flissp belatedly joins the 75 challenge again...

Hallo. I am back. I can't promise to be any better than last year (I was rubbish at keeping up to date and didn't even finish my thread!), but I do like coming back here and I do like keeping track of the books I read, so I'm going to try again... I'm going to try to be better at dropping by your lovely threads at least... ...and I definitely owe photos from San Francisco last November...

First thing, belated "Happy New Year" back Darryl and Roni, thank you for your messages - sorry I didn't check in at the end of the year!

...oh, and this was the view from my office window on Monday. Cambridgeshire is flat ;o) :



My ticker for next year:




Reviews for 2013:
(Didn't write any last year. Should have. Need to catch up on 2011's Early Reviewer's ones first!)

Goal 1: Non Fiction - same as 2010/11/12 - to read 10 non fiction books (excluding travel guides):
(Only read 2 last year, although I'm currently in the middle of 3 that I started then...)

i) Reflections: Diana Wynne Jones - (to update)
ii) What Matters in Jane Austen: John Mullan - (Reading)
iii) Life is to Blame For Everything: Jeremy Deller - (Reading)
iv) The Old Ways: Robert Macfarlane - (Thread 1, Msg22)
v) Dotter of Her Father's Eyes: Mary M. Talbot & Bryan Talbot - (Thread 1, Msg22)
vi) Walk The Lines - Mark Mason (Reading)
vii)
viii)
ix)
x)

Goal 2: Books to Read - One for each month of the year.
(I never get through these, but the list reminds me of books I want to read.)

i) Daniel Deronda: George Eliot
ii) 1Q84 book 1: Haruki Murakami
iii) The Garden Party: Katherine Mansfield (to update)
iv) We Need to Talk About Kevin: Lionel Shriver
v) The Cat's Table: Michael Ondaatje
vi) The Marriage Plot: Jeffrey Eugenides (Thread 1, Msg53)
vii) The Chemistry of Tears: Peter Carey (to update)
viii) Iceland's Bell: Halldor Laxness
ix) Various Pets Alive and Dead: Marina Lewycka - (to update)
x) Peter and Wendy: J. M. Barrie
xi) A Kestrel for a Knave: Barry Hines (Thread 1, Msg43)
xii) Tamsin: Peter S. Beagle (Thread 1, Msg43)

Goal 3: 2010/11/12 books - Books to read that I didn't get to from the last few years.

i) Les Miserables: Victor Hugo (to update)
ii) L'etranger: Albert Camus
iii) Wuthering Heights: Emily Brontë (I will get through it, I WILL!)
iv) War and Peace: Leo Tostoy
v) The Grapes of Wrath: John Steinbeck
vi) Schindler's Arc: Thomas Keneally
vii) Vilinus Poker: Ričardas Gavelis
viii) Oryx & Crake: Margaret Atwood
ix) The Turn of the Screw: Henry James
x) Sophie's World: Jostein Gaarder

Goal 4: DWJ in order - Diana Wynne Jones in order of publication (continued from 2012)
(I'm keeping track of these on this thread in the DWJ group - COMPLETE! Now I just need to finish writing my comments...)

i) The Game
ii) The House of Many Ways
iii) Enchanted Glass
iv) Earwig and the Witch

Goal 5: ReReads & Group Reads
(I've enjoyed the group reads I've done, but didn't manage to find the time to do any of the ones I planned on last year. Am leaving a space here to allow for it though. ...and there are a couple of books I keep meaning to read, but never seem to get to...)

i) Reread: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Douglas Adams
ii) Reread: The Crystal Cave: Mary Stewart (Thread 1, Msg53)
iii) Reread: The Count of Monte Cristo: Alexandre Dumas
iv) Group Read: Sandman: Neil Gaiman Group Read here

Absolute Sandman Volume 1: (Thread 1, Msg22)
- Preludes and Nocturnes - my comments here
- The Doll's House - yet to add comments to the thread
- Dream Country - yet to add comments to the thread
Absolute Sandman Volume 2:
- Season of Mists (Reading)

v)

I shall update this map with each author's origin as I read:


(2.22%)
Map

...and here are links to my previous threads:

Thread for 2012
Thread for 2011 pt2
Thread for 2011 pt1
Thread for 2010 pt4
Thread for 2010 pt3
Thread for 2010 pt2
Thread for 2010 pt1
Thread for 2009 pt2
Thread for 2009 pt1
Thread for 2008

Best New Read of the Month:
January: Born Weird: Andrew Kaufman
February: Earwig and the Witch: Diana Wynne Jones
March: Reflections: Diana Wynne Jones
April: Various Pets Alive and Dead: Marina Lewycka
May: The Collector Collector: Tibor Fischer
June: Started Early, Took My Dog: Kate Atkinson
July: Mountains of the Moon: I J Kay
August: Before I Go to Sleep: S J Watson
September: Machine of Death: Various
October:

Finally, a quick summary of 2012:

Top 5 for the year (unusually for me, more or less in order):
The Song of Achilles: Madeleine Miller
Everything Begins & Ends at The Kentucky Club: Benjamin Alire Sáenz
The Hunger Games: Suzanne Collins
Under the Frog: Tibor Fischer
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian: Marina Lewycka

Only 74 books read last year (I know!). Clearly, I'm reading fewer and fewer books every year... Unsurprisingly, most of the books I read were by authors from the UK (39%) or the US (40%).

70% were written since Jan 2000; 26% 1950-1999; 5% 1900-1949; 3% pre 1900.

Unsurprisingly, 97% were fiction.

For my own reference for my DWJ thread, comments are still pending on:

A Sudden Wild Magic (1992)
Yes, Dear (1992)
The Crown of Dalemark (1993)
Hexwood (1993)
Everard's Ride (1995) (in Unexpected Magic)
Minor Arcana (1996) (short story collection)
Deep Secret (1997)
The Dark Lord of Derkholm (1998)
Puss in Boots (1999)
Mixed Magics (2000) (short story collection)
Year of the Griffin (2000)
The Merlin Conspiracy (2003)
(Unexpected Magic (2004)
Conrad's Fate (2005)
The Pinhoe Egg (2006)
The Game (2007)
House of Many Ways (2008)
Enchanted Glass (2010)
Earwig and the Witch (2011)

Here you are!! welcome back... was wondering if you had been swallowed up by a big book or summat.

Yes, Cambridgeshire certainly is flat....

Hi Suzanne - Happy New Year! Yep. The big book is called Les Miserables (I WILL finish it this year). ...oh and I got a bit swallowed up by work too... Maybe I should list the scientific papers I read on my thread too ;o)

Cambridgeshire flat - that's not even the flattest view ;o) I like the skies!

#2 Hmmm. Was just about to drop by your thread, then saw there are already ~349 posts. My incipient OCD says I really shouldn't check in until your next thread or I'll start to get all anxious about keeping up again... I do have my first completley free weekend of the year this weekend though, so I'll probably cave ;o)

Oooh, I forgot I was going to do this. I like this quiz. I've done it before and I'll probably do it again - you answer with the titles of books you've read in the last year.

Describe yourself:

The Land of Laughs (Jonathan Carroll) (my favourite and most accurate previous answer: Candide or Optimism - Voltaire)

How do you feel:

The Snow Child (Eowyn Ivey)

Describe where you currently live:

A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle)

If you could go anywhere, where would you go:

Hexwood (Diana Wynne Jones) (I was out of options!)

Your favorite form of transportation:

March (Geraldine Brooks)

Your best friend is:

The Land of Laughs (yes, again, but it fits best...)

You and your friends are:

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (Jonathan Safran Foer)

What’s the weather like:

Darke (Angie Sage)

You fear:

Catching Fire (Suzanne Collins) (My favourite previous answer: The Tooth Fairy - Graham Joyce)

What is the best advice you have to give:

Nope, I'm not going to improve on: "The Uncommon Reader" (Alan Bennet) is "The Adventuress" (Audrey Niffenegger)

Thought for the day:

Everything Begins & Ends at the Kentucky Club (Benjamin Alire Sáenz)

How I would like to die:

Dead in the Family - (Charlaine Harris) (My favourite previous answer: Seeing - Jose Saramago)

My soul’s present condition:

Deep Secret - (Diana Wynne Jones)

Welcome back, Fliss! Good to see you around.

Hi Fliss, saw your post on Roni's thread so just had to track you down. Should I comment on Les Mis...or I'll just stay quiet!
I started rereading Harry Potter last year but after three books went on a bit of a DWJ binge instead, still have a few to read for the first time - Year of the Griffin and The Pinhoe Egg, The Game. There's a Sandman group read organised this year and we've created a group for it, you're welcome to drop by.
http://www.librarything.com/groups/sandman

Good to see you here again, Fliss! I assume that you'll get plenty of reading accomplished this weekend, since you'll be snowbound in Cambridgeshire. ;-)

#7 Hi Kerry - Happy New Year! Re Les Mis ;o) - actually, not sooooo far finishing now. Was also toying with an HP reread over Christmas, but got waylaid by DWJ, two of which were The Pinhoe Egg and The Game... Hope you enjoy all 3 when you get to them! Thank you for the Sandman link, will definitely go over there to check it out - will be quite an easy group read for me to follow I think!

#8 Hi Darryl, Happy New Year again to you also! I'm not sure how well I'll keep track again this year, but I'll do my best! Yep, almost impossible to move for snow out here ;o) (Doh) Actually, it's my first free weekend of the year, so I probably shall be doing a fair bit of reading. Not least because I've got book group next week and haven't even started on this month's book (Robert MacFarlane's The Old Ways, which I just bought this afternoon), so quite a bit of catching up to do!

I'll try to take some time to go round all your threads to catch up though - although you've all already got masses for me to catch up on and my OCD tendencies make it hard for me to stop myself going back through every single post!

Right. I have some books to catch up on, so...:

Hi Fliss! I like your answers to the quiz/meme. I've just had a go too.

1) The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
(30Dec12, South Bank London)

A semi autobiographical novelette about a woman with depression and her descent into madness. An interesting read, but I never really engaged.

2) Cold Days - Jim Butcher
(21Dec12, Brighton)

The next Dresden Files book - silly but fun nonsense, as always.

3) The Game - Diana Wynne Jones
Goal 4: DWJ in publication order
(16Mar07, Cambridge)

to be updated

4) The House of Many Ways - Diana Wynne Jones
Goal 4: DWJ in publication order
(check, Cambridge)

to be updated

5) Visitation - Jenny Erpenbeck
(30Dec12, South Bank London)

Coursing through the inhabitants of a house built by the side of a lake in the mountains near Berlin through from before WWII when an architect buys the land to build on, to it's demolition some time after the Berlin Wall comes down.

It's an unusual read and in many ways very absorbing, but it was also quite hard to follow on occasion (no names).

#10 Hi Genny - happy new year! I'm a bit of a sucker for a quiz ;o)

Fliss, did you ever pick up DWJ's Reflections on the Magic of Writing? I got it for Christmas and just finished it yesterday.

I did indeed - in fact I pre-ordered it so I received it the day it was released ;o) I'm taking my time reading it though - reading it makes me a bit sad (much the way Salmon of Doubt did) and I'm aware that it's the last thing (bar Earwig and the Witch and one short story) that I can get access to that I haven't read, so I want to eke it out, it being a very eke-out-able type of book (I'm sure I'll wolf down E&theW when I get to it very soon).

I'm just over half way through at the moment and very much enjoying it so far. I hadn't realised how much her way of writing had permeated mine - I agree with so much (not all, but most) of what she has to say. It's funny (albeit not surprising I suppose) how much what we read when we're little shapes us.

What did you think?

6) Down the Rabbit Hole - Juan Pablo Villalobos
(06Nov12, San Francisco)

I really don't know what to say or think about this one. It's a novella really, written from the point of view of the precocious son of a Mexican drug baron, cocooned from the rest of the world. Disturbing.

7) Kiss Me First - Lottie Moggach
(Jan13, borrowed from FlossieT)

I have quite a lot to say about this one, so am going to come back to it when I have a bit more time.

8) Born Weird - Andrew Kaufman
(08Jan13, Kings X)

I love Andrew Kaufman, I really do - he writes these strangely realistic, surreal stories about unusual people that leave you feeling all happy - but without the books being corny. All My Friends Are Superheroes remains my favourite, but this was very nearly as good.

The Weird family children (accidentally renamed on the grandfather's immigration) have all grown up and gone their separate ways, but The Shark (their grandmother) wants Angie (4th child) to bring them all together to her death bed, which will be on her birthday in 10 days time (or was it 14? will check), so that she can lift the "blessings" that she gave each of them when they were born and which have actually proved to be curses.

Hey, Fliss, where are you hiding out and what are you doing?

#16 Hi Roni! Yes, sorry, vanished again for a bit - I've a feeling I'm not going to be any better this year than I was last year!

Just been busy really, but I went to Sweden for a few days also (there will be photos ;o))

...and, because I only wanted to take hand luggage with me and because it was high time to do so anyway, I have finally bought a Kindle, which made a huge difference to the weight and size of my luggage! It'll never be the same as a proper book, but...

Anyway, I've made myself a separate profile for my Kindle books here.

So, reading...

9) Enchanted Glass - Dianna Wynne Jones
Goal 4: DWJ in publication order
(08Jan10, Cambridge)

I commented on this over here when I first read it...

10) Earwig and the Witch - Diana Wynne Jones
Goal 4: DWJ in publication order
(?, Cambridge)

Finally, I could allow myself to read this!

This is DWJ's final novel and not a bad place to end. One of those for younger children, it's quite a simple story - a headstrong orphan, Earwig, is adopted (much against her, usually unchallenged intentions) by a witch in disguise, who is after a general dogsbody. A battle of wills ensues...

In a way, it was sad not to have a more meaty story to finish up with, but this was great fun to read and really quite wicked, which was also pleasing!

...and now I only have one short story and the remains of Reflections left to read, so I'm feeling a little bereft...

11) REAMDE - Neal Stephenson
(12Feb13, Kindle)

Holiday reading and my first full Kindle book (a good thing too, as it's pretty chunky). Before I comment on the actual book, can I ask if it's usual for Kindle books to have quite so many copy editing mistakes? I can forgive an English character talking about "Math" instead of "Maths" and "pants" instead of "trousers" etc (although it reads strangely), as the author is American after all (as, probably, is the edition), but there were were a surprisingly large number of typos - in particular, "off" almost throughout was "of", which really is quite an important mistake...

Anyway, this aside, I wasn't sure whether I was going to enjoy this. The first book I read by Neal Stephenson was The Diamond Age, which I loved. I also very much enjoyed Snow Crash. However. When I came to try Quicksilver (the first in The Baroque Cycle), I was bored silly and didn't make it very far in at all...

I spent quite a bit of my holiday travelling (trains, planes...), so had quite a lot of time together and I think that this was probably a good thing, because it took a good third of the book for things to truly start happening. But when they did, well, things don't stop happening...

It's quite a complex story, winding around family relationships, "World of Warcraft" style computer role playing games, Russian Mafia, kidnapping, smuggling, terrorism... ...and they do all fit together, honest, although sometimes it feels a little bit crammed. It was a fun read once it got going, but it's all a little bit silly (and the final "6 months later" type chapter is a tad trite - I could have done without it to be honest).

A good staple holiday read anyway, although it doesn't hold a candle to The Diamond Age and also doesn't convince me to give Quicksilver another shot just yet...

12) The Birthday Boys - Beryl Bainbridge
(Feb13, Rock Road Library)

This is a book group selection, so I'll probably come back to comment on this again after we've met up next week.

Basically though, it's a fictionalised account of Captain Scott's failed attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole, on the return from which every member of the final team of 5 (Scott, Edward Wilson, Henry Bowers, Lawrence Oates and Edgar Evans) died, having been beaten to their goal by Roald Amundsen's Norwegian team (cheery topic, eh?!).

Divided into 5 sections, each "written" by one of the team, finally ending with Captain Oates (of "I am just going outside and may be some time" fame), some parts are more interesting than others. Possibly the most enjoyable section being Petty Officer Evans' at the start - before they even set off from the UK. Inevitably (being English), I learned the very basic outline of the story while I was at school, but the story really isn't as straight forward as the one you're taught when you're 8 and I would have benifited from an introductory/final chapter describing the bones of the expedition, or at least some sort of timeline somewhere in the book, to put everything prior to Oates' final chapter into context... Interesting in parts, but didn't blow my socks off before.

(Incidently, I've never read anything by Beryl Bainbridge before and it was completely not what I was expecting. I think it must be something about the name "Beryl"... ;o))

I've got quite a few Beryl Bainbridge books on the shelf so I really mustn't get any more until I've read those, but that looks a good one.

#18 Hi SandDune. Honestly, for me it was only so-so - I expected much more from it really. But I agree it's a great premise and it may be that you'd get on with it better than I did if you're already a fan!

13) The New World - Patrick Ness
Scenes of Mass Destruction - Andrew Kaufman
A Calendar of Tales - Neil Gaiman
(2009, 2013 & 2013, all pdfs)

Well. Obviously, these don't all belong together. However, they are all short stories/collections by favourite authors that I downloaded for free (follow the links attached to the book titles). I thought I'd lump them together as one sort-of-short-story-collection, given that I've recently put them on my brand-newish (un)shiny kindle.

The New World I downloaded ages ago, somewhere in midst of my Chaos Walking mania. For some reason I then never got round to reading it (probably because it's a pdf).

Basically, this is a short story written to accompany the Chaos Walking (YA) trilogy, describing Viola's arrival (which is only referred to in the books). It's simple and touching and sad and I cannot wait for The Crane Wife to be published. Seriously. Getting all anxious about it now it's come to mind. April. Sigh.

Of course part of why I love Patrick Ness (besides some wonderful books) is that he always seems to be so right-headed when I see him speaking (or maybe just that our opinions coincide quite a lot) - so on that note, here's a link to various articles and reviews he's published, in case anyone else is interested. There are thoughts on books and reading there that I suspect a few of you will appreciate (I've just been perusing a bit rather than working as I should be...)

Scenes of Mass Destruction. I mentioned how much I'm coming to love Andrew Kaufman a couple of posts ago... Well, having finished Born Weird, I had to go and look him up to see if he was doing any promotional touring. Unfortunately, it seems not (or nothing I could find on his website, bar one London date I couldn't do anyway). However, I did discover these 4 short stories.

I think surreal, a little wistful and touching is the best descriptive I can think of for the books I've read by Kaufman and these are no different. "The Mountain Climber at Sea Level" is, perhaps the sadest story I've read by him. I can't really describe it without giving the game away (these stories are all very short), but it's about a mountain climber. "The Gordon Street Haunting" is about love and loss, as is "We Know This is Weird, But We'd Like To Thank You For Bringing Us Together" ...and "I Know This To Be True So I Let It Go" is the most uplifting story of loss of self I've ever come across.

Anyway, if nothing else, follow the link to his website, which is full of links through black and white photos and rather a beautiful thing as a consequence.

Finally, A Calendar of Tales. This is a collaborative project that Gaiman is doing with Blackberry and, well, everyone (link here. Firstly, he posted a question for each month of the year and asked people to respond. He then used his favourite response for each month as inspiration for a short story. Currently, they are asking people to use the short stories as inspiration for their own artwork (can't remember when the deadline is, but I'm sure it won't be long, so if you're interested, follow the link).

As I always find the case with Gaiman's short stories (unlike his novels), these are a little bit hit and miss (although, to be fair, they were written very speedily - and actually, I don't dislike any - I just think some are better than others). They range in topic pretty broadly, but are all fairly abstract. Rather pleasingly (and a little bizarrely as it's strangely appropriate), my favourite is for July and is actually set on my birthday. A man's wife leaves him, so he builds himself an igloo of books and waits for the Northern Lights (as I say, ignoring the departure of the wife, I felt a little like he's been chanelling me). It's very vivid. This one is closely followed as favourite by "May", which just plain made me laugh (question: "What is the weirdest gift you’ve ever been given in May?"; response: "An anonymous Mother’s Day gift. Think about that for a moment."). Actually, "April"'s pretty amusing too...

Anyway, follow the links ;o)

I'm going to get around to REAMDE one of these days--but first I'm going to read the copies of The Diamond Age and Snow Crash that have been in my tbr pile for YEARS!

Welcome back Fliss!

#17 Re kindle mistakes, unfortunately it's not uncommon even for new books (i.e. books that were released in ebook editions when they were first published). I think amazon will refund you if you complain. I have noticed that certain publishers are worse at this than others and I always download a sample of the book first or check the reviews on amazon which occasionally mention things like that.

#20 Hi Roni - I ended up enjoying REAMDE, but I am glad I read it while I was on holiday - I think I might have given up otherwise. The Diamond Age and Snow Crash are much better, so I'd probably leave REAMDE off your list! ;o)

#21 Hi Heather! Re kindle mistakes - that's pretty shoddy. Mind you, I suppose, if I'm buying an e-book for £1.99 (which is the most I've paid for one of my Kindle books so far I think), I probably shouldn't expect the quality to be that of a proper book... I think when I do get round to buying new full price stuff, I'll take a leaf out of your book - sounds very sensible...

So. Quite a bit to catch up on again - I don't have time right now, but I'll be back...:

14) Dotter of Her Father's Eyes - Mary M Talbot and Bryan Talbot
Goal 1: Non Fiction
(01Mar13, Cambridge)

Mary Talbot's semi-autobiography, semi-biography of James Joyce's daughter Lucia, illustrated by her husband, Bryan Talbot (Alice in Sunderland). Talbot's father was a leading Joyce scholar with whom she had a difficult relationship and she found a lot to identify with with Lucia, who also had a complicated relationship with her parents. Their stories are told in tandem and it works well. It's interesting and well done, but for me, perhaps because I couldn't help but compare it with Maus (which is truly wonderful), it lacked a bit of depth - I just wasn't as moved by a story I would have expected, given the sadness of Lucia Joyce's life.

15) John Constantine, Hellblazer: Original Sins - Jamie Delano
(27Feb13, Cambridge)

I've been meaning to try Hellblazer for ages, but my Sandman re-read finally pushed me to get round to it (Constantine makes an appearance in Preludes and Nocturnes). Hmmm. There's a lot of flies in the first part of this. A lot of CLOSE UP flies. I have a bit of a fly phobia. It's a problem. I got beyond it, but I really did have major trouble with the first story. And generally holding onto the book. Anyway, I was going to give a bit of a description, but even just a couple of weeks later, while I remember the outline, it's mostly vanished from my memory (although there is one particular fly image that will never leave...). Basically, it largely felt like scene setting to me, so I'll continue with the next volume to see where it goes.

16) Zoo City - Lauren Beukes
(23Oct12, Kindle)

to be updated

17) The Crane Wife - Patrick Ness
(09Mar13, Cambridge - from the wonderful FlossieT!)

to be updated

18) The Old Ways - Robert MacFarlane
Goal 1: Non Fiction
(19Jun13, Cambridge)

to be updated

19) The Absolute Sandman, vol 1 - Neil Gaiman
Goal 5: ReReads & Group Reads
(?, Cambridge)

Group read for "Preludes and Nocturnes" here.
Group read for "The Doll House" here.
Group read for "Dream Country" here.

to be updated

20) Deadlocked - Charlaine Harris
(Mar2013, Rock Road Library

No real comments about this one. Penultimate book in the Sookie Stackhouse series - good fun as always, but very silly. Looking forward to the last one, which is out in May I think.

Heather, I really liked your idea of "A Century of books", however, I'm going to adapt it to a book for every year of my life (mostly because I didn't begin it in 2000 - I toyed with starting in 1913, but that didn't feel right either!).

I'm not going to include Sandman or Hellblazer as they were published over the course of several years. I'm also not going to include Diana Wynne Jones as I could pick one of her books for almost every year I've been alive and that would be boring. Also, they'd all be re-reads. Maybe I'll include Reflections: On the Magic of Writing though. Hmmm. Good point. Maybe I'll also only list books that are new reads.

I think I'm also going to pick a music track from each year to set beside each book as well, just for some context ;o)

Let's start with 2013....

1977:
1978:
1979:
1980:
1981:
1982:
1983:
1984:
1985:
1986:
1987:
1988:
1989:
1990:
1991:
1992:
1993:
1994:
1995:
1996:
1997:
1998:
1999:
2000:
2001:
2002:
2003:
2004:
2005:
2006:
2007:
2008:
2009:
2010:
2011:
2012:
2013: The Crane Wife - Patrick Ness. Here's a track I heard and loved just the other day: Dreary Town - Nadine Shah

While I'm on a roll, a few photos from Iceland last year (as I've finally got round to putting them on Flickr, where I can reference them...):




...I met up with Darryl and Zoë in San Francisco last autumn (where I had to give a very scary talk at a conference):



...some winter fair/festival-ing:



(top row: Cambridge, Mill Road Winter Fair x2; Brighton, Burning the Clocks
bottom row: Cambridge, Mill Road Winter Fair; Brighton, Burning the Clocks; London, Ice Sculpture Festival x2)

...and more recent ones from Sweden last month:

Love the photos and pleased to see that you are enjoying DWJ's Reflections, I've got it here lined up to read.
Patrick Ness is coming to our book festival in May so I'm looking forward to that and must check my library request for The Crane Wife.

Thanks Kerry. Yep, very much enjoying Reflections - and nearly done now. There are a few chapters I'll probably re-read one or two before I'm done.

The Crane Wife won't be available until April I'm afraid - I'm just very lucky in that Rachael/FlossieT (sharing my love of all things Patrick Ness) very kindly snagged me a copy from work, so I got to read it early (yay!)...

Will come back to update my comments for that and the other missing books later on today...

Kerry, I can't find your thread - am I being blind??

I didn't put my user name in the thread heading so can't expect people to find me easily - here it is: http://www.librarything.com/topic/146483

I'm #1 of 17 requesting The Crane Wife, hopefully the library here will get it close to the UK publication date.

It's also listed in the Threadbook if you lose it again.

Your pics of Iceland really piqued my interest since I'm nearly through the Inspector Erlandur series set there. I really want o visit someday...

Hey, Fliss, just checking in. I really enjoyed Reflections: On the Magic of Writing too.

#22 I've been meaning to try Dotter since it won the Costa biography award so glad you liked it.

#23 Yay re A Century of Books with a nice twist. I like the idea of listing a music track too :-)

#24 And I see why you weren't on LT much - you were jet setting! I would really like to visit Iceland one day and your photos look fantastic.

I love all the photos, Fliss! And your version of a Century of Books, with added music tracks, what a great idea! I think I should try something similar, because while Paul Cranswick has been listing the books, films and albums for each year from the 60s onwards on his thread, I've realised how few of the books I've read from those earlier decades at least, and how little of the music I knew too...

sorry, duplicate post due to slow browser and me trying to save post several times...

A fanfare of trumpets please....:

I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED LES MISERABLES!!!

(...and I will come back to say hallo and update my thread at some point this weekend - off to see a show right now....)

Yay!!!

Congratulations, Fliss!


GIFSoup

BTW, which show are you seeing today?

Congrats!

Just came over here to check that the Felicity who said hello on Facebook was you - which I think it must be! And I see you've finished Les Mis - which is funny because I also just finished it last week - I've been listening on audio since last November, it took about 60 hours (plus several more hours for the bits where I fell asleep/stopped concentrating and had to rewind!). Great story, but I probably know a little more about the Paris sewers than I'm ever likely to need (and that was one of the more comprehensible and interesting digressions...).

Oh dear, sooooo much to catch up on!

#39 Genny, yep, that's me ;o) Will be seeing you on Wednesday I think? Re Les Mis - that made me snicker - I said exactly the same thing to someone just the other day - sewers and convents... It mostly felt like a vehicle for Hugo to pontificate, didn't it?

#35 - 38 Yay - thanks peeps! Only took 2 years...!

Darryl, it was "Children of the Sun" - recommended (I think it's already on your list for when you're over?)

#32 Thanks Genny - the book/music idea stemmed from Heather - clearly, I've got a lot of updating to do....

#31 Heather - re Dottir, I did, but I was expecting a little more of it than I got to be honest. Heartily recommend Iceland - I'll go back in the summer at some point. And hire a car. Definitely would have been better with a car...

#30 Roni, hallo - yep, will probably be re-reading bits of it all year.

#29 Thanks Jim - yes, worth a visit, although as I say above, I'd definitely recommend hiring a car if you can - Reykjavik is pretty small and you'll definitely want to explore outside of it.

#28 Thanks Kerry, will try to drop by soon. Did you manage to get a copy of The Crane Wife and if you did, what did you think?

Books....

21) Miss Lonelyhearts & The Day of the Locust - Nathanel West
(06Nov12, San Francisco)

Hmmm. I wrote down all sorts of comments about this somewhere, but I can't seem to find them right now, which is annoying. I didn't like Miss Lonelyhearts. Yes it kept me reading and there were some great descriptions, but I just found it incredibly difficult to get over how much I disliked every one of the characters. The Day of the Locust less so, but I still didn't particularly get along with it. I'll try and find what I noted down, I'm sure that I had much more constructive things to say nearer to when I actually read it (March!)

22) Reflections: On the Magic of Writing - Diana Wynne Jones
Goal 1: Non-fiction
(May'12, Cambridge)

To be updated

23) Unaccustomed Earth - Jhumpa Lahiri
(27Jan13, borrowed from Rachael)

This was a book club book and I'm afraid it really suffered from the fact that I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to read it at all. A collection of short stories all revolving around Bengali families that have immigrated to the US - first and second generations. They're well written, well observed and have convincing, real characters - the stories are readable and absorbing. Jhumpa Lahiri is also definitely one of those rare writers who gets the short story format exactly right - leaving you at just the right moment in the story, not trying to cram too much in.

But. If I hadn't been reading it for book club, it definitely would have gone back on the shelf to be read at a later date, when I think I would have got on better with it. Particularly the final (and longest) story in the collection, which just felt unnecessarily depressing. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I don't think I'll be doing that if I say that, although it's annoying when a well written story has a too pat, happy ending (not that I'm arguing against happy endings, far from it), it is equally frustrating when the tragic is overplayed. I suppose this is sort of a spoiler, except that you can feel the end coming from very early on, even if you can't guess how it's going to happen - I just felt let down (for the only first time in the collection) by an ending where she hadn't tried hard enough to get the ending right and had been satisfied to go with the obvious (OK, not the how of it, but certainly the outcome).

If this reads as though I am two people that's not surprising - it's a very good case for putting down a book when you're not in sync with it and trying again at another time as I think I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more if I'd been in a different mindset when reading it (although I still would have been frustrated by the ending of the final story in the collection!). I will add that everyone else in the (admittedly small that month) group loved the collection - and, unlike me, none of them are really short story fans.

Hi fliss - Just noticed your post. I got my own copy of The Crane Wife and had it signed by Ness as he came to our writer's festival in May. Still haven't read it and have put it aside to read The Crow Road which has sat unread for a few too many years.

OK, it's late now and I need to go to sleep as I was pretty comatose at work today, so here's the list of books that I'll need to come back to update (besides the books above I haven't yet commented on and some updates to the songs/books list in #23):

24) Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
(02Oct95, Bristol)

Multiple re-read (just felt in the mood for it) - actually, I probably won't comment on this yet again, but will find the last time I commented on it and link back to that...

25) Various Pets Alive & Dead - Marina Lewycka
Goal 2: Books to Read
(2012, Cambridge)

Finally got round to this - enjoyed it, although not quite as much as I would have hoped. I'm not sure I have any more comments on this really, I've already forgotten most of it...

26) The Beast of Wolfe's Bay - Eric Evensen
(April 2013, Cambridge)

A Kickstarter project. Trite, generic and disappointing unfortunately.

29) Old Man's War - John Scalzi
(08Feb13, Kindle)

Part of a pdf/kindle Humble Bundle deal (that I basically purchased to get Lauren Beukes' Zoo City and to try out Kelly Link, with a whole bunch of other stuff by authors I've never read). I was pleasantly surprised by this - I wasn't expecting much but was glued throughout.

30) Magic For Beginners - Kelly Link
(23Oct12, Kindle)

Also part of the Humble Bundle. I hadn't realised she's mostly a short story writer, so the first story caught me out a bit ("but what happens next?" ;o)), but I ended up loving this - truly an original writer. If the Kindle version is anything to go by though, she seems to be marketed rather strangely - I expected gentle children's fantasy type stuff. Definitely not that (and the better for it).

31) Dead Ever After - Charlaine Harris
(07May13, Kindle)

Final Sookie Stackhouse book, good fun and she doesn't mess with the format (I would have been very cross if it had ended differently - this is enjoyable fluff after all), however..., it was bizarre, the ending just sort of rushed up on me and, while it went in the right direction, just felt hurried and lack lustre, leaving me a little disappointed - it felt like she knew how it should end and couldn't be bothered to put the zest into it the denouement that has been there in the rest of the series.

32) Tamsin - Peter S. Beagle
Goal 2: Books to Read
(02Jan10, Cambridge)

Another book that's been on my shelves for ages. It's no Last Unicorn (that's a hard act to follow), but was an enjoyable read nonetheless.

33) Restoree - Anne McCaffrey
(24Mar94, Cambs)

A silly, trusty re-read for when I was feeling a little down in the mouth.

34) Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
Goal 3: 2010/11/12 Books
(Nov 2010, Cambridge)

WOO!

35) A Kestrel For a Knave - Barry Hines
Goal 2: Books to Read
(Borrowed from parents)

The book on which the film "Kes" is based. Glad I finally read it. Rather a depressing story focusing around a boy growing up in a Northern mining town in the '60s who doesn't have a lot to look forward to, but who finds and trains a Kestrel.

36) The Collector Collector - Tibor Fischer
(18May13, South Bank)

Another truly original book - told from the point of view of a very old piece of mutable pottery. Witty and fun.

37) The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
Goal 5: Re-reads & Group Reads
(20Jan01, Cambridge)

Another re-read, but one I've only read once before and have been meaning to re-read for ages. Good timing for a re-read in fact, given that in time and place, it's more or less synonymous with Les Miserables (and, amusingly, even though it's very nearly as long, I read it in about 1/100th the time!)

...and I'm currently reading Popular Music by Mikael Niemi (not really getting on for it, so it's on hold at the moment); Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain (for book club - really enjoying it); Walking on Glass by Iain Banks (which I just started - one I've had a while but hadn't got to, as a salute to an author who will be sadly missed); and I'm still working my way through re-reading Neil Gaiman's Sandman in between other things (currently in the middle of Season of Mists

...I'll be back...

....although I'm not sure when!!

#42 Hi Kerry! How funny - I very nearly picked up The Crow Road instead of Walking on Glass, but, having seen the dramatisation fairly recently, decided to wait a bit for that one.

Hope you enjoy The Crane Wife (signed no less!) ;o)

Hi, Fliss! I picked up that bundle too, but had already ready the Scalzi and Zoo City. Scalzi is an author I enjoy, but his The Android's Dream is my favorite.

Hi Fliss!!!!

Good to see you back here where you belong!

Welcome back!

#45 Hi Roni - it was a pretty good deal, wasn't it?! I came at it via Neil Gaiman, so Humble Bundle is all new to me - was the book deal a one off though? They've only seemed to be advertising Games deals ever since (not interested)... I shall look out for The Android's Dream!

#46 Hi Linda! Thanks! I'll try to come by a bit more frequently...

"You joined LibraryThing on 2006-12-19. Your 7-year Thingaversary is in 160 days" - wow - I hadn't realised I'd been on here so long!

...I will be by soon to top up, I promise ;o)

Fliss, there's a new Humble Bundle out right now. Humble eBook Bundle II--see humblebundle.com, for 5 more days/ Some good books in there, including Shards of Honor by Bujold.

Thanks Roni! Yes, spotted it - and signed up immediately as it included an edition of The Last Unicorn with Two Hearts, which I've been wanting to get my hands on for ages ;o) ...however, it was a bit cheeky - half the books on there were part of the first Humble Bundle, so I've now got 2 copies of several of them...

Anyway, clearly my LT promises are worth nothing... So on to a very belated top up. I'm not going to fill in the missing comment now (although I definitely have things to say about Les Mis & Reflections) - I may write those on my train journey up to Edinburgh (woo!) on Thursday, we'll see how alive I'm feeling.... Anyway...

38) Billy Lynn's Long Half Time Walk - Ben Fountain
(23Feb13, Kindle) Book Group

Another book club book. Do you know, I think I've decided I don't read things with the same kind of depth when I read them on the Kindle, I don't know why. Maybe it's to do with flicking back to re-read less, maybe it's because I tend to be more on the go when I'm reading on the Kindle (and so more stop-and-start-y). No idea. I do know I didn't think about this quite as much as I usually do with book group books.

However.

I did enjoy it very much. This is Billy Lynn and the Alpha Brigade's last day on leave back in the USA before heading back to the Gulf from his perspective, with retrospectives into his past and how he's ended up where he is. Alpha brigade have come home as heroes and are doing a tour of the US, parading in front of a bewildering succession of well-wishers whilst trying to drum up a deal for a film to be made of the battle that made them famous, culminating in a surreal half-time appearance at a Texan ball game.

As people in the group pointed out, there's a bit of a mismatch between Billy's thoughts and his actions and some people found the narrator's voice a bit annoying at first. Reading it at face value though, I was completely swept along and although I wasn't really as emotionally caught up in it as I would have expected to be, I came out the other end a lot more sympathetic with soldiers than I have been and I enjoyed the ride. I also thought that the sections when Billy is immersed in the meet and greets very well depicted and was glad that it ended believably (mostly).

39) Walking on Glass - Iain Banks
(11Oct01, Cambridge)

I've had this for ages (it's a signed copy), but have never quite got round to it. After the sad death of Iain Banks (recently at the time), I thought it was time to pick it up (it was either that or The Crow Road, but I'd seen the TV adaptation of that fairly recently).

For me, Iain Banks is a mixed bag. The Wasp Factory, for example, is an odd one. I read it when I was 16/17 (the more or less the same time I was reading things like Brave New World, Lord of the Flies, Monkey Planet and, in particular 1984, which blew my mind) and I'd never really read anything like it before - I didn't really know what to think and I still don't really, although I remember a lot of it very clearly and I raced through it. I'm not sure that I particularly want to reread it, but on the other hand, it would probably be interesting to see how it works for me now. One of my mates absolutely loves his science fiction, so I tried The Algebraist a few years ago. Really didn't get on with it - I couldn't get beyond the first couple of chapters - there were just too many characters and too much world building. Because this mate loves it so much, I probably will re-try it one day, but not yet. ....But then on the other hand, I thought that Whit was absolutely brilliant. Again, I read this when I was 17/18 (probably the perfect age to read Iain Banks in general I think) and it really got me thinking about organised religion (all varieties) in a way I never had before. No idea how I would react to it now - I should probably re-read it - but it was an important book for me at the time.

Anyway, the point of this is that, no matter what you think of the writing of Iain Banks, he was innovative and has had a big impact on many people. His early death was very sad.

Back to Walking on Glass... Yes, well. This is one of those that was a bit meh for me. There were great elements (student on his way to tell the woman he adores that he loves her), but it just never really gripped me - particularly the more outlandish part - an old man and woman battling out unusual board games in a mysterious tower somewhere. I don't really know how to describe the plot properly, but suffice it to say that I found the book a little unformed. This said, it's an original one and memorable. Yep. Still don't really know how I feel about Iain Banks' writing.

40) The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
(15Jun13, Cambridge)

Yes, that's right - I got to read it before it was officially published (*smug grin*)... ...and had it signed, along with my Absolute Sandman IV at the Cambridge University Debating Society (*obnoxiously smug grin*)...

Anyway, comments on this to follow. I think I'm going to have to re-read it to formulate my thoughts properly. I was actually a little disappointed (I know, I know, everyone else thinks it's the best thing he's ever done) - not that I didn't enjoy it, but possibly I'd been looking forward to it just a little bit too much. This said, I keep having retrospective thoughts on it. So yep, going to have to re-read it before I can comment properly.

Basic plot outline though - semi-autobiographical author finds himself returning to his childhood home following a funeral (his father's I'm going to guess) and makes his way to the farm at the end of the lane, where he re-meets one of the ladies living there in his childhood. All sorts of strange and scary memories come back to him...

41) The Marriage Plot - Jeffrey Eugenides
Goal 2: Books to read
(03Nov12, Cambridge)

Love triangle revolving round 3 rather self-interested students, a brilliant biochemist with manic depression, a beautiful girl who's never really thought about anyone besides herself researching The Marriage Plot in 18th/19thC fiction, and an independent individual searching for himself and a religious truth.

Hmmm. Having loved Middlesex, I was very disappointed. I think Eugenides writing style is wonderful, and there were amusing moments, but I just never really got going with this. I didn't care about any of the characters particularly (except for the last in the list above) and I didn't really see anything special about it beyond the writing itself. I think manic depression has been written about better, however he'd definitely done his research with the molecular biology.

42) Started Early, Took My Dog - Kate Atkinson
(25Jun11, Cambridge)

4th installment of the Jackson Brodie series. I really do enjoy Kate Atkinson's writing - most of her characters are extremely convincing, even in less that believable situations. The first in the series, Case Histories, continues to be my favourite, but I enjoyed this very much. Looking forward to the next one ....and to reading Life After Life, which I plan to get when I'm up in Edinburgh next week...

43) The Crystal Cave - Mary Stewart
Goal 5: Re-reads & Group Reads
(18Oct96, Cambs)

Mary Stewart's version of the childhood of Merlin and the birth of Arthur (later of Camelot... ;o)). (First in a series)

A multiple re-read of, for me, easily the best think Mary Stewart has written. I love this - I was always more interested in Merlin that Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, so although I first read this in my teens, I've still to get to The Wicked Day, although I've read the two intervening books.

44) Moxyland - Lauren Beukes
(Jun13, Kings Cross)

To be updated

45) The Garden Party and Other Stories - Katherine Mansfield
(21Nov00, Cambridge)

To be updated

46) The Last Unicorn & Two Hearts - Peter S Beagle
(??, Cambridge + Kindle)

Re-read + new short story

To be updated

47) Mountains of the Moon - I J Kay
(06Jul13, Cambridge)

On recommendation from Rachael/FlossieT & one of her colleagues/friends (at the Kiss Me First Book Launch, heh heh heh).

To be updated

48) Magic Rises - Ilona Andrews
(01Aug13, Cambridge)

Most in the extremely silly, but great fun Kate Daniels series. Not much to say about this - they series is definitely not for everyone, but not badly written for what they are and good pure escapism. They've sensibly transferred the action away from Atlanta to Europe for this book (I genuinely couldn't remember if I'd read the last one before for the first few chapters, the start being so similar to previous books).

Currently reading The Zero Train, The Chemistry of Tears and still re-reading the Sandman series.

...will update my lifetime of books & music thingy soon too...

Hi Fliss! How are things in Cambridge? I decided to drop by and visit some 75er threads. I'm hanging out over on the category challenge these days. It's a lot easier to keep up with threads over there.
Love your pictures of Iceland. Did you stay in the Ice Hotel in Sweden? I want to stay in one of the Ice Hotels some day.
How are you progressing with the DWJ bibliography?

Hey, Fliss, good to see you've been keeping busy reading!

Hi Fliss - you've been doing some great reading recently. I'm going to hear Neil Gaiman on Tuesday in Ely, so now wishing that I hadn't bought kindle edition of The Ocean At the End of the Lane.

#55 Hi VB! Ah, I had thought you'd disappeared a bit. Category challenge you say? I haven't really come across that one - I'll take a look ;o) I'm afraid I've been very rubbish again this year and don't drop by very often. When I do, I take one look at everyone's incredibly active threads and mostly run off in terror...

Thanks re pics. Nope, re Ice Hotel - it was way out of my budget, so I just went on a day trip to look around (even that cost ~£30 - they're pretty big on the cash in!). Actually, when I was researching places to stay, I found somewhere else nearby that sounded better and cheaper, albeit without the amazing ice scuptures (but they were booked up when I wanted to stay as my trip was very last minute). I'll try to find it again and post here, in case you haven't come across it.

Re DWJ, I've completely finished re-reading everything, but am very behind on writing up my comments here. I'm going to Italy with my parents and sister and her family on Saturday and (because of the little people), it probably won't be as active a holiday as I usually have (lots of swimming and lazing), so I plan to write lots of updates while I'm over there (although I probably won't post until I get back).

How's stuff over on the Category challenge?!

#56 Hi Roni - yep, although again this year, I've been reading a lot slower than usual, I'm not quite sure why I've hit this slump really, it's very unlike me!

#57 Hi Rhian and thanks! Yes, this is a big problem with Kindles... I've had him sign my diary in the past though - he'll sign other things ;o) How was it - I ended up seeing him in both London and in Cambridge for one reason and another - was very pleased to discover that, beyond the main patter about how the book came into being, he talked about completely different things both times. Did you enjoy Ely?

#59 Gaiman's talk was great but I never did get anything personal signed in the end as I was 391st (out of 800+) in the signing queue which was moving very slowly and we couldn't stay late enough. But I did succumb to a pre-signed hardback copy of The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

#60 Ah, what a shame. I do know that he was signing until 1am after the Oxford one, so probably a good decision however. I'm sure that there'll be other occassions though...

Do you know about his Fortunately, the Milk... event? (Stuff about it here and here)

....oooh and Rhian, you may be interested in this too... (I can't, but...)

I will come back, I promise, but in the meantime, I thought people might enjoy a very interesting Front Row interview with Michael Morpurgo that I just listened to (it starts 5:25 mins in, if you don't want to hear the (actually quite funny) review of Atlantis first).

Lots to update, but here's a list of what I've been reading, just for the time being...:

49) The Zero Train - Yuri Buda (bleak but interesting)
50) The Chemistry of Tears - Peter Carey (not bad, but my least favourite Peter Carey to date)
51) Broken Homes - Ben Aaronovitch (next in the Peter Grant series, fun, but not life altering)
52) Horns - Joe Hill (novel idea, kept me guessing) (Brighton WFC author)
53) Before I Go To Sleep - S J Watson (great holiday reading)
54) Machine of Death - Various (really enjoyable/intriguing collection of thoughtful short stories)
55) Some Kind of Fairy Tale - Graham Joyce (disappointing modern fairy story) (Brighton WFC author)
56) The Half Brothers - Elizabeth Gaskell (sad novella)
57) Skagboys - Irvine Welsh (disappointing prequel to Trainspotting)
58) Impossible - Nancy Werlin (mediocre modern fairy tale)
59) The Testament of Mary - Colm Tóibín (meh - I expected this to be more thought provoking than I found it personally).
60) How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff (saw the film at the Cambridge Film Festival + Q&A with Kevin Macdonald - book v different to the film...)
61) Stoner - John Williams (a book club read - took me a while to get into, but glad I stuck with it in the end).
62) The Not Yet - Moira Crone (very readable random book shop purchase).
63) Only Forward - Michael Marshall Smith (reread for Brighton WFC book group, enjoyable fluff, but not sure how easy it will be to discuss)
64) Outcast - Rosemary Sutcliff (great stuff - loved Rosemary Sutcliff when I was growing up, but there're a whole bunch that I never knew about, it being pre-internet and all, this is one of those, found cheap for Kindle).

Hey, Fliss! Good to see you were able to meet up with Darryl.

*waving* at Fliss

Hi Fliss, long time no see etc. Thanks for your comments on Skagboys, I've tried reading it and listening to it but keep zoning out on all the dialect. Doesn't sound like a must read.

#65 Hi Roni! Yep, we went to see a couple of shows (both of which were good, but not jaw dropping), then back to Cambridge for pub food with Rachael/FlossieT after the second one. All good fun!

#66 Hallo Stasia!

#67 Hi Kerry! Yep, I think I have to accept the fact that I'm going to continue to be rubbish about this, although I'll probably add a few more comments to some of the above...

Re Skagboys, I've never really had a problem reading the dialect, but I can definitely see that it might be tough work if you're not very used to Scottish accents!

Hmmm. It wasn't a bad book as such - and it certainly had a few good moments (a stint in rehab in particular), but (much like a lot of his other stuff in my opinion I'm afraid), it was just nothing like as good as Trainspotting. Honestly, I don't think you'll lose out by not reading it. It fattens up the characters a bit (it basically describes everyone's path into addiction and Renton's loss of self in particular), but actually, everyone came across that bit nastier than they had done previously. Like Porno, it's more linear than Trainspotting and is much more traditional in style (although not as much so as Porno - there are a few random anecdotes scattered throughout), but there's not a lot of plot (not that this is necessarily a bad thing).

Anyway, my main feeling as I was reading it was that I really wanted to be reading Trainspotting again instead. I probably shall do at some point soon...

Hi Flies! I saw Outcast in the kindle sale but some of the reviews said it was darker than other Sutcliffe's so I didn't buy it as I'm not really in the mood for dark at the moment. Should I reconsider?

Hi Heather! I wouldn't say that Outcast was any darker than, for example Warrior Scarlet or Knight's Fee really (my two favourites - if you haven't read them, you should) - I mean yes, bad stuff happens, but, if I'm honest here, it follows a similar formula to her other stuff - there is sadness and there are trials to overcome, but there are also always people whose support makes all the difference and you know that it'll all more or less work out fine in the end. I'd say it's pretty good comfort reading to be honest, as long as you read it all in one go ;o) Therapeutic anyway... Hope that helps?

Anyone with a Kindle, Hanif Kureishi's wonderful Buddha of Suburbia is in Amazon's daily deal today - highly recommended.

More to add - and may come back shortly to expand a bit on a few of these (and the above):

65) The Waterproof Bible - Andrew Kaufman
(10Sep13, Kindle)

Another slightly off the wall strangely uplifting book (Andrew Kaufman's good at this) - however, although I enjoyed this, I wouldn't class it with All My Friends are Superheroes, Born Weird or his short stories - the plot is less cohesive than his other stuff - there are a few too many stories happening at once.

66) Banished - Liz de Jager
(03Nov13, Brighton WFC)

A freebee trade paperback from the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton that I went to last week (more on which later) - honestly, I picked it up basically because it's got a really beautiful cover (oh dear). Not particularly well written and started off a bit like your typical teenage supernatural kind of thing (16 year old girl who, after the death of her grandmother, discovers that her family are hereditary monster slayers - sort of - a year on, a beautiful fae prince turns up on the lam and her world is turned upside down, cue potential end of the world), however, I ended up completely absorbed and will definitely be reading the next in the series when it eventually comes along.

67) More Than This - Patrick Ness
(05Oct13, Kings X)

I realised when reading this that, like Neil Gaiman, Patrick Ness has a very distinctive voice - you can hear his voice as you read.

The book starts very dramatically with a boy (the central character) drowning. He then wakes up, nearly naked in the middle of the street outside the house he lived in until the age of 8, when something terrible happened to his family. Something which was his fault. But something strange is going on. He should be dead - he definitely died - and the world is covered in dust and weeds and, more importantly, he's completely alone.

Again, I really enjoyed this (and spent most of today reading it), but it doesn't really compare with A Monster Calls, The Chaos Walking Trilogy or Topics About Which I Know Nothing. I've a feeling that if I read it again, there might be one or two plot holes - the plot resolution just didn't entirely work for me - not because it didn't make sense, but because it just didn't feel complete exactly - it's hard to describe. I certainly feel as though I've been left with a lot of questions (not in a bad way, but..).

I succumbed to The Buddha of Suburbia by about 9am this morning. I've never read it but I remember seeing the TV adaptation years ago. I've heard good things about More than this as well: it appeals to me rather more than The Chaos Walking Trilogy, which we've had on the bookcase for ever but I've never quite got around to.

Hi all!

I plan to come back again this weekend (honest) and update a bit more, but in the meantime, thought some of you might be interested in the below radio 4 programmes I heard this week:

The pianist Alfred Brendel on Desert Island Discs

Donna Tartt talking about "The Goldfinch" on Front Row - Rachael (FlossieT) and I went to see her speaking the the Cambridge Union on Wednesday and to be honest, I didn't come away feeling particularly satisfied, but it was still interesting. This is a better interview...

#72 Yay re The Buddha of Suburbia! I hope you enjoy it now... I remember the TV adaptation (it had Naveen Andrews before anyone knew who he was) and it was a very good adaptation. I haven't read it in a while, it may be time to pick it up again!

Re More Than This, I did enjoy it, but I'd say The Chaos Walking trilogy are better... ;o)

Ooooh, another excellent Amazon Kindle Daily Deal today (The Princess Bride) - one of my favourite books...

:-( Not on the US Amazon.

Oooh, sorry Roni, that was unkind of me!

Oh so many updates to make! I think I'm finally going to have to admit to myself that I'm just not going to update everything that's missing, however, I will write an update before the end of the year. I don't want to give up on LibraryThing just yet, soI'll probably revert back to the one line reviews (as in #64) next year, unless there's something I particularly want to say.

Anyway, for now (as I'm at work at the moment), just dropped by to say that most of Neil Gaiman's books are currently VERY cheap on UK Amazon Kindle just for today (also, Andrew Kaufman's lovely All My Friends are Superheroes has also been at 99p for quite a while)

PS currently reading Life After Life, which I'm consuming fairly quickly, although I keep wondering how she's going to die next...

Merry Christmas, Fliss!

#79 Thanks Roni - and a Happy New Year to you!

...think I'm going to have to give up on this thread again (although I'll probably post a list of the rest of the books I read) and start again in the 2014 stream...