PAUL C INTO THE ROARING 20S - Part 22

Belle's home made attempt!

Poem

Just to clarify, this is one of mine. :D

Milosz in October

The October birch trees are naked;
Leaves stripped from their homes
By the icy teeth of Siberian wind
And the forests beyond of Vilnius
Are silent tonight.

As the people are emptied and gone;
Along the rattling trams of Poznan
From a time that gave no shelter.
Mournful that the faiths conspired
To allow the faithless to oppress.

Polishing his Polish for poezja;
Echoing rain-wet streets of Warsaw
And the leaden skies of Krakow -
Elegies to peace not full daunted
By the wry hand of God's kingdom.

BOOKS READ FIRST QUARTER OF 2020

January

1. Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift (2016) 149 pp - BAC Challenge
2. Paper Aeroplane by Simon Armitage (2014) 232 pp
3. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson (1985) 171 pp - BAC Challenge
4. The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick by Peter Handke (1970) 133 pp - Nobel winner
5. The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan (2006) 312 pp
6. Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn (1972) 93 pp BAC Challenge
7. I'm Not Scared by Niccolo Ammaniti (2001) 225 pp
8. Death Walks in Eastrepps by Francis Beeding (1931) 252 pp
9. Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminski (2019) 78 pp
10. Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham (2012) 377 pp
11. James II : The Last Catholic King by David Womersley (2015) 99 pp
12. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1911) 313 pp
13. The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot (1922) 41 pp
14. England and the Aeroplane by David Edgerton (1991) 172 pp

February

15. Loyalties by Delphine de Vigan (2018) 182 pp
16. The World's Two Smallest Humans by Julia Copus (2012) 52 pp
17. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (1991) 110 pp
18. The History Boys by Alan Bennett (2004) 200 pp BAC Challenge
19. Dregs by Jan Lier Horst (2010) 310 pp
20. On Grand Strategy by John Lewis Gaddis (2018) 313 pp
21. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski (1993) 280 pp
22. The Roominghouse Madrigals by Charles Bukowski (1988) 256 pp
23. Reading in the Dark by Seamus Deane (1996) 233 pp BAC Challenge
24. As it Was by Fred Trueman (2004) 397 pp
25. The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell (1973) 314 pp BOOKER WINNER
26. Varina by Charles Frazier (2018) 353 pp AAC
27. A Timbered Choir by Wendell Berry (1998) 216 pp AAC

March

28. Past Tense by Lee Child (2018) 461 pp
29. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (2009) 266 pp NOBEL
30. Over the Moon by Imtiaz Dharkar (2014) 155 pp
31. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006) 287 pp PULITZER
32. Witness : Lessons from Elie Wiesel's Classroom by Ariel Burger (2018) 255 pp
33. Meditations in an Emergency by Frank O'Hara (1957) 52 pp
34. The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli (2013) 183 pp
35. Ivanov by Anton Chekhov (1887) 58 pp
36. Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson (2010) 252 pp
37. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (1811) 374 pp
38. The English Civil War by David Clark (2008) 154 pp
39. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (1996) 280 pp
40. The Librarian by Salley Vickers (2018) 385 pp
41. The Holy Fox by Andrew Roberts (1991) 414 pp

BOOKS READ SECOND QUARTER OF 2020

April

42. The Females by Wolfgang Hilbig (2010) 129 pp
43. Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neill (1956) 110 pp
44. Look We Have Coming to Dover! by Daljit Nagra (2007) 55 pp
45. Icarus by Deon Meyer (2015) 360 pp
46. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (2019) 452 pp
47. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (1972) 172 pp
48. Behind the Sofa : Celebrity Memories of Doctor Who by Steve Berry (2013) 216 pp
49. Please Sir! by Jack Sheffield (2011) 336 pp
50. American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes (2018) 82 pp
51. The Sea Gull by Anton Checkhov (1896) 68 pp
52. The Memoir of an Anti-Hero by Kornel Filipowicz (1961) 70 pp
53. Divided : Why We're Living in an Age of Walls by Tim Marshall (2018) 288 pp
54. Frozen Moment by Camilla Ceder (2009) 378 pp
55. North by Seamus Heaney (1975) 68 pp
56. Cambridge by Caryl Phillips (1991) 184 pp
57. Rotherweird by Andrew Caldecott (2017) 456 pp
58. The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers (2017) 363 pp

May

59. The Drought by J.G. Ballard (1965) 233 pp
60. A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt (1960) 163 pp
61. The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories by Amos Tutuola (1990) 115 pp
62. Tales of Long Ago by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1922) 186 pp
63. Fidelity : Poems by Grace Paley (2008) 87 pp
64. Atlantic Fury by Hammond Innes (1962) 308 pp
65. The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris West (1963) 375 pp
66. The War Hound and the World's Pain by Michael Moorcock (1981) 208 pp
67. Boomerang by Michael Lewis (2011) 212pp
68. Field Work by Seamus Heaney (1979) 56 pp
69. The Citadel by A.J. Cronin (1937) 401 pp
70. Unstoppable: My Life So Far by Maria Sharapova (2017) 289 pp
71. Selected Poems by Marianne Moore (1935) 109 pp
72. The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis (2005) 266 pp

June

73. Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot (1935) 88 pp
74. The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald (1978) 156 pp
75. Golden Hill by Francis Spufford (2016) 340 pp
76. The Great Impersonation by E Phillips Oppenheim (1920) 221 pp
77. Selected Poems of Odysseus Elytis by Odysseus Elytis (1981) 115 pp
78. Zonal by Don Paterson (2020) 68 pp
79. Staying On by Paul Scott (1977) 255 pp

BOOKS READ THIRD QUARTER OF 2020

July

80. Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (1999) 296 pp
81. Serve the People! by Yan Lianke (2007) 228 pp
82. The Expedition of Cyrus by Xenophon (c370 BC) 225 pp
83. Morvern Callar by Alan Warner (1995) 204 pp
84. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (1953) 91 pp
85. The Seeker and Other Poems by Nelly Sacks (1970) 399 pp
86. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (2003) 208 pp
87. Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente (2011) 349 pp
88. Castle Richmond by Anthony Trollope (1861) 757 pp
89. Winnie-the-Pooh by AA Milne (1926) 161 pp
90. The Dark Film by Paul Farley (2012) 55 pp
91. Eight Hours from England by Anthony Quayle (1945) 228 pp

August

92. Sitting Bull: The Life and Times of an American Patriot by Robert M Utley (1993) 314 pp
93. The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths (2010) 327 pp
94. The Dead and the Living by Sharon Olds (1983) 80 pp
95. Dominicana by Angie Cruz (2019) 319 pp

September

96. A Captain's Duty by Richard Phillips (2013) 286 pp
97. The Kingdom by the Sea by Robert Westall (1990) 255 pp
98. Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw (1914) 119 pp
99. I am Sovereign by Nicola Barker (2019) 209 pp
100. Station Island by Seamus Heaney (1985) 121 pp

BOOKS READ FOURTH QUARTER 2020

October

101. The Ways of the World by Robert Goddard (2013) 525 pp
102. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (1895) 75 pp
103. Selected and Last Poems, 1931-2004 by Czeslaw Milosz (2011) 325 pp
104. The Corners of the Globe by Robert Goddard (2014) 499 pp
105. The Ditch by Herman Koch (2016) 306 pp
106. The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian (2007) 385 pp

November

107. This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga (2018) 363 pp
108. Averno by Louise Gluck (2006) 76 pp

Currently Reading

READING PLAN FOR 2020

I always start out ambitiously but not having made 100 books in the last two years I am going all out to read 20 books a month next year and go well past 200 for the first time since my University days.

20 Categories for 2020 which will also give a nod to my other challenges and longer term projects.

The twenty categories are :

1. British Author Challenge
2. British Poetry
3. Contemporary British Fiction
4. World Poetry
5. 1001 Books
6. Plays
7. American Author Challenge
8. Non-Fiction
9. History
10. Current Affairs
11. Booker Nominees
12. Nobel Winners
13. Scandi
14. Series Books
15. Thrillers/Mystery
16. Classic Fiction
17. 21st Century Fiction
18. World Literature
19. Science Fiction / Fantasy
20. Pot Luck

BRITISH ISLES AUTHOR CHALLENGE 2020



The general thread can be found here : https://www.librarything.com/topic/315141

January: Jeanette Winterson & Graham Swift

February: The 1990s - https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#6991758

March: Jane Austen & Walter Scott

April: Bernardine Evaristo & Caryl Phillips

May: New Wave Sci-Fi : Michael Moorcock, J. G. Ballard, & Brian Aldiss

June: Penelope Fitzgerald & Patrick Gale

July: Elly Griffiths & Winston Graham

August: The Brontë Sisters : Charlotte Bronte, Anne Bronte & Emily Bronte

September: World War II - https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#6999459

October: Joanne Harris & George Orwell

November: Fay Weldon & John le Carré

December: The 2010s : https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#6999620

Wildcard: Playwrights - https://www.librarything.com/topic/313878#7000002

AMERICAN AUTHOR CHALLENGE



January Charles Frazier - Varina
February Grace Paley - Fidelity : Poems
March David McCullough
April Francine Prose
May E. Lynn Harris
June Jean Stafford
July Wendell Berry - A Timbered Choir
August Robert Penn Warren
September Dawn Powell
October Ward Just
November Ann Petry
December Tony Hillerman

My last decade of reading (probably my worst since I started reading).

Total Books Read : 1,145 books

1 book every 3.2 days

Best Reading Year : 2013 with 157 books

Worst Reading Year : 2019 with 76 books

My Books of the Year on LT:

2011 : Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2012 : The Road Home by Rose Tremain
2013 : Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes
2014 : Plainsong by Kent Haruf
2015 : Winter King by Thomas Penn
2016 : The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
2017 : The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
2018 : Country Girls by Edna O'Brien
2019 : The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

Personal Reading Challenge: Every winner of the Booker Prize since its inception in 1969

1969: P. H. Newby, Something to Answer For - READ
1970: Bernice Rubens, The Elected Member
1970: J. G. Farrell, Troubles (awarded in 2010 as the Lost Man Booker Prize) - READ
1971: V. S. Naipaul, In a Free State
1972: John Berger, G.
1973: J. G. Farrell, The Siege of Krishnapur - READ
1974: Nadine Gordimer, The Conservationist ... and Stanley Middleton, Holiday - READ
1975: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Heat and Dust - READ
1976: David Storey, Saville - READ
1977: Paul Scott, Staying On - READ
1978: Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea
1979: Penelope Fitzgerald, Offshore - READ
1980: William Golding, Rites of Passage - READ
1981: Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children - READ
1982: Thomas Keneally, Schindler's Ark - READ
1983: J. M. Coetzee, Life & Times of Michael K
1984: Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac - READ
1985: Keri Hulme, The Bone People
1986: Kingsley Amis, The Old Devils - READ
1987: Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger - READ
1988: Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda
1989: Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
1990: A. S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance - READ
1991: Ben Okri, The Famished Road
1992: Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient ... and Barry Unsworth, Sacred Hunger - READ
1993: Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
1994: James Kelman, How late it was, how late
1995: Pat Barker, The Ghost Road
1996: Graham Swift, Last Orders - READ
1997: Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things READ
1998: Ian McEwan, Amsterdam - READ
1999: J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace - READ
2000: Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin
2001: Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang - READ
2002: Yann Martel, Life of Pi
2003: DBC Pierre, Vernon God Little
2004: Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty
2005: John Banville, The Sea - READ
2006: Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss
2007: Anne Enright, The Gathering - READ
2008: Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger - READ
2009: Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall - READ
2010: Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question
2011: Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending - READ
2012: Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies - READ
2013: Eleanor Catton, The Luminaries
2014: Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North - READ
2015: Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings - READ
2016: Paul Beatty, The Sellout - READ
2017: George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo
2018: Anna Burns, Milkman
2019: Margaret Atwood, The Testaments, and Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other

READ 31 of 55 WINNERS

Pulitzer Winners

As with the Bookers, I want to eventually read all the Pulitzer winners (for fiction at least) and have most of the recent ones on the shelves at least. Current status.

Fiction

1918 HIS FAMILY - Ernest Poole
1919 THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS - Booth Tarkington
1921 THE AGE OF INNOCENCE - Edith Wharton
1922 ALICE ADAMS - Booth Tarkington
1923 ONE OF OURS - Willa Cather
1924 THE ABLE MCLAUGHLINS - Margaret Wilson
1925 SO BIG - Edna Ferber
1926 ARROWSMITH - Sinclair Lewis (Declined)
1927 EARLY AUTUMN - Louis Bromfield
1928 THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY - Thornton Wilder
1929 SCARLET SISTER MARY - Julia Peterkin
1930 LAUGHING BOY - Oliver Lafarge ON SHELVES
1931 YEARS OF GRACE - Margaret Ayer Barnes
1932 THE GOOD EARTH - Pearl Buck
1933 THE STORE - Thomas Sigismund Stribling
1934 LAMB IN HIS BOSOM - Caroline Miller
1935 NOW IN NOVEMBER - Josephine Winslow Johnson
1936 HONEY IN THE HORN - Harold L Davis
1937 GONE WITH THE WIND - Margaret Mitchell ON SHELVES
1938 THE LATE GEORGE APLEY - John Phillips Marquand
1939 THE YEARLING - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
1940 THE GRAPES OF WRATH - John Steinbeck
1942 IN THIS OUR LIFE - Ellen Glasgow
1943 DRAGON'S TEETH - Upton Sinclair
1944 JOURNEY IN THE DARK - Martin Flavin
1945 A BELL FOR ADANO - John Hersey ON SHELVES
1947 ALL THE KING'S MEN - Robert Penn Warren ON SHELVES
1948 TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC - James Michener
1949 GUARD OF HONOR - James Gould Cozzens
1950 THE WAY WEST - A.B. Guthrie
1951 THE TOWN - Conrad Richter
1952 THE CAINE MUTINY - Herman Wouk
1953 THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA - Ernest Hemingway
1955 A FABLE - William Faulkner
1956 ANDERSONVILLE - McKinlay Kantor
1958 A DEATH IN THE FAMILY - James Agee ON SHELVES
1959 THE TRAVELS OF JAIMIE McPHEETERS - Robert Lewis Taylor
1960 ADVISE AND CONSENT - Allen Drury
1961 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - Harper Lee
1962 THE EDGE OF SADNESS - Edwin O'Connor
1963 THE REIVERS - William Faulkner
1965 THE KEEPERS OF THE HOUSE - Shirley Ann Grau
1966 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF KATHERINE ANNE PORTER - Katherine Anne Porter
1967 THE FIXER - Bernard Malamud
1968 THE CONFESSIONS OF NAT TURNER - William Styron
1969 HOUSE MADE OF DAWN - N Scott Momaday ON SHELVES
1970 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF JEAN STAFFORD - Jean Stafford
1972 ANGLE OF REPOSE - Wallace Stegner ON SHELVES
1973 THE OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER - Eudora Welty ON SHELVES
1975 THE KILLER ANGELS - Jeff Shaara ON SHELVES
1976 HUMBOLDT'S GIFT - Saul Bellow
1978 ELBOW ROOM - James Alan McPherson
1979 THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER - John Cheever ON SHELVES
1980 THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG - Norman Mailer ON SHELVES
1981 A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES - John Kennedy Toole ON SHELVES
1982 RABBIT IS RICH - John Updike
1983 THE COLOR PURPLE - Alice Walker ON SHELVES
1984 IRONWEED - William Kennedy ON SHELVES
1985 FOREIGN AFFAIRS - Alison Lurie ON SHELVES
1986 LONESOME DOVE - Larry McMurtry ON SHELVES
1987 A SUMMONS TO MEMPHIS - Peter Taylor
1988 BELOVED - Toni Morrison - ON SHELVES
1989 BREATHING LESSONS - Anne Tyler
1990 THE MAMBO KINGS PLAY SONGS OF LOVE - Oscar Hijuelos
1991 RABBIT AT REST - John Updike
1992 A THOUSAND ACRES - Jane Smiley
1993 A GOOD SCENT FROM A STRANGE MOUNTAIN - Robert Olen Butler
1994 THE SHIPPING NEWS - E Annie Proulx
1995 THE STONE DIARIES - Carol Shields ON SHELVES
1996 INDEPENDENCE DAY - Richard Ford ON SHELVES
1997 MARTIN DRESSLER - Steven Millhauser ON SHELVES
1998 AMERICAN PASTORAL - Philip Roth ON SHELVES
1999 THE HOURS - Michael Cunningham ON SHELVES
2000 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES - Jumpha Lahiri
2001 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY - Michael Chabon ON SHELVES
2002 EMPIRE FALLS - Richard Russo ON SHELVES
2003 MIDDLESEX - Jeffrey Eugenides ON SHELVES
2004 THE KNOWN WORLD - Edward P. Jones ON SHELVES
2005 GILEAD - Marilynne Robinson ON SHELVES
2006 MARCH - Geraldine Brooks
2007 THE ROAD - Cormac McCarthy
2008 THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO - Junot Diaz ON SHELVES
2009 OLIVE KITTERIDGE - Elizabeth Strout ON SHELVES
2010 TINKERS - Paul Harding
2011 A VISIT FROM THE GOOD SQUAD - Jennifer Egan ON SHELVES
2013 ORPHAN MASTER'S SON - Adam Johnson ON SHELVES
2014 THE GOLDFINCH - Donna Tartt ON SHELVES
2015 ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE - Anthony Doerr ON SHELVES
2016 THE SYMPATHIZER - Viet Thanh Nguyen ON SHELVES
2017 THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD - Colson Whitehead ON SHELVES
2018 LESS - Andrew Sean Greer ON SHELVES
2019 THE OVERSTORY - Richard Powers ON SHELVES
2020 THE NICKEL BOYS - Colson Whitehead ON SHELVES


16 READ
38 ON SHELVES
39 NOT OWNED OR READ

93 TOTAL

NOBELS

Update on my Nobel Prize Winning Reading:
1901 Sully Prudhomme
1902 Theodor Mommsen
1903 Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
1904 Frédéric Mistral and José Echegaray y Eizaquirre
1905 Henryk Sienkiewicz
1906 Giosuè Carducci
1907 Rudyard Kipling - READ
1908 Rudolf Christoph Eucken
1909 Selma Lagerlöf
1910 Paul Heyse --
1911 Count Maurice Maeterlinck
1912 Gerhart Hauptmann
1913 Rabindranath Tagore - READ
1915 Romain Rolland
1916 Verner von Heidenstam
1917 Karl Adolph Gjellerup and Henrik Pontoppidan
1919 Carl Spitteler
1920 Knut Hamsun - READ
1921 Anatole France - READ
1922 Jacinto Benavente
1923 William Butler Yeats - READ
1924 Wladyslaw Reymont
1925 George Bernard Shaw - READ
1926 Grazia Deledda - READ
1927 Henri Bergson
1928 Sigrid Undset
1929 Thomas Mann - READ
1930 Sinclair Lewis - READ
1931 Erik Axel Karlfeldt
1932 John Galsworthy - READ
1933 Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin - READ
1934 Luigi Pirandello - READ
1936 Eugene O'Neill - READ
1937 Roger Martin du Gard
1938 Pearl S. Buck - READ
1939 Frans Eemil Sillanpää
1944 Johannes Vilhelm Jensen
1945 Gabriela Mistral
1946 Hermann Hesse - READ
1947 André Gide - READ
1948 T.S. Elliot - READ
1949 William Faulkner - READ
1950 Bertrand Russell - READ
1951 Pär Lagerkvist - READ
1952 François Mauriac - READ
1953 Sir Winston Churchill - READ
1954 Ernest Hemingway - READ
1955 Halldór Laxness - READ
1956 Juan Ramón Jiménez
1957 Albert Camus - READ
1958 Boris Pasternak (declined the prize) - READ
1959 Salvatore Quasimodo
1960 Saint-John Perse
1961 Ivo Andric - READ
1962 John Steinbeck - READ
1963 Giorgos Seferis
1964 Jean-Paul Sartre (declined the prize) - READ
1965 Michail Sholokhov
1966 Shmuel Yosef Agnon and Nelly Sachs - READ
1967 Miguel Ángel Asturias
1968 Yasunari Kawabata - READ
1969 Samuel Beckett - READ
1970 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - READ
1971 Pablo Neruda - READ
1972 Heinrich Böll - READ
1973 Patrick White
1974 Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson
1975 Eugenio Montale
1976 Saul Bellow - READ
1977 Vincente Aleixandre
1978 Isaac Bashevis Singer - READ
1979 Odysseas Elytis - READ
1980 Czeslaw Milosz
1981 Elias Canetti
1982 Gabriel Garciá Márquez - READ
1983 William Golding - READ
1984 Jaroslav Seifert - READ
1985 Claude Simon - READ
1986 Akinwande Ouwoe Soyinka
1987 Joseph Brodsky - READ
1988 Naguib Mahfouz - READ
1989 Camilo José Cela - READ
1990 Octavio Paz
1991 Nadine Gordimer - READ
1992 Derek Walcott - READ
1993 Toni Morrison - READ
1994 Kenzaburo Oe - READ
1995 Seamus Heaney - READ
1996 Wislawa Szymborska - READ
1997 Dario Fo - READ
1998 José Saramago - READ
1999 Günter Grass
2000 Gao Xingjian
2001 Vidiadhar Surjprasad Naipaul - READ
2002 Imre Kertész - READ
2003 John Maxwell Coetzee - READ
2004 Elfriede Jelinek - READ
2005 Harold Pinter - READ
2006 Orhan Pamuk - READ
2007 Doris Lessing - READ
2008 J.M.G. Le Clézio
2009 Herta Müller - READ
2010 Mario Vargas Llosa - READ
2011 Tomas Tranströmer - READ
2012 Mo Yan
2013 Alice Munro - READ
2014 Patrick Modiano - READ
2015 Svetlana Alexievich - READ
2016 Bob Dylan - READ
2017 Kazuo Ishiguro - READ
2018 Olga Tokarczuk - READ
2019 Peter Handke - READ
2020 Louise Gluck - READ

READ 71 OF
117 LAUREATES

LIT HUB'S 50 CHUNKSTERS & MY 20 ALTERNATIVES

These are the 50 Literary Hub Must Read Chunksters:

1. The Overstory by Richard Powers OWNED
2. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
3. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco OWNED
4. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee OWNED
5. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell OWNED
6. The Witch Elm by Tana French OWNED
7. The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood OWNED
8. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr OWNED
9. Little, Big by John Crowley
10. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides OWNED
11. The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt
12. Possession by A.S. Byatt READ
13. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel READ
14. The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
15. The Secret History by Donna Tartt READ
16. The Parisian : A Novel
17. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie OWNED
18. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters READ
19. The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami OWNED
20. Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson OWNED
21. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie READ
22. American Gods by Neil Gaiman READ
23. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay by Michael Chabon OWNED
24. The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu OWNED
25. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen OWNED
26. Skippy Dies by Paul Murray OWNED
27. A Naked Singularity by Sergio de la Pava
28. An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears
29. A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James READ
30. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson OWNED
31. The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe OWNED
32. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara OWNED
33. Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin OWNED
34. JR by William Gaddis OWNED
35. Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko
36. Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon OWNED
37. Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
38. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett OWNED
39. The Stand by Stephen King OWNED
40. Underworld by Don DeLillo READ
41. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton OWNED
42. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke READ
43. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry OWNED
44. 2666 by Roberto Bolano OWNED
45. Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra OWNED
46. Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann OWNED
47. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace OWNED
48. Parallel Stories by Peter Nadas
49. Women and Men by Joseph McElroy
50. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth OWNED

& My Alternative 20

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (1995) 624 pp
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (2001) 544 pp
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (2005) 720 pp
The Far Pavilions by MM Kaye (1978) 960 pp
Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess (1980) 656 pp
White Teeth by Zadie Smith (2000) 560 pp
The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman (1982) 896 pp
Saville by David Storey (1976) 560 pp
To Serve Them All My Days by RF Delderfield (1972) 672 pp
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres (1994) 533 pp
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (1992) 640 pp
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks (1993) 528 pp
Sophie's Choice by William Styron (1979) 656 pp
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (2008) 544 pp
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (1998) 626 pp
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (1989) 656 pp
The Singapore Grip by JG Farrell (1978) 704 pp
Magician by Raymond E Feist (1982) 864 pp
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy (1986) 672 pp
A Chain of Voices by Andre Brink (1982) 512 pp

BOUGHT AND READ IN 2020

These are the books that I have added this year. My new rule is that any book I buy I should read before the end of the following year!

1. Submarine by Joe Dunthorne (2008) 290 pp
2. I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven (1967) 158 pp
3. The Ascent of Rum Doodle by W.E. Bowman (1956) 171 pp
4. The Spare Room by Helen Garner (2008) 195 pp
5. Look We have Coming to Dover! by Dajit Nagra (2007) 53 pp READ APR 20
6. Hame by Annalina McAfee (2017) 577 pp
7. The Holy Fox by Andrew Roberts (1991) 414 pp READ MAR 20
8. The History Boys by Alan Bennett (2004) 200 pp READ FEB 20
9. Himself by Jess Kidd (2016) 358 pp
10. Lazarus by Morris West (1990) 375 pp
11. Judith Paris by Hugh Walpole (1931) 757 pp
12. The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope (1864) 665 pp
13. The Seventh Cross by Anna Seghers (1942) 398 pp
14. The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers (2017) 363 pp READ APR 20
15. The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich (1985) 331 pp
16. The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard (1990) 578 pp
17. Eight Hours from England by Anthony Quayle (1945) 228 pp READ JULY 20
18. Dregs by Jorn Lier Horst (2010) 310 pp READ FEB 20
19. Loyalties by Delphine de Vigan READ FEB 20
20. The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli READ MAR 20
21. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski (1993) 280 pp READ FEB 20
22. War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans (2013) 293 pp
23. Deviation by Luce D'Eramo (1979) 344 pp
24. Caging Skies by Christine Leunens (2019) 294 pp
25. The Hunters by James Salter (1956) 233 pp
26. The Watch by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya (2012) 310 pp
27. The Memoir of an Anti-Hero by Kornel Filipowicz (1961) 70 pp READ APR 20
28. Darius the Great is not Okay by Adib Khorram (2018) 312 pp
29. The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo (2019) 466 pp
30. Love Story, With Murders by Harry Bingham (2013) 441 pp
31. Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen by Fay Weldon
32. Selected Poems: 1950-2012 by Adrienne Rich
33. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
34. Divided : Why We're Living in an Age of Walls by Tim Marshall READ APR 20
35. The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis READ MAY 20
36. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
37. Witness : Lessons from Elie Wiesel's Classroom by Ariel Burger READ MAR 20
38. Lucy Church, Amiably by Gertrude Stein
39. Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich
40. The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories by Amos Tutuola READ May 20
41. After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell
42. The Librarian by Salley Vickers READ MAR 20
43. Temple of a Thousand Faces by John Shors
44. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (1993) 311 pp
45. The Drought by J.G. Ballard (1965) 233 pp READ MAY 20
46. The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker (2012) 391 pp
47. Clade by James Bradley (2017) 297 pp
48. Far North by Marcel Theroux (2009) 288 pp
49. The River by Peter Heller (2019) 253 pp
50. Ivanov by Anton Chekhov (1887) 58 pp READ MAR 20
51. The Sea-Gull by Anton Chekhov (1896) 68 pp READ APR 20
52. Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov (1900) 44 pp
53. The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov (1901) 58 pp
54. The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov (1904) 50 pp
55. The Females by Wolfgang Hilbig (2010) 129 pp READ APR 20
56. The Other Americans by Laila Lalami (2019) 301 pp
57. Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli (2019) 350 pp
58. Lanny by Max Porter (2019) 210 pp
59. Late in the Day by Tessa Hadley (2019) 280 pp
60. Murder in the Cathedral by TS Eliot (1935) 88 pp READ JUNE 20
61. The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris West (1963) READ MAY 20
62. Fidelity : Poems by Grace Paley (2008) READ MAY 20
63. The Citadel by A.J. Cronin (1937) READ MAY 20
64. Golden Hill by Francis Spufford (2016) READ JUNE 20
65. American War by Omar El Akkad (2017)
66. Saltwater by Jessica Andrews (2019)
67. Unstoppable : My Life So Far by Maria Sharapova (2017) 289 pp READ MAY 20
68. The Great Impersonation by E Phillips Oppenheim (1920) 288 pp READ JUNE 20
69. The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford by Jean Stafford (1969) 488 pp
70. Odysseus Elytis :Selected Poems 1940-1979 by Odysseus Elytis (1981) 112 pp READ JUNE 20
71. Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner (1926) 203 pp
72. Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou (2015) 199 pp
73. Zonal by Don Paterson (2020) 68 pp READ JUNE 20
74. The Porpoise by Mark Haddon (2019) 304 pp
75. Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila 2014 210 pp
76. 1934 by Alberto Moravia (1982)
77. Blue Moon by Lee Child (2019)
78. A Burning by Megha Majumdar (2020)
79. Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (2017)
80. Henry, Himself by Stewart O'Nan (2019)
81. Woods etc by Alice Oswald (2005)
82. The Death of Murat Idrissi by Tommy Wieringa (2017)
83. The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezon Camara (2017)
84. The Last Man by Mary Shelley (1826)
85. Remembered by Yvonne Battle-Felton (2019)
86. Castle Richmond by Anthony Trollope (1860) READ JULY 20
87. The Seeker and Other Poems by Nelly Sachs (1970) READ JULY 20
88. Not a Day Goes By by E Lynn Harris (2000)
89. Potiki by Patricia Grace (1986)
90. Cane River by Lalitha Tademy (2001)
91. Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
92. Diary of a Murderer by Kim Young-Ha (2013)
93. Girl by Edna O'Brien (2019)
94. The Princesse de Cleves by Madame de La Fayette (1678)
95. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (2019)
96. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (2003) READ JULY 20
97. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
98. The Overnight Kidnapper by Andrea Camilleri
99. The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells
100. At the Jerusalem by Paul Bailey
101. The Emperor's Babe by Bernadine Evaristo
102. Sincerity by Carol Ann Duffy
103. Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne READ JULY 20
104. The Body Lies by Jo Baker
105. The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer
106. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
107. Death is Hard Work by Khaled Khalifa
108. Nightblind by Ragnar Jonasson
109. Black Out by Ragnar Jonasson (2011)
110. The Street by Ann Petry (1946)
111. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak (2019)
112. Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips (2019)
113. Weather by Jenny Offill (2020)
114. How to be an AntiRacist by Ibram X Kendi (2019)
115. Dominicana by Angie Cruz (2019) READ AUG 20
116. This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga (2018) READ NOV 20
117. Blue Horses by Mary Oliver (2014)
118. Pygmalian by George Bernard Shaw (1914) READ SEP 20
119. To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris (2014)
120. Stag's Leap by Sharon Olds (2012)
121. Trafalgar by Angelica Gorodischer (1979)
122. The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach (1995)
123. Man's Search for Meaning by Victor E Frankel (1946)
124. The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste
125. Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi
126. The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
127. Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckley
128. Felicity by Mary Oliver
129. Real Life by Brandon Taylor
130. Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis
131. Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay
132. Big Sky by Kate Atkinson
133. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde READ OCT 20
134. Salome by Oscar Wilde
135. An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde
136. Lady Windemere's Fan by Oscar Wilde
137. A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde
138. Before the War by Fay Weldon
139. The Rose of Tibet by Lionel Davidson
140. Ape and Essence by Aldous Huxley
141. At Freddie's by Penelope Fitzgerald
142. The Lost Memory of Skin by Russell Banks
143. Conclave by Robert Harris
144. Rules for Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson
145. Second Life by S.J. Watson
146. The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
147. The Women at Hitler's Table by Rosella Postorino
148. Inland by Thea Obreht
149. Deep River by Karl Marlantes
150. The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld
151. Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
152. The Ditch by Herman Koch READ OCT 20
153. The Narrow Land by Christine Dwyer Hickey
154. A Crime in the Neighborhood by Suzanne Berne
155. I am Sovereign by Nicola Barker READ SEP 20
156. The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner
157. The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold
158. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
159. Final Cut by S.J. Watson
160. Mrs Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw
161. Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw
162. Candida by George Bernard Shaw
163. Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw
164. The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare
165. Apeirogon by Colum McCann
166. The New Wilderness by Diane Cook
167. Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
168. The Catholic School by Edoardo
169. Kaddish.com by Nathan Englander
170. The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
171. Who They Was by Gabriel Krauze
172. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
173. Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler
174. Love and Other Thought Experiments by Sophie Ward
175. How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang
176. The Fall of the Ottomans by Eugene Rogan
177. Lords of the Horizons by Jason Goodwin
178. She Would Be King by Wayetu Moore
179. Underland by Robert MacFarlane
180. The Bridge by Bill Konigsberg
181. Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh
182. The Second Sleep by Robert Harris
183. Normal People by Sally Rooney
184. Poetry by Heart edited by Andrew Motion etc
185. Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo
186. Stand by Me by Wendell Berry
187. Lord of all the Dead by Javier Cercas
188. Vernon Subutex 1 by Virginie Despentes
189. Frenchman's Creek by Daphne Du Maurier
190. Small Country by Gael Faye
191. The Last Banquet by Jonathan Grimwood
192. Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold
193. A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes
194. Dance of the Jakaranda by Peter Kimani
195. Guapa by Saleem Haddad
196. Arid Dreams by Duanwad Pimwana
197. The Final Bet by Adelilah Hamdouchi
198. Coastliners by Joanne Harris
199. The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian
200. Will by Jeroen Olyslaegers
201 Class Trip by Emmanuel Carrere
202 Contact by Carl Sagan
203 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
204 Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
205 The Return by Hisham Matar
206 The Island by Ana Maria Matute
207 The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood
208 The Parisian by Isabella Hammad
209 Childhood by Tove Ditlevsen
210 Youth by Tove Ditlevsen
211 Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen
212 The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
213 Alone Time by Stephanie Rosenbloom
214 Springtime in a Broken Mirror by Mario Benedetti
215 East Lynne by Ellen Wood
216 A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
217 Outlaw Ocean by Ian Urbina
218 Me by Elton John
219 Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
220 Averno by Louise Gluck READ NOV 20
221 Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
222 Love in No Man's Land by Duo Ji Zhou Ga
223 The Damascus Road by Jay Parini
224 A Political History of the World by Jonathan Holslag
225 The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis

225 books added
39 already finished

Around the world in books challenge. I want to see how many countries I can cover without limiting myself to a specific deadline.

From 1 October 2020

1. United Kingdom - The Ways of the World by Robert Goddard EUROPE
2. Ireland - The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde EUROPE
3. Lithuania - Selected and Last Poems by Czeslaw Milosz EUROPE
4. Netherlands - The Ditch by Herman Koch EUROPE
5. Armenia - The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian ASIA
6. Zimbabwe - This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga
7. United States - Averno by Louise Gluck


Create Your Own Visited Countries Map

BOOKS OF THE YEAR

January - Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift
February - On Grand Strategy by John Lewis Gaddis
March - Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
April - North by Seamus Heaney
May - The Citadel by AJ Cronin
June - Golden Hill by Francis Spufford
July - Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
August - The Dead and the Living by Sharon Olds
September - The Kingdom by the Sea by Robert Westall
October - The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian

Another resolution is to keep up in 2020 with all my friends on LT.

Next is yours.......

Wow, can I actually be your first visitor! Happy new thread, Paul.

>21 DeltaQueen50: A nice surprise too, Judy. Always pleased to see you my dear Guru.

Oh by the way my threads have now passed 6,000 for the year. A big thank you to everyone who has visited here and/or participated in the thread rattling along like an express train at times.

Happy new thread!

>24 amanda4242: Thank you, Amanda. I don't think that you have missed a thread of mine in a couple of years at least. xx

Happy new thread!

>1 PaulCranswick: What a cheerful cake!

>26 quondame: Thanks Susan. Belle loves her brother dearly; he can do no wrong in her eyes so to commission her last minute to do his cake was easily achieved.

Happy new thread Paul!

>1 PaulCranswick: Neat-o! as my Californian cousin would say (pronounced 'needo').

>7 PaulCranswick: Cute rabbit.

>28 humouress: Thanks Nina. Don't know what the rabbit has to do with the story yet!

Aw, Bella did an amazing job on that cake!

Happy new thread!

Sweet Thursday, Paul. Happy New Thread. Love Belle's cake.

Happy new thread, Paul! Impressive-looking cake up there.

>1 PaulCranswick: Great cake.

>2 PaulCranswick: Nice poem Paul.

>30 scaifea: She did but please don't tell her that she goofed by using salted butter and the sponge was something of an acquired taste!

>31 LukeRich: Don't know what you were selling but nice of you to bother stopping by.

>32 msf59: Thrice thank you, Mark.

>33 harrygbutler: The kit-kats were hugely popular, Harry!

>34 Caroline_McElwee: Caroline, for obvious reasons, from you any appreciation of my humble scribblings is gratefully received. x

Happy new thread, Paul. Bella's attempt is well done. Congrats on over 6000 messages.

>35 PaulCranswick: And don't tell anyone about my Thanksgiving pumpkin pies without sugar fiasco in 1988...

Happy new thread!

Happy new one, Paul. Was the cake as delicious as it looks?

Happy New one, Paul! Neat-o indeed! (I definitely remember that one.)

>38 karenmarie: Thanks Karen. I couldn't have told you the difference possibly with pumpkin pies - philistine I am, I haven't ever eaten one!

>39 drneutron: Thank you, Jim.

>40 jessibud2: Thanks Shelley. The cake was flawed even though it was artistically and lovingly created from a sister to a brother. x

>41 LizzieD: Indeed, Peggy. Indeed. xx

The cake looks good!

Happy new one!

Happy new thread mate.

>44 thornton37814: Thanks Lori

>45 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita

>46 johnsimpson: Nice to see you John. Give my love to Karen.

Happy new thread, Paul! That cake looks lovely. Intentions count, don't they?

>49 EllaTim: They do indeed Ella!

You do need a pinch of salt in cakes Paul. Personally, I shortcut by using salted butter; haven't had any complaints about them so far.

I'm not going to tell you the story of my first independent cooking attempt when I was 10 and used gram flour for an apple pie because that was all there was in the house. My mum served it to our new neighbour, unfortunately, and has never talked about it since. I think she must have appreciated the attempt, though, because usually she would have spread the story of my mistake far and wide.

Happy new thread, Paul. Nice cake as a topper and a belated happy birthday to Kyran. So do spammers count in the participants to a thread?

Happy newish thread Paul. Lucky Kyran to have a sibling to make him a cake, that's really sweet.

>51 humouress: No, Nina, it was really quite edible. I just liked pulling her leg about it a little bit.

>52 Familyhistorian: Thanks Meg. I didn't check how LT calculates but I guess that they are included. They are included in my post count because it would be beyond me to take all of them out.

>53 charl08: Thank you Charlotte. I love that the siblings are so close and have to say that the gesture was sweeter than the cake!

First additions of my new thread:

195. Guapa by Saleem Haddad
196. Arid Dreams by Duanwad Pimwana
197. The Final Bet by Adelilah Hamdouchi

I have restarted my around the world reading challenge this month and will work slowly through it as I do with the Booker, Nobel challenges etc. These three books are by writers from Kuwait, Thailand and Morocco respectively.

Around the world reading challenge

Books from my shelves:
I now have books by authors from the following countries (in some instances this will include authors who have a parent from a particular country)

1) EUROPE (Probable author in brackets)
1 UK done
2 Ireland done
3 Lithuania done
4 Iceland (Ragnar Jonasson)
5 Norway (Karin Fossum)
6 Sweden (Kjell Eriksson)
7 Denmark (Elsebeth Egholm)
8 Estonia (Jaan Kross)
9 Latvia (Juris Jurjevics)
10 Russia (Anatoly Gladilin)
11 Belarus (Svetlana Alexievich)
12 Ukraine (Andrey Kurkov)
13 Malta (Trezza Azzopardi)
14 Greece (Nikos Kazantzakis)
15 Turkey (Elif Shafak)
16 Albania (Ismail Kadare)
17 Bosnia (Aleksandar Hemon)
18 Serbia (Ivo Andric)
19 Croatia (Dasa Drndic)
20 Slovenia (Slavoj Zizek)
21 Bulgaria (Elias Canetti)
22 Romania (Herta Muller)
23 Hungary (Imre Kertesz)
24 Czechia (Bohumil Hrabal)
25 Poland (Stanislaw Lem)
26 Austria (Franz Kafka)
27 Switzerland (Johann Wyss)
28 Finland (Kari Hotakainen)
29 Netherlands (Herman Koch)
30 Belgium (Amelie Nothomb)
31 France (Virginie Despentes)
32 Italy (Elena Ferrante)
33 Spain (Javier Cercas)
34 Portugal (Fernando Pessoa)
35 Germany (Andreas Eschbach)

There are 12 European States that I don't currently have an author on the shelves. One of these, Vatican City, I may forget about but the other 11

Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Cyprus, Kososvo, Montenegro, Macedonia, Moldova and Slovakia, I will hunt down authors.

>57 PaulCranswick: I've found https://ayearofreadingtheworld.com/thelist/ very helpful in tracking down authors.

Around the world reading challenge

Books from my shelves:
I now have books by authors from the following countries (in some instances this will include authors who have a parent from a particular country)

2) Africa (Probable author in brackets)

1 Morocco - Abdelilah Hamdouchi
2 Algeria - Yasmina Khadra
3 Libya - Hisham Matar
4 Egypt - Alaa Al-Aswany
5 Sudan - Leila Aboulela
6 Ethiopia - Maaza Mengiste
7 Somalia - Nuruddin Farah
8 Tanzania - Abdulrazak Gurnah
9 Kenya - Peter Kimani
10 Uganda - Moses Isegawa
11 Burundi - Gael Faye
12 Rwanda - Paul Rusesabagina
13 Malawi - William Kamkwamba
14 Mozambique - Mia Couto
15 South Africa - Trevor Noah
16 Democratic Republic of Congo - Fiston Mwanza Mujila
17 Republic of Congo - Alain Mabanckou
18 Cameroon - Imbolo Mbue
19 Nigeria - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
20 Togo - Fauziya Kassindja
21 Ghana - Kojo Laing
22 Sierra Leone - Aminatta Forna
23 Liberia - Wayetu Moore

30 African states remaining which will be a tall order but I have ideas for several of the remaining countries.

Europe 35 nations on the shelves
Africa 23 nations on the shelves

58 nations total

>58 amanda4242: Thanks for that, Amanda. I'll go get some pointers.

Happy New thread, Paul!
Well, look at Belle! She’s becoming quite the chef/cook! Of course, she has a wonderful role model in Hanni but still it takes talent no matter who the mentor may be. You are one lucky fella!

happy new thread, Paul!

Happy new thread, Paul!

>57 PaulCranswick: >59 PaulCranswick: That looks like a challenging challenge.

>61 Carmenere: Lovely to see you Lynda. Belle loves baking and it is nice to see mother and daughter enjoying time together as after all they had been over six months apart until recently.

>62 banjo123: Thanks dear Rhonda.

>63 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita. If I make it more than 150 countries I will be happy.

Around the World Reading Challenge

Books from my shelves:
I now have books by authors from the following countries (in some instances this will include authors who have a parent from a particular country)

3) America

1 Canada - Will Ferguson
2 USA - Diane Cook
3 Mexico - Laura Esquivel
4 Dominican Republic - Junot Diaz
5. Haiti - Edwidge Danticat
6. Cuba - Reinaldo Arenas
7. Jamaica - Marlon James
8. Barbados - George Lamming
9. Antigua - Jamaica Kincaid
10 Dominica - Jean Rhys
11 Trinidad - VS Naipaul
12 St. Kitts - Caryl Phillips
13 St. Lucia - Derek Walcott
14 Guyana - Fred D'Aguiar
15. Colombia - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
16 Peru - Mario Vargas Llosa
17 Brazil - Milton Hatoum
18. Argentina - Tomas Eloy Martinez
19 Chile - Isabel Allende
20 Guadeloupe - Maryse Conde

Europe - 35
Africa - 23
Americas - 20

Total - 78

Around the World Reading Challenge

Books from my shelves:
I now have books by authors from the following countries (in some instances this will include authors who have a parent from a particular country)

4) Asia Pacific

1 Lebanon - Amin Malouf
2 Palestine - Edward Said
3. Israel - David Grossman
4. Syria - Khaled Khalifa
5. Jordan - Abdelrahman Munif
6. Saudi Arabia - Abdo Khal
7. Oman - Jokha Alharthi
8. Kuwait - Saleem Haddad
9. Iraq - Mahdi Issa Al-Saqr
10. Iran - Laleh Khadivi
11. Afghanistan - Qais Akbar Omar
12. Armenia - Chris Bohjalian
13. Uzbekistan - Hamid Ismailov
14. Pakistan - Roopa Farooki
15. Bangladesh - Monica Ali
16. India - Megha Majumdar
17. Sri Lanka - Ru Freeman
18. Nepal - Prajwal Parajuly
19. China - Gao Xingjian
20. South Korea - Kim Young-Ha
21. Japan - Junichiro Tanizaki
22. Philippines - Miguel Syjuco
23. Indonesia - Eka Kurniawan
24. Singapore - Lloyd Fernando
25. Malaysia - Tash Aw
26. Thailand - Duanwad Pimwana
27. Cambodia - Vaddey Ratner
28. Vietnam - Duong Thu Huong
29. Burma - Aung San Suu Kyi
30. Australia - Trent Dalton
31. New Zealand - Patricia Grace

Europe - 35
Africa - 23
America - 20
Asia Pacific - 31

Total Different Countries on my TBR Shelves - 109

Hello Dear Friend.

>1 PaulCranswick: I love the cake!

I am impressed that you read so very many books thus far this year!

I'm stopping in to wish you a wonderful weekend.

>68 Whisper1: Lovely to see you active and happy Linda. xx

My reading was in a really good place in the first half of the year but I have slowed a little. Still happy overall.

You read some great books!

>70 Whisper1: Qualitatively I think I have done well enough this year, Linda. 12 of my books were written by Nobel winners, several Booker winners, many 1001 Book entries/authors plus some classic writers too.

I think Belle's cake is the snake's garters, PC. And Guapa! Good gracious, a book I actually possess though, TBH, I have no idea how or why.

>72 richardderus: The ladies turned their hands to Florentines yesterday which came out delicious and honey-tasting. These are examples although mine had no chocolate:



Guapa was bought because the author was from Kuawait, but it does look like a good one.

>73 PaulCranswick: Wow! They look amazing. Congratulations to the chefs.

I've read Guapa. Look forward to hearing what you make of it.

In terms of your 'Africa' list: I guess Zimbabwe is a straightforward one at the moment with the Booker shortlist (I am telling myself I am going to read all three in order. Ha!)

I don't know if you have got The Book of Cairo and The Book of Khartoum? I've heard good things. I have the first to read for a bookgroup meeting coming up.

>74 charl08: SWMBO made some more today but I managed to avoid indulging myself. The two of us went out to a Mexican restaurant we like this evening which prepares my favourite sirloin steak. I also caught the Corona I appreciate - namely two bottles of the stuff and it was nice to have time just the two of us.

Unbelievable that I didn't list Zimbabwe since I am actually reading This Mournable Body right now!

I haven't heard of those two books about Cairo and Khartoum - are they sort of travel guides?

Happy New Thread, Paul!

Good job by Belle. I bet it tasted great, too.

I like your poem up there. :-)

>76 jnwelch: Thanks Joe x3!

>73 PaulCranswick: Love florentines, yum.

>78 Caroline_McElwee: Light, sweet, crunchy and delicious.

>73 PaulCranswick: Yum! Sadly this time, virtual isn't good enough. They look delicious and I want some.

>80 humouress: Shame that the postal service wasn't a bit better!

>74 charl08: Translated collections of short stories from writers across the city. I read The Book of Rio a while back by the same publishers. A great chance to dip into the lit of another place. (And to support a Mancunian small press!) I didn't realise that they've done more - tempted by The Book of Istanbul too.

https://commapress.co.uk/books/

>82 charl08: Oooh that is a great idea, Charlotte. I will look out for those.

>73 PaulCranswick: The florentines look most yum.

Pecan lace cookies sandwiched with orange buttercream are worth showing to Hani...I've never made them into sandwich cookies like this, but I adore this kind of cookie.

Happy New Thread, Paul - and all the best for you and your family.
Love the Florentines !

Belle's fabulous cake almost triumphs over Kryan's birthday! Congratulations to both. Kit Kat is my favourite.

>84 richardderus: I will indeed explain the necessity to please you and reproduce those RD! I love pecans.

>85 SirThomas: Thank you, Thomas.

>87 PaulCranswick: Kyran is a little stressed at the moment as the University have not reverted to him about course changes and time is a-wasting. Cake helps cope though, Vivienne!

Book #105



The Ditch by Herman Koch

Date of Publication : 2016
Origin of Author : Netherlands
Pages : 306 pp

This delves into delinquency and obsession much as Koch managed in The Dinner only less successfully.

The unreliable narrator of this story is the Mayor of Amsterdam exchanging nods and winks and salacious gossip with Clinton, Obama and most tellingly Hollande. He is a pretty unlikeable and definitely not a good fellow though not irredeemably so, but he also has a strange magnetism as a storyteller.

Goes off-kilter as it is rather expected to but this didn't work as well as Koch's more famous novel.

Around the World in Books

From October 2020

Europe

(4)
UK, Ireland, Lithuania, Netherlands


Create Your Own Visited European Countries Map

>89 PaulCranswick: Did you find the rabbit?

>91 humouress: Yeah, the rabbit and the ditch both make an appearance but their contribution to the story is minute.

It is a public holiday here in celebration of the Prophet's birthday so I thought I would bring my yearly additions to a round 200.

198. Coastliners by Joanne Harris
199. The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian
200. Will by Jeroen Olyslaegers

Joanne Harris because I haven't forgotten the BAC completely. Chris Bohjalian because I am reading and enjoying his The Double Bind right now and the last one is for three reasons - a) I wanted another Belgian author for my round the world challenge (to rival Nothomb and Simenon); b) Great cover and c) the subject matter and reviews are great.

If we have a list of the most famous and iconic bookstores in the English speaking world then:

The Strand
City Lights
Powell's
Foyles

will be on most lists of a top five alongside Shakespeare & Co in Paris.
How sad then to hear that the famous old store is struggling for survival.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/oct/28/legendary-paris-bookshop-shakespea...

Worth $10 of my diminishing funds I'm sure if a collection is possible.

>95 Muchislover: Not over endowed with visitors right now so even a spammer is welcome!

>94 PaulCranswick: Get two birds with one stone and buy some books from them :0)

>97 humouress: A tour of the US in bookstores would be welcome, Nina.

These are difficult times for bookstores.
A new bookstore opened in our town a year ago, since then I'm dividing my book purchases between the two.
I also load my ebooks via the local bookshops and not via the large providers, which helps them too.
In Germany there is a fixed book price system, which means that the book costs the same price everywhere. So it doesn't matter where I buy the book and I can support the local stores without it having an effect on my wallet.
OK, I could buy less books to save my wallet, but that is not an option ;-)

>99 SirThomas: Bravo for supporting your local bookstores, Thomas. I do the same here and in fact for a few years got a mention for spending the most in a year at the particular store for three years running. The store has a loyalty card which apparently allows them to track purchases.

Paul Cranswick 101. Ye haaa.

>101 weird_O: But when I type 101 like that it comes out weird_O!

Hi Paul, i have not seen as many spammers on here as over the last few weeks, what is it with these people.

Hope all is well with you mate, we are now going into the highest level of lockdown from one minute past midnight on Monday morning. At the moment the north of England is taking the brunt of things yet London has high rates of Covid but nothing has been really done to them. I am aware that Boris didn't know this was going to happen when he won the election but gaining the old Red wall votes he is now making us all suffer and to be honest the Tories have no clue as to how people live up here with minimum wage jobs and some of the comment ministers are making do not fit with what he said he would do. I hope those that gave him their vote will have a serious re-think, the Tories are reverting to type as usual. Rant over.

Sending love and hugs to all at Chez Cranswick.

Hi Paul!

>89 PaulCranswick: Hmm. I read and liked The Dinner, giving it 3.5 stars, but think I’ll pass on this one.

>93 PaulCranswick: As good a reason as any for acquiring more books. *smile*

I've acquired 93 and culled 119, so am somewhat ahead of my personal goal of keeping a 1:1 ratio for the year.

>103 johnsimpson: I know from my brother that restrictions in West Yorkshire are being imposed, John. His family have Covid-19, although he seems to think it is Cpvid-18 as the effects seem fairly mild and none of them have been hospitalised as yet thankfully.
I have tried to keep politics out of this pandemic debate, although sometimes it is not easy. The government have a tough job and I think everybody would agree with that and the Prime Minister himself almost died from the virus. I would say though that there does seem to be a basic lack of empathy from many running the country which does count a lot at times like these.

I see that my Party has suspended Jeremy Corbyn due to the anti-semitism row from his tenure. I am happy so far with Keir Starmer but I do fear that this action will trigger an internal struggle at precisely the wrong time for Labour.

>104 karenmarie: I still think The Ditch is worth reading, Karen, but it wasn't as good as The Dinner.

My adding is far more steady than it used to be but still outstrips my reading.

I am pleased to note that the top 140 threads passed 100,000 posts for the year today. Whilst we are well, well down from the halcyon days of 2013, 2014 we are doing much better than last year. In 2019 we reached 100,000 posts on December 9. So we are six weeks ahead of that this year.

Hi Paul, Been awhile since I wrote a note ~ then I was totally absent for a blink of an eye from these parts and here you are Thread #22 and already over a 100 messages.

I dawdled through your "Around the World" reading. That's an ambitious project. Very interesting to embrace such a wide selection. I note in Canada's jurisdiction, you read Will Ferguson. How did you decide on (or come to choose) that particular author? Just curious, not knowing his work or anything.

Cheers. Thanks for popping by my stale old thread! You remarked that it was getting long in the tooth 😊

>107 SandyAMcPherson: Lovely to see you, Sandy.

Actually the author listed as a potential read is notional for now but based on an author who I have something unread on the shelves. Will Ferguson I know I have his Giller Prize winner 419 but it could as easily be Joseph Boyden, Rawi Hage, MG Vassanji or even La Atwood.

Haha I do note that you have slightly misrepresented my comments on your thread! :D. Merely pointed out that it is considerably longer than all your other threads. Saw that you were hoping to wait until Chump is dumped. Let's hope it is a quick wait. xx

I am late greeting you on your latest thread, Paul, but congrats on 6,000 plus messages and a welcoming place for so many of us! I saw this article today on independent bookstores in Malaysia (though I don't think it mentioned any English-language stores) during Covid-19.

>107 SandyAMcPherson: - Will Ferguson is a very good writer. Some of his writing is absolutely hilarious (How to Be a Canadian) but he can be a serious writer, as well. He has written a lot of books! I believe his 419 won the Giller Prize some years ago.

>109 bell7: Thanks for that very interesting link, Mary. The local ethnic Chinese community have a very solid reading base but Kinokuniya (the biggest English language - Japanese owned - store in Malaysia) which has a large store on the top floor of the KLCC Suria Mall is still doing well despite the COVID related restrictions. As the report relates MPH (Malaysian Publishing House) has downsized somewhat over recent times but is still a presence in some of the malls. Times bookstores have a couple of stores that I regularly frequent in Pavilion Mall (the second of Malaysia's city centre mega malls) and in Bangsar Shopping Centre (a luxury mall which houses many of my favourite restaurants and meeting places). Borders unbelievably retain a presence in several malls too and a fourth major player Popular Books mixes books and extensive stationery. One fast growing player is Pay Less or Excess Books which has two good stores and sells certain titles at reduced prices which didn't sell all too well first time around.

>110 jessibud2: Nice to see you Shelley. As I stated above 419 is the likely Canada read for my around the world challenge.

I know that many bookstores are having problems here in the U. S. I think that is because of the general soft economy. Public libraries, on-the-other-hand, are doing very well. Just as they did in 2007, they have stepped up to the plate and provided low-cost safe access to all sorts of materials. Circulation at public libraries across the U. S. is up. Some of that is due to the closing of schools, and the closing of their accompanying children's libraries, but that doesn't account for the increase in the overall circulation rates.

Many libraries in the U. S. closed for about 6 weeks from March 15 to May 20 and then started to reopen. It is interesting to note that the first American Library Association meetings with the Center for Disease Control was held BEFORE the general nationwide lockdown started at the end of March. In that meeting the CDC told libraries that the "probably" didn't have to quarantine any books because Covid-19 was not a contact disease. To add to the safety measures, the doctor who conducted the meeting with the ALA said that he knew everybody was worried about what would happen if somebody sneezed or coughed directly onto or into a book. He said - absolutely nothing would happen because the virus does not live on paper. The average length of time a virus is viable on paper is 15 to 18 minutes. This meant that books could be safely circulated, so libraries started planning their start up.

Of course, the digital check-outs didn't stop during the lockdown.

In many public libraries the CD collections and DVD collections are high circulators. This is due to the fact that many people can't afford the streaming video services so libraries have large collections of all kinds of TV shows and movies.

September 1 our public library put tables and chairs back in place and allow people to sit in the library for 2 hours at a time. (with masks.) They are still not allowing public computer use, but if you bring your own laptop they are allowing use of the very good Wi-Fi network they have. This has been a boon to the school age children, and their parents. Public school just started back to full operations here in Tuscaloosa two weeks ago. Other school districts around here have been back to some sort of schedule September 1.

I am very proud of the way my local public library has managed its services during this lockdown, quarantine, or curfew time (whatever you want to call it). They are providing a service that makes life bearable while we are curtailing many of our other activities. They are doing their job in a safe and considerate way and they should be applauded. I don't know what libraries are doing in other countries, but I imagine that they have found ways to cope as well.

People should patronize local bookstores, but they should also patronize their libraries.

>112 benitastrnad: I couldn't agree more on the importance of libraries, Benita - how I wish I had one!

I can't catch up on even a relatively new thread, Paul, but I'm pretty overwhelmed at all the other-parts-of-the-world reading that you do. I'll never read all I own, or that I owned last year or the year before. So what? I want more books!!!!!
No local bookstores here.
Our library would order what I'd like to read through ILL, but it doesn't stock much interesting otherwise.

>114 LizzieD: I also have little chance to finish the books I have on the shelves as they close to 5,000 titles. 25 years of reading even going at billy-o.
It won't stop me avidly adding more and more books, I know.

>115 PaulCranswick: I believe you have just handily defined "tsundoku," PC.

Weekend underway there, so I shall confine my wishes to "good reads ahead," which pretty much covers my wishes for the entirety of the rest of your residence above ground, so lacks specificity but has accuracy.

Okay, Paul, if you even welcome spammers, I will leave a note this time ;-)

I didn't like The Dinner much, so I will certainly pass The Ditch.

Happy weekend!

>115 PaulCranswick: I literally hide my book purchases when I come home to avoid the whole "don't you think you have enough books already?" comment. I need a fresh supply of books to be motivated to read the ones on my existing shelves :)

Have a great weekend.

>116 richardderus: I can see me dying entirely happy RD as I will definitely have books unfinished. I do count my blessings though as I have good food and several thousand books surrounding my homeboy hours.

>117 FAMeulstee: My favourite e-bike rider will never be a spammer here!

If you didn't care for The Dinner then you had better not bother with The Ditch

>118 amanda4242: Thank you so much, my BAC champion of champions.

>119 figsfromthistle: There was a spell, Anita, when I was adding a thousand books a year and had obviously much more disposable income when I enlisted my then driver (Azim) and my maid (the Arabica Princess Erni) as a tag team to help me sneak my purchases into the home. I invariably got caught.

By the way I was in touch with Azim this week and he is bearing up manfully through the pandemic though missing a boss who cannot any longer afford his services.

>120 PaulCranswick: More books than can be read, lots of good food, a suitable set of family members, well, that is the good life.

>122 quondame: It is indeed, Susan. Sometimes these things are insufficiently prized and appreciated.

>117 FAMeulstee: What she said. :-)

Koch is on my list of authors I'm glad I read (largely so that I don't have to pick him up again).

>124 charl08: I actually liked The Dinner but I found the narrator more than a little obnoxious in his latest book.

Book #106



The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian

Date of Publication :
Origin of Author : USA (Armenian parent)
Number of Pages : 385 pp
Around the World Challenge : #5/200 approx Armenia

I really enjoyed this. A sort of male version of Anita Shreve but this story had a marvellous twist in the story at the end which was slowly played out but revealed in full to the extent that I closed the book with my mouth agape.

Laurel is attacked by two men whilst out cycling in the woodland trails of Vermont and this leaves her fragile and damaged. Working for a homeless shelter she meets a kindred spirit who dies leaving his photograph collection behind. Intertwining the Jay Gatsby story with mental disorder and both the search for the truth and the need to cover it up, this is a story well told.

Recommended.

I had to go from one site in downtown KL to our PNB118 site at Stadium Merdeka. Best way was to jump on the monorail. Sat down finishing off my latest book and looked up to see the train coming. Rushed on and sat down rapt with the final chapter of The Double Bind and arrived at Stadium Merdeka to realise that I had left my wallet on the seat at the earlier monorail station - four stops down the line. I rushed across to the other platform and jumped on the train back the other way and rushed back to the seat I had earlier occupied and my wallet was still where I had left it. I hope my repeated carelessness will leave me quite as unscathed if not quite as out of breath.

Oof, glad you found your wallet!

Hi, Paul!

>126 PaulCranswick: Adding that one to the list - it sounds good!

>127 PaulCranswick: Oh my. I know just the heart-pounding feeling that come with that first moment of realization when you leave something important elsewhere. I'm so glad it was still there!

Hi Paul!

>105 PaulCranswick: Usually my add:reading ratio is ridiculously top heavy so I don’t pay attention to it, but this year I just might come right around 1:1.

>112 benitastrnad: Great info, Benita. Our county libraries are still being cautious – properly cautious in my opinion – by not being open. Curbside service started June 20th.

>119 figsfromthistle: I’m very fortunate to have a husband who never complains about how many books I have and frequently gives me money or specifically requested books to grow my catalog. Until there were no more places in the house to realistically build them, he had bookshelves built for me.

>121 PaulCranswick: I’m glad that Azim is bearing up manfully.

>127 PaulCranswick: So fortunate that your wallet was still there.

>128 drneutron: I was in a bit of a panic to be honest, Jim. There was only about $100 in the wallet but library cards (UK), driving licence, debit cards would have been a real pain.

>129 scaifea: I can probably thank the lockdown as normally the platform would have been much busier. The Double Bind is well worth a read, Amber.

>130 karenmarie: SWMBO to be fair just added another four sets of shelves to our collection and they will be delivered on Monday. Your husband sounds like a bibliophile's dreamboat!

I do miss Azim, Karen.

>106 PaulCranswick:
a story about Double Bind. We don't usually get popular novels in the academic library but for some reason we received this novel. We usually have many students working for the library and sometimes some of them are readers. I spied a student working at our circulation desk one evening and she was reading a book. The book she was reading was Double Bind. I asked her about it and she said that at first she had trouble figuring out what was going on and then she got into it and she was finding it to be very engrossing. I asked her if it was for a class? No. Why are you reading it? She said that she wanted to learn more and that she thought reading was also great entertainment. I asked why she had picked that book? She said that it was on the new book shelf and she was just taking a look. The title caught her eye and so she checked it out. When I asked later how she had liked the book - she said it was totally good! I remember that phrase and that enthusiasm for a good story. This has never caused me to pick up this book, or any other book by Chris Bohjalian even though I have several of his books on my shelves, but whenever I see that he has published another novel I always take a close look at it. It just might be the first one of his novels I will read and I am sure that as I do so I will think of that student.

>133 benitastrnad: Nice story Benita and I have to agree with the student......totally good.

I have a few of Bohjalian's books on the shelves and it took me a while to get to read one of them. If I hadn't taken up the around the world challenge I don't think I would have read any of them this year either. I will certainly read other of his books.

>134 MasonStewart: The recent spate of spam makes me think of Monty Python - spamalot.

>135 PaulCranswick:
I wonder if the spam and the touchstone problem are connected? I know that they are doing lots of back brain work on Librarything.

>136 benitastrnad: I have noticed that the touchstones are not playing ball very much these days. Hopefully it is a very temporary glitch.

Sad to see the passing of the Original 007 at 90 years of age.

I'll always remember Sean Connery thus:



I'm quite sad tonight and will watch my favourite of his Bond movies - From Russia With Love - tomorrow.

>127 PaulCranswick: So glad that petty theft is uncommon in Malaysia, though still saddened that grand theft is so rewarded. Unlike, say, the US or UK....

>138 PaulCranswick: Deeply saddened by the icon's death. Thank goodness we still have the performances.

>139 richardderus: Bob Dylan's fairly unoriginal lines :

"Steal a little and they throw you in jail; steal a lot and they make you king."

Najib Razak was found guilty of stealing $2.6 bn from his countrymen and given 12 years in prison. Somehow he was let out "on bail"!! whilst he is appealing his sentence. Bizarre.

Loved those first Bond films; loved him in Marnie and The Untouchables, but my favourite non-Bond film of his is definitely The Man Who Would be King.

>127 PaulCranswick: Wow! Glad that turned out well for you!

>138 PaulCranswick: That's my favorite Bond film, too.

>127 PaulCranswick: Lucky! I'm glad you found your wallet still hale and hearty.

>127 PaulCranswick: Also happy that that turned out well for you. Sounds like you were totally wrapped up in your book. I'm forever telling my children to buy bright coloured phone covers rather than black so that they can 'see' them on a table or counter.
More book shelves! You are inspiring me to check out that idea in my house as I still have a way to go.

>127 PaulCranswick: That was a scare, Paul. Glad you found you wallet!

>138 PaulCranswick: I preferred Roger Moore as 007 ;-)
My favorite movie with Sean Connery is The name of the rose.

>138 PaulCranswick: Oh NO!! I will have to watch a few Bond movies, too. He's 007 for me. I even have copies of the soundtracks! LOL

>127 PaulCranswick: Phew! on the wallet recovery.

And I am WAAAAY behind here. Love the cake up top. : )

>141 amanda4242: Literally heart in mouth time - I realised as the doors were opening at my destination, lucky really that I realised quickly.

>142 humouress: Probably I benefitted from the fact that it was less than chunky with only a little bit of cash in it!

>143 avatiakh: That is a great idea, Kerry, because I lost a phone in an e-cab precisely because it was a black phone against the black upholstery of the car seat.

>144 FAMeulstee: I had issues with Roger Moore as Bond, Anita. I thought his first couple of films were really good but he stayed in the role too long and his last couple of Bond movies were, for me, a little cringe-worthy.

>145 Berly: I also have a collection or two of Bond themes and songs, Kimmers. My favourite Bond song would have to be Paul McCartney's Live and Let Die.

>140 PaulCranswick: ...bail...riiight...*eyeroll*

>149 richardderus: He is also allowed to wander all over the country still raking up trouble in politics. Fellow makes Chump look like a Teddy bear.

>127 PaulCranswick: Whoa! Finding it where you left it is an unusual outcome for that beginning. I've had it once returned minus cash, and once, after chasing around SF airport shuttles had it stowed for me at a hotel, which is as good as it's gotten.

>151 quondame: I run up the steps to the platform and was frankly astounded that it was sitting exactly where i had left it, Susan.

Currently Reading :

This Mournable Body, Lords of the Horizon, Levkas Man, The Ends of the Earth and Born a Crime

Ooh, Trevor Noah! We love watching him. My youngest does a good impression of his sketch where he does an impression of Obama learning to do an impression of Mandela. "More haaaaaask"

Hilarious. Take a look and brighten up your day.

ETA: >155 PaulCranswick: Sorry; I'm trying a new search engine so I wasn't sure what link to copy. It should work now.

>154 humouress: Link didn't seem to take me anywhere, Nina, but I found it elsewhere. He's good!

READING PLAN NOVEMBER

6,000 pages

200 pages a day because I really need to step up to the plate with only two months of 2020 left.
Book probables?

The Booker Shortlist at least:

This Mournable Body
Burnt Sugar
Shuggie Bain
The Shadow King
The New Wilderness &
Real Life

A couple of Non-Fictions

Born a Crime
Lords of the Horizons

A couple of thrillers started

Levkas Man
The Ends of the Earth

Poetry

The Wrecking Light by Robin Robertson
Felicity by Mary Oliver

Plays

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
The Piano Lesson by August Wilson

BAC

Coastliners by Joanne Harris
Before the War by Fay Weldon

Any more will be for my around the world reading challenge.

>126 PaulCranswick: That’s a perfect pairing of two authors, Paul, and spot on.

>127 PaulCranswick: Yikes. As Amber said, that horrified, short-of-breath feeling when you realize it’s not there...

>138 PaulCranswick: Favorite Connery movie: all of them. His private attitudes left something to be desired, but oh my! What a dish!

>153 PaulCranswick: I too love Trevor Noah and would love to read this. Lords of the Horizons looks really good, too.

May you have a wonderful week, Paul.

>156 PaulCranswick: A solid plan at least.

>156 PaulCranswick: Ambitious, Paul. Wishing you lots of luck with it. I'm looking forward to the Booker announcement this month.

>157 Matke: Lovely to see you, Gail.
I will prioritise reading more of Bohjalian - I really liked this one.
I will keep that little black wallet close to me in the near future at least!
I know he was a staunch Scottish Nationalist, but no little else of his politics.

>158 avatiakh: The plans are always ok, Kerry. I have passed the 200 page target comfortably today at least!

Hi, Paul. I hope to read Shuggie Bain by the end of the year. I was a bit underwhelmed with The New Wilderness. I hope it works better for you. I hope you are enjoying Born a Crime. I loved that memoir.

>159 charl08: I have almost done with This Mournable Body, Charlotte, and I would be astonished if that one wins.

>161 msf59: Oops The New Wilderness is next up after This Mournable Body. I saw that it didn't score so highly on your thread. Trevor Noah has a good story to tell.

Dutch literature had it's Big Three. Well. Mulisch, Reve and Komrij, they never had a good word for each other, I never liked that. Now as you describe The Ditch as Koch badmouthing the last mayor of Amsterdam (who had lots of fans in the city) I think I will skip it as well.

I looked up the other book you mentioned Will. Never heard of the author but it seems an interesting one! Thanks Paul.

>164 EllaTim: I don't like spitefulness in literature but some of those fellows are extremely competitive. Possibly the two most notorious cases in the UK is the antipathy between Julian Barnes and Martin Amis and the warring siblings Margaret Drabble and AS Byatt.

Will's author hails from Antwerp and it does look a very interesting read indeed.

My favorite Bond song is "Goldfinger" who can ever forget Shirley Bassey singing that with such verve and passion. Her performance of it at the Oscars back in 2013 was magnificent, even if it was a shortened version. When I watched it, I thought, singers take note - that is how you sing a theme song.

My favorite Bond is Daniel Craig. I concede that he brings anger and serious inflexibility to the role that clearly isn't there in the original Ian Fleming novels. But, at this point, we are long past the novels and into the realm of stock characterization, where Bond has become more of a symbol than a character. If I were to judge Bond using that reasoning, I would say that both Roger Moore and Sean Connery would be equals as they both brought that flippant panache and sophisticate privilege attitude to the character that is part of the Fleming novels. However, the testosterone overload that both brought to the role seemed unsustainable. Connery had the advantage with better scripts and Moore suffered from insufferable writing.

I think that the best personification of James Bond, as created by Ian Fleming, was Pierce Brosnan. However, the truly awful campy movies don't hardly qualify as James Bond movies as the stories were so very bad. The way that Brosnan played Bond was casual and sophisticated ease. That is the way the novels read, and that is more like the way I see James Bond as a character. Sort of an Errol Flynn Scaramouche of the roaring 1990's and the space age 1950's when the novels were written.

>166 benitastrnad: & >167 benitastrnad:

Top Five Bond Songs

1 Live and Let Die (Paul McCartney)
2 We Have all the Time in the World (Louis Armstrong)
3 Goldfinger (Shirley Bassey)
4 From Russia With Love (Matt Monroe)
5 Diamonds are Forever (Shirley Bassey)

Top Five Bonds
1 Sean Connery (original and best)
2 Daniel Craig (Brought Bond back to seriousness)
3 Roger Moore (for his first two outings)
4 George Lazenby (Only one Bond film but one of the best)
5 Pierce Brosnan (had the charisma but the films were generally duds)

Timothy Dalton's Bond movies were better than Brosnan's but he lacked the charisma for the role.

No "Skyfall" from Adele in the songs? It's a good 'un.

For me it's Sean Connery and Daniel Craig and then, disappointing. But I'm a grump.

>169 jnwelch:
I agree that the Oscar performance by Adele was outstanding. Second only to the performance of Shirley Bassey. In the movie sound track Adele was really good. It would be hard for me to parse out which sound track theme song was better - Goldfinger, or Skyfall. I think that both produced musical and stage drama. I think that it would hard to beat Bassey in the vocal ability department. There is no doubt that she has the advantage when it comes to pipes! She also knows how to bring stage drama to a song. I think I would give the edge to Bassey.

>169 jnwelch: Yeah Joe, I did like the Adele song, but I'm an old fashioned guy. I also liked A-ha and Living Daylights.

>170 benitastrnad: I saw Dame Shirley Bassey perform in Singapore (1995, I think) and she was wonderful. Adele is also a tremendous singer and Britain are blessed with both of them.
Just listened to Skyfall again and stand by my choices - good as she is.

Book #107



This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga

Date of Publication : 2018
Origin of Author : Zimbabwe
Number of Pages : 363 pp
Booker 2020 Shortlist : 1/6
Around the World Challenge : 6/200 approx (Zimbabwe)

Fist of my Booker shortlist reads and I will be astounded if this one wins.

The third part of the tribulations of Tambu started which started with the much more superior Nervous Conditions fully thirty years earlier.

The novel has its moments but overall I struggled to summon up much care or sympathy for the lead character whose instability and wrongdoings were largely self-inflicted. The second person narrative was also a little bit disconcerting at times.

Awards are funny affairs and whilst there is clearly merit in this book, there is also no way that it should have been in consideration as one the six best novels published this year in the UK.

>172 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul and happy November. Ambitious reading plans!

>172 PaulCranswick: too bad this wasn't better, as I love the title!

>172 PaulCranswick: ...but Nervous Conditions was never nominated, so...

>172 PaulCranswick: some people probably loved it, Rhonda, but not I.

>173 banjo123: Exactly, RD, so this is to make up for that. In all fairness, her earlier book did win the excellent but now defunct Commonwealth Writer's Prize.

Anita Mason who was Booker shortlisted in the 1980s has passed on in Bristol, UK. Underrated writer. RIP.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/01/anita-mason-obituary

I have gotten off to a good start in November

Day 1 : 363 pages & 1 book finished.

Pages total 363
Pages to go : 5,637

Daily average 363
% Complete : 6.05%
% schedule : 3.33%

Good luck on your November reading goal, Paul.

Connery, Craig, Brosnan. Can't abide Moore. Dalton and Lazenby completely forgettable.

>178 karenmarie: To be fair, Karen, I did like Live and Let Die and The Man With the Golden Gun but I thought the other Roger Moore films were awful.

>138 PaulCranswick: Connery gave us so many wonderful hours of entertainment.

>154 humouress: Just had to thank you for the Trevor Noah link. That was wonderful.

>180 VivienneR: Lovely to see you Vivienne. Connery had a wonderful screen presence especially when a little older.

SHIT, this election is far closer than I expected. C'Mon Mid-West do the necessary.

>180 VivienneR: You're welcome. Trevor Noah is always good. We used to watch his Daily Show but it hasn't been on (here) for a while.

>182 PaulCranswick: Mid-west is usually a red stronghold. Given what happened in the elections with Gore and H. Clinton I'm not holding my breath.

>182 PaulCranswick: Awful. Much closer than I thought possible.

I am so scared. How could anyone vote for this man? And how can they vote to re-elect the spineless senators who enabled him? I won’t be sleeping tonight.

>183 humouress: It is quite amazing. I do believe that there is a real disconnect between the number of people who vote for Chump and those who actually admit to doing so.

>184 VivienneR: It is deeply troubling, Vivienne, and only serves to further demonstrate what a divided country the USA has become.

>185 arubabookwoman: I don't understand how he could really get enough people to vote for him. Florida decided in his favour?! Extraordinary in a bad way.

As many visitors here well know I have had my reservations about Biden but I honestly thought that he would still appeal enough to get rid of Chump. It is going to be extremely close by the look of things and I think sleep deprivation may be the order of the day/night for many.

I listened to the BBC late night broadcast last night and I am simply amazed at how closely the world is watching this election. I understand that it is important world wide because of the USA's humongous footprint all over the world, but what struck me was how invested people the world over are in what happens in the US. Do they really believe the US propaganda about being a knight in shining armor? If so, that picture of the US should have ended with the intervention in Korea in 1950.

My close friends in Germany have been dumbstruck by electoral events here in the US since 2000. Both of them were professors here at UA for over 10 years and they simply don't understand what has happened to people in the US. I believe that we have lost our way and ceded our moral authority (if we ever had any) to the European countries who are now fighting the battles for freedom. The latest events in France regarding free speech, and the pleas for decorum in the US from Germany are examples.

I wonder about the UK. Boris Johnson is a Orange Gasbag clone, right down to the weird hair, and so I fear that the UK is going to be what the US is. Only in the UK the possibility of breaking up the country into smaller parts is very real. I don't think breakup here is a possibility. I think that issue was decided back in 1865 under a very wise and astute president who was morally centered and rational. I do wonder how much hammering our political system can take from these right wing hooligans who are running the senate. They claim to be the bastion of democracy when in reality they are dismantling it piece by piece. Thank goodness for the West Coast of the US.

Benita the world's largest economy will always be of interest to other peoples. I also have so many American friends that I will obviously look at what affects them also.
Boris Johnson does pre-date Chump as a politician and became Mayor of London before Obama was elected President. For all his failings as a politician and I will never vote for him or his party, he is no Donald Trump.
I do despair about politics, Benita, and I have tried as much as possible to follow Fuzzi's advice and steer as far from it as possible - it is just so adversarial. I hope that Biden, if he wins which I hope and still believe that he can, remembers that democracy dictates that you must rule for the whole of the country both those that voted for you as well as those who voted against. He has a country to heal and I pray for all my lovely friends that he is granted the possibility to do so.

>188 benitastrnad: & >189 PaulCranswick: The US is of interest to many countries because decisions made there have an effect elsewhere. When NATO, UN, WHO, or organizations to protect the environment are abandoned or threatened by the US, the rest of the world is impacted in one way or another. When Chump visits a country considered to be a friend and behaves like a lout, naturally interest in his survival or downfall is created.

There are many excellent Bond film songs but my favorite is For Your Eyes Only.

Anxiety-filled waves. Terror-drenched smiles.

>190 VivienneR: Yes that is true, Vivienne.

>191 RBeffa: There are elements of that one, Ron, that struck me as almost become a spoof. I remember going to see that one in a cinema hall in Gibraltar and it was lashing down with rain which was audible inside the theatre because of its corrugated iron structure. If I am not mistaken there is a scene towards the end where an actress assumes the role of Mrs Thatcher and it still makes me cringe to this day.

>192 richardderus: I can imagine, RD, but I think Biden will just about do it.

>193 PaulCranswick:, >194 PaulCranswick: "...what a difference a day makes...."

>195 kac522: I expected Joe Biden to win, Kathy, but I didn't expect it to be so darned close. I am still perplexed as to what so many millions of Americans who still have faith in him are thinking. If I am being dispassionate - which is difficult where that fellow is concerned - America has under his administration steadfastly avoided overseas entanglements, but his very demeanour for me marks him as patently unfit for high office.

>193 PaulCranswick: I certainly remember some of the Roger Moore films feeling like a spoof when they go so over the top with stunts. That was probably part of their charm. Other than the Daniel Craig films which I have liked I don't think I've watched a Bond film in a great many years. When For Your Eyes Only was new I liked it a lot, film and song, but it has been so long that I can scarcely remember the film other than it having lovely scenes of Greece. I know they do Bond marathons now and then on TV. I should try a rewatch sometime.

>197 RBeffa: I do remember loving the locale and also that the delicious Sheena Easton sang the theme song. Greece is probably top of my to do list, Ron.

>196 PaulCranswick: Paul -
Many Americans have chosen to become blindly stupid FOLLOWERS of a leader they perceive to be as STRONG as Hitler. They have become the new German Nazi race.
Even Black and Latino men have chosen to follow this racist freak.

>198 PaulCranswick: Paul, here is the film with song condensed to three minutes. I remembered more than I thought I would. I thought it was the one with the outrageous ski sequence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkZf-Hfqx_A

>199 m.belljackson:
I think you tagged it. I just don't understand what they are thinking. It is very puzzling. I do think that a Savior complex is part of the problem. It is going to do little good to have Biden as president when the Congress is the same old, old men. In Alabama the voters here gave a descent man the boot and voted in a idiot football coach who struts around like he thinks he is a real stud, and chose to forget that he was fired, or asked to resign, from every coaching job he ever had. A friend of mine says that he will accept money and get into trouble, because he is so dumb that he won't understand that politics isn't football.

It won't really matter who is president when the voters didn't change Congress.

>199 m.belljackson: I'm sure that there were many reasons why people voted how they did and part of the problem in America is the increasing polarisation between the two sides. The task for the incoming President and I am pretty sure that it will be Biden, is to try to heal the country and give one voice to the people again. Demonising all who voted Republican will not achieve that even if I personally agree with you that it appears utterly obtuse and perverse for them to have done so. It is, I think, telling that there seems to have been a large body of people voted for Chump without admitting to it, a sort of guilty secret.

>200 RBeffa: I had forgotten how good looking Carole Bouquet was - must be close to the prettiest Bond girl ever.

>201 benitastrnad: Your system is a little puzzling and the US doesn't seem to have learnt any lessons since 2000. Your electoral college system allows all these daft arguments about the polling which are resolved by a simple nationwide count - most votes wins. Would be no debate already as Biden seems to have at least 4 million votes more than Chump.

Your separation of powers also serves to cripple your executive - your founding fathers decided on a system of checks and balances but have left you mainly with the checks.

>202 PaulCranswick: Why there’s a discrepancy between polls and results

>204 humouress: If I had voted for the horses ass I wouldn't have admitted to it either.

>205 PaulCranswick: But one wonders; if you’re too embarrassed to admit to it, why vote? It’s an indication you don’t believe in it either, surely?

>127 PaulCranswick: Holy Moly, Paul! It's a minor miracle to me that your wallet was still there. GOOD for you!
I'll say a word for Biden and what I think he can do without Congress. He can appoint cabinet secretaries who actually have some expertise and credibility in what the department does. He can fill embassies with diplomats, career diplomats, who have knowledge of the culture where they're posted. He can fill Inspector General vacancies. He can organize a response to the pandemic. He can put us back in the Paris Accord. All of that and more will maybe help stabilize the country while Congress plays games.
Meanwhile, we live with his followers, whose fears he has identified and stoked. I'm not sure what we do with them, but that's our job, not Biden's.
End of rant if it was one. *leaving with soap box in hand*

>206 humouress: I think, Nina, that a lot of 45's supporters have unsavory opinions that they DO believe in, in private, but they're aware that a lot of these private unsavory opinions might not be socially acceptable in a lot of circles. Trump's strength is playing to people's ugliest fears and inner biases; while not everyone lets their bigot flags fly, many people have had their ugly internal feelings legitimized enough that they'll express them on a ballot, if not in public. That's my view of things, anyway. *goes back to refreshing election results every 2.5 seconds...*

>204 humouress:
Very interesting. Thanks for posting that clip.

I don't participate in polls either and I am very liberal. It is because I find that the questions are designed so that you give the answers the pollsters want to hear. I consider myself to be pro-life, but not Pro-life. It is impossible to get that across to a pollster who asks if you are Pro-life. I am inclined to reply "isn't everybody?" However, if they ask that question I just hang-up, because I know that they want to get a slanted answer to bolster one side or the other. They really aren't interested in an objective look at the population.

>209 benitastrnad: I think what they maybe mean is Pro-Birth, Benita. Wish they'd call it that.

Paul - in the ex-United States, it's all about personal FREEDOM.

From The Midnight Ride to not voting for decent humans
because they will force you to wear a mask that prevents others from dying.

Or, still worse, they will revoke your RIGHT to carry a gun into a church or restaurant.

>204 humouress: In a way I think rather than being dismayed that so many US citizens support a racist regime, we also need to understand that a percentage of us who come from a background that declared themselves virtuous because they were on the winning side of the Civil War, but were quite content to live privileged lives have come to admit that we have benefited at the expense of others. And then again, there are a lot more non-whites able to vote, so not to comfort ourselves too much, but work to expand the franchise.

>203 PaulCranswick: Your system is a little puzzling and the US doesn't seem to have learnt any lessons since 2000. Oh yeah, Paul, we've learned. But unless the GOP can be convinced to willingly give up its trump card, we won't eliminate the EC. A Constitutional Amendment is required, and approval of an amendment requires a two-thirds majority in both the House and the Senate, followed by ratification by three-quarters of the states.

When elections are decided by 50 to 48, you won't get anything approved 66 to 33. And worst, ratified 75 to 25.

I don't follow what you mean in saying: Your separation of powers also serves to cripple your executive - your founding fathers decided on a system of checks and balances but have left you mainly with the checks. It seems to me that 45 has run rough-shod over the checks and balances. I don't think we want a crippled executive, but we do want him/her hobbled. "Unitary Executive" is a euphemism for dictator.

>213 weird_O: There is no point trying to eliminate the Electoral College. A losing proposition from the minute one moots it. But the National Popular Vote compact, which Colorado approved this election, is the work-around that we need.

>206 humouress: If you don't have the courage of your convictions, there may be something wrong with those convictions!

>207 LizzieD: I think that at least Biden will come to office with international goodwill. Chump is going to make noise for a while but I don't see even a stacked Federal court giving any credence to his nonsense.

>208 curioussquared: Last bit made me smile, Natalie as I am doing the same thing with only slightly frequency. I honestly don't know why someone would vote for him even Republicans. When I looked at links at the decency with which the late John McLain accepted defeat to Barack Obama, I see how low politics has now descended.

>209 benitastrnad: The pollsters do more harm than good in my opinion. Simplify everything and almost always get things horribly wrong.

>210 LizzieD: Good idea.

>211 m.belljackson: Freedom in the conservative sense can be such a dangerous thing.

>212 quondame: The world changes so doesn't it and we need to be on our guard for that. It was the Republicans on the winning side of the Civil war but the Party of Lincoln became the party of Trump and America is closer to civil war in 2020 probably than at any time in 150 years.

>213 weird_O: I am aware Bill of the need to make a constitutional amendment and the difficulty in managing to do that. Self interest will oftentimes override doing what is right but one can hope otherwise because the GOP hasn't lost the popular vote in every election either.

By a crippled executive I mean the recent unfortunate trend to have a President and a House from different parties. Obama was a great man but a hampered President. The UK system is that its leader comes from the legislature and has more chance to carry out his/her programme with a friendly (ish) legislature. The legislature is still a balancing factor against the possible tyranny of the executive but in a way that is less adversarial. I'm not sure that the Founding Fathers quite anticipated the depth of entrenchment of the two-party system you now have.

>214 richardderus: Something is surely needed RD.

Just stopping by to say hello! And to thank you for thinking of me.

Happy weekend!

>220 aspirit: My pleasure......it is great to see you so active in the group this year.

>221 amanda4242: Same to you Amanda. I will be making an announcement about next year in a few hours time that is of interest to you, my friend. xx

>209 benitastrnad: You're welcome.

Someone's going to have to explain the electoral college to me. Again. In words of one syllable or less. Actually, never mind. I'm going to take a break from all this. There's no point refreshing even every hour because it hasn't moved in two days. As Georgia (state) says, accuracy is better than speed. Though I did think it was funny that Fox called Arizona for Biden and their newscasters are annoyed with their political desk as a result - and they're letting everyone know it.

BBC Radio 4 news reports were that Trump supporters have protested outside Fox News apparently. I mean, when they can't even trust Fox News..... I fear alt right media will have new opportuntiies to look forward to.

>224 humouress: The whole thing is a farce as it stands. Given the Chump's antipathy to absentee ballots it is a splendid irony that those ballots seem to be taking Uncle Joe to the White House.

>225 elkiedee: Another irony, Luci. Lovely to see you here, by the way. xx

What do you do in the middle of a pandemic and the politics has gone to rot?
Go out and binge on books is what!
A haul that recalls those almost lost Cranswickian days.

201 Class Trip by Emmanuel Carrere
202 Contact by Carl Sagan
203 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
204 Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
205 The Return by Hisham Matar
206 The Island by Ana Maria Matute
207 The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood
208 The Parisian by Isabella Hammad
209 Childhood by Tove Ditlevsen
210 Youth by Tove Ditlevsen
211 Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen
212 The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
213 Alone Time by Stephanie Rosenbloom
214 Springtime in a Broken Mirror by Mario Benedetti
215 East Lynne by Ellen Wood
216 A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
217 Outlaw Ocean by Ian Urbina
218 Me by Elton John
219 Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
220 Averno by Louise Gluck
221 Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
222 Love in No Man's Land by Duo Ji Zhou Ga
223 The Damascus Road by Jay Parini
224 A Political History of the World by Jonathan Holslag
225 The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis

>228 AlexandraHewitt: Even as a child I was never able to fully digest spam.

>227 PaulCranswick: Been out supporting your favourite bookshop Paul? Good haul.
Have a nice weekend!

>227 PaulCranswick: A sale? That's some collection. And hardly any I've read, so look forward to adding some to the wishlist too.

>227 PaulCranswick: NICE Paul. I have a few of those.

>227 PaulCranswick: That is a substancial haul, Paul!
I have read Eleanor Oliphant; The Salt Path and A Room of One's Own are on mount TBR.

Happy Weekend, Paul! I hope you are spending some prime time with the books. Our weather has been unusually gorgeous, so I am taking full advantage of it.

Hi Paul! Happy weekend, enjoy putting your new books up.

>204 humouress: Interesting about 19% of Trump supporters not admitting it versus 9% of Biden supporters not admitting it. Also, and not good for pollsters, Trump supporters refusing to support the media outlets that their demigod calls ‘fake news’ – obvious when you think about it.

>207 LizzieD: You nailed it Peggy! There’s lots of good he can do. He can have us rejoin the WHO. He can also just calm the country down. Less headlines about the President, certainly no insane, insulting, incorrect, and vicious tweets. And even though it’s rhetoric right now, I’d like to believe that he will serve all Americans, not just the ones who voted for him as did his predecessor.

>230 EllaTim: Indeed Ella - have to keep them open!

>231 charl08: No sale, Charlotte, I just felt like a splurge.

>232 Caroline_McElwee: I am pleased with this haul, Caroline and will definitely prioritise some of them.

>233 FAMeulstee: I have, of course, seen Eleanor Oliphant in the stores for a while hut I was compelled to grab it this time.

>234 msf59: Enjoy your weather there, Mark, while you still can.

>235 karenmarie: Yes, I am sure that Biden can improve things - even to the extent of not having everyone at each other's throats.

>235 karenmarie: Well, no more tweets from the president - DT won't stop tweeting until there's no phone in his hands.

And done. But DT won't concede.

>227 PaulCranswick: What a fine Paul Haul!!!!!
I'm off to investigate some of them while I rejoice that Mr. Biden is now US President-elect Biden.

>227 PaulCranswick: Nothing like a good old fashioned book haul to lift the spirits!

I went to the Friends of the Library Used Bookstore and got a Cranswickian haul! This is the second Saturday the store has been open since March. But only for 2 hours and they will let only 5 people in at a time since it is such a small space. The poor store is stuffed with books. The ladies who work there said that from March until June they had so many books donated that they had to put out notices that they were not accepting donations. I went there to see what they had written by Anita Brookner. I didn't get a single one. So here is what I got.

Fiction
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Revolution of Marina M by Janet Fitch
Lucky Gourd Shop by Joanna Catherine Scott
Wild Fire by Ann Cleeves
Cold Earth by Ann Cleeves
Mystic Masseur by V. S. Naipaul

NonFiction
Paris 1919 by Margaret Macmillan

I thought it was a nice haul and it was good to be back in that bookstore.

Haven't been this affected by US politics since Obama won!

Biden said last night: "We have to remember the purpose of our politics isn't total unrelenting, unending warfare. No, the purpose of our politics, the work of our nation, isn't to fan the flames of conflict, but to solve problems, to guarantee justice, to give everybody a fair shot."

>227 PaulCranswick: Congratulations, nice haul!

Mr. Trump doesn’t have to concede. Once the official vote is in, once the Electoral College has done its job, he will not be president as of January 20, 2021.

He’ll be formally escorted from the White House if he refuses to leave.

>239 quondame: I do hope that the next four years see an end to that inane tweeting.

>240 humouress: He's lost and concede or not he and his much better half will soon be looking for new digs.

>241 LizzieD: I am currently surrounded by my books, Peggy. It was a close call but Uncle Joe did it.

>242 amanda4242: Yes, indeed and I couldn't give a fig for politics all the while whilst strutting up and down the rows of shelves choosing 25 books.

>243 benitastrnad: Nice haul indeed, Benita, and I only have the Naipaul unless MacMillan's book has a different title in Europe.

>244 VivienneR: Well those words are a good start, Vivienne.

>245 Matke: Wouldn't it be just like the man to be forcibly dragged from the very seat of power. Hope he has a shred of dignity and decency and takes his defeat like a man.

ANNOUNCEMENT ON BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE FOR 2021

I have done the British Author Challenge (BAC) for several years and believe that it is high time to hand over the baton to someone with the energy and ideas to take the challenge forward another year.

One of the most steadfast supporters of the challenge has been Amanda (amanda4242) and I am extremely pleased to announce that she has agreed to host the BAC in 2021. I hope that she will get plenty of support in doing so - she will certainly have mine. xx

>246 PaulCranswick: I've been wondering about Melania - she doesn't seem to share his views.

>251 humouress: I'm not sure that there are many that really do, Nina. I wonder if her tells her as tey are undressing for bed....."it's gonna be really great".

Hi Paul, mate, hope that you and the family are having a good weekend mate, what a book haul you have got. Loving the news about Biden and Harris, finally, hope all is well with all of you and send love and hugs to you all from both of us and Felix, dear friend.

>250 PaulCranswick: Thanks for the kind words, Paul! I'll have a planning thread up in the next few days.

Hi Paul, i know you are busy mate but are there anymore stats on posts and books read, i do enjoy seeing you lists.

Happy weekend, Paul! And hooray for a good book haul!

>253 johnsimpson: Our politics are not in a great shape, John, with Corbyn suspended from the Labour Party and the frazzle headed idiot struggling in his job in Downing Street. Biden/Harris come into office with such collective international goodwill and I am amongst the people wishing them well in healing the divisions in American society. They need to learn the lessons as to what paved the way for Trump in the first place and offer an hand to the American rustbelt heartlands. Chump brought them to his side by appealing to the worst in their natures and now Biden has to speak to their better sides.

>254 amanda4242: Words that were well earned dear lady. I look forward to following you in the same way you followed me these last years. xx

>255 johnsimpson: I am keeping up the stats, John, don't worry. I will put up some posting stats later and update the books read next week for you.

>256 banjo123: Thank you dear Rhonda. xx

>257 PaulCranswick: I heard an interesting story yesterday on NPR about the possible change in relationship with Johnson under the Biden administration. While the special relationship is secure, Johnson himself won’t get much love from the White House. It’ll be interesting to see how this develops.

>250 PaulCranswick: I haven't taken part in this for a couple of years, but will try and support you Amanda. Thanks for taking it on. And thank you for starting and running it til now Paul. I'm not a big 'challenge' kind of reader, but i do enjoy meeting new writers, and revisiting old favourites.

>227 PaulCranswick: Ooo lurvely haul!

>250 PaulCranswick: Bravo for the challenge to continue!


A happy, happy sight.

>259 drneutron: It may not be so comfortable for the UK given Joe Biden's close interest in the Irish question. I can see some pressure being brought to bear upon Boris with Brexit and its perceived possible implications on peace on the Emerald Isle.

>260 Caroline_McElwee: I never really ran it as a challenge, Caroline, more as you say a chance to introduce new authors to my friends. Always a place to dip in and out of.

>261 richardderus: Weekend turned out great didn't it. RD?

>262 PaulCranswick: when a reporter shouted at Biden to see if he’d answer “a question for the BBC”, his response was “I’m Irish” with a big grin. It’ll be nice to have someone with wit and a sense of humor in the job again. 😀

>262 PaulCranswick: Wit and a sense of humor AND complete sentences and calm and concrete plans and and and !!!!!
Hi, Paul!

>265 LizzieD:
I agree with the complete sentences and a much broader vocabulary. I am so tired of the Orange Asshats over use of words like "awesome," "tremendous," and "huge."

>257 PaulCranswick:

A mystery = how exactly do you "speak to their better sides"

of the 70 MILLION who voted to elect a demon who was responsible for the deaths

of nearly 250,000 (still counting) Americans...?

Who has advocated for racist violence...?

Who is still trying to destroy our health care system...?

And so much more...

>264 drneutron: Some Brits will worry about the steel inside that silken glove. Still I am 100% sure that if the UK had a vote last Tuesday the 51st state would have called overwhelmingly for Biden.

>265 LizzieD: Biden majored in Politics, History and English which was exactly the degree I first read in Uni. Certainly helps him with complete sentences but also some respect for pretty much facing down a stutter.

>266 benitastrnad: Most commonly he is not even that sophisticated with "great" being his most used word.

>267 m.belljackson: I don't blame him for COVID, Marianne but his administrations reaction to it certainly made a dire situation worse.

Hi all! The BAC 2021 planning thread is up. Please stop by and feel free to offer suggestions!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/326122

>266 benitastrnad: >269 PaulCranswick: ... and 'I'; he takes credit for a lot of things.

>270 amanda4242: Will be over there shortly, Amanda.

>271 humouress: Except of course his defeat!

>272 PaulCranswick: Defeat? What defeat?

>273 humouress: Hahaha, yeah he doesn't recognise any defeats right.

Loving the political discussions, Paul. Thanks for making it comfortable and interesting to talk about hot issues.

I feel so much better now that the nightmare guy is on the way out the door with his unsavory and incompetent buddies. And that we're back to embracing the ideals that have made so many of us love our country. We'll continue to struggle with getting it right, and with fixing all the problems Joe and Kamala mentioned in their acceptance speeches, but at least we'll no longer be flooded with lies and subterfuge and attempts to wreck our democracy and enable a dictator.

I'm afraid I've let the BAC drop off my radar in the last couple years too...hosting the AAC myself seems to have filled the time slot I might have devoted to it. But I always really enjoyed meeting the authors you introduced me to, Paul. Thank you for doing that for all those years. Now I'm off to see what Amanda will be up to in 2021...with a resolve to at the very least read about the year's offerings.

All caught up with you, Paul. And just in time for the book haul! I have big love for A Room of One's Own, and I have The Salt Path in the stacks, other than that...I noticed three by Tove Ditlevsen, who I am not familiar with. Is there a particular reason for this?

>275 jnwelch: Thanks Joe. I think there is a global sigh of relief that Uncle Joe stumbled over the line. I am still a little dumbfounded as to how close it was. My problem with Chump wasn't so much policy - although some of it was hateful - but it was his simply horrid demeanour; that and having him slaughter the English language with his less than grammatical tweets. Good riddance.
I hope the combination of Biden & Harris gels and they succeed in uniting the country and making America a country that doesn't denigrate the rest of the world again as it oftentimes did under the current President.

>276 laytonwoman3rd: You're welcome, Linda. I thoroughly enjoyed doing the BAC and I am sure that Amanda will give it a second wind, just as you did with the AAC taking over from my pal, Mark.
>276 laytonwoman3rd:

>277 Crazymamie: A mixture of relief and sheer pleasure was felt collectively in the group this last week - or should I say lots of fabulous - as you returned to posting. xx
There is a fairly good reason why I bought three Tove Ditlevsen books together; that is because they were together in an omnibus edition of her memoirs. She has been described as Denmark's best kept literary secret which has to be intriguing, no?

>278 PaulCranswick: I didn't participate in the BAC much this year, Paul, lack of energy on my part. But thank you for organising it!

Book # 108



Averno by Louise Gluck

Date of Publication : 2006
Origin of Author : USA
Number of Pages : 76 pp
Nobel Prize Challenge : 71/117

Though the title poem is famous and often anthologised, this is more like an extended poem as all the work here has connected themes mixing myth (Hades and Persephone) and the human condition.

It is therefore a collection that is difficult to set out individual poems but is still eminently quotable in small chunks. It is a collection that takes and considers contrasts - myth & reality; night and day; life & death; ice and fire - and does so in every day language that still attains deeply poetic qualities.

Choosing a poet this year for the Nobel Prize was always going to be a popular decision with me, and it is the first time since 2011 (Transtromer) and only the second time this century that it has happened. They made a good choice.

>280 EllaTim: My pleasure as always Ella. I always said that it was a challenge to dip in and out of - if a writer took your fancy then try it and if not it is ok.

>282 PaulCranswick: This year it was more a matter of the writers being appealing enough but me too tired to hear.

>283 EllaTim: In the year of Covid-19, ensuing global recession, continued extremist terrorism, American Dirt, George Floyd and Black Lives Matter & the near run thing of the US elections - then my BAC selections were quite possibly not on everyone's top billing. xx

Systemic electoral fraud? - Does anybody really think so?

Mr Chump may have a legal right to challenge results in any of the states but he must of course show some prima facie evidence to justify the very serious and thus far wholly unsubstantiated claims of vote rigging.

He must also be made aware of the damage he is doing to the dignity of the office of the President and to the electoral process full stop. I dare say that there were imperfections in the process and most likely impacting both sides, but Biden has over 50.4% of the popular vote and a close to 5 million lead in the popular vote - it is frankly inconceivable that any underhandedness made that much of a difference.

I think almost everyone is aware that these are the dying gasps of an awful Presidency and he should be encouraged by the more sensible of the GOP to just go away.

>285 PaulCranswick: - Dignity? That word doesn't exist in his language. He is, plain and simple, a big fat cry baby, a sore loser and that is one fact of reality that is never going to change. The fact that so many of his inner circle cronies continue to enable and support him, is disgraceful. They are, each one of them, disgraceful.

>286 jessibud2: I agree about his inner circle, Shelley, but the President Elect and his team need to address the concerns and grievances of some of the 70 million that did vote for the Chump. To dismiss them all as disgraceful and racists etc will not be conducive to healing the nation. Chump identified a lot of genuine issues of concern to the multitudes - blue collar jobs, imbalances in trade, too much involvement in foreign wars and uncontrolled immigration but his policy prescriptions were hateful and toxic. Biden/Harris need to address those same concerns but in a way to heal rather than produce open sores upon the USA.

>285 PaulCranswick: I honestly don't think Trump actually expected to be elected four years ago and his win left him a bit dumbfounded. He's not a politician and apparently made an unsuccessful bid to run for president as a Democrat years ago. He's never shown any respect for the dignity of his elected office and the feeling I get is that he thinks that he's supposed to resist being elected out - maybe he's been associating with dictators too much?

He must also be made aware of the damage he is doing to the dignity of the office of the President and to the electoral process full stop.

Yeah, no. He hasn't the intelligence, tact, self-awareness, or humanity to know or care about any damage he does.

>288 humouress: He has proven indubitably in the last four years that he is no politician. I don't think he knows what to do now but even with a stacked Supreme Court he is wasting his time.

>289 scaifea: Whilst I agree about your assessment of him, Amber, this is all about him to himself - it is solely Donald J Chump that he cares about and everything else is subsidiary to that.

>290 PaulCranswick: I think our two assessments go right along with each other.

I’m more worried about the disgusting behavior of top leadership in the GOP supporting Trump’s legal contest right now.

He hasn’t conceded, the GSA hasn’t written the letter to authorize transition funding and office space/support, and the WaPo headline is More Republicans back legal push to contest Biden’s victory and the NYT headline is As Trump Refuses to Concede, G.O.P. Remains Divided

He and they are going to make the next 2 months a total swear word deleted misery for all Democrats and right-minded Republicans in the US. Plus, he won't actually go away unless he dies, because there is a lot of internet chatter about him running again in 2024.

I'll be much happier when Joe and Kamala are actually sworn in on January 20, 2021.

>291 scaifea: Indeed they do, Amber. What other conclusion could be drawn? xx

>292 karenmarie: McConnell is just as bad as Chump - well almost. Technically he probably has a right to contest or ask for recounts if the states are very close but morally and pretty obviously he has lost already. The more sensible amongst the GOP really must see the damage it would do both to the country and their reputations.

I don't think that there is a snowball's chance in hell of the Republicans putting him back on the ticket in 2024 although he is arrogant enough to try.

I hope you're right, Paul. I hope that those who fear Trump can take baby steps away from him before Biden is sworn in and leap away from him after. And I hope that they see the light in 2023 and shun him and his dysfunctional family completely.

>295 karenmarie: I just wish the USA and all my friends there well and hope they stay safe and healthy and at peace. I trust this trouble will resolve itself shortly and that Biden/Harris will be inaugurated in January to herald a new beginning with the good will of most peoples behind them.

>294 PaulCranswick:

Paul - the "more sensible" Republicans are too few to have a real impact.

Trump is 100% "Apres MOI, le deluge."

>297 m.belljackson: Let us see, Marianne. America is broken but not beyond repair and there are, in my experience, more good people than bad. Chump will make a lot of noise on his way out and some of it will be as compelling as it is distressing but on his way out he most decidedly is.

>290 PaulCranswick: According to my brother who spent years fairly high up in the government after 9/11 it is too possible that the Supreme Court could decide to support his presidency. We'll see.

>297 m.belljackson: No apres about it.

I was way behind here, Paul, but I should have expected your thread to grow with leaps and bounds given the US election and its long resolution.

You are a lucky man to get your wallet back after the heart stopping realization that you left it on the train. We are collectively in luck because of the result of the US election. The border between the US and Canada remains closed (even though you can do an end run around it by air). It is hoped that a more reasonable president might curb the US pandemic cases somewhat. And, I must say it has been a treat to listen to Biden speak, nice to hear something based on reality for a change.

>299 quondame: Dear God, Susan, I do hope he is wrong.

>300 quondame: With him more devant than apres!

>301 Familyhistorian: Lovely to see you, Meg. I am ever the optimist and trust that all will come out alright in the end. I wouldn't have chosen Uncle Joe for the Democrats but he has my utmost best wishes for whatever that is worth.

>302 PaulCranswick: Well, he has been wrong before. He was, pre-Trump a Republican, the only one of us siblings not to have radical tendencies, and he knows some of the players so while I don't feel his worst predictions are likely, they aren't impossible.

>304 quondame: I just find it hard to conceive, Susan, that conservative or otherwise, the judiciary would be so unprincipled as to subvert the democratic process and obvious will of the people. Giuliani and McConnell will bleat away hopefully to little effect.

I remember reading a book by Giuliani whilst he was still basking in the popularity afforded him in the wake of 9/11 and being absolutely appalled by some of the views he expressed.

>299 quondame: 45 has nothing. NOTHING. Without evidence of wrong-doing, no case will be heard. It won't get to SCOTUS.

Interestingly, The Lincoln Project is going after two prominent law firms that have filed several court cases on behalf of 45. TLP will be asserting that filing baseless cases will undermine confidence in the electoral system and that that is the sole intent of the lawsuits. Do these firms, which represent some major corporations, want to have their reputations sullied. NYT and WaPo both report that senior attorneys at both the firms are not happy.

Hey Paul,

Allow me to hijack your thread for a moment. Just wanted to spread the word. The Christmas Swap thread is up. To anyone that's interested, come on by...

https://www.librarything.com/topic/326191#unread

>306 weird_O: I believe that you are entirely correct on this, Bill. I just don't see anything of substance here. Power to the arm of the Lincoln Project as I do believe that frivolous lawsuits which undermine the electoral process are indeed contemptible.

>307 mahsdad: I will of course participate, Jeff. Last year I had two disasters in trying to send books to my Christmas Swapee and she didn't receive either of them which made me hugely sad. I do hope and pray that my books hit their target this year.

>308 PaulCranswick: Oh that's terrible, I don't think I knew that (or at least my "near" senior brain has forgotten). I echo your hope for better shipping.

>310 PaulCranswick: No worries, I have a contingency plan in place this time too including sending very early. I hope to get the chance to deliver books by hand to my friends in 2021.

>310 PaulCranswick: Woo woo! Suitably masked, of course ;0)

>311 humouress: We will have a vaccine in a matter of months, Nina. I'm quite sure.