PAUL C'S SECOND HOME - PART 10

SCENES FROM MY BOOKS

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I hope to get to this one this month.

POEM

Mick Imlah would surely have gone on to be one of the greatest poets of the post-war generation had it not been for his very early, untimely death. His second and final collection The Lost Leader is one of the very best collections published in my lifetime. This poem "London Scottish" is from that collection. For the uninitiated London Scottish is the name of a rugby union club made up of Scottish exiles. Rugby union is a game of 15 a side and the connotations with the loss of those numbers are obvious.

April, the last full fixture of the spring:
‘Feet, Scottish, feet!’ – they rucked the fear of God
Into Blackheath. Their club was everything:
And of the four sides playing that afternoon,
The stars, but also those from the back pitches,
All sixty volunteered for the touring squad,
And swapped their Richmond turf for Belgian ditches.
October: mad for a fight, they broke too soon
On the Ypres Salient, rushing the ridge between
‘Witshit’ and Messines. Three-quarters died.

Of that ill-balanced and fatigued fifteen
The ass selectors favoured to survive,
Just one, Brodie the prop, resumed his post.
The others sometimes drank to ‘The Forty-Five’:
Neither a humorous nor an idle toast.

Reading Record First Quarter

JANUARY

1. Plague 99 by Jean Ure (1989) 218 pp
2. Tom Brown's Schooldays by Thomas Hughes (1857) 309 pp
3. A Lear of the Steppes by Ivan Turgenev (1870) 117 pp
4. A Fall from the Sky by Ian Serraillier (1966) 78 pp
5. The Overnight Kidnapper by Andrea Camilleri (2015) 262 pp
6. Dove on the Waters by Maurice Shadbolt (1996) 198 pp
7. A Portable Paradise by Roger Robinson (2019) 81 pp
8. The Other End of the Line by Andrea Camilleri (2016) 293 pp
9. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (2019) 208 pp
10. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome (1930) 501 pp
11. Carrie's War by Nina Bawden (1973) 211 pp
12. Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (2020) 430 pp
13. Judge Savage by Tim Parks (2003) 442 pp
14. The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side by Agatha Christie (1962) 280 pp
15. Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer (1969) 227 pp
16. Jazz by Toni Morrison (1992) 229 pp
17. A Question of Upbringing by Anthony Powell (1951) 230 pp

FEBRUARY

18. Junk by Melvyn Burgess (1996) 278 pp
19. The Great Fire by Monica Dickens (1970) 64 pp
20. At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie (1965) 265 pp
21. A Room of Own's Own by Virginia Woolf (1929) 153 pp
22. Bury the Dead by Peter Carter (1987) 374 pp
23. Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch (2011) 390 pp
24. Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (1873) 242 pp
25. Woods, etc. by Alice Oswald (2005) 56 pp
26. Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg (2015) 293 pp
27. A Burning by Megha Majumdar (2020) 289 pp
28. Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch (2011) 373 pp
29. What is History? by Edward Hallett Carr (1961) 156 pp
30. A Buyer's Market by Anthony Powell (1951) 278 pp

MARCH

31. The Return : Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between by Hisham Matar (2016) 239 pp
32. The Hammer of the Scots by Jean Plaidy (1978) 417 pp
33. Bright Dead Things by Ada Limon (2015) 101 pp
34. Some Experiences of an Irish RM by Somerville & Ross (1899) 223 pp
35. The Age of Improvement 1783-1867 by Asa Briggs (1959) 523 pp
36. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell (1853) 203 pp

Reading Record Second Quarter

APRIL

37. Love Story, With Murders by Harry Bingham (2013) 439 pp
38. Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid (2000) 270 pp
39. Diary of a Murderer by Kim Young-Ha (2013) 200 pp
40. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (2001) 428 pp
41. Blue Horses by Mary Oliver (2014) 79 pp
42. Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1864) 160 pp
43. The Curious Case of Dassoukine's Trousers by Fouad Laroui (2012) 134 pp
44. The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths by Harry Bingham (2014) 457 pp

Current Reading

READING PLAN

1 British Author Challenge - set this year by Amanda in the 75er Group

2 1001 Book First Edition - Ongoing

3 Booker Challenge - Read all the Booker winners; I may get close to completing that in 2021

4 Nobel Winners - Read all the Nobel Winners

5 Pulitzer Winners - Read all the Pulitzer fiction winners

6 Around the World Challenge - Read a book from an author born in or with parents from all countries - I reset this challenge in October 2020.

7 Queen Victoria Challenge - Read a book from every year of Queen Victoria's reign (1837-1901) with no repeat authors. Started December 2020

8 Queen Betty Challenge - Read a book from every year of Queen Elizabeth II reign (1952-2021) - British authors only and no repeats.

9 Dance to the Music of Time - One a month all year.

10. The 52 Book Club Challenge - A book a week from these selected categories https://www.the52book.club/challenges/2021-reading-challenge/

11. A Dent in the TBR - I have approaching 5,000 books in my TBR so I must read some of the 250 books I have bought in 2020 that end the current year unread.

12. Poetry - My first love in many ways and I am still something of a scribbler of lines to this day.

13. American Author Challenge - Linda came up trumps.

14. Series Pairs - I will choose one favourite series and read the next two books in that particular series I have slightly fallen behind with.

15 Great British History Writers - One classic work per month from a great British historian.

16 New Fantasy Series - I may take a couple of months over each so six may be the most I manage this year.

BAC



January: Children's Classics https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7317610

February: LGBT+ History Month https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7317871

March: Vaseem Khan & Eleanor Hibbert https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7318561

April: Love is in the Air https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7319432

May: V. S. Naipaul & Na'ima B. Robert https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7320231

June: The Victorian Era (1837-1901) https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7320541

July: Don't judge a book by its movie https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7321220

August: Bernard Cornwell & Helen Oyeyemi https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7321374

September: She Blinded Me with Science https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7321899

October: Narrative Poetry https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7322840

November: Tade Thompson & Elizabeth Taylor https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7323772

December: Awards & Honors https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7325017

Wildcard: Books off your shelves https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122#7325595

AMERICAN AUTHOR CHALLENGE



Please see:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/327669#7354831

January : Keep it in the Family : F. Scott Fitzgerald
February : Ethan Canin

BOOKERS
Personal Reading Challenge: Every winner of the Booker Prize since its inception in 1969

1969: P. H. Newby, Something to Answer For - READ
1970: Bernice Rubens, The Elected Member
1970: J. G. Farrell, Troubles (awarded in 2010 as the Lost Man Booker Prize) - READ
1971: V. S. Naipaul, In a Free State
1972: John Berger, G.
1973: J. G. Farrell, The Siege of Krishnapur - READ
1974: Nadine Gordimer, The Conservationist ... and Stanley Middleton, Holiday - READ
1975: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Heat and Dust - READ
1976: David Storey, Saville - READ
1977: Paul Scott, Staying On - READ
1978: Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea
1979: Penelope Fitzgerald, Offshore - READ
1980: William Golding, Rites of Passage - READ
1981: Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children - READ
1982: Thomas Keneally, Schindler's Ark - READ
1983: J. M. Coetzee, Life & Times of Michael K
1984: Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac - READ
1985: Keri Hulme, The Bone People
1986: Kingsley Amis, The Old Devils - READ
1987: Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger - READ
1988: Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda
1989: Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
1990: A. S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance - READ
1991: Ben Okri, The Famished Road
1992: Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient ... and Barry Unsworth, Sacred Hunger - READ
1993: Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
1994: James Kelman, How late it was, how late
1995: Pat Barker, The Ghost Road
1996: Graham Swift, Last Orders - READ
1997: Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things READ
1998: Ian McEwan, Amsterdam - READ
1999: J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace - READ
2000: Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin
2001: Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang - READ
2002: Yann Martel, Life of Pi READ
2003: DBC Pierre, Vernon God Little
2004: Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty
2005: John Banville, The Sea - READ
2006: Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss
2007: Anne Enright, The Gathering - READ
2008: Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger - READ
2009: Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall - READ
2010: Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question
2011: Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending - READ
2012: Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies - READ
2013: Eleanor Catton, The Luminaries
2014: Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North - READ
2015: Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings - READ
2016: Paul Beatty, The Sellout - READ
2017: George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo
2018: Anna Burns, Milkman
2019: Margaret Atwood, The Testaments, and Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other
2020: Douglas Stuart, Shuggie Bain READ JAN 21

READ 33 of 56 WINNERS

Pulitzer Winners

As with the Bookers, I want to eventually read all the Pulitzer winners (for fiction at least) and have most of the recent ones on the shelves at least. Current status.

Fiction

1918 HIS FAMILY - Ernest Poole
1919 THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS - Booth Tarkington
1921 THE AGE OF INNOCENCE - Edith Wharton
1922 ALICE ADAMS - Booth Tarkington
1923 ONE OF OURS - Willa Cather
1924 THE ABLE MCLAUGHLINS - Margaret Wilson
1925 SO BIG - Edna Ferber
1926 ARROWSMITH - Sinclair Lewis (Declined)
1927 EARLY AUTUMN - Louis Bromfield
1928 THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY - Thornton Wilder
1929 SCARLET SISTER MARY - Julia Peterkin
1930 LAUGHING BOY - Oliver Lafarge ON SHELVES
1931 YEARS OF GRACE - Margaret Ayer Barnes
1932 THE GOOD EARTH - Pearl Buck
1933 THE STORE - Thomas Sigismund Stribling
1934 LAMB IN HIS BOSOM - Caroline Miller
1935 NOW IN NOVEMBER - Josephine Winslow Johnson
1936 HONEY IN THE HORN - Harold L Davis
1937 GONE WITH THE WIND - Margaret Mitchell ON SHELVES
1938 THE LATE GEORGE APLEY - John Phillips Marquand
1939 THE YEARLING - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
1940 THE GRAPES OF WRATH - John Steinbeck
1942 IN THIS OUR LIFE - Ellen Glasgow
1943 DRAGON'S TEETH - Upton Sinclair
1944 JOURNEY IN THE DARK - Martin Flavin
1945 A BELL FOR ADANO - John Hersey ON SHELVES
1947 ALL THE KING'S MEN - Robert Penn Warren ON SHELVES
1948 TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC - James Michener
1949 GUARD OF HONOR - James Gould Cozzens
1950 THE WAY WEST - A.B. Guthrie
1951 THE TOWN - Conrad Richter
1952 THE CAINE MUTINY - Herman Wouk
1953 THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA - Ernest Hemingway
1955 A FABLE - William Faulkner
1956 ANDERSONVILLE - McKinlay Kantor
1958 A DEATH IN THE FAMILY - James Agee ON SHELVES
1959 THE TRAVELS OF JAIMIE McPHEETERS - Robert Lewis Taylor
1960 ADVISE AND CONSENT - Allen Drury
1961 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - Harper Lee
1962 THE EDGE OF SADNESS - Edwin O'Connor
1963 THE REIVERS - William Faulkner
1965 THE KEEPERS OF THE HOUSE - Shirley Ann Grau
1966 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF KATHERINE ANNE PORTER - Katherine Anne Porter
1967 THE FIXER - Bernard Malamud
1968 THE CONFESSIONS OF NAT TURNER - William Styron
1969 HOUSE MADE OF DAWN - N Scott Momaday ON SHELVES
1970 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF JEAN STAFFORD - Jean Stafford
1972 ANGLE OF REPOSE - Wallace Stegner ON SHELVES
1973 THE OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER - Eudora Welty ON SHELVES
1975 THE KILLER ANGELS - Jeff Shaara ON SHELVES
1976 HUMBOLDT'S GIFT - Saul Bellow
1978 ELBOW ROOM - James Alan McPherson
1979 THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER - John Cheever ON SHELVES
1980 THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG - Norman Mailer ON SHELVES
1981 A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES - John Kennedy Toole ON SHELVES
1982 RABBIT IS RICH - John Updike
1983 THE COLOR PURPLE - Alice Walker ON SHELVES
1984 IRONWEED - William Kennedy ON SHELVES
1985 FOREIGN AFFAIRS - Alison Lurie ON SHELVES
1986 LONESOME DOVE - Larry McMurtry ON SHELVES
1987 A SUMMONS TO MEMPHIS - Peter Taylor
1988 BELOVED - Toni Morrison - ON SHELVES
1989 BREATHING LESSONS - Anne Tyler
1990 THE MAMBO KINGS PLAY SONGS OF LOVE - Oscar Hijuelos
1991 RABBIT AT REST - John Updike
1992 A THOUSAND ACRES - Jane Smiley
1993 A GOOD SCENT FROM A STRANGE MOUNTAIN - Robert Olen Butler
1994 THE SHIPPING NEWS - E Annie Proulx
1995 THE STONE DIARIES - Carol Shields ON SHELVES
1996 INDEPENDENCE DAY - Richard Ford ON SHELVES
1997 MARTIN DRESSLER - Steven Millhauser ON SHELVES
1998 AMERICAN PASTORAL - Philip Roth ON SHELVES
1999 THE HOURS - Michael Cunningham ON SHELVES
2000 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES - Jumpha Lahiri
2001 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY - Michael Chabon ON SHELVES
2002 EMPIRE FALLS - Richard Russo ON SHELVES
2003 MIDDLESEX - Jeffrey Eugenides ON SHELVES
2004 THE KNOWN WORLD - Edward P. Jones ON SHELVES
2005 GILEAD - Marilynne Robinson ON SHELVES
2006 MARCH - Geraldine Brooks
2007 THE ROAD - Cormac McCarthy
2008 THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO - Junot Diaz ON SHELVES
2009 OLIVE KITTERIDGE - Elizabeth Strout ON SHELVES
2010 TINKERS - Paul Harding
2011 A VISIT FROM THE GOOD SQUAD - Jennifer Egan ON SHELVES
2013 ORPHAN MASTER'S SON - Adam Johnson ON SHELVES
2014 THE GOLDFINCH - Donna Tartt ON SHELVES
2015 ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE - Anthony Doerr ON SHELVES
2016 THE SYMPATHIZER - Viet Thanh Nguyen ON SHELVES
2017 THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD - Colson Whitehead ON SHELVES
2018 LESS - Andrew Sean Greer ON SHELVES
2019 THE OVERSTORY - Richard Powers ON SHELVES
2020 THE NICKEL BOYS - Colson Whitehead


17 READ
37 ON SHELVES
39 NOT OWNED OR READ

93 TOTAL

NOBELS

Update on my Nobel Prize Winning Reading:
1901 Sully Prudhomme
1902 Theodor Mommsen
1903 Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
1904 Frédéric Mistral and José Echegaray y Eizaquirre
1905 Henryk Sienkiewicz
1906 Giosuè Carducci
1907 Rudyard Kipling - READ
1908 Rudolf Christoph Eucken
1909 Selma Lagerlöf
1910 Paul Heyse --
1911 Count Maurice Maeterlinck
1912 Gerhart Hauptmann
1913 Rabindranath Tagore - READ
1915 Romain Rolland
1916 Verner von Heidenstam
1917 Karl Adolph Gjellerup and Henrik Pontoppidan
1919 Carl Spitteler
1920 Knut Hamsun - READ
1921 Anatole France - READ
1922 Jacinto Benavente
1923 William Butler Yeats - READ
1924 Wladyslaw Reymont
1925 George Bernard Shaw - READ
1926 Grazia Deledda - READ
1927 Henri Bergson
1928 Sigrid Undset
1929 Thomas Mann - READ
1930 Sinclair Lewis - READ
1931 Erik Axel Karlfeldt
1932 John Galsworthy - READ
1933 Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin - READ
1934 Luigi Pirandello - READ
1936 Eugene O'Neill - READ
1937 Roger Martin du Gard
1938 Pearl S. Buck - READ
1939 Frans Eemil Sillanpää
1944 Johannes Vilhelm Jensen
1945 Gabriela Mistral
1946 Hermann Hesse - READ
1947 André Gide - READ
1948 T.S. Elliot - READ
1949 William Faulkner - READ
1950 Bertrand Russell - READ
1951 Pär Lagerkvist - READ
1952 François Mauriac - READ
1953 Sir Winston Churchill - READ
1954 Ernest Hemingway - READ
1955 Halldór Laxness - READ
1956 Juan Ramón Jiménez
1957 Albert Camus - READ
1958 Boris Pasternak (declined the prize) - READ
1959 Salvatore Quasimodo
1960 Saint-John Perse
1961 Ivo Andric - READ
1962 John Steinbeck - READ
1963 Giorgos Seferis
1964 Jean-Paul Sartre (declined the prize) - READ
1965 Michail Sholokhov
1966 Shmuel Yosef Agnon and Nelly Sachs - READ
1967 Miguel Ángel Asturias
1968 Yasunari Kawabata - READ
1969 Samuel Beckett - READ
1970 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - READ
1971 Pablo Neruda - READ
1972 Heinrich Böll - READ
1973 Patrick White
1974 Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson
1975 Eugenio Montale
1976 Saul Bellow - READ
1977 Vincente Aleixandre
1978 Isaac Bashevis Singer - READ
1979 Odysseas Elytis - READ
1980 Czeslaw Milosz
1981 Elias Canetti
1982 Gabriel Garciá Márquez - READ
1983 William Golding - READ
1984 Jaroslav Seifert - READ
1985 Claude Simon - READ
1986 Akinwande Ouwoe Soyinka
1987 Joseph Brodsky - READ
1988 Naguib Mahfouz - READ
1989 Camilo José Cela - READ
1990 Octavio Paz
1991 Nadine Gordimer - READ
1992 Derek Walcott - READ
1993 Toni Morrison - READ
1994 Kenzaburo Oe - READ
1995 Seamus Heaney - READ
1996 Wislawa Szymborska - READ
1997 Dario Fo - READ
1998 José Saramago - READ
1999 Günter Grass
2000 Gao Xingjian
2001 Vidiadhar Surjprasad Naipaul - READ
2002 Imre Kertész - READ
2003 John Maxwell Coetzee - READ
2004 Elfriede Jelinek - READ
2005 Harold Pinter - READ
2006 Orhan Pamuk - READ
2007 Doris Lessing - READ
2008 J.M.G. Le Clézio
2009 Herta Müller - READ
2010 Mario Vargas Llosa - READ
2011 Tomas Tranströmer - READ
2012 Mo Yan
2013 Alice Munro - READ
2014 Patrick Modiano - READ
2015 Svetlana Alexievich - READ
2016 Bob Dylan - READ
2017 Kazuo Ishiguro - READ
2018 Olga Tokarczuk - READ
2019 Peter Handke - READ
2020 Louise Gluck - READ

READ 71 OF
117 LAUREATES

AROUND THE WORLD CHALLENGE

Around the world in books challenge. I want to see how many countries I can cover without limiting myself to a specific deadline.

From 1 October 2020

1. United Kingdom - The Ways of the World by Robert Goddard EUROPE
2. Ireland - The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde EUROPE
3. Lithuania - Selected and Last Poems by Czeslaw Milosz EUROPE
4. Netherlands - The Ditch by Herman Koch EUROPE
5. Armenia - The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian ASIA PACIFIC
6. Zimbabwe - This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga AFRICA
7. United States - Averno by Louise Gluck AMERICA
8. Australia - Taller When Prone by Les Murray ASIA PACIFIC
9. France - Class Trip by Emmanuel Carrere EUROPE
10. Russia - The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov EUROPE
11. Denmark - Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard EUROPE
12. Democratic Republic of Congo - Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanze Mujila AFRICA
13. Canada - I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven AMERICA
14. Italy - The Overnight Kidnapper by Andrea Camilleri EUROPE
15. New Zealand - Dove on the Waters by Maurice Shadbolt ASIA PACIFIC
16. India - A Burning by Megha Majumdar ASIA PACIFIC
17. Libya - The Return by Hisham Matar AFRICA
18. Pakistan - Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid ASIA PACIFIC
19. South Korea - Diary of a Murderer by Kim Young-Ha ASIA PACIFIC
20. Morocco - The Curious Case of Dassoukine's Trousers by Fouad Laroui AFRICA


Create Your Own Visited Countries Map

QUEEN VIC CHALLENGE
Regarding my Victorian Era Challenge which I started this month with the aim of completing it by the end of 2021. 64 years. 64 books. 64 authors.

From Dec 2020

1843 FEAR AND TREMBLING by Kierkegaard
1850 PENDENNIS by Thackeray
1853 CRANFORD by GASKELL
1857 TOM BROWN'S SCHOOLDAYS by Hughes
1864 NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND by Dostoevsky
1870 A LEAR OF THE STEPPES by Turgenev
1873 AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS by Verne
1881 PRINCE AND THE PAUPER by Twain
1899 SOME EXPERIENCES OF AN IRISH RM by Somerville & Ross
1900 THREE SISTERS by Chekhov

10/64

QUEEN BETTY CHALLENGE

From December 2020 70 Years 70 Books 70 Different British Authors

1952 A Buyer's Market by Anthony Powell
1959 The Age of Improvement by Asa Briggs
1961 What is History? by EH Carr
1962 The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side by Agatha Christie
1966 A Fall from the Sky by Ian Serraillier
1969 Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Framer
1970 The Great Fire by Monica Dickens
1973 Carrie's War by Nina Bawden
1978 The Hammer of the Scots by Jean Plaidy
1987 Bury the Dead by Peter Carter
1989 Plague 99 by Jean Ure
1996 Junk by Melvyn Burgess
2003 Judge Savage by Tim Parks
2005 Woods, etc. by Alice Oswald
2011 Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
2013 A Delicate Truth by John Le Carre
2014 The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths by Harry Bingham
2019 A Portable Paradise by Roger Robinson
2020 Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

19/70

52 BOOK CLUB CHALLENGE

Based on this challenge suggested by Katie & Chelle

https://www.the52book.club/challenges/2021-reading-challenge/

January
Week 1 : Set in a school : Tom Brown's Schooldays by Hughes Read 2 Jan 2021
Week 2 : Legal profession : Judge Savage by Tim Parks Read 28 Jan 2021
Week 3 : Dual timeline : Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer Read 29 Jan 2021
Week 4 : Deceased author : Jazz by Toni Morrison READ 30 Jan 2021
Week 5 : Published by Penguin : Junk by Melvyn Burgess READ 3 Feb 2021
Week 6 : Male Family Member : Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch READ 12 Feb 2021
Week 7 : 1 Published Work : A Burning by Megha Majumdar READ 19 Feb 2021
Week 8 : Dewey 900 Class : What is History? by EH Carr READ 28 February
Week 9 : Set in a Mediterranean Country : The Return by Hisham Matar READ 5 MAR 2021
Week 10 : Book with discussion questions : Love Story, With Murders by Harry Bingham READ 2 APR
Week 11 : Relating to fire : Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid READ 4 APR
Week 12 : Title Starting with D : Diary of a Murderer by Kim Young-Ha READ 6 APR
Week 13 : Includes an Exotic Animal : Life of Pi by Yann Martel READ 11 April
Week 14 : Written by an author over 65 : Blue Horses by Mary Oliver READ 14 April
Week 15 : Book Mentioned in a book : Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky READ 15 April

SERIES PAIR CHALLENGE

January : Andrea Camilleri - MONTALBANO DONE
February : Agatha Christie - MISS MARPLE DONE
March : Ben Aaronovitch - PETER GRANT DONE
April : Harry Bingham - FIONA GRIFFITHS DONE

BRITISH HISTORIANS

As if I don't have enough challenges! I want to polish up on my reading and re-reading of the British historians who either inspired me as a student or who I have since come to greatly admire

The French Revolution by Thomas CARLYLE 1837
The Age of Improvement by Asa BRIGGS 1959 READ MAR 21
The History of England by Thomas Babington MACAULAY 1848
The Making of the English Working Class by EP THOMPSON 1963
Fifteen Decisive Battles by EDWARD CREASEY 1851
What is History? by EH CARR 1961 READ FEB 21
The Course of German History by AJP TAYLOR 1945
The American Future by Simon SCHAMA 2009
The Face of Battle by John KEEGAN 1976
The King's Peace by CV WEDGWOOD 1955
The Age of Revolution by ERIC HOBSBAWM 1962

FANTASY SERIES CHALLENGE
Six New (for me) Fantasy Series to go at:

I will concentrate on one series every two months

N.K. JEMISIN - The Inheritance Trilogy

TAD WILLIAMS - Memory, Sorrow and Thorn

C.J. CHERRYH - Chanur Saga

GENE WOLFE - The Book of the New Sun

DAVID EDDINGS - The Belgariad

DIANA GABALDON - Outlander

READ MORE THAN ACQUIRED

Last year I added 300 books but read 50 of them. In addition I have another 4,500 plus on the TBR.
The challenge is not to make the situation of my TBR worse.
So I must read or remove from my wider TBR more than I acquire this year and I will gauge this against last years "new" TBR and any future incomings. Therefore the older TBRs don't count against this challenge.

The figure at the start of the year is 250 books and this number must be smaller by December 31. These are the 250 books:

1 Stay with Me Adebayo
2 American War Akkad
3 The Catholic School Albinati
4 The Unwomanly Face of War Alexievich
5 Saltwater Andrews
6 Big Sky Atkinson
7 At the Jerusalem Bailey
8 The Body Lies Baker
9 The Lost Memory of Skin Banks
10 Remembered Battle-Felton
11 Springtime in a Broken Mirror Benedetti
12 A Crime in the Neighborhood Berne
13 Stand By Me Berry
14 Love Story, With Murders Bingham READ APR 21
15 This Thing of Darkness Bingham
16 The Sandcastle Girls Bohjalian
17 The Ascent of Rum Doodle Bowman
18 Clade Bradley
19 The Snow Ball Brophy
20 Paladin of Souls Bujold
21 Parable of the Sower Butler
22 The Adventures of China Iron Camara
23 The Overnight Kidnapper Camilleri READ JAN 21
24 The Other End of the Line Camilleri READ JAN 21
25 Lord of all the Dead Cercas
26 Uncle Vanya Checkov
27 The Cherry Orchard Checkov
28 Blue Moon Child
29 Trust Exercise Choi
30 The Night Tiger Choo
31 The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side Christie READ JAN 21
32 At Bertram's Hotel Christie READ FEB 21
33 The Water Dancer Coates
34 The New Wilderness Cook
35 Hopscotch Cortazar
36 The Illumination of Ursula Flight Crowhurst
37 Deviation D'Eramo
38 Boy Swallows Universe Dalton
39 The Girl with the Louding Voice Dare
40 The Rose of Tibet Davidson
41 Dhalgren Delany
42 The Butterfly Girl Denfeld
43 Vernon Subutex 1 Despentes
44 Postcolonial Love Poem Diaz
45 Childhood Ditlevsen
46 Youth Ditlevsen
47 Dependency Ditlevsen
48 Burnt Sugar Doshi
49 Frenchman's Creek Du Maurier D
50 Trilby Du Maurier G
51 Sincerity Duffy
52 Sumarine Dunthorne
53 The Narrow Land Dwyer-Hickey
54 Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race Eddo-Lodge
55 Axiom's End Ellis
56 Figures in a Landscape England
57 kaddish.com Englander
58 Shadow Tag Erdrich
59 The Carpet Makers Eschbach
60 The Emperor's Babe Evaristo
61 Small Country Faye
62 To Rise Again at a Decent Hour Ferris
63 At Freddie's Fitzgerald
64 The Guest List Foley
65 Man's Search for Meaning Frankel
66 Love in No Man's Land Ga
67 Norse Mythology Gaiman
68 The Spare Room Garner
69 The Kites Gary
70 Gun Island Ghosh
71 Vita Nova Gluck
72 Trafalgar Gorodischer
73 Potiki Grace
74 Killers of the Flower Moon Grann
75 The Last Banquet Grimwood
76 Guapa Haddad
77 The Porpoise Haddon
78 Late in the Day Hadley
79 The Final Bet Hamdouchi
80 The Parisian Hammad
81 Nightingale Hannah
82 Coastliners Harris J
83 The Truths We Hold Harris K
84 Conclave Harris R
85 The Second Sleep Harris R
86 Tales of the Tikongs Hau'ofa
87 A Thousand Ships Haynes
88 The River Heller
89 Dead Lions Herron
90 Real Tigers Herron
91 War and Turpentine Hertmans
92 A Political History of the World Holslag
93 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine Honeyman
94 The Light Years Howard
95 Promise Me You'll Shoot Yourself Huber
96 A High Wind in Jamaica Hughes
97 Ape and Essence Huxley
98 Me John
99 Nightblind Jonasson
100 Black Out Jonasson
101 How to be an Anti-Rascist Kendi
102 Death is Hard Work Khalifa
103 Darius the Great is Not Okay Khorram
104 Himself Kidd
105 Diary of a Murderer Kim READ APR 21
106 Dance of the Jacakranda Kimani
107 The Bridge Konigsberg
108 Who They Was Krauze
109 The Mars Room Kushner
110 The Princesse de Cleves La Fayette
111 The Other Americans Lalami
112 The Curious Case of Dassoukine's Trousers Laroui READ APR 21
113 Fish Can Sing Laxness
114 Agent Running in the Field Le Carre
115 Pachinko Lee
116 The Turncoat Lenz
117 The Topeka School Lerner
118 Caging Skies Leunens
119 The Fifth Risk Lewis
120 The Three-Body Problem Liu
121 Lost Children Archive Luiselli
122 Black Moses Mabanckou
123 Blue Ticket Mackintosh
124 A Burning Majumdar READ FEB 21
125 The Mirror and the Light Mantel
126 Original Spin Marks
127 Deep River Marlantes
128 The Return Matar READ MAR 21
129 The Island Matute
130 Hame McAfee
131 Apeirogon McCann
132 Underland McFarlane
133 Hurricane Season Melchor
134 The Shadow King Mengiste
135 The Human Swarm Moffett
136 She Would Be King Moore
137 The Starless Sea Morgenstern
138 Poetry by Heart Motion
139 A Fairly Honourable Defeat Murdoch
140 The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov Nabokov
141 The Warlow Experiment Nathan
142 The Left-Handed Booksellers of London Nix
143 Born a Crime Noah
144 The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney Nzelu
145 Girl O'Brien
146 After You'd Gone O'Farrell
147 Henry, Himself O'Nan
148 Inland Obreht
149 Weather Offill
150 Dept. of Speculation Offill
151 Stag's Leap Olds
152 Blue Horses Oliver READ APR 21
153 Felicity Oliver
154 Will Olyslaegers
155 Woods, etc Oswald READ FEB 21
156 Night Theatre Paralkar
157 The Damascus Road Parini
158 Empress of the East Peirce
159 The Street Petry
160 Disappearing Earth Phillips
161 Arid Dreams Pimwana
162 Peterloo : Witness to a Massacre Polyp
163 Lanny Porter
164 The Women at Hitler's Table Postorino
165 A Question of Upbringing Powell A READ JAN 21
166 A Buyer's Market Powell A READ FEB 21
167 The Acceptance World Powell A
168 The Interrogative Mood Powell P
169 Rough Magic Prior-Palmer
170 The Alice Network Quinn
171 Where the Red Fern Grows Rawls
172 Such a Fun Age Reid
173 Selected Poems 1950-2012 Rich
174 The Discomfort of Evening Rijneveld
175 Jack Robinson
176 The Years of Rice and Salt Robinson K
177 A Portable Paradise Robinson R READ JAN 21
178 The Fall of the Ottomans Rogan
179 Normal People Rooney
180 Conversations with Friends Rooney
181 Alone Time Rosenbloom
182 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Rowling
183 The Watch Roy-Bhattacharya
184 The Five Rubenhold
185 Contact Sagan
186 The Hunters Salter
187 The Seventh Cross Seghers
188 Will Self
189 Moses Ascending Selvon
190 The Dove on the Water Shadbolt READ JAN 21
191 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World Shafak
192 In Arabian Nights Shah
193 The Caliph's House Shah
194 Mrs Warren's Profession Shaw
195 Arms and the Man Shaw
196 Candida Shaw
197 Man and Superman Shaw
198 Dimension of Miracles Sheckley
199 The Last Man Shelley
200 Temple of a Thousand Faces Shors
201 Year of the Monkey Smith P
202 Eternity Smith T
203 Crossing Statovci
204 Lucy Church, Amiably Stein
205 Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are Dead Stoppard
206 Blood Cruise Strandberg
207 Shuggie Bain Stuart READ JAN 21
208 Three Poems Sullivan
209 Rules for Perfect Murders Swanson
210 Cane River Tademy
211 Real Life Taylor
212 The Queen's Gambit Tevis
213 Far North Therous
214 Walden Thoreau
215 Civil Disobedience Thoreau
216 Survivor Song Tremblay
217 The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee Treuer
218 The Small House at Allingham Trollope
219 A Nest of Gentlefolk Turgenev
220 A Quiet Backwater Turgenev
221 A Lear of the Steppes Turgenev READ JAN 21
222 The Queen of Attolia Turner
223 The King of Attolia Turner
224 Redhead by the Side of the Road Tyler
225 Outlaw Ocean Urbina
226 Plague 99 Ure READ JAN 2021
227 The Age of Miracles Walker
228 The Uninhabitable Earth Wallace-Wells
229 Judith Paris Walpole
230 Love and Other Thought Experiments Ward
231 The Death of Mrs. Westaway Ware
232 Lolly Willows Warner
233 Second Life Watson
234 Final Cut Watson
235 Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen Weldon
236 Before the War Weldon
237 Lazarus West
238 Educated Westover
239 The Nickel Boys Whitehead READ JAN 21
240 The Death of Murat Idrissi Wieringa
241 Salome Wilde
242 An Ideal Husband Wilde
243 Lady Windemere's Fan Wilde
244 A Woman of No Importance Wilde
245 The Salt Path Winn
246 The Natural Way of Things Wood C
247 East Lynne Wood E
248 A Room of One's Own Woolf READ FEB 21
249 Interior Chinatown Yu
250 How Much of These Hills is Gold Zhang

BEGIN : 250
READ : 20
ADDED : 87 (Nett after deducting those already read)
CULLED : 0 (AGED TBR)

PRESENT TOTAL : 319

THIS YEAR'S ACQUISITIONS

1. Some Experiences of an Irish R.M. by Somerville & Ross READ MAR 21
2. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome READ JAN 21
3. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
4. The French Revolution by Thomas Carlyle
5. The Black Corsair by Emilio Salgari
6. The Prime Ministers : Reflections on Leadership from Wilson to Johnson by Steve Richards
7. The God Child by Nana Oforiatta Ayim
8. Arturo's Island by Elsa Morante
9. Coningsby by Benjamin Disraeli
10. The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
11. The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron
12. Death's Mistress by Terry Goodkind
13. The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey
14. Small Days and Nights by Tishani Doshi
15. Clear Light of Day by Anita Desai
16. Desert by JMG Le Clezio
17. For the Record by David Cameron
18. The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
19. The Guardians of the West by David Eddings
20. Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
21. The Council of Egypt by Leonardo Sciascia
22. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
23. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin
24. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
25. Rupture by Ragnar Jonasson
26. White Out by Ragnar Jonasson
27. The Age of Capital by Eric Hobsbawm
28. The World Turned Upside Down by Christopher Hill
29. The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon
30. Modern Times by Paul Johnson
31. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy
32. The Warehouse by Rob Hart
33. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
34. Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings
35. Queen of Sorcery by David Eddings
36. Magician's Gambit by David Eddings
37. Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan
38. In Ashes Lie by Marie Brennan
39. The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
40. The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian
41. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
42. At Lady Molly's by Anthony Powell
43. Casanova's Chinese Restaurant by Anthony Powell
44. The Kindly Ones by Anthony Powell
45. The Financier by Theodore Dreiser
46. Still Waters by Viveca Sten
47. Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo
48. The Europeans by Henry James
49. Vice Versa by F. Anstey
50. A Thousand Moons by Sebastian Barry
51. The Scarred Woman by Jussi Adler Olsen
52. Closed for Winter Jorn Lier Horst
53. News of the World by Juliette Jiles
54. Bright Dead Things by Ada Limon READ MAR 21
55. A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea by Dina Nayeri
56. Death in the Tuscan Hills by Marco Vichi
57. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
58. Good Morning Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton
59. Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud
60. The Enchanted by Rene Denefeld
61. The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
62. The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas by Machado de Assis
63. The Innocents by Michael Crummey
64. Night Waking by Sarah Moss
65. Idaho by Emily Ruskovich
66. Throw me to the Wolves by Patrick McGuinness
67. Consent by Annabel Lyon
68. Selling Manhattan by Carole Ann Duffy
69. Rendang by Will Harris
70. The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
71. No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
72. Amnesty by Aravind Adiga
73. The Awkward Squad by Sophie Henaff
74. The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown by Vaseem Khan
75. Afternoon Raag by Amit Chaudhuri
76. The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
77. The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson
78. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
79. Bricks and Mortar by Clemens Meyer
80. The Eastern Shore by Ward Just
81. The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
82. The Wild Iris by Louise Gluck
83. Vertigo& Ghost by Fiona Benson
84. Salt Slow by Julia Armfield
85. Soot by Dan Vyleta
86. Deacon King Kong by James McBride
87. Abigail by Magda Szabo
88. Baba Yaga Laid an Egg by Dubravka Ugresic
89. Coming Up for Air by Sarah Leipciger
90. Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
91. Selection Day by Aravind Adiga
92. The Voyage by Murray Bail
93. Peace : A Novel by Richard Bausch
94. The Third Reich by Roberto Bolano
95. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
96. The Kingdom of this World by Alejo Carpentier
97. My Life as a Russian Novel by Emmanuel Carrere
98. Texaco by Patrick Chamoiseau
99. Man V. Nature by Diane Cook
100. The Melody by Jim Crace
101. SS-GB by Len Deighton
102. Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald
103. Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
104. The Beautiful Indifference by Sarah Hall
105. Munich by Robert Harris
106. Bodies Electric by Colin Harrison
107. The Punch by Noah Hawley
108. Spook Street by Mick Herron
109. London Rules by Mick Herron
110. The Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst
111. The Land of Green Ginger by Winifred Holtby
112. The Wreck of the Mary Deare by Hammond Innes
113. The Cider House Rules by John Irving
114. Exiles in the Garden by Ward Just
115. Duffy by Dan Kavanagh
116. The Good People by Hannah Kent
117. The Life to Come by Michelle de Krester
118. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin
119. 10:04 by Ben Lerner
120. Home is the Hunter by Helen MacInnes
121. Paris 1919 by Margaret MacMillan
122. The Blood Miracles by Lisa McInerney
123. The Girl in Green by Derek B. Miller
124. Arab Jazz by Karim Miske
125. Bodies of Light by Sarah Moss
126. Carthage by Joyce Carol Oates
127. The Changeling by Kenzaburo Oe
128. The Horseman by Tim Pears
129. Echoland by Per Petterson
130. Last Stand by Michael Punke
131. The Waiting Time by Gerald Seymour
132. Home Run by Gerald Seymour
133. Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith
134. To the Back of Beyond by Peter Stamm
135. They Know Not What They Do by Jussi Valtonen
136. The Tulip Eaters by Antoinette Van Heugten
137. Smoke by Dan Vyleta
138. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
139. That Eye, The Sky by Tim Winton
140. Fear : Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward
141. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
142. Gerta by Katerina Tuckova
143. My Country: A Syrian Memoir by Kassem Eid
144. Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann
145. The Hotel Tito by Ivana Bodrozic
146. Strange Hotel by Eimear McBride

146 added
3 read
143 nett additions

RESOLUTIONS

BOOKS OF THE MONTH

January : The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
February : Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg
March : The Return by Hashim Matar

READING INFLUENCE WINNERS

A book for the book bullet that made the biggest mark on me that month. Only one win per person each year.

January 2021 MARK (msf59) for THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS by Stephen Graham Jones
February 2021 ADRIENNE (fairywings) for THE BELGARIAD by David Eddings

BOOK STATS :

Books Read : 44
Books Added : 146
Nett TBR Addition : 102

Number of Pages in completed books : 11,388
Avergae per day : 104.47
Projected Page Total : 38,134

Number of days per book : 2.47
Projected Number : 147
LT Best : 157

Longest Book read : 523 pages
Shortest Book read : 64 pages
Mean Average Book Length : 258.82 pages

Male Authors : 29
Female Authors : 15

UK Authors : 27
Italy : 2
USA : 5
NZ : 1
Russia : 2
France : 1
India : 1
Libya : 1
Pakistan : 1
South Korea : 1
Canada : 1
Morocco : 1

1001 Books First Edition : 7 (311)
New Nobel Winners :
Pulitzer Fiction Winners : 1 (17)
Booker Winners : 2 (33)
Around the World Challenge : New countries : 7 (20)
BAC Books : 12
AAC Books :
Queen Vic Books : 7 (10/64)
Queen Betty Books : 18 (19/70)
52 Book Challenge : 15 (15/52)
British Historians : 2 (2/12)

Next is yours

Happy New Thread!

I see you’re reading a Hamid. I’m reading How to get Filthy rich in Rising Asia right now.

Really enjoying it.

And I’m first?! Wonder of wonders

HAppy new one!

>1 PaulCranswick: Have not read the life of pi but have read everything else by Martel.

Happy new thread, Paul. Again! :-)

Happy new thread!

>26 mahsdad: That is a happy coincidence, Jeff. It is my third book of his.

>27 mahsdad: Thanks mate; nice to have you first up.

>28 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita.

Isn't that funny that the only one you haven't read is the one which he is famous for!

It is the first of his books I shall be reading.

>29 jessibud2: Thank you, Shelley. The gap between threads this time was a decent one to be honest.

>30 amanda4242: Thank you, dear Amanda.

Happy new thread!

>34 quondame: Thank you, Susan. It is always a pleasure to see you here. x

BOOKS OF THE MONTH

January : The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
February : Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg
March : The Return by Hashim Matar



Winner from the paltry amount I read in March is Hisham Matar's Pulitzer winner.

BOOK #37



Love Story, With Murders by Harry Bingham

Date of Publication : 2013
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 439 pp

Challenges :
Series Pair - April
52 Book Club Challenge - 10/52

Fiona Griffiths is an interesting addition to fictional police detective characters. Firstly, she has Cotards syndrome, secondly she is a tough single lady, thirdly she doesn't follow the rules, fourthly she was an abandoned child who turned up in the back of the car of Cardiff's most notorious villain and still became a Detective Constable.

This is a grisly one where two bodies are cut up and spread across the city years apart. What links them? The second installment of the series is riveting and won't be my last.

Happy new thread, Paul. Love to you and your family.

>38 AMQS: Thank you, dear Anne.

Happy new thread, Paul!

>37 PaulCranswick: I really liked the first two Fiona Griffiths books. Sadly the others were not translated.

>36 PaulCranswick: I've added The Return to my wishlist. It sounds fascinating!

Happy Weekend, Paul. Happy New Thread! Did you ever finish The History of Wolves?

>40 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita. Hopefully that oversight will be corrected and you'll be able to read the rest of the series.

>41 Dilara86: Thank you and lovely to see you here. Libya is not exactly teeming with obvious reading choices for an around the world author challenge but Matar was an excellent decision of mine!

>42 msf59: Thanks Mark. The History of Wolves is on the back-burner currently; I will get to finish it off soon, buddy.

Happy new thread, Paul

>2 PaulCranswick: That is a sad poem.

Hi Paul, and happy new thread. Number 10. Hard to believe.

From your last thread, congrats on the Podium Project. Wow. Just…. Wow.

>37 PaulCranswick: I loved the Fiona Griffiths series, have read all 6. Gritty for sure, and not for the squeamish.

Happy new thread, Paul!

I absolutely *loved* Life of Pi - I hope you do, too.

Hi Paul, happy new thread!
I know you're a cycling fan, so when I saw this, I thought of you :-). Btw, tomorrow we have the Tour of Flanders.

>45 humouress: Thanks Nina. It was such a shame that we only ever got two collections from Mick Imlah.

>46 karenmarie: Thank you, Karen.

I must admit that I am proud of the projects that I am involved in with Samsung.

>47 scaifea: Hi Amber.
This will be one where I have seen the film before reading the book. At least I enjoyed the film.

>48 Trifolia: Haha Monica - a cobblestone carpet! I have ridden those Flanders cobblestones and the ones in Northern France and I can still wince remembering!

ETA I admire those cyclists tough enough to be competitive in Tour of Flanders, Ghent-Wevelgem and Paris-Roubaix but the Ardennes Classics were more to my taste aesthetically as I liked the hills.

Hi Paul, Happy new thread mate, hope you get some good reading done this weekend. Sending love and hugs to you all from both of us dear friend.

Happy new thread Paul!

>2 PaulCranswick: Wild poem - my rugger college boyfriend would love it!

And thanks to Diana Gabaldon, we know to whom them Scots are raising their pints or shots.

Happy new thread, Paul.

I keep meaning to read The Return, and Moth Smoke, both of which are around here someplace.

>51 johnsimpson: Thanks John. Nice to see Leeds make 42 points already but I am afraid that Sheffield United are toast.

>52 swynn: Thanks Steve.

>53 m.belljackson: I do like the poems of Mick Imlah, Marianne.

I'm not sure though that Gadaldon is the most accurate chronicler of Scot's successes!

>54 AnneDC: Nice to see you, Anne. I am enjoying Moth Smoke thus far.

>55 PaulCranswick:, Leeds have had a good first season back and can kick on next season whereas poor Sheff Utd need to select a good manager and try to bounce back next season. To be honest, after last seasons performance i had high hopes of Sheff Utd and can't for the life of me understand what has gone wrong for them.

>58 johnsimpson: I think they did punch above their weight a little bit last season and have not been as bad as their points tally suggests this season. Their goal difference is better than the teams around them and most of the games lost was by a single goal. Injuries didn't help them much too but I don't think their recruitment was too good either.

>59 PaulCranswick:, i agree they did punch above their weight and have not been that bad this season compared to their points tally and injuries have not helped BUT i think there has been a lot going on behind the scenes. It will be interesting when it all comes out about what had gone on.

>56 PaulCranswick: Hey, you listed Diana Gabaldon in Fantasy instead of Historical Fiction! Lotsa leeway there...

...many of us Scots from a distance had hoped that her support for the last vote for Scotland's Freedom
had not been a Fantasy...

happy new thread, Paul!

>60 johnsimpson: Wilder didn't get along with the owner - I think that is clear enough, John. Leeds fans don't have a great deal of time for Wilder given the crassness of his Leeds muppets comments - they were promoted two years ago at our expense largely as a result of a 1-0 win at Leeds in late April which was one of the most one-sided games played that season. A bit Like the famous Poland game in 1973, we peppered their goal and a combination of bad finishing, bad luck, awful time wasting and poor officiating saw them win with their only chance in the game. At least two of their players should have been sent off and his attitude was particularly graceless.

That said he did a good job for the Blades and they will struggle to replace him.

>61 m.belljackson: Marianne, sometimes people should be careful of what they wish for. Scotland has benefitted disproportionately from the Union of Great Britain and they would be impoverished by independence. I am a supporter of the Union although a devolved one and Sturgeon's opportunism when she has already lost a "generational" referendum only 7 years ago is unpleasant. I can vote in a UK election because I am a UK citizen even though I am non-resident for many years. Non-resident Scots were not allowed a vote in the last referendum because Alex Salmond cynically calculated they would vote overwhelmingly to remain in the Union and their status would no doubt be affected by an nonsensical decision to part with the Union.

It is not a question of "freedom" and such emotive language is used to goad a disaffected base to change the status quo. It is a fact that a referendum will always stray towards change as people always believe that change will improve their lot. It happened with Brexit and it happened very nearly with Jockxit - commit in haste but they would repent in a very uncomfortable leisure.

>62 banjo123: Thank you, Rhonda. Lovely as always to see you in these parts.

Happy new thread!

>66 drneutron: Thanks Jim. Nice to see you out and about on your Saturday evening.

>2 PaulCranswick: W-O-W!! Great poem!

And finally! You started a new thread. Three digit thread comments are too many for me to catch up on. Glad work is going well!

>58 johnsimpson: I think this season has been weird for a lot of teams. I've been assigned Liverpool to support and watched them go from a comfortable lead at the top of the league to losing to 'underdog' teams and a few of the other big players have done the same. I suspect it's not having a live audience that's throwing them off?

>64 PaulCranswick: I've always thought that Scotland got England (James V/ James I) and not the other way around.

And - hey; how do you get a vote? As a non-resident citizen, I don't get a vote in the UK; as a non-citizen resident, I don't get a vote in Singapore (although it's compulsory for Singaporeans to vote).

>68 justchris: It is pretty good isn't it, Chris?

If it brings you here, I will try to renew my threads more often!

>69 humouress: Liverpool like Leeds are undoubtedly helped by the vocal support they receive and both are probably worth more points in a "normal" season because of the passion of their respective support.

I registered at home and got a postal vote but was excluded from referenda like Brexit. This may help you:

https://www.gov.uk/voting-when-abroad

It was James VI that became James I of England but I know what you mean! The ramifications of "independence" to Scotland have not really been thought through by the populace there. The level of subsidy that each Scot currently enjoys would be taken away and the free prescriptions and student fees would be untenable.

Probably should start the English Independence Movement (if it doesn't yet exist) as it would make the country far more prosperous even though it would lack the cultural richness it enjoys enjoined with our Welsh, Scottish, Irish and Gibraltarian brothers and sisters.

>70 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul. I'll give it a go, although it's been a bit more than 15 years since I last voted.

>71 humouress: I'm sure that it can be done, Nina. Membership of one of the parties no doubt helped me keep abreast. All the parties are so uniformly crap these days though I hesitate to recommend my own creaking one.

>70 PaulCranswick: I’m not sure I agree when you say the ramifications have not been thought through. I think there are a large number of Scottish people who feel that the London-centric view of U.K. priorities is frustrating, and that striking out on their own is worthwhile even if there is a small hit to their finances.
As a believer in Brexit, I think that the Scottish also have their right to self-determination. Look at transport funding/infrastructure in the U.K. Sadiq Khan is asking for another £15.8bn for the tube! This is after Crossrail and HS2, both massive infrastructure projects aiding and making London a more attractive place for businesses to locate to.
The average Londoner contributes £22 in council tax each year to transport. Merseysiders (where I live) pay £146. Which is better?
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/04/02/sadiq-kha...

Happy new thread, Paul!

>1 PaulCranswick: I liked the book, but it's been a while since I read it.
>37 PaulCranswick: I love the series, and I owe that to you. Thank you again - Someday I'll start a second run.

>73 DMulvee: I'm certainly not opposed to devolving powers to the regions as much as possible - I am from the Yorkshire coalfields which were far more overlooked than most places in the UK when it came to regeneration.

Self-determination is an interesting concept because it is where you stop. Yorkshire people could also say that they have a right of self-determination - why don't we resurrect the ancient kingdoms of Northumbria, Anglia, Mercia and Wessex? Why don't we let Cornwall hive itself off?

The Scots had their referendum and voted despite the odds stacked in favour of change to stay as part of the Union. Mortality rates were traditionally higher in Scotland but a generation even there is more than 7 years. The SNP and Sturgeon are a bunch of opportunists - they were a right wing party in the seventies and early eighties but when they realised it would gain them favour they stole the Labour Party's clothes to pursue their agenda.

>75 PaulCranswick: I am enjoying my current read very much, Thomas, but will get to it soon.

The Fiona Griffiths series is very good, isn't it?

Hi Paul, Happy New Thread.

>1 PaulCranswick: Do read this, it is an excellent book.

I will indeed Connie, thank you.

It will be the book after next!

Happy new thread, Paul! What a joy to be reading The Life of Pi for the first time. Enjoy!

>79 Carmenere: Lovely to see you as always, Lynda.

You guys are doing quite a job selling the book to me!

Another problem in the family. Belle came to me this afternoon and said that Bambi (our crippled cat if you remember the story of him falling from our 5th floor balcony and Hani resisting the Vet's direction to put him to sleep - 8 years ago.)

Not eating and unable to raise himself - we took him to the vet and the prognosis was not so positive. They are keeping him in at the vet's but I am not hopeful.

Sorry to hear Bambi's news. Crossing everything Paul.

So sorry to hear about Bambi, Paul. I hope your fear will not come true!

I'm glad that Bambi has done so well for eight years. Wishing him health.

>81 PaulCranswick: I don't remember that story, but I'm sorry to hear Bambi is not doing well.

We had such a time when we moved into our apartment (4th floor, or 5th if you're American). No screens of course, and it was late August. We had to lock the cats in the only room with a door that latched firmly and open windows in the rest of the apartment in turns. We finally got permission to put in firm screens in some of the windows (it's more like tautly stretched net with inch-wide holes). But cats and high windows/balconies - it scares me so much.

>81 PaulCranswick: I’m sorry to hear that Bambi’s not doing well. Sigh.

>82 Caroline_McElwee: Thank you Caroline. The Vet called SWMBO and informed that after tests it seems that Bambi has an enlarged kidney and excessive uric acid. They are giving him dialysis and trying to rehydrate him overnight so finger's crossed that he responds.

>83 connie53: Thanks Connie. I will be happy to be wrong this time.

>84 humouress: Yes it was good my wife was too stubborn to allow the Vet his way before - needless to say we never went back there.
He has been a happy kitten being spoilt by Erni and Belle these few years.

>85 ursula: It is one outside balcony, Ursula. We have one in our present 11th floor condo at the moment but they aren't allowed in that section of the house at all.

>86 karenmarie: Honestly Karen it is one thing after another at the moment.

His sister (Jinxy) looks a wee bit glum this evening.

BOOK #38



Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid
Date of Publication : 2000
Origin of Author : Pakistan
Pages : 270 pp

Challenges
52 Book Club Challenge (11/52)
Around the World Challenge : 5th in 2021 (18th overall)

In the inner sleeve I had noted that I purchased this book in Kinokuniya on 1st January 2013 and what a shame it is that I waited 8 long years to read this excellent novel.

Combines a personal story of disintegration with the corruption and inequalities of life in modern Pakistan. Forceful and splendidly written.

Please read this one.

Next up:

Diary of a Murderer by Kim Young Ha



Another for the 52 Book Club (week 12 - a book whose title begins with D) and the Around the World Challenge (South Korea)

>75 PaulCranswick: I dunno. (that's Scots for ambivalent ambiguous disdain...or something)

We descendants of Scottish Highlanders have long memories of that '45 and the purification which followed.
As well, we wear short kilts, which is why we don't live anywhere with balconies.

>43 PaulCranswick: Thank you! This is such a fast-moving thread, I tend to just lurk...

>92 m.belljackson: The Scots have made such a wonderful contribution to the history and achievements of the United Kingdom that I would be devastated if they left.

>93 Dilara86: Feel free to chip in whenever you like!

>81 PaulCranswick: That's sad about Bambi. Alas we cannot save those dear ones forever.

>95 quondame: True, Susan. It was sad to see him so motionless at the Vet yesterday and I do fear we were saying goodbye to him.

I am going to put my two cents worth into the Scotland discussion. I don't like holding referendums for every little thing (think about what that has done for California) and I think that having another referendum on Scotland staying or leaving the UK at this point is too soon after the previous one. However, I think that Scotland might fare much better as part of the EU than Englanders want to believe. As I understand it, Scotland could reenter but the UK can't? If the people of Scotland want to be part of the EU and this is the only way they can do so then a referendum would be the only course of action open to them.

There appears to be some trouble in Northern Ireland already regarding Brexit. I am not clear about what those problems are, but the fact that there are protests already in that area of the UK shows that trouble is on the horizon unless some changes are made in current policies.

If England is Scotland's Sugar Daddy could the EU take England's place and provide Scotland with more of an economic boast than staying with England?

I wonder what will happen with the remaining North Sea oil fields if Scotland left the UK and reentered the EU?

>97 benitastrnad: It was fair to have a referendum when they did and its result should be honoured. The law is clear on the point of EU membership - Scotland would have no automatic right of membership and would have to apply for admission as per for example, Turkey. It is felt that Spain would veto Scotland's entry on the basis that it does not wish to encourage separatist movements in the Basque and Catalonian regions.

I was never a convinced Brexiteer as those regular visitors here will remember but the vote to leave was decided and eventually respected. I think the majority of Britons want to get on now and make the very best they can of the new "independent" status of the UK. We have to look forward not backwards.

Much of the arguments on Scottish independence are specious and not founded on sound legal principles - the use of sterling for example would not be a given. The remainder of the oil fields would be a similar bone of contention as the fields were development using British and international money and not specifically Scottish.

The Scots are a wonderful and resourceful people and they would eventually succeed but they would be better off as part of the UK as would the UK be better off for Scotland remaining in the Union. The same argument didn't keep the UK in the EU though did it?

>98 PaulCranswick: Any country can use another currency as the reserve (e.g. Ecuador using US dollar). However interest rates are incredibly valuable in helping economies, so this would not be wise in the long-term. Should the SNP wish to join the EU then they would have to use the Euro.

The oil fields wouldn’t be much of an issue. In the last referendum the SNP assumed that oil prices would average $110 and the spending plans still had a deficit of 10% per year. I think the issue with the U.K. would be debt. Last time the SNP claimed that they would take none of the U.K. debt!!

>99 DMulvee: Yes that is why they are living in cloud cuckoo land. The SNP's figures were ridiculed at the time of the last referendum and would be even more scary now. The issuance of notes by the Bank of Scotland could conceivably continue pegged to sterling but there is no guarantee of being able to use the Euro as technically admission would take time and it is unlikely Scotland would fulfil the qualifying criteria for the Eurozone (but then again they somehow decided that Greece did!). I'm not entirely sure that use of the Euro would fill the prudent Scots with glee.

The oil price is of course nowhere near $110 and the spending plans of an independent Scotland would be determined by either an appalling cutting of cloth or entirely unsustainable borrowing.

I think I have a different perspective on the SNP than you Paul. I think if I lived in Scotland I would be quite likely to vote for them, and also would be quite likely to vote for independence. I’d just be so fed up of consistently being ruled by a government that I had not voted for. And as we saw with Brexit these things are frequently decided with heart not head. As someone who does not live in Scotland I hope to god they don’t become independent because that would not improve Britain one little bit. But if I had to put money on it I would expect to see an independent Scotland and a united Ireland within 20 years if not sooner.

I can understand what you say about wanting to look forward. I also want to look forward, but the financial effects of Brexit seem to be coming home to roost. So many (especially food producers) can’t export, other people can’t get their imports and this government just isn’t taking us anywhere I want to go. And there doesn’t seem any chance of a change in government in the foreseeable future with the current poll ratings.

If they want to keep a United Kingdom I have to say that the current government is going a funny way about it. My own opinion is that they are pandering to their core base, and if they break up the United Kingdom in the process that’s an acceptable by-product of retaining power in their eyes. Have you seen the current flag issues? The government have decreed that the Union Jack must be flown at all times over all government buildings (including local government) which I can’t think will go down well in Scotland, and not particularly in Wales come to that. And we can’t have any sort of interview with a Tory MP without a flag and a picture of the queen in the background. Who on earth has a flag and a picture of the queen in their house? Support for independence in Wales was minuscule in the past but is now running at around 25% (or even higher in some polls), probably because of the current government acting as if they were just in charge of a greater England.

Mr SandDune says that if Scotland becomes independent we should move to Scotland, and he’s not completely joking ...

>101 SandDune: Actually I would consider settling in Scotland, Rhian - Yasmyne loved her time in Edinburgh and I have had happy times there too. My comments on Scottish independence are of course those of an Englishman - albeit one with celtic ancestry - and the romanticism of an independent Scotland may appeal to the poet in me but not the pragmatist.

As a republican - and not in the American sense -you can guess my views on pictures of the Queen everywhere and needless flag draping. The Tories are destroying the country and I really hope my old party can start to get its act together and throw them the heck out.

I'm so sad to read about Bambi. Please keep us updated.

There was no update yesterday, Lori, simply because the Vet's clinic was closed but hopefully I will have news to share this morning.

I pray he will respond to being rehydrated.

This month's choice for READING INFLUENCE PRIZE WINNER was a really tough one and I had from my notes three outstanding candidates:

1 Ron (rbeffa) for Good Morning Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton

2 Bonnie (brenzi) for Driftless by David Rhodes

and

3 Caroline (caroline_mcelwee) On Seamus Heaney by Roy Foster.

I share a love of poetry with Caroline and the Heaney book is one I will definitely look for as most people who visit here regularly will know of my admiration for Heaney. I added the Brooks-Dalton book quickly after seeing Ron's enthusiasm for it but I am always struck and swayed by Bonnie's reviews and so - in honour of that as much as anything else:

March 2021 winner is Bonnie for:

DRIFTLESS by David Rhodes

^ and a beautiful cover it is too!

I have been awol for almost a week (it's the somethingth anniversary of your visit to NZ!) so have missed all that has happened with you at what must be a tough time for the family. I hope you're all doing ok!

>106 LovingLit: Yes, I love the colours on it, Megan.

All are as well as can be expected.

Bambi is not much better to be honest, but let's hope for some improvement.

My heart breaks for Bambi and for Belle and Hani (and you too, of course). Pets are family and it's hard to let go. Having been in that place myself, recently, I send my hugs to you all.

*Hugs*

>108 jessibud2: Thank you, Shelley. Belle is a tough cookie - when I called her this morning to ask if the vet had been in touch her first response was : "Dad, I thought you said you didn't like cats?!" I said "yes, but this is Bambi".

>109 BekkaJo: Thanks Bekka.

The PNB 118 Project is slowly taking shape - the facade is starting to reveal the final look of the building. Believe me the leaning look of the building is an optical illusion based on the camera angle when shooting!

Wow, that's impressive!

>112 drneutron: It is some building, Jim. Spend 5 days a week working in the podium level of the tower. With Covid-19 and some design issues we are about 45 days behind schedule.

BOOK #39



Diary of a Murderer by Kim Young-Ha
Date of Publication : 2013
Origin of Author : South Korea
Pages : 200 pp

Challenges
52 Book Club Challenge : 12/52
Around the World Challenge : 6th of 2021 (19th overall)

Actually four stories with the lead eponymous novella also being the centrepiece.

Twisted and vibrant these stories are a menace as well as a joy.

Next up

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

>115 PaulCranswick: Oooh! Loved that book!

>111 PaulCranswick: Wow! That building dwarfs everything Paul. Beautiful!

>105 PaulCranswick: It looks like I was in good company. Thank you again Paul for your kindness and generosity.

>115 PaulCranswick: I enjoyed that one when I read it.

>116 SqueakyChu: I have seen so much positivity for the book so far that really whets my appetite for it, Madeline. There are an amazing 940 reviews on the book's workpage and 38,000 have catalogued it which makes it the 32nd most popular book on LT!

>117 brenzi: If completed tomorrow, Bonnie, it will be the 2nd tallest building in the world standing at an impressive 678.9 metres tall. Burj Khalifa is way out in front on 828 metres but to give an indication of scale the Empire State Building (tallest in the world until 1970) is 443.2 metres to its tip and the current One World Trade Center is the tallest in the Western Hemisphere is 541 metres tall.

Mark, Adrienne and yourself make up a pretty strong triumvirate as the first three winners of my award. All of you have consistently put me on to reading that I have loved over the last number of years.

>118 thornton37814: I am longing for lunch hour, Lori, so that I can get stuck into it a bit.

Looks like Bambi is taking a leaf out of my mum's book. He is responding to meds and can come home this evening.

Tough little fellow.

>119 PaulCranswick: I read Life of Pi back in 2004. I just added my review of it (which had been on my PC) to LT. It's never to late to add a review here (even 17 years later...Haha!). Enjoy the book. I can't believe it's that old!

>122 SqueakyChu: OK good or bad, I will put up my review on the workpage also (which I rarely do these days).

I have a couple of anthologies of poetry purporting to be of Modern English Poetry. Since they were published in the 1950s and 1960s they are not so modern anymore!

>121 PaulCranswick: I'm glad about your good news about Bambi. I'm sure he is will be much happier at home.

I have good memories about Life of Pi and hope you will too!

>124 quondame: So many of the readers whose views I respect have been positive, I can't see how I can fail to enjoy it. I liked the film too.

Bambi will be home when I return from work. Little chap despises me in total ingratitude for patching him up and helping him home a time or three. Still both Belle and he will be happy to be reunited.

>115 PaulCranswick: I hope you love it too, Paul. Good news about Bambi!

>126 connie53: Thank you, Connie. Good day so far!

Looking back at some old photos and found this one of me and SWMBO from about 5 years ago which captures her hobby and my vocation perfectly:

Love the building photo, Paul. You wouldn't catch me working anywhere near the top floors though! I worked for a bit in a 25 story tower in Victoria and when the wind blew the whole top floor moved. Never again.

>129 charl08: As you can imagine, Charlotte, with my job I have a decent tolerance for heights but, believe me, you would not want to be out one of those uncompleted upper floors in the middle of a tropical rainstorm.

>123 PaulCranswick: Haha! about the "Modern" books.

Amanda Gorman has inspired me to starrt reading (and writing) poetry again. I'm now reading poems aloud. All that is missing is my doing hand gestures. Who knows? I might add those later! LOL

>128 PaulCranswick: Love that picture, Paul!

>123 PaulCranswick: I would love to see that!

Thanks on the photo. Not easy getting that phone off her!

>128 PaulCranswick: That's a great pic!

>133 drneutron: Thank you, Jim.

I'm visiting your thread just a tad late, Paul. Nice to see your building coming along, and that's a great pic of you and Hani.

I'll look forward to your thoughts on Life of Pi, too. My mom recently finished it but I haven't read it myself.

Edited to get the touchstone to cooperate.

>135 bell7: Always lovely to see you, Mary.

Life of Pi is so far so good. I have read about 20% of it.

>128 PaulCranswick: Awww - that's a very sweet pic :)

>137 BekkaJo: It does succeed in demonstrating me in all my rumpled and crumpled glory!

Until last year I had enjoyed the Big Bad Wolf book sale in Kuala Lumpur selling all books at around $2.50 and I would buy anything between 100 and 200 books a time.

Last year there was no sale but this year has an online option and I have just spent the last couple of hours browsing what is available and I have cut and pruned until I ordered a mere, ahem, 50 books.

They will be delivered in less than a week and I dread to think of the look on SWMBOs face when they arrive at the concierge downstairs.

>139 PaulCranswick: Only one thing you can do: bribe the concierge to hide them until Hani is out of the building.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/331286

>141 SilverWolf28: He will call my handphone anyway so I have some wiggle room. I can take the main lift which with my access card opens into our own apartment lobby or I can take the service lobby which allows me to come into the wet kitchen area if Erni lets me in. Will be interesting!

>142 PaulCranswick: I will be in again, Silver!

Hi Paul, I haven't seen you at the Category Challenge recently so thought I would come by and catch up with you. It appears that you are busy in RL. Your reading seems to be going well too. Good luck with all your challenges!

>111 PaulCranswick: Impressive! Quite the phallic symbol. I imagine the vertigo from standing at the windows of the upper floors.

>128 PaulCranswick: Such a lovely photo! You look great together!

>115 PaulCranswick: I never got around to reading it, even though a friend loaned it to me with rave reviews. Maybe it was that very enthusiasm that put a damper on my interest? I'm a perverse person, I guess. I look forward to hearing your reaction.

>128 PaulCranswick: aaaw, you two :)

>143 DeltaQueen50: I will get along to the Category Challenge as soon as I can, Judy. Am missing being over there but I have literally been up to my neck in RL issues recently.

>144 justchris: Hahaha I'm sure that is not the main reason I like it, Chris!

I can second the enthusiasm for it. Hopefully I will finish it today and I have to say some of the story as it reveals the closeness of the religions together with the hypocrisy of their practitioners really struck a chord with me.

>145 LovingLit: I think that was a couple of years after we met up, Megan. You may remember that it is difficult to separate her from her mobile phone.

>139 PaulCranswick: Just 50 huh!

I miss our big book sale too - nowhere near the size of yours of course, but substantial all the same. The ironically named 'Big Book Sale for the Blind' or words to that effect. I'm hoping they might decide to hold one soon - we are coming out of most Covid measures (baring the damn masks), and the word form home order/2m distancing rules are being rescinded on Monday.

>148 BekkaJo: I am still being asked frequently to put my mask on properly in public (there is a ridiculously penal $2,500 fine for improper wearing here i.e. you can be fined such an amount even if it slips off your nose for an instant). I am lucky in that I obtained a medical certification exempting me from full observance on account of my asthma but I still wear it most times otherwise I couldn't get admission to most places anyhow.

>139 PaulCranswick: Only 50? I think one of the places I'll go within the first couple weeks (or at least month) following the two weeks post-2nd COVID vaccine is McKays, our warehouse-style used bookstore. I'm also looking forward to going to visit our new Tennessee State Library & Archives. (Grand opening is next Tuesday, and I'll attend it virtually as I managed to snag a ticket.) When I go there, I'll probably try to hit the McKays in Nashville also.

>150 thornton37814: Let's hope that one day we can hit McKay's together, Lori. I'm sure we would have a blast!

>150 thornton37814: Wowzer this is the Konxville McKay's. Gonna go get me a ticket!

Hi Paul!

>115 PaulCranswick: I’ll be interested in what you think of Life of Pi. It’s been on my shelves for 14 years. I suppose I should just read it or deaccesion it and donate it to the Friends of the Library.

>121 PaulCranswick: Good news about Bambi, yay.

>128 PaulCranswick: Excellent photo. Some photos work very well in black and white, and this is one of them.

>139 PaulCranswick: Only 50 books? I admire your restraint.

>153 karenmarie: Karen, Life of Pi is great book for you to read *now* so you can discuss it with Paul when you both finish it. When one finishes reading this book, there is a great urgency to discuss it with someone else who recently read it. Read it now to see what I mean! Ha!

>139 PaulCranswick: well, you don't get any nagging here. I had a year when I bought far too many books, maybe two years. I really don't have the space for what I own, let alone more that still creep in.

Enjoy your haul Paul.

>149 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul - I've seen masks designed for asthmatics online - maybe also available near you?

>152 PaulCranswick: Imagine an LT meetup there!

>153 karenmarie: I do think you should read it, Karen. Thought provokingly excellent.

Bambi is enjoying the attention at the moment.

>154 SqueakyChu: That would be a great idea, Madeline!

>155 Caroline_McElwee: I will get some nagging here though, Caroline unless SWMBO is down in Johor caring for her mum which is a distinct possibility.

>156 m.belljackson: I will go and check for that, Marianne. I am using the one presently designed for muslim ladies wearing headscarves as there are two straps and you don't need to hook it onto your ears. My glasses constantly get dislodged with the other type.

>157 charl08: Get enough of us in there and it would likely be carnage, Charlotte. 20 75ers would strip the place like a swarm of locusts!

>159 PaulCranswick: Interesting. A lot of the women here who wear the hijab seem to use regular ear loop face masks, either pinned to the sides of the hijab or with one of those "ear saver" thingies across the back of their heads.

>161 ursula: Ursula they are pretty cool to be fair. This is what I am using but I cannot say that I have an Asian facial structure.

>152 PaulCranswick: I knew you would appreciate it. Carrie (cbl_tn) would join us at McKays too. We might even persuade a few other LTers to join us. The Nashville and Chattanooga stores are also good. I often stop to "stretch my legs" at the Chattanooga store on my way to visit family in Mississippi. I only get to the Nashville store some of the time when I'm in Nashville, but I'm pretty sure I'll go next time because I anticipate staying overnight.

>163 thornton37814: I could stay overnight in that place for sure, Lori! I would need an articulated lorry to take my books away.

I am sure that we will make it Stateside sooner rather than later and I would love to shop for a "couple" of books with Carrie and you.

I have to give a shout for my team yesterday beating the Champions-Elect in their own back yard despite having our captain sent off in the first half. We have played expansively all season and won plaudits a plenty along the way but yesterday was all about spirit and we showed that too in abundance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sQW2hrjoMA

Three and a half threads later - I am finally caught up.

I'm so glad your Mom rallied once again, and grieve with you over your FIL's death.

Over this many threads, I can't even begin to comment on all your good reading.

>165 PaulCranswick: That's my son's team that you beat, I'll have you know.

>166 streamsong: Lovely to see you Janet, and your recap just shows how busy and incident filled our lives have been this last year.

>167 humouress: And it felt good too! The first game I ever saw was 1 March 1975 (I was 8 years old) when Leeds and Man City shared 4 goals at a jam packed Elland Road. I did a lap of the living room when Stuart Dallas' 2nd goal was snuck between the legs of their keeper. What a performance filled with guts and true teamwork.

Hi Paul! Just waving at you. Love the picture in >128 PaulCranswick:. So cute!

>169 connie53: Thank you, Connie. Waving right back at you. xx

It may be remembered from an earlier thread that I said my views on the Harry & Meghan interview with Oprah and how in particular its timing was poor form given the illness of Prince Philip.

As we now know Prince Philip has just passed away and I am reliably informed by the British High Commissioner to Malaysia that it was apparently common knowledge in Court circles that HRH Prince Philip would not make it to June to his 100th birthday. I am sorry to say that Harry could not have failed to have known this but still went on with the self serving and damaging interview anyway. He should be thoroughly ashamed of himself and I am sure that the majority of the British public will not be so welcoming of him if he returns for the funeral.

As regulars here know, I am not a monarchist but I did have the pleasure of meeting Prince Philip around 20 years ago when he visited Kuala Lumpur as part of a delegation of British businessmen. To say he was cranky and just a little eccentric is putting things mildly but he was a character and did a great deal of public service in his 70 year's as consort to the Queen.

>171 PaulCranswick: So when you say ‘I had the pleasure’, you mean ...?

>173 benitastrnad:
I agree.

Say what they will, the world owes a great debt to the people, aristocrats and commoners, to those of the same generation as Prince Phillip and the Queen. The world should never forget that Britain stood alone in 1940 against the forces of evil. That is not a line from a superhero movie. That is reality. Even royalty did their part. I do not think that Prince Phillip was a hero in that he did nothing more or less than the entire population of Britain but I would like to see a modern day leader who "did their bit" during a war of that caliber. At least this scion put on a uniform and we know where he was while he had that uniform on, which is more than we can say about our last military veteran to hold the office of President of the US. Royalty often has its privileges, but this was one royal who stepped up and did his job for most of his life.

>172 humouress: It was an interesting day, Nina. He was in a terrible mood when he met the scions of British innovation (not really sure why I was there) and effectively said that we were all wasting our time over here. He then got entranced by a toy plane which put him in a good mood suddenly.

>173 benitastrnad: His public service is indisputable, Benita.

There were quite a few things to dislike too and he had the habit of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time on occasions - his "slitty-eyes" comment regarding the Chinese being a case-in-point. Nonetheless he served our country in wartime and in peace and was a great servant to the Commonwealth. His Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme did much for schoolchildren and he was a patron of numerous charities.

I am not, as I often repeat, a Royalist and I hope in many ways the institution is reformed greatly when the present Queen is no longer our monarch, but I have to recognise that some, like the late Prince Philip did give back to the nation in public duty some portion of the benefits accrued from the civil list.

SWMBO is going down to JB on Wednesday to be with her mum after the first day of Ramadhan which she will celebrate with us. I had hoped that my Big Bad Wolf delivery would take place after her journey but I received news this morning that delivery will be today.

The look on her face when 50 more books appear in my reading nook is something I am not entirely looking forward to!

BOOK #40



Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Date of Publication : 2001
Origin of Author : Canada
Pages : 428 pp

Challenges:
1001 Book Challenge :
Booker Prize Winners : 2
52 Book Club Challenge : 13/52

There is an adage that the book is always better than the film. In my experience this is not always true and the film of this award winner was strange enough to give me doubts as to how the book would re-create the situations.

I need not to have worried as this is definitely and infinitely better than a pretty good movie. The themes raised by virtue of the narrator and his storyline especially that of the shared beliefs of the major religions being more important than their differences and the insights into the animal kingdom make the novel memorable. The ending which will leave me thinking for a long time was unexpected even though I had seen the movie without exactly remembering all its details.

Deserving Booker winner and recommended.

>176 PaulCranswick:
I never saw the movie of this book, but the book left me thinking for a long time. At first I couldn't figure out the ending. It simply puzzled me. Then 3 or 4 years after I read it something that a person who had just read the book said something that triggered something in my brain and suddenly the light bulb went on. I got it! and was very surprised by how well that new interpretation of the ending fit.

>177 benitastrnad: I know exactly what you mean, Benita!

>175 PaulCranswick: Have your camara ready Paul, we need some entertainment.

I'm sure Hani's mum will appreciate her visit. Not an easy time.

I'm glad the pandemic gave the Queen and her husband more time together, as they bubbled at Windsor with a small staff. While I suspect HMQ has been preparing for losing Prince Philip for a while, it will be hard all the same not having someone who has been her stay and companion for so long.

As for the family squabbles, they rarely occur at the appropriate times, and the public will never know the full/accurate story.

Hi Paul!

>154 SqueakyChu: I just brought it from the Library to the Sunroom/home office. Now it can start making read-me noises.

>158 PaulCranswick: Okay. I’ll start it today. Yay for Bambi.

>176 PaulCranswick: I'll reserve reading your comments until I finish it.

Good luck with getting 50 books into the house without a major uproar.

>179 Caroline_McElwee: It is certainly true, Caroline, that we will never know the absolute truth of the Royal squabbles which is another reason why it was so crass for Harry and Meghan to put the thing in the public domain knowing full well that a full and detailed rebuttal would never be forthcoming.

>180 karenmarie: I am sure that you won't regret reading Pi, Karen. I really don't know why I waited so long myself!

I got home and the box of books was awaiting me in my reading nook. Surprisingly only a resigned sigh and a few shakes of the head from SWMBO. Almost an anti-climax!

Here is what I added :

91. Selection Day by Aravind Adiga
92. The Voyage by Murray Bail
93. Peace : A Novel by Richard Bausch
94. The Third Reich by Roberto Bolano
95. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
96. The Kingdom of this World by Alejo Carpentier
97. My Life as a Russian Novel by Emmanuel Carrere
98. Texaco by Patrick Chamoiseau
99. Man V. Nature by Diane Cook
100. The Melody by Jim Crace
101. SS-GB by Len Deighton
102. Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald
103. Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
104. The Beautiful Indifference by Sarah Hall
105. Munich by Robert Harris
106. Bodies Electric by Colin Harrison
107. The Punch by Noah Hawley
108. Spook Street by Mick Herron
109. London Rules by Mick Herron
110. The Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst
111. The Land of Green Ginger by Winifred Holtby
112. The Wreck of the Mary Deare by Hammond Innes
113. The Cider House Rules by John Irving
114. Exiles in the Garden by Ward Just
115. Duffy by Dan Kavanagh

116. The Good People by Hannah Kent
117. The Life to Come by Michelle de Krester
118. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin
119. 10:04 by Ben Lerner
120. Home is the Hunter by Helen MacInnes
121. Paris 1919 by Margaret MacMillan
122. The Blood Miracles by Lisa McInerney
123. The Girl in Green by Derek B. Miller
124. Arab Jazz by Karim Miske
125. Bodies of Light by Sarah Moss
126. Carthage by Joyce Carol Oates
127. The Changeling by Kenzaburo Oe
128. The Horseman by Tim Pears
129. Echoland by Per Petterson
130. Last Stand by Michael Punke
131. The Waiting Time by Gerald Seymour
132. Home Run by Gerald Seymour
133. Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith
134. To the Back of Beyond by Peter Stamm
135. They Know Not What They Do by Jussi Valtonen
136. The Tulip Eaters by Antoinette Van Heugten
137. Smoke by Dan Vyleta
138. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
139. That Eye, The Sky by Tim Winton
140. Fear : Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward

>152 PaulCranswick:, >157 charl08: Oh, sure...my daughter lived in Knoxville for five years---did anyone suggest an LT meet-up at McKay's during that time? Nooo.... 'Course I can't complain, as I did visit that vast store at least once on every trip, and a great many books in my current collection have McKay's stickers on 'em.

>187 laytonwoman3rd: Well Linda if I was anywhere near Tennessee I would have been suggesting meet-ups regularly!

>187 laytonwoman3rd: >188 PaulCranswick: If anyone wants to meet in Knoxville, I'll be happy to meet them at McKays once I'm fully vaccinated and feel a little safer. Lesser known (with books often not in quite as good condition but still readable) is White Pine Books at exit 8 off I-81. (You can get to it from exit 4, but it's easier to get to from exit 8.) It's in a neighboring county. Then up the road in Johnson City is a smaller warehouse-style bookstore called Mr. K's which also has a good selection of used books. McKays offers Chattanooga and Nashville locations too. There used to be a decent used bookstore in Crossville (en route from Knoxville to Nashville). I don't know if it is still there or not.

>189 thornton37814: When this pandemic is a thing defeated, I will be stateside and will surely join you on a spree, Lori.

Lots of great additions, Paul! I quite enjoyed the melody by Jim Crace

>191 figsfromthistle: Jim Crace is a writer I usually appreciate, Anita. He is unorthodox but always interesting.

Hi Paul. Glad you loved Het leven van Pi.

>193 connie53: What's not to love Connie - it is a really great novel. Big issues and themes and a very unique plot.

Excellent haul!

>196 PaulCranswick: Thanks Bekka. I'm pleased with it. So pleased in fact that I went to Kinokuniya bookstore to celebrate.
More to follow.......

>196 PaulCranswick:

>197 humouress: Hahaha I have been called a two headed serpent before but in totally different circumstances!

Here is what I found in Kino today

141. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
142. Gerta by Katerina Tuckova
143. My Country: A Syrian Memoir by Kassem Eid
144. Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann
145. The Hotel Tito by Ivana Bodrozic
146. Strange Hotel by Eimear McBride

I have been waiting impatiently for Hamnet to appear in Malaysia in paperback form. Gerta and the book on Syria caught my eye from the new release displays and Tyll was shortlisted for the International Booker last year. McBride is as hot a writing property right now as she is prolific and I have heard such good things about Hotel Tito.

>199 PaulCranswick: I am reading Hamnet at the moment Paul, and am enjoying it hugely.

>201 SandDune: I could be following you soon, Rhian. I don't expect to wait anywhere near as long to read it as I have waited for it to arrive in the bookshop!

Ramadan started here yesterday and I successfully completed my first day already. Surprisingly in a way it is a favourite time of the year for me as I love the sort of formalised eating together as a family. Home made beriani rice with chicken yesterday and I was more than happy.

SWMBO will go down to JB today to spend some time with her still very bereft mum but I was glad she at least stayed for the first day's break fasting.

>183 PaulCranswick: & >184 PaulCranswick: Oh! A Cranswickian haul!

Let's see what's familiar...

Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald--Really liked it.

The Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst & The Land of Green Ginger by Winifred Holtby--Both on the tbr stack

The Cider House Rules by John Irving--Probably my favorite Irving novel.

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin--Not my favorite Le Guin, but still a damn fine read.

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh--Haven't thought of this book in years! It and the movie are the reason I will never try heroin.

>199 PaulCranswick: More books! Hamnet and Tyll are also on the tbr stack.

>204 amanda4242: Something that surprised me a little was that I didn't have Trainspotting in my collection already, Amanda. Loved the film and I definitely will never try heroin either!

Paul, I arrived here so late, I had to cruise through all 200+ entries but it was well worth it.
I love to see the books you have acquired. I get a lot of recommendations. Your list reminded me that I have Human Voices sitting near the top of my TBR stack. Thanks for the reminder.

>206 Oregonreader: A pleasure as always to have you drop by, Jan. Penelope Fitzgerald was one of a kind as a writer. Quirky but always engaging.

Am not as busy these few days. Busy, busy, busy at work. First few days of Ramadan leaving me a little tired. SWMBO in Johor and evenings in the bathtub with my book and trying not to sleep and wet the thing through.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/331445

Ramadan Mubarak, Paul! Loved Hamnet.

Wishing you a good Ramadan.

Life does seem busy even though we are isolated from others these days. I'm not sure how we will handle it when things open up again and we have even more things to keep up with. I hope your tired feeling passes, Paul.

>209 SilverWolf28: Thanks Silver. With SWMBO in Johor Bahru in the South of Malaysia this weekend I will have uninterrupted reading time.

>210 charl08: Thank you, Charlotte. A favourite time of year for me, believe it or not, especially when I have settled into the routine of it and I am not constantly thinking about bread, tea or coffee!

>211 humouress: Thanks Nina. The first year I practised fasting was in Singapore just after I had converted (end of 95) and I struggled with it managing only 17 full days. Since then the number of days I have failed to fast can be counted on one hand.

>212 Familyhistorian: Feel a bit refreshed, Meg, after a relaxing evening and an uninterrupted four hours sleep in my bed. Just got up at 5 am to have some toast, tea and water to get me through the hours of daylight.

BOOK #41



Blue Horses by Mary Oliver
Date of Publication : 2014
Origin of Author : USA
Pages : 79 pp

Challenges :
Poetry : 4/12
52 Book Challenge : (14/52)

Mary Oliver was a gem. An unaffected delicate plain-speaking gem. She was a poet who sought the beautiful and the marvellous from the commonplace. Her poems commune with nature, their meaning clear and unadorned but always insightful in her uniquely subtle way.

If I had to name the two most popular US poets of the present century I would choose Billy Collins and Mary Oliver. Whilst Collins' direct conversational style is accessible, enjoyable and worthy he rarely achieves the effortless profundity that is so often the hallmark of Oliver.

I am a fan.

Many of the poems in this late collection could be lauded here but I will choose "What We Want"

In a poem
people want
something fancy,

but even more
they want something
inexplicable
made plain,

easy to swallow—
not unlike a suddenly
harmonic passage

in an otherwise
difficult and sometimes dissonant
symphony—

even if it is only
for the moment
of hearing it.

BOOK #42



Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Date of Publication : 1864
Origin of Author : Russia
Number of Pages : 160 pp

Challenges
Queen Vic Challenge : 7 (10/64)
52 Book Challenge : 15/52
1001 Books Challenge : 7 (2021) / 311 totql

Not sure what I would call this. A novel or novella maybe but still it is about nothing and most things at the same time.

Dostoevsky develops many of the themes in their nascent states here which he will expound further upon in his later work just as in a way Joyce did with his Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man.

Not entirely satisfactory but with portents of the exceptionally important prose writer he was to become.

Station Eleven just arrived. Right on time for my birthday. Thank you Paul, I'm looking forward to reading it.

>217 fairywings: A bit of a sigh of relief, Adrienne, because I was worried that I hadn't heard yet that it had arrived but I suppose this blasted COVID has slowed down so many things!

Enjoy! So far that feature on the site that recommends books from each others library that our friends would like based on their own collection has proven fairly reliable.

>218 PaulCranswick: Yes Paul I think COVID has slowed down a lot of things. I'm glad that feature is working out so well.

>219 fairywings: Let's hope so and you'll enjoy the book.

>214 PaulCranswick: Breakfast of champions, Paul. All things are possible if you start your day with tea.

>214 PaulCranswick: Just as I am typing this Belle is making my first cup of the day (it is 4:35 am and we will start fasting in an hour), so I couldn't agree more!

BOOK #43



The Curious Case of Dassoukine's Trousers by Fouad Laroui
Date of Publication : 2012
Origin of Author : Morocco
Pages : 134 pp

Challenges
Around the World Challenge : 7th of 2021 (20th since challenge began in Oct 20)

My second short story collection this month and another startlingly strange one too. A fellow on a trade mission seeking grain for his country has his trousers stolen and must go for high level meetings with trousers purchased from a charity store and a town taught to swim without water are just two of the surreal and absurdist tales told here.

Whilst not exactly my cup of tea there is a satire and a detached sense of dislocation here that can attract as often as it jars. Some of the stories here are well worth a re-read on a later occasion.

On the go now this weekend after finishing this one, I have slipped into bad habits and gotten 4 books on the go:

New Grub Street by George Gissing - Queen Vic Challenge / 1001 Books

Leo the African by Amin Maalouf - Around the World Challenge / 52 Book Club Challenge (set before 17th Century)

The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths by Harry Bingham - 2nd in my Series Pair for April

Fifteen Decisive Battles by Edward Shepherd Creasey - Queen Vic Challenge / British Historians



I won't get them all finished this weekend, but I hope to manage at least two of them.

Happy weekend, Paul. Looks like you have a lot on the docket for the weekend to read.

>224 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Anita. I think it is a decent mix of reading which hopefully I will get wrapped into from the afternoon onwards and through Sunday.

I really liked Leo the African!

Paul - in case you get distracted from your fast, there's a great little article online "Advice from Medieval Monks."

Happy reading. I also enjoyed Leo the African.

>227 torontoc: Hi Cyrel. He is one writer I have wanted to read for a while and so far it is fascinating.

>228 m.belljackson: Where would I find that advice, Marianne? I actually like the fasting but it is misnamed in a way because it seems to go so slowly!

>229 avatiakh: Nice to see you, Kerry. If you and Cyrel both enjoyed it then I am quite certain I shall make us a triumvirate in this instance!

Regular visitors here will know that a favourite poet of mine is the present Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, my fellow West Yorkshireman.

Here is his singular eulogy to Prince Philip, who was laid to rest today at Windsor Castle, called "The Patriarchs".

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-56785412

Includes the topical lines :

"What their secrets were was everyone's guess
and nobody's business."

Still no regrets, Harry?

>230 PaulCranswick: Found in an online SEARCH.

Chiming in with others to say I loved Hamnet. I also love Mary Oliver's poetry.

>216 PaulCranswick: Not sure what I would call this
Haha, I thought the same thing after reading this one!

I hope Ramadan continues to be a pleasant and fulfilling experience for you.

>233 m.belljackson: I am intrigued, Marianne, I will go and do the search. x

>234 thornton37814: Lori, I have been waiting for the book to arrive here so long that I almost dropped all my reading and started it immediately. I didn't but I won't be long in doing so.

>216 PaulCranswick: I can sort of see where he went from here to Raskolnikov, Megan. He had a very harried and full life and one I often wanted to research and write as a sort of biographical novel. Maybe one day.

On Ramadan thank you. I am going out to the supermarket to buy some food for today's fast breaking. I don't have SWMBO to think for me which is disconcerting!

>232 PaulCranswick: I thought it a fine eulogy Paul.

>238 Caroline_McElwee: Carol Ann Duffy was a very good Poet Laureate promoting her fellow poets in a series of themed collections and as our first lady Laureate she moved a few goalposts for good too. Armitage is carrying on her good work and taking his role seriously.

I agree with you, Caroline, it was an excellent effort.

Hi Paul, just stopping in the say hello and see what you have been reading.

>240 connie53: Just finished another, Connie and will review it shortly.

The threads are playing up this evening. Somehow managed to duplicate my review. See below.

BOOK #44



The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths by Harry Bingham
Date of Publication : 2014
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 457 pp

Challenges :
Series Pairs - 4/12
Queen Betty Challenge 19/70

This is a really strong series.

Part three sees Fiona go undercover to thwart an especially ruthless organised crime fraud ring . Given Fiona's mental frailties the fact of taking on the personality of an imposter presents a tremendous challenge for her and excellent reading for us.

Good procedural detail, engaging plot and and series anybody still hasn't started I would urge you all to put right soonest.

European Super League Paul? Even someone who is as non-footbally as me has managed to become fully informed on this topic as it has knocked absolutely everything else off the headlines and has received virtually unanimous condemnation (in the U.K. at least).

>243 PaulCranswick: I really enjoyed the Fiona Griffiths series Paul. I think he does the feel of South Wales really well. And Fiona’s father reminds me of my Dad in some ways (I should point out that my Dad was not a retired gangster though). Unfortunately I’ve finished all the ones that have been written so far and there don’t seem to be any new books on the horizons.

>243 PaulCranswick: *Ouch*

That was the book bullet hitting me by the way...

R. I. P. :

Arsenal,
Chelsea,
Liverpool,
Manchester City,
Manchester United,
Tottenham,
AC Milan,
Atletico Madrid,
Barcelona,
Inter Milan,
Juventus,
Real Madrid.

>245 SandDune: I should point out that my Dad was not a retired gangster though

Good to know ;0)

>247 humouress: Apparently not R.I.P. Chelsea any more!

>248 SandDune: ... and Manchester City too.

The whole thing might blow up now. At least I hope so!

I am not into soccer at all but just heard on my radio news that the whole *new* league might be imploding, even before it kicks off (pun intended)...

>248 SandDune: Oh, thank goodness! That’s my older son’s club and I’ve been hearing nothing but his rants against the super league for two days. I wish he had as much passion for his studies :0)

>249 FAMeulstee: And that’s my younger son’s club.

>249 FAMeulstee: >250 jessibud2: So, hopefully, that’ll be the end of it and I can go back to peaceful ignorance again.

Blessed Ramadan to you and yours!

Cranswickian book haul for sure! I've actually read a few (although very few) of them. I agree that Hamnet was outstanding.

>243 PaulCranswick: Uh oh another series I haven't tried ...

>244 SandDune: I put a fairly awful rant on John Simpson's thread yesterday, Rhian and should really have put it up here. The owners of those clubs, in England at least, and I do think that the two giants in Spain will have a difficult selling job, don't understand the importance of the clubs in the communities in which they were formed.

UEFA have brought some of this on themselves as has the EPL because they have pandered to the biggest clubs for too long. I think the whole of UEFA's competitions need to be restructured back into competitions that are really and truly merit driven. A Champions League should be just that. The national champions go into that competition together with the reigning champions of that competition and the Europa League. Based on recent historical performance seed the top performing 14 countries and add the two other competition winners and then the other UEFA nations champions have a round of knockout for 16 clubs to join them in a 8 group of 4 league on to quarter finals etc. The European Cup Winners Cup should be reintroduced as a knock-out competition to celebrate the fact that the participants were knock-out competition winners. The Europa League should then be 3 clubs from the top seeded countries, two from the next tier and one from the smaller nations with seeded knockouts to get to a 32 team 8 group of 4 situation a la the Champions League. Five clubs from the "bigger" footballing nations involved is more than enough and UEFA should go back to a genuine meritocratic system that is about competition and not just money.

Well, from the triumphant noises my son was making this morning, it looks like the whole thing has now fallen apart. Presumably Hopefully the relevant governing bodies will bring in rules that will prevent this ever happening again.

Maybe that’s what the whole aim was? I mean, to put out a statement in support of the move that essentially said ‘we don’t care about the fans, the club, the country or the game. We only care about the money it will make us’ was pretty damning.

Storm in a teacup - or maybe not?

>245 SandDune: Apparently, looking at his website, he has released a few short stories in a limited way as spin-offs to the series but hasn't released a new series book for four years. Hopefully he will get back into the groove soon.

Your comment on locale was interesting, Rhian, and especially given your own background. It seems that, though he is English, he had lived most of his childhood in South Wales and his mum is still in the area. I do think that the setting adds to my enjoyment because it has not already been played to death elsewhere.

>246 BekkaJo: Yes, Bekka, I would strongly recommend the series. Hard hitting and very good to see such a strong female lead character.

>247 humouress: As Mark Twain should be paraphrased the notices of their demise has been somewhat exaggerated!

Honestly I am really proud to be an English football fan today, Nina. This was the fans and indeed the players and even the usually hopeless government coming together and telling those six greedy club owners that enough is enough.

I am so pleased that they have collectively seen sense. I can understand the frustrations somewhat of Real Madrid and Barcelona who obviously feel that they are so much better than their domestic rivals but surely the right response is to encourage and promote domestic grass roots and competition rather than turning their backs on their own.

I saw the interview with the Real Madrid President Perez who was also CEO of the (I believe) shortlived ESL. Unbelievably self-serving he came across and he must be extremely embarrassed today.

Loved Rhian's comment about her Dad but guessed before she said so that she was referring to personality not criminal predilections!

>248 SandDune: Hopefully the game will come together properly now. I felt sorry for Liverpool's players and their manager when they played at our club (I include Mr SandDune with me of course!) on Monday night. Not a fiasco of their making but they had to bear the brunt of it whilst their spineless owners refused to front-up.

Klopp, James Milner and the Liverpool players and supporters deserved better than that. I was happy my club's players wore their T-Shirts but I do think it was a little bit unfair placing the same T-Shirts in Liverpool's dressing-room. I thought it simply disgusting that the club (s) could have taken such a decision without a single reference to:

Club management
Players
Supporter's groups
Football authorities, or
Government

>249 FAMeulstee: I was very pleased to see that the French and German clubs took a stand. I do believe that Ajax would be one of the clubs approached to go from 12 clubs to 15. I think now that the remaining 6 clubs will back away, Anita.

>250 jessibud2: And pun happily received, Shelley!

I am a very happy chappie this morning. The English game would have been in ruins had it been forced into the necessary expedient of expelling six of its leading clubs - I think when Manchester City and then Chelsea quickly woke up and smelled the coffee the others were always bound to follow.

>251 humouress: That made me smile, Nina. Your son is going to be a top man!

>252 streamsong: Lovely to see you, Janet!

I haven't managed a truly Cranswickian haul for quite some time so it was very special for me to get back into the groove recently. x

>254 humouress: Oh I do think football came very close to the precipice over the last couple of days. The fans and the players & ex-players saved the clubs from themselves. I think that the owners of Man City and Chelsea probably deserve some plaudits in a way for taking the plunge to walk away from it first and their earlier work with the club, facilities, promotion of the women's game and work in the community gives them some credit to draw upon. I think the owners of Arsenal were clearly very remorseful and they gave a quite unreserved apology. Spurs, Man Utd and Liverpool have owners who have made themselves still more unpopular and shown that it is only about themselves and their pockets. They don't give two figs for the club, the game, its management's wishes and those of the players, supporters and community.

<\lurk>
if (football) then
<lurk>

>260 quondame: I am back Susan. Football is saved!

>259 PaulCranswick: I can’t remember seeing such universal condemnation about anything as there was this. It’s been the headline news here for the last 2 days. It seemed to unite everyone from the Prime Minister to the average football fan.

Local around here will be pleased. Most people are either Spurs or Arsenal fans.

Hi Paul. Not that into Football, but even I thought it was a weird idea!

>262 SandDune: Spurs and Arsenal would have been ok in the short term but they would have killed the wider game in their greed and selfishness and destroyed the sport for themselves eventually in the process. The joy of European competition was to see "our boys" pit themselves against the clubs across Europe. I for one don't need to see two English clubs face off in the European Champions League Semis or Finals. Champions Cups should be contested only by Champions and it should never have been opened up to encourage this rank self-serving proceeding.

I actually found myself on the same side of the argument as Boris!

>263 connie53: Yes it was Connie. My least favourite club in the world is not (as many Leeds fans would say) Manchester United, but Bayern Munich as I have never forgotten or forgiven them for stealing the 1975 European Cup Final from us with the palpable aid of the referee. I have to say though that the clear message from Germany's top clubs that they were not in the least bit interested in this selfish scheme warmed my heart. Well done to them and Paris Saint Germain.

stealing the 1975 European Cup Final from us

Wow, that's the way to hold a grudge... 😂

>264 PaulCranswick: >265 drneutron: Mr SandDune says he hasn’t forgiven Bayern Munich either. Or Chelsea from the 1970 FA Cup Final!

>265 drneutron: Feelings run deep, Jim, in Leeds especially and about our finest team that never got the recognition or trophies their superiority deserved. We played an FA Cup final in 1970 and were kicked all over the field by Chelsea but we were always referred to as Dirty Leeds because we were from the frozen North. We were victims of an awful referring decision in 1971 that cost us the league against WBA where they were given a goal that was thirty yards offside and we were banned from playing at home for our first 5 games in the 1972 season because the fans objected to the decision and invaded the pitch. Despite that we were up for the double the following year but were made to play a game at Wolves on the Monday after beating Arsenal at Wembley on the Saturday. Our captain and star striker couldnt recover in time and we lost 2-1 (Liverpool, despite not being involved in the Cup final were given an extra day to try and win the league) almost certainly had we been allowed to fairly recover and play on the Wednesday as is the norm we would have won the league that year. In 1973 we lost the European Cup Winners Cup Final in Greece to AC Milan 1-0 in a game that was obviously rigged. The referee was banned for life after the game but Leeds were refused any recourse despite the match being fixed. In the Bayern game in 1975 the French referee also never refereed another game and we had a perfectly good goal disallowed and two clear penalties waved away. When we ran out of money and got relegated to the third league the authorities gave us a 15 point penalty to ensure we couldn't come straight back up.

You are right Jim, I am a Leeds fan and I am "slightly" paranoid.

>266 SandDune: Top man is MrSandDune!

I know I have put this up before but this to me encapsulates what is means to be a Leeds United fan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In_PjqoZmh4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK94WPZWhAM

<\lurk>
if (subject==football) then
<lurk>

>268 quondame: Sorry

I think that the football talk is done for now. x

>269 PaulCranswick: Nothing to be sorry about, just it's a totally foreign language to me so while I come by to see what going on (Ramadan greetings) there's not much I can say.

>270 quondame: Why the apology was italicised, Susan, is due to my earlier response to your post >260 quondame: x

>266 SandDune: >267 PaulCranswick: Before my time 😄

>264 PaulCranswick: I actually found myself on the same side of the argument as Boris! 😱

>272 humouress: I was 5 years old and I can remember us winning the FA Cup final in 1972. At 8 I remember sitting up and watching the 1975 European Cup Final and being staggered at the rank injustice of it all. Even watching it back after all these years is a bitter thing for me.

There cannot be too many things myself and Boris would agree upon. Certainly I was mildly Euro Skeptic in the sense that I felt the organisation needed to be reformed considerably and I thought the huge extension in numbers was unwieldy and unhelpful. My qualms with the EEC were the qualms of my political heroes Tony Benn and Michael Foot and not those of Michael Gove and Boris Johnson.