gennyt's books and stuff 2014, part 1

I'm here, it's still New Year's Day (just) and so I'm starting my new thread.

Keeping it simple this year - but will add a little more than this nevertheless soon (I'm visiting friends just now).

Happy New Year and Happy Reading to any visitors.

For those who are feeling the winter chill, here's a picture of my lovely Ty snug in his blanket, sent to me on Boxing Day by his temporary carer.


and, since I miss having him around day by day, why not another photo of him in his new home so I can see him every time I come to do an update? I hope visitors will forgive the indulgence.



My currently reading list below contains various books I have on the go, sometimes quite slowly. Often though, the quicker or lighter reads don't get listed under 'Currently Reading' because they are started and finished before I've updated the thread.

Currently reading:
The Silmarillion - Tolkien (re-read)
Mindfulness - Mark Williams
Jamaica Inn - Daphne du Maurier

Currently reading (theology book):
An Altar in the World - Barbara Brown Taylor

Currently reading (eBook):
Conversations with Myself - Nelson Mandela
Phineas Finn - Anthony Trollope

Currently listening to:
The Iliad - Homer

Stalled (ie started, intend to finish but have neglected for a while or a long while)
Daughter of Earth - Agnes Smedley
Inside the whale and other essays - George Orwell
I call you friends - Timothy Radcliffe
The life and death of Mary Wollstonecraft - Claire Tomalin
Gilead - Marilynne Robinson
Planet Narnia - Michael Ward
We - John Dickinson
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral - Barbara Kingsolver
The Tulip - Anna Pavord

Read in January

1 The Janus Stone - Elly Griffiths (acquired Christmas 2013)
2 The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul - Deborah Rodriguez (acquired Sept 2013)
3 Boneland - Alan Garner (acquired July 2013)
4 Anarchy and old dogs - Colin Cotterill (eBook acquired 2013)
5 Virago is 40: A Celebration ed Lennie Goodings (eBook acquired 2013)
6 Astercote - Penelope Lively (acquired 2012)
7 Innocent Graves - Peter Robinson (acquired 2011)
8 A Winter Book - Tove Jansson (ebook acquired 2013)
9 Eight months on Ghazzah Street - Hilary Mantel (acquired June 2013)
10 In pursuit of the English: a documentary - Doris Lessing (acquired 2011)
11 Judgement Day - Penelope Lively (acquired 2011)
12 A time to keep silence - Patrick Leigh Fermor (acquired Aug 2013)
13 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy - audio book (acquired 2008)

Read in February

14 In this house of Brede - Rumer Godden (library book)
15 Soul Music - Terry Pratchett (acquired 2011)
16 The Player of Games - Iain M Banks (audio)
17 Right Ho, Jeeves - P G Wodehouse
18 The Return of the Native - Thomas Hardy (audio)
19 Touch Not the Cat - Mary Stewart
20 Mornings in Jenin - Susan Abulhawa

Read in March

21 The Arsenic Labyrinth - Martin Edwards
22 The House at Sea's End - Elly Griffiths
23 The Children who Lived in a Barn - Eleanor Graham
24 The Unfinished Clue - Georgette Heyer
25 A Feast for Crows - George R R Martin
26 Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf (audio)
27 Lettering: from formal to informal- Rosemary Sassoon (library)
28 Curse of the Pogo Stick - Colin Cotterill
29 The Last Chronicle of Barset - Anthony Trollope
30 The Load of Unicorn - Cynthia Harnett
31 A Dance with Dragons: part 1 - George RR Martin
32 Interesting Times - Terry Pratchett

Read in April
33 The Venus Throw - Steven Saylor
34 A Dance with Dragons Part 2 - George R R Martin
35 Palladian - Elizabeth Taylor
36 The Tenderness of Wolves - Stef Penney
37 In the Woods - Tana French
38 The Darkest Road - Guy Gavriel Kay
39 Jamaica Inn - Daphne du Maurier
40 Frost in May - Antonia White
41 Sunrise in the West - Edith Pargeter
42 Last Post: the final word from our First World War soldiers - Max Arthur
43
44

Acquired in January:

Gifts
1 Love songs from a shallow grave - Colin Cotterill
2 A history of Christianity: the first three thousand years - Diarmaid MacCulloch
3 The Pooh Cook Book - A A Milne/Katie Stewart (replacement for long missing copy)
Charity shop:
4 Last Post - Max Arthur (WWI)
5 The Rendezvous and other stories - Daphne du Maurier (VMC)
✔6 The Darkest Road - Guy Gavriel Kay
Church bookstall:
7 The Algebraist - Iain M Banks
8 C is for Corpse - Sue Grafton
9 The restaurant at the end of the universe - Douglas Adams (replacing lost copy)
Tetbury bookshops:
10 Fair Play: a novel - Tove Jansson - Thingaversary book
11 Dawn Wind - Rosemary Sutcliff - Thingaversary book
12 Lavinia - Ursula Le Guin - Thingaversary book
13 Desolation Island - Patrick O'Brien - Thingaversary book
Charity shops, Stratford-upon-Avon:
14 The Twin - Gerbrand Bakker - Thingaversary book
15 The Bridge - Iain Banks - Thingaversary book
16 Five Children and It - E Nesbit (replacement for lost childhood copy) - Thingaversary book
17 The Runaway - Elizabeth Anna Hart (Persephone) - Thingaversary book
LT meet up gifts
18 Death Comes for the Archbishop - Willa Cather (VMC)
19 The Rights of the Reader - Daniel Pennac

Total books acquired in January: 19
Books given away: 1
Book balance: +18 (of which 15 are onto the TBR pile, 3 are copies of previously read books for my collection)

Acquired in February
✔In This House of Brede - Rumer Godden (CSJD Library)

Acquired in March
Birmingham charity shops:
✔20 The Arsenic Labyrinth - Martin Edwards
✔21 In The Woods - Tana French
Amazon Marketplace:
✔22 A Dance with Dragons: Dreams and Dust - George R R Martin
London Virago meet-up
✔23 The Curse of the Pogo Stick - Colin Cotterill
24 Vinland - George Mackay Brown
25 Mr Fortune's Maggot - Sylvia Townsend Warner (VMC)
26 West with the Night - Beryl Markham (Virago Traveller)
27 Feet of Clay - Terry Pratchett
28 Someone at a Distance - Dorothy Whipple (Persephone)
29 Wild Strawberries - Angela Thirkell (VMC)
✔30 The Load of Unicorn - Cynthia Harnett (replacement of lost childhood book)
31 The Sugar House - Antonia White (VMC)
32 William, an Englishman - Cicely Hamilton (Persephone)

EBooks

January
1 The Luminaries - Eleanor Catton
2 Ammonites and Leaping Fish: A life in time - Penelope Lively
3 Old Filth - Jane Gardam

February
4 The King's Hounds - Martin Jensen
5 Big Table, Busy Kitchen - Allegra McEvedy

March
✔- The Last Chronicle of Barset - Anthony Trollope (free- suplement to paper edition)
6 Longbourn - Jo Baker
7 Children of the Revolution - Peter Robinson
8 Les trois mousquetaires - Alexander Dumas (free)
9 McLevy: The Edinburgh detective - James McLevy
10 The King in the North: the life and times of Oswald of Northumbria - Max Adam

reserved for summary of 2013

Books acquired in 2013 - To Be Read
(✔ = read in 2014)
Some of these are now in storage - at some point I will highlight those which are accessible to be read this year

1 Spell it Out
2 Troublesome Words
3 The Pinecone
4 A Discovery of Witches
5 Jingo
6 The Balkan Trilogy
7 Pompeii
8 A History of Tractors in the Ukrainian
✔9 Right Ho, Jeeves
10 A Trick of the Light
11 A Dance to the Music of Time: second movement
12 A Dance to the Music of Time: fourth movement
13 Collected Poems: McGough
14 South Riding (VMC)
15 Bertie Plays the Blues
16 Montaillou
17 Nature's Engraver
18 Island: The Complete Stories
19 The Song of the Lark (VMC)
20 Evil for Evil
21 The Escapement
22 Dream Angus
23 In Xanadu: a quest - William Dalrymple
24 Midnight is a Place - Joan Aiken
25 Letters from Egypt - Lucy Duff Gordon
26 When the Devil Holds the Candle - Karin Fossum
27 The Fire-Dwellers (VMC) - Margaret Laurence
28 Storm Track - Margaret Maron
29 The Lost Art of Gratitude - Alexander McCall Smith
30 The Charming Quirks of Others - Alexander McCall Smith
31 Without My Cloak (VMC) - Kate O'Brien
32 The Pastor's Wife (VMC) - Elizabeth von Arnim
33 Madame de Treymes (VMC) - Edith Wharton
34 Assertiveness at work
35 My Antonia
36 Affinity
37 Katherine
38 Rainbow's End
39 Black is the Colour of my True Love's Heart
40 The Land of Green Ginger (VMC)
41 A Room full of Bones
42 The Library of Shadows
43 The ABC Murders
44 Palladian (VMC)
45 The House of Green Turf
46 The Light Years
47 Wintersmith
48 The Hounds of Sunset
49 A Presumption of Death
✔50 Sunrise in the West
51 The Birds on the Trees (VMC)
52 Circles of Deceit (VMC)
53 Angel (VMC)
54 Shadows on the Rock (VMC)
55 A Sea-Grape Tree (VMC)
56 Selected Letters of Edith Sitwell (VMC)
57 The Mauritius Command
58 H.M.S. Surprise
59 Ruso and the Disappearing Dancing Girls
✔60 Jamaica Inn (VMC)
61 A Very Private Eye
62 A Year with the Ladies of Llangollen
63 Shades of Grey
64 The Beauties and the Furies (VMC)
65 Across the Nightingale Floor
66 The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party
✔67 Eight Months on Ghazzah Street
68 Max Havelaar
69 Het Theater, de brief en de waarheid
70 The Virago Book of Women Travellers
71 Anderby Wold (VMC)
72 The Circle of Reason
✔73 Boneland
74 King and Joker
75 Nights at the Circus (VMC)
76 The Passion of New Eve (VMC)
77 A Golden Age
78 The Willow Pattern
79 A Sensible Life
80 The Camomile Lawn
81 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society
82 Jenny Wren (VMC)
83 Beyond the Glass (VMC)
84 Told by an Idiot (VMC)
85 Rumour of Heaven (VMC)
86 The Rising Tide (VMC)
87 One Virgin Too Many
88 Happy Returns
89 Country Chronicle
90 The Ionian Mission
91 The Surgeon's Mate
92 The Cloud of Unknowing
93 The Way of the Cross : the Women of Jerusalem follow Jesus
94 Death in Venice: Tristan: Tonio Kroger
95 Borderliners
96 Lord of the Flies
97 The Harmony of Heaven
98 Laudes creaturarum
99 The Night Sky of the Lord
100 Fasting, Feasting
101 Quarantine
102 The first and second prayer-books of King 126 Edward the Sixth
103 Helps to Worship
104 The triumph of Caesar
✔105 A Time to Keep Silence
106 From Holy Island to Durham
107 Mrs Miniver (VMC)
108 Falling Upward
109 The Redeemer
110 A Book of Silence
111 Holloway
112 I'll never be young again (VMC)
113 Recipes for sad women
114 Kitchen Essays (Persephone)
115 A Late Lark Singing
116 Strip the Willow
117 Ring the Bell Backwards
118 Caprice and Rondo
119 To Lie with Lions
120 The Unicorn Hunt
121 Scales of Gold
122 The Spring of the Ram
123 Blackout - Connie Willis
✔124 The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul - Deborah Rodriguez
✔125 The Children who Lived in a Barn - Eleanor Graham
✔126 The House at Sea's End - Griffiths
127 The Edwardians - Sackville-West
128 Family History Sackville-West
129 The Fountain Overflows - West
130 Now in November - Johnson
131 Mindfulness: a Practical Guide - Mark Williams
132 For all that has been, thanks - Rowan Williams & Joan Chittester
✔133 The Janus Stone - Griffiths
134 Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali
135 Nomad - Ayaan Hirsi Ali
✔136 Mornings in Jenin - Susan Abulhawa

Ebooks

1 1227 QI Facts
2 Mountains of the Mind
3 The Wild Places
4 A History of 20th Century Britain
5 Capital - John Lanchester
✔6 A Winter Book – Tove Jansson
7 The Palliser Novels - 5 of 6 still unread
8 Ignorance
9 The Likes of Us
10 A Long Walk to Wimbledon
✔11 Virago is 40
12 President Obama Kindle Singles Interview
13 Transatlantic
14 May we be Forgiven
15 And the Mountains Echoed
16 Finding Camlann
17 The Stepford Wives
18 The Boys from Brazil
19 A Kiss Before Dying
20 Conversations with Myself
21 Immortal Diamond
22 The Fancy
23 Season of the Witch
24 Roseanna - Sjowall
25 Thirty Years of Phoenix Poets -
26 Hidden Genders - Cotterill
27 Bruno and le Pere Noel - Walker
28 The Devil's Cave - Walker
29 The Crowded Grave - Walker
30 Island of Wings - Altenberg
✔31 Anarchy and Old Dogs - Cotterill
32 The Foxes Come at Night - Nooteboom
33 Wild: a journey from lost to found - Strayed
34 The Name of the Wind - Rothfuss
35 Dune - Herbert
36 Life after Life - Atkinson
37 Americanah - Adichie
38 No Human Involved - Seranella
39 The Princess Bride - Goldman
40 The Garden of Evening Mists - Eng
41 The Woman who Loved an Octopus - Herrad

Welcome back! Haven't seen this series - I'll keep and eye out for it.

Genny - Lovely to see you arriving finally. Wishing you the most wonderful of new years.

Hi Genny! I'm looking forward to following along with you this year. Happy New Year!

Genny! Happy new year, and thank you for the message you sent me ages ago. I have been away too long, and I hope you're doing well. I hope to see you more often, and be around myself.

Hi Genny! Glad to see your 2014 thread up and running. I'm looking forward to hearing about your continued adventures this year. As well as your reading, of course.

#6 Thanks Jim - and thanks for getting this new group up and running again. It'll be my fifth year of participating now - even though I've been much less active this past year for various reasons, I still can't imagine life without it.

#7 Thanks for your New Year wishes, Paul. Despite heavy rain, the year began well with a journey to good friends back in Newcastle where I'm now enjoying relaxing and catching up, and enjoying their new kitten which arrived at the same time as I did.

#8 Heidi, thanks for visiting - I hope to post enough from time to time to make the thread worth following!

#9 Eris, it is great to see you back - I've been absent a lot too from the threads too, but a new year and a new leaf and all that... Hope the coming year is a good one for you.

#10 Hi Laura, thanks for visiting. This year will indeed be an adventure, in that I have no idea where I will be by the end of it! Well I have several possible scenarios, but no idea which of them or some unknown other option will actually come to pass. It's a bit strange, but I am trying to live with the uncertainty at present rather than worry about it (it helps that one of the options is to arrange to stay a bit longer in my current location if I need to, so there is no danger of being turfed out 'on my ear' before I know what the next step is...).

1 The Janus Stone - Elly Griffiths



From: own shelf since 25.12.2013
Format: paperback, used
Pages: 327
Source: Christmas gift
OPD:2009
Genre: detective fiction
Series: Ruth Galloway 2 (of 4 so far)

I chose this book for my first read of the new year because of the title reference to the two-faced Roman god of gateways from which January gets its name (looking back to the old year and ahead to the new), though it turns out that the action of this book takes place in the summer.

I liked the first in the series very much, and in this book I continued to enjoy the characters of archaeologist Ruth Galloway and policeman Harry Nelson - but the plot of this second book was a little predictable compared to the first. I spotted at least two of the plot twists well in advance (and I don't normally with mystery books). Also there was rather less of the very atmospheric depiction of the north Norfolk coast, which was such a big part of the first book, where the landscape was like one of the main characters. Featuring a wide range of different religious practictioners (at least one of whom is quite mad) and reactions to them - from narrow-minded born again Christians via saintly and not so saintly Roman Catholics to Celtic and Roman pagans - but with some rather unbelievable juxtapositions (would Ruth's mother really have accompanied her to that summer solstice party at the end of the book?).

I've got the next couple of books in this series lined up, so I will continue with them for the sake of the characters, but I hope the plots improve.



Total pages read: 327

Hi Genny and happy new year!

You created your thread after I'd done my rounds yesterday... Happy New Year!

Found you! Hi, Genny - happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Genny! It's nice to "see" you :)

Hi, Genny! I love the idea of reading a 'Janus' book as the first one of the year!

Happy New Year Genny, pleased to see you back again and congratulations on completing your first book of the year. I like the Elly Griffiths books but not so much for the mystery as the characters.

Happy New Year! Welcome back!

Hello, Genny. I've found your new thread and added a star so I should be able to keep up now!

Have a warm weekend Genny. Newcastle is at least the right coast to be at according to the reports but pretty blustery too I'll wager.

2. The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul - Deborah Rodriguez



From: own shelf since Sept 2013
Format: paperback, new
Pages: 408
Source: birthday gift
OPD:2011
Genre: chick lit in a war zone

A disappointingly light and poorly-written book, loosely based on the personal experiences of an American expat in Kabul, which tries to raise awareness of the challenges faced by women in contemporary Afghanistan but is too lightweight to bear the serious themes touched on and settles for rather sentimental feel-good storyline.



Total pages read: 735

chick lit in a war zone?! ewww.

Dropping in to add my welcome and felicitations, Genny, although it sounds like sympathy is more the ticket after that ungood chick lit.

#22 Sounds terrible! Thanks for taking one for the team.

Happy New Year Genny. I enjoy the Ruth Galloway series, as well -- as much for the characters as the mystery. Happy reading. What # 25 says.

Happy New Year, Genny! Wishing you good reading this year. Sorry you've started with a couple that are less than thrilling.

Happy New Year, Genny! So glad to have you with us again. Did you have a good holiday?

Thank you for all the New Year greetings above which I've not yet replied to. We're already a week into the new year now - but hopefully it's not too late to return the sentiments, as there are still 51 weeks to go!

#13 Diana, Prettige Niewjaar to you too.

#14 Doing your rounds makes you sound either like a consultant or a papergirl! But thank you for including me in your thread visiting - I'm already way behind visiting others. Happy New Year to you too.

#15 Happy New Year Liz - and good reading in 2014.

#16 Nice to see you too, Katie!

#17 Yes I thought that was quite neat, Amber, and it was a pleasing enough read even if not a stellar one.

#18 Happy New Year calm. Yes I agree Elly Griffiths is better on the characters than the mystery.

#19 Thanks Faith, Happy New Year to you too!

#20 Kerry, I'm hoping to keep up with yours too, but no promises - I'm trying not to overcommit myself at the start of the year which just makes me feel guilty for falling behind when I can't sustain the same level...

#21 Thanks Paul. I've had a good week away, first in Newcastle with friends then in Lincolnshire with my sister. The weather has been pretty miserable for much of the time, but yes thankfully I have avoided the worst of it on this side of the country, and we've even seen the occasional bit of sunshine and clear blue sky.

#23 It was a bit hard to categorize, Laura, but one blurber described it as 'a cross between Maeve Binchy and the Kite Runner'. I've not read any Maeve Binchy, but neither the quality of writing nor the handling of subject matter were anywhere near the standard of the Kite Runner... The style was very colloquial and casual, and very annoying!

#24 Thanks for calling, Richard. And for the sympathy re book no. 2! I felt I had to read it because it was a birthday present but I probably would not have picked it up otherwise.

#25 Probably one to avoid, Heidi!

#26 Hello Beth, thanks for visiting. There seems to be general agreement about Elly Griffiths... Ruth is an interesting character.

#27 Hi Terri - thanks and the same to you! My first book was not too bad really, just the second was a disappointment. But my third (yet to be reviewed) was excellent, and I've plenty more good ones to get to, so I'm sure 2014 will have plenty more reading highlights.

#28 Hello Roni - I'm glad to be here again - I couldn't imagine not signing up for another year, even if I've been very slack at keeping up with even my usual fraction of the threads. Can't promise to do much better this year on that front, but we'll see.

The holiday is still ongoing - I'm just about to do my packing ready to leave my sister's house and travel back by train to Birmingham, where I'll arrive late in the evening. Tomorrow is when normal routines will resume for me. I've had a lovely relaxing time with relatives and friends, exchanging our Christmas gifts and catching up on the news - and sharing in new experiences: my friends in Newcastle acquired a new kitten on New Year's Day, just as I arrived. Very cute, of course, and the centre of attention for the next few days, much to the disgust of the existing older cats, whose noses were very much out of joint!

Books read so far this year: 3. My third book, Boneland by Alan Garner, was a vast improvement on my previous read. Review to follow soon, but it had to be a 5 star for me despite being almost too densely poetic and allusive at times, so it will need re-reading to tease out the meanings at some point.

Books acquired so far this year: 6! Three from my sister for Christmas (only two of these are for the TBR pile, one is a replacement cook book) and three today from a charity shop.

I am determined to keep the books read to books acquired ratio under control this year, but January is always difficult because like December there are additional Christmas gifts to take into account.

Right, time to get on with packing - I have a train to catch in less than 2 hours...

Genny, I've realised I've missed your thread so far this year. Happy New Year to you as well!

29: Organizational :-) My method for dealing with 75er overwhelmingness: don’t join the group, star or x all threads (so I can always get at them via the Talk navigation bar), post on threads that previous years indicate I’ll be visiting regularly so they don’t get lost among the other stars (I have more threads starred than is remotely practical). This way the 75er threads don’t show up in the lists of groups I’m a member of or watching, so other groups don’t get lost.

Hi Genny...I'm just cruising through...not yet set up my own thread. Far too many RL issues to deal with right now. I loved the Janus Stone - a great choice to begin the year...in fact, I've read the whole series, and they do continue to get better. Loved your January acquisitions - especially Luminaries and the Dr. Siri. I have the Dairmaid McCullough on my Nook, and have been reading it slowly...it's really very intensive and extensive. We have also been watching DVDs of his Christianity series that he did for the BBC. It's exceptionally well done, beautifully written and photographed.

Have a great year...looking forward to your always interesting comments and book finds.

GLAD to see your 2014 thread up! I wish you safe travel and look forward to hearing about some great reading this year.

Have a wonderful weekend, Genny!

Dropping a star here. Enjoy your weekend, Genny.

Genny - Are you back in Brum already? Hope it is not too cold. Have a great weekend.

Back in Brum and busy this weekend, hope to update later tonight...

Hi Genny--Glad to see you back again this year, and I hope life is treating you kindly.

Found your 75 thread and starred it, Genny!

Just found you Genny! Lost you for a bit there, but now I'm back! Hope all is well and you continue to have a good January!

Hope your lack of activity here signifies a full, happy and enjoyable RL, Genny.

Have a wonderful weekend.

My lack of activity here mainly signifies that I've been busier reading than visiting or updating threads! I've finished 9 books so far this month (admittedly, none of them were very long ones). And, since returning from my New Year break visiting friends and family, when I have not been reading I have been procrastinating about doing my tax return. I'm fast running out of time to get that done (hoping that I managed to pack all the relevant documents into the box labelled Finance which I've brought with me, and not left some to go into deep and inaccessible storage!), and will need to knuckle down during the coming week in order to collate all the information in time to send to my tax advisor by the end of January. So before I get submerged in all that, I'd better do a quick update here.

So...

#43 Thanks Paul for jogging me into visiting my own thread!

#42 Hannah, hello! I have your thread starred, but have not properly visited yet - must rectify that. How can January be more than half way through already?

#41 Hello Connie, glad to see you again. I'm keeping an eye out for you too!

#40 Thanks for visiting, Deborah - yes, there is much to be thankful for in life at present, despite recent upheavals.

#32 Rhian, I have you starred but (like so many good books on my shelf) as yet unread... Thanks for visiting, I hope to catch up soon.

#33 Thanks for the tips, q, on managing this busy group. My methods have been slightly different every year. I went from following just a few starred threads and not visiting the rest of the group page at all in my first year, to having far too many stars and being unable to keep up in some subsequent years. At first I never used the red x because I only ever looked at starred threads, not the complete list. This year I've red x-ed a large number just so I can keep the number of threads on the group page more manageable. I rarely use the talk page - I mostly use the Talk module on the home page, keeping an eye on the starred threads, and then once a week or so check the group page to see if there are new threads I want to star or anything else I'm missing out on. Making sure you post on an unstarred thread that you want to visit occasionally is a good point - it's easy to find then under the 'your posts' tab.

#34 Tina - thanks for taking the time to visit when you hadn't even time to set up your own thread. RL is annoyingly distracting, sometimes! I've had quite a fill of it in the past year... I'm glad you approved of The Janus Stone as my first read. My mother is sending me her read copies of the books, she's a little ahead of me in the series so that works well. I can see what you mean about the MacCulloch - it won't be a quick read, I can see! I never saw the TV series at the time, but heard him speak 18 months ago at the Greenbelt faith, justice and arts festival which I attend in the summer - he gave a very interesting 40 minute talk on some of the themes of the book (and TV programme) which - as the talks are recorded and available to download - I was able to share with a small group from my congregation last year in Lent. His latest book, Silence: A Christian History, is now in the community library where I am, so when I've finished my own tome I can go on to that one - it looks very interesting too.

#35 Peggy, I hope to oblige by remembering to tell you about the reading I'm doing. It's all very well getting on and reading a lot, which I'm glad I've been able to do so far this year, but I really wish I were better at sharing thoughts as I'm reading, even when I can't manage official 'reviews'.

#36 Diana, belated thanks for those good wishes and I hope you had a good one last week and this week too!

#37 Monica, lovely to see you and - having starred your thread - I hope to get round to visiting there soon and seeing what you are getting up to.

#38 Paul, I don't know how you do it - you've visited here twice (not to mention everyone else's and your own runaway threads) while I've been idle. Can I have some of your energy please?

I've updated my opening post at the top of the thread to include a couple of photos of Ty, sent to me on Boxing Day by the lady who is looking after him for me. He is clearly being well loved and cared for, and is bringing much pleasure and happiness to his temporary owner, which is some consolation to me for not being able to have him with me.

I've also added to the top post a list of some of my current (and stalled) reading, as well as updating the 'read so far' list in post 2. I was going post more details about the completed books, since I've so far added details only for 2 of the 9 read. But it's getting late so I may only manage the skeleton of an update to remind me to fill in more details...

3. Boneland - Alan Garner



From: own shelf since July 2013
Format: Hardback (as new)
Pages: 149
Source: Slightly Foxed bookshop, Gloucester Road London
OPD: 2012
Series: Alderley Edge 3/3
Genre: Fantasy/Mythology





Total pages read: 884

4. Anarchy and Old Dogs - Colin Cotterill



From: TBR shelf since Oct 2013
Format: eBook
Pages: 290
Source: Kindle Store
OPD: 2009
Series: Dr Siri 4/9
Genre: Detective





Total pages read: 1,174

5. Virago is 40: a celebration - ed. Lennie Goodings



From: TBR shelf since July 2013
Format: eBook
Pages: 149
Source: free from Virago via Kindle store
OPD: 2013
Genre: Anniversary anthology of essays, stories, poems &c




Total pages read: 1,323

6. Astercote - Penelope Lively



From: TBR shelf since 2012
Format: used paperback
Pages: 158
Source: library sale
OPD: 1970
Genre: Children's fiction





Total pages read: 1,481

7. Innocent Graves - Peter Robinson



From: TBR shelf since 2011
Format: paperback (used)
Pages: 468
Source: Bookmooch
OPD: 1996
Series: Inspector Banks 8/21
Genre: Detective





Total pages read: 1,949

8. A Winter Book - Tove Jansson



From: TBR e-shelf since Jan 2013
Format: eBook
Pages: 192
Source: Kindle (daily deal)
OPD: 1998
Genre: Short Stories





Total pages read: 2,141

9. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street - Hilary Mantel



From: TBR shelf since June 2013
Format: Used paperback
Pages: 298
Source: Charity bookshop
OPD: 1988
Genre: Literary fiction





Total pages read: 2,439

Genny ,...good for you for spending time reading. You have given me a push to try to get my 2014 thread started. I have finished 8 books this year and need to start writing down my thoughts about them before they disappear into the neuro-archives.

I've been thinking of reading Boneland. Do you think a reread of the first two books is necessary, or does this one stand alone? I know this one is aimed at adults not children.

Gosh, you've been very busy on the book reading front Genny, congrats! Lovely pictures of Ty too.
You are making me feel guilty with this talk of tax returns - I should probably be doing the same right about now, having been self-employed for a few months, but I must admit that I haven't got anything sorted in that direction. But, I definitely haven't earned enough money yet for the tax man to be too interested in me, plus by the time you take VAT off all the things I've bought to kick start my arty career, I'm sure I'm owed money rather than owing it, but still…. I'll have to get myself registered soon and start keeping track of these things like the responsible grown-up I'm supposed to be!

Hi, Tina, good luck with getting the thread started. I've had to keep mine simpler this year: I had too many reserved spots for lists and summaries last year, which meant that starting a new thread became a major task, let alone keeping all those stats updated. I've still got a few, but I'm trying to make sure most importantly that I post a new message for each book read, not just listing it at the top - it's more likely to get me to write a few thoughts, and to prompt comments and questions from others which in turn get me to say more about what I thought of the book...

Rhian, you've beaten me to it - I must put some comments about Boneland up there. I did not re-read the first two books, and they are the ones I have read least often of Garner's earlier work - even as a child they felt to me much slighter and more derivative than his later work, though they contain the seeds of his particular concerns and ideas. I will want to re-read Boneland, and before that, next time, I think I will re-read the earlier books to see if I can better understand what is going on in Boneland, but in some ways it worked well this time not having re-read them and just having a jumble of slightly incoherent memories, as this new book deals with memory issues and a search by the main character (a middle-aged, damaged Colin) for something lost and only fragmentedly recognised.

Have you read any of his other works? Stylistically this is much more like Red Shift, one of my favourites: pared-down language, the blend of narratives from different time-periods yet all inhabiting the same very specific local landscape - a kind of blend of geology, prehistory and myth. If you've not read anything after, say, Elidor, Boneland will be a very, very different reading experience.

#56 'Guilt' and 'Tax returns' are almost synonymous for me, Hannah (at least in terms of failed good intentions of getting them done promptly). But you were presumably still on PAYE at the end of the last tax year, weren't you, so you are ok for this year? 31 Jan is the final deadline for online submission of returns for tax year 2012-13. I don't know how you go about getting registered, but you certainly ought to be keeping receipts for anything you have bought that is work-related, so you are ready to document anything tax-deductible for next year.

Ty is gorgeous and looks quite content in his temporary home. I'm sure that's a comfort to you, Genny. And my, you've been doing a lot of reading as well!

Hi Genny - You are off to a good start. I love all the information you include about your books.

Ty looks gorgeous and royal on his settee!

#57 Genny. I've read The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (pretty much my favourite book from childhood), The Moon of Gomrath, Elidor and The Owl Service. I haven't ever read any of his more teenage books. Mr SandDune is battling to do his tax return at the moment as well. It was a very happy day for me when HMRC decided that I didn't need to do a tax return any more, which they did about four years ago.

Edited to add: this year on my thread I am doing paintings of dogs, and my first thread had a very nice greyhound portrait (of course I'm not biased).

Ooh, that has tempted me over to have a look at your thread! ... *Returns after a quick tour of Rhian's and a couple of other threads* That portrait is lovely, though to my eyes the dog looks far too small, being a whippet rather than a greyhound. As if Ty had shrunk in the rain (and changed colour too)!

Back to Alan Garner - if the Weirdstone was a favourite from childhood, you probably remember enough of it not to need to re-read before reading Boneland. And as you've read his work up to The Owl Service, you've seen the beginning of his stylistic development. Red Shift was next after The Owl Service. I will be very interested to hear what you think of it when you get round to it. I see you enjoyed Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane - that has some similarities with Boneland, now that I think about it, especially in handling adult memories of childhood traumas, and the mythological underpinning of ordinary reality.

I think this is my first post on your thread so wishing you an exciting and happy New Year.
I read the first two Alderley books last year and am looking forward to Boneland especially after reading your comments. I have Thursbitch & Red Shift on my Mt Tbr as well.

Thursbitch is the only one I have not read, Kerry. I have made sure to bring it with me this year. It contains a lot of dialect words in the opening few pages, I recall from glancing through when I acquired it.

Have you read Strandloper? In which a character from Garner's usual Cheshire landscape is sent as a convict to Australia and encounters Aboriginal culture - a new angle on his exploration of the intense relationship between people and landscape.

#63 Oops, of course it was a whippet! In my memory it was a greyhound, but as I only started the new thread yesterday it doesn't say much for my memory, does it? Well never mind - I have picked all the pictures out already and I have a lovely one with greyhounds in (definitely this time) for later in the year!

#64 The Weirdstone of Brisingamen is one that I remember really well - I read it to J when he was smaller as well as rereading it loads of times myself as a child. I am very hazy on The Moon of Gomrath as I think I only ever read it once. But Boneland definitely appeals.

I haven't read Strandloper but will add it to my list. I'll have to check out a bibliography of Garner's work to see what else I've missed.

The Stone Book Quartet is the only other major work that has not been mentioned in these past few posts. It's actually very short, four beautifully crafted short stories that explore the relationship between youth and age, and celebrate craftsmanship and, again, are deeply rooted in the cheshire landscape.

Sort of caught up... but not really. At least I finally posted... Nice to see you :)

Hi Genny! Happy 2014!

No need to apologise for posting two pictures of Ty. It's good to see him looking so cozy in his temporary home :-)

Glad to see you've been getting a good lot of reading done so far this year. You are ahead of me in books finished and in comments written up so far!

10. In Pursuit of the English: a documentary - Doris Lessing



From: TBR shelf since 2011
Format: Used paperback
Pages: 223
Source: Charity bookshop
OPD: 1960
Genre: Autobiography




Total pages read: 2,662

Hi, Genny! You've done lots of good reading! You've been into two series that I like -- Inspector Banks and Dr. Siri. I think Anarchy & Old Dogs is the Dr. Siri I'll be reading next, and I have it waiting on the shelf. Good to see you liked it. I'm stalled early into the Banks series, as I haven't been able to get hold of the next one, A Necessary End. I gather it might not be one of the better ones, but I like to read series in order. I'm going to try and get it through inter-library loan.

Ty is quite handsome!

Genny, I've been meaning for the last week to figure out why your thread was not showing up on my stars, especially since I've seen you posting around. Turns out that, even though I was an early visitor, somehow I didn't put a star on your thread! That is now corrected.

Lots of good reading here. I have read The Wierdstone of Brisingamen, The Moon of Gomrath, Owl Service, Elidor, and REd Shift. I can see that I need to try Boneland.

I already have a book bullet on a book you haven't even read yet, the new McCulloch.

I am also reading the Dr. Siri books, but I'm a few books ahead of you.

I read a book a few years ago that was about Alan Garner, Susan Cooper, Diana Wynne Jones, and Penelope Lively. Lively is the only one of the authors I haven't read.

*out of lurk* HI, GENNY! You have been a happy reader if your stars tell the true story. Ty is such a handsome guy; I love those pictures! *back into lurk*

Well Genny - looks like you got some of that energy you were looking for from somewhere.

I have had my ups and downs with Doris Lessing over the years. I am sure her autobiographical works are interesting though.

Look at you go Genny! You are starting off the new year right with all these reading accomplishments. I feel your pain on the tax preparation front. This week I am frantically trying to get W2's and 1099's prepared for mailing to contractors and employees of the organization I work for. I hate that kind of paperwork and it just adds to the stress levels to have to get it done by a certain date.

Hi Genny! Everything alright? I hope it is.

Hi Genny
Hope you are doing well. I'm going to make a better effort to keep up with your thread this year.

I'm off for a few days at the Gladstone's Library on 17 Feb, my February ritual, I think it is my fourth year to keep it. Last year I didn't get back for a later visit. Maybe I will this year.

Hello everyone, thank you for kind messages. I have just emerged from a few days of focusing on personal finances, finally getting my tax return completed today. So next I need to catch up on some sleep, and then I hope to return and reply properly to your messages, and also update on my reading progress (not much in the last couple of days though).

I'm so glad you are okay!

Genny, I'm sure it's good to get that tax paperwork done! One of those things one must do that's not very enjoyable.

Nice going on getting the tax done. I heard on the radio that with the deadline tomorrow over 1.5 million people have still to file their returns.

i'm trying not to be smug, I did mine in November. And it was the last one - back on PAYE. so much easier.

Hope everything is sorted for the theatre??

#70 None of us is ever caught up, I fear, Kath - but we keep going, nevertheless! Thank you for visiting!

#71 Hi, Heather, yes Ty does look very cozy, and I know he is being well loved and cared for, which is a great relief. As for books, I expect you'll have overtaken me by now - the last week has been largely given over to personal tax stuff so I've slowed down.

#73 Isn't he a handsome boy, Terri! I'm really enjoying the Dr Siri series - I knew nothing about Laos until hearing the experience of some people who are mission partners there; then I discovered this series and am learning a lot more about the history and background, as well as enjoying the characters. As for the Peter Robinson books, I stumbled upon them mid-series, picking up a discounted copy of In a dry season (no. 10) in a supermarket c10 years ago and continuing from there. I was more or less up to date a couple of years back, then I decided to go back and read the first 9 or so which I'd missed. Just one more to go... I don't think I'll re-read the rest once I've caught up, though I might re-read In a Dry Season just to complete the loop (and it was a particularly good one, I recall).

#74 Roni, it's good to see you here - even when I have people safely starred, it still takes me ages to get to visit the threads. If you've read that much Garner, you probably should add Boneland to your TBR - especially if you liked Red Shift - some people preferred the more straightforward narrative of the first couple of books and find his later evolving style offputting (with its unattributed dialogue and leaping between time periods etc). But if you are ok with that and lots of ambiguity, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

I have that book about Garner, Cooper, Wynne Jones and Lively on my wishlist, from when several of you read it a few years back. Diana Wynne Jones is the one I'm least familiar with - I'd only read one as a child and have tried a couple more since then. Penelope Lively I didn't come across as a child, but read her Booker winning adult novel Moon Tiger early on - and re-read it recently with my book group. I've been gradually acquiring copies of both her children's and adult's books since then and really enjoy them all - there is a constant theme of fascination with history and time.

#75 Lurkers welcome, Peggy, whether or not they comment - but it's good to hear from you! Yes, there have been some good reads this month. I hope to manage a few words as well as stars to express what I thought more fully... but that's as far as I've got so far.

#76 Hi Paul, I can't say I'm feeling hugely energetic really, but probably less exhausted than I was in the autumn following all the upheaval of moving. I do find it takes more energy to post about my reading, and certainly to write reviews, than it does simply to sit and enjoy the reading!

The Lessing above was my first taste of her writing. It was autobiographical in the sense of being about her experience of moving to London and renting rooms in a boarding house - but much more about the other inhabitants of the house than about her own life. Interesting portrait of a mixed bag of characters in post-war London.

#77 Well, Heidi, I have rather cheated this month by reading lots of very short books. But I do feel pleased to have read more than my usual monthly total before I got stuck into the necessary evil of tax stuff. I have no idea what W2s and 1099s are, but I get the general drift! I am thankful to have finished my paperwork of that kind for another year.

#78, 81 I'm alright now, Connie! I've had a chance to recover my sleep after several very long nights of doing paperwork...

#79 Caroline, how lovely to see you! I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time as ever at Gladstone's. I need to book myself in for another visit. I didn't make it at all last year, due to the upheavals of moving etc - and I missed my annual visit.

#82 It is a very good feeling once it's all done, indeed. And even better, my tax accountant has calculated that I am due a small rebate - which is far better than the alternative of having to pay some extra!

#83 If I didn't have an agent naggingreminding me to get him the details in time for him to submit the online return, I'd be one of those people still not having done mine, HelenLiz, I'm pretty sure. PAYE is certainly much easier - lucky you to be going back to that. As a clergy person my income was taxed at source, but because of benefits in kind etc we have to do returns, and it never seems straightforward.

#84 Yes, Suzanne - all set! Spoke to the box office and there is no problem.

Tomorrow (actually later today) I'm off to Stratford to see 'Bring up the Bodies', the second of the two RSC productions of plays based on Hilary Mantel's Booker-winning novels. This is courtesy of Suzanne, who could not use her ticket after all - I snapped it up when she offered it on Facebook, as I'd tried to book several months ago and found it already sold out. I'm very sorry that Suzanne could not manage her planned trip, but grateful to be benefiting from her change of plan.

I am really looking forward to it - it will be the first time I've attended an RSC production in Stratford (though I saw quite a few in Newcastle where they do a season every year) and I am also intrigued as to how they have managed to turn such 'interior' novels into stage plays. The reviews I've read seem to agree it has been done very well.

This was nearly my first ever trip to Stratford - but as it happens that took place last Saturday, in another LT-related event: a meet-up of 7 of us from the Virago group, for a day exploring the charity book shops and tea shops of Stratford. Here's a photo of the group outside the first of the charity shops we visited:



I haven't yet taken a picture of my book haul, or added those new acquisitions to my catalogue - that's the next bit of LT catching up to do. I can say however that mine was not the largest pile of books acquired, but not the smallest either!

Genny, I'm so happy you're able to see the play. I can't wait to hear more about it.

Yes, what Laura said!

11. Judgement Day - Penelope Lively



From: TBR shelf since 2011
Format: Used paperback
Pages: 168
Source: Second-hand bookshop
OPD: 1980
Genre: Contemporary fiction




Total pages read: 2,830

12. A Time to Keep Silence - Patrick Leigh Fermor



From: TBR shelf since August 2013
Format: Paperback (new)
Pages: 95
Source: Gift
OPD: 1957
Genre: Memoir/travel writing/essays




Total pages read: 2,925

13. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy



From: TBR shelf since 2008
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 61 hours 44 mins listening time = c 1,400 pages
Source: Audible (subscription credit)
OPD: 1865-1868
Genre: 19th century classic/historical fiction



Total pages read: 4,325

January reading stats:

Total books read: 13
Gender: 5 books by male authors, 8 by female (including one anthology of many women writers)
Nationality: 9 books by British authors (8 different authors), 1 American, 1 Finnish, 1 Russian + 1 anthology of mostly UK & US writers
New/old: 5 new (to me) authors
TBR backlog: 8 acquired 2013, 2012 (1), 2011 (3), 2008 (1)
Rereads: 0
Series: 3 (2 continuations, 1 conclusion)
Format: paper books 9, eBooks 3, audiobooks 1
Original publication years:
1865-68: 1
1957: 1
1960: 1
1970: 1
1980: 1
1988: 1
1996: 1
1998: 1
2009: 2
2011: 1
2012: 1
2013: 1
(Average publication year: 1982)

Genres
Contemporary fiction: 3
Classic Fiction: 1
Historical fiction:
Virago:
Mystery (contemp): 3
Mystery (golden age):
Mystery (historical):
Fantasy: 1
SciFi:
Children's/YA: 1
Short stories: 2
Humour:
Poetry:
Memoir/biography: 2
History:
Theology:
Other Non-fiction:

Total pages read this month: 4,325 (average 333 pages/book)
Total pages read this year: 4,325

Total books acquired in January: 19
Books given away: 1
Book balance: +18 (of which 15 are onto the TBR pile, 3 are copies of previously read books for my collection)

Total size of TBR collection at end of January: 701

Hi Genny, saw your fabulous 5* for War on Peace on Recent News page. I made that a summer reading project some years ago and thoroughly enjoyed. You make me want to listen to the audiobook now. And I still have an Audible subscription ...

I managed to fit all of my reads this month into one of the TIOLI challenges, although I don't think any of them were shared reads:

Challenge #1: Read a book whose title names an object usually found in the kitchen
The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul - Deborah Rodriguez

Challenge #2: Read a book from your 'average' year
Eight months on Ghazzah Street - Hilary Mantel (year = 1988 - based on edition date not original publication date)

Challenge #3: Instances of the Number 14: Read a book that has some connection with the number 14
Boneland - Alan Garner (my edition is 14 cm wide)

Challenge #5: Read a book set in France before the 21st Century
A time to keep silence - Patrick Leigh Fermor (visits to three French monasteries in the 1950s)

Challenge #6: Read a book by a Yorkshire Born writer
Innocent Graves - Peter Robinson (this one also has a Yorkshire setting)

Challenge #9: Read a book by the author of one of your favourite books of 2013 (State the 2013 book)
Anarchy and old dogs - Colin Cotterill (a rather tenuous one this - depends how many favourites one is allowed, but Disco for the Departed was definitely a very enjoyable read from last year)

Challenge #10: Book Bullet: Read a book that you discovered on an LT thread in 2013
Virago is 40: A Celebration ed Lennie Goodings - I heard about this free eBook on one of the Virago Group threads last year

Challenge #11: Read a book that has two of something in the title (Note: Identify the dual object)
The Janus Stone - Elly Griffiths: two letter 's' - also a mention of the two-faced god Janus who was the inspiration for the challenge
A Winter Book - Tove Jansson (two 'o's)

Challenge #13: Read a book by an author who died in 2013
In pursuit of the English: a documentary - Doris Lessing

Challenge #16: Read a book with an ugly cover
Astercote - Penelope Lively

Challenge #17: Read a book about the city, state (province), or country in which you live
Judgement Day - Penelope Lively (not much of a challenge, since most of the books I read are set in the UK, though I keep trying to broaden that range)

Challenge #19: Read a book with a walking or standing figure on the cover
War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (picture of Napoleon standing)

#88, 89 Laura, Amber - it was excellent! I got back very late last night, and have been too tired today to write anything about it. Hope to say a bit more tomorrow when I'm less tired - but I will just say that the 3 hour long production did not drag at all, and was surprisingly funny (given the themes of power, politics and executions). Very well done indeed.

#94 I've been listening to it for many months, Nancy (I only manage a few hours a week of audio-listening, so the long classics which are my preference for reading that way do take me a long time). But it has been engrossing, and I'll want to read it again some day - perhaps on paper next time. The narration was excellent on this audio version though. The digressions/essays on the causes of war and approaches to writing the history of battles and wars were particularly interesting to think about at this time when there is such enthusiasm for reading both fiction and non-fiction about WWI.

Hello Genny

Here you are!!! I've been hoping you would start a thread. I've miss you! I admire your fortitude and courage in living on the edge, day-day in uncertainty.

I am a control freak.. I know it, no doubt about it. I'd love to be less structured, but I think since childhood was so out of control, I've learned how to navigate at an early age.

Congratulations on reading so many books in January!

All the best to you! And, I love the photos of your lovely dog.

Can't wait to hear details of the play!

And also your comments (if any) on Leigh Fermor's book. I'm planning to read (finally, at last) The Broken Road this month. I've been procrastinating, because it's a book I've been waiting to read for nearly 20 years. If that makes any sense at all.

TIOLI and other reading plans for February

Challenge #1: Read a book from the library of the LT member with the greatest weighted number of books which match your own
Company of Voices - George Guiver
or
Tokens of Trust - Rowan Williams
or
Finding Sanctuary - Christopher Jamieson
or
No Truce with the Furies - R S Thomas
or
The Aeneid - Virgil
or
Beowulf - Seamus Heaney translation (re-read)
or
The Letters of J R R Tolkien

Challenge #2: Read a book with a member of a religious order as a major character
✔In This House of Brede - Rumer Godden - Read

Challenge #3: Read a book of short stories
✔Right Ho, Jeeves

Challenge #4: Read a book that has an older person as a main character

Challenge #5: Read a book that is part of a series
lots of possibilities here... among them:
✔Soul Music - Terry Pratchett - Read
The Unbearable Lightness of Scones - Alexander McCall Smith
Post Captain - Patrick O'Brien
The Crowded Grave - Martin Walker

Challenge #6: Read a book by an author from, or set in, a country beginning with "I"
✔Mornings in Jenin - Susan Abulhawa (Israel)

Challenge #7: Read a book and then remove it from your physical presence
Lettering: from formal to informal - Rosemary Sassoon (library book) - Reading

Challenge #8: Read a book whose average rating is 1/10th of a point (.1) or less from your average book rating
My average rating: 3.98 - therefore read a book between 3.88-4.08. Possibles include:
Falling Upward - Richard Rohn (4.06)
The Corner that Held Them - Sylvia Townsend Warner (4.06)
Selene of Alexandria - Faith L Justice (4.06)
The Wild Places - Robert Macfarlane (4.05)
Angel - Elizabeth Taylor (4.04)
Nemesis - Lindsay Davis (4.02)
Snow Child - Eowyn Ivey (4.02)

Challenge #9: Read a book with a polar vortex related word in Chapter 1
I'll leave this one to insert a book when I start reading it
possibly
Gilead - Marilynne Robinson (for a shared read)

Challenge #10: Read a book with a species of animal that you have owned as a pet in the title
Sing a New Song : The Christian Vocation - Timothy Radcliffe
or
✔Touch Not the Cat - Mary Stewart

Challenge #11: Read a book from the fiction & poetry section of NYTimes 100 Notable Books of 2013
Americanah - Chimananda Ngozi Adichie
or
Life after Life - Kate Atkinson

Challenge #12: Read a book by an author you studied at school
Time for another Dickens??

Challenge #13: Read a book you share with a LT Legacy Library
Death Comes for the Archbishop - Willa Cather (shared with e e cummings and Sylvia Plath) (shared read)

Challenge #14: Read a book whose cover is dominated by the color red
A Feast for Crows - George R R Martin (shared read)

Challenge #15: Read a personal book of non-fiction: letters, diaries, travel writing, memoir, etc.
A Book of Silence - Sarah Maitland (memoir/reflection)

Challenge #16: Read a book about love, or that has a "love" word in the title and/or author's name
The Woman Who Loved an Octopus: and other saints' tales - Imogen Rhia Herrad

Challenge #17: Read a book with a phrase from a nursery rhyme in it
Nothing fits!

Challenge #18: Isn't it Romantic?: Read a book originally written in a Romance Language
Recipes for Sad Women - Hector Abad (Spanish)
or
All the Names - José Saramago (Portuguese)
or
Death in the Andes - Mario Vargas Llosa (Spanish)

Challenge #19: Read a 'beer' book
Across the Nightingale Floor - Lian Hearn

Challenge #20: Read a book with an object on the cover that starts with a letter in rolling alphabetical order
An Altar in the World - Barbara Brown Taylor (oak leaves on cover)

Challenge #21: February Free Reads: Read a book you got free with no strings attached
No Human Involved - Barbara Seranella

Challenge #22: Read a book with LGBT characters or written by a LGBT author
The Venus Throw - Steven Saylor

Well that took far too long and gives me 38 possible choices - I'll be lucky if I read one quarter of these during this extra short month, but at least I have a pool to choose from, and a few not yet tied down to allow room for change of mind!

Well done Genny for managing War and Peace this month. 4,325 pages is impressive, I must say.

The Venus Throw counts as an LGBT title? Good to know...

I may listen to A Tale of Two Cities for challenge #12, Genny.

Hi Suzanne, were you coming looking for an update about the play! I've been waiting for a chance to post here all day...

First of all: today is my 8th Thingaversary! Eight years ago I stumbled across this site - I can't now remember how I found it, whether I read about it on another book related site or whether a friend recommended it (one or two real life friends were early joiners also) - however it was, it looked to me like the ideal solution to my long-standing wish for a means of cataloguing all my books. So I joined - and then did very little more with the site for the next four years apart from some desultory cataloguing once or twice a year when I remembered about it. It was actually only four years ago - Feb 2010 - that I became a regular user of LT. I decided to catch up on cataloguing and tagging all the books I'd read in the past couple of years - and while doing that I dug a little deeper into the site and discovered the Groups and Talk, joined a few groups which were not very active, and then discovered the 75 group. I liked the idea of having a personal thread to list all my reading, so decided to give it a go. I had no idea at that point what a wonderful new world was about to open up to me - as visitors came to say hello on my thread and encourage me in my reading, and hit me with many a book bullet so that my wishlist and TBR pile soon began to grow exponentially!

So on this 8th anniversary, and the 4th of active membership, I'd like to say thank you to LT for providing such a wonderful resource which allows me to give free reign to all my introverted bibliophilic and cataloguing obsessions, while also opening up new friendships with such a diverse, interesting, supportive, well-read and lovely bunch of people from all around the world. And thank you to all of you (especially in this group and the Virago group) who are part of the LT experience!

Custom dictates that on one's Thingaversary one is allowed, indeed encouraged, to acquire one new book for every year of LT membership plus one to grow. Well, here's a picture of my Thingaversary acquisitions:

.

If you bothered to count, you may have noticed that there are only eight books in this pile, whereas according to the rule I am entitled to nine. What I have done is counted four books purchased in the Cotswold town of Tetbury last month, where I met up with my father and stepmother for lunch:



and then of the six books acquired in Stratford at the Virago group meet-up, I counted the four which I purchased (the other two, the Virago copy of Death Comes for the Archbishop, and the Pennac book with illustrations by Quentin Blake, were kindly given by elkiedee who as usual arrived at the meet-up with bags of duplicates to give away):



For the ninth Thingaversary 'book' I am counting going to see 'Bring up the Bodies' at Stratford - since it is based on a (very good) book and since it was thanks to an LT friend that I inherited the ticket and was able to get to see the show which is pretty well sold out.

Here's a picture of the theatre programme:

Happy Thingaversary, Genny! Congratulations on the meetup with the Virago groupies and what a bonus to get to see Bring up the Bodies with Suzanne's ticket.

#97 Linda, thank you for visiting, and for your kind words. I'm not sure about courage - but there are times when you have to leave behind the known for the unknown. And my current place to be, although not a permanent solution, is a good and healing place for the time being... It's just a shame I can't have Ty here too! (But the cats would object).

#98 Will try to get back and comment on the remaining January books soon, Suz - everything seems to take me so long. The Leigh Fermor was actually the first of his I've read, despite having him on my TBR for a long time. I've also kind of been putting off starting, not wanting to rush what I hope will be a very good read. This one is a very short book, and probably not his best, but interesting to hear his experiences of staying in various monasteries. Thoughts on the play coming up v soon...

#100 Well Paul, I finished War and Peace in January, so I got to count it then, but at over 60 hours of audiobook it did take me about 7 months of listening to a couple of hours a week to get through it. It would have been quicker to read it myself, but audiobooks are useful for listening to on bus or coach journeys, as I get sick if I read on those. Anyway, completing it in January certainly bumped up the total of pages read that month, which otherwise would have been fairly low because most of my other books were very short.

#101 Suzanne, I reckon The Venus Throw counts for that challenge as it say read a book with LGBT characters or written by an LGBT author, and Steven Saylor is gay (and he used to write gay erotic fiction before the Gordianus novels).

Given my very over ambitious list for February, I don't know if I'll get to any Dickens for challenge 12, but I'll bear in mind Two Cities if I do.

#103 Thanks Roni! Yes, January was an exciting month with those two trips to Stratford for different but very good reasons.

I love your Thingaversary post Genny. The books are well chosen, and your overall remarks resonate with me. I'm delighted you dug deeper into the site 4 years ago -- my life is richer for having met you here!

Thank you Laura! Likewise - and I'm so looking forward to meeting you in real life in March!

Happy Thingaversary, Genny, and Many More to Come!!!! I value your friendship and am also regularly thankful for this friendly place!

Happy Thingaversary Genny!

Happy Thingaversary, Genny. I spy The Twin in your acquisitions. Loved that book!

Ha, I had no idea that Saylor was gay. Cool; that gives me more options for that challenge!

That is the same issue of Five Children and It that I have owned for oh, some 45 years or so. Terrifying, isn't it? I still have it on my bookshelves.

Oh, Happy Thingaversary!!
I love the book photos - I think it makes our Books Acquired lists so much more personable that way - or at least it feels more like I'm browsing the shelves of a friend that way. I need to remember to start listing my new books in picture form...

Happy Thinga -- you know -- I somehow hadn't starred or read your 2014 thread - which astonishes me utterly, as I swear I've been visiting and posting. Uh oh!

Love the virago meet up picture and your recent book haul. I'm looking forward to reading the Fermor.

Also am so happy to see the photos of Ty - he looks very contented and beloved where he is.

I've already sent my Thingaversary wishes, but I wanted to comment on your proposed reads for challenge #11: Life After Life would be my very very strong recommendation for your reading delectation in general versus Americanah, to which book I didn't warm.

I'm not a big fan of Atkinson's Brodie books, but Life After Life is something special. The longer it is since I've read it, the more appreciative of it I become.

Belated happy thingaversary, Genny! Your book haul looks lovely and I also really like the design of the theatre programme for Bring up the Bodies. It's been lovely getting to know you through LT and LT meetups.

I also enjoyed reading through your list of possible TIOLI reads for February and noticed we're sharing at least a couple of possibilities: A Feast for Crows which I've just started and In This House of Breed which was one of the books I bought for myself as a thingaversary present in the autumn.

111> my copy isn't quite that old, but that's the same one I had as a child.

Happy Thingaversary (as if anyone needs an excuse to acquire books!)

Happy Thingamedingy! Better late than never!

Belated Thingaversary greetings, Genny! Nice book haul, and the play is a great idea.

Stopping by and waving hi.

Stopping by also - what great reading and reading related fun you've been getting up to; it's great to see! : )

I loved your pictorial reporting of your Thingaversary acquisitions! Congrats to you! The Bringing Up the Bodies production sounds amazing. What a fantastic way to experience a book.

I'm mystified, I've gone through this thread twice, looking for a post I am sure I made..... maybe it didn't register? Anyway, Happy Thinga a bit late!

The Mantel theatre experience sounds fascinating.

Hooray for meet-ups, I'm as envious as ever. Also of your upcoming trip to the Gladstone. It is a goal to join you there one of these days.

Well, more like a dream, really.

Happy ThingAversarie Genny

I really enjoyed both The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker, and Tove Jansson's Fair Play.

It will be my 7th ThingAversarie on 21 Feb, hmm, will ponder on new acquisitions (though they will probably have to wait until March, unless I count the 6 books I purchased this month!).

Delurking to say hello (it's benn ages), and I love the pictures of Ty at the top of your thread!

Hi Genny, How are you doing?

Genny - Hoping for an update for all things Brum coming soon. Trust that you are keeping well. xx

Hope all is well!!!

Also dropping by to say hi.

Me also! I'm hoping there is a really tricky library cataloging problem keeping you busy in your new home or some similar conundrum!

Hi Genny, I'm still lurking here and have enjoyed the pictures of Ty, your Virago meet up, and your Thingaversary purchases. My Thinga is coming up later this month and I hope to pick up my "rewards" when I visit The Tattered Cover in Denver -- and hopefully meet up with a few 75ers at the same time!

Another drop from lurk to hope all is well with you, Genny. It's been a month and a day, and we missyou.

Also adding my hello and a hope you're ok. I've been reading In This House of Brede and thinking of you (although I'm sure the place you're staying is very different in a lot of ways to the enclosed order described in that book).

Hi, Genny! I'm such a poor visitor, but finally found your thread! I hope all is well:)

>111 Chatterbox: Hi Suz, Five Children and It is now on my tbr pile.

Genny:

Still no posts from Genny? I hope she is alright!

Genny?
Does anybody know how to get in touch with her in real life?

We're expecting to see Genny in London on Saturday.

Hello, I am here! Sorry for causing alarm. I've been in a kind of hibernation mode for the past month or so - reading lots but not feeling like posting very much. And yes, I am going to meet up with several others in London this Saturday, so I'll be doing more catching up in real life than I've been doing on this thread.

>132 souloftherose: I really liked In This House of Brede ..

YAY!!!!!
I'm happy to hear that all is well. I understand about hibernation completely.
Enjoy the meet-up.
(And I read *Brede* about every ten years.)

Yes, glad to hear you just were hibernating, Ginny! Happy meet!

Hooray! I too was getting a little worried! Glad all is well and enjoy your meet up! Lets try and get something set up in the not too distant future for a meet-up in Brum. I will do all the gofer-ing if you point me in the right direction! : )

Hooray! I thought Brummie had swallowed you whole, dear lady.

Give everyone a hug from absent friends this weekend.

Well I'm on the train heading down to London. Looking forward to meeting up with quite a number of 75ers and Viragoites - in some cases for the 4th or 5th time, but many for the first time face-to-face, including Laura lauralkeet whose visit to the UK to see her daughter was the catalyst for this meet-up.

>143 PaulCranswick: Paul, I will endeavor to pass on your vicarious hugs. Could take quite a while given the size of the gathering!

And I'll try to post a report on our activities - which may possibly involve visiting one or two bookshops - as soon as possible, and thereafter to resume more regular posting on my thread too.

*Happy weekend wave*

How many meeters are there, Genny? Have a fabulous time!!

>146 connie53: There were 14 of us at the beginning, and 7 of us still left for a tea/coffee stop after the final bookshop. I took lots of photos; they are up on Facebook already as that is easy to do from my phone. Will put some on here when I get home.

Genny, it was a thrill meeting you today. I'm so glad you could join us, and very happy to be a catalyst for so many people to meet one another. LT meetups are THE BEST.

Oh ENVY! at the meetup.

Oh Genny that meetup sounds terrific.

Have posted lots of photos and itinerary of the day's events over on the dedicated meet-up thread in the Virago Group, starting here.

I'll just repeat here my final photo from that thread, which is of my own personal book haul by the end of the day: seven purchases, and three donations gratefully received from among the many duplicates which Luci brought to share with the group.

Serious LOOT!

Wow that is a ten book haul to be proud of. Way to go Genny!

Genny - it was so nice to meet you yesterday. I had a great time, and such a great book haul!

>151 gennyt: It's really weird to see that all meet-ups end with a photo of the book hauls. We do that too when we have a meet in the Netherlands. It must be a booklovers thing!

Lovely to meet you again Genny, I'm glad you managed to acquire a few books to fill the spaces left by the box going into temporary storage, would hate to think there were gaps causing a draft!

Genny - I spot a Pratchett in there. I'm slowly replacing my original paperbacks with hardbacks and the replaced books are on the pile to go to the charity shop. If you want any, you can have first dibs. They're not in mint condition - they've been well read, but they're free to a good home.

Some very nice loot there! My envy of your meet-up knows no bounds.

Oh, nice haul. Several piqued my interest!

Extremely nice book haul, Genny! I'm enjoying the fb pictures, and like Lucy, I can't avoid meet-up envy.

I also noticed the Pratchett, as well as the Dr. Siri mystery!

Glad you had a great meet-up, Genny, and super book haul!

Happy Easter!

I'm also stopping to wish you a Happy Easter, Genny!

For the past 2-3 weeks we've had intermittent problems with our broadband in the house, and even when the broadband was temporarily working, the wifi in my room was not, so with only my phone as a reliable way of accessing the internet, I've been limited in my possibilities for posting.

Today, appropriately, the internet seems to have resurrected itself, so while it is still functioning, may I take the opportunity of wishing a very happy Easter to anyone who visits my long-neglected thread! Whatever your beliefs or personal philosophy, may this be a day to recognise and rejoice in those experiences, places or people which are signs of life and hope for you and for our world.

Over the past two days I have been working on producing a lino-cut printed image, inspired by a thorny shrub in our garden which is bursting into new leaf.

Here is the drawing I made of a branch from the shrub:



and here is the lino-print of the more stylised design based on the drawing

>163 wilkiec: Vrolijk Pasen, Diana!

>164 tymfos: And a very Happy Easter to you too, Terri!

>165 gennyt: Lovely pictures, Genny, and Happy Easter. After a lovely warm sunny Saturday, it's gloomy and wet today and I think I just heard thunder!

Happy Easter, Genny. Funny internet resurrection story too!

Genny, your art is lovely … and impressive! Happy Easter : ).

Happy Easter, Genny! Love your drawing and print:)

Genny, I love and I'm going to borrow your inclusive Easter wishes!
Whatever your beliefs or personal philosophy, may this be a day to recognise and rejoice in those experiences, places or people which are signs of life and hope for you and for our world.

And I am so impressed both with your sketch and especially with the limo-print you developed from it.

Rejoice in the day!

>165 gennyt: Oh, those are *lovely*!

How kind of the internet to choose this day to work!

I love your drawing and lino-print. Can't even choose.

Your drawing and Lino cut are lovely Genny.

Adding to the inclusive Easter wishes.

I hope you had a lovely Easter weekend, Genny!

Genny, I'm glad to see you and the drawing and the lino. Your talents keep appearing here - what else do you do that we don't know about???
Hope you are having a blessed Eastertide!

Well the internet resurrection was only temporary. At least, the broadband is still working but very slow, and the wifi connection to the top of the house, where my room is, is not functioning at all. So I'm sitting in the library downstairs this evening, finally getting round to posting some details about books read in February(!), which I typed up last week while working offline as I couldn't get online. This sort of update is far too fiddly to do from the smartphone (and uses up too much of my monthly internet allowance on that).

But first, some replies to your kind messages.

>167 CDVicarage: Happy Easter(tide), Kerry. Gloomy weather persists - we've had the traditional Bank Holiday weather...

>168 lauralkeet: Happy Easter Laura. The internet thing is really getting to be not funny - it's been going on for so long and we never know whether we are going to have it working or not. BT have not been very helpful...

>169 lit_chick: Hi Nancy, thanks for your kind comments.

>170 Apolline: Lovely to hear from you, Bente. Happy Easter to you too.

>171 ronincats: Roni, glad you like the Easter greeting and the art work too.

>172 scaifea: Amber, thank you!

>173 sibylline: Hi Lucy. I was glad the 'net was working on Sunday morning, as I had a couple of hours free and could do some updates. But it was down again by the evening...

>174 Caroline_McElwee: Caroline, nice to hear from you too and thank you for your kind wishes.

>175 connie53: It was a lovely weekend indeed, Connie. On Easter day we had had a dawn service (6am), so church and breakfast were all over by 8.30 am leaving the rest of the morning free - rather different from previous Easters when I was working hard all day and not able to relax properly until after the evening service.

The tradition in this community is to have a Christmas-style roast turkey meal on Easter Day, followed even by Christmas pudding (they make two at Christmas and keep one for Easter). So what with that and a goodly amount of chocolate eggs too, and some rich chocolate cake for tea, I was nearly spherical by the end of the day!

>176 LizzieD: Glad to be back, Peggy - these internet problems have been frustrating because I have been feeling more inclined to post more frequently, but it seems that whenever I feel in the mood, the broadband or wifi does not! The only good outcome was that I was less distracted by time-wasting things online and just got on with more reading.

As for the artwork, this is me finally having a bit more time to indulge my enjoyment of making things. I've been going to a weekly art class on Friday mornings, which is introducing lots of different ways of working with different media, and is giving me ideas for things to try at home. Having limited space of my own is a bit tricky - I have a crate full of art stuff on top of the wardrobe in my little room, and when I feel like doing something I have to haul it down and find a space to work in. But I've taken to keeping a sketch book and a few pencils and brushes rather more accessible, and have done the odd drawing or doodle from time to time. When we had several weeks in the art class on lino printing (which I'd not done since very basic attempts in childhood) I found I really enjoyed it and decided to kit myself out with the necessary tools, inks etc to carry on with this at home. It can be done on a small scale - I made the design above small enough to make into Easter cards - and I found I can manage quite comfortably sitting in my room, working on a tray on my lap. I hope I will keep up the momentum and try out some more designs after this one.

So, although I've been updating my list of books read in post >2 gennyt: above, I have not kept up my individual reports on books read since the end of January. So here are the next few, bringing me up to the end of February...

Book 14: In This House of Brede – Rumer Godden



From: library book borrowed Feb 2014
Format: paperback (used)
Pages: 428
Source: CSJD library
OPD: 1969
Genre: contemporary fiction

Loved this - I am surprised it was the first time I'd read it (I've known of it for years), and I'm sure it won't be the last. The novel tells the story of a middle-aged woman who gives up a successful career to become an enclosed Benedictine nun - and beautifully portrays the complexities and subtleties of life in a religious community. I've recommended it to someone I know who has just gone for a trial period as a novice in a contemporary Benedictine community - I will have to ask her later on how well she thinks the novel depicts the actual experience (though some things will have changed in the 40+ years since the novel was written and set, they have probably changed less in such communities than in most places in the church or society).



Total pages read in Feb: 428
Total pages read this year: 4,753

Book 15: Soul Music – Terry Pratchett



From: TBR shelf since June 2011
Format: paperback (used)
Pages: 377
Source: Bookmooch
OPD: 1994
Genre: (comic) fantasy
Series: Discworld 16/40

The story of the rise of rock music, Pratchett style (where the rocks really are rocks). Probably more puns and verbal playfulness per page than any other Discworld novel so far, and that's saying something - but then the names of rock bands and lines from song lyrics do rather lend themselves to this sort of thing. Since this is about rock musicians, it is also about premature death - the band's lead singer is Imp y Celyn, which is Discworld Welsh for Bud of the Holly - so one of my favourite characters, Death, features in this one. Though he's on one of his excursions into human experience and spends much of the book avoiding his duties, which are temporarily entrusted to his alarming granddaughter Susan.



Total pages read in February 805
Total pages read this year: 5,130

Book 16: The Player of Games – Iain M Banks



From: TBR audio-shelf since 2012
Format: audiobook
Pages: paperback version = 320
Source: Audible subscription credit
OPD: 1988
Genre: science fiction
Series: The Culture 2/10

Gurgeh, a member of a future utopian society known as The Culture, who is growing bored with his main occupation of playing and lecturing on playing board games, accepts a mission to travel outside the Culture to the distant empire Azad, a society built entirely around a complex game which determines political structures and has violent and potentially lethal penalties for losers. A brief prologue and occasional interjections into the narrative by an unidentified voice alert us to the fact that all may not be as it seems, and as Gurgeh is at first intrigued and then repelled by the alien empire, and grows more determined to beat them at their own game, we begin to wonder why he has been sent there and who is really playing whom.

I enjoyed this so much more than the first in The Culture series, Consider Phlebas. For a start, it gave me a much better idea of what The Culture was all about, as the main protagonist is someone from within the Culture looking outside, rather than an outsider fighting in a war against it. I had some more coherent thoughts on what I enjoyed about the themes of the book - but it was two months ago and already I'm forgetting what I wanted to comment on... But I would definitely enjoy re-reading this some day.



Total pages read in Feb: 1,125
Total pages read this year: 5,450

One more and then I'm going to bed...

Book 17: Right Ho, Jeeves – P G Wodehouse



From: TBR shelf since Feb 2013 (Thingaversary book)
Format: paperback (used)
Pages: 260
Source: Oxfam shop, Gosforth
OPD: 1934
Genre: humour
Series: Jeeves 5/14

I'm not reading this series in order - I may be wrong, but from the ones I've read, I don't think there is much character development going on in either Jeeves or Bertie Wooster, so I don't think it really matters much which order they are read in. A typical bit of beautifully-crafted silliness involving Bertie and some of his bizarre friends and relations in impossible romantic and culinary complications, all somehow sorted out by the inimitable Jeeves. The story includes a classic exemplar of how not to give a speech at a school prize-giving!

A book for when you need a light-hearted distraction and a good laugh.



Total pages read in Feb: 1,385
Total pages read this year: 5,710

Nice update, Genny!

>165 gennyt: Those are some lovely pieces of art. Happy Easter!

And some good book updates too. Glad you enjoyed In This House of Brede - I loved it too. My next Godden will be China Court which Kerry (CDVicarage) recommended as one of her favourites.

Really enjoyed reading your book updates and looking at your lovely art!

Enjoying a day off in the spring sunshine. I finished my latest book (Jamaica Inn - a re-read) over a late breakfast, headed into the city centre and located a vegetarian cafe recommended by a friend. There I enjoyed a nice spicy dahl and started my next book - another re-read, this time of Frost in May, the very first Virago Modern Classic to be published.

The cafe, run by Friends of the Earth, had a small second-hand bookshelf, where I found a copy of One of our Thursdays is missing for 50p.

Decided it was high time I visited one of the Oxfam bookshops in the city. There are none in my neighbourhood, but several in other outlying areas of the city. So I hopped on another bus and found myself in Kings Heath, where there is a very well-stocked Oxfam with several bookcases each for crime, historical fiction, sci-fi and fantasy as well as lots of general fiction, and a case full of penguin classics, penguin green crime and original green Viragos shelved together. It was just as well the shop was closing soon - as it was, I managed to buy nine books.

The haul includes two Viragos:
-Harriet Hume by Rebecca West
-Trooper to the Southern Cross by Angela Thirkell
a light-hearted looking mystery by Dorithy Dunnett (didn't realise she had written a series of these as well as her historical novels:
-Rum Affair
three recent novels I've been looking out for
-No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod (I think I recall that he has recently died?)
-Stonemouth by Iain Banks, his last or last but one published work before his untimely death last year.
-River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh (had this middle book of a proposed trilogy out from the library twice without getting round to reading it, so I'm glad to have my own copy at last.
And from the fantasy and SF shelves:
-The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett (slowly completing my full collection)
-Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov
-Merchanter's Luck by CJ Cherryh (hardly ever see herbbooks on the shelves)

As the man in the bookshop said, "That should keep you going for a week".

I'm sitting in a cafe now with a bowl of olives and a latte, making use of the free WiFi here before heading home to a broadband-less room.

>186 gennyt: Lovely to see you drop by again Genny and that is a lovely book haul and sounds like you had a lovely day off. (That's too many lovelies but never mind)

>187 souloftherose: Not too many lovelies, just enough, thank you Heather!

Genny, that's a wonderful book haul from the Oxfam shop. Between the shop and the cafe, I see more trips to the city centre in your future ... :)

Sounds like a great find of a bookshop, well worth re-visiting, and a great book haul as well.

Ooh, lovely art, Genny! You've done some great reading, and your reviews are great. And what a book haul!

I hope your internet gets permanently sorted out soon.

Yay! Good to see you back round these parts regularly Genny - I'm sure I'm not the only one that has been missing you. (Not that I can really talk, having far less valid reasons to be absent, and yet not getting here as much as I would like, m'self)
Anyway, I love the recent re-engagement with art. I've been doing a little bit of lino printing lately, and am very impressed by yours. It's a very rewarding type of printing, because as you say, you can just buy a few simple tools and be well away. Like you, I haven't done any for years, and I'm very impressed by this new plastic style lino you can get these days - I remember the rather crumbly stuff with matting on the back. This new stuff is just so responsive to every little flourish of the cutter. Great stuff.
I'm also glad you enjoyed your second foray into the "M" side! I re-read Player of Games this year. It is a really good introduction to the Culture, and hopefully you will be tempted to delve a bit deeper. (Incidently, you are joining us in Kriti's Culture reading group aren't you? Yet another thread I'm behind on...) I look forward to more updates from you soon - let's hope that pesky broadband problem can be fixed! : )

>189 lauralkeet: I really can't afford too many trips like that, Laura - it's just as well the shop is not near where I live, as I don't have the room or the money to keep buying more...

>190 ronincats: As for revisiting, Roni, see the above reply! I will have to ration my visits, I think!

>191 tymfos: Thanks Terri; I'm still miles behind on the book reports, but I did catch up on adding the new books last night, so at least my catalogue is up to date! As for the internet - someone is coming next week to try to sort it out. The broadband is currently only giving us about 1 meg/second instead of the 6 we are meant to be getting. But the broadband provider (BT) is not interested in our wifi problems, and the wifi is complex as it is such a big house - we have about 5 different wifi set ups in different parts of the house...

>192 HanGerg: Hi Hannah, I've been feeling bad about not getting in touch to arrange to meet up some time, so thanks for dropping in to my thread! I'm interested to hear you are working with lino prints as well. I know what you mean about the new-style lino, it's much softer and easier to cut than what I remember from my youth. I see you can still buy the old fashioned type, but I've gone for the new one. Have you got some examples of your work on your thread? I must come and have a look... As for The Culture group read, yes I am trying to follow along, but I haven't yet started reading the next one, and I have made little or no comments on what I've read so far - it's easier to read than to comment when accessing the internet from my phone, which is mostly what I've been doing.

St George's Day, the patronal festival of England, falls on 23rd April - the same day as Shakespeare's birthday. In so far as there were any people celebrating it as a national day (it seems more fuss is made in England about St Patrick's and St David's days than St George's), they were therefore doing so last Wednesday.

However, in the Church we waited until today, because any saint's day falling in the days immediately after Easter is 'trumped' by the Easter celebrations and gets postponed to the nearest possible date following Easter week.

Anyway, I just finished my latest book, Sunrise in the West (by Edith Pargeter, aka Ellis Peters) - the first in a quartet of historical novels about 12th century Wales. (I've read one of these books before years ago, I think it must have been the 2nd or 3rd - so am starting from the beginning this time round). This first book tells of the rise of Llewelyn ap Griffith ap Llewelyn who unites the scattered and divided princedoms of Wales against the incursions of the English, and is acclaimed as Prince of all Wales. Apologies, St George!

More (belated) book reports - these are still from February

Book 18: The Return of the Native – Thomas Hardy



From: TBR audio-shelf since March 2012
Format: audiobook - narrated by Alan Rickman
Pages: 400 (Wordsworth paperback edition)
Source: Audible subscription credit
OPD: 1878
Genre: Victorian Classic

This is one of the few novels by Thomas Hardy that I did not read back in my early twenties. I really enjoyed re-entering Hardy's Wessex, and his distinctive narrative style, descriptive prose and wide range of rural characters. This particular read was made all the more splendid thanks to the perfect narration by Alan Rickman* - whose voice I could happily listen to reading almost anything. It's Hardy, so the plot has some tragic leanings, and at times could be called melodramatic - but it is most memorable for the powerful evocation of the physical landscape of Egdon Heath, wild, harsh and utterly uncivilised, which has a brooding life of its own that draws some characters as keenly as it repels others.

*If only he had narrated more audiobooks - I think he did this one earlyish in his career, he's probably been too busy with film work since then.



Total pages read in February: 1,785
Total pages read this year: 6,110

Book 19: Touch Not the Cat – Mary Stewart



From: TBR shelf since Nov 2011
Format: paperback (used)
Pages: 301
Source: Library book sale (Lit & Phil)
OPD: 1976
Genre: gothic mystery

A young woman has a deep, intimate telepathic bond with one of her cousins - but which one? A crumbling country estate, inheritance issues and possible foul play behind the death of her father complicate her search to discover the identity of her secret lover.

A little predictable: it was not difficult to solve the first part of the mystery, and to predict the danger that would follow when the heroine has discovered that part of the truth. But the ending had a few surprises for me that I had not fully worked out, and it was all rather satisfyingly rounded off.



Total pages read in February: 2,086
Total pages read this year: 6,411

Book 20: Mornings in Jenin – Susan Abulhawa



From: TBR shelf since December 2013
Format: paperback (new)
Pages: 331
Source: Christmas gift (Virago Secret Santa)
OPD: 2010 (earlier version with different title 'Scar of David' published 2006)
Genre: contemporary fiction

This moving novel tells the story of one Palestinian family over several generations from the time of the British Mandate up to the battle or massacre of Jenin in 2002. It explores the effect of displacement, war, bereavement and life in refugee camps, and in particular explores the relationships between the generations, struggling in their different ways to cope with such extreme and painful experiences, and trying to protect themselves (and those they love) from further hurt.

While the story is told very much from the Palestinian perspective, there is also a significant childhood friendship between a Palestinian and a Jew which resurfaces later in the story. More significant still is the kidnapping, early in the story, of the Palestinian family's baby boy by an Israeli soldier. The kidnapped boy is brought up as a Jew by the soldier and his Holocaust-survivor wife (who is unable to have children of her own due to her treatment in the camps) bringing new life to the adoptive mother but at the expense of the happiness and even the sanity of his birth mother. This plot strand seems intended almost as an allegorical exploration of the whole Israeli/Palestinian conflict - raising questions of identity and belonging/alienation (when the kidnapped boy learns of his true origin) and whether the redressing of serious hurts and injustices can be achieved without causing further hurt and injustice.

The story of the kidnapped boy was I gather the germ of the whole novel, and I rather wish that more space had been given to that part of the story in the end. But certainly a very powerful and thought-provoking read.



Total pages read in February: 2,417
Total pages read this year: 6,742

February reading stats: (yes, I know, it's nearly the end of April!)

Total books read: 7
Gender: 4 books by male authors, 3 by female
Nationality: 8 books by British authors, 1 American,
New/old: 1 new (to me) authors
TBR backlog: 2 from 2013, 2 from 2012, 2 from 2011
Rereads: 0
Series: 3 (all continuations)
Format: 5 paper books, 0 eBooks, 2 audiobooks
Original publication years:
1878 -1
1934 -1
1969 -1
1976 -1
1988 -1
1994 -1
2010 -1
(average publication year: 1964)

Genres
Contemporary fiction: 2
Classic Fiction: 1
Historical fiction:
Virago: 1
Mystery (contemp):
Mystery (golden age):
Mystery (historical):
Fantasy: 1
SciFi: 1
Children's/YA:
Short stories:
Humour: 1
Poetry:
Memoir/biography:
History:
Theology:
Other Non-fiction:

Total pages read in February: 2,417 (average 345 pages/book)
Total pages read this year: 6,742 (average 337 pages/book)

Total books acquired in month: 2 eBooks
Books given away: 0
Book balance: +2
Total size of TBR collection at end of month: 697

Books completed in March:

Book 21: The Arsenic Labyrinth – Martin Edwards



From: newly acquired March 2014
Format: paperback (used)
Pages: 409
Source: Barnardos charity shop, Birmingham
OPD: 2007
Genre: detective fiction
Series: Lake District Mysteries 3/5 so far

In this third book in the series featuring a cold case detective and the son of her former boss who is a historian, there is the usual mix of crime story and local history (ancient or more recent) against the backdrop of the Lake District. This one touches on John Ruskin as an early conservationist in conflict with the driving forces of 'progress' and industry affecting his beloved Lakes, including a short-lived abortive arsenic producing industry. The 'will they, won't they?' relationship between the two main protagonists continues with one or two important developments.



Total pages read in March: 409
Total pages read this year: 7,151

Book 22: The House at Sea’s End – Elly Griffiths



From: TBR shelf since October 2013
Format: paperback (used)
Pages: 390
Source: Oxfam bookshop, Moseley
OPD: 2011
Genre: detective fiction
Series: Ruth Galloway 3/6

Brief thoughts to follow



Total pages read in March: 799
Total pages read this year: 7,541

Yes, Alistair MacLeod died mid-April; very sad. I've yet to read No Great Mischief, although I've read most of his short stories. (He gives hope to slooowww writers everywhere...)

I may re-read In this House of Brede in May; it's been a fave for decades, however irreligious I have grown up to be!

>201 Chatterbox: I have a book of his stories, Island: the complete stories, which I've yet to start.

Oh, Jenny, so glad you enjoyed Rickman's The Return of the Native. It was a 5* read for me, too!

>203 lit_chick: Yes, it could hardly be less! Have you read many other of Hardy's?

Book 23: The Children Who Lived in a Barn – Eleanor Graham



Since the lovely Persephone editions are so uniform in appearance outside, I thought it worth printing an image of the endpaper and bookmark pattern, since these are unique to each edition.

From: TBR shelf since Sept 2013
Format: Persephone paperback (used)
Pages: 224
Source: birthday gift
OPD: 1938
Genre: children’s

Brief thoughts to follow



Total pages read in March: 1,023
Total pages read this year: 7,765

Book 24: The Unfinished Clue – Georgette Heyer



From: TBR shelf since July 2012
Format: paperback (used)
Pages: 306
Source: Oxfam shop, Gosforth
OPD: 1933
Genre: detective fiction (golden age)

It is only about 5 or 6 weeks since I finished this, but I could not recall from the title anything very much about it except that it was a country house mystery of the classic golden age variety. A quick glance at other reviews refreshed my mind a little. It is not one of Heyer's Inspector Hannasyde series, but a stand-alone, in which the lively young sister of the mistress of the house, her own innocence of the crime clearly established, provides both intellectual assistance and romantic interest for the visiting Scotland Yard detective.

Clearly not very memorable in its detail, but enjoyable and well written as all Heyer's stories are.



Total pages read in March: 1,329
Total pages read this year: 8,071

#204 Genny, I've recently also reread Jude the Obscure, narrated by John Lee; and Far From the Madding Crowd, narrated by Frederick Davidson. Both were excellent! In fact I also gave Madding Crowd 5*.

Book 25: A Feast for Crows – George R R Martin



From: TBR shelf since Oct 2011
Format: paperback (used)
Pages: 936
Source: Oxfam bookshop, Gosforth
OPD: 2005
Genre: epic fantasy
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire 4/5 (published), 7 (planned)

I read the first three books of this series back in 2012 very rapidly, and decided to wait a while after the climactic ending of the third book before continuing with book 4, knowing that Martin still had to write books 6 and 7 to complete the series and preferring to have one or two in hand.

Well, now I've read no. 4, and the massive 2-volume no. 5 too, and I have to join the rest of his readers who are waiting and hoping that a) he knows how he is going to end this massive sprawl of an epic tale and tie up enough of the strands of the story to satisfy and b) that he manages to get his ideas into print before either he or we shuffle of this mortal coil. If he or we had the life-span of most of his characters, we would not stand a chance!

I was forewarned of the fact that A Feast for Crows concerns itself with only half of the characters in its multi-narrator cast, and introduces several new narrative perspectives, so I was not thrown by this, and found the new characters interesting enough to not mind hearing from some of the original favourites until the next book. Some people complain this one is slow, and nothing happens - but I like the way it explores the aftermath of the war so far, the jostling for power, the devastated land, and the precarious position and growing paranoia of Cersei, the apparent 'victor' thus far. But the way Martin is keen to invite us to explore the viewpoints of an ever-widening number of protagonists and the history of a growing number of cities and kingdoms, while satisfying to the obsessive completest in me, is a little worrying as the material seems to grow ever more unwieldy. I hope he knows what he is doing.

And I do wish he did not find it necessary to describe the size of breast and colour of nipple of almost every female character we encounter. We don't all find this as interesting as he evidently does.



Total pages read in March: 2,265
Total pages read this year: 9,007

>207 lit_chick: I must re-read some more myself! I loved Far from the Madding Crowd in my late teens, and found Jude grim but gripping in my early twenties... I've found both those narrators to be good, too, both for very long books: John Lee for The Count of Monte Cristo and Frederick Davidson for Les Misérables (well, Davidson's pronounciation of some of the French names annoyed me constantly throughout, but I would not have wished to have attempted such a marathon narration myself and get all the details of foreign names correct, so I forgave him!).

Hi Genny. I'm glad you enjoyed Mornings in Jenin - so did I. But I can hardly remember the plot, 3 years on!!

>210 cushlareads: Hi Cushla - I certainly remember the plot of this one better than, eg, the Georgette Heyer mystery I read after it. But how much of the detail I'll recall in 3 years time I wouldn't like to guess!

>208 gennyt: I'm glad to hear you loved this book. It's on my TBR pile for this summer. Thanks Genny.

>211 gennyt: Oh good - glad it's not just me!! I will quiz you in 2017.

Trooper to the Southern Cross is one of the only Thirkells I don't have and thus have never read!!

>212 connie53: Are you going to read the next one straight after, Connie, or are you taking them slowly?

>213 cushlareads: The question is, will you remember to quiz me, let alone whether I will remember anything about the plot?!

>214 sibylline: I can't promise to get to this one soon - and I do have three or four Barchester Thirkells lined up for reading already, but as this is not related it could be read out of sequence, I guess...

Internet was back working properly yesterday, when someone came to check out the problem, and BT engineer was on the phone. Now that they have gone, of course we are back to broadband working but wifi not. I was looking forward to being able to do updates as and when I like, in my room in the evenings, instead of which I'm having to come down to the library each time I want to post something. Not that I don't like the library, but I'm getting a stiff back from sitting too long in the chair here doing things in one long session rather than piecemeal when I feel like it upstairs.

I would like to set up a new thread - but not just now, as I've been sitting for too long already today, and need to have a break, eat a late lunch and do a bit more reading. Don't hold your breath, but I may be back later in the day with a shiny new thread and some more book reports for books read in March and April.

New thread is finally up, though I still need to work on adding reports on books read in March and April, and monthly summaries if possible. But it's getting late and I've been sitting too long in this chair again, so that will do for today!

If anyone is reading this, do come and join me on the shiny new Spring thread.