Mountaineering Mt TBR with Peace2 in 2020 part 2

Esto es una continuación del tema Mountaineering Mt TBR with Peace2 in 2020.

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CharlasThe Green Dragon

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Mountaineering Mt TBR with Peace2 in 2020 part 2

1Peace2
mayo 21, 2020, 3:04 am

A new thread for May onwards. If my book completion rates continues as it has done to this point (which I doubt) I'll end up with three threads for this year but if as is more likely based on current evidence my finishing of books, there should safely be enough for two.

It's not that my reading rate has slowed, it's that I've now finished the re-read of all the comic collections ready for donation to a friend who would like to try them (I wonder if she realised just how many there would be - I did say a box, so I'm considering her forewarned). I'm now tackling some of the doorstops that have been 'on the shelf' (read in a box/drawer/bag/shelf/cupboard - the shelf refers to my LT shelf which has an infinite amount of space unlike my actual home!) for years and alternating them with lighter weight (in mass if not in content for the sake of my arms), so they are taking longer to get through. I managed 37 books in each of February, March and April but they included comic books and National Geographic magazines. I only have one Nat Geo left and the very few shops that I've been in since lockdown don't stock them in their magazine section. Both supermarkets that I used before did, but they are not on my radar now at all due to massive queues (even taking into account the social distancing measures - speaking to friends who are still using them they regularly queue for an hour or more just to get in - even in lockdown I have better things to do with my time than spend that long shopping in supermarkets). There's nothing that I can't manage without.

So with fingers crossed, I will get a chance later today to come and post about May's actual reading.

2Peace2
mayo 21, 2020, 3:04 am

A new thread for May onwards. If my book completion rates continues as it has done to this point (which I doubt) I'll end up with three threads for this year but if as is more likely based on current evidence my finishing of books, there should safely be enough for two.

It's not that my reading rate has slowed, it's that I've now finished the re-read of all the comic collections ready for donation to a friend who would like to try them (I wonder if she realised just how many there would be - I did say a box, so I'm considering her forewarned). I'm now tackling some of the doorstops that have been 'on the shelf' (read in a box/drawer/bag/shelf/cupboard - the shelf refers to my LT shelf which has an infinite amount of space unlike my actual home!) for years and alternating them with lighter weight (in mass if not in content for the sake of my arms), so they are taking longer to get through. I managed 37 books in each of February, March and April but they included comic books and National Geographic magazines. I only have one Nat Geo left and the very few shops that I've been in since lockdown don't stock them in their magazine section. Both supermarkets that I used before did, but they are not on my radar now at all due to massive queues (even taking into account the social distancing measures - speaking to friends who are still using them they regularly queue for an hour or more just to get in - even in lockdown I have better things to do with my time than spend that long shopping in supermarkets). There's nothing that I can't manage without.

So with fingers crossed, I will get a chance later today to come and post about May's actual reading.

3pgmcc
mayo 21, 2020, 4:01 am

Happy New Thread!

Yay!

4Sakerfalcon
mayo 21, 2020, 5:56 am

Happy new thread! I hope you will have many great books to tell us about.

5Peace2
Editado: mayo 22, 2020, 2:54 am

Welcome to pgmcc and Sakerfalcon.

May Book #1 Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Proof I'm tackling some of the doorstep size books! So this book has been on my shelf since 2008 so definitely one off the TBR pile (just hope it was not too significant a foundation resulting in subsequent avalanche in the near future). A comment by someone else lead me to read Anthem at the time and like it and so I thought I would try another. I was unaware of Ayn Rand's philosophical beliefs at the time and so read Anthem as a short dystopic story without a specific history bound in with it. When this arrived I was disconcerted by its size and that is a big part of the reason it has sat on the shelf for so long - it was over 1000 pages of very tiny and closely spaced type. I came to the conclusion in April that I was going to have to either decide that it was going out or try to tackle it because it wasn't getting any easier to read given the type.

First thought on finishing, way way too long, it definitely would have benefitted from hefty editing (I seem to be saying that about quite a few books of late - maybe long books just don't suit me any more) and there were several points at which I was very tempted to give up because nothing was happening and no progress was being made.

Second, I didn't give up and the reason was that it was interesting seeing the beliefs played out - the potential route they could lead down without being balanced by a more moderate or even an opposing belief.

So overall, some interesting ideas to look at wrapped up in a lot more words and a lot less action than would make for what I personally enjoy reading. As with books like Brave New world and 1984, they are interesting to consider, throw out some frightening prospects of how things could go and generally leave one hoping that we don't follow a certain path in its entirety.

I will be donating this one after lockdown, because having struggled through the type once, I won't be doing so again.

6Peace2
mayo 22, 2020, 2:37 am

May Book #2 The Wizard of Boland by BB

This it turns out was the sequel to another book but really that didn't matter because it stood on its own. This was a short children's book that again has been on my shelf for at least six years (I logged it here in 2014).

The Wizard is rather unpleasant and grumpy and lives on the edge of the nearby woods not far from the village. Most of his spells only seem to work by luck (he thinks nothing of taking money from the villagers to bring rain or effect the birth of children and so on - but then if no rain comes or they get the wrong type of baby, he blames it on them saying they hadn't paid him enough for a good spell). He also decides to get rid of one of the children from the village who he doesn't like - she eventually washes away into the wood during a flood but he happens across her again when he has to run away from angry villagers.

Living in the woods are some gnomes who mine and unintentionally uncover a dragon. The wizard and the dragon cross paths.

A quick read, nothing too exciting and some outdated attitudes.

7Peace2
mayo 22, 2020, 2:53 am

May Book #3 Red Notice by Bill Browder

A red notice is the Russian equivalent to an Interpol order passed to other countries to request that a known/suspected criminal be detained if passing their border and subjected to an extradition request to be deported back to the country placing the request for trial.

This is an autobiography of one American's rise in the world of hedge fund operations and investment finance in Russia. The early part of the book deals with his early career in the US and how his interest in Russia as a potential area for investment and profit grew. He then explains how he moved operations to Russia and began his search for outside investors. The book details the search for investment opportunities, some of the unusual arrangements he uncovered in the process and then how he began to uncover dubious and blatantly illegal trading and the steps he took, bringing him into conflict with initially some of the Russian oligarchs.

Increasingly as it progresses the book, the author comes into conflict with the Russian political system and specific political figures.

It was interesting, worrying to think that some of the events in the book can take place in this day and age. The author keeps quite a fast pace in his writing. Without any significant knowledge of Investment Finance, I wasn't completely grasping how things should work but for the most part he kept his explanations in a language that was accessible to the lay person.

8Peace2
mayo 26, 2020, 2:37 am

May Book #4 Dead Over Heels by MaryJanice Davidson

A collection of short stories. I originally acquired this because one of the short stories is part of the Betsy the Vampire Queen series. Back when that series came out first, I used to enjoy it. I've read the few that were remaining on my shelf waiting to be read over the last couple of years with this being the final one in my possession - I've lost my enthusiasm for the series although there is nothing drastically the matter - just the idea of a shopaholic vampire queen no longer appeals. The other stories were also fine and I was able to follow them sufficiently for the purpose of each story despite not having read others in their series.

May Book #5 The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Back when I was in College, I have a recollection of reading The Castle by Kafka, although I remember nothing about it now - I was writing a study on The Gormenghast Trilogy at the time and that was the reason I had picked both it and The Castle of Otranto but it was a very long time ago now and I can't remember the Kafka.

A young man, Gregor, wakes one morning to find he has transformed into a large insect and duly can't go to work (or even leave his room).

The book is about the family as they live in their apartment. Up to the beginning of the story, the family have relied on the son's income as a travelling salesman, now that income is in jeopardy.

It's a strange book, which I listened to as just a quick audio loan while it's been available on Audible Stories. There seem to be a lot of different ways of looking at the story - the isolation and alienation felt by the main character, the change (metamorphosis) of the rest of the family as a result of his becoming an insect, the reality of Gregor's situation (is he really an insect or ...) . I can't say I enjoyed it, but it provoked some thoughts while reading which is never a bad thing.

9Peace2
mayo 26, 2020, 2:47 am

May Book #6 Circe by Madeline Miller

In Homer's The Odyssey Circe is an evil witch who lives on an island and turns intruders into swine. This retells the Circe's story from childhood onward, so that we know who she 'really' is. In Miller's world, we are introduced to a young Circe who doesn't fit with the other nymphs, the introduction goes on for a while as we see Circe alongside the gods and other mythical beings. She becomes far more relatable as we see her motivations and actions/interactions.

She disregards rulings of the gods and finds herself banished by way of punishment to her island. As the story is told from her perspective, we get far more insight and give far more sympathy to her for her actions. Eventually her path crosses with Odysseus.

The familiar myths are there to be seen and compared but the perspective is different. Overall I liked the idea and most of the writing and am glad I gave this a try.

10pgmcc
mayo 26, 2020, 8:06 am

>8 Peace2:
The Metamorphosis is a book I really enjoyed. I was a management consultant at the time and was giving courses on Change Management. I used The Metamorphosis as pre-reading for the course. It got the participants thinking about how "The Change" affected everyone.

I loved The Castle. It was a fantastic tale of one man's struggle against the establishment. Kafka had me feeling exactly the way the main character was feeling in the story. At one point I was feeling very frustrated and lethargic and was going to dump the book. Then I realised I was feeling exactly the way the character would be feeling at that point in the story. In the next page something positive happened which gave rise to hope and excitement. I was elated.

11clamairy
Editado: mayo 26, 2020, 9:34 am

>9 Peace2: I don't remember much about The Metamorphosis other than being horrified, but I was probably 18 or 19 when I read it. Circe was one of my favorites from last year. Glad you enjoyed it!

12Peace2
mayo 26, 2020, 1:03 pm

>10 pgmcc: I'm not sure what I'd be expecting of Change Management course that asked me to read that in advance! I intend to try and find The Castle again at some point, as I have no real recollection beyond borrowing a copy when I was in college - I can't even remember whether I read the whole or just part to see if it was going to be of use (bearing in mind all the other things I had to read at the time I was probably making snap judgements on 'optional' extras if they didn't immediately seem pertinent.

>11 clamairy: I understand your reaction - bugs in general are something I avoid, but given its fame combined with its length, I figured I should give it a try. Glad you liked Circe also.

13pgmcc
mayo 26, 2020, 2:52 pm

>12 Peace2:
On a lecture on Corporate Knowledge I included The Midwich Cuckoos, Neuromancer, and Locutus The Borg.

14Peace2
mayo 26, 2020, 5:12 pm

>13 pgmcc: I've not read any of those, but I'm curious now. :D

15Peace2
mayo 26, 2020, 5:21 pm

May Book #7 Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

This has been on my shelf for 6 years waiting to be read. Given its fame a while back, I did know one element of the plot before I started. It was a struggle to make it through as I wasn't really enjoying it and as the book progressed I came to the conclusion that I really really didn't like the principal characters and in actual fact wasn't even that keen on any of the subsidiary characters.

I was glad to get to the end and be able to put the book in a bag to go to someone else. Overall, I guess it was quite a clever plot idea, but I didn't like the delivery.

16Peace2
mayo 26, 2020, 5:36 pm

May Books #8 and #15 Lords of the Bow and Bones of the Hills by Conn Iggulden

The second and third part of the the Conqueror series. In these two Genghis Khan continues to grow his army and invade China and then the Middle East. As mentioned by pilgrim when I had not long completed the first in the series, the author has taken liberties with known historical facts. As a piece of fiction, it's quite pacy, at times bloody (lots of battles and slaughtering), it evokes a time period and the places that events were taking place in. Even knowing that it's not accurate historically, I still enjoyed them as a piece of fiction. I have the final two books on the shelf, so I will continue with the stories.

May Book #9 Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce

A classic children's book. Tom is staying with his aunt and uncle in their flat while his brother is home sick with measles. Late at night, Tom wakes to hear the grandfather clock downstairs strike thirteen and goes downstairs to investigate. He finds the back door ajar and peering out he sees a garden where there is no garden during the day. Over the following week, each night Tom visits the garden eventually meeting a young girl, Hatty, with whom he makes friends.

17pgmcc
mayo 26, 2020, 5:38 pm

>15 Peace2:
I read this and felt the author must never have met a nice person in their entire life; not a single likeable character in the whole book. The book was compulsive but I will never read a book by Flynn again.

18Peace2
mayo 26, 2020, 6:01 pm

>17 pgmcc: I agree wholeheartedly about the characters and the never reading another book by her again. Not my cup of tea at all!

19Peace2
mayo 27, 2020, 1:40 am

May Book #10 The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

The book is the first in a series and that in part probably accounts for some of the problems I had with it. It's a fantasy series with a magic system based on drafting colours. Most magic users have a limited colour range in which they could work and the colour influenced the type of magic they could produce. It seemed complicated. There were multiple central characters whose threads of the story needed to be followed. So many threads gave the impression of not a lot of forward movement in parts of the book for the amount of of pages covered.

Since finishing the book, I saw a review comparing it with Brandon Sanderson's Allomancy in the Mistborn series in terms of the complexity of the magic system. Speaking personally Sanderson's system made a lot more sense to me. Although I was interested and I do want to read on, a big part of me has reservations about the complications of the book and whether I am going to truly enjoy the sequels. We shall see.

20Peace2
Sep 9, 2020, 8:50 pm

Clearly my comment in May about possibly needing three threads based on the amount of books I was getting through was a jinx as it's been so long since I had time & energy at the same time to post that I had to do a search for my thread using the 'started by you'.

For my own purposes of remembering what I've read (and what it was about/what I thought of it) I am going to try and slowly fill in the missing months but given that is probably just over 100 books (a lot of them in audio format before anyone thinks I have been sitting here doing nothing but reading!) I shall clump the books together and comments may be short (depending on how taken with the book I was and how much I remember).

I have discovered that I can listen to certain audio books (nothing too complex) while I work from home depending on what I'm doing - there are certain more repetitive tasks that take concentration to get them right but not a lot of complex thought. There are other tasks where even music in the background is a distraction I prefer not to have (and given I'm on my own - hey guess what - I get it). There are ups to this working from home business along with the downs (I'm listening to so many audio books so I don't start talking and arguing with myself! I always thought I liked my own company but there comes a time when... I like other people's even more). Don't see this as a complaint, I'm enjoying my work (most of the time), there's plenty of it (at times a bit too much), which I am hoping will keep my position secure for a while yet (a blessing in these days that I really do appreciate) and while I've been embarking on some significant projects around the house most of which were planned before all of this, I'm appreciating that even the bits in need of decoration or having work done are mostly comfortable and broadly to my taste (or at least to what my taste was the last time I decorated). I've heard from colleagues who moved to less comfortable accommodations round about Christmas as they'd decided to save money to go travelling and thought a three or four months in something not quite as nice would be worth it to blow it all on some serious adventures. Now they're stuck there for longer with no signs of adventure for a while (although if the situation doesn't improve soon, they'll probably end up able to afford round the world cruises in the best suites).

I also have enough books to last me for (at last count) about 12 years - although I ran out of books that I wanted to listen to from the library online collection and so in February I did get an Audible subscription which I then upgraded in June (eek!) as my listening was far surpassing the original quota.

My reading has been quite varied over the intervening months - crime, true crime, science fiction, fantasy, history, geopolitics, classics, biographical writing (is it a biography if it is only about a short period in someone's life - more of a memoir maybe of particular events), historical fiction, other non-fiction subjects and some children's books. Quite a journey from murders on Holy Island off the North East coast of England, to Rapa Nui and its history, via fictional events in Goblecki Tepe and actual events on the Appalachian Trail (or bits of it) to the moon and onward to the far reaches of space.

I've gained a new appreciation of just how much there is out there to read and how there really is something for everyone if only they have the time to look (and possibly someone to guide them).

I've also crocheted two blankets and part of a scarf ( it's only part of a scarf because I ran out of the colour I was using and so now need to figure out a way of firstly adding a second colour to both ends and secondly finding a colour that would go with it) and decorated the bedroom.

21Peace2
Sep 27, 2020, 4:44 am

May Book #11 The Losers Book Two by Andy Diggle

This was a re-read and I was as frustrated by it this time as last - I've given it away.

May Book #12 The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee

The thing with Tanith Lee is you either love a book or you really don't, I find. I read this over ten years ago - I couldn't put an exact date on it as it's well before my joining LT but I have it listed as being in my catalogue as 'acquired in 2011 or before' and suspect it is probably in excess of 20 years and I remember really enjoying it. I re-read it and there is still something that really does work for me. The story is set in a future world, where society's boundaries between the rich and the poor is marked. Jane is 16, from a very wealthy background, but her mother has little time for her but gives her money and dictates what she should look like and aim for and her friends are mostly self-obsessed - one wants to be an actress and the world is ending whenever she doesn't get the part or review she wants, a brother and sister who like to cause trouble for other people and so on. Out one day, Jane sees a 'robot', part of a marketing project. At first she is alternately fascinated and horrified by the humanity of the robot, Silver. Gradually she becomes obsessed with him and needs to 'have' him.

She plots with her friends to obtain Silver - selling off all the things her mother has decorated her room with, getting an older friend to actually buy him because she isn't old enough - and then she runs away with him to live in the City in a rundown apartment.

The story has elements of romance, of growing up, of fighting back against the 'norms', of other people's expectations and demands and of betrayal. It's intricate and I found myself sinking into the world, even when I couldn't put a finger on why or how the world had developed as it had. There is heartbreak in there too.

I discovered since I last read this that there is a sequel 'Metallic Love' - this too has been on my shelf but unread since 2006 according to Amazon. I hope to get to it shortly. LT lists a third sequel (with only one member having it) but I haven't been able to find that on Amazon or BD so suspect I will never locate that.

May Book #14 Easter Island's Silent Sentinels: The Sculpture and Architecture of Rapa Nui by Kenneth Treister

An interesting look at some of the history of the island of Rapa Nui. More than just the Moai, for which the island is very famous. The thing with reading/watching histories of Rapa Nui is that there seem to be two belief camps with regard to what actually happened there - did the people of the island literally chop down every tree and then struggle to survive, did something happen which meant they chopped down the trees to escape the island or was there some kind of ecological crisis that lead to the demise of much of the local flora. This book was interesting for the look it gave into some of the other human features of the island - it was more than just a book about the Moai.

22Peace2
Sep 27, 2020, 5:15 am

May Book #16 Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith

A crime thriller set initially in Soviet-Era Moscow.

I struggled with this one - I'm not sure whether it was my mood at the time or the book, but it was a struggle to finish and I had a couple more later in the series, but decided to give them all away together.

May Book #17 Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander

The fourth in a series of children's fantasy following the life and adventures of Taran. Taran is searching for some greater meaning to his own existence in the hope of finding that he is more than just an Assistant Pig-Keeper. Although not the last book in the series (there is one more as far as I know), I will be stopping here, because I don't have the final book and I didn't enjoy this one enough to go hunting. To be fair, I am not the target demographic, but at this point, the books feel too familiar and repetitive (although this one included fewer of the companions and focused more directly on just Taran).

May Books #13, 18 and 20 Priestess of the White, Last of the Wilds and Voice of the Gods by Trudi Canavan (collectively The Age of the Five Trilogy

I read some Trudi Canavan years ago and enjoyed it - in the intervening time, I have acquired a number of her books (whole sets of them) and not had chance to read them. Unfortunately that sort of meant there was a lot riding on these, my expectations were possibly too high and I found them a bit of a disappointment.

The story begins with Auraya, a young woman with gifts, she has received some tutoring from Leiard who was a Dream weaver but then is invited to join the Circlian. The Dreamweavers and Circlians are at odds with the former being persecuted for their lack of belief in the gods, whereas the latter are more of a ruling priesthood. Auraya rises through the ranks to become one of the Five - the five chief priest/priestesses who are granted immortality for their service to the Gods.

A third group, the Pentadrians rule in the south and their rulers are powerful and ruthless sorcerors. Their Gods are different to those of the Circlians.

While initially Auraya had been working on developing more understanding between the Circlians and the Dreamweavers hoping to learn from each other's skills as well as reducing the friction between the factions, eventually she is drawn into the growing war with the South.

The plot has lots of threads that draw together, but somehow I just couldn't quite immerse myself into the book properly and found myself on a journey to get to the end rather than a journey into the world Canavan created. A shame and a disappointment and now I find myself eyeing the other sets on the shelf and wondering do I even try them?

23Peace2
Sep 27, 2020, 6:01 am

May Book #19 Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading by Lucy Mangan

I really enjoyed this, the author was clearly a child after my own heart. I think this is the kind of book that you would need to be in the rough ball park of the author's age to truly appreciate this - looking at her author page, she is five years younger than me (although there are plenty of forever classics that maybe it would have wider appeal).

The author follows her reading from early childhood through to her teens, detailing significant books and her thoughts and opinions on them. I found a lot of overlap in the books we'd read growing up and the reaction of other people to her reading made me smile in finding a kindred spirit. I didn't always agree with her thoughts on the books - she loved some I hated and vice versa, but I won't hold it against her. This lifted my spirits and I really enjoyed the audible version read by the author.

May Book #21 My Friend Anna: The True Story of the Fake Heiress of New York City by Rachel DeLoache Williams

I had a vague recollection of having heard something about this in the news. Anna Delvey formed friendships and convinced everyone that she was an heiress with lots of money. She would invite her new friends to parties and on holidays and then suddenly her credit card wouldn't work or she would be waiting for her parents to transfer her allowance and someone else would have to pay.

Rachel, author of the book, was taken in and things took a marked turn for the worse on a trip to Morocco - a luxury villa in a top hotel, personal guided tours all of which Anna had been going to pay for, but suddenly they end up on Rachel's credit card and her work credit card when her personal one becomes maxed out. Rachel finds herself in a battle with both Anna in an attempt to retrieve the money and with Amex as her debt spirals and she finds herself unable to pay in time. I was amazed at how little was made in the book of the use of the work credit card!

Eventually her actions catch up with her, with a number of top restaurants and hotels in New York all seeking Anna for her debts and Rachel finds herself involved with helping the police track Anna down .

Interesting, disturbing - I did have certain questions about the kind of person Rachel herself was that she was expecting not to have pay for some of the things at all in advance of Anna suddenly defaulting. Makes you wonder who you can trust!

May Book #22 The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

A children's book - based on the idea of fairy tale characters going to school to be better at what they have to do in their tales. Certain individuals from neighbouring villages are selected to go the School for Good and Evil along with those who come from pedigree families who are already filling those roles, where they are separated into those who are going to be good and those who aren't. Witches, werewolves, trolls etc are all trained to live up to being the bad guys in the fairy tales we're familiar with, but with the added caveat that they've got to train to be better than the ones in the fairy tales because they need to succeed. Meanwhile, the good characters are being trained to overcome.

In some respects the premise seemed like a fun idea and suggested lots of potential, but somehow for me the delivery fell short. Agatha and Sophie are plucked from their village and taken off to the school, but much to Sophie's horror and disgust they are put into the wrong classes, for Sophie has always known she's destined to be a princess and how could Agatha be anything but a witch and evil. I didn't enjoy the book and couldn't really get into it, but I also found myself on a separate level torn by the tropes - Sophie's opinion that she should be the princess because she is pretty and well mannered and likes nice clothes and that Agatha is none of those things. Agatha however is loyal and steadfast, she wants to go home and not have to be good or evil and she doesn't want to be made into something she isn't - a pretty princess. On the one hand it's good that the book challenges the tropes of pretty=good and ugly =bad, but does it really when the other princesses who are 'good' also don't like Agatha because she doesn't fit in with them, or when the villain classes involve a class on making yourself ugly or when if your parents were evil, then you have to be evil too? Or am I just picking fault in a kid's book and reading too much into it?

That's my May reading accounted for - only June - September left to catch up on!

24Sakerfalcon
Editado: Sep 28, 2020, 5:06 am

>21 Peace2: The silver metal lover has long been a favourite of mine. My cats, Jason and Medea, were named for the twins in the book! I'm not a fan of romances but the world, characters and themes in the story are so compelling.

>22 Peace2: I enjoyed the sections of Gorky Park that were set in Moscow, but lost interest when the plot moved to America. I wish the story could have been resolved without that, making the plot tighter.

I was similarly underwhelmed by the Age of the Five trilogy. I strongly disliked Auraya's relationship with Leiard, it just seemed creepy to me and I guessed the major twist at the heart of the series long before it was revealed.

>23 Peace2: I had the same issues with School of good and evil as you did, about how effective it was at challenging the cliches and tropes of good and evil. So it's not just you!

Bookworm is on my TBR pile, I really must move it to the top!

25pgmcc
Sep 28, 2020, 6:39 am

>24 Sakerfalcon: I enjoyed the sections of Gorky Park that were set in Moscow, but lost interest when the plot moved to America. I wish the story could have been resolved without that, making the plot tighter.

I felt exactly the same way when I read it many years ago. I thought the story had ended and was wondering why there were so many pages left in the book. The last part was superfluous to requirements.

26Majel-Susan
Sep 28, 2020, 8:39 pm

>22 Peace2: I read The Chronicles of Prydain earlier this year, too, and I know what you mean about not being the target demographic and the books feeling repetitive. However, I did like the development that Taran made in Taran Wanderer, particularly when, in wanting to leave Craddoc to die, he was forced to question the kind of person he was. Aside from that, though, I was absolutely tickled by Taran's parentage drama — it was so like in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017). I don't know if you watch those movies, of course... but, haha, it was crazy!

The last Chronicles of Prydain book, The High King, was a bit duller than some of the others for me, due to the slightly technical details of their war strategies, etc. But while the final battle was kinda lackluster for me as well, it was the final conclusion afterwards that took me by some surprise: it was appropriate, at the same time as very bittersweet. Don't take it from me, of course. I've heard that the books are heavily inspired by The Lord of the Rings, which I haven't read, and I wouldn't at all be surprised if someone were to tell me that such endings were actually a commonplace trope in fantasy literature.

27Sakerfalcon
Sep 29, 2020, 6:31 am

>25 pgmcc: I'm glad it's not just me who felt that way!

>26 Majel-Susan: The ending of The High King made me cry when I reread it a few years ago! It is very rare for a book to do that to me. The series is based on Welsh mythology, which Tolkien almost certainly would have been aware of, but there are a lot of themes common to many mythologies so it's not surprising there are similarities.

28Majel-Susan
Sep 29, 2020, 12:17 pm

>27 Sakerfalcon: Yes, the ending definitely made an impression on me too; even if I forget most of the series later on, I'm pretty sure I won't be forgetting that last chapter or so!

I've been looking through your reading list and past reviews from this year, Peace2, and I noticed a lot of classics, including my very own favourite, Cyrano de Bergerac. Nice! I plan to be rereading a bunch of 'em old classics again sometime, too.

29Peace2
Sep 30, 2020, 1:43 am

>24 Sakerfalcon: Glad to find someone who loved SML too - enough to name the cats is saying something!

I totally agree with the creepy factor that you mention in Age of Five, that aspect did feel all kinds of wrong. I was disappointed to feel so negative about the rest of the books as well. Have you read anything else? I'm trying to summon the courage to tackle the Kyralia/Black Magician series (it looks like they run into each other to make one big series).

30Peace2
Sep 30, 2020, 1:45 am

>25 pgmcc: I think it may have been my frame of mind that stopped me appreciating at least the beginning of GP, but the comments from yourself and >24 Sakerfalcon: make me disinclined to give it another go at some point in the future.

31Peace2
Sep 30, 2020, 2:01 am

>26 Majel-Susan: and >27 Sakerfalcon: Now I'm not sure whether I should be looking out for the final book in the series and for completionist reasons if nothing else should be giving it a try!

>28 Majel-Susan: I should be honest that the Cyrano de Bergerac I read was not the original but 'a free adaptation' by Martin Crimp. A friend and I were in London (just ahead of the pandemic really beginning to hit) and saw it performed at the National Theatre with James McAvoy (he of X-Men fame - among other numerous credits) in the title role. I bought the script during the interval as I was very taken by it and wanted to read it. Although I was familiar with the general idea of Cyrano, I wasn't expecting the ending which took me very much by surprise. I have no idea how closely or otherwise this version keeps to the original, but would be interested in seeing it again (at some point in the future - not going to happen for a while I guess).

I've caught up on a few classics this year, some that I had read previously albeit many years ago, others were new to me - good to keep the variety going and to keep trying 'new to me' authors/books, even if they aren't actually new.

32Peace2
Sep 30, 2020, 2:45 am

June Book #1 Into the silence by Sarah Pinborough

I had to take a peek to find out what this was about although I thought it was okay at the time, clearly my mind has been too full of late to remember too many specifics. The general gist of the story is that there is an amateur Operatic competition about to take place in Cardiff, unfortunately an alien turns up at the same time. Problems (and pretty graphic and gruesome killings) ensue.

Overall the story was pretty good, the idea of Ianto singing was quite appealing, in parts gruesome but the ending was disappointing.

June Book #2 I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

The first in a series of memoirs detailing the author's life. This particular volume details her childhood to young adulthood. This is not an easy read due to the content, although ultimately it shows her incredible strength of character to overcome all that she does and to have dreams and pursue them. I won't say too much about the specifics, but her life is reflective of a period, a place and prevailing attitudes at the time - I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling that I still have things to learn even if we aren't in quite the same position today. I have some of the latter memoirs but haven't been able to locate a copy of the second one Gather Together in my Name as yet.

June Book #3 The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead

This is a book for children, written from the perspective of the child (if I remember rightly the main character is about 12). Bea's parents separated several years prior to the beginning of the book and at the time they gave her a notebook with a list of things that will not change starting with she is loved by each of her parents. By the time of the story, Bea's dad is planning to marry his boyfriend Jesse and as much as Bea loves Jesse, this marks another change in her life. Throughout she visits a therapist with whom she talks about her concerns and her feelings and who sheds some insight into 'the feelings behind feelings' e.g. anger isn't always anger, sometimes it masks fear and anxiety for example.

The book is fast paced (or at least I found it that way as an adult reading it, although its target demographic would be younger), it felt mostly realistic, Bea is introduced to the idea of a blended family and that while she's always wanted a sister, doesn't mean that the relationship with a sister is going to go smoothly. With the help of therapist and family, she works her way through emotions and events of her own and others, gaining in understanding. In some respects this is an 'ideal', the adults in her life want things to work out, they still love and respect each other although that love is one of friendship now rather than attraction, they have Bea's interests at heart and they aren't outwardly showing their own negative feelings by constantly blaming each other.

33-pilgrim-
Sep 30, 2020, 4:12 am

>31 Peace2: I first read the original Cyrano Dr Bergerac when I was about 14 (in English translation). It is one of my favourites too, and I return to it periodically. It is, to my mind, the perfectly constructed tragedy, with a lot of humour on the way.

I have seen some clips of James McAvoy's performance online, and would love to have seen the full version!

Meanwhile, I keep promising myself a re-read, this time in French!

34Sakerfalcon
Sep 30, 2020, 9:21 am

>29 Peace2: I read the original Black magician trilogy by Canavan which involves many of the usual fantasy tropes - street child has powerful magical gift, is taken to magic school where she is bullied for her humble origins, but her power is stronger than any of theirs. Also another creepy romance, this time between the heroine and the master of the school and a climactic confrontation with dark forces. There's nothing groundbreaking about them if you've read much fantasy already, but they are quick and undemanding reads.

35Majel-Susan
Sep 30, 2020, 1:57 pm

>31 Peace2: I looked up the reviews on the Martin Crimp adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac that you have, on Goodreads, and although not a direct translation, it appears to be more or less faithful to the original play, with the exception of Cyrano's manner of death. (You can read the review here.)

The translation of Cyrano de Bergerac that I own isn't an adaptation, but it isn't a direct translation either, the purpose being to keep the "spirit" of the original French text. I haven't read either of the classic translations (Brian Hooker and Anthony Burgess, I believe), but I absolutely fell in love with the energy that came through the translation that I have, and it's still my favourite of the translations I have read.

I'm not much into rap (which seems to be how Crimp's production read their verses?), but I would love to see Cyrano on stage someday. And definitely, like >33 -pilgrim-:, I need to brush up my French so that I can read the original!

36-pilgrim-
Editado: Sep 30, 2020, 4:03 pm

>35 Majel-Susan: Having read the spoiler in the review that you linked to, I have to say that Crimp appears to have removed the most poignant moment in the whole play.

ETA: I think rap was only used in the specific context of a "rap battle". Compare this official trailer: https://youtu.be/bJOVgVgy0T4

37Majel-Susan
Sep 30, 2020, 5:58 pm

>36 -pilgrim-: True, and not having seen the play, I'm not sure what Crimp replaced it with, but I went looking around and found this post by someone who saw the play, asking questions about the ending. It appears that the adaptation is more different than I was at first thinking. And, haha, I had to look up what a rap battle was.

38Peace2
Oct 1, 2020, 2:47 am

>36 -pilgrim-: and >37 Majel-Susan: It's sounding increasingly like I need to try and find a copy (translated) of the original - I probably could read it in the original French but my brain is tired and maybe a good translation would be interesting.

With regard to the Crimp play, I'm glad I went to see it but I went in with few expectations - not in a bad way. I only had the vaguest gist of the story (probably some of it gleaned from Gerard Depardieu which I don't think I ever made it through) and no idea of the ending what's so ever (because that came as somewhat of a shock when it happened). The play was getting 5* reviews and we saw it on the penultimate night and I'd seen something about how the 'nose' was going to be in mind of Cyrano and the audience. It was a fairly minimal set - nothing that was anything specific, with the addition at times of a couple of chairs. Things like the rap battle were quite something to behold but were also part of the reason that I bought a script during the interval - fast and intricately wordy which combined with the actors' accents left me feeling that I needed to see to appreciate fully as well as hear. It occurs to me that sometimes it's good to go into a theatre without knowing what's going to happen in advance, other times it's good to have a bit of background. Keeps you on your toes if nothing else and also makes you appreciate different aspects of what you're seeing!

39Peace2
Oct 1, 2020, 3:03 am

June Book #4 The Tower by Simon Toyne

This was a re-read of the final part of a trilogy that I read a few years ago (probably just ahead of joining LT). As with when I first read the series, the final part doesn't live up to the start. What begins with a mystery inside a reclusive monastery in Ruin, Turkey, ends with scientists having issues (to put it mildly) with the Hubble Space Station, natural disasters around the world, a spreading plague and significant people converging in a desert and then Gobbleki Teppi is thrown into the mix - oh and a romance just in case we were missing anything. I found it disappointing all told.

June Book #5 Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier

The main character is unhappily married in London, fed up of the profligate living and unfulfilled and so she retires with her children to Cornwall with her children, leaving her husband to continue his partying in the city. As times goes on she hears tales of pirates and thieves causing havoc in the neighbourhood and stealing from her neighbours. One day out for a walk alone,she stumbles across a hidden cove and in it is a pirate ship.

Romantic, exciting, a classic. I loved this.

40-pilgrim-
Oct 1, 2020, 3:41 am

>37 Majel-Susan:, >38 Peace2:

I have no idea what Martin Crimp has done to the play - and having seen a few clips of Jamie MacAvoy as Cyrano I would love to find out -(in a good way) - but the viewer seems to have missed the point - that Christian, by his death, came between Cyrano and Roxane more permanently than he could have if he had lived. They were suited to ("meant for") each other, and Christian was a good man who, when he realised this, would not have stood between them, once he realised that what Roxane loved about him was not him, but the words Cyrano has put into his mouth..

To compare versions further, another thing that I disliked about the Steve Martin version was that it made Christian into the "nice but dim" trope. He is no fool; he just gets tongue-tied. He is a man of action, rather than words.

I thought the rap context is one of the few facets of modern culture where quick-witted facility with words is highly valued, and "street cool" equates well with the dangerous glamour that a soldier had then; so that the choice of how the setting was updated sounded inspired.

I am annoyed to find that I missed a NT live streaming. I was looking forward to those, but in fact their timing in the week meant that I was always too exhausted from the chemo to follow something for 3 hours, on the days they were available.

The only one that I saw was Benedict Cumberbatch in the Frankenstein retelling.

41Majel-Susan
Oct 1, 2020, 8:22 am

>40 -pilgrim-: Christian, by his death, came between Cyrano and Roxane more permanently than he could have if he had lived.

Good point! I hadn't thought of it.

>38 Peace2: Crimp's play still sounds pretty faithful, and I can see how the rhythm of Rostand's poetry would fit well into the rhythm of a rap battle. I know I wouldn't mind taking a peek at Crimp's play sometime!

42Peace2
Oct 3, 2020, 12:08 am

June Book #6 31 Dream Street by Lisa Jewell

Another one that has been on the shelf forever (or it feels like it anyway - record says I acquired it in 2012 but I can't remember where it came from - it looked like a brand new copy).

Generally speaking I guess this could be described as light-hearted, romantic chick lit for the most part. Two neighbours have been living opposite each other for years without speaking. Leah's hoping to marry Amitabh, her boyfriend, but when she suggests it, she discovers he doesn't think of her in quite the same way. Toby was given a house by his absent father as a wedding gift, but his bride left him and he drifted for a while, opening his house up to people who needed a place to stay for minimal rent until they got their lives on a better footing, but now he's stuck with housemates he barely knows and none of them are moving on. The two meet when Toby's oldest housemate collapses outside the house and dies. The deceased housemate left Toby enough money that he could do something with his life or his house and with Leah's help, that's what he begins to do.

With Leah's help, Toby first gets to know his housemates and then to help them, changing his own outlook and aspirations and helping her do the same for herself as well.

It was an okay read, not the kind of thing I read a lot of. I didn't love it and was happy to pass it on to someone who probably enjoyed it more than me, but I enjoyed enough of it to keep going.

June Book #7 The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks

This is the second book in the series following from the Black Prism which I read in May. Characters and story are further developed and it continues logically and smoothly from the earlier book. There were some twists that ensured the book didn't fall into 'entirely predictable' around how certain characters interact. I'm still not completely loving it and I say that in the knowledge that I've been trying to get started on the audio version of the next in the series for the last couple of weeks.

I think one of the problems is when I started Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series, I fell into it and was completely drawn to the characters and the world, but although this is a completely built world, I just haven't fallen into it or attached myself to the characters in the same way - I am reading these, not living them is perhaps the best way to put it and I can't put my finger on why that is.

43Peace2
Oct 3, 2020, 12:34 am

June Book #8 Torchwood: Bay of the Dead by Mark Morris

Zombie Apocalypse Torchwood style - not much more to be said than that. I'm not really a zombie fan, but the book was okay.

June Books # 9 - 12 and 15 The Magic Finger, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr Fox and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl

I'd had a boxed set of these on my shelf for years and with the lockdown in progress and schools closed, I decided to do a quick re-read before passing these on to my niece along with some other children's books that I'm not going to keep any longer.

The Magic Finger - A little girl with a magic finger that metes out justice when she gets angry. The next door family like to hunt for sport but she really doesn't see it that way. Short story with a message.

James and the Giant Peach - an unhappy young boy living with his two aunts who mistreat him (almost all adults in Dahl's book are awful), finds himself on an adventure in a giant peach with some giant insects and other creepy crawlies. I remember hating this as a child just because of not being a fan of the creatures and being able to think of nothing worse than trapped inside a peach with them. In reality, there are interesting bunch of companions each with their own well drawn character - some are self-centred, some shy, some caring etc etc and they do get up to quite some adventures.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - well known story by now I think, five children win the chance to visit the most secretive chocolate factory, that owned by Willy Wonka. Charlie, the last of the five to win his place. As they journey around the factory, each of the children are shown to have a significant character flaw and when the journey is complete, there's only one child left.

Fantastic Mr Fox - Mr Fox is a thief, always stealing supplies from the three local farms. The farmers decide to take action, but Mr Fox, family and friends take action of their own.

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator - I'm not sure I'd ever read this one before as little of it was familiar - maybe I started but didn't finish. This book is, in my opinion, much weaker than its predecessor. The story begins with Charlie, Grandad and Mr Wonka going to fetch the rest of the family from their home to join Charlie in the Factory. A side trip into space causes mayhem before they return to the Factory only for the grandparents to behave in much the same way the children of the first book had. If I had started this before, I can see exactly why I gave it up, it was tedious and I couldn't wait to finish it and move onto something I'd enjoy more.

44YouKneeK
Oct 3, 2020, 7:07 am

>42 Peace2: For what it’s worth, on that Brent Weeks series, the second book was the one I rated highest. I think I enjoyed the series quite a bit more than you have so far, but I never got super attached to the characters either. I liked a couple of them quite a bit, but I think this was one where I read more for the plot than the characters. (My ratings for books 1 through 5 were 4, 5, 4.5, 4.5, and 4 stars respectively.)

>43 Peace2: Some of those books bring back some memories! I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory several times as a child and also watched the 1971 movie a few times. That story really appealed to me when I was young. I know I also read Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, but I think only once, so I guess I must not have been very impressed either. I also remember a teacher reading James and the Giant Peach to us in school, I think it was in second grade.

45Peace2
Oct 4, 2020, 5:02 am

>44 YouKneeK: Part of me is wondering (having started the third book unsuccessfully for the third time) if I should just abandon the series and come back to it later and try again - maybe now isn't the right time. I've been struggling a bit with audios over the last few weeks - I think perhaps my brain is just too full at the moment and my focus isn't there unless I'm really not doing anything but focussing on the book whereas I can normally multi-task and get the cleaning done, or listen while I'm driving. Now I find myself mulling other things over and completely losing track of what I'm listening to.

I'm pretty sure that I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach myself, but the only one I remember a teacher reading was Danny Champion of the World. I've read a bunch of his others when I was teaching, but didn't have personal copies (or have already passed them onto schools for their use).

46Peace2
Oct 4, 2020, 5:13 am

June Book #13 Holy Island by L.J. Ross

A murder mystery set on Holy Island. A gruff chief inspector, DCI Ryan, finds himself drafted in to help solve a crime when a body is found. There are ritualistic features to the murder so an expert in pagan studies is brought in to help. Anna Taylor just happens to have connections to the island as well.

I had mixed feelings about this. The setting was great, it was clearly the start of a series but it threw the reader in and I found myself unpicking and unravelling not just the murder with the characters, but their own histories (and the two main characters have plenty to reveal). I was more uncomfortable with the relationship that rapidly developed between the two of them - it felt improper given the close connection to the case.

Overall, apart from the discomfort around the relationship, I quite enjoyed it.

June Book #14 Our Wartime Parish by Barbara Journeaux

This was a re-read from a few years ago. The book was written by a former colleague's mother and was a description of her life growing up in Occupied Jersey during World War II.

47Peace2
Oct 8, 2020, 1:30 am

June Book #16 This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart

Lucy a young actress is visiting her sister in Corfu for what should be an idyllic holiday. Things take a turn with dolphins, shooting and smugglers to name but a few. I didn't love it but I was sufficiently engaged with it to continue, parts felt far fetched, some parts have dated (it's written in the sixties and so attitudes and actions of the characters would have been contemporary and it's only me reading now that I feel the attitude shift that has occurred in the intervening years). Descriptions of the area show the author's ability to draw a picture in your mind's eye - I could see and feel Corfu.

June Book #17 The Silent Guides by Professor Steve Peters

Not what I was expecting at all and I really didn't like it. A sort of self-help book about how to control negative thoughts and impulses. The book is described as 'understanding and developing the mind throughout life' but I found it heavily focused on childhood and also highly repetitive. Not for me.

June Book #18 The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer

This was maybe not the best time to read this book for me personally. It is the story of a young man's struggle to successfully cope with mental health. The story is disjointed, jumping back and forth in time from the tragedy of his older brother's death when he was younger to his struggle as a young man to live independently and manage a diagnosis of schizophrenia. His family has never moved on from his brother's death, still struggling to cope with their grief and a sense of blame that they feel themselves and/or of others. The story is told from Matthew's point of view as he tries to live independently and the struggle that is to manage every day life, a low paid job and his condition and is interspersed with letters from doctors and people who are supposed to support Matthew. It highlights the failings of the support system for people in situations like Matthew's in the UK. Not an easy read, and despite moments of interspersed humour, it's quite a dark look at the realities of trying to cope alone and without a fully functioning network of support, no matter that some of the support is

48SylviaC
Oct 8, 2020, 10:10 am

I really liked This Rough Magic, and read it several times when I was in my teens and twenties. I suspect though, that like many of her books, it won't have held up well into the twenty-first century.

49Peace2
Oct 11, 2020, 6:13 pm

>48 SylviaC: I'm coming to the conclusion, that I need to rethink how I approach some books and this would be a prime example - written in the 60s against a backdrop of location and wealth, there would have been nothing unduly untoward to a woman smoking and drinking scotch during pregnancy, I don't think (not that I was there to experience as it's both before my time and a different level of society) - reading it with a 2020 set of eyes when smoking is on the decrease across society and it and drinking are frowned upon during pregnancy. It's a reflection of the time and I should prepare myself better for that kind of thing rather than allowing it to throw me out of a book so that I have to work to reengage.

50Peace2
Oct 11, 2020, 7:05 pm

June Book #20 and #24 The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford

I read a book about the Mitford sisters earlier in the year, and among the comments in the book when speaking about Nancy was the fact that she drew on her own experiences of 'society' when writing. These are quite fast paced, witty period pieces and funnily enough having said how often I was thrown out of the book Rough Magic by differences between 'then' and 'now', I didn't seem to have the same problem with this.

June Book #21 Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh

The book is written from the perspective two principal characters - Eddie Flynn is a hotshot lawyer about to take part in a significant case in his increasingly high flying career. Meanwhile, we also spend some time in the head of the actual serial killer whose case is being

As with so many crime novels - this one expects a certain degree of putting to one side what one might expect in reality. Spending time in the head of serial killer to the extent seen here, does leave one feeling a bit out of sorts (not with the urge to go out and follow their example, I hasten to add before anyone wonders!

51SylviaC
Editado: Oct 11, 2020, 10:44 pm

Nancy Mitford's humour is probably what makes her books remain more palatable than Mary Stewart's. Mitford looked at the customs and beliefs that she grew up with, and skewered them with biting satire. She was basically holding them up for us, and saying, "Isn't this ridiculous?" Stewart, on the other hand, used far less humour, and none of it was intended as social commentary. Things just were the way they were, and she wasn't challenging that.

When we read either author's books now, we may feel uncomfortable with the attitudes and behaviours that were acceptable in their times. In Stewart's books we have to either accept or filter out the things we disagree with, which disrupts the flow, interfering with our enjoyment of the plot. We basically create our own social commentary which is separate from the plot, and was never intended by the author. Since Mitford wrote satire, drawing attention to those attitudes and behaviours is the point of the book. We are supposed to question the behaviour of her characters, and the plot is woven around that behaviour.

52Peace2
Oct 13, 2020, 2:59 am

>51 SylviaC: Good point. I hadn't thought of it like that, but seeing it like that makes sense - if I hadn't read and then commented on the books so closely in time, I probably wouldn't even have noticed my personal different reaction to them.

53Peace2
Oct 13, 2020, 3:15 am

June Book #22 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

I listened to the audio version of this book and the author's writing combined with a strong performance by the narrator made this a great listen. I found myself not wanting to stop but to find out where the women's journeys were taking them, how were they intertwined, where would their lives lead. Compelling. I gave it 4 1/2 stars which I haven't done to many this year.

June Book #23 A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

The author recounts his attempts to hike the Appalachian Trail - or bits of it at least. He begins the journey with a school friend with whom he had mostly lost touch in the intervening years. They also embark on the journey with little serious preparation. It's a hike that would test the most solid of friendships, but their friendship at times seems to be the kind that would challenge a Sunday stroll. Bryson's humour at both of their actions after the fact takes some of the harshness of that out. They don't through-hike (and I don't blame them personally) but they walk sections, they reconnect as friends and they both face the challenge and make it and themselves fit together.

54BrokenTune
Editado: Oct 13, 2020, 7:37 am

>53 Peace2: I read Girl, Woman, Other earlier this year, too. And like you, I combined the audio with the text and found it compelling to see how the stories would merge or interact.
A lot of people I know seemed to have been put off by the written style, more specifically the minimalist punctuation, but I thought it was quite fabulous how Evaristo drafted the sentences so that you didn't actually need punctuation much to tell you when to pause.
Tho, generally I am a big fan of punctuation because not every author puts as much thought into how to structure their sentences and make them work like Evaristo did. I'd have balked too if the lack of punctuation was merely the author trying to be "cool".

55Peace2
Oct 13, 2020, 7:40 pm

>54 BrokenTune: I think the lack of punctuation style wouldn't have worked for me in the written version alone - the narrator brought it all to life. I am a fan of punctuation too and have a tendency to get hung up on things that for me detract from good writing. This book is proof that I shouldn't get hung up on things like that though *grin* It would have been my loss.

56Peace2
Editado: Oct 15, 2020, 2:41 am

Last book of June (may be 25 or possibly 26) Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice by Matthew Syed

To give a little context, the author was a top British international table tennis player for a number of years, has worked as a sports journalist and commentator and is now both an author and runs his own consulting business looking at Growth Mindset for businesses.

This book focuses on how to get top performance in areas like music, sport and chess particularly, but the principles could be extended. When the author himself first began to rise in the table tennis ranks, almost all of the top young table tennis stars came from about a 2 mile radius of where he lived. It prompted the question of why - why would talent suddenly appear in relatively large amounts in one relatively small area.

He went on to look at a study of musicians entering a top US university - there was a three track system, the individuals who would become the soloists in orchestras, the other individuals who would play in those orchestras and the ones who would become music teachers. What was the difference between those people as they entered the university.

Later chapters in the book look at 'choking' when a high performance athlete can't perform at a critical point (a championship for instance), the use of drugs in sport (willing and unwilling on the part of the recipient).

My thoughts on the book - I found it really interesting. A lot of the subject matter in the early part of the book is based on research by other people and this is a general introduction for the non-specialist and an overview of multiple lines of research which was ideal for me. The later chapters were still interesting but seemed to gel less cohesively with the early part of the book - they were still about performance but different aspects e.g. the drugs used in East Germany to enhance performance without the knowledge of the young athletes and their families who were taking them, whether performance enhancing drugs should be as restricted as they are, is there a racial element to excellent performance in certain sports, the power of faith, the difference in long term performance of children when they are told they are clever versus they've worked hard. Each of the chapters were interesting (on a personal level, I found some less interesting than others), in some ways it felt like a series of essays put together on a similar subject rather than a book written as a whole. Overall, glad I read it and food for thought.

I've edited to remove the bits I'd put under spoiler tags - because while the 'Spoiler click to see appeared', so did the actual text which seems to defeat the object of the spoiler tags - then again maybe I just need to practise using them more.

57YouKneeK
Oct 15, 2020, 7:16 am

>56 Peace2: The spoiler tags seem to have gotten broken as part of the Talk redesign. Hopefully they’ll fix them soon! My thread is a minefield now with all of my many spoilery comments unhidden. It makes me antsy. :)

58Peace2
Oct 15, 2020, 5:59 pm

>57 YouKneeK: I assumed it was just a problem with new ones I hadn't given a thought to my old ones! Argh!

59BrokenTune
Oct 15, 2020, 6:13 pm

>58 Peace2: The LT team fixed the spoiler tag earlier today. Your spoilers should be hidden again now.

60Peace2
Oct 16, 2020, 2:37 am

>59 BrokenTune: That's a relief - I don't feel so bad about having used them now in the past now and I removed yesterday's and just left the extra info out, so I can rest easily now.

61Peace2
Oct 16, 2020, 3:08 am

July Book #1 and #25 Empire of Silver and Conqueror by Conn Iggulden

The final two parts of the Mongolian series that began with Genghis Khan's life as Temujin and concludes with Kublai Khan. They are fictionalised, drawing on known facts but sometimes using those facts in slightly different ways (e.g. changing when or where something happened). Overall I enjoyed it as a novel, but I will go back to reading something more factual on the subject at some point in the future.

July Book #2 Maurice by E M Forster

Over the last couple of years, I have re-read Passage to India (previously forced on me at school, so it's been a long time since I had read it the first time) and Room with a View. I have to say that I preferred Maurice. Written round about 1913, it reflects the classes and society of the period and the attitudes that surround that, particularly in relation to same sex relationships which is central to the book. Although I knew the book had been published posthumously, I hadn't actually realised just how long that meant there was between it being written and released in 1971. Since finishing I have seen some criticism that it was dated, both now and on its release. I guess in this case I was fortunate, coming to it expecting a period piece, it felt dated in the right way - for me it was reflecting the time it was written - attitudes about many things in the book have taken a move for the better, not just sexuality, but women's roles in society too, even in ones where there could be further improvements, progress has been made.

62Peace2
Oct 16, 2020, 3:18 am

July Book #3 National Geographic March 2020 - The End of Trash

The usual glorious photographs and interesting articles, the main focus of this edition was the rate at which humans are creating trash, the effect it's having and people who are working to reduce it - it touched on things like fast fashion - the throw away nature of clothing fads.

July Book #4 The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry

Apparently this is part of a series, but I read it as a standalone. Set in Ireland, a long-term hospital for people with mental illness is closing down, only a few residents remain and the Doctor is evaluating them to find out where they should best be placed. Roseanne is almost 100 years old and her original notes have been lost so no one is sure why she was admitted now. Under the floorboards of her room, she has a notebook with a diary of her life. The story unfolds in two timelines, the events that happened to Roseanne when she was younger and the doctor's attempts to unravel her history and secure her future. There was a not entirely unexpected twist at the end.

63Peace2
Oct 18, 2020, 7:59 am

July Book #5 (and some later ones) War of the Worlds, The Men in the Moon, The Invisible Man, The Time Machine and The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells

I bought a set of audio books by HG Wells with each of the above books read by a different person - among the readers were David Tennant, Jason Isaacs and Hugh Bonneville were the three I could immediately place, but all five (the others beind Sophie Okonedo and Alexander Vlahos were excellent narrators.

I started with The War of the Worlds, read by David Tennant, a story that I was familiar with, firstly from Jeff Lynne's musical adaptation and from various film/TV versions that I have seen all/part of over the years. Despite the good narration, I was a bit disappointed in the actual book (it still got 3 stars but I think I was expecting something more) - perhaps I was too familiar with the fancied up for the visual audience versions. The premise is still a good one, the fact that it was first published in 1898 makes it even more groundbreaking.

Next up was The First Men in the Moon read by Alexander Vlahos. I had no preconceptions about this one from other sources, having not even heard of it beforehand. A rather lackadaisical scientist, Mr Cavor and an entrepreneuring friend, Mr Bedford, eager to take advantage of the scientist's lack of business acumen find themselves working on a project to travel to the moon. The story is told by Bedford, and we see his acquisitive nature, a man on the verge of financial disaster, he sees Cavor's endeavours as a chance to make money and the moon as somewhere to lay claim to and make money from. Cavor is in it for the science, accidentally injuring assistants without a care because they weren't really important and the science was what mattered. Interesting when they find inhabitants on the moon, their reactions are equally different - war or interaction. Again it's easy to look at the book and think I've read more interesting versions of a similar story, but what I've really done is read something which has built on the groundwork Wells laid first.

The third book was The Time Machine read by Hugh Bonneville. This was one where I thought I had seen a film adaptation but I couldn't pin one down and now having listened to the book, I'm tempted to say, I hadn't seen one at all. The story begins with a man telling his dinner guests about a trip he has made to the future. Again this strikes me as something that would have been truly innovative in the late 1800s when it was written, the concept of travelling in time something that wouldn't have occurred to many at all and a prediction of what that future might be like. There is always an element of danger in reading something from the past that predicts a future because with everything that has happened in the interim, the prediction now would be different or would seem redundant, but this actually doesn't fare terribly on that front. Again it was well read, this isn't going to be a classic book that I loved but I'm glad I gave it a try.

Fourth up was The Invisible Man read by Sophie Okonedo. This was at times humorous, but as the book progresses it becomes darker and more sinister. The initial premise of a man who has turned himself invisible and how he can proceed through life at that point is an interesting one. There is a certain sense of humour to being temporarily invisible, but when the temporary becomes permanent how would a person fare then? All the things that become a difficulty when you cannot interact normally with people. I found this one intriguing for all the aspects of invisibility that it hadn't occurred to me to consider before - definitely a horror element to this one though.

The final book in the set was The Island of Dr Moreau read by Jason Isaacs. I didn't enjoy the story for this one - too much horror for me. Looking at it as a product of its time, it's an interesting piece - Darwin's evolutionary ideas were being debated, class structures and ultimate rule by 'dominant' people was prevalent and the beginnings of underclasses rising up to overthrow were increasing. In this story, a discredited scientist has left English civilisation and now lives on an island where he experiments on animals trying to increase their intelligence and their usefulness while simultaneously expecting to maintain his dominant position. A shipwreck survivor finds himself on the island and uncovering what has been happening there. Although I didn't like the story, in its historical context there is a lot more than 'just the story' to the book, in terms of world views and social commentary.

Overall, I'm really glad to have taken the time to listen to these five stories by HG Wells, I am amazed by the inventiveness in his writing so although individually and collectively these aren't going to be personal favourites, I can appreciate their quality and the style. This particular audio collection from Audible was well read and each narrator brought something different to their reading.

64MrsLee
Oct 18, 2020, 8:50 am

>63 Peace2: Nice write up and review. I was thinking I would like to hear David Tennant read The First Men in the Moon just to hear him say mooon. :) The story itself sounds as if it inspired C.S. Lewis, but I have no evidence for that.

65Peace2
Oct 22, 2020, 3:15 am

July Book #6 Princes At War by Deborah Cadbury

The book examines the in public and private aspects of King George VI taking the English throne on the abdication of his brother King Edward VIII, (who then became Duke of Windsor). It discusses how things were covered up, how resolutions to some of their problems were decided upon. There are also details of some of the things that the Dukes of Gloucester and Kent were involved in at the time.

It seemed well researched, definitely paints George VI in a good light and Edward VIII much less so. The only time Edward VIII really comes off in a positive light is in his support and care for his younger brother the Duke of Kent (actually George whereas George VI was really Albert) where he helped smooth over some of the scandals of his affairs and helped him break free of cocaine addiction.

It was interesting and there were lots of details that I hadn't known beforehand. I raced through it - it strikes me though that in this modern age, many of the scandals would not be kept secret and at the least there would be much media speculation and many people offering their opinions on what really happened even if people don't actually know.

66Peace2
Oct 22, 2020, 3:28 am

July Book #7 Torchwood: Dissected by Tim Foley

Another audio dramatisation, this time featuring Gwen Cooper and Martha Jones. Gwen turns up with a dead body asking Martha to autopsy it and while they're hanging out together, trying to figure out why they stopped being friends.

I'm not a big fan of the Gwen centred stories on the whole but this was one of the better ones. I didn't particularly think of the two of them as friends beforehand so Gwen trying to find out what went wrong was a bit of a surprise. I like the Martha character though and so overall this was a reasonable listen.

July Book #8 The Key by Marianne Curley

This was the final part of a trilogy and it has been sat on the shelf for literally years waiting for me to finish. It's a young adult book, a bunch of school children fighting the forces of evil, with the assistance of otherworldly beings who are also battling behind the scenes. It was an okay finish, but at this stage I was just glad to get to the end. Still felt very uncomfortable about the relationship between Isabel and Akarian (she's a school girl and he's an immortal hundreds of years old - while she is granted immortality, it still felt wrong). At the start of the trilogy, the young people with special powers were supposed to be more or less unique but their group and the group of surrounding adults just seemed to keep expanding every time they needed someone to do something that didn't fit into the set of original powers. I think the word is 'meh' to describe this ending.

67BrokenTune
Oct 22, 2020, 8:12 am

>65 Peace2: I'm very excited by your review of Princes at War. I have this on my tbr (and own a copy). I really liked Deborah Cadbury's book The Dinosaur Hunters so picked up Princes at War as I hoped I would enjoy this one also. It sounds like research and style are as good as in The Dinosaur Hunters.

68Peace2
Oct 22, 2020, 5:54 pm

>67 BrokenTune: I hope you find it as interesting as I did. I have to say I took a quick look at The Dinosaur Hunters and that might just be about to go on my wish list.

69Peace2
Oct 23, 2020, 9:00 pm

July Book #9 A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

I listened to the audio of this book which is about a new Ambassador travelling to a neighbouring, potentially conquering, culture to liaise. There is political intrigue, murder, conflicting cultures and also conflicting information given to the Ambassador as she attempts to navigate her way and build relationships of both the friendship and the politically beneficial kind.

I enjoyed it but think I would benefit from a re-read of this (or re-listen) before I continue on with the story into the sequel. That's okay because I haven't acquired the sequel yet so time is on my side to revisit.

July Book #11 Vox by Christina Dalcher

The premise of this book reminded me in a way of The Handmaid's Tale. It's set in a near future America in which women are controlled. The major source of control is an electronic bracelet which limits the number of words a woman can say in a day. It's a dystopic view, and there is a degree of recognition in aspects of the position the characters in, along with a need for credulity at what the world has become.

I didn't warm to the main character, although she is the one guiding the reader through the experience. The majority of the other characters are barely developed at all.

In some respects, the book felt like a good premise that needed more refining in the execution and more of a focus on things that felt like they should have been important rather than a passing comment or a sudden switch from a character thinking/believing one thing to a complete reversal. Overall, it felt like it should have been better than it was.

70-pilgrim-
Editado: Nov 7, 2020, 4:42 am

>69 Peace2: I read VOX in February, and it was one of my most loathed books so far this year! The premise seems engineered to fit a feminist perspective, but the main character's whiny dependence on waiting for the men in her life to fix everything for her completely subverts that. She is sompletely selfish too; as long as she personally is not restricted, she is not really bothered.

And that's before starting on the technological impossibility of implementing the control devices: since they would require a human monitor to determine what constitutes a "word" rather than a "syllable" (the daughter's experience showing that t works by utterances rather than from a dictionary), it would therefore require a man allocated to monitor every woman (with a few exceptions). Since the female population in most countries outnumbers the male, how is that supposed to work?

Every other character was a walking cliché. (The loud, black, butch lesbian and her sweet, doll-like partner was a particularly awful example.)

This was bandwagon-riding at its worst. With an author whose natural inclination seemed to be "bat your eyes and get a man to fix it".

71Peace2
Editado: Oct 26, 2020, 4:09 am

>70 -pilgrim-: I hope you managed to find something you liked a lot more to follow it. *grin*

72Peace2
Oct 26, 2020, 4:08 am

July Book #12 Firstborn by Brandon Sanderson

This was more a short story that I'd picked up as an ebook. I've read very few ebooks this year (but also not let myself go looking for more). Being at home has seemed like a good time to tackle the physical books on the shelf, so this was started on a rare outing when I had a bit of a wait.

The story follows a young man, in space, he sees himself as a failure, he can't live up to his family name as a great space captain in battle. His older brother who he has barely met is the greatest captain ever in their empire.

A twist, a realisation and a resolution follow. More sci-fi than the other works I've read so far by Brandon Sanderson. This doesn't have the same depth as his longer works, but then it's a short story so it can't but it was enjoyable enough for a quick read.

July Books #14, #26 and #30 Xenogenesis: Dawn, Adulthood Rites and Imago by Octavia Butler

A set of books that follow initially a woman's experience after she is kidnapped by aliens from Earth and taken into space, along with a number of other humans. The main Character Lilith wakes up on a space ship and finds herself being cared for and educated by aliens. She gradually adapts and then they allow her to wake up other humans and share in her experience.

Over the course of the coming books, Lilith reveals both more about humans and their natures and about the aliens and theirs. It shows the species becoming closer with their lives entwined but it also leads to questions - questions about motives on the parts of the aliens, about human development on Earth previously and the similarities and contrasts between our role here and that of the aliens later.

There is a bit of a Lilith is a good human but almost all others are bad and that while some of the humans and Oankali are drawing closer and learning to cohabit, others are becoming more exclusionary.

It's an interesting set of books, from when I read the first I was keen to read on but at the same time I didn't love everything that I was reading about.

Overall, an interesting set of well-written books with some thought-provoking ideas.

73Peace2
Oct 26, 2020, 4:12 am

Has anyone else received messages asking them to complete a survey for a dissertation? I'm not really sure why the person in question thinks I'd be any use for this but am also suspicious of clicking external links (particularly from people I've had no previous contact with) and have ignored it so far.

74-pilgrim-
Oct 26, 2020, 6:01 am

>73 Peace2: Not recently, but I had one a month or so. I messaged back politely that I was unclear why she thought I would be of any help, and got no reply.

I think you are right to be suspicious.

75-pilgrim-
Editado: Oct 26, 2020, 6:08 am

>71 Peace2: I was thoroughly chastened, and spent the rest of the month on authors with whom I was familiar *grin*

My only other "unfamiliar author" that month was Mark A. Noll's The Civil War as a Theological Crisis, which was utterly fascinating, and gave me a better understanding of early American history generally.

76Peace2
Oct 26, 2020, 7:57 pm

>75 -pilgrim-: And that is why we persist with the unfamiliar - because we know there are gems still waiting to be found.

77Peace2
Oct 29, 2020, 9:01 pm

July Book #13 Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb (also August Books #3 and #14 Royal Assassin and Assassin's Quest)

I found the first book took me quite a long time to really get into it and I thought I'd made a bit of a mistake in accumulating so many of Robin Hobb's books that were all waiting to be read (there are 8 physical books and these three duplicated in audio). It also took me a long time to get used to the narrator's voice, there was something that didn't quite make it an easy listen. Gradually over the course of the three books, I found myself engaging more with some of the characters and wanting to find out what was going to happen next, although at times I still found myself wondering how much was left. So overall I enjoyed it although at times I would have like it to either be a bit shorter or a bit more engaging. I'm dubious about trying anything else with the same narrator. (The suitability of the narrator to my ears really does make a difference to how much I like or don't like a book - I'm not suggesting that it was bad narration, just that it didn't work perfectly for me, and that rather than enhancing the book, I found it another hurdle. Thankfully if I did decide to continue to the next trilogy in audio, it is a different narrator).

78Peace2
Oct 30, 2020, 2:49 am

July Book #15 The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

Set in 17th century Amsterdam, Petronella arrives at the house of her new husband, a man she has only met the once, but who she has agreed to marry in order that her moth and siblings will be financially secure after her father's death. Her husband is mostly absent, her sister-in-law rules the house with an iron clad will and Petronella feels lonely. When her husband gifts her a dollhouse, he suggests she furnish is. She begins to acquire items from a local miniaturist. Slight further development of story under cut but hidden to ensure it's not risking anyone else's later enjoyment of the bookWhen the miniaturist begins to send unsolicited items from the collection, things take a more sinister turn as if the miniaturist knows the family secrets - including ones that Petronella herself doesn't know.

It's quite a heavy plot in the end, with some dark reflections of the period and the setting. The miniaturist of the title only plays a tiny part in the book itself and really is more of a catalyst for Petronella's development.

Overall, I found it a bit of a depressing book, although doubtless a reasonable reflection of societal attitudes at the time.

July Book #18 Sycamore Gap by L J Ross

The second in the DCI Ryan series. Ryan is now in a relationship with Anna, who he met on the case on Holy Island. This time he is investigating a series of bodies found at Hadrian's Wall. While a reader could probably jump straight in and follow the story, there are links and developments of a bigger story that started in Holy Island the first book in the series. The side characters have begun to be further developed and while we don't really know much about it the 'bad guys' are beginning to reveal more about themselves as well.

Overall I enjoyed it - they are read well by Jonathan Keeble on Audible and they are a relatively easy listen, so much so that I am contemplating look for the paper versions for my Dad for Christmas.

79YouKneeK
Oct 31, 2020, 2:50 pm

>77 Peace2: I’m glad you enjoyed the books more as you went on. The Hobb books are some of my favorites because of how much I loved the characters, but I do have issues with them and I know quite a few people didn’t like them at all.

I haven’t tried them on audio, but I’m not good with audiobooks and get annoyed with most narrators so I can definitely understand how that would affect things. The next trilogy, the Liveship Traders, is quite a bit different, so maybe it would appeal to you more. I’m wondering if your problematic narrator will be back for the subsequent trilogy though since that one returns to the same set of characters.

80Peace2
Nov 1, 2020, 5:14 am

>79 YouKneeK: I have part of the next set (the first two) in paperback, but equally Audible use a different narrator - it's a woman for the next set and not one I'm familiar with. I may listen to a sample and see whether I want to try it in audio, otherwise I may just tackle the paperbacks at some point in the future (it's not likely to be for a little while yet though).

81Peace2
Nov 2, 2020, 3:20 am

How can it be November and I'm still talking about July's books! *sigh* Catching up with myself seems an elusive possibility.

July Book #17 Torchwood: The House that Jack Built by Guy Adams, July Book #23 The Lives of Captain Jack volume 3, August Book #3 Torchwood: Tropical Beach Sounds and Other Relaxing Seascapes #4 by Tim Foley, August Book #17 Torchwood: Risk Assessment by James Goss and August Book #18 Torchwood: Iceberg by Grace Knight

A mix of books and audio dramatisations, all in keeping with the Torchwood feel. The Lives of Captain Jack is a Doctor Who feature rather than Torchwood and features 3 stories - 1 with Jackie Tyler (Rose's Mum) and another with River Song.

82Peace2
Nov 2, 2020, 3:31 am

July book #20 Four Classic Horror Stories by Edith Wharton, Edgar Allan Poe and Robert Louis Stevenson

This was a listen from the Audible Stories collection available during lockdown, given the authors I thought I would give it a try although I'm not the biggest fan of horror as a genre. Didn't much enjoy it.

July Book #22 The Invisible Women's Society by Nikki Gemmell

A group of women, friends since school, get together for a trip - giving them chance to talk about the trials and tribulations of their lives, discuss bad decisions, missed opportunities and to add to them as they travel back for a school reunion.

Didn't much enjoy this either.

83-pilgrim-
Nov 2, 2020, 3:53 am

You don't seem to be having much luck recently. I hope it improves soon!

I thought The Miniaturist sounded promising, until you mentioned that it was depressing.

84Peace2
Nov 2, 2020, 1:23 pm

>83 -pilgrim-: Well, on the upside, at least my life and home are less cluttered by not fantastic books! I'm weeding out the less satisfactory titles, soon there will just be the awesome left *grin* (yeah, while the first may well be true, I don't believe the latter is going to happen any time soon either!).

Sorry about The Miniaturist - but there is a very definite depressing tone to it overall.

85Peace2
Nov 2, 2020, 1:49 pm

July Book #24 Ties that Bind, Ties that Break by Lensey Namioka

This was another story available free to stream through Audible Stories. Set in China in the early - mid 1900s, it examines the life of a girl whose feet were not bound. Revolutionary at the time, Alinn has seen her older sister's feet and despite her age (she's only 4 or 5 at the time) she refuses to be subjected to the pain of footbinding, screaming throughout the process and ensuring the bandages are removed. When the offer of a good marriage that her family have lined up for her when she is older, is withdrawn because of her feet, her family believe her value and hopes for the future have been doomed. But Alinn is not just a stubborn child, she becomes a determined adult and forges her own path.

Interesting story, written for older children/young teens, it reflects a period of significant change in Chinese society.

July Book #26 The Rabbit Girls by Anna Ellory

Miriam is looking after her dying father and as she does so, she discovers his past, a past her parents had concealed from her. Also revealed to the reader is her own situation, why she is looking after her father and the difficulties she is facing in her own life. The Rabbit Girls of the title refers to women who were used for experiments in the Ravensbruck concentration camp during World War 2. The book is moving, hard to read such harrowing events, but it is well done. I'm not sure it's one I would read again as it's a hard subject matter to read about.

86Peace2
Nov 2, 2020, 2:11 pm

July Book #28 Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos

A teen book telling the story of a teenage girl and her family who were seeking refugee status in the US around the time of 9/11. Nadira and her family began by seeking legal refugee status having left Bangladesh and moved to New York. Despite numerous legal attempts to gain the status they need, the attempts have failed and they are now living as illegal aliens. In the wake of 9/11, they find themselves under greater scrutiny and what follows is their attempts to find a positive resolution to the situation, the difficulties and health implications of what they undergo and how it effects the individuals within the family in different ways.

It draws attention to the plight of people seeking refugee status, of how difficult it can be to get the proper legal recognition and support for their claim - although this is set in the US and talks about the struggle this family faces there, I would imagine that while the process may differ in other countries, the struggles and difficulties faced would not be dissimilar. As mentioned above, this is set almost 19 years ago, I don't think the book's relevance has passed at all.

July Book #29 Nothing to Lose by Alex Flinn

Another teen story. Michael's story is told in two timelines, the current in which he is travelling and working with a carnival, the past in which he was living with a violent stepfather and trying to protect his mother and persuade her to leave.

The two timelines are drawn together as in the present, the stepfather is dead and Michael's mother is on trial for his murder. It's a fast paced, fairly short book dealing seriously with the subject of domestic violence.

87-pilgrim-
Editado: Nov 7, 2020, 2:09 am

>86 Peace2: I would not want to, not am I qualified to comment, on comparing the emotional strain in going through such processes, but I actually think the problems may well be quite different?

Are refugees allowed to work in your country, whilst awaiting the results of their asylum applications?

That is the most difficult part of being a (genuine) refugee here. They are expected to live on government vouchers, which can be exchanged for food and clothing - but leave no way to pay for travel to doctors (which, if torture was part of the persecution, may be quite an extensive requirement), trips to lawyers, or to hearings. This produces a high dependence on charity.

The case of illegal migrants is quite separate, as if you enter the country illegally, your chances of getting refugee status are almost zero.

Although some in the asylum application process do "drop off the radar", either to work illegally or because theirv fear the application is going badly, once your application has been denied, there is little chance of your "becoming an illegal" at this stage, as you will be detained on the spot and sent to a detention centre, to await deportation.

Even if you are granted leave to appeal, the Home Office is likely to argue that you should make your appeal from you country of origin! If you manage to persuade that it is unsafe for you to do so, you will be making the appeal from within a detention centre (with legal help).

I do not want to draw political comparisons, just to demonstrate that different systems can produce different types of stress on this vulnerable group.

88Peace2
Nov 6, 2020, 7:06 pm

>87 -pilgrim-: I'll be honest and say I know very little about the processes for any type of refugee in any country apart from the things I have read either in books or in news articles (or seen on tv programmes). So based on that my assumptions of the strains and pressures individuals and families face are just that assumptions. Refugees arriving here are rare and they arrive in very small numbers. I couldn't even reliably comment on local policy as it's possible that differences in each reported case in the local news may be down to individual details not revealed for privacy/protection and also the nature of the request for refugee status.

89Peace2
Nov 7, 2020, 4:10 am

July Book #30 The Templars by Dan Jones

I really enjoyed this audio version of Dan Jones' history of the Templars, narrated by the author. It's thorough in showing the growth from its early beginnings to becoming a major political and financial power ultimately drawing the wrath and vengeance of the King of France, leading to the downfall of the order. It brings together facts from many sources (on both sides of their conflicts during the Crusades) and shows the world in which they were operating also highlighting how they differed from the Hospitallers (The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem).

The book seemed to be well researched and provide a good round view of the facts available. I'd be interested to look at further of his work as I believe he has a number of other titles.

August Book #1 This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel

I found this to be an interesting and thought provoking book although there were aspects of it which I didn't like. The book is about a family whose youngest child is transgender. The family accept Poppy for who she is, they support her choices in all the ways they can, but they find themselves in difficult situations of having to make decisions on her behalf and afraid of making the wrong one.

The book is largely not about what it is like to be Poppy, it is mostly about what it is like to be the parent of a transgender child and some of the challenges that face those parents in trying to do the right thing with no clear cut path.

In the later stages of the book Poppy and her mother go to Thailand - this section felt wrong in all sorts of ways not least that her mother leaves her alone without really knowing who she is with or what she is doing for hours and hours and then days as she is immersed in providing medical care at a clinic but also in that the whole situation felt very contrived and convenient by comparison with the earlier stages of the book.

90Peace2
Nov 7, 2020, 5:16 pm

August Book #4 Interview with the Robot by Lee Bacon

An audio book on the audible stories feature, aimed at older children delivered as more in the vein of a radio drama with multiple cast members reading. The story is told by Eve, at first glance a girl of about 12 years of age, to a Child Protective Services employee, Petra. It is told in flashbacks with Eve's backstory gradually being revealed through the retelling of past events. It's a clever build of what is really the difference between a human and a robot. I'm fairly sure that similar ideas will have been explored in adult sci fi, but this is the first time I've seen anything like it for a younger audience and I thought it was well done and engaging for both younger and older listeners (like me).

August Book #5 The Horologicon by Mark Forsyth

For anyone familiar with The Etymologicon, the style of this will be familiar. Mark Forsyth explores words and their meanings. This time he takes the course of a day, starting with early morning and the words relate to the time and the kind of things that one might be doing then (think of ablutions in a morning). It's witty and he comes up with words you may possibly never hear again (or even see again - in some cases he says there are only one or two known instances of the word, others have fallen out of use - some should be revived *grin*). This is a book that you couldn't risk a visit to one of the new vocabulary threads because you'd dominate it until the book was done! I just wish I could remember more of the words when I'd finished to be able to drop them into the right kinds of conversations. I also always feel proud of myself when I know what one of the words he's chosen to include mean before his explanation.

91Peace2
Nov 7, 2020, 6:00 pm

August Book #6 Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons by Ashli St Armant

Another Audible Stories feature for older children. This one was a mystery set in New Orleans. Viva is fourteen and staying with her grandmother when she begins to investigate a mystery that centres around a jazz singer. It was an interesting listen and I liked the feel of the production and the story.

August Book #7 SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard

I found this interesting, one to return to again as I only took in a portion of the facts and events included. It was well presented for the average person, giving an idea of some of the origins of ideas that have survived to the current time. Also the book highlighted some of the issues facing the society of the time, that are still around today.

92SylviaC
Nov 8, 2020, 10:41 am

>90 Peace2: I read The Etymologicon and The Horologicon in audio, and they were both excellent. It was neat to actually hear all the words, but I wasn't always sure how to spell them.

93Peace2
Nov 8, 2020, 2:07 pm

>92 SylviaC: I listened to the audio of each, so like you I'll be guessing the spelling but then if I'd read the print version, I'd probably be guessing the pronunciation *grin*.

94Peace2
Nov 8, 2020, 3:16 pm

August Book #8 The House on Hummingbird Island by Sam Angus

This was a slightly odd acquisition on my part. I originally bought it last year in a bit of a rush thinking I would pass it on to someone as a birthday gift. Unfortunately it had been misshelved in the local bookstore and was actually intended as a children's book albeit an older children/younger adult one, but I knew the person I'd bought it for wouldn't be impressed by being given a book like that (when I got it home and had a bit more time I saw it actually said on the back cover that it was a children's book), so I figured I would keep it and read it at some point myself.

Idie Grace has been living with an uncle and cousins in England, when she unexpectedly is sent back to Hummingbird Island where she will be mistress of Candletree House. When she arrives there, she finds a house full of secrets and the people who surround her don't want to share the truths they know. She is an unconventional mistress, not least because she brings the animals into the house but gradually she matures, she begins to make some friends .

Among the elements within the book, Idie finds herself dealing with loss, love, the reasons people might keep secrets (that it's not necessarily ill intentioned even if it's not necessarily for the best in the end) and also the racism inherent in Colonial rule and the effect that had on soldiers from the Caribbean during the First World War. Although initially the book seems a relatively simple read and almost fantastical, as it progresses the themes become more mature and darker.

August Book #9 Unfollow by Megan Phelps-Roper

This is an autobiography of a young woman who grew up as a member of the Westboro Baptist Church, who was active in the social media presence of the Church and in their protests and actions - this from a very young age. This book is written after she has made the decision to leave the Church (and as a result most of her family). It seems like a balanced look at her life's journey and how and why her beliefs changed.

August Book #10 Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

Another autobiography - this one reflects on differences in parenting. When first released this book caused quite a bit of controversy. The author is Chinese American raising her children in America, but brought her children up in a more 'Chinese' parenting style - all of which is somewhat of a generalisation because I am sure that there would be some more relaxed Chinese parents and some non-Chinese parents who are just as focused and goal driven. For many reasons (some of which the author touches on), Chinese parenting can be more intense and high pressured than many American or British readers would be comfortable with or willing to embrace. For instance, why would you allow a child to have a playdate, go to a sleepover or a summer camp, what is the educational value or long term benefit of that? Better that they come home and do extra homework and learn an instrument. When one of her daughters completes a test in school and gets a pass, she cannot accept that she hadn't done better in the parts she had done but also why hadn't she stayed and done all the extra credit parts of the test as well. The author states that it is a satirical look at her parenting style and how it worked differently with each of her daughters - one seemed to flow smoothly through life accepting her mother's instructions, the other battled all the way. I think at times the humour she says is intended doesn't come across fully.

The edition I read had a postscript written by one of her daughters, I presume in the light of the controversy raised in the earlier releases, saying that she was not unhappy as a child and she always knew she was loved and that her mother wanted the best for her, despite the things that were said at the time.

I did find myself drawn in to the book, even at times when I was horrified by what she was retelling, but I did understand some of her aspirations and expectations - even if I believe my approach would not have been the same.

95-pilgrim-
Nov 9, 2020, 4:40 am

>94 Peace2: As someone who grew up with parents whose cultural values were different to those around them (and they had very little interest in meeting or understanding the approach of my classmates' parents) you make Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother sound interesting.

I have no southeast Asian heritage, but there seem to be points of contact.

But I don't really understand how satire fits in. Unless you share her culture, and are familiar with its norms, how can you identify what is satirical?

I am neither Chinese nor American, so this will be one unfamiliar culture critiquing another unfamiliar culture.

Do you think I am going to be able to understand this book, and detect what is humour and what is not?

96Sakerfalcon
Nov 9, 2020, 10:02 am

>94 Peace2: I read one of Sam Angus's other books and can recommend it. School for skylarks was light and funny on the surface, but with deeper themes that emerged. I will look out for House on Hummingbird Island.

97Peace2
Nov 9, 2020, 7:39 pm

>95 -pilgrim-: I don't know whether this will help but I've seen it mentioned in a couple of places (and I'm fairly sure one of them was a note added to the book) that apparently on its original release the book had a much better reception in Britain because more people took it that she wasn't necessarily saying this is right and that she was at times being self-deprecating and understood her humour. She is reflecting, I guess, on her struggles emotionally and practically with her beliefs and whether they are going to work, whether she is giving her children the best start in life which she wants for them. Speaking personally, I am also neither Asian nor American (I'm also not a parent). I found it interesting and I saw some of the humour in there. If you do decide to give it a try, I would suggest trying to get a more recent edition, which includes both a further section from her on the public reaction to the original and the section by her daughter. I didn't set out to read it because it was going to be funny, I read it because it was going to provide an insight into someone else's life, motivations and aspirations - and it delivers on that.

98Peace2
Nov 9, 2020, 7:40 pm

>96 Sakerfalcon: I shall keep an eye out for a copy.

99-pilgrim-
Nov 9, 2020, 11:08 pm

>97 Peace2: Thank you, that was very helpful. If you, as an outsider, understood where the humour lady, then it makes me hopeful that I, as another outsider, will also understand.

I wasn't attracted by the humour, but by the opportunity to understand a different, but perhaps somewhat similar culture. But you get a very false impression of you don't recognise when a joke IS meant simply as a joke, which was what I feared might happen.

I will look out for it.

100Peace2
Nov 14, 2020, 3:23 pm

August Book #11 Vietas: Lapland's Greatest Heist by Jenny Rogneby

An Audible original about a payroll stolen from a local power plant in Lapland. It was a cold case reviewed by the author to see if any new light could be shed. I was disappointed in the quality of the audio, lots of background noise and unclear voicing.

August Book #12 Escape from Jonestown by Laurence Bouvard

The author has retold the events of Jim Jones' People's Temple by telling the story of Tim Carter who first became involved with Jim Jones in San Francisco after having served in the Vietnam War before then moving to Guyana with Jones' movement and others involved. Carter was one of the few survivors of the events that happened there. Again not the best presentation of the story, some of it disjointed as it cuts and you have to listen to the next episode - repetition of aspects at the beginning of the episode also seemed to end up as filler to make it seem as if the listener were getting more than the reality. As appropriate for the final ending of the movement, this does include some detail of those events that are upsetting to listen to - that said this is a history and so should recount the events.

August Book #13 The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell

The story centres around Esme and Iris. Iris receives a phone call from a hospital that is closing and is asked what should happen to Euphemia Lennox. She is listed as being her next of kin. Over the course of the story we learn the history of Euphemia (Esme)'s story from her childhood in India, to returning to England and the events that lead to her being admitted to the hospital where she has at the time of the story been living for sixty years. The book tells Esme's, Iris' and Kitty's story. Kitty is Iris' grandmother.

What follows is an indication of the way society treated women at the time of Esme being taken to the hospital. In many ways this book is similar to The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry, which I read last month although I had no idea of that when I started. Both books highlight the injustice of how and why women could be put into hospital's for being 'mentally ill' when they were dealing with trauma or were an embarrassment because they didn't fit the family's expectations of them.

At times this book can be a little confusing as elements are told from all three main characters' view - but Kitty has Alzheimer's which can make it unclear.

Overall it's an interesting and sad story, in a way I read it so closely to the other because of the similarities, but generally well written.

101Peace2
Nov 15, 2020, 4:53 pm

August Book #15 Putin: Prisoner of Power by Misha Glenny

Another Audible Original. This is a short look at how Putin rose to power, how he overcame potential rivals and what might happen now. For a subject of some significance this was just the barest of brush strokes. I'd say it was almost too shallow to have been worth the effort.

August Book #18 A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

This one has sat on my shelf for a long time - I bought it in the wake of the BBC's Big Read when they tried to establish what the 100 most popular reads were and then never got around to reading it (to be fair it wasn't the only book I acquired back then - the local book shop ran a 3 for 2 offer on most of the titles so I got a lot - too many of which are still waiting to be read). Despite having the paper version, I actually listened to this read by Joe Barrett. The audio really brought it alive for me. It was long and I think I might have struggled a bit more just reading it.

August Book #19 I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

I read this year's ago and remembered only bits of it, so wanted to give it another try. The story is told by the 17 year old daughter of the Mortmain family who are living in a slowly deteriorating castle, as the family struggle to work out how to bring in money to save themselves and their home. I enjoyed this one, glad I revisited it.

August Book #20 The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

I really hoped that I would like this one and I stuck with it and stuck with it all the way to the end and it just didn't work for me and I can't even put my finger on why I didn't like it. Maybe it was just a case of the wrong book at the wrong time.

102-pilgrim-
Nov 15, 2020, 5:34 pm

>101 Peace2: I am surprised at Misha Glenny producing something shallow. He has been focussing on Russian affairs for quite some time, so he sshould have the necessary understanding.

Thanks for the warning.

103Peace2
Nov 15, 2020, 5:52 pm

August Book #21 My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier

Continuing my read of everything Du Maurier that I can my hands on this year, I was pretty convinced that I had read both this and Rebecca in the past, but unlike with Rebecca when I made my way through this it all felt new - which was a good thing as it meant the mystery, the twists and turns were fresh and intriguing.

I enjoyed this one.

August Book #22 Blood Territory: The Death of Jimmy O'Connell by Mark Whittaker

Another Audible Original listen. This was a true investigation into the death of a young man in Australia's Northern Territory. A friend was tried and convicted despite always claiming his innocence. The journalist investigating the case reaches out to family, acquaintances and police in an attempt to uncover the truth. It's disappointing to have the same negative comments about this as about previous titles - the background noises and quality of the sound was distracting.

The investigation and outcome was interesting - an examination of how expectation can drive the hunt and effect the result and how a re-examination can uncover other information.

August Book #23 Romeo and Jude by Marty Ross

Another Audible Original, this one was an audio drama with actors including Owen Teale performing. It's a reworking of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, with the characters of a local amateur dramatic company preparing to stage Shakespeare's play. With a new director who decides to shake up the production by casting men in both lead parts saying that is how it would have been done in Shakespeare's time. The story bleeds over into the actors' real lives. This is a good quality production - Audible should keep up this quality.

August Book #24 Divided: Why we're living in an age of walls by Tim Marshall

This is the second book I've read by the author this year and the third in the series - although they mostly stand independently - it's a look at the geopolitics of the world and how that results in countries building walls - present day and historically. It covers wall building (metaphorical and literal) around the globe, from President Trump's goal to build a wall along the border with Mexico (he's not the first to try to do so), to the Great Firewall of China and the Berlin Wall. The book was interesting and relatively unbiased - talking more about the why of wall building, some of the reasons why people want them, need them and why they might not be wanted or needed. What happens when a wall goes up and what happens when it comes down for instance what happened after the Berlin Wall came down both in Germany and in other nearby countries, and what is the lasting legacy of it having been there.

That was the last of August's books.

104Peace2
Nov 15, 2020, 5:55 pm

>102 -pilgrim-: I think it was more the time limitation than the author's talent or research - the whole thing was only 2h 45 minutes or thereabouts - it's just not long enough to deal with such a substantial subject - going from Yeltsin still being in power to the current time and where the future might lead.

105-pilgrim-
Nov 15, 2020, 7:43 pm

>104 Peace2: Ah. Thanks for the explanation. I agree, that is an awful time limit on a big subject.

106Peace2
Nov 16, 2020, 2:50 am

September Book #1 Temeraire: His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

The setting is the period of the Napoleonic Wars and the story begins with an English Navy ship, catching a French man o'war which has a dragon's egg on board. Although the dragon in question is unusual, a rare and special breed, dragons are a regular feature in the War with there being squadrons of Dragons fighting on each side.

I liked the fact that the dragons have characters just as much as their humans. This is the start of the series and I intend reading on and hope to enjoy the next titles as much.

September Book #2 The Rise of the Iron Men by Misha Glenny

Another Audible Original and this one was listed at the time as being a follow up to Putin: Prisoner of Power, so I got a copy hoping that it would fill in the detail and improve my thoughts on that. Having listened to it, I don't really see it as a follow up except in the sense that it is published afterwards. What this title looks at is some of the current world leaders in other parts of the world and how they rose to power - looks at Brazil, Hungary, Turkey, India, Philippines and UK. How do leaders get significant numbers of the population on their side? Interesting, but the presentation is somewhat biased - I suspect that the time limitations this may emphasise the bias. The audio is only 3 and a half hours long.

107pgmcc
Nov 16, 2020, 7:21 am

>103 Peace2:
I loved My Cousin Rachel. I have read many if not most of Du Maurier's works and have not hit a dud yet.

108Sakerfalcon
Nov 16, 2020, 7:42 am

>101 Peace2: I capture the castle is a lovely read that has not grown stale for me after many rereads.

109YouKneeK
Nov 17, 2020, 10:59 am

>106 Peace2: I’m glad you enjoyed His Majesty’s Dragon. I liked that series pretty well and thought the writing and story style was consistent from beginning to end.

110Peace2
Nov 17, 2020, 5:16 pm

>107 pgmcc: I've been really enjoying reading several of Daphne Du Maurier's books this year - I have three left on the TBR pile Jamaica Inn, The King's General and Castle D'Or.

>108 Sakerfalcon: I'm glad I was tempted to re-read that one.

>109 YouKneeK: It's good to hear the series continues consistently - I've added the next two to the TBR pile for when I get a chance to read them.

111Peace2
Editado: Nov 18, 2020, 3:59 pm

September Book #3 Fellside by M.R. Carey

This was an unusual book and I personally haven't come across anything similar before. The main character is Jess, she has been sent to Fellside prison, after being found guilty of setting a fire in her apartment which killed a young boy. While there she finds herself haunted by a ghost. There are a number of plot lines which follow, at times they seem distinct, while other lines interlink.

I found myself drawn in and wondering where the book was going and reading on to find out just where the book was going. This is nothing like The Girl With All the Gifts and reads more as a cross between a ghost story and a thriller mystery. Overall I was glad to have read tried it.

September Book #4 Questions of Faith by David Suchet

An Audible Original podcast in which David Suchet talks with followers of Islam, Judaism and Christianity in different parts of the world, looking for commonalities, talking with people who are seeking to build bridges between communities, also talking with people who can talk about the frictions that occur not just between followers of the three faiths, but also between different groups within the faiths. It also raises the issues of extremism and how it can come about and its effects. Some of the people he talks with are former extremists, who talk about how and why they followed that path, and why they have since changed their views.

Below the cut are my views of the podcast (not a comment on my or any other religious views) I found this interesting and informative, in parts deeply sad as he examines the effects of extremism, in others there is a degree of optimism as he talks with multi-faith groups who have been working to build safe communities. He's respectful of the people he talks to. This is a five hour podcast, so a lot of the subjects touched on are not examined in great depth.

September Book #5 Bill Bryson's Appliance of Science by Bill Bryson

Another Audible Original podcast - 5 short episodes (the whole thing is little more than 1 hour and 40 minutes) looking at interesting artifacts from the Science Museum. Personally I found it disappointing - too brief, dubious editing, and background noise that detracted from the actual presentation. Personally I think it would have been better suited to a TV show along with more time spent on each item and its history.


September Book #6 The Royal Ranger and October Book #21 Brotherband: The Outcasts by John Flanagan

The final part (that I'm aware of to date) in the Ranger's apprentice series or the start of a new series The Royal Ranger. Will is grieving the loss of his wife, emerging from his sorrow only when he has a lead on the man he holds responsible for her death. Horace and Evanlyn's daughter, Maddie, is going off the rails. A resolution of sorts is found and so Will finds himself with an apprentice and Maddie soon discovers that Uncle Will is not the pushover she was expecting. In a way this a journey back to the beginning when we followed Will through his apprenticeship. The idea doesn't feel as fresh as it did in the beginning, although the story is new and the characters are different (or in Will's case have matured a lot since the first book).

The Outcasts is set in the same universe, but moves back up to Skandia where Erak is now Oberjarl. The boys who are sixteen in a given year join together for Brotherband training, aiming to give them the skills to go to see and also to understand what it means to be a team and to work together. Hal has grown up an outsider in the Skandian community, his father was one of Erak's best warriors but he died when Hal was young, his mother was a former Araluan slave who his father had bought and freed. His few friends are all different in their own way. When they beginning their Brotherband training, they end up in a team with the other 'unwanted' boys and so begins the Heron Brotherband. We see them learn the skills to fight, to sail, to be a team and ultimately being a team turns out to be even more important than the rest. I found this more interesting than following Maddie - perhaps because of the similarity to Will's own growth at the beginning whereas this ventured into new territory of looking at the Skandian culture.

112Peace2
Nov 18, 2020, 4:57 pm

September Book #7 Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

This is a fictionalised story based around true events. In the 1930's and 40's the Tennessee Children's Home Society was involved in kidnapping children from poorer families and then arranging adoptions with wealthy families for money. In this book, the author tells a story over two time periods, current day in which a young woman comes across an old woman in a nursing home who wants to talk to her about a piece of jewellery she is wearing and the past with a group of children stolen from their parents' houseboat while her mother is in hospital giving birth to a new baby. As the two parts are elaborated, they eventually merge and secrets from the past are revealed.

The historical portion of the book was the more well established and I wonder if it could have been told without the modern day part - just a journey through those events without the distraction of the modern. Still good though, and I was keen to continue and find out where the story would end.

September Book #8 Dark Eden by Chris Beckett

This one had been hanging around the house since 2015. A strange dystopian world. Multiple generations ago, a group of human astronauts landed on a planet, trapped there with no metal in the environment and no sunlight - the light they do have comes from the environment e.g. plants that glow. The current society is a sort of Stone Age civilization. A set of rules are in place that prevent them developing by moving away from their current settlement or finding new ways of doing things - rules supposedly left by their ancestors.

The story continues with one particular young person breaking rules and questioning the way things are done and why. I won't say any more for fear of verging into spoiler territory.

Speaking personally I really didn't like this book and almost gave up several times. The language style didn't work for me, I didn't like the characters and felt that in many ways who they were in the beginning was who they were at the end - while there had been revelations and events in the meantime, it didn't seem to result in character growth. I also did not like the sexual elements of the book - threats of rape, dubious to minimal consent, given the smallness of the society there is also incest.

I hadn't realised at the outset that this was the start of a series, but I certainly won't be continuing. Not for me, this one.

September Book #10 A Grown-up Guide to Dinosaurs and November Book #6 A Grown-up Guide to Oceans by Professor Ben Garrod

High quality Audible Original podcasts. I loved these - if only they were longer. In each case he takes the listener on a journey through fossil history and modern scientific investigation and how this changes what we know or believe about evolution of the dinosaurs or the sea creatures.

He interviews other scientists whose field adds more to the piece. I really enjoyed both and came away wanting more. His style is conversational, he makes the science accessible. I'd definitely listen to more.

113Peace2
Nov 28, 2020, 12:58 pm

September Book #11 The Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid

The story of a Wordsworth scholar in search of a manuscript that's rumoured to have existed and a body pulled from a bog. Is there a connection in the history of the two that may reveal the identity of the long deceased body?

Not quite what I was expecting in the sense that I was expecting more of a detective novel or police procedural but still interesting enough to keep going.

September Book #13 The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale

Another that was not quite what I was expecting. I'd been passed it as a biography which it sort of is in part. Mr Whicher was a detective in London in the 1860s, and this book in part looks at his involvement in a particular case of a child being murdered and also looks at the creation of Scotland Yard and the new type of detective employed there. The author must have done a lot of research on a lot of areas but at times it felt as if some research was included in the book because it had been done not because it added value. As an example, the author outlined how writers such as Wilkie Collins were inspired to write books like The Moonstone, because of the work of Mr Whicher - that in itself is fine, but she then ventures into some of those stories with quotes etc from the books and so on - for me this detracted from the work Whicher was actually involved with and the Road House Murder which is the case at the centre of the book.

Where the author was outlining the actual murder case and its investigation, the book was interesting, but the sidetracking and repetition left me far less enthusiastic. Overall, I was disappointed.

September Book #14 The Universe versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence

I struggled with this one more than I expected to - perhaps it wasn't the right time for me to read it.

The main character, Alex is 17, struggling to fit in at school where he is often the victim of bullies. The story begins with Alex being stopped at Customs returning to England with a car belonging to a missing neighbour, a quantity of marijuana, some cash and what turns out to be the ashes of said neighbour. Parts of the book are written to be amusing but overall the book is also prompting one to consider and think on certain significant matters such as assisted suicide.

114Peace2
Nov 28, 2020, 1:18 pm

September Book #12 Torchwood: Dinner and a Show by Gareth David-Lloyd, #23 Torchwood: The Undertaker's Gift by Trevor Baxendale, October Book #5 Torchwood: Save our Souls by Scott Handcock, #15 Torchwood: Consequences by James Moran, Joseph Lidster, Sarah Pinborough, David Llewellyn and Andrew Cartmel, November Book #12 Torchwood: Red Base by James Goss

A mix of audio dramatisation and paper books set in the Torchwood Universe.

Dinner and a Show: great little piece with Ianto and Tosh trying to stop aliens at the theatre from eating the audience. I've also wanted more Ianto and Tosh in the series as I felt there was a lot of potential for the two of them.

The Undertaker's Gift: a bit of a Torchwood horror story with Gwen, Jack and Ianto attempting to save the world from destruction at the hands of aliens who had decided Earth and humans don't deserve to survive the 21st century

Save our Souls: Queen Victoria returns or maybe that's we go back to the time of Victoria and see her travelling to a remote island off Britain where a radio is picking up mysterious voices. Rowena Cooper plays the part of Victoria in the Torchwood dramatisations and she has a wonderful interpretation of the character.

Consequences: A series of short stories dipping into the series, some are better than others.

Red Base: PC Andy is sent to investigate a series of murders on the Mars Base - except the Mars Base isn't actually on Mars, it's in a quarry just outside of Neath in Wales. Considering so many people are dying, this is actually quite a fun piece and PC Andy is as fed up with his lot as ever.

115MrsLee
Nov 28, 2020, 6:10 pm

>113 Peace2: I watched a detective show about Mr. Whicher. Did not realize he was an historical person.

116Peace2
Nov 30, 2020, 2:18 am

>115 MrsLee: I'm curious was it about multiple cases or just one? The one in the book about the Road House case? What was the name of the series and would you recommend it?

117Peace2
Nov 30, 2020, 2:33 am

September Book #15 My Lost Family by Danny Ben-Moshe

An Audible Original in which the principal narrator helps his mother find out what happened to her 'other' family. As a young Jewish woman in the 1950s, she married an older man. After a while they separate with she and her children remaining with her family. One afternoon, the father appears to take the children to the park and then vanishes with the children.

This is heartbreaking in how Danny's mother feels about the events, and also later how the stolen children felt, but for a more modern standpoint, it's also quite hard to imagine a situation in which one wouldn't approach the police for instance if your children were taken even if it's by the father. At times I felt like some areas could have done with a bit more elaboration.

It was interesting and engaging, full of sorrow as the separation is covered and its long term effect.

September Book #16 Silkworm and October Book #3 Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

These. and the fourth which I haven't got to yet, have been sitting on the shelf to read for a while since someone else passed them to me. They're readable detective fiction. Strike and Robin work well together as contrasting but also complementary personalities.

118-pilgrim-
Editado: Nov 30, 2020, 2:46 am

>106 Peace2: Your mentioning the book, Prisoner of Power, again rang bells for me. Prisoners of Power is a novel by the Strugatsky brothers. Was Misha Glenny's title a deliberate reference to this?

119-pilgrim-
Nov 30, 2020, 2:56 am

>117 Peace2:
You did not say in which country this happened.

I know that it used to be the case that a woman who left a man would be considered to be the one who was "breaking up the family" (even when his violence or adultery was the reason behind her leaving).

If it went to court, the children would often be awarded to the father, as he would be assumed to be in a better position to support them than a single woman. (Of course, if she left to go away with another man, he would automatically get custody because she has proved herself an "immoral woman" and therefore an ",unfit mother".)

The idea that children are better off with their mothers, and that therefore, in divorce cases where no party has behaved badly, the mother usually gets custody, is quite a modern idea.

I could quite see that the mother felt her former partner had simply implemented what a court would have decided. Even if that were no longer actually the case, police attitudes may have taken a more conservative view.

120MrsLee
Editado: Nov 30, 2020, 9:36 am

>116 Peace2: There appear to be at least four of them on Amazon Prime, one of which is about the murder at the Road House. I can't remember now whether I've watched them all or not, but I put them on my watchlist to see again with the new insight that he was a real person.

You can find them by looking up: The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher. Then the name of each case is after that.

121Peace2
Dic 2, 2020, 2:14 am

>119 -pilgrim-: 1950's UK - they had moved in with her family as they couldn't afford to live independently, although his family background was wealthy outside the UK. He then left the family home.

122Peace2
Dic 2, 2020, 2:14 am

>120 MrsLee: Shame it's on Amazon - I don't have that - still I have plenty to read and plenty that I'm catching up on viewing as well!

123Peace2
Dic 2, 2020, 2:17 am

>118 -pilgrim-: I'm not familiar with the book and I can't remember that there was a direct reference to it but I couldn't rule out that it wasn't an indirect reference.

124Peace2
Dic 2, 2020, 2:37 am

September Book #17 One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

This is a YA book. The story begins with a group of students ending up in Detention at the end of the school (it someways it made me think of The Breakfast Club movie at the outset but not on a Saturday morning!), they have little in common at first glance, and there is a high academic achiever, a sporty guy etc - although they know each other in passing. The teacher leaves the room and when he returns, one of the students is dying. The rest of the book is a whodunnit, as the secrets of all the students are revealed, both they and the police attempt to uncover who did it, how and why. I actually enjoyed this and for a while was trying to work out who had done it (although I was pretty sure who it wasn't!). I'm not going to say anymore for fear of taking away from anyone who decides to give it a go. I'd try something by this author again (if I came across it - I believe she has further titles).

September Book #18 Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I found this a bit difficult to follow at times - to me it felt quite choppy at times as the story jumped from one group/society to another. It was interesting and perhaps I will give it another go at some point in the future when I have less other distractions as I don't think that was helping my concentration and focus in taking in events.

September Book #19 El Impenetrable: Death in the Forest

This is another Audible Original. Unfortunately it's one of the poorer ones with lots of distracting background noise. It's supposed to be an investigation into the murder of a significant landowner and his sister in law. I found the retelling uneven and wasn't a fan of it overall.

September Book #20 A Child's War by Molly Bihet

A recount by the author of her time growing up in Guernsey during the German Occupation. I have read other books on a similar theme (notably Our Wartime Parish which was about a child's life in Jersey in the same period) which I preferred.

125-pilgrim-
Dic 2, 2020, 2:39 am

>123 Peace2: I have not read Prisoners of Power either (still hunting an English translation). But given that it is part of the "Noon Universe" series, other books of which are definitely political in intent, I think there could be an interesting comment being implied here. The Strugatskys regularly used the medium of science fiction to criticise governmental forms, and another Noon Universe book - Hard to Be a God - is specifically about the abuse of totalitarian power.

126-pilgrim-
Dic 2, 2020, 2:57 am

>121 Peace2: Before 1967, divorce proceedings had to be taken by one party against another, and be on certain specific grounds. However desertion was one, so it would be possible for the mother to be the plaintiff.

Did the couple actually divorce? Or did the father simply leave?

If they were of straitened financial circumstances, then the may not have been a divorce. The concept of Legal Aid was only introduced in 1945, and it may not have been available to the mother (or she might not have been aware of it).

And if she could not afford to instruct a lawyer, whilst her husband could (through his family's money) - then she had every justification for grading the Divorce Court!

127Peace2
Dic 10, 2020, 6:06 pm

>126 -pilgrim-: I think it's something that could have been explored and explained in more detail but the presentation seemed to brush over the options that would have been available to the mother.

128Peace2
Dic 10, 2020, 6:15 pm

September Book #21 365 Ways to Save the Earth by Philippe Bourseiller

Beautiful pictures - aimed to be read at a page a day with a photo on the opposite side of the day. When read cover to cover, I realised that many ideas are repeated and some of them are dated now (I acquired the book in 2015 - so there has been further progress in environmental ideas). I bought the book originally for the photos and they are beautiful and great just to spend a bit of time appreciating some of the amazing things in the world around us.

September Book #22 The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

I really got sucked into this - the first in a fantasy trilogy - the characters drew me in, the world building was great - there was magic, djinn, political intrigue, complex history. I listened to the audio version read by Soneela Nankani who read it beautifully.

129Peace2
Dic 10, 2020, 6:44 pm

October Book #1 Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

I didn't love this. Although I found the idea interesting, I found Gulliver at times irritating. Parts of the story held my focus, while at other times I was just trying to get through that bit and hoping the next would be better. I'm not sure whether this is some of my mood at the time of reading, but I don't feel inclined to come back to it any time soon. But who knows at some point later in time.

October Book #2 Mainlander by Will Smith

I really didn't like this book. Set in Jersey, it seemed to take the worst of everything about the island in the 1980s (both actual and perceived) and dwell on that. The story revolves around a man (the Mainlander of the title), unhappily married although he's trying to hold his marriage together, he's a teacher who doesn't abide by the unspoken rules (rightly so to be fair) and ends up suspended, attracted to a fellow teacher but trying to just be friends and trying to find out what has happened to a missing pupil. The book is filled with caricature characters - the headmaster more concerned with reputation than actual pupils, rich but stupid men, the tough bad guy criminal who comes from inner city, the adulterous characters hiding their actions - no one had depth and all in all I just wish this hadn't been wasting space on my shelf for so long and that I hadn't stuck with it to the end hoping it would redeem itself. My dislike isn't just that much of the island life at the time is painted negatively, I recognised too many of those aspects to pretend that they weren't there at the time portrayed and present, but that the negative is unrelenting. There is nothing redeeming.

October Book #4 The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Another one that I just couldn't get into and really struggled to stick with to the end. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come with this author as I have a couple of other books by him on the shelf waiting to be read.

October Book #6 Earpedia: Animals by Sue Perkins

For those familiar with The Great British Bake Off, Sue Perkins was one of the former hosts. This was an Audible Original Podcast - 13 very short episodes (some of them only 10 minutes) each on the subject of a different type of animal. All sorts from the Pink Fairy Armadillo to the Naked Mole Rat are touched on. It's a quick humorous look at the animals. I found it amusing but too quick and short. Also I really didn't need the 'introduction' at the beginning of each episode to tell me what I was listening to (particularly as I listened to many of them back to back). Overall I did enjoy it (so much so that I have more recently acquired its sequel Earpedia: Plants) for the reality dipped in humour but it is just a brief look at the subjects and not an in depth scientific study - the animals seem to be picked at random, not developing on a specific theme (not all of the animals are as unusual as the ones names above - there's an episode on Bees, Otters, Kangaroos as well as some lesser known animals).

130MrsLee
Dic 11, 2020, 5:23 pm

>129 Peace2: re: 4 I find Gaiman books very hit or miss. When they hit, they hit big, when they miss, it's sort of eh.

131Peace2
Dic 16, 2020, 5:19 pm

>130 MrsLee: In a way that's good to know - I don't feel quite so pessimistic about the other titles on my shelf.

132Peace2
Dic 17, 2020, 2:23 am

October book #7 The Real Sherlock by Lucinda Hawksley

This was an Audible Original that would have been far better suited to being a TV show. It was a dip into the life Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Lots of time each episode was lost to things we'd already heard or were going to hear (bearing in mind it's only about 2 1/2 hours long anyway) and then there were things like 'I'm here with x (insert name of descendant of ACD) who's going to show me something really special - yes it's the nightshirt/fountain pen of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle' - that really doesn't do anything for me as part of an audio presentation - hence why I think the concept would have been better made for TV. Overall, lots of repetition, not much real substance. Disappointing (good job it was free).

October Book # 8 Slated and November Book #9 Fractured by Teri Terry

A YA series set in England. Quite an interesting dystopia type theme. The main character Kyla is just about to be released from hospital where she has been 'slated', had her memory of her past wiped and then she's been remodelled to be a better citizen. She has been placed with a family who will care for her and be their daughter. On her wrist is a monitor, which regulates her moods, sends out a warning if she is becoming too upset or excited - she has to keep the monitor within certain parameters or the monitor can make her pass out or worse. The story follows Kyla who for reasons she doesn't understand does not fit all of the usual parameters for someone who has been slated - she has glimpses of her past, glimpses of events she can't have witnessed, thoughts that should be outside what is now the norm for someone in her position.

These are the first two in the series - I'm not going to give any more details as it would mean going into the story and risking spoiling. Overall, I found these quite good. The idea seemed new and fresh, I liked the fact that it was set in Britain for a change (so many of the YA books that I've read are by US authors it's nice to read something set somewhere else for a change - I felt this with one of the books I read at the end of last year Children of Blood and Bone although that had more fantastical elements - this is much more grounded in what the world is/could be). There is a decent progression between the two books, Kyla's character grows and develops as she experiences and finds out more - most of the other characters are less developed - tools for her journey. I hope to get to the final part shortly (probably beginning of next year now).

133-pilgrim-
Dic 17, 2020, 7:36 am

>132 Peace2: #8/#9 do sound interesting.

134Peace2
Dic 18, 2020, 2:16 am

>133 -pilgrim-: Fingers crossed for the final part (I find that too often that the finish is where so many sets fall down then).

135Peace2
Dic 18, 2020, 2:47 am

October Book #10 The Smeds and The Smoos by Julia Donaldson

I picked up this book for a friend's daughter for Christmas - two different groups of creatures/aliens living on the same planet all brought up not to mix with the others. Two of them become friends and end up leaving in a spaceship. When they return and are eventually reunited, everyone decides to get along. A simple story about accepting people's differences and making friends. Aimed at the very young.

October Book #11 The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd

A younger teen book. The story is told from the perspective of the youngest teen, who also has autism. He and his sister are waiting below the London Eye for their cousin who went up but didn't come back down. What follows is an attempt by police, parents and the narrator and his sister to work out where his cousin has gone. Quite readable, certain aspects were predictable, other bits less so.

October Book #12 Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke

Aliens come to Earth, what happens over the coming generations of humans? Quite interesting at the outset, although dated in ways, but quite bleak by the end. Didn't love it.

136Peace2
Dic 18, 2020, 6:53 pm

October Book #13 The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

This was quite a book. A middle-aged childless couple are trying to make a life for themselves in Alaska. It's hard and unforgiving work and the landscape is really brought to life in the book. There is an almost fantastical feel to the book, when the two of them build a snowman together and dress it and then begin to see a child in the vicinity of their home. At first I found myself wondering what was really happening. Over the course of the book, the lives of the couple changes, they make friends and find a family of sorts. The environment brings them together, it affects their actions and the way they interact. There are sad and happy parts of the story but I'm not going to go into more detail as I wouldn't want to give anything away. Definitely worth a read (and I got a new copy to give to a friend for Christmas).

October Book #14 Heavenfield and November Book #10 Angel by L J Ross

The next two in the DCI Ryan series. I've continued to listen to these with Jonathan Keeble reading which is always a treat. Police procedurals, they are easy to listen to with familiar characters and pretty good plots - I've got a couple more to read lined up (and I've also bought the first two in paper form as a Christmas gift for someone else).

October Book #16 The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall

Published in the 1920s, the book tells the story of Stephen Gordon, a girl born to parents who wanted and were convinced their baby was going to be a boy. As Stephen grows, she is allowed in some aspects and encouraged in others to take a more 'masculine' role than was usual for the period. As she grows up, she finds it harder and harder to get along with her mother, and finds herself more in line with her father. She struggles to make true friends who will accept her as she is. Both her parents can see that she is heading into a difficult future but it leads to her mother avoiding her and her father never knowing quite how to help her navigate her life by vowing to always protect her. The story is sad as the title suggests, showing the loneliness of her life, her search for friendship and love and how difficult that was. An interesting read, moving in parts.

137Peace2
Editado: Dic 19, 2020, 3:48 am

October Book #17 Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

I really really struggled to make it through this and the only reason I stuck with it is that I have Silver: Return to Treasure Island by Andrew Motion (I think) to read on the shelf. So what was my problem with it - I just wasn't in the mood for pirates really I think that was the start of the problem and from there the book was an effort. The characters felt like artificial bad guys. Having stuck with it so that I could read the 'sequel', I'm now reluctant to pick up the sequel and start listening! *sigh* sometimes I think there's no pleasing me.

October Book #18 The Silent Ones by KL Slater

Two young girls, cousins, supposed to be in the care of their grandmother, sneak away . Later they are seen at the scene of a crime and when they are questioned about both remain silent. It takes a while before one of them eventually breaks that silence and begins to tell what happened. But just because one child is talking and the other isn't, does that mean it's the truth that's coming out.

This was quite a thriller with the twists and turns as the plot is gradually revealed. I have to say that I had spotted a bad guy character quite early on, but had them down for the wrong thing. Some definite twists and turns. It was a good read, drew me in quickly and kept me going.

October Book #19 The Ancient Magus Bride: vol 1
This was a re-read and I will have commented at some point nearer when I read it originally.

138Peace2
Dic 21, 2020, 3:00 am

October Book #20 The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin

I'd heard so many good things about this title but actually really struggled to get into it and make it through. I was so disappointed. I may give it another go at some point when my mind is less 'full' but on this occasion, it really didn't work for me.

November Book #2 River God by Wilbur Smith

Set in Ancient Egypt, the story is told by Taita, a eunuch slave who it appeared could do absolutely everything (or almost). In fact that ended up being a major part of my problem with the book. The story itself was fine, lots happening, building on events, a bit gruesome in parts. The writing at times was a bit awkward - unwieldy sentences that went on and changed direction en route. But at the end of the day, I have decided on finishing the book, not to continue with the series (I don't have the next one, but did have a couple later in the series). It irritated me that there appeared to nothing that Taita couldn't do - playwright, medicine, warfare planning... I didn't mind him being able to do some, but the sort of training to be excellent and the expert at all of them felt like it was pushing a bit too far.

November Book #3 The Monk Who sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma

Personally, I was really disappointed in this book. I thought it was going to be more of a biography of someone who had reevaluated their life. There is an element of that, in that the author tells a quick history of a lawyer who was seemingly at the top of his game, when he suffered a heart attack and then reevaluated his life goals as he recovered. He then visited with monks, and ultimately settled with them before returning to share his new learning with the author. I didn't like the way it was written, it felt forced and fake to me. I would have preferred to read either a biography or a 'self-help' book not this strange cross between the two. It's not that I don't agree with some of the suggestions or respect the life choices being proposed but rather that the author's presentation felt insincere and forced.

139pgmcc
Dic 21, 2020, 3:11 am

>138 Peace2: I thought The Three Body Problem was meh! It was using physics like a box of magic tricks.

140Peace2
Dic 21, 2020, 3:15 am

>139 pgmcc: I think I had seen so much 'this book is great' that it added to my disappointment on not being able to get into it - hearing that I'm not alone makes me feel a bit better and that I haven't just missed the point. *grin*

141pgmcc
Dic 21, 2020, 5:27 am

>140 Peace2: I was thinking that too at first. The physics was given too much self awareness for my liking.

142Sakerfalcon
Dic 21, 2020, 9:18 am

>136 Peace2: I really enjoyed The snow child but thought her second novel was even better. Ivey is definitely a writer I will be following.

143Peace2
Dic 21, 2020, 2:44 pm

>142 Sakerfalcon: What was the second one? Is it similar?

144Peace2
Dic 21, 2020, 3:13 pm

November Book #4 The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue

A fictional story based upon a real life event in the Victorian era. The story revolves around an unhappily married couple who have not long returned to England from overseas. The husband is an Admiral, the wife (Helen) younger than him and unhappy wishing that her husband would be called away to serve overseas and leave her. In the meantime she is having an affair.

A spinister friend is drawn into the web as the wife rekindles their friendship and then uses the friend as alibi and general cover. The friend (Fido) is an independent woman who oversees the Victoria Press, improving the rights of women in the workplace, by training them, giving them proper jobs etc at a time when that was not the norm.

The key events of the divorce, scandal and people involved were real and Emma Donoghue has built the story from the court documents and various other available sources. In many respects, it is interesting, but the author's pace felt a bit trudging at times and it was also quite hard to imagine certain people being quite as blinkered as they were to the reality of what was going on and what it meant. It gives a insight into what it meant to be a woman at that time. Overall it was good, but I just felt that it could have been better delivered.

November Book #5 Artemis by Andy Weir

Not too long before I read this, I saw a conversation in the Pub that suggested that this isn't as good as the Martian and I began to worry that it was going to be terrible. The upside to that was that I went into it with lower expectations. This is not The Martian, it's not that exceptional and there were weak points to the story and delivery, but it really wasn't that bad either. Overall this was a fairly quick light fun read and I didn't mind it.

145Peace2
Editado: Dic 22, 2020, 3:35 am

November Book #7 The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine

This was a children's mystery - for those about 9-12 I would guess. It was good fun. Sophie has been orphaned and now she has managed to find herself a job in Sinclair's a newly opened department store. While there she manages to make friends, enemies and get involved in a mystery and she and her friends have to solve a crime. It's set in Edwardian England and is the start of a series. Really enjoyed this - something a bit different to the run of the mill mystery books for children.

November Book #9 Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre

Excellent book - this is the second book I've read by the author, the first being Bad Science. I seem to remember someone else in the Pub reading this a couple of years ago which is what first put the author on my radar. The author in this has taken a look at the drug industry and explains clearly the faults that exist in the current processes that bring a drug from initial research stages through to being on the market and how the process is driven by money. We can all imagine that funding for research is hard to come by (we've seen it clearly in the hunt for a vaccine this year), that developing new drugs is a difficult and expensive business but in this book the author explains how drug companies can choose which of their trials to release information from (as in the ones with the most positive results), how they can spend millions more on marketing than they do on research, how doctors are unintentionally influenced even when they try to stay unbiased (as an example in the UK, doctors are expected to do a certain amount of professional development each year, what they are offered is often provided by drug companies - even with the best will in the world to remain unbiased, if you are given training, the people delivering are influencing your thoughts and beliefs and if you aren't receiving an alternative or opposing viewpoint, it's all one sided). Also in some parts of the world, new drugs only have to be better than nothing in treating a condition - not as good as or better than existing drugs. This book is not anti-drugs or vaccines, but is offering a wary look at the influence the marketing side of those big companies, how they can pick and choose the data they release. Well written - lots of science, but it's explained for people like me.

At the end of the day, we can't easily fix the monster that has developed, but we can question - both doctors and patients; the medical profession can demand access to all data not just the good bits - but it needs to be the profession, not just the individual doctor; doctors can try to limit the influence the companies have upon them by not accepting all the freebies; doctors can read and research for themselves (as can patients - nothing wrong with educating yourself and taking the questions to your doctor if you keep in mind that they likely know more than you - my GP has no objection to me taking things to him and asking if I need to be concerned or what does something mean for me - providing I'm cautious about the amount of time I'm taking up - he has other patients waiting - admittedly one of my consultants does not feel the same and is much more of the opinion that he's the expert which I agree he is, but when I raise something which is of concern, he should acknowledge and do his best to explain or answer - even if the answer is 'there isn't an answer until we've tried and seen because everybody reacts differently'). Also in the UK, there is something called the Yellow Card (MHRA) and it's a system for reporting suspected side effects and reactions to drugs. It allows the data gained from the testing before it's brought to market to be added to - any test is always limited, this allows the data to continue to grow on real people in real situations. I presume that other countries would have something similar.

Definitely a book worth reading (although, the middle of a pandemic might not have been the best time to tackle it - but it did get me researching some things so that when I had to go for my last GP visit, while he was taking blood and doing all the other things we were able to discuss some of the things I'd been researching - including the upcoming vaccines - and he was able to explain to me his thoughts on certain aspects as they would effect me).

I'm keen to try his third book I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that when I get a chance.

146Sakerfalcon
Editado: Dic 22, 2020, 6:25 am

>143 Peace2: It's To the bright edge of the world, and it's also a historical novel set in Alaska. I didn't expect to like it as much as The snow child as parts of the narrative are the record of an expedition into the interior from the POV of a colonel in the US army. The other narrative strand is that of his wife, left at base awaiting news from him. But Ivey totally drew me into both stories, and her skill at portraying the landscape and its people is incredible.

147Peace2
Dic 23, 2020, 3:20 am

November Book #11 Fermat's Last Theorem: The story of a riddle that confounded the world's greatest minds for 358 years by Simon Singh

This was an interesting story of Fermat's life and research and what followed as time progressed and people attempted to solve his work. Although some of the maths (most probably) was beyond me, it didn't hold me back because this was more about the history of the people and the research, the why of people's action. I quite enjoyed it.

November Book #12 Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

I struggled with this one a bit - its length didn't help, after an initially engaging start, I lost my focus somewhat but I struggled on. I was listening to it - so it was a long process - over 30 hours. I know it's been described as a classic piece of nineteenth century, among the best and a must-read, so I may give it another go at some point when my mind is less distracted but at this point in time it wasn't the right book for me.

148Peace2
Editado: Dic 24, 2020, 2:59 am

November Book #13 Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier

Another gem by Daphne Dy Maurier - each of her stories this year has really captured me in and had me reading eagerly.

December Book #1 Dissolution by C.J. Sansom

The story is the beginning of a series. Matthew Shardlake is a commissioner for Thomas Cromwell, set at the time of the dissolution of the Catholic monasteries during the reign of Henry VIII. Shardlake is sent to investigate the brutal murder of his predecessor. The book is a cross between historical fiction and mystery. It's well written, there are multiple mysteries and murders to be solved, it's an involved plot. It took me a few goes to get into, but once I did I was drawn in and kept reading.

December Book #2 Birds, Beasts and Relatives by Gerald Durrell

The second in the Corfu series of Gerald Durrell's autobiographical series describing his upbringing on the island of Corfu and his many exploits, adventures with family and the local fauna. A great read.

149Peace2
Editado: Dic 24, 2020, 3:00 am

December Book #4 Torchwood: Ex Machina by Alfie Shaw

Loved this one - it's an Ianto story, lots of dry humour in the midst of panic. Gareth David-Lloyd is great and delivers a perfect Ianto takes everything in hand in the absence of the rest of the team. I couldn't resist listening to this one as soon as it arrived.

December Book #5 A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

The Big Bang through evolution etc. Lots of facts crammed into a succinct format with a bit of humour thrown in. Possibly would be an unsatisfactory read for the scientifically minded but for a general layperson, it highlights the main points of how we got from the beginning to humans living on the world today - evolutionary matters, scientific discoveries. At just under 700 pages it's a lot to cram in, so he doesn't particularly spend long on any aspect.

150-pilgrim-
Editado: Dic 24, 2020, 5:13 am

>148 Peace2: You are revisiting my childhood! I read Jamaica Inn in English class when I was about twelve, and was reading Birds, Beasts and Relatives at home at about the same time.

I enjoyed them both immensely then. Sounds like they stand the test of time.

151AHS-Wolfy
Dic 25, 2020, 7:01 am

>148 Peace2: I do like the Shardlake series. Each successive book improves on the one before imho. Still need to get to the last couple of books though.

152Peace2
Dic 25, 2020, 12:58 pm

>151 AHS-Wolfy: Should I be reconsidering my decision to not continue? I didn't dislike it, just took a while to get into it and there are so so many books out there to read.

153Peace2
Dic 25, 2020, 4:06 pm

December Book #6 Lethal White by Robert Galbraith

Continuing the Cormoran Strike series. At the end of the last book, Robin had been fired and got married, but things clearly aren't working out well for her at the beginning of this. She spends the book trying to balance her recovered job with Strike with the situation at home. With the London Olympics about to commence, they form a background to the investigations. Strike is determined to find out the truth, one way or the other, behind the memories of a young man who appears in his office claiming he saw a murder as a child. The young man has a mental health condition which adds to the possibility of him being an unreliable witness , but Strike sets out to investigate and doesn't just dismiss his claims. He is also working for a British MP trying to investigate a case.

The cases and the development of the story around them is intricate and detailed. I'm somewhat less enthused by the Cormoran/Robin/Matthew situation. Why did Robin marry Matthew in the first place? (she does repeatedly think through her reason for this but the more often she thinks it, the less convincing it seems as both a reason in the first place and even more as a reason for staying) I'm not sure we need Cormoran and Robin to get together in their place either. I don't think Cormoran's being concerned for her welfare when they are facing danger has to lead to romance. The problem is that while finding out who they are as people and individuals does add to the depth and detail in the book, rounding them out as characters and allowing them, in some respects, to develop, does the 'will they/won't they?' aspect detract from their strength as individuals and the intricacy of the rest of the plot?

December Book #7 Earpedia: Plants by Sue Perkins

A sequel to the Audible Original about Animals that I listened to a few weeks ago. Each episode is less than 15 minutes long and explores a different plant - from the Venus Fly Trap to Cacao to Rubber. Curious and humorous - a little insight into plants from around the globe (some of which you really wouldn't want to get close to).

December Book #8 An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield

A book that is part reflection on the opportunities and experiences of the author and also the determination and persistence that got him to the point of being able to go into Space and spend time on the International Space Station and be the person in charge while there. This book is sort of a combination of memoir and self-help (how you can make the most of your own opportunities and what you want from life). I'll be honest I was sort of expecting more of the memoir. I did like the little insights into life on the Space Station and on what it's like to return to Earth and some of the things that astronauts have to do when they're not in Space - just how many other things are part of their job that would never have occurred to me.

154AHS-Wolfy
Dic 26, 2020, 5:37 am

>152 Peace2: I liked the 1st one quite a lot anyway. The rest of the books continue in a similar tone but I found the stories just a little better each time. If the first one didn't quite suit your tastes then By all means feel free to give the rest of them a miss.

155Peace2
Dic 29, 2020, 5:27 am

December Book #9 The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan

Not what I was expecting really. That's not to say this is a bad book, but I was expecting this to be focused on the old Silk Road routes that linked Asia and Europe and was looking forward to hearing details of that. Instead this is far more global, covers a far wider reach of history to the modern day. There were interesting facts and points in the global history, but at times it felt as if the author had a specific political agenda in mind when describing certain countries' roles in certain events. I am not suggesting that he was presenting incorrect facts, but that he presented them with a specific view in mind.

Overall, and it's my fault for going in with the wrong impression of what the book was about, I was a bit disappointed because it wasn't about what I wanted to read and that the trade and culture seemed to take a back seat somewhat and be lost in the bigger picture he was presenting.

December Book #10 The Goodbye Party by Louis Nowra

An Australian Audible Original. I was sorely tempted to give up. Ended up clock-watching to get to the end.

December Book #11 The Batch Lady: Shop Once, Cook Once, Eat Well All Week by Suzanne Mulholland

I like this - I've tried about three or four of the recipes so far and they've all worked simply and efficiently (not quite as efficiently as she suggested but that's okay). The aim of this book is to batch cook so recipes are often paired or grouped so that you can make multiple meals at once, with the spares being frozen mostly using simple readily available ingredients (I say mostly because due to the current situation I've had a few difficulties and that's the main reason I haven't tried more recipes).

This is not a book about cooking elegantly for dinner parties, it's about practicality, spending less time in the kitchen on a daily basis and utilising your time to greatest effect. It's about not buying ready meals and junk food but preparing things to use instead - all of the recipes I've looked at so far can be frozen with instructions on how to serve immediately, how to store and how to prepare for use after storage (whether it needs to be thawed in advance or can be cooked from frozen and how).

My one concern is that I'm not sure how healthy many of the recipes (don't get me wrong I love cheese) and that I'm not sure how healthy this would work out to be - certainly healthier than some of the TV type dinners one can buy and better than takeaway. I am picking and choosing my way through the book at the moment, based on what ingredients I can get (believe it or not I've not been able to get chicken breasts for the last three weeks - so I'm not talking about unusual ingredients, it's just the current situation combined with Christmas/New Year and weather that delays the deliveries further).

The author does have another book coming out later this year, entitled Healthy Family Favourites. If things continue well with the items in this book, I may well purchase that when it comes out in March - which I am sure will counter the concerns I have at the moment.

156Peace2
Dic 29, 2020, 2:14 pm

December Book #13 Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

This is the start of the Shadowhunter series. I found myself falling quickly into this much more so than I expected. The story centres around Tessa who arrives in London expecting to meet her brother, but instead she is finds two older women who produce a letter from her brother and then hurry her away to stay with them. She then finds herself subjected to testing and training and discovers that she can take on the appearance and voice of someone else.

She makes her escape in the company of Will, a Shadowhunter and from there the plot deepens. Tessa finds herself introduced to a whole society she was previously unaware of, a world of other supernatural creatures. Overall, a Victorian era steampunk fantasy.

There are a few faults that could be picked with some of the characters, Will in particular, but overall, I found it a quick light read and am looking forward to the next in the series. I hope it continues well.

December Book #14 Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

I found this difficult to get into, constantly changing perspectives and characters. Although I finished it, it wasn't really for me. I won't be continuing with this series.

December Book #15 The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and Dina Gregory

This was not the original classic, but rather a rewrite of the original by a modern author. This was an Audible Original and was free for members. In this it is rewritten to be a dramatisation and also swapping all of the characters from male to female. In theory the story didn't change, Ratty and Mole are still friends, Toad is still foolish and gets into the same kinds of trouble with cars and ends up in jail and so on, but somehow making the characters female did give the story a very different feel.

And that was the last book of 2020. On current rates of reading, I'm unlikely to finish any of the ones I've now got on the go until the New Year. I will do a round up of my stats for the year (I stopped doing the monthly ones when I got so far behind) and then get ready to start a new thread for 2021.

157Peace2
Dic 31, 2020, 3:04 am

End of Year round up

Total Number of Books Read : 316
Books Retained After Reading : 28 physical books and all audio/digital titles

Books on Shelf Prior to 1st Jan 2020 : 185

Books Abandoned : 22 (+141 others given away most of these were duplicate copies where I had an audio or digital version and a paper copy or which follow on from one I’ve read recently and don’t wish to continue the series. Due to space limitations I also reevaluated my cookery book collection and passed on lots of titles that weren't off use)

Non-Fiction Reads : 69
Fiction Reads : 247

Male Authors (first time to read that author this year): 84 (47.5% of total first time authors for the year)
Female Authors (first time to read that author this year): 93 (52.5% of total first time authors for the year)

Books by Male Authors :123 (38.92% of all books read)
Books by Female Authors : 120 (37.97% of all books read)
Books by Collaboration : 73 (23.10% of all books read)

Books acquired : 274 (given I have barely left the house since March, the majority of these were digital audio versions)

Goal to read 18000 pages from Mt. TBR by the end of the year : 59,979 pages (approximately) belonged to books that were in my possession prior to January 1st.

Mount TBR is now 640 books high.
Progress on reducing the TBR pile: reduced by 67 books
If I reduce Mount TBR by 50 books per year, it will now take : 12.8 years to reach the bottom of the Mountain

5 star books: 5
4 ½ star books: 12
4 star books: 56
3 ½ star books: 64
3 star books: 102
2 ½ star books: 30
2 star books: 22
1 ½ star books: 13
1 star books: 7
½ star books: 2

And so ends my record of 2020. Onward into 2021.

158reading_fox
Dic 31, 2020, 10:10 am

316 ! Impressed! Is that up or down from previous years? I found I'm up about a third from last year.
>156 Peace2: I found Furies fun, but that the rest fo the series rapidly goes downhill from there, so wisely abandoned if you didn't even like the first one.

159Peace2
Dic 31, 2020, 1:16 pm

>158 reading_fox: Glad I've made the right choice on the Furies (I had number 6 on the shelf waiting to be read which was why I tried the audio of the first one so happily slipped that into one of the donation books to make room for some of my Christmas presents)

With regard to the 316 - that's definitely up (last year's total was 235 which was up from the previous year - I would say over the few years prior to that it was normally between 150 and 200 books). This year, it's also been influenced by the fact that in the early part of the year I decided to re-read all of my Marvel graphic collections and pass them onto a friend who was keen to try them (that accounts for somewhere between 40 and 50 I'd guess). I also joined Audible this year as I was becoming increasingly frustrated with the local library audio collections - both physical and digital - as I'd read the ones I'd really wanted to read and when they were adding more that were of interest they were doing things like adding vol 3 and 5 of a set of 6 so if I wanted to borrow them I needed to buy 1,2, 4 and 6 myself. Once we went into lockdown and I found myself alone for the best part of the year, I've been using the audio books to read and *insert other activity* e.g. walk, crochet, clean, which has also upped my game however, it's also reduced the rate at which the TBR pile has been going down as I'm a sucker for buying more than I can listen to in the sales they keep having! Still the TBR went down by 67 and I was aiming for a minimum of 50 so not a complete fail on that score.