2015 is a new year!

And I have so far read a grand total of one book. I won't hit the magic number but I will have fun trying :)

1) Clear Light of Day by Desai. Nutshell: woman returns to her childhood home to visit. Her sister never married and remained in the home along with their autistic brother. In part, it's a story about consequences and unfulfilled dreams. But it's also about discovering that life maybe isn't quite as bad as you thought it was.

2) An Artist of the Floating World by Ishiguro. Interesting mix of art and politics in mid-century Japan. It would help if I had a better understanding of Japanese politics as much went over my head I am sure but it was enjoyable nonetheless. A few of the characters drove me nuts but I suppose the sexism was a sign of the times.

3) Shining by King. Spooky and way better than the movie.

^ I was so scared by the movie, I don't dare read the book!

Yup, the book is way spookier. Hence the fact that it's now 11:40pm and I am still awake :)

4) Remembrance by MacLeod - very, very short but really, really good. It was the last published work of his before he died.

5) Catch-22 by Heller. I will have to re-read this later on because there is just so much in there. Very humourous and tongue-in-cheek look at war and all its glorious hypocrisy.

> 6 I put Remembrance on my Kindle wish list.

6) Death Sentence by Blanchot. Meh... not my cup of tea. I thought it might be a book about death and losing someone but apparently not. Foucault may like it but I didn't.

7) Jealousy by Robbe-Grillet

You started late and now are coming on like a house on fire!

8) Woman at Point Zero by El Saadawi - wow, what a sad tale about a woman who, in her short miserable life, finally finds peace in death.

>11 pmarshall: - I have started so many books this year and made a pact with myself that this weekend I would actually finish a few!

9) Girl is a Half-Formed Thing by McBride. If not for my aim to read all Orange winners, I would have given up on this read from the start. I tend to shy away from experimental literature (and am not a fan of Joyce) and generally hate 'stream of consciousness' writing. But I stuck with this one and am glad I did. There is something genuine about the voice that came through and it captivated me to the end.

SNOW DAY (for the first time in the whole 8 years I have worked with my current employer!!). So I read a book...

10) Super Sad True Love Story by Shteyngart. Cool premise but really crappy love story. I work in insurance so the whole concept of being defined by credit wasn't much of a stretch for me (sadly enough). But the lopsided love story was just sad and pathetic. Free Lenny!

11) The Garden Party by Mansfield. How have I never read this short story?

> 14 What else would you do but read a book - snow days are a gift!

12) Suite Francaise by Nemirovsky. Not sure why this sat unread on the shelf for years because it's awesome. I knew a bit of Nemirovsky's story beforehand but reading the footnotes and appendices really hammered home what a tragedy her death was. So sad.

13) On the Road by Kerouac. Finished and enjoyed it a lot more than I thought. But seriously, if this wasn't written when it was, would we like it half as much? Stoned dudes travel across North America and don't do much of anything except get further stoned and leave a few illegitimate babies behind.

14) Embers by Marai. A well-written, engrossing story of a love triangle. Another awesome read!

> 14 I added Embers to my Amazon.ca wish list.

I will send you my copy if want it.

> 21
That would be wonderful.
11-120 Sunset Drive
Fredericton, NB
E3A 1A3

Thank you.

Consider it done :)

15) Tesseract by Garland. The story itself was okay but a bit confusing. But, the way the story was written was really neat. I love how you got bits and pieces and then, as the story progressed, everything came together. By the end, I got the title.

16) Left-Handed Woman by Handke. That was a rather uncomfortable read.

17) The Electric Kool-Aid Test by Wolfe. Having never read anything that Wolfe has written, colour me surprised at how well he writes! Wasn't really sure what to expect with this one to be honest.

18) Delicious by Reichl. Her first foray into fiction. Despite the story being a little weak at times, I enjoyed it. It reads like a memoir for the first half but then the mystery begins and a story unfolds.

I also liked #17 a lot, but in contrast I felt "The Right Stuff and "Radical Chic" were disappointing. A little too much breathless adoration going on, and they felt a little long. "Bonfire of the Vanities" is still on my list, though...

Bonfire is on the list for this year so we will see how it goes. He is rather long-winded... :)

I am following up my journey through the lives of the merry pranksters by reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Halfway through and it's pretty good so far. And then, because I apparently can't get enough of the drug culture, probably Trainspotting.

19) Trainspotting by Welsh. I now know more about drug culture than I ever wanted to know.

So what will you read about next? I don't tend to plan my reading, what I think will be next often gets shoved aside by something else, something totally different. Right now I am reading a mystery featuring a highly intelligent woman with autism (boy have I learned a lot) and a female muslim doctor educated in the U.S. and now working in Saudi Arabia.

Embers arrived. Thank you.

I am in the middle of Oscar and Lucinda by Carey right now. Not sure what will follow. I am reading a lot of the 1001 Books right now so probably something else on that list.

I am glad that the postal worker found you! Enjoy :)

20) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Kesey. Another good book (and good movie as well). Maybe there is something to this merry prankster thing.

21) Black Dogs by McEwan. The only other McEwan book I have read was Atonement (and thought it was okay but not really worth the hype) so I wasn't sure what to expect with this one. But I really enjoyed it. It's a slim little book but he does a lot in those short pages. He brought all the characters to life so it was easy to connect with them.

22) American Psycho by Ellis. What does one really say about this novel? At first I found it really creepy simply because the actual violence was never described, just hinted at. In the middle of a conversation, Bateman would slip in a 'btw, last night I killed and mutilated someone' but people would talk over him and no one noticed what he said. But then that changed and the descriptions got worse as the novel progressed (to the point where I just had to skip over parts because it was really graphic).

The novel was disturbing and quite hard to read at times but also fascinating. This is a regular guy, rich and successful, but regular. He is the Ted Bundy who works beside you for years and you never guess what he is really up to. He drops umpteen hints but no one really believes him because he is just 'that guy'. It is also a peek into the mind of someone who is escalating into madness. At times, he is really normal but then something benign happens and he turns into a monster.

I think I need to read something a little more upbeat next :)

I think so too. :)

23) I tried for upbeat and got stupid. Not sure what happened as I usually like Hornby but How to Be Good was really, really dumb. I just got his new one from the library so it better make up for it!

24) Motive by Kellerman. Might be time to hang up your pen my friend. A bit on the boring side and not very believable.

25) House of Spirits by Allende. My first Allende and I really liked it. The characters, even when I hated them, were real and intriguing. And there was even a bit of a history lesson in there as well.

>39 Yells:

Where do you think Zero is? Maybe he will suddenly pop up with them all read?!

I guess he did pop up again :)

26) Here and Now by Auster and Coetzee. Hunh, two of my favourites authors corresponding? Sign me up....

27) Obsession in Death by Robb. This month's brain candy.

I am glad you popped up again! :)

Thanks - I finally finished a book! Or I guess, a few books. This is a well-needed catch-up weekend.

28) Station Eleven by Mandel. Interesting but a little too much like Oryx and Crake. I didn't want to compare but I did.

29) Oscar and Lucinda by Carey. Finally finished this one. Not really sure what to think to be honest. It reminded me a lot of Poisonwood Bible.

>44 Yells:
I could not get into Poisonwood Bible regardless of its high recommendations.

I liked Poisonwood Bible but probably because the father in the book reminded me a lot of my grandfather - they were both overly religious and a little too hypocritical.

30) Conversations in Sicily by Vittorini. Short and rather weird.

I hope your grandfather had some other redeeming qualities that made him a "grandfather?" Both of mine died before I was born so I have a glorified image of grandfathers from books, but when I see my brother with his 5 grandchildren, all below 5, he is super. As for grandmothers, one I don't remember very well and the other was a dour Scot who didn't open up much to her kids let alone grandchildren.

Nope, that grandfather was an ass. He claimed to be very religious but then invited his mistress to all our family gatherings and made us call her Aunt Liz (my grandmother was there and put up with it all for whatever reason). My maternal grandparents both died when I was young so I don't remember them at all. I had a great aunt who filled the role nicely so I guess I was lucky in that respect.

I am glad that your brother recognises the importance of grandparents. And I am sure that you do your own spoiling :)

30) Youth by Coetzee. Probably should have read Boyhood first - it might have set the stage a bit better. As usual, it was beautifully written but I was rather annoyed. I understand that this semi-autobiographical and maybe that was my issue. I didn't read this as an account of someone trying to find their way in the world. I read it more as a story about someone who doesn't fit in but really doesn't do anything to fit in. Coetzee is one of my favourite authors so it was weird to read about him not being 'perfect'. I might have to re-read it later after reading the first and then the third of the series and see if that makes a difference.

>49 Yells:
When I read authors I like and then find out their faults I am disappointed in them. I forget they are human and I have placed them on a pedestal of sorts and they only have so much leeway. As you say they are suppose to be perfect.

My sister will be 64, "will you still need me will you still feed me when I am 64*," on Tuesday so I found some really old pictures of her and cleaned they up to put on her Facebook and send to her in frames. I hope she likes them. She is the youngest of four so there aren't as many pictures of her as the rest of us. She has complained of this so a sign that this will be a good present.
* That was written when Macartney was 15 for his father's 64 birthday, when he got together with Lennon it be came a hit! So Sally informed me yesterday!

We do put them on a pedestal don't we? It was a weird experience!

That's an awesome gift :-)

31) Junky by Burroughs. Every reason why I will never be a junky right here in one book!

32) Queer by Burroughs. Odd book.

33) Naked Lunch by Burroughs. No idea what I just read but at times, it rather interesting. Of course, it was also highly disturbing and weird but I suppose if one could crawl into an addict's mind, this is pretty much what you would find.

34) Glamorama by Ellis. Nope, this was an odd book. I am still not 100% what the point of it was.

35) Crash by Ballard. Highly disturbing yet beautifully written... I've read a few of those recently :)

36) War With the Newts by Capek. I LOVED this one. The irony, the sarcasm, the creativity... all of it. I just returned from a trip to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis and the parallels were a little uncanny.

You are tossing them off day after day it seems. Good for you!

It's been an interesting year so far but I think things are settling down. I have my mojo back :)

37) Jazz by Morrison. Another good one (although, it's Morrison... so really, it's all good right?) Her language just flows along so nicely even when she is telling a difficult story.

38) Vernon God Little by Pierre. Parts were funny but overall this one was rather stupid. But, I guess someone somewhere saw something redeeming in it to award it the Booker Prize.

39) Wild Boys by Burroughs. Ugh...

>38 Yells:
I often wonder about the people who select prizing winning books that are difficult to read, stupid, poorly written, have no redeeming features...I could go on... :)

40) Less Than Zero by Ellis. Another about bored rich kids. I think I need to find a different genre.

Sometimes nominees make perfect sense but other times, you have to wonder what the judges were smoking that day....

41) Novel with Cocaine by Ageyev. Beautifully written (and translated) but way too short. It seemed rather abrupt at times - or is maybe that was the point? Either way, I think I have had enough of drug/sex/violence for now so next will be something a little more upbeat (hopefully).

42) Holder of the World by Mukherjee. I quite liked this one. It's an interesting mix of old and new, near and far. A 20th century asset hunter is tracing the life of Hannah Easton in an attempt to locate a legendary diamond called the Emperor's Tear. The story moves from 17th century Salem across the ocean to India and chronicles the rather unconventional life that Hannah lead. The ending was a little odd but overall, it was quite good.

43) Germinal by Zola. This one takes place in a French mining community in the late 1800s and chronicles a series of revolts over working conditions and pay. Zola does a fantastic job of capturing the cold, wet, blackness of the mines and the gnawing hunger in the bellies of those who work it. And the juxtaposition between the workers begging for food against the owners complaining about the workers having too much was dead on. The scariest part of this novel is how little things have really changed.

44) Tipping the Velvet by Waters. Meh...

45) The Definitive Guide to Stuff White People Like by Lander. Funny but I think it should be named 'Stuff Rich White People Like'. My richer friends scored much higher on the overall scale than I did :)

46) Family Matters by Mistry. This one had just about everything: religion, politics, family drama and a little bit of karma thrown in at the end for good measure.

47) Daydreams of Angels by O'Neill. An odd, eclectic and surreal collection of stories.

48) Mad World - as a fan of British new wave music, this was a blast from the past. And a good warm-up for when I see Tears for Fears next month.

49) Things That Make us (Sic) by Brockenbrough. Part grammar guide, part memoir and part critique of bad-spelling everywhere... it made me laugh (and feel better about my own spelling and grammar)

I have been wondering about you, glad to have you back!
Penny

July was a truly horrible month but August is looking better. I was actually able to start AND finish a book this weekend.

50) Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned From Judy Blume by O'Connell. Cute essays about growing up and learning from the school of Judy Blume. I could definitely relate to more than one of these. Light and fluffy and just what I needed.

A week at a cottage without wi-fi and TV was JUST what I needed... 7 more books down.

51) Kitchen by Yoshimoto. Two short stories about love, loss and the ties that bind.

52) Glass Bees by Junger. Interesting premise but I kept waiting for the story to start. My idea of what it was about was quite different from what I read.

53) Silas Marner by Eliot. Loved it.. I was iffy on Middlemarch so wasn't really looking forward to reading any more but this was on my e-reader and I ran out of paper books so gave it a go

54) The Fall Lescroart. I normally like his stuff but this was a little too far-fetched.

55) Life Among the Savages by Jackson. The first of two memoirs in an omnibus I picked up while away. I haven't read any of Jackson's fiction but her non-fiction was hilarious.

56) Raising Demons by Jackson. The second in the omnibus and just as funny.

57) Chitlin Circuit and the Road to Rock and Roll. After a trip to Memphis this summer, this was a neat journey into the origins of Rock'n'Roll.

58) Midaq Alley by Mahfouz. I think I may have to read more of his stuff... this one was great! In some ways, it reads like a soap opera. It's a close look at the life of a small group of people and how they interact with each other on a daily basis. But then you have this wonderful prose that elevates it up. He really brings everyone to life and you find yourself loathing some people while actively cheering others on.

59) Hollywood: A Third Memoir by McMurtry. I quite enjoyed the first two (one was memories of his fiction writing career and the other his journey into running an antiquarian bookstore) so I was excited to that there was a third one that I had missed. This one is a look into his screenwriting career and while interesting, it rambled quite a bit.

60) Babbitt by Lewis. Not sure what to think of this one. I loved Main Street so I was very excited about reading another one but I spent most of the time being really, really annoyed by Babbitt and his treatment of others. I get the whole 'the grass is greener on the other side' sentiment and the feeling of restlessness with life but his whiny lack of appreciation for things really grated. Of course, I am dealing with ungrateful siblings right now so that is definitely playing into my frustration.

Siblings who whine are pretty bad but add ungrateful and you do have the worst. Why won't they just listen and hear what is said?! My sympathy and understanding.

61) Summer by Wharton. I am not sure whether I am more annoyed with Charity for being an ungrateful brat or sad that she fell into the same trap that many other women have fallen into over the years. This one is a short tale but Wharton packs a lot in.

>80 pmarshall: - You can choose your friends but not your family right? :) I just spent a lovely week up north near Algonquin Park with great friends and tried to forget all about my sibs. Every once in awhile, it's nice to recharge the batteries and focus again on what is important in life. It also kick started my love of reading so things are definitely better these days. Thanks for your kind thoughts!

>82 Yells:
Glad things are looking up! The Algonquin Park area is so beautiful it has to lift one's spirits, especially when shared with good friends.

62) Surfing the Himalayas by Lenz. This is one of those books that had I discovered it when I was a teen, I would have thought I found the answer to life, the universe and everything (except now I know that Adams cornered that market first). It's an interesting tale I suppose but man, it's cheesy. Snowboard dude travels to Nepal and discovers his inner Buddha.

63) Wretched Writing by Petras. Wow, just wow. It's amazing to me how some people actually get published.

>85 Yells:
Does the writing match the title?

Oops, I probably should have explained the book better! It's a collection of really bad writing (really, really bad writing). It's broken down alphabetically into different sections ranging from rambling sentences to bad metaphors and includes some fairly well-known authors surprisingly enough.

64) Dining on Stones by Sinclair. Inane, post-modernist crap. I promised that I would read it and I did. Now it can go off to a charity shop and maybe someone else can make sense of it.

65) Armada by Cline. Silly and far-fetched nerdy brain candy.

66) Lightning Stones by Du Brul. I was rather excited to see that he was writing again (under his own name and for himself that is) but this one was meh. It was a little too improbable and sexist.

67) Thirteen Reasons Why by Asher. Interesting premise but meh overall.

68) Anguished English by Ledererer. Short and funny and off the shelf.

69) Crazy English by Lederer. Another short, funny one off the shelf.

70) Troubles by Farrell. An odd Irish soap opera kind of book.

71) The Westing Game by Raskin. I needed something to listen to on a long car ride and this one was available. Interesting premise and an enjoyable YA book.

72 A Life With Words by Wright. A memoir by one of my favourite Canadian authors. Enjoyable as well.

At this rate, it will be a miracle if I hit 100 by year end. Home renos and family issues have put a damper on my reading this year but it ain't over til it's over!

73) Arvida by Samuel. Some good, some not-so-good short stories.

74) Go Set a Watchman by Lee. Shouldn't have read it. It was going well and then the ending made me want to punch a wall.

75) X by Grafton. Not bad but I am glad that the alphabet is almost done so maybe she will write something a little different.

76) Fifteen Dogs by Alexis

77) Final Solution by Chabon

78) The Collector by Fowles

79) Burial Rites by Kent

80) Keep the Aspidistra Flying by Orwell

81) A Study in Scarlet by Doyle

82) Sign of Four by Doyle

83) Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Doyle

84) Body Snatcher and Other Stories by Stevenson

85) Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Doyle

86) Return of Sherlock Holmes by Doyle

87) Hound of the Baskervilles by Doyle

88) Confidence by Smith

89) Last Night in Twisted River by Irving

90) The Crossing by Connelly

91) Murder Must Advertise by Sayers

92) Undermajordomo Minor by deWitt

93) Nine Tailors by Sayers

94) Amok by Zweig

95) The Child in Time by McEwan

96) The Thin Man by Hammett

97) Cain by Saramago