2022 Series of PGMCC's reading: Episode One

Read in 2022

I start the year with seven in-progress reads. Three of these are hangovers from 2020 and I am keeping them on the list as I do want to finish them.

Title; Author; Status; Start/end date; Number of pages

It was the best of sentences, it was the worst of sentences. by June Casagrande 17/02/2020 -
The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford 26/10/2020 -
Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely 20/12/2020 –
Africa's Top Geological Sites by Richard Viljoen 02/04/2021 - 290 pages
The Economics of Inequality by Piketty 21/08/2021 - 135 Pages
Seven Gothic Tales by Isak Dinesen 18/10/2021 - 449 Pages
Uncle Silas by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 27/12/2021 - 06/01/2022 393 pages

Books completed in 2022:

Title; Author; Status; Start/end date; Number of pages

Uncle Silas by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 27/12/2021 - 06/01/2022 393 pages
Secrets of the World's Best-Selling Writer by Francis L. Fugate & Roberta B. Fugate 07/01/2022 - 18/01/2022 286 pages
The Case of the Lame Canary by Erle Stanley Gardner 18/01/2022 - 23/01/2022 186 Pages
Words Like Loaded Pistols: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama by Sam Leith 23/01/2022 - 05/02/2022 332 Pages
ARCADIA by Iain Pears 05/02/2022 - 18/02/2022 594 Pages
Guest List by Lucy Foley 19/02/2022 - ? Pages

*ROA: Risk Of Abandonment due to lack of interest or pure boredom.

Happy reading in the new year! My DH greatly enjoyed Predictably Irrational.

Happy New Year! Can’t wait to see what bullets you shoot this year!

>2 Marissa_Doyle: The same to you, Marissa.

I have read about half of Predictably Irrational and have really enjoyed it. Life got busy and I got distracted.

>3 catzteach: Thank you. I hope 2022 is a great year for you.

Can’t wait to see what bullets you shoot this year!

Moi? You must be confusing me with soeone else.

:-)

Happy new thread, Peter.

>6 haydninvienna: Thank you, Richard.

Happy new thread! Interesting reading list, as always.

Happy 2022!

I've been in progress on The Dragon Waiting for a few months. I'm quite certain it's of interest, but it seems to require more concentration than I'm willing to expend right now.

>8 Karlstar: Thank you, Jim.

>9 libraryperilous: Happy New Year!

The Dragon Waiting does take a bit of concentration to keep track of the characters.

Happy New Year! Happy Reading, Peter!

>11 clamairy: Thank you, Clare. We have already arrived in 2022 and so far there is pizza.

Oh yes; and wine.

>12 pgmcc: How's it feel on the other side of the space/time continuum?

Hi all, just wanted to take a minute to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy year, most of all good health! These days people don't spend much time or thought on some personal words to their friends and family, they just copy and paste some random message and send it on. So after all we've been though together this year I want to thank you all for your friendship and wish you a happy and fulfilling 2018 - you’re the best gymnastics group anyone could ask for. Best wishes, Helen xxx

>13 clamairy:
I had a Whatsapp message from my niece in New Zealand at 11:05 am today. She was wishing me Happy New Year as she had been in 2022 for five minutes at that stage.

Another niece here in Ireland posted that it was really cool having a cousin living in the future.

One of my nephews in Ireland asked the niece in New Zealand, "Hey, what are this evening's lottery numbers."

The niece in New Zealand refused to tell him. That is some tough love.

Now, in terms of being on the other side of the space/time continuum, your lottery numbers are...

>15 pgmcc: Very funny! And what exactly is the message in >14 pgmcc: about? LOL

>14 pgmcc: Hahahahahahaha! Good way to start the new year - with a real belly laugh. Thank you, my friend!

>16 clamairy: & >17 Storeetllr:
I hope we all find something to laugh about in 2022.

>14 pgmcc: Thanks for the meaningful and original message!

>19 NorthernStar:
Happy New Year! Have a fabulous 2022, Alison.

Happy new year! Make it a healthy one, but be sure to include lots of novelty and joy in your 2022 experiences.

Happy reading in 2022!

Summary of 2021 completions

Having reviewed my 2021 reading records I can reveal the following:

Novels completed: 43
Single short stories: 8
Short story collectons: 2
Novels DNFed/deliberately abandoned: 3*

*All the novels deliberately abandoned were Lockdown Book Club books.

Pages read in 2021 exceeded 13,000.

I believe 2021 has been the year when I completed more novels and read more pages than any other year.

>14 pgmcc:
Such a heartfelt message! The time you spent composing.

>24 suitable1:
One does one’s best when writing to friends.

Happy New Year, Riley!

>14 pgmcc: I didn't realize your real name was Helen. Glad you appreciate our ability to tumble away from chores and onto our reading chairs though. :P Looking forward to seeing this year through with you.

Very sorry I missed your piffle party, Peter. At least let me wish you an altogether excellent new year, with plenty of babies to hug and books to snuggle down with. I'll be following along.

>27 Meredy: I like that sentence you used, because it could easily be reversed and still be a blessing. Books to hug and babies to snuggle with. :) Have you ever hugged a book? I have.

>28 MrsLee: Indeed I have, and thanks for that vivid tactile recollection.

MrsLee has issued invitations to a Piffle Party at her Cookbookers Group thread. It can be found here.

>30 pgmcc: You are the best! Thanks :) Only twenty more posts to go.

I have been reading Uncle Silas by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. As mentioned elsewhere I have acquired a cheap Kindle version to read rather than risk damaging my nice Folio Society edition (pictured above). I have now reverted to reading the Folio Society edition. The Kindle edition (pictured below) is so riddled with typos that it in injurious to one's reading. It is a case of getting what I paid for.



I have compared passages in the Kindle with the Folio edition and found the Folio Society edition to be perfect. The type of errors found are not explained by a poor OCR copy. Words are re-ordered, misspelled, missing, etc... I called a halt when I found a paragraph with five errors. This has the feel of a re-type coupled with poor proofreading.

The novel is excellent and it is a shame that my reading of it is interrupted so regularly by these errors. On the plus side, I am now having a wonderful reading experience with the delightful Folio Society edition. The Folio edition also includes some lovely images of scenes from the novel.

Without giving too much away, the story is told from the viewpoint of the main protagonist, Maud Ruthyn, who is the teenage daughter of a wealthy man of rather reclusive habits. It is a Gothic tale, which explains the big houses, the family secrets, the dark mysteries, the ominous Uncle Silas, etc...

If you like Dickens work I suggest you will like this story. Make sure you get a good copy. Avoid the typo riddled Kindle version I acquired.

>32 pgmcc: That is too bad. You should attempt to return it for a refund citing the numerous errors. I'm glad you're enjoying that folio edition, though.

Well that's a bad deal, but maybe if you want try the Gutenberg edition. I read it that way and didn't find the horrors you did (ha, see what I did there!). But damn, a Folio edition is hard to beat. I only have a few, but have some other fine press books and they are a joy. Just don't have a cup of cocoa or plate of spaghetti nearby!

>33 clamairy: I have taken your advice and the refund is pending.

>34 Bookmarque: I am glad to hear the Gutenberg edition is of good quality. I have read many things from Gutenberg and have not been disappointed.

>32 pgmcc: I n my opinion, the folio edition was probably messing with the juju of the Kindle version. Lovely books ache to be held, read and caressed. I'm glad you are fulfilling its purpose.

>35 pgmcc: Oh, I'm glad!

>36 MrsLee: Oh my ... I'm thinking we should give Peter some private time with that folio.

>37 clamairy: Yet another reason people like to read alone. ;)

>36 MrsLee:
I think you hit the nail on the head. The Folio was jealous.

>37 clamairy:
Hey! This is a family show.

>38 MrsLee:
My goodness. There are two of you involved.

Inconceivable.

Thanks to the private time >37 clamairy: and >38 MrsLee: gave me with Uncle Silas I have finished the book and have really enjoyed it.

Happy to oblige!
:D

Time for some non-fiction.



This is a book bullet from jillmwo. Between Jill's excellent posts describing the content of this book, the practices of its subject, Erle Stanley Gardner, my liking for the theory of story, and Perry Mason being staple weekly viewing in my home when I was only wee lad, how could I not be a prime target for this book.

I bought the Kindle version with the hypothesis that if I found it very interesting I would buy a physical copy to have and to hold along with my other reference books on story. That hypothesis was modified by research. I followed the Scientific Method and gathered data. The data that changed my hypothesis was the pricing for the hardback and paperback editions; £84.95 and £70.24 respectively. :-)

>42 pgmcc: All right, you've BB'd me with Uncle Silas. I just hope it's not as frightening as some of his short stories. "The Willows"...I don't need to shiver that much ever again.

>45 Meredy:
I hope you enjoy it.

>44 pgmcc: Wow, I didn't necessarily believe you when you said I'd leveled a BB at you. I thought you were just being kind and welcoming to the prodigal child. But yes, there's a lot to unpack about how Gardner worked professionally as a writer and how he approached thinking about plots.

One note however -- you may find that some of the analysis in comparing how Gardner developed one successful character from a previous one (in Chap 13 or 14 I think) makes it worth your while to splurge for the print. Because the screen size may hinder some of your comprehension. Don't think about the price. Close your eyes and hit the buy button. (Note: I say this so that I won't be alone in feeling guilt from profligate expenditures on books. I just bought a four-volume set of Wilkie Collins, originally published back in 1992, and I know it's unlikely that my sons will ever see the set as a meaningful or highly valued element of the family estate when I die. Neither of them properly appreciates writers who were paid by the word. But I really do enjoy Wilkie Collins.)

>47 jillmwo:
Don't think about the price. Close your eyes and hit the buy button.

While I am happy to share the guilt associated with pouring money into the pockets of booksellers, I will reserve judgement until I am further through the book. I have read the first two chapters and have enjoyed them. They are very conversational in describing Gardner's development of his writing. I am hoping the subsequent chapters provide a bit more structured analysis of his approach. Your comments on Chapter 13/14 give me hope.

By coincidence, a writer friend of mine, Oisín McGann, posted a recommendation to fellow writers that they include start and end dates to their notebooks and list the topics included in them. I sent him a paragraph from the Gardner book describing his notebooks and their cross-referencing and indexing. Talk about synchronicity.

>47 jillmwo:
...and I know it's unlikely that my sons will ever see the set as a meaningful or highly valued element of the family estate when I die.

I have been thinking about what will happen my books when I no longer have need for them. (I will have read them all by the time I die because I have decided that I will not die before reading all the books I have. This is why I keep buying more books. It is the true path to immortality.) Houses these days tend to be smaller than older houses and there is less room for physical books. My older son is living in a tiny apartment, so he cannot take a couple of thousand books even if he wanted to. My older daughter has three young children and at the moment and is not interested in books even if she had room for them. My youngest son is still in the house, but while he reads he has not shown a lot of interest in my books. My daughter in Cincinnati, who has recently moved into a lovely house, has said she has more room for books. I am toying with the idea of leaving the "collections" elements of my library to them. This would include my limited editions from Tartarus Press and The Swan River Press, and the collections of Robert Aickman and Thomas Ligotti works. I have collections of George A. Birmingham and John Buchan, but I do not think they would want those.

When I like an author I will tend to go for all their books. I have all of Iain Banks books, mostly bought as they came out as I discovered his work fairly soon after he was published for the first time. I have an almost complete set of Ken MacLeod's books; many of Christopher Priest's novels; many Philip K. Dick books; Umberto Eco's fiction and a lot of his non-fiction; all the John Le Carré stories; Nick Harkaway, of course; ....

The rest of my books are more random.

Now see what you started with your throw away comment about Wilkie Collins and her four-volune set. By the way, Wilkie Collins was at that 2005 Worldcon in Glasgow, and she was a very pleasant guest and has a good sense of humour. (See posts >53 jillmwo: & >54 pgmcc: for the follow-on discussion about my senior moment.)

>49 pgmcc: I feel exactly the same about it.

>50 Storeetllr: Perfect.

>50 Storeetllr: Love it! Guess we're all living forever :D

>49 pgmcc: Now see what you started with your throw away comment about Wilkie Collins and her four-volune set. By the way, Wilkie Collins was at that 2005 Worldcon in Glasgow, and she was a very pleasant guest and has a good sense of humour.

I know I have a bit of a problem in terms of taking things too literally so please help me get this bit straight. You saw a transgender ghost at a Worldcon back in 2005 in Glasgow who assured you that they were the author of The Moonstone, The Woman in White, Armadale and No Name. And that same transgender spirit is still writing books today? Books that are humorous and worth reading and published by the Folio Society?

My dear pgmcc, either the Folio set I purchased is going to be worth far more than anyone in the cryptocurrency industry could possibly anticipate or it may be time for you to evade any quarantine restrictions and take a holiday for a bit of a rest.

>53 jillmwo:
Senior moment. I saw Wilkie Collins and read Connie Willis.

Although, I did meet some transgender people, but they were not ghosts. They were friends.

By the way, Wilkie Collins says, "Hi!"

I am enjoying working my way through this story of how Erle Stanley Gardner got into writing, how he defined his markets, identified the key influencers, gleaned the requirements of his customers, and delivered what the customer wanted.

I am only about 25% through the book, but so far his five-year plan for becoming a has been described, and how he systematically developed the knowledge, skills, and marketing know-how to sell into the markets he saw as giving him what he needed to fulfil his plan.

He was a practising lawyer but was not interested in working in an office. His plan was to develop a line of work that gave him the same level of income he was on as a lawyer but also gave him the freedom to work how, where and when he liked. He started writing for pulp magazines and cultivated relationships with the editors of the main magazines. He was always seeking feedback on his manuscripts and incorporated any criticisms into his rewrites and new stories. Over time he developed a good sense of what the various editors' readers wanted, i.e. what the editors wanted, and was able to write stories that he knew would meet the profile of the stories they were likely to buy.

The other market he was after was the "slick" white-paper book market, i.e. not the cheap pulp magazines. He saw the book market as a different proposition and tackled it id a different way. He used the pulp magazines to hone his skills and learn what he could about the business.

I have reached the point where he is turning his attention to the book market.

His approach was very much what we are told today about presentation skills:
- Know your audience
- Establish what they want
- Present your material/story in line with the audience members' expectations

This, of course, was underpinned by developing his knowledge and skills of his craft, writing.

The book is an interesting and easy read. I am capturing quotes from it to try to summarise the key elements. There are lessons to be learned and I feel a physical copy would be much better for learning these lessons. Currently I am reading it on the Kindle and I am highlighting quotes and e-mailing them to myself. This is creating a rather cumbersome process whereby I will have to access these e-mails, hope they are easily interpreted when viewed out of context, and then document the key learning points in a summary. I find that underlining in a physical book, and then transcribing the lessons/quotes into a Word document or notebook, much more beneficial. I love being able to flip through the pages of a physical book when searching for a quote or note. One gets to know where in the book your favourite pieces are, and the most referenced tips. My college books almost fell open at the desired pages when I needed to refer to a particular topic. I merely had to think of a topic and all of a sudden I found the book in my hands was falling open at the critical page. That is not possible with an e-book. One does not have the tactile memory of the right page.

I have mentioned my enjoyment of the books, Into The Woods by John Yorke, and The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr. I am recognising elements in the Erle Stanely Gardner book that relate to the discussions and pointers in those two books.

jillmwo, I think you can see that I am benefiting from your hitting me with this book bullet. In terms of the physical book, and your suggestion that I "just push that buy button", I may be moving closer to that point, but I am not quite there yet.

>50 Storeetllr: That is beautiful. The Grim Reaper's gesture is perfect.

>32 pgmcc: I know I'm late in catching up but just so you know that bullet hit its mark and is duly added to the wishlist for possible future consumption.

>57 Peace2: I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

>55 pgmcc: I really do understand and sympathize with your hesitation over the cost of the printed volume, but I'm glad you understand my recommendation for doing so was based on solid personal experience. Yes, the book is an easy read but it offers so much substance in the discussion!! The further in you get, the more you're thinking about his analysis and his variously assorted tip sheets. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

>59 jillmwo:
I have been noting some parts in a Word document for future perusal. A physical copy would be great for flipping back and forward to reference the various points of interest.

Last night we had a Lottery draw. The jackpot had not been won since June and had reached €19m some time ago. There is some rule whereby when it gets to a certain level it stays at it until it is won. Because it was so long since it was won they changed the rules so that if no one picked the exact numbers the €19m would then be shared amongst the next tier of winners. I bought a ticket. I did not win. I will refrain from buying the physical book for now.

By the way, the jackpot was won on Saturday night by one person in County Mayo.

The book is showing how white male oriented the publishing world was at the time. It does not show any great support for feminism, or anti-racist initiatives.

Also, the feedback from the audience demonstrates prudiness too; a male female team was abandoned after a few stories as the feedback from the readers was that they were not comfortable with a man and a woman working so close together. Something naughty must be going on and this is not something we can condone.

It is interesting to see how Gardner developed his formula for his plots. I remember watching various weekly shows and guessing from the first scene who the murderer was going to be. You know my record for that sort of thing, so obviously I got it wrong more often than not. :-)

Belated Happy New Year, Peter, and wishes for much enjoyable reading this year. It looks as if you're off to a good start.

>61 Jim53:
Many Happy Returns to you. I hope 2022 is more pleasant for you, and that you have some great reads.

You are correct that I have gotten off to a good start for 2022. As you will see from my thread, I have been hit by jillmwo and am enjoying the consequences.

Thanks for dropping by.

I finished Secrets of the World's Best-Selling Writer: The Storytelling Techniques of Erle Stanley Gardner.



This was a Book Bullet from jillmwo. Thank you, Jill. I found it a very interesting read and it has some fascinating appendices.

There is a post/review currently in preparation. I will post that when it is ready. All I need say here, is that I found the book very interesting and educational.

Having read about how Erle Stanley Gardner created his characters, built his plots and wrote his stories, I was delighted to find The Case of the Lame Canary on my shelves just a short time ago when I was doing a bit of reorganisation. Pure synchronicity that I found a Perry Mason story just before Jill hit me with her sharp-shooting. This is one of Erle Stanley Gardner's first Perry Mason stories, and its genesis is described in Secrets of the World's Best-Selling Writer: The Storytelling Techniques of Erle Stanley Gardner. It is great to be reading this novel just after having read so much about its creation and the path Gardner followed its writing and publication.



E.T.A. Having grown up in a house were Perry Mason was on the television every week, I cannot read this book without Raymond Burr's voice speaking Perry Mason's lines. For me, Raymond Burr was Perry Mason. I remember when Ironside started we were delighted to see Perry Mason playing Ironside. :-)

>63 pgmcc: Our household also had Perry Mason as a regular feature on TV, and yes, I too was glad to see him again in Ironside. lol

I have a friend who is absolutely devoted to the Erle Stanley Gardner Perry Mason mysteries. She and her husband read them again and again. For some reason, although my mother was a mystery buff, I don't remember any of those books in her collection, and I have read only a couple. They are not my favorites. Not sure why. I can't say that I dislike them, I haven't read enough of them to make that the case, but I haven't pursued them.

Secrets of the World's Best-Selling Writer: The Storytelling Techniques of Erle Stanley Gardner

Book bullet from jillmwo.

I read the Kindle version which was published in 2014. The paperback edition currently was published in 2015. The original edition first saw the light of day in 1980.

Roberta and Francis Fugate based their book on the content of the Erle Stanley Gardner archive. This archive was immense and included not just the final drafts of his stories and his art collection, but also his vast number of notebooks in which he recorded ideas, plotted stories, documented his ideas and analysis on how writers can do their job of writing stories that will sell, and recorded his thoughts on how to earn a living from writing so that he could escape the world of The Office.

The book starts with a very conversational tone describing how Gardner, a lawyer by trade, dreamed of earning his living by writing fiction. By all accounts he was a good lawyer, but he did not like being tied to an office and not being the master of his own destiny. He set himself the objective of earning as much money annually from his writing as he was earning from his lawyerly work, and gave himself five years to achieve that. It was his intention that when he achieved his goal after five years he would quit his legal practice. This book documents how he single-mindedly drove himself to achieve that goal, and how he built his Fiction Factory and produced a phenomenal amount of output.

As the book proceeds, the chapters become more specific in how he targeted his market, established who his customers were, i.e. the readers, identified what his customers wanted, and learned how to give them the product they would buy. Along the way he learned how the publishing business worked, and used this knowledge to maximise his sales.

While this book is focused on how Erle Stanley Gardner built his success in writing, his approach could be used by any individual striving for success in any business or enterprise. It includes lessons on market research, networking, administration, documentation, subject matter research, etc…

Gardner first targeted the wood-pulp fiction magazines; the magazines that were very popular and that were snatched up by their readers to provide sensational entertainment. He analysed the stories that appeared in them, worked out what the readers wanted, and then went about submitting material to these editors.

He told the editors he was a beginner in the writing game and that he would take any editorial corrections and pointers that they could provide. He befriended them and established what attributes of a story they preferred and what sort of story they would buy. His view of the market was that the readers were his audience while the editors were gatekeepers to the market. He knew these editors were not interested in literary excellence, but wanted to make money. With this mindset he systematically established what the market wanted and put material in front of editors that had been specifically designed for their magazines’ audiences, and that had been moulded with each editor’s particular preferences in mind.

This focused, business like lawyer/writer, who had a natural sense of salesmanship, went about building his writing business in a very systematic fashion setting daily word-count targets, and documenting everything. He systematically researched plot development, character attributes, techniques for building stories, and then applied what he had learned. To assist him in this work he hired staff and built a machine around him that ensured his stories were being sent out to publishers, their success or otherwise recorded and tracked, and that any rejects were revised and sent out again promptly.

Gardner did not always have success with his stories. He was worried about his rejection rates, so he responded by increasing his output, while at the same time honing his market knowledge and writing skills to increase the acceptance rate and increase his revenue yield.

When reading about Gardner’s output and his success rate I couldn’t help thinking of Edison’s quote when told he had a lot of good ideas. His response was that he had a lot of ideas. Some of them were good. Gardner wrote a lot of stories; some of them sold.

Women were particularly poorly represented in his stories. It was said that in his stories “…a dame was a dame”. My reading of his life is that he did not have a very mature relationship with women. He had difficulty in writing about relationships in his stories and avoided having married couples in his tales after having had very negative feedback to a story which included a wife ironing her dress while standing in her underwear with her husband in the same room. His editor said this was not something a decent woman would do and that readers had complained, so Gardner decided that he did not know how to write about married couples, so he never again had any of his heroes married.

Perry Mason was his most famous creation and there is a chapter devoted to Mason’s origins. The Perry Mason books were very well received and went on to become a phenomenal success. Interestingly enough, Gardner never wrote any of the Perry Mason TV scripts. His analysis was that he did not have the skills required for scriptwriting so he would buy it in. He established a production company to make the programmes, but he hired in scriptwriters to write the scripts. He did keep a tight control on how his creation, Perry Mason, was represented in all the programmes.

Between his writing and his legal work he was working day and night. There appeared to be little room in his life for his wife and daughter. His single-minded drive to succeed was everything. He said at one point that there was time enough to rest in the next life.

To reach the level of success Gardner achieved, one needs to be single-minded, focused, and, it would appear, ignore the needs of others around you. One of his letters to a publisher friend complained that he had to put up with a wife who would not cook or clean, but spent her time going to the casino and shopping. It did not appear to occur to him that she might want a life of her own, or that he ignored his family and did not prioritise his marriage in any way. It appeared he only wanted a wife to look after him and his home. I thought his treatment of his wife was appalling. Eventually he and his wife agreed amicably to live apart and he set her up in a home and financed her life. He visited her routinely until her death. Shortly after that he married his long-term secretary.

The appendices of this book contain his tools for building characters and plots, including suggested motivations and actions at every stage in a story. These are the result of his years of studying stories and his experience of what worked and what didn’t work. He was always looking for the formula for a successful story; a story that captured the readers attention and moved along at a good pace. His primary objective was to make money by selling the stories, so they had to meet the requirement of appealing to the reader if he was to make money. His analysis of stories and how to write them so they would sell was conducted in a very systematic, almost scientific, way. The results of his analysis, research and experience are documented in the appendices of this book.

The advice and tools in this book were designed for two very specific murder mystery markets. The wood-pulp fiction magazines, and the newsstand book market. This must be kept in mind when assessing how one might adopt these techniques to their own purposes. One must also remember that the stories produced from these techniques were not produced with any concept of feminism. The description of plot sequence only has male heroes, and always involves a man rescuing a woman in distress. There is a lot of interesting material and useful ideas in these techniques, but they are dated and need to be used with care taking cognizance of their misogyny and focus on formulaic murder mysteries. Remember, Gardner’s objective was to make money. His desire to write was not from a love of writing, but a yearning to have a lifestyle that he could control and that would get him out of a rigid office environment.

Would I recommend this book?
Yes.

What sort of person would I recommend this book to?
Anyone interested in writing, writers, and storytelling.

I would also recommend it to anyone who is passionate about building a career in any field. It was purely incidental that Gardner went into writing. He decided he did not want a job in an office, but wanted to earn money in a way that let him be the master of his own destiny. He looked around and chose writing and gave himself five years to make a success of it. If it did not work in that time he would have tried something else.

Did this book inspire me to do anything?
Yes. I took many quotes from the book and will study them, and go back to the book, to learn more about storytelling.

>65 pgmcc: Fascinating review. Are his books actually any good? I liked the original Perry Mason show when I was a child, but I haven't watched the latest version on HBO.

>66 clamairy: I did not know there was a new version of Perry Mason. It would not be the same without Raymond Burr.

I am currently reading The Lame Canary, a book that was discussed quite a bit in the book on his techniques. There was a good bit of discussion about its genesis.



Are his books actually any good?

Reading The Lame Canary is like watching one of the TV shows. As expected, Raymond Burr is the image I have of Perry Mason while reading the book, and of course it is his voice I hear.

The book is dated and full of things that would not be acceptable today. I am enjoying reading it in the same way I like watching old TV series. It is probably not a book I would recommend to a young person, not because of the now non-PC content, but because it is, to an extent, quite naïve in comparison to modern day crime shows. There is a lot of laying out facts at different parts which can feel a bit clunky.

The nostalgia is strong with his books. If I had not grown up with Perry Mason in the house I would probably not have picked up the book. However, now that I am reading it I am enjoying it and will try more of his books.

By the way, I took the picture above to send to Jill when I discovered the book on my shelf. I shone a small torch on it because the room light was quite dull and I wanted to make sure the cover could be seen. It only struck me afterwards that it looks very appropriate for a picture of a murder mystery book. The effect did not occur to me until I saw the picture on the screen. Had I tried to get that effect in a picture I would probably fail. Intent spoils everything. :-(

Uncle Silas by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 1864

I enjoyed Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s novel, Uncle Silas. It is not unlike a Dickens novel with people finding themselves in difficult times and encountering people of ill intent. This book is narrated by the main character, Maud Ruthyn, a young lady from a wealthy background living in a big house. Her mother at this character’s birth, and her father has become socially reclusive, and cannot communicate with his daughter very well.

There is, of course, an uncle, Uncle Silas, about whom there are many strange tales. She has never met this uncle and her father forbids discussion of his brother. There is a painting of Uncle Silas in the hall in Maud’s family home. She finds the person in the painting handsome and over the years she has thought a lot about what he is like. She eventually hears of a scandal and rumours that distanced Uncle Silas from Society, and the only person who defends Silas is her father, Austin Ruthyn.

The novel is written as an account authored by Maud telling of her life and the troubles that affected her life and caused her misfortune and terror.

This was a very enjoyable read. It moves along at a good pace, introduces intriguing characters, sets enough options and hints to keep the reader guessing about how the story will develop and where it will lead.

Would I read another story by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu?
Most definitely.

Would you recommend this book to other people?
Yes!

What sort of person would I recommend it to?
Anyone interested in mysteries with a Gothic or Dickensian feel to them.

Did this book inspire me to do anything in particular?
I am inspired to read more of Le Fanu’s work.

I finished The Case of the Lame Canary by Erle Stanley Gardner. This is a Perry Mason novel and it featured in the last book I read, Secrets of the World’s Bestselling Writer.

It was a light, entertaining murder mystery. It is not as sophisticated as sma modern murder mystery, but it did provide some enjoyment. You must judge this taking cognizance of my nostalgia for Perry Mason from watching the TV series in the 1960s as I was growing up, the fact that I have just finished reading about the author and his storytelling techniques, and that I am interested in watching/reading old programmes/books from decades past and looking at how they work and are constructed.

Would I read another book by this author?
Yes, but I will not be tracking down his books in a deliberate search.

Would I recommend this book?
Yes.

What sort of person would I recommend it to?
It was not a “WOW!” book, but I would recommend it to anyone who remembers the Perry Mason shows, ir anyone interested in murder mysteries with courtroom drama. Use it as a sampler.

One thing Gardner prided himself on was writing mysteries that did not hide secret bits of evidence. All his stories presented all the evidence so the reader had a chance to solve the mystery.

I don't think I ever read any Perry Mason mysteries, though I did read all the Rex Stout mysteries, which sound like similar types of writing, and enjoyed them. I like modern mysteries these days though.

>70 Storeetllr: I have read one Rex Stout and I would say it is not dissimilar to the Perry Mason story I read, but I would probably put Perry Mason a step ahead of Stout.

I have started reading Words Like Loaded Pistols: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama by Sam Leith. It also appears under the title, Are you Talkin' to me?, and is about the effectiveness of rhetoric and how its form and channels of transmission have changed, but that its basic elements an effects have not. (I got that much from the preface to the paperback edition published in 2016.)



I read Sam Leith's Write to the Point: How to be Clear, Correct and Persuasive on the Page in 2018 and thought it was great. On the basis of that book I decided to read all his books. This is my next step in that direction.

>72 pgmcc: IIRC, Sam Leith used to write an an occasional column for the Financial Times, which was generally worth reading. Funny how much good stuff gets written for the FT--Tim Harford for example.

>73 haydninvienna:
I knew he wrote for The Spectator. When you mentioned his writing for the FT I did a quick Google. It appears he writes for many of the major English newspapers. When I was half-way through Write to the Point, I checked Twitter to see if he had a presence, and he does. I sent him a tweet letting him know that I was really enjoying his book and looking forward to reading more of his work. I had a reply from him before I put my phone down, thanking me for my comments and hoping I enjoy the other books.

Tim Harford has a marvellous approach to his subjects. I have read his Fifty Things That Made The Modern Economy and have most, if not all, of his other books in the house. My wife likes his Undercover Economist books. She is an econometrician and has a deeper appreciation of things economic than I.

>74 pgmcc: I think the FT is one of the best newspapers anywhere. I think I’d already discovered Tim Harford before I started reading the FT regularly, but there were many others, such as Isabella Kaminska and Lucy Kellaway. There was another whose name I’ve forgotten who warmed my heart by describing a certain far-right British politician as “straightforwardly vile”.

>75 haydninvienna: I have only read the FT on a few occasions, usually while waiting to go into a meeting and the FT was on the table outside the CEO's office. I think it was there more to impress than be read. :-)

...describing a certain far-right British politician as “straightforwardly vile”.

Sailing close to a political statement there, but I could probably guess who the subject of the article was.

It was great to hear you got home safe and sound, and that you got all your tasks completed. The story of your weekend away sounded like a story where everything that could go wrong did go wrong. It was almost like a Kafka novel where one gets involved in a convoluted process that ends up being circular with no way out. Thankfully you met someone who was able to provide the necessary documentation to help you find the exit.

I remember applying for certain grants at one stage. The local authority issued the grants and one of their people explained the process to me. One step on the critical path was to get a statement from a particular government department relating to my business with that department. Without that statement I would not be able to progress in the application process. I went along to the government department in question and had a meeting with a departmental officer. She was amazed at the local authority's process and its insistence on a type of statement the government department did not issue. She had a quick look at my dealings with her department and said my case was very straightforward and that she would write a letter for me containing the information requested by the local authority. She asked me to wait a few moments and returned with a letter typed up and signed by her. Without her taking individual action I would have been stuck. My grant application was successful.

To this day I cannot believe the local authority did not know that the government department did not issue the type of statement requested. My cynical, and probably accurate, interpretation was that it was a barrier in the process designed to minimise the number of grants issued. If that is not the case, then someone in the local authority is totally incompetent, and I am sure that is not the case.

>76 pgmcc: Sailing close to a political statement …: that’s why I didn’t say who it was. If you can guess, you might have guessed wrong.

As to your story about the local government grant: remember the adage about never suspecting a conspiracy when stupidity is a sufficient explanation.

>77 haydninvienna:
Reading Words Like Loaded Pistols is great. I am learning the elements of rhetoric. Applying the a principle in the book leads me to the reply:

"Ah yes! 'Stupidity is a sufficient explanation' means that it is the perfect cover for a conspiracy." :-)

I am enjoying the book. Not having studied "The Classics" to any great degree I am recognising the principles he is presenting from general life experience and, for the first time, I am learning how they have been studied and codified since the time of Aristotle, if not Socrates (Or So-Crates, as Bill & Ted called him). His coverage of the subject is very conversational and he makes no claims to originality. He is simply laying out the historical context of rhetoric, and explaining the structured view of the elements of rhetoric. One of his complaints is that the study of Rhetoric as a unified, core subject in schools and universities has been abandoned by many and replaced by linguistics, psychology, and literary criticism.

I am recognising many of the techniques used from listening to speeches, reading social media, and attending various work related courses on presentation skills, preparing proposals, and report writing. I have picked up bits and pieces from various parts of my life and career and this is the firs time I have seen them pulled together under the umbrella of Rhetoric. This reminds me of reading Spy The Lie, a book that identified the various indicators of untruth. None of them were new to me, but the book related them to one another and set them in context enabling a more systematic identification of lies.

The book has no reference to any of Umberto Eco's works, but I would love to have been a fly on the wall, or at least be listening via an open microphone, if Lieth and Eco had ever met for a chat. I am not saying Leith is an Eco, but they both indicate that anything put into words, either in print form, spoken, or expressed in any of the forms available using technology, cannot be trusted at face value. I think that would have been a conversation worth hearing.

I think this book is shaping up to being one of my best reads of 2022. Not bad for a January read.

>78 pgmcc: "...they both indicate that anything put into words, either in print form, spoken, or expressed in any of the forms available using technology, cannot be trusted at face value."

I'm having a little trouble wrapping my head around that! I'm glad your enjoying this one.

It all comes down to the wisdom of Dr. House -

Everybody lies.

>80 Bookmarque:

That's not true!

:-)

>79 clamairy:

As a character played by Robbie Coltrane would say, "Don't believe nuthin'."

>80 Bookmarque: >81 pgmcc: This thread just became an example of the premise of Le Guin's City of Illusions... ;)

As Gene Wolfe also loved to show us in many of his stories, everyone is an unreliable narrator. Not always by intention. Sometimes unreliability comes from differing perceptions of the same event or experience.

>82 pgmcc: Would that be 'Fitz from Cracker or another? I'm only familiar with that one (have the whole series on DVD) and of course, Hagrid.

As an aside, if you want a bit of a mind-bender on a society bent on only telling/showing/portraying/communicating The Truth, check out Golden State by Ben Winters. It's wonderful.

>84 Bookmarque:
I had Hagrid in mind.

>85 Bookmarque: That looks like an interesting book. I really liked his The Last Policeman series.

>67 pgmcc: Your photo immediately had me humming the theme song from Perry Mason. Thanks for the brain worm.

I can't remember which mystery show/book it was in, but the lead detective asserted that everyone lies, but are not necessarily guilty of the crime. The trick is in finding out what they are lying about and if it is relevant to the crime.

>88 MrsLee:
You have your revenge. Ever since I read your post I have the theme tune in my mind and I am even walking about going,

"Laaaaaa Da Da. Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Da Da. Diddle La De Da De Da Da..."

>69 pgmcc:

Have you read any of the A. A. Fair books by Erle Stanley Gardner? It's been years since I read them, but I remember enjoying Cool and Lam.

>90 suitable1:
I have not read any of the A. A. Fair books, but Secrets of the World’s Bestselling Writer goes into a good bit of detail about their origin and Gardner’s games with the editirs.

This evening I started documenting my collection of books by John Buchan. I suspect they are not all on my catalogue.

As part of the process I have been taking down my copies and noting their date of publication/print, etc..., and comparing these details with the original date of publication.

One book I have is a combination book published by Associated Newspapers, Ltd., London. It combines the John Buchan novel The Magic Walking Stick with "Stories From The Arabian Nights, selected edited and arranged for young people by FRANCES JENKINS OLCOTT With Illustrations by MONRO S. ORR". There is no year of publication or printing indicated, so I did a bit of on-line searching for the salient information. The only information I could find was from listings on the ABEBooks secondhand website. One seller listed the book as being circa 1900. Another listed it as being 1930. A quick look at my master list of John Buchan books and their first date of publication told me that The Magic Walking Stick was first published in 1932. How could it have been printed in a combined edition in 1930 or 1900?

Buyer beware!

This is when you shake the Magic 8 Ball, seeking advice, and it tells you "Answer Unclear. Try Again Later."

>85 Bookmarque: Golden State...ooh, you got me. I liked The Last Policeman very much, right up to the last word.

>85 Bookmarque: & >94 Meredy:
Ah! A pincer movement. I see what you're at.

>95 pgmcc: Point blank, in your own thread no less!

Good to see I haven't lost my touch.

Golden State is one of those books that when you're done you want to start all over again immediately to see if you can pick up on clues you missed. Arcadia by Iain Pears is the same way.

>96 clamairy:
Exactly. Talk about being brazen!

>97 Bookmarque:
Arcadia I have already. Not yet read, though.

Oh it's brilliant. I loved it. Of course I love almost everything he does anyway.

>100 Bookmarque:
I loved An Instance of the Finger Post and Stone's Fall.

>99 pgmcc: I too own Arcadia but haven't read it yet.

Should we do a mini group read?

>102 Sakerfalcon: That would be great!

>104 Sakerfalcon:
Sounds interesting. Count me in.

So when should we start? I've got a few things on including the Maus books.

I might join in as well, but I'd need at least a week.

>107 clamairy: Same.

Want to try for March or will the urge have worn off by then?

March would be good for me.

I have both An Instance of the Fingerpost and Arcadia and of course haven’t read either one. I don’t know if I’d join a group read, but I would certainly follow with interest.

March suits me perfectly.

>111 haydninvienna: I will be interested to hear your thoughts on An Instance of the Fingerpost.

>112 pgmcc: Wishing you luck, Peter. I may actually have to find it and read it.

Bookmarque, Sakerfalcon, Clamairy & @haydeninvienna, I have set up a thread for discussion during a group read of Arcadia by Iain Pears. Looking forward to our group read in March. I am sure many others will jump in and comment along the way.



As a slow reader I will need time to read this book and will be starting it early so as not to hold back the group. I will not make any comments on my reading of the novel before our group read starts.

I have finished Words Like Loaded Pistols: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama by Sam Leith. This is an excellent overview of the topic of rhetoric, its history, and its importance in all forms of communication in The World.

This book is worth the five stars I have given it. It will be one of my set of reference books that I keep close at hand.

The book I read was the US publication. On this side of the Atlantic it was published under the title, Are You Talking To Me?: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama.

from Aristotle to Obama by way of Travis Bickle.

>93 jillmwo: What is the origin of the Magic 8 Ball? I have seen them in American TV, but never in real life.

>117 -pilgrim-: They were a light-hearted kind of paperweight - a pool ball that you shook as you thought or said a question aloud and then looked at the bottom of the device where under a glass, an answer to your question would float to the top. The inside of the device was a multi-sided die with the different confirmations or denials carved into it. That floated in a gel or in a liquid. Again it was a kind of joke gift that Wikipedia says was introduced back in the late '40s and sold to Ideal in 1971. (Mattel owns it now). Popular at birthday parties, etc. Mental Floss has an excellent write up here: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67702/brief-history-magic-8-ball I can't think where mine has got to. I had one for the longest time...

I had an interesting day yesterday. For the second time since the start of the pandemic I ventured into the centre of Dublin for a work meeting. Having made the effort to reach the centre of the city I had to add to the day's value by visiting a bookshop...or two.

It had come into my mind some weeks ago that I should acquire a copy of Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. Having been infected by that thought and having conlcuded my meeting early I made my way to Books Upstairs where I remember seeing Cloud Cuckoo Land on display during my last excursion into town.



Alas I was to be disappointed. The shop assistant checked the system and, "the computer said no!" They were sold out. On the positive side I had discovered another book by Olga Tokarczuk whose book Flights I read and enjoyed in our Lockdown Bookclub. I bought that in Books Upstairs and headed to Hodges Figgis to see if I could find Cloud Cuckoo Land there.



I was in luck and headed home with both books.

Once I got home I informed my wife that she had bought be two books for my birthday. They are now in her possession for wrapping and hiding so that she can surprise me with them on my birthday. I love surprises like that. When I receive a surprise like that I can honestly say, "Oh! I wanted to get those books. Thank you!"

Later in the day while browsing the World Wide Web I happened to come across a novel called The Coincidence Engine by Sam Leith. Sam Leith wrote Write to the Point and Words Like Loaded Pistols: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama, two books I enjoyed enormously, the first being about writing succinctly and effectively, and the second about the use of words to persuade, i.e. rhetoric. (I know there was a clue in the title.) I had to have a look at a novel by this author of non-fiction whose work I admire. That being the case a Kindle version of the book found its way onto my Kindle e-reader.



My work meeting was very interesting too, but the content of that is for a different forum.

>118 jillmwo: Thank you fir that link. I had always wondered what the connection to pool was!

When I was a child I had a money box where every time you dropped a coin in the top, its weight spun a wheel, and so produced your "fortune" (or, on the other side, a prediction of future career).

I vaguely remember a toy that consisted of a a board and a small model mandarin that could answer questions. I’m vague on the details now, and I never actually owned one, but my recollection is that you put the mandarin on the centre of the board and asked a question (I think by choosing a card), and the mandarin would spin. It had a pointer in its hand that would point to the correct answer. How this was done in the 1950s, I have no idea. Today it would be easy with modern electronics.

>121 haydninvienna: Those were still quite common in the 1960s. I remember getting one as a present. It was done my magnets. Dr Magini. There were two rings, one for questions, the other for answers. Using the figure provided you indicated the question you wanted answered. You placed the base of the figure into the round socket in the middle of the circle of questions. The figure held a pointer and you rotated the figure until the pointer was pointing at the question. In doing so you will have rotated the base. The question socket and the base of the figure had notches that locked together to move the socket. Then you took the figure out of the question socket and put it in the answer socket. The answer socket was smooth and the figure would swivel round, by magic, and point to the right answer. There were different question and answer sheets for different subjects, like History or Geography.
There was a magnet in the base of the figure. When you rotated the socket in the question circle you were also rotating a magnet in the answer circle. When you put the figure in the answer socket the magnetic fields interacted to point at the right answer.

I recall having one with a robot figure rather than a magician.

>119 pgmcc: That's a clever way to ensure that you get great presents. It would work really well for me, since I would almost certainly forget having done it and be pleasantly surprised.

>119 pgmcc: A novel by someone who calues the careful use of words? That sounds promising; I look forward to your review.

>119 pgmcc: Is there a charming story behind the name of the bookshop, Hodges Figgis? Honestly, if you were not actually living in Dublin, I'd be doubtful of the name being real. Have they been around since forever? Do the premises offer a bookstore cat? Please don't destroy any illusions I may hold by announcing that Hodges Figgis is some ordinary retail outlet.

>125 jillmwo:
I think the history of Hodges Figgis will delight you. You can read about its past here. While it is owned by Waterstones, its history and unique brand have saved it from being assimilated into the Waterstones Collective. The management is free to manage the shop and promote its brand as it pleases. A customer would never know they were in a shop owned by Waterstones simply visiting the premises.

There used to be a Waterstones shop directly opposit Hodges Figgis. At the time I was not aware that they were both owned by Waterstones. What I did notice that if I visited either of the shops looking for a book they did not have, the staff would recommend I try specific bookshops, but never did any of them recommend the shop across the road. :-)

Waterstones gave up on Dublin several years ago.

The only think that would disappoint you about Hodges Figgis is that I have never seen a cat on the premises.

>125 jillmwo: I can confirm that Hodges Figgis is no ordinary retail outlet. It’s one of my all-time favourite bookshops. If it’s an illusion, I have a significant number of books that appeared from it. It’s actually mentioned in Ulysses, like Davy Byrne’s pub not far away.

>125 jillmwo: And more: Hodges Figgis was also a noted academic publisher in Queen Victoria's Glorious Days. Story time: In or about 1838 a man called Harvey, who lived in Dublin and suffered from TB, landed a job as (IIRC) Colonial Accountant in Cape Town. He took his brother (William Harvey) to keep the job for him when he was too ill to work himself. However, Cape Town did for him what Cape Town often does, and William had a lot of spare time, which he spent botanising on Table Mountain (more different plants than the whole of the British Isles). And then wanted to identify his specimens. Oh dear, no plant guides. So (on his third attempt) he got a job at Trinity College Dublin, as Prof. no less. His specimens are still there, kept in the same order that he filed them in, which is infinitely helpful to later botanists. He wrote them up (with a colleague called Otto Sonder, who lived in Hamburg), and produced the beginnings of the first English-language account of the plants of southern Africa. The first three volumes were published by Hodges Figgis between 1860 and 1865. Unfortunately he died before finishing the fourth volume. Eventually Kew did the last 4 1/2 volumes, the last bit coming out in 1937!

>128 hfglen:
That is a great story. It is little nuggets like that which bring historical facts to life.

>114 pgmcc:
I will not make any comments on my reading of the novel before our group read starts.

The waiting is killing me. The pressure is mounting. I am bursting at the seams.

I've decided to borrow a digital copy from the library because it will be easy to search for names etc. Plus I have my hardcover, too. Need to find my notebook from the first time I read it, too. It's going to be fun.

>130 pgmcc: I just started it last night.

>131 Bookmarque: I've decided to borrow a digital copy from the library because it will be easy to search for names etc.

Very clever.

>132 clamairy:

I hope you enjoy it.

I trust you have all taken note that I have kept to my word about not making any comment on my reading of the novel before the group read starts.

Bites tongue. Folds and unfolds his arms. Crosses and uncrosses his legs. Shifts about on his chair. Bangs head on wall. Goes to speak...and stops himself...

So, I think what you're saying is, you want the group read to start kinda soon. Lol

>134 Bookmarque: We have agreed March and I will stick to the plan. You will understand that my commitment means I can say no more. :-)

OK then. I hope you won't rupture anything.

I found my reading notebook for the year I read this, but nothing. Not a sausage. So it will be starting with a blank slate for me.

>136 Bookmarque: I can see how the detail could slip from one's mind after the passage of time. There are plenty of characters to keep track of.

I know I took notes, but I have no idea where since they're not where they should be. Irritating, but it's my own fault. Still ok with March for this? I just DNF'd a book so can start.

>138 Bookmarque:
You know I am bursting to discuss the book but I would not want to start ahead of time if that were to upset the plans of others.

>139 pgmcc: As long as you put the appropriate comments behind spoiler tags you can start whenever you want. I just started the book a day or two ago, so I probably won't read anything in the thread until I'm done.

>140 clamairy:
Sounds good to me.

>133 pgmcc: Honestly, I have to ask. is there a better way to torture you? You're wriggling with excitement. You're biting your tongue. You're banging your head. It's really quite engaging to watch.

Oh, by the way, >127 haydninvienna: and >128 hfglen: I am charmed by the back story.

>142 jillmwo: I am glad you are enjoying the outward expression of my inner turmoil. It is nice to know someone else is getting as much pleasure from it as I am.

Can someone just give me a brief sense of how a group read works? I tried to join one once before, but I couldn't settle into it because I didn't want to see discussions of the part I hadn't read yet or spoil things for anyone who was behind me. Does the whole thread wind up behind spoiler tags? It just seemed to me that it made life (and reading) too complicated. Also I'm probably much too slow a reader to keep up.

I see you twitching, Peter, and I have to say that it appears you are scattering BBs on the floor for us to trip on instead of overtly firing them.

>144 Meredy: I have to say that it appears you are scattering BBs on the floor for us to trip on instead of overtly firing them.

Moi? Je ne sais pas ce que tu veux dire.

give me a brief sense of how a group read works?

I have only participated in a small number of group reads. We posted thoughts as we read and put spoiler masks on any detail. I have seen other group read threads where the group read a portion of the book and then discussed their thoughts before moving on to the next part. The latter approach is probably the approach that would be most meaningful to the idea of a "group" read, but I, like yourself, feel that my reading is so slow that I would not be able to keep up with the group. That is why I started reading ahead of the kick-off date. Now I find I am picking the book up at any opportunity and am reading into the night, even as late as Wordle O'Clock.

I am happy to discuss the book in any format. Some have suggested I give way to my pent up enthusiasm to discuss the book and start posting my thoughts. In the unlikely highly likely event of my starting to write about the book I will break my comments into chapters or groups of chapters, and put them behind spoiler masks.

I hope you join us in the read. It would be my opinion that nobody wants any GD friend to feel under pressure, so reading along at your own pace would be perfect. I have seen some group reads where people, myself included, have joined in the conversation years after the group read began.

Read on MacDuff!

Once more unto the tome, dear friends, once more.

>145 pgmcc: Thank you, that does help. And of course, with respect to your own comments, you can always write them in your own reading journal and then wait to post them at the appropriate time.

I'll think about ways we can make a group read easier and more logical. Spoiler masks will definitely help, but also maybe breaking it into chunks based on chapter or possibly character arc. There are many, but I don't know how easily they can be found and read separately from the order of the chapters. That was how the app functioned - it let you dive into the book at any point based on when a character was introduced and when that timeline started. Since I plan to read on both an ebook and a hardcover, I can see how easily that can be done. If not I'll just read in straight from page 1 to the end.

We can break things down into chapter groups if you'd like - week one X to X, week two Y to Y, etc. Would that be helpful?

>145 pgmcc: & >147 Bookmarque: I think it has been done in the past, that a group read would have different posts for a certain number of chapters, so those who hate spoilers wouldn't read the thread until they finished that portion of the book. Possibly it also had a thread for general comments as well. It can get a bit clunky, but it does save having to put everything behind spoilers.

I was curious and thought I might try to join in so I tried to get a copy from the local library and they only have one copy which isn't available until after 14th July earliest (assuming nothing happens to it between now and then) and I can't find it on Audible *sad face* I won't be able to join in any time soon.

Okay, okay...okay, I just purchased the Kindle edition. But I'm going to have to score at least four fresh BBs to make up for this.

>150 Meredy: Shouldn't be too difficult for you.

>149 Peace2: That's too bad. Can't you borrow a digital version from the library? Or don't you have access to an e-reader.

>148 MrsLee: "Possibly it also had a thread for general comments as well. It can get a bit clunky, but it does save having to put everything behind spoilers."

I don't spend a lot of time on Goodreads but I have noticed that what you describe is, for a couple of the groups I do occasionally visit there, a fairly standard method; they will start an initial thread where spoilers are prohibited. On a previously determined date, a 2nd thread is begun where anything goes. Not a terrible way to go about it as the group read is then preserved in both formats for future reference, should someone come along after the fact.

Spoiler tags are good too. I don't mind them but I do have to exert some willpower to not click! LOL.

I managed to acquire a used hardback of Arcadia, (delivered for only $9.00), from Biblio.com. It's already arrived but I have to defer starting until I finish Uncle Silas, which I am completely immersed in at the moment. It's long, wordy, and meandering - and I still don't really know where it's going. Silas is so very strange. I find it interesting that the book is titled after someone who is, thus far, mostly a side character. I am very much enraptured by Maud, the narrator. In my opinion, Le Fanu has done an admirable job of writing from a young woman's perspective.

Uncle Silas is a good one. A bit trying, but fun. I'll post on the starter thread for this looking for ideas for organization and participants and when they will jump in. So glad you got a copy. I think you'll like it.

>152 ScoLgo:
I am glad you are immersed in Uncle Silas.

Uh-oh. I just went to enter my Kindle purchase of Arcadia in my catalogue and found that I read a library copy in 2016, rated it four stars, and posted a review. My review (without spoilers) triggers only a dim recollection. Wish I had looked there before paying for a Kindle copy.

I am about to finish Arcadia. There is, I sense, a reveal coming up. I want to document what I think is to be revealed before I read it.

There is a character that was in the pub in the early chapters. The way he was presented led me to believe he would appear later in a significant role. His name is Persimmon. I think he will be revealed as the bad guy, Oldmanter. His manner in his first appearance and the references to him and his work lead me to believe he is the same guy, or has some link back to Persimmon.

ETA: …and of course I was wrong. :-)

>155 Meredy: Hey, you can return that Kindle copy! You look in your amazon orders, and as a reason for return you select that it was a mistake. Problem solved!

>157 clamairy: Thanks. I can't see how to do that. It doesn't appear in my orders. But I'll look a little further.

>158 Meredy: You have to click on the digital order tab.

I have started my next read, The Guest List by Lucy Foley. This is the book with a murder at a wedding on a remote island off the West Coast of Ireland. You might recall a colleague recommended it just before I went to a remote island off the West Coast of Ireland to attend a wedding in July of 2021.

My research revealed that the island in the murder mystery is the same island I was on, Achill Island. The author visited Achill at an early age and was very impressed with the location.

I approach this book with trepidation. Not because I am afraid a murder will happen amongst the people who were at the wedding I attended, but because I DNFed Lucy Foley's earlier book, The Hunting Party, after reading the first chapter. I just felt the characters were horrible and I did not like the idea of spending days in their company. Hopefully the characters in The Guest List do not strike me as distasteful as those in The Hunting Party.

By the way, Achill Island is a beautiful place. I have posted the photographs below before, but I think they are worth posting again.

I finished reading Arcadia by Iain Pears last evening and am preparing my notes for the group-read that will be starting on March 1st. I will reserve comment about the story until the discussion begins. All I will say is that I enjoyed the book and look forward to discussing it with the folk of the Green Dragon, or even strangers who drop in to wet their whistle as they sojourn through LibraryThing on their way to Mordor.

>149 Peace2: Penguin Random House also did an audio version; and I was able to borrow it from my local US library.

>161 pgmcc: >162 2wonderY: I just borrowed the audio version too! Sounds good. Hope I can hold out to read it until March 1 (but I doubt it).

>159 clamairy: It worked! Thanks, Clammy.

>164 Meredy: Yay!!!
You are most welcome!

I have finished Uncle Silas, which was a cracking good tale, and am now nearly ready to embark on a journey to Arcadia. It's a thick hardback of nearly 600 pages so I expect it will take a few days to get through.

>160 pgmcc: Glorious photos, Peter.

>151 clamairy: >162 2wonderY: I've looked at the online ebook selection and it's not listed at all and at both online audio selections and no luck. I'll just have to either wait until I happen across a copy somewhere or until July! Not to worry, I'll have to take a look at the outcome of the group read when I finally do find a copy (and add it to my wishlist in the interim).

>167 clamairy: Thank you. There are from our holiday on Achill Island last July.

There is a temporary hold on all reading related activities for a few (>5 pgmcc:) hours due to grandchildren minding duties.

>170 pgmcc: Hope you had a good day of minding!

>171 Karlstar:
Good day minding has ended and I am now doing some work. :-(

Should not be too long, then I can do some reading. :-)

It is confession time. I spent most of the morning in bookshops. :-)

Books were bought, as were films on Blu Ray.

My wife was called for jury duty starting today. I took the day off to run her into town. We parked in the railway station car park near the court house. We had a hot chocolate in the station bar and my wife went off to court.

By prior agreement, at my wife's suggestion I hasten to add, I headed into O'Connell Street by foot (the parking is cheaper at the reailway station, but I had to go through a twenty minute rigmarole to download an app, register my credit card and car, and buy parking for the day) to visit Eason's bookshop. Eason's bookshop was, however, the first bookshop on the agreed list of locations to visit.

Eason's is one of those book supermarkets with books on the ground and basement floors, arts, crafts, stationery and greeting cards on the first floor, and on the thrid floor they have a canteen style restaurant, music (DVDs; Blu Ray Discs; Vinyl Records; CDs), customer toilets and an ATM. I made straight for the customer toilets. On my way there I spotted a Blu Ray disc of the new Dune. Yay. I did not know it was out yet. So, that was my first purchase along with the sequel to Iron Sky. That is my screen watching for the weekend sorted.

I then purchase a number of pens for work. They did not have my favourite type so i bought three types of pen to try them out. I am running low on pens and when one is working from home the stationery cupboard is not refreshed without personal intervention.

While I find Eason's a convenient shop with very friendly staff, I do not find it a great browsing shop. I gave the fiction walls a perfunctory inspection and then headed to my number two target; Books Upstairs. The longest lasting independent bookshop in Dublin.

My visit to Books Upstairs resuled in the purchase of two new books and two 2nd hand books. Books Upstairs opened a new 2nd hand department upstairs (see what they did there) shortly before the pandemic struck and today was my first time visiting treasure-trove of old books.

Now down to business. What books did I acquire. The new books first:

Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut. I am quite the fan of Vonnegut's books and I took the time to pick up this book and Hocus Pocus. LibraryThing was consulted to ensure I do not already have these books. Having consulted my catalogue I was confident that if I do have these books I have failed to catalogue them. >



The 2nd hand books acquired are:

Benedict Kavanagh by George A. Birmingham. George A. Birmingham is the pen name for the Rev. James Owen Hannay (1865 - 1950), a Church of Ireland minister who wrote approximately sixty novels which reflected life in Ireland during his life time. I have been collecting his novels for some time now, and the copy I found in Books Upstairs is in better condition than the one I already have. It also appears to be a first edition from 1907.

The Demi-Gods by James Stephens. Stephens (1880 or 1882 - 1950) was an interesting person who wrote mystical books, documented his eye-witness accounts of events in Dublin during the 1916 Easter Rising, and ended up broadcasting on the BBC. Interestingly enough, he died on St. Stephen's Day.

I have his Crock of Gold which I enjoyed a lot, and now I have his The Demi-Gods.

I believe I got the two 2nd hand books at a good price.

After Books Upstairs I headed for Hodges Figgis and picked up:

The Passenger by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz and Our Friends in Berlin.



I understand the first is about a man escaping the Nazis as they try to capture him and tranport him to a concentration camp. The second book appears to be more closely aligned to espionage and hunting down a Nazi spy. Very heavy on the WWII theme.

E.T.A.: It is about 1.7miles between the Heuston Station car park and O'Connell Street. Adding in the distance to the other two bookshops, and then to a Persian food restaurant where my wife and I had lunch, and then back to the car park, we have sore feet. Working at hope does tend to reduce the daily exercise. I will sleep tonight.

I did not take many pictures on our walks, but I did take two that I will share. The first one is a statue that was originally in O'Connell Street but people objected to it. It is now in a small park near Heuston Station. Its official name is Anna Livia and is supposed to represent the spirit of the River Liffey. it is better known as The Floozie in the Jacuzzi.



On our way back to the car park I took the opportunity to photography The Four Courts. It is the first time I have seen the courts without scaffolding around the dome in about four years.

>173 pgmcc: Great bookshop crawl, Peter. Pity you couldn’t include Chapters, but you really would have had sore feet then.

>173 pgmcc:
It would have involved blisters. :-)

What a fun outing! I love the photos!

Having reached 175 posts I think this thread should be continued in a new thread.

I am very envious! What a wonderful way to spend the day, and what a great haul.
Great photos, too. Are those blooming flowers in the floozie photo?!!

>178 clamairy: Those are blooming pansies.

>179 pgmcc: I am so envious.

Also, at some point can you possibly recommend a decent book about the Magdeline 'Asylums' if you know of any? I finally watched Philomena the other night and enjoyed it very much. But the reviews I've read here on LT of the book that it was based on say the focus is mostly on her son, and I would rather read more about what the young women went through.

>180 clamairy:
Philomena was a great film.

I have not read any books on the laundries but I will seek recommendations from those in the know and pass them on.

>181 pgmcc: Many thanks!

Sounds like the perfect day - a stroll around the city, book and film purchases, and a tasty lunch, in good company.