PAUL C IN 23 (12)

PLACES I AM READING



Great Rift Valley in East Africa.

The Opening Words

The African Novel Challenge heads to East Africa and I am reading a novel called Dance of the Jakaranda by Kenyan Peter Kimani



"In that year, the glowworms in the marshes were replaced by lightbulbs, villagers were roused out of their hamlets by a massive rumbling that many mistook for seismic shifts of the earth. These were not uncommon occurrences - locals experienced earthquakes across the Rift Valley so often they had no explanation for it. They said it was God taking a walk in His universe. They believed this without needing to see it, but on that day the villagers saw the source of the noise as well. It was a monstrous snakelike creature whose black head erect like a cobra's, pulled rusty brown boxes and slithered down the savanna, coughing spasmodically as it emitted blue-black smoke."

Interested ...........................?

BOOKS COMPLETED - Q1

January
1. The King's Fool by Mahi Binebine (2017) 125 pp Fiction / ANC / Morocco
2. The Golden Ass by Apuleius (c 170) 216 pp Fiction / ANC / Tunisia / 1001
3. Driftnet by Lin Anderson (2003) 262 pp Thriller / Rhona MacLeod 1
4. The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff (1954) 292 pp Fiction / BAC
5. Free : Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi (2021) 310 pp Non-Fiction / NF Challenge
6. The Bridges of Constantine by Ahlem Mosteghanemi (1993) 305 pp Fiction / ANC / Algeria
7. Bloodlines by Fred D'Aguiar (2000) 161 pp Poetry / BAC
8. Borstal Boy by Brendan Behan (1958) 372 pp Fiction / 1001
9. Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson (2008) 300 pp Fiction / AAC
10. U.A. Fanthorpe : Selected Poems by U.A. Fanthorpe (2013) 153 pp Poetry
11. In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar (2006) 245 pp Fiction / ANC / Libya
12. Foundation : The History of England Volume 1 by Peter Ackroyd (2011) 462 pp Non-Fiction
13. Closed Circles by Viveca Sten (2009) 451 pp Thriller / Sandhamn 2
14. The Albemarle Book of Modern Verse edited by FES Finn (1961) 181 pp Poetry
15. Brooklyn Heights by Miral al-Tahawy (2012) 220 pp Fiction / ANC / Egypt
16. The Midnight Bell by Patrick Hamilton (1929) 221 pp Fiction
17. The Siege of Pleasure by Patrick Hamilton (1932) 118 pp Fiction
18. The Plains of Cement by Patrick Hamilton (1934) 188 pp Fiction
19. The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov by Vladimir Nabokov (1995) 663 pp Fiction / Short Stories
20. The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray (2019) 267 pp Non-Fiction
21. The Death of Murat Idrissi by Tommy Wieringa (2017) 102 pp Fiction
22. Foster by Claire Keegan (2010) 88 pp Fiction

February
23. Torch by Lin Anderson (2004) 230 pp Thriller / Rhona MacLeod 2
24. Things I Don't Want to Know by Deborah Levy (2003) 163 pp Non-Fiction
25. The Book of Chameleons by Jose Eduardo Agualusa (2004) 180 pp Fiction / ANC / Angola
26. Dearly by Margaret Atwood (2020) 122 pp Poetry
27. The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante (2002) 188 pp Fiction
28. The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy (2018) 187 pp Non-Fiction
29. The Lost Art of Sinking by Naomi Booth (2015) 86 pp Fiction / BAC
30. Poetry of the Thirties edited by Robin Skelton (1964) 287 pp Poetry
31. The Darkness Knows by Arnaldur Indridason (2017) 338 pp Thriller / Scandi
32. The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig (2006) 345 pp Fiction
33. The History of England Volume II : Tudors by Peter Ackroyd (2012) 471 pp Non-Fiction
34. Male Tears by Benjamin Myers (2021) 264 pp Fiction / Short Stories
35. Woman of the Ashes by Mia Couto (2015) 254 pp Fiction / ANC / Mozambique
36. Real Estate by Deborah Levy (2021) 297 pp Non-Fiction
37. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (1971) 569 pp Fiction / 1001 Books / Pulitzer

March
38. Deadly Code by Lin Anderson (2005) 261 pp Thriller / Rhona MacLeod 3
39. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2003) 307 pp Fiction / ANC / Nigeria
40. My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell (1956) 308 pp Non-Fiction / Memoirs
41. What Goes On : Selected and New Poems 1995-2009 by Stephen Dunn (2009) 195 pp Poetry / AAC
42. I'm a Fan by Sheena Patel (2022) 203 pp Fiction
43. Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey (2006) 46 pp Poetry / AAC

BOOKS COMPLETED - Q2

April
44. Anne Boleyn : 500 Years of Lies by Hayley Nolan (2019) 282 pp Non-Fiction / BAC
45. Hotel of the Saints by Ursula Hegi (2001) 170 pp Fiction / AAC
46. Dark Flight by Lin Anderson (2007) 392 pp Thiller
47. Boulder by Eva Baltasar (2020) 105 pp Fiction / Spain
48. Moscow by Nick Carter (1970) 155 pp Thriller
49. Thirteen Months of Sunrise by Rania Mamoun Short Stories / ANC / Sudan
50. The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot (1922) 32 pp Poetry
51. Felicity : Poems by Mary Oliver (2014) 81 pp Poetry
52. Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin (2023) 238 pp Fiction / Vietnam
53. Justice on Trial : Radical Solutions for a System at Breaking Point by Chris Daw (2020) 264 pp Non-Fiction
54. The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott (1966) 488 pp Fiction
55. Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka (2010) 451 pp Thriller / Japan

May
56. Taste : My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci (2021) 299 pp Non-Fiction
57. Tell Me the Truth About Life curated by Cerys Matthews (2019) 177 pp Poetry
58. Those Feet : An Intimate History of English Football by David Winner (2005) 268 pp Non-Fiction
59. The Arctic : Poems by Don Paterson (2022) 82 pp Poetry
60. Suffer the Little Children by Donna Leon (2007) 342 pp Thiller
61. The Missing Months by Lachlan MacKinnon (2022) 63 pp Poetry

June
62. Easy Kill by Lin Anderson (2008) 390 pp Thriller
63. Civil War : The History of England Volume III by Peter Ackroyd (2014) 470 pp Non-Fiction
64. Ruth Pitter : Collected Poems by Ruth Pitter (1996) 299 pp Poetry
65. Dance of the Jakaranda by Peter Kimani (2017) 350 pp Fiction / ANC / Kenya
66. England's Green by Zaffar Kunial (2022) 70 pp Poetry
67. Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov (2020) 302 pp Fiction / Bulgaria
68. The Illustrated Woman by Helen Mort (2022) 82 pp Poetry
69. Oxblood by Tom Benn (2022) 245 pp Fiction
70. The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt (2011) 263 PP Non-Fiction
71. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy (2005) 309 pp Fiction
72. The Breast by Philip Roth (1972) 74 pp Fiction 1001 Books
73. Heritage by Miguel Bonnefoy (2020) 149 pp Fiction / Venezuela

BOOK STATS

Starting Stats of the Year :

Present TBR : 5,679 books
Pages to Read : 1,943,264
Average Book Length : 342.18

Books Read 65 (5 June 23)
Pages : 16,470
Pages per day : 105.58
Average Book Length : 253.38 pages
Female Authors : 30
Male Authors : 32
Various : 3
Countries Read : 24 (UK, Morocco, Tunisia, Albania, Algeria, Guyana, Ireland, USA. Libya, Sweden, Egypt, Russia, Netherlands, Angola, Canada, Italy, Iceland, Mozambique, Nigeria, Spain, Sudan, Vietnam, Japan, Kenya)
Fiction : 25
Thriller : 10
Non-Fiction : 13
Poetry : 13
Short Stories : 4

1001 Books First Edition
Read 3 (330)

Nobel Winners
Read : (75)

Booker Winners
Read : (38)

Pulitzer Fiction Prize
Read 1 : (21)

Women's Prize
Read : (7)

Books Added in 2023

215 (5 June 2023)

Books Read in 2023

65 (5 June 2023)

Change in TBR +150 (5,829)

Pages Read : 16,470
Pages Added : 69,409

Change in TBR Pages : +52,939 (1,996,203)

African Reading Challenge 2023



Plans

January - NORTH AFRICA https://www.librarything.com/topic/347131 read 5
February - LUSOPHONE LIT https://www.librarything.com/topic/348039 read 2
March - ADICHIE or EMECHETA https://www.librarything.com/topic/348955#n8081025 read 1
April - THE HORN OF AFRICA https://www.librarything.com/topic/349799 read 1
May - AFRICAN NOBEL WINNERS https://www.librarything.com/topic/350564
June - EAST AFRICA - https://www.librarything.com/topic/351192 Read 1
July - ACHEBE or Okri
August - FRANCOPHONE AFRICA
September - SOUTHERN AFRICA
October - MUKASONGA / NGUGI WA THIONG'O
November - AFRICAN THRILLERS / CRIME WRITERS
December - WEST AFRICA

Total : 10

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE



January - Rosemary Sutcliff & Fred D'Aguiar Eagle of the Ninth by Sutcliff, Bloodlines by D'Aguiar
February - Novellas & Short Stories - The Lost Art of Sinking by Booth, Male Tears by Myers
March - Vita Sackville-West & Tariq Ali
April - British Queens - Anne Boleyn : 500 Years of Lies by Hayley Nolan

AMERICAN AUTHOR CHALLENGE



January - YA Books - Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
February - Richard Powers
March - Poetry - What Goes On : Selected and New Poems by Stephen Dunn
April - Ursula Hegi - Hotel of the Saints

AROUND THE WORLD IN BOOKS IN 2023

Countries : 26 (24 June 2023)


Create Your Own Visited Countries Map

Welcome to my thread #12

Happy new thread Paul. What a landscape in that opener.

>11 WhiteRaven.17: Thank you, Kro. Well done for being first up - I guess most everyone else are asleep already.

All the best with your new thread Paul. Happy reading!

>13 mdoris: Thank you, Mary. Lovely to see you bright and early (or still up late - to be more accurate).

Happy new thread Paul!

>1 PaulCranswick: And it just keeps getting bigger!

Happy New Thread ,Paul. Here on the West Coast on Canada, it is 10:20 pm, but I'm a night owl, so not especially late for me.

>15 quondame: It does indeed, Susan and one day might swallow up most of us!

>16 vancouverdeb: That is still early, Deb and reminds me just how far away from each other we are (+15 hours in fact).

>Yes, when William and his family visit Hong Kong - where Serenade has family, I forget the time difference at the moment, but I think it is about ??? 17 hours difference and it's already the next day most of the time that I think about it.

>18 vancouverdeb: Could be 16 hours, Deb because I think that there is often a 1 hour difference between here and there.

June 1970 saw the release of Fire and Water the breakthrough album of Free and including that staple of radio rock - "All Right Now".



Great songs, brilliant musicianship - haven't heard it for the longest time, but it still hits the aural sweet spot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqdCZ0yHNa4

One of the songs of the Seventies surely?

Happy new thread Paul!
And have a wonderful and restorative Sunday.

BOOK #62



Easy Kill by Lin Anderson
Date of Publication : 2008
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 390 pp

Episode five of the series and we have a serial killer putting young blonde prostitutes to death.

Rhona is helped here by profiler Magnus Pirrie and the usual convincing support cast. Becoming a favourite series of mine.

>21 SirThomas: Lovely to see you, Thomas.

I am feeling good this weekend as my reading mojo seems to be returning.

>12 PaulCranswick: Yeah, I seem to either catch your new threads right as you make them or days late. Also, >2 PaulCranswick: I really like the cover art for this book and quite the imagery in the words as well.

>24 WhiteRaven.17: It is exceptionally well written and I am really enjoying the book so far, Kro.

I am happy you catch them early or late at least you always catch them!

I thought that June 1971 was a little bit fallow in terms of new music. There was Joni Mitchell's Blue but her disdain for Spotify makes it a little bit annoying to go and seek out. She withdrew in protest to what she felt was anti-vaxx misinformation on the Joe Rogan podcast - she looks a bit silly now don't you think?

Her ex-boyfriend's buddy Stephen Stills then goes centre stage with Stephen Stills 2



Could be maddening but was definitely talented. Self-indulgent certainly and his awful rip-off of a Bob Dylan song here is excruciating but there is also plenty to admire in the good bits.

This is a live version of one of those good bits : "Know You've Got to Run"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlRTFFSKqv8

BOOK #63



Civil War : The History of England Volume III by Peter Ackroyd
Date of Publication : 2014
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 470 pp

In truth this third in the six volume history of England by the erudite Mr. Ackroyd takes us from the reign of James I to the Glorious Revolution so the Stuarts and the Interregnum. Of course the Civil War and its cause and impact is centre stage.

I would have been a Cromwellian Roundhead even though I am pretty sure that he and Ireton erred in cutting off the Head of the State (quite literally of course). For me it was a tragic failure the early experiment with a commonwealth that floundered on the need for the country to perceive a figurehead and the absence of a uniting force after Cromwell's untimely demise.

It is an era of British history I am well familiar with given my enjoyment of Dame Cicely Wedgwood and Macaulay - even so Ackroyd does his subject full justice.

.

Happy new thread, Paul!

>26 PaulCranswick: I never use Spotify, only plain old cd's, but I can understand Joni Mitchell's point of view.

>28 FAMeulstee: Lovely to see you, Anita. I prefer my vinyls and my CDs too but Spotify is so much easier.

She has a perfect right to decide who can and who cannot use her music. It is just that in retrospect the "misinformation" of Rogan and others has proven to be quite accurate. It was clearly a mistake to impose the jabs on healthy young people rather than concentrate on those in danger and in need of it. That the jabs did nothing to prevent transmission but only served (and this was in my view a justification of the jabs themselves) to ameliorate the worst effects of the disease is also now widely accepted.

I was deeply troubled by the obvious attempt to stifle genuine debate and the issuance of contrary medical opinions and it has since transpired that this censorial conduct was led by Fauci.

happy new one

Happy new thread, Paul.

>1 PaulCranswick: Spectacular.

>26 PaulCranswick: I use spotify a lot, as a means to find new music.

>29 PaulCranswick: So much misinformation has been going on. Very unfortunate, who can people still trust?

>30 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita.

>31 EllaTim: I find spotify very useful, Ella. I love my music system but it is such a great resource for finding stuff and keeping playlists.

The mainstream media have also gone wholly rogue too setting agendas and espousing opinion thinly disguised as news. Fox does this tellingly on the right but CNN and MSNBC have become rapidly opinionated too. In short, Ella, we probably cannot trust any of them.

Happy New thread, Paul!
Ugh I could never ever pick up a book with a snake on the cover. Even if it's creatively turned into a train it still makes me cringe.

I'm not sure if it's good or bad but the only media app I have on my phone is BBC. I found they were posting breaking news faster than CNN

>33 Carmenere: What can I say, Lynda? My warmth towards trains outdid my scared-ness of snakes!

Happy new thread!

>35 amanda4242: Thank you, dear lady.

Happy new thread!

June 1972 saw the release of the brilliant David Bowie album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
From first track to last this is genius at work. One of my absolute favourite records.



This is the wonderful "Starman" - Bowie's teeth subsequently got some treatment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOKWF3IHu0I

>37 witchyrichy: Lovely to see you Karen

>38 PaulCranswick: Love that album, although I think The Man Who Sold the World is my favorite Bowie album.

>40 amanda4242: It has always been a toss up for me between Ziggy and Hunky Dory for his absolute best album but all of his records in that era were excellent.

Donny Hathaway sadly made too few records given that he died from a balcony fall in 1979. His last studio album was released in June 1973 : Extension of a Man and whilst it does not quite match his first two releases, it is still full of luscious vibes and his lusty soulful vocals.



This is one of the two singles released from the album : "Love, Love, Love"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4SWqCNBHw8

Happy new thread, Paul!

>43 ArlieS: Thank you, Arlie. I am looking forward to a day off tomorrow (it is the Malaysian Agong's birthday). There are nine states here with Sultans and they rotate the kingship between them.

Hi Paul, Happy New Thread mate. I would have given Bairstow et al some batting time before the ashes, the Aussies are going to get some real practice with the World Test Championship Final against India, starting on Wednesday and the weather is set fair. Josh Hazelwood is out of this game and now Leach is out of the ashes completely due to a lower back stress fracture, who do we bring in to replace him in such an important series.

>1 PaulCranswick: Truly awe-inspiring to me to realixe that's the bottom of a brand-new sea 500,000 years from now.

New-thread orisons, PC.

>45 johnsimpson: Personally John I would bring in young Rehan Ahmed or Liam Patterson-White to the squad but I would consider playing four seamers if Stokes isn't going to bowl.
Bad luck in the cup final but that is a really good Man City side.

>46 richardderus: Humbling indeed, RD.
Nice to see you out and about dear fellow.

George Martin who famously worked with the Beatles produced Holiday by America which was recorded in London and released in June 1974.



Full of pleasant melodies but not the most memorable record in their canon.

This is the highlight for me - "Lonely People"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_OboeBSMdk

Happy new thread Paul. Glad reading mojo is picking up for you. Enjoying the survey of music.

>49 Kristelh: Thank you, Kristel. Some of the June months leave me scratching my head whilst others I am spoiled for choice.

BOOK # 64



Ruth Pitter : Collected Poems by Ruth Pitter
Date of Publication : 1996
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 299 pp

Ruth Pitter lived a long and full life. She died in 1992 aged almost 95.
She lived a valued life. One in which she wrote in formal beauty with often the most touching of Blakean simplicity.

She could be hyperbolic and overblown and some of these poems especially the pastoral ones are too much for my mid-modern sensibilities. When she got that delicate touch just right - usually in her shorter poems - the impact was magical.

When her words were florid
It could be quite torrid
Though with a sensitive eye
She could sublimely versify
And was never completely horrid.

This is her poem "The Paradox"

Our death implicit in our birth,
We cease, or cannot be;
And know when we are laid in earth
We perish utterly.

And equally the spirit knows
The indomitable sense
Of immortality, which goes
Against all evidence.

See faith alone, whose hand unlocks
All mystery at a touch,
Embrace the awful Paradox
Nor wonder overmuch.

Caroline mentioned to me that she had just listened to and enjoyed Main Course by the Bee Gees and so when I spotted that it was released in June 1975, I couldn't but include it here too.



A change of direction and sound really which heralded the fabulous success they would soon have with Night Fever.

The opening track is still a revelation.

Nights on Broadway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2SDf42guB4

Happy new thread, Paul. You reminded me that I am falling behind in my Ackroyd reading - travel will do that.

>53 Familyhistorian: He is a reliably entertaining teller of history. Not scholarly but fireside enjoyment as we want a story told to us.

Lovely to see you, Meg.

1976 saw the breakthrough of another of the late 70s superstar acts in Europe - Boney M.



Take the Heat off Me included the great sing along Daddy Cool and a great cover of "Sunny". They would go on to even better things over the next few years. I didn't much care for them at the time but I adore some of their hits nowadays as they bring back the time perfectly.

This is so much fun and reminds me of how I used to dance!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYGTT7YhywA

>55 PaulCranswick: How do I unsee that?

>56 RBeffa: I still dance in that fashion, I suppose until I collapse in a heap, Ron!

Bob Marley was a musical hero of mine opened up the world with a message of love and toleration. What a sad early loss he was.
His most famous release was undoubtedly Exodus in June 1977



Packed full of well known songs, this is perhaps less known "Turn Your Lights Down Low" but sweet nevertheless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH_A1xSSjBo

Happy New Thread.
Enjoy reading your posts as always!!

>59 hredwards: Thank you Harold. It is always a pleasure to have you visit.

In June 1978, the Boss followed up his Born to Run album with the solid Darkness on the Edge of Town. It is the Springsteen album that stands out as a piece for me although none of the individual songs have ever stood out from this ensemble piece. None of them let it down either.



This is possibly my favourite track "Streets of Fire" but that could change tomorrow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6bBI2GRrA8

Update on the posting stats. Top 75 busiest threads as of just now:

1 PaulCranswick 2,894
2 katiekrug 2,587
3 richardderus 2,412
4 msf59 1,988
5 CrazyMamie 1,763
6 scaifea 1,720
7 karenmarie 1,448
8 laurelkeet 1,318
9 bell7 1,219
10 alcottacre 1,173
11 FAMeulstee 1,025
12 Familyhistorian 988
13 figsfromthistle 968
14 jnwelch 941
15 Berly 865
16 MickyFine 864
17 curioussquared 802
18 jessibud2 738
19 BLBera 722
20 EBT1002 713
21 klobrien2 679
22 RebaRelishesReading 637
23 Carmenere 598
24 quondame 540
25 drneutron 521
26 lyzard 501
27 SandyMacpherson 491
28 LizzieD 460
29 Whisper1 456
30 foggidawn 433
31 johnsimpson 432
32 vancouverdeb 420
33 mahsdad 406
34 The_Hibernator 404
35 ursula 400
36 streamsong 390
37 SirThomas 379
38 SandDune 364
39 thornton37814 358
40 mstrust 352
41 laytonwoman3rd 348
42 humouress 346
43 Caroline_McElwee 337
44 kristelh 328
45 weird_O 322
46 storeettlr 313
47 Dreamweaver 308
48 mdoris 304
49 norabelle414 304
50 witchyrichy 304
51 ArlieS 263
52 avatiakh 259
53 copperskye 255
54 ffortsa 249
55 Squeaky_Chu 237
56 cbl_tn 233
57 Whiteraven.17 231
58 Donna828 224
59 banjo123 218
60 ronincats 212
61 Chatterbox 205
62 Ella Tim 202
63 atozgrl 198
64 Ravenswoodwitch 192
65 swynn 188
66 DianaNL 160
67 sibylline 158
68 chelle 154
69 CDVicarage 146
70 LovingLit 129
71 hredwards 128
72 vivians 123
73 amanda4242 122
74 AMQS 122
75 oberon 119

>62 PaulCranswick: Thanks for the stats, Paul.
I am perfectly happy to be at #11 :-)

>62 PaulCranswick: Thank you for including so many threads that I appear on the list ;-)

>62 PaulCranswick: Relieved to see that I still make the top 75 list!

>63 FAMeulstee: I will be surprised if you don't make the top ten as usual, Anita.

>64 ArlieS: My other alternative was to list all those over 200 posts, Arlie, and you would still have featured.

>65 CDVicarage: And well placed amongst the Brits, Kerry, don't forget.

Which Wings album do you like the most. My own favourite is Back to the Egg which was released in June 1979.



It is in someways a strange record, a little bit concepty in a way but there are some really great tunes on it and some that I regularly still sing to myself (and often out loud) in the bathtub.

This particular song "After the Ball" remains one of my absolute favourite McCartney compositions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjM2bW8UmSg

Thanks for the stats...I am holding steady even with posting less :)

Happy new thread, Paul! It looks like I missed the entire second half of your last thread while I was out of town.

>55 PaulCranswick: Boney M. That takes me back. I heard them the summer I was in Europe, and loved both Daddy Cool and Ma Baker. I went out of my way to pick up the 45's of both songs while I was in Europe. I never did hear the group played in the US.

>62 PaulCranswick: I'm surprised I made the list as I haven't been that regular posting to my own thread. Interesting list!

>62 PaulCranswick: Well, I am no longer in the top 10, but still in the top 20! LOL. Too much going on, but it's nice to be back here today.

>68 PaulCranswick: Well, duh. I like "Wings Greatest" best!! That's the only album of theirs I ever had. I did see them in concert though. : )

>69 figsfromthistle: You are doing a little more than simply holding steady, Anita!

>70 atozgrl: I understand that they never really caught on in the States but they were enormously popular in Europe. Their double A sided single Brown Girl in the Ring / Rivers of Babylon seemed to be constantly on radio when I was about 12 years old.

>71 Berly: Great to see you around the threads whilst trying to keep up three jobs.

Cool that you saw them play live - McCartney is of course an icon of the genre. I used to buy greatest hits albums for a newly introduced to me act and if I liked it I would go on and add the rest of their discography. McCartney and the Beatles were already exempted that from my earliest days. The Beatles compilations 1962-66 and 1967-70 as well as Wings' Band On the Run were amongst the very first things I ever bought so I knew he was for me.

In fact I have to correct the statement I made above in that Band on the Run is clearly Wings' best album.

Into the 1980s and Queen bring in the decade for me as their very successful album The Game was released in June of that year.



This is a favourite of mine amongst the many hits on the record..."Save Me"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw3izcZd9zU

>68 PaulCranswick: I've always enjoyed that album very much!! I like "My Baby's Request".

>74 PaulCranswick: I became a fan of Queen when their first album came out while i was in college - I played Keep Yourself Alive a lot. I really liked the guitarwork on their songs. As they became more popular over the years I moved on to other music. I don't think I ever saw this Game album but their music was omnipresent on the radio

>55 PaulCranswick: My favorite Boney M. song will always be:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15nMlfogITw

>72 PaulCranswick: I know they must have been really popular in Europe in at least 1977, because I heard them a lot. I really liked them. I don't know why they didn't get picked up over here. That's something I don't get.

>75 hredwards: Another favourite of mine too, Harold. I used to sing that song to the kids as a lullaby to get them off to sleep.

>76 RBeffa: I didn't love some of Queen's later stuff, Ron and I think that "The Game" was the last of their very good records. Brian May is an exceptional guitarist with a very unique sound.

>77 richardderus: Undeniably sing-along material, RD, but my own favourite has to be Rasputin.

>78 atozgrl: Probably in the same way that Abba were never nearly as successful in the USA but were enormous everywhere else, Irene. Taste and national exposure are funny creatures aren't they?

The 1980s are probably my least favourite musical decade and I struggled with June 1981 but it did see the debut release of Duran Duran with their eponymous titled record Duran Duran



Apart from the first two tracks which were singles there isn't too much to get excited about here but John Taylor's guitar playing is at least extremely impressive.

This is the slightly lesser known of the two singles "Planet Earth"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NF6Qa84mno

>81 PaulCranswick: I was never much of a Duran Duran fan (and the more I think of it the 80's were full of a lot of dreck). Anyway, the For Your Eyes Only soundtrack album with Sheena Easton gets my vote for June 1981 thanks to the title track of course. I have the lp stashed away somewhere. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVSZDWsJo-Y

>82 RBeffa: Well, Ron, I will say that Sheena looks a heck of a lot better than Simon the Good laying there and put to the fire for some strange reason.
For Your Eyes Only has to be the worst of all the Bond movies though. Why did they keep Roger Moore in the role beyond the first four movies?

>73 PaulCranswick: I am glad I pushed you to reevaluate your favorite album. LOL. Band on the Run was definitely a favorite.

>83 PaulCranswick: Roger Moore, yeah, not that great in the end. My favorite 007 is still Sean Connery.

>83 PaulCranswick: I think there may be one or two worse Bond movies, but I have found many of the earlier Bond films unwatchable now. There was a Bond marathon on television a few years ago that I caught part of and I didn't get very far in any of the films. I would expect to still like all the Daniel Craig ones however.

ETA: I think the McCartney Live and Let Die film was near the bottom of my list and the Moore film in the snow - title escapes me at the moment was the worst Moore film. I've seen most Bond films over the years but never the lazenby film which I think was generally panned.

ETA2: Here we go. all the bond films ranked https://www.cnet.com/culture/entertainment/every-james-bond-movie-ranked/

>1 PaulCranswick: Happy new thread!

I think you are missing out Cat Stevens , aka Yusuf. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx1xYUs9xqs

He's got a lot of good songs and he is going on tour this fall.

He's still a cool cat, even in his early 70's . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spA-a9A90vQ

>83 PaulCranswick: & >85 RBeffa:
I think that all the Bond movies up until Daniel Craig were bad movies. They were parodies and were not taken seriously by the makers, the actors, or the public. The are pure camp. It was only in the last ten years or so that anybody has taken a Bond movie seriously and put effort into making the film. Even then, I don't think that I have watched the last two of the Craig movies. (I think he was the best Bond with Brosnan coming in second.) I probably won't go see any of the new ones. They will be more of the same. And don't even get me started on those totally stupid parodies of the parody - the Mike Meyers movies. They are so bad that I can't even remember their titles.

>81 PaulCranswick: John Taylor is a bassist. 😄 Andy Taylor was their guitarist.

>84 Berly: Not sure how I overlooked BOTR, Kimmers as it is one of my absolute favourite albums.

>85 RBeffa: They are escapist nonsense of course but the Connery films were enjoyable, I thought and I liked the Lazenby film. Not a fan of the Moore films as they were almost of a spoof in nature. Dalton didn't quite have the charisma for the role and Brosnan didn't strike me as macho enough. I do agree that Daniel Craig's Bond is the epitome of the role now.

I do largely agree with the rankings made other than not really counting the first Casino Royale and the independent Connery one as proper Bond films. My top 5 would be:

1. Casino Royale
2. From Russia With Love
3. Skyfall
4. Goldfinger
5. On Her Majesties Secret Service

>86 ocgreg34: Thanks Greg. Lovely to see you buddy.

>87 vancouverdeb: I am selecting from the June months Deb and didn't (I think) come across any of his then. I do like Cat / Yusuf very much indeed and I own all his music.

>88 benitastrnad: I agree that the Bond series got its mojo properly with Daniel Craig but I wouldn't dismiss the early Connery movies, Benita. They look dated today but they were quite the thing apparently at the time and certainly not considered as parodies at the time (in the UK anyway). The Roger Moore films and to some extent the Brosnan ones lacked gravitas for sure.

>89 ursula: Absolutely right, Ursula. I noticed that too looking back at the video.

In June 1982 a clearly tired Fleetwood Mac released Mirage which in my humble opinion and with a few notable exceptions was them going through the motions of making a record. I think it is clearly the weakest of their prime lineup records.



It is for all that compelling listening.

This is "Oh Diane"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h933BS29alE

Happy thread! I got in under 100 posts, so that's something!

>92 PaulCranswick: When I was a kid the Connery films were great to see at the Saturday theater matinee. One went there with a great deal of anticipation. Thunderball, Goldfinger were great entertainment. I think Dr No and maybe From Russia with love I didn't see until later in life. I mostly liked the Roger Moore films at the time because they were slightly tongue in cheek, and I probably misjudged the first Moore, Live and Let Die, since it was not Sean Connery. I have not seen the latest Daniel Craig film No Time To Die.

Happy new(ish) thread, Paul. Oh, you got me going down a rabbit hole with Cat Stevens; I loved his music back in the day., and own quite a bit of his catalogue.

Here is a version of Peace Train that I really love (just found it). It's by the Playing For Change group (I have a cd by them as well):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QpjR6-Uuks

>94 foggidawn: Lovely to see you Foggi however many posts in.

>95 RBeffa: I haven't see the latest Bond film either, Ron, but I do want to.

>96 jessibud2: Shelley, Great chap Cat Stevens and a great performer and singer/songwriter.
Father and Son is an absolute favourite song.

Peace Train is a good one too.

>98 PaulCranswick: I truly loved Cat Stevens records through the mid 70s or so. I had almost every one. After the Rushdie Fatwa I could not bear to hear him anymore. I got rid of my records and didn't listen to any of his music for about 20 years. Every once in a while I play angelsea now.

>99 RBeffa: I think that the TV interview in which he stated that he supported the fatwa is something he clearly regrets. He claims he was "cleverly framed" but for me there is nothing remotely equivocal in condemning calls to violence.

Rushdie's book was poor after two wonderful efforts before it but nobody deserves to be condemned to death for ideas however offended they may make us feel. This is not the dark ages (or shouldn't be).

I am one, Ron, for giving people a second chance and I am so pleased that he decided to perform and record again as he has a wonderful talent. He is also clearly a benevolent and peaceful man who has done far more food than he had done ill.

>100 PaulCranswick: I agree

>100 PaulCranswick: Religion is the source of all human evil.

>80 PaulCranswick: Interesting that you say that, Paul, because ABBA was what I was thinking of in contrast. I heard lots of ABBA here, especially during the disco era, and have several of their albums. It always seemed odd to me that ABBA was played here, but I never heard Boney M. Just lucky I was in Europe that one summer to be exposed to them.

ABBA was probably never as big here as in Europe, but they were relatively popular. Taste is certainly different from one place to another!

>101 RBeffa: Indeed, Ron.

>102 richardderus: I would agree in part, RD. I think organised religion is the source of much of it.

>103 atozgrl: You prompted me to look at the biggest selling albums in different countries and Abba appear all over Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific whilst of the top five sellers in North America two of them are by The Eagles who don't appear anywhere else.

>102 richardderus: Let's not discount greed and good old stupidity.

> 104 What is this ORGANISED religion thing you speak of. Now I've heard of ORGANIZED, religion. Is that what you meant? :)

Ha! JK! Just jaggin' ya. Actually more to the point, I guess poking fun at us silly American's who always have to spell things differently.

>106 amanda4242: Leading an ethical life should be the source of all religions but consistently they have been developed into means of control. Without wishing to offend anyone, the manner of prayer proscribed in my faith for example is done to enforce conformity. When a religion is organised in such a manner as to thwart human inquisitiveness then its practitioners are on the wrong path.

Religion cannot be blamed for all the ills of the world - I would say that most of the failings are unerringly human ones - greed, prejudice and vanity being primary ones.

>107 mahsdad: I do get a bit irked when the computer's auto-correct imposes American spellings, Jeff, but I don't actually have very strong feelings about colour & flavour over color and flavor - it is just how I was brought up!

What! You don't have strong feelings about colour and flavour? Next thing you'll be telling me that you spell centre " center" and cheque as check. Just kidding! I do use z instead of s in organized or cozy.

As for who was the Best Bond , I'm not entirely sure. I think I like Roger Moore best, but if you asked Dave, he'd say Sean Connery. Daniel Craig is just too rough looking for my tastes.

Oh, I loved those Mike Meyers movies! I'd laugh so hard that I'd end up having to spit my Coca-Cola back into the cup I was drinking from , to Dave's chagrin.

>105 PaulCranswick: But at least ABBA was played a lot over here, while Boney M never was, at least not that I ever heard.

>96 jessibud2: That's a great version of Peace Train! Thanks for sharing the link.

>109 vancouverdeb: Hahaha no Deb, as you'll see I do generally use the "proper" spellings over the American ones!

I get what you mean about Daniel Craig as he took Bond back to Connery and then beyond.

I suppose if you were Goldmember that could result in some very interesting party tricks!

>110 atozgrl: I have to admit, Irene, I thought Abba were wonderful and the production quality of their records remains outstanding to this day.

Just dropping by today, so missed all the band talk.

Buuutttt... Brian May is a member of the New Horizons science team, his specialty is interplanetary dust. He's been here at my work a number of times over the years for science team meetings. Even wrote a song for New Horizons.

Aaannnnddd... Before I opened this thread, I put on Sheer Heart Attack, Killer Queen was playing as I read through. 😀

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/351336

>108 PaulCranswick: >109 vancouverdeb: >111 PaulCranswick: All in good fun, I think I prefer the proper spellings as well. But it will always be ALUMINUM, not ALUMINIUM. If the article I found is correct, we can blame Noah Webster for dropping the "i" in his Webster's Dictionary. LOL.

>112 drneutron: Great to see you, Jim. Brian May is an egghead isn't he but a guitar wizard for sure. Sheer Heart Attack is a very solid album isn't it?

>113 SilverWolf28: Thanks Silver!

>114 mahsdad: It is a material that I often come across in my job and for me it is definitely aluminium, Jeff!

Possibly my favourite band growing up was ELO and June 1983 saw the release of their last chart topping album Secret Messages.



Not my favourite album of theirs by any means but it is very good nonetheless.

This is "Four Little Diamonds"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLxbJbjySMg

Friday Additions

126. Mr. Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo
127. Privilege by Guinevere Glasfurd
128. Johan Cruyff : Always on the Attack by Auke Kok
129. English Journey by JB Priestley
130. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

>117 PaulCranswick: I really liked Roll Over Beethoven. I thought it was very cool for rock and roll 50 years ago. However the Eldorado album was the one I played a lot.

>119 RBeffa: I played all of them, Ron, but probably my absolute favourite was A New World Record or possibly Out of the Blue.

>117 PaulCranswick: I was lucky enough to see both Queen and ELO live Paul. I was at one of the 'Out of the Blue' concerts with the amazing space ship light show.

>121 Caroline_McElwee: I thought they were fantastic, Caroline. Mr. Blue Sky was an extraordinary tune.

Hi Paul. I am still having Covid troubles. Love all the music talk!

>123 DianaNL: I'm so sorry to hear that, Diana. Wishing you a speedier recovery.

I did not realize the British spelled aluminum " aluminium" . No wonder you British folks pronounce the word differently from me. Was at my brother and his wife's place for dinner on Thursday and he was playing some old folk music, the sort the we older folks enjoy. He played Avalon by Roy Music and other stuff and we really enjoyed it. Never mind the good food and company. I've been enjoying Peter Frampton and " Baby I love Your Way". I've kind of forgotten about Peter Frampton. Queen and ELO - never saw them in person, but I certainly remember them.

>125 vancouverdeb: Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry (like Sting and Mark Knopfler and The Animals from Newcastle) were great to listen to back in the day but ELO were really my thing. My absolute favourite artist is Paul Weller and he is still churning out music since the mid 1970s Jam, Style Council and since 1990 as a solo artist.

I am very British when it comes to pronouncing "aluminium" and I have noticed that even the Americans who were working on PNB118 got sucked into pronouncing it properly eventually!

WOW! WOW! WOW! What an incredible image of the African Rift Valley!!! And WOW! to the man who posted this! I vow to get back to checking threads and reading. I've been absent in both of those categories.

All good wishes to you my friend!

>127 Whisper1: Lovely to see you, Lovely Linda. Always a pleasure to me when pain control allows one of my favourite people to pop over. xx

And now, after a few weeks of mild downward feelings, I read some lovely illustrated books today. There was a short time of rain..beautiful, lovely drops hitting the sky light as I read. Then, opening the front door, I saw wet, shining rain on pink, red and and yellow roses. And, now a thoughtful, kind message from you! Life is good. Yes, indeed it is!!!

>129 Whisper1: I was watching an electrical storm over Kuala Lumpur last night which lit up the slumbering city and which rumbled moodily whilst most were oblivious on their pillow cases. It was over quickly and I went out onto my balcony and drank in the fresh stillness of the tropical early hours. Nature is glorious but it is the friends that people it that give it meaning.

Lovely to see you, Linda. x

I struggled with choosing for 1984 but settled on that irascible songwriter Elvis Costello who released Goodbye Cruel World in June of that year.



It is not an album I have listened to nearly as much of some of his others but it is solid without having any particular songs stand out.

This was the lead track and, a bit obtusely a duet with Daryl Hall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugcURF7B_gw

>130 PaulCranswick: Paul, beautiful as always.

>132 Whisper1: Thank you dear lady.

1985 was a special year for me - off to University and with a good selection to choose from for the month of June. I could have easily gone with Sting or OMD but I loved this album by Talking Heads - Little Creatures - tuneful and zany.



One of my favourite songs from the 80s has to be "Road to Nowhere"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQiOA7euaYA

And onto 1986 and in June that year The Smiths released their landmark The Queen is Dead.



I can say that in my student days I had never seen anything quite like Morrissey and his band. It was a rare case of the lyrics taking over the music and yet there was something strangely compelling about Marr's jangling brilliance.

This is one of the three singles from the album - "The Boy With the Thorn in His Side"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdOHPjMzY8s

Hi, Paul. I hope life has been treating you good. Love the Great Rift Valley topper. I am also a big fan of The Smiths. Such a great, unique sound. I also love the Talking Heads and Little Creatures was their last masterwork, IMHO.

>136 msf59: Lovely to see you here buddy. I love that both Talking Heads and The Smiths brought something entirely new to music in their own very distinct ways and those two records are undoubtedly their best releases.

Hi Paul!

Skippety-skip-skip. From previous threads, the following books got my attention one way or another:

1. WL - Justice on Trial : Radical Solutions for a System at Breaking Point by Chris Daw
2. WL - Bullet Train and Three Assassins by Kotaro Isaka
3. acquired on Kindle – Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell
4. WL - Those Feet : An Intimate History of English Football by David Winner

I’m in awe that Belle had been having tests that indicate that she’s on the spectrum. Good for her for looking for answers to how she feels and behaves. Good luck to her and your family as she settles in to a better understanding of herself.

Yasmyne & Sam: I did not realize she was going to work for your brother. I hope that has continued to go well since April.

Excellent pic of you half hiding behind a stack of acquisitions, you silver fox!

I was sorry to read about the death of your friend, only 53 years old. Systematic abuse… makes me crazy to hear about that. I'm glad she divorced him, but sad that she didn't get to enjoy a safe and happy life for long.

I took a BB from Richard in 2012 and read The Swerve. It’s still on my shelves.

I’m very sorry about Leeds being relegated – after Arsenal, it’s my favorite club with two Americans, Aaronson and Adams, and one on loan, McKennie from Juventus. I don’t know how this works – first time seriously following the Premier League, but I do hope that a lot of finagling goes on and Aaronson and Adams make it back to the league on other teams. Does McKennie automatically go back to Juventus or is there some strange legerdemain that goes on that might keep in the Premier League, too? And I hope that Leeds makes it back next year.

Finally! Up to your current thread.

>1 PaulCranswick: My fascination with the Great Rift Valley is long standing and ongoing, although it’s always been from an archaeological and therefore nonfiction focus. Beautiful photo.

>62 PaulCranswick: Ah. Stats. 7, 1448. 7 + 1 = 8. 4 + 4 = 8. 8 equals it’s steadfast and soul satisfying self.

>74 PaulCranswick: Save Me. Gives me shivers.

>87 vancouverdeb: and >91 PaulCranswick: I adored Cat Stevens in the day, have all of his original vinyl albums and quite a bit on CD, including some of his recordings of recent years. I saw him in LA in the 1970s.

>98 PaulCranswick: The song that immediately comes to mind is 18th Avenue for me, although if I actually stopped to think about it, I could list two dozen or more.

And, I'm caught up and hope to stay more current.

>138 karenmarie: I do love your posts, Karen!

Belle is doing well and seems really pleased to have trimmed her hair and realised a little belatedly her hair is actually quite curly. When I commented on what had been done to it she said "actually Dad nothing much was done to it, its just that I never bother to take care of it"!

Yasmyne and Kyran are doing fine separately - Asin (as I call her) enjoying working for my brother and getting daily bigger.
News on that front is that our first grandchild will be a little girl!
Kyran is loving it in London at Birkbeck and thoroughly immersed in his Politics and History studies.

Adams and Aaronson apparently have "escape clauses" in their contracts in the event of relegation triggered if interested parties meet a certain value for them. I will be sad to see Adams leave and Brenden has potential which we just didn't see develop enough last season. The San Francisco 49ers have completed their takeover of Leeds United which, I think, augurs well for a quick return to the EPL. As the biggest city in Western Europe with only one professional football club and my not inconsiderable neighboring city Wakefield not having any, the potential of Leeds United is limitless.

All the best to you and your family, my friend.
And thank you for fond memories of great music - and of course for BB's - Time Shelter was a treat.

>140 SirThomas: I am always happy to see you over here, Thomas.
Glad you liked Time Shelter.

BOOK #65



Dance of the Jakaranda by Peter Kimani
Date of Publication : 2017
Origin of Author : Kenya
Pages : 350 pp

Thoroughly enjoyable novel centering around the formation of the railway in Kenya and the settlement of its lands. It concentrates on the racial melting pot between white, Indian and the local tribes. Uneasy but sometimes rewarding.

A love story and a family saga; a historical fiction but a note of affection for a country still finding itself.

I'm glad to read that things are going well for Yasmyne, and congratulations your granddaughter to be!That is exciting news. I thought from the pictures I have seen of Belle that she had curly hair, being the owner of the same sort of hair myself. Glad that Kyran is also happily immersed in his studies. Has Yasmyne's partner been able to find work as yet? I'm sorry, I've forgotten his name.

>143 vancouverdeb: Sam hasn't got work yet, Deb, and in truth I am not sure how hard he has been looking. He could finish up being a house husband a la John Lennon the way things are looking but he does have mental heath issues (he is bi-polar) which may make him child minding a bit of a challenge.

BOOK #66



England's Green by Zaffar Kunial
Date of Publication : 2022
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 70 pp

This poetry collection is absorbing despite quite a number of the poems in it not working for me (in other words I must admit to not understanding them!).

I thought that this would be more about the Anglo-Asian experience but, where successful, he seemed to be concerned more with loss - lost time, lost family members a lost England which was green but never was quite what it seemed. "Bascote Heath, Long Itchington" is the sort of long form, rambling free form prose poem I admire but cannot write. It is on the subject of a visit to the Cenotaph and a search for his fallen antecedents.

Kunial was born in Birmingham but now resides in Hebden Bridge which is very much the landscape trodden by Ted Hughes in his early most productive years.
He is a poet I will keep an eye on even though this one is only a very qualified success.

Wednesday will see the Women's Prize winner being announced.

What do we think?

I have five of the six on the shelves already and I will read the winner immediately if it is one of them and possibly buy the other one even in hardback if it wins.

Black Butterflies
Trespasses
Demon Copperhead
Fire Rush
Pod

and the one I don't yet own
The Marriage Portrait

Many seem sure that Kingsolver will get the Women's Prize/ Pulitzer Prize double but I am not so sure - I have a sneaking feeling that Louise Kennedy will spring a surprise.

Sod's law will say that it will be Maggie O'Farrell and I will have to buy the hardback before the paperback hits the stores here.

Happy new (ish?) thread, Paul! I confess to not entirely catching up and skimming a bit, but hope all is well with you and yours. The stats at >62 PaulCranswick: are, as always, fascinating. I know it's not our largest posting year, but I'm on pace for my largest posting year once again, and seeing several of us up above 1,000 posts is amazing to me.

>146 PaulCranswick: Sadly I haven't read any of them, though my book club will be reading Demon Copperhead later this year.

>147 bell7: It is the slowest year on record, Mary, but still beats the next ten or so groups put together activity wise.

>126 PaulCranswick: As for the correct pronunciation of aluminum/aluminium, I have heard multiple various stories over the years that purport to explain the root of the different pronunciations, and some of them are apparently myths. However, I did finally hear a couple of reports that said the original word was aluminum, so maybe we Americans are right for once! ;-p Here's one explanation of the difference: https://writingexplained.org/aluminum-vs-aluminium-difference.

Actually, it probably doesn't really matter which way someone pronounces it; we can still understand the meaning either way.

Wishing you a good week!

>149 atozgrl: As to originally, Irene. Its root is of course latin from the word "alumen" which translates as "bitter salt". Where we go from there is anybodies guess!

Lovely to see you. x

>146 PaulCranswick: As far as the Women's prize for Literature goes, I have read Demon Copperhead ,Black Butterflies, and Trespasses. Of those three, I think either Demon Copperhead or Trespasses would be good prize winners. I did like Black Butterflies and recommend it, but I'm not sure it is the one to be the winner. I own Marriage Portrait, but still have not read it. I'll be very curious to hear which of the contenders wins.

>151 vancouverdeb: Since I picked Trespasses, Deb, it is probably the kiss of death as I am notoriously poor at guessing these sorts of things.

>144 PaulCranswick: Bi-polars can be perfectly fine OR need their own caretakers...

maybe Grandma and Grandpa Cranswick will keep all in balance...

>153 m.belljackson: Hopefully Grandpa and Grandma will be back in the UK to do the caretaking, Marianne. xx

Very saddened to see that Cormac McCarthy has passed away.

I will start one of his books (but not The Road which I read fairly recently) tomorrow in memory of the great man but am struggling to decide which one to read. I have all his novels on the shelves bar the latest two which I was waiting for the paperback versions of and I am leaning to No Country for Old Men. Anybody want to join me?

>154 PaulCranswick: Just read in The Rye Bread Marriage that swimming, running, and biking -

with Tae Kwon Do, eventually, maybe - are real-life Bi-Polar alternatives to medication.

>156 m.belljackson: I wouldn't much welcome Belle taking up taekwondo, Marianne as she would more than likely use it on her father!

I have read:
Trespasses
Demon Copperhead
The Marriage Portrait

I loved Trespasses, but if I had to guess the winner, I'd go with Demon Copperhead because of the current drug situation

>158 streamsong: And you would be right, Janet.

Demon Copperhead has been announced as the winner of the Women's Prize.
Pulitzer / Women's Prize double winner and the first lady to win the Women's Prize twice in the history of the prize.

https://womensprizeforfiction.co.uk/features/features/news/announcing-the-2023-w...

The Awards are coming thick and fast at the moment with The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction being announced this evening:

Here is the shortlist:

THESE DAYS by Lucy Caldwell

THE GEOMETER LOBACHEVSKY by Adrian Duncan

ACT OF OBLIVION by Robert Harris

THE CHOSEN by Elizabeth Lowry

THE SUN WALKS DOWN by Fiona McFarlane

ANCESTRY by Simon Mawer

I AM NOT YOUR EVE by Devika Ponnambalam

https://www.walterscottprize.co.uk/the-2023-prize/the-2022-shortlist/

Has anybody read any of these? I am familiar with Mawer, Robert Harris and Lucy Caldwell but have not heard too much about the books concerned.

This is a prize I like to follow to be honest as a devotee of historical fiction.

The thirteen previous winners of the Walter Scott Prize

2010 Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
2011 The Long Song by Andrea Levy
2012 On Canaan's Side by Sebastian Barry
2013 The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
2014 An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
2015 Ten Thousand Things by John Spurling
2016 Tightrope by Simon Mawer
2017 Days Without End by Sebastian Barry
2018 The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers
2019 The Long Take by Robin Robertson
2020 The Narrow Land by Christine Dwyer Hickey
2021 The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
2022 News of the Dead by James Robertson

Well, I'm okay with Demon Copperhead taking the Women's Prize. It was among my three favourites.

>160 PaulCranswick: Never knew about that prize. Interesting list.

>160 PaulCranswick: Thanks for the shortlist, Paul, this is one of my favorite prizes to follow.

>162 vancouverdeb: Deb, it was the fairly clear favourite, I just thought that the obtuseness of these awards would mean that they did not want their winning author to be shared with another award!

>163 figsfromthistle: It has been going for almost a decade and a half, Anita, and they have picked some pretty good winners during that time.

>164 DianaNL: It is one of my favourites too, Diana, I do like historical fiction.

I was unaware of the Walter Scott Prize and don’t know any of the nominees.

2010 Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. READ
2011 The Long Song by Andrea Levy
2012 On Canaan's Side by Sebastian Barry
2013 The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng READ
2014 An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris READ
2015 Ten Thousand Things by John Spurling
2016 Tightrope by Simon Mawer
2017 Days Without End by Sebastian Barry
2018 The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers
2019 The Long Take by Robin Robertson
2020 The Narrow Land by Christine Dwyer Hickey
2021 The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
2022 News of the Dead by James Robertson

I’ve read 3 of them and can say I liked all three. Some to consider in the future.

>167 Kristelh: I have read four of them and liked all of them too. 2010, 2011, 2013 & 2018.

>161 PaulCranswick: I'm a big fan of historical fiction, so thanks for sharing this! I was not aware of this prize. Now I've got another list to add to the TBR pile.

>157 PaulCranswick: ;-)

>169 atozgrl: You are more than welcome, Irene. It seems to be very reliable in its choice of winners to be fair.

>170 ArlieS: Belle actually made me my supper yesterday - practicing her very nascent cooking skills on me.......and I am still here in good health!

I just want to say a big thank you to all my friends who have posted here in 2023 as the number of posts on my thread passed 3,000 this year a short while ago. You guys are the best!

The winner of the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction for 2023 is:

These Days by Lucy Caldwell which is set in the blitz in Belfast in 1941.

>173 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul, about to put it on reserve at the library! Oops they don't have it.
Congrats on hitting 3000 posts!

>174 mdoris: It may not be out in Canada yet, Mary. I don't think it is here yet although I will go and have a look at my temple of books later today (it is the early hours of Friday morning here).

You have contributed nicely to my posting number over the months, xx

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/351550

>176 SilverWolf28: Thank you, Silver.

This weekend is my push to 75 books so I will be front and centre of the readathon this week. x

You're welcome!

>178 SilverWolf28: Very appreciative that you have kept this going, Silver.

Congrats on >3000. I made 75 books this week.

>180 Kristelh: You are a star, Kristel! I will follow you as quickly as I can!

>172 PaulCranswick: Congratulations on 3000! That's impressive!

>173 PaulCranswick: Thanks also for posting the Walter Scott Prize. It looks interesting. On the TBR list it goes!

>182 atozgrl: Thank you, Irene. x

>161 PaulCranswick: >169 atozgrl: This can be a very dangerous place. I've only read the Hilary Mantel books, but I really liked those. My other favorite historical novels were published before 2010.

>172 PaulCranswick: Congratulations - and not very many Wordle posts lately either!

>173 PaulCranswick: I bought this a while ago and I wish I had read it before it won the prize - then I could feel smug!

>184 quondame: I haven't been playing wordle lately, Susan. It was becoming a bit of an obsession and I wanted to take a step back from it for a little while.

I liked The Gallows Pole when I read it and it has recently been the subject of a TV adaptation which is apparently very well reviewed.

>185 CDVicarage: I do like the premise of the novel, Kerry. I will definitely buy it when it hits the stores here.

I had a slither of good fortune at lunchtime as I was able to find at least one of the books I was looking for:

231. These Days by Lucy Caldwell
232. Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris
233. Babysitter by Joyce Carol Oates
234. Fight Night by Miriam Toews
235. The Immortal King Rao by Vauhini Vara

I really liked Fight Night!

>188 torontoc: I have heard great things about it, Cyrel and was waiting for it to hit the stores as a paperback here.

In June 1987 The Replacements released Pleased to Meet Me which was for many fans of theirs the pinnacle of their music.



This is perhaps the most commercial track on the album "Can't Hardly Wait"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvGjAYH-Nq4

Very sad that cyclist Gino Mäder died today, after an accident in the Tour de Suisse yesterday.

>191 FAMeulstee: Oh no, Anita, that is awful. My old sport is a dangerous one especially when descending from mountain roads or in bunch sprints on slick roads. I hadn't heard this news but I am always terribly upset when one of my "brethren" have bad accidents.

Apparently the parcours yesterday was felt to be dangerous by the peloton and the poor chap finish up facedown in water in a ravine.

Onto 1988 and in June of that year I remember enjoying Womack & Womack and their album Conscience. Not my usual stuff to be honest but the sheer joy and tunefulness of this record struck a chord with me.



The big hit was Teardrops but there were several great songs and the record closed with this happy sing-along "Celebrate the World"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1OWBEmDjS4

>190 PaulCranswick: Alex Chilton is the standout on that record.

>194 ursula: Opinions, Ursula! I like that track too but prefer "Can't Hardly Wait" although not by much.

>190 PaulCranswick: The Replacements were certainly one of the better bands of the 80's, but my absolutely favorite album of their was the more mainstream Don't Tell a Soul.

>196 RBeffa: The 80's aren't really my musical preference, Ron, but the Replacements don't really sound much like an 80s band either which is, I suppose a good thing!

I don't often plug other groups on the site but my old friend and guru Judy (DeltaQueen) administers a group for historical fiction and non fiction devotees called Reading Through Time.

Every month one group member hosts a themed read and yours truly is up in July with "Revolutions" .

Any suggestions on works of fiction on the various revolutions?

Here is the link to the thread in that group:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/351568#n8167742

>197 PaulCranswick: I used to think that the 80's weren't a bad decade - with bands like Dire Straits and the Police to name just two - but you have persuaded me that it wasn't a very good one in some respects. By the middle of the 80's i had dived into the new folk singer songwriter movement and moved away from most of the rock stuff.

>198 PaulCranswick: Something I should re-read one day would be the obvious (for me) A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens

I think we had a brief discussion of the years of rice and salt recently. I just slightly started it last night. It appears to be broken into ten stories, books within the book. What I found notable and made me think of you again is that the first book is partly told with poetry. There are poems on just about every other page. Take a peek at your copy if that intrigues you.

>199 RBeffa: The Scarlet Pimpernel and A Tale of Two Cities do stand out for me as obvious French Revolution novels.

There were some groups I really liked in the 80s Smiths and The Housemartins for example but the decade overall was, for me, a let down in comparison with what went before. The nineties from the middle of the decade in particular saw an upsurge again, especially in the UK.

>200 RBeffa: Ooh that is interesting, Ron! I can think of fewer things less poetic than science fiction!

>201 PaulCranswick: I have read several chapters and I suspect i won't continue much longer. Reviews have noted that a good knowledge of Arab, muslim and chinese history would aid the prospective reader. The book is not really science fiction. It is an alternate history novel, a what if novel.

>202 RBeffa: It is on the shelves, Ron, and I have heard mixed news of it - some ecstatic reviews and some a little non-plussed. Your struggles with it are noted and will impact my eagerness to promote it to my reading table.

>198 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul, that's exciting! The Reading Through Time group is one of the ones I jumped in on for my reading challenges this year, since I love history, have a large collection of unread history books, and also really like historical fiction. However, I am finding it hard to fit in all the books I want to read that fit the challenges. It's exciting that you'll be leading next month's challenge!

>204 atozgrl: I was very gently encouraged by my guru, Judy, and I am looking forward to it. It is hard to fit in all the books we want to read, Irene, isn't it?

>205 PaulCranswick: No kidding! There needs to be more hours in the day, set aside specifically for reading!

>206 atozgrl: There needs to be more hours in the day, period!

To round off the 1980s we have Chris Isaak's Heart Shaped World. His best selling album and famous especially for the song "Wicked Game" which became a huge hit after being featured in David Lynch's film "Wild at Heart"



This is that particular hit and which is the first thing I think about when the artist's name comes up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd-qI62gNJM

BOOK #67



Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov
Date of Publication : 2020
Origin of Author : Bulgaria
Pages : 302 pp

Can a novel ostensibly about Alzheimer's be a winner?

Can a novel that re-imagines itself into a sort of dystopia where different places inhabit different decades keep our attention?

Can a novel where the author is front and centre as well as behind the steering wheel work satisfactorily?

The answer is... sort of. I am with most other readers in enjoying the first section of the book more than the rest and Gospodinov is on occasions far too clever by half but, nevertheless this is a book that keeps on giving.

Full of ideas, sensitivity and excellent writing. Not at all surprised that it won the Booker International Prize and Angela Rodel, the translator, deserves much credit.

"Actually, our bodies turn out to be quite merciful by nature, a little amnesia rather than anesthesia at the end. Our memory, which is leaving us, lets us play a bit longer, one last time in the Elysian fields of childhood. "

In June 1990 one of my favourite British bands, James, released Gold Mother which was definitely its strongest work to that date.



Lead by Tim Booth (a Leeds United fan like myself), this album is stocked fun of great tunes. This is probably the best known "Sit Down"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPNw_2h0CnU

I get most of my music enjoyment these days from Spotify, the Swedish streaming company.

They fell foul of what turned out to be an effort to block free speech over opinions on the COVID jabs which resulted in Neil Young and Joni Mitchell (and others) removing their music from the platform as Spotify were defending Joe Rogan's right to editorial independence over his content.

They also hired Harry and Meghan on a ludicrously high contract to provide podcasts and I am pleased to note that they are discontinuing the contract to these two self-absorbed self-publicists.

Hi Paul; I've found you again.

I only started listening to chart music in the eighties, though my dad used to play vinyl records by ABBA, Boney M and quite a few crooners of the ilk of Dean Martin, so it's my favourite decade, musically speaking.

>114 mahsdad: No wonder you can't pronounce 'aluminium' properly :0)

I heard England declared on day one of the Ashes. But why?!

One album I surprised myself by liking a lot was Aaron Neville's June 1991 release Warm Your Heart



It was actually the first CD I bought when I came to Malaysia because I really liked the single "Everybody Plays the Fool". Apart from a pretty naff version of "Ave Maria" this album perfectly showcases Neville's considerable vocal talent.

This is "Somewhere Somebody"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inYnV0Vh2Bk

>212 humouress: My mum had a cassette of Dean Martin when I was a boy and I can still croon unaided "When You're Smiling" to this day! What a voice!! (him not me).

Lovely to see you. I adore this England team to have the bravura to declare on the first day of a test match is magical. Not logical of course.

>209 PaulCranswick: All answers are yes, Paul, at least for me. I really enjoyed this novel, unlike most others I loved the rest, from half way on.

>215 FAMeulstee: It is definitely a book I will read more than once, Anita. So full of ideas, so full of twists and very, very thought provoking. A little bit touching for me too in so much that my dear Grandma had Alzheimer's in the last year or two of her life.

BOOK #68



The Illustrated Woman by Helen Mort
Date of Publication : 2022
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 82 pp

A very distinctive poetry collection from Sheffield's Helen Mort.

Themes are tattooed ladies and porn stars (a section each) but despite this (IMHO) unpromising subject matter the anthology succeeds tremendously.

That she can find the poetic in the distinctly un-poetic shows a considerable deftness of touch and a genuine poet's sensibility.

Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov is a novel of ideas one that will creep back into your thoughts after its pages have been turned and it is safely back on the shelves.

Time is behind us but what if our history is also in our future?

Putting aside that referendums can often turn up results that surprise people, he considers what if each European country could choose which decade or even year that they would choose to re-inhabit, which would it be? He is obviously also asking us to consider which we would choose ourselves?

If I am to choose then I am bereft of the internet and heading back into the long summers of the mid 1970s (1972-1978), a time when my football club was pre-eminent, a time when life was simpler, when cricket was wonderful, tennis at Wimbledon had Connors, Borg and that wonderfully nasty Ilie Nastase. A time of three day weeks, stories by the fire, my first drink, my first kiss, cups of tea and hugs with my Gran, 8-track cartridges - Johnny Cash, John, Paul, George and Ringo discovered, Doctor Who and the Famous Five. Summers in Brid and Filey - burnt grass and safe streets.

Heath and Wilson and Tony Benn before I knew him - Mrs T (could we have stopped her?), Steptoe & Son, Frank Spencer, Budgie and The Onedin Line.

Which decade would you revisit?

I have to be honest that work took me over in the years 1992-1994 and I was not particularly listening to any new stuff at all.

In June 1992, The Lemonheads released It's a Shame About Ray who and which I discovered much later.



I like a number of the songs on this album but I will take the one that was added in later pressings given my love for the movie "The Graduate". This is their slightly more hyper version of "Mrs Robinson"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvMFm5nKeUc

>219 PaulCranswick: In June 1992 I had already fallen head over heels musically in love with Mary Chapin Carpenter. My wife and I went to see her in concert for the first time while grandma watched the kids for us. We happened to see her the day her landmark album Come On, Come On was released and it was available for sale in the lobby of the theater in Santa Rosa, CA. So I would have no trouble choosing a favorite album for June 1992 in the US with songs like Passionate Kisses, He Thinks He'll Keep Her, I Feel Lucky, I Take My Chances and the title track all finding places on the radio and music charts. Every song on the album is good. Although I have heard the name lemonheads I don't know that I ever heard a song!

>220 RBeffa: I did really like Mary Chapin Carpenter's later albums but I am not familiar with that one, although I did notice its release date and plan to listen to it soon.

>218 PaulCranswick: I would rather stay in the present, Paul.
If I had to choose it would be the 1960s, when I was young and had no clue about the personal troubles I would face in the next decades. Before the first warning about climate in 1972 when the Club of Rome published The Limits to Growth. I would include 1970 as the last year of the decade, because of Feyenoord's first Europaen Cup win in May ;-)

>222 FAMeulstee: You beat Celtic in the Semi Finals and they had surprisingly beaten us in the Semis (fair and square I might add). Those were great days for football - you had Van Hanegem and Wim Jansen manning your midfield and deservedly overcame the odds. Ernst Happel managed to do what we couldn't manage and shackled Celtic's marvellous Jimmy Johnstone and they were not even half the team with him stopped from playing.

>223 PaulCranswick: And don't forget Ove Kindvall, who scored the winning goal for Feyenoord.
Those were the days, Feyenoord was the first Dutch team to win the Cup.

>224 FAMeulstee: An extra-time winner in fact but to be fair Feyenoord deserved to win the game as I have watched the game back a time or two.

In June 1993 Van the Man released his first double studio album - Hymns to the Silence and it confounded many of his legion of fans in that it didn't really have an obvious hit on it. What is did have was 22 solid songs - songs of love, of loss, of remembrance and of God.



This is a live version of one of the great love songs on the album "Carrying a Torch"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUNwp48Sebs

After a lovely Father's Day lunch, Belle agreed to accompany me to KLCC (she wanted me to buy her new pillows) and we had some good bonding time which resulted in a couple of book additions:

236. Horse by Geraldine Brooks
237. The Wanting Seed by Anthony Burgess

I am not particularly a fan of dance music or techno but in June 1994 Saint Etienne released Tiger Bay which blended dance, ambient, orchestral sounds and English folk and it works.

The cute lead singer always helped too!



I like a lot of the music on this record but I usually listen to it as a piece. Anyway here is one of the singles "Hug My Soul"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5AQOsz1zIQ

Now you are talkin'! Pleased to Meet Me is a fantastic album! I am a big fan of The Replacements. I admire your musical tributes. I think that stretch between the late 80s through the mid-90s is my favorite era of music just behind the mid-60s thru the mid-70s.

Happy Father's Day, Paul.

1995 was the year that music took off again for me. If I had to pick the album of the decade then Stanley Road by Paul Weller would definitely be the one I would choose. Not a bad song on it and several brilliant ones to boot. Released in June 1995 and despite Alanis Morrisette and others producing memorable music that month, this choice was an absolute no brainer.



For my desert island discs "Wings of Speed" would challenge "That's Entertainment" by Weller's The Jam for a place but for this one I chose "Time Passes...." which is a wonderful song too. The Modfather is probably my music hero. Quintessentially English and none the worse for that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09JBW1dk-1c

>229 msf59: Great to see you buddy. The Replacements were pretty good weren't they?
In half decades I would probably take the second half of the 90s or the first half of the 70s, but there were gems in every year for sure.
Is there are Grandpa's day as we will be able to celebrate that one together soon.

Had a long chat with Yasmyne and she is doing well even though her face is "filling out" with impending motherhood (my little girl!!), she is enjoying working with my brother and though Sam cannot get anybody to support him to obtain a working permit, they are in a happy place.

Kyran is in California and today is his girlfriend's birthday. Yasmeen is exceptionally good for him and he is also in a very good place at the moment.

>232 PaulCranswick: Glad two of your babies are thriving Paul, that makes life more joyous. How is Belle doing?

>233 Caroline_McElwee: Belle spent most of the day with her old man. I had a slap-up lunch with Hani, Belle, Yabo (my SIL) and our friend Syiken and then Belle and I went shopping together - she wanted to buy new pillows and I of course wanted to use the excuse to buy a book or two!

In June 1996, Hani and I headed back to the UK as a married couple for the first time, ostensibly for my brother's wedding (I beat him to the altar by 3 months).



In that month a lot of really good music first saw the light of day but Peace at Last by the Scottish band Blue Nile is my selection.

The lead off track is possibly my song of the year too : "Happiness"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge_qbxWv1d8

Happy Father’s Day, buddy! I hope Hani and the kids treat you well.

>211 PaulCranswick: Hmm. I'm in a music famine.

Apple bought Primephonic and promptly shut them down. I never found out whether their goal was to acquihire their staff, get rid of a much more attractive competitor, or to acquire minimal competence at handling classical music - Apple Music was notorious for things like dividing symphonies into "songs" and then "shuffling" them, among other signs of clue deficit disorder.

Whatever the reason, the result was screwing the customers, even if Apple was honest enough to refund remaining days of prepaid subscriptions, and do it in a way that made the refund useable (not e.g. as one of those unusable pseudo-debit cards, or as credit on other Apple services, or similar).

IIRC, when I chose Primephonic, I tried all the streaming services I could find, that could be test run without giving them a credit card number. (I don't trust anyone who requires a credit card number for a "free trial", presuming that cancelling will be somewhere between difficult and impossible.) I don't recall now whether Spotify was untestable by my rules, or awful in some other way - one service inserted ads into their trial, much louder than the music, producing a very unpleasant jarring effect. At any rate, Primephonic was the only streaming service I found acceptable at the time.

I never did try Apple, and won't ever be trying them, for a long list of reasons, but buying and killing my previous provider would be sufficient on its own.

What do you like about Spotify? What don't you like? IIRC, they existed at the time I picked Primephonic, and I was aware of them, so they did not IMO have an adequate means for potential users to trial them, or (possibly) failed my trial.

How usable is their interface, for someone who grew up with command line interfaces, and has fits every time some cell phone UI is "refreshed" by changing or moving icons? How often are users forced to decode a brand new UI? Is their search any good, particularly for things like a specific recording, not just a specific piece. (Can you search on combinations of composer and performers? I'm thinking conductor, orchestra, and work... Systems designed for popular songs seem to have lots of trouble shoe-horning in the things classical music fans care about.)

BOOK #69



Oxblood by Tom Benn
Date of Publication : 2022
Origin of Author : UK
Pages : 245 pp

Rather does for the seedier parts of Manchester what David Peace did for West Yorkshire.

Meanders somewhat does this tale of three generations of the ladies of local hoodlums - already gone to their graves - trying to piece back their lives in the absence of husbands, fathers and grandfather.

Obviously a first novel but full of promise. Tom Benn is an author to watch out for.

>236 jnwelch: Ah Joe, they always spoil me dear fellow as do yours.

>237 ArlieS: I will not use Apple, Arlie. I hate the way they seek to monopolise and try to buy off and close down potential opposition (a la Amazon with Book Depo) and charge for upgrades.

I like Spotify partly because it is Swedish and I like it because it has (CSNY & Joni Mitchell apart) a huge store of music I can load onto my laptop and play at will - shuffle it, I can see the lyrics for most songs. It is easy to use and reliable.

In June 1997 the most famous album released was possibly OK Computer by Radiohead which apart from two songs which I loved, I found almost impossible to listen to.

But I often find myself going back to the strangely hypnotic and often jarring, Spiritualized. Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space was released this month in 1997 and it has regularly washed over me since.



Here is one of the more commercial tunes from the album "Cool Waves", a live performance of it anyways in Reykjavik.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjFi8J5-yhc

BOOK #70



The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt
Date of Publication : 2011
Origin of Author : USA
Pages : 263 pp

I cannot remember where I first got a recommendation for this book, but it was definitely from the group and proof perfect of the benefits of 75er membership!

A Pulitzer and National Book Award winner this book tells of the discovery of Lucretius' "On the Nature of Things" and its impact of thought - especially religious thought thereafter.

Epicurean thought is as modernist today as it was when it was extolled in Lucretius' writing and as it was on re-discovery in the 15th century and I don't think I have ever seen it explained as clearly and interestingly as it is here.

Paul - Happy Father's and Upcoming Grand-Father's Day Celebrating!

Happy Father's Day, Paul!

>242 m.belljackson: Thank you Marianne - more for the first wish than the second as I am, of course, nowhere near old enough!

>243 amanda4242: Thanks dear Amanda.

I guess I'm a bit late now, but still wishing you a great Father's Day!

>245 atozgrl: Never too late, Irene, I'm still a dad this morning but it is still Sunday LT time isn't it?!

>246 PaulCranswick: Yes, it is! Late, but it still is here.

>237 ArlieS: I tried the free version of Spotify a few years ago and found it annoying enough that I wasn’t tempted to get the paid service, although I suspect that the annoying parts were the ones that were supposed to disappear once I did subscribe (but I didn’t want to risk it). I could live with the ads but I couldn’t play my saved songs unless I was on my home Wi-Fi which was also not a huge issue except that I then got a random jumble of songs I wasn’t interested in listening to. Other than that I don’t really remember pros or cons.

(From someone who’s trying to buy a CD player for all those old discs. And only because my five records and my dad’s huge vinyl collection have long since disappeared.)

>247 atozgrl: Then very much in good time, Irene. xx

>248 humouress: Nina in all fairness I do not have any issue playing the spotify on any of my appliances and since I pay a small subscription I am not in the least bothered by any advertisements.

>198 PaulCranswick:
For the French Revolution there is Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel. It is a novel with a different slant on Danton, Robespierre and company and gives a great deal of time to the women who influenced the thinkers of the French Revolution. It is a bit difficult to read but worth the effort. There is also Annette Vallon by James Tipton and Farewell My Queen by Chantel Thomas. Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly is a time travel novel that involves the French Revolution.

For the Cultural Revolution there is A Hundred Flowers by Gail Tsukiyama.

American Revolution the last volumes of the Outlander series by Diana Gabeldon would work. Also the mystery King's Beast by Eliot Pattison set in the American Revolution.

For the Russian Revolution - Revolution of Marina M by Janet Fitch. Last Grand Duchess by Bryn Turnbull about Olga Romanov. There is always the classic Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak.

>250 benitastrnad: That is a great pick for the French Revolution, Benita. One of the very best novels of the 1990s IMHO and I think better than her Comwellian trilogy.

I might read something by Eileen Chang on the Chinese Revolution(s). A House of Special Purpose by John Boyne is a possibility but I do have a lot on Russia on my shelves.

>241 PaulCranswick: I do have this somewhere Paul. Glad to see it was a good read.

>252 Caroline_McElwee: I do think that you would enjoy the book, Caroline.

BOOK #71



No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
Date of Publication : 2005
Origin of Author : USA
Pages : 309 pp

One of the most authentically creepy villains in modern literature in what is a typically spare but panoramic novel by the late, great McCarthy.

Should and will good triumph over evil?
To what extent is our future determined by chance or fate or can we shape our destinies by our actions?
Is modern life more lawless than ever?
Is America a country for old men?

I'm not entirely sure that McCarthy provided the answers to these questions but he does at least detail the importance of the questions themselves.

Obviously recommended.

Cormac McCarthy (20 July 1933 - 13 June 2023) RIP.

BOOK #72



The Breast by Philip Roth
Date of Publication : 1972
Origin of Author : USA
Pages : 74 pp

This was included in the first edition of the 1001 Books but left out of subsequent editions. The later selection committee got things right.

Some term this a clever parody of Kafka.
I think it is a inane parody of Roth.

Not recommended.

Paul, I liked No Country For Old Men thought graphically violent. I have not read The Breast but have read similar reviews. Thankfully it was short. Your review did make me chuckle.

>256 Kristelh: I went from one making a ripple to one which featured a nipple.

>257 humouress: I prefer to be alone with 90s stuff to be honest, Nina. Of the last four decades of the last century the 80s would be in last place.

>244 PaulCranswick: That new Baby will think that You are The Perfect Age for Her!

>255 PaulCranswick: Tried to read this once many years ago = quel horror.

>259 m.belljackson: What a lovely thing to say, Marianne. xx

>260 m.belljackson: Agreed. It was horrid.

"Nowhere near old enough" LOLOL

ROFLMAO

signed, GREAT-grandpa.

>262 richardderus: That makes both of us way too young, dear fellow.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/351696

>264 SilverWolf28: Thank you, Silver. x

Spoiled for choice in 1998 but I had to give a shout out for the wonderful Car Wheels on a Gravel Road by Lucinda Williams which was released in June of that year.



Is it country? Is it folk? Is it Americana? Dunno but it is excellent. Here is the title track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tUzhodl_rw

>266 PaulCranswick: That was 25 years ago.

Goodness, I am so very old. Good choice, though.

>267 richardderus: I can distinctly remember first listening to it too, dear fellow. Tremendous record.

BOOK #73



Heritage by Miguel Bonnefoy
Date of Publication : 2020
Origin of Author : France / Chile / Venezuela
Pages : 149 pp

Bonnefoy was born in France to a Venezuelan mother and a Chilean father and this novel features mainly Chile and France as the author recounts the trials and tribulations of a family of French emigres to Chile and how they cope with all that history throws them in the twentieth century.

A lot packed into 149 dense but energising pages. A very good novel.

Phew, you have a fast moving thread, Paul. Maybe I'd be more up to date if I didn't keep going on away and not keeping up with LT, though. Thanks for the stats although by now, numbers have probably changed.

>160 PaulCranswick: I wasn't aware of the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction but, strangely, I read two of the nominees recently. Not the prize winner, of course, but I remember being impressed by Ancestry by Simon Mawer (but then I would be, wouldn't I. Act of Oblivion was an interesting take on the aftermath of the Regicide; the real aftermath, after Cromwell died and the men who condemned Charles I were being hunted down.

>269 PaulCranswick: Indeed a very good book, Paul, glad to see you appriciated it too.

>270 Familyhistorian: Great to see you anytime, Meg.

I do follow the Walter Scott prize and hope to start this year's winner tomorrow. I also have Robert Harris's book on the shelves and I always like reading his books. The fate of the Regicides is a subject of interest to me, being something of a Republican (in the non-American political sense) and one of the very books of non-fiction I have read in recent years is The Tyrannicide Brief by Geoffrey Robertson which is about the man who prosecuted Charles I at his trial.

>271 FAMeulstee: It was a very good novel, Anita. Appears slight but there is a lot in there to get through.