PAUL C INTO THE ROARING 20S - Part 12

Since it is Ramadan this is a photo from my favourite restaurant with all the tribe intact. It also gives a rare glimpse of Erni (wearing the headscarf) and my Sister in Law, Yabo - whose birthday I think it was.

POEM

An exercise in sonneteering.

I'm sick of what passes as politics.
I'm sick of vitriol because it burns.
I'm tired of those who teach but never learn.
I'm weary of those playing semantics
Even as the world threatens not to turn.
Im fearful of this world of discontent;
Of fake news by those who then most declaim
The opposite false - do so without shame.
That falsehood is of itself a portent
They will not escape eventual blame.
Yet hope may stir in communal vigour
When people come together and do right
And not just because it was de rigueur;
Then in so doing day shall follow night.

BOOKS READ FIRST QUARTER OF 2020

January

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

February

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

March

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

BOOKS READ SECOND QUARTER OF 2020

April

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

CURRENTLY READING

READING PLAN FOR 2020

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

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

The twenty categories are :

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

BRITISH ISLES AUTHOR CHALLENGE 2020



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

January: Jeanette Winterson & Graham Swift

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

March: Jane Austen & Walter Scott

April: Bernardine Evaristo & Caryl Phillips

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

June: Penelope Fitzgerald & Patrick Gale

July: Elly Griffiths & Winston Graham

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

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

October: Joanne Harris & George Orwell

November: Fay Weldon & John le Carré

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

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

AMERICAN AUTHOR CHALLENGE



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

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

Total Books Read : 1,145 books

1 book every 3.2 days

Best Reading Year : 2013 with 157 books

Worst Reading Year : 2019 with 76 books

My Books of the Year on LT:

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

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

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

READ 30 of 55 WINNERS

Pulitzer Winners

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

Fiction

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


16 READ
37 ON SHELVES
39 NOT OWNED OR READ

92 TOTAL

NOBELS

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

READ 66 OF
116 LAUREATES

LIT HUB'S 50 CHUNKSTERS & MY 20 ALTERNATIVES

These are the 50 Literary Hub Must Read Chunksters:

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

& My Alternative 20

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

2020 ADDITIONS

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

1. Submarine by Joe Dunthorne (2008) 290 pp
2. I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven (1967) 158 pp
3. The Ascent of Rum Doodle by W.E. Bowman (1956) 171 pp
4. The Spare Room by Helen Garner (2008) 195 pp
5. Look We have Coming to Dover! by Dajit Nagra (2007) 53 pp READ APR 20
6. Hame by Annalina McAfee (2017) 577 pp
7. The Holy Fox by Andrew Roberts (1991) 414 pp READ MAR 20
8. The History Boys by Alan Bennett (2004) 200 pp READ FEB 20
9. Himself by Jess Kidd (2016) 358 pp
10. Lazarus by Morris West (1990) 375 pp
11. Judith Paris by Hugh Walpole (1931) 757 pp
12. The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope (1864) 665 pp
13. The Seventh Cross by Anna Seghers (1942) 398 pp
14. The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers (2017) 363 pp
15. The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich (1985) 331 pp
16. The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard (1990) 578 pp
17. Eight Hours from England by Anthony Quayle (1945) 228 pp
18. Dregs by Jorn Lier Horst (2010) 310 pp READ FEB 20
19. Loyalties by Delphine de Vigan READ FEB 20
20. The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli READ MAR 20
21. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski (1993) 280 pp READ FEB 20
22. War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans (2013) 293 pp
23. Deviation by Luce D'Eramo (1979) 344 pp
24. Caging Skies by Christine Leunens (2019) 294 pp
25. The Hunters by James Salter (1956) 233 pp
26. The Watch by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya (2012) 310 pp
27. The Memoir of an Anti-Hero by Kornel Filipowicz (1961) 70 pp READ APR 20
28. Darius the Great is not Okay by Adib Khorram (2018) 312 pp
29. The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo (2019) 466 pp
30. Love Story, With Murders by Harry Bingham (2013) 441 pp
31. Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen by Fay Weldon
32. Selected Poems: 1950-2012 by Adrienne Rich
33. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
34. Divided : Why We're Living in an Age of Walls by Tim Marshall READ APR 20
35. The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis
36. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
37. Witness : Lessons from Elie Wiesel's Classroom by Ariel Burger READ MAR 20
38. Lucy Church, Amiably by Gertrude Stein
39. Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich
40. The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories by Amos Tutuola
41. After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell
42. The Librarian by Salley Vickers READ MAR 20
43. Temple of a Thousand Faces by John Shors
44. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (1993) 311 pp
45. The Drought by J.G. Ballard (1965) 233 pp
46. The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker (2012) 391 pp
47. Clade by James Bradley (2017) 297 pp
48. Far North by Marcel Theroux (2009) 288 pp
49. The River by Peter Heller (2019) 253 pp
50. Ivanov by Anton Chekhov (1887) 58 pp READ MAR 20
51. The Sea-Gull by Anton Chekhov (1896) 68 pp READ APR 20
52. Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov (1900) 44 pp
53. The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov (1901) 58 pp
54. The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov (1904) 50 pp
55. The Females by Wolfgang Hilbig (2010) 129 pp READ APR 20
56. The Other Americans by Laila Lalami (2019) 301 pp

56 books added
14 already finished

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

Next is yours

Happy new thread!

Thanks Amanda. You are fast on the draw as always. xx

Hi Paul. That is all.

Good glory, Paul - another one? Happy new thread!

At this rate you'll hit 4000 in the next two weeks, lol.

>19 richardderus: More than enough to be going on with RD.

>20 Dejah_Thoris: Ha Princess, I think a slight exaggeration! The first thread to pass 4,000 last year was Mark during weekending 31 July.

Wow, a new thread already! Wishing you a wonderful lead up to the weekend, Paul.

>22 lkernagh: Thank you, Lori.

It will be a time for reflection really with it being the first day of Ramadan today.

Happy new thread

Happy Ramadan.

>24 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita. I normally look forward to and relish Ramadan but not this year. One of its joys is being able to all sit together and eat as one unit but we are separated 3 of us here in KL, 2 in Sheffield and 1 in Oresund, Norway.

The buzzing and bustling Ramadan markets are also prohibited this year so it will not be the same at all.

Happy new thread!

May you have many happy gatherings to cheer your future!

>26 quondame: Thanks Susan. This thing cannot last forever and so long as my loved ones and friends stay well, you will not get any complaints from me!

The top 140 threads in terms of posts has just passed 50,000 posts this year. That is 20 days earlier than last year.

Hi Paul! Happy new thread.

So Ramadan has started? Ramadan mubarak.

>1 PaulCranswick: Nice picture! Hope you'll get together like that, after this whole Covid thing is over.

>29 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella.

I haven't been to that restaurant in well over a year and it is my favourite. Tatto Italian restaurant in Kuala Lumpur. The owner Yenti (pictured) is a tremendous host and serves the best lemoncello ever!

Happy new thread, Paul. Family separations are one of the worst parts of this crisis.

Happy new thread, Paul, and Ramadan Mubarak to you and your family. That's a great pic in >1 PaulCranswick:. Must be really hard to not have the tribe gathered around this year. I'm so grateful to have my small tribe with me, but I miss my sisters and friends. Be well, my friend, and stay safe!

Which one's in Norway? And why?

Happy new thread Paul and happy Ramadan.

*275 Morphidae: I have seen, even look through the Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Mystery lists. I've read quite a lot, with the most noticeable gaps in F&SF books written by men after 1988. More gaps in the mysteries, but less than I'd have predicted.

>31 Oregonreader: Thanks, Jan. Yes that is true, but I can take some comfort from the fact that all are presently well.

>32 Storeetllr: Thank you`Mary. If it was more years ago it would have been harder because now at least we have video phones.

>33 Morphidae: Morphy, Yasmyne is in Norway. Simple answer is that the boyfriend is Norwegian and she is now marooned there! She is thinking about coming either to the UK or Malaysia for the end of Ramadan but if she comes here under present circumstances she won't be allowed to leave again!

>34 humouress: Thanks Nina. It is the most surreal Ramadan beginning I have experienced other than possibly my first which was in Singapore when I was working on the Terminal 2 extension in 1995/6. I was one of only four staff fasting out of a team of 50 and it wasn't an easy beginning.

>35 quondame: For ease of referral this is Morphy's post in my last thread:

1001* Fantasy Books to Read Before You Are Turned Into a Newt
http://www.librarything.com/profile/1001Fantasy

111 Science Fiction Books to Read Before a Supernova Kills Us All
http://www.librarything.com/profile/111ScienceFiction

111 Nonfiction Books to Read Before Your Brain Atrophies
http://www.librarything.com/topic/99441

50 Mysteries to Read Before They Find the Body
http://www.librarything.com/topic/119698

*Actually 463 because it lists only the first book in a series. But if you counted all the books in each mentioned series *at that time* it added up to 1001.

>37 PaulCranswick: I have read a puny 35 of the 463 fantasy books

I have read 17 of the 111 Sci-fi books

and also 17 of the non-fiction books

There were actually 74 Mysteries if I took out 2 double counted and I had read 25 of "em.

>38 PaulCranswick: Mysteries 31, SF 80, Fantasy 222, Non-Fiction 12.

Happy new one, Paul. I hope all is well at your place. xx

>40 quondame: Wow Sci/Fi and Fantasy are certainly your thing, Susan. 302/574 books or 53% of the books!

>41 Ameise1: Deathly quiet, Barbara but I can confirm that all is well. xx

Happy new thread, Paul!

>38 PaulCranswick: Read Fantasy 56 (and 3 pre LT); SF 6; non-fiction 14 (and 3 pre LT); mysteries 6.

>43 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita.

Even with you two mega readers (including Susan) I still have the most NF reads, small comfort which I will cling to!

Thanks for the links to the lists, Paul. It will be fun to see how many I have read in each category later when I am not on my phone. My prediction will be I have the most read in non-fiction or fantasy...

Edited to add - thank you to Morphy for pulling up the lists on your old thread. Totally missed there. Slowly perusing through lots of threads today.

Enjoy Ramadan the best you can!

>45 jayde1599: Lovely to see you, Jess.

Morphy is even better at lists than I am!

Lovely photo at the top Paul, and you are eating dessert by the look of it!

Happy new thread, Paul. Lovely topper pic. Happy Ramadan. Like Easter and Passover, it will be unlike any other, this year! One day at a time...

>47 Caroline_McElwee: Thank you, Caroline and you are very perceptive! A sort of chocolate souffle that they are famous for. Delicious.

I have just broken my fast so I am in a good mood!

>48 jessibud2: Thanks Shelley. With Ramadan it is always be necessity a day at a time. The first day is always the hardest but I am glad to report that I made it through ok. xx

Book #54



Frozen Moment by Camilla Ceder

Date Published : 2009
Origin of Author : Sweden
Pages : 378 pp

Debut outing for Ms Ceder and her creation Inspector Christian Tell. It is a slow burner and for a third of it I was struggling manfully. Eventually though the narrative gathered pace and the intricate plot married with the frozen snowscapes suddenly hit home.

Promising and the stiff self-obsessed Inspector finally shows a human side in a satisfying ending.

Happy new thread!

READING UPDATE

1. British Author Challenge - 2/12
2. British Poetry - 4/12 - Look We Have Coming to Dover! by Daljit Nagra
3. Contemporary British Fiction - 1/12
4. World Poetry - 4/12 - American Sonnets by Terrance Hayes
5. 1001 Books - 3/12 - The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
6. Plays - 4/12 - The Seagull by Anton Chekhov
7. American Author Challenge 2/12 -
8. Non-Fiction - 4/12 - Behind the Sofa edited by Steve Berry
9. History - 2/12 -
10. Current Affairs - 4/12 Divided by Tim Marshall
11. Booker Winners - 2/12 - Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
12. Nobel Winners - 3/12 - Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neill
13. Scandi - 3/12 - Frozen Moment by Camilla Ceder
14. Series Books - 3/12 - Icarus by Deon Meyer
15. Thrillers/Mystery - 1/12
16. Classic Fiction - 1/12
17. 21st Century Fiction - 2/12 Please Sir! by Jack Sheffield
18. World Literature - 4/12 - The Females by Wolfgang Hilbig; The Memoir of an Anti-Hero by Kornel Filipowicz
19. Science Fiction / Fantasy - 3/12 -
20. Pot Luck - 2/12

Books Completed April - 13 Year to Date - 54
Pages Read April - 2,716 Year to Date - 11,749
1001 Books April - 1 Year to Date - 5
Bookers April - 1 Year to Date - 2
Nobel Winners April - 1 Year to Date - 4
BAC Books April - 1 Year to Date - 7
AAC Books April - 0 Year to Date - 2
Pulitzer Winners April - 1 Year to Date - 1

Daily Reading Ave March - 113.17 Year to Date - 103.06

Gender of Authors 14 Female / 40 male

Happy New Thread, Paul. Ramadan Muburak!

Lovely photo of the family up top.

>51 drneutron: Thanks Jim. It is in times like this, marooned in a country not of my own, with family dispersed that I am ever more grateful to have come across this little gathering in 2011 that you have continued to administer so unfailingly and uncomplainingly. Top man.

>53 jnwelch: Thanks Joe. I almost used a photo I have of the two of us with Darryl at St. Pancras back on that balmy London day. Oh that those days return soon buddy.

>54 PaulCranswick: And one day we'll be able to meet face to face. One idea mrsddrneutron and I have when we retire is to make some LT-related trips around the world.

>56 drneutron: You and the good lady would be most welcome either in the tropical heat drenched streets of Kuala Lumpur or under the tepid sun of West Yorkshire.

We also intend to get stateside - if ever coronavirus or Chump allows - and meet up with as many of my pals as possible.

Re: Camilla Ceder, I can't remember if you're one of the locals who knows about Viveca Sten's Scandicozies. They're popular enough in Sweden to have engendered a TV show; here in the US they're translated by AmazonCrossing and are one of its success stories.

I quite like visiting Sandhamn.

>58 richardderus: You recommended the books to me a while ago, RD, and I was unable to find any of them in the shops here.

Still Waters is therefore one of seven books I have just ordered from Book Depo.

>38 PaulCranswick: Thanks so much for posting those lists. They are old (year created next to my number) but still fun.

My reading:

155 Fantasy (2008)
69 Science Fiction (2010)
32 Nonfiction (2011)
38 Mystery (2011)

But then, I mostly read genre!

I'd consider redoing these since it's been a decade but I don't know if there are enough genre readers that would participate in this group. When I did this in the Green Dragon it was considerably more active. I had, at minimum, 75 people participating. I don't see that happening here. Even if I could get 50...

>60 Morphidae: I think you'd get a goodly number of participants, Morphy.

You certainly know you can count on me - even if I am a Sci-Fi/Fantasy laggard.

I am feeling a bit nostalgic and homesick just at the moment.

For me the eighties were a generally barren time in popular music for me - I liked plenty of stuff but it was rarely at the top of the charts. I would except The Housemartins and The Smiths both northern working class bands that spoke something to me.

Morrissey is and remains a much misunderstood genius - the most profound lyricist still recording today. I remember seeing The Smiths just as they were making it big at my Uni Arts Centre and I was blown away - this languid poet with a flower between his teeth and an elastic frame that always got audiences going.

This is one of my favourite tracks of the Smiths - "Panic" - which is quite germane to the times.
Nobody named checked my home town or Carlisle in hit records:

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

Hi Paul - Happy new thread. Love your topper. What a beautiful family!

>62 PaulCranswick: And what, Paul, does being at the top of the charts have to do with great music? I'm very fond of (some) '80s music - and now I have The Smiths in my head, thank you very much!

Happy new thread, Paul!

I love the family picture topper. Thank you for sharing.

>38 PaulCranswick: I have read 29 of the 50 mysteries on Morphy’s mysteries list and have a few more of them on my shelves, and 29 of the nonfiction books listed.

>57 PaulCranswick: Count me in on your US visit, whenever it can be.

Happy new thread Paul (post #66 already!! really??) :) Nice photo of your family up top. I hope you can all be together again soon.

Paul - sending hope that this Ramadan brings peace and unity to your Family.

While waiting the results of today's Madison, Wisconsin, capital protests,
my daughter got word that her Virus test is Negative.

(Doctors wanted to be certain that her symptoms were not more than Chronic Bronchitis and RA.)

Hope your Mum is faring well with all the new restrictions!

>63 BLBera: Thank you, Beth. The bearded fellow always spoils it though.

>64 Dejah_Thoris: I love Morrissey's solo stuff, Princess and often listen to it. He is an irascible fellow but his brilliance is undeniable.

>65 karenmarie: I love the Outlander series, Karen, so the Carolinas are calling to me!

That is an impressive tally of mysteries and non-fiction.

>66 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks Reba. I am always happy racking up 70 plus posts in a day - I love visitors especially in these days when I cannot otherwise meet anyone!

>67 m.belljackson: These are turbulent times indeed, Marianne. Good news is at a premium but your daughters news is something to be very pleased about.

My mum is struggling a little bit without much outside contact. SWMBO gets to see her when she can but has her own demons about going out into Virusville.

Watching Chump's "briefing" today when his latest brainwave was to ask "medical doctors" to look into the possibilities of curing coronavirus by injections of disinfectant into the body. Yes, he is right it would cure the virus but so would blowing yourself up. Don't personally recommend either.

The man is an absolute fruit cake.

>38 PaulCranswick:. So it looks like I have some reading to do:

Books read in each genre:
Fantasy - 50
Science Fiction - 9
Non-Fiction - 20
Mystery - 5

>60 Morphidae: I would love to participate in updating the lists - although I tend to be more of a lurker than a poster on threads.

>72 jayde1599: We tied Jess. You got more in fantasy and non-fiction whereas I trumped you in mystery and, amazingly, Sci-Fi.

I'm sure that we'd cobble together sufficient numbers to help Morphy update her lists.

© Light Art by Gerry Hofstetter / Foto Michael Portmann

greetings from Switzerland

>74 paulstalder: Thank you, Paul. That looks very interesting.

Happy new thread, Paul. I checked out the mystery list but have only read 17 of the ones on that list. I know that I have read many more obscure ones though.

Love your topper. Restaurant gatherings are one of the things that I miss most on my long list of things that I am missing while social distancing. I hope we can get back to them soon - well as soon as safe, should I say.

>71 PaulCranswick: - It is clear that t-Rump never lifted a finger around the house to clean anything. If he had, he might have noticed the POISON warning on all such containers. It clearly warns NOT to ingest (or inject, though, truthfully, I believe that most people have the intelligence to understand that) the product and if it gets into the body, to call a Poison Control Centre. I have given up on any medical professional or scientist calling him out and telling him, point-blank, to butt out and leave the medical things to them. Unless he can prove he has a medical degree (from somewhere other than trump university), he should not be allowed to open his big trap on this topic If anyone in the US is stupid enough to try his *cures* now, and if any of them dies of poisoning by bleach, he should be held directly responsible.

It absolutely boggles the mind that someone of his *intellect* is allowed to hold office at all.

>60 Morphidae: I'd certainly participate. I rarely post over on Green Dragon but do follow a couple of threads there.

>71 PaulCranswick: >77 jessibud2:

And, we cannot take to the streets to do what is "natural" to protest this catastrophic monster - from the old "Hey, Hey, LBJ, how many kids have you killed today" times -

because we are SAFER AT HOME.

Your Wife is right to have "demons" that keep her and your Family safe and secure until the numbers are down to zero and a vaccine is in place.
The trade-off would be a tragedy.

Yo, Paul. I had a nice time poring through Morphy's lists. As did others, I see. Haven't looked as yet at the fantasy genre list.

I am gearing up for a Pulitzer read. First week in May. What's next on our agenda? The Overstory? Evicted? Or something else.

Very quiet here today, meaning the place I live. Not wanting to be thought to be meaning your thread.

>62 PaulCranswick: I started the 80s with MTV and so many of those songs got etched with those images. I've never been fannish about music as I could be about books, at least after I was 13. Up to then I kept obsessing about ballet or movie scores and wore out the lps. But that's about when I dove into reading and music would pull me out, and I preferred to stay in.

Happy new thread mate, hope you have as good a weekend as you can, we send our love to you all wherever you all are in the world.

>76 Familyhistorian: The lists are great fun aren't they, Meg? I am very surprised at how many some of my peers have read on the fantasy list.

I really miss so many of the restaurants I used to frequent but mostly I miss the ability to being able to choose where to eat.

>77 jessibud2: He has tried to back peddle a little by saying he was being "sarcastic" but then again his whole administration is a sick exercise in sarcasm which is after all the lowest form of wit and therefore suits him perfectly. Irresponsibility personified.

>78 quondame: I have posted over there to Fuzzi who retains a thread there. Still sure that we would be able to raise the numbers to make Morphy's updating meaningful.

>79 m.belljackson: Yes Marianne I acknowledge that there is and has to be a trade-off somewhere because the world simply cannot wait for numbers to be zero with a vaccine universally available. Far greater minds than mine will have to deliberate how to gradually restart the world's economic life without impugning all our sacrifices for naught.

>80 weird_O: Yes Bill, I will follow you with either of those - you choose dear fellow.

"Quiet" doesn't describe my thread too accurately just at the moment, thankfully.

>81 quondame: That is a very interesting observation about music pulling you out of reading, Susan. I have seen that a number of the group cannot concentrate to listen whilst reading and vice versa. For me music is a ready accompaniment to my reading so long as I choose it properly. I couldn't read against music that grated against me - techno, heavy metal, dum n bass, rap - but otherwise can put me into a composed state that improves my reading.

>82 johnsimpson: Thank you, John. My love to you and Karen and the rest of your family. Are you still able to see much of your granddaughter during this time?

>86 PaulCranswick:, Hi Paul, sadly not mate, we have seen her twice in four weeks, it is hard but we have spoken to her on the phone, it's the cuddles we miss and the first time we saw her she just wanted to be hugged but it couldn't be done.

>83 PaulCranswick: I doubt DT knows what sarcasm is. He may be aware that it has a bite and he thinks himself as the biter, but understand, no.

>87 johnsimpson: I know exactly how you feel, John. My other three are all as kinetic as I am and like hugging and being hugged whereas Belle is extremely averse to any form of contact. A kiss on the top of her head will obtain a growl from her!

>88 quondame: Yes I can see that. What is lower than the lowest form of wit? - sadly it appears to be your Commander-in-Chief with no wit at all!

This must be a difficult Ramadan , Paul, with most of you family in Europe or the UK. Best wishes to you and yours. As I mentioned, I have a nephew marooned in Copenhagen, doing research work. I think he is lonely , as he just moved from the UK to Copenhagen in early January. But he is 30 and is making the best of it. My sister and her family " zoom " with him fairly often, and he has purchased an expensive camera and trying to turn that into a bit of hobby right now. How to meet with new people when you are in a lock down? But he could fly home if he wished.

Happy New Thread, Paul. Happy weekend! 90 posts already? You are rolling, my friend.

>91 vancouverdeb: I think your nephew has the right idea, Deb. Make the best of things and find an interest that gets you through. I am sure that he could fly home but the problem would be that he probably couldn't fly back again and he would jeopardise his employment.

>92 msf59: Thanks Mark. I am enjoying LT again this year. I had a terrible two years before this RL wise so this year has been kind to me in spite of whatever else is happening relative to the awful messes I have had to deal with earlier.

Hi Paul. It's so funny (funny? maybe interesting) how the current situation has created new reflexive reactions. I see that photo in >1 PaulCranswick: and my first thought is "so many people all sitting so close to one another!" My second thought is "right. BC." BC=Before Covid.

Happy New Thread!

I'm finally going to read Possession in May on my path toward reading (almost) all Booker winners. Am I recalling correctly that you liked it?

>13 PaulCranswick: Ooh, I love that list. Stealing it. I keep thinking that once I retire I will be more willing to take on a host of chunksters. :-)

>94 EBT1002: So we are now in 00 BC?!!

I did like Possession, Ellen, in that I recognised the literary merit of it. I found it a hard book to get through quickly and some of the passages of poetry that are interspersed amid the prose I didn't really know what to do with. I don't think it is in the very top echelon of winners but it is far, far from the worst.

I took the list of 50 from Jeff's thread and added 20 of my own picks.

I thought my additions were necessary because of the sheer perversity of including something like Underworld over A Fine Balance. I would have said The Stand over Sophie's Choice but I haven't read King's huge book and it would have been a exercise in literary snobbery to grumble about its inclusion when I haven't read it.

Thanks for the comment about Possession, Paul. It will likely help me through those sections.

I will say that I've read The Stand twice. I generally consider Stephen King to be a brilliant second-shelf contributor to the literary world, but The Stand is a step up. I haven't read all his works but I was a fan in my 20s, reading everything he published as soon as it was available. So I read all of his early works. I stopped when a friend pointed out that reading works that exacerbated my insomnia was, well, less than wholly sensible. I returned to The Stand years later and it held up. If I were suggesting one work of his to read, and one that rises to the level of literature rather than just well-crafted page-turning distraction, it would be that one.

I've not read Underworld but I agree about A Fine Balance. It was excellent!

>96 EBT1002: Thanks Ellen. My only experience thus far of King is his debut novel, Carrie, which was gauche in my opinion but showed of nascent talents as a story teller.

>94 EBT1002: >95 PaulCranswick: I really liked Possession, and should pull it from the shelf and reread it. I was in hospital recovering from a multiple compound fracture of the ankle when I read it, almost 30 years ago now. I remember the consultant saying to me that he was envious of me reading it for the first time.

Byatt isn't a poet Paul, so those parts were never going to be perfect, and I suspect might be where I find weaknesses now.

>98 Caroline_McElwee: She isn't you're right Caroline! In all fairness though it is a book that it would be difficult to say it didn't deserve the success it had.

I also enjoyed Possession and confess that I gave up on all the poetry in the book.

>100 avatiakh: It is a long time since I read it, Kerry and so I went and read some of the reviews on the work page. There are six or so from our group members and all with one exception loved it.

Something you will very rarely hear me say - could have done without the poetry.

Donald Trump's new favourite after dinner tipple:



Help yourself Mr. President; please, please do.

Elsewhere the likely choice of Biden's Running Mate has been a subject of debate and I think the sooner he makes the call the better.

I would be happy with either Kamala Harris or Amy Klobuchar who have the drive and debating skills that the candidate himself is starting to struggle with.

My own dark horse pick, Tammy Baldwin, surprisingly does get into CNN's 10 most likely.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/09/politics/joe-biden-vp-vice-president-pick/ind...

>102 PaulCranswick: Takes the cake, doesn't it?

>103 PaulCranswick: I don't have a real pick for Biden's VP, but in a perfect world it would be Michelle Obama.

>104 karenmarie: I get the emotional appeal of Michelle Obama and she is a wonderful and inspiring individual but I am not sure that she has the requisite experience to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. She would certainly help come election day.

>102 PaulCranswick: - LOL! I mentioned to a friend yesterday that maybe if he had volunteered to be the first to try his new *cure du jour*, people might not be so incensed. In fact, if many of his rabid followers take his advice (because he recommended it, of course), there will be far fewer of them to vote for him in November. Silver lining? ;-p

>106 jessibud2: He would pretty soon stop being sarcastic because he would stop being.

>104 karenmarie: >105 PaulCranswick:

Michelle Obama states somewhere in BECOMING that she will never run for President -
backing her up is Obama's comment that there was no way he could run for a third term,
even if it was offered, because Michelle would divorce him.

With Barack behind her as President, experience would not be the problem; she is just glad to be free.

>102 PaulCranswick: Love that!

My husband came across some famous people using DT's rebuttal. Ken Jennings said he was just being sarcastic when he gave wrong answers on Jeopardy.

I wish Obama could've run for a third term; he'd have won easily.

I'm another one who loved Possession, and so did Debbi. But I've never been drawn to read another book by her. Weird.

>109 VivienneR: Ha! Love that from Ken Jennings.

>94 EBT1002: - >110 jnwelch: I just realized that I haven't read A. S. Byatt, well not that I remember, but have mixed her up with another author that got on my nerves. So, maybe I'll check on Possession.

I'll weigh in - I'm another who loves Possession - it's one of my favorite books.

And for that matter, The Stand is the only Stephen King novel I've read, for while I don't do horror, I love a good plague book. It's definitely worth reading.

>112 Dejah_Thoris: The only Stephen King I've read are the Gunslinger series - I ended up with one and had read a short story somewhere. I was, like, this guy can sure tell a story, but I'm not sure he can write.

>13 PaulCranswick: I snagged your list, too.

>108 m.belljackson: I think he will pick Kamala Harris. There I said it. I am no longer a gambling man but if I was then my money would be on her.

>109 VivienneR: Haha Vivienne; Answer : Lysol Question : What would you serve the President to drink?

>110 jnwelch: There is oftentimes method in the madness of your constitution. Reagan would have gotten three terms and Clinton might still be in the White House!

Your observation on Byatt made me think and I must confirm the same as you that it is the only thing of hers I have read too.

>111 quondame: Easy to get her mixed up, Susan. She is, after all, the sister of Margaret Drabble and they famously do not get on.

>112 Dejah_Thoris: A good plague book? Can we think of any others, Princess?

>113 quondame: That is a very acute observation. I also got the impression that he was a born storyteller who hadn't quite mastered the art of writing! Still it was his debut novel I was commenting upon.

>114 richardderus: Help yourself with absolute pleasure, RD.

happy weekend, Paul and happy new thread. Great opening picture!

Happy new thread, Paul. You are back to your old style--I can't keep up! LOL

I also stole a list -- >11 PaulCranswick:!! : ) I'll have to see what I've read....

>102 PaulCranswick: Ouch! What an idiot.

Happy Sunday!!

Another plague book, Paul, is one I read several years ago, Year of Wonders by the wonderful Geraldine Brooks.

Possession by A. S. Byattwas one of my favorite books of all time. It was on my first ever LT Personal favorites list. I loved all the fairy tales and folk tales built into the story. I even liked the poetry. This is one of the few books I have that would reread.

>9 PaulCranswick: That's a really good idea to summarize your reading decade. I think I will give that a whirl. Also, I like the idea of working through the Nobel Prize winners. Thanks for the inspiration Paul.

Happy new thread! Love your ten year reflection. I want to do more tracking of my own reading.

>117 PaulCranswick: There are many, many plague books, although I'll grant that many of them are not particularly good, lol.

My personal favorite probably remains Doomsday Book by Connie Willis which gets you time travel and the plague - how can you top that? The Stand is probably my number two. Then there's Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year, Crichton's Andromeda Strain, Masque of the Red Death (ok, so it's a short story, but gloriously creepy), the already mentioned Year of Wonders (although I had mixed feelings about this one), and even M. M. Kaye's Trade Wind has a nice little epidemic in it. There's plenty of decent YA epidemic fiction, like Fever 1793 or At the Sign of the Sugared Plum. I'm sure I'm forgeting some good ones - I imagine a few more folks may chime in.

As for nonfiction, I most recently read Black Death at the Golden Gate which I thought was good, but my favorite remains The Ghost Map. And I'll stop myself from recommending any more - although you can let me know if you if you need any suggestions. :)

I got this from Anu Garg via A Word A Day: A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
For what is a poem but a hazardous attempt at self-understanding: it is the deepest part of autobiography. -Robert Penn Warren, novelist and poet (24 Apr 1905-1989)

>117 PaulCranswick: If we're looking for great plague books we can't not include The Decameron; it's sort of the original self-isolation text.

I'm sorry, I am heading back to The Green Dragon where we discuss everything and everything about books but religion and politics.

When y'all get back to discussing anything but partisan politics, I'll be happy to come back.

I hate how LT has become nothing but threads full of this crap.

>119 banjo123: Thank you, Rhonda. I am a little tired after the first couple of days of fasting. It is traditional to wake up very early to have, in my case, something light to eat and drink. And then I go back to bed "for a couple of hours" - I went back at 5:30 and woke up at 11! So much for my readathon timetable!

>120 Berly: Thanks Kimmers. I just noticed as I logged on that you are burning up your own thread at the moment! I'll be along there shortly. Help yourself to whatever lists you want - I put them up because I want to share them.

>121 jessibud2: I have that one on the shelves too, Shelley, although I wasn't yet aware of the subject matter.

>122 benitastrnad: There is a lot of love for the book, Benita, I can see. Have you read anything else by her?

>102 PaulCranswick: I wish he would. Really.

>121 jessibud2: I heartily second the recommendation for Year of Wonders, plague or no plague. It's a magnificent novel.

>123 brewbooks: Lovely to see you here, John. Feel free to use whatever you want to.

>124 witchyrichy: I have been going back through my reading since I was on LT and also because I am a little worried that my memory, which I always prided myself on, is not quite what it was. I realised this after reading Julia Copus' The World's Two Smallest Humans earlier this year.
I thought that there was something familiar about it, Karen, and when I checked it again, I had read it in 2017!

>125 Dejah_Thoris: Ah yes, Princess, I have read Doomsday Book. That is an interesting list indeed but, I'm not sure that it is the subject matter I most want to read about right now!

>126 richardderus: I like that, RD, thanks for sharing it. Many of my own fumbling attempts are of course that but also of trying the understand the world around us.

>127 amanda4242: Another great tome that I have on the shelves, Amanda. Thank you.

>128 fuzzi: Your post saddened me, Fuzzi, and pulled me up short.
I also prefer talking about books and it is why I joined both LT and this wonderful group. It is difficult to avoid looking outside our windows and not casting an agued eye at what we see before us.
I cannot speak for others but in my case it is certainly not partisanship of the kind I think you meant. I think the world would be a better place without Republicans or Democrats (as Morrissey once sang) and I support neither.

I can empathise with your thoughts and frustrations that you want LT to be a haven for book talk and you must be where you are comfortable. I always value your insight and presence on my thread, in the group, on LT, whatever. If you will be at the Green Dragon, I shall make it a regular port of call for me.

Take care dear lady. xx

>131 EBT1002: I have read her Pulitzer winner March and she can certainly write, Ellen.

There are a couple of good nonfiction books about the Flu Epidemic of 1918. My book discussion group read Great Influenza: the Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History by John M. Berry two years ago and while it was very thorough it was also rather dry. It was about 400 pages and it took a long time to really get going. I think it got bogged down in the history of the professionalization of medicine, but it does a good job of explaining how hard they tried to find a vaccine for the 1918 flu and for pneumonia, and why there still isn't one available today.

There is also Pale Rider: the Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World by Laura Spinney.

There is the really good book by the eminent author and historian Barbara Tuchman. A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century is about the Black Death and its aftermath. This is a very engrossing book to read on the subject of what epidemics mean for societies and culture. I read this book years ago and still have my copy of it - and I rarely keep books around once I have read them.

Book #55



North by Seamus Heaney

Date Published : 1975
Origin of Author : Ireland (actually Northern Ireland but Heaney considered himself Irish)
Pages : 68 pp

In any ranking of the poets most important to me, or even in my ranking of the greatest of Modern Poets - which is really the poetry I am interested in, will always see Heaney included. I was devastated when he passed as, in my view, the last of the greats was no more.

Some see Heaney as a political poet but I don't quite concur with the view. It is true that the troubles do interweave his work but they never take over his oeuvre. He observes and reports and laments but he doesn't glorify or rabble rouse.

North is often seen as his most political collection and the title is taken to symbolise that but in reality Heaney was and will always remain a poet rooted in the soil of his locale and the natural world in particular. The book is in two sections - the first part more symbolic and peopling his Northern landscape with the creatures of yore - the Bog people, the Vikings and others. The second part is more overtly grounded in the present and the troubles in particular.

Some of his most famous poems are included here and I won't quote too greatly from it as I would love you all to read them yourselves!

This excerpt is from his poem "Punishment" which is at once archeological and also about the tarring and feathering of ladies consorting with the enemy.



her shaved head
like a stubble of black corn,
her blindfold a soiled bandage,
her noose a ring

to store
the memories of love.
Little adultress,
before they punished you

you were flaxen-haired,
undernourished, and your
tar-black face was beautiful.
My poor scapegoat,

I almost love you
but would have cast, I know,
the stones of silence.
I am the artful voyeur

of your brain's exposed
and darkened combs,
your muscles' webbing
and all your numbered bones:

I who have stood dumb
when your betraying sisters,
cauled in tar,
wept by the railings,

who would connive
in civilized outrage
yet understand the exact
and tribal, intimate revenge.

All visitors here know my prejudices when it comes to poetry. Of course recommended.

I noticed that somebody upthread made a comment about too many political views on this thread and that we should talk about books. I just want to tell you that I have always regarded the threads as a social networking part of LT and don't understand why folks can't just scroll past comments that they don't like. I love my mother but sometimes I have to "scroll" past some of her comments at the dinner table, so why can't we do that here and not have to make comments about the comments of others?

As for discussing books - there is a tremendous amount of discussion about books that goes on in your threads, with titles and authors being thrown out all the time. Book bullets fly around this thread hitting people willy nilly. There are some very in-depth and valuable discussions about literature going on here, and some heavy duty reading. In general I have found the discussions to be civil discourse about books and the ideas that they contain. Because books often force us to think about situations, people, and events in ways that we would not normally do, we have to be able to talk about them freely and discuss them with the idea that we won't all like the same books so we need to be able to voice those opinions. We do have to be tolerant of the ideas others bring to the discussion. I think that this thread does just that.

Please don't take that comment to heart and just continue to host and post as you please.

Everybody just needs to stay calm and carry on. Or in this case, if you don't like something just scroll past it, or just quietly stop visiting the thread.

>138 benitastrnad: Thank you for that. Benita. Lovely thoughts, well expressed.

I do empathise with the earlier comments made but these are extraordinary times we live in and it is difficult to completely close one's eyes to them.

The primary focus of this thread is books, my friends, life, books, the world outside, lists and stats and books; what makes me/us laugh and cry and be happy or sad or angry - oh and books.

Ph and I almost missed:

>136 benitastrnad: I am a huge admirer of Barbara Tuchman. Her Guns of August is undeniably the best thing I have read about the beginning of the Great War (and I have read quite a bit).

>125 Dejah_Thoris: The Plague?

>141 quondame: It comes from comments on The Stand, Susan. I asked what other books were about "a plague".

Reading ahead for AAC, Robert Penn Warren's poem, CHIEF JOSEPH of the NEZ PERCE is a heartbreaking wonder.
It is published as a stand-alone book.

>143 m.belljackson: I will be reading his Pulitzer winner this time but I do fancy reading some of his poetry which is notoriously difficult to find.

>141 quondame: >142 PaulCranswick: Camus' The Plague is definitely on my list to get to - maybe even by the end of the month. Were you able to get your hands on a copy, Susan? I know you and Anita have it listed for the a TIOLI Challenge.

>145 Dejah_Thoris: That is a favourite of mine, Princess. I read it probably 25 years ago and it is still in my mind quite often.

One of my favorite books about plague/pandemics is The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe by Robert Steven Gottfried.

>147 karenmarie: Yeah the touchstones seem to be down and it is so frustrating!
It is a history that I am less than familiar with, Karen, in truth.

>146 PaulCranswick: In that case, I'll make a point of getting to it this month - reading about epidemic/pandemics doesn't seem to be bothering me. :)

>149 Dejah_Thoris: You are a tough cookie, Princess! I will give those a miss for now I think.

I am getting the Co-Vid test tomorrow. I don't think that there is any cause for panic as it is compulsory for me to return to work at the project sites in accordance with the new government rules here.

>150 PaulCranswick: My fingers are crossed that all goes well with the test and the return to work.

>151 Dejah_Thoris: It will not be at a hospital as they are setting up a mobile testing station at the project site.

>152 PaulCranswick: Well, at least it will be convenient!

>153 Dejah_Thoris: They are also managing it by batches of three at a time to keep people as apart as possible.

>154 RebaRelishesReading: That has me intrigued, Reba. xx

A brief, non-specific comment on social interactions here: Any door one closes one's self can always (or nearly so) be re-opened. It's when the door's closed for you that you're being told you aren't wanted. The distinction should always be kept fresh in our minds.

>156 richardderus: Thank you for those sage words RD.

Anyone is welcome here at any time and I would not close the door on anyone unless they espoused sentiments overtly:

racist
sexist
homophobic

or disrespectful to Leeds United or The Electric Light Orchestra.

I have so many friends here on LT and would want them to be comfortable here and if they aren't I'll find them at their own place of choice with a glad heart and a kind word.

>142 PaulCranswick: re >141 quondame:, >145 Dejah_Thoris: Didn't my touchstone work? I guess the question should have been writen "Shouldn't The Plague be first on that list?"

>144 PaulCranswick:

Well, I'd mail the book to you, only...

1. the year before last, I sent you a Birthday card - it came back undeliverable

2. the manila envelope containing a book and some other stuff I can no longer remember
was estimated to cost $120-$130 to send to Malaysia
(which would be 1/9th of my monthly social security!)

So, I was planning to send both to you the next time you visited your new employer in Jacksonville...

***********

Did I miss something - what's the deal about people not feeling comfortable here?

>158 quondame: Well it looks like they're working again!

>159 m.belljackson: We will make it stateside one of these fine days and a trip to Madison might just about be arranged. Save it for me. xx

>159 m.belljackson: By the way, the mail to Malaysia is notoriously difficult.

>162 PaulCranswick:

It was weird because I compared the returned address with what you had written and they were the same.

See last line on #159 - Edit was added.

ps. PM an address & I will send book.
It will be safe since we're all COVID - free, IF test was accurate.

Good luck with yours - the problem is that if you test negative and do not totally isolate
(no work,
groceries delivered, etc.), you can get the virus the next day.

pss. Also did not get response when I emailed to address you had sent.

Hi Paul, not quite a plague book but it needs to be mentioned, The Decameron by Boccaccio.

Two YA novels on the plague are A Parcel of Patterns by Jill Paton Walsh & All fall down by Sally Nicholls, both were good reads. The Nicholls book is set in a village near York. Breath by Donna Jo Napoli is a Pied Piper retelling.

The zombie fiction, Feed, by Mira Grant was an exciting read based around bloggers following a Presidential election during a pandemic.'Two man-made viruses (a cure for cancer and a cure for the common cold) combined to form Kellis-Amberlee, a virus that quickly infects all mammalian life.'

Years since I read it but Love in the Time of Cholera by title alone deserves a mention, not sure how much importance cholera has to the plot.

The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish is partly set during a plague epidemic in 1660s London. I loved this book.

I've read several New Zealand children's books about the spanish flu epidemic but can't think of an adult fiction that focuses on it.

>156 richardderus: >157 PaulCranswick: Very much agree.

>164 avatiakh: I'd forgotten about The Weight of Ink - I agree that was a very good book.

As for the 1918 Influenza epidemic, Katherine Anne Porter's Pale Horse, Pale Rider is usually the one I see mentioned. It's generally found published with two other short novels and I'm working on it - slowly.

>163 m.belljackson: I have a new address these days, Marianne - maybe that will help!

I will PM you after I have had a couple of hours sleep. xx

>164 avatiakh: Amanda also mentioned The Decameron, Kerry.

I am sure if I got my thinking cap on I could come up with a few but I am severely sleep deprived just now.

Spanish flu epidemic one could try Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Ann Porter.

ETA

Station Eleven
and
Blindness

probably both fit.

>165 Dejah_Thoris: Great minds and all that. I honestly hadn't read your post while I was answering Kerry's post.

>167 PaulCranswick: Well, I hope you don't mind that I jumped in an answered!

>168 Dejah_Thoris: Of course not, Princess, you are far more knowledgeable on the genre than am I. I only realised about the Porter book because I had recently been trying to track down her short stories for the Pulitzer challenge.

Personally, I am quite delighted by the chit chat on your thread, political, family,covid -19 or whatever, Paul. I do a lot of " chatting " and connecting here on LT. We are not as locked down here in Canada, but oh boy, I am beginning to feel a little restless and bored. I really need the bookstores and libraries to open up, and just the every day drop in here and there to go back to normal. Of course I realize it will be a while until that happens, but I appreciate the connection we have here on LT. The 75's are all about books, connection, chit chat etc. Carry on as you do! Best to you!

>169 PaulCranswick: Oh yes - I'll have to tackle The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter - which includes all of Pale Horse, Pale Rider: Three Short Novels - one of these days. It's a bit daunting.

>102 PaulCranswick: yet again, unparalleled depths have ben reached from that man.

Re: plague books, I recently read and then gifted to my niece, a book called Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson. It was very good, and (obviously) relevant to current times!

Hi, Paul. Far down the thread, I'm chiming in on Year of Wonders. Great book. I can still feel being there in the middle of it.

Excellent Seamus Heaney poem. He is a master of chewy, delectable language.

>170 vancouverdeb: These are extraordinary times, Deb, but I honestly can't blame anyone for being fed up with the politics being found in everything. The Coronavirus pandemic shouldn't be about politics it should be about people coming together for the common good. It should be about celebrating or showing our appreciation of the health workers world wide who have, man and woman, stepped up to the plate and put themselves at risk for others. We are of course going to point out some of the worst excesses of the politicians but it is one issue that I really do wish politics - partisan politics - didn't intrude upon.

I don't think I will ever be able to change my thread and it will always be more about the books and my life, family and lists, but world events do affect us all and will come up here for sure and I won't ignore those who comment upon it - I might agree or disagree - but I won't ignore.

>171 Dejah_Thoris: Haven't been able to find any of her work here in Malaysia, Princess, so I will have to order it.

>172 LovingLit: You just reminded me, Megan, that one of my favourite thriller writers, Deon Meyer has written a book called Fever which I am fairly sure is also about a pandemic.

>173 jnwelch: That book has jumped a few places on my TBR list, Joe.

Heaney was a genius whose craft had an earthen beauty that I have not seen in other writers.

The Stand is one of my favorite books of all time. I can't tell you how many times I've reread it. Perhaps a dozen? And that's of the uncut 1,193 page version. It's been a decade though. Probably time for a reread!

I also loved Year of Wonders. I read and enjoyed, if not loved, everything Geraldine Brooks wrote up through Caleb's Crossing (2011.) I was disappointed in that one so haven't picked up The Secret Chord (2015) yet.

Caleb's wasn't awful, just not up to her usual quality. I found it boring and put-downable.

>13 PaulCranswick: I snagged this list. It is interesting in that I have read hardly a thing on the list.
But hey, this is LT 75-ers and I know you'll all be kind about how unread I am, no?

And Btw, I am way behind on your threads (12 already!), so although I didn't see where someone apparently commented about there being "too many political views", I just wanted to say: I like the wide-ranging commentary by this group.

For one thing, we've a cosmopolitan sort of group, with many countries represented, albeit maybe very Eurocentric, so lots of us benefit from hearing about what it is like politically, culturally and even emotionally in different places.

As well, countries like mine (Canada) and the USA are hugely disparate entities. I've learned a lot about the views across many of the different states and even counties "south of 49", for example. I still don't understand how an electorate could (ahem) choose the Orange-hair person. So I welcome those discussions too.

Not that you need my affirmation, Paul. I just think we should speak up to support you (and anyone in the same difficulty) and to encourage (respectfully of course) open conversations here. As a group, we're an interesting and chatty bunch. I feel like I truly fit in. Which is a novel feeling for me.

OK. Finished saying the obvious I suppose. I liked >138 benitastrnad: Benita's comments too.

>135 PaulCranswick: Year of Wonders is even better than March. Just sayin'.

xo

Interesting number of books on plagues. Coincidentally, I cribbed a list from the 'nets with a title, Books About Diseases, Plagues, and Pandemics. Forty books. I'm going to post it on my thread; don't want to foist it on you.

The books listed are not exclusively about the plague. At least a couple are about the Aids epidemic and more than that that get into zombies.

Hi Paul! I am not sure that I have the stomach for plague books right now, but Lawrence Wright's new book is a pandemic novel. The End of October, it's releasing next month.

>176 Morphidae: Lordy, you must really like that book, Morphy. A dozen re-reads! I think I have read a few books three times but no more than that.

What do Geraldine Brooks, Paul Muldoon and Carol Shields have in common?

>177 SandyAMcPherson: Lists are totally meant for sharing, Sandy!

I do think we sometimes do all get a little opinionated and I am as much to blame for that as anyone else. I do try to avoid any insults of world figures but sometimes the ridicule is a little too difficult to turn up as in the Dettol-on-the-rocks picture which I found funny.

I have to say, Sandy, that I didn't feel I was in any way being attacked. It was a genuinely held point of view that there is too much politics and instead a preference to discuss books. I get that. I respect that and I wouldn't want anyone to feel uncomfortable coming here.

I do think we generally articulate ideas, issues and argument in a constructive and respectful manner, although I also think there are on rare occasions a few blips here too and I have always found the group largely a friendly and supportive place to be.

Eurocentric? I don't get that to be honest. There are only 24 of the top 140 threads resident in Europe with the vast majority being from the USA.

Thank you for feeling the need to support me though Sandy and the sentiments in so doing are appreciated.

>178 EBT1002: That is good, Ellen, because I thought March was better than OK.

>179 weird_O: I will certainly go and look that list up, Bill.

>180 banjo123: Not many can stomach a plague, Rhonda! It is not my intended reading material just now either.

Happy new thread, Paul and the best wishes to you and your family.

>175 PaulCranswick: Heaney was a genius whose craft had an earthen beauty that I have not seen in other writers.

LOOK AWAY LOOK AWAY NOTHING TO SEE HERE LOOK AWAY

That's exactly how I feel about most of Heaney's work. He transcends the awful, swampy self-referential tedium of poetry and flashes blinding swords of genius at his readers.

>185 richardderus:
*faints*

Ooooo...lists!

Of course I grabbed >13 PaulCranswick: and put it on my thread because...lists. I’m always intrigued by what others find valuable and how their choices/tastes might compare to mine. So thank you for that!

Wishing you and your family a peaceful and safe week, and hoping you can all be together soon.

ETA I adored The Siege of Krishnapur. It became an instant favorite, marked for rereading.

>183 PaulCranswick: Er...I feel rather guilty about the plague book discussion on your thread, particularly given that it's not your preferred reading material right now! Sorry about that.

>181 PaulCranswick: I concur with Morphy on The Stand. It was probably the first "adult" book I read, and the first King. I don't know if I've read it that many times, but 2 since I started tracking on LT, and probably at least 3 or 4 over the years prior.

Before I joined this wonderful group and started getting so MANY BBs, I used to reread all the time. My big hitters are... John Varley's Gaea trilogy, I've read 5 or 6 times, Snow Crash at least 5. Number of the Beast, probably 4. Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo is probably my favorite WWII memoir that I'm sure I've read 5 or 6 times. I used to check that out of the library all the time when I was a kid.

They're like comfort food to me, or listening to a favorite album. Sometimes you pick up something new, or other times, you can just speedread/skim thru it and play it thru in your mind.

>181 PaulCranswick: The northern residents of the American continent somehow associate their culture with northern Europe. We aren't but we are. It doesn't help that that the Eurasian continent picks up our fads, sometimes more quickly than they penetrate our heartland.

>155 PaulCranswick: I posted some information relative to >115 PaulCranswick: before I read >127 amanda4242: and decided to delete it.

That said, it's pretty mild so I'll go ahead and say it.

Biden has said he will choose a woman as running mate which pretty much leaves it to Warren, Klobuchar, Harris, and Gillibrand, all senators. If one of them is selected the governor of that state would appoint a replacement in the senate. In the case of Warren, the governor is a Republican so that would likely mean the Democrats would lose one seat in the senate which makes picking her problematic. It also seems likely that he will choose someone from a "swing state". California and New York are both strongly Democratic (like CA went 60% for Hillary a number topped only by Hawaii and DC). So I wouldn't rule Klobuchar out.

I wanted to add to the plague books that there are two works of fiction I heard about over the weekend that would make fine plague reading.

The first is Severance by Ling Ma. I heard about this one on the New York Times Book Review podcast while I was cooking yesterday. This one has lots of awards and appeared on lots of lists. It is set in NYC during and in the aftermath of the arrival of Shen Fever. It is full of humor and the reviewers said that it was also full of food for thought on what it means to be an office drone in the modern world.

The second book is Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker. this one is set in a college town in Somewhere, USA. The college students are attacked by a mysterious disease that puts them into a sheeplike state. From the college it spreads to the town and then beyond.

>192 benitastrnad: Ooo Dreamers reminds me of John Scalzi's Lock In. A flu-like virus causes 1% to be locked in, fully awake, but unable to move at all.

>181 PaulCranswick: In our "neck of the woods" Eurocentric has meant "those of European-origins" or an upbringing in such households.

This gets a bit tricky in our inherited melting pot of racial ancestry in North America, because many of us have families with lineages that date back to the first migrations to the continent. Or from a way-back intermarriage with very early migrants.

In anthropology classes (college level) I first heard this term used to describe the influence of Euro-based thinking which erroneously interpreted Indigenous societies as "savages" or some other similar pejorative.

And you have implied a valid point ~ *I* do not know what the societal mix of people is (on LT), on a global basis.

>184 SirThomas: Thanks Thomas. I worked half a day today at Sapura site and then took the coronavirus test and came home absolutely exhausted. After breaking my fast, I watched a little netflix (I am watching a police drama from Finland called Bordertown and love the quirky lead) I had a coffee and then went to lie down. I woke up five hours later!

>185 richardderus: I am not going to gloat here because I agree with you. Heaney was very, very special.

>186 Matke: Haha, Gail. RD is a big softie at heart. The words of Seamus Heaney transcended poetry for me.

>187 Matke: As I have said, the lists are always meant to be shared so I'm always pleased if I say any of them elsewhere. xx
The Siege of Krishnapur, like everything Farrell wrote, was a wonderfully constructed novel.

>188 Dejah_Thoris: No problem, Princess. I love talking about the plague books even if I will not read one of them just at the moment. No censorship over here!!

>189 mahsdad: That is a very interesting post on re-reading, Jeff. It isn't a habit of mine too much. Hammond Innes, Alistair McLean, the Doctor Who books, Lord of the Rings and Of Mice and Men would be the limit of my re-reads.
The exception would be poetry. I keep a select group of books which I thought were excellent and I shelve them together, but otherwise I box up books when I have read them and display only the 4,000 or so that I haven't yet read. I never box up poetry and always keep it shelved and near me - read or not. That is because I will often dip in or out of a poetry collection re-reading favourite poems. When I list or review a poetry collection here in my book reviews and books read here it is because I have sat down and read or reread all the poems in that particular collection or anthology, When I dip in to read something back etc I don't include it.

Well, it's not the day to be an Irish poet, is it: Eavan Boland died at a mere 75.

>190 quondame: I get that Susan, but there isn't the same obsession with the American president in Europe to the same degree as in North America and the USA in particular. I am sure that you, as a Canadian, also find the Republican/Democrat split a strange one sometimes although I have to say that the differences between them are becoming more marked and the centre ground less populated.
In Europe for example we take universal free health care pretty much for granted but its provision in the US is considered akin to the search for the grail amongst progressives.

>191 RebaRelishesReading: I originally majored in Politics, English and History at Warwick until I realised that I wouldn't get a job. So politics and political discussion will always fascinate me, Reba.

It is also always a subject I am willing to express a view about and welcome anybody's comments and opinions here.

As visitors here will remember I was impressed with Klobuchar during her run and thought she won decisively at least two of the debates in a crowded field. I think she would be an excellent choice.

>197 PaulCranswick: Most books today, I'm not precious about packing up and donating, but my older pulp paperbacks for some reason I can't let go of.

Rereading - I'll admit I haven't done much rereading in recent years. Audiobooks being the exception, if I can't find anything interesting off the WL, I will go back to old standbys. King being chief among them. I'm currently in the process of rereading the Dark Tower series. Its pretty popular, so I generally have to wait 5 or 6 weeks between each book before it comes available at the library.

LOTR would be another one to add to the reread list. I've probably read The Hobbit more than the trilogy, but I've read LOTR at least 2 or 3 times.

>192 benitastrnad: I haven't heard of either of them, Benita, but the one set in NYC in particular looks interesting.

Have you seen the book Fever by Deon Meyer? When this pandemic is shown the door and assuming I survive it (!), then I'll probably read that one.

>193 mahsdad: Just goes to show what a lot of books there are on this subject, Jeff and no-one has mentioned Robin Cook or Ray Hammond

>199 PaulCranswick: Not a Canadian, a Californian. Which may be just as far from "normal American", but still shows the same tar. As to the national composition of the threads, well, we are conducting this discussion in English, and the English have always had their differences from the European mainland, mostly those on the European mainland who want to move there en-mass with sharp pointy things.

>194 SandyAMcPherson: In that sense then your earlier comment was definitely correct, Sandy. Then again I suppose anthropologically that would explain why we are all communicating in English on this site. The colonial spread of Great Britain to an extraordinary extent including the founding states and the USA and the non-Quebecois parts of Canada and this consolidation by the USA given its hegemony after the Second World War.

>198 richardderus: The Irish have a rare gift for words, RD, which explains why such a small country produced Swift, Sterne, Shaw, Wilde, Yeats, Heaney and Kavanagh. True poets - those who sculpt with words - are thin on the ground and thinner by the day.

>200 mahsdad: Jeff, I do have keep and non-keep boxes! Yeah and I should include the Hobbit in my small list too.

>202 quondame: That is funny, Susan, because I posted something along similar lines on the influence of English just as you were posting this.

I finished listening to the New York Times Podcast and in it they mentioned another very good plague book that was not a downer. It is Plague and I by Betty MacDonald. Macdonald is an American author who was probably most famous for writing the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series for children. It turns out she was also a very good author of other books, and she wrote a series of memoirs of which Plague and I was one. It is about the time that she spent in a tuberculosis sanitarium outside of Seattle, WA, where she was subjected to a series o, often bizarre, "treatments" for the disease, in the years just following WWII.

Then there is also Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. This one is set in a sanitarium in Switzerland in the early 1900's.

The mention of both of these books is a reminder that tuberculosis is still one of the top 5 killers around the world every year. It is also a disease that is growing increasing resistant to our efforts to treat it and may soon be as feared in the developed countries as is malaria in many parts of the world. Talk about a plague about which we should be concerned - that is one of them.

>205 benitastrnad: There was a feeling a number of years ago that TB had been eradicated, Benita. I understand that that feeling was wrong.

I'm on the cusp of reading. Yes, by gosh, I am. All I have to do—ah hahahahaha—is stop with the LISTs already.

But I did descend into The TBR Catacombs™ and pluck four titles from the Diseases, Plagues, and Pandemics list (I posted it on my thread) to sneak in between serious reading.

Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Nemesis by Philip Roth
The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston (NF)

In a different category, I think I'll read The Overstory by Richard Powers as the Pulitzer winner for May. I won't get to it right off in May, but absolutely before May ends.

Finally, a visual comment on our msuings on current affairs:

Lots of good discussion here, Paul, and I am late to the party.

>13 PaulCranswick: I have read a few of these:

Fantasy - 205
Science Fiction - 79
Nonfiction - 26
Mystery - 38

It helps that there are a lot of classics on here, from back when I read omniverously and there were a lot fewer to choose from.

>205 benitastrnad: I starred in our senior year high school play of The Egg and I, playing the role of Betty McDonald, Benita. But I've never read her Plague book.

>207 weird_O: Thanks for that Bill. I don't think that I have seen the Roth book mentioned elsewhere yet and the coffin badge made me smile and nod simultaneously.

I will join you for The Overstory.

>208 ronincats: I thought that you would run Susan's extraordinary Fantasy/SF figures close.

You had 284 to her 302. Respect.

I simply love the image of you as an omnivorous reader, but then again most of us are I guess in the literal sense!

Overstory in May? Oooh! Now where did I put that one...?

Hi Paul, I've managed to miss almost an entire thread in 4 days! Hope ramadan is going well. I can't imagine trying to fast just now, we seem to go from meal to meal. Kudos.

I liked the Overstory but am not tempted to read it again (it's a bit of a brick, as I recall) (sorrynotsorry). Hope you enjoy it.

>205 benitastrnad: I read The Plague and I years ago and loved it. MacDonald was a favorite with me for a while. Not many people can take dealing with a potentially fatal disease and make it so very funny.

I’ve got The Magic Mountain on a side table, waiting for me to finish a few other reads.

>210 Berly: I may get two of those chunksters in >13 PaulCranswick: done next month. I also plan to read Pachinko.

>211 charl08: Fasting is not so bad, Charlotte - I even managed to cook myself a chicken curry today and it was good, if a little spicy. Belle and Erni were having cuttlefish which I don't like so I was called into auxiliary cooking duties - I did well!

>212 Matke: Hi Gail. I have owned The Magic Mountain for a while but have not proven brave enough to try it yet!

Regarding "plague" books. Here is a contagious list of 20 books:

https://www.vulture.com/article/best-pandemic-books.html

Lots of TBR's flying round my ears on your thread, Paul.

I do appreciate all the discussion here. I've never travelled much, but of course there's the news and documentaries to see what is happening elsewhere. But I think just the talk and discussions here are making me feel closer to all you out there than any TV can.

>215 PaulCranswick: Oh, nice presentation. Adds two titles to my expanding book list: disease, death, apocalypse, mayhem, disorder...

Interesting that the Vulture list includes a link to amazon.com with each book's entry. And note the prices on Journal of the Plague Years by Norman Spinrad ($137) and Beauty Salon by Mario Bellatin ($423). Out-of-print, hard to find, $$$$.

>216 EllaTim: That is a lovely way to express things, Ella. Friendships made her on LT are no less real for being in large part virtual!

LT Meet-ups, I have invariably found that it is so comfortable chatting with people you eventually meet because you largely know each other already.
I have met Caro and John Simpson (John is from my hometown in West Yorkshire and he was born in the same village as my father but it was through LT that we met). I have met Megan, Rhian, Prue, Darryl, Joe, Debbi, Paul Harris, Caroline, Luci, Bianca, Claire and Piyush even despite spending most of my time so far from most of you and I don't have a single negative experience to speak of.

>217 weird_O: Eagle-eyed Bill! I hadn't noticed that on the prices - will put me off for a goodly while until I get my finances back into shape!

>215 PaulCranswick: Oooh that's a great list! I've read a lot from that but will end up seeking out more!

Bill put up a list of 40 "plague books" on his thread that you really ought to go and check out:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/318375#7141266

>220 ChelleBearss: I like the list, Chelle, but will avoid the books just for the moment. You might want to check out Bill's list which I link to above. There are obviously some overlaps between the two lists.

Hi Paul!

People can metaphorically vote with their feet, as fuzzi did. The Green Dragon specifically prohibits politics and religion, but the 75ers don’t, so I guess people fit where they’re comfortable. There’s also Club Read, I suppose, but the 75ers has been my home since 2008, first full year on LT, and I either love the threads/discussions, don’t post, or unstar the thread. Easy peasy.

>>177 SandyAMcPherson: Sandy, the electorate did not choose the Orange-hair person. The Electoral College chose the Orange-hair person, and it’s twice within recent memory, only four times ever.

1876 – Samuel Tilden beat Rutherford B. Hayes in the popular vote but lost in the Compromise of 1877.
1888 – Grover Cleveland won the popular vote but Benjamin Harrison won the Electoral College.
2000 – Al Gore beat George W. Bush by 539,000 votes but the Supreme Court chose the winner by stopping a recount that would most likely have given the Presidency to Gore.
2016 - Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by approximately 3 million votes but DJT won the Electoral College.

>192 benitastrnad: I second Dreamers. Beautifully written, scary, and unfortunately oh-so-timely.

Waving hello, and hope you're well, Paul. Good luck on the COVID test too. I could join in on The Overstory in May, it's on my shelves and could give me a push to finally read it. I'll see if I can polish off a few titles to make room for it on the soon-to-be-read list.

I also have a copy of Overstory and might be able to squeeze it in during May.

I saw on Bill's list that they included Blindness by Jose Saramago and I can't imagine why I have mentioned that book here. It is fantastic and so appropriate for these times - for political and medical reasons. Great book. and then there is the sequel - Seeing.

I read Blindness years ago when it was released in the US after Saramago won the Nobel Prize. A friend of mine was traveling and had a lengthy delay in an airport. She found a display of Saramago books in one of the airport bookstores and purchased it. When she got home she called me and told me that she had a book that I just had to read because she wanted to know what I thought of it. So I read it - and my conclusion - BRILLIANT! Saramago is an author who truly deserves his Nobel win.

If you haven't read this book - you should. It will scare you. It will fill you with hope. It is about so much more than a disease and the results of it. It is deadly accurate, metaphysical, and political. How could it be none of those things and still be authored by Saramago? Brilliant author - just brilliant.

>223 karenmarie: All true, Karen. I don't want to encourage anyone to vote with their feet metaphorically or otherwise! Fuzzi had her reasons and I respect and support her choice. I will visit her various threads and I hope she'll be back here someday or wherever I have my thread. We are fine and still very much friends.

Politics intrudes into all of our lives, especially in these times, and to be silent is sometimes to acquiesce. I do like debate to be conducted both in good humour as well as good naturedly. People often wear their hearts on their sleeves and I won't blame anyone for passionate views but the complaint about partisanship is sometimes probably fair but difficult to avoid.

As I said I am British and therefore certainly neither a Democrat or a Republican but some issues do affect all of us.

As a student of history your statement about electoral college is obviously right, but there isn't a perfect voting system that I have yet come across. In this case though it often boils down to a two horse race for the Federal President of the Fifty States. Surely it makes sense that the one who gets more votes than the other across those 50 states should be the winner? Really that system has failed America.

I like the French Presidential Election. They have a vote with a number of candidates on week one and then on week two the top two in the vote face off with the one with most votes winning.

>224 bell7: i'll get my result tomorrow, and if I have it then I am feeling fine anyway!
Would be happy if you join for The Overstory.

>225 benitastrnad: Yay! Et tu, Benita?

I also appreciated Blindness but I did find it a difficult read. I preferred his book The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis.

I agree though that I think it difficult to begrudge Saramago his Nobel Prize.

On the other hand, in my lifetime, I really cannot comprehend how the Academy were able to choose as they did in:

1974, 1997, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2014 & 2016, but then again opinions make this site, I suppose.

>215 PaulCranswick: >221 PaulCranswick: Thank you for posting the lists, Paul - there were several new ones for me on both! I'm in the midst of The Plague at the moment, and other than finishing Pale, Horse, Pale Rider: Three Short Novels, that ought to hold me for a bit.

I'm hosting the SFF-KIT over in the Category Challenge group in May, so I'll pleasantly SF&F oriented shortly - Murderbot, you know.

>228 Dejah_Thoris: I'll go over and investigate, Princess.

Will nicely coincide I think because I have JG Ballard, Michael Moorcock and Brian Aldiss for my British Author Challenge next month too.

oKay, leaving the Merry Volcanoes of Politics for a moment, back to your mention of OUTLANDER above.

Here's what I don't get: In the book DRAGONFLY IN AMBER, Murtaugh dies at Culloden, right?

Then, because he was a very popular television character, he was allowed to live -
until he was shot in a really stupid manner.

If he was brought back, notably to fans who were enjoying him a lot more than Claire and Jamie,
why not keep him to the end (if that ever comes) to close Jamie's eyes...?
Why bring him back just to kill him AGAIN...?

>230 m.belljackson: Aargh - Marianne - I haven't yet read Dragonfly in Amber so that will be a shock no more for me.

I agree that he was a popular character in the show and his demise as a Regulator was a bit disappointing. I haven't enjoyed this latest season as much as previous ones to be truthful, but I still tune in faithfully as soon as the episode is released on Netflix here.

>231 PaulCranswick:

Not much of a shock at Culloden since it was a real life miracle that anyone survived!

The television parts where Murtaugh hears Jamie's voice behind him in his print shop
and his first "encounter" with Jamie's aunt are highlights for this season.

>229 PaulCranswick: There was a discussion, Paul, about whether or not JG Ballard, Michael Moorcock, or Brian Aldiss had any works that fit the Sentient Things theme. Moorcock's Elric Saga certainly does, but I'm not certain of the others.

>232 m.belljackson: Well only if you were fighting for the Bonnie Prince - he did of course manage to skedaddle away from the field and over the sea to Skye. Bear in mind that Jamie also survived Culloden I was not to know that Murtaugh wouldn't. Still worth reading the book now though I suppose?

>233 Dejah_Thoris: Well it is not my area of expertise but Aldiss definitely had. Hellconia is about AI and I believe that his book and his novel Hothouse has sentient beings in it too.

Ballard is more problematic to fit your sub-theme as his works of SF are more dystopian and about the break-down of human behaviour. Some of his work and especially his short stories fit the Plague theme.

>199 PaulCranswick: Quite honestly I would be very happy with any one of the four. I was just suggesting a line of reasoning I thought might lead to Klobuchar.

>215 PaulCranswick: - I just clicked on that link to the list and did a double take. Why does the *short* novel Beauty Salon by Mario Bellatin (1994), cost $423????

Oops, just noticed Bill beat me to it >217 weird_O: ;-)

>234 PaulCranswick:

Well, yes on reading the book since Murtaugh's death barely registered in the totality of loss.

Worth reading? After OUTLANDER, it was kinda slow and the Prince weakened the plot with his boring asides.

Political Aside: for anyone who still has not seen the SNL Dr. Fauci by Brad Pitt, this will brighten your day!
(As will the SNL Baldwin trump, though my daughter said it's best for fans of Alec.)

Goodness, I've missed nearly an entire thread! Ramadan Mubarak, Paul!

>235 RebaRelishesReading: I think if I was choosing myself, I would choose Klobuchar.

>236 jessibud2: After seeing Bill's post I went back to the link and took a another look. Supply and demand is an amazing thing!

>237 m.belljackson: I guess when we are so familiar with a story via the TV we think that spoiler alerts are no longer necessary,
Culloden was a fiasco for the Jacobites suffering 2,000 casualties from 7,000 combatants.

>238 foggidawn: Thank you Foggi.

>240 PaulCranswick: >230 m.belljackson:

Sorry - I wrongly assumed, from many previous conversations on other threads,
that most all LT who were watching the shows had read the OUTLANDER books.

>241 m.belljackson: No problem, Marianne. I know that there was no intention to spoil anything. xx

>199 PaulCranswick: In Europe for example we take universal free health care pretty much for granted but its provision in the US is considered akin to the search for the grail amongst progressives. Maybe that makes Canada even more Eurocentric?

How long until you find out the results of your test, Paul, and if you pass do you go back to work full time?

I confess I've read nothing of the Outlander series. And I have no desire to so. Such a rebellious reader. Melissa is a very well behaved just turned 2 year old, but yes, she does have a good bit of mischief and sparkle in her. Today I got a cute picture of her via What's App and I was delighted. Then 10 minutes later it was deleted. Melissa is not allowed any screen time - not tablet, TV or I phone, but today she got hold of mom's Iphone and chose a picture of herself and apparently sent it to many of mom's chat groups. I do get a chuckle of her. Apparently she calls out her parents for playing with their Iphones , since she figures it's time she had one herself. I like a child with a little spirit :-)

>243 Familyhistorian: Hahaha true, Meg. I should find out today on the test results.

>244 vancouverdeb: Melissa has more than a little spirit by the sounds of it, Deb!

Children's innate ability to use electronic devices is extraordinary isn't it?

Children's innate abilty to use electronic devices really is extraordinary, yes. At the ripe old age of 26 months, I imagine Melissa could give me lessons on how to better use my Iphone. I bet she could help me place photos on LT!I'll have to consult with her.

>246 vancouverdeb: Hahaha, I get that, Deb. SWMBO will regularly tell me, "Get Belle to show you how".

The Wolfson History Prize Shortlist was announced today

It is:

The Boundless Sea: A Human History of the Oceans by David Abulafia
A History of the Bible: The Book and Its Faiths by John Barton
A Fistful of Shells: West Africa from the Rise of the Slave Trade to the Age of Revolution by Toby Green
Cricket Country: An Indian Odyssey in the Age of Empire by Prashant Kidambi
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold
Chaucer: A European Life by Marion Turner

https://www.wolfsonhistoryprize.org.uk/wolfson-history-prize-2020-shortlist-reve...

Not read any of them yet as none of them have made it thus far to our shores.

>248 PaulCranswick: I've heard really good things about the Ripper book. I'll have to ask one of our English professors who is a Chaucer expert about the last one!

>249 thornton37814: I reckon the smart money is on that one, Lori but A Fistful of Shells has also had pretty food reviews.

>250 PaulCranswick: I would imagine, Paul, being the cricket fan you are that you would be eager to read book # 4 on that list. It sounds interesting.

Dropping in to say Hello. I have managed to miss this entire thread. *sigh*

>250 PaulCranswick: A Fistful of Shells caught my eye right away. *sigh* How will I live long enough to read all the books I want to read?!

Cricket Country and Boundless Sea immediately caught my eye. Then History of the Bible.

>253 richardderus:
I already know I won't live long enough to read everything on my TBR list. I am just swimming against the tide. (sigh). I sometimes wonder why authors can't just stop long enough for me to catch up.

>248 PaulCranswick: My libraries have only a couple of these e-available. I've read only The Five.

>253 richardderus: My search for a Kindle copy turned up, as well, a Linux shell programming guide like a ghost from my past.

LitHubDaily:April29, 2020 features "A Literary Tour of New Zealand" - really well done with photographs.

Also, for future NF challenge, Ann Druyan (Carl Sagan's wife) just released COSMOS: Possible Worlds,
published by National Geographic.

>251 figsfromthistle: John and myself will be jousting for that one too. It is amazing just how important cricket is to the populace in the Sub-Continent. I can meet an Indian, Sri Lankan, Pakistani or Bangladeshi in almost any situation - they could be Doctors, lawyers, construction workers, drivers, waiters or petrol pump attendants and I can spend 20 minutes chewing the fat with them about the wonderful game.

>252 alcottacre: I haven't managed to get around the threads as well as usual this week either, Stasia, but I hope to do so more this weekend. Work is starting to take hold again.

>253 richardderus: RD, I have been sorting my 4000 plus unread books out this week and have been thinking pretty much the same thing constantly. I need to stop thinking about it and start reading!

>254 benitastrnad: I like that. I will title my autobiography Swimming Against the Tide if I ever get chance to put pen to paper.

>255 quondame: None of them yet available to me, Susan.

>256 m.belljackson: I will go and have a look at that, Marianne. New Zealand is a favourite place of mine.

>12 PaulCranswick: I've found some of the earlier Nobel winners on https://www.gutenberg.org/ for free. You might check there if you're having trouble finding them.

>260 ocgreg34: Thanks for that. I have often considered Project Gutenberg for the authors that I really cannot otherwise find.

I already downloaded onto my computer History of Rome Volume I by Theodor Mommsen the second Nobel winner.

>254 benitastrnad: ...butbutbut then where'd we get new books?!? Even a temporary stoppage leaves my palms sweaty and my breathing shallow, and not for the fun reasons.

>255 quondame: Not so much, then....

>258 PaulCranswick: Sometimes there's just a lack of motivation, isn't there. This too shall pass.

During my quiet reading hour this morning I finished reading Trackers by Deon Meyer and I loved this book. It was one of those thrillers with threads and and boy oh boy was it a puzzler! Such fun to read. This afternoon I ordered the remaining three of Meyers books that I have not yet read. I hope to buzz through them during this Covid-19 Crisis. However, my reading may slow next week as there is a rumor that we may go back to work starting this Friday. I hope not! I love this half work from home with full salary. It gives me so much time to read.

>262 richardderus: There is a compulsion towards the buying or having of books that I cannot explain even to myself. SWMBO will scold me for adding to a collection that in most likelihood will never be finished but somehow the finishing of it is hardly the point. I do believe that if I had caught up and there was nothing in the house to live for read, then I would be at a complete loss.

>263 benitastrnad: I'm in the same boat as it looks like I will be back at work from Monday, too. I'm sort of sad, happy, sad and a little scared all at the same time.

I have my May reading plan in place - contingent on me finishing the three books I have ongoing today which is possible.

Here is my 20 planned for May:

The Drought by JG Ballard BAC
The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories by Amos Tutuola
The Overstory by Richard Powers Pulitzer winner/shared read
The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis (started already)
One False Move by Robert Goddard
A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt
Boomerang by Michael Lewis
Death in Sardinia by Marco Vichi
Field Work by Seamus Heaney
The War Hound and the World's Pain by Michael Moorcock (BAC)
Waverley by Sir Walter Scott (BAC)
The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens Booker winner
The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich
Three Dog Night by Elsebeth Egholm
Selected Poems by Marianne Moore
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Greybeard by Brian Aldiss (BAC)
The Prospector by JMG Le Clezio New to me Nobel winner
The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe - 1001 First Ed
John Adams by David McCullough (started already) AAC

>265 PaulCranswick: An impressive and ambitious list!

>265 PaulCranswick: Waverly? Masochist.

I liked Greybeard a good bit. And The War Hound, but I read it 30+ years ago so no tellin' what 60 year old me would make of it...can't wait to hear how it strikes you. The Thirty Years' War is gettin' a run for its money with the present-day Afghan Empire-Killing War, Mark VII.

>266 amanda4242: Just for a change, I thought I'd aim high!

>267 richardderus: If I'm not mistaken, this months BAC was chosen because of your suggestion, RD.

>268 PaulCranswick: ...and the trap springs closed...*eville mean-bastardly laugh*

>265 PaulCranswick: Loved the Alexievich. It was right up my street, women's own memories of the war and how they found peacetime. Not a short book though! Good luck with your ambitions.

>269 richardderus: I should wait for thirty days to reply to that one, dear Sir, but I need to start a new thread soon.

>270 charl08: I know she has her own style, Charlotte. I read her Voices from Chernobyl and some of it was extremely affecting.

I'm listening to the audio of Secondhand Time presently Paul. Last year I read Last Witnesses. Alexievich is such a brilliant purveyor of Russian history. One man she interviewed asked her not to use his interview and gave her no reason. Ten years later she contacted him and found he had been able to emigrate to Canada and now was willing to have that original interview published. (Just to get an idea of the time spent on researching her books.)

Hi Paul, just dropped by to say Hi and to make sure you and yours are staying healthy. That's an ambitious reading list you have lined up for May. I have just finished a few very thick and time-consuming reads so I am looking forward to some light reads in May.

>272 brenzi: Her way of telling the warts and all story is extremely effective isn't it? I suppose it is akin in some ways to the way Studs Terkel approached his own way of telling the story of history through the voices of its participants.

>273 DeltaQueen50: I am happy enough with the mix of reads this time, Judy, so let's see how close I come to finishing the list. It could be the earliest on LT that I will have reached 75.

>181 PaulCranswick: It's not so much when you realize that I first read it 40 years ago! Once every 3+ years on average.

Re: Brooks, Muldoon, Shields - Pulitzer Prize winners born in one country and now live in another? Dual citizenship?

>189 mahsdad: My preferred Heinlein reread is Time Enough for Love though The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is a good substitute (less than 300 pages) if you don't have the time for the TEfL doorstopper (almost 600 pages.)

>275 Morphidae: For me still remarkable, Morphy. Richard posted on his thread about the impossibility of re-reading the same book (he also loved it by the way).

You are right. Dual citizenship winners of the Pulitzer.

Apart from LOTR all my re-reads to date have been really chewable.

>157 PaulCranswick: I would never disrespect ELO Paul and since Leeds don’t play in the Premier League I have no beef against them either. ;0)

>38 PaulCranswick: ... and now you’ve got me counting books I’ve read instead of getting a good night’s sleep...

Fantasy - 127
Sci-fi - 12
Non-fiction - 3
Mysteries - 15
(or thereabouts)

Not too bad; more than I thought I’d have.

>277 humouress: Respectable numbers, disreputable time!

In my own defence I have just gotten up for my sahur food! Well, it suffices for 30 days a year as an excuse anyway. xx