EllaTim's Reading and More in 2019-2

This is The Reading House, in Amsterdam north. Must be the smallest library in Amsterdam. Located in the Tolhuistuin complex: once upon a time the ferry from Amsterdam to the north landed here, and of course there was a pub. But now it's a cultural centre. And this small building? Couldn't find what it's destination has been, but now a small library. Bring your own books, pick them up. And they give volunteer language lessons for refugees:-)

Hi, I'm Ella, living in Amsterdam, with my husband Marc. Thought it would be nice to start my thread with something that makes me smile. Other things are books, of course, cats, and our allotment garden.

Edited 19-10 to replace the picture with something that hopefully will show up.

Read in 2019

1. Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors (Denmark) ****
2. The Chosen by Chaim Potok (USA) ****
3. Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine (USA) ***1/2
4. Old Filth by Jane Gardam (UK) ****1/2
5. Darwin in de stad by Menno Schilthuizen (dutch) ****
6. Begin van een onbekend tijdperk by Konstantin Paustovskij ***1/2 (Russia, Ukrain)
7. Amstelglorie by Onno Blom ****1/2 * (but actually by Jan Wolkers)
8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett ****
9. Het Pauperparadijs by Suzanna Jansen (Dutch) ***1/2
10. Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride (UK) ****
11. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens ****
12. The Maze Runner by James Dashner ***
13. Dying Light by Stuart MacBride ***1/2 (UK)
14. A history of loneliness by John Boyne (Ireland) ****1/2
15. Uprooted by Naomi Novik (fantasy, audio) ***1/2
16. De verborgen universiteit by Natalie Koch (fantasy, audio, Dutch) ***1/2
17. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (UK) ****1/2
18. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (audio, Australia)
19. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy (UK, 1905) **1/2
20. De kaart van zout en sterren The map of Salt and stars by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar (USA, Syria) (audiobook, 2018)
21. The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam (UK) ****
22. De Cock en de vermoorde onschuld by Peter Römer (audio, Dutch, 2015) ***1/2
23. De Levens van Jan Six by Geert Mak (dutch) ****
24. DNA by Yrsa Sigurdardottir (Iceland) (English title: The Legacy) ***
25. Beestachtige Zaken by Donna Leon (audio, in dutch) ***1/2
26. Ik aanbid je by Donna Leon (audio) ***1/2
27. Tegenlicht by Esther Verhoef (dutch) ***1/2
28. Raadselvader by Jolande Withuis (Dutch, audio) ****1/2
29. The woman in white by Wilkie Collins (UK, audio) ****
30. Gaat je geheugen kapot, als je teveel voor je computer hangt by Erik Scherder (dutch, audio) ****
31. Indische Duinen by Adriaan van Dis (Dutch) ***1/2
32. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (UK, audio) ****
33. Op oorlogspad in Japan by Adriaan van Dis (Dutch) ****
34. A cold red sunrise by Stuart M. Kaminsky **** (USA)
35. De Meisjes van de Suikerwerkfabriek by Tessa de Loo (dutch) **
36. Life after Life by Kate Atkinson (UK) ****
37. The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard (UK) ****1/2
38. De Scheepsjongens van Bontekoe by Johan Fabricius (dutch, audio, 1924) ***1/2
39. The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard 1 (UK)****
40. Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard 2 (UK)****
41. Confusion by Elizabeth Jane Howard 3 (UK)****
42. Casting Off by Elizabeth Jane Howard (UK)****
43. The Outrun by Amy Liptrot (UK, ****)
44. My Antonia by Willa Cather (USA, ****)
45. Stenen voor een ransuil by Maarten 't Hart **** (Dutch, 1971)
46. Why Buddhism is true by Robert Wright ***
47. In Europa part 1 by Geert Mak (audio, Dutch) *****
48. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
49. The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin
50 The long way to a small, angry planet by Becky Chambers
51 A closed and common orbit by Becky Chambers
52 Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers
53 The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin (fantasy, USA) ****
54. Vader by Karl Ove Knausgård ****
55. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (UK) ****
56. Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (UK) ***1/2
57. Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher (fantasy) ***1/2
58. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (fantasy) ****1/2
59. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (Canada, fantasy) ****1/2
60. Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon (fantasy, USA) ****
61. Naked in Death by J. D. Robb
62. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery (Librivox audio) ****
63. De HBS-tijd van Joop ter Heul by Cissy van Marxveldt
(LibriVox audiobook, read by Anna Simon, 1919) ***1/2
64. All shall be well by Deborah Crombie ****
65. Leave the Grave green by Deborah Crombie ***1/2
66. Wangari Maathai The woman who planted millions of trees by Frank Prévot ****
67. The Seabird's Cry by Adam Nicolson (UK) *****
68. How the Grinch stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss ****
69. The Mitten by Jan Brett ****
70. Mourn not your Dead by Deborah Crombie ***1/2
72. The Polar Express by Chris van Allsburg **
73. The Night before Christmas by Clement C. Moore, with illustrations by Jan Brett ***
74. De Cock en het lijk in de kerstnacht by A. C. Baantjer ***1/2 (audiobook)
75. Het krabbetje en de Gerechtigheid by Frederik van Eeden *** (dutch, audio, short story)

Challenges I am participating in:

The BAC (British Author Challenge) hosted by Paul.

BRITISH ISLES AUTHOR THEME CHALLENGE 2019

January 2019 - The Natural World https://www.librarything.com/topic/296824#6632759
February 2019 - Pat Barker and Peter F. Hamilton
Options: The silence of the girls (started, but not finished)
March 2019 - The Murderous Scots https://www.librarything.com/topic/296824#6637458
April 2019 - Rosamond Lehmann and John Boyne
May 2019 - The Edwardians https://www.librarything.com/topic/299559#6656870
June 2019 - Nicola Barker and Wilkie Collins
July 2019 - YA Fantasy Series https://www.librarything.com/topic/299559#6660927
August 2019 - Anita Brookner and Jim Crace
September 2019 - Biography and Memoir https://www.librarything.com/topic/299559#6674204

Non-fiction Challenge, hosted by Suzanne
1. January: Prizewinners
Darwin in de stad by Menno Schilthuizen

February: Science and Technology: Innovations and Innovators.
March: True Crime, Misdemeanors and Justice, Past and Present Day:
April: Comfort Reads:
May: History.
June: The Pictures Have It!
July: Biography & First Person yarns
August: Raw Materials: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral
September: Books by Journalists
October: Other Worlds: From Spiritual to Fantastical
November: Creators and Creativity
December: I’ve Always Been Curious about...

Reading around the World. A fun idea, I found on Paul's and Janet's threads. Reading from writers from around the world. Trying to fill in the blanks on the map. It's harder than I thought, I tend to English and American writers. Followed by Russia, Holland, Belgium and France.

Reading around the world:


visited 34 states (15.1%)
Buy Douwe's Machine Learning Book

Some books and projects from last year that I still would like to finish:

Bewegen voor beginners by Bram Bakker X
Ruim Duizend Dagen werk by Koos van Zomeren

And the website that has the letters of Vincent Van Gogh, with annotations, and pictures of all art he mentions in his letters!
(Vangoghletters.org)

That's it! Welcome visitors. Wishing everybody a good summer.

Happy new thread, Ella! Your topper could be a very tiny library or a very large Little Free Library! ;-)

>7 jessibud2: Thanks Shelley ! It's both, I think:-)

Happy new thread!

Hi Ella,

I love the look of the leeshuis. Looks like it might have been one of the tollbooths.

Happy new thread, Ella! Thanks for the photo of and information about The Reading House.

>9 drneutron: Thanks Jim!

>10 PawsforThought: It does look nice, doesn't it? No I don't think so, the real toll house is much bigger. The toll was for the ships using the channel to the north.



The Reading House is somewhere to the side of it.

>Hi Darryl! Thank you. No problem, it's fun to look up a bit more of the history of a place I pass frequently.

Happy New Thread, Ella. I love the small library up top, the Reading House. That's easily the smallest I've ever seen.

>13 jnwelch: Hi Joe! Thanks. It's a cutie isn't it?

>1 EllaTim: Cute is exactly the word I would have used too, Ella.

Happy new thread. xx

>15 PaulCranswick: Nice to see you Paul, and smooches back at you.

29. The woman in white by Wilkie Collins (UK, audio) ****



A 19th century novel, so it's a big one. But surprisingly easy to read.

The version I read was the Librivox audio. All read by volunteers who did a great job.

I must confess that I started out enjoying the book very much, the beginning is all very atmospheric, slowly the tension builds up, but we are only guessing at what has happened and what will come to pass. The two women, Laura and her sister, Marianne, are interesting contrasts: Laura a sweet girl, Marianne much more assertive and intelligent.

And of course William likes Marianne a lot, but falls in love with sweet Laura, who gets increasingly passive and vulnerable as the story goes on. And then, when Marianne does take a really active part, she of course gets severely ill, and is forced out to the sidelines of the story as well.

Leaving it to William to look after them and their happy ending. In the meantime dealing with the awful, and of course foreign, (Italian you know) crook.

So, I might have been a bit exasperated by this story line, I guess ;-)

Well, of course it was the 19th century. The book makes it very clear how dependent women were, on the men in their life.

I wondered how I would have liked this book, if I had been a 19th century woman?

>17 EllaTim: I've been meaning to read The Woman in White for ages, and actually have the Librivox version bookmarked so it's good to know it's a good listen. The storyline does seem to leave one a bit wanting, though.

Happy New Thread, Ella. I hope you are having a nice weekend. I have never read The Woman in White. Someday?

Happy new thread Ella my dear, I love the Reading Room in your thread topper photo, it is so nice. I hope you and Marc are having a nice weekend my dear and send love and hugs to you and Marc from both of us dear friend.

Happy new thread, Ella!

Glad we are back to more bearable temperatures, so I can finally do some needed work in the garden.

>18 PawsforThought: Hi Paws! Well, it's a very 20th venture view on the book. I liked the first half best.

>19 msf59: Thanks Marc. You never know, Marc. Likes and dislikes are so personal. But I wouldn't put it down as right down your alley;-)

>20 johnsimpson: Hi John, thank you! Love and hugs back to you and Karen. We had a very nice Sunday, with a friend visiting at the allotment. Relaxing.

>21 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. Yes, what a relief at last. Nice to get some gardening done! And the weather forecast is good.

A fast read, or listen, this was an audio lecture series.

30. Gaat je geheugen kapot, als je teveel voor je computer hangt by Erik Scherder (dutch, audio) ****

I wouldn't have called this a book, but it was in the audio library. It is a series of short lectures about the brain and the effect of movement and certain habits on brain quality.

Erik Scherder is a professor in neuroscience and movement, and a good and entertaining speaker. This series was short, entertaining and interesting. He talks about the effects of movement for the brain (hint: very positive, especially when you exert yourself a bit). About music and the brain, but also about the simple fact that for elderly people who are very immobile chewing can be very beneficial! Last, computer use, and screen time and the brain.

Depressing? Not at all, reading is beneficial as well...

Happy new thread, Ella!

>24 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita! Thank you, and nice to see you:-)

>23 EllaTim: That sounds interesting. What did he say about screen time and the brain?

Happy new thread, Ella!

I have Woman in White on my shelves. Your review doesn't inspire me to immediately go grab it off my shelves, but it would be nice to get another ROOT in this year. I liked The Moonstone when I read it in the late '80s but don't remember much about it.

>27 karenmarie: Hi Karen! Thanks.

No, but don't look only at my review, I have been feeling a bit crabby lately, I guess;-)

>26 sirfurboy: Hi Stephen. Yes, it did sound interesting, but he doesn't refer to research linking screen time directly to brain effects, but indirectly, as he talks about the positive effects of movement, and the negative effects of sitting still and passivity. Simple conclusion is that activity is good for the brain, movement, like brisk walking etc. But activity in general as well, as it provides stimulation, so reading is beneficial as well;-)

Congratulations on reading The Women in White. I've yet to do that and I've had the book on my shelves for ever. It's a long book so of course you might feel crabby! :-) I also seem to be a feeling a bit crabby with my books lately too! :-)

>30 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb. Yes, it's a long one, and you crabby with the books as well? Hope it will pass, but sometimes it just happens.

Still reading The Iliad, a page a day, I guess. I borrowed the dutch translation from the library, to compare with the English one I was reading. English translation by Caroline Alexander, dutch one by H.J. de Roy van Zuydewijn.
The translation by Caroline Alexander is written in pentameter, the dutch one is in hexameters, the same as the Greek original. It really makes a difference in feel. The English translation reads faster, there is a forward momentum in it. I thought the translation very good, the sentences very natural and readable. The Dutch version is slower, sometimes a bit ponderous , and the meter is more obvious. But slower reading gives you more time to absorb the sentence. At the moment I am going with the Dutch translation.

>31 EllaTim: I read The Iliad translated by Imme Dros, loved it!

>32 FAMeulstee: There's an idea, Anita!

Yesterday the whole day at the allotment, Saturday morning is general work morning, everybody has to help out keeping our common greens in order. And in the evening we had our annual summer party.
Unfortunately the weather decided to take a turn, from sunny to very light rain. But we braved it outdoors under the trees. There was a barbecue and an improvised stone oven, and wonderful flammkuchen. And we sat there, four old biddies, discussing their mothers (all over 90), watching the young generations, a group of small boys playing soccer, and the youngest of all, a one year old girl, with that big smile, of wonder, oh I can walk, and look at the world! She was so endearing!

And tomorrow my husband has to go into the hospital for evaluation, we're both of us feeling ill at ease:-(

I'll be thinking of you and your husband, Ella. It's so natural to feel ill at ease. My very best to both of you and here's hoping for happy results. (((hugs))) My heart goes out to both of you.

Thinking of you and your husband today, Ella. Best of luck
Yesterday sounded like a good day, Has the heat broken yet in Europe? It's still pretty unpleasant here in Montreal where I currently am.

Happy Sunday, Ella. Good luck with your husband tomorrow. Keep us posted.

>34 vancouverdeb:, >35 jessibud2: >36 msf59: Hi Deb, Shelley and Marc! Thanks for thinking of us, much appreciated! Will keep you posted.

The heatwave is over here, and it is even a bit chilly. Lots better, as far as I am concerned. Hope yours will recede as well.

Hi Ella.

Sending hugs and positive vibes for tomorrow's evaluation.

>38 karenmarie: Thank you, Karen!

31. Indische Duinen by Adriaan van Dis (Dutch) ***1/2



Autobiographical novel. Adriaan van Dis is a very well known person here in Holland. He did a TV program where he interviewed writers from all over the world. Very good program. He was a good, and very polite and intellectual host.

In this book he shows a different side of himself. Brought up by a father who had been a member of the KNIL-army (the Royal Dutch Indonesian army, in the time when the Netherlands were still in power in Indonesia). But his father is not healthy anymore, the family has emigrated, migrated, been repatriated, to Holland, after the Second World War, when Indonesia gained its independence.

The title translates not to Indonesian Dunes, but "Indian Dunes" would be wrong as well. Indisch is the word that refers to of Indonesian origin but before the independence, so to the Dutch colonial Indonesia (one can only go wrong here). The book has been translated "My father's war", found it on WorldCat. Here's the excellent summary I found there:

"Born in Holland after the war, a son grows up an outsider in the midst of his family. Living in isolation among the dunes of coastal Holland, he looks on as his half-caste half-sisters are mocked for their 'blue skin', and wonders about the wartime hardships his family suffered but never discusses."

His father treated him roughly, wanting to make a man of him. Still there was a lot of love between them. But there's a lot of pain in the book as well. Giving it its sharp edges, I think. Adrian's father, mother and older sisters were interned in different concentration camps during the war. He himself was born after. He didn't share their experiences, but they still were important.

I didn't love the book, but there's something very real about it.

>33 EllaTim: Thinking of Marc and you tomorrow, fingers crossed that all is well.

>41 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita. I'm holding my breath.

Good luck to you and your husband today, Ella.

I enjoyed the atmosphere of The Woman in White, but our daughter, who usually shares my taste in mysteries, found reading it a slog. Neither of us have been able to take on The Moonstone, his other well-known one. I've tried three times, without success.

>44 EllaTim: Hi Joe! Thanks, unfortunately, today was inconclusive, the evaluation had to be postponed because my husband now has a chronic cystitis that didn't respond well to the medication. Sigh. So new medication, and hope it helps. :-(

Yeah, I liked the atmosphere in The Woman in White as well. I loved the book at first, it's the second half that I liked a lot less!

32. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (UK, audio) ****

The story read by LibriVox volunteer Mil Nicholson. She did a wonderful job reading this aloud. And i really enjoyed the story, in spite of it being old-fashioned and rather sentimental.

Still wrestling my way through The Iliad. Skip it, I just need to vent some frustration.

It's really bloody, and very personal, and detailed. People get hurt or killed, and Homer gives their names, tells something of their background, and then the bloody details of how they get slaughtered, like getting speared in the bladder. No distance, all is up close and personal. No, I do not like it at all. It's just that I started it and still want to finish. Why does he do that, it's not as if it's a tennis match or something?

Well, this was what war was like then, of course. And they had been camping near Troy for ten years, and it seems everybody knew everybody anyway, even before the start of the war.

I'm having a sleepless night, so lots of time to read.

33. Op oorlogspad in Japan by Adriaan van Dis (Dutch) ****

I borrowed a compilation of books by Van Dis from the library. This was book two.
Here he talks about a visit to Japan, a couple of days, by invitation, as a writer. His family background making it inevitably about war experiences. His father's POW experiences, but Adrian talks to a number of Japanese, in a confrontation with their points of view.

I thought it interesting and well written.

>40 EllaTim: Looks fascinating, Ella. I would suggest, given my local knowledge, that he may have meant 'Indon Dunes" - Indon being the word most people use to describe an Indonesian locally.

Have a wonderful weekend.

>48 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! I didn't know the word Indon! But I don't think so, it's from the old Dutch colonial name for Indonesia, Indie. And he writes about the life he leads as a child with his half Indische family in the dunes. The book deals in part with the complex relationship they have with Holland and being white or not white. Colonial relationships and the past of those.

I've never attempted to read The Iliad, Ella. I don't think I care for it. I'm sorry to read about your husband's evaluation being postponed and that he contending with chronic cystitis . I hope that the new medication helps . Best to both of you.

Hi Ella!

>50 vancouverdeb: What Deborah said, even including the bit about never having attempted to read The Iliad. Hugs to you and best wishes to your husband.

>46 EllaTim: Maybe a tennis match is the way we ritualised the personal war?
I wasn't troubled that much by The Iliad, it was distant enough, in time I mean. I have more trouble with bloody details if it is something that could have happened in present time.

Hi Ella! Interesting comments about The Illiad and the personalization of war. How would we ever kill someone face-to-face if we knew their backstory and imagine the injuries to our own bodies?

I have The Woman in White on my piles of TBR's, too. I am really falling down this year in reading classics and/or reading from the 1001 list. I did start reading The Monk several days ago and am enjoying following the tutored read lyzard did on it several years back.

I'm sorry your husband's tests were delayed. It's so hard to wait when medical issues are involved.

>50 vancouverdeb: >51 karenmarie: Hi Deborah, and Karen. Thanks! He's on medication again, but it's the same antibiotics, so how will that help, when it didn't help the last four times? And then Monday the evaluation again. Pfff. A friend just told me that there's new research proving that a slight inflammation, like the common cold, helps fight bladder cancer. So maybe he's benefiting from the cystitis, who knows?

>52 FAMeulstee: Oh yes! Or soccer, or football, certainly. The story reminds me something of those sports commentators, now Agamemnon is doing this, but look from the sides Aeneas is coming etc.

>53 streamsong: Hi Janet! Exactly, I couldn't imagine it.

But I am listening to an audiobook by Frank de Waal at the moment. It's called Mama's laatste omhelzing translation of Mama's Last Hug



He has done research with mainly chimpanzees, into social emotions and behaviour: empathy, reconciliation, friendship. Very interesting. But he compares empathy to a door we can open to other people's feelings and emotions, and that we can also close again, and keep closed.

A tutored read! That would be helpful, of course (I'm sorry, I never even heard of The Monk).

Yes, waiting is anxiety producing, hope that Monday they can do that evaluation.

Hi Ella my dear, hope you and Marc have had a good Saturday and enjoy the rest of the weekend, sending love and hugs dear friend.

>54 EllaTim: I loved Frans de Waals other books, Ella, Mama's last hug and Primates and philosophers (De aap en de filosoof) are patiently waiting on mount TBR.

>55 johnsimpson: Hi John, Thank you very much, Yes, enjoying the wonderful weather. Coming week a heat wave, but now the perfect summer. And hugs back at you.

>56 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. I only read one earlier book, but I liked that a lot as well. You will certainly enjoy yours on mount TBR.

Hi Ella,

Hope everything is well with you and yours.

That Frank de Waal book sounds interesting - I've been fascinated by the great apes all my life.

>58 PawsforThought: Hi Paws, Thanks. We're a bit hot here. Heatwave. Tomorrow 37 C. A bit much. Can't do much, read with curtains closed. Very inconvenient timing.

Yes, it id interesting. I have seen some video's of the groups of apps he's talking about making it even more so.

Finished two books. The weather is excellent for reading .

34. A cold red sunrise by Stuart M. Kaminsky **** (USA)



Excellent story. Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov gets sent to Siberia to solve a murder. The police inspector before him has been murdered trying to solve the death of the daughter of a dissident.

The book takes place in Russia during the time of Gorbachev, interesting time and place. But it's also a well-told and exciting story.

This was part 5 in the series featuring inspector Rostnikov. I'll try and find the others from book 1. This one was in our allotment library, just this book, no others.

>59 EllaTim: Ugh, 37 is just cruel.
We're getting some of that heatwave too. It's been just below 30 all week and is supposed to stay that way or somewhat higher until Sunday. I was not made for temperatures like this. I'm going to my family's summer house tomorrow and spending the weekend there, because being in town is horrendous. The summer house is by the sea so it's a bit better - and you can have a dip.

>60 EllaTim: Ooh, crime novel in Siberia? Never heard of before. That could be interesting.

>61 PawsforThought: Oh below 30, that feels hot as well, when you are not used to it. Summer house by the sea sounds wonderful. Is that the Baltic Sea?

I'm not built for it either, it doesn't agree with me at all. But Saturday will be cooler. Unfortunately tomorrow still a hot day, and we have a protest action planned, outside, in the hot afternoon. Cold water will be needed, and we're going to provide slices of watermelon for people who brave the heat.

It's a series, mostly taking place in Moscow I believe. Was nice to read about snow and frost;-)

>62 EllaTim: Yeah, it’s by the northern offshoot of the Baltic Sea - the Gulf of Bothnia. It’s so nice to have the sea breeze blowing; you never feel that stifling kind of heat you get in town/inland. Hot temperatures during a protest sounds painful, glad to hear you’re taking precautions with water and watermelons (melons have made up about 1/3 of my diet this past week - so great when it’s hot out). Don’t forget to get some salt in you too, if you don’t have rehydration tablets or sports drinks eat some pretzels or salted chips/crisps.

>63 PawsforThought: Gulf of Bothnia. Sounds wonderful. Would love to see it! Post a picture one of these days, please?

Yes, a bit of wind coming from over water is always nice when it's hot. Our usual refuge on days like this would be the dike of the IJsselmeer some kilometres from Amsterdam. It's a stone dike, that has trees growing on it. The lake is very shallow there, so you can wade into it and swim easily.

But tomorrow we are going to take precautions. I'm thinking of buying some ice for everybody. Melons and watermelons. And something salty!

35. De Meisjes van de Suikerwerkfabriek by Tessa de Loo (dutch) **

I don't like giving negative reviews, and I don't like writing them. But this book just did nothing for me.

Short stories. Much praised when it first appeared. But it just didn't appeal. I am sorry.

Your record-breaking temperatures made our national news last night, Ella. Hope you are able to stay cool today!

I hope you didn't get overheated today, Ella.
Did you get any news on Marc's condition last Monday?

>64 EllaTim: I’ve never posted a photo I’ve taken on LT before, but I’ll see if I can get one up one of these days.

Hope everything went well with the protest (and the rehydration) today.

>66 ronincats: Hi Roni. Really? But it is record breaking and all over Europe and America as well, isn't it? Today was hot, hot, hot. But tomorrow will be better, and tonight will be cooler:-)

>67 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. We managed to stay reasonably cool, in spite of 36 C this afternoon.

Marc's result unfortunately was not so good. The doctor says it looks too unclear and not so quiet as it should and wants a better look. I'm worried. And there is more waiting as the Slotervaart Hospital has been closed, and all patients have to be dealt with by the other hospitals. So three weeks waiting for the next procedure:-(

>68 PawsforThought: Hi Paws. Would be nice! Yes, try.

The protest went well, it was hot, but fun and felt good. Good atmosphere, met some new people. We even made the local papers, well it's cucumber time ;-) (you know, nothing real to report on, everybody out of town so they do small fry)

36. Life after Life by Kate Atkinson (UK) ****



What would life be like if you would be reborn as the same person each time? It happens to Ursula, and she gets flashes of deja vu and starts remembering things.

Kate Atkinson writes well, and kept me reading and interested. It's a strange story, of course, life going on and on, and what's the point of it all. But also a scene that brought tears in my eyes, because of the feeling of loss and memory at the same time.

Will read it's follow up, but I'm letting it rest for now.

I finally numbered the books I read this year. Funny, some didn't stick at all, I could barely remember them. Others have stayed with me. Should I change my evaluation? A book that's totally forgotten might be less worthwhile?

I admire all those wonderfully organized people in this group;-)

>71 EllaTim: I forget most of the books I've read, and it's definitely not the books fault. I can barely remember the plot lines of some of my favourite books (and don't ask me to say who the killer is in ANY murder mystery - I'll have forgotten within a week of reading it). And yet I can remember very specific details about some book I read 15 years ago and don't know the author of. My memory is just weird - it fixates on the small details.
I say stick to the evaluation you gave at the time. If you thought something was a 4* read when you finished it, then it is a 4* read, whether you remember it later on or not. Enjoyment ≠ memorability.

>71 EllaTim: >72 PawsforThought: Paws said it right: enjoyment ≠ memorability
My all time favorites are books I enjoyed and were memorable.

>72 PawsforThought: Hi Paws, no I usually can't remember the identity of the killer either, all to the good, as it makes for more fun when rereading a good mystery;-)

I always doubt myself and backtrack. I used to hate this about myself but a friend said it shows that I'm considerate, or something like that (I should ask her, as I loved her for saying it, and now I have forgotten).

>73 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. You both are probably right. It's just that I wonder what my stars mean, are they for enjoyment or for quality? Not the same thing, as reading the Iliad shows. But the best reads are enjoyable and memorable!

>74 EllaTim: Part of the quality of a book is for me that I enjoy it, so my stars reflect both. I have given some classics 2 or 2½ stars, because I didn't enjoy them. Sadly some of those tend to stay in my memory ;-)

Hi Ella, I'm sorry that your husband did not get any good news from the doctor. I think of you and him and wish you heartfelt strength and courage.
I hope that the temperatures have become more comfortable with you.

>75 FAMeulstee: Oh, that sounds too bad, Anita. This has happened to me with movies (horror), but usually not with books.

>76 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara!

Hi Ella!

>69 EllaTim: I, too, am sorry that the news about Marc was not good. Worrying and waiting is so tough, and now to have to wait 3 weeks for the next procedure! I'm keeping you both in my thoughts and hugs to you!

When I finish a book I think of one word to describe my reaction, then translate that word into stars. I very rarely change from that initial reaction. If I re-read a book and my rating changes, I update LT with my newest rating.

>78 karenmarie: Thanks Karen. You're quite right about the worrying part.

Hey that sounds interesting. I have wondered how other people come up with a rating. I'm now going to pay special attention to your reviews. Do you put that first reaction in your review? Do you use it?

Movie today:
Ága by Milko Lazarov



In a yurt on the snow-covered fields of the North, Nanook and Sedna live following the traditions of their ancestors. Alone in the wilderness, they look like the last people on Earth. Nanook and Sedna's traditional way of life starts changing - slowly, but inevitably. Hunting becomes more and more difficult, the animals around them die from inexplicable deaths and the ice has been melting earlier every year. Chena, who visits them regularly, is their only connection to the outside world - and to their daughter Ága, who has left the icy tundra a long time ago due to family feud. When Sedna's health deteriorates, Nanook decides to fulfill her wish. He embarks on a long journey in order to find Ága.

Beautiful pictures of life in a landscape of snow and ice. The first part is almost like a documentary about the way of life of the people that is probably almost lost. But this is not a documentary, but a story, there is magic and tragedy, loss, and emotion. I loved it.

>79 EllaTim: That is a wonderful photo, Ella - I love that you can see the rays of the sun reaching out to the earth.

Have a lovely Sunday.

>80 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, it's lovely isn't it? Actually, here the man is on his way to bury his wife under the tree. There were a lot of beautiful scenes in the movie.

And Sunday has passed, so I'll visit you in your thread and wish you a nice week.

Started reading the Cazalet Chronicles

Finished number 1

37. The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard (UK) ****1/2



This is a family story. The Cazalet family consists of the elderly parents, their three sons, Edward, Hugh and Rupert. Unmarried daughter Rachel. Their wives, her friend. Their offspring, a governess, and their servants. In this first book they are living together in their parents house in Sussex, for the holidays. The story takes place before the start of WWII, but you can already see it coming.

I liked the way the people are described. In quite ordinary life, but it is an immersive story, you start feeling for them. All different characters, well described, with some minor exceptions. It is a middle class family, and their servants remain rather sketchy. It gives a very good impression into what life was like in those times.

This was a recommendation from my mother, who has always been fond of family stories.

I've already started book 2 in this series.

>70 EllaTim: I have this one on my shelf. Great review. I will see to bumping it closer to the top of my reading pile

>82 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita! I hope you enjoy it.

Still struggling with The Iliad, but found a group read here:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/307862#6894089

It's a real help to me, and it makes me laugh, a good thing.

>84 EllaTim: How nice that you found the group read, Ella, and that it works for you.
Laughing is always good.

>85 FAMeulstee: It's definitely nice, they are behind me at the moment, but will help me get through the bad parts.

Good to hear you found something that's helpful with your Iliad read. Laughing definitely helps.

Hi Paws! Nice to see you. I'm not very talkative here on LT right now. Reading part three of the Cazalet series , but don't feel like writing reviews. The Iliad will get finished, but very slowly.

I watched one part of a tv series about the First World War tonight, it's very good, a series made from real diary fragments. One wonders how the world could get so totally crazy, what happened?

38. De Scheepsjongens van Bontekoe by Johan Fabricius (dutch, audio, 1924) ***1/2



Touchstone not working?

This is a golden oldie. An adventure story for boys.
Three boys travel to Indonesia on a ship of the dutch VOC company. It's early seventeenth century. They meet with all kind of adventures, their ship is quite unlucky, disaster happens, there's a fire on board. The ship is wrecked and only some sailors make it out alive.

They still manage to get to Indonesia, here the boys get separated from the rest, and have to travel alone for some time. This is the part of the book that i liked best. The writer must have loved the country, there are some nice scenes, and beautiful descriptions.

But the book has aged, it's attitudes to people of colour wouldn't be acceptable nowadays. It really dates from colonial times, and that colonial attitude is clear.

The book was based on an old ship's journal, as this unlucky journey really happened.it is described in Het Journaal van Bontekoe by skipper Bontekoe himself.

Happy 10th Thingaversary, Ella!

Hi Anita! Hey, is that so? How did you know? Thanks.

We went out book shopping, but we didn't buy ten books;-)

Just two for me, Van wie is de stad by Fleur Milikowski,

and a nature book: Planten van hier by Henny Ketelaar.
(See https://knnvuitgeverij.nl/artikel/planten-van-hier.html)

But we did have a nice time browsing through Scheltema's bookshop.

I'm very glad they have struggled through their bad times and are still there. While Marc was looking through their collection of photo books, (he bought two in the end), I sat and read the papers. Found another promising book, to go on the wishlist:
Het logboek van de zeevaarder by Huw Lewis-Jones
Very new, but must be a translation. This one:? The Sea Journal: Seafarers' Sketchbooks

A belated Happy Thingaversary, Ella!

>91 EllaTim: As a LT friend your thingaversary appears on the bottom of my starting page, Ella.
Actually I don't look there every day, but happened to browse all the way down last Saturday. Then I checked your profile to be completely sure.
Not 11 books (thingaversary + 1), but at least some books on the right day :-)

Hi Ella, A belated Happy Thingaversary my dear.

Hi Roni, and Anita and John, thanks for wishing me a happy thingaversary.

I've been absent because my husband has received bad news, the cancer was more aggressive than it appeared, and he is going to need more treatment. He is being tested now, and we have to wait for what they will find. And what will be the best thing to do. It takes time and energy, and i will be present here on and off, I guess. I am doing some reading. And I will look in on you, but I don' t know how often.

Thinking of you both, Ella.

Hi Ella!

>79 EllaTim: I have never thought about putting down my ‘first word’ in a review, but it’s not a bad idea at all. *smile*

>88 EllaTim: We watched an episode of Time Team that was about trying to find physical evidence of where WWI barracks/other buildings and the machine gun range were at an estate in Britain. Especially poignant were the items brought to the dig by descendants of some of the men who trained there before going off to the Western Front. Especially sad was a diary with its last entry and a shrapnel fragment embedded in it with a couple of drops of blood that were returned to the widow and brought to the filming by a grandson.

>90 FAMeulstee: Belated Happy Thingaversary! “Member Since August 17, 2009” is on everybody’s profile page if you scroll down a bit.

>95 EllaTim: Ah, so sorry about the cancer, Ella. You and Marc are both in my thoughts and prayers.

>95 EllaTim: So sorry to read the cancer is worse than thought, Ella.
You and Marc are in my thoughts.

Don't worry about being on LT, we are here when you feel up to it.

Oh, Ella, I am so sorry to hear that.

>89 EllaTim: Interesting read. It is a bit surprising, but there is a kindle version of this book. That is a surprise mainly because of what you say about this showing colonial attitudes. Nevertheless I requested a free sample, and may give this one a go.

reading the kindle summary, it mentions "schipper Bontekoe" and I had a lightbulb moment, realising where English gets its word "skipper". Google confirms that the English word comes from Dutch.

Sorry to hear your bad new, Ella. I'm holding every thumb I have that things work out for you.

Yikes, so sorry to hear about Marc’s cancer battle, Ella. Thinking of you both, and sending hugs and healing thoughts.

So very sorry to hear the bad news Ella.

>95 EllaTim: I'm so sorry to hear about this. Keeping you in my thoughts and sending hugs your way.

Hi Ella my dear, so sorry to read that Marc's cancer is worse than first thought and hope that the new treatment works, sending special Yorkshire love and hugs to both of you and will keep you both in my thoughts. We will all check in you but do not worry about responding as we know it is a fraught time for both of you dear friend.

Ella, I'm so sorry to hear the news about Marc. I hope the new treatment works. I'll keep you in my heart and mind. Big Hugs to you, Ella. As John says don't worry about responding to us here on LT. I understand that this time is so difficult and you may not feel like posting on LT right now. Love to you and Marc.

My prayers go out to you and Marc, Ella. If there is anything that I or anyone else can do, please let us know.

Thanks everybody for your support! I really appreciate it.

We are waiting for results and a final discussion with his doctor. Thumbs crossed indeed. Wrong kind of excitement. It helps (a bit) to do fun things together, take our minds of things. I showed Marc the listening library options, he needs some help getting asleep at night. So he will be listening to De scheepsjongens van Bontekoe next, and i hope it helps.

I do some reading, but I find myself playing games more often.

I will do some visiting, and posting, but not as frequently.

Series: Cazalet Chronicles

39. The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard 1
40. Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard 2
41. Confusion by Elizabeth Jane Howard 3
42. Casting Off by Elizabeth Jane Howard

(UK)**** The series is about the Cazalet family, and their lives before, during and after the second world war. Emphasis is very much on family life, the women, children, but also the men of the family.

There is a fifth part, taking place ten years later, but I liked it much less, and have not finished it.

Reading now:
In Europa by Geert Mak



I'm listening to the audiobook version. Very interesting and well written.

Hi, Ella. I have not been by in awhile, so I am sorry to hear about Marc. Good luck to you both, my friend. Keep us updated.

>110 EllaTim: I loved In Europa, it took ages to read as I could not read much back then. I bought it right after the TV-series, have you seen the TV-series?

Delurking to add "What Mark >111 msf59: said". Sending strengthening thoughts.

>111 msf59: >113 SandyAMcPherson: Hi Marc, and Sandy, hi, and thanks. We can use them. Big sigh.

>112 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. So much information, it will take time to rest. I watched some episodes, but missed most. Would love to watch the series now.

>111 msf59: >113 SandyAMcPherson: Hi Marc, and Sandy, hi, and thanks. We can use them. Big sigh.

>112 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. So much information, it will take time to rest. I watched some episodes, but missed most. Would love to watch the series now.

Sorry to hear that Marc's cancer is more than feared.

Wishing the very best to both of you!

Hi Janet, thanks. Hoping for the best indeed!

Had some help today, my brothers came to clear out part of my allotment. Really nice. Lots of cups of tea was all they wanted for it. I gave them some grapes in return. Now I just have a smaller part to keep over the winter, with kale, and beans. Will be planting some garlic next month. the rest will be covered up, to prevent seeding weeds.

Wishing you a lovely weekend, Ella.

Thanks Paul.

Hi Ella, hope you and Marc have had a good weekend my dear, sending love and hugs from both of us dear friend.

Hi John, thank you. Marc and I are taking a couple of days off at the sea shore. Wishing you a good week ahead.

43. The Outrun by Amy Liptrot (UK, ****)



Amy Liptrot writes about her past as an alcoholic living in London. She grew up with her parents on the Orkneys. Wanted to leave and enjoy the big Life in London as soon as possible. But it didn't go well for het there at all, and she ends up as an alcoholic, having lost everything. This is the first part of the book, and I didn't enjoy it very much at all.
She goes into rehab and after that she decides to go back to the Orkneys to live there for a while. Stopping drinking has left her with a big hole to fill with other experiences. She finds herself being drawn to the islands and to nature.
Here I started liking her story more and more. She writes about being interested in the stars, in birds, and nature conservation. And then she wants to spend a winter on one of the smallest islands, Papay.
I really liked her descriptions of island life, of nature, and how she finds her way out from her addiction.

44. My Antonia by Willa Cather (USA, ****)



Description of the life of pioneers and immigrant settlers in Nebraska. A young boy, Jim, comes to live with his grandparents, and meets a young immigrant girl, Antonia.

The story looks back on their lives, growing up together. Jim loves Antonia, and is in love with her. Still, the two drift apart. Jim to study and live elsewhere. Antonia to marry, and stay on.

Jim comes home twenty years later and writes about her life on the farm with her family.

There is a lot of nostalgia in the book. Willa Cather writes lovingly about the life outdoors, and the beautiful landscape.

The story somehow escaped me a bit, there is something distant about it. It was beautifully written, though, and I finished it in just a couple of sittings, as the story drew me in.

We went to the sea for a couple of days. Very nice, good weather most of the time. But some rain as well. So we spent some time in the nearby small town, Bergen. Two good bookshops there, and Marc gave me the new book by Maarten 't Hart, that I am reading now: De Nachtstemmer. I've started reading it, and like it so far.

We visited a small local museum , Kranenburg, with a very nice garden. And I bought a book by Peter Wohlleben there Het Bos, het handboek voor elke boswandeling. As we were doing some forest walks, it seemed appropriate.

>124 EllaTim: Bergen is a lovely place, Ella, good to spend some time there.
A new book by Maarten 't Hart? I will look for it.
The Wohleben book is on my list, I liked the two I have read.

Kranenburgh: I loved this portret by Charley Toorop



And the garden is filled with sculptures, very nice to walk around and enjoy the combination of nature and art.

Glad to hear you had a good time by the sea even if the weather wasn't 100%. And book purchases and museum visits are always nice.

>126 EllaTim: Lovely portrait, Ella, thanks for sharing. She had a very distinctive style.

>127 PawsforThought: Hi Paws, we enjoyed it very much, and the weather was warm enough to have dinner at the beach, watching the sunset:-)

>128 FAMeulstee: I loved the strength and calm this portrait seems to radiate.

45. Stenen voor een ransuil by Maarten 't Hart **** (Dutch, 1971)



Linked stories. A young boy, Ammer, grows up in a strict religious family. Heaven and hell. He is a talented musician, and would love to learn to play the organ but his parents don't allow it. He meets a man who wants to teach him, but this has to be done without his parents knowledge. In this way a relationship develops, the man, organ player in a different church, is a good teacher for the boy, but it turns out he is a homosexual and he tries to seduce the young boy. Ammer doesn't want this and runs away from him.
The next stories concern Ammer and his growing awareness of his own homosexuality and the trouble he has with the beliefs of his parents.
I thought it well written, often beautiful. Thoughtful. Most so when it came to the relationship with the music teacher.
This was 't Harts first book. I happened to have it on my ereader.

We saw the results of Marc's scan yesterday. Such a shock. It's obvious that they can't operate, and the options are limited, chemo or immune therapy. And that means he is going to die from this.
It's so weird to really realise our time together is limited now. Don't we all feel we will live forever?

(I just needed to write this down somewhere, feeling really sad today)

46. Why Buddhism is true by Robert Wright ***

I had started this book some time ago, but had put it aside because I found it dense. Finished it now, and still found it difficult, maybe you need the experience to be able to relate to it.
Still, a lot of interesting information, especially when he relates modern psychology to Buddhist insights.
I think I found the first chapters easier going, maybe I will do some rereading from the start.

>131 EllaTim: So sorry, Ella, we all hoped for a less devastating outcome :'(

Rationally we know life is short, emotionally that is too hard to feel on a daily basis.

(((hugs)) for you both.

Oh, Ella, I'm so sorry to hear that. I wish there was something I could say that would make you (and Mark) feel even the tiniest bit better, but...

Ah, Ella, I'm so sorry. Such a shock for you. Hugs to you both.

>131 EllaTim: - {{{Ella and Marc}}} My heart aches for you both. I hope that, at the very least, pain can be controlled. I also hope that whatever options are available will make Marc comfortable and help your time together be the very best it can be. Know that we are all thinking of you both.

>133 FAMeulstee: >134 PawsforThought: >135 karenmarie: >136 jessibud2: Thanks people, your respons made me cry again, but it's nice to be able to talk about it here. Your support makes a difference. So don't worry Paws, this helps.

I want to still take part in this group and talk about books and reading, but it feels good to be able to mention what's going on in my life as well.

>137 EllaTim: Ella, I am so very sorry to hear of your news. I understand how hard this news is, and hope you can still enjoy every day you have together, and can find peace. My thoughts and prayers may not be much, but they are with you.

Hi Ella, I am so sorry to read of the news of Marc's scan my dear, it is hard to know what to say at times like this and can only say that however much time you have together I hope that you enjoy all the moments, the fun and laughter and obviously there will be sad moments but gather all the good memories and enjoy the time you have. We will always be here for you whatever you post be it about books or news about Marc and know that we are all thinking of you both. Sending really special Yorkshire love and hugs from both of us to both of you dear friend.

I'm glad you read and thought well of Why Buddhism is True, Ella. I've read a lot on the subject, so that probably made it easier to read and less dense for me. I loved it. I thought he was unusually on target, and avoided getting bogged down with some of the intricacies.

You've provided a good cautionary note for me, though. I've thought about recommending Why Buddhism is True to neophytes who want a starter book, but you've got me thinking it's probably too advanced for that. I keep looking for what might be best for that. I love Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, but for those new (or relatively new) to these ideas, that one's probably too advanced, too.

Have you read Buddhism Plain and Simple by Steve Hagan? That still may be the best I've come across.

>138 sirfurboy: Hi Stephen, and John. Thanks very much. Thoughts, prayers and hugs. Give your own loved ones an extra hug for me, so important to do that while we can.

>140 jnwelch: Hi Joe. Yes, I think you are right and a real beginner needs a beginners book. I think I was now looking for some more practical guidance. So it would depend on ones motivation as well.

Yesterday a visit to the zoo, wonderful sunny autumn weather. The leaves are starting to colour.

Today first a visit to the allotment. Picking grapes and the last beans. Such a lot of grapes that I am wondering what to do with all this harvest.

And this evening we went to the movie museum, and saw our first of a series of Tarkovsky movies, Solaris. Wonderful. Tarkovsky is Marc's very favourite director. And they are doing a full retrospective. We are planning to see all of them, just the right thing for him now, something to look forward to in stressful times.
It's a wonderful movie but sad. Impressive.

>142 EllaTim: We've also had a huge grape harvest this year. At elast three times as many as last year, and last year was the biggest until then. We always make jelly from out grapes - they're very small so not good for eating as-is, but they taste really good so jelly works.

>143 PawsforThought: Hi Paws, wow, a grape harvest in Sweden. I wouldn't have thought that possible, so you are not too far north for that? My grapes are pretty small as well, but they do taste good. Jelly is a good idea.

Still listening to In Europa. The chapters about the rise of Hitler in Germany, and fascism in Italy are fascinating, and very creepy as well. The fascination is in trying to understand what happened. Could it happen again? What about Turkey, right now?

>144 EllaTim: There are varieties of grapes that can handle colder climates. And they're planted at a south-facing wall with hardly any wind, so that helps. Plus, being so far north means way more sun hours during summer than further south in Europe - which is more important than temperatures (though it's been at lest five years since we didn't get at least a week of 30+C).

Hi, Ella. We are back from our Carolina trip. I have one more day off before returning to work tomorrow. It has been a fine holiday. Hooray for Willa Cather! I love her work.

I hope you are doing well.

>142 EllaTim: It is nice you can spend some quality time together, Ella.
Tarkovsky was a great film maker, Andrej Roebljov is still my favourite.

>131 EllaTim: I am so sorry to hear this. ((hugs))

>141 EllaTim: You could make some tasty wine out of those grapes :)

>146 PawsforThought: Hi Paws. Good point about those extra hours of sun. Of course they need some warmth as well, but a south facing wall helps a lot. And a week of 30+, is that climate change?
I'm growing blue and white grapes. The blue grapes are from Italy, and frost sensitive, (but the plant grows back) the white grapes are a Hungarian race, so they can deal with cold winters.

>147 msf59: Hi Marc, I have been looking at your pictures, those mountains, wonderful! Willa Cather was a pleasant surprise.

>148 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita, we are certainly going to watch Andrej Roebljov, and yes this is quality time!

>149 figsfromthistle: Thank you Anita. It's an emotional time for us.

Wine, yes. We like a good red wine!

((Hugs)) to you and Marc! I echo what >139 johnsimpson: said.

So fascinating about the grapes. I also wouldn't have thought of you growing them. When they are on sale here, I buy extra, wash and freeze them in a single layer. I think frozen grapes are a wonderful treat - almost like a little frozen candy.

>150 EllaTim: Yeah, the warmer summer temperatures are most likely climate change. It's been generally drier in summer, too (and last year was absolutely horrendous, with 3 days of rain in 3 months, dozens of forest fires and unbelievable temperatures). It's been more extreme in winters too. We used to have fairly consistent winters, with temperatures of at least around -10 and always snow. The past 15 years have been up-and-down in temperatures, no snow some years and more winter storms.
Our grapes are a fairly dark blue, almost purple, and only about the size of a pea each.

>151 streamsong: Ooh, that's a good idea about freezing grapes. They're almost always expensive here, but I'll keep it in mind for some possible future deal.

>151 streamsong: Thanks Janet, all the support is very welcome.

We all love our grapes! Mine are popular with the blackbirds as well. Yesterday, one blackbird came so close while I was picking that I could feel the whoosh of air of his wings.
Frozen candy, I like that.

>152 PawsforThought: Hm yes, very worrying and those forest fires are really awful, and scary. We had a very dry summer last year, this year was better, but the soil is still suffering from the droughts of last year.

Oh, so small, but I like small grapes.

We went and saw the new movie about Miles Davis. Good, and interesting. I am not really a jazz lover, but Marc grew up with jazz music, his father was a big jazz fan. But I liked to hear more. Miles Davis was a gifted musician. I loved the scene where he played the music for the movie L'ascenseur pour l'echafaud. Directly as an improvisation. And all the wonderful photos that the movie showed as a background.

Here's the trailer:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=34r017yYNa0

>153 EllaTim: - I also saw the Miles Davis documentary last week! Like you, I have never been a fan of jazz as a music genre but I have always found the back stories of artists to be mostly fascinating. Also, the American documentary filmmaker, Ken Burns, did a series a few years ago called Jazz and because I love his style of documentaries, I watched it and that's where I first learned a bit about Davis. This doc was well done, wasn't it?

>154 jessibud2: I thought it very well done. A good portrait of Miles Davis, as an artist and a person. And I loved the background material, the films and photos. The makers have done a lot of work to find it all.

Tonight we saw "Dolor y Gloria" by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar. A beautiful personal story. He shows part of his childhood and background. He seems stuck in his life, not working anymore, suffering pain, and starting a heroin addiction. Serious stuff, but the scenes where he meets an old colleague who gets him addicted are really funny as well.
Recommended.

Another Almodovar movie tonight "Hable con Ella" (talk to her).
Intriguing, beautiful but also weird story.
Two men meet in hospital. They both love a woman who is in a coma. Marco, a journalist, loves Lydia, a torrero. Benigno is a male nurse, who takes care of the woman he adores, Alica, a ballet dancer. He takes very good care of her, talking to her, treating her with love. But the movie also show how he has been stalking her, following her to her home, getting in by masquerading as a patiënt of her father. So later Benigno oversteps the boundaries and it turns out he has raped Alicia and she is pregnant. He ends up in prison, where Marco visits him.

I found the movie at the same time beautiful and touching, but also, because of this behaviour of Benigno weird and disturbing. Hard to know what to think, but lovely to watch.

I restarted the Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. I read the first two, liked them a lot, but missed reading the third book. Now I want to make up for that, but I realised I had forgotten the details of the quite complicated story.

So I restarted.
Book 1: The Fifth Season finished
Book 2: The Stone Sky finished
Book 3: The Obelisk Gate to be read.

Book 1 was just as wonderful as I remembered it, engrossing. Thanks to Janet for reminding me.

47. In Europa part 1 by Geert Mak (audio, Dutch) *****



Part 1 is the first half of this book. It's how the audiobook is packaged.

This was a wonderful, fascinating, chilling, interesting read. Mak weaves present and past together through the format of the book. At the same time history and travelogue, as he travels through Europe, looking at countries, and cities, visiting points of interest, talking to people who have been there, eyewitnesses he could still find.
As the book was written near the end of the twentieth century (1999) he did manage to find those eyewitnesses.
The result is a very interesting and lively story. History books can be very dry and scientific but this isn't the case here. The book was interesting from start to finish.

(There was criticism as well, but I can't judge the value of that, I loved the book and have learned lots that I didn't know anything about, and gained insights)

And the best news: a tv-series was made of it, showing the locations and people, and this material can still be found and played through the internet.
Here: https://www.vpro.nl/programmas/in-europa.html

Dear Ella, I too am saddened by your difficult news. I have had some issues with my prostate which reveals some need for oncological treatment but the prognosis is generally positive in my own case.

The most important thing is to have people around who love and care for each other as you two obviously do. A kiss and a cuddle is often the very best of medicine and for what it is worth you are both offered hugs aplenty from these tropical climes.

>158 EllaTim: That one went straight on my TBR. Thanks.

>158 EllaTim: The original book was also in two parts, Ella. I did read In Europa : reizen door de twintigste eeuw - deel 1 : 1900 -1941 in 2008 (a year after the TV-series) and In Europa : reizen door de twintigste eeuw - deel 2 : 1940-1999 in 2010. Maybe it is time for a re-read.

>159 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, I am sorry to hear that you also have to deal with a similar issue. Take good care of yourself, please. And you are quite right, kisses and cuddles are very good medicine. And thank you for the hugs:-)

>160 sirfurboy: Hope you enjoy it Stephen!

>161 FAMeulstee: It's well worth the reread, Anita!

Oh Ella, I'm very sorry to read the news about Marc. Please know that we are all there for you, and my prayers go out to you and him.

I'm glad that you enjoyed the movie about Miles Davis. Hopefully it's still playing here, as I haven't seen it yet.

Nice review of In Europe. I purchased the Kindle edition of it several years ago, but I haven't read it yet.

I'm pretty sure you'll like The Obelisk Gate as much as the first two, Ella. What a trilogy!

>163 kidzdoc: >164 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl. Much appreciated.
And yes, go see that documentary, so well done!

>165 jnwelch: Hi Joe. I'm on the lookout for it right now!

48 and 49
Rereads
Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin.

Book 1: The Fifth Season finished
Book 2: The Stone Sky finished
Book 3: The Obelisk Gate to be read.

50 another reread
The long way to a small, angry planet by Becky Chambers
Rereading is comfort reading for me, and this one was a lot of fun again:-)

Reading now
In Europa part two by Geert Mak
De Stille Kracht by Louis Couperus
And A closed and common orbit by Becky Chambers,

The last one is another reread, I want to read part three (Joe mentioned it on his thread), and again I had forgotten all about part one and two. Memory.

Ella, I've been missing in action as I was off visiting family for several weeks in September and am just now catching up on threads. I am so sorry to hear about Marc and send you both my love and support. ((((Ella/Marc))))

>169 ronincats: Hi Roni, thanks very much. I'm not keeping up with the threads at the moment. Been too busy, and next week Marc will be starting treatments. Finally. We can use all love and support, waiting has been stressful.

>170 EllaTim: The threads can wait, Ella, when real life needs you.
Sending hugs and good thoughts to you and Marc.

51 A closed and common orbit but Becky Chambers

And this was another reread. Which I only noticed after starting the book, so familiar;-)

52 Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

This is part three of the trilogy. I liked it, but I thought it a bit weaker than the first. There are so many characters, all introduced in short chapters, it feels like it took a long time to get to know them, to start rooting for some of them.
But the author does a good job of creating a world, and showing how it works and why. Interesting, as she deals with cultures and space. Real SF.

Hope that next week goes well for Marc. Take care of each other. xx

Sending good vibes from here to yo both for next week.{{hugs}}

>173 PaulCranswick: >174 jessibud2: Hi Paul and Shelley. Thanks very much for your good vibes, and hugs.

We had a nice day today, relaxing meetup with old friends in the botanical garden. A cup of tea, laughter and chatting.

And after that a protest meeting. I'm participating in the Not-For-Sale protest in our town. Protesting the sale of social housing. Prices going up like crazy. The meeting was nice as well. Lots of elderly people who participate in spite of needing a seat to do so, talk, and cups of tea and coffee.

53 The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin (fantasy, USA) ****

Finish of the trilogy. A good read.

>175 EllaTim: Social housing is under pressure, gentrification makes it worse. I hope the protests have a positive outcome!

>177 FAMeulstee: Lots of pressure, that's right Anita. The house that the corporation wants to sell is ideal for an older person, and the neighbourhood has lots of older people who need to move downstairs. But the corporation wants to sell, to the highest bidder, of course. We hope it helps, but it feels better to protest than to let it all slide and do nothing.

Marc has had his first chemotherapy. It's pretty heavy on him, nausea, feeling like he has a mild case of influenza. But his roommate in hospital, a nice Englishman, doing the same course of treatment but further along, told us his tumours had shrunk a lot in size, and one seems to have disappeared. They both had to spend two nights and a day in hospital, and it was a real help to Marc to be able to talk to a more experienced "colleague".

Next week he will be getting a lighter treatment, with hopefully less negative side-effects, and then a week to recover. Then the whole thing starts over again.

54. Vader by Karl Ove Knausgård ****

The first of the My Struggle series.

I know lots of people here love this series. I was partly impressed with this one, especially where he writes about his father, but sometimes I felt there were a lot of irrelevant details in the book, that didn't seem to add anything. (Like a step-by-step description of rolling a cigarette?)

Happy Sunday, Ella. It looks like you are really enjoying your Jemisin reads. I want to read more of her work. I hope you are doing well.

Hi Marc, nice to see you! Yes, go for Jemisin. Very well thought out story.

Hi Ella!

I hope Marc's treatments go well. It's good that he has someone else to talk to who is experiencing the same things.

Hugs to you both.

>178 EllaTim: The corporations are still paying the extra "recession"-tax, and are still paying for the hugh losses Erik Staal costed Vestia with his valuta-speculations. In my working life I had him as an interim-manager, didn't like him, as he knew everything without ever consulting others. So the corporation might need the funds of that house...

I hope Marc feels a bit better next week. Nice he had a roommate with positive experience.

>179 EllaTim: Karl Ove struck me with similarities between his Norwegian and my Dutch youth. And the problematic family relations.

>182 karenmarie: Hi Karen! Tomorrow a second treatment, but lichter than the first. It's heavier going than we had expected. And Thanks!

>183 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! Oo, one of those, lots of fun as a boss.
They say they need the funds and will build two new houses with the money. They forget to mention that those houses are very small, or temporary, or very expensive. Also somehow the proportion of social housing is still going down anyway.

The roommate was a big help.

55. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (UK) ****

Part three of the series featuring Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott.

I really enjoyed this book, and thought it even better than the first two in the series. Very readable. I usually don't like books about serial killers, but this was original. The story of Robin's marriage makes a good extra entertaining plot.

On to part four.

56. Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (UK) ***1/2

Still enjoyable. But I felt the ending was so complex, it felt more like a riddle, or a puzzle, than a good story.

>186 EllaTim: Agreed, it was an enjoyable read, but I liked the previous books better. Now waiting for the next.

How is Marc after two weeks of treatment?

>I liked book three best, I think. This fourth one was a bit slow at the start (and lots about horrible Matthew, now why didn't Robin ditch him at once?) and then at the end all of a sudden it rushed to finish.

Marc is having trouble, the treatment is heavy, he is tired, tired, and has to deal with the side-effects. Two different chemo's, the one this week is giving him a bad itch. No fun. now he gets a break week, and then it starts over. :-(

>189 FAMeulstee: Sorry it is so hard on Marc, I hope he can recuperate a bit this week.

Chemo is hard. Hugs!!!

>189 FAMeulstee: We hope so too Anita!

>190 ronincats: Thanks Roni!

Listening to Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

It's a Librivox recording, by several obviously young readers:-) adding to the charm, cause I'm really enjoying it.

Hi Ella!

>185 EllaTim: and >186 EllaTim: I started re-listening to the series while I was doing that part-time work and am now about halfway through the second, The Silkworm. Such a great series.

Marc’s chemo experience sounds like what a family member (close but not immediate family) is going through – total exhaustion and lots of side effects. She will have treatment 6 of 12 next week – they are also every other week, so 6 months total. All she can do is treat the side effects and understand that the exhaustion will end after the treatments end. Hugs to both of you.

Hi Ella my dear, sorry to read that it is taking its toll on Marc and hope he can recover this next week, sending love and special Yorkshire hugs to both of you from both of us dear friend.

>193 karenmarie: Enjoy Karen! You still have two to go.

Yes, sounds very similar. Best wishes for your family member. It is exhausting! He has a free week now, and I hope that his most recent side effect will go away in that week.

>194 johnsimpson: Hi John, thanks for those special Yorkshire hugs! (what do they look like, you have me wondering now;-)

>195 EllaTim:, Hi Ella, the "Special Yorkshire Hugs" are just me making a hug more special as we are known as God's Own Country in Yorkshire and I know the Dutch cycling fans who came over for the World Championships loved the County.

>196 johnsimpson: I can understand that Yorkshire is popular with Dutch cycling fans. But I think I would love the County as well, it looks wonderful, when I look at the pictures Paul has posted recently.

57. Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher (fantasy) ***1/2



A fun story. Reminded me a bit of one of the Nightwatch books by Terry Pratchett.
Magic, Goblins, Witches, and humor.

58. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (fantasy) ****1/2



Read for Halloween. Very enjoyable. Gaiman creates such believable characters. And this graveyard world drew me in and kept me reading.

>198 EllaTim: Ooh, I read The Graveyard Book a couple of years ago (when I read most of Gaiman's children's books) and really liked it. It's such a wonderful story, and an incredible world to be drawn into.

>199 PawsforThought: Hi Paws! I still have to read most of Gaiman's books. Glad you liked this one too.

59. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (Canada, fantasy) ****1/2



This is a reread for me. I remembered more or less what the story was about, but also that I hadn't enjoyed it very much. Was curious what I would think of it now.

Well, I must say, I still didn't enjoy it much, but I can see the quality of the book. It's really very good, frightening, stifling. The protagonist, Offred she is called, talks about her life as the Handmaid of her Commander. Somehow there has been a total religious upheaval. Offred's function is now to get a child for this Commander and his Wife. And that is all, she isn't allowed anything else, not even her own name.

As Offred is a very powerless person she doesn't have a lot of scope for emotions, or expression. She has to suppress those. The writing of the book is sparse, I thought, it's like an etching, sharp and spare. But it fits with the story.

So this book doesn't really follow the conventions for dystopian literature, there isn't very much excitement, or adventure. There is a kind of ending, but it is left very much in the open what will happen to Offred. The emphasis is for a large part on the past, how this has happened, and what Offred has lost.

There was a television series made of the book, but I didn't see that. I wonder now, what it was like.

Update: Marc should have started part 2 of this Chemotherapy tomorrow. Today he had blood tests, and it turns out his white blood cell count is too low. This stuff has a big impact on him! So he has a week extra off now. I'm glad, it will give him a breather, much needed. He was right that it has such an effect on him, the blood works confirm it. Next week they will give him a lower dose of one of the two chemo's. Mixed feelings, but a lower dose will be less hard on him, and I hope it will work anyway.

>201 EllaTim: I've never read The Handmaid's Tale but always meant to. I suppose I should try to push it further up the TBR list. I've only seen the first episode of the TV series - it was too horrifying for me to be able to continue - at least at that point in time. Maybe in the future. From what I've heard of other the first season/series (which is based on the book) is VERY good, but the second (which is more "freelance") is not so good.

>202 EllaTim: Sorry to hear Marc is being so affected by the treatment, but good that his doctors are quick to react and adjust. Hope the new adjusted treatment will be kinder to him but still work.

Hi, Ella. Hooray for The Graveyard Book. My favorite Gaiman. I enjoyed your thoughts on your reread of The Handmaid's Tale. I would also recommend the TV series.

I am sorry to hear about Marc and his relapse. I hope things turn out okay for him. Poor guy.

Sending continuing thoughts and good vibes out your way for you both. I hope the break gives him some time to regain some strength.

{{hugs}}

I also enjoyed your thoughts on re-reading A Handmaid's Tale, Ella, and I'm another fan of The Graveyard Book. I just re-read the graphic adaptation of TGB - it's really good.

My wife and I both loved (if that's the right word!) A Handmaid's Tale (for me it cast a powerful spell), and she tells me the TV series is excellent. Others would know better than I do, but I believe the newest tv season of it just finished.

>203 PawsforThought: Hi Paws! I thought the book was horrifying!

>204 msf59: Hi Marc. Your favourite Gaiman? I liked Anansi Boys a lot as well.

>205 jessibud2: Thanks Jessie! That's what I hope as well. And he seems to be feeling better at the moment.

And thank you all for your support.

>206 jnwelch: Hi Joe. A graphic adaptation, it seems just the right kind of book for it, and I bet I would enjoy it.

You all are making me very curious about the tv-adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale. I am going to have a look if I can still see it somehow!

60. Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon (fantasy, USA) ****



Lots of fun, this one. Castle Hangnail needs a new Master. Molly, the Wicked Witch is an eager candidate for the job. Only problems, she is so young, only twelve, and is she wicked and witchy enough? The Major-domo is in serious doubt. But she's the only candidate, so he just has to go along.

A story with a girl Hero, having to prove herself. The bad one of two sisters, but the good sister is a bore.

Thanks to Roni for alerting me to Ursula Vernon!

Bitte schonn!

>202 EllaTim: Sorry to read Marc is still not well enough for the next treatment, Ella.
(((hugs)))

I hope Marc's blood tests are good for another round of chemo soon.

Hugs to both of you.

>209 ronincats: Hi Roni!

>210 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita. He was feeling better this week. We went to the allotment, and he could keep up, didn't feel as tired. And today he's visiting a fair with a friend. Both taking it easy, as his friend needs to take it easy as well, but still.

>211 karenmarie: Yes, he is doing better. It's necessary, but we're not looking forward to the next round:-( It really is poison.

Reading now:
Hunger by Knut Hamsun



Such a roller coaster, it is tiring to read. Reminding me of Dostoyevsky.

>213 EllaTim: I have recently read his Growth of the Soil and really enjoyed it, Ella, but I remember not being too fond of Hunger.

Have a lovely Sunday.

>214 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! Yes, I saw it on your thread. Growth of the soil seems a very different book. I hope to read both. Just finished part 1 of Hunger and thought it interesting, and emotionally draining. He must have had a horrible time.

61. Naked in Death by J. D. Robb

I may be only one of a few who loved Hunger. That and Mysteries were favorites for me. Unlike Paul, Growth of the Soil didn't grab me.

P.S. I love the in Death series. I hope you enjoy (enjoyed?) the first one.

Hi Joe. I haven't finished Hunger yet. I found it emotionally demanding to read. After part 1 there is a natural break, and I put the book aside and haven't picked it up again. Doesn't mean it's not good, just tough.

I'm sorry Joe, I think it's not really my cup of tea, i'm afraid. But I am in a strange mood and am really having trouble with the books.

62. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery (Librivox audio) ****



A really pleasant surprise, this old-fashioned children's book!

Anne is an orphan, and she is going to get adopted by the Cuthberts. But when she arrives at their farm it turns out they had asked for a boy to help out on the farm. What an unpleasant surprise. Matthew Cuthbert decides to bring her back at once, but Anne manages to win his heart on the way.

From there it's a pleasant tale. L. M. Montgomery has a way with words and her descriptions of life outside and on the farm made me see and long for it.

I find myself abandoning lots of books, but I have picked up one I didn't finish earlier The Seabird's Cry by Adam Nicolson.



Descriptions of the life of several species of seabirds. It's very well written, and you can read it one chapter, so one bird, at a time, and put it aside again without any harm done. I just finished the chapter about the cormorants.

Chapter 8 concerns the Shearwaters. So interesting, they travel large distances each year, from north to south crossing the Atlantic and back. Extensive research has been done, scientists wondering how they manage to find their way. Turns out the sense of smell is very important to them. Now isn't that surprising? To us the ocean just smells of sea, but those birds can find their prey, and the way home by smelling!

Finished a chapter where the extinction of the Great Aulk is discussed, just very recently in the 19th century! We, mankind, really are a plague. Still, the kind of thoughtless cruelty to animals that is described here is maybe getting less?

>220 EllaTim: - I have also abandoned a lot more books this year than I usually do. This one sounds right up my alley, though, Thanks for this, Ella.

>219 EllaTim: Sounds good, Ella, I might read it soon when I need a lighter read in between.

How is Marc doing?

>221 jessibud2: Hi Shelley, I found this one earlier in one of Paul's threads. I hope you'll like it as much as I do! Do you have an opportunity to see seabirds?

>222 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. Yes, the cormorants were really interesting, you'll see.

Marc is in his second round of chemos. He is being treated with some kind of growth factor for white blood cells. The day after the chemo. It has to be delivered at his home, first the packet, and then the nurse comes to administer it. It's expensive stuff. This time his stomach is protesting, more then the first time. He himself, is protesting as well. It's no fun, all this stuff. But people at the day treatment of the AVL are so kind, and such good nurses, they help him along a lot.

>223 EllaTim: - Not where I live, Ella. Toronto is nowhere near the ocean though we are located on the north shore of Lake Ontario and Ontario (my province) has many lakes. So, if you count seagulls, I guess we see sea birds. Cormorants are here as well. Many years ago, when I visited friends in Nova Scotia, I saw puffins, one of my favourite birds. They are really tiny!

You and Marc are lucky that his chemo is being administered at home. What a blessing that is. My friend's husband is going through something similar and his particular type of treatment is only available at a cancer centre that they have to travel to every single day for a week, then the break, then repeat the travels. And when they get there, they often have to wait hours in spite of having an appointment. As if it all weren't exhausting enough. And she tells me his stomach is protesting too.

{{hugs}} for you both

>224 jessibud2: Hi Shelley. Blushing here, I have shown my lack of geographical knowledge of Canada haven't I?
Aren't puffins fun? I have seen them only once, in Scotland. Nova Scotia is on my 'would love to visit' list.

Oh, I'm sorry for your friend and her husband. Having to wait for hours seems awful. And having to travel long distances every day as well. And, yes, it is exhausting in itself. Wish them strength from me. Our hospital has done its best to limit waiting times. We do have to wait, as there are blood tests first and you have to wait for results.

Marc does get the chemo itself in hospital. In his course first week is a night, then a day, and the following night in hospital. Next week just the afternoon in day treatment. And after that this one injection that has to be administered 24 hours later. That' s why he gets a nurse at home. We are soo lucky, as for us the hospital is more or less around the corner.

Hi Ella! Hugs to you and Marc as he continues the chemo.

>220 EllaTim: Fascinating info about Shearwaters. I can understand you abandoning books right now and reading essay-like short pieces sounds like a good way to keep reading without having to focus on a novel.

>226 karenmarie: Hi Karen! Thanks very much. Marc is in his week off, the weather is very un-Dutch wonderful today, so we are heading out for a visit to the woods, to admire autumn colours.

It's very good reading. I do want some fiction as well, and I'm not too fond of short stories, so I downloaded A tale of two cities. We will see what happens:-)

Hi Ella!

As promised, I've created a group read thread for us: Group Read: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens"

I'm going to start later today, hope to see you on the thread.

Hi Ella! I'm sending good thoughts, prayers and strength for both you and Marc.

I hope you were able to enjoy the woods and the fall colors. Being outdoors always lifts my spirits.

It's hard to pick the right book when your mind is preoccupied. I hope you enjoy A Tale of Two Cities. It has a bit of everything in it.

>219 EllaTim: Oh, Anne was one of my early literary loves. I've been meaning to re-read the books - hopefully I'll get to it next year.

>228 karenmarie: Hi Karen. I've already visited! Thanks very much for setting it up.

>229 streamsong: Hi Janet. Thank you! Yes, being outdoors, in nature that is, lifts my spirits as well. We have been enjoying a late and quiet autumn. So lots of colour to admire. It is getting evening early, but there is something in autumn evenings as well:-)

>230 PawsforThought: Hi Paws! My first time reading her, and I agree, a real literary love, and one that holds up for an adult as well. Hope you get to the reread next year.

A Tale of Two Cities is up there as one of my favourite Dickens novels.

I would rank it with David Copperfield and Great Expectations as his most readable works.

Have a great Sunday.

>232 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul! I am really enjoying Dickens here. He could be pretty sharp when he wanted to be;-)

Making good progress. Very well written. Audio helps a lot, in keeping my attention, but i miss some things as well.

I'm suffering from inability to finish books. And from being distracted by Facebook.

Did you know that Indian vultures were nearly eradicated by use of pain medication? how? Indian farmers using diclofenac to treat their cows, diclofenac in cow carcasses very poisonous to vultures. Use has now become illegal, but it's there and it's cheap so...
Read about it in an article in online National Geographic.

Cold, rainy day here. Had to go out to photocopy our neighbourhood newsletter. And of course it started to rain, even though the weather forecast had said it would stay dry. But the boy behind the counter was really nice and helped me pack my pile of newsletters carefully. Small kindnesses can make ones day.

I'm just lurking on threads at the moment, don't feel up to commenting.

63. De HBS-tijd van Joop ter Heul by Cissy van Marxveldt
(LibriVox audiobook, read by Anna Simon, 1919) ***1/2



This a a dutch golden oldie, a book for teenage girls. Published in 1919, and it must have been very modern then. Cissy van Marxveldt writes in a very lively fashion, the diary of a schoolgirl. Struggling with very ordinary schoolgirl problems, friends, school results, her parents. But written so well, that now, after a full century, it still holds up. Especially the dialogues, and this diary is made up of letters written to a friend, are well written. The whole book was a bit too much of the same for me, schoolgirl pranks, but I think that's probably not true for the young readers then.

Pff, I finally managed to finish a book!

>236 EllaTim: I love the cover illustration on that book!

Just a quick hello, Ella. Hugs to you and Marc.

>236 EllaTim: I discovered Joop ter Heul later in life, I think in my late twenties. Still enjoyed them back then.

>236 EllaTim: Hi Paws! I think it's more or less from the time of the first edition. I like that style as well.

>238 karenmarie: Hi Karen! And thanks, we still need it. Rotten chemo.

>239 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. My library had lots of older books, quite enjoyable. It's still fun to read, them, feel a bit like a teen while reading. I didn't much enjoy being a teenager while I was going through it, but looking back I can enjoy;-)

I rediscovered Deborah Crombie's series about police officers Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James. I abandoned it after reading the first book, but I now quite liked book 2. So I've taken it up again.

64. All shall be well by Deborah Crombie ****

Coming home from work Duncan Kincaid finds his downstairs neighbour dead on her bed. She was terminally ill, so it shouldn't have been a surprise, but it was. And it doesn't sit well with Duncan, so he starts an investigation,

I quite liked this quiet paced story. It's not so much focused on the crime, but on the people and their stories, and I liked that.
( Just one small quibble with it: there are no pelicans in the UK;-), detail)

Good news from the doctors office: first CT- scan after the first half of the chemo treatment is done showed very positive results. First strike has been really good!

So, that helps, it's helping. We were very glad of course, what if the scan had shown no result, or hardly any? And we're really tired now. Next week a new round, and it is growing harder, but it helps!

{{hugs to you both, Ella}} and that is good news!

>242 EllaTim: Oh, what great news, Ella! And just in time for Christmas, too!

That IS great news, Ella! What a great Christmas present!

Rest as much as you can during your little break. It's very hard for you as well as Marc.

>244 PawsforThought: >245 streamsong: Hi Paws, Hi Janet. It is good news, really. And I am very thankfull.

Yes, we both need rest!

65. Leave the Grave green by Deborah Crombie ***1/2

Kincaid and James book 3

Rest up, Ella. So good to hear about the very positive chemo results.

>242 EllaTim: So happy to read this good news, Ella.
Hugs to you and Marc. I hope this helps him to endure the treatment next week.

66. Wangari Maathai The woman who planted millions of trees. by Frank Prévot ****

This is an illustrated book for children. The story of Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan woman who started the green belt movement in her country. Interesting. The fourth star is for the beautiful pictures.

I found it online, read on YouTube, as I had looked it up after the book by Jean Giono, The Man who Planted Trees was mentioned by Anita.

>248 jnwelch: >249 FAMeulstee: Hi Joe! hi Anita! Resting is what we do, and much needed. Today a small visit to the garden centre is planned.

Happy Sunday, Ella. I hope you are doing well. I like the sound of The Seabirds Cry. I may have to check that out. And The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees sounds like a lovely picture book.

Wishing you a wonderful Sunday, Ella.

>252 msf59: Hi Marc. It definitely is worth checking out. I warn you though, it has made me want to visit all kinds of very inhospitable places;-)

Hi Paul, and a nice day to you too.

67. The Seabird's Cry by Adam Nicolson (UK) *****

Subtitle The Lives and Loves of Puffins, Gannets and Other Ocean Voyagers

Adam Nicolson loves those seabirds, and he knows a lot about them. He talks about the scientific investigations into their lives, very interesting. But the book is more than science, he writes about what the birds mean to us. For me, the way he writes about them, and their lives, the birds are more than what they mean to us, they are part of the web of life and should be protected and respected as such.

The last chapter, about threats and decline is good to make you weep, in that light. Climate change meaning ocean change. Rats and human beings, both big threats to sea birds.

Still, this is a wonderful, interesting and well written book. It took me nearly a year to finish it, there is so much in it.

I think this will be my book of the year.

Best books of 2019 according to the Dutch papers:
Trouw:
https://www.trouw.nl/recensies/de-beste-boeken-van-2019-volgens-onze-recensenten...

NRC:
https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2019/12/19/de-beste-boeken-van-2019-volgens-nrc-a39832...

Volkskrant:
https://www.volkskrant.nl/cultuur-media/dit-zijn-de-57-beste-boeken-van-2019-vol...

De Groene:
https://www.groene.nl/artikel/de-beste-boeken-van-2019

And here bookshop Athenaeum gives an overview of book reviews in the papers:
https://www.athenaeum.nl/nieuws/recensieoverzicht/18-december-2019/

Hi, Ella - It's been awhile since I've been on LT, and I wanted to be sure to stop by to say hello and to wish you a very Merry Christmas and

Hi Ella!

>242 EllaTim: So glad to hear the positive results from the first half of chemo. At least you know there’s some positive results from such an awful process.

Merry Christmas Ella and Marc from both of us dear friend.

>257 Storeetllr: Hi Mary, how nice to see you here again. You must tell us how you've been, so hoping to see you in a new thread next year.

Thank you Karen and John.

Tomorrow Christmas at my mother's. So I'll be off then.

Happy Christmas to all of you.

Happy Holidays, Ella!

May you have a wonderful Christmas and may the good results for Marc keep coming in!

Greetings from Montana!

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, some other tradition or none at all, this is what I wish for you!

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

68. How the Grinch stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss ****

Found this one read aloud on YouTube, Keith Morrison. Made me smile. He reads very well. I guess nearly everybody here will know the story. I just thought to read a Christmassy book. Found a list here on LT, this is number two on the list.
I might read another one, I can use a bit of feelgood.

69. The Mitten by Jan Brett ****



Another read aloud on YouTube. by Jan Brett herself. This is a wonderful picture book. And again, a delight for a tired, grumpy adult. :-)

Recommended by Shelley.

I think I might be able to get to sleep now.

>266 EllaTim:- Yay for finding this as a read-aloud! I never would have even thought to look for it! Also happy that you enjoyed it. Sleep well, Ella!

>267 jessibud2: Hi Shelley, there are lots of books read aloud on YouTube. And of course we wouldn't think of that, I just happened on one. But it's a nice experience ;-)

70. Mourn not your Dead by Deborah Crombie ***1/2

Kincaid & James book 4

In England, the romantic police pair of Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James investigate the murder of their commander, Superintendent Gilbert, an unloved man, even by his wife.

A good story, the investigation seems to go nowhere at first. And there is the subplot of the romance between the two detectives.

71. A Tale of two Cities by Charles Dickens ****1/2



Wow. I really liked this one. There is the story, Charles Darnay, his wife Lucy, her father, miss Pross and banker mr. Lorry all somehow get caught up in the French Revolution. Charles is caught as the son of an aristocrat, will be brought to death, is saved. And after just a few hours caught again, and will now die for certain. But at the last moment an English friend turns up, who used to be a good-for-nothing, but now saves the day.

The story is a melodrama of course, but it holds us captured anyway. Lucy is a bit too good to be true, but miss Pross makes up for it. The scene where she confronts Madame Defarge is funny and very strong.

The background of the French Revolution is chilling and scary, the guillottine, the Defarges, the knitting women, they are unforgettable.

And I enjoyed Dickens' writing in this book. The first sentence has become famous, but there are more spots where he really shines.

72. The Polar Express by Chris van Allsburg

A children's Christmas story as read aloud on YouTube.
Well, what to say, this was just not my cup of tea.

73. The Night before Christmas by Clement C. Moore, with illustrations by Jan Brett



Again, as read aloud on YouTube. Jan Brett's drawings are really wonderful. A feast to the eye.

Browsing for the right cover on LT I noticed that there are lots of versions of this story, illustrated by other artists. One by Arthur Rackham, or Grandma Moses. I would love to see those as well.

74. De Cock en het lijk in de kerstnacht by A. C. Baantjer ***1/2 (audiobook)



(English title: Dekok and the Corpse on Christmas Eve)

Detective story around two Amsterdam police detectives. Nice, and nostalgic, old Amsterdam. Well read.
A body is found in the water of one of the canals. It's Christmas, the victim is a young pregnant woman. De Cock has to come back from vacation.

75. Het krabbetje en de Gerechtigheid by Frederik van Eeden *** (dutch, audio, short story)



I wanted to get to 75, without having to force or speed-read, so I picked a short story to listen to.

Frederik van Eeden is a good nature observer, and he shows that here in this short story, set on the beach, about a small crab. There is a moral in it as well, but I am afraid I am not getting it. Anyway, it conjured up the beach to me, and that was nice:-)

I will set up a thread in the 2020 group, and post the link here later.

Wishing everybody who is still reading a very good new year, and new decade!

>274 EllaTim: Congratulations on reaching 75, Ella!

Congrats on reaching 75, Ella! And just in time!

Thanks Anita and Paws! It took some doing to get to 75, but I love this sense of achievement;-)

Thanks for following my thread this year!

We are going to have a nice new-years eve, a friend coming over, we'll be watching some cabaret on TV. Watch the fireworks, but we won't be lighting our own.

Marc is feeling lousy after the latest chemo, had to go into hospital for treatment on December 26. And had to stay an extra day, as he was feeling so tired and nauseous. So no champagne this evening, and maybe some oliebollen for me, alone. Our friend doesn't eat them. (But she will probably bring all the horrible chips she doesn't eat all year, as a treat)

Congrats on hitting 75!

Congratulations on making it to 75, and I saw your timing was similar to mine :)

I hope the New Year brings much peace and plenty of good reading.

Hi Ella my dear, wishing you and Marc a very Happy New Year from both of us dear friend.

Happy new year Ella, and may it bring better days and better health to Marc.

Another resolution is to keep up in 2020 with all my friends on LT. Happy New Year!

Congrats on 75, Ella!

Thanks Jim, and Barbara, Stephen, John, Shelley and Paul and Karen, thanks for being my friends this year.

Finished my challenge in the nick of time, eh?

Next year you can find me here:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/314841