Dihiba's 2008 Books

Finished up my first two reads for 2008:
1. Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson
I always find Bryson's travel writing to be fun and relaxing to read - and I learn something as well. This book is about his travels in Europe, ca 1990. I found it did drag a bit at the end, as he found his last countries visited were rather depressing (and this was before the conflict in Yugoslavia). I would definitely recommend it if you are a Bryson fan.

2. The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor. A Man Booker nominee, this book is well-crafted and like Ian McEwan and Richard B. Wright, the writing is straight forward without being dull. The story did stir up some frustration within me and it is not a tale with much resolution, but is thought-provoking and intelligent.

3. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer. Finished this up last night. I have been reading this one for a while as it's my "treadmill" book (large print - sigh....). It is basically a history of violence, plural marriages, and cover-ups in the Mormon church, centered around a double murder of a mother and child in 1984.. An extremely interesting read and very eye-opening. I read God is Not Great a few months ago and now reading Krakauer's organized religion is not doing well in my mind.

4. The Shipping News by Annie Proulx - I have read her Accordian Crimes which I really enjoyed - this one was interesting to read as I used to live in an area where a lot of Newfoundlanders lived. I think Ms. Proulx must have lived in Newfie for awhile to catch the spirit of the place so well.

5. Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Autobiography of a Somali woman who lived in Kenya, Somalia, and Saudi Arabia in her youth and ended up in Holland, where she was a Member of Parliament. Along the way, she renounced Islam, and became an atheist. A very interesting read of a journey from one culture to a very different one.

Looks like my non-fiction reads are ahead of my fiction. Back to Atonement!!

I believe that I read that Annie Proulx divides her time between Montana and Newfoundland. I don't have the energy just now to look it up and confirm, but I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere when I finished The Shipping News.

I believe that I read that Annie Proulx divides her time between Montana and Newfoundland. I don't have the energy just now to look it up and confirm, but I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere when I finished The Shipping News.

6. Atonement by Ian McEwan. This book started slowly for me, the story didn't really interest me until the setting changed to the retreat to Dunkirk. All in all, extremely well written, I enjoy his writing - but am not sure about the ending. Am I the only one confused? I might see the movie soon and am looking forward to it - but roll my eyes at Keira Knightley being in it - opinions on those who have seen it - was she adequate?

#7

I agree with your about the Knightley casting. I saw the movie and thought she was the weakest link. The other performances were much stronger.

What part is she playing?

I saw it yesterday and thought she was pretty good. She played Celia. What more does one need to do other than be beautiful, contrary, and convey a secretly passionate nature? Knightley managed all that well and looked absolutely stunning in the 1930s-1940s costumes. James McAvoy was a real heartbreaker.

The one I wonder about is the previewed movie I saw, The Duchess, based on the life of the Duchess of Devonshire. Now THAT is a role I wouldn't imagine for Keira Knightley.

BTW, I'm a huge fan of McEwan, but I didn't really care for Atonement initially. I listened to it as an audiobook, so it could have been the reader; she also read Never Let Me Go, which I absolutely despised. I plan to give it another shot in print form.

In a BritMurderMystery mood and might try a Dorothy Sayers after I finish marking my exams. Just finished:
7. To Fear a Painted Devil by Ruth Rendell

One of Rendell's early ones - well written but more in the cosy vein than some of her later ones.

8. Wordstruck by Robert McNeil - all about the journalist's love of the English language. This former Canadian takes a few digs at his country of birth but admits at the end that we have great writers and he developed his love of language here.
I enjoyed this - really more autobiography than about words though. This was a treadmill book - Large Print from the library.

9. The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers - my first book by Sayers (British mystery series - Lord Peter Wimsey). Really enjoyed it. Will be reading more of hers.

10. Jemima Shore's First Case by Antonia Fraser.
Fraser is better known for her books on historical figures - Henry VIII's wives, Oliver Cromwell, etc. I have some of her Jemima Shore books and decided to give one a try. The character is a television investigative reporter who gets involved in murder cases. The trouble was, this slim volume had only a few of Jemima Shore's cases (and glaringly, the name Shore appeared as Shaw in a couple of places - editing!!) and the rest were other short stories by Fraser. I haven't been totally put off - I will read at least one of her full length books from the Jemima series.

11. A Winter Marriage by Kerry Hardie.
I've had this book a few years and it was time to read it. Don't think this is a well-known writer. The book is set in Ireland and concerns a woman with a checkered past who marries an Anglo-Irish man (this is my second book for Jan. that was set about the Anglo-Irish) and settles in his small community. The book didn't quite know if it wanted to be a literary comment on middle-aged marriage or a psycho-sexual thriller. All in all, I enjoyed it, but it was too long and could have been cut from 400 to 300 pp.

I am so impressed at how quickly you are getting through (and the fascinating mix of books you have been reading)...do you think you might beat 75?

Yes, I think I might, but some of this is I attribute to my work load being lighter the last few weeks. Also having it organized like this makes it easier!

12. Light on Snow by Anita Shreve
My 12th for January. A quick read - I have read The Pilot's Wife. Sea Glass and Eden Close by Shreve - this book is written in a much simpler way, as the narrator is a 12 year old (from her 30 years of age perspective). I found it a bit simplistic as the narrator had obviously aged she would have had more insights than shown. There were a number of tragedies in the story but I never got a feeling of realness about them. I feel as though Shreve was trying to do a Jodi Picoult without the annoying bits.
I decided to read another Shreve, Weight on Water (this was shortlisted or won the British Orange Prize) and see how it compares.

13. The Fight for English by David Crystal. Started this one after Xmas but read more than half of it last night - finally got caught up in it. This is Crystal's rebuttal to Eats Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss. His premise is that English is constantly changes and some of our grammar and punctuation rules are arbitrary. The British school system has brought grammar back, but with a different approach. It has been pretty well absent from Western schools since the 1960's. The conclusion is that English is thriving and doing very well (the author is British). Since I am teaching a grade 9 English class (as of yesterday) it's making me rethink grammar and punctuation - or at least how to approach it.

14. The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve - pretty much snowbound this morning so finished this one off. This was a quick read because it was so absorbing - much more detailed and intricate that Light on Snow by the same author that I finished earlier in the week. One small point - she used a very similar incident in both books, which I thought was a bit of a cheat. But I would recommend this one - story takes place in two different time periods to different set of characters but overlap nicely.
Now I'm off for some R & R which won't include much reading for a couple of days!

15. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon - got this large print edition on the discard cart ($1) at the library - I can't think why they were getting rid of it. My gain, though, I will now donate it to the school where I work.
Liked this...wouldn't call it a great work but certainly different and the viewpoint of the narrator (who I believe has either Asperger's or is autistic) it was interesting to read. I did kind of slide over some of the math...not my strong point.

I don't know how you have time with teaching to read what you do! Are the kids grown?

I'm teaching part time. My own kids are grown, yes : ). I'm also a fast reader.

16. The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford.
What a wonderful classic children's book! I am quite sure I never read this one - I did see the Disney version though. Set in Ontario and by a Canadian author, it follows the journey of three family pets across hundreds of miles of wilderness.
The ending had me crying (can't remember when I last cried over a book).
This is considered a children's book but the level of writing is very high and in my opinion, superb. Perhaps children of the 1960's (ahem) would have been able to read it and nowadays... I think a lot of younger teenagers might find it challenging.
I recommend it! I wonder if the Disney version is on DVD?!

17. Personal History by Katharine Graham.
I have been reading this autobiography for a couple of months now; now it's done! 600+ pp and dense text, but overall very informative. A look at a life begun in privilege, a marriage troubled by infidelity and ultimately her husband's manic depression and suicide, and her stepping into role as publisher of the Washington Post and its associations with the Pentagon Papers, Watergate, and severe union strife.

18. The Wars by Timothy Findley.
Findley never fails to disappoint. This book is considered a classic of CanLit but to me the work is just too inconsistent to hold up. Some of the book was quite good - the last section lived up to the reputation, IMHO. Earlier in the book, there were times when all I was doing was noticing his clumsy sentence construction. Sometimes his use of language reminded me of senior high school students' attempts.
I haven't yet read a Findley book that I've enjoyed and have a few more on my TBR shelf - sigh....

I really liked Famous Last Words but hated Not Wanted on the Voyage.

I haven't read either of those, toronotc; I read Pilgrim and Spadework - I thought the latter to be third rate and read somewhere that it might have been his partner who actually finished it after Findley died.

19. The Pagan Christ by Tom Harpur - written by a former Anglican minister and a religious writer, this book questions the historical veracity of Jesus. He presents much data on earlier myths (particularly the Egyptian Horus) who correspond in astonishing parallels with the Christ story. Very thought-provoking. I imagine it would upset many devout Christians.

20. The Pull of the Moon by Elizabeth Berg. Did not expect to enjoy this one as much as I did - and it was a quick read, only a few hours. It's about a 50 year old woman who leaves her marriage temporarily and goes on a road trip. There were many great observations about being that age.

21. Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers.
Did not enjoy this one much - unlike the first Sayers I read last month. Will try another one of hers though.

22. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Wells
I have mixed feelings about this book. It was a quick read, written in a simple narrative style (she tells the story of her childhood as though it is a novel) that is very detached. The story is horrific - her parents, to be blunt, were abusive, mostly through neglect. She faces so many crises in her early life, that it starts to be numbing, and at times, straining credulity.
I did detect one slight historical accuracy, but assume some literary license was taken with this book. There is very little reflection on her life and what is there is is superficial. No strong emotions are expressed - negative or positive (perhaps this was a result of her upbringing). I wonder if her own feelings have been numbed.
Sometimes it's as though she was writing a script on her life as though it were a fictional made-for-television movie.
I also have no sense of why she wrote the book. She supposedly had a terrible childhood - and wanted to share the story - but there is no statement of why she wants to share it.

I meant to say in the 6th line above, one slight historical INaccuracy...

I just noticed you mentioned reading 'Under the banner of Heaven' by Jon Krakauer. I used to live in Salt Lake City and found it all very creepy. Couldn't bring myself to read it until I moved to England! Was a very interesting story though. So glad I don't live there anymore! Have you tried any other Krakauer books? 'Into the Wild' is one of my favorites and they did a good job with the film that's just come out as well.

I visited Salt Lake 20 years ago and found it was different....though the Mormons I have known as acquaintances have seemed normal.
That's the only book by Krakauer I have read. What is Into the Wild about?

23. Larry's Party by Carol Shields
Have had this book for a few years and since I have vowed to read 2 a month that have been sitting around for at least a year - decided to take this one on. I thought it was great!! I like the way she writes - very CanLit. Looking forward to reading Unless, The Stone Diaries, and Swann.

It's a true story...here, I'll copy a blurb for you...

In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter...

But it's better than that, really. ;)

There is also 'Into thin air' by Krakauer about an ill-fated Mt. Everest trip.

Sounds interesting!
I have read another book about the Mt. Everest trip, can't bring it to mind right now, or the author.

24. A Lesson in Dying by Ann Cleeves
British cosy murder mystery. Light read. First of a series with Stephen Ramsay.

25. Murder in My Backyard by Ann Cleeves - the second in the Stephen Ramsay series.

26. The Tin Can Tree by Anne Tyler - have read 5 or 6 other books by Anne Tyler and enjoyed them but really had to drag myself through this one.

#29 Have you ever read any Elaine Pagels? I just finished Reading Judas The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity and found it a fantastic read. She's written other books about the Gnostic texts. I have Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas but haven't read it yet.

Haven't heard of it...but just read some reviews. Thanks for the info.

I love cozy mysteries! Thanks for giving me another author to add to my TBR list, dihiba. I had not heard of Ann Cleeves before.

I hope I am not out of line here - but I did list the Ann Cleeves books on BookMooch.

27. Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers.
The first of the Lord Peter Wimsey books, originally published in 1923. It also includes a "biography" of Peter, written by his uncle, which was delightful.

#45 Thanks for letting me know. I wish I was a member of bookmooch, but my problem is once I have the books, I do not want to let them go!

The Cleeves books will be hard to track down, they don't seem to be too plentiful out there. Maybe you have a contact in the UK! : )

I found that out when I looked Cleeves up at the local library and discovered they had a total of 1. I checked it out and if I like it, I may start rummaging around to see what I can drum up at the local used bookstores. I wish I did have a contact in the UK!

28. Final Things by Richard B. Wright.
I am the only one on LT that has or has read this book. Wright is known for more recent efforts - this one was published in 1980 and the copy I have is a reissue. It is very well crafted but much more violent than his other books. It reads like a well-written murder/revenge potboiler.

29. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf - being snowstorm bound and nursing a bit of a cold, I was able to finish two books today. Started this one yesterday and was amazed at Woolf's writing (although she does seem to go off on tangents) and the inspiration she generated in me, even 80 years after the lectures were given. And, in some ways, the world has not changed much in those 80 years.

30 .A Year in the Merde by Stephen Clarke.
British guy working in Paris - thought it was nonfiction but not - needed something light and this was it - but not what I expected. It's basically ChickLit for guys - GuyLit?
Don't think I would read another one in the series.

That's the sort of book I tag as "tripe". I have read it--one of those awful moments when you have a two hour train journey, the bookshop is closed, and you have to pick up something, anything from the only shop left open and then you realise you'd probably have had more fun reading the ingredients list on your packet of crisps instead. This sort of jokey-blokey-lit infuriates me as much as chicklit; I'm not sure why contemporary humour is supposed to be written with choppy sentence fragments, smugness, and a chummy conversational style. It annoys me because light shouldn't mean brainless, or poorly written.

Er. Sorry. I seem to be on my soapbox again. Apologies for the rant.

Loved your rant. I was expecting something more sophisticated and witty...after all Brit/French relations are fodder... (am daughter of Brits who grew up in French Quebec).
How would you classify Nick Hornby? Have read High Fidelity and About a Boy - liked them (former more than latter).

Also - love your use of "tripe" often heard growing up at home but it just isn't word in the North American lexicon.

It is a word here in Massachusetts - I use it all the time. And - apropos of nothing - my mother used to put it in her clambakes. Looked really yucky, but it gave the whole mess a pretty good flavor - considering what it was.

31. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.
Brilliant, thought-provoking.

32. Portrait of a Marriage by Nigel Nicolson.
Published in 1973, I remember publicity about this book - it was regarded as being rather shocking and avant-garde as it discussed the unusual marriage of Nicolson's parents, Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson. They had an open marriage and were bisexual (S-W had an affair with Virginia Woolf). Nicolson spends some time justifying his parents' lifestyle, but one must keep in mind a certain outlook at the time (1973 - free love and all that) and that he had grown up with it (interesting to note that he and his brother actually lived apart from their parents, in a separate house nearby) so it didn't seem "different" to him. To me, without the luxury of their status and position, this couple would not have lived the way they did. This class attitude does shine through in the book.
Well written and an interesting look at a world most of us know little about!

>54 dihiba: dihiba, I saw Nick Hornby included in some article or another about 'domestic fiction' which, of course, is usually considered a woman writer's domain.

I enjoyed The God Delusion also although I thought it got a bit repetitive in parts.

God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens was a bit of an easier read - more on the history of religion than Dawkins gets into.
I have another Dawkins book to tackle - The Ancestor's Tale - better wait until my brain has nothing else to think about!

Well, actually there is a term for chicklit for boys. It's not GuyLit, but (word that rhymes with "chick")lit.

geesh, why didn't I figure that out!

33. Lost Daughters of China by Karin Evans a look at mostly American-Chinese adoption of baby girls in the past 20 years. Not very deep, and padded with a lot of her emotional ramblings... I think this would have done well as an in depth article or an Oprah show.

34. The Good Wife Strikes Back by Elizabeth Buchan - MidlifeCrisisLit- political wife goes through several crises in her marriage. British. Not bad.

35. Dear Departed by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles British murder mystery (author is better known for her Morland dynasty historical novels), one of a series about Inspector Bill Slider, set in London. Not cozy but not the opposite (is there a term?) either. Enjoyed it a lot. My fifth in this series and my favourite so far.

36. Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie. Haven't read Christie in over 25 years and thought it was time to return. This one was fun - forgot how well she wrote - disappointed that Poirot only appears at the very end.

#37 The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion A book about the author's grief process the year after her husband died. Helpful to me as I am close to someone grieving.

I almost cried reading this book. I was just shocked about everything that this lady had to go through. It felt like it was one thing after another. But something about the way Ms. Didion writes has you not in total grief. She shows amazing strength and courage and through her words, you feel comforted somehow. A great read.

You know it got worse for her? Her daughter? It wasn't mentioned in the book.

Oh yeah, I know about her daughter. I was so crushed when I read about that. Sometimes life just seems so unfair.

Interestingly Didion talks about the concept of "unfairness" - what that means...that everyone has to face these things in life, sooner or later.

38. - The Mother Tongue - English and How it Got that Way by Bill Bryson.
Took 2 weeks to read this (probably a re-read) off and on, but perfect for that dipping in and out - and lots to take in. Very good!

39. - And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie considered one of her best, if not the best. Good read. Had me stumped. Also published as Ten Little Indians.

Our book club has just read Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong which was quite different. A murder mystery set in 1990s Shanghai

40. Cheap Day Return by R.F. Delderfield - I haven't read this author in years (okay, decades) - he can tell a very good story - this one is set in Devon in 1932 and concerns a 20 year old young man having an affair with an older married women. He also happens to be engaged. The young man tells the story from 1967, when he's 55, and he goes back to his village.
It was engrossing, and while I was expecting it to be dated, and it was, in some respects, it was still a page turner. He has a wee bit of trouble with the female perspective, but hey, who doesn't?!
#41 Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg - literally about an hour a half read on the treadmill - not bad, but not great. Sisters lose their mother and have an abusive father. I think it is supposed to be the early 60's or so. Left wondering what happens to the narrator, the 12 year old.

42. The Choir by Joanna Trollope. The Brits refer to her books as "Aga sagas". I just enjoy them. This one has a fun reference to her ancestor's Barchester books (Anthony Trollope).

43. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. Wish I had read this book years ago! A fascinating fictionalized look at the the mystery of the Princes in the Tower who many think were murdered by King Richard III in 1485. Published in 1951, it features Scotland Yard's Alan Grant recovering from an injury - to while away the time he looks into the death of the little princes.
I have been fascinated by this story since I was a child, and have read a little about it over the years. Frankly, I found Alison Weir's book about it rather dull - but I've got another one from the library Blood Royal by Bertram Fields and will spend an enjoyable couple of hours tonight looking at it.

#77: I love The Daughter of Time! I was first introduced to it in audiobook form and listen to it at least once a year.

I will have to check into Blood Royal. I am a history fiend and read just about every history book I can get my hands on, so I am glad when a new one pops up here on LT.

#77 and 78: Friends had recommended Daughter of Time to me for years before I finally listened to it on audio. Sorry, but I hated it, probably because I'm not one for mysteries. And since my field of expertise is the British Renaissance, I found the mucking with history a bit unnerving.

Sorry #79 - I totally loved The Daughter of Time precisely because it wasn't a traditional mystery and I was spared all the usual stock characters and the finding out of who killed who in some new funky way for some dreadful, ill-natured reason. I liked it so much that I've hunted down all the other Josephine Tey books (except for one) and read them. They, unfortunately did not please me as much as TDOT did, but I forgave Josephine because I liked TDOT so much. So sad that she died so young. (Can't believe I just wrote that - especially when I remember that I once thought fourth graders must be grown up because their desks were bolted to the floor. To my five year old mind that meant that they were important personages doing important things.)

#90 Yes, I know I'm in the minority here; I haven't run across anyone else who didn't like it.

44. - The Long Divorce by Edmund Crispin. My first by Crispin - talk in this group made me want to read him and I was rewarded with a sophisticated, witty murder mystery. I have two more in my TBR pile by Crispin - yea! The book is nothing about divorce but refers to a quote from Shakespeare - will have to find out more about that.

#82: I picked up the one and only Edmund Crispin novel my local library had today. I am looking forward to reading it - I just hope I can track down some more if I enjoy The Moving Toyshop.

45. The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg. An okay read for the treadmill.

46. Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd. A long read - 1000 pp. plus. A bit uneven in parts, it is still fascinating to have Rutherfurd take us through the centuries of English history via a fictional tale of the interwoven lives of the families living in the area of Salisbury. His section on the building of Stonehenge was very good. He also wrapped the book up nicely, ending in 1985.

#82 Glad you liked it, dihiba!!! I love Crispin.

#83 Just finished the Moving Toyshop. I really enjoyed it. I will wait several weeks before starting the 4th book, though. Some authors are meant to be read slowly, without cramming the works all together. After reading 3 Edmund Crispin's in a row, I'll take a bit of a break.

47. For the Sake of Elena by Elizabeth George
Murder mystery set in England written by an American. Not too bad, I would read another by her.

dihiba -
i am new to the group - perusing your list, see you have tried several of Dorothy Sayers' Peter Whimsey - her series of 4 which include Harriet Vane are my favorites, particularly the classic Gaudy Night. They give a somewhat different dimension of Lord Peter and of course Sayers is always a good challenge for allusion and meaning.

Coincidentally, I found Gaudy Night at a second hand shop last weekend, and plan to read it soon.

48. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark. Delightful.

I don't think you are going to have a problem hitting 75, dihiba:-) I very much enjoyed all those early Elizabeth George novels but lost interest in a few more recent ones that didn't do much with the Barbara Havers character; not to mention I thought her crimes with becoming more sexually bizarre and seemed so much more gratuitous. She redeemed herself fairly recently with the next to last book, which was superb. Still, the spell was broken. I left her for Ian Rankin and Reginald Hill, both of which I LOVE. (loved Sayers way back when also).

I started reading Ian Rankin when I first got into the genre and have read most of them (but not his latest). Haven't read any of Hill's, though I have one in the TBR mountain.
My absolute favourite is Peter Robinson and I like Graham Hurley as well. Ruth Rendell's Insp. Wexfords are tops. Oh, and Andrew Taylor's series set in post War Britain - the detective's name escapes me.

#92: I think you are referring to Andrew Taylor's character Richard Thornhill.

I have read Rankin's, George's and Sayer's books, but have not read anything by Peter Robinson. I will have to look him up!

Robinson is British Canadian - lives in Toronto, and has for a long time, but his books are all set in Yorkshire, where he was born. I believe he is quite well read in the US too. His detective is Inspector Banks.

49. The Copper Peacock by Ruth Rendell. Collection of short stories, quick read.

50. Intimate Kill by Margaret Yorke - Yorke is a new British murder mystery writer for me - enjoyed this - well paced, characters well drawn, and kept me interested until the end.

Yes, Robinson has become fairly popular in the US; it has taken some time to get his name out there but i think he does really well now. Stephen Booth is another excellent UK mystery writer; his books are set in the Peak District. I don't read either of these, not for lack of want, but more for lack of time. One could just read mysteries and be kept very busy! I limit my mysteries to a few these days. Rankin (although Exit Music is allegedly the last Rebus; personally, I thought it left it somewhat open ended), Hill (also whose last book almost ended the series), P.D. James, and others randomly as time permits. I use mysteries often as a palate cleanser of sorts between other books or as something to get me out of a reading funk.

I feel the same way about the mysteries - I just get a yen for one about once a month.
I read one of Stephen Booth's, was interested as he is from my father's hometown. I may try him again one day (so many books, so little time).

#96 dihiba: Is the book in a series? I hate reading things out of order, and the British mystery sounds right up my alley.

According to fantasticfiction.com Yorke did write a series back in the 1970's featuring Patrick Grant - but most of her novels stand alone. Intimate Kill was one of these and does not feature the crime-solving aspect much at all. It is the aftermath of a crime and then more monkey business.... don't want to go into it too much in case you want to read it someday.

#100 dihiba: Good deal! I checked the local library and they have it, so I am going to check it out.

51. Saturday by Ian McEwan - excellent, enjoyed this more than Atonement. One man's day in 2003 - so much is packed into it. It kept me enthralled all the way through.
My only problem - that old song by Chicago kept going through my head every time I thought of the title. Drove me nuts!

Oh, I loved Saturday, and I also enjoyed it more than Atonement. However, I'm going to give the latter another try, since I just don't think I was in the mood for it when I read it. Have you read On Chesil Beach yet? It's quite a change from Saturday, but--unexpectedly--it haunted me for weeks after I finished it.

#102 dihiba: I have not yet read Atonement and from the mixed reviews I have seen here on LT I do not think I am going to. I loved Saturday, though. It was only the second book by Ian McEwan that I had ever read, the first being On Chesil Beach.

I have read On Chesil Beach - in fact, it was ranked my #1 for 2007. I read Amsterdam a few years ago but can't remember much about it - will have to reread it again some day.
I have several of his books on my TBR pile, and look forward to reading them.

I used to have a copy of The Incredible Journey growing up, but I don't think I ever actually read it and now I can't find it. It's a shame, because I really loved books about dogs when I was a kid (and still do). Along those lines, have you ever read Where the Red Fern Grows?

No and it's a new title to me! What's it about?
Yard-saling this morning I got a great 1930's edition of Anne of Green Gables with dust jacket and a bunch of other books - including older Agatha Christie hardcovers. Fun!

Where the Red Fern Grows is such a lovely coming of age story - in the tradition of one of my favorites, The Yearling. Have your Kleenex nearby.

Yeah, it's definitely a tear-jerker. It's about a boy growing up in a very poor family in the Ozarks. He wants his own hunting dogs more than anything, so he saves up and buys two puppies, Big Dan and Little Ann. Then they have lots of adventures and then something very sad happens. Well, sad things happen in the middle too, but the ending is pretty tragic. I actually used to have a stuffed dog when I was growing up that I named after Big Dan (probably because he was rather large, because he didn't look anything like a redbone coonhound).

52. Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour by Kate Fox.
I read about this book on this list and rushed to the library to get it. A very interesting if rather unscientific (i.e. not dry) look at English social behaviour. I am convinced a lot of it is genetic, as I grew up in Canada but am a first generation Canadian, of English parents...some of it was so eerily like me and my own kids that I had to laugh.

Some of the book is very clever, even brilliant, but it is too long. Fox repeats herself - she'll say something clever and then say it again 4 chapters later. That is my only criticism - it could have been cut by a third. I'd love it if she did a follow-up on the English "dis-ease" as it appears over time - if it is indeed historical in nature.

Aha! You beat me to it dihiba! It's still sitting on the coffee table waiting...I admit, I've been avoiding it. So many other books have inserted themselves into my life and ahead of that one. Perhaps I'll buy a copy instead the one I've got checked out from the library. Then it can sit in my TBR pile forever!

hjelliot - you can dip into this one from time to time, it certainly doesn't have to be read from cover to cover with no breaks.

53. The Killing Doll by Ruth Rendell - one of Rendell's darker books, about madness and people with "small" lives. Not one of my favourites by her.
Large print for the treadmill.

Think May will be a slow reading month for me, as I have lots to do for work. Now that it's yard sale time, I'll be finding more books that I have no time to read. There must be a name for MY madness!

#53: "There must be a name for MY madness!"

There is: bibliomania

A fellow bibliomaniac knows . . .

Thanks alcottacre. Now I have a name for my affliction. But I don't want a cure.... ; )

54. The Longings of Women by Marge Piercy - had not heard of this author until a friend gave me this book in '06. It is finally off the TBR mountain!
I enjoyed it, her writing style is very simple, but the story kept me interested.

55. England, England by Julian Barnes - at times brilliant, sometimes not, but very entertaining and thought-provoking. Futuristic, the decline of England.
Everything British becomes a theme-park on the Isle of Wight. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1998. Enjoyed it!
My book reading has slowed down this month - hoping it picks up in June...

56. Buried for Pleasure by Edmund Crispin. Did not enjoy this one as much as The Long Divorce but I have had trouble concentrating on reading lately - horrors!! I think I will have to start Three Men in a Boat over again, I am 44 pp in, but I am not taking it in.

57. Remembering the Bones by Frances Itani. It was time for some CanLit - really enjoyed this one, much more than her Deafening. Touching, funny, moves along quickly - at times the author is a touch sentimental and maudlin, but it doesn't spoil the book overall.
The story is about an almost 80 yr. old woman who shares her birthday with Queen Elizabeth II and is invited to attend the 80th birthday celebrations with her in London. She leaves her home in a small Ontario town and her car crashes into a ravine. She relives her life in memories as she awaits rescue.

58. Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith - the 3rd in his No. 1 Detective Agency novels. Fun read.

59. Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. Quick, interesting read - a layman's guide to economics using statistics on crime, abortion, etc. and the value of incentives.

60. The Return Journey by Maeve Binchy - short stories, light.

61. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Bleeaaccchh....did not like it! I had gotten too far into the book to give up on it, kept hoping it would improve. Alas, it did not.

62. The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie. Fun read, clever.

63. A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy by Ann Cleeves. The 3rd in the Inspector Stephen Ramsay series.

64. The Paradox of Choice - Why More is Less by Barry Schwartz. All about why more choice is making life harder and people less happy. I agree.

65. The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro. Someone left this on my classroom desk and while my students were writing their exam, I started to read this. Decided to continue it, reading my own copy. Very very good. Munro researched her family history and wove a story around her ancestors, from early 19th Scotland to Ontario (though her direct ancestor went to Illinois, his widow joined her in-laws in Ontario). Much of the modern stories must be autobiographical, but it is classified as fiction. Munro's presentation of rural Canadians is so real, so authentic.

#65 - well, that one sounds good and now it's on the wishlist even though I'm not a short story person.

Fourpawz2 - for some reason it doesn't really read like short stories. It follows a time line, so it's like other novels that move forward in time. It felt much more like a novel to me.
I personally enjoyed the early part the best - she doesn't make out that her ancestors were wonderful or noble, etc., just regular folk.

66. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. More on this later!

The Bell Jar was not what I expected. I have heard about this book since I guess I was a teenager, and finally decided I should read it, decades later. At first it seemed like The Catcher in the Rye meets The Devil Wears Prada but of course it soon moves onto a more serious topic - mental illness.
I think the book got a lot of attention back then when these topics were not talked about (Oprah was still a teenager herself!) much. The writing is clever, and it moved right along, and kept my attention. However, I wouldn't classify it as great writing, or literature.

I realized I am constantly looking at your thread and have never left a message, which is odd because we share about 70 books and we have been reading around the same books for awhile; including some books on your list that I read long ago and some that have been scratching and clawing to make it into one of my TBR stacks. The Bell Jar is one of those, as is Under the Banner of Heaven. Anyway, probably move one of them onto the next TBR stack now. A recommendation for you: The Mormon Murders, a fascinating story about a con man who turned to a serial bomber, with a very interesting detour into the history of the Mormon church. Well written and quite accurate.

hi blackdogbooks! I am quite sure I read The Mormon Murders a few years - unless there is more than one book on that case, I did. I actually think Under the Banner of Heaven is the better book in that it goes into the Mormon church history, in more detail.

That's the only one I know of on The Mormon Murders....I will have to move Under the Banner of Heaven up a bit on my TBR on deck circle given you liked it better!

67. A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark - interesting short novel by the author of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. I do like her character development. Enjoyed it.

135 Oh, I'm reading that one right now but still have a ways to go. Glad to hear that it will be worth it in the end.

Let me know what you think, Cariola. I was very busy while trying to read it, so did lose the thread a bit. But I want to read more of Sparks - have you read Memento Mori?

68. Shakespeare by Bill Bryson. Streamsong on our list had just listened to this as an audio book, and piqued my interest in reading it. I enjoyed it - learned a lot about the time period (not that much is really known about Shakespeare himself). I also liked the way Bryson debunked the "Shakespeare wasn't Shakespeare" theories. BB is, as always, very readable.

Glad you enjoyed Bryson's Shakespeare. It was the first book by him that I have "read"--think I'll have to try more of them!

I've read most of his, although I decided not to read A Short History of Nearly Everything - that's one I may try as an audio "read"! He is one writer who I laugh out loud at, and also admire his turn of phrase and his observations.
I've got his British TV series "Notes from a Small Island" on request at the library - looking forward to watching them.

137> No, this is my first Pym. However, I have a feeling there will be more in my future.

69. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie.
A classic of Christie's. Think I read somewhere that this inspired the British board game Cluedo ("Clue" in North America) - there is even a map in the book showing the layout of the house.

70. Bill Bryson's African Diary by Bill Bryson. Very short, but very Bryson, and touches the heart with his observations of Kenya (without being sentimental or gooey).

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is one of my favorite Christie's. I was shocked when the murderer is revealed cause I never saw that one coming. Are you a big Christie fan?

I am. I read many of her books in my teens and early twenties. I am now revisiting them. I have an interesting book The New Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Agatha Christie which gives a synopsis of all her books, along with some trivia. According to the book, when Ackroyd was published (in 1926) many readers were outraged at what Christie had done.
It's also interesting that even though the book was published in 1926, there was no references to the pop culture and few to fashions of the day, making it easy to follow - unlike many of the genre of today will be in the future (IMHO).

71. The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith. This is only the second audio book I have listened to - but I will be listening to more in the months to come. I haven't read anything outside the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books by McCall Smith and this one is quite different - urban Edinburgh and the monied class. It was a very good story and extremely well read - the English narrator did wonderful Scottish accents - at least, I think she did (not being a Scot, I could be wrong!).
I would recommend this to anyone who likes McCall Smith.

72. Such a Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry - have to say it - such a great writer!
This is the first novel I have read by Mistry - have read some of his short stories. Excellent. That sums it up. The main character, Gustad, is one of the most memorable and interesting I have encountered in years. I will definitely be reading A Fine Balance and Family Matters soon.

Diana,I have to agree with you. Mistry is exceptional!
Family Matters is one of my favourite novels of all time, and I will now have to add Such a Long Journey to my TBR list.

73. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen
Non-fiction. The story of an American who grew up in Tanzania, and has spent much of his adult life in Pakistan. He went to the latter as a mountain climber and stayed to build schools for the isolated villages in the mountains. An incredible story, and engaging, with some editing needed - "tenants" used when "tenets" was meant - I am shocked at Penguin : ) - , but nevertheless, inspiring for me, as a teacher of mainly immigrant students. Mortensen is still working there some of the time, and has survived through the 9/11 fallout. Compelling book.

#149 dihiba: I totally agree about Three Cups of Tea. The man and his mission are very inspirational.

#150 - yes, I can't believe what he's been through, and the conditions the local people live in. Makes my life seem like paradise on earth.

74. Audio book - Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers. Very fun to listen to - Sayers was so clever! Her characters are a hoot. This was the book that introduced Harriet Vane, who I believe appears in some of the later books.
The actor who played Peter Wimsey in the TV series read the book, and did an excellent job.

75. Made it! Gap Creek by Robert Morgan. Enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would - although by the end I was getting fed up with the heroine of the tale - the complete self-sacrifice for everyone else, but it made sense for the times. The author explained in an afterword that he was telling a fictionalized story based on his grandparents. There still seems to be some glorification of women who do for everyone and ask nothing for themselves - which generally serves the purpose of those they are serving!
That said, I like Morgan's writing style - straight to the point with no modern poor me-psycho-crap (which is ironic as it was an Oprah's Club book) cluttering it up.

Congrats for making it!

If you are up for some nonfiction by Robert Morgan, I recommend his biography Boone. Overall, it is good, although it does drag at times (at least for me).

Congratulations for reaching the goal!

Well done!!

congratulations!

Thanks everyone!! This group has really inspired me to "keep on track".

76. Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin. The first in his Inspector John Rebus series. I have read most of the others, so it was interesting, if a bit scary, to read this one.

It's party time on dihiba's thread . . . who's bringing the cake?

How about a tea party? Scones, clotted cream, jam, and tea! Yummmmmm....

Does clotted cream hold up very well in the hot weather? I'm a little concerned.

From fridge to table, that's the secret. I eat imported stuff so they must be adding something to it these days... but best not to think about that!

mmmmm scones and clotted cream yummie!

I just discovered the other day that my local grocery store is stocking things like lemon curd and clotted cream. I was so excited, because although I have read about them, I have never had the chance to try them and now I do. I will volunteer to make the scones! I have made them successfully in the past.

I have made lemon curd - it's not hard to do.

Congrats on reaching your goal, dihiba. :)

You guys just make me hungry. Just out of idle curiosity and personal stupidity, what exactly is "clotted cream"?
And congratulations, dihiba! Wonderful job!

Anyone English here? It's a type of very thick cream from the west counties of England (Devon, etc.) and you can go to outdoor eateries there and have Cream Teas - and you get a lovely big cake/scone, cream, and tea, with jam and it's just the best comfort food! The clotted cream goes on the scone/cake with jam.

I am not English dihiba, I am Dutch. But we have some eateries here that serve a perfect English High Tea ;-)

77. The Long Kill by Reginald Hill. I think all writers should title their books so they rhyme with their names - Up in Flames by P.D. James, Whatcha Doin'? by Ian MacEwan, etc.
Anyway...this was my first book by Hill and I did enjoy it - more of the intrigue than I am used to, and I did get lost and confused at that point that most men would grasp easily but I just skimmed over all those pesky details.... It was well written and there was a nice love story (although I don't know why a man would describe a love scene that has the hero lusting after a woman's "boyish hips" certainly I have never read a love-story where the heroine lusts after a man's "womanly thighs"...but I digress...). Am not sure I understood the ending, but I will read another by Hill.
This was a large print book for the treadmill (Yes, I know, I need to buy an MP3 player and just download books!)

I'm from New Zealand, and you can find places that do a 'Devonshire Tea', which consists of scones, cream and jam etc. Very nice - when you can find them...

Unfortunately, I live in Texas, and tea here is of the iced variety, and most people have probably not heard of scones! I need to move (no, wait, just did that) . . .

So . . . are you going to try for 100? Or maybe 150? :)

I'm going to try for 135. I've started to listen to audio books lately (listening to Persuasion this week) so that will probably boost my numbers.
I made some nice oat/lemon scones last week. There are tons of great recipes online - that one came out of a Betty Crocker book though!

I love listening to audiobooks while driving and working out. Who is reading Persuasion? I listened to Juliet Stevenson's wonderful narration about a year ago.

#176 dihiba: Any way I could get you to e-mail the oat/lemon scones recipe to me? It sounds like something I would love!

Yes, alcottacre, I will send it to you via the email address that is on your profile. Will scan it and send as an attachment. Anyone else want the recipe?!

Yes, please! I'll post my email addy on your profile page.

Sorry, Cariola, forgot to answer your query re Persuasion - the version I am listening to is read by Anna Massey, doing a great job (and I recently saw her in an old Inspector Morse show playing a very creepy part!).

Thanks for the recipe! I appreciate it.

78. Downtown by Anne Rivers Siddons. Okay read, but disappointed as I liked the other one, Colony, I had read by her.

Thanks here, too!

79. No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod.
A very well written and well crafted book. The characters are also well drawn. An excellent example of CanLit as it pulls in so many elements - the people, the conflicts, the terrain, the elements. He brings in the harshness of the climate and the geography - in fact this is really the central theme of the book.
It centres around a family of Highland Scots, the MacDonalds, who settle in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia in the late 1700's, but most of the book is set in the 1950's to 1970's which cover the narrator's growing-up years. I found the constant role of the French in the story very interesting - from their involvement in Scotland, to their modern role in Canada - and even that Cape Breton was a French possession before it went to the British.
The only thing that I would point out as a negative was the "lamenting of the Celts" (my phrase) - yes the Scots have had a hard time in their history but they have also done exceedingly well and contributed much. They have had a very large part in building Canada. After all, our first Prime Minister was a Scot named Macdonald!

Oh it was you who read A Far Cry From Kensington! I knew I'd seen it mentioned somewhere on this list!

So while I was trawling your reading list I spotted A Room of One's Own, The Bell Jar (both late-to-find favorites in life), Then There Were None (which I just read this year and found extremely clever), and Portrait of a Marriage which I picked up a few years ago at a library sale. It was interesting as I knew nothing of the pair. I only mention it because lovefilm has just sent my next dvd rentals and Portrait of a Marriage is one of them. I put it in this afternoon and I am still watching it. It's split up into different episodes. So far, I think it's really good. You may want to keep an eye out for it. The actors are Janet McTeer, David Haig, and Cathryn Harrison if that's any help.

Thanks hjelliot- I will see if my public library as Portrait of a Marriage on DVD or video.

(Uh-oh. Hate to say it, but I tried to watch the Portrait of a Marriage dvd about a week ago and thought it was awful. I turned it off after about an hour so that my response to the book would not be negatively affected. Generally I admire Janet McTeer, but her overacting in this was absolutely dreadful. Just my opinion, of course.)

Perhaps it was okay for me since it's been awhile since I read the book. And I'm always one for melodrama! Though I must say at the end when they turned Harold into an old man with all that stuff on his face...it was a bit much. ;)

80. Never Change by Elizabeth Berg. This was a quick read, as Berg's usually are, but a lot packed into it. It's about a woman, a nurse, who takes on a private cancer patient who happens to be a man, now 50, who she had a crush on in high school. Sounds sappy, but it isn't. There is one character, DeWitt, who is just great. I enjoyed it overall, but thought the idea of the narrator, who seems like a great person, nevertheless has few friends, though she is in a 'people profession', didn't quite work for me.

Hi Dihiba
Coincidentally, last night, I started Elizabeth Berg's Until the Real Thing Comes Along. I like her quick, breezy style. Her books are easy to read.

Yes, they are just right for a quick read but not too banal. Is the one you mentioned a new one? I don't think I've seen it.

81. At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie -started this years ago but didn't remember the ending (ahh...middle age), very entertaining, a Miss Marple story, her characters are wonderful.

dihiba
Sorry to be late in responding to your question regarding Until the Real Thing Comes Along. I checked and found that it was published in 1999.

Thanks! Will have to add that to the TBR Everest.

82. The Carousel by Rosamunde Pilcher - a light, quick read. Nice little romance but as one would expect from a Brit, good writing!

83. Persuasion by Jane Austen - another one of those Brits who can write quite well : ).
This was an audio book, read by Anna Massey.
I found it a little slow-going at times, but I listened to it over a period of at least 2 weeks, which doesn't help with continuity. The use of language, of course, was wonderful.
I am now listening to Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer which was recommended by one or two folk on this list. (I have taken up sewing again, hence the audio books - and my boyf. downloaded The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy onto his MP3 player for me, for my treadmill exertions, but it is not working so well, because of my lack of tech savvy I have jumped from Part 1 to Part 5 to Part 10!! Yikes!)

84. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. Audio book. My second book by Krakauer this year. This one was quite different - young man goes into the Alaska wilderness and dies there.
This book appealed to me in a sense because I lived in the sub-Arctic for four years but of course, I was safe in a house and not out there trying to conquer nature, which was good - the day my daughter was born it was -90 C with the wind chill factor.
I alternated between feeling sorry for Alex and feeling like he was a complete idiot. I do think there are people, mostly young men, who are genetically programmed to take extreme risks and sometimes die - this probably served a purpose in our evolutionary process - the sacrifice of one for the greater good, etc. However, in today's day and age in the developed world, it just seems dumb.
Krakauer tells a good tale, and this one is particularly suited for the audio book genre.

85. Stonehenge by Bernard Cornwell. I have been wanting to try a book by Cornwell and this one looked good, as I read Sarum earlier this year. I have mixed feelings - a bit too much of the lore and fantasy for me - but a good enough story. I will try Cornwell again, he has done series on the Vikings, Saxon, and Arthur, so should have sme historical basis.

86. Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton.
A study of black/white relations in South Africa just after WWII. A modern classic. Very moving and lyrically written.

Ah! So Paton finally made it to the top of the TBR pile :) Glad you enjoyed it!

Yes : ) - and I've had the book for since Apr 07 so it was time to read it!

dihiba, Cry, the Beloved Country is one of the best books I have read this year. I had never read it before, but after seeing the wonderful reviews of it here on LT, I decided it was about time for me to read it. I am so glad I did!

It was a very profound book. I have heard of it since I was a kid (it's been out about 60 years) but for some reason, never read it. What did you think of Paton's style of presenting dialogue? At first I found it distracting but soon it flowed right along, and worked just fine.

87. All He Ever Wanted by Anita Shreve. One thing I like about Shreve is that she will try different things - this one is the narrative of a pendantic small-town professor who marries a woman he is obsessed with, but admittedly does not love him. It was set during the early years of the 20th century. I just raced through this one (having to sit for 2.5 hrs while my car was being fixed was useful!) and it held my attention right up until the end.

88. On Green Dolphin Street by Sebastian Faulks. A new author for me and will definitely be reading more of his. This book was a fascinating look at a British diplomatic couple stationed in Washington and covers 1959 to 1961. It's a story about a challenged marriage, adultery, and family - with a bit of behind-the-scenes stuff of governments and espionage. There is quite a bit of coverage of the 1960 campaign and election, with Kennedy and Nixon thrown in as peripheral characters. The book is set in Washington, New York, London, and Moscow. Faulks is probably not for everyone, as he is very detailed in his writing - but he paints a fascinating picture of the time (lots of smoking and drinking!) and shows adult life as the complicated mess that it is.

89. The Envy of a Stranger by Caroline Graham. A thriller by the author of the Midsomer Murders series. Quick read. OK.

90. Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman by Elizabeth Buchan. Good quick read. Woman is left by husband for younger woman but comes out fine in the end.

Try Charlotte Grey by Faulks. He was just tapped to write the new Bond books to follow up on Flemming.

I have that and Birdsong to read. I am looking forward to them. I have heard good things about Birdsong as well.

Actually, Faulks's Bond pastiche has already been published, to rather tepid reviews. See, for example:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/662dbbf4-2de6-11dd-b92a-000077b07658.html?nclick_check...

Hi.
I've added Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman to my library in the TO BE READ tag...
so many books and so very little time now that students have returned to the university.

91. Bad Blood by Lorna Sage - picked up this book on a whim though I'd never heard of it or of Ms. Sage. Felt a bit low this week, so not the best time to read about a post WWII Welsh/English dysfunctional family (it's a bio).
Am not sure what her point was, like The Glass Castle I am a bit perplexed about the writer's goals.
I guess it's the degree of dysfunctionality that drives people to tell all...that is somehow helps them cope, by sharing the misery. Maybe I'm just thick.

If you are interested in nonfiction, I recommend The Fatal Englishman by Sebastian Faulks. It is well worth reading. I have not read any of his fiction works, but I will look for them.

Hi dihiba
Regarding message 213....'thick' is not a word I would use to describe you... (I'm smiling)
Sorry to hear you felt a bit low this week and I hope the sun is shining in your soul today!
I think I will try to read Bad Blood My heritage is English/Welsh and I'm interested in learning more.
My mother's relatives came from Cornwall and my father's are from Wales. .. a town called Bangor.

Thanks Whisper1. I think this week will be better : ).
I am a Lancashire/Sussex mix myself...with a little Yorkshire, Cheshire, and Kent thrown in.
Bad Blood is actually quite an interesting read, just not uplifting!
Alcottacre, thanks for mentioning Faulks' book - I certainly enjoy nonfiction and will look it up.

92. Friday Nights by Joanna Trollope. Trollope's latest book - a nice light read, but still some interesting insights as in all her books.

Hi dihiba
Bright sunshine is coming your way....I hope this is a better week for you.

I was able to obtain a copy of Bad Blood from my local library. I' hope to start it in a few days.

The day after I posted that, I was offered a full time, albeit temporary, job (high school, 1 semester) that I was not the successful candidate for back in June. So things did get better! Today was my first day and on a scale of 1-10, it was an 9. The downside - for the next 5 months, alas, less reading time!

Yay! Congrats on your job--I'd love to have a job that I feel a day of work is a 9!!!! And even though its temporary, if you dazzle them perhaps they can keep you on--or give you a wonderful recommendation for you next hunt.

Good Luck with your new job.

Thanks! Right now I'm just hoping I teach them something and I enjoy their company eacy day : ).

93. Deadly Persuasion by Jean Kilbourne. An extremely powerful book - a look at advertising (mainly American) and its negative affect on modern life. I will never look at an ad quite the same way. We are all being manipulated, at our peril.

Hi Dihba

I read your thread quite a bit, but I don't think I've ever posted (I can never remember who's who without a face to put to a name and I usually read and then post at different times), so, appologies for a multithread post...

a) Good luck with your new job!
b) Well done for reaching the 75 goal - I'm constantly amazed how quickly people seem to manage this - I always thought I read fast, but in comparison to most LTers I'm actively slow!
c) I think Persuasion is one of my favourite books, but it's one of those that you basically have to curl up with a large cup of tea, probably when you're feeling a little bit down, and read all in one go...
d) The key term that you missed in describing clotted cream is that it should actually be yellow :) Real Devonshire clotted cream is closer to butter than the cream you can get in most supermarkets (I'm actually feeling sick just thinking about it!)
e) I'm raspberrying you re the good weather. It's miserable over here and has been for most of the summer...

Thanks for the interesting comments, flissp!
If you want to put a face to my name, go the my profile. My pic is there - taken when I was 9 years old!
The clotted cream available here (Canada) from Devon is slightly yellow. It is expensive of course, as it is imported.

flissp - define miserable. (#224).

94. Round Ireland in Low Gear by Eric Newby. Non-fiction, travel. I was quite disappointed in this book - actually found it pretty boring - I guess I was hoping for another Bill Bryson but sadly, no. I do have a couple of Newby's books, so will try again.

#227: That is disappointing to hear. I know that Newby's books are generally well thought of and I have several of them on my TBR list. Let us know what you think of the others that you have once you have a chance to read them.

>208 dihiba: dihiba, I didn't enjoy The Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman perhaps as much as you did. I just didn't find it quite as credible; the forgiveness and friendliness just a little too quick. But, then again, I measured it up to personal experience:-)

Avaland...I recently joined a book club group that meets once a month. The recommended book this month was The Wednesday Letters I was surprised to learn that all members in the group who read the book enjoyed it and I did not. I smiled reading your comments above....I thought The Wednesday Letters was a bit hokey, and as you would say, 'not quite credible." The forgiveness was trite and I learned that I really do not like books where the author tries to put a huge contrived happy ending/big red bow on the box type of writing.

Avaland - yes I would agree with that - I was glad that she turned out all right, and didn't let the negativity of what happened crush her. I am in a "life is about choices" phase - we can choose so much of how we react to things. (And I am middle-aged, have been through a marriage ending, though not infidelity).

95. Friend of the Devil by Peter Robinson. I haven't had a Robinson fix in over a year and when I saw this at the library on the 1-week only shelf, I decided I was going to get it out, and would read it within a week. I read it in three nights and enjoyed it a lot - he's the best murder mystery writer IMHO. I still kick myself for not going to his book signing that was here a couple of years ago.

I have had Peter Robinson as one of the authors on my TBR continent for a while now. I will have to check some of his books out. Do you have a recommended starting place?

The series I really like revolves around Alan Banks. Banks is a detective in Yorkshire (Robinson lives in Toronto now, and has for many years, but sets his books in his home county) in a fictional city called Eastvale. Through the books many of the same characters return. It would be best to read them in order for this reason - Gallows View is the first one. His 18th is about to be released - the one I just read is the 17th. Fantasticfiction.com lists the books in order.
Robinson tends to go on about Banks' musical tastes and selections, much to my boredom (like Kathy Reichs and her food details for Temperance) but it is really my only small criticism.

#234: Thanks for the info, dihiba. I will start looking for them!

96. The Bridesmaid by Ruth Rendell. I was tickled to find Rendell's name was the answer in a crossword I did on the weekend! This is one of her books about madness - and she paints a vivid picture by accurately portraying life's mandaneness along side a completely mad killer.

97. Galveston by Paul Quarrington - Quarrington is a Canadian novelist I have not read before. This is what I would describe as "quirky" - a group of people are caught in a cat. 5 hurricane in a small resort on a tiny fictitious Caribbean island. There is a connection with the Galveston hurricane of over 100 years ago, but it's a bit odd.
I did find it fairly easy to read, except that he jumps back and forth from the past to the present a bit much - it's a novel best read right through in one or two isttings. I would consider reading another of his.

#237 dihiba: Sounds like another one I will have to put on Continent TBR. If you are at all interested in the Galveston hurricane that pretty much wiped out the island 100 years ago, I would recommend Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson.

98. The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad. A fascinating look at like in Kabul after the fall of the Taliban. Seierstad lived with an Afghan family for 3 months. The lives of the Khan family seem truly desperate compared to our lives in the West, particularly for the women. I have taught a number of Afghanis over the past few years and this book is a great insight into their backgroun

alcottacre and dihiba

After reading many books re. hurricane Katrina, I fear that reading about Galveston will become another obsession. But, I have added Isaac's Strorm to the mountain of books to read...

Just to set your mind at ease, Galveston by Paul Quarrington is not about Galveston! There is a weird connection there...and I don't know why he chose that as a title...but it's about an entirely fictitious hurricane named Claire.

99. Not in the Flesh by Ruth Rendell. The only Insp. Wexford that I hadn't read, so had to read it.
She's still got it!

100. By the Time You Read This by Giles Blunt. Blunt is a Canadian and I hadn't yet sampled his mystery stories. This one is part of his John Cardinal series, set in Algonquin Bay, Ontario (pretty sure this is a thinly disguised North Bay, ON). I wasn't feeling well while reading it, so it was kind of depressing, but his writing is good and it's nice to have all those Canadian references. Fast-paced - dialogue is a bit stilted at times though.

congratulations with an other milestone :-)

Thanks: )
My reading has slowed down a lot...don't think I'll get to 140 as I had hoped. The upside is being gainfully employed!

Congrats on getting to a hundred. You are just plogging along aren't you?! By the way did you ever get around to finishing Mayor of Casterbridge?

No...I gave up on the downloaded version...the book is sitting on my shelf crying from neglect. (I console myself that it would be a re-read, albeit decades later).

Congrats on the 100 book mark, dihiba! (And your gainful employment as well - in spite of losing your reading time)

I am currently reading On Green Dolphin Street thanks to your recommendation and I agree with you, it is very good. Faulks is definitely my kind of writer. Thanks again!

Glad you are enjoying it. I want to read another Faulks before the end of the year - Birdsong will be the likely choice - has been highly recommended. As it is about WWI, I think I should read it around Nov. 11.

#248: Unfortunately, my local library does not have Faulk's trilogy of The Girl at the Lion d'Or, Birdsong, and Charlotte Gray so I am going to have to hunt for them elsewhere.

Also, if you are reading for Veteran's Day, check out the previously recommended The Fatal Englishman, most specifically the section on WWII airman Richard Hillary.

Nov 11th is Remembrance Day here... (Canada)
I will be reciting In Flander's Fields for my Canadian History class! It's hard to do...it's one thing that can make me tear up. Also watching the school's assembly...thinking the soldiers were about the same age as a lot of the students. And many of them come from Iraq and Afghanistan.

100 books read thus far this year! WOW, I am impressed. Congratulations!

#250 dihiba: Sorry, bad assumption on my part - I know, typical American assuming everyone else is, too!

As far as the book goes though, Richard Hillary was not American, he was an Aussie who flew for the RAF during the Battle of Britain and eventually wrote his own experiences of the battle in his book titled The Last Enemy. I have not read that book, just Faulks treatment of Hillary in THe Fatal Englishman.

Good luck with the recitation!

#242
I saw your brief description of By the Time You Read This. It caught my eye because of the reference to North Bay, ON; we head up there every summer. I wasn't quite clear from the Amazon descriptions what the correct reading order of the books in this series is...or does it matter?

TadAD: The correct series order is Forty Words for Sorrow, The Delicate Storm, Blackfly Season, and By the Time You Read This.

Well, I'll give them a try. The French River, which is right across the lake from North Bay, is like a second home.

TadAD, not sure if it matters about the order...this was the first one of his that I'd read. There wasn''t a lot in the book that needed explaining, and anything from his past was explained pretty well.
You probably would recognize things in the series as being set in North Bay - it really seems to be a very thin disguise.

#253 & 256: I had not read any of the books other than By the Time You Read This either, so I had no idea whether the order mattered or not. I own all the books (I bought the prior books after I read By the Time You Read This) - I just have not gotten them off Continent TBR yet!

101. The Senator's Wife by Sue Miller. With only one exception, I have liked Miller's books. I enjoyed this one, and it was a very quick read. Two women are living on either side of a duplex; one is a newly pregnant newlywed and one is an elderly American Senator's wife who has a long-distance marriage with a man who has cheated on her many times. I won't give anything else away but the book goes into regret, forgiveness, bitterness, hope, etc. without getting sentimental.

The Senator's Wife is going on to Continent TBR. Thanks for the review and the recommendation.

102. The Transformation of American Religion by Alan Wolfe.
This was a very compelling book, if a bit slow in spots. Having read Hitchens, Dawkins, and part of Harris, and seeing "Ridigulous" I thought this would be an interesting change.
As a Canadian, I am not all that knowledgeable about US religious practices, other than knowing a sort of survey history.
The most interesting point is that he shows how Americans are not really religious in the sense of dogma and doctrine and liturgy. The old mainline churches, while more liberal are more traditional. The conservative churches offer a different way of worship which is akin to a "personal" relationship with God and Jesus and individualistic.
He points out that Americans are more likely to accept a different religion (i.e. Muslim, Buddhist) in other people than to accept them as atheists.

103. Memento Mori by Muriel Spark. Wish I was able to read this at one sitting - I am so busy these days my reading is becoming disjointed. This is an amusing book about a group of elderly people and I believe it is basically about death. Spark is just one on her own - can't really slot her into any hole!

104. All the Colours of Darkness by Peter Robinson. Robinson's latest in his Insp. Alan Banks series takes us to London and involves the MI5 and MI6 lot - British intelligence and espionage.
Banks narrowly escapes with his life on a couple of occasions and once again, his love life isn't doing so well (may I suggest someone closer to your own age??!!).
A good quick read. Robinson's books zip along - always find that when there's lots of dialogue, and well written dialogue.

Okay, I am way, way behind with this comment but I was just looking over your list and I see that you read a Jemima Shore book back in January. I used to watch the TV show when I was a kid(one of those things that you watched even though your parents may not have approved). It was called Jemima Shore Investigates. I have no idea what year it was made but I know that by the time I was watching it, it was already old.The show has been on my mind all this week and I have been meaning to look for it on DVD. I remember looking for it awhile ago and never finding it. So coming on here and finding that there are books makes me really, really excited.

I had no idea there was a TV show! I will see if my local library has them on DVD.

That's so cool. You guys filled out each others knowledge about these stories. LT and the 75'ers rule!!!!

I've read three of the Jemima Shore books so far: Oxford Blood, Your Royal Hostage and Jemima Shore's First Case and Other Stories and enjoyed them all.

I am definitely adding the Jemima Shore books to Continent TBR, and since there are 10 of them, they ought to keep me busy for a while.

105. Great Tales from English History by Robert Lacey. Thanks, Alcottacre, for recommending this one. What a great little book - short chapters on all the great stories - this one goes up to Richard II.
My local library system does not have Vol. II, drat!
Anyway, for all history lovers, this is a fun and quick read.

Glad you enjoyed the book, dihiba! I hope you can locate the next couple of volumes and enjoy them as well.

I am going to a huge book sale on Sat. - the Unitarians who have a wonderful selection - and most of it is not "lightweight". I am looking forward to it : ) and who knows, I might find more of Lacey's books there.

106. Still "enjoying" this 3-month virus, which comes and goes, am home today. Read The British Museum is Falling Down by David Lodge. I was flummoxed that I had never heard of this writer, but after seeing him mentioned here, Mooched some of his books. The BM is Falling Down is a slim book and a quick read - one day in the life of Adam Appleby who is doing research at the BM and is panicking over his wife's possible 4th pregnancy in as many years. They are practicing Catholics, which leads to all sorts of questions about birth control. Written in 1965.
Lots of absurd situations. Am not sure about Lodge's stand on Catholicism - assume he is/was Catholic. The book is primarily humour, but the subplot about whether or not to conform to Catholic dictates is curious - and in light of my own recent complete "conversion" to a rejection of religion, seems absurd. But it does add to the humour of the book.
I will be reading more of his books.

107. The Founding by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. I have read some of Harrod-Eagles' murder mystery series with Insp. Bill Slider and decided to try her historical fiction - The Founding is the first in her Morland family saga - she has just published the 31st in this series. The Founding begins with the War of the Roses - the 31st is set during WWI (1917).
It took me a while to get through this one but I do think I'll read the 2nd - I have the first 5 in the series. The writing style is straightforward and there is not a lot of historical detail - it is more centered on the Morland family saga - one thing that bothered me was the use of Old Testament names which I believe did not become common until the rise of Protestantism - but I could be wrong on that, although the book Names Through the Ages includes very few for that time period.
That aside though, a nice light read; kind of like a TV mini-series, I think I could get hooked on this book series.

The British Museum is Falling Down has been on Continent TBR for a while now, but my local library has failed me - they do not have it. I feel like they should have every book just for me! (OK, I know it is impossible). Glad to see your review and I do hope to find the book soon.

It sounds like the book series by Cynthia Harrod Eagles is something I would enjoy, so I will have to be on the look out for them.

Thanks for your reviews and recommendations!

Stasia, if you want my copy, I will be glad to send it to you.

Hi dihiba, just checking in to see what you've been reading (it takes me absolutely forever to get around to everyone's threads!). I read some Rendell waaaaaay back, maybe the 80s (?), also some Barbara Vine at the time, but didn't continue with them. I do remember that I enjoyed them.

Is the David Lodge a new novel? My husband is/was a big David Lodge fan - he enjoyed the academic settings in most of them but he has not read the last few (btw, I had a similar conversion, perhaps best described as an evolution out during the 80s and early 90s)

I giggle now when I read that a book is going on one's TBR piles. It is the ultimate compliment but I crack up at the ever-enlarging adjectives attached to "TBR piles" and I have visions of precarious, jenga-like, Alice-in-Wonderland-eske piles of books stretching into the clouds. . .

Now that alcottacre has moved to continent-sized TBR piles, we can expect tectonic activity with books around the edges periodically exploding upward to relieve the stresses below.

Definitely! Pretty soon the cosmos will be shifting as well as move from Continent TBR to Universe TBR.

>271 dihiba: Re: David Lodge. I have read several of David Lodge's books. The best by far is Therapy. I have recently acquired Thinks... which I am hoping will be as good.

- TT

I went through a bit of a David Lodge stage at one point, you're all reviving that interest...

> avaland, The British Museum is Falling Down is one of his oldest, so maybe it's not as easily available any more?

> dihba, although I've read a few, I haven't by any means read all of David Lodge's work, but of what I've read, I actually enjoyed his first novel The Picturegoers the most.... Clearly going to have to read Therapy though!

#274 dihiba: I replied on your profile page. Thanks!

>271 dihiba:, David Lodge *was* Catholic... I'm not entirely sure if he is any more.

How Far Can You Go? is the one to read if you're really interested in the Catholic church in England in the era of the second Vatican Council... that makes it sound really dull. It's not, it's actually very funny, but I found it very interesting re-reading it this year, about 10 years on from when I first read it, and seeing how my thoughts have changed now I know a bit more about the RC church.

Is Therapy the one where the main character walks the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage trail?

I just can't believe I hadn't heard of David Lodge before. I feel so....uninformed...dumb... : )
Well I'm a really lapsed Anglican, let's say, lapsed everything....but I grew up in Catholic Quebec so I know something about it...but it still boggles my little mind. The whole birth control thing, mainly, that was the hot topic in The British Museum is Falling Down (publication date - 1965).
I wonder if there any other British writers I haven't heard of (in the humourous vein, that is)?!

He is really a very British British writer, if you know what I mean. So it's no shame not to have come across him before really!

My parents were British and I like to think I should know *everything* about the ancestral land....obviously I have let the side down : ).
We colonials....

>284 dihiba: it only gets worse:-) those same ancestral lands are now 10 generations ago for me (but speak for yourself on that 'we colonials' thing. We had a war that eradicated the term:-)

chiming in on The British Museum is Falling Down, I too am having difficulty finding this one and I want to read it. My local library assures me that they can obtain it through interlibrary loan. I'm heading there to fill out the paper work this evening. Thanks again for this excellent recommendation. I'm moving it up on the tbr pile.

A friend at work, who is from London, explained that the terms "colonial" and "colony" are patronizing and demeaning. He prefers "British Franchise."

:-)

Avaland, I'm Canadian. The Queen is still our Head of State, though we're not actually a colony anymore : )

Perhaps, "protectorate"?

It's a Constitutional Monarchy - Head of State, the Queen, Head of gov't Prime Minister, Parlimanetary system.
Can you tell I teach History? : )

108. The Hanging in the Hotel by Simon Brett. Brett's murder mystery style leans to the cosy, with his female amateur sleuths being Jude and Carole. Very easy to read, chugs right along. My second in his series.

#290 dihiba: I have never read any of the books by Simon Brett, but they sound like they would be right up my alley. Thanks for mentioning him.

I went to a large sale today which included a room full of books - I picked up "A is for Alibi" - I have never read any of Sue Grafton's. Anyone out there recommend her?

Depends on your reading interests. Her hero, Kinsey Millhone, is a somewhat unusual character around which to set mysteries - she is an insurance investigator. But there is quite a bit of fun and laugh out loud humor. I enjoyed the first one I read - A - but haven't read many more. I have this idea of reading them all through to the end (what she's published so far) some day. I did that with the Scarpetta series from Cornwell and got an interesting perspective on both the stories and her writing; how it changed over time. Anyway, back to the subject. If you like mysteries, you could do worse. Kinsey is a good solid character and the stories are usually pretty well told.

#292: I've read "A" through "R" and have "S" and "T" sitting in paperback in the den. I enjoyed them. There was a period in the middle where they all seemed a bit the same but things started to improve a bit toward the last few.

I've read them through about M, and then got sidetracked into other series. I love Kinsey Millhone because I recognize her home turf, and she's always coming back to her friends and job. I laughed out loud at the reference in one of Sara Paretsky's VI Warshawski novels to how organized Kinsey is, especially compared to VI. Some of the novels did get a bit similar, but I think that's almost inevitable in this type of series. I love the Alex Delaware series, but there are a couple where the plots are almost interchangeable. I still read the novels. So enjoy!

109. The Year 1000 by Robert Lacey. Obviously published as a "millennium project" is a fun little book that looks at life in England in the year 1000. There are even details on the diet of the good old Anglo-Saxons - partly because there are achaeologists that study old - pardon me - turds, both human and animal (imagine putting that on your resume!).

Thanks for the input on David Lodge and Sue Grafton! Always like hearing others' opinions.

I have The Year 1000 on Continent TBR, so I will have to move it up to the top of my staggering stack. I enjoy Lacey's Great Tales series, so I know I will probably like this one just as well.

As far as the archaeologists and their interesting subject matter, you know that they are going to come up with some fancy job title for it, eg "turdologist" or some such nonsense.

I have The Year 1000 on Continent TBR, so I will have to move it up to the top of my staggering stack. I enjoy Lacey's Great Tales series, so I know I will probably like this one just as well.

As far as the archaeologists and their interesting subject matter, you know that they are going to come up with some fancy job title for it, eg "turdologist" or some such nonsense.

110. Rich Deceiver by Gillian White.
This was my first by this author. Ellie is a working-class woman in Liverpool who wins a large amount of money in the pools. She decides to use it secretly to help her down-and-out husband.
I found the plot original and thought-provoking - it brought up issues such as change and the influence of money and values surrounding money. The class system in Britain was taken into account, too.
There is a touch of Ruth Rendell here, but I found White more readable than some of Rendell's darker books. There is a humour too, particularly in a scene near the end, which made me laugh out loud.
The ending had a bit of a twist, which was welcome.
Will be looking for more by White.

Sounds like another good read, Diana. On to Continent TBR it goes!

111. I was about 30 pages into Where or When by Anita Shreve when I realized I'd read it before but by that time I was hooked and since I'd forgotten a lot of it, that was okay!
This book is basically about a man who's life is falling apart and resorts to falling back emotionally on a relationship that he had for one week at camp when he was 14. The girl, now 46, is in a similar situation.
These kind of things usually end in tears, and this one is no exception. Not a happy story, but Shreve's writing almost always keeps me enthralled.
Certainly anyone middle-aged who has gone through a marriage breakdown can relate to this story. It is also a lesson that life is just damned complicated.

What a great review of an interesting book. I've read others of Anita Shreve and liked them. I'll add When or When to my tbr pile.

#302: I will put Where or When on Continent TBR as well. Thanks for the recommendation.

Where or When was my first Anita Shreve. She's my guilty pleasure reading!

I wish I only had one guilty pleasure. It seems that a special level of hell needs to be constructed for me because of all my numerous guilty pleasures - Book Gluttony!!!

blackdogbooks
Here is a scenario to think about

If we merit it, of course, and we do get to "heaven," then when asked "what did you learn from life?", we can all raise our hands and chronicle book after book after book. We then will quickly be guided to a golden room filled with books and we can sit behind a golden desk teaching and directing others to the huge shelves of a bazillion books.
Certainly, Stasia will have a special shelf for her continental pile. Perhaps she will be chief librarian...

>306 blackdogbooks: BDB, No who loves books is going to hell, unless you mean the grave, which unfortunately is the first stop! Here's a thought: God loves books!

- TT

112. The Secret World of the Irish Male by Joseph O'Connor.
This is a collection of columns written by an Irish journalist. I found some of his writing funny, but generally overlaid with bitterness. I found his account of the Irish fans at the World Cup when it was in the USA particularly off-putting.
This writer has talent, but I don't think I would read anything else by him.

>309 dihiba:: oh, please don't write off Joseph O'Connor! Star of the Sea is a fantastic book - one of those rare things that pulls off the trick of having a cast of central characters that is, strictly speaking, too large to keep in your head, and yet you are kept tuned in to all of their stories. I would definitely rate it 4 stars.

*thinks* - hmm, unless it's not the *same* Joseph O'Connor - those hardly being rare names in Ireland....

It does appear he is one and the same - I go to fantasticfiction.com when I want to verify these details (interestingly, he is the brother of Sinead O'Connor - when I read this in passing in his book I thought he was joking - but he is).
I would be willing to give his fiction a try.

113. Home Truths by David Lodge.
My second by Lodge this month (or ever!). This is a short novella about a middle-aged writer who tries to pull a fast one on an interviewer.
Diana, Princess of Wales appears as a character albeit off-stage.
An interesting look at fame, deceit, and the public's interest in famous folk. Very readable.
I see more of Lodge in my future!

> 310 Flossie, I have Star of the Sea and it looks like a really interesting book. Will add it to my 2009 Reading List.

> 313 Dhiba, I recommend Therapy by David Lodge. I recently bought Thinks... but haven't read it yet. Has anyone else read Thinks...?

- TT

114. Grave Mistakes by Margaret Yorke. My second by Yorke - the first earlier this year. Did not enjoy this one as much - found it rather confusing. Cosy vein - small English village, etc., old ladies dying right and left. Couldn't concentrate on it very well last night as a trying day at school yesterday. Student exploded over a cellphone. They should be banned! Anyway...I will read more of Yorkes.

#114: Student exploded over a cellphone. They should be banned!

Students or cellphones?

Hmm...yes, meant to clarify that. Cellphones!!

115. Catwatching by Desmond Morris. Nice little volume of pithy explanations of why cats are the way they are. Morris was quite well known for his books such as The Human Zoo and The Naked Ape several decades ago. I think there was a docu-series based on Catwatching that I remember watching - it was quite fascinating.

Message 313.

I've added your book 113 Home Truths David Lodge to my tbr pile.

I've never heard of him. One of the most fascinating things about this group is how much I'm learning!

By the way, as someone who loves numbers, I cannot help but notice all the threes and the ones in this message....

#310 - Star of the Sea sounds really good, Flossie. It now teeters precariously on top of the giant wishlist pile.

did you see the movie.
that was Fuged up.
how tha little girl.
it make me so mad i cant even talk about it.

>320 Fourpawz2:: Fourpawz, it's one of those slightly eccentric books told in a series of pastiche styles - some straight free-indirect third-person, some journal (if I remember correctly), ship's log, newspaper clippings etc. etc. I really liked it, but then I am also aware that I read it on holiday, when I had the time and space to really relax into it. I can see it being a book you throw down in exasperation pretty quickly if you're not in the right frame of mind (hmm, were back to moody reading.)

>310 FlossieT: Flossie: I bought Star of the Sea a short while ago - it sounds really good. Not on my 2009 reading list, maybe 2010, as I have just read a sea-faring stroy and need to read something completely different a la Monty Python!

- TT

116. Peril at End House by Agatha Christie.
I am trying to reach 120 for this year - right now I seem to be reading light and short books. My job is just too stressful and I am too tired at night to get into anything that requires much thought!
I was amused to read in my Agatha Christie Bedside Companion that in later years she could not remember writing this book.
The plot revolves around a young woman who owns a gloomy house in Cornwall. There have been several attempts on her life. Or so it seems.
Also amusing how the narrative keeps referring to "youth today" (the book was published in 1932) just the way elders do now. Lots of talk of cocaine too.

Ooh, I don't think I remember reading that one, Diana! Sounds fun. I have been totally stalled on my current book and am wondering whether to have a break and pick up something else - sounds like this might be good...

dihiba
There really are days when I am like Agatha Crhistie and don't remember things.
Good luck with reaching 120! You are amazing!

Yeah, I didn't feel so bad about my middle-age memory lapses when I read that!

117. High Island Blues by Ann Cleeves. This is the 8th in her series with George and Molly Palmer-Jones, and the second I have read. In this series, Cleeves manages to combine bird-watching and murders. This one mostly takes place in Texas, although Molly is back in England doing some investigating on the Texas murders. A light read, Cleeves is fairly good at the 'cosy' genre.

118. Brick Lane by Monica Ali. I thought this book was super. It was very readable. The story revolves around Nazneen, who has been brought to England from Bangladesh to be the wife of a man 20 years her senior. They live in Tower Hamlets, London but Nazneen sees very little of the city, let alone England. Eventually she gives birth to three children. Very little of the first half of the book takes place outside of her apartment, and then as her world opens up, we move beyond her flat. Nazneen struggles with integrating herself as a Muslim into a non-Muslim society (although she has little contact with non-Muslims) and learning about the world beyond her small corner.
Ali's book is rich in action and many stories and she can evoke emotion. Sometimes her characters are a little flat - I think she did her best with Nazneen's husband, who comes across as a complicated man with many faults and virtues. I actually felt more sympathy for him, and felt an affection for him, especially as things turns out in the end.
Recommend this one!

Thanks for your thoughts. Looking forward to this one......knew I bought it for a good reason and you have reinforced that!!!

#329: Sounds like another good one I need to add to Continent TBR, Diana. Thanks for the recommendation!

I've had Brick Lane in my house for years. I'll have to dig it out. It sounds really interesting.

I'm adding Brick Lane to my tbr mountain!
Thanks for the great review.

119. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. This was a wonderful book, think it will be in my top picks of 2008. A Booker Prize winner, this story follows a 1956 motor trip of Stevens, a butler, from Oxfordshire to Cornwall, where he is going to meet a Miss Kenton, who had worked with him in Darlington Hall. As he travels he remembers his life at Darlington and his relationship with Miss Kenton. It's a story of devotion and regret, and satisfaction for a job well done. Inspirational, in that the qualities he values have all but disappeared. Frustrating, that his own needs are never really met. Beautifully crafted, with an authentic voice that the movie version was true to (I saw the movie a few months ago - it is one of the most authentic interpretations of a book I have seen).
Highly, highly recommend. Good story. Beautifully written.
Now I have to go out into a snowstorm and try to get to work (no pass for me, teachers have to show up) across town, in a city with a transit strike.
Oh, joy.

> 119 dhiba, I agree with you about The Remains of the Day. I thought the film with Anhony Hopkins as Stephens captured the spirit of the book. A definate re-read!

- TT

I have not that one by Ishiguro, Diana. Thanks for the recommendation. I will have to look for it.

As far as getting to work goes, maybe snowmobile? Ski?

Diana
I hope you made in to work safely.
Thanks for your recommendation of The Remains of the Day. I started to read this a few months ago and had to get it back to the library before I finished.
I hope to get to the library today and will check it out once again.

Happy Holidays
Linda

Remains of the Day is indeed beautifully written! It's in my Top 5 for 2008.

I made it to work and back okay. There is another storm heading our way Friday and one on Sunday.
School will be out on Fri for the Xmas break - the attendance has already been low due to the transit strike and the weather isn't helping.

Does anyone recommend anything else written by Kazuo Ishiguro?

>339 dihiba:: Diana, for me nothing quite touches Remains of the Day. When We Were Orphans and Never Let Me Go are both good reads, but I didn't find them so perfectly crafted (happy to return your '75ers' favour and post you Orphans if you fancy it though!).

The Unconsoled is just plain weird. It's one of those books I had to read the first 50 pages of about three times before I could get over the 'hump' and finish it. Kind of like The Trial but even more complicated and anxiety-inducing. And it's another doorstop.

I've never read A Pale View of Hills so can't speak to that.

I really liked Never Let Me Go when I read it a couple years ago. But I have to honestly say I don't remember much more about it than that.

dihiba, hope you are holding up okay. We also have a big snowstorm predicted for tomorrow and Sunday night. Come to think of it, it might be courtesy of you Canadians:-) We had ice and snow yesterday also. I don't know how they are plowing the roads with some much brush piled up along the roads.

I liked Brick Lane quite a lot when I read it a few years ago.

>340 FlossieT: I second Flossie's opinion that The Unconsoled was weird. I thought When We Were Orphans was also inferior. Ishiguro wrote one perfect book The Remains of the Day and has been living off the fame ever since. Good luck to him.

- TT

Avaland, a lot of our snowstorms in this part of Canada actually come up from the US, via the midwest. You get our Arctic cold though, so all is equal : ).

while the topic is weather, I'll add that we are anticipating a snow/sleet storm in NE Pennsylvania this evening. I know I'm feeling old when I call my daughter after hearing the weather forecast and ask her to please be careful while driving, especially with my five year old grand daughter strapped in the car seat in the back seat.
My grandmother always called me before a storm. And now I'm simply becoming more and more like her.. I think that is a good thing actually, though my daughter simply sighs and says "mom!"

I'm loving the precision of the weather forecast: 5" of snow, but maybe 12"...starting at 7:00 a.m., but maybe not until noon.

TadAD
Thanks for the laugh!

#346: I guess it is better than the forecast we get in Texas during the summer: Hot. As if we needed a weatherman to tell us that!

We are just missing a huge storm today that will hit southern Ontario - probably the same system you're getting, Whisper. Apparently we're getting a good wallop on Sunday, though.

All these snow storms sound very exciting from over here (UK), where we never get anything quite so dramatic, but I'm guessing they're actually not much fun at all! Hope everyone stays safe.

It's quite a coincidence, all these discussions about Kazuo Ishiguro - we were just discussing his stuff in the office at work... I've only read Never Let Me Go - I disliked the story (and it's not actually very original), but felt that that wasn't really the point of the book - and I was completely gripped the whole way through - I think he writes very evocatively (is that a word?!) and keep meaning to read The Remains of The Day and When We Were Orphans, but never quite get around to it... Sounds like it would be best to start with the latter, so I'm not disappointed after the former!

2" and still coming down hard (in northern NJ). The "start at noon" forecast was more accurate.

Dogs and humans just had a snowball fight.

And it's cold in Los Angeles--there's snow on the hills, and the daily temperature's hovering around 55 to 60 degrees. ;-)

That's cold?!!!! ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha (wiping tear from eye)

TadAd
"Dogs and humans just had a snowball fight" sounds like a good title for a book...
I think I'll mention this to TT who promises to write a book.

I'm wondering who won....

It is a good day to stay inside. There is lots of snow and an icy wintery mix on the ground. A good night to read...

120. Princess Margaret: A Life Unravelled by Tim Heald.
This book was a hoot. Heald's writing style is unique and very funny (dry). It didn't gloss over PM's (as she is referred to) shortcomings, nor did it paint her as the selfish society snob that others have portrayed her to have been.
What I enjoyed most about the book were the footnotes, which appeared on most pages. The author footnoted almost everyone he mentions, e.g.:
1 The Countess of Halifax, nee Onslow (1885-1976). Much-loved matriarch who met her husband in the refreshment room at Berwick-on-Tweed railway staton en route to a ball in Kelso.
2 Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (1909-2004). Like mother, symbol of robust bicycling independence but sometimes overshadowed by domineering German husband, Bernhard.

The book was published in '07 so is up to date and gives a perspective on Margaret's legacy after (she died in 2002).
Recommended to royaltyphiles and anyone who likes an entertaining bio.

sounds good, I'll be waiting for the translation ;-)

Princess Margaret: A life unravelled looks awesome--putting it on my wishlist.

I wasn't expecting it to be so amusing, droll, witty!
It helps if you appreciate dry British humour... (for instance, when referring to the photographer Cecil Beaton he calls him "the feline Cecil Beaton" instead of catty). Book has lots of good photos too. A bio without photos is a waste of paper, IMHO!

I've surpassed my revised goal of 120 for this year - my original goal after passing 75 was 140 but with fulltime employment rearing its tempting head in September I knew I wouldn't make it to 140. Here's 121:

121. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
I read this only because I saw it recommended here - and I loved it! Sat down with it last night after a long day of Xmas preparations and zipped right through it. What a delight. Especially fun after reading the book on Princess Margaret - some of the same people are mentioned, including Cecil Beaton! Also tickled with her visit to Canada and her books ending up in Calgary!
I recommend this to anyone who likes clever writing that is not caustic - one feels quite affectionate towards the Queen after reading this (I wonder how much she does read!).

Hi dihiba
Happy Holiday to you!
I've learned to trust your judgment in books. You have recommended so many wonderful ones this year. I'm adding your two recent additions to my to be read early in 2009 list.

Take care!

Thanks Whisper!
Happy Holidays to you too, and all the 75ers!
If you have read my comments on God is Not Great and The God Delusion you'll know I'm not religious but I am all for celebrating the pagan ritual of the winter solstice. And it is certainly winter-solsticing out there in this part of the world. For the first time since 1971 the whole vast country of Canada is having a White Xmas (including Vancouver, Victoria, and the Niagara Peninsula, the banana belts of the country). I may not even get out to my boyfriend's for Xmas Eve as "they" are calling for snow, ice pellets, freezing rain, and rain.
Ah....I love this climate. Really. I do.

Hopefully you won't be spending Xmas Eve alone....

Happy reading over the holiday break.

My husband read God is Not Great and was so enthralled with it that he kept reading passages to me.

I'll see if I can obtain a copy of The God Delusion for him.

All good wishes for a happy and healthy 2009!

122. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.
An interesting book - author talks about at what point do human activities change into a mass movement. The point about NYC cleaning up its crime problem by starting with cleaning up the graffiti and dealing with fare-jumpers in the subway was fascinating. While I was reading the book, Gladwell came on the radio, which was kind of freaky.
I am looking forward to reading Outliers.

Help with Famous last word by Timothy Findley

Can somebody that has read the famous last words by Timothy Findley please help me...i need help understanding the book
my Question is

What happened to Wallis and the Duke in the end of the novel? the only thing i could understand was that they were on the boat waiting for the submarine that has already been canceled and Wallis realizes that it was not going to show up-and the next thing i read is that they are on an island...i dont know where the island was and how they got there...the book says they lived there....how did they survive on the island(?).
and also where were they going to be heading had it been that the submarine showed up?...how will their running away help anybody?...who was the present king and queen as the duke(David) declined from being king? and who was his father..was his father Edward Allenby?

Help please
THANK ALOT:)

One last book for 2008: 123. A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton.