The very booky adventures of evilmoose III

Welcome to thread three - probably the conclusion of the awesome 2015 book explosion.

I'm Megan, an Australian Australian/Canadian lurking in the Canadian Rockies. I mostly read audiobooks, as that way I can "read" and clean/cook/run/ride/etc. Although when I get the chance, there's nothing like curling up with a good old fashioned paper book.



This photo was from our recent family bikepacking trip in Scotland. Taken at Glenfinnan, it's the viaduct that the Hogwarts Express travels over in the Harry Potter movies.

TO READ FOR 2015
This was supposed to be a small selection of things I'd try and read in addition to whatever took my fancy... somehow it's blossomed into a 100+ book behemoth... but I'm going to try and use it more as a guide. A list of gentle suggestions that will in no way rule my life or fill me with guilt when I don't follow it's strictures. Honestly.

TO READ - JUST BECAUSE (49+ books)
✓ Al Alvarez - Feeding the Rat
✓ Kate Atkinson - Life after Life
• Margaret Atwood - The robber bride
• Saul Bellow - Herzog
• William Boyd - Armadillo
✓ Alan Bradley - The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
✓ Alan Bradley - A Red Herring Without Mustard
✓ Alan Bradley - I am Half-Sick of Shadows
✓ Ernest Cline - Ready Player One
✓ Bryce Courtenay - The Potato Factory
• Fyodor Dostoevsky - Demons
• Ford Maddox Ford - Parade's End
• William Gadis - J R
• Neil Gaiman - First of the Sandman novels
• Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Clandestine in Chile
• Nancy Garden - Annie on my mind
• Lewis Grassic Gibbon - A Scots Quair
• Peter F. Hamilton - The Abyss Beyond Dreams
• Henrich Harrer - The White Spider
• Samantha Hayes - Until You're Mine
• Georgina Howell - Gertrude Bell
✓ Victor Hugo - Les Miserables
• Arthur Koestler - The Ghost in the Machine
✓ Jon Krakauer - Into Thin Air
• Milan Kundera - Immortality
• Barry Lopez - Crossing Open Ground
✓ HP Lovecraft - Something or other...
✓ China Mieville - Perdido Street Station
✓ China Mieville - The Scar
• China Mieville - Iron Council
✓ China Mieville - Un Lun Dun
✓ Haruki Murakami - 1Q84
• Haruki Murakami - Sputnik Sweetheart
✓ Haruki Murakami - Norwegian Wood
• Joyce Carol Oates - The Gravediggers Daughter
• John O'Hara - Appointment in Samarra
• Thomas Pynchon - V
✓ Rainbow Rowell - Eleanor & Park
• Neal Stephenson - Quicksilver (and the rest of the Baroque cycle)
• Neal Stephenson - Anathem (book, not audiobook)
• Neal Stephenson - Zodiac
• Lionel Terray - Conquistadors of the Useless
• William Makepeace Thackeray - Vanity Fair
• Ngugi wa Thiong'o
• Leo Tolstoy - Resurrection
• Ivan Turgenev - Fathers and Sons
• Patrick White - Voss
• Simon Winchester - The Professor and the Madman
✓✓✓ PG Wodehouse

TO RE-READ (5 books)
• Leo Tolstoy - War and Peace (DEC)
• Leo Tolstoy - Anna Karenina
✓ Fyodor Dostoevsky - Crime and Punishment
• Albert Camus - The Plague
✓ Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird

BASED ON LT RECOMMENDATIONS (25 books)
• Andre Brink - Rumours of Rain
• Peter Carey - Jack Maggs
✓ Bryce Courtenay - The Power of One (saw recommended by smiler69 as a good audiobook ready by Humphrey Bower, and can't believe I haven't read it yet!)
✓ E.L. Doctorow - Ragtime
✓ Tan Twan Eng - The Gift of Rain (read in Feb/March with Megan (ireadtherforeiam) and Ilana (smiler69)?)
✓ Graham Greene - The Quiet American
✓ Thomas Hardy - The Return of the Native
• Hannah Kent - Burial Rites (tried it, yuck)
✓ Ann Leckie - Ancillary Justice
✓ Laurie Lee - Cider with Rosie
• Primo Levi - If Not Now, When?
✓ Naguib Mahfouz - Palace Walk
✓ W. Somerset Maugham - The Moon and Sixpence
✓ Sean Michaels - Us Conductors
✓ Rohinton Mistry - A Fine Balance
• Timothy Mo - The Redundancy of Courage
• V.S. Naipaul - A House for Mr. Biswas
✓ Jenny Nordberg - The Underground Girls of Kabul
• Sharon Kay Penman - The Sunne in Splendour
✓ Charles Portis - True Grit
• Salman Rushdie - Shame
• Graham Swift - Waterland
✓ Rose Tremain - The Road Home
• William Trevor - The Children of Dynmouth
✓ Andy Weir - The Martian

BOOKS THAT ACCIDENTALLY SNUCK ON AFTER THE NEW YEAR
• Helen MacDonald - H is for Hawk (based on Vulpes Libris review)
• Penelope Lively - The Photograph (BAC reviews)
✓ David Mitchell - The Bone Clocks (LT mentions)
✓ Helen Fielding - Bridget Jones Diary (because I just remembered I've been meaning to)
✓ Arthur Conan Doyle - Sherlock Holmes series (because Benedict Cumberbatch)
✓ Ernst Junger - The Storm of Steel (via husband)
✓ Virginia Woolf - A Room of One's Own (because Virginia Woolf)
✓ Anthony Doerr - All The Light We Cannot See (I think because of LT 75ers reviews)
• Dick Francis (because I read his books madly as a teenager, and I'm curious for a revisit)
• Shakespeare (broad and vague, but I'd really like to start re-reading his works)
• Carson Macullers - The heart is a lonely hunter (because AAC 75er reviews)
• Kazuo Ishiguro - The Remains of the Day (BAC inspired re-read)
• William Ritter - Jackaby (because Micky Fine review)
✓ Emily St.John Mandel - Station Eleven
✓ Edmund de Waal - The Hare with the Amber Eyes (mentioned by Ilana, remembered I wanted to read it)
✓ Kazuo Ishiguro - The Buried Giant (75ers inspired audiobook)
✓ Lily King - Euphoria (New York Times review)
✓ Peter Carey - The True History of the Kelly Gang
• Umberto Eco - The Name of the Rose (don't know why I added this to my list - got 1/4 through then gave in, it's like Holmes & Watson, or Hastings & Poirot, but obscured under piles of monks and benediction)

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE (23 books - or so)
JANUARY
✓ Kazuo Ishiguro - A Pale View of Hills
✓ Penelope Lively - The Ghost of Thomas Kempe
✓ Penelope Lively - Moon Tiger
FEB
✓ Evelyn Waugh - Decline and Fall
✓ Evelyn Waugh - Put Out More Flags
✓ Sarah Waters - The Little Stranger
MARCH
✓ China Mieville - The Scar
✓ Daphne Du Maurier - The House on the Strand
APRIL
✓ Angela Carter - Nights at the Circus
✓ W. Somerset Maugham - The Painted Veil
MAY
✓ Margaret Drabble - The Millstone
✓ Martin Amis - Money
JUNE
✓ Beryl Bainbridge - The Bottle Factory Outing
✓ Anthony Burgess - A Clockwork Orange (Tried a couple of times previously, but will try again!)
JULY
✓ Virginia Woolf - Mrs Dalloway
AUGUST
✓ Iris Murdoch - Accidentally read The Bell - will read The Sea, the Sea instead
✓ Graham Greene - The Power and the Glory (read by Andrew Sachs)
SEPT
✓ Andrea Levy - Small Island
✓ Salman Rushdie - The Satanic Verses
OCT
✓ Helen Dunmore - The Siege
✓ David Mitchell - The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
NOV
✓ Muriel Spark - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
✓ William Boyd - Any Human Heart
DEC
✓ Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall
✓ PG Wodehouse - Anything with Jeeves! Honestly, I've been meaning to for ages.

JANE AUSTEN 2015 CHALLENGE (3 books)
✓ Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice (Jan-Feb - reread)
✓ Jane Austen - Sense and Sensibility READ Dec 29th 2014. May not reread again so soon (May-June reread?)
• Jane Austen - Emma (July-Aug - reread)

ANZAC AUTHOR CHALLENGE (12 books)
✓ JAN: Richard Flanagan - Gould's Book of Fish (read by Humphrey Bower)
• FEB: Cate Kennedy - The World Beneath (nope, wasn't enjoying it so stopped)
✓ MAR: Michelle De Kretser - The Lost Dog
✓ APR: Alan Duff - Once Were Warriors
✓ MAY: Katherine Mansfield - The Garden Party
✓ JUNE: Witi Ihimaera - The Whale Rider
✓ JULY: Peter Carey - Oscar and Lucinda
• AUG: Helen Garner - Monkey Grip
• SEPT: Ruth Park - The Harp in the South (re-read)
✓ OCT: Robert Hughes - The Fatal Shore
• NOV: Ngaio Marsh - Death in Ecstasy
• DEC: Paul Cleve - Cemetery Lake OR The Cleaner

READING GLOBALLY
First quarter - Indian Subcontinent
✓ Nayomi Munaweera - Island of a Thousand Mirrors
✓ Rohinton Mistry - A Fine Balance

Second quarter - Iberian Peninsula
✓ The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

2015 books read - First quarter

January (17)
1. Andy Weir - The Martian (audiobook, pp387) ★★★★½
2. E.L. Doctorow - Ragtime (audiobook, pp336) ★★★★
3. Penelope Lively - The Ghost of Thomas Kempe (audiobook)(BAC) ★★★½
4. Kazuo Ishiguo - A Pale View of Hills (audiobook, pp183) (BAC) ★★★★
5. Alexandre Dumas - The Three Musketeers (ebook, pp560) ★★★½
6. Bryce Courtenay - The Potato Factory (audiobook, pp856) ★★★★
7. Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice (audiobook, pp256) ★★★★★
8. Alan Bradley - The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (audiobook, pp292) ★★★★
9. Richard Flanagan - Gould's Book of Fish (audiobook)(ANZAC) ★★★
10. Penelope Lively - Moon Tiger (audiobook, pp208)(BAC) ★★★★
11. China Mieville - Perdido Street Station (audiobook, pp500) ★★★½
12. Sean Michaels - Us Conductors (ebook, pp459) ★★★½
13. L.M. Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables (pp336) ★★★★★
14. P.G. Wodehouse - Carry On, Jeeves (audiobook, pp256) ★★★½
15. Nayomi Munaweera - Island of a Thousand Mirrors (ebook) ★★★★
16. Graham Greene - The Quiet American (audiobook, pp180) ★★★★
17. Ernest Cline - Ready Player One (audiobook, pp384) ★★★★½

February (9)
18. Ann Leckie - Ancillary Justice (audiobook, 416pp) ★★★½
19. Evelyn Waugh - Decline and Fall (audiobook, 304pp)(BAC) ★★★★
20. Haruki Murakami - 1Q84 (audiobook, 1184pp) ★★★★½
21. P.G. Wodehouse - Very Good, Jeeves (audiobook, pp258) ★★★½
22. Paul Howard - Eat, Sleep, Ride (272pp) ★★★½
23. Sarah Waters - The Little Stranger (audiobook, 501pp) ★★★
24. Laurie Lee - Cider With Rosie (audiobook, 272pp) ★★★★½
25. Virginia Woolf - A Room of One's Own (audiobook, 114pp) ★★★★
26. Evelyn Waugh - Put Out More Flags (audiobook, 222pp) ★★★½

March (11)
27. Rohinton Mistry - A Fine Balance (audiobook, 603pp) ★★★★★
28. China Mieville - The Scar (audiobook, 608pp) ★★★½
29. Tan Twan Eng - The Gift of Rain (450pp) ★★★★
30. Thomas Hardy - The Return of the Native (audiobook, 414pp) ★★★★
31. Michelle De Kretser - The Lost Dog (290pp) ★★½
32. Thomas King - The Back of the Turtle (518pp) ★★★★
33. Takatsu - Secondhand Memories (ebook) (560pp) ★★
34. Daphne Du Maurier - The House on the Strand (audiobook, 298pp) ★★★★
35. Anthony Doerr - All The Light We Cannot See (audiobook, 531pp) ★★★★
36. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - A Study in Scarlet (audiobook, 143pp) ★★★½
37. Charles Portis - True Grit (audiobook, 240pp) ★★★★

2015 books read - Second quarter

April (13)
38. Haruki Murakami - Norwegian Wood (audiobook, 298pp) ★★★★½
39. Al Alvarez - Feeding the Rat ★★★★½
40. Angela Carter - Nights at the Circus (audiobook, 295pp) ★★★
41. Emily St.John Mandel - Station Eleven (audiobook, 336pp) ★★★★
42. W. Somerset Maugham - The Painted Veil (audiobook, 224pp) ★★★★★
43. Terry Pratchett - Moving Pictures (audiobook) ★★★ re-read
44. Alan Bradley - A Red Herring Without Mustard (416pp, audiobook) ★★★½
45. Helen Fielding - Bridget Jones Diary (300pp, audiobook) ★★★★
46. Amy Poehler - Yes Please (352pp, audiobook) ★★★★
47. Alan Duff - Once Were Warriors (198pp, audiobook) ★★★★½
48. Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird (384pp, audiobook) ★★★★★ re-read
49. Kazuo Ishiguro - The Buried Giant (352pp, audiobook) ★★★½
50. Alan Bradley - I am Half-Sick of Shadows (299pp, audiobook) ★★★½

May (6)
51. Edmund de Waal - The Hare with the Amber Eyes (354pp, audiobook) ★★★★
52. John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces (405pp, audiobook) ★★★★½
53. Lily King - Euphoria (288pp, audiobook) ★★★★
54. Jon Krakauer - Into Thin Air (332pp, audiobook) ★★★★
55. China Mieville - Un Lun Dun (448pp, audiobook) ★★★
56. Martin Amis - Money (368pp, audiobook) ★★★½

June (8)
57. Scott Lynch - The Lies of Locke Lamora (736pp, audiobook) ★★★★
58. Margaret Drabble - The Millstone (192pp, audiobook) ★★★★½
59. David Mitchell - The Bone Clocks (640pp, audiobook) ★★★½
60. Beryl Bainbridge - The Bottle Factory Outing (179pp, audiobook) ★★★★
61. Witi Ihimaera - The Whale Rider (152pp, audiobook) ★★★★½
62. Katherine Mansfield - The Garden Party and other stories (159pp) ★★★★½
63. Anthony Burgess - A Clockwork Orange (213pp, audiobook) ★★★★½
64. Peter Carey - Oscar and Lucinda (433pp) ★★★★½

2015 books read - Third quarter

July (2!!)
65. HP Lovecraft - The Annotated HP Lovecraft (368pp) ★★★★½
66. Carlos Ruiz Zafon - The Shadow of the Wind (512pp, audiobook) ★★★½

August (7)
67. Rainbow Rowell - Eleanor & Park (329pp, audiobook) ★★★★½
68. Graham Greene - The Power and the Glory (216pp, audiobook) ★★★★
69. Kate Atkinson - Life after Life (560pp, audiobook) ★★★½
70. Ian Rankin - Black and Blue (320pp, audiobook) ★★½
71. Virginia Woolf - Mrs Dalloway (216pp, audiobook) ★★★★
72. Irvine Welsh - Trainspotting (384pp, audiobook) ★★★★½
73. Naguib Mahfouz - Palace Walk (544pp, audiobook) ★★★★

September (6)
74. Frankie Boyle - My Shit Life So Far (304pp, audiobook) ★★★½
75. W. Somerset Maugham - The Moon and Sixpence (206pp, audiobook) ★★★★
76. Peter Carey - The True History of the Kelly Gang (478pp, audiobook) ★★★★★
77. Salman Rushdie - The Satanic Verses (576pp, audiobook) ★★★★
78. Andrea Levy - Small Island (448pp, audiobook) ★★★★½
79. Bryce Courtenay - The Power of One (400pp, audiobook) ★★★★½

2015 books read - Final quarter
October (8)
80. Terry Pratchett - The Shepherd's Crown (304pp, audiobook) ★★★½
81. Rose Tremain - The Road Home (432pp, audiobook) ★★★
82. Helen Dunmore - The Siege (304pp, audiobook) ★★★½
83. David Mitchell - The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (512pp, audiobook) ★★★½
84. Jenny Nordberg - The Underground Girls of Kabul (350pp, audiobook) ★★★★½
85. Iris Murdoch - The Sea, The Sea (528pp) ★★★★½
86. Fyodor Dostoevsky - Crime and Punishment (576pp, audiobook) ★★★★½
87. Ernst Junger - The Storm of Steel (320pp, audiobook) ★★★★

November (7)
88. Nate Crowley - The Sea Hates a Coward (150pp) ★★★★
89. Justin Trudeau - Common Ground (334pp) ★★★★
90. Günter Grass - The Tin Drum (600pp) ★★★★
91. Muriel Spark - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (160pp) ★★★½
92. Paul Wells - Right Side Up: The Fall of Paul Martin and the Rise of Stephen Harper's New Conservatism (336pp) ★★★★
93. Robert Hughes - The Fatal Shore (752pp) ★★★★
94. William Boyd - Any Human Heart (512pp) ★★★★

December (?)
95. Victor Hugo - Les Miserables (1488pp!) ★★★★★
96. P.G. Wodehouse - The Inimitable Jeeves ★★★½
97. Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall ★★★
98. Raymond Chandler - The Big Sleep ★★★★
99. Katherine Addison - The Goblin Emperor ★★★★
100. Alice Walker - The Colour Purple ★★★★½
101. Frankie Boyle - Work Consume Die ★★★½
102. Scott Lynch - Red Seas under Red Skies ★★★★
103. Tom Stoppard - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead ★★★★½
104. Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Gambler ★★★★

Epic topper!

Happy new thread, Megan! Also felicitations on your Canadian citizenship!

Megan--Congrats on number 3!! And on being Canadian?!

Congrats on becoming a Canadian! I have Small Island on my shelves. Sounds like you enjoyed it so I will move it up in my TBR pile.

You have a couple of reads in the last few months that I am dying to get to. All the more now that you have rated them so highly....The True History of the Kelly Gang and Palace Walk.

Love the Scottish rail bridge. I have seen that film now that my boy is old enough(ish). He has been told that he is allowed to see one Harry Potter film a year, Potters successive years at 'school' coinciding with his increasing age. I figure b the time he gets to the scary later ones he will be old enough.

And happy 75 books! (or did I already congratulate you on that!?)

Love that topper. A friend did a day trip on a steam train over the bridge - amazing pictures.

Happy Sunday and Happy New Thread, Megan.

Happy new thread, Megan! Gorgeous photo up top!

Congrats on the Canadianism! And isn't Small Island good (we seem to have had the same BAC picks this month!) - though I agree, deeply upsetting in places.

Also, fab photo again - it seriously doesn't look real. So cool.

I love the topper. Spectacular! Happy New Thread, Megan.

Awsome Pic

Thanks for the welcome to the new thread, my booky friends! And for the compliments and welcoming to Canadian-ness :)

And now, for the first book of the new thread.... *drumroll*.... it's ....


79. Bryce Courtenay - The Power of One
He certainly tells a ripping yarn, that Bryce Courtenay. It was interesting to read about the difference of opinion between him and Peter Carey - with Carey lamenting the decline in reading serious literary novels, and Courtenay lambasting him for being a snob. Honestly I feel like Courtenay has a point - just because a book has literary pretentions, doesn't necessarily mean it's good.

This was a fun read, some really interesting history - I've read very little about South Africa, or Africa in general. And I was even almost thinking about giving it five stars. Until the ending. Because really? That's the way you want to end the story circle? With revenge? With brutal bloody revenge? That's the person you want him to be after the journey he's had? This is me, muttering with disappointment *mutters*
★★★★½

Re your comments about the ending - there is a sequel if you were looking for another ending. Someone told me this was based on a true story which I hadn't realised when I read it. Would you want to read more South African fiction?

>19 charl08: Hmm, I don't know whether or not I'd read the sequel. It wasn't so much the point at which it ended that bothered me, but what happened right before the end. And yes, I'd read that it's loosely based on Courtenay's childhood - it would be interesting to know how exactly how loosely. I'd definitely be interested in reading more South African fiction though - do you have any to recommend?

>20 evilmoose: It is neither South African nor fiction but I would recommend Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight. It is a coming of age story set in neighboring Rhodesia during and after the fight to oust the apartheid regime. Excellently written.

Hi Megan! Glad to see you're still pumping out the books!

That picture if lovely! I'm so jealous of your backpacking trip. Did you see the Hogwart's Express passing while you were hiking by? :)

Congratulations on your latest thread Megan and your change of status. Two passports are better than one for sure.

Have a great weekend

>21 Oberon: Thanks Erik - that sounds up my alley, and has been added to the list.

>22 The_Hibernator: Heya Rachel - and technically it was bikepacking, not backpacking. Which is just a fancy new term for off-road bike touring, sans panniers. We didn't get to see any train crossing the bridge, let alone the Hogwart's Express! But given how crowded the little lookout got even without a train, we decided we were ok with that.

>23 PaulCranswick: *shuffles feet awkwardly and blushes* technically it's actually three passports, as my Irish mother passed on that citizenship too. It does feel a little greedy to have three.

>24 evilmoose: Three passports? This seems very Jason Bourne like of you. I am picturing you flipping through passports while your loaded, silenced pistol sits in front of you. No one suspects the Canadians . . .

80. Terry Pratchett - The Shepherd's Crown
My last ever new Discworld novel. I've had the audiobook for a while, but have been sitting on it a little. Partly to save up the experience, and partly due to fear of disappointment. The last few Discworld books haven't really hit the spot for me - things have been getting formulaic, some previously great characters seem to be echos of their former selves. There are still flashes of brilliance, but it hasn't been quite the same.

And I did enjoy this one - which, as noted, was not as finished as it would have been had Sir Terry been able to keep writing a little longer. But it was great to hear the story of Esme Weatherwax be tied up, and have the references to many of the other witches who I thought we'd never see again. And it wasn't perfect, but it was enjoyable (and certainly more memorable than Snuff).

★★★½

>25 Oberon: And they are all, of course, under different identities. *sets wig straight, knocks back a glass of vodka, grasps pistol, and prepares for the next mission*

>20 evilmoose: Not sure what to recommend. There's a lot out there!Coetzee won everything going with Disgrace, but I like Boyhood which (as you'd guess from the title) is a childhood memoir. Another memoir favourite is Frankie and Stankie. Two books based on dealing with the legacy of apartheid violence that I would recommend are A Human Being Died That Night and Country of my Skull.

I also read Andre Brink who wrote in Afrikaans and English. Praying Mantis is pretty amazing, set in the early years of the English mission to the San people. Zoe Wicomb's work is so good, her short story collection You can't get lost in Cape Town reflects her experience growing up discriminated against in the apartheid system.

If you're looking for something more recent, wondered if you'd come across Zoo City a dystopian crime novel set in a version of Johannesburg that's just about recognisable, where characters have a daemon animal accompanying them...

(I should probably stop there)

Nice new thread, Megan! Congratulations on your Canadian citizenship.

>28 charl08: Oooh, thanks, I have added those to my To Read list for next year! I already had a couple of Andre Brink's novels on there, and I've been meaning to read some Coetzee.

>29 kidzdoc: Thank you kind Sir!

81. Rose Tremain - The Road Home
Meh. This won the Orange Prize in 2008, but just didn't ring true for me. It doesn't help that I've read a few books recently that did a good job of capturing the immigrant experience, of feeling out of place, and loneliness. This felt like a book trying to be about something, and it didn't convince me - which meant I also started to get annoyed with the main character, who was really a bit of an ass at times. The portrayal of Eastern Europe seemed a little dubious, and the ending a bit rushed and overly neat. Meh.
★★★

I haven't much liked Rose Tremains books so far, only the one that I have read that is. But just not my style maybe.

>31 evilmoose: I really liked her historical novels (especially about the royal gardener) but abandoned this one after a couple of chapters. Just didn't work for me.

>32 LovingLit: I don't think I shall bother to try her again!

>33 charl08: Hmm, and then all of a sudden I have to reconsider! But I have a lot of other authors and novels I still haven't read. I'll put her on the backburner for now.

82. Helen Dunmore - The Siege
I just realised I've read two Orange Prize nominated books in a row. Although the last one actually won it, I prefer this shortlisted one. But don't wildly love this either. It's sort of 'nice'. Which is an alarming thing to be saying of a book that writes of starvation and savagery during the Siege of Leningrad. But it writes about it in such a civilised way. There's bucket loads of descriptive prose, but for such a potentially gripping subject, I felt completely ungripped. The characters never felt real, and I remained unmoved. Not a book that moves in the same way as my brain apparently!
★★★½

Congratulations on the new thread and becoming a newly-minted Canadian!

Yes, congrats on your new citizenship. :)

Thanks >36 lkernagh: and >37 The_Hibernator: - and now I get to vote next week, woo!

>31 evilmoose: It is a funny old world isn't it, Megan. I remember being quite rapt in The Road Home. I do however share some of your reservations with The Siege. It is good but I just don't feel I'm there - I don't feel the cold with the oil stove burning and I'm not famished reading about their hunger. Not sure why.

Have a lovely Canadian weekend my absolute favourite Canadian Irish Australian. xx

Happy weekend, Megan.

Hadn't realised that you celebrate Thanksgiving over there this weekend, Megan. Happy Thanksgiving, my dear.

>39 PaulCranswick: It is indeed a funny old world, although it would be a tedious one if every book affected everyone the same way. Sometimes I wonder how much of it is just the right book at the right time. Or as an audiobook listener, how much I'm being influenced by the reading on the book (quite a bit sometimes)... thanks for your Thanksgiving wishes though! I hope you had a lovely unthankful weekend :)

>40 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara, and a merry weekend to you too!

83. David Mitchell - The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
Hmm. I enjoy David Mitchell's writing, but often have trouble being drawn in by his characters. In this case, maybe listening as an audiobook didn't help. I enjoyed the setting, with the Dutch East India company based in Japan. But Miss Ibagowa felt like a more interesting character than de Zoet, and his sudden love of her felt a bit weird. With a string of perfectly good books not quite taking my fancy, I'm beginning to feel that I'm the problem, not them.
★★★½

Oh, and we're finally finished our in-built bookshelf! We took the doors off an old junk cupboard, enlarged it, re-did the drywall, built shelves, and painted. I will post a picture, but you all have to promise not to mock my tiny book collection. A lot of our books are still in Australia, and we've been mostly trying not to buy books since being here - we either borrow from the library, or listen to audiobooks.

>43 evilmoose: Where is the picture? A lack of books on the shelf simply means a buying opportunity.

84. Jenny Nordberg - The Underground Girls of Kabul
I feel like I've been meaning to read this book for a long time, but it was only released last year. It was a really interesting and captivating piece of investigative journalism, a story well told. In that way, it reminded me a little bit of the podcast 'Serial'. Nordberg looks into the lives of many females in Afghanistan who dress, and pass, as males - thereby gaining a degree of freedom not available to females. There's a lot more to it than this, and Nordberg answers a lot of different questions, and seems to do a great job of providing the reasons and history behind the practice. I'm not a scholar of Islam, or Afghanistan, and so I don't know if there are points in the book that would make scholars wail and say "No, no! That's wrong!", but it felt well researched and well rounded. I was fascinated, and look forward to more non-fiction! Thanks for the recommendation streamsong!
★★★★½

>44 Oberon: Here you go :D

My new bookshelves:


Where there used to be a terrible junk cupboard with folding doors, we pulled off the doors, expanded, built maple shelves, painted yellow, added books.

>45 evilmoose: Thank you Megan for the really interesting review. The gender segregation in Afghanistan is indicative of all that is wrong-headed in the way islam has been misinterpreted in those countries. We can only hope for a better world where such stories become redundant.



Have a lovely weekend. xx

>47 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul, and may I also send wishes that you also have a wonderful weekend :) In a bold and inspiring statement that may startle many, may I suggest that gender inequality is a bad thing. Once that's established, we can consider that it's probably a tricky thing to move from the status quo to a potential xanadu-type future... but it shouldn't stop us from dreaming! (NB. I have an Islamic co-worker who is wonderful; she grew up in Sri Lanka and so shares so much more cultural background with me than the Canadians do... Famous Five... Noddy... and cricket!)

>46 evilmoose: I think that looks very colorful and nice. A lovely project.

>46 evilmoose: - Love your new book-nook!

>45 evilmoose: Dang a BB. Our local library has got a copy of it.

>48 evilmoose: Thanks for the giggle. Revolutionary statements over here :-)

85. Iris Murdoch - The Sea, The Sea
That Iris Murdoch is certainly great at creating a sense of unease and foreboding. A Booker winner that I really enjoyed (and a very very belated read for the British Author Challenge.
★★★★½

>49 Oberon: Heh, nice and colourful does describe it fairly well. It fits in perfectly in our Scando-style house. We haven't got the traditional Canadian interior, due to a lack of money for magnificent wood, and a lack of any direct sunlight in our fourplex - the super light interior makes all the difference for capturing the ambient light we do get and making the most of it.

>50 lkernagh: Thanks Lori!

>51 Ameise1: Bwah ha hah! :D

>52 charl08: Heh, apparently I get a little revolutionary when LTing after a couple of glasses of wine :)

>53 evilmoose: Better late than not at all Megan. Trust that you will have a great weekend. xx

Happy weekend, Megan.

86. Fyodor Dostoevsky - Crime and Punishment
I started this a while back, but decided I needed something less intense and anxiety inducing for a while. There's something about certain Russian literature that sucks me in, body and soul, and I find I'm mentally living in Russia, in poverty or anguish, love or fear.

This is a re-read, I read this a few times as a teenager, and in my early 20s, when I was wallowing in Dostevsky, Bulgakov, Tolstoy and the like. A favourite of mine that I'd hesitate to recommend to most, because it's certainly not approachable or accessible. But a thoroughly absorbing study of human nature, if you're into that sort of thing.
★★★★½

>57 evilmoose: Ax murdering - very appropriate for Halloween.

87. Ernst Junger - The Storm of Steel
Yep, this book had lots of war. People did things with guns, people died, some were German, some were Scottish or English. War was senseless, lots of time was spent in trenches. Good old WWI. Very few female characters *nods critically* (It's Junger's memoir of his time in the war)
★★★★

>57 evilmoose: Hah, that makes a much better Crime and Punishment review. "A man murders a couple of ladies with an axe, then goes on about it for the rest of the book"

>57 evilmoose: I loved that one, too. Anyway I'm a huge Russian authors lover. :-)

Hi Megan, just passing and waving.

Wow, Meg, you sure have done a lot of fine reading this year! Congratulations on becoming a Canadian Citizen! As for a typical Canadian interior of a home, I'm not that there is one :) That may be because I live just outside of Vancouver proper and house prices are so high, we live in a townhouse, my son and his wife live in a condo, my other son is renting a suite in house and then many people around us live in 10,000 foot homes. It is very varied around here. I hear you on the lack of light issue. I always dread Nov - March - so little light and so much overcast in my area.

>61 Ameise1: So am I Barbara! I haven't been reading many Russians recently, but at one point I was teaching myself Russian so I could read them in the original language. Maybe that will happen once I retire...

>62 connie53: Hola Connie, thanks for stopping by :)

>63 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deb :) And I think I'm making assumptions based on the mountain architecture - sometimes I forget that what holds in the valley here can't necessarily be applied to the rest of Canada. But there's a very common mountain style you see in homes around here. At least we have more sunny days than you do over on the coast - although the last couple of warmer winters seemed to come with extra cloud too. I have dreams that when the roof of the house is re-done we'll add a couple of skylights - it will make such a difference to the amount of light we get.

88. Nate Crowley - The Sea Hates a Coward
I first found the writings of Nate Crowley via twitter, where he is @frogcroakley. It was his friend's birthday in January this year. Said friend complained about the lack of birthday wishes he had been receiving. Then, in Crowley's words: "After an initial flurry of birthday songs, I decided the sensible course of action was to keep celebrating Daniel's birthday every single day, until he wasn't sure what a birthday even was anymore." Read here to see the birthday unfold: https://storify.com/FrogCroakley/the-colelcted-daniel-barker-s-birth (warning, it's long, and weird - I followed along from a few days in, and laughed out loud on many occasions).

And then he wrote a book. It is not a terribly long book (around 150 pages). It's a bit Mieville, a bit Lovecraft, a bit like wading through a thesaurus drenched in blood, gore and zombies. But eminently readable. Gruesome and frequently horrifying, but riveting, and unfolding in a rich weird dystopian world. You only get a small taste of the world in this book though, which left me with the feeling there could have been a lot more book than there was.
★★★★

The Sea Hates a Coward sounds very interesting! Great review!

As for house types, I am guilty too of creating sterotypes of homes in my mind, and indeed, many stereotypes of houses exist in real life. In the Vancouver area, there is the " Vancouver Special" , which I don't see to much of where I live. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver_Special

There is also what I rather sarcastically call " West Coast Modern" . I'm not sure that there is such a thing, but in my mind, they are cedar sided and roofed homes, with very few window and very private - not much light can come in. I live near a lovely neighbourhood full of " West Coast Modern Homes. Some are truthfully very lovely, but others I wonder if it's a bit too dark! When we first moved from a house into our townhouse, I wished for a skylight , as we have people on both sides of us and I really missed the side windows. Over the past 15 years, I've gotten used to it. Now it's so warm, I'm glad we did not have a skylight installed. Plus, I wanted it in the kitchen, which would have been very expensive because that is the area that we have a long way through the attic to get at the actual roof.

>66 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deb! And huh, interesting about the different house styles, I hadn't heard of the Vancouver Special before, or even seen much of them. West Coast Modern is very different from the Mountain Style - which is typified by high ceilings (at least on one side), and ludicrously enormous windows without curtains. Lots of stone/slate/natural wood features, decks, granite or wood counter tops... and maybe a combined stucco/wood finish.

And now for something completely different: Halloween!



We didn't get too carried away with the costume, knowing the high likelihood of last minute mind changes. But here is the offspring as Minecraft Steve.

>67 evilmoose: Very nice Minecraft costume. I note the mittens too - I take it was cold?

>68 Oberon: Somewhere a few degrees above freezing. Given that it's late October in the mountains though, it could have been much worse!

Love the Minecraft costume - very cute!

>69 evilmoose: Our Halloween temperatures vary wildly. This year was gorgeous with evening temperatures in the 60s (F). However, every true Minnesotan remembers the great Halloween snow storm when most of the state got between 18 and 24 inches of snow. It makes planning children's costumes kind of difficult.

89. Justin Trudeau - Common Ground
I've never been much of a one for memoirs; this is the first political memoir I've ever read that wasn't required reading for a history course. But something about getting citizenship 5 weeks before the election in Canada, and spending the months beforehand studying for my citizenship test, plunging myself into Canadian history and politics triggered some sort of political engagement switch in my brain.

During the campaign I went to local candidate forums, watched them online, I watched the televised national candidate forums, and avidly followed the reactions in social media and newspapers. But I come from an odd place, where unlike other Canadians, I don't have decades worth of 'this happened in the past' steering my judgment - I'm somewhat aware of the past, but I don't have the emotional response to it that others do. Particularly in Alberta, the strong response that can be evoked by the Trudeau name is fascinating (they don't like him).

I find myself for the first time in my adult life having a prime minister and cabinet who seem to represent a lot of my core values. Not all of their policy is perfect. But the direction and intent pleases me greatly.

This book does a great job of telling the stories to reveal how Justin Trudeau was shaped into the person and politician with the values he has today. And I will admit I cried with joy when I read some of his opinions (such as how awful negative attack ads are, and how important it is to respect an opponent even as you disagree, of rejecting divisive politics and embracing diversity). There's nothing quite like the feeling that the country you've chosen to make your home may actually want you to be there. And so I give this book 4 stars, not because it's a brilliant book with brilliant writing that everyone will enjoy, but because it fills me with optimism, and the desire to become a better person, and do more to help my community and improve the world.

(I think the only thing I don't like is the cover photo, which I found so disconcerting I took to leaving the book face down) (Sorry for the long and rambling review, but apparently I have a lot of feelings right now!)
★★★★

90. Günter Grass - The Tin Drum
Best not listened to via audiobook I think. Magical realism, a fictional autobiography of Oskar, who decides to stop growing aged 3, and has a thing for tin drums. It's emotional, tragic, dark comedy, fantastical and grotesque... and beyond that, my insomnia fuelled brain just isn't sufficiently with it to summon up a review.
★★★★

>70 scaifea: Thanks Amber :)

>71 Oberon: We have the same problem here! It could be a -30oC cold snap, 10oC and raining, or anywhere in between.

Great review of Common Ground, Megan! I am waiting for my copy to be free as I am in the queue at my library. I find myself for the first time in my adult life having a prime minister and cabinet who seem to represent a lot of my core values. Not all of their policy is perfect. But the direction and intent pleases me greatly. Even for me, as life long Canadian, I'd agree with that . Even though the elder Trudeau was around as P.M, I was so young I really paid no attention . I have a vague memory of the FLQ and " just watch me" by the elder Trudeau, but I don't carry the baggage of the elder Trudeau with me. I read a book about Harper several years ago, Harperland: The Politics Of Control by Lawrence Martin it confirmed every nasty thing I had come to know about Harper. Like you, I don't read a lot about political figures, but politics really interests me.

For the most part, B.C is more progressive than Alberta, and Saskatchewan, I think.

Say, put your review on the main page and I'd be happy to thumb it! My old review of Harperland: The Politics of Control is the on the main page of the book and right in your face, should you wish to confirm what a weasel Harper was!:) In my humble opinion of course! :)

P. S . Fab costume for your little one! And thank you for becoming a citizen in Canada, you are a big plus to us!

There was a time in Canadian history that you didn't actually have to be a citizen to vote in the federal election - I was a landed immigrant when I first voted for the elder Trudeau. >75 vancouverdeb: Does that mean I am older than you, Deb or maybe it was because I was more aware of politics growing up in Quebec. For the most part, B.C is more progressive than Alberta, and Saskatchewan, I think. I don't think that there is any question about that. BC is much more progressive than Alberta or Saskatchewan.

>75 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deb! (and I added my review to the main page). I'm actually on Paul Wells' Right Side Up now, which is proving to be a very thorough and detailed account of Stephen Harper's rise to power. Lots of stopping and double-checking facts, dates and history while I'm reading, but quite interesting.

>76 Familyhistorian: Hmm, Meg I'm suddenly realising how little I know about your background - a landed immigrant who grew up in Quebec? I am now intrigued!

91. Muriel Spark - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
This was a nice palate cleanser, especially after I ended up watching The Cook, The Thief, his Wife and her Lover last night. It's a wildly electrifying movie, but brutal. Thankfully this was a quick, light read. There was much less to it than I was expecting! It seemed terribly short after reading a few 500-600 page epics recently. School, teachers, betrayal.... and so it goes.
★★★½

I was trying to be polite! Let's face it, Megan, B.C. is the most progressive province in Canada and who not want to live here? Shhh- don't tell anyone that I said that. I wouldn't want to seem like a B.C. snob sort of girl. I had no idea that you'd been a landed immigrant for long! My grandpa was very keen on politics and was a " Progressive Conservative" when that party existed. I turned 18 in 1979, so I could have voted for Trudeau then, but my grandpa's strong " Progressive Conservative " bias would have caused to me vote P.C. in that election. But I have since branched off with my own centre left preference.

Ah, posted at the same time. Will go to thumb your review. See my post at >75 vancouverdeb: for my age and voting history. A landed immigrant in Quebec! How interesting! I was born in Manitoba, but my family moved to Vancouver when I was about 4 years old.

Nice review of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. I can only remember reading The Girls of Slender Means.

Edited to add I cannot see your review for Common Ground on the main page as yet. I will check back later, Meg.

>77 evilmoose: >80 vancouverdeb: I also went to Acadia U which is in Nova Scotia and lived for a time in Halifax and Charlottetown. I ended up in BC because the people who owned the car that a group of us were traveling in wanted to come here. I know first hand that BC is more progressive than Alberta because I lived in Calgary for a while. (There is a whole other story about why I ended up in Alberta.)

Born in Manitoba, Deb. I think we touched on that before - was it Winnipeg?

>80 vancouverdeb: >81 Familyhistorian: It didn't take long living here to pick up on the difference between Alberta and BC. Living right on the border makes for a surprisingly different feel to towns, depending in which direction I drive. When we were roadtripping around in 2007, trying to decide where to live, we were both quite tempted by Fernie, or even Nelson - they were just less sober and conventional, which definitely appealed.

And I ended up in BC because the people who owned the car that a group of us were traveling in wanted to come here.

>72 evilmoose: I loved your review and didn't find it long or rambling! I know nothing about this guy, apart form that he is new, and that he is controversial in some way.

>82 evilmoose: I love that you road tripped around looking for a place to live, such an under utilised method for house hunting !

Interesting, Meg and Megan, how you eventually landed in B.C. There was a time in my husband's work where we thought we might have to move to Calgary , but fortunately we did not have do so. I'm not sure if I was aware that Alberta had such a different culture, but I did not like the city of Calgary . I looked at the so - called "Bow River" and thought - that is the size of a ditch in Richmond. No comparison to the mighty Fraser. Since then , one of my brothers lived in Calgary for about 7 years and he and his family are now outside of Toronto. My other brother lives in Edmonton, but I don't think he and his wife and family are much affected by the politics, other than the Wild Rose Party scaring them.

I've traveled across Canada, and there is no place like home - that being Vancouver and surrounding environs - Richmond B.C, really.

Interesting Megan, aka evilmoose that you found such a difference between the towns around the B. C. / Alberta border.

I must confess that my brother who currently lives outside Toronto, has become Ontario- centric. I have to try to squelch that side of him when I see him and his family:) Eventually he and his family hope to get back to the Coast here in the Vancouver area.

>73 evilmoose: Ah, I loved that one.

>84 vancouverdeb: Well, actually there is a place in Canada that compares to BC, Deb. Unfortunately it is harder to find work in Nova Scotia than in BC but, then again, the real estate is more affordable!

I am all for progressive politics whether it is in Ireland, Australia, Canada (that sort of settles you Megan! *kidding*) or Malaysia and UK or anywhere else for that matter.

Trudeau promises a fresh start for Canada, I do hope he doesn't disappoint you all.

Have a lovely weekend. xx

>83 LovingLit: Thanks Megan :) I can thoroughly recommend road-tripping to decide where to live - although it does run the risk that you hit a lovely town on a bad day and can have a bad experience ruin your impression of it.

>84 vancouverdeb: Heh, Calgary has slowly been growing on me, but it's still hard for it to live up to what was on offer in Melbourne. I quite liked Vancouver though, and found it reminiscent of Melbourne. Only been to Ontario once and found it a thoroughly alarming experience! (although with some very tasty food on offer)

>86 Familyhistorian: Oh, I really must go and visit Nova Scotia. Part of the new citizenship deal is that we get half price tickets on Via Rail until the one year anniversary of our citizenship. We're tossing up the idea of getting out east and then train-ing about.

>87 PaulCranswick: *shuffles passports knowingly* And a merry weekend to you too Paul!

92. Paul Wells - Right Side Up: The Fall of Paul Martin and the Rise of Stephen Harper's New Conservatism
Well, I'm on an absolute non-fiction bender right now. I found out that Paul Wells existed after discovering that Maclean's magazine existed with the election debate (shh, I know, but I obviously haven't been paying much attention until now). He gives somewhat snarky political analysis, and has been hanging about keeping an eye on federal politicians for some time now, and this was his first book.

I'm trying to catch up on Canadian politics, and this initially felt a lot like throwing myself in the deep end - but I eventually figured out how to swim. There was a lot of checking wikipedia for facts at first, but once I had a few of the basic timelines, names and parties sorted out, it was really interesting reading - although did require me to keep my wits about me. A great history of what the Liberal party was up to, and how Stephen Harper ended up being leader of the consolidated conservative party and becoming Prime Minister. In the process, I was also filled in on a lot of the political background that led up to that moment.
★★★★

Great review of Right Side Up: The Fall of Paul Martin and the Rise of Stephen Harper's New Conservatism. I'm not sure if I am keen on Paul Wells, as a long time reader/ subscriber to McLeans. I read Harperland: The Politics Of Control a few years ago and agreed with most every word :) Long story short, I think - though I liked Chretien, I think he threw Paul Martin under the bus . How in the world the Reform Party merged into the NON - Progressive Conservatives, with Harper at the helm ( formerly Preston Manning) I'll never know, unless perhaps I read Right Side Up: The Fall of Paul Martin and the Rise of Stephen Harper's New Conservatism. Now I think the Conservative Party is going to have to do a lot of soul searching and re- invention of themselves, as the Liberal Party did. I hope the Progressive Conservatives return to being a party.

Good for you for taking in so much Canadian Politics!

P.S - thumbed your review. Also must confess that though I have visited Nova Scotia and loved Peggy's Cove, Cape Breton, the Annapolis Valley - well, Halifax is just not Vancouver! ;)

And don't even talk to me about the disappointment of the Magnetic Hill, though I know that is in New Brunswick. LOL!

Do go Via Rail! I had a trip from Winnipeg to Vancouver and the scenery was wonderful! What a great experience.

>90 vancouverdeb: Ah, I was thinking of getting around to Harperland some time soon. It certainly does seem as if the Liberal party was in a bit of a mess back then, and that it was almost luck as much as anything that led to everything falling into place for Stephen Harper. I was intrigued to discover the idea that the Liberal party has historically seen themselves as having the 'right to rule', and the conservative parties being the sort of perennial underdog in comparison. It never would have occurred to me to imagine the Conservatives wouldn't keep going without Harper until I started reading a little more into how everything was initially created. Oh, and Albertan politics is mind boggling! The same party in power for decades until they get fed up and turf them out in a fit of pique! Easy to take an interest when there's such dramatic goings on :)

>91 vancouverdeb: Heh, there's a reason you go by the vancouverdeb moniker! The more I think about the Via Rail trip, the more I think we just have to figure out how to make it work some how *planning commences*

>88 evilmoose: it also runs the risk of hitting a crap town on a good day and ending up living there!

>93 LovingLit: That would be disastrous!... I feel like this could be a metaphor for relationships too.

LOL! Yes I am my own personal Vancouver Tourism department, whether they need me or not! :)

Yes, Alberta politics is really quite the drama! Oh do take a Via Rail trip if you can afford it. I took back when my two kids were about 4 and 9 and it was so wonderful to travel by myself, while my husband flew home with the kids. Oh the reading, peace and scenery was wonderful!

93. Robert Hughes - The Fatal Shore
Well, that was a very interesting read. I'd read Marcus Clarke's famous novelisation of the convict times, For the Term of His Natural Life. But hadn't read Hughes - and this is a wonderfully detailed book, although I found some of the continued descriptions of convict torture a bit hard going. Particularly in the second part of the book - and because I was listening to an audiobook, I couldn't just skim past as he went into the gory details of the whippings.

The historical, political and social details behind the transportation, and the goings on in the early years of the colony were particularly fascinating, as was the transition from English dumping ground to nation-in-it's-own-right.
★★★★

I ended up feeling compelled to check out when and how my various ancestors arrived in Australia, and they tally up as follows:

* Farmer from Yorkshire who moved over in the 1840s then picked himself up an Irish girl from a ship that arrived in 1854
* Family that moved over from Cambridgeshire in 1852
* Scot who arrived somehow around 1840 who married an Irish lass who arrived in 1842
* Cornish family who turned up in the early 1860s
* Boy from Somerset arrives in Melbourne 1857, girl from Lancashire comes out a few years later, they marry and settle down
* Family coming over from the Scottish highlands some time in the 1840s - 1850s
* An Irish man and women who suspiciously ended up in Tasmania and got married there in 1855 (probably convicts, from the information we have)
* Farmer from Yorkshire marries an Irish girl in Melbourne in 1850
* Family moved from the Isle of Skye in around 1855.
* and then there's my mother, who came over in the late 1970s, and married an Australian

All of them (aside from the suspicious Tasmanian arrivals, and my mother) arrived in Melbourne/Geelong, and largely settled in Victoria - they were basically all farming folk, and so continued to farm. I have a rough idea of the situation in Scotland that led to a lot of crofters taking off to Australia or similar, and Ireland is a familiar story too, but it would be interesting if anyone could recommend any reading that covered Cornwall or Yorkshire - I'm not familiar with how small farmers managed in those areas back then.

Well, we got just a little snow last night (about 45cm worth.... 17 inches?)



I had a really fun commute on the bike - it was easier than driving today, and I was about the same speed as a lot of the cars. The roads were very quiet as so many people were still stuck.

>97 evilmoose: Wow. Better you than me but I must say, the first picture is gorgeous.

>97 evilmoose: - Your photos make me long for Alberta winters... something I do miss living out here on the BC coast. I love the hush and quiet that occurs during a snowfall. Much preferable, IMO, to the crazy torrential rain and 70-90 km winds we had on Tuesday out here on the west coast. ;-)

94. William Boyd - Any Human Heart
Jolly good read.
★★★★

Hi Megan, Snow!?! Well, they predict some snow here,too, for tomorrow. I finally find time to do some weekend greetings. Wishing you a most lovely weekend.

I traveled from NB to BC by train when I graduated from university (that was almost 20 years ago - holy crap!) and it was a wonderful experience! I met some interesting people and got to see a big chunk of the country. I would recommend it. Except for going through Ontario, the Canadian shield is a big, boring rock.

>97 evilmoose: Beautiful picture.

Could see proper snow on the Cumbrian hills north of where we were hiking (and feel it in the freezing winds) but have missed it being further south.

Gorgeous photos, but I have to say, unlike Lori, how much I prefer the rain! :) No shoveling, no slipping on ice, and just not that cold! But beautiful to look at!

>97 evilmoose: vy pretty snow scenes. Which I am sure you can handle well if you are prepared? We get snow in my city about once every two winters, so when it hits people freak out, haha.

>97 evilmoose: Gorgeous pictures!! I miss the snow...sometimes. But today it was 33F and it was all I could do to pretend to still be from MN and be all tough and go out without a coat. In MN, you don't bother with outer wear until it is below freezing, just like in Portland, OR, you don't bother with an umbrella even when its raining. ; )

Well, I apparently got really distracted reading Les Miserables. It's rather long!

>98 Oberon: Thanks - it was kind of fun though. It makes for a fun day, when your basic commute turns into an adventure.

>99 lkernagh: The stillness and muffling of fresh snow is rather wonderful - although lashing rain storms can be entertaining too, I have learnt to enjoy a good snowfall (and I do enjoy sitting inside and pretending I'm inside a snow globe)

>101 Ameise1: Belated happy weekend Barbara! Happy... three weekends I've missed!

>102 Deedledee: I'm beginning to think we might fly out east then train about in the maritimes. It will still be over 24 hours on the train, and with a small person to keep entertained, it might be a good option to not push it too far. He does like trains, but....

>103 charl08: Thanks :) Since then though, we're beginning to worry that we'll have a repeat of last winter, where it just gets warm and barely snows for the rest of the season.

>104 vancouverdeb: Hmm, lack of shovelling and ice is an added bonus - the massive snowfall has led to compacted ice all over the place, and it's just not been warm enough to melt - and it's hard work to try and shift it by hand!

>105 LovingLit: Thanks Megan :) This was definitely more than usual, but still not out of the realm of reasonable expectations. I've learnt to embrace the excitement of a full on snow day though!

>106 Berly: Heh, it is funny when we get tourists in town, and they're all bundled up when it's only -5oC or so, and there are still locals getting about in flip flops if it's at least a bit sunny.

95. Victor Hugo - Les Misérables (1488pp!)
Absolutely amazing. Some 200 page books have trouble holding my attention all the way through, but here I was kept entertained through tangents related to French slang, and the desire of Marius' grandfather to have naked nymphs at their wedding, the Napoleonic wars... and number of completely off topic rambles were written in a way that I found thoroughly engaging. And the story! Aah, the story. So many characters to fall in love with, to cry for, to want to slap. Wonderful wonderful grand and epic book, I adore you. Thoroughly worth the 2.5 weeks of reading time.
★★★★★

>108 evilmoose: I loved this book. I read it over the course of three days (and did very little else during that time frame).

>108 evilmoose: Isn't that a fantastic story? I loved it.

>Such a great book and story. We saw the new movie with Hugh Jackman in the theater. My wife swore she wouldn't break down during it and she almost made it. All those tragic deaths and the ending got her the most.

Wow, I suddenly want to read a 19th century book that's super long about depressing things. That's quite the review!

>109 Oberon: >110 Ameise1: - Yes, so wonderful! The actual paper book is now on my Christmas wish list.

>111 xymon81: I watched the musical for the first time on a plane I think... and then I rewatched it a few times as we flew about on the same trip. And cried. And rewatched it some more once I got home. I've been meaning to read it for so long.

>112 Deedledee: You should! It's super long, and depressing things happen, but it's also wonderful and amazing.

96. P.G. Wodehouse - The Inimitable Jeeves
Like comfy slippers, and a nice easy short read after Les Miserables. One more for the British Author Challenge.
★★★½

I love the word inimitable.
That's all :)

>113 evilmoose: My younger daughter's grammar school wll do the musical next August/September. She is taking part as a dancer and in the chorus. They started to rehearse a month ago. Several weekends and weeks are planned for the rehearsal the upcoming year next to the normal rehearsal.

>116 Ameise1: Oh, I'm so jealous, I would love to be in a musical. Am I allowed to be jealous of grammar school kids? I don't see why not. Being in a production of Les Miserables would be just wonderful fun.

>115 LovingLit: It is a very good word. I also like indefatigable, and was most please to climb Mt Indefatigable a few years ago, even if we spent most of the journey arguing about the pronunciation.

>117 evilmoose: Megan, at the moment I hear all stuff from backstage and what they like and what they don't like but I'm looking forwatd to see the result in August.

97. Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall
Urgh, I'd really been looking forward to reading this, but I don't know if it's just that I wasn't in the mood, that the audiobook reading didn't do it justice, or what, but tedium! Mindless tedium! It's turned me off books entirely for now, I'm not sure what book to start next, and I certainly shan't reach 100 books at this rate. Curse you Wolf Hall!

The three stars is out of guilt that it was me being in curmudgeonly mood that ruined the book, rather than the book being that terrible. My experience was at most a two star.
★★★

Try a graphic novel. They're a great bookish palate cleanser. :)

Glad you enjoyed Any Human Heart. I just finished Restless by William Boyd and it was a cracking good espionage read!

Wishing you a lovely weekend, Megan.

>119 evilmoose: Too bad you didn't like it. I really loved it!

>108 evilmoose: My all-time favorite book.

Happy weekend!

>120 MickyFine: A good suggestion - I ended up going with classic noir, which also worked quite well.

>121 vancouverdeb: Ooh, I'm tempted to try some more Boyd... and that one does sound good.

>122 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara - and a happy solstice to you!

>123 The_Hibernator: Heh, we agree, we disagree. Some books I think are always amazing, and others I think I have to hit in the right mood. Happy solstice!

98. Raymond Chandler - The Big Sleep
This was the perfect choice - not a book on any To Read list I had, but just one that had been floating around the periphery for a while, the name popping up here and there, again and again, terribly familiar. And a classic noir detective story was just the thing as a palate cleanser. So much fun to read. So convoluted. One of those books that makes you go 'aha' because it's obviously the precursor to so many familiar tropes.

“It seemed like a nice neighborhood to have bad habits in.”

“Neither of the two people in the room paid any attention to the way I came in, although only one of them was dead.”

“I don't mind your showing me your legs. They're very swell legs and it's a pleasure to make their acquaintance. I don't mind if you don't like my manners. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter nights.”

“She bent over me again. Blood began to move around in me, like a prospective tenant looking over a house.”
★★★★

I ended up watching the movie (the Bogart/Bacall version) last night, and that was good fun too. Although the plot was even more confusing in movie form, I do enjoy Humphrey Bogart.

>125 evilmoose: My favourite noir is The Thin Man. The films with William Powell and Myrna Loy are also fantastic.

I've never read anything by Raymond Chandler but your review is tempting me! I did get into a second hand book shop and found myself a little more William Boyd. I purchased Any Human Heart, The Blue Afternoon and Brazzaville Beach. I don't plan to read them right away, but it's always good to have a little choice in books over the holiday season.

For my Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice/Holiday image this year (we are so diverse!), I've chosen this photograph by local photographer Mark Lenoce of the pier at Pacific Beach to express my holiday wishes to you: Peace on Earth and Good Will toward All!

Have a lovely holiday, Megan

Merry Christmas Megan!

Stopping by to wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas, Megan!

Happy Holidays, Megan!

>126 MickyFine: Ooh, I'll note that one down for the next time I have a hankering for noir.

>127 vancouverdeb: A sound plan, it never hurts to stock up on books in the holiday season - you never know when there'll be nasty weather or a surprise cold that leaves you on the sofa reading books for a few days straight.

And thanks for the holidaychristmassolsticeetc wishes Barbara, Roni, Paul, Rachel, Lori, Kim, Laura!

Merry everything to all, and may your new year be filled with lovely books and the appropriate level of excitement.

Books I've finished in the last week! A little late in updating, but I also tend to read a lot around this time of the year, particularly if it's a bit on the cold side (yep) and I get sick (again, yep).


99. Katherine Addison - The Goblin Emperor
I've heard a few people talking about this Hugo nominee, and for good reason. A sweet fantasy read I really enjoyed.
★★★★


100. Alice Walker - The Colour Purple
Wonderful novel, sad and beautiful.
★★★★½


101. Frankie Boyle - Work Consume Die
Eh. I listened to this audiobook out of a sense of obligation after having got hold of it a while ago. I don't think I'll bother with another of his. Not terrible, just not my cup of tea.
★★★½


102. Scott Lynch - Red Seas under Red Skies
Rollicking good fantasy fun, although at times a little dark. Heists and con artists, this time out at sea. A little on the long side, but you get that sometimes with fantasy.
★★★★


103. Tom Stoppard - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Wonderful. I really have to listen to more plays - although it seems borderline for inclusion as a book - although not really too different from an audiobook. Actually, I'd rather see more plays, but listening to this one was wonderful for the language, and references, and ooh, now I want to go and see it, and read it in paper form.
★★★★½

Sounds like the Tom Stopped is good. Like you, I'd like to see more plays. Maybe I should try and listen to a few in the meantime. Happy New Year!

>125 evilmoose: I did that recently too...read the book then saw the film. Rounded the whole things off nicely, I thought.

Happy new year!

>137 charl08: He really is - definitely in this case anyway. I found listening to the play was slightly frustrating, as it really felt as if I was missing out on seeing what was going on. Still worth doing though :) Happy new year!

>138 LovingLit: Yes, I feel like I shall have to do it more often, it worked wonderfully in this instance! Happy new year :)

104. Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Gambler
Well, last book of the year, to round it out to a nice average of two books per week. I was thinking it was a nice tidy little book that was perfectly entertaining and well written without being overwhelming in any sense - then when I went to add it to my list, I realised I'd read it in 2008! But I have no recollection of it whatsoever! Did I write down the wrong book back then? Is it that unmemorable? Peculiar.
★★★★

STATS OF 2015
Total books - 104

Author gender
Men - 73
Women - 31

Format
Audiobook - 86
Paper - 13
E-book - 5

Challenges
BAC 33/24 (woo!)
ANZAC 7/12 (hard to track down some of these, then I just lost momentum)

My own lists
To Read List: 19/49 (hmm, pretty poor strike rate - some of these have been on my list for a while, and keep getting put off as there's no audiobook version! I will have to make a concerted effort to work through some of them in paper form)
To Read List (add on the go through the year): 12/19
LT recommendations list: 16/25

Abandoned books - Cate Kennedy - The World Beneath, Hannah Kent - Burial Rites, Umberto Eco - The Name of the Rose

Total pages
Pages read: total 40,039
26 books over 500 pages, 2 of those over 1000
Average book length: 385 pages

Non-fiction
12 books read (favourite was Jenny Nordberg - Underground Girls of Kabul)

TOP 5 (PUBLISHED IN THE LAST 10 YEARS) (this one is much less competitive)
Andy Weir - The Martian
Rainbow Rowell - Eleanor & Park
Ernest Cline - Ready Player One
Nayomi Munaweera - Island of a thousand mirrors
Katherine Addison - The Goblin Emperor

TOP 5 PRE 2005 (that I haven't read before)
Victor Hugo - Les Miserables
Rohinton Mistry - A Fine Balance
W. Somerset Maugham - The Painted Veil
Peter Carey - The True History of the Kelly Gang
Iris Murdoch - The Sea, the Sea

If I kept track of my abandoned books it would be a lot more than 3. You either pick up better books or have more staying power than I do.