TIFFIN: First of 2016

I am holding this thought.

Carrying on from 2015, with the last thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/190301

Happy New Year, Tui. Looking forward to your readings.

Happy New Year to you too, Barbara, and thank you!

Woo hoo! Tui's here! Happy new year, friend.

Oh, boy...the fresh start at the beginning of the year. It's always fun, isn't it?

Welcome back!

Wouldn't miss it for the world, Jim!

Happy New Year Tui! I look forward to vising and learning of your book reads.

Happy New Year, Tui. Just popping my star here.

Hi Colleen, and Happy New Year to you too. I hope to get around to visiting in the next two days.

Happy New Year, Tui! Nice to see your new thread up.

Happy New Year, Tui!

Hi Cushla and Anita, good to see both of you and Happy New Year to you too.

>1 tiffin: it's a good thought to hold Tui.

Yes, Caro. Grey and snowing here. And for you, endless wet and grey. We can hold that thought together.

Have a wonderful bookfilled 2016, Tui

Wow! Thanks, Paul.

>17 tiffin: Tui, I often listen to a download when I turn the light out at night, called 'Under H20'. It is a recording taken under the surface of the sea, muffled waves and gurgling water, I find it very soothing.

Stopping in to say happy new year!

Caro, we used to have a tape of loons calling in the rain. It was guaranteed to put my lads to sleep when they were having a rough night when they were wee. Anything with water works for me, except a howling storm.

Thanks, Lucy!

Love your beach Tui! Starred your thread.

Happy New Year, Tui!

Love the beach image, very seasonal. Happy New Year Tui

Lovely thought!
I love the sound of moving water too. My only bad experience is a mood tape I had that was supposed to be a babbling brook but sounded more like a toilet running. ............sorry.
Happy 2016! I look forward to your reading and commenting!

Happy New Year, Darryl!
Thanks, Kerry! We're scheduled to visit there again this winter, so it's my lodestone to get through the worst of it.
Oh Peggy, you made me snort out loud at that one.

One of the free apps I used to use sounded a lot like water running in a shower rather than actual rain . . . the "sea" sounded like someone sloshing water out of a pail . . . just ridiculous unless you sort of loaded them all on top of each other. It was free, what can I say? Finally I found a better freebie!

Wishing you a most lovely weekend, Tui.

I've been absent for a bit. Our beloved standard poodle, Esme, reached the point where we had to say goodbye to her on Thursday past. I haven't felt much like posting anything.

Barbara, thank you for that beautiful photo.

1. Cobweb Bride by Vera Nazarian



Kindle edition

What a lovely surprise this book was, seeing as how I got it as a Kindle special for $1.99! In a world which seems nestled alongside what we know as Western Europe, suddenly things go awry when people and animals no longer seem to be able to die. Knights rise up from battles horribly maimed and keep on going in spite of wounds which would have left them dead before the great change. Animals no longer are able to die. In fact, anything which lives is affected by Death's sudden inability to do his job.

The word goes out that Death will be unable to perform his usual duties until his Cobweb bride is found, so young women from all over this land leave their homes to go north in search of Death's kingdom, to present themselves as a possible Cobweb bride. One of these young women, Percy (Persephone) Ayren, has a gift to be able to see the shadows of people's deaths standing by them in this new state of things. She too joins the group of women trudging north, aided by a mysterious woman known as Grial.

Bits of ancient Greek mythology seep their way into this story, which ended up being a surprisingly good read that launched me without a qualm into the second book.

2. Cobweb Empire by Vera Nazarian



Kindle edition

Another bargoon and the second book in the Cobweb Bride series. Death has sent Percy and her Black Knight on their quest to find his Cobweb Bride for him. Battle clouds gather over the tormented kingdoms and that strange being, the Sovereign, prepares her forces for war in an entirely unexpected manner. The world is going further out of whack, with entire segments of cities disappearing.

Enjoying the story being told here quite a bit.

>30 tiffin: Understand you were not like posting, Tui, after your last farewell to Esme...
(((hugs)))

Thanks, Anita. I know you understand these things.

Well I've hugged you elsewhere but another one can't hurt. (((HUG)))

aw thanks, Laura. Every day gets a tiny bit better.

3. Cobweb Forest by Vera Nazarian



Kindle edition

Third and last book of the series. Well, that was a fun and totally escapist read. Nazarian wrapped things up nicely (if with quite a bit of drama) at the end.

Just a hug.

I'm sorry to hear about Esme, Tui. Please accept a hug from me, too.

All hugs gratefully received. Himself and I are very up and down at the moment, taking our turns at having a cry.

Oh, I'm so sorry about Esme. It's so, so hard to say goodbye to them. I'll be thinking of you.

Thanks so much, Amber. Yes, this is one of life's hard things.

Oh, Tui. I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of Esme. I'm thinking of you. Hugs xx

So so sorry to hear about Esme. Totally understand.

Thanks, Barbara and Lucy. A week today. I'm not used to her absence yet.

Another hug for you both.

Thinking of you, Tui. Stay safe and warm. Hugs xx

Sorry to read about your loss of Esme.

I downloaded the first book in the Cobweb Bride series last year, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Very happy to see you found the trilogy to be a good read!

Barbara, that was a lovely and cheering photo, perfectly timed. Thank you, yet again.

Thanks, Lori. I'm just reading for ease and escape these days - heck, maybe for the rest of my days! Perhaps because the world is so *heavy* right now, I'm getting more than my fill of that bumph through the media. I want to go to worlds where things can actually be resolved.

This was mentioned in the Canadian Authors Challenge thread, but doesn't really seem to have hit LT properly yet. Are you aware of A Celtic Temperament: Robertson Davies as Diarist? It just came out in October, apparently.

Belated condolences on Ms. Esme's departure from your life...

Happy weekend, Tui.

Just slipping by to say I'm thinking of you.

Hi folks and thank you, Barbara. Home from Cuba where we only had 3 days of sun and then the El Nino storms which are devastating South America covered the skies with cloud and occasional showers for the remainder of the week. I did get a couple of books read, however, so not all is lost.

4. The Water Room by Christopher Fowler



Paperback

The second in the Bryant and May mystery series, this story involved the underground hidden or secret rivers under London. Loads of fun, with lovely writing. I look forward to the third.

5. The Bullet Catcher's Daughter by Rod Duncan, Book 1 of "The Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire" series

6. Unseemly Science by Rod Duncan, Book 2 of "The Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire" series



Kindle edition

This is a very steam punk kind of tale taking place in an England which is no longer England as we know it. I'm enjoying it. Can't gather my wits about me to write a decent review, sorry.

I'm glad that you made it back home safely, Tui. Thanks for posting those lovely photos!

Thanks, Darryl. It was a good distraction after losing my old girl.

>55 tiffin: I need to get my hands on that one. Just checked my library and they DO have it -- I swear I tried that before and they had almost no Fowler anywhere in the system. Hmmmm.....must go out today anyway....

For my own eddy-fication, the Bryant and May list in order by Christopher Fowler:

Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler 1
The Water Room by Christopher Fowler 2
Seventy-Seven Clocks by Christopher Fowler 3
Ten-Second Staircase by Christopher Fowler 4
White Corridor by Christopher Fowler 5
The Victoria Vanishes by Christopher Fowler 6
Bryant & May on the Loose by Christopher Fowler 7
Bryant & May off the Rails by Christopher Fowler 8
Bryant & May and the Memory of Blood by Christopher Fowler 9
Bryant & May and the Invisible Code by Christopher Fowler 10
Bryant & May: The Bleeding Heart by Christopher Fowler 11
Bryant & May The Burning Man by Christopher Fowler 12
Bryant & May and the Secret Santa: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Story by Christopher Fowler 12.5
London's Glory: The Lost Cases of Bryant & May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit by Christopher Fowler Short stories
Bryant & May: Full Dark House / The Water Room / Seventy-Seven Clocks by Christopher Fowler

I'm curious about the Fowler Tui, may have to download one, the second volume sounds interesting as there were many streams under the part of London I grew up in. But I'd start with the first.

Hope you're doing well, Tui. Thanks for the Bryant & May list. I'm pretty sure I have a couple of them, but they are as yet unread. I'm hoping for eyesight through a long, long life!

I'm so glad you are enjoying the Bryant & May series, Tui. I always worry when I recommend something, but I thought you'd like them.

For anyone who likes an audiobook, the audio versions are great.

Happy weekend, Tui.

Thank you, Barbara! I haven't been around much lately but I do appreciate these lovely snowdrops.

7. Custodian of Marvels by Rod Duncan



Kindle edition.

Well, I have thoroughly enjoyed this series. It is set in an England which covers our time but which is of another time, perhaps the late 1800s. Transportation involves horses and carriages, long canal barges driven by coal, strange airships which are a kind of dirigible. Great Britain has been divided into two sections: the Kingdom of England and Southern Wales (northern Wales deemed to be too wild and unpopulated to be part of anything) to the south, which is now ruled by the Council of Aristocrats, not the king and parliament. The Anglo-Scottish Republic was to the north, created following the 1819 Armistice. Its capitol is Carlisle, and it is governed by the Council of Guardians. Leicester got cut in two and became a very important town as a consequence of the line drawn across the island.

The Great Accord was signed on 23rd May 1828, ending some kind of civil war, and creating the Gas-Lit Empire which came to encompass the entire civilised world. What this Accord actually was and what led to this war and the division of Great Britain so firmly into two parts is answered in this story. We also learn the reality of the

Our heroine, Elizabeth Barnabus, was born into a travelling circus, and was adept at stage illusion, disguises, and fortunately for the success of this story, getting out of extreme pickles. In the end, her actions lead to the end of the Gas-Lit Empire. More than that, we aren't told. However, we are told the end of her story with regard to her flight from the vicious Duke of Northampton, who had been responsible for her father's downfall and death in prison.

Overseeing everything is this strange operation called The Patent Office. It operates outside of either the governance of the North and South, and is strangely all powerful. Its agents are celibate and travel freely throughout all of the former Great Britain working its will. What it is and why it exists is also revealed in this last book.

Elizabeth's friends and co-strugglers from the world of travelling circuses are the dwarf, Fabulo, the young women Lara and Ellie, Jeremiah a brilliant locksmith, Yan the knife thrower, and her ever faithful young friend, Tinker. And of course, the agent John Farthing.

I loved the world Duncan created, the steampunk aspect of all of it. It was a really clever alternative reality placed over what we know to be the real one. It was an adventure, a love story, a mystery, and a story of redemption - several redemptions, actually. I don't know if this would be to everyone's taste. Richard Derus and I loved it. I suspect Lucy might as well. I was sad to see it end, which is always the sign of a good tale for me.

8. The Axe Throne Vol. I of Bounds of Redemption by M.S. Ireman



Kindle edition

I don't know why I kept reading this book. Each chapter is headed by a different character, in a different part of this world. I usually hate books that jump around like that. I find it hard to get invested in the characters, lose the thread of their story, get them all mangled together at some point. But some of the characters had compelling stories and were interesting in and of themselves. So on I plodded. I will not likely be looking for the 2nd volume unless I get desperate at some point.

And there were the kind of spelling and grammar errors that make my hair stand on end: one of the characters had a pension for violence. Seriously?

>66 tiffin: hmm ... Interesting.

>67 tiffin: oh jeez. I wouldn't be looking for more of that either. I have a pension for good grammar, you know. :)

>66 tiffin: I have the first in that series on my WL - obviously need to work on that!

Have a wonderful Easter.

Tui, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

Thanks for the Easter wishes.

Barbara, what an extraordinary egg! It's beautiful!

>67 tiffin: "a pension for violence" Nooooooo.

Amazingly unique covers on the majority of your volumes. I especially like Custodian of Marvels.

a pension for violence

Is that what a Mafia hit man gets when he retires? ;)

I'll never look at a pension the same way again! (Giggling at Jim!)
Now I'm off to inquire about Custodian of Marvels!
And NOW, I'm back to say that I see that it is book 3 of a series that begins with The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter, but you know that, Tui.

Wishing you a relaxed weekend, Tui.

Stopping by to say I'm thinking of you, missing your "voice" here.

I have started several books, finishing none of them. I have, however, been quilting steadily. The loss of my beautiful girl, Esme, just seemed to stop everything for me. And then there are our oldsters who have been requiring more and more attention, what with being 99, 98, and 96. There have been falls and illnesses, infections and frailties. And my cataracts are worsening. There are all my excuses for not being here, not posting. I have never in my entire life had a year when I have read fewer than 50 books but this might be it.

Himself just had major shoulder surgery yesterday, so perhaps I will have reason to read more as I'll have to be close to hand for six weeks.

Thank you for your visits, for your encouragement.

9. Sabriel by Garth Nix



Kindle edition

I saw this on BookBub for next to nothing so bought it from Amazon. I suspect it might be a YA fantasy but it was about the level I wanted at the time. Necromancers control noxious beings who try to escape from Death to do nasty things in the world of the living, controlling them with powerful magic, bells, and a powerful sword. Quite imaginative and relatively well written, but not capital G great, if you know what I mean.

10. Lirael by Garth Nix



Kindle edition

More of the Abhorsen series. Another cheapie from BookBub but it's ok. Maybe 3.25 stars?

Thinking of you, Tui and sending lots of positive vibes.

Hi Tui,

Just stopping to say hello and tell you that there are 4 tui in the tree outside my study right now, so I thought of you. I hope Himself's shoulder is starting to heal and that he's a good patient.

I'm going to be well under 50 books this year but am trying to make them good ones.

Thanks, Barbara. Thanks, Cushla. I appreciate your visits.

Dear Tui, I'm just catching up. Best wishes for quick healing for Himself and a quiet time amongst your oldsters. My own mama at 94 didn't bounce back from the upper respiratory virus that all 3 of us have had since the last of March. No surprise there. She is beginning to feel more like herself though and will host one of her bridge clubs tomorrow. I'll do the cleaning and also play so that she can play a bit and then get back in her chair as she needs to.
I hate, loath, and abominate the loss of faculties that I had hoped always to have - like hearing and sight and ease of movement. I work hard at conserving what I can and wish you the same with love!

Oh Peggy, thank you for your kind understanding. Weatherwise it wasn't a rough winter but physically and emotionally it was. With the beautiful and warm weather arriving, I am feeling my spirits lifting. Kind words help too. xo

11. Abhorsen by Garth Nix



Kindle edition

The third book in the Abhorsen series. Definitely YA but an interesting world he creates. I didn't mind reading a less taxing series right now, given all that's going on.

Very glad to see you here.

I greatly enjoyed the Sabriel series too - was surprised by how much I liked it, in fact. Have you read The Long Price Quartet? - it's more demanding, yes, but just so lovely, so well done. You probably have, I'm guessing.

Oh Lucy, I didn't see that you had dropped by, so sorry. Yes, I was surprised too, and yes, I have read the Long Price Quartet. I don't want to read anything too real these days, as life is just a bit too real at the moment. I am so behind with LT visiting.

12. Clariel by Garth Nix



Kindle edition

The fourth in the series, although the action in this one predates all of the others. I found this one slightly sad as Clariel is the victim of her own nature all through this story and it doesn't end particularly well.

13. Dragon Rose by Christine Pope from her Tales of the Latter Kingdoms series



Kindle edition

A reworking of the beauty and the beast tale. Not too badly done. More YA, I think.

If you can't tell, I'm buying the $1.99 BookBub recommendations, just to have things loaded on Zer Kindle while I trot Himself around to medical appointments. Read this while waiting for 2 1/2 hours in the car yesterday. Gack.

Gack indeed! If you two are like us two, it's almost a kindness for him to be the ailing one since I handle worrying and waiting better than he does. We won't tell him I said so.
I do hope that the warmer weather brings better health all around and some garden time for you.

If you haven't read Philip Reeve's Traction Quartet, I'm reading Mortal Engines the first and I immediately went to our library to order up the next three. It's YA-ish and has very much the same "feeling" I think as the Nix series, so if you haven't read them you might like them. It's steampunk/post-apocalyptic - traction cities - fast-moving etc. but good characters. It has a lot of heart. I wrote a brief review on my thread, I'll post it with the book in a minute.

Have you read The Voyage of the Basilisk? -- There are four of them so far, I think you'd like these very much too!

No, I haven't, Lucy, thank you! And as I am just finishing up a 5 book series, I am interested.

14. Beyond the Veil by Pippa DaCosta, #1 in The Veil series



Kindle edition

There is no heaven but there is Hell, kept at bay by an invisible (to humans) veil. Hell is the home of demons who have a hierarchy all their own: Princes at the top, right down to little annoying ones covered with green fuzz. The main protagonist, Muse, is on our side of the veil, working as a smith of sorts.

Apparently Boston is heavily populated by demons in disguise, going about their work as humans. Akil is one of these, her protector, as is Stefan, an ice demon. Basically the story involves Muse coming to grips with who she is as a hybrid demon and human. There are moments of wild sex which initially had me pursing my lips to wonder if it was really necessary but as the story progresses we learn that Muse's father was one of the Princes, the Father of Lust, so she has elements in her which she can't quite control and certainly doesn't understand, courtesy of that parent.

I'd say this was about a 3 star read but being a completist, I was interested enough to carry on with the remaining four books.

15. Devil May Care by Pippa Da Costa, Vol. 2 in The Veil series

16. Darkest Before Dawn by Pippa DaCosta, Vol. 3 in The Veil series

17. Drowning in the Dark by Pippa DaCosta, Vol. 4 in The Veil series

18. Ties That Bind by Pippa DaCosta, Vol. 5 in The Veil series

All Kindle editions.

Interesting at times but not a great series.

Happy weekend, Tui.

Oh Barbara, what a perfect photo. Thank you!

A quick fly by to bring up 100 posts and wish you a wonderful weekend, Tui.

19, 20, 21: The Dragon War Trilogy by Daniel Arens



Kindle edition. Maybe 2.75 stars, 3 at a stretch

More of the cheapo $1.99 stuff and this one was a bit of a dud. He had a good idea but wrote in a stilted choppy manner. Pages of that and then bodice ripping sex. Gack. It's a shame because the story idea could have been something.

22. The Mark of the Tala, Book I of the Twelve Kingdoms by Jeffe Kennedy



Kindle edition 3 stars

Another of the cheapo books via BookBub. This one was much better written and had a good story to it. However, more of the B porn movie sex. Maybe I'm old fashioned but I prefer sex in books much more subtle and less Harlequin Romance-ish.

23. Tears of the Rose, Book II of the Twelve Kingdoms by Jeffe Kennedy



24. The Talon of the Hawk, Book III of the Twelve Kingdoms by Jeffe Kennedy



I think I need to read something with more nutritional value now. Except I have a few more of these penny dreadfuls to read. Whatever possessed me?

I know they say 'never judge a book by its cover'.....:-)

>103 Caroline_McElwee:: hahaha I know, Caro, but these are Kindles so you don't really get the sense of the cover the same way. I went from the blurb about them. I am wondering what the target age for these might be. It's awfully steamy sex for a kid of about eleven, unless I am waaaaay out of date.

Seriously, avail thyself of those Reeves!

25. Rhapsody by Elizabeth Haydon



Kindle edition 3.75

The first book in the "Symphony of Ages" series. Not too bad either. Written by a harpist, Elizabeth Haydon, it's not surprising that music has as much power as she gives Rhapsody, her protagonist. A classic good versus evil story.

26. Prophecy; Child of Earth by Elizabeth Haydon



Kindle edition

The second book in the "Symphony of Ages" series. Much better than the previous schlock I was reading.

I think I've heard of Haydon somewhere or other. Glad you found something better!

I'm still wading through the cheapies I loaded up with, Lucy. I'll get to the Reeves!

I had a bit of a clean-up here today, adding books I had forgotten to register. I think I have about 100 or so more that I haven't added. Unlike some people I know (looking at you, Laura), I'm lousy at remembering to do that.

Also want to say how much I appreciate folks dropping by even though I have been a less than stellar visitor myself these days. Himself is still recovering from his surgery, although he will go back to work on Monday. I am hoping life will return a bit more to normal after that!

No worries! You are very high on my visiting list!

>110 tiffin: looking at you, Laura
I see you!! And to be fair, we have scads of books around the house that I've never catalogued. My focus has always been on what I've read/planned to read. Some books belong to himself, and it would be up to him to catalogue (fat chance, he's a creative type, not an "organizer"). Some belong to both of us but I haven't been inspired to enter them in LT. I'm looking at a shelf of travel guides right now (e.g., London A-Z map ca 2000, Frommer's England 2000, a Walt Disney World guide from 2003) -- they are like a family time capsule but I never felt it important to log them here.

27. Destiny, Child of the Sky, Vol. III of the Symphony of Ages series by Elizabeth Haydon



Kindle edition.

Not a ba-a-a-ad story all told. Haydon tends to over long descriptions and repeats herself unnecessarily, so I tended to skim at times. There is a lot of dashing about from place to place. And the love story is a bit histrionic for my taste. I can see a fourteen year old girl loving this, however, as the female characters are strong. I think I inadvertently stumbled into a pile of YA books. Small eff fantasy as opposed to Modern Fantasy.

Overall a 3.25 read.

28. Midnight at the Well of Souls, Well World Saga Book I by Jack Chalker



Kindle edition

I first read this series back in the early 70s, I think, and enjoyed it then. I had totally forgotten the entire story line. What a pleasure to read good old science fiction.

29. Exiles at the Well of Souls, Well World Saga Book II by Jack Chalker



Kindle edition

This is making me wish I hadn't given away all my science fiction novels. Lots of fun. On to book III we go! Yup, I'm going to reread the entire series.

I once said to someone I didn't do science fiction, then looked at my list of favourite books.... I'm no aficionado, but I'm not as averse as I claimed!

It can be so good to revisit books :-)

30. Quest for the Well of Souls, Well World Saga Book III by Jack Chalker



Kindle edition

I am really enjoying this series. On to book four!

31. The Return of Nathan Brazil, Well World Saga Book IV by Jack Chalker



Kindle edition

One more to go! Great reread fun here.

32. Twilight at the Well of Souls, Well World Sage Book V by Jack Chalker



Kindle edition

There are two more books in the series after this one but this wrapped up the action at a good point to stop for a breather. I may revisit it in the future but for now five in a row was enough.

Lots of fun. I'm pleased this has held up so well over the years.

Good for you, Tui! I am likewise finishing the Tad Williams sword trilogy and finding it very, very good again.

>121 LizzieD:: I might dig that out, Peggy! Thanks for the reminder.

33. Seventy-Seven Clocks by Christopher Fowler



Bantam mystery paperback

I do so enjoy this series. Fowler's writing is impeccable, his sense of humour refined, and the plot he weaves full of adventure. I'm off to order the next two or three to have at hand when nothing else interests me. A proper English mystery set in London, it is erudite while making me frequently smile while reading. What more could I ask for?

Oops. I seem to have ordered the rest of the entire series. I do love series.

Sounds like you have found treasure Tui.

>124 tiffin: Oops
I can't imagine how that happened.

>123 tiffin: I'm listening to that one now!

I love the Fowler series, Tui. I'm glad you are enjoying it.

He writes so well, doesn't he, Colleen? I don't feel like I'm reading a fluff mystery, even though I probably am. He actually WRITES!

Linda, I do hope it's being read with an English accent. I read it with one when I read them. Glad you corrected the number: I was confused so said nothing!

>130 tiffin: Yes, I used your book number instead of the post number, and I confused myself! The reader is Tim Goodman, and he does a veddy good job.

I'm behind with posting my reads so here is David Bowie's list instead:

David Bowie’s Top 100 Books

I've marked those I have read (R). There are some I've not heard of and some I will be adding to my reading list:

Interviews With Francis Bacon by David Sylvester
Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse (R)
Room At The Top by John Braine
On Having No Head by Douglass Harding
Kafka Was The Rage by Anatole Broyard
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (R)
City Of Night by John Rechy
The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (on the TBR shelf)
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (R)
Iliad by Homer (R)
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Tadanori Yokoo by Tadanori Yokoo
Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin
Inside The Whale And Other Essays by George Orwell (R)
Mr. Norris Changes Trains by Christopher Isherwood (R)
Halls Dictionary Of Subjects And Symbols In Art by James A. Hall
David Bomberg by Richard Cork
Blast by Wyndham Lewis
Passing by Nella Larson
Beyond The Brillo Box by Arthur C. Danto
The Origin Of Consciousness In The Breakdown Of The Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes
In Bluebeard’s Castle by George Steiner
Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd
The Divided Self by R. D. Laing (R)
The Stranger by Albert Camus (R)
Infants Of The Spring by Wallace Thurman
The Quest For Christa T by Christa Wolf
The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin
Nights At The Circus by Angela Carter
The Master And Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (R)
The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (R)
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (R)
Herzog by Saul Bellow (R)
Puckoon by Spike Milligan (R)
Black Boy by Richard Wright
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (R)
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea by Yukio Mishima (R)
Darkness At Noon by Arthur Koestler (R)
The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot (R)
McTeague by Frank Norris
Money by Martin Amis
The Outsider by Colin Wilson (R)
Strange People by Frank Edwards
English Journey by J.B. Priestley
A Confederacy Of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (R) (and didn't enjoy)
The Day Of The Locust by Nathanael West (R)
1984 by George Orwell (R)
The Life And Times Of Little Richard by Charles White
Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock by Nik Cohn
Mystery Train by Greil Marcus
Beano (comic, ’50s) (R)
Raw (comic, ’80s)
White Noise by Don DeLillo
Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm And Blues And The Southern Dream Of Freedom by Peter Guralnick
Silence: Lectures And Writing by John Cage
Writers At Work: The Paris Review Interviews edited by Malcolm Cowley
The Sound Of The City: The Rise Of Rock And Roll by Charlie Gillete
Octobriana And The Russian Underground by Peter Sadecky
The Street by Ann Petry
Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon
Last Exit To Brooklyn by Hubert Selby, Jr. (R)
A People’s History Of The United States by Howard Zinn
The Age Of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby
Metropolitan Life by Fran Lebowitz
The Coast Of Utopia by Tom Stoppard
The Bridge by Hart Crane
All The Emperor’s Horses by David Kidd
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters (R)
Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess
The 42nd Parallel by John Dos Passos
Tales Of Beatnik Glory by Ed Saunders
The Bird Artist by Howard Norman
Nowhere To Run: The Story Of Soul Music by Gerri Hirshey
Before The Deluge by Otto Friedrich
Sexual Personae: Art And Decadence From Nefertiti To Emily Dickinson by Camille Paglia
The American Way Of Death by Jessica Mitford
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (R)
Lady Chatterly’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence (R)
Teenage by Jon Savage
Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh (R)
The Hidden Persuaders by Vance Packard
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Viz (comic, early ’80s) (R)
Private Eye (satirical magazine, ’60s — ’80s)
Selected Poems by Frank O’Hara
The Trial Of Henry Kissinger by Christopher Hitchens
Flaubert’s Parrot by Julian Barnes
Maldodor by Comte de Lautréamont
On The Road by Jack Kerouac (R)
Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonders by Lawrence Weschler
Zanoni by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Transcendental Magic, Its Doctine and Ritual by Eliphas Lévi
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels
The Leopard by Giusseppe Di Lampedusa (R)
Inferno by Dante Alighieri (R)
A Grave For A Dolphin by Alberto Denti di Pirajno
The Insult by Rupert Thomson
In Between The Sheets by Ian McEwan
A People’s Tragedy by Orlando Figes
Journey Into The Whirlwind by Eugenia Ginzburg

Thanks, Caro!

An interesting list, - I've read approximately half and have meant to or attempted (say, the Camille Paglia) to read a few others --- however, I am disappointed, I have to admit, by how few books listed are by women, ten or twelve at most--and most of those non-fiction. It seems oddly skewed. What do you think?

I've read many fewer than Lucy (13 only) and have decided that everybody's list has to be skewed in some way.
I do so agree with you about *Confederacy/Dunces*. I did want to enjoy it, and it did sort of sag flat.
You inspire me to jump on the Fowler someday soon. Thanks, Tui!

>133 sibylline: I think it is probably more difficult to keep a balance when you are talking about favourite books, you don't tend to think about gender or other things, they are what they are. I also think favourites embed themselves quite a bit in early reading, before you can identify a skew, and young people, looking for answers etc tend to read more by their own gender. That said, with Bowie you might have expected more female writers.

yeh, that's all I really meant. When I got 3/4 through the list, I just thought, wait a minute. I don't usually look for that sort of thing.

Hi Tui?

Wild summer, Rhian. Almost no reading. I hope to rally by autumn. And hi back!

To add in

34. Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift

35. Fool's Quest by Robin Hobb, Book II of the Fitz and the Fool trilogy

Library Thing was having technical problems when I tried to add these, so it wouldn't accept links, or cover photo links. I'll polish these up later.

36. The Hummingbird Wizard by Meredith Blevins



Kindle edition

The Annie Szabo series. I really enjoyed this quirky, funny murder mystery set in San Francisco. Annie is a journalist who is the widow of Stefan Szabo, a Rom who drove himself off a cliff into the ocean on his motorcycle, leaving Annie with a daughter and a lifelong connection to Szabo's gypsy family. When Annie's friend from childhood--and occasional lover--is found dead, Jerry's death evolves into a murder mystery that Annie is determined to solve. His funeral at the edge of the ocean is delightful, if such things can be said of funerals, because the whole gypsy clan shows up to see him off.

I enjoy character driven stories and this tale is full of 'em. Annie's mother-in-law, the redoubtable Madame Mina is a force of nature with her many coloured skirts and red underwear. And there is her other son, the wonderful hummingbird wizard of the title, Annie's late husband's brother. His role in the clan is the stuff of gypsy lore, which I loved.

I got this for free for my Kindle, at Amazon. There are two more books in the series, I believe, so I'm off to check out the next one. Just one caveat: this isn't high art or great literature. It's sort of a gypsy cosy mystery.

I'm going to set up a new thread for 2017 and hope that it will be a much better year. Since June, we have been dealing with profound changes in the lives of our oldsters. It has moved from care now and then to daily care, with much more responsibility on our part. We had to move one out of his home, dispose of all his possessions and his house, move him up here, set him up, and deal with his subsequent depression. He also experienced three bad injuries. The other one has been having bad falls, had pneumonia, and is very frail with her blindness almost total now.

So I haven't been around much. Let's hope I will be able to read more, participate more, and be part of things better. Happy 2017, everyone.

Here's to a better year in many ways for all of us...particularly for more time to read!

Looking forward to your continued company in 2017.
Happy New Year, Tui

Thanks Linda, thanks Paul. Happy New Year to you both.

2017 is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/245032