Caroline’s ‘Woman Cave’ 2018 (Episode the Second)

By Winifred Nicholson

Well it's been a year of change so far this year, losing my dear dad, whom I saw almost every week of my adult life, even when you know he has achieved a fine age, you are still struck with puffs of missing. Today I almost bought a Father's Day card for him, a couple of weeks ago, I saw sticks of rock at the seaside, I'd always bought him some.

Then last week I started a new job, I work in admin, so adjusting to a three hour commute 5 days a week, after a six month break is, as a friend said, like going from 5 miles an hour, to 50 miles an hour, especially as I am not a spring chicken! However, things are going well. I am pacing myself.

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I love the work of Winifred Nicholson, especially her use of colour, so she will decorate my new thread. The topper is one of her more vibrant works, often I find her work quiet and intimate. I also love still life, and images looking into or out of spaces, through doors and windows.

Reading, and Read in 2018

Currently Reading

The River in the Sky (Clive James) (Poetry)
In My Mind's Eye (Jan Morris) (memoir)

Kintsugi (Tomás Navarro)

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Albion (Peter Ackroyd)
Love of Country: A Hebridean Journey (Madeline Bunting

The Odyssey (Homer, trans Emily Wilson, first female translator)



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(Internet image)

Books Read in 2018. SEE BOTTOM OF THREAD FOR FULL LIST OF YEARS READING

Fiction

The Body in the Library (Agatha Christie) ***1/2
Sing, Unburied, Sing (Jesmyn Ward) ****
Nemisis (Agatha Christie) ***1/2
A Pocket Full of Rye (Agatha Christie) ***
From the Heart (Susan Hill) ****
4.50 From Paddington (Agatha Christie) ***
The Woman in Blue (Elly Griffiths) ***1/2
Demian (Herman Hesse)***
The Beginning of Spring Penelope Fitzgerald ***
Strangers (Anita Brookner) (LL) ***1/2
The Guernsey Literary. And Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Ann Shaffer) (3rd reread) ****1/2
The Cemetery in Barnes (Gabriel Josipovici) ***1/3
A View of the Harbour (Elizabeth Taylor) (reread) ****1/2
The Newton Letter (John Banville) (reread) ****
White Houses (Amy Bloom) ****1/2
Remarkable Creatures (Tracy Chevalier) (reread) ****
The Waves (Virginia Woolf) (reread) ****1/2
Meet Me At The Museum (Anna Youngson) ****
The Seven Sisters (Margaret Drabble) ****
Warlight (Michael Ondaatje) ****1/2
The Librarian (Salley Vickers) ***
House of Names (Colm Tóibín) (24/06/18) (262/9,936) ****
Tom's Midnight Garden (Philippa Pearce) ***1/2
The Overstory (Richard Powers) *****
Tomorrow Elizabeth Russell Taylor ***1/2
To The Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf) reread *****
The Lost Letters of William Woolf (Helen Cullen) ***1/3
The Corner that Held Them (Silvia Townsend Warner) ***1/2
Take Nothing With You (Patrick Gale) ****
The Lighthousekeeper's Daughters (Jean Pendziwol) ****1/2

Non-Fiction

The Lost Words (Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris) *****
The 4 Pillar Plan (Dr Rangan Chatterjee) *****
In the Darkroom (Susan Faludi) ****
Kenneth Clark: Life, Art, Civilisation (James Stourton) ****1/2
The Power of Now (Eckhart Tolle) ***1/2
The River of Consciousness (Oliver Sacks) ****
Appointment in Arezzo: A Friendship with Muriel Spark (Alan Taylor) (02/03/18) (173/3,754) ****
The Staircase Letters (Arthur Motyer/Elmer Gerwin/Carol Shields) ****
No Time to Spare (Ursula K. Guin) (Essays) ****
Packing My Library (Alberto Manguel) ****
A Room of One's Own (Virginia Woolf) (reread) *****
The Little Book of Feminist Saints (Julia Pierpont) ***1/2
If this is a man (Primo Levy) (reread) *****
The Three Lives of Dylan Thomas (Hilly James) ****
The Salt Path (Raynor Winn) ****
Free Woman: Life, Liberation and Doris Lessing (Lara Feigel) ****1/2
Reading with Patrick (Michelle Kuo) ****
Morning: How to make time a manifesto (Allan Jenkins) ****
Mark Rothko: Toward The Light in the Chapel (Annie Cohen-Solal) ****
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter (Margareta Magnusson) ***
Nothing to Envy (Barbara Demick) ****
The Unpunished Vice: A Life of Reading (Edmund White) (15/08/18) (223/*) ***1/2
Gloucester Crescent:me, my dad and other grownups (William Miller) ****1/2
The Perfect Summer (Juliet Nicholson) ****1/2
Call Them by Their True Names (Rebecca Solnit) ****1/3
Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race (Reni Eddo-Lodge) *****

Poetry

New Collected Poems: Wendell Berry ****
Anecdotal Evidence (Wendy Cope) ***1/2
Wade in the Water (Tracey K Smith) (Poetry) ****
100 Poems Seamus Heaney ****1/2

Total: 63

Pages: 9,609 tb updated

The poem I wrote for my dad.

Later Life

In later life I will remember
you ensconced in your
chair, glasses at a jaunty
angle, book or magazine
in hand. A ready smile
on your face when disturbed.
An eager curiosity for news.
How is everyone? What
have you been doing?
Is it really a week since
you were last here?

The food on the table.
The easy conversation
the, latterly, squealing battery
of your hearing aids. Were they
in the right ears? Not always.
Memories. Memories of earlier
lives. Route marches en famille
in the early Sunday mornings
to catch the bus to the seaside or
ancestral pile – we were grateful
not to have to dust the latter.
Carrying cold sausages (Em and I
weren’t vegetarian then) and
Bovril crisps for breakfast in
our bags. Ryan relishing the
making up of scary stories that
scared himself as much as anyone else
on the journey home.

And recollections that won’t
be forgotten, laughed over and
relived, argued in the detail:
boots bet, rissoles (don’t ask),
the magical mystery tours.
The love and laughter a constant –
always – still – today – tomorrow.
We three you helped bring into the world,
nurtured, fed, clothed, watered.
A full life. A loved wife. A small brood of chicks.
Your contentment.

Happy new thread!

Lovely poem - a great tribute to your dad.

Love that lamp in >2 Caroline_McElwee:. And I also have a soft spot in my heart for art that makes the viewer feel able to walk into a scene or peek out of it.

Lovely tribute to your dad, too, Caroline.

Thanks Jim, Charlotte and Shelley. Good to see you peeking round the door.

I love the poetic tribute to your father, Caroline.

Happy new thread, Caroline, and good luck getting used to your new job.
Lovely painting at the top with the Lilly of the Valley's.

Thanks Darryl and Anita.

Happy New Thread, Caroline! Boo to the 3 hour commute. That sounds brutal.

Love "Later Life". Perfect tribute to your Dad. I miss mine too. It has been nearly 10 years.

Thank you Mark.

I do read for a lot of the commute, and I'm trying to not make it a negative, just part of the day. In spring and summer, I take the bus home, which does make the journey longer, but I enjoy watching the world go by, rather than being a mole in a hole on the tube.

Finally I got to see 'Chicago' live. I've long enjoyed the score. Cuba Gooding Jr was Billy Flynn.

Happy new thread!

Thanks Lori.

>12 Caroline_McElwee: Oooo, Chicago. Nice.

Good luck settling into the new job (and commute!).

33.Remarkable Creatures (Tracey Chevalier) (reread) ****



The fictionalised version of the life of the Fossil Hunter Mary Anning. This time read walking in her footsteps, in Lyme Regis. It held up to a rereading.

34. Wade in the Water (Tracy K Smith) ****



This is the second volume of Smith's poems I've read, and I liked it the best of the two.

I loved the imagery in 'The Angels', and the voices in the series of slave letters took me to a reality so far from my own, without it being overblown. Can you call such experiences 'domestic'? 'True' as in straight, aligned. They have an honesty.

35. The Waves (Virginia Woolf) (reread) ****1/2



Undoubtedly this novel is a masterpiece, but all the same, IMO, it doesn't let you love it. Despite taking you into the inner thinking of its characters, it holds you at a distance. There is a coldness. I think this is created by the fact that the characters are never actually in conversation with each other. They are in conversation each with themselves. They describe each other, they talk of their feelings, but the loss of direct interaction deprives you of warmth. How to do the extraordinary thing Woolf has done, whilst still attaining a feeling of fellowship, I'm not sure what word I really want here, is an interesting thought, and perhaps has occupied many writers over the years.

36. Meet me at the Museum (Anne Youngson) ****



I love volumes of letters, real and fictional. This is a fine example of the epistolary novel. I read most of it in two sittings. I really warmed to both, very different, correspondents. Tina, a farmers wife, and Anders, an academic in a Danish Museum. The correspondence starts between strangers, and evolves into a deep friendship, as each tells stories of their lives past and present, and offers opinions and alternative perspectives on the knots and pinches that life delivers. All this interwoven by the story, as far as it is known, of the Tollund Man. The ancient man discovered in the Danish bog.

>15 lycomayflower: thanks Laura.

Oh, I had not hear of the Youngson book. I also love epistolary books so this is a BB for sure!

Ooo, I do like to hit a bullseye Shelley. I don't think you will be disappointed.

It's a debut novel, by a writer in her 70s.

Time for some flowers...

Lovely!

Gorgeous flower: add me to the list signing on for Meet Me at the Museum.

I loved The Waves. It really appealed to me in its language and themes. You're right, though, that it does keep you at arm's length and I hadn't thought about the lack of direct interaction. I will reread this at some point and think about that more.

Happy New Thread, Caroline. Lovely poem about your father.

I like that soft image up top. I'm glad that Remarkable Creatures held up to a re-reading; such a good book. And hooray for Wade in the Water. She's the real deal, isn't she.

Congratulations on the new job. That's one heck of a commute.

What a lovely image to use at the head of your thread. And followed by a wonderful poem to your Dad. Beautiful.

Hi Caroline. I have not been aware of the work of Winifred Nicholson but I love that image at the top of your thread so I will be looking for more by her.

I am adding The Time of Our Singing to my wish list as both you and Peggy have recommended it.

Meet Me at the Museum also looks appealing.

>23 japaul22: I look forward to hearing your thoughts japaul (sorry, I don't know your name).

>24 jnwelch: yes, the commute can be a bit brutal, three bits of Transport in each direction, it is the waiting times that elongate the day Joe. I'm trying not to allow it to become an issue this time round, as I can't change it beyond my state of mind. I leave a bit earlier to have a nice brekkie near the office, and read before work. Then stay overground at night and watch the world go by. Enjoying the dappled sunlight through the trees etc.

>25 VivienneR: Thank you Vivienne.

>26 EBT1002: Ellen, I discovered her about five years ago at an exhibition at the Dulwich Picture gallery. I love the exhibitions they have there, as well as the wonderful collection of Dutch paintings they own.

Oh Dulwich has recently been put on my radar- I think linked to the Vote 100 events. Hopefully I'll get there at some point soon.

Happy Sunday, Caroline. Hope you are enjoying the weekend. Very, very warm here in the Midwest but not complaining yet.

Glad you enjoyed Wade in the Water. I also recently finished it. She is a strong poet.

That is a lovely tribute to your father, Caroline.

>28 charl08: I've been going there most of my life Charlotte. You will also be walking in the footsteps of Vincent Van Gogh, who visited it twice as a young man. No doubt many other great artists since too.

>29 msf59: I agree Mark, she's a fine poet, I'll be looking forward to future collections.

>30 NanaCC: Thanks Colleen.

Happy new one, Caroline. Sorry to be so tardy getting here but things are a little on top of me at the moment.

>3 Caroline_McElwee: Made me smile and tear up. Good poems can do that. xx

It's lovely to see you, whenever you have time to drop by Paul.

Thanks re the poem.

37. Free Woman: Life, Liberation and Doris Lessing (Lara Feigel) ****1/2



Part memoir, part biography, part literary criticism, Feigel goes in search of the concept of freedom, primarily in the lives of women, using Lessing's life and her novel The Golden Notebook as a starting point.



Sexual freedom, political freedom, social and personal freedom. Following Lessing through relationships, place and writing she turns the stones in her hands and interrogates them. Ultimately there is no one answer, and most answers will be personal, but the suggestion that freedom might most powerfully be found in living with the constraints you can tolerate, will speak to many, not only women. And if we can learn to achieve this, that fragile concept of happiness may find more purchase. This gels with my stoical beliefs, change what is within your power to change, but accept what is not. And know not everything is in your power.

I've dropped Feigel's other books into my basket, very different subjects, focusing on WWII.

ETA: The Golden Notebook is in my potential reading pile for June.

Just dropping by to wish you a happy Friday! Also, Happy (newish) thread!

Happy weekend to you too Figs.

>34 Caroline_McElwee: Sounds good - I wondered about it, I've seen a few of her articles online, but think I'll look out for this now. Lessing had such a varied life.

I have had a copy of The Golden Notebook on my shelves for a while but have not yet read it.

I've had it for years Ellen. That happens occasionally.

Hmmm, was trying something that didn't work. Back anon.

>40 Caroline_McElwee: Intriguing!

Oh I was only trying to get star ratings Charlotte. Vivienne has told me how now, so may use them down the line!

Fair enough. I will come back and ask you for tips!

That's a lovely poetic tribute to your father, Caroline.

38. The Seven Sisters (Margaret Drabble) ****



It's a while since I read Drabble, and this one was nudged in my direction by my sister, and despite a rather unpleasant narrator, I rather enjoyed it.

39. Warlight (Michael Ondaatje) ****1/2



Ondaatje continues with his war era themes in this fine short novel. Brother and sister Nathaniel and Rachel are left by their parents in the care of an eccentric friend known as 'The Moth'. The story is told through Nathaniel's eyes at different ages, as he records his life, and the secret background to his story, which he unravels over time.

Ondaatje focuses on the war via peripheral vision, how it impacts on those who are either hidden, or affected by the acts of those who are not necessarily centre stage, but with important roles to play.

He is also so good at drawing authentically eccentric characters. This novel has several of them.

I was surprised to find references to little known parts of South London, where I myself grew up, I discovered Ondaatje went to college in the 60s, nearby.

40. The Librarian (Salley Vickers) ***



This felt like a YA book, which I don't generally read. It's one of Vickers' fair to middling novels. I thought she got the era right, and some of the children, but other characters didn't have as much depth. I think her intention was to bring the importance of libraries back into the spotlight, however it seems the only people in any doubt of that importance are Councils, as opposed to readers, and I doubt they will be reading the novel.

The book itself is a beautiful production, but not a keeper for me.

>44 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks Linda. Feeling his loss more acutely today, being Father's Day here.

Happy Sunday, Caroline. I hope you are having a fine weekend. Good review of Warlight. I have that one on my list.

>46 Caroline_McElwee: Father's Day here, too, Caroline. My loss has had time to settle (14 years next month), but it's still a tough day. Someone on the TV this morning said "You never get over it, but you do get through it."

I agree Linda. You get used to it over time. I nearly bought a Father's day card on three occasions. When you lose someone who has been meaningful in your life, I don't think you want to get over it, you just want to carry it more lightly as time goes on.

>49 Caroline_McElwee: you just want to carry it more lightly as time goes on
I like that very much. Thinking of you today, Caro.

41. Reading with Patrick (Michelle Kuo) ****

A friendship that is shared by learning and reading, Michelle Kuo joins a two-year programme to teach in a school for those who have been excluded from the main-stream. Most of these students are from migrant and African-American families, most will ultimately end up in the prison community, as does Patrick, the young teenager that Kuo most connects with, and whose life she reengages with several years after leaving the programme. The desire to experience growth through culture and in this case the word, is warming. The failure of the system that excludes that possibility for the majority at the poorer end of the spectrum is heartbreaking.

42. House of Names (Colm Tóibín) ****

Tóibín revisits Greek tragedy via the story of the death of Iphegenia, and the events that are triggered by her murder. There is definitely a fascination with revisiting the ancients at the moment. The writing, especially in the opening chapter, of Clytemnestra’s voice, is wonderful.

43. Morning: How to make time a manifesto (Allan Jenkins) ****

Not quite Plot 29 perhaps, in this meditation Jenkins explores the pleasure and benefits of being an early riser. Beautifully observed, but what I felt strongly was that this was certainly a luxury of the creatives, and middle classes. If the ‘workers’ were seeing the early hours it was in order to start work early, or commute to work, rather than to carve out some quiet time to themselves. Most of those interviewed for ‘My Morning’ which punctuates Jenkins’s own journaling were writers, actors, artists with more control over their time, and the time to take naps later in the day, to make up for rising at 4.30am! The only others included were a fisherman and one or two others whose work was in nature.

44. My Name is Lucy Barton (Elizabeth Strout) ****

I always have some conflict with Strout’s work. There is always something that seems to jar that I can’t always quite identify. I felt the same with this book, but perhaps slightly less than I have before, or maybe in a different way, explored below. I felt she caught the complexity of a difficult relationship between a mother and daughter acutely. That desire for something better, the fragility of understanding, and yet the acceptance on some level of imperfection, was well drawn

The two other strands that were loosely woven through this story related to the Jews at the hands of the Nazi’s and the onset of the AIDS epidemic. In a sense these subjects framed the era of the novel’s arc. I think my dissatisfaction rests with these, as events here are talked about rather than experienced fully. They felt like two painful events, that deserved to be more than colour to some of the characters. Something the father of the narrator does colours his behaviour, but you don’t get deeply into his psyche, the event is experienced as received behaviour by Lucy, because of the event. Exploring that could have made a novel in itself. In fact that is it, both these areas felt like satellite novels that haven’t yet been developed.

Hi, Caroline.

I read Reading with Patrick as an ER book, and like you, found it well done and moving.

>52 jnwelch: yet somehow I wanted something more from it Joe.

>53 Caroline_McElwee: Agreed. I'm not sure what . . . Maybe more of a high level viewpoint, how she views it as fitting into our educational system and literacy issues.

Wind in the Willows land, Cookham.



Mole and Ratty were away, but Mrs duck was around. We saw a heron and a Kite, though they were camera shy.

Nice!

>55 Caroline_McElwee: I see two ducks!

>55 Caroline_McElwee: Lovely.

Nice to see you all peak round the door. Yes, there is a second duck sitting behind Linda. There were six waddling around us. I had not seen ducks jumping before. They jumped to snatch at the tips of the long grass which was funny.

>55 Caroline_McElwee: That makes me yearn for the green and pleasant land of home, Caroline.

Putting a tentative toe back in the LT waters after a couple of weeks treading breathlessly those same waters.

The Drabble and Ondaatje books have caught my eye in the stores here recently and it is good to see both authors appear to be on form.

Hi Paul, good to see you paddling about.

It has to be said, after two peaceful rural days, it was an assault on the senses arriving back at Paddington Station last night.

Gave up on Olivia Laing's debut novel Crudo, half way. I was so looking forward to it. I suspect that people will say they like it, because they will feel it uncool to say they don't. I'm OK with uncool. It is a book with plenty of life's unpleasantnesses in, but to the halfway point, it didn't have the edginess of her non-fiction books which I really like.

45. Tom's Midnight Garden (Philippa Pearce) ***1/2

I read this because I had twice read mention of it recently, but as someone who no longer finds children's or YA books satisfying, I didn't love it in the way others do. Though I'm sure if I'd read it as a child I would have loved it. I'm just a scratchy old crone now.

This month's beautiful Wolf Kahn painting on my calendar, 'The Blue Window'.

>55 Caroline_McElwee: What an idyllic spot!

>64 Caroline_McElwee: Love this!

Happy Saturday, Caroline. I am glad you enjoyed Lucy Barton. Strout's follow-up Anything is Possible is even better and Lucy plays a role in that one too.

Hope you are having a great weekend.

>55 Caroline_McElwee: Yes, that looks like how I imagined Wind in the Willows land, Caroline. Also imagined they could be camera shy ;-)

>64 Caroline_McElwee: Love that painting on your calender.

My Name is Lucy Barton is on my wishlist, Caroline. I’m glad to see you enjoyed it.

Margaret Drabble. I haven't thought of her in eons.

Love your duck. I wish I could have gotten a good photo of the great horned owl we had on our back fence last evening but the light and the distance (about 30 yards) were prohibitive.

I'm reading Richard Powers' The Overstory at present. So far it's excellent!

>65 VivienneR: >67 FAMeulstee: I'm so lucky I get there most years now Vivienne and Anita. My brother-in-law has access to the estate (retired employee), so I go one weekend a year.

>66 msf59: >68 NanaCC: I had to give it 4*s as I felt a lot of it well written, but it wasn't a keeper for me Mark, Colleen. I had too many questions. It certainly split my RL book group.

>69 EBT1002: my sister read the Drabble and passed it on Ellen. Before that it had been a while since I read her. I'm more a fan of her sister, AS Byatt.

Glad you are enjoying The Overstory, that is near the top of the mountain.

46. Mark Rothko: Toward The Light in the Chapel (Annie Cohen-Solal) ****

A fine introduction to the life and work of Mark Rothko, contextualised within his era and the culture he came from. I hadn't realised he committed suicide. I now need to go to the Tate Gallery and sit in front of some of his work.

I was led to reading this after seeing the play 'Red' about the painting of the Seagram murals.

>71 Caroline_McElwee: My husband is an admirer of Rothko's work, I like some of his works, but find most of them more or less depressing. My library has a copy of the Dutch translation of Mark Rothko: Toward the Light in the Chapel, maybe it will help me appreciate more of his works.

>63 Caroline_McElwee: Ha! I'm just a scratchy old geezer now, but I do have fond memories of reading Tom's Midnight Garden to our kids. Seeing it through their eyes undoubtedly helped create the enchantment.

Rothko is one of the few abstract painters whose paintings I really enjoy. We went to his chapel in Houston; it wasn't at all what I expected, but it was fascinating. Very stark, and contemplative.

>71 Caroline_McElwee: - Caroline, have you read The Muralist by B.A. Shapiro? It's fiction but historical fiction and Rothko is one of the central characters, or at least, central to the central character (who is fictional). I read it earlier this year but never put it on my list of books so I have no review of it. But I enjoyed it and learned a fair bit about abstract art that I knew nothing about.

Thanks for the recommendation Shelley, I'll take a look at that.

>75 Caroline_McElwee: - I found my review of it, Caroline, if you want to bother reading it. It's on my thread #2, post #208.

Thanks again Shelley. I realise I have The Art Forger somewhere in the book mountain. But The Muralist does sound like something that would make a good read after the Rothko biography.

I had forgotten that Drabble and Byatt are sisters. I haven't read AS Byatt yet but she is definitely on the TBR shelves. I have Possession and The Children's Book.

Both of those are excellent Ellen. It must be time for a new one soon.

47. 100 Poems (Seamus Heaney) ****1/2

This delightful small volume of 100 poems which were chosen by the Heaney family including my favourite poem 'Digging', which was one of the last poems I read to my own dad a few weeks before he died.

You can hear Heaney reading it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNRkPU1LSUg

48. The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter (Margareta Magnusson) ***

I was a little disappointed in this volume, as in reality it is just the standard 'decluttering' repackaged as a project to do as a gift for your beneficiaries before your death, hence not leaving them so much of the work to do. There wasn't really any new nugget of advice. However, I did enjoy some of her little biographical stories, as a lady 'between eighty and a hundred' she had a few of those.

'between 80 and 100' seems to cover a lot of possibilities! I think I will look out for the Heaney, he's a poet I would like to try.

Thank you for the offer re Ex Libris - very kind, but please don't worry - I enjoy looking in second hand shops.

>80 Caroline_McElwee: That is a wonderful reading! Thank you for sharing the link.
My father was a (not very good) poet and I have fond memories of attending some of his readings. He was a better reader than poet.

>82 EBT1002: Good reading probably improved his poetry! I've heard some poets make a wretched mess of their own stuff trying to read it. That always seems so strange to me.

I'm not pacing enough in my cave, me thinks.

49. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea (Barbara Demick) ****

I read this book for my book group, we aim to read one non-fiction a year (although I read 50% non-fiction myself).

It was quite an eye-opener. It totally bewilders me how North Koreans survive the abuse of their leaders. The journalist was only able to piece together the lives of North Koreans who had managed to escape and were now living in South Korea, or China. It interested me how deeply embedded even in many of these people, the brainwashing has been, as despite knowing that they had been fed lies all their lives, they find it hard to acknowledge it is so. This book was written ten years ago, and I wonder whether anything has changed under the current leader. I think there is marginally more food, but I suspect that much is still the same.

50. Conversations on Writing (Ursula K Le Guin) ****1/2

I'm a sucker for books on creativity, especially writing. I really enjoyed these three conversations on non-fiction, poetry and fiction. They led me to order the two other non-fiction books she wrote that were missing from my shelves, and I'm currently reading and doing the exercises in Steering the Craft.

When creatives talk about their craft it tends to have a feeling of great intimacy with it. I feel a deep knowing of who they are as people. I felt this with Le Guin too.

51. Overstory (Richard Powers) *****



A complex interweaving of family stories that at some time had deep connections to trees. In the first part of the book Powers tells a series of potted generational saga's in 20 pages each, so that the now living member of the family has a very three dimensional back story. You do have to stay on your toes to keep up with who is who sometimes, and not all of the characters ultimately come together, but each has a deep connection to trees and the damage that we are inflicting on them and the planet.

I'd read and seen documentaries on the recent science of the communal life, and communication between trees, and have been fascinated and not surprised to learn it. If you have an empathy with trees, you will easily know how alive they are.

If I have a complaint, it is that the two books Powers writes into the novel are fictions, and I wanted them both, damn him.

I'll be sending this novel to do the rounds.

>81 charl08: >82 EBT1002: >83 laytonwoman3rd:

I agree, some poets are not good at reading their own work, one who comes to mind is Tess Gallagher, who's work I enjoy, but her reading jarred for me.

>81 charl08: no problem Charlotte.

>82 EBT1002: How nice to have even a not very good poet in the family Ellen.

>83 laytonwoman3rd: I agree Linda, it doesn't seem right. I assume the voice they hear in their head sounds different. Or to their own ear, the voice that comes out of their mouth does.

>84 Caroline_McElwee: I'll probably read The Overstory later this month, as I have it on my Kindle. Nice review, Caroline.

>86 kidzdoc: I hope you will like it Darryl.

52. Tomorrow (Elizabeth Russell Taylor) ***1/2

A novel about a haunting, as in haunted by ones earlier life. It lost half a star as I felt the ending was rushed, when the pace of the rest of the novel was slow and observant.

Next up



Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Gail Honeyman)

and



The Unpunished Life: A Life of Reading (Edmund White)

Good review of The Overstory. I haven't read Richard Powers since The Goldbug Variations, but I'll put this one on the WL.

Nice review of Overstory, Caroline. I’ll have to put it on my list. I recently read a non-fiction book about the communication of trees, and found it fascinating. The hidden life of trees : what they feel, how they communicate reinforces what we know about climate change, and the harm the naysayers continue to cause.

I'm in the middle of The Unpunished Vice. I like his writing, but it's murder for the wishlist - so many books I've never even heard of!

>90 jnwelch: I'm sure The Overstory will be a hit with you Joe.

>91 NanaCC: there's quite a surge in books about trees at the moment Colleen. I have several in the pile.

>93 Caroline_McElwee: ditto Charlotte. I do love reading about people's passion for reading.

Just reading the chapter about Japanese fiction - I don't think I'd heard of any of them except for The Pillow Book, and that's only because of the R4 series.

I enjoyed that chapter Charlotte, I'd heard of and have Genjii, and the Pillow book, and one of the other writers, but there were some new to me.

I've found some of the middle chapters more tiresome as they focus on his sex life more, something I notice happens a lot with some older gay guys writing, I guess they couldn't be as open when younger and now they can. Hopefully he'll get back to his reading soon.

The small discussion between you and Charlotte about The Unpunished Vice are piquing my interest. But I will wait for your final comments since it sounds like you will have some reservations.

Conversations on Writing also sounds good. I'm adding that one to the wish list.

You know I also loved The Overstory. I'm glad I will have company in warbling about its virtues!

There were two chapters that were a bit of a bump for me Ellen, yawn, but now he is back to books and famous friends, or friends of friends. White can be quite generous to other writers, famous and otherwise, and draws them well. I don't think my comment about not writing about sex earlier really applies to White when I think about it - it is some time since I read his novels, but I think he was a breaker of molds quite early. I'm just not particularly interested in reading about sex nowadays on the whole (I have Fifty Sheds of Grey rather than the other one - and no shed by the way, as I have no garden!!).

53. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Gail Honeyman) ****1/2

An intriguing, moving, unusual novel about someone whose life has been scarred, and how she finds her way. I found it a page-turner.

54. The Unpunished Vice: A Life of Reading (Edmund White) ***1/2

I really loved a third, I liked a second third, but could have done without the remaining third. I accept White considers reading an erotic passtime, but I was less interested in that aspect of his life.

Always disappointing when you really expect to love a book, and it doesn't come up to snuff.

>98 Caroline_McElwee: I think you are a lot kinder to him than I am. I found his comments about other writers a bit too personal instead of being about the books, even when they were positive, which was unfair of me given that he was talking about how they write, but still... I did finish it thinking I should probably get on and read Anna Karenina though...

55. To The Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf) ***** 6th reread.

What I love about this novel is not so much the story, or even the voices, but the sensations transmitted. The feeling and tone. The space around the characters as well as in them. That for me is one of Woolf's greatest strengths.

And then there is her amazing dexterity as she shifts from point of view, to POV. Few can do it so well.

It's not a novel everyone likes. There is also maybe something turgid about it, and certainly it is relentless. Will I reread it again? Probably.

>99 charl08: It made me think I need to pick up AK too Charlotte. As well as Genjji. Both tomes, so maybe Winter reading.

Disappointingly the volume is not a keeper, but I'll note a few books onto my wish list.

>100 Caroline_McElwee: - Well, that's an endorsement! 6th reread! I just picked this one up at a charity shop the other day. Have read others by her but not this one (yet)

>102 jessibud2: I hope it doesn't disappoint Shelley. It's a slow read.

>100 Caroline_McElwee: you know I'm not much of a re-reader, Caro, but that's definitely a book that can be re-read and savored. I really should do that one of these days.

Hi, Caroline. I loved Mrs. Dalloway and A Room of One's Own, but To the Lighthouse frustrated me. Not enough happening. I couldn't believe that the reader never even gets to the Lighthouse! It may have been too subtle for my palate.

The novel is very much based on Virginia's parents, Julia and Lesley, Joe. The Ramsay's of course. I guess the lighthouse was in reality more a metaphor. Young James is looking to the light, but he is being obstructed by his father. I think it is about the power in that marriage. Mrs Ramsay is loved and appeases her husband. She loves him, but sees his power as a manipulation. Resents how he deprives James (and others) of hope. But she loves him. It is about a particular type of man, at a particular time perhaps. Intelligent, stolid, expectant of reverence and respect. I think that was probably very much how Virginia and Vanessa experienced their father. And they loved him.

But as I said above, what keeps me reading and returning are all the bits in between, the spaces. How it feels to be Mrs Ramsay in a room, alone with her thoughts, listening to what is going on elsewhere, for example.

>104 lauralkeet: I'm not sure why I have read it as often, but it does draw me back Laura. I have a collection, which is maybe 50 books, that I have read 'thrice or more'.

>105 jnwelch: btw Joe, I never loved a VW book first reading. Liked, interested. But they are like mesmer's, they draw me back.

>106 Caroline_McElwee:, >108 Caroline_McElwee:. Great comments, Caroline, thanks. I don’t imagine I’ll ever warm up to TTL, but I like very much the way you make it sound. And I had no idea it was based on her parents. I would’ve had a hard time putting up with a father like that.

Hi, Caroline. I hope everything is going well for you. Hooray for Eleanor Oliphant. That one was a nice surprise for me.

I saw BlacKkKlansman today. Lee has the balance of seriousness and humour, the performances were fine. The comparison between black and white power movements was potent and well done. Still people use the existence of The Black Panthers, for example, to justify extreme white right wing groups, Lee shows the nonsense of this argument almost subtly. And the parallels with our time - shown in Charlottesville - are all too evident.

I also liked The Children Act but I felt there were things missing from it. However, certainly it was thought provoking, and Emma Thompson was very good, as was Stanley Tucci

>100 Caroline_McElwee: I should probably give To the Lighthouse another try. I abandoned it pretty quickly the one time I started reading it.

>111 Caroline_McElwee: I'm not sure BlacKkKlansman will make it to my little town but if it does I will go see it. I am a huge fan of Emma Thomson so I'll try to see The Children Act.

I have been skeptical about Eleanor Oliphant but it keeps getting good reviews from discerning readers!

>109 jnwelch: sometimes that happens with a book Joe. I just can't get on with Jasper Fforde, when I expected to like him. Probably because I don't generally read comedic books. There are other books I've thrown aside too.

>110 msf59: it's an unusual book Mark, and I'm reading it and not sure I'm enjoying it, but I'm turning pages, turning pages. Ultimately I felt it a good read, but not one I'd reread, so m passing it on.

>112 EBT1002: TLH isn't an easy read Ellen.

They seem to have made a film of it in 1983, I don't remember seeing it, but as a Kenneth Branagh, and Woolf fan, I must have. You can see it here:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2m80c9

On track with my book exits. 108 books out in 9 weeks. (9x10+18). I bought 18 new books over the two months, considerably less than previous consumption, so 18 additional books to mirror the acquisition went out. And I've already got next week's batch ready to go.

It will of course get harder, but it has also allowed me to find books I've long forgotten I had.

I'm also finding I have to justify a purchase more, because something has to go in it's place. I try to buy only those I will probably want to reread, or at least gift to someone else. I have a small pile growing that will go to my sister Em and other friends, of my Folio and other hardbacks.

I must take them out of my LT library at some stage, a few I have. I've taken photos so I know what went.

Mostly I've donated them to the Little Free Library nearby, must take a photo next time, as it is the easiest place to get them to for a non-driver. I try not to adopt any from it myself (to answer a question you asked on your thread Ellen), though one came home with me a couple of weeks ago. Those that will sell go to a charity when I get organised.

I've given myself five years to reduce my library by half. Even what will remain will be more than I can read in the remainder of my lifetime, so it will have to be reduced again after retirement.

>111 Caroline_McElwee: I really want to see this, hope I'll catch it here before it disappears.

>114 Caroline_McElwee: I'm still thinking about getting extra bookshelves, not getting rid. Perhaps one day...

>113 Caroline_McElwee: You have company, Caroline. I can't get on with Jasper Fforde either. I read the first one, and it was diverting, but I wasn't drawn to read more. I do love the character name Thursday Next.

We have a lot of bookshelves, but we're regularly culling ours, too. We've put lots in the Little Free Libraries by us, and donated to a cool bookstore called Open Books, that supports literacy programs with the money it makes selling them.

I can't imagine reducing our library by half! What a challenge.

>115 charl08: I hope you get to the movie Charlotte, it is worth your time.

>116 jnwelch: my library needs to be more the size of your library Joe. At the moment I live in a book warehouse. I guess also after shutting down my dad's home (with my sibs), and his was minimalist compared to mine, I decided I don't want to leave the scale of mine to someone else to do. And as I don't have children who may be interested in the books... my pragmatic brain.

In five years at 10 books a week I will have released 2,600, so I'll have to up the number per week as the years progress, and with a mirror out of any in, no growth. Not easy as I never buy a book I don't want to read. Even if some have to wait 32 years to be read (one did this year).

>117 Caroline_McElwee: Understand your pragmatic brain, Caroline.
I try to cull more than we buy, but then our library is not that large anymore.

I didn't warm up to Jasper Fforde either, but my daughter and son-in-law named their dog after Thursday Next.

I'm with you and others here on Jasper Fforde, Caro. His books get a lot of love on LT, which is a good sign, but I tried the first one and just couldn't get through it. Fortunately I have no shortage of reading material.

>117 Caroline_McElwee: I love that you know you bought a book 32 years ago! Some are so familiar I've lost track of when they came into my possession.

>118 FAMeulstee: I find it really hard Anita, but it will have to be done, be it all slowly right now.

>119 laytonwoman3rd: >120 lauralkeet: I think maybe there is just not quite enough stuffing in his books for some of us Linda and Laura.

>121 charl08: well that is easy Charlotte, I put the date it arrives in the house, in the book. I now have a little Ex Libris label, and I write the date under that.

If I don't read a book the year it sails through the door, the average wait for it to be read is 12 years. But I will still want to read it, hence the difficulty letting things go.

>111 Caroline_McElwee: We went to see that one yesterday evening, but it was all sold out. So we saw Den Skyldigen (The Guilty) instead. It's a Danish movie, and it turned out to be very good. Blackkklansman stays on the wish list, we'll try again later.

So hard to cull books! There are always so many reasons not to let a particular book go. The easy ones are only the ones I accidentally have two of;-)

>117 Caroline_McElwee: I know exactly the feeling of living in a book warehouse and, most times, I wouldn't change it!

I do need to cull though too from time to time, Caroline.

Wishing you a simply splendid Sunday. x

Lovely to see you about Paul.

In my dreams, I have a home big enough to accommodate my library and possessions in the manner to which they deserve, but the reality is that is not likely to happen, so over time I will need to edit what I have. I've started in a small way. At least each week the library box is empty, waiting for new additions. I've always been a sharer, so that is how I'm looking at it.

56. The Lost Letters of William Woolf (Helen Cullen) ***1/2



I enjoyed this quirky novel shaped by the postal Dead Letter Office.

57. The Corner that held Them (Sylvia Thownsend Warner) ***1/2

I possibly didn't enjoy this as much as some do, generally for the reasons they like it (relatively plotless, too many characters, few three-dimensional - however it was thought to be ahead of its time for these reasons) but all the same I found this journey into medieval conventary quite a page turner.

58. Take Nothing With You (Patrick Gale) (01/09/1828) ****

Another fine novel by Patrick Gale. A coming of age story (I usually avoid them) about a young man and his passion for the cello, finding his way through adolescence and sexual awareness.

59. Gloucester Crescent: Me, My Dad and Other Grown-ups (William Miller) 1/2 ****1/2



And another coming of age story, a memoir about life as the son of a famous father (polymath Jonathan Miller) growing up in a Crescent surrounded by famous and creative people. Possibly being of the same generation as the author, and getting all the references made this such a pleasure.

Meet Me At The Museum is now on the TBR list. I always find joy when I visit here. Thanks for your many recommendations, and excellent reviews.

Hi Linda, I hope you will enjoy it. Always nice to get a wave from you.

Belfast's Titanic Museum:



I love this building though hard to get it all in a photo. The height of the building is the height of the Titanic.

>129 Caroline_McElwee: -Wow, this looks amazing!

Impressive - I'd seen pictures but not as dramatic as these!

Sweet Thursday, Caroline. With a couple of American hotshot LTers arriving in your fair city, I am sure there will be a Meet Up happening. Right?

Have you been reading any good poetry? I have been on a nice poetry roll and I have to start sharing a couple stand-out poems.

>130 jessibud2: >131 charl08: it is a Wow Shelley and Charlotte. I want to find out about the architect, I'll report when I do.

Yes Mark, a meet-up is planned for dinner on the 19th on London.

I've just bought the new Ada Limón collection, The Carrying after reading the poems Joe posted. I hope to settle down and read some of it in the next few days, I bought it away with me.

>129 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks for sharing the pictures of the beautiful and impressing Titanic museum, Caroline.
Now I want to visit Belfast someday!
According to Wikipedia the architect Eric Kuhne designed, besides some buildings, many parks all over the world.

Thanks to your recommendation I am reading now the Mark Rothko biography. And have read Mrs Dalloway this week.

>134 FAMeulstee: Despite it's history I'm finding Belfast a very enjoyable experience, and everyone very friendly. Yesterday a cousin drove us outside the city, and you won't be surprised how beautiful it is Anita.

I hope the books come up to expectation.


On Giant territory.


The Giants Causeway


The Organ... well Giants have to entertain themselves..


The Coast Road, near Bilone.

Great pictures, Caroline!

>113 Caroline_McElwee: and >116 jnwelch: I feel validated and less alone. I can't seem to get on with Jasper Fforde either! Truth be told, though, I've hardly given him a fair chance: I tried The Eyre Affair, bailed out fairly early, and haven't revisited since.

>135 Caroline_McElwee: Beautiful.

Fantastic pictures, Caroline. I went a couple of times for work, got the briefest of brief glimpses of how pretty it was, and have always meant to go back.

As well as the political murals, there is plenty of original street art.

>137 EBT1002: yes, that was the novel I gave up on too Ellen. I'm not minded to try another, as my sense is they are of the same ilk.

>138 charl08: we will definitely be coming back Charlotte, probably the year after next for a week, and my sister will rent a car. This time we were lucky a cousin, who now lives in London, was home to take us out of the city for a day.

>135 Caroline_McElwee: Thank you, Caroline, the Mark Rothko biography did live up to expectation. I just finished it (review will follow on my thread in a few days) and learned a lot. I might look for the biography of Sartre she wrote, another person I would like to know more about.

Great photos, Caroline!

60. The Perfect Summer: Dancing into Shadow in 1911 (Juliet Nicholson) ****1/2

A fascinating social history of Britain over a year - 1911. A year whose temperatures rose even higher than those in Britain this year. A cusp year. Literary nascency (Virginia Stephen, soon to be Woolf, Rupert Brooke); social change in the beginnings of class and gender discent. High days and holidays, and the shadow of pending war.

Nicholson has a fine eye, and writes fluidly. You are soon wrapped up in events, many of which would change the world.

Sweet Thursday, Caroline. Love the Ireland photos. I hope to get back there one of these days. The Perfect Summer: Dancing into Shadow in 1911 sounds really interesting.

Sounds good Caroline. My Aunt has just retired to NI, so hoping to visit soon.

>144 msf59: >145 charl08: hi Mark and Charlotte, I can definitely recommend a visit. I will be going back.

61. Call Them by Their True Names (Rebecca Solnit) ****1/2

Another incisive volume of essays by Rebecca Solnit. She always shows me a perspective I've missed, or articulates something with more precision than I could achieve. And her writing is fine. There isn't one of her books I won't return to.

62. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race (Reni Eddo-Lodge) *****

I've probably read more about race issues relating to America, so this volume by a British writer is timely, and should be read by anyone interested in equality, freedom and diversity. As a white reader she lets you into her experience in a way (despite always having black and brown friends, and discussing race with them), I haven't understood before. Not least in regards to white privilege, which we don't even realise we benefit from.

Highly recommended.

63. The Lightkeeper's Daughters (Jean Pendziwol) ****1/2

A riveting complicated weaving of a novel that kept me turning the pages to discover secrets that kept coming right to the end. Evocative, rich in characters. The stories of loyalties, love and friendship.

>147 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks for the notes about Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race. I'll be looking for that one.

And I need to read something by Rebecca Solnit!

>148 Caroline_McElwee: Sounds good to me! I've ordered a copy from the library.

Did you get to see the Fawcett statue? What did you think?

>151 charl08: I've only passed it on the bus Charlotte. I really must take a better look.

I was at the London Library last night, and brought home your recommendation, I'll get to that next week. Thanks.

>150 EBT1002: Everyone needs to read some Rebecca Solnit Ellen. I've given her as presents to a few people this year.

Hi, Caroline. Looks like a great trip to Belfast. Love the photos - what dramatic landscapes! And interesting street art, too. I'm glad it was a successful trip.

Thanks Joe, I certainly hope to make a revisit in a couple of year's time.

64. Love is Blind (William Boyd) ****
A really enjoyable read. Set in the late 18th/early 19th centuries. Nice tone and interesting characters.

65. The Dark Flood Rises (Margaret Drabble) ****
Drabbles look at ageing via a number of inter-linked middle-class characters. If there is a flaw, it is that she doesn’t offer up any serious attempt to understand ageing for working class characters, and has tended to avoid them throughout her oeuvre.

66. An Untouched House (W F Hermans) ***1/2
A short but intense novella only recently translated into English. I found the first half evocative, and the second in many respects darker and quite surreal. The thing I learned, that I’d either forgotten, or didn’t know was how soldiers may find themselves in situations with fellow soldiers from different nations, sometimes having no shared language for long periods of time. How that must increase their isolation.

67. In My Mind’s Eye: A Thought Diary (Jan Morris) ***

Interesting if a little disappointing, this volume of vignettes from Morris. I especially liked learning about an artist or two I had not heard of, and one or two of her little foibles, however I was quite dumbfounded and saddened by her admission on Day 40 (and none of the critics I’ve read mention it, because they are also guilty?), that she says she holds no prejudices (not race, culture, colour, religion, addiction: alcohol, cigarettes, drugs), but she is prejudiced against the obese. As someone who falls into that category, to know that despite admiring Morris’s work for years, she would have no time for me because I was over weight is somewhat painful. Of course, like many people with prejudices, if they have friends who might fall within the prejudice they will perceive them as being ‘different’, but all the same. Will it change how I perceive Morris’s work? Well it is unlikely something I could forget, but I hope not.

>155 Caroline_McElwee: oh my, that prejudice is indeed painful. And ridiculous. I mean, maybe admitting it is the first step to doing something about it, but it doesn't sound like that's the intent. I'm sorry you had to encounter that in reading about someone you admire.

>156 lauralkeet: Thanks Laura. I don’t want to get too into this here, but obesity seems to be the one ‘acceptable’ prejudice in the UK. I probably get verbal abuse a couple of times a year, generally from men, but occasionally from women. Morris has long identified as female, but maybe it is one of the hangovers from her masculine years. I think that the prejudice tends to be against large women, rather than large men. A friend who was with me has a large husband, but was shocked when we were out together and someone was verbally abusive about my size as they passed me, so her other half doesn’t have the problem. There are far worse things to suffer from in this world, hence generally not talking about it, I was just taken aback a bit at JM.

>157 Caroline_McElwee: My daughter talks about this a lot, Caroline. She refers to it as "fat-shaming". She struggles with her weight, and I don't know that she has experienced it personally, but she is VERY attuned to it in the media, etc. Fat jokes seem to be OK, for instance. As you point out, it's one prejudice that doesn't get talked much about or treated as seriously as others. My mother drives me crazy with this, and my mother-in-law is almost as bad.

>158 laytonwoman3rd: We live in an unforgiving world sometimes Linda. The fact that those who do the shaming and or engaging in the prejudice are probably as flawed or more flawed than the rest of us, but their judgmentalism doesn't always include themselves. Or maybe it does, but their behaviour distracts them from their own flaws!

There are just sooooo many books I want to read at the moment. A regular disease I suffer from, as I'm sure do all of you. Currently reading the new novel by Sarah Perry, Melmoth which I am really enjoying. I have about 4 other books I am nibbling at as well, so hopefully at the weekend I will finish those and be grazing the next prospects.

I am being relatively good at not buying too many books (as I already have a life-time's supply), and of letting some go. Both activities are hard! I need a magic wand that will increase the size of my flat without affecting my neighbours, and have my ideas on interior design - shelves, shelves and more shelves, translate from my imaginings by morning.

That book thing....I came home from a library book sale last weekend with about 20 new ones. I vowed not to do that again, but the choices were just so good (I got there very early). I have done fairly well this year with culling, though.

I love your photos from Northern Ireland! I was born not far from the Titanic Museum but it's been so long since I've been to N.I. that I haven't yet seen the museum. Beautiful.

>161 laytonwoman3rd: isn't it a treat to have a glut like that once in a while though Linda? Better than diamonds in my book.

>162 VivienneR: Glad you enjoyed them Vivienne. My dad was raised in Limavady, so it was a pilgrimage in his youthful footsteps (he died aged 90 in April), and my first visit. It won't be my last. North and South have so much to offer.

It would have been my dad's 91 birthday today. First one without him, as he died in April.



Happy Birthday dearest Pod, I hope the cake is good where you are.

>164 Caroline_McElwee: I hope your day was filled with happy memories (((hugs)))

Thanks Anita, it was. Certainly we are not short of those.

68. Melmoth Sarah Perry ****

A fascinating, dark novel that will certainly require a reread down the line to pick up all the metaphors.

69. The Carrying Ada Limón *****

I do find it hard to create reviews for poetry, it is such a subjective form in regards to what you will like. Surfice to say that it is rare to find a volume that you like every poem in one way or another (Mark Doty’s work comes to mind for me), I loved this volume, and will be rereading it again soon. I say re-reading, but I read every poem 3 times anyway, which is my common practice with poetry.

70. A Keeper (Graham Norton) ****

Graham Norton’s second novel was an intriguing Irish story. I had to put his tv persona aside before I could get into it, but I thought it was a well crafted novel, and will hunt out his first novel which is lurking on my Kindle, in time.

71. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) ****

In my opinion this is one of novels that suffers from having inspired many other works of fiction, leaving it hard to appreciate its originality as it was appreciated when it was first published. I also found it a novel whose quality I could see, whilst not particularly enjoying it. Full of metaphor, and still relevant today. That said I would still say it’s attitude to women leaves a lot to be desired. It is, after all, a male fantasy, even if a political one. I wouldn’t want the women’s life either in ‘the brave new world’ or in the ‘savage’ one.

>68 NanaCC: We’re going to hear Sarah Perry and Sarah Moss speak at the Cambridge Literary Festival. I may pick up a signed copy of Melmoth then

Enjoy. I do like a good literary event Rhian. I note I forgot to mention a couple I went to last weekend. I'll get to that soon.

Hi Caroline. I'm doing a bit better at not buying books these days too. I think much of it is due to the lack of a really outstanding bookshop just down the street from my workplace. In Seattle I had a great new and a great used bookshop that close! But also my new job is more consuming than my prior one was so I have less time to spend on LT which means fewer blue book bullets....

That said, I am intrigued by your comments about Sarah Perry's book. I did recently purchase The Essex Serpent as I remember Beth praising it. I'm also glad you enjoyed The Carrying: Poems. I also recently completed it and gave it five stars. I even wrote a poem inspired by my experience reading it. :-)

>168 SandDune: Cool. I discovered Sarah Moss last year. I've only read one of hers but I own a couple more and I am anxious to read them.

Hiya, Caroline.

I commiserate with you regarding the loss of your father. That's a wonderful photo of him.

I'm so glad you enjoyed The Carrying that much. Me, too! She's so good.

Yeah, the male fantasy aspect of Brave New World also made me uncomfortable when I looked at the book again recently. I remember thinking highly of it when a lad, but now, that part's off-putting. Much has changed that needed to change.

72. A Year of Reading Proust (Phyllis Rose) ***1/2

I liked this memoir slightly more this time around, than before. It is more memoir about her own year of life than I expected when I first read it, and I still feel that although I'm interested in much of what she chooses to share, I might not actually like her in person.

I am wavering on making an attempt at reading Rememberance of Time Past. I read half of the first volume in Paris a few years ago, but didn't carry on with it when I got home.

73. Brief Answers To The Big Questions (Stephen Hawking) *****

I don't pretend to have understood more than the tiniest bit of this book, but I've enjoyed the tussle, and it will continue to stretch me until I've understood the tiniest bit more in the years ahead. I do understand 'singularities' now though. Fascinating. I think if I had my life to do again, I'd look to study science.

>170 EBT1002: The Carrying is certainly my poetry book of the year so far Ellen.

>171 jnwelch: I guess that some books weather less well Joe. Huxley's imagination for women just didn't leave his trousers unfortunately. There were no Alpha females in his brave new world. Fortunately, there are a few now, and I hope many more in the real future.

Yeh, I love that photo of my dad.

>172 Caroline_McElwee: I read In Remembrance of Time Past over the course of 13 months last year and I really loved it. It was a fantastic reading experience. I won't pretend that I didn't zone out through some of it, but I'm so glad I did it. I used A Reader's Guide to Proust by Patrick Alexander that was really helpful if I lost the "plot" line.

Anyway, it's a big commitment but I really loved it. I even sort of want to read it all again some day.

The comments about Huxley intrigues me. It's been decades since I read it, now I must go and have another look.

>174 japaul22: Thanks for the recommendation. I also have the volume Paintings In Proust by Eric Karpeles, which was recommended by another LTer. ETA this one >177 lauralkeet:

I'm probably going to read the Patrick O'Brian Master and Commander Series first, but maybe next year the Proust will be begun.

>175 VivienneR: I'll be interested in what you think Vivienne.

>174 japaul22: I'm impressed, Jennifer. I've read 4 volumes but the last one was more than 18mos ago. I need to get back to Proust one of these days, perhaps with the aid of the reading guide you mentioned.

>176 Caroline_McElwee: I used Paintings in Proust as well, which is a beautiful book. I was diligent about following along in it and matching up all the references through the first 2 volumes and then I lost interest in it and didn't use it for the subsequent volumes.

>177 lauralkeet: There were definitely times I had to just keep plugging along through the 7 volumes, even through the moments I wasn't very interested, but overall I really, really loved it.

>176 Caroline_McElwee: I liked the Master and Commander series, Caroline, I saw the picture of your beautiful set at Erik's thread.
I have read them back in 2011. Sadly the Dutch publisher dismissed the series after book 10 :-(

>176 Caroline_McElwee: I read the first book in the Master and Commander series, Caroline. I think I got distracted by some shiny new books, and forgot to go back to the series. You’ve just put them back on my radar.

>179 FAMeulstee: How frustrating they only took them half way Anita. Fortunately, your English is good enough to read the rest if you want.

>180 NanaCC: Yay Coleen.

I have to own I've not really read many series, so looking to do two in the next, say, 18 months, will be interesting. And two VERY different ones.

>181 Caroline_McElwee: We won’t talk about all of the series I read, Caroline. :-). Thank heavens for FictFact.

>181 Caroline_McElwee: I might return to the series next year, after I have met my present goal of reading all my own childrens/YA books. Reading in English is doable, but also a bit frustrating as it takes 2 to 3 times longer as it takes in Dutch...

74. To Kill The President (Sam Bourne aka Jonathan Freedland, political commentator on The Guardian) ****

A clever thriller, with plenty of unpredictability and complexity.

(18 of the series, the other two elsewhere when the picture taken.)

Just starting the Master and Commander series, will record progress here. Aiming at 1-2 volumes a month. I've not been a series reader to date, interested to see how I go.

Read

1.

Hi, Caroline.

My Dad LOVED those Patrick O’Brian Aubrey and Maturin books. I read the first couple and liked them, but didn’t get further. I’ll look forward to hearing what you think.

I was a pushover for the more old-fashioned (I guess) Horatio Hornblower books. I read all of those.

My father-in-law was a big fan of Patrick O'Brian as well. I read just one, many years ago. That is a beautiful set.

>186 jnwelch: >187 laytonwoman3rd: I only ever heard good things about the series Joe and Linda. Most folk seem to say there are a couple of weaker volumes, but you can't sustain a standard for such a series I think. I bought my set with money left to me by my uncle, who was a merchant seaman, an appropriate memento.

I've also always loved boats and ships. As a child reading in bed, I was at sea on a boat.

Here's my bookmark for the Aubrey/Maturin books:


By Salvador Dali

>188 Caroline_McElwee: A very appropriate gift to yourself to remember your uncle by, Caroline. I expect you will enjoy the sea stories (and there is more to them than that, of course). As I recall the writing is quite good.

>189 Caroline_McElwee: That is a beautiful bookmark, Caroline, very fitting for these books.

75. Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know: The Fathers of Wilde, Yeats and Joyce (Colm Tóibín) ****

The three eccentric men, who fathered three very talented and eccentric sons.

My favourite part was the wonderful introduction following in Tóibín's footsteps around Dublin. I knew most of the rest from reading biographies of the son's. But a good summary for readers who know nothing about the subjects.

I did find the Joyce essay interesting in where it showed how this father leaked into his characters, especially one of his main characters in Ulysses. I really must read that novel.

>190 laytonwoman3rd: well I am certainly as mind-boggled as Stephen Maturin at all the description of the rigging, which actually gives you a feeling of how the character felt inside his head Linda. I think that what really captures people is the friendship between the two main characters. When I'm eavesdropping on them it is wonderful. They are not perfect, they stumble, but already I want to be in their company.

I suspect a combination of them both might be the ideal idea of a man for many a woman (or man, for that matter). In the introduction to my edition, historian Max Hadtings, who knew O'Brian suggests Maturin shares a lot of the characteristics of the author. Although the author it turns out, was less trustworthy than his character me thinks.

>191 FAMeulstee: I do like to try and find an appropriate bookmark when I can Anita. I often used postcards, received or bought, as well.

Congrats on hitting the goal!

Congrats on getting to 75 books :)

>194 drneutron: >195 figsfromthistle: Thanks Jim and Figs.

This afternoon I went to the Royal Court Theatre for a celebration of the work of playwright and actor Sam Shepard. It was a wonderful, heartfelt event, with all the participants having worked with him over the years, these included Kenneth Cranham, Miranda Richardson, Kit Harrington, Toby Jones, Stephen Rea and Shepard's first wife O'Lan Jones. It was a mix of extracts from his work, and memories of working with him. A special tribute indeed. I've been reading his work, and seeing it on stage for almost 40 years now.

>192 Caroline_McElwee: Congratulations on reaching 75, Caroline!

Thank you Anita. Last year my total was 94, I'm not sure I'm going to match it this year, as I've got some chunksters I'd like to read over the winter (I've given up counting pages!).

>96 EBT1002: This does look like a very special event, Caroline. I have never seen or read any of Shepard's plays but I have always enjoyed his acting.

Congrats on hitting 75!! Yah! And I so glad you loved The Carrying. Limon is easily one of my favorite working poets. Did you read Bright Dead Things? It's as good, if not better.

I'm waiting for Bright Dead Things, and one other of her collections to come into land, but there's a delay Mark.

You are so lucky to be able to see Shepard's work on stage, Caroline. I, too, am only familiar with his acting, although I have sampled some of his early poetry/prose work, Hawk Moon, recently. I also shared that with my brother, who, as I suspected, found some of it brilliant and some of it "horse s--t". Can't improve on that assessment!

Ha, well Sam was a horse man, not afraid of a little horse shit I'm sure Linda.

I saw a ship used in the film of Master ans Commander on my holiday - gorgeous recreation, but hard to believe people lived in such a small space for such a long time! I've finally got to Maya Jasanoff's book about Conrad, and really enjoyed reading about his sailing career: it never occurred to me what a difference moving to steam made for the sailors.
https://sdmaritime.org/visit/the-ships/hms-surprise/

>203 charl08: I know Charlotte. The ranks had barely two foot depth to hang their hammocks in and slept almost shoulder to shoulder in them. And they slept by rota, there were only enough hammocks for 50% of The crew to sleep at a time. Even the Captains cabin was not capacious, but at least he had the capacity for some solitude. The reality is most of us would go nuts under those circumstances. My sailing adventures are strictly between the covers of a book.

Sounds fun going on the replica for the movie. When I was a teenager we went on a replica of The Golden Hind.

I do have the companion book about the ships that was brought out when the film was made, need to track that down, will help in understanding the parts of the ship and tackle.

>185 Caroline_McElwee: Those are lovely editions, Caroline! P is a big fan of the series. She has said that the companion book is very helpful and just interesting. Have fun!

I'll add to the congratulations on reaching 75. I won't match my mark from the past couple of years, either.

>204 Caroline_McElwee:, >205 EBT1002: There is also a lexicon/companion called Sea of Words.

>206 laytonwoman3rd: I think that is the companion volume I was thinking of, and which P has found to be very helpful.

>207 EBT1002: I though maybe you were referring to Patrick O'Brian's Navy, which was written by someone else, but looks very useful as well.

Can't remember which I have. Will go on a hunt for it this week. No idea where it is buried.

This is the one I have:

https://www.librarything.com/work/145505/book/17631683

Along with The Making of Master and Commander

>210 Caroline_McElwee: Wow...so there is a companion library, it seems.

76. Spy of the First Person (Sam Shepard) ****

Sam Shepard's last book. A touching evocation of moving towards the end of life, looking inwards at yourself, and looking from the outside back at yourself. And continuing his lifetime exploration of the relationship between fathers and sons.

77. Becoming (Michelle Obama) ****

What comes across in this memoir is that Michelle Obama is a very grounded woman, with a powerful desire to make a positive difference in the lives of others. A shining example of the ordinary, extraordinary individual.

A willing and active mentee, as well now as a mentor to many, many young people she hopes to help empower.

She talks openly about the 'otherness' of being an African-American, especially one existing in a very white environment in many fields as well as the political one. She talks about the lives and constraints of women and girls, and how she was raised to believe she was capable of anything, and her role has in many respects become that of teaching other young women especially, to believe that themselves.

Michelle has been open also about the compromises she has had to accept in being the wife of a President, which can challenge the equality in a relationship. But they have sought help when necessary, and they reside in a very loving and strong relationship.

And of course, she is a loving mother, now heading towards an empty nest.

I think she wrote this book in order to show young people that if they are prepared to strive, they can do anything they want to. She came from where they come from, and has done more than she could have ever dreamed of doing.

Great review, Caroline. I am on the waiting list for this at my library. I saw they had it as an audiobook so that's what I'm waiting for. I sure hope she is the reader! I listened to Barack Obama read both his books in the audiobook format and needless to say, they were excellent. I expect this one will be, too, if she is indeed the reader.

>215 jessibud2: It looks like she is reading it herself Shelley.

>216 Caroline_McElwee: I've heard an ad for (highlights of) her reading the audio on the new BBC Sounds app. Might make me bite the bullet and convert from the radio one, which I am a bit loath to leave.

Though slightly late, congratulations on making it to 75, dear Caroline.

I will be in the UK next month and would love to join you to add a few tomes to our respectively over burdened collections.

Have a lovely weekend.

Will look forward to catching up with you Paul.

78. The Life of Rebecca Jones (Angharad Price) ***1/2

I felt this had been over puffed by the likes of Jan Morris and others. Purporting to be a novel, but a family memoir in disguise. What, I hear you exclaim, so many novels are just that. I know, but somehow this just didn’t feel like a novel. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, just that my expectations were far higher than could be met. A rural story of a family in a Welsh village. I really did love the opening couple of pages, and then enjoyed the rest. I suspect that it will improve with a re-reading down the line, as I will have ‘placed’ it. Over puffing does not serve the author is the lesson here. Comparisons with Sebald and Ondaatje couldn’t be justified.

79. The Husband’s Secret (Liane Moriarty) ***

Popular for its genre, but not really my cuppa, read for Book Group, and not our normal fare either – but one of the reasons one joins a book group is to occasionally read something out of our comfort zone. Reasonably well written, though structurally obvious. I had worked out what the main secret was, and whose, by page 55 of 416. It was revealed at about page 160. The book got slightly more interesting for a chapter or two, and then wandered up a couple of other alleys. Ultimately, there is unlikely to be anyone who doesn’t carry a secret of one kind or another at some time in their lives, except some can affect the lives of others more. How the secret becomes known, who shares it, how and with whom, and what happens if they don’t share it do have some moral impetus.

>220 Caroline_McElwee: I've only read one book, Big Little Lies, by Liane Moriarty and didn't like it. What a lot of unpleasant people in one book. I can't understand why she is so popular.

80. What Truth Sounds Like: Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and Our Unfinished Conversation about Race in America (Michael Eric Dyson) ****1/2

A fine book exploring what has happened in the past 50 years, the outcomes of the meeting in 1963, and who are the equivalent attendees now. What is sad is that there is still such a massive problem. What is optimistic is that there are some fine contenders to lead in this area (I have a long list of people to read now).

Well written, incisive and recommended.

>221 VivienneR: The Husband's Secret was not loved at my book group either Vivienne. The friend who chose it I think was hoping for more of the moral dilemma's of such a secret/or any secret, but for me the book wasn't up to that level of interrogation. I didn't see the film/series of Big Little Lies, but I'm not remotely interested in reading more of her work.

One of the reasons I go to a book group is to occasionally read out of my comfort zone, but in this instance, it was not a happy find.

>222 Caroline_McElwee: Nice. That definitely goes onto my wishlist.

>222 Caroline_McElwee: Oh, that is immediately going on the wish list!

>222 Caroline_McElwee: Well, my determination not to buy any more books has already taken a hit here... Sounds like a great read.

81. Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire (Akala) ****1/2



A wide ranging and articulate exploration of race and class in the UK. A vivid memoir of life as a mixed-race Britain, hip-hop artist, educationalist and historian. Lots of leads to follow up. If anyone is going to make a change for the better in our world, young men like Akala are going to be the ones who do it. I look forward to his future books.

82. Browse: The World in Bookshops (ed Henry Hitchins) ****

Sat back in my comfy chair and enjoyed this book about bookshops, a volume of essays by international writers about their favourites.

What an extraordinary young man:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-46555594

I hope children everywhere read this, and I hope young men do too, as they appear to be especially vulnerable in our society at the moment, looking at suicide rates.

>228 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks for sharing, Caroline, it is important to know you are not the only one.

>228 Caroline_McElwee: That boy is an inspiration. I wish it hadn't been necessary though. Bullying seems to be on the rise.

>228 Caroline_McElwee: From a family with a lot of red hair, total empathy with that poor kid. And kudos to him for not just internalizing it. Bullying was bad enough before social media, so glad I didn't have to deal with that.

>229 FAMeulstee: >230 VivienneR: >231 charl08: Yes, it is one of the darker corners technology has made. Parents need to be seriously on it these days, to protect children in the technological age.

Happy Saturday, Caroline. I hope all is well in your world. Browse: The World in Bookshops sounds like a perfect bookish read.

I am having a good time with Transcription.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all my visitors. Here's my 58 year old Christmas Santa decoration.

>233 msf59: I think you might enjoy Browse Mark. Each essay is very different, but all full of love for bookshops, many now long lost.

Your Santa is very handsome and has aged so well! My best wishes for a Merry Christmas Caroline!

>234 Caroline_McElwee: Love your vintage Santa decoration, Caroline. Merry Christmas!

>234 Caroline_McElwee: Impressive survival there. Wishing you lots of good reading over the holidays.

Thanks Vivienne, Joe and Charlotte.

Not as much time for reading as I'd like I suspect, but I'll squeeze some in.

83. Ghost Trees (Rob Gilbert) ****



A pleasureable romp in Gilbert's footsteps in search of the natural in the urban London borough. Full of gems of history and miscellania, including myth busting, such as the plane trees of London, sloughing off the pollution they suck in when their bark peels. They may, but recent theories suggest it may be as much to do with their branches as the bark.

A winner for tree lovers.

>234 Caroline_McElwee: I love Santa! He has held up very well.

84. Austerlitz (W G Sebald) ****1/2



Austerlitz continues Sebald's exploration of memory, the overriding subject in his books.

Relatively plotless, full of digressions and meanderings Jacques Austerlitz tells stories to an unnamed narrator. Sometimes there are even more layers of narrators. Sebald is often juggling whilst patting his head and rubbing his tummy, which can give a sense of vertigo sometimes. But it is the vertiginous quality of memory, and its layers. How accurate are memories, how many memories are inherited, plagiarised, invented, adopted, posturing to ones self and others? How we exclude, barricade, ourselves from memories.

Austerlitz spends much of his life knowing nothing of his origins, including, for some while, his name. Sent by his mother to safety on what we now call Kindertransports he is taken in by a childless couple. He pieces his story together over a lifetime, and tells it to his patient listener (and us) at periodic coming together's.

As ever with Sebald the narrative is intercut with photographs, his or found?

The novel is made up of three paragraphs, the first of 354 pages, including a 9 page sentence (waves of lists).

A bravura performance one might say of another writer, but Sebald is a quiet craftsman.

>240 Caroline_McElwee: Glad to read this one was a success, Caroline.

Some of the books to be published in 2019:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46359419

>243 charl08: yes, lots of little nuggets of information Charlotte. I'm a tree person, though need to learn to identify more. Reading this has made me look at the local trees more carefully though.

Have a great holiday, Caroline. I am loving The Library Book, which also might make a good companion read with Browse. Just sayin'...

>246 msf59: Ha, I beat ya to 'just saying' and dropped it into my shopping cart as soon as I saw your recommendation Mark. Arrives early New Year.

(Or in other words, Happy Christmas, to you and yours!)

85. Something of his Art: Walking to Lubeck with J S Bach (Horatio Clare) ****



A short, joyful journey in the footsteps of the young Bach. Long a fan of his work, this short book has set me to listening to him again, and not just long held favourites, but work I am less familiar with. I'm dipping into the 333 Project, some of which is available to stream, (one day I may own the 222 CDs!).

Love the cover of the book too.

>222 Caroline_McElwee:, >240 Caroline_McElwee: - Both these books look excellent.

Wishing you a lovely Christmas, Caroline. All the best for the new year, too

>250 jessibud2: they were Shelley.

I've been really lucky with my reading this year. I'll post my best of, so far.

I have had a real non-fiction binge this year, so there are quite a lot of Non-fiction favourites. I also did more re-reads, as earlier in the year re-reading old favourites was all I could manage. There may be one or two more to be added by year's end. I note that the women are leading on the favourites list this year.

Non-Fiction
The Lost Words (Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris) *****
Kenneth Clark: Life, Art, Civilisation (James Stourton) ****1/2
The Three Lives of Dylan Thomas (Hilly James) ****
The Salt Path (Raynor Winn) ****
Free Woman: Life, Liberation and Doris Lessing (Lara Feigel) ****1/2
Mark Rothko: Toward the Light in the Chapel (Annie Cohen-Solal)****
Conversations on Writing (Ursula K. Le Guin) ****1/2
The Perfect Summer (Juliet Nicholson) ****1/2
Call Them by Their True Names (Rebecca Solnit) ****1/2
Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race (Reni Eddo-Lodge) *****
Brief Answers To The Big Questions (Stephen Hawking) *****
Becoming (Michelle Obama) ****
What Truth Sounds Like (Michael Eric Dyson) ****1/2
Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire (Akala) ****1/2

Fiction
White Houses (Amy Bloom) ****1/2
Meet Me at the Museum (Anne Youngson) ****
The Overstory (Richard Powers) *****
Warlight (Michael Ondaatje) ****1/2
The Lighthousekeeper's Daughters (Jean Pendziwol) ****1/2
Love is Blind (William Boyd) ****
Take Nothing With You (Patrick Gale) ****

Rereads: Fiction and Non-Fiction
The Guernsey Literary. And Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Ann Shaffer) ****1/2
A View of the Harbour (Elizabeth Taylor) ****1/2
Remarkable Creatures (Tracy Chevalier) ****
A Room of One's Own (Virginia Woolf) (reread) *****

Poetry
The Carrying (Ada Limon)*****

>234 Caroline_McElwee: That decoration is the same age as me! 😀

>252 Caroline_McElwee: Glad to see The Overstory and The Carrying make your best-of-2018 list. They both made mine, as well!

>248 SandDune: Thanks Rhian.

>253 EBT1002: me too Ellen, bought for my first Christmas.

It was a good year on the reading front.

Have a beautiful Christmas, Caroline, with health and happiness in the new year. It's been a lot of fun sharing your reading.

Happy holidays, Caroline.

Do you have any time for poetry shopping around the 29th?

Merry Christmas from Philadelphia, Caroline!

Thanks Paul and Darryl.

>256 PaulCranswick: I will be flying to Bilbao for a couple of days on the 29th Paul. I'll have to wait for your next UK visit for that shopping spree.

Read in 2018 so far...

The Body in the Library (Agatha Christie) (LL) (02/01/18) ***1/2
Sing Unburied, Sing (Jesmyn Ward) (Kindle)(10/12/17)****
Nemisis (Agatha Christie) (LL) (16/01/18) ***1/2
A Pocket Full of Rye (Agatha Christie) (LL) (17/01/18) ***
From the Heart (Susan Hill) (20/01/18) ****
The Lost Words (Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris) (21/01/18) *****
4.50 From Paddington (Agatha Christie)(LL) (22/01/18) ***
The Woman in Blue (Elly Griffiths) (30/01/28)
The 4 Pillar Plan (Dr Rangan Chatterjee) (03/02/18) *****
In The a Darkroom (Susan Faludi) (09/02/18) ****
Kenneth Clark: Life, Art, Civilisation (James Stourton) (18/02/18) ****1/2
The Power of Now (Eckhart Tolle) (20/02/18) ***1/2
Demian (Herman Hesse) (21/02/18) ***
The River of Consciousness (Oliver Sacks) (28/02/18) ****
Appointment in Arezzo: A Friendship with Muriel Spark (Alan Taylor) (02/03/18) ****
No Time to Spare (Ursula K Le Guin) (06/03/18) ****
New Collected Poems: Wendell Berry (07/03/18) ****1/2
The Staircase Letters (Arthur Motyer/Elmer Gerwin/Carol Shields) (11/03/18) ****
Packing my Library (Alberto Manguel) (15/03/18) ****
The Beginning of Spring (Penelope Fitzgerald) (18/03/18) ***
A Room of One's Own (Virginia Woolf) (reread) (20/03/18) *****
Strangers (Anita Brookner) (LL) (21/03/18) ***1/2
Anecdotal Evidence (Wendy Cope) (21/03/18) ***1/2
The Little Book of Feminist Saints (Julia Pierpont) (27/03/18) ***1/2
The Guernsey Literary. And Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Ann Shaffer) (30/03/18) (3rd reread) ****1/2
The Cemetery in Barnes (Gabriel Josipovici) (16/04/18) ***1/2
A View of the Harbour (Elizabeth Taylor) (22/04/18) (reread) ****1/2
If this is a man (Primo Levy) (25/04/18) (reread) *****
The Newton Letter (John Banville) (26/04/18) (reread) ****
White Houses (Amy Bloom) (29/04/18) ****1/2
The Three Lives of Dylan Thomas (Hilly James) (29/04/18) ****
The Salt Path (Raynor Winn) (06/05/18) ****
Remarkable Creatures (Tracy Chevalier) (10/05/18) (reread) ****
Wade in the Water (Tracey K Smith) (10/05/18) (Poetry) ****
The Waves (Virginia Woolf) (19/05/18) (reread) ****1/2
Meet Me at the Museum (Anne Youngson) (25/05/18) ****
Free Woman (Lara Feigel) (28/05/18) ****1/2
The Seven Sisters (Margaret Drabble) (07/06/18) ****
Warlight (Michael Ondaatje) (12/06/18) ****1/2
The Librarian (Salley Vickers) (18/06/18) ***
Reading with Patrick (Michelle Kuo) (21/06/18) ****
House of Names (Colm Tóibín) (24/06/18) ****
Morning (Allan Jenkins)****
My Name is Lucy Barton (Elizabeth Strout) ****
Tom's Midnight Garden (Philippa *) ***1/2
Mark Rothko: ****
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning (Margareta Magnusson) ***
100 Poems (Seamus Heaney) ****1/2
Nothing to Envy (Barbara Demick) (26/07/18) ****
Conversations on Writing (Ursula K. Le Guin) (31/07/18) ****1/2
The Overstory (Richard Powers) (05/08/18) *****
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Gail Honeyman) (12/08/18) ***1/2
The Unpunished Vice: A Life of Reading (Edmund White) (15/08/18) ***1/2
To The Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf) reread (21/08/18) *****
The Lost Letters of William Woolf (Hellen Cullen) (23/08/18) ***1/2
The Corner that held Them (Sylvia Thownsend Warner) (30/08/18) ***1/2
Take Nothing With You (Patrick Gale) (01/09/1828) ****
Gloucester Crescent: Me, My Dad and Othrt Grown-ups (03/09/18) ****1/2
The Perfect Summer (Juliet Nicholson) (13/09/18) ****1/2
Call Them by Their True Names (Rebecca Solnit) (15/09/18) ****1/2
Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race (Reni Eddo-Lodge) (16/09/18) *****
The Lighthousekeeper's Daughters (Jean Pendziwol) (20/09/18) ****1/2
Love is Blind (William Boyd) (25/09/18) ****
The Dark Flood Rises (Margaret Drabble) (30/09/18) ****
An Untouched House (WF Hermans) (02/10/18) ***1/2
In My Mind's Eye: A Thought Diary (Jan Morris) (09/10/18) ***
Melmoth (Sarah Perry) (13/10/18) ****
The Carrying (Ada Limon) (poetry) (14/10/18) *****
A Keeper (Graham Norton) (20/10/18) (20/10/18) ****
Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) (25/10/18) ****
A Year of Reading Proust (Phylis Rose) ***1/2
Brief Answers To The Big Questions (Stephen Hawking) *****
To Kill The President (Sam Bourne aka Jonathan Freedland, political commentator on The Guardian) (07/11/18)****
Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know: The Fathers of Wilde, Yeats and Joyce (Colm Tóibín) (11/11/18) ****
Spy of the First Person (Sam Shepard) (15/11/18) ****
Becoming (Michelle Obama) (21/11/18) ****
The Life of Rebecca Jones (Angharad Price) (23/11/18) ***1/2
The Husband's Secret (Liane Moriarty) (29/11/18) ***
What Truth Sounds Like (Michael Eric Dyson) (02/12/18) ****1/2
Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire (Akala) (11/12/18) ****1/2
Browse: The World in Bookshops (ed Henry Hitchins) 12/12/18 ****
Ghost Trees (Rob Gilbert) 21/12/18 ****
Austerlitz (W G Sebald) ROOT ****1/2
Something of his Art: Walking to Lubeck with J S Bach (Horacio Clare) ****
The Great Gatsby (F Scott Fitzgerald) 38th read *****

Total: 86 - so far, there's a possibility of a couple more.

>259 Caroline_McElwee: I am impressed that you have kept track of how many times you have read particular books - 38 for The Great Gatsby! I journaled my reading for several years before joining LT but kept no track about a decade after I was out of school so a great many books went unrecorded. Enjoy Bilbao.

I can't remember when I started keeping track of my reading Erik, and I've mislaid early notebooks, and because I did them on disks and the like, some of the more recent lists, Hesse the plan is to always drop the list at the end of my annal thread to, so I can find it.

Other than Gatsby, the most I've read other books is 3-5 times I'd guess. But The Great Gatsby gets read every year now. Do you have a book you reread?

>261 Caroline_McElwee: I have a couple that I have reread in the range of 3-5 times but really only one that is a regular reread. I read The Shepherd by Frederick Forsyth nearly every Christmas. If you are not familiar with it, it is a bit of a Christmas ghost story involving a pilot who is facing certain death and is saved. Dad used to read it around Christmas and gifted me a copy a number of years ago. I didn't reread it this year but may still curl up in front of the fire with it over the weekend.

I shall have to note that for next Christmas Erik. It's a long time since I read FF, and not that novel.

Caroline, you really must get a copy of The Shepherd by Frederick Forsyth for next Christmas as recommended by >262 Oberon:. It's wonderful, and perfect for a traditional Christmas re-read each year.

Wishing you more great reading in 2019 and all the best in everything you do.

Thank you Vivienne. I shall certainly get a copy of the book.

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and peaceful new year, Caroline.

Thank you Coleen. I'm looking forward to 2019.

The Guggenheim Museum - Bilbao (Architect: Frank Gehry)

The exterior of this building must be one of the most photogenic I know, with all its wonderful curves and juxtapositions.








By Anish Kapoor


The pink arch is the top of the bridge behind.


There was some Vincent: Landscape with Snow (and 2 others)


and some Anselm Kiefer: 'The Renowned Orders of the Night' - this is several metres high (1 of 4 pieces of his work)

(Art pics from www)

As well as all this, the retrospective of Alberto Giacometti that I missed in London was here. Wonderful.

Oh that looks amazing Caroline. I would like to go very much.

>269 charl08: It is really worth a visit Charlotte. I've long had it on my to-do list, so it's been a lovely way to finish a year.

Oh my, I love those photos of the Guggenheim, Caroline. It looks wonderful. I can't believe that the Giacometti retrospective was there, too. Perfect!

>268 Caroline_McElwee: - Wow, those are amazing buildings and photos, Caroline. Frank Gehry is celebrated here as being a Toronto-born architect. I am not familiar with all his works but your pics here are excellent!

>268 Caroline_McElwee: Lovely photos.

Thanks >272 jessibud2: Shelly and >273 Oberon: and Erik. Just love this building.

In 2019 you can find me here https://www.librarything.com/topic/301095

Thanks for sharing the pictures of the Guggenheim in Bibao, Caroline!
It is on our list of places we want to go one day.'

How did you like the Giacometti exhibition?

I loved the Giacometti exhibition Anita. So much I hadn't seen before. I liked the tiny sculptures, and the portraits, and so much more.

It is certainly worth a visit.

Thanks Lori.

You can find me here in 2019:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/301095

>249 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks for this recommendation. What a beautiful little book! I've put my copy with my copy of John Eliot Gardiner's Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven. They belong together. I'm not exactly a fan of Bach--more like that I just about believe that the universe was created to make J S Bach possible.