JäsenSmiler69

Kokoelmat
Avainsanoja
Fiction (3,742), Audiobook (3,193), 20th Century (2,308), Library Book (1,647), English Literature (1,445), 21st Century Literature (1,368), Purchased from Audible.com (1,357), Library Book (National) (1,288), 20th Century Literature (1,285), Literary Fiction (1,123), American Literature (1,055), Historical Fiction (979), 21st Century (923), OverDrive (862), Nonfiction (795), Guardian 1000 (773), 1001 Books (763), England (762), 19th Century (749), Mystery (722), Acquired in 2015 (711), Classics (710), Acquired in 2014 (674), Relationships (662), New (627), eBook (576), Murder (555), Fantasy (545), Family (533), Acquired in 2013 (520), 19th Century Literature (487), Crime Fiction (487), America (472), Acquired in 2016 (441), En français (438), Hardcover (420), Humour (414), Kindle (413), Women (413), Audible Sale (409), Acquired in 2019 (405), Romance (398), Marriage (392), Purchased from Amazon.ca (389), Love (387), Young Adult (386), Acquired in 2018 (373), War (365), Short Stories (364), Read in 2011 (348), Adapted to Film (339), French Literature (338), Used (337), Children's Literature (330), Detective (311), Acquired in 2012 (308), 1001 Books (2006/2008/2010 Edition) (305), Read in 2014 (302), Adventure (295), Acquired in 2011 (288), Series (284), Animals (275), To Read (259), History (253), Biography (249), France (247), Victorian (243), BBC's Big Read (239), 1930s (232), Read in 2018 (232), Read in 2016 (230), Friendship (227), WWII (227), To Reread (220), London (219), Graphic Novel (219), Religion (216), Read in 2012 (214), Science Fiction (210), Read in 2015 (209), RBdigital (209), Purchased from AbeBooks (207), Art (206), Folio Society (205), Literature (204), Illustration (204), 21st Century Publication (203), Coming of Age (203), Death (201), Memoirs (201), Audible.com (197), Gothic (197), Purchased from BookDepository (197), Purchased from BookOutlet (197), TIOLI (192), Read in 2013 (189), Bildungsroman (189), Rec'd by Chatterbox (181), Illustrated (180), Rec'd by avatiakh (177), Anthology (174), Canadian Literature (173), 1950s (168), Guardian 1000 (Love) (165), 18th Century (162), Horror (162), Essays (161), Whispersync (160), 1920s (159), Thriller (157), Nobel Prize (157), 1940s (152), The Telegraph's 100 Novels (151), Books About Books (149), Philosophy (145), Purchased from The Word (143), Travel (143), Rec'd by PaulCranswick (142), Acquired in 2017 (140), Narrated by the Author (139), Satire (136), Artists (136), Suspense (134), Rec'd by souloftherose (131), Magic (129), 1001 Children's Books (129), Politics (127), 1001 Books (2006/2008/2010/2012 Edition) (127), Poetry (126), Purchased from The Folio Society (126), Authors (125), Siblings (124), Booker Prize Shortlist (123), Read in 2019 (123), Poverty (121), BookDepository's 100 Best Books Ever (121), Mental Illness (119), Paris (117), Naxos Audiobooks (117), Survival (114), Middle Ages (113), Creativity (113), Audible Daily Deal (112), Purchased from ChaptersIndigo (111), Picture Book (111), 1960s (110), Guardian 1000 (Crime) (110), Guardian 1000 (Family and self) (110), Rec'd by msf59 (110), Italy (108), Feminism (107), Time's All-Time 100 (107), Royalty (106), Guardian 1000 (State of the nation) (106), WWI (106), Orphans (105), Autobiography (105), Police Procedural (104), Purchase with eBook (104), Rec'd by La bibliothèque idéale RTL (104), Mooched (103), 1001 Books (2006 Edition) (103), Dystopia (102), Guardian 1000 (War and travel) (102), New York City (100), Biographical Fiction (100), 1910s (99), Guardian 1000 (Science Fiction & Fantasy) (99), 17th Century (99), Autobiographical (98), Sexuality (98), 16th Century (97), Omnibus (96), Medieval (96), Childhood (93), Acquired in 2020 (93), Crime (92), Social Commentary (91), Rec'd by jnwelch (90), Espionage (90), 20th Century Publication (88), Contemporary Fiction (88), Theatre (88), Free (88), Infidelity (85), Canada (85), Reading (84), Guardian 1000 (Comedy) (84), Psychology (83), Narrative Non-Fiction (83), 1970s (83), 500 Great Books by Women (82), Kindle Daily Deal (82), Read in 2017 (81), Germany (81), Rec'd by Donna828 (81), Drawing (80), BookMooch (79), Noir (79), Pulitzer Prize (77), National Book Award Finalist (77), Mythology (77), Multiple Narrators (77), Spirituality (76), Narrated by Simon Vance (75), Russia (74), Visual Arts (74), Communism (74), Sisters (74), Russian Literature (74), Fathers & Daughters (73), Natural History (73), Fairy Tales (72), Wealth (72), Photography (71), Books (71), Australian Literature (71), Drama (71), Irish Literature (70), Spy (70), Unfinished (69), Children (69), Jews (68), Sex (68), Slightly Foxed (67), Africa (67), 50% Sale (67), Acquired in 2010 (67), Edwardian (66), Aging (66), New York (65), India (65), Rec'd by kidzdoc (65), Rec'd by Cariola (65), 2nd Reading (65), Read in 2008 (65), Read in 2010 (64), Rec'd by calm (63), Regency (63), Golden Age (63), Christianity (62), Poems (62), Fine Arts (62), Favourites of 2016 (61), 18th Century Literature (61), African American (61), German Literature (60), Publications (60), Ghosts (60), Reread (60), Quarterly (60), Rec'd by Whisper1 (60), Macabre (60), Literary Review (59), Writing (59), Homosexuality (59), Immigrants (59), Small Towns (59), Colonialism (58), Supernatural (58), Reviews (58), Purchased from Downpour.com (58), Daily Deal (58), Racism (58), Science (57), Drugs (57), Epistolary (57), NYRB (57), 2 for 1 (56), Illustrated by Edward Gorey (56), Obsession (55), Ireland (55), Food (55), Rec'd by sibyx (55), 1980s (55), Esquire's 75 Books Every Man Should Read (54), Rec'd by DeltaQueen50 (54), Judaism (54), La Pléiade (54), Nature (54), Adolescence (53), Painting (53), National Book Award (53), David Bowie's Top 100 (53), British Author Challenge (52), Dogs (52), Aristocracy (52), Booker Prize (52), 1990s (51), $4.95 (51), Japan (51), Alcoholism (51), Completed June 2014 (50), Art History (50), Alternate History (50), Nazis (50), Great Yarn (49), 1900s (49), Talking Animals (49), Abuse (49)
Pilvet
Avainsanapilvi, Tekijäpilvi, Avainsanapeili
Väline
Ryhmät
Liittynyt
Nov 25, 2007
Oikea nimi
Ilana
About My Library
With limited storage space in my home and a propensity for purchasing books faster than I can shelve them, I try to hold on to a relatively small collection, and give away paperbacks I have no intention of reading again. Nonetheless, the book piles have grown relentlessly these past few years, especially since joining the 75ers group here on LT. Most of my library therefore in one giant tbr pile, with art books and Folio Society volumes as part of my permanent collection. My library here on LT is a different story, as I try to keep track of my growing collection AND everything I've read over the years, so I keep adding books whenever they're retrieved from memory. I discovered audiobooks a couple of years ago and was delighted to find I could read while busying myself with other things like commuting and doing chores, so that collection also keeps growing exponentially, mostly thanks to the local library and Audible.com. I challenged myself to review everything I read for a number of years, but as of 2013, this practice has fallen by the wayside, though I hope to pick it up again. My ratings are based on my impression at the time of reading, which might be very different from one reading to the next.

About Me
Once upon a time, over a decade ago now, I was a harried executive art director working in publishing. It was a good life, filled with excitement, adventures and plenty of travel, but it left no time for much reading or any hobbies of any kind. Then, though I'm still a relatively young woman, health problems intervened, and I'm now on permanent leave from work, which leaves me time (though there's never enough of it somehow) to occupy myself with all my favourite activities; reading, working on my art projects (a photorealistic drawing series at present), and generally acting like a woman of leisure. I have three pets, Charley, a 'Biwawa' (i.e. Bichon and Chihuahua mix), who looks like a caricature and takes me outside every day for much-needed walks, and my cats Mimi and Ezra. I hope to spend more time interacting with my friends in the 75ers group this year, if I can let go of Facebook and a recent obsession with the news...







My rating system:
★ - Hated it (May or may not have finished it)
★★ - Has some redeeming qualities (Just ok)
★★★ - Enjoyed it well enough (Good)
★★★★ - Loved it! (Very good)
★★★★½ - Favourites of the year (Want to read it again!)
★★★★★ - All-time favourite (Would read again, and again... and again!)



Favourites of 2018 so far: (4.5 stars and up)
The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney
Rumpole: The Penge Bungalow Murders and other stories: Three BBC Radio 4 dramatisations
The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux ★★★★★
The Power by Naomi Alderman
Being There by Jerzy Kosinski (reread) ★★★★★
Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay by William Boyd
Essays in Love by Alain De Botton
The Scent of Secrets by Jane Thynne
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
Circe by Madeline Miller
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Simon Armitage ★★★★★
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (reread) ★★★★★
Tales of Terror by Edgar Allan Poe
Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde: In Aid of the Royal Theatrical Fund ★★★★★
There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce by Morgan Parker
Happiness by Aminatta Forna
The True and Splendid History of the Harristown Sisters by Michelle Lovric
Girls & Boys by Dennis Kelly
The Book of Human Skin by Michelle Lovric
Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood ★★★★★
Sleep No More: Six Murderous Tales by P.D. James
The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World by Robert Garland
Dunbar (Hogarth Shakespeare) by Edward St. Aubyn
Harry Clarke: With Bonus Performance: Lillian by David Cale ★★★★★
Practicing Mindfulness: An Introduction to Meditation by Mark W. Muesse
The Best of Roald Dahl by Roald Dahl ★★★★★
Proof by David Auburn
When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chödrön



Favourites of 2017:
Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin by Calvin Trillin
Boule de suif by Guy de Maupassant (Short story, en français)
Clockwork by Philip Pullman (reread)
Le Bouquiniste Mendel / Buchmendel by Stephan Zweig (En français) ★★★★★
The Farseer: Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
Royal Assassin: The Farseer Trilogy, Book 2 by Robin Hobb
Tout Maigret, Tome 10 by Georges Simenon (The Maigret short stories)
Living Well Is the Best Revenge by Calvin Tomkins
Judas by Amos Oz
How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran ★★★★★
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran
The Creative Spark: How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional by Agustin Fuentes ★★★★½
The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson
Angela's Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt ★★★★★
The Medieval World by Dorsey Armstrong
The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney
Underground Airlines by Ben Winters ★★★★★
The Art of Asking: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help by Amanda Palmer
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss



Favourites of 2016:

Fun Books
Shop Cats of New York by Tamar Arslanian ★★★★★
Heap House: Book One (The Iremonger Trilogy) by Edward Carey ★★★★★
Plumdog by Emma Chichester Clark
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Carry On, Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse

Drama
♫ Carmilla: a Vampyre Tale by Sheridan Le Fanu (Radio Drama) ★★★★★
♫ Cold Comfort Farm (Radio Drama) By Stella Gibbons
King Richard III by William Shakespeare

International Authors

Eldorado by Laurent Gaudé
Le grand cahier / The Notebook by Agota Kristof
Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund
The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezani
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

British Authors
Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd
Julian Fellowes's Belgravia
The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi
The Narrow Corner by W. Somerset Maugham
Nutshell by Ian McEwan ★★★★★
The North Water by Ian McGuire
His Bloody Project by Graeme Mcrae Burnet
Good Evening, Mrs Craven by Mollie Panter-Downes
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (reread)
Black Roses by Jane Thynne
The Road Home by Rose Tremain
The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth

American Authors
Mr. Vertigo by Paul Auster (2nd reread)
The Nix: A Novel by Nathan Hill
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
Work Like Any Other by Virginia Reeves

Non-Fiction
From The Holy Mountain William Dalrymple
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
H is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald
The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery
Venice by Jan Morris
The Dog Who Wouldn't Be by Farley Mowat

Canadian Authors
Sweetland by Michael Crummey
The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys ★★★★★
The Return / L'énigme du retour by Dany Laferrière
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat ★★★★★
The Bird Artist by Howard Norman ★★★★★
The Hero's Walk by Anita Rau Badami

Favourites of 2015: (★★★★½ and up, by reading order)
Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth (review)
The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace
The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal ★★★★★ (review)
Babette's Feast by Isak Dinesen
Clockwork by Philip Pullman (review)
Lamentation by C. J. Sansom
The Scapegoat by Daphne Du Maurier (review)
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng
Small Gods: Discworld #13 by Terry Pratchett (review)
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro ★★★★★ (review)
Fräulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther by Elizabeth von Arnim (review)
The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things by Paula Byrne
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (reread - tutored read)
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (reread)
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter
The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
The Leopard by Guisepe Di Lampedusa
Ross Poldark by Winston Graham (review—sort of)
The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble (review)
The Accursed Kings: The Iron King (Part 1) by Maurice Druon
The Accursed Kings: The Strangled Queen (Part 2) by Maurice Druon
The Accursed Kings: The Royal Succession (Part 4) by Maurice Druon
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (reread)
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (mini-review)
Nothing Like the Sun by Anthony Burgess (review)
Parle-leur de batailles de rois et d'éléphants by Mathias Enard (review)
Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
Les gens de l'ours by LB (manuscript) ★★★★★
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (reread)
Beauty is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan (comments)
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot ★★★★★
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift ★★★★★
Farthing by Jo Walton
Cecilia by Fanny Burney
Le liseur du 6h27 by Jean-Paul Didierlaurent (review)
Man-Tiger by Eka Kurniawan
Rumpole at Christmas by John Mortimer (comments)
How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell (comments)
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (comments)
West with the Night by Beryl Markham ★★★★★ (review)

Favourites of 2014:
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng ★★★★★ (review)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - reread tutored read
Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household (review)
The New York Stories of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton
Lady Susan by Jane Austen (review)
Love and Freindship (sic) by Jane Austen (review)
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy - reread (review)
Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan (review)
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (tutored read)
Restoration by Rose Tremain ★★★★★ (review)
The Quick by Lauren Owen (ARC) ★★★★★ (review)
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (review)
Miss Buncle's Book by D. E. Stevenson (review)
Dissolution by C. J. Samson (review)
The Unstrung Harp: Or, Mr Earbrass Writes a Novel by Edward Gorey ★★★★★
Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (umpteenth reread) ★★★★★
Treehorn Times Three by Florence Parry Heide & Edward Gorey
Merivel by Rose Tremain (review)
Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling (reread)
The Bird King: An Artist's Notebook by Shaun Tan
Aya by Marguerite Abouet, illustrated by Clément Oubrerie
A Café on the Nile by Bartle Bull (review)
Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (review)
The Waiting Game by Bernice Reubens
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar (review)
Love-Letters Between A Nobleman And His Sister (Volume II) (tutored read)
Breakfast With Lucian: A Portrait of the Artist by Geordie Greig (review)
The Ruby in Her Navel by Barry Unsworth ★★★★★ (review)
Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming (review)
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
Le joueur d'échecs / Chess Story by Stefan Zweig ★★★★★
La Petite Bijou by Patrick Modiano

Favourites of 2013:
(see http://fromsmilerwithlove.com/2013/12/31/most-memorable-reads-of-2013/ for comments)
Gillespie and I by Jane Harris
Three Singles to Adventure by Gerald Durrell
A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (3rd reread)
Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
Good Behaviour by Molly Keane
Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuściński
Middlemarch by George Eliot
The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám by Edward FitzGerald
Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse by Alexander Pushkin
Le fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux
Black Mischief by Evelyn Waugh
The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Jumping the Queue by Mary Wesley
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (reread for Coursera)
The Potato Factory by Bryce Courtenay
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (reread)
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibin
Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Confusion: The Private Papers of Privy Councillor R. von D. by Stefan Zweig
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Harvest by Jim Crace
Othello by William Shakespeare
Music & Silence by Rose Tremain
Le Comte de Monte-Cristo by Alexandre Dumas père
Lord of the Flies William Golding
Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgeniev
An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
Dragonwick by Anya Seton
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (reread)
An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo
The Old Maid by Edith Wharton
The Man of Property by John Galsworthy
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
Morality Play by Barry Unsworth
False Dawn by Edith Wharton

Favourites of 2012
On Canaan's Side by Sebastian Barry (review)
Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd (review)
L'Assommoir by Émile Zola (review)
Études de Femmes by Honoré de Balzac (review)
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (review)
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (review)
A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes (review)
Troubles by J. G. Farrell (review)
Letter from an Unknown Woman by Stefan Zweig (review)
Fear by Stefan Zweig (review)
Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman Stefan Zweig (review)
My Letter to the World and Other Poems by Emily Dickinson, Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault (review)
Stettin Station by David Downing (review)
A Severed Head by Iris Murdoch (review)
River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh (review)
Any Human Heart by William Boyd (review)
Being There by Jerzy Kosinski (review)
Angel by Elizabeth Taylor (review)
Eugénie Grandet by Honoré de Balzac (review)
Man with a Blue Scarf: On Sitting for a Portrait by Lucian Freud by Martin Gayford (review)
Part of the Furniture by Mary Wesley (review)
All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West (review)
Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner (reread - review)
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (review)
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury (review)
The Headmaster's Wager by Vincent Lam(review)

Favourite of 2011
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht
Regeneration by Pat Barker
From the Land of the Moon by Milena Agus
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (re-read)
Emma by Jane Austen
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
The Arrival by Shaun Tan
Un Lion a Paris by Beatrice Alemagna
Madlenka by Peter Sís
Sijainti
Montreal
Kotisivu
http://fromsmilerwithlove.com
Memberships
Also On
Parhaillaan lukemassa
Lempikirjailijat
Local Favorites

Kirjakauppoja: Chapters - Sainte-Catherine, Indigo - Place Montréal Trust, Librairie Bibliomanie / Bibliomania Bookshoppe, Librairie du Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, Librairie Henri-Julien, Librairie Olivieri, Odyssey Books, Paragraphe Bookstore Librairie, The Word

Kirjastoja: Bibliothèque Atwater Library, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec - Grande Bibliothèque, Bibliothèque Réjean-Ducharme

Yhteyksiä muihin jäseniin

Ystävät
Kiinnostavat kirjastot
75 Books Challenge
Categories Challenge
Folio Society Devotees
Legacy Libraries