are Proud To Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915 by Jackie Sibblies Drury (26 Mar, Bush Theatre)
59. The Last Asylum: A Memoir of Madness in Our Times by Barbara Taylor (27 Mar, Daunt Books)
60. Gaudí: A Biography by Gijs van Hensbergen (27 Mar, Daunt Books)
61. Ruin Lust by Brian Dillon (27 Mar, National Theatre Bookshop)
62. King Lear by William Shakespeare (27 Mar, National Theatre Bookshop)
63. 1984 (script) by George Orwell, adapted by Robert Icke and Duncan MacMillan (29 Mar, Almeida Theatre)

April:
64. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (11 Apr, Kindle e-book)
65. Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor (14 Apr, Kindle e-book)
66. An Introduction to the Catalan and Valencian Languages by David S. Luton (14 Apr, Kindle e-book)
67. Kicking the Sky by Anthony De Sa (15 Apr, LT Early Reviewers book)
68. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Callahan (19 Apr, Kindle e-book)
69. Notes for a Spanish Odyssey by Calvin Baker (20 Apr, Kindle e-book)
70. Gone (Kindle Single) by Colum McCann (20 Apr, Kindle e-book)
71. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (30 Apr, Kindle e-book)

May:
72. Lost Luggage by Jordi Puntí (6 May, Kindle e-book)
73. The Dolls' Room by Llorenç Villalonga (7 May, Kindle e-book)
74. All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu (10 May, Barnes & Noble)
75. Living Language Spanish, Complete Edition (10 May, Barnes & Noble)
76. The Gray Notebook by Josep Pla (10 May, Barnes & Noble)
77. The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke (16 May, Kindle e-book)
78. Pocket Rough Guide Madrid by Simon Baskett (19 May, Idlewild Books)
79. Barcelona Baedeker Guide (19 May, Idlewild Books)
80. Madrid: A Cultural History (19 May, Idlewild Books)
81. Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life (19 May, Idlewild Books)
82. Morphine by Mikhail Bulgakov (19 May, Book Culture)
83. Spilt Milk by Chico Buarque (19 May, Book Culture)
84. Family Life by Akhil Sharma (19 May, Book Culture)
85. Book of Hours by Kevin Young (19 May, Book Culture)
86. Rebel Music: Race, Empire, and the New Muslim Youth Culture by Hisham Aidi (19 May, Book Culture)
87. Stokely: A Life by Peniel E. Joseph (19 May, Book Culture)
88. Coolie Woman: The Odyssey of Indenture by Gaiutra Bahadur (19 May, Book Culture)
89. The Missing Year of Juan Salvatierra by Pedro Mairal (21 May, St Mark's Bookshop)
90. Glyph: A Novel by Percival Everett (21 May, St Mark's Bookshop)
91. Sleet: Selected Stories by Stig Dagerman (21 May, St Mark's Bookshop)
92. Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty (21 May, St Mark's Bookshop)
93. Paul Robeson: A Watched Man by Jordan Goodman (21 May, St Mark's Bookshop)
94. A French Book by John Christy (24 May, Kindle e-book)
95. Inés of My Soul by Isabel Allende (25 May, Kindle e-book)

June:
96. The Londonist Book Of London Pub Crawls by Matt Brown (1 June, Kindle e-book)
97. River Gardens by Lynda Kiss (2 Jun, Kindle e-book)
98. Lancelot by Walker Percy (2 Jun, Kindle e-book)
99. The Physician by Noah Gordon (3 Jun, Kindle e-book)
100. Quietly by Owen McCafferty (3 Jun, Soho Theatre)
101. In the Approaches by Nicola Barker (5 Jun, London Review Bookshop)
102. The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez (5 Jun, London Review Bookshop)
103. I Am China by Xiaolu Guo (5 Jun, London Review Bookshop)
104. The British Dream: Successes and Failures of Post-War Immigration by David Goodhart (5 Jun, London Review Bookshop)
105. Lost for Words by Edward St Aubyn (6 Jun, Brick Lane Bookshop)
106. This Boy: A Memoir of Childhood by Alan Johnson (6 Jun, Brick Lane Bookshop)
107. The Dream Life of Sukhanov by Olga Grushin (8 Jun, Baggins Book Bazaar)
108. Fima by Amos Oz (8 Jun, Baggins Book Bazaar)
109. Don't Call it Night by Amos Oz (8 Jun, Baggins Books Bazaar)
110. Our Street: East End Life in the Second World War by Gilda O'Neill (8 Jun, Baggins Book Bazaar)
111. Rochester Castle by Jeremy Ashbee (8 Jun, Rochester Castle gift shop)
112. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham (12 Jun, gift book from Bianca Buchholz)
113. All Quiet on the Western Front by Eric Maria Remarque (12 Jun, gift book from Bianca Buchholz)
114. The Ingenious Gentleman and Poet Federico Garcia Lorca Ascends to Hell by Carlos Rojas (13 Jun, London Review Bookshop)
115. The Iraqi Christ by Hassan Blasim (13 Jun, London Review Bookshop)
116. Outlaws by Javier Cercas (13 Jun, London Review Bookshop)
117. Mr Loverman by Bernadine Evaristo (13 Jun, Oxfam Bloomsbury Bookshop)
118. Vlad by Carlos Fuentes (13 Jun, Waterstone's Gower Street
119. Portobello Road: Lives of a Neighbourhood by Julian Mash (13 Jun, Waterstone's Gower Street
120. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (13 Jun, Foyles Bookshop)
121. A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie (13 Jun, Foyles Bookshop)
122. Gaudi: Introduction to his Architecture by Juan-Eduardo Cirlot (17 Jun, Divers Newsagent, Estació Sants)
123. The Sant Pau Modernista Precinct (20 Jun, Hospital de Santa Creu i Sant Pau gift shop)
124. The Arch and the Butterfly by Mohammed Achaari (23 Jun, Come In Llibreria Anglesa)
125. Fear and Loathing in La Liga: Barcelona vs Real Madrid by Sid Lowe (23 Jun, Come In Llibreria Anglesa)
126. The History of Catalonia by F. Xavier Hernàndez (23 Jun, Come In Llibreria Anglesa)
127. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present by Howard Zinn (29 Jun, Kindle e-book)

Purchased and acquired books (purchased books in bold):

July:
128. The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy by David Halberstam (1 Jul, Kindle e-book)
129. Thomas Jefferson by Christopher Hitchens (1 Jul, Kindle e-book)
130. Nevirapine and the Quest to End Pediatric AIDS by Rebecca J. Anderson (2 Jul, LTER book)
131. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama (4 Jul, Kindle e-book)
132. All That Is Solid Melts into Air by Darragh McKeon (8 Jul, Kindle e-book)
133. Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain (11 July, free Kindle e-book)
134. To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris (23 July, Kindle e-book)
135. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler (23 July, Kindle e-book)
136. The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt (23 July, Kindle e-book)
137. The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth (23 July, Kindle e-book)
138. Orfeo by Richard Powers (23 July, Kindle e-book)
139. History of the Rain by Niall Williams (23 July, Kindle e-book)
140. The Near End of Islam: Story of the Mongol Invasion and Muslim Genocide in the 13th Century by Ibn Iftikhar (29 July, Kindle e-book)

August:
141. How to Be German in 50 Easy Steps by Adam Fletcher and Robert M. Schöne (1 Aug, gift from Bianca)
142. The Inevitable City: The Resurgence of New Orleans and the Future of Urban America by Scott Cowen (7 Aug, LT Early Reviewers book)
143. Dr. Mütter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz (7 Aug, LT Early Reviewers book)
144. The Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A. Caro (10 Aug, Kindle e-book)
145. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan (14 Aug, Kindle e-book)
146. Street Child: A Memoir by Justin Reed Early (17 Aug, Kindle e-book)
147. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami (19 Aug, Barnes & Noble)
148. When We Are Called to Part: Hope and Heartbreak in the Vanishing World of the Kalaupapa Leprosy Settlement by Brooke Jarvis (24 Aug, Kindle e-book)
149. Native North American Art (Oxford History of Art) by Janet Catherine Berlo (24 Aug, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Gift Shop)
150. Busted: A Tale of Corruption and Betrayal in the City of Brotherly Love by Wendy Ruderman and Barbara Laker (26 Aug, Kindle e-book)
151. Let It Burn: MOVE, the Philadelphia Police Department, and the Confrontation that Changed a City by Michael Boyette and Randi Boyette (26 Aug, Kindle e-book)
152. Accidents of Nature by Harriet McBryde Johnson (28 Aug, Kindle e-book)

September:
153. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters (3 Sep, WH Smith (Heathrow Airport))
154. J by Howard Jacobson (3 Sep, WH Smith (Heathrow Airport))
155. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande (3 Sep, LT Early Reviewers book)
156. The Hunger Angel by Herta Müller (5 Sep, gift from Bianca)
157. A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar (5 Sep, St Christopher's Dulwich Hospice Shop, London)
158. The Axeman's Jazz by Ray Celestin (6 Sep, gift from Rachael)
159. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (6 Sep, Heffers Bookshop, Cambridge)
160. The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee (6 Sep, Heffers Bookshop, Cambridge)
161. The Embassy of Cambodia by Zadie Smith (9 Sep, Daunt Books)
162. Strictly Bipolar by Darian Leader (9 Sep, Daunt Books)
163. Fodor's San Diego by Fodor's Travel Publications (9 Sep, Daunt Books)
164. How to Be Both by Ali Smith (9 Sep, Daunt Books)
165. Skylight by José Saramago (10 Sep, London Review Bookshop)
166. The Children Act by Ian McEwan (10 Sep, London Review Bookshop)
167. The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis (10 Sep, London Review Bookshop)
168. The James Plays by Rona Munro (11 Sep, Kindle e-book)
169. The Golden Notebook by Dora Lessing (11 Sep, Kindle e-book)
170. The Crucible by Arthur Miller (11 Sep, Kindle e-book)
171. So What: The Life of Miles Davis by John Szwed (13 Sep, secondhand vendor in Brighton, UK)
172. Joe Turner's Come and Gone by August Wilson (13 Sep, Oxfam Bookshop, Brighton)
173. The Quarry by Damon Galgut (13 Sep, Oxfam Bookshop, Brighton)
174. Only in London by Hanan Al-Shaykh (13 Sep, Books for Amnesty, Brighton)
175. Chloroform: The Quest for Oblivion by Linda Stratmann (13 Sep, Brighton Bookshop)
176. The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante (13 Sep, Brighton Bookshop)
177. Little Revolution by Alecky Blythe (15 Sep, Almeida Theatre, London)
178. Dr Scroggy's War by Howard Brenton (16 Sep, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, London)
179. Going to Meet the Man: Stories by James Baldwin (21 Sep, Kindle e-book)
180. Citizens by Simon Schama (23 Sep, Amazon)
181. Goodbye Twentieth Century by Dannie Abse (29 Sep, Kindle e-book)

October:
182. Before Ebola: Dispatches from a Deadly Outbreak by Peter Apps (16 Oct, Kindle e-book)
183. The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy (19 Oct, Kindle e-book)
184. Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky (22 Oct, Kindle e-book)
185. The Emperor Waltz by Philip Hensher (24 Oct, The Book Depository)
186. Small: Life and Death on the Front Lines of Pediatric Surgery by Catherine Musemeche, MD (24 Oct, LT Early Reviewers book)

This is a list of the TBR books I'd like to read the most. I hope to complete 10-15 or more tomes (500 pages or longer), and 30-35 shorter works. This is a first draft, so the books that are listed here will almost certainly change as the year progresses.

TBR Books to Read in 2014

Tomes (500 pages or more):
      Nicole Barker, Darkmans
      Simone de Beauvoir, The Mandarins
      Douglas Brinkley, The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast
      Saul Bellow, The Adventures of Augie March
      Ralph Ellison, Three Days Before the Shooting...
      Ian Gibson, The Shameful Life of Salvador Dalí
      David Grossman, To the End of the Land
      Lawrence Hill, Someone Knows My Name
      George E. Lewis, A Power Stronger than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music
      A.J. Liebling, Just Enough Liebling
      David Macey, Frantz Fanon: A Biography
      Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety
      Paul Murray, Skippy Dies
      Patrick O'Brian, Picasso: A Biography
      Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason: The Modern Foundations of Body and Soul
      Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses
      William Trevor, Selected Stories
      Patrick White, The Vivisector

Non-tomes (less than 500 pages):
      Stuart Altman and David Shactman, Power, Politics and Universal Health Care: The Inside Story of a Century-Long Battle
      Kwame Anthony Appiah, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers
      Bernardo Atxaga, Obabakoak
      Amiri Baraka, Tales of the Out & the Gone
      Eleanor Catton, The Rehearsal
      Patrick Chamoiseau, Texaco
      Randy Christensen MD, Ask Me Why I Hurt: The Kids Nobody Wants and the Doctor Who Heals Them
      Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, The Colonel
      Jean Echenoz, I'm Off and One Year
      Percival Everett, Percival Everett by Virgil Russell
      Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
      Louise Erdrich, The Plague of Doves
      Paul Farmer, Haiti After the Earthquake
      Juan Eslava Galan, The Mule
      Jerry Gentry, Grady Baby: A Year in the Life of Atlanta's Grady Hospital
      Amitav Ghosh, The Calcutta Chromosome
      Juan Goytisolo, Forbidden Territory and Realms of Strife
      Juan Goytisolo, Juan the Landless
      Graham Greene, The Comedians
      Alistair Horne, Seven Ages of Paris
      Jonathan B. Imber, Trusting Doctors: The Decline of Moral Authority in American Medicine
      Hettie Jones, How I Became Hettie Jones
      James Kelman, Kieron Smith, boy
      Robert Klitzman, When Doctors Become Patients
      Karl Ove Knausgaard, My Struggle: Book One
      Eric Lax, The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle
      Charles Lemert, Why Niebuhr Matters
      Juan Marsé, Lizard Tails
      Juan Marsé, Shanghai Nights
      David A. Mendel, Proper Doctoring: A Book for Patients and their Doctors
      Simon Mawer, Mendel's Dwarf
      Claire McCarthy, Everyone's Children: A Pediatrician's Story of an Inner City Practice
      Ian McEwan, Atonement
      Andrew Miller, Pure
      Quim Monzó, The Enormity of the Tragedy
      Quim Monzó, Gasoline
      Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore
      Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita
      Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Petals of Blood
      Reinhold Niebuhr, The Irony of American History
      Michael Ondaatje, Anil's Ghost
      Laura Katz Olson, The Politics of Medicaid: Stakeholders and Welfare Medicine
      Brian Orr, MD, A Pediatrician's Journal: Caring for Children in a Broken Medical System
      Orhan Pamuk, Snow
      Roy Porter, Madmen: A Social History of Madhouses, Mad Doctors and Lunatics
      Graham Robb, Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris
      Edward W. Said, Out of Place: A Memoir
      Giles Tremlett, Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and Its Secret Past
      Mario Vargas Llosa, The Green House
      Richard Wright, Black Boy

Recommended reads for the CanLit 2014 Challenge (by Canadian LTers) (books in bold are ones that I'm most interested in reading):

   Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace (Joyce, Nancy, Cait and Cyrel)
   Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin (Cait and Joyce)
   Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale (Tui)
   Margaret Atwood, The Robber Bride (Joyce and Nancy)
   Anita Rau Badami, Tamarind Mem (Tui)
   Anita Rau Badami, Tell it to the Trees (Cait)
   John Bemrose, The Island Walkers (Lori)
   Marie-Claire Blais, The Day Is Dark and Three Travelers (Suz)
   Joseph Boyden, Three Day Road (Suz and Cyrel)
   Joseph Boyden, Black Spruce (Suz and Cyrel)
   Wayson Choy, The Jade Peony (Nancy)
   Michael Crummey, Galore (Sassy)
   Robertson Davies, The Deptford Trilogy (Suz, Cait, Tui and Zoë)
   Suzanne Desrochers, Bride of New France (Zoë)
   Patrick deWitt, The Sisters Brothers (Nancy)
   Kim Echlin, The Disappeared (Cait)
   Timothy Findley, The Last of the Crazy People (Lori)
   Timothy Findley, The Piano Man's Daughter (Tui)
   Timothy Findley, The Wars (Suz and Joyce)
   Kenneth J. Harvey, Blackstrap Hawco (Sassy)
   Tomson Highway, Kiss of the Fur Queen (Joyce and Tui)
   Helen Humphreys, Coventry (Tui)
   Helen Humphreys, The Frozen Thames (Tui)
   Helen Humphreys, The Lost Garden (Tui)
   Wayne Johnston, Baltimore's Mansion (Tui)
   Wayne Johnston, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams (Cyrel)
   Thomas King, Green Grass, Running Water (Joyce)
   W.P. Kinsella, Shoeless Joe (Tui)
   Margaret Laurence, The Stone Angel (Tui)
   Mary Lawson, Crow Lake (Lori)
   Linden MacIntyre, The Bishop's Man (Suz)
   Alistair MacLeod, No Great Mischief (Cait and Nancy)
   Beatrice MacNeil, Where White Horses Gallop (Nancy)
   Rabindranath Maharaj, The Amazing Absorbing Boy (Cyrel)
   Rohinton Mistry, Family Matters (Tui)
   Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance (Tui)
   W.O. Mitchell, Who Has Seen the Wind (Tui)
   Lisa Moore, February (Cait)
   Alice Munro, Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage (Suz)
   Alice Munro, Too Much Happiness (Cyrel)
   Alice Munro, The View from Castle Rock (Cyrel)
   Michael Ondaatje, Anil's Ghost (Joyce)
   Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient (Cait)
   Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion
   Michael Ondaatje, The Cat's Table (Suz)
   Jacques Poulin, Mister Blue (Suz)
   Mordechai Richler, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Cyrel)
   Timothy Taylor, Stanley Park (Joyce)
   Kim Thúy, Ru (Suz)
   Michel Tremblay, The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant (Lori)
   Jane Urquhart, Away (Tui)
   Jane Urquhart, The Stone Carvers (Tui)
   Ronald Wright, What Is America?: A Short History of the New World Order (nonfiction) (Tui)

Book #40: The Missing Year of Juan Salvatierra by Pedro Mairal



My rating:

The sons of Juan Salvatierra have returned to their home village in an Argentinian border town to claim their inheritance, a decade after their father's death. Salvatierra, rendered mute by a childhood accident, spent much of his free time during the last 60 years of his life painting on long scrolls of canvas, one scroll for each year of his life beginning at the age of twenty. His works, housed in a shed, give voice to the history of his town and the lives of his family and close friends, in a continuous fashion akin to a book of non-fiction:

Salvatierra painted without any lateral divisions so as to achieve continuity between the different scenes. That was something that obsessed him. He wanted his painting to encapsulate the fluidity of a river, of dreams, the way in which they can transform things in a completely natural way without the change seeming absurd but entirely inevitable, as if he were revealing the violent metamorphosis hidden within each being, thing, or situation.

Salvatierra received little attention for his work during his life, but after his death several European museums expressed interest in purchasing and displaying his canvases, while his own country's institutions seemed largely disinterested in it.

As the two sons examine the canvases, they discover that the scroll painted in 1961 is missing. The youngest son embarks on a quest to find this scroll, in order to complete the collection, but also to investigate what led to its disappearance. In doing so, he learns about his father's life, family secrets, and how his past life fits into the story told in the canvases.

The Missing Year of Juan Salvatierra is a short but multilayered and evocative novel, which would appear to be a mystery novel but is also an homage to the life of an artist who is voiceless, yet uses his paintings to tell his story and communicate with those who view his work. The rich descriptions provided by Mairal allowed this reader to easily envision and reflect on Salvatierra's paintings, and, like a work of art that reveals more of itself on a repeat viewing, this book would seem to lend itself to a second or third reading to appreciate it more fully.

I think you liked The Missing Year of Juan Salvatierra better than I did. Although I liked the idea of it and a lot of Marai's writing, I found it a tad obvious and felt the author tied up the loose ends too neatly.

>7 rebeccanyc: I also thought that the ending was a bit too tidy, Rebecca; that caused me to drop my rating by a half star. I didn't find it to be overly obvious, though, and I did get caught up in the beautifully told story.

Nice review of The Missing Year of Juan Salvatierra, Darryl. I recently purchased it for my Kindle.

> 206 your previous thread

Darryl, I had Rochester in my diary for Fri 13, but can do Sunday. Let me know which it is. Safe travels.

>10 Caroline_McElwee: Caroline, Bryony (BBGirl55) and I are meeting in Rochester on Sunday; hopefully Heather (souloftherose) and Claire (SakerFalcon) will be able to join us. Bianca (drachenbraut23), Heather, Claire and I will meet at Holborn station at 11 am on the 13th to participate in a medical history walking tour of Bloomsbury, titled "Blood, Guts, Children and Power" (http://medicallondon.org/related_events.html). It will be led by Richard Barnett, the author of the book Medical London: City of Diseases, City of Cures, which is one of my favorite and most unique medical history collections in my library. It includes several maps of walking tours of London, and I'll bring them with me so that I can take at least a couple of the walks on this trip.

I'll touch base with Bryony later this week, probably on Wednesday, to find out what time she wants to meet, and I'll let you know what we decide. I'll arrive in London just after noon tomorrow, and after I check into my hotel and take a quick nap I'll meet a friend from work for dinner, then see the play Quietly at the Soho Theatre.

>11 kidzdoc: OK, Sunday it is (excuse my brain fart!). Will keep an eye on thread for arrangements.

>12 Caroline_McElwee: No problem, Caroline! For all I know I may have given you the wrong meet up dates. I just posted a message on your profile page about Sunday. Claire (SakerFalcon) will also join us.

Yesterday Paul (Polaris) and I met at Canary Wharf, and from there we took the DLR (Docklands Light Rail) to Greenwich. We walked through the Old Royal Naval College, stopped briefly in the National Maritime Museum, walked up the hill to the Royal Observatory, and saw the Cutty Sark, chatting merrily all the while.

Some photos of the Old Royal Naval College:



(I caught Paul in this shot)

The National Maritime Museum:



The Royal Observatory:



The Cutty Sark:

We returned to Greenwich station and took another DLR train from there to Shadwell station in East London. We walked through the East End, mainly on Whitechapel Road to Brick Lane, where we had lunch, went to a bookshop and had coffee before we parted.

The following photo is the Congregation of Jacob Synagogue, which opened in 1903 and is one of the oldest continuously functioning synagogues in East London.



The older buildings of the Royal London Hospital, which has been in continuous operation since it began as the London Infirmary in 1740.



The East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre, the oldest mosque in the heart of the East End and one of the largest ones in the city:



A monument to King Edward VII, son of Queen Victoria, from the Jewish residents of East London:

On Brick Lane:



The Beigel Bake on Brick Lane, one of the oldest Jewish run beigel shops in the East End. It's a well known stopping point for late night partiers, since it stays open 24/7/365 and serves fabulous beigels, breads, sandwiches and sweets (cheesecake, strudel, etc.) at reasonable prices. It only serves one type of beigel, a plain one; those who want cinnamon raisin, honey walnut or other absurd varieties will need to look elsewhere. Paul and I each had salt beef with mustard on a beigel, which was divine:





After lunch we stopped by the Brick Lane Bookshop, which Paul had spotted on our way to the beigel shop. It was a small but nicely stocked bookstore, and I came away with two books from my wish list:

This Boy: A Memoir of a Childhood by Alan Johnson: The winner of this year's Orwell Prize by the former Labour MP, which describes his poor upbringing in the 1950s in a cramped flat in Notting Hill that lacked heat, electricity or running water, while his mother battled poor health and depressed and his older sister Linda held the family together despite being a child herself.

Lost for Words by Edward St Aubyn: His latest novel, which recently received a favorable review by Deborah (Cariola), is a satire on the British literary prizes, inspired by the 2011 Booker Prize debacle created by Stella Rimington.

We stopped at a café just off Brick Lane and chatted until 4 pm, then traveled back to Bloomsbury on the Underground until we parted after a splendid day, which was made that much better by the perfect weather that we had. En route to Aldgate East station we passed by the Old Spitalfields Market, which has been in operation since 1638:



Finally, we walked past Christ Church, Spitalfields, which was completed in 1729:

On Thursday I had lunch with Luci (elkiedee) at the Peyton and Byrne bakery in St Pancras Station. Afterward I proceeded to the London Review Bookshop, where I bought four books:

The British Dream: Successes and Failure of Post-war Immigration by David Goodhart: Shortlisted for this year's Orwell Prize, this book recounts the history of immigration to the UK after World War II and after 1997, describes how the two generations of immigrants are faring here, and charts a course for the future, in which ethnic minorities are projected to account for 25% of the population by the early 2020s.

I Am China by Xiaolu Guo: This latest book by the author of the novel A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers is a love story about a exiled Chinese musician who finds himself in limbo in a UK detention center, his girlfriend in Beijing, who sends desperate letters to him in London, and a British woman who translates their letters into English, in an attempt to help to aid the seemingly doomed couple.

The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez: A novel about a family who has recently emigrated from Mexico to a university town in Delaware to escape trouble at home and pursue their American dream, but find more trouble and tragedy than they bargained for.

In the Approaches by Nicola Barker: Just published this week, her tenth novel is set in the English coastal town of Pett Level in 1984, and is centered around a controversial Irish muralist, his promiscuous half-Aboriginal wife, and their saintly daughter, whose lives are disrupted by a mysterious visitor on a pilgrimage.



That night I made my first visit to Shakespeare's Globe, the open air theatre modeled after his original Globe Theatres, which was first built in 1599, burned down in 1613, rebuilt the follow year, and ultimately demolished in 1644. It was my first visit to the Globe Theatre, and sitting in the wooden theatre, overlooking the "groundlings" (the audience members who stood around the stage) and seeing the play would have been an unforgettable and unique experience even if the performance wasn't a good one. Fortunately Titus Andronicus was a very good production, which did not have any actors that were recognizable to me (or my friend Lesley, who saw it earlier this week), but it was a very energetic and entertaining performance, which was filled with humor despite the grim script, as the actors played to the audience, particularly the groundlings who had to frequently move aside as the actors and equipment passed through them on the way to and from the stage.



The play was set in Ancient Rome, as the victorious general Titus Andronicus returns after a successful 10 year campaign against the Goths, bringing with him Tamora, the Queen of the Goths, her three sons, and Aaron, the Moor who is her secret lover. Despite her pleas for mercy, Titus has one of her sons put to death, in revenge for the deaths of two of his sons.

The Emperor of Rome has recently died, and his two sons, Saturninus and Bassianus, both desire to succeed him. Titus is offered the position as Emperor, but he declines, and suggests that Saturninus should fill the opening. Saturninus chooses Titus' daughter Lavinia as his bride, but she is already betrothed to Bassianus, and the two protest bitterly and force Saturninus to look elsewhere. He selects Tamora as the Empress and frees her two surviving sons and Aaron. However, Tamora vows to enact revenge on Titus Andronicus and the Romans, and she, her sons and Aaron engage in a diabolical plot that strikes at the heart of the conquerors, and leads to a series of murders and other grisly acts of violence.





The actors were all very good, but I thought that William Houston (Titus Andronicus), Flora Spencer-Longhurst (Lavinia), Obi Abili (Aaron) and Indira Varma (Tamora) were particularly good, as was David Shaw-Parker as the drunken fool Bacchus.

Shots of Brick Lane bring back some memories. I lived with my first wife round the corner in Greatorex street Whitechapel for a while. Back when there were still plenty of Jewish families in Whitechapel.

That's a great picture of the new Globe theatre.

Wow! Sounds like you're having a great time. And great photos/travelogue too!

Splendid trip! I love Indira Varma, perfect casting for Tamora (forceful, slightly mad...)

Pffft, what is 1903! ;) Must remember to take pictures of the synagogue in my hometown, in continuous use since 1507 (third oldest such in Europe, after Prague's and Dubrovnik's).

Globe Theatre

That structure was in a Doctor Who story about Shakespeare and witches!

Thank you for sharing, Darryl. It sounds like great fun.

Fantastic - some of my favourite bits of London. And it looks like you're having lovely weather for it! Thanks too for letting me know there's a new Nicola Barker out. Set in Pett Levels too, not very far from where I grew up!

I enjoy following you vicariously through your travelogues.

Love seeing and reading your yesterday's adventures Darryl.

And it was wonderful spending time with you, Bryony (BBGirl55) and Claire (SakerFalcon) in Rochester today. Such interesting and easy company, and Bryony should really be a Rochester town guide, she did a great job.







I've dropped these here so the others can find them easily. I'll leave you to record the day.

Hi Darryl! Finally caught up with your thread again (is it @ Club Read, or Club Read? ;) Harking back to the previous 'Part Two' thread - I love your reviews as ever, especially the Theatre which I rarely go to, and enjoy keeping track of your latest finds. I find myself adding some great looking books to the wishlist: Spilt Milk by Chico Buarque, German Autumn by Stig Dagerman (you're mention of Dagerman's short story collection led me to finding this fascinating sounding account of Germany's immediate post-war experience), and Paul Robeson: A Watched Man by Jordan Goodman. I'll look forward to reading your review and others' of Rebel Music: Race, Empire, and the New Muslim Youth Culture before deciding whether to add it or not. It certainly is an interesting topic.

Anyway...it was really lovely to meet up with you and just spend a few hours basically walking and talking, and stopping and looking, which has always been one of my favourite ways to spend time in the old home city. We truly were blessed with glorious early summer weather. Not much hotter than that and it veers into 'uncomfortable city heat' territory! But as it was, and the company, the walking, the hot salt beef beigel... it was a great day. I hope you have a fantastic time in France and Spain, and enjoy the rest of your time in London.

(Two very small points of order: Orwell prize winning author Alan Johnson ('This Boy') was a Labour MP (still is on the backbenches I think, for the time being) and not in the Liberal Party; and the memorial on Whitechapel Road is to King Edward VII! George VII will be the monarchic title of William & Kate's baby boy, (if and) when he succeeds to the throne after Charles (III) and then William (V).)

A Sunday in Rochester, part one.

Bryony (BBGirl55) suggested spending a weekend day in Rochester, a historic town located roughly 30 miles ESE of London. Caroline (Caroline_McElwee) and I boarded a Chatham Main Line train at London Cannon Street, as Victoria Station was closed this past Sunday. Claire (SakerFalcon) got on the train at an intermediate stop, and Bryony took a westbound train. We met at Rochester railway station, which unfortunately is scheduled to be relocated next year:



(This was actually the last photo of the day; Claire is to the left, and Bryony to the right, walking ahead of Caroline and me.)

From the station we set out for the nearby Rochester High Street, which was filled with dozens of very nice shops, restaurants and other establishments:



Ye Olde Curiositie Shoppe, a restaurant that dates back to the 15th century; note the crooked door at its front entrance:



A shop with an even more crooked front door:



The Deaf Cat, a café named after Charles Dickens's favorite feline during the last year of his life, where we had tea in the early afternoon and cold drinks a few hours later:



One of the buildings of the Guildhall Museum:



The Six Poor Travellers' House:

A Sunday in Rochester, part two.

As we walked along Rochester High Street we made a detour to see the Eastgate House and Gardens. Eastgate House was built in 1590-1591, and became famous after Charles Dickens used it as the setting for his novels The Pickwick Papers (Westgate House) and The Mystery of Edwin Drood (the Nun's House):



Caroline and Bryony (sitting) and Claire (standing) in the Gardens:



The Swiss Chalet House, where Dickens wrote five of his novels and other works from 1875 to his death in 1880, which was relocated from his nearby summer home at Gads Hill Place to the grounds of Eastgate House:

A Sunday in Rochester, part three.

After we walked the length of Rochester High Street we proceeded to Rochester Castle, which was built in the 11th and 12th centuries near the River Medway to protect the southeast coast of England from invasion. Bryony, Clair and I walked to the top of the stone tower, which provided spectacular views of the surrounding towns and hills, along with nearby Rochester Cathedral.

Approaching the castle tower, seen on the right; Rochester Cathedral is to the left:



A surviving portion of the king's chamber block can be seen to the right, which was built by Henry III in the 1220s:



A portion of the northwest bastion of the castle, built between 1377 and 1384:



Finally, some views from the top:

A Sunday in Rochester, part 4.

After we left the castle we had tea at The Deaf Cat, then started shopping. We went to three stores that sold books, and I acquired four from Baggins Book Bazaar, "England's largest secondhand and rare bookshop":

The Dream Life of Sukhanov by Olga Grushin: A middle aged apparatchik lives comfortably in Moscow, having foregone his previous existence as a talented underground artist, until a shakeup in the Kremlin leads him to question his decision to betray his personal values, as his life descends into uncertainty and fear. This debut novel was written by the first Russian student to obtain a bachelor's degree in the US, at Emory University in Atlanta (where I completed my pediatric residency). I read her later novel The Line, which I enjoyed, and this book was on my wish list (I could have gotten it in Atlanta, of course, but it was impossible to pass up a like new hardback edition of it for £3).

Fima by Amos Oz: A middle aged man examines his life from his shabby Jerusalem flat, one which was filled with promise and lofty dreams but led to nothing, similar to many people in his generation.

Don't Call it Night by Amos Oz: The relationship of a childless Israeli couple in a small desert community is precipitated into crisis when a pupil of the woman dies under mysterious circumstances, as the townspeople cast suspicious eyes upon them. I hadn't seen either of these books by one of my favorite authors in the US, so I couldn't pass them up.

Our Street: East End Life in the Second World War by Gilda O'Neill: After my visit to the East End of London with Paul on Friday I was curious to read more about the lives of its inhabitants, and this book caught my eye.

We had a nice lunch at a fish and chips shop on the far end of Rochester High Street, did more shopping, and then proceeded to Rochester Cathedral, one of the oldest churches in England, home to the second oldest bishopric in the UK after Canterbury, and located on grounds where Christians have been worshipping since 604 AD. The oldest portions of the cathedral date back to 1080, and many of the newer portions were completed in 1240.

We toured the church briefly, then attended an Evensong service.



The cathedral's great organ:



Another view of the organ, taken just after the conclusion of the Evensong service; we sat on one of the pews to the right of this photo:



Some additional photos within the cathedral:





Finally, the great west door of the cathedral, which was built during the early 12th century:



We all had a splendid time, thanks largely to Bryony's superb guidance, and also to the picture perfect day that we had. Rochester is just over 40 minutes by train from central London, so I would encourage any visitors to London to consider spending a day there. Thanks to Caroline and Claire for coming as well!

>19 baswood: I just looked up Greatorex Street (interesting name!) on Google Maps; we almost certainly crossed it when we were on Whitechapel Road, and we may have even walked on it to get to Brick Lane.

That photo of Shakespeare's Globe came from the Internet, along with the photos of the production of Titus Andronicus, as photographs weren't permitted during the performance or intermission.

>20 rebeccanyc: Thanks, Rebecca! We were blessed with spectacular weather on Friday and Sunday, with blue skies, plenty of sun and high temperatures in the mid to upper 70s (23-25C).

>21 LolaWalser: Thanks, Lola. Indira Varma's name is vaguely familiar to me, but I don't know if I've seen her perform on stage or not.

I have to post reviews of two of the other plays I saw last week, Quietly at Soho Theatre, and A View from the Bridge at The Young Vic; both were very good. I'll see the Royal Shakespeare Company's productions of Wolf Hall tonight, and Bring Up the Bodies tomorrow night. I'm seeing plays on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday as well.

Ha! 1507 certainly trumps 1903. I'd be interested to learn more about that synagogue.

Witches in the Globe Theatre...I could see that.

>22 NanaCC: You're welcome, Colleen! It has been a splendid trip so far, and I still have another 2-1/2 weeks to go before I return to the US.

>23 wandering_star: Right, Margaret; the weather this weekend from Friday through Sunday, save for Saturday morning and most of the afternoon, was brilliant. I stayed inside for most of Saturday, but by the time I met Fliss (flissp) for champagne and oysters at Searcy's Champagne Bar in St Pancras station the skies had largely cleared, and the rain had stopped. Sunday was supposed to be mostly cloudy, so we were all pleasantly surprised at how nice a day it turned out to be (as you'll be able to see from the blue skies in yesterday's photographs). Hopefully it will be just as nice on Friday, when several of us will meet up to go on a medical history walking tour of Bloomsbury, led by Richard Barnett, the author of Medical London: City of Diseases, City of Cures.

I had no idea that Nicola Barker had written a new book before I saw it at the London Review Bookshop. It was released the same day that I bought it, but I would have expected prior mention of it, especially since she would (I think) be automatically eligible to have In the Approaches read by this year's Booker Prize judging committee, since Darkmans was shortlisted for the Booker in 2007.

>24 RidgewayGirl: Thanks, Kay!

>25 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks for sharing those photos, Caroline! It was lovely to spend the day with you, Bryony and Claire, and I'm glad that Bryony was able to finally meet some other LTers besides me. She was a fabulous tour guide, which made a special day that much more memorable. I look forward to a similar outing soon!

>26 Polaris-: Ha ha! It's pronounced "Club Red" (as opposed to "Club Reed"), Paul; I confirmed what I thought on Friday by looking at our group's home page.

I'm sure that I'm one of the more avid theatre goers on LT, although I suspect that Judy (ffortsa), her partner Jim (magicians_nephew), and possibly Joe (jnwelch) and his wife (walklover) see more plays than I do. I don't remember if I mentioned that Joe, his wife (I'm blanking on her name at the moment) and I may all be in London in early September. If so I'm sure we'll see as many plays as we can. I'll certainly let you and others know.

I'll definitely read Rebel Music and Paul Robeson: A Watched Man soon after I return to the US. Spilt Milk and the Dagerman collection are short works, so I'll probably read both books later this summer.

I had a fabulous time on Friday, and it was great to meet you, see Greenwich and the East End, and spending time walking and chatting on a glorious spring day. This weekend's weather would be similar to what we have in Atlanta in April, so I can't call it summer yet!. I completely agree with you; my ideal weather is in the high 60s to low 70s, and anything about 25 C (77 F) or so is too hot.

For that reason I will likely skip my considered plans to visit Madrid after I arrive in Barcelona. I saw that the high temperatures there will be in the low to mid 90s (33-35 C), which is way too warm for me to spend wandering around that city. I do want to go to Lisbon and Goa in Portugal sometime soon, so I'll probably combine a visit with one to Madrid and Seville in the upcoming future.

That salt beef beigel was fabulous, and the store's atmosphere reminded me of some of my favorite past and current NYC delis. I'll definitely go back to Beigel Bake at least once later this week.

Suzanne (Chatterbox) and Luci (elkiedee) corrected me on my decision to place Alan Johnson in the Liberal Party, and my inexplicable mention that the monument was dedicated to Edward VII, as the plaque clearly states, and not the future George VII. I corrected my posts on my 75 Books thread, but I forgot to do that here.

Clearly I need more work before I'm ready to apply for British citizenship...

If you watch any British TV you've probably seen Varma in something--Rome or Luther maybe.

That's wonderful weather you're having. I've been conditioned to think of Britain as perpetually damp and shrouded in cold mist. It looks positively summery.

Love that good old naked stone of the cathedral. They knew how to mix mortar back in the old days!

>27 kidzdoc: -30 What a lovely summing up of our day Darryl. Enjoy the rest of your European stay, I shall be reading your thread as you go. Look forward to meeting again on your next visit to the UK.

Btw Any more Thingaversary additions?

Wonderful photos and descriptions, Darryl!

Just adding my heartfelt thanks for the pictures and descriptions of your tour. I tried and failed not to be jealous.

What Rebecca and Miriam said. The pictures are terrific.

>33 LolaWalser: I looked at Indira Varma's Wikipedia page, but I couldn't find any stage, screen or television appearances that I remember seeing. I watch very little TV and haven't seen a movie in the cinema in nearly a decade, but that doesn't mean that I haven't seen her before.

I've been blessed with better than average weather for several of my recent trips to the UK. I came last July during the warmest week in six or seven years, after a extended rainy spell, and the weather here in March was nice as well.

I also loved the masonry of the cathedral, and the sturdiness of the sturdy structure of the castle tower. Despite its age I never felt as if it was unsafe, save for the well worn spiral steps used by thousands of visitors over the centuries.

>34 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks for your company and the photos, Caroline! I look forward to seeing you again, possibly as early as September.

I haven't purchased any books since Sunday, but I'll definitely go book shopping later this week. I stayed inside all of yesterday, as I wasn't feeling well. Sometimes calamari doesn't agree with me, and I had a particularly bad time after I ate the portion I had on Sunday.

I'm curious to see the new Foyles bookshop on Charing Cross Road, so I'll definitely go there once it has opened.

>35 rebeccanyc: Thanks, Rebecca!

>36 almigwin: You're welcome, Miriam (heh).

>37 dchaikin: Thanks, Dan.

> 38 Sorry to hear about your nasty side effects. Hope you feel better today Darryl.

Yes, intrigued to see the new Foyles too, it is taking over the old art school building. I think it is opening sometime this month.

Ha ha! It's pronounced "Club Red" (as opposed to "Club Reed"), Paul; I confirmed what I thought on Friday by looking at our group's home page.

I bet some of the contributors are surprised to discover that we are all communists.

>39 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks, Caroline. I didn't feel too great this morning, but my GI symptoms are finally starting to reside this afternoon. This has happened before when I've had calamari, and I suspect that I have an allergy to a protein or toxin in squid that brings on a violent reaction (fortunately it hasn't caused any respiratory symptoms so far, touch wood).

I went through old e-mails today, since I stayed inside, and I saw that the new Foyles opened on Saturday. If we don't go there on Friday I'll definitely check it out this coming weekend.

>40 baswood: Right, comrade.

Wow, what a lovely trip and such beautiful photos! I hope you feel better soon!

>42 fannyprice: Thanks, Kris! I'm nearly back to normal today, so this reaction is nearly over.

I am really loving that LT can provide me with vicarious traveling. Looks like a great trip!

>44 mabith: Thanks, Meredith! I still have over two weeks left in this trip. I'll travel to Paris on a Eurostar train on Monday, go from there to Barcelona on a TGV train on Tuesday, and return from there to Atlanta on June 27th, two Fridays from now.

Yesterday five of us, namely Bianca (drachenbraut23), Claire (Sakerfalcon), Heather (souloftherose), Luci (elkiedee) and I, spent a lovely day together in London. The original plan of yesterday's meet up was to start the day with a medical history walking tour of Bloomsbury, which was to be led by Richard Barnett, the author of the book Medical London: City of Diseases, City of Cures. I found out about the walking tour via the book's web site, www.medicallondon.org, and I noticed that there was a guided tour scheduled for Saturday 13 June, starting at the Holborn Underground station. I didn't pay much attention to the fact that 13 June was a Friday, not a Saturday, which was my first mistake.

Claire, Bianca, Heather and I met at Holborn station at 11 am:



We didn't see anyone there who seemed to be part of this tour, so I pulled up the map from the web site on my smartphone, and we made our way along the route, first going to nearby Lincoln's Inn Fields, the largest of the public squares in London. We passed by, but didn't enter, Sir John Soame's Museum, and we stopped to look at the buildings of the Royal College of Surgeons on the far end of the park:



A monument to barrister Philip Twells, outside of the southeast entrance to Lincoln's Inn Fields:



I checked the Medical London web site again, and it wasn't until then that I noticed that the walks were held on 13 June 2009! Since we forgot to bring our pocket time machine to transport us five years into the past we decided to visit the original Twinings Tea shop on the Strand and the Temple Church, passing the Royal Courts of Justice and the buildings of several organizations associated with it along the way.

Lincoln's Inn, one of the four Honourable Inns of Court of London, where barristers have belonged since the early 14th century:



A building and a gate on the campus of St Patrick's College, a for-profit business school in operation since 1803:





Along the way we found a perfectly sized car for Bianca:

Continued...

Claire and Heather standing in front of a portion of the Royal Courts of Justice:



The front of the Royal Courts of Justice:



Claire, Bianca and Margaret standing in front of The Seven Stars pub:



The Silver Mousetrap, a jewellry founded in 1690:



The Temple Bar, which marks the historical boundary between the City of London and the City of Westminster, created to regulate trade into the City:



Heather standing outside the front entrance of Twinings Tea Shop, which opened at this location in 1706:



Finally, some photos of the Temple Church, founded in the late 12th century. Unfortunately it was closed, so we weren't able to go inside:

Continued...

We walked back to the London Review Bookshop, where we were fortunate enough to nab seats for four at its lovely Cake Shop, which sells excellent soups, sandwiches, quiches, salads, desserts and tea. The tea that Claire and I had were in served elegant small pots, with cups that were equally stylish and functional:



I was famished after the walk, so I had the tomato soup and smoked salmon on a baguette:





Luci joined us at the Cake Shop for dessert, and we began our book buying frenzy. At the London Review Bookshop I came away with three books:

The Ingenious Gentleman and Poet Federico García Lorca Ascends to Hell by Carlos Rojas: I chuckled when I saw the title of this book, which uses the poet's death at the hands of Francoist rebels in 1936 to explore his life and work. I just noticed that the author is a professor of Spanish at Emory University, so I'll have to learn more about Dr. Rojas when I return to Atlanta.

The Iraqi Christ by Hassan Blasim: The winner of this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, which explores "the dark absurdities of Iraq's recent past and the torments of its countless refugees."

Outlaws by Javier Cercas: The latest novel by the acclaimed author of Soldiers of Salamis and The Anatomy of a Moment, which focuses on the generation of youth caught in the chaotic years between Franco's death and the rise of democracy in Spain.

From the Oxfam Bloomsbury Bookshop I bought one book, an advance review copy of Mr Loverman by Bernadine Evaristo, a novel about an elderly man born in Antigua who moved to the London Borough of Hackney in the 1960s and has lived flamboyantly with his wife and children, but also has a secret relationship that enriches and complicates his life.

Luci suggested that we visit the Waterstones branch on Gower Road, on the edge of the campus of the University of London, to check out its selection of remainder titles. I bought one remainder book and one new book there:

Vlad by Carlos Fuentes: A novella in which Vlad the Impaler is dispossessed after spending several centuries
in Eastern Europe, and finds himself in modern day Mexico City, where he causes havoc in the bourgeoisie there.

Portobello Road: Lives of a Neighbourhood by Julian Mash: Claire pointed this out to me, since I had mentioned that I was planning to visit the Portobello Road Market this weekend. The author explores this iconic street that is representative of the diversity and energy of London, by telling the stories of its inhabitants.

We were some distance away from our last planned bookshop visit, the newly opened Foyles on Charing Cross Road, so we took a quick bus ride there. We didn't think to take any photos, since we were all entranced by the impressive appearance of the bookshop. I bought two more books from my wish list:

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent: This novel, shortlisted for this year's Orange Prize Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, which tells the story of Agnes
Magnúsdóttir, who was one of the last three people put to death in Iceland for her role in the murder of her lover and another man in 1829.

A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie: A novel set in the mid-1910s, centered around the relationship between an Englishwoman and a young man returning home after being seriously injured while serving in the British Indian Army, who meet on a train heading to Peshawar, and then encounter each other again 15 years later during a brutal fight for freedom. I loved her earlier novel Burnt Shadows, so I wanted to buy her new book straight away.

We said goodbye to Claire, and the remaining four of us walked to Cafe Mode, an Italian restaurant in Covent Garden where Bianca and I had coffee yesterday. Bianca, Heather and I had dinner (I had grilled lamb with a salad and new potatoes, which was excellent). We proceeded back to Holborn station, nearly nine hours after we first met, and parted ways.

It was a very enjoyable day, despite its unauspicious beginning, and the weather was very favorable, with partly sunny skies and slightly warmer than normal temperatures.

Sounds like a great day, despite the lack of a time machine! I had mixed feelings about Vlad.

Sounds like you had a really great day after all! The food looks like it was good - walking around London definitely does work up a big appetite. Thanks for sharing your book selections again: The Iraqi Christ looks particularly good, and I've now added it as well as Hassan Blasim's previous (debut) collection The Madman of Freedom Square.

I'm glad you're going to get to Portobello Market this weekend. I'm probably biased as I used to live a ten minute walk away for most of the 2000s, but think that it is the best general outdoor market in London. (When I was a teenager I worked a stall at markets in Camden, - Camden Lock and Camden Stables - Greenwich, and Abbey Mills in south London, so reckon I'm a pretty fair judge...!) If you like it, perhaps we'll get there together the next time you're over, as I always like visiting my old neighbourhood. On the other hand, Saturdays there can be SO busy that the sheer crush of people can be off-putting for some. I'll be interested to hear what you think of Portobello Road: Lives of a Neighbourhood once you've read it.

Darryl, sounds like you had a lovely day, if not the one originally planned. Mystery tours are great though.

I love the London Review of Books bookshop, and cafe. I did some serious damage there last Saturday!

I thought Burial Rites a very fine debut novel.

Enjoy the weekend, and safe travelling next week.

>49 rebeccanyc: We had a splendid time together, Rebecca; apparently we were all a bit worn out today, though!

>50 Polaris-: Definitely so, Paul. The London Review Cake Shop, is within the splendid London Review Bookshop, and it's just as good. It does have limited seating, though, so we were fortunate to get seating for four just after we arrived there.

I'll definitely bring The Iraqi Christ with me when I leave for Paris on Monday, and Portobello Road might also make the cut. I'll ship nearly all of the books I've purchased the past two weeks from here back to the US tomorrow, as I will definitely buy more books when I meet up with Pat (phebj) on Tuesday and visit Shakespeare and Company in Paris. I found out this afternoon that a classmate of mine from residency will be in Barcelona for most of the time that I will be there. She's also an avid reader, and is a friend of mine on Goodreads, so I wouldn't be surprised if we hit one of the English language bookshops in Barcelona as well.

I didn't realize that Portobello Road Market was closed on Sundays, so I'll have to go there the next time I return to London, which will likely be in mid September. I will go to Spitalfields Market tomorrow, and get another salt beef beigel and beigels for the road at Beigel Bake.

>51 Caroline_McElwee: We did have a good day together, Caroline, although Claire, Heather and I bought far more books than we had intended to.

I also love the London Review Bookshop and the Cake Shop. I don't think I mentioned that I also had a piece of rose and pistachio cake, which was delicate and very tasty.

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed Burial Rites. I'll probably read it shortly after I return to the US.

It was great to see you again! Hopefully we can get together again later this year.

>46 kidzdoc: Since we forgot to bring our pocket time machine...

"Pocket time machine. Never leave home without it." ;)

Enjoying our your trip!
Thanks, once again, for the great pictures.
Can't quite figure out what I like best ... the gorgeous food or the great architecture.

I've had to alter my plans, due to the crippling French railway strike. I won't leave for Paris today, as I had originally planned; instead I'll stay in London until tomorrow, and fly directly from here to Barcelona.

>53 avidmom: You're welcome, avidmom! I like the food, but the architecture wins out IMO, especially since we don't have medieval castles or cathedrals in the US.

If you're in the Brick Lane area on a weekend, it's worth heading north to Columbia Road flower market - for the London market experience as much as anything else, although there are also some good eateries along that street.

Are you in Barcelona yet Darryl? Can you hear Freddie and Montserrat singing?

Btw, did you visit the new Foyles flagship store before leaving London?

>55 wandering_star: Thanks, Margaret. I didn't make it to Portobello Road Market or Spitalfields Market this past weekend, but I'll plan to go to them when I return to London, which will likely be in mid September.

>56 Caroline_McElwee: Good call, Caroline! When you posted your message I had arrived at Barcelona-El Prat airport less than an hour beforehand, as the Vueling Airlines flight from London Gatwick arrived there 25 minutes late.

I didn't hear Freddie and Montserrat singing, but the passengers on the R2 Rodalies de Catalunya train from the airport to Sants Estació, the main railway station in Barcelona, were serenaded by two musicians on the way.

The trip from London to Barcelona was smoother than I thought it would be, and thanks to my ability to speak and read Spanish I was able to ask for directions and reach my hotel with no difficulties. And, in keeping with my past experiences while on holiday, I assisted an older man who needed help in buying a Rodalies de Catalunya ticket from Sants Estació to the airport, in Spanish.

We (Bianca, Caroline, Heather, Luci and I) did visit the new Foyles bookshop on Charing Cross Road on Friday, although I don't think any of us took any photos there. We were in awe of the impressive new layout, and we stood for several minutes gazing at the place. We were going to have tea and coffee there, but the Café hadn't started operations yet.

Great pictures and I'm sure a great trip!

Thanks, Jane. I'll start posting photos from Barcelona later today.

Here are some of the photos I took yesterday, most of which were from the top of the city's official tourist buses, Barcelona Bus Turístic, except for the first set of photos.

The exterior of the Pavellons de la Finca Güell, one of Antoni Gaudí's early projects, which he built for his friend and benefactor Eusebi Güell on his family's estate in Pedralbes. It consisted of a porter's house, several horse stables and other structures. It was closed to visitors at the time of my visit, but hopefully I can go on a tour this weekend.



The dragon gateway:



One of the sculptures representing an orange tree:

Typical examples of the architecture of the residential buildings in L'Eixample, the neighborhood built in the latter half of the 19th century after the city's fortified walls were demolished:







A hurried shot of Gaudí's Casa Battló, taken while the tour bus had tempoarily stopped:

Photos of La Sagrada Familia, Gaudí's most famous work. It was unfinished at the time of his death in 1926, and it is still under construction, with an expected completion date of 2030:

The old Customs Building at the Port of Barcelona:



Montjüic, as seen from Barceloneta:



Finally, some impressive buildings and sculptures that I haven't learned the names of yet:









These photographs barely scratch the surface of the fabulous architecture of Barcelona, and I wasn't able to get any shots of the spectacular views of the city from Montjüic. However, now that I have a basic overview of the city I will go back to specific sites, see the museums and other sites of interest in detail, and take much better photos over the next week.

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful Darryl. Brought back memories of a visit I made some years ago. You have so many treats ahead of you.

Great photos and architecture, Darryl. I didn't make it to Barcelona when I visited Spain 25 years ago or so, but thanks to you I can visit it now vicariously.

>64 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks, Caroline. I visited the Hospital de Santa Creu i Sant Pau and la Casa Vicens today (photos below), and tomorrow I'll probably make an early trip to the Barri Gòtic and go shopping in the Creu Coberta. On Sunday I'll head up to Montjüic via the Telefèric from the Paral.lel neighborhood, and visit the Fundació Joan Miró, since I'm a fan of his work, the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC), and take in the spectacular views from there.

>65 rebeccanyc: Barcelona has been utterly amazing so far, Rebecca, and it should only be more so as I start to see more of the city.

After breakfast I traveled by bus and line 5 of the Barcelona Metro to the Hospital de Santa Creu i Sant Pau (Hospital of the Holy Cross and Saint Paul), and arrived just in time to go on the 13:00 English language tour. As it turned out I was the only one on that tour, although the tours conducted in Spanish and Catalan seemed to be well attended. The guide gave me a superb introduction to the history of the complex, the details of the buildings, and the importance of the hospital to Barcelona in a 50 minute period, and afterward I stayed for another hour or so to take photographs.

The original Hospital de Santa Creu was begun in 1401, and it represented a merger of six hospitals that existed outside the walls of the old city of Barcelona. It was the city's main hospital for over 500 years, but once the walls of the old city were torn down in the 1850s health officials in Barcelona recognized that the hospital was obsolete and needed to be replaced. Pau Gil, who was born in Barcelona and moved to Paris to run his family's bank at the age of 17, donated his considerable wealth to the creation of the Hospital de Santa Creu i Sant Pau, and the Modernist architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner was commissioned to build it. He originally envisioned a campus with 48 buildings, but due to a lack of funds roughly half that number was ultimately built. The first stone was laid in 1901, and the hospital was completed in 1930, seven years after Domènech's death. The hospital served Barcelonians until 2009, when the new Hospital de Santa Creu i Sant Pau was completed. It is now one of the prime examples of Modernist architecture, both within and outside of Barcelona, and it has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The buildings are being renovated, and the completed ones are being rented out, primarily for long term use by global health organizations, and also for short one or two day ceremonies by local groups.

This first photo is the only one I didn't take, which is an aerial view of the campus except for the Administration Pavilion:



The next photos show the entrance to the campus, and the centrally located Administration Pavilion:

Several buildings flank the three central ones, and this is a typical example of one of them. The tallest structure to the right is a water tower, which contains a well that provides fresh water to patients and staff. In front of the building is one of the numerous orange trees that are in the gardens on campus:

Finally, some photos of the surgical building:



The names seen in this photo are those of the most important surgeons in the history of Barcelona:



A mosaic of St Cosmas, one of the patron saints of medicine along with his brother, St Damian:



I posted over 70 photos of the hospital on Facebook, but I forgot to capture the fabulous detail within the ground and upper floors of the Administration Pavilion, and in its basement, which is where the tunnels that connect the buildings to each other begin. The Hospital de Santa Creu i Sant Pau is easily the most impressive medical campus I've ever seen, and it is well worth a visit for anyone who enjoys modern architecture.

After I left the Hospital de Santa Creu i Sant Pau I hopped back on the Metro, and proceeded to the Fontana station, where I walked a short distance to see La Casa Vicens, Antoni Gaudí's first major work. It was built between 1883 and 1888 for the manufacturer Manuel Vicens Montaner:









The photos I've seen of the interior are at least as striking as its exterior. However, la Casa Vicens is a private (and guarded) residence, and it is only open to the public on very rare occasions.

I see that you discovered one of my favourite things about Barcelona--the architecture! The second thing I loved are those wide avenues with the diagonal corners where they intersect. And finally, I loved all the jacaranda trees that were in bloom when I was there (around this time of year, maybe a week later), but then you might have those in Atlanta and they won't be special to you.

>71 Nickelini: Definitely so, Joyce. The architecture of Barcelona was one of the main reasons I wanted to come here, although I wanted to see the work of three of my favorite artists, Dalí, Miró and Picasso.

I'll have to look for blooming jacaranda trees! I'm not sure if we have them in Atlanta or not.

A feast for the eyes. And--sweet oranges in the urban wild!

>73 LolaWalser: Right, Lola. Those were the first live oranges trees I had ever seen, so that was an unexpected delight.

Today I'll go up to Montjuïc, the hill that is part of the city to the south near the coast, and visit the Fundació Joan Miró (a museum dedicated to Miró and other modern artists), the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC), and the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys (the Olympic Stadium). Tomorrow I'll take a train to Figueres and visit the Teatro Museo Dalí.

More wonderful photos Darryl, and you are clearly having great weather. That architecture must aid the curing at the hospital and elsewhere. I am sure there are studies that good architectural housing and buildings improve quality of life in many ways. You know it instinctively too.

>75 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks, Barbara. You are exactly right in your comment about the use of air and light in the cure of patients; that was Domènech's intent.

Clearly this thread has turned into a travel blog, but hopefully I can get some reading done during the week! I'll travel by train to Figueres shortly, and visit the Teatro Museo Dalí, which should be a nice day trip and a good opportunity to finish a book.

I spent the bulk of yesterday on Montjuïc ("Mountain of the Jews" in Catalan), the hill in the southwestern portion of Barcelona that was so named because it was the site of a Jewish settlement and cemetery during the Middle Ages, until they were expelled by the Spanish crown in 1492. Montjuïc reaches a maximum height of just over 600 feet above sea level, and it provides spectacular views of the skyline of metropolitan Barcelona, its harbor and the Mediterranean Sea just to the south, and the Serra de Collserola mountains to the north and west. The first major construction on Montjuïc (after the creation of the 17th century Castell de Montjuïc (Montjuïc Castle)) began after Barcelona was chosen as the site for the 1929 International Exposition. The stadium that later served as the main site of the 1992 Summer Olympic Games was built, along with the Palau Nacional (National Palace), now the home of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC), the Pavelló de Mies van der Rohe, and the fountains of the Font Màgica. Montjuïc is also the site of the Fundació Joan Miró, the museum which is dedicated to the work of Miró and other contemporary artists.

Despite its height Montjuïc is easily accessible by public transportation, via city bus (route 150 from la Plaça d'Espanya), the Funicular that connects the Paral.lel Metro station to the Parc de Montjuïc, the Telefèric de Montjuïc, the cable car system that provides breath taking views of the city, or the Barcelona Bus Turístic, which I rode on Wednesday.

After breakfast I took the Metro and Funicular to Parc de Montjuïc and visited the Fundació Joan Miró. I had seen the superb Miró exhibition at the Tate Modern museum in 2011, but the works displayed here were a bit more comprehensive, and art by others who were influenced by Miró was also included in the regular exhibition.

The museum did not allow photos to be taken within its interior, but several sculptures were located on its rooftop terrace, where photography was permitted:

After a pleasant 2-1/2 hours of viewing Miró's work I had a very nice lunch in the restaurant within the Fundació. I walked along the Avinguda de L'Estadi to the Estadi Olímpic, which was built for the 1929 International Exposition and renovated to serve as the main stadium for the 1992 Summer Olympic Games. The stadium is open for free viewing by the public:





The Olympic Ring, including the Olympic Torch to the right:



The Palau Sant Jordi, the indoor arena used for basketball, gymnastics and other events:

I then took the route 150 bus, which ends at the Castell de Montjuïc, which sits atop its highest point. It was first constructed from 1640-1641, demolished in 1751, and rebuilt from 1779-1799. It was captured without a shot by the French during the Napoleonic Wars, and returned to Spanish after the 1815 treaty that ended the combat. It currently serves as a municipal center and a site for concerts and viewing by the general public.

I took the route 150 bus back to la Plaça d'Espanya, and took a few more photos.

The Telefèric de Montjuïc:



The Palau Nacional, now home of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya:



The Arenas de Barcelona, a former bullfighting ring which is now used as a shopping center:



The fountain at the center of la Plaça d'Espanya:

Great pics -- I love Miro.

I love travelling with you, Darryl! Books, tea, architecture, theater-a perfect vacation.

I'm glad your hip pain turned out to be fleeting. As the owner of two brand new titanium and ceramic hips, I am an advocate of pain free walking.

>80 janeajones: Thanks, Jane. I'm also a huge fan of Joan Miró, so my visit to this museum was a great pleasure.

>81 labfs39: Thanks, Lisa! I don't think I went to any museums iin London, so this part of the vacation will be a nice counterbalance to my stay in London. I took advantage of a great bargain on Saturday and purchased an ArTicket BCN; for €30 this ticket allows you entry to six of the city's leading museums, namely the Fundació Joan Miró, the Museo Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, the Museu Picasso, the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), the Fundació Antoni Tàpies, and the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA). The card is good for three months, and the card pays for itself after you go to three museums. I had wanted to visit all of them except for the Fundació Antoni Tàpies, as I'm not familiar with this sculptor.

I had originally thought about taking the train to Figueres to see the Teatro Museo Dalí (Dalí Theatre and Museum), but after I read that it would likely be insanely crowded on a warm summer Sunday I decided to visit the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC) instead, particularly after it was highly recommended by Claire (Sakerfalcon). It has one of the great collections of Romanesque art in the world, with fabulous church frescos and altar frontals, along with excellent examples of art from the Gothic and Renaissance Eras. My only disappointment was that the Modern Art section was closed for renovation, and only a portion of the collection was viewable in a temporary space.

I took over 80 photos while I was in the museum. However, instead of posting some of them here I made my photo album on Facebook a public one, and anyone who is interested can see them by clicking on the following link:

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

Today I'll go to the Barrí Gotic, the oldest neighborhood in Barcelona, and visit La Catedral, the 13th century church within the Barrí Gotic, and visit L'Eixample, the expansion built after the walls of the city were taken down in the mid 19th century.

Hmm. Couldn't see the photos, but maybe that's because I'm not on Facebook????? Not sure what "public" means in Facebook lingo.

I love museum passes. We used them in Paris last summer and not only did they pay for themselves in short order but they also allowed us to skip the lines. And kids are free, which is something I think Europe gets right.

I've removed roughly half of the photos I posted here, as this thread was taking quite a lot time to load. I'll limit the number of additional photos that I'll post, and provide links to the Facebook albums where the rest of them can be seen.

I visited the Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter), the city's oldest neighborhood, for the first time on foot yesterday. I arrived there in the late morning, and the narrow streets were already crowded with thousands of tourists, particularly around La Catedral, the oldest and most famous church in the city. I walked past the Basílica Santa Maria del Pi, a 14th century church that is a few years younger than La Catedral, which was far less crowded, so I decided to visit it instead. There were no more than 25 people in the church at any one time during my visit, so I was able to appreciate the building's architecture and its impressive art work more fully:











The rest of the photos can be seen here:

Basílica Santa Maria del Pi

La Catedral (you may be able to see the crowds waiting to enter along the bottom edge of the photo, which is why I decided to skip going there):





A typical street in the Barri Gòtic:



A portion of the old city wall, constructed by the Romans in the 4th century AD:



More photos here: Barri Gòtic

The area around La Catedral was becoming increasingly crowded, so I decided to leave the Barri Gòtic and go to the Grácia neighborhood instead. Within a short walk of the Diagonal Metro station there is a bookshop that sells primarily English language books, named Come In Llibreria Anglesa. It was small but well stocked, and the staff was very friendly and helpful. I came away with two books from my wish list, and a book on the history of Catalonia:

The Arch and the Butterfly by Mohammed Achaari: The winner of the 2011 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, in which a middle aged man living near Marrakech receives a surprising letter that informs him that his son, who he thought was studying engineering in Paris, was killed while fighting with the Islamist resistance in Afghanistan. This shocking news and other subsequent disturbing events leads the man to question everything, including his identity and values.

Fear and Loathing in La Liga: Barcelona vs Real Madrid by Sid Lowe: This book examines one of the most intense and bitter rivalries in football, between La Liga's two traditional powerhouses FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, in the context of the history of Spain and Catalonia.

The History of Catalonia by F. Xavier Hernàndez: A short guide to the region's history, written by a professor at the University of Barcelona.

There were several appealing restaurants nearby, so I asked the woman who helped me at Llibreria Anglesa which ones she recommended. She mentioned the one directly next to the bookshop, Balmes/Rosselló, as she said that their tapas were very good. She was spot on; I had anxoves amb xapata, tomàquet i olivada (anchovies, tomatoes and olives on ciabatta), musculos al vapor (mussels) and calamars a l'Andalusa (calamari), along with half a bottle of Ramón Bilbao Crianza red wine. The calamari and mussels were the best I have ever tasted, and the wine (which I still have) was fabulous.

Last night was the Nit de Sant Joan (Night of Saint John), during which Barcelonians celebrate the summer solistice with parties and fireworks that last until the early morning hours. I couldn't see any fireworks, but I heard them throughout the night, so I didn't sleep well. As it turns out today is a holiday, as most museums, stores and government offices are closed, probably to allow the city's residents to sleep off last night's celebrations. Barcelona is also supposed to have thunderstorms lasting from mid morning to late afternoon, so I'll do some reading and catch up on sleep after I go out for breakfast, and I may go out tonight if the rain has stopped.

>83 rebeccanyc: You're right, Rebecca; you have to be a member of Facebook to see those photos. By making my albums Public anyone with a Facebook account can see them if they know where to look or if someone provides a hyperlink to the album. My usual setting is Friends, so only those people who I've accepted as friends (and vice versa) can see my posts and albums.

>84 labfs39: Right, Lisa. I originally got into a moderately long line at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya on Sunday, but one of the guards in front noticed that I had the ArTicket BCN pass in my hand. He directed me to another part of the entrance that was for members and people with these and similar passes, and no one was in line there. And, as you said, I've also noticed that entrance for kids is free, which can only help encourage them to appreciate art at a young age.

I think I'll go to the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona and the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona tomorrow, as they are next to each other in El Raval, and visit the original Hospital de Santa Creu which is also nearby. On Thursday I'll go to the Barri Gòtic and L'Eixample early in the morning, and visit the Museu Picasso soon after it opens. Entrance to all three of those museums are included in the ArTicket BCN. If I have time I'll go back to the gift shop at the Fundació Joan Miró to buy gifts for myself and my family.

Beautiful pictures.

Adding my nod re the pictures. A city with so much to see.

>88 kidzdoc: Well, wanting to see your photos gave me a moment's pause about my resistance to Facebook, but all in all what I know about the way it sucks people's time and abuses their privacy makes me want to stay far far away.

Glad you're enjoying your trip, and definitely enjoying the photos you post here.

>89 NanaCC: Thanks, Colleen!

>90 Caroline_McElwee: Right, Caroline; there is so much to see and do here that one 10 day trip isn't nearly enough. I'll almost certainly come back next year.

>91 rebeccanyc: I certainly wouldn't suggest signing up for Facebook just to see my photos, Rebecca! I'll have five days off from work after I return to Atlanta on Friday, and I'll see what other methods I can use to share my photos online (maybe Google Plus?).

Darryl, back when I was more actively collecting a few things and hanging out on web sites specific to those collectibles I got involved with Photobucket: http://smg.photobucket.com/. It is a safe and convenient place to store and show off albums of photographs.

There are other similar sites.

Robert

I use Shutterfly -- you can create share sites. They will encourage you to "publish" your pictures in books -- I've actually made a few for family members.

>93 Mr.Durick: Thanks, Robert. I do use Photobucket, so that would be a sensible place to post photos. It may be my relatively slow hotel (albeit free) Internet connection, but this thread is taking a long time to load, so I'll refrain from posting any more photos for now, and provide links to my albums on Photobucket or elsewhere after I return to Atlanta on Friday.

>94 janeajones: I've never used Shutterfly, so I may look into it this weekend. Thanks, Jane.

Today (Thursday) is my last full day in Barcelona, and my last day of this 3-1/2 trip to Europe. I had a leisurely breakfast with a classmate from residency yesterday, who I haven't seen in at least a dozen years. She is an avid reader and a friend on Goodreads, and last week she noticed that I had been reading several books about Barcelona. She asked me about it, and we realized our trips overlapped by several days. We had a great time catching up, and realizing how similar our tastes in books are.

I went the El Raval neighborhood, avoiding the thousands of tourists on La Rambla as best I could. I visited the Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu, the early 15th century hospital that was replaced by the Hospital de Santa Creu i Sant Pau, the site I visited last week. I spent the bulk of the day in two museums, the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) and the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB); the admission fees for both museums were included in the ArTicket BCN that I bought on Saturday. I'll go to the Museu Picasso tomorrow morning, the fifth of the six museums I can see with the ArTicket, and probably visit Antoni Gaudí's Casa Battló and the opulent Palau de la Música Catalana, designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner. If I have time I'll also go to Gaudí's Parc Güell.

Enjoy the last few days (day?) of your vacation!

>96 labfs39: Thanks, Lisa. I arrived back in Atlanta on Friday night, and I return to work on Thursday.

My planned reads for July:

Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin
Patrick Chamoiseau, Texaco
Jordan Goodman, Paul Robeson: A Watched Man
Gijs van Hensbergen, Gaudí: A Biography
F. Xavier Hernàndez, The History of Catalonia
James Kelman, Kieron Smith, boy
Eric Lax, The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle
Alistair MacLeod, No Great Mischief
Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety
Dinaw Mengestu, All Our Names
Patrick O'Brian, Picasso: A Biography
Mario Vargas Llosa, The Green House

Rebecca et al.: I downloaded my holiday photos to my Google+ account earlier this morning, and I created my first photo album, which I have made public so that anyone can see them:

https://plus.google.com/photos/113880535123084583302/albums/6031089621412623089

This album includes the photos I took on the campus of the spectacular Hospital de Santa Creu i Sant Pau, which was designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner and built between 1902-1930. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of my friends from the 75 Books club tested the hyperlink a bit earlier, and she was able to see the photos (no sign up or information should be necessary to view them). I'll create other albums of the photos I took in London, Rochester (UK) and Barcelona over the next few days, and post links to them here.

Interesting group of planned reads for July (and once again I admire your ability to plan your reads!). And thanks for uploading the photos -- I'll look at them when I have more time over my planned extended holiday weekend.

>100 rebeccanyc: Thanks, Rebecca. The majority of those planned reads are books from my TBR and Canadian Literature lists I posted at the top of my thread.

I'll keep those photo albums on my Google+ account in a Public status for the foreseeable future, so you won't need to be in any rush to look at them.

I haven't had a chance to view your photos , but hope to get to them soon. Your travels are always so interesting.

Sounds (and looks) like it was a fabulous trip!

Looking through your touring I see that you and your LT friends were probably in Foyles on the same day as my wife and I!

You've made me put Rochester on my list of places to visit too.

As for Barcelona, my wife raves about It and often says we need to plan a long weekend there...

Fabulous photos Darryl.

Sorry that I've been AWOL from my thread for most of the month. I haven't written any reviews for a while either. I'll remedy this very soon.

>102 NanaCC: Thanks, Colleen. I'm nearly finished organizing my photos into Google+ albums, and I'll provide hyperlinks to them once I'm done.

>103 LibraryPerilous: It was, Diana! I definitely plan to return to Spain in the very near future, no later than next year I hope. I'll also make my third trip of the year to London in early September.

>104 zenomax: Ah! It would have been nice to have met you and your wife in Foyles, Z. I'll have to keep you abreast of future LT meet ups; I'm sure that I'll get together with friends in and outside of London in September.

Rochester was a very pleasant surprise (would you agree, Caroline?). I hadn't heard of it before, and I didn't expect that I would enjoy it as much as I did.

I loved Barcelona, needless to say, and I would highly recommend it. Many of my non-LT friends have been there, and they raved about it as well. Being conversant in Spanish was very helpful, but based on my friends' comments it isn't essential, as all but a couple of them don't speak that language.

>105 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks, Caroline!

Did you end up going to the restaurant in Barcelona that I recommended: La Paradeta?

>107 lilisin: No, I didn't go there, unfortunately. I wish I had remembered your recommendation, as I was very close to Carrer Comercial, where La Paradeta Born is located, and was looking for a place to have lunch after I visited the Museu Picasso. I went to the Plaça Comercial instead, which was on the other side of the Mercat del Born, and had a very nice lunch at El Rosal instead.

To be fair, I didn't go to any of the restaurants that were recommended by anyone else either, mainly because I didn't go out for dinner on any of the nights that I was there. I'm generally an early to bed, early to rise person, and having dinner at 10-11 pm is too late for me! I'll keep La Paradeta in mind, though, and look to go to one of its locations the next time I visit Barcelona.

That really is a problem with Spain for tourists; they eat so incredibly late and so I never get further than the tapas

That was a problem for me when I visited Spain back in the late 80s, even though I thought I ate relatively late back in NYC, plus I found a lot of the food very greasy -- I'm sure it's improved by now, or I just went to the wrong places.

>109 baswood: What I plan to do on my next trip to Spain is get up early as I usually do, have an early breakfast and visit museums or other attractions, take a midday siesta after lunch, and then go back out in the evening for dinner. I'm a creature of habit, though, so I'm not certain that this will work.

>110 rebeccanyc: I didn't find the food in Barcelona to be greasy, Rebecca, although I haven't been to any place else in Spain yet.

>106 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl, nice to see you about again. Yes, Rochester is a lovely place, I enjoyed re-visiting it (I hadn't been since the late 80s!).

I loved Barcelona, but persisted on eating earlier, I even found a Macrobiotic vege restaurant when I was there. But mostly had to eat Italian, as vegetarianism is alien to the Spanish on the whole, though now at least I do eat fish.

I'm on my last day in Malta, flying home tomorrow. I haven't mastered uploading photos using my iPad, but will post a couple on my thread later in the week.

>111 kidzdoc: I wasn't in Barcelona (I was in Madrid, Cordoba, and Seville), and it was 25 years ago, so I'm sure a lot has changed foodwise. I pretty much lived on salads, flan, and coffee when I was there.

This year's Man Booker Prize longlist has just been announced:

To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris
The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt
J by Howard Jacobson
The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee
Us by David Nicholls
The Dog by Joseph O'Neill
Orfeo by Richard Powers
How to be Both by Ali Smith
History of the Rain by Niall Williams

From the Man Booker Prize website:

"The first Man Booker prize to admit novels from across the globe as long as they are written in English has published its longlist. Following much discussion, the six judges chaired by philosopher Anthony Grayling chose 13 books by four Americans, six Britons, two Irish writers and one Australian.

"One former Man Booker winner. Howard Jacobson, is on the longlist along with two previously shortlisted authors, Ali Smith and David Mitchell. Also on the list are David Nicholls, whose previous novel, One Day, was filmed with Anne Hathaway, and the Anglo-Indian writer Neel Mukherjee.

"The American writers longlisted include Richard Powers, Siri Hustvedt, Joshua Ferris and Karen Joy Fowler.

"Following extensive consultation the Man Booker trustees decided this year to change the rules which had previously allowed only British and Commonwealth authors to be considered for the prize. New Zealand author Eleanor Catton, winner of the 2013 prize, commented: "I think it's a really great thing that finally we've got a prize that is an English-language prize that doesn't make a distinction for writers who are writing from a particular country."

"The Man Booker, which is awarded to the best novel of the year in the opinion of the judges, is worth £50,000 to the winner. Previous winners include Hilary Mantel for Wolf Hall and its sequel Bring up the Bodies, and two novels where sales have topped two million copies each, Schindler’s Ark by Thomas Keneally and Life of Pi by Yann Martel.

"The judges will meet again to reduce their longlist to a shortlist of six titles which will be announced on Tuesday 9th September. The winning novel will be revealed on the BBC television’s Ten O’Clock News direct from a black-tie dinner in London’s Guildhall on October 14.

"The judges for this year’s prize are Sarah Churchwell, Daniel Glaser, Jonathan Bate, Alastair Niven and Erica Wagner under the chairmanship of Anthony Grayling."

Have you read any of them, Darryl?

I haven't read any of these, and most of them aren't calling out to me, but I am interested in the Joseph O'Neill book as I really loved Netherland and his family memoir, Blood-Dark Track.

I've read the Ferris and was unimpressed, despite usually liking his work. It reminded me of The Finkler Question, so they may love it. I have the Fowler and will read it soon, will look for the Nicholls and the Smith, I've pre-ordered the Mitchell and will steadfastly skip the Jacobson.

>114 kidzdoc: I have the Siri Hustvedt, the Neel Mukherjee and the Robert Powers in the tbr piles.

I've really liked the last two of Hustvedts books, so I'm looking forward to hers. And I'm hoping that the Powers is one of his more lyrical novels, like The Time of our Singing, which is a novel I love. I haven't read Mukherjee (the book on the list is his second novel I think).

>117 RidgewayGirl: will steadfastly skip the Jacobson Me too!

>115 NanaCC: I haven't read any of the longlisted books, Colleen, and until Wednesday, when I downloaded six of the available titles onto my Kindle, I didn't own any of them.

I created a list in the Booker Prize group of the availability dates of the longlisted books in the US and UK last night:

To Rise at a Decent Hour: currently available in US and in UK (hardcover and Kindle)
The Narrow Road to the Deep North: available 12 Aug in US (hardcover and Kindle); currently available in UK (hardcover and Kindle)
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves: currently available in US and in UK (hardcover, paperback and Kindle
The Blazing World: currently available in US and in UK (hardcover and Kindle)
J: no release date in US , available in UK 14 Aug for Kindle, 25 Sep for hardcover
The Wake: currently available in US (Kindle) and in UK (hardcover and Kindle)
The Bone Clocks: available in US and in UK 2 Sep (hardcover and Kindle)
The Lives of Others: no release date in US, currently available in UK (hardcover and Kindle)
Us: available 28 Oct in US (hardcover and Kindle and 30 Sep in UK (hardcover and Kindle)
The Dog: available 9 Sep in US (hardcover and Kindle); available 31 Jul in UK (hardcover)
Orfeo: currently available in US and UK (hardcover, paperback and Kindle)
How to Be Both: no release date in US, available 4 Sep in UK (hardcover and Kindle)
History of the Rain: currently available in US (hardcover and Kindle) and in UK (hardcover, paperback and Kindle)

Traditionally the publication dates of the Booker Prize longlisted books that weren't available at the time of the longlist announcement are moved up shortly afterward. I'll try to keep abreast of the books that are published sooner, and post information about their release dates here and in the Booker Prize group.

>116 rebeccanyc: I enjoyed Netherland too, Rebecca, so I'm eager to read The Dog as soon as it comes out. I hadn't heard about his memoir, so I'll be on the lookout for it, since you liked it.

Unfortunately, at least at the moment, I'm a bit disappointed in the longlist selection. It would appear at first glance that books from authors from the British Commonwealth, particularly those from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Canada, have been replaced by books written by authors from the US, which was one of the fears of the followers of the Booker Prize. I was disappointed that A God in Every Stone, the new novel by Kamila Shamsie, wasn't chosen for the longlist, given its positive reviews so far, and others were surprised that The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters didn't make it either. The longlist is, unfortunately, also notable for its lack of books written by women, as 10 of the 13 books were written by men. And Neel Mukherjee's The Lives of Others is the only book written by an author of color.

>117 RidgewayGirl: The Ferris isn't exactly calling out to me, but since it's one of the longlisted books that I downloaded on Wednesday I'll definitely read it. At least a couple of LTers in the 75 Books group were high on the Fowler, so I'll probably read it next week during my midweek break from work.

I'm most eager to read the Mitchell, the O'Neill, and the Williams (which I hope to start tomorrow), along with the Fowler. Hopefully several of the longlisted novels will be published next month, so that I can buy them in NYC, and I'll get the remaining titles when I travel to London in September.

>118 Caroline_McElwee: So far I have the Kindle versions of the novels written by Ferris, Fowler, Hustvedt, Kingsworth, Powers and Williams. I plan to read the Williams this weekend, and the Fowler during the week. The Hustvedt has had good reviews, so that will be one of the first books I read in August. I wasn't fond of Mukherjee's debut novel A Life Apart, but I'm still eager to read his new novel. Orfeo has received several glowing comments from the members of the Mookse and the Gripes Booker Prize group as well, so I'll plan to read it in early to mid August.

BTW, if I didn't say so already, I found out last week that I'll be off from work from 2-21 September, so I'll return to London for most of that time. Bianca (drachenbraut23) and Heather (souloftherose) are interested in seeing The Crucible at The Old Vic, and Joe (jnwelch) and his wife Debbi (walklover), who will be in London at the same time that I will, would like to see Wolf Hall at the Aldwych Theatre. I saw Bring Up the Bodies last month, but I missed Wolf Hall, so I'd like to see it as well. Please let me/us know if you'd like to be included in our plans.

>119 rebeccanyc: I can't say that I'm jumping at the bit to read J, the new novel by Howard Jacobson, even though I liked The Finkler Question. However, it's supposedly a departure from his usual work, as it's a dystopian novel with little humor in it. I'm not a fan of dystopian novel or sci-fi, so I may skip it if it doesn't make the longlist, although I'd like to read all 13 longlisted novels by the time the prize is announced in October.

I've started We are All Completely Beside Ourselves and it's off to a very promising start.

Hi Darryl >120 kidzdoc: I'd love to join you for 'Wolf Hall', but it depends on the date, as I have quite a lot in the evenings in September. But when you have a date let me know (I check LT and email several times a day). I think the week of 15 September is the one almost all evenings have something in.

I saw The Crucible and was very impressed.

Katy Guest, the literary editor of The Independent on Sunday, wrote a humorous article which lampooned this year's Booker Prize longlist and the Booker Prize in itself, and provided an alternative list of the best books of the year, titled The Guest List 2014: Forget the Man Booker longlist, Literary Editor Katy Guest offers her alternative picks, based on the books that were actually chosen. Here's her list:

The award for the most American writer we can find, to show that we're, like, totally embracing the new rule allowing Americans into the Man Booker Prize: The Unwitting by Ellen Feldman

The award for a snazzy title that book clubs will love if only they can remember it: A Highly Unlikely Scenario: Or, a Neetsa Pizza Employee's Guide to Saving the World by Rachel Cantor; The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe by Romain Puértolas.

The "You Saw Them Here First" award for Independent columnists and other writers you've read in The Independent on Sunday books pages: The Emperor Waltz by Philip Hensher; The Amber Fury by Natalie Haynes; Touched by Joanna Briscoe; The Lemon Grove by Helen Walsh.

The up yours award for ignoring big publishers and doing it yourself: When the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow by Dan Rhodes.

The Margaret Atwood award for sneaking genre fiction on to the shelves of the Booker-buying public: After I'm Gone by Laura Lippman; The Fever by Megan Abbott.

The Relate award for making people think twice about marriage: Marriage Material by Sathnam Sanghera; Mr Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo.

The oh my God they're brilliant at every sort of writing award (but not everybody has abandoned short stories for Booker glory): All the Rage by A.L. Kennedy; Storm by Tim Minchin.

The Salman Rushdie award for the best novel about everyday people affected by political events in the Indian subcontinent: A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie.

The Anne Enright award for the Irish novel most guaranteed to make you cry: The True and Splendid History of the Harristown Sisters by Michelle Lovric.

The best novel featuring a dog now that Kate Atkinson's book jackets have all been redesigned so they don't have off-putting big ugly dogs on the covers any more: A Dog's Life by Michael Holroyd.

The best book about a world war in a year full of really predictable world war anniversary books: The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis; The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters.

The 'middle-aged man on a road trip' novel of the year: Frog Music by Emma Donoghue; The Planner by Tom Campbell.

The "look how self-aware we are" award for a novel that best pokes fun at the art or literary world: Fest by Mark McCrum; Lost for Words by Edward St Aubyn; The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.

>122 RidgewayGirl: Deborah (Cariola) posted a positive message about We Are Completely Beside Ourselves on my 75 Books thread not long again, so I'm glad that you're enjoying it as well, Kay. I think I'll read it during my mid week break.

>123 Caroline_McElwee: I made my hotel and flight reservations for my upcoming trip to London, Caroline. I'll arrive on 2 September and return to Atlanta on 18 September. So far I have tickets for two plays: Medea at the National Theatre on 2 Sep (I'll take a nap after I arrive) and then go to the NT, and The Crucible at the Old Vic on 4 Sep.

Joe Welch (jnwelch) and his wife Debbi (walklover) will arrive in London for a two week stay starting on 6 Sep. They are avid theatre goers who live in Chicago, and we've already discussed plays that we'd like to see. The two of them have tickets for the afternoon performance of Doctor Scroggy's War at Shakespeare's Globe on 16 Sep, and I will likely go with them to see it, and visit the Tate Modern with them that morning. We're all interested in seeing Ballyturk at the NT and Little Revolution at the Almeida Theatre. I'll keep you posted on our plans, as they would like to meet other LTers while they are here (they plan to visit London frequently after they retire). I've been in touch with Bianca (drachenbraut23), Fliss (flissp) and Heather (souloftherose) so far this weekend, and I'll reach out to the others in the middle of the week (I'm off from work Wednesday through Friday). I'll create a group discussion thread on Facebook in the next day or two, so that we can coordinate our plans.

I'm glad that you enjoyed The Crucible. Fliss and Lesley Hossner (a non-LT friend who I met through Rachael (FlossieT)) also gave it high marks, so I'm looking forward to seeing it with Bianca.

> 121 Jacobsen & Dystopian are not two words i ever expected to put together, intriguing ..... if i do say so

BTW see you might be in London in September, will be there 17th-21st so hit me up if you fancy a coffee with books ...

Fabulous, Alex! My last full day in London is the 17th, so we could meet up then. I'll be in touch soon.

Hi Darryl! Whew! All caught up at long last! Thanks for all your great photos of Barca, it really whets the appetite for a Catalan adventure - I enjoyed vacationing vicariously with you!

The Booker long list. Mmm, I agree that at first glance it does look weird having Americans up there, and the Commonwealth countries featuring so little, well not at all really except for a lone Australian if you exclude the Brits...

I must admit I was drawn to Richard Flanagan's The Narrow Road to the Deep North owing to the shared title with Basho's classic of Japanese literature. But the subject of a Burmese WW2 POW camp from an Aussie perspective does intrigue me. Not much else is exciting me on the list as yet, though I'm sure I'll come back to it over the coming weeks, and will read others' thoughts on all the listed books with interest.

>128 Polaris-: Good to see you, Paul! I'm glad that you enjoyed my photos of Barcelona. I look forward to returning to Spain in the very near future.

Nathalie (Deern) made a good point about the lack of true international diversity in last year's Booker Prize longlist on my 75 Books thread, and in reviewing that list I realized that four of the longlisted authors could rightfully be labeled as American. Jhumpa Lahiri (The Lowland) moved to the US from London at the age of two, and lived in the Boston area until just recently. NoViolet Bulawayo (We Need New Names) moved to the US to attend university, and has lived there for nearly half of her adult life. Colum McCann (TransAtlantic) has lived in NYC since 1994, and Ruth Ozeki (A Tale for the Time Being) was born in the US and has residences in both NYC, where she has lived since 1985, and British Columbia.

I'll start reading the Booker longlist later today or tomorrow, starting with Karen Joy Fowler's We Are Completely Beside Ourselves.

Just waving. How's your Man Booker longlist reading going Darryl? I haven't got to any of the ones I own yet. Tusk tusk. Too many delightful dishes, too little time, despite being on a late gap year! I think gremlins snip hours out of my days when I'm not looking.

>130 Caroline_McElwee: Hi Caroline! I didn't start my first Booker longlisted book until this past Saturday, after a busy work stretch, but I've now finished two books, We Are Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler and To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris. Unfortunately I thought that both books were awful, as I gave 2 stars to the Fowler and 1 star to the Ferris. I just started History of the Rain by Niall Williams yesterday, and so far it's a much better read.

I'll be off from work for most of the next 5-6 weeks, so I should get a lot of reading done in that time, and make a large dent in the Booker Prize longlist.

<131 Booker strikes again

>132 baswood: Right, Barry. So far I've read two duds (which, BTW, were both written by authors from the US). Hopefully the non-American books will be much better ones.

Book review (don't faint)!

Book #60: Nevirapine and the Quest to End Pediatric AIDS by Rebecca J. Anderson  

  

My rating:

Rebecca Anderson is a freelance technical writer, medical school professor and pharmacologist who previously worked in drug development for several companies, including Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, which discovered nevirapine (trade name: Viramune), an antiretroviral drug that demonstrated excellent activity against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Anderson used her personal knowledge of nevirapine and her contacts at Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) to write this interesting and informative book about the discovery, development and use of this drug, which is described in the larger context of the development of HIV/AIDS drugs, drug development from an insider's standpoint, and the history of pediatric AIDS in the US and Africa.

The book opens with the story of Ariel Glaser, the four year old daughter of the American actor Paul Michael Glaser, who starred in the 1970s television detective series "Starsky and Hutch", and Elizabeth Glaser, who contracted HIV from a blood transfusion she received in 1981 while she gave birth to Ariel. She later became a vibrant and determined AIDS activist who was a key figure in the push to develop antiretroviral drugs for children in the United States and Africa, and after her death the foundation renamed in her honor continues to support research into and implementation of AIDS treatment in the US, Africa and China.

The discovery of nevirapine as a potent antiretroviral agent began in the 1960s, as chemists at Boehringer Manheim painstakingly synthesized hundreds of compounds in an effort to find one that decreased the production of stomach acid and treated peptic ulcers. After one compound was chosen for this purpose the remaining ones were stored in a facility, where they sat for two decades until BI decided to study them to see if any demonstrated activity against HIV. Remarkably, one compound did work well, and the discovery of this prototype led to the development of similarly structured compounds, and the one that demonstrated the greatest efficacy in chemical assays (in vitro) and in living subjects (in vivo) and bioavailability (the amount of a drug that remains active and available in the body after its administration) was chosen for development; it was subsequently given the name nevirapine.

Although nevirapine wasn't the first antiretroviral drug to be used in adults or children with HIV/AIDS, it proved to be a potent agent when used by itself or in combination with other drugs such as AZT, ddI and ddC. Despite numerous studies demonstrating this, its use in the US and particularly in Africa was impeded by several factors, including the challenges of designing trials to test for efficacy and adverse effects in human subjects, particularly children, the extensive process required for new drugs to be approved for use in the US, and the reluctance of some countries, most notably and tragically South Africa under the Thabo Mbeki administration, to provide it to its citizens. The book closes with a summary of the state of antiretroviral drug development, and a tribute to the researchers and activists who were instrumental in the development of nevirapine and to several notable survivors of childhood HIV/AIDS.

Anderson provides technically detailed descriptions of the development and testing of nevirapine by BI, along with the studies and implementation of this agent, which I found to be quite educational but may prove to be a challenge to the average reader, although one which would be worthwhile in my opinion.

Nevirapine and the Quest to End Pediatric AIDS is a valuable and highly recommended contribution to the ongoing story of HIV/AIDS and to the history of medicine and drug development and implementation, told from the largely unbiased standpoint of a pharmaceutical researcher who was closely involved in this account.

Book #61: Dr. Mütter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz

  

My rating:

I was somewhat familiar with Dr. Thomas Mütter, the famed 19th century Professor of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, whose personal collection and funding led to the creation of The Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, which is my favorite museum of medical history. However, after reading Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz's fascinating and compulsively readable biography of Mütter I realized how little I knew about him, and how influential he was to the development of modern surgery, the advancement of medicine as a science, and the reformation of medical education in Philadelphia and the United States.

Thomas Dent Mutter (1811-1859) was born to a mother from an established Virginia family and a father who was a hard working first generation Scottish immigrant. Although the Mutters were happy and modestly successful at the time of Thom's birth the family of four was quickly struck down by illness, and by 1818 he was an orphan with no surviving close relatives. Fortune did shine on young Thomas, as he was soon adopted by Robert Wormelely Carter, a wealthy Virginia landowner who was a distant cousin of his mother. Carter supported Thomas's educational endeavors, and after he realized that medicine was his calling he graduated from the medical school at the University of Pennsylvania at the age of 20.

After graduation Mutter (who changed his name to Mütter, in keeping with his flamboyant lifestyle and dress) sailed to Paris, where he learned the latest surgical techniques under the leading practitioners there, including the legendary Guillaume Dupuytren. He returned to Philadelphia, but he was unable to establish a successful practice as a general surgeon despite his clinical skill and growing reputation in the city's medical community. Mütter began teaching at the Medical Institute in Philadelphia, and soon afterward he joined the faculty at the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia's second medical college after the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. There he quickly became a revered instructor who was noted for his active engagement of his students during his lectures, along with his skill in the operating theater and the compassion he showed to his patients before and especially during surgery, at a time when anesthesia was limited to wine and other spirits.

Mütter was closely linked to several advancements and innovations in 19th century surgery and medicine, including the use of a patient's own skin to form surgical grafts; the utilization of ether as an effective anesthetic agent during surgery; the adoption of antiseptic techniques to reduce the likelihood of postoperative infections and puerperal (childbed) fever; and the creation of postoperative hospital wards, where patients would be closely and compassionately cared for under his watchful eye.

Sadly, Mütter suffered from ill health throughout his life, which curtailed his brilliant career as a surgeon and teacher. Fortunately he ensured his legacy with the creation of the Mütter Museum, which opened in 1863 and moved to its current location on 22nd Street between Market and Chestnut Streets in Center City Philadelphia in 1909. The museum is open to the general public seven days per week.

Aptowicz does a superb job in her portrayal of Mütter, as her interest in and enthusiasm for the surgeon shines on every page. The book is written for a general audience, and it is filled with rich detail about the history of early and mid 19th century medicine, medical education and surgery. Dr. Mütter's Marvels is a captivating study of one of the most interesting and influential physicians in American history, and I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Thank you for the reviews, Darryl. Those both sound very interesting.

Excellent reviews. I've never heard of Dr. Mutter! When I read "Dupuytren" my mind immediately went to "Dupuytren's contracture." Putting 2 and 2 together, I assume he was the surgeon who came up with the way to fix it.

This one is going on the wishlist.

You're welcome, Colleen. I seem to get every LT Early Reviewer book on medicine that I request (I suppose my username may have something to do with that), and fortunately most of them have been very good. I found out this afternoon that my next ER book will be Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande, the Harvard surgeon who has written three or four other laudable books about medicine and how individuals and groups can improve the quality of their services and products. I'd be thrilled if I received it before I leave for London on Monday, although that is highly unlikely.

I do have one more ER book to read and review this week, The Inevitable City: The Resurgence of New Orleans and the Future of Urban America by Scott Cowen, the president of Tulane University, the first school I attended after high school. It's a short work, and I should be able to finish it tomorrow and review it on Thursday.

>137 avidmom: Thanks, avidmom. Great pick up on Dupuytren! You're absolutely right, and that's what I thought of as well.

"Dupuytren's contracture -- is that what actor Bill Nighy has?

>139 Nickelini: From Nighy's Wikipedia page: "He suffers from Dupuytren's contracture, a condition which causes the ring and little finger of each hand to be permanently bent inwards towards the palm."

>135 kidzdoc: what a great story, and I'll keep that Mutter museum in mind next time I'm in Philly. His studying in Paris reminded me of The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David G. McCullough, which has a great section on the experiences of American medical students in Paris - although if McCullough specifically mentions Mutter, I've forgotten it.

Well; I didn't know that about Bill Nighy. Excellent reviews of those two early reviewers medical titles.

I'm surprised Nighy hasn't had it fixed. Isn't it a fairly simple procedure?

>141 dchaikin: I would highly recommend a visit to the Mütter Museum, Dan. It's very easy to get to on foot or via public transportation, and you can purchase a ticket that also allows you to visit the nearby University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, a.k.a. the Penn Museum, which is also superb. Katherine (qebo from the 75 Books group) and I spent a very enjoyable afternoon there on Saturday.

Thanks for mentioning The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris. I was interested in reading it before, but I'll definitely buy it now.

>142 baswood: Thanks, Barry.

>143 labfs39: There are a variety of surgical and nonsurgical options to treat Dupuytren's contracture, Lisa, so I'm not sure why Bill Nighy (presumably) hasn't it fixed either.

I'm glad that you and qebo had the opportunity to meet in PA. She and I met in Maine early this summer and had a wonderful time.

>145 labfs39: That's interesting that both of you met someplace far from where each of you live. I met a classmate of mine from residency, who I hadn't seen or talked to for over a dozen years, in Barcelona earlier this summer. We are friends on Goodreads, and when she happened to notice that I was reading books about Barcelona and Spain she asked me if I was planning to go there soon. As it turned out our trips overlapped, so I was able to spend a pleasant morning with her.

Katherine is a frequent attendee of LT meet ups in the Northeast, and I've seen her on at least three prior occasions in NYC and Philadelphia before we got together on Saturday.

Just catching up with your reviews, Darryl, but as an extremely suggestible person I tend to stay away from anything medical . . .

>147 rebeccanyc: Ha! I don't think you have anything to fear from either of these books, Rebecca, as long as you don't plan to undergo surgery without anesthesia, give birth to a child whose obstetrician practices unbelievably poor hygiene, or contract HIV/AIDS in a country that doesn't offer antiretroviral drugs.

Oh, Darryl, I wanted to thank you again for your wonderful review of The Patient Survival Guide. Not only did the advice in the book help me through my hip replacements last year, but I give it to all my friends who are going in for surgery. It's a great resource.

Daryl - love the picture of Bill Nighy! I'm pinning that to my Interesting Faces on pinterest. I looked this up after I watched The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and my husband commented "Bill Nighy always holds his hand like that. Hmmmm." I said "you're right!" and of course I couldn't leave that comment alone . . .

Book #62: History of the Rain by Niall Williams

  

My rating:

Because here is what I know: the rain becomes the river that goes to the sea and becomes the rain that becomes the river. Each book is the sum of all the others the writer has read.

Ruth Swain is a bookish young woman who lives in the tiny attic of her parents' house in Faha, County Clare, Ireland. She is disabled by a serious chronic illness, so she is largely confined to her bed, surrounded by a large collection of books from her father's library, and her visitors are limited to her teacher, a young man who is smitten with her, and the remaining members of her family.

Ruth narrates her father's story, in an effort to understand and appreciate him, and in order to do so she must go back in time to learn more about the Swains, how their beliefs, eccentricities and personal tragedies have shaped the lives of her great-grandfather, grandfather and father, and in doing so how it has molded her own outlook on life.

The novel is filled with numerous literary references and allegories, and is written in a 19th century style in keeping with Ruth's primary influences, most notably Charles Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson. She paints an ethereal portrait of County Clare and her family, particularly her father Abraham and her twin brother Aengus, with a lightly humorous touch that belies and alleviates the tragedy and heartache that afflicts the Swains, and her own self depreciating tendencies are in keeping with the Impossible Standard that prevents any of the Swains from achieving true happiness or personal satisfaction.

History of the Rain is an elegiac work about family, an appreciation of literature and poetry, and the way in which one's imagination can be used to influence the art of storytelling, which can be a useful tool to provide healing and closure in the face of personal tragedy. This book is certainly worthy of inclusion in this year's Booker Prize longlist, and I wouldn't be surprised if it made the shortlist as well.

>149 labfs39: You're very welcome, Lisa. I'm glad that you found The Patient Survival Guide useful. I've given copies of it to my parents, aunts and brother as well.

>150 Nickelini: Good pick up, Joyce! I noticed from other photos that both of his hands are similarly affected.

Excellent review of history of the rain. It sounds too good for the Booker short list

WOW Darryl what a great travelogue! I'll be in Barcelona briefly next spring and will come back for a closer look at those posts and photos. Happily anticipating your reviews over the next weeks. I too snagged a copy of Gawande's new book and am looking forward to it.

>153 baswood: Ha ha! Thanks, Barry. I've only read three of the 13 Booker longlisted novels so far, and History of the Rain is the only one I've liked. This longlist isn't as bad as the notorious one from 2011, but to me it's considerably worse than the last two years have been. I would be only mildly surprised if this book wasn't chosen for the shortlist.

>154 detailmuse: Thanks, MJ. I'd be happy to give you recommendations and more information about Barcelona any time you'd like. I loved the city, and I'll almost certainly return there next year.

Good news on getting the new Gawande. I'd love it if it arrived tomorrow, as I'm leaving for a 2-1/2 week trip to London on Monday night, but if not I'll read it as soon as I return to Atlanta.

I'm glad you liked History of the Rain.

>156 RidgewayGirl: Thanks, Kay!

The longlist for this year's Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction (UK) has been announced:

Roy Jenkins: A Well-rounded Life by John Campbell
The Unexpected Professor: An Oxford Life by John Carey
God's Traitors: Terror and Faith in Elizabethan England by Jessie Childs
The Iceberg: A Memoir by Marion Coutts
Hack Attack by Nick Davies
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
The Empire of Necessity: Slavery, Freedom, and Deception in the New World by Greg Grandin
Common People: The History of An English Family by Alison Light
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh
An Encyclopaedia of Myself by Jonathan Meades
Village of Secrets: Defying the Nazis in Vichy France by Caroline Moorehead
The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters by Adam Nicolson
In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon's Wars, 1793-1815 by Jenny Uglow
Romany and Tom: A Memoir by Ben Watt

I'll definitely read Being Mortal, as it's my LT Early Reviewers book for August, and several others on this list look interesting.

The Guardian: Samuel Johnson prize 2014 longlist spotlights memoirs

I have several of those including The Iceberg: A Memoir, H is for Hawk, and God's Traitors: Terror and Faith in Elizabethan England, and at least two others, the Carey and Nicholson.

How are you, Darryl? I hope the reasons for your absence here are all good ones.

>160 RidgewayGirl: Hi, Kay! Sorry that I've been neglecting my thread for so long. I had a great trip to London last month, worked a tough stretch of days from mid-September through early October, and traveled to San Diego last weekend for the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference & Exhibition at the convention center there. I'm off until this coming Saturday and will stay in town, so I'll be able to read and review several books in that time.

Earlier this morning I finished Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande, which is the best book I've read this year, and the most important one I've read in several years. I received it as a LibraryThing Early Reviewers book, and I'll write a review of it in the next day or two.

Meanwhile, here's a review of a book I read earlier this week.

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan



My rating:

In 2009, Susannah Cahalan had a rich and rewarding life, working as a respected reporter for The New York Post, living on her own in an apartment in Manhattan, and sharing her life with her handsome musician boyfriend. She was young, beautiful, and grew up in privilege and good health. One day she noticed two marks which appeared to be bedbug bites on one of her arms, and shortly afterward she experienced muscle weakness and headache, which she attributed to the flu. She then developed tingling and numbness in her left arm and foot, which led her to seek medical attention from her gynecologist, who referred her to a neurologist. Laboratory and radiographic tests were all normal, and she concluded that she had a bad viral illness, which was complicated by overwork. However her symptoms progressively worsened, as she developed anxiety, dizziness, nausea and memory loss, and after she had a seizure at her boyfriend's home it was clear that something was seriously wrong with her.

The next month for Susannah was a living hell, as she became manic and paranoiac, continued to have seizures, and went into a rapid physical and mental decline. She was hospitalized and watched closely by her parents and boyfriend, but her medical team could not figure out what was wrong with her, as all of her tests came back normal. Her loved ones became frantic as she continued to worsen, as they feared that the bright and brilliant Susannah that they knew and loved would never recover. Her neurologist that they had come to trust and respect turned her care over to a respected diagnostician, after he failed to discover what was wrong with her, and dismissed her and her family abruptly and brusquely. Her life then became a race against time: would the medical team diagnose this strange illness before it was too late to help Susannah?

Brain on Fire is narrated in the first person, based on Susannah's own recollections and those which came from her family, boyfriend, medical staff and colleagues during the month in which she experienced the worst of her nightmarish symptoms. She uses her journalistic skills to create a compelling medical mystery, which I could hardly put down until the last page. In addition to a fascinating story it is also a wake up call to physicians who are quick to label or dismiss patients' symptoms that they cannot adequately explain, and a reminder that a good medical history, a perusal of the medical literature, a curious and inquisitive mind, and a willingness to seek help from colleagues for the most difficult cases will often uncover the right answer.

Book #74: Before Ebola: Dispatches from a Deadly Outbreak by Peter Apps

My rating:

This is a newly published Kindle Single written by a journalist for Reuters, which describes his experience covering a deadly outbreak of Marburg virus in 2005, which is similar to Ebola virus in that it originated in Africa and can cause widespread hemorrhages and rapid death due to multi-organ system failure. However, the author chose to focus much of this work on himself, his own career and his colleagues, and relatively little about the virus and those it claimed as its victims, which made this a boring and trivial read.

Glad you are back. I mean, I can also follow your thread on 75 Challenge, but here it is easier.

Thanks, Edwin. This thread is definitely easier to follow than the one in the 75 Books group!

The Laurent Coq Dialgoue Trio performed at Georgia State University's Rialto Center for the Arts in downtown Atlanta this afternoon, as part of France-Atlanta 2014, The trio appeared as part of France-Atlanta 2014, which is a series of cultural, humanitarian, business and scientific events taking place in Atlanta in the second half of October that is designed to foster cooperation between France and the southeastern US. The trio consisted of renowned jazz pianist Laurent Coq, who is from France, and guitarist Ralph Lavital and vocalist Nicholas Pelage, who are originally from the French West Indies. The trio was excellent, as they conducted a rich dialogue with themselves and with the small but sophisticated and mature audience. Pelage sang almost entirely in Creole, except for the encore, which was written in English for the trio, and two pieces in the middle of the concert that only featured Coq and Lavital. It was an excellent performance, and I only wish that more people were there to experience and appreciate their work.

Brain on Fire sounds fascinating, and I think it's going on my wishlist. Although it's already making me feel hypochondriac just reading your review!

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande

  

My rating:

Modern scientific capability has profoundly altered the course of human life. People live longer and better than at any other time in history. But scientific advances have turned the processes of aging and dying into medical experiences, matters to be managed by health care professionals. And we in the medical profession have proved alarmingly unprepared for it.

Death, of course, is not a failure. Death is normal. Death may be the enemy, but it is also the natural order of things.

In Being Mortal, Dr. Atul Gawande turns his attention to the way in which we die in advanced countries has changed over time, from a natural process at the end of life that took place in the home, surrounded and comforted by loved ones; to an artificial prolongation of life in hospitals, in which patients are subjected to futile and expensive care but often suffer terribly in their final days; to confinement in nursing homes and assisted living centers, where residents' independence and decision making capabilities are frequently overridden by policies to ensure their safety and compliance with staff; to a nearly full circle return to a good death in the home with the help of family and palliative care and hospice specialists.

Gawande uses his experiences with the terminally ill as a medical student, surgeon, independent observer and son to effectively illuminate the points he makes and the lessons he has learned, which transforms Being Mortal from a dry treatise with limited usefulness to a valuable and necessary work that individuals, families, health care providers and policy makers will benefit from and easily relate to. He allows the afflicted and those who work with and care for them to share their stories as well, which provides the reader with more insight and clarity.

One of the most important lessons for physicians in Being Mortal, and the one that had the greatest impact on me as a hospital based pediatrician who routinely cares for incurably and terminally ill children, came to Gawande from the individuals and medical staff that he interviewed and the literature that he read in order to write this book. Too often the focus of the care of the dying is on what medicine can do for the patient: surgeons can operate to remove or debulk a tumor, oncologists can try yet another chemotherapeutic agent when others have failed, and hospitalists and intensivists can provide antibiotics, oxygen and other supportive measures to manage a current crisis. Unfortunately, these interventions frequently do not reverse or improve the primary illness, and the patient is either left in a more debilitated state than he was before, suffers from severe side effects from these treatments that can be worse than the illness itself, or both. Instead, the focus should be on what the patient wants in his remaining days instead of an all out, scorched earth effort to achieve a cure, and how his medical team and loved ones can help him achieve his goals and make him comfortable and lucid as the end nears. Only by asking and listening to the patients and family will this information be learned, and in doing so the physicians and other medical staff can provide the services that are most needed.

As a physician, a son of elderly parents, and a person contemplating his own mortality in middle age, I found this to be one of the most important books I have ever read, and it is one that I will turn to time and again to remember the wisdom contained within it. Being Mortal should be read by everyone, and I thank Dr. Gawande for sharing his own experiences, failures and successes with us in writing this essential work.

>167 bragan: Thanks, Betty!

Excellent review of being Mortal A book that I should read.

Glad you enjoyed the concert by the Laurent Coq trio. His most recent CD (Dialogue) nearly made my list of CD's to buy this month. He made the short list but was just edged out by Norma Winstone's Dance without Answer

Thanks, Barry. The Rialto Center wasn't selling the trio's latest CD, so I ordered it from Amazon.

Book #76: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami



My rating:

Tsukuru Tazaki is a civil engineer in his mid-thirties who enjoys his career designing railway stations in Japan. He lives alone in a condo in Tokyo, and although he is a good looking, pleasant and reliable man he has never married nor had a serious relationship with a woman; he views himself as "colorless" and uninteresting. He grew up in Nagoya with four other friends, who were inseparable in high school, but after he left to attend college in Tokyo he was suddenly dropped from the group, for reasons he never understood. Many years have passed since then, but that event continues to haunt him and prevent him from forming meaningful connections with anyone.

Tsukuru begins to date Sara, a slightly older woman, and he shares his story with her. She encourages him to seek out his former friends, as it is clear to her that the trauma from the ruptured friendship is keeping him from realizing his full potential as a man and a lover.

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki is an ethereal but deeply moving novel of love, loss, anguish and redemption that has more in common with Norwegian Wood rather than Murakami's other works of magical realism; anyone who is looking for talking sheep, mysterious cats or precocious telepathic youth will be sadly disappointed. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this page turner of a novel, as I identified with and rooted for Tsukuru from the first page to the last. Murakami has written another outstanding work, and it is one of my favorite novels of the year.

On the other hand...

Book #77: J: A Novel by Howard Jacobson
(Shortlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize)



My rating:

This dystopic novel and love story is set in the country of Ofnow in the mid to late 21st century, after a catastrophic event known as WHAT HAPPENED, IF IT HAPPENED or the PISSASTROPHE led to the near complete annihilation of an unnamed ethnic group. The national and local government, in an effort to heal past wounds, has forbidden its citizens to discuss the tragedy in detail, and books, television, computers and even furniture from that time or beforehand are no longer available or permitted in homes. The people of Ofnow are exceedingly polite and apologetic to each other, but underneath this apparent tranquility lies deep hatred, and numerous acts of mild to extreme violence are hidden from the public. The citizens closely watch those within and outside of their homes, to ensure that everyone is complying with the government's mandates.

Kevern 'Coco' Cohen, a woodcutter and teacher at the local college, is introduced to a younger woman, Ailinn Solomons, and they begin a troubled relationship with each other. Kevern is secretive, paranoiac, and obsessed with keeping himself and Ailinn safe from the prying eyes and attention of the townspeople; she, still in her teens, is both naïve about what happened in the past and the menace that currently takes place. Kevern is suspected of committing a heinous crime, and falls under the attention of the local police, and simultaneously the two lovers are also being watched closely, as their relationship holds promise for the redemption of the troubled society.

J: A Novel has an interesting premise, but I found it to be a tiresome and boring read, as the protagonists were uninteresting and inscrutable, particularly Kevern, and the novel was both repetitive (Jacobson must have mentioned Ailinn's "ugly feet" at least two dozen times!) and unfocused, with too much attention paid to marginally relevant characters. This is a clever and arguably well written novel, but one that is ultimately disappointing and forgettable.

Great reviews, as always, Darryl. But OUCH on that last one. :)

>174 NanaCC: Thanks, Colleen. Reading this year's Booker Prize nominated books has been a mostly painful chore, although I did like the winning novel, The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan, along with one other shortlisted novel, The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee, and one which was longlisted but not shortlisted, History of the Rain by Niall Williams. Three of the six shortlisted books will likely end up on my Ten Worst Books of 2014 list: J: A Novel, We Are Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler, and To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris.

Nice to see you back here, Darryl. I know you liked The Finkler Question a lot more than I did (since I hated it, that was pretty easy), but I swore off Jacobson then and maybe now you will too! Enjoyed your reviews of the medical books too, especially Being Mortal which sounds well worth reading, if a little discouraging.

>176 rebeccanyc: Thanks, Rebecca. Yes, after reading these and the even more loathesome novel No More Mr. Nice Guy I am done with Howard Jacobson.

I thought that Being Mortal provided more hope that we and those we love can have a good death at home, instead of in a hospital or neglectful nursing home or assisted living center.

The only booker nominated book I've read so far this year was The Blazing World which I liked a lot. The only other one I'm interested in is possibly The Wake because it sounded so interesting. I will definitely skip J!

>178 japaul22: I bought The Blazing World and The Wake, but I haven't read them yet. I probably won't get to either one until sometime next year.

Book #78: The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke
(Shortlist, 2014 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize)



My rating:

I don't know what would have happened if we'd been able to eat at six o'clock as usual. It's astonishing how people react when the routine is disturbed, a tiny delay to the normal schedule and at once everything is different.

This novella, which was originally published in 1990 and not translated into English until last year, is set in a home in West Berlin prior to the country's reunification. An unnamed woman and her teenaged son and daughter have prepared a feast of moules-frites (mussels with chips) for the head of the household, who promises to bring good news of a promotion to the top level of the company he works for. He does not appear at six o'clock, which is surprising given his usual promptness and rigidity, and instead of eating the sumptuous meal the three of them wait anxiously for his arrival. As time passes and as they become inebriated with drink they speak openly and critically about him, and slowly, in the manner of peeling away the layers of an onion, the man's tyrannical and monstrous behavior towards each of them is revealed.

This story of a dysfunctional family is enriched with symbolism, presumably of German society in the 1980s, which includes the gruesome description of the death throes of the mussels as they are boiled alive, and their increasingly distasteful appearance as they sit, uneaten, for hours afterward. The Mussel Feast is a striking and powerful work, and one which undoubtedly would reveal more on subsequent readings.

Enjoyed your latest reviews. Having not read Murakami, I'm thinking maybe Colorless Taukuru Tazaki would be a good place to start. Entertained by your response to Jacobson's latest. Not surprised he wrote another unpleasant, but probably well written, book. Also intrigued by your overall response to the Booker. It can't be an easy thing being a Booker judge.

>180 kidzdoc: ETA - this showed up after I posted. Very interesting review.

>181 dchaikin: Thanks, Dan. It took me less than 24 hours to finish Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki, which is 400 pages long, and most of the other members of the 75 Books group who participated in a group read of it this month also enjoyed and sped through it.

I agree; it has to be a tremendously difficult job to be a Booker Prize judge. They end up reading over 150 eligible books, and now that American authors are included it has to make their jobs that much tougher. And, they are bound to come under criticism from authors, editors, critics and the general public for excluding certain books no matter how good of a job they do.

I meant to give 4 stars to The Mussel Feast, so I've edited my review of it.

From your review I know I will like Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage because I enjoyed Norwegian Wood so much.

The Mussel Feast looks interesting.

>183 baswood: I look forward to your thoughts about Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki, Barry.

Kay liked and wrote a great review of The Mussel Feast earlier this year.

A wonderful set of reviews, Darryl! I will certainly read Being Mortal. I will hold off for the moment on Colorless Tsukuru because I much prefer Murakami's magical realist stuff, but I am sure that I will get round to it in the end. And thanks for the pithy review of Before Ebola - what you describe is one of the reasons why I tend to avoid books written by journalists, unless they come with very strong recommendations.

Looking forward to hearing about your latest trip to London!

>185 wandering_star: Thanks, Margaret. I think that everyone would benefit from reading Being Mortal, so I'm glad that you'll do so.

I've liked both of Murakami's two nontraditional (for him!) novels, Norwegian Wood and Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki, but I love the best of his magical realism novels just as much, if not more, especially The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, and A Wild Sheep Chase. I've read more novels by him than anyone else, living or deceased, and I think I own everything he's written that has been translated into English except for his nonfiction book about running (and I'll remedy that in the future).

Interesting comment about journalists. At least some of them are self absorbed and a bit full of themselves, as the author of Before Ebola was. I'll have to think about books I've read by other journalists, to see what I've thought of them.

I had a great time in London last month, with numerous meet ups with LT friends, including Joe (jnwelch) and his wife Debbi (walklover), who came from Chicago on holiday as well. Several of us met up in Cambridge one Saturday, and ate our way through town (I think we stopped at four or five places from noon to late evening); Claire (Sakerfalcon) and I spent a lovely day in Brighton the following Saturday; several of us met up to go to the Tate Modern and see the afternoon performance of Dr. Scroggy's War at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre; Bianca (drachenbraut23) and I saw the outstanding production of The Crucible starring Richard Armitage at The Old Vic, and a slightly disappointing performance of James I, the first of The James Plays at the National Theatre; I saw Little Revolution, a play about the 2011 riots in London, at the Almeida Theatre, which was very good and quite unique; and, as usual, I bought a ton of books (especially from the numerous secondhand bookshops in Brighton). Oh, I also went on two guided walking tours, the free Jack the Ripper tour with Bianca, and the Old Jewish Quarter walking tour with Joe and Debbi (and I bought a sporty porkpie hat at the Old Spitalfields Market afterward), and Bianca and I went on several of the unguided tours listed in the collection Medical London: City of Diseases, City of Cures, in Greenwich, the City and South London along the Thames. There were other meetups for book shopping and dining as well; the highlight for me was going to Madeline's, a vegetarian restaurant in Covent Garden, which was outstanding, and Bianca and I enjoyed the pies at Pieminister, which is located between the OXO Tower and the National Theatre. We also liked the exhibition of protest material that we saw at the V&A, titled Disobedient Objects. That's all I can remember at the moment, but I'm probably leaving out some other things that I did there!

>186 kidzdoc: except for his nonfiction book about running
That's the only one I have read (http://www.librarything.com/review/74657206), and it did not inspire me to continue on to his novels. However, I am now in possession of Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki, via an instant gratification click, and hope to get to it next month.

I'm glad you liked The Mussel Feast as it made an impression on me.

I'd thank you for reading J so that I don't have to, but after The Finkler Question I've given up on the author. If he's nominated for the Booker again, will you read it?

>187 qebo: I'll be eager to get your take on Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki, Katherine.

>188 RidgewayGirl: I would bet that you got more out of The Mussel Feast than I did, Kay, but I enjoyed it as well.

I'm done with Jacobson after J and No More Mr. Nice Guy, and I won't read anything else by him even if he is nominated for the Booker in the future.

Did you see this interview with Atul Gawande in today's NY Times Book Review?
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/books/review/atul-gawande-by-the-book.html The By the Book column is a regular feature, and I was impressed by the novels he admires.

>190 rebeccanyc: Yes, I did see that interview, Rebecca; I read it online on Friday.

Wonderful reviews, as always, Darryl. Fortunately not too many book bullets, as I already own Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki (a birthday gift), and The Mussel Feast was already on my wishlist thanks to Kay. Brain on Fire sounds like a quick, interesting read. At some point I may see if the library has that one.

>192 labfs39: Thanks, Lisa. I hope that you're able to find Brain on Fire.

>189 kidzdoc: Done. And... my take was more "creepy" than "deeply moving".

>194 qebo: Hmm. I take it that you didn't enjoy Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki as much as I did.

>195 kidzdoc: Well, as I noted in my review, I'm likely missing cultural context. I still intend to read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles.

I just read your review of Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki. It wasn't a perfect book or one of Murakami's best by any means, but I liked it primarily because of the main character.

Here are my planned reads for November (as always, subject to change). I want to maintain my 11 year streak of reading 100 or more books per year alive, so I'll focus on shorter works over the next two months. I'll have a very busy work schedule in December, so I hope to read 14-15 books this month, particularly novellas, short novels and works of nonfiction, and poetry collections, most of which are from my TBR collection. I finished one book last night, another earlier this morning, and a third this evening, so I'm off to a good start.

Ask Me Why I Hurt: The Kids Nobody Wants and the Doctor Who Heals Them by Randy Christensen, MD- completed
Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky
The Children Act by Ian McEwan - reading
Everyone's Children: A Pediatrician's Story of an Inner City Practice by Claire McCarthy, MD
The Inevitable City: The Resurgence of New Orleans and the Future of Urban America by Scott Cowen - reading
The Life of Hunger by Amélie Nothomb
London Under: The Secret History Beneath the Streets by Peter Ackroyd
My Child Won't Sleep: A Quick Guide for the Sleep-Deprived Parent by Sujay Kansagra, MD - completed
Nadja by André Breton
The Passport by Herta Müller- completed
Prehistoric Times by Éric Chevillard
The Quran, translated by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Small: Life and Death on the Front Lines of Pediatric Surgery by Catherine Musemeche, MD - completed
Tales of Belkin by Alexander Pushkin - completed
Transit by Abdourahman A. Waberi- completed
Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee
Win These Posters and Other Unrelated Prizes Inside by Norma Cole - completed
Wind in a Box by Terrance Hayes

Ambitious reading plans as always, Darryl!

>199 rebeccanyc: Thanks, Rebecca!

Book #81: Small: Life and Death on the Front Lines of Pediatric Surgery by Catherine Musemeche, MD

  

My rating:

There is no such thing as a routine operation in a baby.

Dr. Catherine Musemeche is a pediatric surgeon who has been in practice for nearly a quarter of a century after the completion of her rigorous training, and she effectively combines her professional experiences, personal interests, and excellent writing skills in this superb book. In it she discusses the history and heroes of pediatric surgery, the challenges that she and other surgeons face in operating on tiny critically ill infants, current pressing medical issues that affect the practice of pediatricians and pediatric surgeons, and her own successes and failures throughout her career.

Dr. Musemeche provides a brief history of the development of pediatric surgery in the United States as a recognized medical specialty, and the difficulties that the first pediatric surgeons faced in gaining the respect of general surgeons, who fought against the newcomers' encroachment on their territory, and pediatricians, who initially rejected but soon championed and accepted their colleagues into their own medical society, the American Academy of Pediatrics, long before the American College of Surgeons decided to do so. She also honors some of the pioneers of pediatric surgery, including Dr. C. Everett Koop, the first full time pediatric surgeon at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the former U.S. Surgeon General; Dr. Stanley Dudrick, whose pioneering work on intravenous nutrition allowed children and adults with compromised gastrointestinal systems to receive sufficient intake for growth and healing via total parenteral nutrition; and Dr. Bob Bartlett, whose work on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, allowed surgeons to repair formerly lethal congenital cardiac defects and save the lives of the most critically ill children whose hearts and lungs had failed.

The author's own experiences in the operating room are interspersed with the stories of these pioneers, and I found my heart rate increasing as she described several difficult cases involving fragile babies on the brink of death.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the book to the general reader will be the chapters about obesity, medical errors, preventable injuries, and the development of new surgical devices and techniques, most notably the rise of fetal surgery. The most notable and most impressive hero in Small is Dr. Barbara Barlow, the first woman to complete a pediatric surgery residency at Babies' Hospital (now Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital) of Columbia University in New York, who worked for many years as a pediatric surgeon at Harlem Hospital, an inner city public hospital that took care of thousands of victims of accidental injuries of children in their homes, and in playgrounds and streets in their neighborhoods. She was the leader of multiple successful efforts to prevent these injuries, and in 2011 she was honored with the Hero Award for contributions to public health by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

One minor criticism of Small would be the absence of diagrams and photographs of the procedures that Dr. Musemeche describes in the book, although her rich descriptions of them and my medical training allowed me to easily visualize what she saw. However, this is an excellent contribution to the history of medicine and public health, which is a very enjoyable and informative book and one that I would highly recommend to all readers.

Book #82: Win These Posters and Other Unrelated Prizes Inside by Norma Cole



My rating:

This was probably the most inscrutable collection of poems I've ever read. Here's an example:

Blackberry bushes beside the freeway. Ajuga (bugleweed). Without
leave. Howl, Homer. Sylvia rode up on her bike smiling younger than
springtime. A child is able, hears music as other music.
I wasn't sleeping. The government begins without bees, rocks,
figuring out how much time's gone by by how cold the coffee gets.
Now is the cover of your pen and ink. Names the human project:
earmuffs: shamrocks: a verbal gap. In the early part of the morning a
small hole in the ceiling, a foot pulls up into the hole, ceiling covers
over paradise or charade. You never hear from her. Picking up tissue
from the floor. Transport. They can't stand and shoot. And talk
to each other (even) can't talk to each other, as I said. Up-coming
passages. Epistle of forgiveness: spat on the hair, spat on the faces,
spat on the other foot. Mount Brake-up or Back-up. Heals the words
in her foot. She got plenty. To be or not the little dot bouncing
toward her.

(BTW, the 'by by' in the fifth line is not a typo by me.)

Reading this collection reminded me of the book English As She Is Spoke, the ill-fated but humorous attempt by two 19th century Portuguese men who didn't know English to create a Portuguese-English guide book using Portuguese-French and French-English dictionaries, with predictably disastrous results. However, Win These Posters doesn't have that as an excuse to explain its unfathomable poems.

I may give this book another go, after I have a few gin and tonics as a comprehension aid.

>202 kidzdoc: "I may give this book another go, after I have a few gin and tonics as a comprehension aid."

Do you really think that will help? :-)

Book #84: My Child Won't Sleep: A Quick Guide for the Sleep-Deprived Parent by Sujay Kansagra, MD



My rating:

This short book, written by the director of the Sleep Medicine Program at Duke University, is an excellent guide for parents of children with non-pathologic sleep disorders. In it Dr. Kansangra discusses the physiology of normal sleep, the factors which can cause children to have difficulty falling or staying asleep, and simple step-by-step instructions on different techniques parents and other caregivers can use to break the patterns that led to the sleep disorder. He also discusses how parents can avoid the problem in the first place, by instituting a normal sleep regimen starting when the child reaches six months of age.

I would highly recommend this book to all parents and caregivers of young children, those who have sleep disorders, and all providers who counsel parents on how to get their child to sleep properly. Best of all, My Child Won't Sleep is currently being sold as an Amazon Kindle e-book for 99 cents in the US.

>203 NanaCC: Probably not, Colleen, but at least it will make reading it more enjoyable.

202, Book 82> I don't think I'd waste my time.

I enjoyed reading your review of Small: Life and Death. It sounds like a book I would enjoy, but since I doubt I will have the opportunity any time soon, it was nice to get such a thorough recap. Interestingly, the two thoughts that came to me as I was reading this were 1) that C. Everett Koop was the first surgeon general whom I remember and the impression he made on me and 2) the mental image of the man bagging the neonate in the helicopter as it left Memorial Hospital.

(Ok. Why is the default touchstone going to Twilight, the vampire book???)

Win These Posters, no comment.

I'm curious about the baby sleep book. I've read a few, especially when I was a new parent. In your opinion, are all babies/children/adults able to sleep if trained properly? Or are there perfectly normal babies/children/adults who are never going to be good sleepers?

>206 janeajones: I was just joking, Jane. There's no way that I'll read Win These Posters ever again!

>207 labfs39: Thanks, Lisa. I think it's fair to say that C. Everett Koop was the most influential and memorial U.S. Surgeon General. I had to look up the name of the current SG, Boris Lushniak, and although I'm sure that I had read about his appointment last year I didn't know a thing about him before I read his bio just now. And, I wouldn't have recognized the name of his predecessor, Regina Benjamin

There are a number of images from Five Days at Memorial that have stayed with me, including the one you mentioned. I'm surprised and very disappointed that it was passed over for so many major literary awards this year, particularly the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for Non-Fiction.

I think that LT's touchstone functionality is long overdue for a re-haul.

I don't do, and never have done, primary care pediatrics, so my knowledge of issues such as sleeping disorders is pretty minimal, which is one reason I wanted to read this book. As a pediatric hospitalist I'm never asked about issues such as sleep disorders, bedwetting, or ADHD! It was recommended by a good friend of mine, who is the head of a primary care pediatrics group in town. However, to answer your question as best I can, I think the first thing would be to separate out children with psychiatric or other medical disorders (such as depression or obstructive sleep apnea) that interfere with sleep. Of those remaining "normal" kids, I'm sure that a sizable minority won't be able to develop or will have great difficulty in achieving normal sleep patterns, due to personal or familial stress, a noisy home or surrounding neighborhood, or other factors. I've become a poor sleeper as an adult, and I frequently wake up in the early morning hours on days that I'm not working. I'll have to ask my parents if I had problems falling asleep when I was an infant or toddler.

Sad news: Tom Magliozzi died today from complications of Alzheimer's disease at the age of 77. He and his brother Ray hosted the hilarious long running National Public Radio program Car Talk, which provided advice to callers about problems they were having with their vehicles. The program started on WBUR in Boston in 1977 and on NPR until 1987, and although its last episode was broadcast in 2012 reruns can still be heard on Saturday mornings on most NPR stations. I doubt that any radio or television program provided me with more smiles and laughs than Car Talk did, and I hope that it will continue to be broadcast for years to come.

RIP Tom, and thank you; you'll be missed by your thousands of fans.

Tom Magliozzi, Popular Co-Host Of NPR's 'Car Talk,' Dies At 77

Darryl, I realize that it is far from your specialty, but I would be nice to have information from the medical world. I did not know that a person, Tom Magliozzi, could die of Alzheimer's. How does that work?

Robert

>210 Mr.Durick: The article mentioned that Magliozzi died from complications of Alzheimer's disease, not as a direct result of the disease itself, Robert. Alzheimer's disease would have made him debilitated, and more likely to succumb from respiratory failure due to pneumonia (which is commonly referred to as "the old man's best friend") or another illness, especially an infectious one like a urinary tract infection that led to bacteremia (bacterial infection in the bloodstream) and sepsis, which could become rapidly fatal if it were left undiagnosed or untreated if he was a DNR (do not resuscitate) patient in a nursing home.

Thank you.

Robert

>208 kidzdoc: I especially remember Koop's anti-smoking campaign. Partly as a result of that campaign, and partly a result of seeing a lung post-emphysema, I have never been tempted to smoke.

I'm surprised and very disappointed that it was passed over for so many major literary awards this year, particularly the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for Non-Fiction.

Me, too. Why do you supposed that was? Overexposure? Controversy?

My sister and my daughter both slept little as toddlers. Not problem sleepers, just didn't sleep much. Pediatricians then and now didn't see it as a problem, or at least not for the child. My mother says the doctor offered her sleeping pills. She was horrified that the doctor would suggest dosing a toddler. He laughed and said they were for her, not the child.

>209 kidzdoc: I loved Car Talk. Truly inspired. RIP, Tom.

>208 kidzdoc: I've become a poor sleeper as an adult

So have I, in my 40s, after always being a good sleeper, but at least you have a good reason for it with your crazy hours.

>212 Mr.Durick: You're welcome, Robert.

>213 labfs39: I was in elementary school in the 1960s when the first anti-smoking public ads and campaigns started. My parents both smoked heavily back then, as did many adults, but they said that they quit thanks in large part to the posters and information I brought home from school. I'd like to think that they are both still alive and in relatively good health today because they stopped smoking in their early thirties.

I was able to examine and hold lungs damaged by smoking, emphysema and coal dust exposure in the Pathology course I took as a second year medical student. I only smoked one or two packs of cigarettes as a college freshman before my girlfriend told me that I had to decide between her and smoking (guess who won?), and after that course I would only pick up a lit cigarette if my life depended on it.

I've all but given up on the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, as I rarely agree with the books that are nominated as finalists for the award, but the awards and finalists for History, Biography and Non-Fiction seem to be good selections. I was far more surprised that it wasn't chosen for the longlist for last year's National Book Awards, though. Five Days at Memorial did win the National Book Critics Circle Award for Non-Fiction last year, but I have no idea why it didn't warrant at least a finalist spot for one of the Pulitzer Prizes or the NBA for Non-Fiction.

Pediatricians then and now didn't see it as a problem, or at least not for the child.

That's probably right, for the most part. It's a different story for us if the child stops breathing during sleep (apnea), especially if it's due to conditions such as obstructive sleep apnea or apnea of prematurity that may warrant medical or surgical intervention. We should pay more attention to it, though, and be able to counsel parents on techniques that they can use to help their child attain a normal sleep pattern. My Child Won't Sleep is an excellent and inexpensive resource, and I'll certainly recommend it if a parent asks me about their child's sleeping difficulty.

Car Talk was always educational and entertaining. I would hope that Tom and Ray knew that tens of thousands of us loved that program. Let's see...yes, today's New York Times has a photograph and a sentence about his death on the bottom half of page A1, and there is a two column obituary about him inside.

>214 rebeccanyc: Right, Rebecca. I have to work night shifts (8 pm to 8 am) on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and after I finish my last shift at 8 am on Sunday I have to work five straight day shifts starting on Monday. I'm not looking forward to that quick night to day turnaround.

Regardless of your political persuasion, don't forget to vote today, fellow Americans!

On the other hand, I'm sure you just laugh at the idea of jet lag. That's the one gift an irregular schedule gives you. Those people who sleep the same hours every night are destroyed by big time changes.

>217 RidgewayGirl: Mmm, I'm still very affected by west-to-east jet lag, but traveling east-to-west doesn't bother me too much, Kay.

East to west is easier, I think. Who is upset by getting up early for a few days? For people visiting here, I usually cruelly force them to stay up all day the day they arrive, and not go to bed before 8:00. We do a lot of walking and sight-seeing, but i do try to play a return to many of the places, as often people have little memory of things they did the first day.

>219 RidgewayGirl: I think that's the best way to do it, Kay. I did the same thing on my two most recent trips to London, as I met one of my physician colleagues from Atlanta and her husband for dinner several hours after I arrived in June, and I saw a play shortly after I checked into my hotel in September. Fortunately I can sleep on long overnight flights with little difficulty if I get a window seat in the exit row (and take a dose of Nyquil or Advil PM once I'm on the plane), which makes it easier to make that adjustment to London time the following day.