Helenliz does 2015

I'm a bit of a list maker (even if I don't always stick to it) so I'll have a monthly summary at the top of the thread, then an ongoing discussion further down.

Aims:
I've hummed and hawed about New year's resolutions and all that jazz. And I want to have some targets (otherwise I become a bit aimless) but at the same time not set them unattainably high. The number of books to aim at has been the issue. I hit 100 in 2013, but failed dismally last year. I think that 100 is too high, so have come up with a target to combine two of my hobbies, reading with running. I'm getting back into running, having turned into a sofa bear in the last few years. In order to try and provide some incentive to keep going, I'm aiming at 1000 km in 2015. That's 622 miles (in old fashioned units). Trying the two together, I'm going to try and read a book every 10 miles I run, making a yearly target of 62 books. That seems doable on both fronts. Running progress will mainly be recorded on my blog, but I'll keep a running total here as well, just to see how far ahead or behind I'm getting on them both.

Running total: 35.95 miles (08Feb)
Reading total: 9

I want to read 1 non-fiction per month
I want to read 1 new author per month
I'd like to find one new book I love.

I'd like to try the British authors challenge in the 75 books challenge, but I'm not necessarily going to go for both authors. One per month and I'll try and pick the one I haven't read

January
1 - Ammonites and leaping Fish, Penelope Lively, ***, BAC, Non-fiction
2 - Nocturnes Kazuo Ishiguro, **, BAC
3 - An Infamous Army, Georgette Heyer, ***, Audio
4 - Tristram Shandy, Laurence Sterne, ***
5 - Home , Toni Morrison, ***, RLBC

February
6 - Dead Man's Ransom, Ellis Peters, ****
7 - The Castle of Otranto, Horace Walpole, ***
8 - Fingersmith, Sarah Waters, *, BAC, Audio
9 - Brideshead revisited, Evelyn Waugh, ****1/2, BAC
10 - They do it with mirrors, Agatha Christie, ***, Audio
11 - Bertie's guide to life and mothers, Alexander McCall Smith, **, RLBC

March
12 - Footsteps in the dark, Georgete Heyer, ****, Audio
13 - A History of the World in 12 maps, Jerry Brotton, ***, Non-Fiction
14 - What Maisie Knew, Henry James, **, Audio
15 - Mortal Engines, Phillip Reeve, **, RLBC
16 - Jamaica Inn, Daphne Du Maurier, ****, BAC
17 - Death in the Stocks, Georgette Heyer, ****, Audio

April
18 - Burial Rites, Hannah Kent, ***
19 - Birdcage Walk, Kate Riordan, ***, Audio
20 - Moving Pictures, Terry Pratchett

May
21 - Gaudy Night, Dorothy L Sayers, ****
22 - Busman's Honeymoon, Dorothy L Sayers, ****
23 - The Nine Tailors, Dorothy L Sayers, ****
24 - The Uncommon Reader, Alan Bennett, *****
25 - The Kashmir Shawl, Rosie Thomas, **, RLBC
26 - The Bath Tangle, Georgette Heyer, ****

June
27 - One Summer: America 1927, Bill Bryson, ***, Audio, Non-fiction
28 - Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie, ****
29 - Seduction, Amanda Quick, ***
30 - Not my Father's Son, Alan Cumming, ****, Audion Non-fiction
31 - The Assassin's Prayer, Ariana Franklin, ***
32 - The Moment - Douglas Kennedy, **, RLBC
33 - Put me back on my bike, William Fotheringham, ****, non-fiction
34 - The Corinthian, Georgette Heyer, ****
35 - Mulliner Nights, PG Wodehouse, ***

July
36 - April Lady, Georgette Heyer, ***
37 - The Darcy Connection, Elizabeh Aston, **, Audio
38 - The Toll-gate, Georgette Heyer, ****
39 - Sweet Danger, Margery Allingham, ***
40 - A man lay dead, Ngaio Marsh, ***
41 - Lanterne Rouge, Max Leonard, ****, Non-fiction
42 - Arabella, Georgette Heyer, ****
43 - The lost Continent, Bill Bryson, ***, Non-fiction, Audio
44 - The river knows, Amanda Quick, ***
45 - I Shall Wear Midnight, Terry Pratchett, **, RLBC
46 - The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera, **, Audio

August
47 - Black Sheep, Georgette Heyer, *****
48 - The dove of death, Peter Treymayne, ***
49 - 1215, Danny Danziger & John Gillingham, ****, Non-fiction
RLBC Toby's Room, Pat Barker
BAC Iris Murdoch & Graham Greene

September
RLBC Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
BAC Andrea Levy & Salman Rushdie

October
RLBC Of love and evil, Anne Rice
BAC Helen Dunmore & David Mitchell

November
RLBC A possible life, Sebastian Faulks
BAC Muriel Spark & William Boyd

December
RLBC Here lies Arthur, Phillip Reeve
BAC Hilary Mantel & P.G. Wodehouse

BAC allowed substitutions: Bernice Rubens & Aldous Huxley

May I be the first to greet you in your new thread! Looks like you've got a good plan. Look forward to your comments as you go along.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you post here!

RLBC = real life book club? And you plan your reads a year in advance? My bookclub will only plan two months out, and only because we alternate fiction and non-fiction (so each non-fiction meeting decides on the next non-fiction book) is it that far in advance!

Visitors, how nice. >:-) Pull up a chair, make yourselves at home, There's the Christmas chocolates in the corner.

>4 ELiz_M: Yes, RLBC is real life book club. We pick titles for the year by a random draw out of the hat. Anyone can suggest titles or authors, I do a check of the library catalogue and if there's enough, it goes into the hat. I think it's a lower stress approach to the selecting books. I know that last year one member went out in January and bought all 12 titles for the year, so it certainly suits some people.

I've starred your thread. I'm looking forward to seeing what you read.

Hi, Helen - congratulations on taking the thread-plunge! I hope you have a great reading year. :)

Happy New Year all!
1st January sees me mid way through reading Tristram Shandy as my Christmas chunky and having run 3 miles by 09:30 this morning. You would be right, we did not see the new year in >;-)
Here's to 2015.

So if you don't run you can't read? Interesting discipline. Will watch your progress with interest.

Interesting idea about the running and reading here. Nice!

I should do something similar to your running and reading, although I think mine would be walking rather than running. Either way, it would force me to get up and move.

Happy new reading year! Can't wait to see your reads.

Book 1
Title: Ammonites and Leaping Fish
Author: Penelope Lively
Source: my bookshelves (new)
Why: British author challenge, Non-fiction, TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book with a food item in the title
Rating: ***
Review: Review

This is a memoir that's not really a trip down memory lane as a discussion on what makes old age. Are you still the same person in your 80s as you were in your 20s? Can one relate to another and is there a natural age for everyone, a decade in which they feel most at home? The chapter on memory was particularly, especially form a novelist used to writing a narrative arc - somehow real life lacks that narrative arc, things don't always happen logically, they don't always end up in a neat solution. It's not a memoir in the conventional sense, more a set of musings about age, aging and life in general.

I've also run again, so I'm at 1 book and 6.44 miles - reading ahead at present (not unexpected, mileage is always more difficult in the winter)

I am suddenly seeing Penelope Lively's name all over the place. Somehow she has never been on my radar screen. Should I be embarrassed, and have you read and liked any of her other books?

I don't think you should be embarrassed at not having read her. I hadn't until last week either. This is the first of her books I've read, and it's probably an atypical one. She's popping up a lot on LT at present as she's one of January's authors in the British author challenge.
I might pick her up again if I saw her, but I'm not going to rush out and read her back catalogue immediately either.

Book 2
Title: Nocturnes
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Source: library, audio book
Why: British author challenge, TIOLI Challenge #10: IOU challenge: Read a book by someone whose name ends in I, O, or U
Rating: **
Review: Review

I listened to this and while it was mildly diverting, it wasn't up to the standard of his novels. There was in all the stories (to a greater or lesser extent) an air of unreality and in some cases it descended to pure farce. The stories all involve music and change of some kind, none of them are terribly uplifting, but none of them pack a real emotional punch. I thought the first was the pick of the bunch, with the 5th a close second. Not one I could recommend. Maybe the shorter format simply doesn't suit him as well as the novel. It seems to me that more happens in some of these than in the entire length of "Remains of the Day", and yet that I can still recall emotions and feelings about, this barely stayed with me to the end of the disk.

I read Nocturnes last year and had pretty much the same reaction as you. I'm glad to hear The Remains of the Day is better, as that's a book I'd still like to read.

Helen! Here you are :-) I have starred you and now I know how to use stars properly, I will visit more often than I did last year.

How is Tristram Shandy going? It defeated me a few years ago, but I would love to read it and understand it. I might see if I can suggest a tutored read at some point, because then it might stick.

That's a lot of running :-)

*waves* Hi susan! This is me, so welcome in. I'm somewhere in Volume 5 at the moment. I borrowed a Penguin version with a pretty long introduction and lost of annotations - it's a two bookmark book! It's not difficult to read, but I feel sure I am missing loads of stuff. It's making me grin occasionally, rather than laugh. I'm put in mind of Herodotus, in that he starts to tell his life story, then takes the best part of 3.5 volumes before he reaches his birth!

It's been a bit slow, but suddenly I have two completions to report.

Book 3
Title: An Infamous Army
Author: Georgette Heyer
Source: library, audio book
Why: Making my way through the library's collection of Heyer, TIOLI Challenge #22: Read a book in which one of the author's names has 6 or more letters
Rating: ***
Review: Review

This is not at all what I expected. From the start in Brussels in the spring on 1815, you just know this is going to have something to do with the Battle of Waterloo. And it does. What I was not expecting was the length and detail of the description of the battle itself. There was a sense that you spend the first half of the book being introduced to people and the second half wondering which of them wont make it through the battle. The romance element didn't really spring to life for me. Barbara was far too mercurial for me to understand, and Lucy far too silly. But there's swathes of dashing men in uniform, so how bad can it be?

Book 4
Title: Tristram Shandy
Author: Laurence Sterne
Source: library
Why: My annual Christmas chunky, TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a book originally published in multiple volumes/parts
Rating: ***
Review: Review

This is not what the title implies. He sets out to tell the story of his life, starting at his birth and gets sidetracked. Quite a lot. And by the strangest things. For a book narrated in the first person, the narrator is curiously absent, I certainly didn't feel I knew him by the end of this. It is reputed a classic, and I can see that it has a great many points to make, as well as the funny bits - but I'm not up on political history to spot the political satire, not enough of the time to make sense of the slang and simply not well read enough to recognise the names that would have no doubt have been the staple of a gentleman's education. It had its moments, and those moments were very very good, but I found it hard to make sense of. There are few books that I think would work better taught than read - this may be one of them.

I've also been out and about running a couple of times so far, generally managing 2 runs a week. Meaning I'm at just shy of 21 miles. As is to expected this early in the year, reading is ahead of running...

Hi Helen! An Infamous Army is famous as one of the most accurate descriptions of Waterloo ever written, to the point that military academies used to use as a teaching text. It's a crossover between Heyer's historical romances and her straight historical fiction, and a bit disconcerting as a consequence.

Ah, Tristram Shandy! :)

We actually did start a tutored read of that a couple of years back, but unfortunately the "tutee" had to drop out before we'd gotten very far.

Congrats on finishing Trishtram Shandy and interesting to read Heyer on audio. That might be a good way for me to try one of the of her books.

>20 Helenliz:. I loved An Infamous Army. It is one of my favorite Heyers, although it is quite different from others I've read.

>21 lyzard:. Liz, interesting that military academies had used Heyer's book. I believe I heard that they had used it at West Point to teach strategy.

I have Tristram Shandy on my Kindle. One day I will get to it.

>20 Helenliz: not enough of the time to make sense of the slang May I recommend the wonderful Dictionary of Historical Slang? It's an invaluable and hilarious addition to any library with books from earlier times.

I read Tristram Shandy last year and I struggled with it too. I think it is one of those books that will be much better when read a second time.

Helen, congratulations on finishing Tristram Shandy! It defeated me first time round, but I want to give it another go. I'd sign up for a tutored read in an instant :-)

>20 Helenliz: Wow, congrats on finishing Tristram Shandy! I've read a handful of "difficult" books, but am still intimidated by that one.

I read Tristram Shandy a couple of years ago and found that it worked best for me to read no more than about 10-15 pages a day to really force myself to read it. I tend to start skimming when things get confusing or boring for me, and that just doesn't work in a book like that, where the language is unfamiliar and the humor is often drawn-out and subtle. I have no doubt I missed a fair amount due to lack of knowledge of the time period, but I felt like I understood it well enough at least.

Congratulations on finishing that one!

When I was at university, most English courses studied five or six novels. The one time I saw Tristram Shandy on a reading list, it was the only book. An entire 13 weeks on one novel.

One day I may attempt it, but for now I just really enjoy the movie version, A Cock and Bull Story (which takes enormous liberties with the book).

Oh, I am definitely in the camp of Tristram Shandy lovers. He is having such fun spoofing the form of the novel and the impossibility of ever successfully telling a life, especially when the opinions get in the way.

I am lucky in that I first read it with a great English professor; we laughed a lot in that course! I studied a lot of 18th century British lit, though, so the language and a lot of the social context were pretty familiar.

I also do like Tristram Shandy. It is a little hard to read sometimes but to my mind it is well worth reading.

Interesting and challenging list!! Some new titles for me, and some I've been curious about, so look forward to hearing about those.

You have a few of my favourite novels on your list - interested to hear if you love them as much as I did. Alias Grace I particularly enjoyed.

Thanks for popping in with your impressions of Tristram Shandy. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that feels they may have missed something in the reading of it. It was, in places, really good, so if that's a fair indication of the quality of the rest that I didn't get, then I can see why it is a classic. It put me in mind of Herodotus, who I always think set out to tell the story of a battle (I forget which one) and got sidetracked... although at least Herodotus did eventually manage to get back onto the point - unlike Tristram... I can see why it would make both a long course and a potentially long tutored read - can you imagine how many questions on all those lists of philosophers and the like? That would have been some undertaking on all sides.

I may well explore the dictionary of slang - that looks like an excellent reference.

I am still finding it odd to mentally process An Infamous Army. The whole battle description was very detailed - I can see why it might be used as a study in tactics - although I can summarise - line beats column*. It didn't seem to mesh with the rest of the book and was just really rather odd. Not bad, just odd.

And, just to give you all a small laugh, I've been out running a few times. Reading is still leading running, but I'm not surprised at this time of year and I'm still trying to increase the weekly mileage. Latest outing was Sunday when I decided to extend my route a little. The extended section consisted of running across a field, then over a stile, over a ditch, over another stile and into a paddock. In said paddock was a bundle of chickens and a lone sheep. I was aware that the chickens were rather interested in me and that the sheep was following. I carried on, not sure if running or walking would disturb the sheep least. Well I never did find out, because the sheep headbutted my bottom! 4 times in the traverse of the paddock. I ended up climbing a 5 bar gate to get out the paddock in a hurry. I'm just very pleased it wasn't a boy sheep, as that could have been particularly nasty! I will not be using that path again, I can assure you.

*disclaimer - sometimes.

>33 Helenliz: Well, what a nasty sheep.. I never realized they would do that.. :)

I envy your running though. I would also avoid that path.

Sounds like a wolf in sheeps clothing

Book 5
Title: Home
Author: Toni Morrison
Source: library
Why: This month's RLBC, TIOLI Challenge #21: Read a book for discussion or review
Rating: ***
Review: Review

This is short but certainly not sweet. It packs a lot into a small space, but is none the worse for that. I could have been turned into an epic saga, but I'm not sure that would have been any better than this. Frank & Cee are siblings in Georgia. They both go through different forms of suffering - Frank is traumatised by his epxeriences in Korea, Cee suffere emotionally from her Grandmpther's treatment and physically from a doctor who experiments on her. Cee's suffering pulls Frank out of his own private hell and he heads of to save his little sister again, and in doing so, finds himself again. They return to the small town he was so desparate to leave and find it very different. It, of course, has hardly changed, it is perspective that changes.

I undertook a spot of multi-tasking yesterday, I wanted to run after work and I needed to go to the library (2 books to return, 3 to collect) so I, literally, ran down to the library. I then had to run back up the hill home again, which was a lot less fun. Running with a bag on my back felt really very weird, but it did achieve both objectives. I have Fingersmith on audio for BAC, Burial Rites because I saw it on here and thought it sounded good and The Castle of Otranto as I saw the BBC series on the birth of Gothic in art, and this was one of the books discussed. The edition is from the 30s, so has library stamps and all sorts inside it. >:-)

A review and a story. Very nice. I never made to Home in my Toni Morrison year, (2013) or many other of her books. I was very interested in your review.

January's round up:
5 books read.
New titles = 5
New authors = 2
Non-fiction = 1
Miles run = 30 (rounding up just a smidge)
Which puts me 20 miles running behind, or 2 books ahead of schedule! But while I'm still trying to increase the mileage run and it's winter (making mid week evening outings much less appealing) that is to be expected.

Best - nothing really stands out. Probably An Infamous Army for enjoyment, Home for quality of story telling.

February's kick off:
Book 6
Title: Dead Man's Ransom
Author: Ellis Peters
Source: my shelves
Why: I fancied something light to read while have a long soak in the bath, TIOLI Challenge #12: Read A Book With a Three Word Title but the first word cannot be "The"
Rating: ****
Review: Review

Cadfael is such an old reliable that he was just right for a read in the bath. And I suspect he'd be not at all phased by joining a lady in her bath. In this outing there's a love triangle and a prisoner exchange that fails when one prisoner is found to have died - only it was murder. And the other prisoner, who happens to have fallen for the first prisoner's daughter, is accused. There are a number of suspects, but they are gradually excluded and the focus tightens on the pair of welsh boys. The law might not end up with a felon to judge, but it feels like the right solution in the end. The difference between the law and justice.

Cadfael has been my go-to light read for the last couple years. I'm sad to be done with the series, though I'll certainly re-read some of them.

I first read them as a teen when they came out. They're easy to return to without having to read in sequence, light enough without being complete fluff, a safe environment (the violence is usually off stage, as it were) and an engaging set of characters. I dip in out out to re-read occasionally.

Book 7
Title: The Castle of Otranto
Author: Horace Walpole
Source: library reserve stock
Why: I'd seen this discussed on a BBC series on the art of Gothic & it appealed. TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book with a number in the first sentence
Rating: ***
Review: Review

This is fun. Utterly unbelievable, but just go along for the ride. Set in some ill defined past in some ill defined place (think Italian city state) it's your average tale of a power crazed tyrant who goes to bed sleepless over the succession and has a curse hanging over his state. The supernatural effects (I'm too much of a cynic to ever believe anything featuring the supernatural) are impressive, and the entire thing has the air of a melodrama or theatrical production, all overblown and over the top. It ends a bit too pat and I'm not sure Isabella gets a terribly good deal, but it could have been worse...

The Castle of Otranto is said to be one of the great Gothic novels. I hope to get to it soon and I am encouraged by your review

>41 Helenliz: I see that you finally waded through all the introductions :) Gothic literature is supposed to be unbelievable unless if you believe in ghosts and similar things of course. Nice review.

Oh dear. I was so determined not to buy any more books. Since I stopped shelving books until I've read them, the pile of books as yet unread by the study door has been embarrassingly large. But when I went to collect my reserved library book, I was distracted by the book sale. 1Q84 in 2 volumes (books 1&2, then book 3) for the princely sum of £1 was a bit too good to miss. So the pile grows yet again...

>44 Helenliz:. That is just a little slip. Who could pass up a bargain like that?

Book 8
Title: Fingersmith
Author: Sarah Waters
Source: library audiobook
Why: The BAC. TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book that won or was nominated for the Lambda Literary Award
Rating: *
Review: Review

Oh deary deary me. I quite enjoyed the first book I read by Sarah Waters, which was The Little Stranger. That got 4 stars, this barely deserves the one I've given it. Poorly written, lazy writing. Won't be bothering with Waters again.

#46 - Oh, my. That's a long book if you're only enjoying it one star's worth!

>47 Nickelini: yup, 20 CDs took quite a long time to get through. It wasn't so bad that I was hating it, just not positively enjoying it. The reader on the audio book was very good though. At CD 8, the point at which we had the first significant plot twist, I was wondering how this was going to stretch to 20 CDs. Then we had the change in narrator and covered lot fo the same ground again and the strategy became a bit clearer.

I wonder if part of it was that you listened to an audiobook? I mean, we all like (and dislike) different books, but some are better as audiobooks and some need to be read on paper?

# 49 - Good point. I happened to do Fingersmith on audiobook, and I think I gave the book 4 stars, but of course Helen's experience could be different.

I'm less convinced that the form will have made a significant difference. I know it can do, but I'm not convinced in this case. The reader was speaking the two girls in different accents, however my complaint was that they were using the same vocabulary and language patterns when they had significantly different upbringings. It' not just accent that varies between people of different classes and regions, it is the words they use and the way they are put together. These two could have been the same person, there was little discernible difference between them. Would I have noticed that on paper as well? I think probably yes.

Oh, that's such an interesting point. Reminds me of Oliver Twist--all the low class people had terrible diction, but Oliver miraculously spoke like a little upper class gentleman. You could tell he had to be in the wrong life!

>49 RidgewayGirl: I think that a majority of fiction is improved in audio form, so long as there's a good reader. At least for people who like and are used to audiobooks.

Book 9
Title: Brideshead Revisited
Author: Evelyn Waugh
Source: my unread book pile
Why: The BAC. TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book with a pitch or a catch
Rating: ****&1/2
Review: Review

Lovely lovely book. Charles and his tale of the Flyte family certainly seduced me. It is nostalgic, it might be a bit emotionally overwrought, but it works. It's a love song to an age that must have seem to have passed to a man writing this on the eve of the Normandy invasion. So maybe you can forgive it those rose tinted glasses.

>54 Helenliz:: Loved Brideshead Revisited too. Isn't it great when a book lives up to the hype! Glad you enjoyed it.

Aha! I was just talking about Brideshead Revisited on my thread. Maybe you can help. I'll just post here what I said:

I have always been baffled by the ending. My impression, as I was reading it, was that it carried a mildly anti-Christian subtext, and the final big paragraph was — and remains — very enigmatic to me in that context. It seemed to signal a complete reversal by Charles Ryder. I have reread that paragraph a number of times over the years hoping that all would become clear, but it almost seems as though Evelyn Waugh was engaging in a literary sleight-of-hand maneuver, a trick, if you will, on the reader. I may be the only reader in history who was tricked, but I would be curious to know what you or other readers might have to say.

Did you notice this at all?

ETA: The paragraph beginning: "Something quite remote . . ."

>56 Poquette:: take a look at this article: http://www.shmoop.com/brideshead-revisited/ending.html

There seems to be generally divided opinion over whether the book is anti-Catholicism (and that it offers almost an apology for it), or if it is pro-Catholicism. Waugh himself was a convert to Catholicism, so I always felt that Charles converts at the end of the book.

>57 AlisonY: Wow! Thanks for that link! It answers the question completely. Funny how I missed the earlier clues. My frame of mind at the time I read the book was caught up in what I perceived as the antireligious tone. So that final capitulation caught me so completely by surprise that I just could not absorb the meaning of the final paragraph. But now I see it says what it means and I actually understood it all along but simply couldn't believe it.

Thank you so much, Alison!

You're welcome. Your mind can now rest easy, lol!

Yes! It was driving me crazy — off and on at any rate.

That shmoop.com website is fascinating! Something new to explore . . .

Oh yes, the casual hint that he'd recently converted to Roman Catholicism? Yes, I certainly got that. I'm not sure that it is a complete reversal, at one point earlier in the book there's a the discussion about the last rites and getting a priest for their father. Charles is arguing against and Julia says (paraphrasing somewhat) that he's not convincing anyone, not even himself. So I think there's a sense of coming home at the end, both physically and spiritually.
Not that it feels like home to me, I'm happily one of the ungodly. >:-)

>61 Helenliz: I'm happily one of the ungodly. :-)

I too am one of the ungodly, but like Melville, I'm not sure I am happy about it! ;-)

A weekend away sees a couple of books finished, the first in the car on the way up, the second while the AGM was on (not being a member, I feel no guilt about not going!)

Book 10
Title: They do it with Mirrors
Author: Agatha Christie
Source: library audio book
Why: TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book with the letter U, V, or W in the title
Rating: ***
Review: Review

Maybe listening to this meant that I got confused, but I was sure that it took more than 2 days to solve this. Happy to consider I might be wrong though. I got the murderer when the police arrived. It is possible that I've read or seen this before, so no great prizes there. The family at the centre of this is somewhat large, rambling and has some pretty unhealthy dynamics going on. That's before you get to the institute for juvenile delinquents that is attached. Not one that will drive you to read the rest of the back catalogue, nothing wrong with it, but not one of the best.

Book 11
Title: Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers
Author: Alexander McCall Smith
Source: Library
Why: RLBC, TIOLI Challenge #8: Read a book with something you could love in the title
Rating: **
Review: Review

Just meh. Nothing wrong with it, but it's a series of ramblings about a set of people who inhabit a house and the people they interact with. Nothing gets resolved, nothing gets advanced. It comes to a halt for no good reason, and that's sort of it. Not bad, but nothing memorable and nothing to make you wan to explore more. Contains the most ludicrous feminist, one of those that makes you ashamed of your fellow woman. She ends up lost in the desert and I hope she gets buried in sand storm and is never heard of again.

>63 Helenliz:. I think They do it With Mirrors is a Christie I haven't read. It doesn't sound familiar.

The Scotland series is my least favorite of the three McCall Smith series I've read. I think I listened to five of them. Or maybe that distinction goes to the Isabel Dalhousie mysteries. None of his other books top the No. 1 Ladies series IMO.

>64 NanaCC:, I'd agree that none of them are a patch on the No 1 Ladies series. We've tried Isabel Dalhousie and Corduroy Mansions before this and I can't see me going back to read any of them in earnest.

I couldn't even get to 50 pages in with Smith's Scotland series. I do like the Professor Dr von Igelfeld books, which are just soo silly and fun (and I know enough people in academia that poking fun at it amuses me). Oddly though, I think they need to be read in order, as the ridiculousness gradually ramps up (and there are times you really need to know the back story).

February's round up:
6 books read.
New titles = 6
New authors = 0
Non-fiction = 1
Miles run = 6 this month
The lack of running has been down to a problem with my neck. It results in feeling like I'm having to hold my head on all the time, resulting in headaches, an ache in my neck & shoulders and pains/numbness in hands/arms. Something is impinging on the nerves in my neck and puts me not in the mood to go anywhere. Al of which puts me some considerable distance behind in the running. ho hum.

Best - Brideshead Revisited.
Worst - Fingersmith which was dire.
I note that both come from Paul's British author challenge.

Neck pain is no fun. Wish you well there. I started running this fall, without neck issues. First time i tried in a few years. (Then i got sick and haven't been able to motivate myself out the door again)

Book 12
Title: Footsteps in the dark
Author: Georgette Heyer
Source: Library
Why: Audio, TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book with something you should beware of in the title
Rating: ****
Review: Review

This was not at all what I expected. I'm working my way though the library's Heyer collection, after discovering her Regency romances. I had no idea that she also wrote a pretty good mystery. Set between the wars in an english county house that seems to have a rather sinister ghost, it turns into a mystery with a touch of romance. Really quite good.

>69 Helenliz:
She also have a full series of mysteries (or 2 of them that are often merged): http://www.librarything.com/series/Inspectors+Hannasyde+and+Hemingway (and a few more standalones - which Amazon tends to call a series as well but they are mostly unrelated)

Book 13
Title: A History of the World in Twelve Maps
Author: Jerry Brotton
Source: unread pile
Why: Non-Fiction, TIOLI Challenge #12: Read a book whose title has at least eight syllables (not counting the subtitle)
Rating: ***
Review: Review

This follows in the recent trend of showing history through items or, as in this case, the evolution of items. This allows the evolution of ideas to be traced through the way a particular item is used and produced through time. In this case maps show as much about the world they were created in as the world itself. It's an interesting read, there is a lot of detail and information on how this map relates to those before it as well as the state of the world at the time. What I feel it could have done with is a longer summary chapter at the end, to produce a more general perspective, rather than the discrete views contained in each chapter. For a very visual book, there were no references to the colour plates that, in my paperback version, were not adjacent to the text. That meant flipping to find the right image. But that's a fairly minor quibble in an interesting, if not riveting, read.

I love maps, so of course I've looked at this book in bookstores, but I haven't quite been able to buy it. Your review pushes me a little bit to get it.

It's had mixed reviews. I think it was worth reading, and if you have an interest in the subject I'd have thought it worth a go. It goes into a lot of detail as to what sources different map makers used, the details of the projections, the cultural impetus to make the map, who else was making maps at the time - lots of interesting information as well as "look, aren't these pretty" and some of them are really very pretty. I just wonder if the experience of reading it might have been better in an illustrated hardback, with the images aligned more closely with the text.

Not that I want to push yet more books onto someone else's to-read pile, of course...

>73 Helenliz:
Of course not, how could we even think that you are trying to do that? Unthinkable! Absolutely Unthinkable! :)

My library seems to have a copy of it so it goes on the wishlist there :)

Book 14
Title: What Maisie Knew
Author: Henry James
Source: library
Why: Audio, TIOLI Challenge #10: Read a Book Where the Author's Last Name Could also be a First Name
Rating: **
Review: Review

An object lesson in why some people should not be allowed children. At times I was caught by a turn of phrase, but for the most part the language flowery, the tale melodramatic and the people utterly unlikeable. OK is as good as it gets.

Book 15
Title: Mortal Engines
Author: Phillip Reeve
Source: Library
Why: RLBC, TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a book that acknowledges the book designer or cover artist
Rating: **
Review: Review

I'm not a young teen, I'm not into fantasy (or what ever this is) and I was not impressed. Not that it's awful, but it simply is not my thing.

>41 Helenliz: I agree with everything you said about The Castle of Otranto - I wonder whether the ideas about Italy came before or as a result of these tales.

A week long audit meant I was required on site all week, so 2 nights in a hotel and a few extra hours driving see two more books completed.

Book 16
Title: Jamaica Inn
Author: Daphne du Maurier
Source: My shelves (probably second hand, looking at the age of it)
Why: BAC, TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a book whose title includes the name of a country other than the one in which you currently reside
Rating ****
Review: Review

The writing is so atmospheric. I read this tucked up in bed, but had a good shiver at the fog coming down over the moor. Quite bleak, with Mary ranged against the world, not really knowing who she can rely on. It at least ends on a positive note, but no way did I see the events of the ending coming.

Book 17
Title: Death in the Stocks
Author: Georgette Heyer
Source: Library on CD
Why: because I've discovered Heyer didn't just write romances, and this is the first in this series. TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book with something you should beware of in the title
Rating: ****
Review: Review

There is what must be fabulous Australian outfit called Bolinda that seems to have recorded a load of these and bless my library for having them. They're light without being fluff, set in the 20s (I think) and I'm going to work my way through the rest of the series, if this is any indication. Loved Giles, was annoyed and irritated by Antonia and Kenneth (more by Kenneth than his sister) and got no where near guessing the murderer. I will be back for more.

March's round up:
6 books read.
New titles = 6
New authors = 3
Non-fiction = 1
Miles run = 0 this month

The lack of running has been down to the continuing problem with my neck. After having spent several weeks in quite bad pain in my neck and phantom pains in my hand & arm, I gave in and resorted to the medical profession. Trapped nerves in my neck, 3 of them. Ouch. And then I've made matters worse by trying not to move my neck and make various bits hurt, meaning that my neck had gone into spasm. No wonder I've not felt like moving, let alone running. But things are getting better, so no excuse for April...

Best - 3 book earnt 4 stars this month, Death in the Stocks, Footsteps in the Dark, both by Georgette Heyer, and Jamaia Inn by Daphne du Maurier.
Worse - No real stinkers, but both Mortal Engines and What Maisie knew both got a meh 2 stars.

I hope your neck gets better rapidly! I get random neck pain when I've been very careless about my posture and ugh. Neck and back pain are just the worst (and I say that as someone who has chronic nerve pain in most of my body).

Book 18
Title: Burial Rites
Author: Hannah Kent
Source: Library
Why: Seen it recommended on here, thought I'd try it, TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book that has the name of an island in the title or author's name
Rating ***
Review: Review

It was good, but not brilliant. I didn't really like the switch between first and third person narration. I also felt that this didn't really go anywhere I wasn't expecting. She was guilty, but there were what we'd now call extenuating circumstances. I also felt some of the supporting characters were not very well fleshed out.

I also may have been a little distracted reading this. My mum was found dead on Wednesday. It was entirely unexpected and there's still a lot of piecing together to do to get the story straight. We're sorting things, but the Easter weekend has meant we've not been able to progress with a great deal in the meantime.
She'd written a few books of local history (2 of which are catalogued by one user here, the third isn't). She had a piece published in the local bi-weekly paper which arrived after she'd died. I've not read it yet, I'm not sure I could. There was another book in progress, but we've not come across that yet. I don't even know what the subject was - usually the first we knew was when we got sent a copy! I assume I need to contact the publisher to let them know. It's another unknown to add to the ever expanding list.

Oh my, Helen. Big hugs! Take care of yourself during this difficult time.

Oh Helen, I'm so sorry for your loss. Death is hard enough to deal without having to deal with it so unexpectedly and amid confusion. Be good to yourself.

I am so sorry about your loss, Helen. Loosing a parent is hard, loosing a parent unexpectedly (as this is how this sound) is even worse. Just now words won't help much but take care of yourself.

>82 mabith:: my goodness Helen - I am very sorry to hear your sad news. We are thinking of you.

I'm sorry to hear about your mother. Take care of yourself.

What they all said; so sorry about your mother, and how shocking too.

I'm so sorry, Helen. Take care.

Thankyou all. At the moment I'm taking the next 5 minutes, then the next. It's when I stop and have nothing to think about that the brain goes into overdrive. And about the most random things. I woke up one night thinking, as if it was the most important thing in the world, "How are we going to get my rocking horse out of the loft?". Why my brain thought that needed urgent consideration at 2 am in the morning, I have no idea!

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. It is hard enough to deal with our losses when they are expected. I'm sure that we are all sending you virtual hugs.

I'm very sorry for your loss. I can't imagine what it's like to have such a shock. Take care of yourself.

So sorry Helen.

Helen, I'm so very sorry to hear about the loss of your mother. Take care of yourself. Hugs.

I'm so sorry for your loss, Helen.

Very sorry for your loss, Helen.

Book 19
Title: Birdcage Walk
Author: Kate Riordan
Source: Library on Playaway
Why: Random shelf browsing
Rating ***
Review: Review

I didn't finish, but I'm going to count it. It simply didn't suit my mood. The book has that modern habit of crime novels that I find annoying, or prefiguring the end. So the book starts with the corpse being discovered. It then goes back and you spend the first book wondering which of the characters is going to end up dead. There are also later letters interspersed throughout, from George to Lottie. George is clearly in prison. However it also becomes pretty clear that George didn't do commit the murder, and I couldn't face the framing of George that I suspect is the focus of the second half of the book. Hence abandoned. Not bad, and if Victorian crime is of interest, this would be worth a look. But I couldn't face it.

I typed a big long, self pitying post last night, hit post and promptly removed it. It's very odd, loosing the second parent. In part you lose the first one all over again. Then there's the stuff to deal with, decisions to be made left right & centre. And some of those are easy - do we want the house, no, let's sell it. Some are almost impossible - what hymns do you want? No idea, the brain goes completely blank. And the learning curve is pretty steep. While I was aware that this happened when my grandparents went, or when dad died, but Mum did it all and we didn't get involved, not living locally. So the first time you have to do it all, you feel you're on your own. I'm going to send a card to the registrar, because I'd been dreading registering the death, but she was lovely, calm, businesslike, sympathetic without being cloying and told me I had to look after myself and to go and enjoy tea and a piece of cake in the sun in the afternoon
The thing I'm finding hard to deal with is the way I seem to have lost control of my brain. It's odd what the brain finds to obsess over. I have the attention span of a butterfly, can't settle to anything, can't remember anything. I'm existing on lists, and the number of times I've written and list and then lost it before it's finished is worryingly high. I haven't finished a book since the first few days of the month. I've picked up several, but can't settle and loose myself. I'm not sure if that's because my subconscious thinks I have too much else to do, but my usual refuge from real life, within the covers of a book, seems not to be working for me.
Post mortem concluded, and funeral arranged for 28th.

I can so sympathize with what you are going through, because much that you are experiencing was what I felt when my father died. Take care of of yourself, hang in there, and if it works for you, make lists of the things you have to do and prioritize them -- not everything has to be done right away.

>96 Helenliz: I think how you're feeling under the circumstances is totally understandable. And you are allowed plenty of self-pity - the loss of a parent is incredibly difficult to deal with.

No wonder you can't settle into reading a book with so much to deal with, both practically and emotionally. Maybe find refuge in some good magazines that you can dip in and out of for a while. You know your TBR will always be there waiting for you ;)

>96 Helenliz: I am so sorry for your loss. I hope that both the deleted self-pitying post and actual post helped relieve a tiny bit of stess/pain. I also hope as the days pass and more things on all the lists are taken care of that you are able to feel more like yourself again. Take care of yourself when you can!

Adding my voice to the chorus — and I can feel what you are going through as my own 94-yr-old mother is not expected to be with us much longer. It is a crushing blow as you have indicated, and my thoughts are with you.

Had lots of things to say, but everyone has said them. So all of that. Just chiming in, I guess, to say "Team Helen" .

The registrar was right, Helen. Take care of yourself.

The loss of a parent or siblings is one of the worst things we go through as humans, I think. Even though we know it's inevitable it's not like it's something we can truly prepare for. I don't think anyone here would mine a self-pitying post.

If you're feeling the need for a book, maybe pick up a collection of poetry? Easy to just read one or two and then put it down when your brain rebels. Sometimes it's a comfort to just have a specific book to pick up and carry around with you, even if you don't stick with it for long.

Book 20
Title: Moving Pictures
Author: Terry Pratchett
Source: My shelves (re-read)
Why: Wanted to escape
Rating: N/A

This lack rating is entirely related to my current mood, not the book. I wanted to escape and my brain just wouldn't let me get wrapped up and absorbed in the way they usually do. The humour is there, the outlandish setups and the many layered references, but it all sort of slid by without really making an impression.

Things continue to progress. There is so much to sort that it's hard to know where to begin. I've taken to making sure I do something in a room I'm in. Even if it's just find one piece of paper to throw away. Seems someone had a stationary fetish, there are folders, notepads, pens and pencils everywhere! Current significant exasperation is BT, who have cancelled the phone line - their mistake - but seem unable to put it back. This is hard enough without people cocking up and making things worse. But I feel so mean for getting cross with the operators, it's invariable not their fault. but grrrrr!

Family wedding today, which we're all a bit unsure about, but will be attending (deliberately not all in black) although how long we'll stay is not so certain.

Just sending hugs.

>104 Helenliz: I think BT have their call centre in India because if it was still in the UK most of us would have driven round in a fury at some point and choked some poor customer service representative with his phone cord.

You will be in our thoughts next week.

Book 21
Title: Gaudy Night
Author: Dorothy L Sayers
Source: Mum's shelves (re-read)
Why: wanted something safe
Rating: ****

There's very little wrong with this. Peter Wimsey was my first real literary crush, and he remains delectable. As a teen I thought he was wonderful, now I wonder if he'd be a little bit too hard to live with. This is, to my mind, the best in the series and forms the climax of the novels. Peter doesn't even appear in detective guise until at least half way through, it's Harriet who takes centre stage for the bulk of the book. It's their relationship that finally achieves its aim in this one. While it is not the most romantic proposal in literature, it has to be one of the most searingly honest. Feel in love with this all over again.

Funeral went off OK, weather held off, church was full, family all held it together and didn't let her down. The Mayor turned up (not on spec, she had asked if she could) in full regalia and was lovely. I spent the funeral tea drinking wine (it helps) and saying "thank you for coming, who are you?" as there were few people I recognised (or if I did I was failing to put a name to a 20+ year old memory of a face). Not sure we were all discussing the same person at times - I do not remember my mother being one for tact, she was more of the "yes, your bum does look big in that" school of thought. But maybe you're at your most honest with family and dissemble for those outside that circle.

We've acquired some books, but so far only a limited quantity. Pretty much an entire set of Wimseys for one, all in the same style, which will take the place of our incomplete and mismatched set. I'm finding clearing hard work. I don't want money for things, but I don't like the idea of it all going to landfill - I'd rather someone was able to use things than they go to waste. The charity shop may be receiving quite a lot in the next few weeks... And I remain quite disturbed by her conversion to mildly steamy romances!

>107 Helenliz: I'm glad that Peter and Harriet gave you a safe haven this week, and gave you a diversion to help get you through.

>107 Helenliz: "I do not remember my mother being one for tact, she was more of the "yes, your bum does look big in that" " and a conversion to steamy romances in later life indicates we had mothers with something in common :)

Glad all went well and that you have Wimsey to help.

>109 VivienneR: maybe it's something that happens to all mothers after a certain point. >:-)

Book 22
Title: Busman's Honeymoon
Author: Dorothy L Sayers
Source: Mum's shelves (re-read)
Why: because you can't not read this after Gaudy Night.
Rating: ****

Again a re-read. There's a lot to like in this. The detective element sits as counterpoint to the blossoming romance and adjustment that any two people have to make once they start to realise they're stuck with the other one. Peter & Harriet escape to the country for their honeymoon, having bought an Elizabethan house in the village near where Harriet's father was the local doctor. They arrive and things are not as they might be. There's no key, the house is not prepared, they can't get in. It's all very odd. But by various means they settle in and the cast of local characters begins to reveal themselves. The char, the gardener, the vicar, the sweep, the niece, the bobby, Old Uncle Tom Cobbley and all. Then the house's previous owner is found dead in the cellar. And so begins the detective element. By being a re-read you can see all of the tell tales that are present in the book that lead up to the unmasking of the murderer. Against this you have the relationship side. It didn't ought to work, but it does, maybe as crime is so much part of both of their lives that to separate that from them would seem unreal. It ends with the unmasking and the trial, and Peter's reaction to that, but the final passages are hopeful ones and I certainly finished the book knowing that everything would be alright. There may be ups and downs for them, but nothing to tear them apart. Awww.

Meanwhile, life starts to return to some form of normality. I even went out for a run today. It's been a while, and it was a mixture of running and walking, but I did cover the ground. What with the trapped nerve in my neck and then this, I'd not felt at all like getting out. Today, however, the sun decided to shine, the world looked decked out for spring and I got out the door. That felt better. I'm way behind on the miles per book, but at least I made it out the door again. It wasn't fast, but it did feel good.

>110 Helenliz: well done Helen - it's hard to motivate yourself back to exercise when there's been a gap, but as you say once you get out there you feel physically and mentally much better for it.

Book 23
Title: The Nine Tailors
Author: Dorothy L Sayers
Source: My shelves (re-read)
Why: On a Wimsey kick
Rating: ****

This is an inventive story with two threads of inter related mystery. one relates to a missing emerald necklace, the other is a body that turns up where it should not have. Who is it & why has he been made unrecognisable take a good portion of the book to solve.

Book 24
Title: The Uncommon Reader
Author: Allan Bennett
Source: My shelves (re-read)
Why: because Valkyrdeath read it on their thread and it made me want to re-read it again.
Rating: *****

Just love this. From the first, when the queen discovers a mobile library near the bins at Buckingham palace, to the final twist this is a delight. It is by turn funny, moving, erudite, and explores what makes a reader, what is reading and the journey a reader goes on. Alan Bennett is not one of the world's smiley readers - he;s more of an Eeyore by nature, but this has to be one of his lightest pieces. Love it.

>112 Helenliz: Glad you enjoyed the re-read! I can see myself reading that again in the future. I'm currently reading my first Lord Peter Wimsey book too, which I'd somehow never got to at all before.

>112 Helenliz: Excellent review of The Uncommon Reader, one of my favourite books of all time. It is so clever and has more content than seen at first glance.

Book 25
Title: The Kashmir Shawl
Author: Rosie Thomas
Source: Library
Why: RLBC
Rating: **

Not convinced. one of those stories of two different generations, the grand daughter heading off to find out about the life of her grandmother, all set in motion by finding an exquisite kashmir shawl. It felt contrived, the two stories set up and mirroring each other in a way that didn't feel convincing. Didn't do much for me.

Book 26
Title: The Bath Tangle
Author: Georgette Heyer
Source: my shelves - Library book sale
Why: Just because
Rating: ****

At the start you sort of know where this is going, but that doesn't matter, because how you get there is somewhat more unexpected. Headstrong Serena's father has died, leaving the estate to a feeble cousin, a wife younger than his daughter and Serena's inheritance tied up in a trust administered by the man she jilted. Ivo and Serena are argumentative and row on a regular basis, but you know that this will sort itself out. Once in Bath, things take a complicated turn in that Serena meets the man she was forbidden to marry 7 years earlier and they become close again, but he's a sap and doesn't deserve her - then things get more complicated still. It all falls out well int he end, and the tangles are ironed out. It's all a great deal of fun.

>116 Helenliz:. There are so many of Heyer's books that I have yet to read, this being one of them. I have it on my Kindle, along with many others that my daughter and I bought when they were on the special deal quite a while ago. I may try to squeeze at least one of hers in this summer. They really are fun.

>117 NanaCC: me too. I've been clearing mum's house and so now have an entire shelf that I've not read. I might have to ration myself and not gorge on them all at once.

Book 27
Title: One Summer: America 1927
Author: Bill Bryson
Source: Library,
Why: Intrigued, & saw Bryson's reading of his own books recommended.
Rating: ***

I'm not sure what the aim of this exercise is. It seems to be indicating that 1927 was a summer that changed America, but I'm not convinced by the argument presented in this book. It's the summer that Lindburg flew the Atlantic, the Mississippi flooded, the Jazz Singer was produced and something happened with baseball (a subject about which I know little and care less). The book is vaguely chronological, but leaps about in both time and subject. I was also not entirely enthusiastic about Bryson's reading. The faux surprise (tone and raise in pitch) was somewhat annoying after you'd heard it 2-3 times per chapter. That and the end of a chapter that was left with a fact dangling, expecting to take you somewhere and, in fact, was simply left to dangle for a chapter or two before being picked up.
I've thoroughly enjoyed the other Bryson books I've read - this one not so much. Probably subject mater and tone - it was all a bit smug and self satisfied.

Book 28
Title: Murder on the Orient Express
Author: Agatha Christie
Source: my shelves, TIOLI shared read
Why: Just because
Rating: ****

This is just so inventive. the crime, the people, the solution, the lot of it. It's still a really great read (or re-read, in this case) and well worth revisiting. Again and again.

>120 Helenliz: I think Murder on the Orient Express is one of her best.

>121 NanaCC: I'd agree. It certainly stands up to being re-read, which I find some detective fiction does not. once you know the solution, it takes the element of surprise away, without which some in the genre fall a bit flat on their faces. Not this one though. Even knowing the answer, I found myself trying to work out how he got it.

I've not got round to reading Murder on the Orient Express yet but I've seen various adaptations. One benefit to a bad memory is that I rarely remember who the murderer was in mysteries. I can read a Poirot book and see the TV episode 5 times and still not remember. Doesn't quite apply to Orient Express though, since I could hardly forget that!

Book 29
Title: Seduction
Author: Amanda Quick
Source: my shelves
Why: Insomnia driven re-read
Rating: ***

Because at 2 am you don't want anything too heavy or challenging. This is neither. Julian's been burnt by his marriage to his first wife, the bewitching Elizabeth, so for his second he chooses Sophy who is nothing like Elizabeth. She, however, has some ideas of her own on what this marriage should be - which don't necessarily agree with his. Sophy also has a project, to try and uncover which of Elizabeth's lovers casually seduced and then discarded her sister. It all ends neatly, it all ends happily enough. It whiled away the wee small hours.

>124 Helenliz: I am so familiar with the insomnia situation, that I should try picking something other than a book I'm enjoying. That is usually my mistake, and then I can't sleep because I want to keep reading.

>125 NanaCC: I can never decide which is worse, lying in bed for an hour or so while being wide awake, or heading into the spare room, turning a light on and reading for a bit. But, like you, getting engrossed in the book means you don;t want to go back to sleep.

I know mine's stress related, so it tends to come and go in waves. Strikes me as counter productive, of course, as sleeping properly would surely help deal with the stress. Once I de-stress, I sleep like a baby. Ho hum.

Book 30
Title: Not my father's son
Author: Alan Cumming
Source: library
Why: Audio, recommended by mabith.
Rating: ****

This maybe wasn't the best time for me to have read this tale of family and childhood. I may have recently lost my mum and be mourning the loss of her and the connection to my childhood, but at least I have a happy childhood to mourn. The facts sound like it was a hard time - we never had any money, we didn't always have enough to eat, we received handmedowns and castoffs. Even now, in my 40s, ask me what I want for a present and I'm completely stumped - books and clothes is the extent of my list because Christmas & birthday was the only time we ever got books and new clothes. In spite of that, I can honestly say that my childhood was happy. I was never in any doubt I was loved by the entire circle of my family. I was the adored first grandchild and I had all their attention. Maybe that makes it harder to bear the loss - the circle of people who can reminisce about that time - tell me tales of my first steps, first word, first chocolate pudding (apparently I ended up wearing most of it with a huge beatific grin) has diminished, if they weren't already shared, those tales are now lost. It's a lonely sensation.

The author of this book was not in quite the same situation. He tries at one point to find some positive memories from his childhood, and there are some, but they sit as islands in a sea of fear and distress caused by his fathers physical and mental abuse of the family. This is a focused memoir of a short period of time, centered on when Alan was invited to be on the BBC genealogy programme "Who do you think you are?" at which point his father drops his bombshell - that Alan is not his son. The dual track of the programme and the family revelations are interspersed with incidents from his childhood. It is not an easy read. It could have been unrelentingly bleak, but the way these incidents are limited at least means that there is a break from the horror. There are good moments as well, he clearly loves his mother and adored his granny, the parts about her are almost pure joy. And he has clearly come to terms with his past and moved on to his present.

Read by the author, this has wry humour and is told with honesty. It's not an easy listen, and maybe now wasn't the best time for me to read it. But it is well worth reading, although those of a sensitive nature might be best to approach armed with the knowledge that it gets tough going at times.

Great review, Helen. I don't think this is a book for me, but I really enjoyed your review of it.

>127 Helenliz:. I second Allison, great review. I have been meaning to download this one to my iPod. I better do it now before I forget again.

Book 31
Title: The Assassin's Prayer
Author: Ariana Franklin
Source: library
Why: Library
Rating: ***

I realise I'll be thrown out of the union, but I have read this series out of order. Book 1 ages ago, saw this one so picked it up, even though it is not book 2. ummm.
Actually I don;t think it mattered to much. You get a fair amount of backfill as the story progresses. It's a fun romp through middle ages Europe, following the journey of Joanna, daughter of Henry II, as she travels to Sicily to marry its King. Adelia has her entourage with her - and a fairly unlikely assortment they make as well - and the unwelcome attentions of a threatening character. We know him as Scarry and hear his thoughts, but don't know which of the many people mentioned he might be. No, I didn't guess, not even close. It's an interesting look at life and the changes wrought be religion (which has a lot to answer for, imo) and its increasing intolerance at this time. There's a bit of a shock at the end, and its a shame that there's not a 5th to take this on further.

A bit of catching up to do.

Book 32
Title: The Moment
Author: Douglas Kennedy
Source: library
Why: RLBC
Rating: **

I have mixed feelings on this one. On one hand it's a real rollercoaster of emotion, exploring the idea that it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. And then hoe that lost love can echo through the rest of your life. On the other hand it was a bit too trite, predictable, manipulative. I almost think it would have been better not hearing the other side of the story.

Book 33
Title: Put me back on my bike
Author: William Fotheringham
Source: my shelves
Why: non-fiction and it's tour de France time this month
Rating: ****

The search for the truth of Tom Simpson, the first British cyclist to wear the fabled yellow jersey of the Tour de France. He also died while riding the tour, and triggered the drug scandal that, to some extent, has rocked the sport ever since. It's about the man his legacy and how people involved at the time have very different opinions and interests with respect to the story. Even to this day, people visit the memorial where he died, and the tour still goes up the same mountain on occasions.

Book 34
Title: The Corinthian
Author: Georgette Heyer
Source: my shelves (must post a pic of my Heyer box)
Why: Oh why the hell not?
Rating: ****

It's Heyer, it's a regency romance, what more do I need say? Fun all the way.

Book 35
Title: Mulliner Nights
Author: PG Wodehouse
Source: my shelves
Why: needed something easy to pick up & put down for travelling
Rating: ***

If I met Mr Mulliner in a pub he would annoy me intensely. Within the covers of a book, with the pub acting as a frame for each story, the tales told by Mr Mulliner of his young relatives are amusing enough, full of farce, romance, being lead astray and cats. The cats, especially.

Book 36
Title: April Lady
Author: Georgette Heyer
Source: my recently acquired Heyer stash
Why: TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book whose title is at least two words long with the first letter of the title words being in alphabetical order
Rating: ***

I suppose it had to happen eventually, a Heyer book that wasn't fabulous. This wasn't awful, but I was left with the impression that it could all have been sorted out by a conversation at the end of chapter 1 and we'd have been saved the rest of the book. It was a bit frustrating, in that regard, but I know that's me applying a modern sensibility to a past age - and that never works. I'm not sure what made Giles & Nell quite so enamoured with each other and Letty was abominable. Dysart and Felix, however, were the star turns. An OK book, but a let down based on the books read so far.

Edit to add a picture of my Heyer stash. A whole box, mixture of romance and a few of her detective novels thrown in. Mostly Pans from the 70s, which seem to have cost the extortionate sum of 25p!

Book 37
Title: The Darcy Connection
Author: Elizabeth Aston
Source: library
Why: Audio, TIOLI Challenge 19: Read a story involving the formation of a Marriage (wedding, proposal, engagement, first year of marriage, other/etc.)
Rating: **

This seems to be a series of spin offs of Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It doesn't take the main characters and continue their story, instead it takes more distant relatives and weaves a story around them. In this case Mr Collins is now Bishop of Ripon, and has 2 daughters. Charlotte is beautiful and remote, Eliza takes after her godmother, Elizabeth Bennett. They end up in London for a season, Charlotte because she's turned into a beauty and is intended to snare a rich husband, Eliza because she's reached an understanding with a local squire and is in disgrace. Instead, she meets all sorts of interesting people, including a man who makes an unflattering remark about Eliza that she overhears. She then takes against him. Sound familiar? It was. Eliza's story in many ways was Elizabeth in Pride & Prejudice retold with a slightly different cast. Charlotte was such a reserved character that I failed to care what happened to her. It wasn't awful, but if I say I missed two chapters (because the Playaway device I was using from the library wouldn't process them) and still feel I didn't miss an ounce of the story, that gives you an idea of how light this story is. It feels lazy, hanging a mediocre story off a more well known and well loved (although not by me) book. It gets 2 stars for being OK, but the best I can say is that I didn't hate it. Not planning on reading the rest of the series, that's for sure.

That is a lot of Heyer.

Bummer you didn't like that Bryson (up in >119 Helenliz:). It's funny, I love how he reads, yet I think you're the second person i've come across to complain about it.

>134 dchaikin: I'm trying him on audio again - this time with a different narrator. I have liked the books by Bryson I've read, and I'm enjoying this one as well. I'm not sure that the topic of that one would ever have been my cup of tea, so that probably didn't help. He has some vocal quirks that I found really very annoying. Not enough to put it down (and I've done that before with a narrator I didn't like) but enough to not seek him out as a reader again.

I'm rationing myself on the Heyers. >;-)

Book 38
Title: The Toll-gate
Author: Georgette Heyer
Source: my recently acquired Heyer stash
Why: TIOLI Challenge 19: Read a story involving the formation of a Marriage (wedding, proposal, engagement, first year of marriage, other/etc.)
Rating: ****

You know I said I was rationing myself on the Heyers? Well I'm not doing very well. I saw that one was listed in TIOLI and so jumped in for a shared read. The Toll-Gate is not what you'd imagine when you think of a period romance. It starts in a grand house, but from there rapidly departs from the ballrooms and salons, and finds its hero in a Tollgate house somewhere adrift in Derbyshire. He doesn't mean to stay, but is interest in aroused and he's never a man to pass by when he could be interested. It has a merry cast of characters from the village and the local estate. The love interest is the Squire's grandaughter, and she's about as forceful a character as is John. It's inventive and not at all predictable. The mixture of romance and mystery to solve makes it not a cut-and-paste romance at all. The ending was tied up maybe a little too neatly, and I do find myself wondering what happened to the estate and when John's family met Nell. If this had used a little less of the thieves' cant, I'd have marked it 5 stars, as it is it looses one for being, at times, somewhat difficult to follow.

A bit of a shot in the dark here, but let's see if the combined might of LT can come to the rescue.

In clearing Mum's house, we've come across a lot of family history. With a brief glance, it seems to include copies of certificates, photographs, newspaper clippings, as well as several printed family trees. One of them we unrolled took us back to early 1700s. I assume that there is also information in an electronic form on the computer - although I haven't really looked for that in any depth as yet.

Question: What do we do with it?

I don't want to throw it away - it's clearly had too much work gone into it for that. But I'm not sure I want to keep it (and anyway, that just defers the problem). Any suggestions as to what we can do with it? Is there a repository that will store such an archive? Is anyone out there in the least bit interested? I'm just at a bit stumped on this one.

>137 Helenliz: A nearby public library may have a genealogy department that maintains research files donated by residents. A local history museum might also be interested, especially if the photographs and clippings are from the same area.

>137 Helenliz: - the Mormons have a major project to track genealogy. They might be interested. Try the Family History Library: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_History_Library

Thanks both.
The local library doesn't, but the county library web site suggests that they accept collections of this type, so that's a possibility.

Well, this is embarrassing, I'm awfully behind. A long weekend in Leeds & surrounding area saw me take a big pile of books and finish a number of them. I may have bought some new titles as well...

Book 39
Title: Sweet Danger
Author: Margery Allingham
Source: my shelves
Why: Gradually working my way through the Campion novels we have, TIOLI Challenge #12: Read A Book That Was Originally Published Before the Year 2000
Rating: ***

I like the way that, so far, these have all been very different books. They're not all murders, this one is a bit of a treasure hunt under increasingly dangerous circumstances. The list of characters in the front of the book gives away who the major villain of the piece is, but that doesn't detract from the increasingly unlikely events. Campion's identify remains a mystery, who or what is e under the cover of this assumed persona?

Book 40
Title: A Man Lay Dead
Author: Ngaio Marsh
Source: library
Why: TIOLI Challenge #17: Read a book LibraryThing thinks you should borrow
Rating: ***

I've not read any of Marsh's books before, which would seem odd seeing as they are firmly in the between wars period of great detective fiction, and I've read a number in this period. Unlike Sayers & Christie, Marsh's detective is actually in the police, although Detective Alleyn is clearly not a man to be pigeonholed. The setting is a country house party and the guests were playing murderers. Only it wasn't someone fooling they found at the bottom of the stairs. The investigation goes along maybe a little oddly - the mock investigation and trial by the guests of themselves was very unusual. However Alleyn is personable enough and arrives at just the right time to unravel the many strands of the mystery. I think I'll be interested to see quite where the series leads.

>141 Helenliz:. This an author with whom I am unfamiliar. Do I want to start another series? :)

Book 41
Title: Lanterne Rouge
Author: Max Leonard
Source: new purchase
Why: TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a "red letter" day book
Rating: ****

Another excellent cycling book by Yellow Jersey Press. I'm not a great cycling fan, but I do make the time to watch the Tour de France every year. It started the year I was made redundant and had a month between jobs, what to do but watch the TV and the tour was on. The scenery, the action, the fabulous commentary (ranging from the deep to the banal) all caught my imagination. So whileI wouldn;t not say I'm a fan of cycling, I do like the tour. And having recently read a book about an individual in the tour, this book looks at those that occupy that famed last spot. The Lanterne Rouge is the red light, supposed to represent the tail light of a train, and is the unofficial title awarded to the last finisher on the tour. This book goes in search of them and their stories. They are a mixed selection of characters, as are the ways that they acquired the title. In the main they come across as possibly more human and understandable than the front of the peleton. You clearly meet a nice class of person at the back of the grid goes the motor racing phrase, this seems to be the cycling equivalent. Never taking itself too seriously, this looks at the many different people to have held this and what they contribute. It's a fun read.

>143 NanaCC: well clearly we all have space for one more series... He's a very interesting character. He has a sort of overtones of Peter Wimsey about him, but less overtly elegant and aristocratic. The books are sometimes shorter too, some of Sayers books are right bricks, these are all handbag sized novels, maybe 200 or so pages. So far they have been quite different form each other. The first is somewhat different form the rest, in that Campion is hardly the lead character at all, but since then he's been developing nicely. I think they're worth a look.

Book 42
Title: Arabella
Author: Georgette Heyer
Source: My acquired stash
Why: TIOLI Challenge 21: Read a book with a one-word title that starts or ends with an "a"
Rating: ****

Ahh, Arabella is a girl after my own heart. She's outspoken, hot headed, not always wise in the way of others. She gets sent to London for a season, sponsored by her godmother. She's a country lass, from somewhere in the vicinity of Knaresborough & Harrogate - which was where I was while reading this! It didn't take us a week to get down the Great North Road (we came down the A1 in a few hours), and we didn't have our carriage break north of Grantham. At that point she meets Robert Beaumaris, who will play an important role in her story. She overhears him sets her down and she takes umbrage. This causes an unwise boast that she spends the rest of the book trying to sort out. Her heart and her loyalty to her family come into conflict and it nearly ends in tears - but not quite. Thoroughly satisfying.

Book 43
Title: The lost continent
Author: Bill Bryson
Source: library
Why: Audio, Challenge #5 Read a book with a title that could drive you to drink (water, tea, beer, wine, your choice)
Rating: ***

Read by William Roberts, this was a much more enjoyable experience than my last attempt to listen to a Bryson book. In this, he heads home and then heads far and away across the USA in his Mum's car. At times it seems to have a purpose, to revisit childhood experiences, or to discover an idyllic American small town, Amalgam, USA. It doesn't exist and the places of his childhood have changed. Some of them are rather expensive, some have run down, a lot seem to be surrounded by car parks. He is not universally complimentary about his home country, but it becomes apparent that it's not one country at all, it's too big, too far ranging and too different in climate and geography to really be a unified entity. Slightly pointless but enjoyable travelogue.

Book 44
Title: The River knows
Author: Amanda Quick
Source: our shelves
Why: Challenge #2: Read a book with a connection to water
Rating: ***

Something light to round off the weekend. This is a Victorian romance cum mystery novel. From the first meeting you know that there is something that will happen between Louisa Bryce and Anthony Stalbridge. He's a society gentleman form a family of eccentrics, she's a companion with a secret in her past. They both appear to be after information about Elwin Hastings' affairs - Louise his investment in a brothel, Anthony because Hastings had a hand in his fiance's death. It all gets a bit tangled, with a couple of murders along the way and some dramatics to resolve matters. It all gets nicely tidied up in the end, but that's hardly a surprise.

I've enjoyed some of Ngaio Marsh's Alleyn books. I think the later ones get a little... maybe too contemporary in a way that doesn't age well (especially in the 1970s books, I think). They're not my absolute favorites, but nice, and I generally like Alleyn.

>145 Helenliz:. Point taken. :). I will check this series out.

>146 Helenliz:. Love Georgette Heyer!

You're speeding along nicely with your reading! Enjoyed your reviews.

Book 45
Title: I Shall Wear Midnight
Author: Terry Pratchett
Source: library
Why: RLBC, TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a Book with a W in the title
Rating: **

I am a huge fan of the discworld series, but this is the first of the Young Adult books featuring Tiffany Aching that I've read. And It was a real disappointment. It was superficial and I felt a lack of detail, a situation would arise and before you'd had a chance to think about it, it was resolved and the scene changed again. It also deemed to rely heavily on having read previous books, in that certain characters would appear, play an important role, but there would be no preamble, no background, they'd appear, do their thing and vanish again. The plot had its share of life & death, light and dark, the magical and the mundane. But it didn't really carry me along and it felt either contrived or overly easily resolved, depending on who's part of the plot we're discussing.

A very sorry to report 2 star "OK" is the best I can do.

Pratchett surely has a few misses in his zillion books. To bad about I Shall Wear Midnight. I kind of like the title.

>152 Helenliz: Sorry you didn't like I Shall Wear Midnight. I wasn't very enthusiastic about it either, but the first books in this series were much better, Pratchett at his best IMO. Have you read The Wee Free Men? I would recommend this one at least, maybe the others were not as good, I can't remember precisely.

>152 Helenliz: I've not read any of the other YA books, this as the first - which, I admit, might not have helped. I have Wee Free Men already, so may well give that a go.
>153 dchaikin: I know I should have expected one of his books to be less than good at some point - but I've never been disappointed so far. Oh well, there's plenty more good ones out there.

Book 46
Title: The unbearable Lightness of Being
Author: Milan Kundera
Source: library,
Why: Audiobook, TIOLI Challenge #5 Read a book with a title that could drive you to drink
Rating: **

Nope, didn't get it. Is it philosophy? Is it a story? Is it impenetrable? Answers would be maybe, maybe and yes. Did I enjoy it? Not really. There were some passages that were brilliant and some ideas that really made me sit up and listen, but as a whole it was remarkably unsatisfying. Maybe it's me, it feels like I've missed something, but it didn't do much for me.

I remember really liking The Unbearable Lightness of Being when I read it decades ago, but I think I was just young and snobby, because I read a collection by Kundera, Laughable Loves, more recently and didn't appreciate it.

>156 Helenliz: "title that could drive you to drink," love it! I have a friend who reads a lot of former-USSR lit and she really hates Kundera. Happy to have another opinion to back that up.

I feel like I Shall Wear Midnight would be impossible to like without reading the other books. The Tiffany series is different from the adult Discworld books in that way.

Book 47
Title: Black Sheep
Author: Georgette Heyer
Source: my Heyer stash
Why: TIOLI Challenge #12 Read a book published prior to April 1972 (aka Read a book that's older than I am)
Rating: *****

I may be in danger of running out of stars here. I *think* that might be my favourite Heyer to date. Fabulous lead couple, both with such an interesting back story. I could ramble on for hours, but I'll just wrap myself up in the afterglow of such a good, comfortable book.

deleted - random double post.

>159 Helenliz:. I have Black Sheep on my kindle, and your comment makes me want to read it.

>161 NanaCC: ahh, go on go on go on go on go on. It was a really good book and I think I like Miles best of all. Maybe. (shh, don't tell the husband)

Book 48
Title: The Dove of Death
Author: Peter Tremayne
Source: our shelves
Why: TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a book with Murder or Death in the title
Rating: ***

I think I must just have red one too many of these. There's nothing wrong with it, I just found I didn't really care about Fidelma and Eadulf or the solution. I think perhaps I've just grown away from the series and it's not really interesting me in the way it once did. You can have too much of Fidelma being clever and Eadulf not getting it. Why are these two a couple, they seem to have become cyphers of what they seemed to be earlier in the series. Maybe it's me, but I'm not going to rush and pick the next one up.

Book 49
Title: 1215
Author: Danny Danziger & John Gillingham
Source: my shelves
Why: Non-Fiction, TIOLI Challenge #10: Read A Book With Numbers in the Title
Rating: ****

This is a readable account of what life was like in 1215, the year that Magna Carta was signed. It also put the whole charter into context - what prompted certain clauses and why they were seen as important at tthe time. It also looks at the impact the charter had in later years and how it is interpreted today. The clauses that are widely known as expressing a right of justice are tucked away in the last portion and were not the most important at the time it was written, they have since been assigned an interpretation and importance they did not have at the time. It has a series of themed chapters dealing with different aspects of life in the middle ages, and in each chapter the clauses that are related are explained and put into context. It's interesting and readable and includes the text of the charter at the back.

Book 50
Title: Toby's Room
Author: Pat Barker
Source: library
Why: RLBC, TIOLI Challenge #18: Read a book whose author has a 3-letter name
Rating: ****1/2

This is excellent. It's the second in a series, but I read it without reading the first, and it works perfectly well as a standalone novel. Set in 1912 and 1917, it has WW1 at its heart, but barely featres the battles, being set in London. Elinor is an artist in training at the Slade. Her brother, Toby is at medical school in London. Into Elinor's circle fall Paul Tarrant & Kit Neville, and it is around these 4 that the story circulates. It's about coping with events that have the ability to change lives, be they between two people, or engulfing the entire world. It's beautiful, slow, measured yet is a page turner that I couldn't wait to continue. Really very good and quite unexpected.

>165 Helenliz: sounds like an interesting book - another one for the wish list pile!

I see Pat Barker's name once in a while in LT reviews. I have one of her books in my wishlist. So many books...

>165 Helenliz: I saw the third book in that trilogy is about to come out and have been considering whether to read them. Sounds like it's worth putting them on my list. I loved the Regeneration trilogy.

>166 AlisonY: sorry n all that...
>167 FlorenceArt: she's certainly been prolific. This was the first of hers I've read. I can see myself returning for more, if this is any indication of quality.
>168 valkyrdeath: Based on this one, I'd say yes. I didn't realise this was a series, I think it is more that it features some of the same characters than a genuine sequel, as I certainly didn't get the impression I'd missed anything in reading this without having read Life Class.
It was really very good.

Today's reading matter - contract for sale of mother's house. It's rather a brief document when you consider the import of it.

1215 sounds like a great read for me (and possible gift book for my dad).

Parting with any house seems like a monumental task to me, let alone a parent's. I think I tend to have a great attachment to spaces though.

I noticed 1215 in bookstores at some point, but your comments make me really want to read it. I've put it my wishlist.

Oh, you've hit me with a few more for my wishlist. I loved the Regeneration trilogy, so I'll put more Barker on the list for sure.

I hope the sale of your mother's house went ok. Such a difficult task.

>171 mabith:, 172 it's not a great in depth review of the social structure at the time, it's more an introductory review, but it covers a lot of ground. It's a a period that I have a vague knowledge of, but nothing more than roughly which kings came when and who we were at war with (mostly the French, unless it was ourselves!). So interesting, but probably not one for the expert. I'd hate to think I'm overselling it.

>171 mabith:, 173. mmm, well the sale is progressing. A bit out of my hands. Probate obtained, contract signed, transfer deed signed, all with the solicitors. Just waiting for the other party to move to exchange of contracts. I'd like to go round and sit them down with a pen and just make them sign it, but I'm told that might not be productive! Taken the last of the furniture and stuff I want, and house clearance arranged for tomorrow. May have had a bit of a teary few days. We've lived in that house since I was 4, it's the only family home I can remember. Seeing it almost empty was a real hit. Knowing it's no longer going to be a place to reference as "home" is really very very strange, I feel a bit adrift.

That is sad about your mothers home. (I don't have one of those, we moved so many times when I was growing up.) Wish you well with it all.

Having a catch up.

Book 51
Title: St Peter' Fair
Author: Ellis Peters
Source: my shelves
Why: TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a book which contains the word 'September", 'Sept' or 'Ember' in the narrative
Rating: ****

Another excellent Cadfael book. This is set in the 3 days of the Abbey's fair. The townsfolk are feeling aggrieved that the tolls for the fair are paid to the Abbey, yet the town is still suffering the aftereffects of the siege (that features in book 1), yet are not permitted to trade during the days of the fair. They approach the abbot and are rebuffed. Their sons approach the traders themselves, but a misunderstanding means a riot ensues. There follows a series of troubles that focus on the wine merchant from Bristol and his lovely niece. Murder ensues, with a rather obvious suspect held. Later events focus on the same trader and things are not quite what they appear. It's a pacy story and time spent in Cadfael's company is always a pleasure.

Book 52
Title: Blood and Guts
Author: Roy Porter
Source: Recent acquisition (tut)
Why: TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book with a title which includes two items that are different but often paired
Rating: ***

I suppose I shouldn't complain about this book being a bit superficial, when the introduction warns me that it can only be an overview. It attempts to be a history of Western medicine, using themed chapters to follow the evolution of belief, practice, technology and attitudes related to medicine. I found the chapter on disease and the evolution of disease with human evolution the most interesting. There is an extensive further reading list - I can see some of those making it onto the reading list.

Book 53
Title: The Captive Queen
Author: Alison Weir
Source: Library
Why: Audio, TIOLI Challenge #22: Read a book you added to a previous TIOLI challenge, but never read
Rating: ***

I can understand the attraction of wanting to explore Eleanor or Aquitaine's story, Queen of both France and England, she's an incredible character. Not that it was bad, but it felt like a recitation of events. At times it also relied far too much on the bedroom. She says she wanted to explore the marriage between Henry & Eleanor, but I'm not sure that she got into their mindset at all. I think it has been done better than in this.

Interesting reads! Had a wee chuckle at your self-tut. I also bought 2 books I absolutely don't need at the weekend, but it WAS a charity shop, and it would have been terrible to not have contributed to it in some way...

Book 54
Title: Venetia
Author: Gerogette Heyer
Source: the stash
Why: TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book with a one-word title containing one set of duplicate letters
Rating: *****

This is fab. Venetia is 25 and almost on the shelf. However she is incredibly clear minded about her potential fate and has weighed up the only offer she's likely to get (from the upright and uptight Edward) with the idea of keeping house for her younger brother. Things take a different turn when she meets Damerel, the owner of the adjoining estate. I was cheering Venetia on as she takes on society, her family and the prospective groom in order to get what she's decided she wants. Really very good.

I think that Venetia was my first Heyer. Loved it.

Book 55
Title: Kenilworth
Author: Sir Walter Scott
Source: the library (reserve collection)
Why: TIOLI Challenge #10: Read a book with at least 3 consecutive vowels in alphabetical order in the title
Rating: ***

This is a little bit hard work. A lot of the story is told in speech and often quite flowery speeches. It can be quite easy to miss a plot point in the midst of a whole load of random talk. There is a long build up to the story, which concerns the marriage of Amy Robsart and Robert Dudley, Earl Of Leicester. It also deal with Dudley's ambition to be King,which quite obviously an existing marriage makes untenable. Set in Elizabeth's reign, this is somewhat different from the other Scott books I've read, in both setting and in tone - on righteous rebels in this story. Needs attention and is interesting, but not great.

Book 56
Title: Clouds of Witness
Author: Dorothy L Sayers
Source: my shelves
Why: TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a book with a title which includes "Autumn", "Fall", or "September", or a word which can be descriptive of the season
Rating: ****

It seems Peter has become my recourse in times of stress. I put Hemmingway aside this week, as I found myself dealing with a bit of a crisis. At one point hubby was in ITU, sedated and on a ventilator. Today he's home; I am thanking my lucky stars. And praising the NHS; never had to use quite so much of their excellent services. To try and distract the mind and while away the waiting (and there's always a lot of waiting when hospitals are involved) I picked this up off the shelf. Not read it in a long time, as it was one we didn't have on our shelves, although I had read it before. If one was being picky, one could complain about the level of co-incidence required to solve this, but that's being picky - it did its job and I enjoyed it again.

I'm glad that your husband is home and that you are able to thank the lucky stars.

Clouds of a Witness was an early one in the series, and I think they got better as Sayers continued to write them. I'm glad it was able to provide the distraction you needed at a difficult time.

So glad to hear your hubby is back home from hospital - sounds like a very scary and difficult week.

>183 NanaCC: I would agree, they get better than this.

Thanks - it's been a bit of a rollercoaster of a week. He's still a bit lethargic, not eating a lot and finding it hard work. Of course muggins here has the job of cleaning and dressing the wound twice a day (and I'm awfully squeamish about things like that on someone else). But if you'd offered me that on Tuesday night when I got a call that went along the lines of "your husband's in ITU, on a ventilator, please don't worry" I'd have bitten your hand off. BTW - you don't hear the end of that sentence, your brain gets rather stuck on the earlier information. Scared doesn't come close, relieved and can't stop just checking he's there. Even slept on the "wrong" side last night, facing him. Awwww.

Glad he's all right. What an experience!

Oh, BTW, I've been flagged for "not a review". If anyone would care to go and counter the flag, it would be appreciated.
It's a review for The Enchantress of Florence, I started listening and simply couldn't cope with the narrator. http://www.librarything.com/work/4647380/reviews/114399721
Much appreciated, in anticipation.

I would have counter flagged, but didn't see the flag. Glad your husband is home and healing.

>188 dchaikin: Thanks Dan, on both counts. Not had a review flagged before, I got quite annoyed by it!

It looks like the flag must be gone.

I got quite annoyed by it!

I see that flag get misused once in a while, and I just think someone is being pedantic. I had a review flagged once because it was only two words long, but if you read the book the way I did, those two words were the perfect review. Last I checked it was gone, but who knows, it could be back again.

Book 57
Title: A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Author: Mohammed Hanif
Source: library
Why: Audio, TIOLI Challenge #21: Read a book which title contains a word relating to music
Rating: ****

This was a fun listen, but has a darker underside. General Zia, president of Pakistan and 4 star general (never a good job overlap) died in a plane crash in August 1988. This tells a fictional account of quite a number of ways in which he might have met his fate - lots of them. It's darker underside is the mixture of the CIA, fundamentalists, the state of affairs in Pakistan, military dictatorship, the treatment of women and the descent from state into religious nutcase state. All the dark stuff slides in under the cover of providing background to what could read as a farce. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Of all the assassinations, I hope it was the curse and the crow that succeeded.

I remember hearing about this title and even reading a few reviews, but I don't think I ever know what A Case of Exploding Mangoes was about. Sounds like it's maybe a fun intro to Pakistan.

Sounds like a good read! I'm curious though, which is the music related word?

>193 dchaikin: It was an good listen, humour without being fluffy - there's certainly a darker underside to this one.

>194 FlorenceArt: I'm cheating slightly and using ding, as in the noise a bell makes, to be found in exploding. Sorry & all that...

Book 58
Title: Cannery Row
Author: John Steinbeck
Source: library
Why: Audio, TIOLI Challenge #12: Read a book with a cover that looks like autumn
Rating: ****

If plot driven narrative is your thing, don't bother with this. The most eventful thing that happens is a party, and yet lots of things take place and all of life is here (even if the female half of life is somewhat absent, the only females are wives or whores). You can;t help but get the characters under your skin, I think probably because we know them. Not to put a name to, but they are real and they exist. This has odd chapters that don't seem to relate to very much, but it was a most pleasant listen. The narrator had a laidback voice that suited the text and this was a pleasure to listen to. Put it this way, the last time I read Steinbeck was (I think) Of mice and men and I was no more than 16. It's taken this long to try him again, and based on an LT recommendation, I selected this one. I can see myself, with some care, coming back for more.

I read Cannery Row last year and loved it. Such an excellent book! Glad you enjoyed it! :)

>197 .Monkey.: It was certainly good enough to see what else of his there is in the library. Although I remain slightly tentative as to what to pick. What would you suggest as a good follow up?

Well, you could try the sequel, Sweet Thursday, but while it wasn't bad, I didn't feel it measured up to Cannery. I just saw the other day avidmom was talking about being a super huge Steinbeck fan in her thread, I'd hit her up for suggestions! :)

Cannery Row is one of my favorite Steinbeck books, along with The Grapes of Wrath. If you're still feeling hesitant you might try Travels With Charley, a memoir of traveling across the US. Sometimes it's helpful to get to know the author a bit. Tortilla Flat is somewhat similar to Cannery Row (in the type of people it's about), so that's the only one I'd say definitely don't read next (it's a great book, but not always good to have two similar reads back to back).

>200 mabith: Oh is it? Good, that means I'm probably even more assured of liking it, hahaha. I picked it up a while back from a 2ndhand shop, knowing I enjoy his writing so not really caring about specifics, as I do, lol.

Just wanted to jump in on the Steinbeck discussion. I am no expert because I've only read two of his books, East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath, and I had very different opinions of the books. East of Eden I really liked and The Grapes of Wrath I really didn't. I'll read some more though, to see on which side I fall overall. I've never read Of Mice and Men and have thought of doing an audiobook of it soon. I'm also intrigued by Cannery Row since I've heard lots of good reviews.

ETA: I've also read The Winter of Our Discontent but I remember nothing about it!

Book 59
Title: Wuthering Heights
Author: Emily Bronte
Source: library
Why: RLBC, TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a work written/first published, set during or about the years of Queen Victoria of GB, etc.’s reign – 1837 to 1901.
Rating: ***

mmm. This wasn't at all what I expected. I had in my head that Heathcliff is some romantic, brooding hero. He ain't. This might be many things, but a romance, in the conventional sense, it most certainly is not. I'm not sure I had a great deal of sympathy for any of the characters, Nellie was by far the most rational. Glad I've read it, if only to tick it off the list and complete one of those gaping gaps in my education.

Book 60
Title: 1222
Author: Anne Holt
Source: library
Why: Audio, TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book with ambiguous language for a title
Rating: ****

This was really very good. A mystery set in the aftermath of a train crash on the Oslo Bergen line, just near the highest station on the line, Finseval, which has a hotel 1222 m above sealevel. (Hence the title, I would have read it as a year without knowing). There is an intriguing central character, who narrates the events. Hanna Wilhelmson is an ex police office who was shot in the back and is confined to a wheelchair. She's also grumpy, anti social, a lesbian and has a muslim lover. Which is not usual, I;ll give her that much. She's a lot more appealing than she might be, as the inetrnal monologue balances the brusk exterior she presents tot he world. There is such an engaging mix of people in this book, the doctor, the volunteer, the hotel manager, mixed up with families, a religious party, school children, a runaway, a divise character and a murderer. Like you do. A element of a Christie "locked room" mystery, there is a limited set of possible suspect, although that is quite a high number and gradually whittles itself down with the events. Each chapter is prefaced by the description of the Beaufort scale, from calm to hurricane. It's effective.
It turns out that this is the 8th in the series, but I didn't feel I;'d missed anything by not having read any others.

>203 Helenliz: Ah yes, Wuthering Heights. I was surprised when it wasn't a romance either--well it is, but not in the way we expect. Let's see . . . Cathy has the emotional maturity of a 14 year old, Heathcliff a psychopath, and the others have a lot of problems too. Despite its many, many problems, it's one of my all time favourite novels. But I can completely see why others don't agree. It's pretty whacked.

We can blame the various film and TV adaptations for the persistent mis-selling of Wuthering Heights as the story of de grande passione...instead of as the story of generations of emotional dysfunction and violence. :)

I feel like I should read Wuthering Heights, but I just can't be bothered. Also, for some reason I have way less patience with unlikeable characters when it's an older work. The complete lack of anyone remotely likeable in The Blithedale Romance turned me off Nathaniel Hawthorne for good.

>207 mabith: Well, Heathcliff is a psychopath, but I find him fascinating.

>208 Nickelini: he also doesn't start out that way. If things had turned out differently I don't think that side of his character would have become quite so prominent. But I could well be wrong there.

>203 Helenliz: It's been so long since I read Wuthering Heights, I don't really have an opinion on it. I've been wondering whether I should try a re-read, but haven't really felt like it so far. Your review hasn't changed that :-)

>209 Helenliz: Good point, and one of the reasons I find him so interesting.

>203 Helenliz: - interesting reading your thoughts on Wuthering Heights. It wasn't what I'd expected at all either, and I didn't love it as much as I expected to.

As of today, we've sold my mother's house. We moved in when I was 4, it's the only childhood home I can remember. I feel very very strange. Financially very much better off than I was this morning; emotionally in a bit of a mess. We're going to use it to pay off the mortgage, which is very dull but a very big deal to us. I'd half like to get it from the bank in £10 notes, just to see how big that much money would be. With my practical head on, we'll do a transfer!

Very odd day. I celebrated with a chocolate rocky road desert tub from the work canteen. Took me all afternoon to eat it.

That is a big day. I understand the emotion, having gone through something similar years ago. Chocolate rocky road ice cream.... Hmmm. I think I might have gone for a glass of wine.

>213 Helenliz:-214 Why not rocky road ice cream and wine? But maybe not at the same time....

Big hugs! I agree with the ice cream and wine, but as avidmom says, not together.

Ha! wine came later. This was the work canteen where the tub of rocky road desert (sort of mouse filled with stuff - chocolatey and full of calories, so what's not to like!) was consumed. >:-) Pretty sure, what the the alcohol policy, that they don't sell wine!

Slept like a log last night. Just a few final bills to pay and we can close that episode off. And I can have a holiday.

Book 61
Title: A Farewell to Arms
Author: Ernest Hemmingway
Source: my shelves
Why: TIOLI Challenge #17: Read a book where one (and only one) of the title words has 4 letters
Rating: **

Not convinced by this. The choice of language was odd, being, at times a bit limited. The way he writes speech got very confusing, with just lines of speech and no indication of who was speaking. I found it very difficult to follow, especially when it was quite so pointless. I also found Catherine to be very insipid and somewhat ridiculous in her desire to vanish into his wishes. There was some promise and much to like, but it didn't hang together and there was too much to dislike alongside the good for it be be a positive experience.

>218 Helenliz: Yep, pretty much sums up Hemingway. Women are insipid, ridiculous, props to be used for men. Pointless. Too much to dislike to be any sort of good experience. Yep.

>218 Helenliz: I am about 2/3 through this one and not feeling it either. Just today I was reading a 4-sentence passage where he used the word "shore" 4 times (5 if you include "ashore"). Then a paragraph later it was "bank" about 7 times.

Hemingway ..... *bleh*

I had to read a slew of those Hemingways in high school and they never failed to depress me. Not every story needs a happy ending, but seriously?!?! I mean bloody he**, dude, lighten up!

Book 62
Title: Down and out in Paris and London
Author: George Orwell
Source: library
Why: Audio, TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book where a word in the title starts with any of the six central letters of the English alphabet K,L,M,N,O, or P
Rating: ***

A period piece, I feel. Interesting, and you can see that he can write well. But not one that will either stay with me or that I will revisit.

But not one that will either stay with me or that I will revisit.

I find that so interesting just because I had the opposite reaction--I read it about 12 years ago and so much has stuck with me.

I've got a bit behind.

Book 63
Title: Who's afraid of Beowulf?
Author: Tom Holt
Source: charity shop
Why: TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book with a link to the Rugby World Cup 2015
Rating: ****

An impulse buy which turned into great fun. Taking the surmise that a Norse burial mound could really contain a ship burial, compete with crew who are just waking up from a 1200 year long snooze, this has all the culture shock, Norse myths, fun and frolics that might be expected form the surmise. Not read any of his work before, if this is any indication, I can see I'll be back for more.

Book 64
Title: The Final Whistle
Author: Stephen Cooper
Source: my shelves
Why: Non-Fiction, TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book with a link to the Rugby World Cup 2015
Rating: ***

This is an interesting way to present some individual histories of the forst world war. All of the 15 stories told here had one thing in common, they'd played rugby for Rosslyn Park, a London Rugby club. It tells their story, their interaction wit he club and how they came to die. It includes all the services, all the theatres of war and doesn't shy away from dealing with the mental impact and thr suicide of one man in this 15.
My only reservation is mentioned in the introduction. Why does the story of one man who died attract the attention, when the story of the man who survived is not told? The men who came back suffered, and continued to suffer for decades. It makes me feel we've got the wrong end of the stick, somehow.

Book 65
Title: Hearts and Minds
Author: Amanda Craig
Source: Library
Why: Audio, TIOLI Challenge #8: Read a book with red on the cover
Rating: ***

Telling a story of the immigrant experience in modern London, this is an odd mixture. It has a set of almost stock characters and some stage set events, yet there are also passages that are moving and inventive.

I also ought to own up to putting aside this month's book club book. I should have read Of Love and Evil but after 2 chapters I decided that life really is too short for that. Those who has read it spent the meeting tearing it to pieces, so I don't feel I missed much!

Book 66
Title: The Norfolk Mystery
Author: Ian Sansom
Source: my shelves
Why: Audio, TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a book in which one of the characters is a military veteran or is currently serving
Rating: ***

I'm undecided about this one. If felt a bit too unkind to the locals, they were almost caricatures of a throw back local yokel style. The narrator, Sefton, has some life about him, and a troubled past that makes him interesting and human. The person who acts as detective and Sefton's employer is unlikable, has a chip on his shoulder, shows off and talks, unnecessarily, in latin tags to belittle whoever he's speaking to. Just not sure about it as a whole.

Book 67
Title: The Wayward bus
Author: John Steinbeck
Source: library
Why: Audio, Challenge #14: Read a book that was first published at the end of a war
Rating: ****

My second attempt (as an adult) at Steinbeck was as good as the first. No, not a lot happens, but it's not about that. This is all about the people, their motivations, feeling and interactions. He manages a wide range of people convincingly. Very good.

>227 Helenliz: - interesting: I hadn't even heard of that Steinbeck novel. Must check it out...

Book 68
Title: I am half-sick of shadows
Author: Alan Bradley
Source: library
Why: Audio, TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a work with some connection to the visual arts
Rating: ***

This turns out to be the 4th in a series (ho hum) but was none the worse for that. It' a mystery set in the early years after WW2 in a down at heel upper class family. The narrator is 11/12 year old Flavia de Luce, who has a strong interest in science and so features that intriguing mix of knowledge and naivety that is a feature of that age. In this book, the family have leased the house to a film studio for them to make a film over the Christmas period. It features Phylis Wyvern, who is famous but no spring chicken any more. And it is she who end sup dead, but how and by whom gets Flavia very interested. As an aside is a scientific experiment to unmask Father Christmas on Christmas Eve, which turns out to catch a very different person. Fun to listen to and lost of interesting touches to make it more than just a mystery.

>229 Helenliz: I love this series. I think the fourth is my next book on audio. The reader is terrific as Flavia.

Book 69
Title: Sextant
Author: David Barrie
Source: my shelves
Why: Non-Fiction, TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a work with some connection to the visual arts
Rating: ***

A history of navigation and the development of navigational tools. Interesting enough, but it's not going to want to make you rush out and sail the oceans if that's not already your thing.

No way I can catch up with all your reading, having just joined this thread, browsing . . .

Read Down and Out in Paris and London as s a student living in Paris, and oh, I did love it then. No idea what I'd think of it now. -- And read Cannery Row and several other Steinbecks when in Paris too with a student I was tutoring in English. He loved Steinbeck.

I've listened to all the Flavia de Luce's - love the narrator.

Wuthering Heights is a weird one, innit? We listened to it as a family at some point on a big road trip and our daughter then about 16 finally declared, "ENOUGH AWREADY, I Hate these people, they are all lunatics!" And really, my favourite of them is Anne Bronte.

I've read some Penelope Lively this year and will be seeking out more of her work. The sort-of-memoir looks like my kind of book.

That's it for the moment!

Should add that I love your reading and running program.

>232 sibylline: no need to try and keep track - I know I can't! Too many people reading too much good stuff, I'd never read a book if I tried to follow all the postings!

The running sort of fell off the wagon, but I feel it was a good idea and worth trying something along the same lines again next year: I just need real life to not get in the way!

232 - That was my exact same reaction to Wuthering Heights at 16. :)

Done it again, got horribly behind. Order probably wrong, as are finish dates!

Book 70
Title: The Baklava Club
Author: Jason Goodwin
Source: Library
Why: Audio.
Rating: **

This is somewhat odd and I can't recommend it. Set in Istanbul in the late 1800s, the series features Yashim who is a eunuch and officer of the household of the Sultan's mother. Into this comes a set of young Italian exiles with the Danish mistress of one of them, an Irish priest, his friend the Polish ambassador, a Polish priest and a Russian daughter. There's lots of politics, lots of confusion, some unnecessary sex and it generally turns into a mess.

Book 71
Title: Mud, Muck and Dead things
Author: Ann Granger
Source: Library
Why: Audio
Rating: ***

This was an interesting story, setting up a relationship with a new superior moving into the station. The murder is modern, but tied up with an older murder that took place in the place the body was discovered. It had enough interesting characters but they weren't too over the top in the local yokel sense. The female detective had a few too many chips on her shoulders, but comes through in the end. This might be worth looking out for.

Book 72
Title: Here Lies Arthur
Author: Phillip Reeve
Source: Library
Why: RLBC
Rating: ***

Interesting take on the Arthur story. Told from the perspective of a young girl who grows up in the house of the myth teller. It also has a knowing air, it's told with a sense of "you know the myth isn't true, this is how the myth came about". It certainly wasn't as awful as I was worried it could be.

Book 73
Title: Venice
Author: Peter Ackroyd
Source: my shelves (we were thinking of a holiday in Venice)
Why: non-fiction.
Rating: ****

Ackroyd knows his subject and he can write. It's a history of Venice, looking at different aspects of the city; culture, politics, geography, people, work, worship, ritual, trade, the sea. The only down side is that I'm not sure I want to go, it seems he described the death of a city.

Book 74
Title: Penhallow
Author: Georgette Heyer
Source: my shelves (Mum's Heyer stash)
Why: why not?
Rating: ****

This is a really inventive book. It's not really a mystery, as the murder takes place over half way through and you know who did it. From there the oilice enter and try to solve the crime - and they don't. They know that the solution they have is the wrong one, but they don;t have enough of the pieces to make it fit. The characters are all lively and human, even if not terribly likeable. But that doesn't make them any less real, in fact it makes the whole thing seem like a pressure cooker that's about to go pop. I'm not sure what genre I would put this in, and it is most certainly a very atypical book, but it works and I thought it worked really well.

>236 Helenliz: I have Penhallow on my shelf. I love Georgette Heyer, and I'm sure I'll love this one too.

>237 NanaCC: Go in with an open mind and it's got a lot going for it. It seems to have gathered quite a lot of reviews saying "it's not very good, it's not like her romances" and it certainly isn't, but that doesn't make it a bad book.

Book 75
Title: Charity Girl
Author: Georgette Heyer
Source: my shelves (Mum's Heyer stash)
Why: why not?
Rating: ****

It may be the season, but this put me in mind of Cinderella. Delightful, as ever.

>236 Helenliz: Hi Helen! I just finished my first Georgette Heyer a this month. It was Cotillion. Interesting that she wrote mysteries too. I'll have to check that out! If only I had the time to read them all!

So 2015 in summary:

Books read: 75. Pretty pleased with that.
5 stars: Venetia, Black sheep, The uncommon reader. The last of these being a re-read.
4.5 stars: Toby's Room, Brideshead Revisited
4 stars: 27 books.
3 stars: 30 books.
2 stars: 12 books.
1 star: Fingersmith.

Nonfiction: 9 read, which is down on the target of one a month.
New authors: 26 read, which well exceeds the target of one per month. They were:
Peter Ackroyd, Elizabeth Aston, Pat Barker, David Barrie, Alan Bradley, Jerry Brotton, Stephen Cooper, Amanda Craig, Alan Cumming, William Fotheringham, Jason Godwin, Mohammed Hanif, Anne Holt, Tom Holt, Douglas Kennedy, Hannah Kent, Milan Kundera, Max Leonard, Penelope Lively, Ngaio Marsh, Roy Porter, Phillip Reeve, Ian Sansom, Laurence Sterne, Rosie Thomas, Horace Walpole.

Overall, not the best reading year, but then it wasn't the best year, full stop. 2016 will be the year of getting my life back on track.

Here's to a much improved year in 2016. May all your books be page-turners.