Bohemima: More Than Just Mysteries Page 2

Quarter Two Books

April
23. The Invisible Woman Claire Tomalin
24. Malice Aforethought Francis Iles
25. Phineas Redux Anthony Trollope
26. Ordeal by Innocence Agatha Christie

May
27. Towards Zero Agatha Christie
28. Common Sense and Other Writings Thomas Paine
29. The Life and Times Of Chaucer John Gardner
30. Hound Of Death Agatha Christie
31. The Soul of an Octopus Sy Montgomery
32. Read This Next Howard Mittelmark
33. Trailerpark Russell Banks
34. The Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett

June
35. They Call Me Naughty Lola David Rose
36. Death at the Alma Mater G.M Malliet
37. Are Women Human? Dorothy Sayers
38. The Prime Minister Anthony Trollope
39. Welcome to the World, Baby Girl Fannie Flagg
40. My Man Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse
41. Tenant for Death Cyril Hare
42. Consider the Lily Elizabeth Buchan
43. The Death Of Mr. Lomas Francis Vivian
44. The Drunken Botanist Amy Stewart
45. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Anne Fadiman

Quarter Three Books

July
46. The Eye in the Door Pat Barker
47. An English Murder Cyril Hare
48. The Emperor’s Snuff Box John Dickson Carr
49. The Duke’s Children Anthony Trollope
50. Mystery in White J Jefferson Farjeon
51. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust Alan Bradley
52. Budding Prospects T C Boyle

August
53. Murder in Mesopotamia Agatha Christie
54. Death Of an Old Girl Elizabeth Lemarchand
55. The Reluctant Fundamentalist Mohsin Hamid
56. Sable Messenger Francis Vivian
57. Murder on the Links Agatha Christie
58. Death in the Clouds Agatha Christie
59. Footsteps in the Dark Georgette Heyer
60. The Longer Bodies Gladys Mitchell
61. Satan: His Psychotherapy and Cure by the Unfortunate Dr. Kassler, j.s.p.s,. Jeremy Leven
62. An Experiment In Criticism C.S. Lewis

September
63. The Lost City of the Monkey God Douglas Preston
64. The Saltmarsh Murders Gladys Mitchell
65. Behold, Here’s Poison Georgette Heyer
66. Leave The Grave Green Deborah Crombie
67. Penhallow Georgette Heyer
68. Closest Companion Geoffrey C.Ward
69. Daily Life in the Middle Ages Paul B. Newman

Quarter Four Books

October
70. The Case of the Seven Whistlers George Bellairs
71. The Cardinal Henry Morton Robinson
72. They Found Him Dead Georgette Heyer
73. Murder at the Old Vicarage Jill McGown
74. The Murders of Mrs. Austin and Mrs. Beale Jill McGown
75. Lady Susan, The Watson’s, Sanditon Jane Austen

November
76. Motiveless Malignity Louis Auchincloss
77. No Wind of Blame Georgette Heyer
78. How to Read Novels Like a Professor Thomas Foster
79. The Old Curiosity Shop Charles Dickens
80. Death of a Lady R.A. Bentley
81. Snobbery with Violence Colin Watson
82. Destiny of the Republic Candice Millard

December
83. Detection Unlimited Georgette Heyer
84. The Bostonians Henry James
85. Portrait of a Murderer Anne Meredith
86. Crime at Christmas C.H.B. Kitchin
87. The Various Haunts of Men Susan Hill
88. Murder at Melrose Court Karen Menuhin
89. Portrait of a Marriage Nigel Nicolson
90. Excellent Women Barbara Pym
91. Silent Nights Martin Edwards and others

Quarter 1 Stats

TOTAL 22

FICTION 9
NONFICTION 4
MYSTERIES 9

Individual Poems 90

Quarter 2 Stats

TOTAL 23

FICTION 6
NONFICTION 9
MYSTERIES 8

Individual Poems 49

Quarter 2 Monthly Stats

April Worst Month in Years

Total 4
Fiction 1
Nonfiction 1
Mysteries 2
Individual Poems 10

May

Total 8
Fiction 1
Nonfiction 4
Mysteries 3
Individual Poems 24

June More on Track

Total 11
Fiction 4
Nonfiction 4
Mysteries 3
Individual Poems 15 (needs work)

Quarter 3 Monthly Stats

July

Total 7
Fiction 3
Nonfiction 0 (What???)
Mysteries 4
Individual Poems 20

August
Total 10
Fiction 2
Nonfiction 1
Mysteries 7
Individual Poems 31

September
Total 7
Fiction 0 (oh, snap out of it, Gail!)
Nonfiction 3
Mysteries 4
Individual Poems 26

Quarter 4 Monthly Stats

October
Total 6
Fiction 2
Nonfiction 0
Mysteries 4
Individual Poems 15

I’m going to have to do better at posting. I’d like to have separate threads for each quarter.

I’m still working on reading poems; I’d like to read both Ulysses and War and Peace this year. Other than that my goals are...fluid.

Oh! I want to up my notes on my reading here in this thread.

With >4 Matke: in mind:

The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America by Frances Fitzgerald was a bit of a slog. The information on The Great Awakening was a somewhat truncated refresher on that troubling time in American church history during the early days of the US. And there’s a good narrative thread dealing with the ebb and flow of evangelical Christianity and its effects on the national government.

But there are just so many, many names! I think I’m fairly familiar with the topic, but I got lost more than once. In the end this book is somewhat unsatisfying. Not because it’s biased—it’s not—but because the breadth of the subject probably needs two volumes to do it justice. This fell between two stools: neither a popular history nor a complete academic one.

The Time Machine by H. G. wells starts off great. Who isn’t intrigued by the idea of time travel?

(Time out for housekeeping. I thought one of the girls had been ill, but it was a false alarm. Since I was looking around slightly appalled at the floors, I took out the vacuum. I mean, I was there already, so might as well.)

All right. Wells uses the convention of having narrator who is a friend of the protagonist tell the story. This works especially well because of the ending in this one. Unfortunately, that ending is so abrupt as to put this reader off. It was as though Wells got tired of the story and just crashed it to a close.

I’m afraid that my appreciation of this book was somewhat spoiled because the plot has been done so many times since, often in more intriguing ways. If influential original works interest you, or if you’d like to see how time travel was handled in Victorian lit., give this a shot. Otherwise, Reader, pass by.

Happy new thread!

>6 Matke: Why, thank you, Jim! I’m kind of embarrassed by my lack of posting...mostly because I do rather inane time-wasting things instead. It’s part of my newer, better idea of myself to improve in this area.

Next up is Crooked House, a stand-alone Agatha Christie. This was one of her two favorites among her novels, and it’s a favorite of mine, too, for several reasons.

First, it’s got that marvelous Country House sort of theme and setting. While the background build-up for this one takes place away from the home, when we get down to the murder we’re in familiar territory, with a large, unwieldy family as a group of suspects.

And then Christie builds up a good bit of tension, with our leading lady, Sophia, expressing her unease about the interplay in the family. Her concern is focused on one relative, but of course we don’t know which one.

The murder itself is devilishly clever, and the killer is both determined and intelligent. And the solution is truly satisfying.

The only drawback for me was a rather weak fish of a male lead, which made the love story subplot a bit of a bore. But Christie easily overcomes this slight defect with a great murder and her usual panache.

Recommended.

So there’s January finished, and I feel better.

Lovely reviews, Gail. :)

I had a fit of reading Christie at the beginning of last year Gail. I don't think I've read Crooked House though.

Hi Gail my dear, happy new thread dear friend.

Happy new thread, Gail.

I don't think I have read Crooked House either.

Happy new thread, Gail and wishing you a lovely weekend.

It's been a long, long time since I reread *Crooked House*. It would make a great "between" book, so I'll remember it if I ever finish something major.
(What was Christie's other favorite, please?) Nothing like a great murder!
Hope all is well with you, Gail. I look forward to your posting more if you can.

>11 MickyFine: Thank you, Micky. I’m too lazy to write a proper review, but I like to get a few reflections down in my thread. It greatly helps me remember what I’ve read.

>12 Caroline_McElwee: Caroline, I highly recommend Crooked House. It’s quite different from her series entries, but still has my favorite Country House Mystery convention, with the limited set of suspects and the increasingly claustrophobic atmosphere.

>13 johnsimpson: Thank you, John! I’m trying hard to break the lazy, time-wasting habits I’ve developed this year.

>14 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. I’m not sure, but I seem to remember that Christie isn’t one of your favorites. For those who enjoy mysteries from the Golden Age, though, this is a minor classic well worth reading.

>15 lkernagh: Thank you, Lori! I hope your Mother’s Day is a fine one.

>16 LizzieD: Peggy, that’s exactly what I like Christie and other classic mysteries for: a bit of refreshment. Of course I’d prefer to be refreshed more often, but the struggle not to be lazy continues...
I believe her other favorite was Towards Zero, an Inspector Battle book, but one with a unique presentation. I just read it, so I’ll be reflecting open it at some point in the (hopefully) not too distant future.
And thank you you for your kind words. I’ll definitely be posting more here.

Ah, what’s a gift-giving day without a bookish present? Eldest sent me Poirot and Me by David Suchet and The Drowned World by J. G. Ballard. If those two selections don’t demonstrate my eclectic taste in books, I don’t know what would.

Ok, I’m going to have to pause in posting till later, as the iPad needs a good charging.

More bookish reflections coming.

I liked The Drowned World Gail. Didn't know about the Suchet. I saw him on stage recently in Arthur Miller's The Price.

>21 Caroline_McElwee: I love David Suchet, and have seen him in many different roles. This book promises to be a perfect blend of my favorite detective and one of my favorite actors, so I’m looking forward to it. The Drowned World was highly recommended to me, so I’m hoping that I’ll like it too.

My first February book was Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories, and it’s a little prize that’s perfect for the kindle. Most of these stories are little gems, not necessarily suspenseful, but with their own particular charm.

My favorites would be “The Temple Of Astarte”, which has a nice twist, and “The Perfect Maid,” in which Miss M. goes to work to save a maid who has lost her job.

Lots of these stories revolve around Marple’s knowledge of old-fashioned household and gardening lore, but her major asset is her vast and acute knowledge of human motivations and behavior.

Read this when you want to completely relax. No racing heart, no intense reasoning required; just a willingness to become immersed in another, slower, but just as evil era.

Ah, David Suchet!! What an actor. I saw him as the aunt in The Importance of Being Earnest two years ago. It was brilliant -- whole production was actually, but especially Mr. Suchet.

Happy new thread, Gail.

I only started to read Agatha Christie last year, two down and one planned for this month. Crooked House sounds interesting, I will look for it at the e-library.

>24 RebaRelishesReading: Hi, Reba. Did you see the British adaptation of The Way We Live Now? Suchet starred and did a brilliant job, but somehow that production didn’t quite work for me.

I saw a couple of things on You Tube where he talked about his role as the aunt, how he approached the character, the makeup required, and so on. They were interesting.

>25 FAMeulstee: Welcome, Anita! I’m trying to do better with my posting, and am always glad to see friends here.

I think my favorite Christie mysteries are Murder at the Vicarage and Appointment with Death. Very different stories, but equally absorbing in a sort of light-hearted way, if that makes sense.

>26 Matke: No, I didn't see that but now I'm interested -- even though you say it didn't quite work. I'll have to check BritBox and Acorn and see if I can find it.

>28 RebaRelishesReading: My brother and I watched it recently; not sure in what venue. I do know it wasn’t on a dvd.

I finally finished a book!!! At last. It was a corker too: The Life and Times of Chaucer. This was my first experience with John Gardner’s work, but it certainly won’t be my last.

Another February (sigh; I’ll get caught up, I swear) book was the terribly sad And the Band Played On, about the beginning of the AIDS crisis. As a sort of medical history, it was fairly gripping. But as a tale of how minorities of whatever kind are marginalized, ignored, and even demonized, it’s appalling.

I vividly remember this era. The fear, the anger, the frustration and hopelessness: it was an awful time for anyone who cared about human rights and human dignity.

It’s all here in this book. It’s not an uplifting or pleasant read, but I highly recommend it nevertheless.

I may have figured out why my reading has been so slow:

1. Useless time wasting computer activity

2. The idea of “saving it for best”
This is a family joke phrase for doing less desirable things (in this case, reading books) with the idea of rewarding oneself with more desirable things in the same category.
For example: Save the linen tablecloth and use the old ones with the tiny cigarette burns.

As I used to tell my husband: This is “best!” It’s not going to get any better than today, so use the good linens, eat the favorite food, or...read the books that really strike your fancy.

We’ll see how that goes.

Hi Gail, just stopping by to say hello my dear.

>32 johnsimpson: Hello, John! It’s always nice to see you here. I thought about you yesterday when the news of May’s downfall hit my newsfeeds.

Next book up is Unholy Dying, a mystery by Robert Barnard. His work is kind of a mixed bag, but the good ones far outnumber those that are only so-so.

That said, it’s embarrassing to note that I’d completely forgotten this book. I had to check the title out to drag up some memories.

The plot starts well when a sleazy reporter overhears a conversation on a train. Knowing that a story about a priest involved with a young female parishioner will appeal to all the nasty instincts of his readers, he does a bit of investigation and begins a series of news stories.

Then, of course, his odious self is murdered.

I did enjoy this entry in the Charlie Peace series, but it certainly didn’t linger.

The Man Who Loved China by Simon Winchester was a disappointing read for me. I’ve loved several of Winchester’s books, but not this one.

The man of the title is Joseph Needham, an undoubtedly brilliant scholar who was interested in the history of science, particularly in China. A married man, he fell in love with a (very) young visiting student from China, made her his mistress, and travelled extensively with her in her native country. He surely did a lot of pioneering research—never completed—but never answered his own burning question: why scientific progress came to a sudden stop in China, and didn't resume for hundreds of years.

Needham was a supposed champion for “the common man.” And yet he didn’t hesitate to impose his will on others and to have fairly epic tantrums when things didn’t go his way. Although Winchester doesn’t hide these incidents and attitudes, he records them in a matter-of-fact way.

And the writing about Needham’s accomplishments, while fulsome, is dead boring. It was a letdown after the wonderful Professor and the Madman.

I’m sorry I can’t recommend this book.

>31 Matke: I had to laugh at "saving it for best"... My "best" stuff gets so little use these days, and my MIL has given my daughter her "best" china and silver, which I've only seen her use a half dozen times in nearly 50 years, and which my daughter --I would bet the house and retirement funds on this---will NEVER use. It's kinda sad.

>36 laytonwoman3rd: It is sad, Linda. I encourage my eldest to use the “best” things and to enjoy them every day. If something gets broken, it’s not a big deal. They’re certainly not doing any good stored away.

Unless it’s from Tut’s tomb or belonged to Elizabeth I, by all means, use it! That’s what the stuff is for.

My mother and husband both had this idea, and we often laughed over it.

And yet most of the stuff is still here. I hope the Old Man doesn’t get upset out there in the ether when he sees me drinking my water out of a crystal glass...

And next in February was The Moving Finger. This is an old favorite.

Poison Pen or nasty anonymous letters are being circulated in the village of Lymstock. No one wants to admit it, but most of the villagers, high and low, seem to have received at least one. They’re disturbed and nervous, and then the death occurs.

Apparently the wife of the village doctor, already one of those “nervy” women so dear to the writers of the era, was overwhelmed with guilt or fear by her PP letter and commits suicide.

But this is a Christie novel, so we can count on murder. The twisty plot, engaging setting, and side plot of an injured pilot recovering in the country all serve to make this a nostalgic read.

Miss Marple appears near the end to provide the solution, but it’s the narrator who makes this story go. Give it a try if you like Golden Age mysteries.

February’s last book was Graveyard Position by Robert Barnard. He’s a mostly good but somewhat uneven writer of murder mysteries and suspense novels.

This one falls in the “pretty good” category. The plot device of a long-lost heir or potential heir returning suddenly is handled competently if not brilliantly. Honestly, it’s a little humdrum, but is saved by Barnard’s exploration of a dysfunctional family. Every character is brought vividly to life.

And that’s it for February! Yay! I seem to be catching up at last.

There’s been an uptick in my reading as well; the idea of just letting the Book Spirits guide me has helped a lot. I wouldn’t have made it as an editor; I resent books I feel like I “have” to read.

Oh! The best news of the weekend: the final volume of Hilary Mantel’s trilogy about Thomas Cromwell has a firm release date in March. I’ve already pre-ordered my copy. Seven years is a very long time to wait for a book, even if you know how it ends.

Like you Gail, I'm a mood reader. I struggle enough having one book a month dictated by my RL reading group, so I rarely manage to complete an LT challenge, though. Dip in and out of a couple of them, and maybe achieve completing 3-4 months, I'm happy with that.

I've still to read vol 2 of the Mantel trilogy, when I can find where I buried it. I guess maybe in winter I'll start from the beginning, ready for the conclusion in March.

Just as in Autumn I'm intending to start Ali Smith's quartet.

>41 Caroline_McElwee: Caroline, we are as one there. I’ve just been flitting around, here, there, and everywhere lately with my reading, and I’m enjoying it much, much more.

Currently reading Consider the Lily, Palace Walk, The Drunken Botanist, and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. The Buchanan and Mahfouz are similar in style and kind of touch on the periphery of their themes. The other two are wide apart.

I may squeeze in another mystery soon, too.

>42 Matke: Hooray for the FLIT!!!! I say that I'm going to do it, but I sort of don't. OR What I want to read changes in mid-book. I'm hopeless.
Meanwhile, I thoroughly identify with the "best" idea. I can't tell you how many lovely unworn nighties we found still boxed in my granny's drawers when those she had worn were tattered and faded. That's really not my problem. My problem is that I can buy a lot faster than I can read, and I'm tempted by a surfeit.
I hope you enjoy Palace Walk more than I did. I really, really, really wanted to love it, and then didn't.

Hi Gail, hope you are having a good weekend my dear and it seems that flitting around with your reading is good for you, sending love and hugs dear friend from both of us.

*smooch* for the gone-silent Gail.

>43 LizzieD: So, Peggy, hi!

I don’t know what all is happening with my reading. I had a fairly dreadful slump but things are picking back up. One thing that I’ve curtailed is listening to Book Tube because it is simply ruinous to any form of reducing one’s unread pile, to say nothing of what I laughingly call “my budget.”

Yes. Palace Walk. I dunno; it’s good; I can see that it’s good; but it keeps getting pushed back further and further on the stack of Books I’m Reading Right Now. It must be just missing my mood.

>44 johnsimpson: Hello, John! How are you this fine day? It’s hotter than blue blazes here, and humid with it, so going outside it’s pretty restricted to early morning or after the sun goes down. I went for a walk Friday at 6:30 am and the temp was 83F with a heat index of 95F. I was drenched with sweat by the time I got home. Remember that old line: “Horse sweat, men perspire, but women only glow”? If that’s so, I as glowing like Chernobyl.

>45 richardderus: Ah, Richard, you a Sweet Young Thing. How goes it? I’ve been a silent but steady follower on your thread. Just a little bit of a valley here but things are looking up.

And a smooch to you as well, kind sir.

Palace Walk is one of those works I keep meaning to get to, and don't. I should make an effort; if I find it isn't for me, it would free up a very large spot on the shelf!

> Hi Gail, it has rained a little bit but it is around 21C and humid and thunderstorms are predicted for tonight and then it has to get gradually warmer as the week progresses and on into next week. They are forecasting 40C for Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland and Italy over the next few days. As long as it is nice and warm (hot) when we are in Madeira I am not bothered, lol.

>49 laytonwoman3rd: Hey, Linda. I picked up Palace Walk this morning, yet again. I’m about 150 pages in. And honestly, if I’m not reading a mystery or suspense novel, I don’t mind either a slow pace or a distinct lack of action. I can do moody or atmospheric or beautiful with the best of them. And certainly this book gives the reader a lot to ponder about the culture that’s under the microscope here.
And yet...maybe it’s the translation, maybe something else. I’m sure I’ll finish it but I don’t know when.
Your mileage may vary, though.

>50 johnsimpson: Some people love hot weather, John. I’m not one of them. So living in Florida took a lot of adjustment for me; fortunately this is my second tour here in the state of endless sunshine, so getting used to it is a bit easier. Still, upwards of 95 is a bit much.
I can’t wait to hear all about the Madeira trip!

So, Embarrassing Reader Moment #318:

I said I’d dip into a mystery, and I did. The story seemed fresh; I didn’t recognize anything: not a character, not a plot device, not a turn of phrase or paragraph, nothing.

I went to tag the title in my library. Imagine my chagrin when I saw that it was already tagged for last year. “Huh. Silly,” I thought to myself. “You must have mistakenly tagged this one.”

Yeah. Except that I reviewed it, accurately, at the book page.

My excuse is that I moved last year. It’s not a particularly good excuse, but it’s all I’ve got.

>53 Matke: That happens to me...I'm re-reading the Sue Grafton alphabet series, and honestly, I mostly remember the personal stuff, but not a single one of the cases has felt familiar to me yet.

As for Palace Walk, I think I may be hesitant to try it because of my fairly negative reaction years back to The Yacoubian Building, another novel steeped in Egyptian culture. I also suspected that part of the problem was the translation.

>53 Matke: Booknesia is real. It costs us our dignity and self-respect. It is a scourge that we must all commit to ending within our lifetime.

>54 laytonwoman3rd: Hi, Linda!
Usually I can recognize *something* from a book I’ve already read, however small that something might be, but not this time. It was disconcerting, to say the least.

It’s not that I dislike Palace Walk, because I don’t, really. Honestly, I can’t put my finger on it. Im tending toward the translation, which has othing to do with the translator, if that is at all clear. I’ve had a lot of trouble with books translated from the French, so I think that’s it.

Maybe. It will wait for me, I’m sure.

>55 richardderus: This was total booknesia (great term, btw), which is unusual for me. However, I’m moving on and hoping that it won’t occur again any time soon.

Do you think we could develop a vaccine?

I’ve been considerably under the weather with a nasty bout of sciatica. It had been coming on for a while, but really hit early last week and just got worse. Painful.

However, now I’m somewhat on the mend, so back to books it is.

Stop Press by Michael Innes is really too complicated and clever for its own good. The author of a book series similar to the Raffles tales is suddenly getting scary and mysterious messages, which appear to be from his main character. He (the author) doesn’t seem to be too far off the beam, but what on earth is going on?

Obscure literary references to Alexander Pope and others may make this more interesting if one were actually familiar with the authors and works being referred to. Since I’m not so familiar, this one didn’t work well for me.

That said, I liked the twisty, crazy plot quite a bit.

>57 Matke: I fully support Federally funded research into the scourge of booknesia with an eye to developing a cure. I will Nobly Volunteer to be a test subject.

I will commit to reading every single book I want while indulging in various positive-reinforcement behaviors (eg, eating fatty fried foods, drinking fine single-malt whiskys) to see if they decrease the symptoms. A terrible burden, I know, but one I will Shoulder Manfully to be of service to Readerkind.

I wonder if they'll canonize me.

>58 Matke: Sciatica!! OMG the agony! *sympathy pats and there-theres*

Oh yes, Sir John Appleby. Like Gervase Fen, a character I **should** like but really, really don't.

I’m doing a re-read of the Palliser novels by Anthony Trollope this year. The March entry was The Eustace Diamonds.

I think this is the weakest link in the “Parliamentary Novels.” The plot revolves around Lizzie Eustace, an unsympathetic character. Well. To be accurate, she’s a grasping little tart if ever there was one.

She marries a man who’s knocking on death’s door so she can have money and a title. After she casually breaks his heart (death must have been a relief for him), she cadges an extremely valuable necklace and refuses to return it to the family.

That’s the core of the plot. The family attorney develops a mania about retrieving the necklace, and so the (figurative and literal) chase is on. Lizzie, who is attractive and a master manipulator, keeps getting various men to help her. But she is a miserable judge of character, so things don’t go as well as she had hoped.

Of course this is a Trollope novel, so there are several side plots, some of which were, to me, more interesting than the main one. This is kind of a pot-boiler, much less character driven than most of Trollope’s other books in the series.

I had a hard time overcoming my dislike of Lizzie, and this interfered with my enjoyment. Your mileage may vary.

>58 Matke: Sorry to hear of the sciatica Gail. I hope you are soon recovered.

I really need to get to Trollope.

>60 Matke: I liked the book well enough, though I felt more at ease with The Spoils of Poynton for a similar story told in *many* fewer words. Also, Lizzie was a ghastly being while Veda Fletch from Spoils was merely covetous and weak.

Oh, so sorry about the sciatica. Any kind of nerve pain is wicked. May it abate post haste.

>61 Caroline_McElwee: Thank you for those kind words, Caroline. I am somewhat better, as the steroid shot has kicked in.

Honestly, I can’t recommend Trollope highly enough. I prefer the Barchester series to this one, though. They seem somehow more relaxed and sort of easy-going. Barchester Towers, the second in the series, is on my all-time favorites list.

>62 richardderus: Richard, I think you’ve won a prize for originality. I’ve never seen anyone recommend James as being *less* prolix than another author. I’ll have give Poynton a go to see how I like it. I’ve enjoyed what James I’ve read so far.

>63 laytonwoman3rd: Thank you, Linda. As above, the shot has started to calm down the inflammation and so I’m feeling better. Not great, mind you, but better.

It’s given me some time to do some reading, however, since moving was difficult Thursday through this morning.

>65 Matke: Heh.

>60 Matke:, >64 Matke:

You're not meant to like her, of course; maybe feel a bit sorry for her. :)

Trollope became concerned about the direction society was taking and his later books reflect that. They do lack the lightheartedness of the earlier works.

>67 richardderus: Yay!

>68 lyzard: I had a hard time even feeling sorry for her, except for that truly odious second “husband.” There I though she got more (not in a good way) than she deserved. And she’s much shrewder in her brief appearance in The Prime Minister.

And you’re right; his books do get darker. I love Phineas Redux, though. Even though the political and journalistic machinations are seedy, crass, and low, the overall outcome and the quite remarkable growth by Phineas make it a hopeful, if not entirely cheerful, book. Of his Parliamentary novels, I think that will remain my favorite.

>64 Matke: of course, I'm a numskull, I've read The Warden (loved it) and have the rest of the Barchesters.

>70 Caroline_McElwee: Oh, Caroline; see posts 58 and 59. It’s a curse, I tell ya. I can very highly recommend Barchester Towers though. It’s a great book that will take you away from any little troubling things that misbehave going on today.

>58 Matke: Oh, Richard, I missed part of your post. I can’t stand what I’ve read so far of the Gervase Fen books. I do like Appleby pretty well as a character, but I find the books frustrating, as though there’s an in-joke going on that I can only catch now and then. Since that interferes with my inner assessment of myself as being well-read, I resent it like hell. Never mind. Doesn’t hurt to get a good dose of humility now and then. I think.

So, looking things over for this quarter, I find that despite an abysmal April I’ve read one more book than in the first quarter. And plenty of nonfiction in the mix, too. The poetry is starting to sink, so I hope to make more of an effort there.

My internal goal every year is a hundred books. (Shh, don’t tell on me. I don’t want to get kicked out of the 75’ers.) I’m close to the _target of 50 by June 30, so I’ll probably make it. Still have Ulysses and...what was it, War and Peace? on the list. I might get to either of them, or not. I’ve added The Duke’s Children and Dune to my July list. Clearly the sauce has slipped off my noodles.

Just as a Note to Self

Books on this list are new reads. I don’t want to just keep he same favorites year after year.

Best Fiction

Quarter One World of Wonders
Quarter Two My Man Jeeves

Best Nonfiction

Quarter One
And the Band Played On
Quarter Two
This is a very difficult decision
The Soul of an Octopus

Best Mystery
Quarter One
Tragedy at Law
Quarter Two
None

>72 Matke: My 2nd quarter was marginally better than my first Q too, Gail but still abysmal.

Happy 4th July. xx

>74 PaulCranswick: I hear you, Paul. Perhaps things will look up as the year goes on.

Thank you for the good wish. This is a sad, and indeed frightening, Fourth for me.

>75 Matke: Chin up, dear lady

I read my annual six-of-five star read in Q2, Heart Berries...at least if I don't read something even more overpoweringly brilliant...and if I do what a year 2019 will be!

I had a poor second quarter after bursting out of the blocks in January: not unusual, but still disappointing. However, I too am on track for my Secret _target. :)

Is The Duke's Children a re-read for you? - and if so which version did you read? I believe by now the restored version is fairly readily available, so at least it's not a choice that's forced on you any more.

>72 Matke: My _target is really 100 books for the year as well...I don't think the Group Police really enforce that 75 books thing, because there would be far fewer members in the group if they did. Just check the "Bragging and Backslapping" thread and see how many have already hit 75---don't think they're all going to give up reading for the rest of the year!

Wishing you a lovely weekend, Gail. xx

So many, many books; so very very far behind.

Anyway:
>76 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. In the interim between your message and today I had some pesky health notices that...well. They’re pesky. But I struggle on...mostly happily, so no worries. But you’re sweet to care.

>77 richardderus: I dunno, Richard. (Or should that be Saint Richard the Bibliophile, for your selfless devotion to ridding the world of booknesia, one volume and one lovely dessert at a time?) That might be more than I can bear. Perhaps next year. I’m very glad you loved it, though.

>78 lyzard: Liz, this was my first complete read of The Duke’s Children, and I did read the full version. I stalled out last time. Sadly I found it the least satisfactory of the Palliser novels. I’m tempted to put that down to Cora’s absence, but I don’t think that’s it, really. It’s more that I’m not a fan of star-crossed love stories, which this book pretty much is. But maybe I’ve missed something?

>79 laytonwoman3rd: I don’t think I’ve ever looked at the “bragging and backslapping”, Linda. Must give it a try. I always aim for a hundred per year; that’s only two per week, and even with some chunksters, surely that’s achievable when one is retired.

Oh, for the dear dead days when I had few responsibilities, a quick mind (such as it was), and could easily read 250 books a year, including some that were formidable. Sigh. I’ll just have to make do, I guess.

The Prestige by Christopher Priest is a decidedly odd book. It starts in medias res, in fact slightly after the facts of the main story, and then we time shift back to the central events before we’re brought back to conclude the tale.

Two magicians are in complete opposition to one another. They interfere with one another’s shows; they madly compete to be the one with the best, the most intriguing “prestige”: a totally baffling, unique magic trick or effect. This leads one of them to extraordinary lengths.

The start of the conflict seems small and even a bit petty. As their animosity continues and grows the reader is hard-pressed to see why the situation became so complex. The reveal is not earth-shaking, but it’s adequate.

The appeal of this book isn’t so much the mystery and the surprises; instead it’s the study of monomania, the rather darkly fascinating world of magic, and the way a seemingly meaningless mishap can have bitter consequences, that make this a compelling read.

Recommended

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne almost lives up to the years and years of hype surrounding the book. It’s not as immediately creepy as one could hope, but there are some fine moments, especially when the characters explore the ocean depths at first hand.

Captain Nemo’s motivation could have been more fully developed, I think, to make this a slightly better work. Still, it’s a great book for kids to experience some of the older classics. The plot to this one is so widely known that I don’t need Togo any further.

I found this much more satisfying than The Time Machine Which is the same sort of book from the same era, even though it’s a different author. I’m looking forward to reading more of these early sort of science-fictiony books in the near future, to see which I like best.

>82 Matke:

Perhaps a bit mis-focused? I would say it isn't really about those subplots as such, but all about Plantagenet being forced to deal with them himself, having to interact with the children who he realises he hardly knows.

But we went into all that at length on the group read thread, so I won't bore you by rehashing it here. :D

>84 Matke: I've always enjoyed Priest's books, but I suspect more for his touch with words than for any quality of storytelling. If that makes any sense, now that I re-read it.

>85 Matke: It's a good time to try The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster. Yes, that Forster.

>84 Matke: Ooh, I read that a few years ago and enjoyed it too. Have you seen the movie? It's also very good (I watched it before I knew there was a book).

>86 lyzard: Oh, right. I did see PP’s struggle to have deeper relationships with his children. Those were my favorite parts. And I was very gratified to see Silverbridge come around. I’m not sure what he was thinking at first (re politics) since it was so clear how much he loved and admired his father.

Perhaps my fervent love for some of the other novels gets in the way of my appreciating this one. I’ll always be a Barsetshire girl; the last book in that series is, in my opinion, magnificent.

Looking forward to reading a lot more A.T. in the future.

>87 richardderus: Hmm. Your comment makes perfect sense. This was my first Priestly, but it won’t be my last. It made a good impression.

E.M. Forster? Who knew? Luckily it’s on my kindle. You do know the most interesting books.

>88 bell7: No, Mary; I didn’t even know there was a movie until after I read the book. It was intriguing, wasn’t it?

As a complete nonsequitor, I grew up in Eastern Mass, about 20 miles north of Boston, on the coast.

Tragedy at Law by Cyril Hare is a funny and poignant mystery starring a...barrister, I think...who is on a sort of circuit court progress: I mean, the Judge moves from place to place to hear cases and the attorneys proceed with him. At the time this was written, law terms in England were fairly brief, so lots of cases got kind of crunched together.

The victim is someone roundly hated by our hero, Francis Pettigrew. The unwinding of the plot is a bit complicated (or maybe I wasn’t paying attention; who knows?)

This was good enough for me to install a few more on a kindle, which I really should call my Mystery Machine. I like both the rather snappy humor and the author’s obvious compassion for his characters.

Moby Dick was my next book. This was my third and final reading; not because I didn’t like it but because it’s so very long.

We all know a lot about the book, so I’ll limit my remarks. One thing I noticed this time is how funny Melville can be. One doesn’t usually think of him as even possessing a sense of humor, so that was a pleasant surprise.

Also he’s very much the iconoclast here. Not just about religion, though certainly that, but about government and conventional behavior as well.

Still a most interesting and rewarding book, but I can see why it’s not for everyone.

>92 Matke:

That's how the legal system conducted itself in most of England until the early 1970s: most regional centres did not have a permanent court system; circuit judges moved from place to place (and the barristers with them) and heard batches of cases about every three months. It was known as 'the assizes'. It was a system that dated back to the 12th century.

(It meant, among other things, that how long you spent in jail before being tried, or conversely how much time - or lack of time - your barrister had to prepare a case, varied wildly according to when you were arrested.)

The last book I read in March(!) was The Body in the Dales by J.R Ellis, a new-to-me author.

A man’s body is found, almost by chance, in a cave. The mystery is not only who killed him, but how his body wound up in this particular spot; it had to have been moved there, which seems impossible.

A lot of the story involved an underground system of caverns, which are subject to unpredictable and deadly flooding. This was all new to me, and I thought a lot information was provided in a way that seemed natural, through the investigation, and didn’t feel like an extended info dump by the author. The community is a tight-knit one, making the detecting more than normally difficult.

I liked the story pretty well, and the setting was unusual enough to hold my attention through some rather slight character development. I’ll give Mr. Ellis a couple of more tries see if I like his other books more than this one, which was pretty average.

And so March is at last done! Thank heavens. The reading this year has been mixed; I’m still awaiting that standout, five-star book we all love to come across.

July has included books both long and short, and several mysteries. Better than average, but not stellar. Sigh.

Finding Heart Berries was a huge gift to a ~meh~ year. Plenty of "oh that's good" but only the one "...!!!...?!..." read.

I love years with two of those. I can remember one...once upon a time...

>97 richardderus: I put Heart Berries on the WL with a mental note to brace myself before reading it.

Do you think we’ve become jaded over hundreds and hundreds of books? Or perhaps more discerning?

I don't rightly know the difference between "jaded" and "discerning" except maybe the mood the observer's in.

It's a thin little thing but take your time going through it. As a practicing mom, it won't be an easy read.

>91 Matke: Oh very cool! I'm western MA in the Pioneer Valley (not quite to the Berkshires). But I do love making it out to the Boston area every so often. There's so much history and neat places around the state!

Happy weekend, and hope you find a stellar read soon. I've certainly become... pickier? as I continue to read, and find that I'm less forgiving of poor writing/dialog and flat characters than I used to be. Lots of good books, several I'd consider rereading, but very few WOWs anymore.

>99 richardderus: Isn't it the absence of discernment that result in a state of jadedness?

I discern clearly that a lovely weekend is to be wished for, Gail. xx

>56 Matke:. I agree about the translation problem in *PW*. I ground my teeth and eventually finished it. In the end I decided that Mahfouz must be untranslatable into anything I want to read. I'll try again because I hate being obtuse.
>93 Matke:. Agreed with glee about Melville's humor. I feel my re-read #3 coming closer and closer.
You are really getting into those stylish old English mysteries! Carolus Dean? Peter Dickinson? ??? Blake? (My poor brain)
Aaaarrrgh! Sciatica... My doc advised Ibuprofen 3x3x3 at the first sign of a flare-up, and it has worked a couple of times for me. That's 3 pills, 3 times a day for 3 days. What does your doc say? Anyway, all good wishes for complete relief.

I seem to have gone on a mystery kick, with emphasis on Agatha Christie.

This is what happens when my concentration goes to hell.

>94 lyzard: Right, Liz. I’d read a lot about this phenomenon of English law, but I was completely unaware that it had survived into the 1970’s until I read this amusing book. It seems an awkward, chancy system to me; the problems involved for the accused seem daunting.

And I’m still working on deciphering the terms used for what would all be called lawyers or attorneys here in the US.

>100 bell7: Yeah, I notice so much more now than I did when I was 10 or 12 and just devoured printed pages as though they were chocolate.

And that’s both good and bad, I find. Fewer occasions of joy, but the joy is deeper when it occurs.

>101 PaulCranswick: Well, hello, Paul! I am a silent but diligent follower of your threads.

>102 LizzieD: I’m quite sad about Palace Walk, Peggy. I can see that there’s a good story there; I know the characters are interesting and certainly fully developed, but I just can’t seem to make it work for me. I’ve put it aside to see if Mahfouz and I will get along better at a different time.

I know! I keep discovering these old books that might be worthwhile; they don’t take long to read, so I whip through them and then decide which authors are worth pursuing.

I’ve read Nicholas Blake and love Peter Dickinson—that man could write seriously weird books—but Carola Dunn is new. I have two on kindle to investigate.

The favorite two new-to-me authors for late last and this year are George Bellairs and Francis Knollis. Farejon was dull, but he gets one more try.

Oh, and thanks to Lyzard I have a ton of Gladys Mitchells waiting for me as well. I like them although the plots sometimes seem rather...porous to me. Still, they’re funny; often that’s enough for me in a short mystery.

ETA
Oh boy, a little confusion here. The author’s name is Francis Vivian, who wrote the Inspector Knollis series.

And my tiny health problems seem okay.

And then there’s April. Four books and two of them re-reads. That’s just depressing.

Even so, I found that Phineas Redux had a lot t more to say to me this time around. In his first outing, (simply called Phineas Finn) our man is on the shallow side, and trying hard to make a “good” marriage: one in which he’ll marry a rich woman who will support him in the style he’d love to become accustomed to. He has moments of integrity, though, which bode well for his future.

Here he has matured, keeping his charm and enhancing his sense of what’s right. He faces some formidable challenges in this novel, and Trollope writes beautifully yet realistically about how Phineas handles it all.

I love this book.

Malice Aforethought is in the “inverted mystery” category: we know from the start who the murderer is. In this case he’s the narrator, and we follow his plans step by step.

I’ve read several of these, and this is a good example. The delightful twist at the end just made me smile. Good for Mystery fans who want to read something slightly different.

>109 Matke: Hmmmm.....I think that one must go on the wishlist.

>104 Matke:

It was extremely problematic and based upon the assumption that if you got arrested you were probably guilty and therefore they didn't have to worry too much about your rights (whatever the theory of the law said to the contrary). There was a massive overhaul of both the courts and the police system from the early 70s which put in place most of what we would now consider "standard".

"Lawyer" is a generic term for anyone with formal legal qualifications. A solicitor is a legal representative who works outside the court system. In a criminal matter it would be a solicitor who undertook the first duties such as advising you during questioning by the police; however, if you were charged with a criminal offence and went to trial, your solicitor would brief a barrister, who would represent you in court. (You as an individual cannot directly hire a barrister.)

>107 Matke:

Gladys Mitchell was mostly making fun of what she found absurd about the traditional Golden Age mystery, rather than trying to compete. Her books are often extremely wacky and you need to be prepared for that to get the best out of them.

>108 Matke:

Nice! :)

>109 Matke:

I found Malice Aforethought nastily funny because of its particular split-perspective; however, Iles' / Berkeley's obvious issues with women often get in the way of his writing for me.

>110 laytonwoman3rd: Linda, my view of the book was a bit undercut because I’ve read quite a lot of these.

But this one was published in 1931 or ‘32, and so is an early and excellent example of this sub-genre of the mystery story. I think you’d enjoy it.

>111 lyzard: Thanks, Liz. Your simple explanation will, I hope, stay in my tiny brain. Now when I see, “We’ll have to see the family solicitor,” I’ll have a better handle on precisely what that means.

Fortunately for me I like books which are odd and/or slightly off-kilter. I’ve got to admit, though, that the first Mrs. Bradley adventure threw me for a loop. (You know what I mean: never did the little phrase, “Wait. What???” seem more appropriate.) Then the second one left me underwhelmed. However, I just read The Longer Bodies and I can see that she’s (Mitchell) beginning to hit her stride. Still fairly crazy but a lot of fun. One thing that adds a bit of kick for me is her fascination with all things witchy. I’ve got The Saltmarsh Murders up next on my list.

And yes, haven’t I been lucky to be able to explore all these Golden Oldies in the mystery world? Of course a very few have fallen completely flat, and others have been just an easy and pleasant way to while away a couple of hours, but some have been good with one or two standouts here and there. And the whole thing has just been a delightful sort of hunt/chase/puzzle activity for someone who has been reading mysteries for, it seems, my whole life. It’s marvelous to have the leisure and enough cash (plus the kindle) to pursue a hobby...

Well. There are a lot of authors who take misogyny to a fine art, but yes, it can spoil the enjoyment of an otherwise very good book. I think that’s why Berkeley/Iles has never been a favorite for me.

Continuing with book notes:

Claire Tomalin’s The Invisible Woman is a reasonably conservative biography of Ellen Ternan, who was quite obviously the long-time mistress of Charles Dickens. By conservative, I mean that Tomalin doesn’t take any of those leaps into unsupported fancy that have ruined many a nonfiction book, particularly in biography.

She does reach one conclusion that I think is more than a bit of a stretch, since there’s no hard evidence. But the idea she posits is certainly possible and maybe even probable, given the times.

In the end, even though Tomalin strives to be scrupulously fair to all parties, this is a rather sad and tawdry story of a backstairs love affair; of the corrupting effects of money and especially power on those who have it...and those who don’t.

Easy to read but not dumbed down.

Ordeal by Innocence is a completely stand-alone Mystery by Christie. No Poirot, or Miss M, or even Inspector Battle to give a fan that special feeling of intimacy with the author and the story.

That said, this is quite a good book. Christie was fascinated by family dynamics gone off the tracks. In this case, a family member was accused, tried, and found guilty of killing the mother of the family. While serving out his sentence, Jocko dies.

Then along comes a complete stranger, who provides undeniable proof that Jocko’s alibi was a true one, and that he couldn’t possibly have been the murderer. The man thinks he’s doing the family a great service by proving his innocence.

And how wrong he was in that belief. Because if Jocko, the perennial family ne’er-do-well wasn’t guilty, then who was???
In a perfect illustration of unintended consequences, this supposedly wonderful news throws the family into turmoil and sets them at each other’s throats.

Christie does a great job here of bringing unpleasant characters to life. Well worth reading.

Current Reading List

The Cardinal by Henry Morton Robinson
Daily Life in the Middle Ages by Paul B. Newman
Closest Companion Geoffrey C. Ward
The Anti-Christ Handbook by Fred Clark (not what you might think from the title)
A Little Revenge: Benjamin Franklin and His Son byWillard Sterne Randall
Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G.Wodehouse

I have mixed feelings about all of them except the Ward and the Wodehouse.

As a counterpoint to Ordeal by Innocence, I finished Heyer’s Penhallow a few days ago. In this dark and rather unpleasant mystery the family dynamics are just ugly. The characters, who are the most self-centered, foolish people one can imagine, constantly argue and show utter contempt for one another.
The murder is meant in a rather kindly way, as being a real blessing to most of the family. But unintended consequences run riot here. The ending is a complete downer with the family in disarray.

Not a book I’d recommend, although to interesting in some ways.

Hi Gail my dear, hope all is well with you dear friend.

>117 Matke: Oh dear...sounds icky. Apparently, Mr. Rougier was the driving force behind the mystery/thriller novels. He plotted them and she was the amanuensis-cum-beard for them for sales purposes.

Makes sense when one considers how mean-spirited the mysteries seem, compared to her historicals.

Mercy.
There appears to be a minor shitstorm going on re: updating Librarything.
We need it. I might not like it, but we need it. I just want to catalogue my books in peace.

Proposed November Reads:

Snobbery with Violence Colin Watson
Not All Dead White Men Donna Zuckerberg (exchanged for )
1066: The Year of the Conquest David Howarth
Motiveless Malignity Louis Auchincloss Read
The Cambridge Companion to the Victorian Novel Deirdre David, Ed.
How to Read Novels Like a Professor Thomas C. Foster Read

Hi Gail my dear, that looks like a good reading list. I am not sure what I will read and am currently on with the 13th in the Morland Saga by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. Hope you have a good reading month and send love and hugs from both of us dear friend.

Thank you, John!

I’m completely unfamiliar with the author and books you mention so I must scurry off to find out more about them.

And love to you and Karen as well.

75 accomplished. A month or so late, but still. And what a great book to do it with!
Lady Susan, The Watson’s, Sanditon is an omnibus volume of Jane Austen’s shorter works. She is much more cutting here than in her later, better-known volumes. Lady Susan is a complete beast of a woman: conniving, manipulative, and thoroughly selfish. She attempts to marry her daughter to a much older man, completely against the girl’s will, and tries to match herself up with a true catch. This being Austen, all does end well; the rather mean delight is in seeing Lady Susan fail.

The Watsons is the weakest of the three stories here. Emma Watson has to return to her father’s home after living with a wealthy aunt. The story is unfinished, so we can appreciate Emma’s chagrin at the behavior of her siblings, but that’s all.

Sanditon is full of delicious characters. Lady Denham, in particular, stands out as an unbelievably vain woman who has to be the most important person at all times. The thin plot involves the development of a seaside resort. Although Austen didn’t live to finish the book, it’s clear that this would have been a lighthearted look at the foibles of those attempting to be just a bit more significant than they really are.

Congratulations on reaching 75, Gail!

Hi Gail my dear, thank you for visiting my thread and sending congrats back to you on reaching 75 books. Karen loved your comments and loves your comments on Facebook and if she was nearer she would do some baking for you.

I hope you have had a good week so far and wishing you a really good weekend dear friend, sending love and hugs from both of us.

>124 Matke: Brava!


Spend a lovely fall day with a delightful book.

Ah. The best kind of day.

Well done, Gail! :)

>117 Matke:

I haven't begun reading the Heyer mysteries in any organised way, just one or two standalones that cropped up while I was poking around in 1931 and 1932 (and which which hindsight strike me as rather like Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver novels in tone, but without a central detective figure). I'm not sure how much her husband had to do with them: it may be so, but I'm a little wary because I couldn't count the number of female authors of whom it's been said, "Oh, her man really did all the work"...

I don't mind unpleasant people as long as I'm not intended to like them, and the 'unintended consequences' aspect of that sounds interesting. No doubt I'll get around to them at some point!

>129 lyzard: Heyer’s mysteries are very much a mixed bag, Liz. The one I’m reading now, No Wind of Blame, is about #5 in her loosely connected Hannasyde-Hemingway series. So far (not far, actually) it’s more lighthearted with funny characters than her stand-alone. Personally I’m not convinced that Rugier was the driving force behind the mysteries; I’ve read that he provided her with legal details so that she didn’t fall off the tracks. I especially enjoyed Envious Casca; I thought it was an above-average mystery and a nice dissection of that authorial favorite, the dysfunctional family.

Penhallow will never be anybody’s favorite, but it has its own fascination. Most reviews I’ve seen have been quite negative, but it’s not a bad book at all. It’s very dark.

I know your having a bit of tension with that “about #5” but I’ve been reading Heyer since late childhood and sometimes I get mixed up. I’m determined, however, to read this one and the next two in *strict publication order*.

Finished my first Nonfiction November entry: Motiveless Malignity. It’s by one of my favorite authors, and I’ll have more to say about it later.

>130 Matke:

:D

It's okay, I forgive you!

Re-checking, I seem to have read only one of Heyer's mysteries, Footsteps In The Dark, which is as much a romantic thriller. I think I was trying to get to Why Shoot A Butler? for a while but never did. Thank you for your comments on the others!

Congratulations on reaching 75 books Gail.

>131 Matke: Motiveless Malignity is SUCH an Auchincloss title, isn't it.

Congrats!

>132 lyzard: No Wind of Blame turned out to be an interesting story with hilarious characters. I’m pretty sure she pinched the plot from Christie, though. Nevertheless an enjoyable lightweight read.

>133 Caroline_McElwee: Why, thank you, Caroline!

>134 richardderus: He was amazing Richard. I treasure my copy of The Style’s the Man, which is all about writing styles rather than fashion.

>135 drneutron: Thank ‘ee, Jim. I knew it would happen, and just wish it had been September instead. Life does get in the way, though.

Finished two of my nonfiction reads and a mystery so far.

I took a dip into Not All Dead White Men, one of my _target reads for the month, only to discover that I’m mot in the mood for that particular book right now. I’ll pick a substitute today. No idea what, though.

I should mention that I’m also reading, in a very desultory fashion, The Bostonians by Henry James. It’s one of his earlier works, so fairly easy to read.

In a very unsatisfactory tour of my books here in the house, I’ve decided to read either Boardwalk Empire or Troublesome Young Men instead of the Zuckerberg book. I can see that her book just won’t work for me right now. Either of the others should be fine.

>137 Matke: Many, many years ago I went through a big Henry James phase and read a bunch of his books. I keep planning to get back to him but haven't done much about it. Maybe your report on The Bostonians will be just what I need to get me moving in that direction.

I hope The Bostonians is a thumping good read for you, smoochling.

>137 Matke:

It’s one of his earlier works, so fairly easy to read.

:D

Yes, I'm afraid Henry and I don't get on, though I sporadically feel I should give him another chance. I'm always too conscious when I'm reading him of reading him, I can never get lost in his prose.

>139 RebaRelishesReading:
>140 richardderus:
>141 lyzard:
The James book is good but it will never set the world on fire. Somewhat reminiscent of The Odd Women by George Gissing in general plot, the book skewers (so far) early feminism, fake spiritualism/phony cure all’s and elixirs, the press, and young men in general. I’m enjoying it but it can’t touch Portrait of a Lady or Washington Square, both of which I loved. This seems, so far, kind of cold and distant for James.

Congrats on reaching 75!

> 143 Thank you, Mary! I always aim for 100; some years I make it, other years not. I’ve got a couple of large books waiting for me, so 2019 might not see me make that inner goal. That’s perfectly okay, though.

I think.

Hi Gail my dear, hope you have a really lovely Thanksgiving Day and send love and hugs from both of us dear friend.

>144 Matke: I always made it to 100 as an adult, Gail, until last year. With another year of stress and tumult, I will be falling short again, I fear.

Have a lovely weekend, dear lady.

>145 johnsimpson: Hello, John, and thank you for visiting. I did have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. Moving back to Florida and into a condo was the best idea I’ve had in a long, long time.

>146 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! Always a pleasure to see you here.

I’m definitely not going to make it to 100 this year, either. I’ve had some intermittent slumps where no reading prospect pleased and everything was vile, but I’ve overcome that, I think. I made a few adjustments to my online doings, and I think that will be a huge help since the internet can be a true time suck.

Hoping that your weekend is pleasant and that the coming week is everything you want it to be.

I’ve just had the odd experience of reading two books which are clearly four-star reads and not much liking either of them. That doesn’t happen often, at least to me.

Now that I’ve lived here for just over a year, I’ve had time to assess the place and sort of decide on some changes. I have a new, larger rug, and I’m going to flip the furniture: that is, what’s on the south wall of the living room will be changing places with the furniture on the north wall. So today I’m taking up the old, small rug, doing an extra-deep vacuuming, and putting down the new under-rug pad. Tomorrow Herb and crew are putting down the new rug and moving the furniture to its new positions.
Something I’ve discovered is that my tv watching is minuscule. So I’m taking the tv out of the living room—I don’t think I’ve watched it ten times since I’ve lived here. I wanted to get rid of it, but the boys persuaded me to let them hang it on the wall in the bedroom. For now. I still think I should get rid of it, but we’ll make a final decision next December.

Hi Gail, enjoy your rearranging. I used to do that a bit, but I have too much stuff (books) now to do much.

>150 Matke: I still have a TV on my dresser despite the fact that I don't have it a) hooked up to cable or 2) plugged in. (I needed that plug for a lamp.)

Don't ask me why. I watch the few shows I want to watch on Netflix/Prime/YouTube (great for news). Maybe I should get rid of it.

Soviet Santa says "Happy Yule!" Solstice Greetings to all. Read more here: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/soviet-santa

I just read The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill, apparently for the third time.

Brutal.
That’s what this book is: brutal.

It’s not that violence is described in slow, loving detail. Instead it’s the plot, which takes a wicked twist near the end.

The book is beautifully written, the situations and characters are believable.

This is a story of women who go missing in a small English town. Why this happens is complicated and, in some ways, unresolved. The murderer isn’t difficult to spot after about a third of the book; small details jumped out at this reader making the killer’s identity clear.

I recommend this book to readers who like police procedurals, serial killer tales, and those who don’t mind a bit of a sucker punch from an author.


Why did he want Cat to have the tapes? She couldn’t have been the one he was talking to when he taped them. Because he admired her? Because he wanted his story to become public and somehow justified? To demonstrate just how completely crazy he was? I found this unsatisfying.

>151 Caroline_McElwee: Hi, Caroline! I have to get the rest of my books down here and then do some very serious reading and culling. I’m getting far too old to have all these books hanging around.

>152 richardderus: Hello, Richard! Yes, I’m beginning to see that a tv is no longer necessary in my life.
Perhaps if I become less mobile than I am now...

>153 richardderus: Thank you for that link! I love learning about folk ways and customs.

Crime at Christmas by C.H.B. Kitchin was possibly the most boring book I’ve read this year. Which is too bad, because it’s got a decent mystery story hidden among the incredibly tedious narration of the main character. I’d never heard of this author; his books went out of print for years.

And anyone who reads this will see why.

>157 Matke:

Books like that are the literary equivalent of all those cutesy songs that have no musical merit at all, but get dragged out once a year anyway because of the C-word. :D

>157 Matke: Hah! That’s exactly right, Liz. I love the old, old Christmas songs (and ones like The Holly and the Ivy), but some of this stuff is sheer drivel.
I’m already looking forward to next year and wondering what on earth I’m going to read among the many, many choices available to me.

Merry Christmas Gail my dear from both of us dear friend.

Thank you for keeping me company in 2019.......onward to 2020.

Happy holidays!