rabbitprincess paints a portrait of her reading year in 2019 - Part 3

The Scottish Art Category Challenge



The sign outside the Glasgow School of Art

This challenge is inspired by a 2008 documentary called "A Portrait of Scotland," presented by Peter Capaldi, that finally flipped the switch for me with regard to art appreciation.

Each of my usual categories will be illustrated by a work of Scottish art. Most of these are portraits featured in the program, but there are some landscapes and still lifes (still lives?) as well.

General fiction – The Blue Hat (J. D. Fergusson)
General non-fiction – Old Willie (James Guthrie)
Historical fiction – Walter Scott (Henry Raeburn)
Historical non-fiction – Mary Queen of Scots (after Nicholas Hilliard)
Mysteries – Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room (Steven Campbell)
SFF – The Mysterious Garden (Margaret Mackintosh)
Graphic novels and other miscellaneous books – Self-portrait (George Jamesone)
Audio – The Mantelpiece (Anne Redpath)
Plays – Tilda Swinton (John Byrne)
French – Boats at Royan (Samuel John Peploe)
Rereads – David Hume (Allan Ramsay)
Group reads – Poets' Pub (Sandy Moffat)
Scotland – Twa Plack (Calum Colvin)

ROOT 2019 ticker:




The 2019 Pool:



The BingoDOG:

General fiction – The Blue Hat (J. D. Fergusson)

Fergusson was one of a group known as the Scottish Colourists, who were influenced by the Impressionists and French modernist artists in the early years of the 20th century. In the documentary, Peter sketches this painting and laments that people don't wear fancy hats like this very often these days.

1. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman
2. First Term at Malory Towers, by Enid Blyton
3. The Little Drummer Girl, by John le Carré
4. Bleak House, by Charles Dickens
5. The Blue Castle, by L. M. Montgomery
6. A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman (translated by Henning Koch)
7. In the Wet, by Nevil Shute
8. Corporal Cameron of the North West Mounted Police, by Ralph Connor (Project Gutenberg)
9. Shadow the Baron, by John Creasey (writing as Anthony Morton) (Overdrive)
10. The Caine Mutiny, by Herman Wouk
11. The Aviator, by Ernest K. Gann
12. The Good Shepherd, by C.S. Forester
13. The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
14. The Mayor of Côte St. Paul, by Ronald J. Cooke
15. The Looking-Glass War, by John le Carré
16. Tom Jones, by Henry Fielding (Serial Reader)
17. Running Blind, by Desmond Bagley
18. Medicine Walk, by Richard Wagamese
19. A Grue of Ice, by Geoffrey Jenkins
20. Lone Wolf, by Linwood Barclay
21. Circe, by Madeline Miller
22. Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens (Serial Reader)
23. Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (Serial Reader)

General non-fiction – Old Willie (James Guthrie)

This unflinching, realistic portrait of Old Willie, the village worthy, is characteristic of James Guthrie's work. Guthrie was part of a group known as the Glasgow Boys, who sought to paint realistic, unsentimental portraits of Scotland. They were opposing the overly sentimentalized "chocolate-box" paintings by artists such as Thomas Faed.

1. Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer, by Barbara Ehrenreich
2. The Royal Art of Poison: Filthy Palaces, Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicine, and Murder Most Foul, by Eleanor Herman
3. With the End in Mind: Death, Dying and Wisdom in an Age of Denial, by Kathryn Mannix
4. Race to Hawaii: The 1927 Dole Air Derby and the Thrilling First Flights That Opened the Pacific, by Jason Ryan
5. The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London, by Christopher Skaife
6. Sympathy for the Traitor: A Translation Manifesto, by Mark Polizzotti
7. Helicopter Flying Handbook, by the Federal Aviation Administration
8. Cockpit Confidential: Everything You Need to Know about Air Travel: Questions, Answers, and Reflections, by Patrick Smith
9. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography, by Eric Idle
10. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg
11. No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work, by Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy
12. Into the Abyss: How a Deadly Plane Crash Changed the Lives of a Pilot, a Politician, a Criminal and a Cop, by Carol Shaben
13. Understanding Gliding, by Derek Piggott
14. Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, by Caroline Criado Perez
15. Caesar's Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us, by Sam Kean
16. Unnatural Causes, by Richard Shepherd
17. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, by Patrick Lencioni
18. Covert Entry: Spies, Lies and Crimes Inside Canada's Secret Service, by Andrew Mitrovica
19. The Map of My Dead Pilots: The Dangerous Game of Flying in Alaska, by Colleen Mondor
20. Brainstorm: Detective Stories from the World of Neurology, by Suzanne O'Sullivan
21. Leaving Orbit: The Last Days of American Spaceflight, by Margaret Lazarus Dean
22. The Immortal Beaver: The World's Greatest Bush Plane, by Sean Rossiter
23. Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death, by Caitlin Doughty
24. Flight 232: A Story of Disaster and Survival, by Laurence Gonzales
25. The First Cell: And the Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last, by Azra Raza

Historical fiction – Sir Walter Scott (Henry Raeburn)

Raeburn had an energetic painting style: he worked without preparatory drawings and would run back and forth across his studio, studying his subject intently and then working from memory to slap down the highlights on the canvas.

1. The King's Agent, by J. Kent Clark
2. The Clansman, by Nigel Tranter
3. The Harper's Quine, by Pat McIntosh (Overdrive)
4. A Place of Greater Safety, by Hilary Mantel
5. The Stolen Voice, by Pat McIntosh
6. The Wallace, by Nigel Tranter
7. Pawn in Frankincense, by Dorothy Dunnett

Historical non-fiction – Mary, Queen of Scots (after Nicholas Hilliard)

This portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots, is one of several paintings sketched by Peter over the course of the documentary. I read a lot about her in 2018 so thought she would be a good choice for my 2019 history category.

1. The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors, by Dan Jones
2. The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth: And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine, by Thomas Morris
3. Erebus: One Ship, Two Epic Voyages, and the Greatest Naval Mystery of All Time, by Michael Palin
4. The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War, by Ben Macintyre
5. Queen Victoria: Twenty-Four Days That Changed Her Life, by Lucy Worsley
6. A Spitfire Girl, by Mary Ellis
7. Death on the Ice: The Great Newfoundland Sealing Disaster of 1914, by Cassie Brown with Harold Horwood
8. Henry I: Father of His People, by Edmund King
9. 1066: The Year of the Conquest, by David Howarth
10. The Voices of Nîmes: Women, Sex and Marriage in Reformation Languedoc, by Suzannah Lipscomb
11. Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson, by Mark Bourrie
12. An Acre of Time, by Phil Jenkins

Mysteries – Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room (Steven Campbell)

Campbell, one of the New Glasgow Boys, was known for his surreal dreamscapes. This one feels a bit David Lynch-ian to me, probably because of the tallest man in the painting.

1. The Chinaman, by Friedrich Glauser (translated by Mike Mitchell)
2. A Pint of Murder, by Alisa Craig
3. Blackout, by Ragnar Jónasson (translated by Quentin Bates)
4. Rupture, by Ragnar Jónasson (translated by Quentin Bates)
5. The Golden Tresses of the Dead, by Alan Bradley
6. The Darkness, by Ragnar Jónasson (translated by Victoria Cribb)
7. Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here!, by Ed McBain
8. The Man Who Died, by Antti Tuomainen (translated by David Hackston)
9. The Locked Room, by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (translated by Paul Britten Austin)
10. The Crow Trap, by Ann Cleeves
11. Clouds of Witness, by Dorothy L. Sayers (Faded Page)
12. The Fire Pit, by Chris Ould
13. The Arctic Patrol Mystery, by Franklin W. Dixon (Overdrive)
14. The 12:30 from Croydon, by Freeman Wills Crofts
15. Swing, Swing Together, by Peter Lovesey
16. Maigret Stonewalled, by Georges Simenon (translated by Margaret Marshall)
17. The Sentence is Death, by Anthony Horowitz
18. The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman
19. Whiteout, by Ragnar Jónasson (translated by Quentin Bates)
20. The Wanderer, by Michael Ridpath
21. The Goodbye Look, by Ross Macdonald
22. The Mad Hatter Mystery, by John Dickson Carr
23. Rocket to the Morgue, by Anthony Boucher
24. Smallbone Deceased, by Michael Gilbert
25. Death on the Aisle, by Frances and Richard Lockridge
26. The Long Call, by Ann Cleeves
27. A Puzzle for Fools, by Patrick Quentin
28. A Cold Death in Amsterdam, by Anja de Jager
29. Hidden Depths, by Ann Cleeves
30. Killer's Payoff, by Ed McBain
31. An Advancement of Learning, by Reginald Hill

SFF – The Mysterious Garden (Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh)

Mackintosh, the wife of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, was an artist in her own right. She worked primarily in crafts (needlework, metalwork, and gesso panels), but also designed graphics, illustrated books, and produced decorative panels for interiors and furniture—including at the Willow Tea Rooms in Glasgow.

1. Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion, by Jenny T. Colgan
2. Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters, Volume 2 (Big Finish audio drama)
3. Doctor Who: Rose, by Russell T. Davies
4. Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor, by Steven Moffat
5. Doctor Who and the Claws of Axos, by Terrance Dicks
6. Doctor Who: The Many Hands, by Dale Smith
7. Doctor Who: The Way Through the Woods, by Una McCormack
8. Doctor Who: Wishing Well, by Trevor Baxendale
9. Time Lord Fairytales, by Justin Richards (audio, read by various readers)
10. Doctor Who: Vengeance of the Stones (Destiny of the Doctor, #3), by Andrew Smith (audio, read by Richard Franklin and Trevor Littledale)
11. At the Earth's Core, by Edgar Rice Burroughs (Serial Reader)
12. The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal
13. Doctor Who and the Ribos Operation, by Ian Marter
14. Dalek Empire 1.1: Invasion of the Daleks (Big Finish audio drama)
15. The Fated Sky, by Mary Robinette Kowal
16. Dalek Empire 1.2: The Human Factor (Big Finish audio drama)
17. Lies Sleeping, by Ben Aaronovitch
18. Invasion of the Cat-People, by Gary Russell
19. Dalek Empire 1.3: "Death to the Daleks!" (Big Finish audio drama)
20. The Furthest Station, by Ben Aaronovitch
21. Dalek Empire 1.4: Project Infinity (Big Finish audio drama)
22. The Brick Moon, by Edward Everett Hale (Serial Reader)
23. Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters, by Malcolm Hulke
24. The Diary of River Song, Series 3 (Big Finish audio drama)
25. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams (reread)

Graphic novels and other miscellaneous books – Self-portrait (George Jamesone)

Jamesone was the first Scottish artist to make a success of portrait painting in Scotland. This painting is said to be a kind of self-promotion, showcasing the kind of work he could do: portraits, seascapes, landscapes, mythological scenes, and so on. On our most recent trip to Scotland (in 2018), we went by his house on the Royal Mile! It's right next door to John Knox's house.

1. How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men's Feelings, by Sarah Cooper
2. I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life, by Anne Bogel
3. Across the Plains: With Other Memories and Essays, by Robert Louis Stevenson
4. Monty Python Speaks!, by David Morgan
5. The Furthest Station, by Ben Aaronovitch
6. The Sun Is Kind Of A Big Deal, by Nick Seluk
7. What Makes This Book So Great, by Jo Walton
8. That's So '90s!: A Pop Cultural Guide to the Raddest Decade, by Jo Stewart
9. Strange Things: The Malevolent North in Canadian Literature, by Margaret Atwood
10. Typeset in the Future: Typography and Design in Science Fiction Movies, by Dave Addey
11. Flight or Fright: 17 Turbulent Tales, ed. Stephen King and Bev Vincent
12. The Future is Female!: 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women, from Pulp Pioneers to Ursula K. Le Guin, ed. Lisa Yaszek
13. At the Controls: The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Book of Cockpits, by Dana Bell, Tom Alison, and Eric Long
14. The Snooty Bookshop, by Tom Gauld
15. Scotchman's Return and Other Essays, by Hugh MacLennan
16. How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems, by Randall Munroe
17. The Concorde Story, by Peter R. March
18. Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman, by Lindy West
19. Bodies from the Library, Volume 2: Forgotten Stories of Mystery and Suspense by the Queens of Crime and Other Masters of the Golden Age, ed. Tony Medawar
20. Concorde: A Photographic History, by Jonathan Falconer

Audio – Still Life with White Tulips / The Mantelpiece (Anne Redpath)

Redpath was influenced by artists such as Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Matisse, and specialized in landscapes, church interiors, and still lifes. I've changed the painting from Still Life with White Tulips -- I lost a stable link to that painting, but I did find another painting of hers with books in it ;)

1. Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters, Volume 2 (Big Finish audio drama)
2. Time Lord Fairy Tales, by various authors (read by various actors)
3. Doctor Who: Vengeance of the Stones (Destiny of the Doctor, #3), by Andrew Smith (audio, read by Richard Franklin and Trevor Littledale)
4. Dalek Empire 1.1: Invasion of the Daleks (Big Finish audio drama)
5. Dalek Empire 1.2: The Human Factor (Big Finish audio drama)
6. Three Men in a Boat, by Jerome K. Jerome (read by Hugh Laurie)
7. Dalek Empire 1.3: "Death to the Daleks!" (Big Finish audio drama)
8. Dalek Empire 1.4: Project Infinity (Big Finish audio drama)
9. Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth, by Frank Cottrell Boyce (read by Peter Capaldi) (re-read)
10. The Diary of River Song, Series 3 (Big Finish audio drama)

Possibilities:
Vengeance of the Stones, by Andrew Smith (Destiny of the Doctor #3)
Three Men in a Boat, by Jerome K. Jerome (read by Hugh Laurie)
Time Lord Fairy Tales, by various authors (read by various actors)

Plays – Tilda Swinton (John Byrne)

John Byrne is an artist and playwright, hence his painting being chosen for the Plays category. In the documentary, Byrne talks about portraits capturing not just a physical likeness of the person, but the spark of who that person is. And in this case he definitely succeeds: Tilda is instantly recognizable. The drawing was done in 20 minutes!

1. Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare
2. Richard III, by William Shakespeare
3. Dark Road, by Ian Rankin and Mark Thomson

Possibilities:
Dark Road, by Ian Rankin and Mark Thomson
Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare

French – Boats at Royan (S. J. Peploe)

Peploe was a fellow Scottish Colourist along with J. D. Fergusson, and you can really see the influence of Impressionist techniques in this painting. He was introduced to the use of bold colour on holidays in northern France, including one in 1910 in which he painted Boats at Royan.

1. Mourir sur Seine, by Michel Bussi
2. Vol de nuit, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Possibiities:
Au péril de la mer, by Dominique Fortier
Mourir sur Seine, by Michel Bussi

Rereads – David Hume (Allan Ramsay)

Ramsay was appointed the King's Painter by George III, whose Ramsay-painted portrait features on the cover of Revolution, by Peter Ackroyd. Ramsay's attention to detail, particularly of fabric and lacework, is exquisite (see his portrait of his second wife, Margaret Lindsay). This portrait of David Hume, a buddy of his from the Select Society, is one of my favourites of his.

1. McNally's Caper, by Lawrence Sanders
2. Cold Midnight in Vieux Québec, by Eric Wilson
3. The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick deWitt
4. A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman
5. Last Resort, by Linwood Barclay
6. The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories, by Agatha Christie
7. Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth, by Frank Cottrell Boyce (audio, read by Peter Capaldi)
8. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
9. The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, by Agatha Christie

Possibilities:
A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman
The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick deWitt

Group reads – Poets' Pub (Sandy Moffat)

Alexander "Sandy" Moffat is part of a group of 20th-century Scottish artists known as the Scottish Realists. He taught at Glasgow School of Art when Peter was studying there. This painting by Moffat is an imagining of a gathering of Scottish poets and writers.

CalendarCAT
✔ January - Dark Road, by Ian Rankin (Burns Night 25 January)
✔ February - Tom Jones, by Henry Fielding (published 28 February 1749)
✔ March - Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare (beware the Ides of March)
April - Ships in the Bay!, by D.K. Broster (National Maritime Day 5 April)
May - The Custodian of Paradise, by Wayne Johnston (Wayne Johnston's birthday is 22 May)
June - Au péril de la mer, by Dominique Fortier (reading a Quebec author in honour of St-Jean-Baptiste Day 24 June)
✔ July - Vengeance of the Stones, by Andrew Smith (a Third Doctor story in honour of Jon Pertwee's centenary on 7 July)
✔ August - The Mayor of Côte St. Paul, by Ronald J. Cooke (a Montreal-set book for the Quebec construction holiday at the end of July / beginning of August)
✔ September - The Wallace, by Nigel Tranter (the Battle of Stirling Bridge took place on 11 September)
✔ October - Time Lord Fairy Tales, by various authors (for that spooky Halloween spirit)
✔ November - Cheer Up Love: Adventures in Depression with the Crab of Hate, by Susan Calman (Susan Calman's birthday is 7 November)
✔ December - The Aviator, by Ernest K. Gann (International Civil Aviation Day is 7 December)

RandomCAT
✔ January (Your name in print) McNally's Caper, by Lawrence Sanders
✔ February (Let's take a break) Across the Plains, by Robert Louis Stevenson
✔ March (Brexit madness -- a book set in the EU) Mourir sur Seine, by Michel Bussi
✔ April (Easter greetings from the Rooster) The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick deWitt
✔ May (I could have danced all night) Swing, Swing Together, by Peter Lovesey
✔ June (Pick a card, any card!) When Eight Bells Toll, by Alistair MacLean (I picked the 8 of spades)
July (All about birds) Seven Fallen Feathers, by Tanya Talaga
✔ August (Back to school) An Advancement of Learning, by Reginald Hill (set at a university)
✔ September (Equinox) Vol de nuit, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
October (Knock-offs, follow-ups, satires and parodies) Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse, by James Goss
November (Childhood memories) The ABC Murders, by Agatha Christie
December

SeriesCAT
✔ January: A series in translation: The Locked Room, by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö
✔ February: YA/children's series: First Term at Malory Towers, by Enid Blyton
March: A series by a favourite author: The Twenty-Three, by Linwood Barclay
✔ April: A series you've been meaning to get back to: Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here, by Ed McBain
✔ May: The newest book in a favourite series: The Golden Tresses of the Dead, by Alan Bradley
June: A series that is definitely complete: Lone Wolf, by Linwood Barclay
✔ July: Genre: fantasy: Lies Sleeping, by Ben Aaronovitch
August: A series set in a country/region where you do not live: Gideon's Power, by J.J. Marric
✔ September: Genre: mystery: Maigret Stonewalled, by Georges Simenon
✔ October: A historical series: Pawn in Frankincense, by Dorothy Dunnett
✔ November: A series with a female protagonist: A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman
✔ December: A series that's new to you: A Pint of Murder, by Alisa Craig

TBRCAT
✔ January: First in, last out - read one of the oldest members of your tbr - Three Men in a Boat, by Jerome K. Jerome (one of my oldest audios!)
✔ February: A book you borrowed to read and still haven't got to - The Wars of the Roses, by Dan Jones (borrowed from library, didn't get to read, now parents have it)
✔ March: Book acquired on/for trips or for a special occasion - The Clansman (bought on my Ireland trip in 2014)
✔ April: Book originally acquired for an LT group read or challenge - A Place of Greater Safety, by Hilary Mantel
✔ May: Book that I keep looking at, but never manage to open - The Caine Mutiny, by Herman Wouk
✔ June: Book bullet - Cheer Up Love, by Susan Calman (Jackie_K)
✔ July: Book by an author with more than one book on your TBR shelf - Scotchman’s Return, by Hugh MacLennan
✔ August: Book purchased with great excitement and with plans to read right away that is somehow still on my tbr a year later - Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters (this is really just representing ALL my Doctor Who novels)
September: Classics I feel I should read - Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
October: Book purchased because of its visual appeal (striking cover or colors, beautiful edition, etc.) - Hungry Hill, by Daphne du Maurier
November: Book given to me as a gift - The Custodian of Paradise, by Wayne Johnston
✔ December: A book I bought because it was so cheap (library sale, remainder table, etc) - Invasion of the Cat-People, by Gary Russell

Shared reads
✔ Tom Jones, by Henry Fielding (2019 Category Challenge group read)
✔ The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair (shared read with LynnB)
✔ The 12:30 from Croydon, by Freeman Wills Crofts (shared read on Litsy)
✔ Into the Abyss: How a Deadly Plane Crash Changed the Lives of a Pilot, a Politician, a Criminal and a Cop, by Carol Shaben (shared read with an RL friend)
✔ Medicine Walk, by Richard Wagamese (shared read with DeltaQueen50 and VivienneR)

Scotland – Twa Plack (Calum Colvin)

It wouldn't be a Scottish art category challenge without a category for my Scotland reading! I really like Calum Colvin's portraiture; it's a combination of painting, sculpture, and photography. This picture, "Twa Plack", was based on a stamp that Colvin found in a collection of Burns ephemera.

1. All the Hidden Truths, by Claire Askew
2. The Clansman, by Nigel Tranter
3. The Harper's Quine, by Pat McIntosh (Overdrive)
4. Doctor Who: The Many Hands, by Dale Smith
5. The Strings of Murder, by Oscar de Muriel
6. The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith
7. The Way of All Flesh, by Ambrose Parry
8. The Stolen Voice, by Pat McIntosh
9. Across the Plains, by Robert Louis Stevenson
10. Dark Road, by Ian Rankin and Mark Thomson
11. Made in Scotland: My Grand Adventures in a Wee Country, by Billy Connolly
12. Broken Ground, by Val McDermid
13. When Eight Bells Toll, by Alistair MacLean
14. Conviction, by Denise Mina
15. The Wallace, by Nigel Tranter
16. The Crow Road, by Iain Banks
17. Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth, by Frank Cottrell Boyce (audio, read by Peter Capaldi) (re-read)
18. Pawn in Frankincense, by Dorothy Dunnett
19. Cheer Up Love: Adventures in Depression with the Crab of Hate, by Susan Calman

Possibilities:
The Clansman, by Nigel Tranter (Rob Roy MacGregor #2)
Pawn in Frankincense, by Dorothy Dunnett (Lymond #4)
The Wallace, by Nigel Tranter
The Way of All Flesh, by Ambrose Parry
Cheer Up Love: Adventures in Depression with the Crab of Hate, by Susan Calman

Starting off this thread with the June recap.

I regained a spring in my reading step this month, helped a bit by a long weekend toward the end of the month. I read 18 books:

The Caine Mutiny, by Herman Wouk
Invasion of the Cat-People, by Gary Russell
The Aviator, by Ernest K. Gann
Understanding Gliding, by Derek Piggott
Death on the Ice: The Great Newfoundland Sealing Disaster of 1914, by Cassie Brown with Harold Horwood
Monty Python Speaks!, by David Morgan
Dalek Empire 1.3: “Death to the Daleks!” (Big Finish audio drama)
The Furthest Station, by Ben Aaronovitch
The Good Shepherd, by C.S. Forester
Made in Scotland: My Grand Adventures in a Wee Country, by Billy Connolly
The Sentence is Death, by Anthony Horowitz
The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
The Sun is Kind Of a Big Deal, by Nick Seluk
Dalek Empire 1.4: Project Infinity (Big Finish audio drama)
Clyde Fans, by Seth
The Trespasser, by Tana French
Broken Ground, by Val McDermid
The Mayor of Côte-Saint-Paul, by Ronald J. Cooke (DNF)

My favourite book of the month was Clyde Fans, by Seth. This was a breathtaking graphic novel and worth trying even if you don’t generally read the graphic novel format. It reads much more like a novel that uses pictures, if that makes any sense.

My least favourite book of the month was The Mayor of Côte St. Paul, by Ronald J. Cooke. The writing was teeth-gnashingly bad, at least for me, and the promising-sounding plot couldn’t make up for it. Had to DNF.

Currently reading

Tom Jones, by Henry Fielding — Serial Reader. Oh yeah, still reading this! I keep having to rewind. But I’m getting there! If I don’t get it finished in July, definitely in August.
Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray — Serial Reader. My random number generator that I use to pick my Serial Reads is really focusing on British literature at the moment. I’m enjoying this so far.
The Mission Song, by John le Carré — My current audio read, although I haven’t started it yet. It’s narrated by David Oyelowo, who also appeared in the TV adaptation of Small Island (and that’s why I got the audio).
When Eight Bells Toll, by Alistair MacLean — My June RandomCAT pick (because of my picking the eight of spades). Not a bad story.
What Makes This Book So Great, by Jo Walton — A collection of blog posts related to SFF novels. I haven’t read very many of these, but I love reading about Walton’s experiences reading them. Her enthusiasm is contagious.

July plans

I didn’t take the big fat history book with me on my train trip this past weekend —probably just as well, because I wasn’t even in the mood for the shorter books I’d brought. So this month’s train trip will be the one where I get stuck in to The Wallace.

>13 rabbitprincess: That's how I read Tom Jones, serial reader! I tried to read 2-3 installments a day so it wouldn't drag and I could remember!

Happy new thread! And happy Canada Day!

>14 Tess_W: I end up reading 2 or 3 installments a day every few days because I keep getting sidetracked! ;)

>15 Jackie_K: Thanks, Jackie! It is going to be a lovely summer day here and I hope you're getting nice weather too :)

Happy new thread and a lovely time on Canada Day!

>17 MissWatson: Thanks, Birgit! I'm celebrating by staying at home, because I was in Montréal this past weekend and that was enough travelling for a while ;)

Happy new thread!

>19 mstrust: Thanks, Jennifer! Hope you're keeping cool.

Sometimes I just refuse to leave my cool, dark house during the summer :-D.

>21 mstrust: Sounds like an excellent plan! Meanwhile I am seriously contemplating doing a bunch of overtime at work because the work a/c is better than at home.

****

Heat wave notwithstanding, I am getting through a few books.

When Eight Bells Toll, by Alistair MacLean
Category: Twa Plack, Poets’ Pub (July RandomCAT — Pick a card; mine was the 8 of spades)
Source: pilfered from my parents
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/101873172

This was a solid, enjoyable MacLean read. Not quite as good as The Guns of Navarone, but for me they both had a similar hardscrabble kind of feel.

What Makes This Book So Great, by Jo Walton
Category: George Jamesone
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/169009081

I had a lot of fun reading Walton's blog posts about various SFF books, even if I had no interest in reading them or hadn't heard of them before. But there were a lot I was interested in...

A re-read that was perfect for the hot summer weather.

Last Resort, by Linwood Barclay
Category: David Hume
Source: AbeBooks
Rating: 5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/work/691535/reviews/71329839

Score another book bullet for me; Mum saw that I was reading this and asked to borrow it when I visit my parents in a couple of weeks. The interlibrary loan service between me and my parents is getting quite the workout ;)

Finished a couple more books yesterday.

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, by Caroline Criado Perez
Category: Old Willie
Source: library
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/169819660

This book would go well with Inferior, by Angela Saini. Both books showcase areas where the needs of women are unmet or ignored in society as a whole.

That’s So 90s!: A Pop Cultural Guide to the Raddest Decade, by Jo Stewart
Category: George Jamesone
Source: library
Rating: 2/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/170048873

This was a joke borrow from the library. Not sure who the audience is -- nostalgic people who grew up during this era, or their children? It was superficial and OK to browse through, but definitely more of a borrow than a buy.

>24 rabbitprincess: Invisible Women is on my wishlist, but I think it's one of those books I'd end up rage-reading!

>25 Jackie_K: Yes, I was yelling quite a bit while reading this!

Happy new thread! I loved browsing through the art and your reading to date.

>27 VivienneR: Thanks, Vivienne! Setting up the new thread made me think I'm going to have to raid my parents' art books when I visit them later this month. They have a few Scottish ones.

Happy new thread! The year's halfway point is a good time to set things up for the rest of the reading year.

>29 RidgewayGirl: Thanks! It is indeed. Also, I can't believe we're already halfway through the year!

Another barrage of reviews!

Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us, by Sam Kean
Category: Old Willie
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/169994758

Great structure and concept to the book. My favourite chapter was the one about farts (of course).

The Looking-Glass War, by John le Carré
Category: The Blue Hat
Source: borrowed from parents
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/168674147

A bleak world and a story that left me wondering what the point was, unless the point was that these spy games are ultimately pointless. Not sure how I feel about it.

Henry I: The Father of His People, by Edmund King
Category: Mary Queen of Scots
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/170101081

Part of the Penguin Monarchs series, this was a solid read.

>31 rabbitprincess: It's interesting to see people's reactions to The Looking-Glass War. I read it 4 (?!) years ago and still recall the bleakness of it, but all it impressed me as being somehow "real." My DH also read it however and, was so depressed over it that I don't think he's read any more le Carré!

>32 Tanya-dogearedcopy: It did feel very real!

Weekends are for finishing books!

The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room
Source: Pickwick Books, Waterdown
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/168674160

I read this to fill the "Eastern European author or setting" square on the BingoDOG. It's set in Bulgaria in the early 1970s (I'm assuming it's contemporary with the original publication date of 1971, per Goodreads). A fun light read.

Strange Things: The Malevolent North in Canadian Literature, by Margaret Atwood
Category: George Jamesone
Source: library
Rating: 5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/169009100

I loved this! Not sure why, but it really clicked with me at this particular time. I now have a lot of books to read after reading Atwood's lectures. (Already trying to figure out how to bring my parents' massive hardcover of Solomon Gursky Was Here back from my visit next week...)

>34 rabbitprincess: Love the Atwood review! I always enjoy reading about the north and have added that one to my wishlist.

>35 VivienneR: Excellent! Enjoy!

I devoured this thoroughly nerdy book over the weekend.

Typeset in the Future: Typography and Design in Science Fiction Movies, by Dave Addey
Category: George Jamesone
Source: library
Rating: 5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/170269015

This book takes a deep dive into seven classic (or soon-to-be classic) sci-fi movies and explores their typography and design, and how they build their worlds and respond or react to the movies that have gone before. If you're a font geek who also likes sci-fi, you may find this of interest. Spoilers for all the movies discussed, so you should already have seen them or not worry about spoilers.

I'm on vacation today, woo hoo! Off today and tomorrow for an extra-long weekend. And I started it off right by finishing a book yesterday.

Unnatural Causes, by Richard Shepherd
Category: Old Willie
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/170650816

I let this library book jump the queue because I was a bit stressed out this week and wasn't feeling any of my other books on the go. Odd how a memoir by a forensic pathologist can be considered *relaxing*, but I liked his straightforward, clear style and his concern for the truth, including stating when he might be wrong (or not being 100% certain about something).

Memoirs by pathologists, coroners and forensic anthropologists are always great fun. And they are always written in such a straightforward style in which they write matter-of-factly about astonishing things. And the titles are often hilarious. My two favorites are Bone Voyage and Dead Men Do Tell Tales, the latter being an especially fantastic book as the author was employed in Florida, where weird is unavoidable and there are always plenty of serial killers.

>39 RidgewayGirl: Bone Voyage is a brilliant title! I've asked my library to request Dame Sue Black's memoir, All That Remains.

Check out the days for the Moscow Tea Room! I'll be there Aug 12 to 16! I'll leave it to you to organize as I'm really snowed under. Looking forward to seeing you both! Maybe some book buying too?

>41 mysterymax: I think Wed, Thu or Fri of that week would be best. From what I recall the tea room is closed on Mondays, and I'm already booked for the Tuesday. I've messaged paruline to find out her availability 😊

Edit: Yep, closed Mondays. All other weekdays open from 4 pm to 2 am!!

Getting rather busy at work, so there will probably be a lot of starting and stopping on the reading front as my brain becomes progressively more frazzled.

1066: The Year of the Conquest, by David Howarth
Category: Mary Queen of Scots
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/170479294

I liked the writing well enough, but this book is the first victim of my shortened attention span.

I favoured zippy mysteries this week because of doing a bunch of overtime.

Conviction, by Denise Mina
Category: Twa Plack
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/170508306

Mina's latest novel is a standalone and is an easy four stars for me. Excellent writing, as always, and a story that propelled me along.

Whiteout, by Ragnar Jónasson (translated by Quentin Bates)
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room
Source: library
Rating: 2.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/170507986

The story itself was interesting, but I found the writing repetitive. This is probably my least favourite in the series; my favourite is probably Rupture, its immediate predecessor.

Weekends in front of the air conditioner are great for starting and finishing books in a single sitting.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, by Patrick Lencioni
Category: Old Willie
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/170732065

My director (boss's boss) mentioned she'd read this book and I thought it sounded interesting. Using a story to get the concepts across, then reinforcing them with more standard non-fiction discussion, works well here. The 3-star rating is a good, "this met my expectations and I liked it" 3 stars.

Two more books to finish off the month, then the monthly recap!

Tom Jones, by Henry Fielding
Category: The Blue Hat, Poets’ Pub (group read)
Source: Serial Reader
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/71473215

I've been reading this since March and only just finished on Monday. It ended up being funnier than I thought it would.

Flight or Fright: 17 Turbulent Tales, ed. Stephen King and Bev Vincent
Category: George Jamesone
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/170732021

As an aviation enthusiast, I HAD to pick up this collection of stories. I'd consider them more thrillers than horror, although some of them are genuinely creepy. My favourite was Joe Hill's for the technical detail and the realism; it was scary because it felt so plausible.

July recap

It’s been a busy month at work and won’t get any less busy for the next month or so. Nevertheless, I managed a respectable 18 books:

When Eight Bells Toll, by Alistair MacLean
What Makes This Book So Great, by Jo Walton
Last Resort, by Linwood Barclay (re-read)
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, by Caroline Criado Perez
That’s So ’90s!: A Pop Cultural Guide to the Raddest Decade, by Jo Stewart
Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us, by Sam Kean
The Looking-Glass War, by John le Carré
Henry I: The Father of His People, by Edmund King
The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman
Strange Things: The Malevolent North in Canadian Literature, by Margaret Atwood
Typeset in the Future: Typography and Design in Science Fiction Movies, by Dave Addey
Unnatural Causes, by Richard Shepherd
1066: The Year of the Conquest, by David Howarth
Conviction, by Denise Mina
Whiteout, by Ragnar Jónasson (translated by Quentin Bates)
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, by Patrick Lencioni
Tom Jones, by Henry Fielding (Serial Reader)
Flight or Fright: 17 Turbulent Tales, ed. Stephen King and Bev Vincent

My favourite book of the month was Strange Things: The Malevolent North in Canadian Literature, by Margaret Atwood. I really enjoyed these lectures she gave and am starting to read the books she mentioned in them.

My least favourite book of the month was That’s So ‘90s!, by Jo Stewart. I am not surprised; it was a low-expectations borrow.

Currently reading
Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray — Serial Reader. I’ve had to rewind once, but I’m enjoying the story.
The Mission Song, by John le Carré — I’ve started this in audio but have borrowed the print copy from the library as well; I’m finding the audio hard to focus on, and it doesn’t help that my phone keeps losing my place.
Scotchman’s Return and Other Essays, by Hugh MacLennan — I started this before my trip in July because it would be easy to put down. I’ve moved it to the bedside table and am not as amused as I thought I would be. I have read most of his work though, and probably most of the best stuff already.
The Wallace, by Nigel Tranter — I’m about 3/4 of the way through this, I think. I haven’t read as much of it as I’d like because I keep having to read library books on the bus to get through them, but overall this is a solid book.
Covert Entry, by Andrew Mitrovica — I borrowed this from my BF’s dad a looooong time ago and have decided to finally finish it and give it back this weekend. It’s dated in an occasionally amusing way (like describing Barrie as a “town” — AS IF).
The Brick Moon, by Edward Everett Hale — Serial Reader. A nice short one, only 9 issues. I haven’t started it yet, because I’m about to go to bed, but it’s all set for tomorrow.

August plans

I’d really like to read some more of my own books this month, although today I had seven holds come in at the library… and another one is waiting, and another three are in transit… oops.

>47 rabbitprincess: I've been 'currently reading' Vanity Fair since March, and still haven't got very far! As long as I finish it by the end of the year I'll complete all my challenges. I think it doesn't help that one of the main early characters is called George Osborne, and so I just picture the present-day George Osborne whenever I read about him! (he was the Chancellor in David Cameron's govt).

>48 Jackie_K: Yes, I can see where that wouldn't help you get through it! I'm always picturing characters as looking like people I know, if they share the same name.

Finally, it's the weekend! I've been feeling a bit hamster-running-on-the-wheel at work lately, so this month I plan to bury myself in books in my off-hours and decline to do overtime. (I did some overtime last month and have learned that I am really not equipped to do so at present.)

I got a good start to the month by finishing off a book I'd read most of in July, and reading a shorter mystery that I was able to deliver to the library on my way home from work the day it was due back :D

The Wallace, by Nigel Tranter
Category: Walter Scott, Poets' Pub (September CalendarCAT), Twa Plack
Source: Chaptigo (gift card)
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/115287913

This book tells the story of William Wallace. I chose it for the September CalendarCAT because the Battle of Stirling Bridge, which he fought, apparently took place in September. And having been to Stirling last year, I thought it was about time to read this. Enjoyable as always with Tranter, although definitely a male-centric story.

The Wanderer (A Magnus Iceland Mystery), by Michael Ridpath
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/170808096

I like this series about an Icelandic-American detective who has returned to Iceland for work. Magnus is at a bit of a loose end because his family drama was resolved in the previous book (Sea of Stone), but this new case of his seems to put the spark back in his life. A good solid read.

>37 rabbitprincess: I took a BB for Typeset in the Future: Typography and Design in Science Fiction Movies! Do you know about the new exhibition at the ROM in Toronto? It's Kurt Hammett's collection of classic sci-fi and horror movie posters.

>51 mathgirl40: I hadn't heard about that! Cool! I'll have to check it out when I'm in town for Fan Expo.

This weekend felt especially productive on the reading front because I finished a book I'd borrowed from my BF's dad an embarrassingly long time ago. (He'd forgotten he'd lent it to me...oops.)

Covert Entry: Spies, Lies and Crimes Inside Canada’s Secret Service, by Andrew Mitrovica
Category: Old Willie
Source: borrowed from BF’s parents
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/123803876

This was probably a shocker when it first came out. Now it's more of historic interest, given that the book was published in 2002. Technology has probably changed drastically in the interim.

Trundling through books this week.

The Goodbye Look, by Ross Macdonald
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room
Source: Friends of Library and Archives Canada book sale
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/70473917

Another solid Lew Archer book. I always recommend his stories over Marlowe or Spade. Archer is that much more thoughtful and philosophical.

The Future is Female!: 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women, from Pulp Pioneers to Ursula K. Le Guin, ed. Lisa Yaszek
Category: George Jamesone
Source: library
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/171577725

This is an excellent collection of stories. A variety of themes and settings, and some of the most effective are the ones that show that the monsters are really with us here on Earth.

The Brick Moon, by Edward Everett Hale
Category: The Mysterious Garden
Source: Serial Reader
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/171939898

One of these 19th-century sci-fi stories that is unintentionally hilarious to modern readers, but that's part of its charm. A mere 9 issues on Serial Reader.

>54 rabbitprincess: The Future Is Female sounds really interesting. I like the monsters-on-earth type of sci-fi.

And Ross Macdonald is a superstar, in my pantheon at least. When I first discovered his books in the 1990s they were entirely out of print--I was picking them out of the free and 10c bins at the Friends of the Library. I own and have read them all, and I would happily sit down and reread them all. His families with dark, nasty secrets are outstanding.

>55 NinieB: The best story in that vein in this collection is "All the Colors of the Rainbow", which is unfortunately just as relevant today as it was when it was written.

Now that's dedication! I'm glad he's back in print, making it slightly easier for me to finish up my collection. I got hooked on him because Linwood Barclay mentioned being heavily inspired by his work.

****

My BF and I went out for lunch with his aunt and uncle, and then his aunt and I went out to Value Village to poke around the books section. I saw a lot of interesting books but nothing really jumped out at me until I happened to pass through the language section and saw Dutch for Dummies. My parents and brother and I are planning to visit the Netherlands and Belgium next year, and I wanted to learn some Dutch, so this book will be perfect.

Sometimes you need a coffee-table book to flip through rather than one that requires a significant attention span.

At the Controls: The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Book of Cockpits, by Dana Bell, Tom Alison, and Eric Long
Category: George Jamesone
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/171516770

It is a truth universally acknowledged that if a plane is on display in a museum, people will want to sit in the cockpit. The Smithsonian has allowed us to virtually sit in the cockpits of its aircraft through this collection, and it's an interesting look at the variety of aircraft people have flown over the decades. Spacecraft are included as well, although it's a bit sad because the last one in the book is the space shuttle Columbia :(

>57 rabbitprincess: I agree about coffee-table books! I'm trying to get through one now about the 100 most "important" buildings in the world.......great pictures, but some of the type is so small even with bifocals I can't read it! It's interesting, but I'll be the first one to say that I'm not going to read every word.

>58 Tess_W: A recent gift collection from someone's estate included a "Magnapage." I snagged it to help me read genealogical documents, but it might come in handy for that tiny print.

>59 thornton37814: I have seen those....and in fact I do have a magnifying glass that I inherited from my grandfather...it's in my closet and has never been out or used......it's a large one! I think I will go get it out!

>57 rabbitprincess: - I think my husband would really like this. On the Christmas list it goes.

That Dutch for Dummies was just waiting for you. Now I'm looking forward to hearing about this next trip!

>59 thornton37814: >60 Tess_W: Those would have been handy for looking at all the flight instruments in the various cockpits!

>61 dudes22: Whew! I was worried I wouldn't have a recommendation for you this year ;) Although would your husband read about plane crashes? Into the Abyss was fantastic and I'd definitely recommend that.

>62 mstrust: It sure was! I've started flipping through it already. The trip is still in the early planning stages, but right now we're thinking end of April and early May, AFTER King's Day.

He probably would. He was a flight engineer in the military so most things aviation he likes. Plus I still could get other books from a couple of authors you suggested last year.

>64 dudes22: Excellent, glad to be of continued assistance!

****

mysterymax, paruline and I had what we think is our 5th international LT Summit this past week. The venue: the Moscow Tea Room on Sussex. We wanted to go there for our last Summit, but it was closed that day (that Summit was on a Monday, and the tea room is closed on Mondays). So this Summit was timed more appropriately to allow us to visit.

The others had high tea, while I had just a tea and a scone (although I did have part of a brie, pear and honey croissant, and a couple of macarons -- I am always happy to assist with leftovers...). Each of us had a different tea: Bain aux Roses for me, White Sky for paruline, and Eternal Summer for mysterymax.

The owner of the tea room very kindly took photos for us:



I'm in black, paruline is in pink, and mysterymax is in cream. I enjoy the photobomb by the guy walking by.



paruline and I ended up detouring to Chapters on our way back to our respective modes of transportation (the bus for me, the car for her), and I bought my own copy of Into the Abyss, by Carol Shaben, and Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey, which I am looking forward to reading one of these years :D

Looks like you had a lovely time! And the goodies look delectable.

How great that you had such a great time. Your tea looks delectable and the rest of their menu looks good too.

Looks like a delicious event!

Looks like you had a lovely time. Love the teapots!

Yay for the meet-up! I'm glad you three had a good time, and I like your dress.

Tea and a book shop--nothing better!

Looks like another excellent LT meetup!

Hooray for an LT meet-up! Great pictures - the high teas look delicious but also daunting.

>66 VivienneR: They were delectable indeed, and I liked that the scones came with clotted cream!

>67 dudes22: Yes, we were saying we'll have to go again! Perhaps we'll have to try the dinner menu.

>68 NinieB: It was! We're always trying new places on our meetups and this was a good one.

>69 MissWatson: They are quite neat!

>70 mstrust: Thanks! It's a hand-me-down from my BF's aunt, who has been cleaning out her closets with a vengeance and passing along things that fit me. She has great taste in clothes. This dress has pockets, too, which is even better!!

>71 Tess_W: The only thing that would be better is tea and TWO bookshops ;)

>72 DeltaQueen50: It sure was! Much better weather than our last one (which was in February). We've decided to set our meetups to the warmer months from now on ;)

****

Finally finding some time to review a couple of books. It was a bit of a hectic week, so I haven't finished much.

The Map of My Dead Pilots: The Dangerous Game of Flying in Alaska, by Colleen Mondor
Category: Old Willie
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/171516023

This pairs nicely with Into the Abyss, by Carol Shaben -- many of the issues present in the regional airline industry in Shaben's book are still present in the 21st century. It's written in a down-to-earth style and I could hardly put it down.

The book would also pair nicely with Vol de nuit, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry; Mondor refers to this book in one chapter. I haven't read this yet but have just put it in the on-deck pile.

The Snooty Bookshop, by Tom Gauld
Category: George Jamesone
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/172219360

This is a fun little book and a great way to introduce somebody to Tom Gauld's work. But if you want to actually send these postcards to people, I'd buy an extra copy to keep for yourself ;)

>73 RidgewayGirl: That is the funny thing about high teas -- individually, the items don't look like they would fill you up, but cumulatively it makes for a full meal. I myself found I'd drunk too much tea (maybe I shouldn't have asked for a refill of the hot water).

Yay, another LT meet! It looks lovely!

Also, I totally agree with you about The Snooty Bookshop. I've got my copy, if I want to send any of the cards I'm going to have to buy another.

>76 Jackie_K: It was lovely! I was thinking about our own meetup the other day because Bloody Scotland had been talking up the festivities for this year -- wish I could be there again!

****

Had a busy weekend. Saturday I went out to a free concert featuring Odds (a Vancouver-based power-pop group from the 90s), which was fun but something of a late night. Today I went downtown and ran a few errands, including a stop at Perfect Books, where I bought This is How You Lose the Time War, by Amar El-Mohtar. (It's not actually about the Time War in the Doctor Who sense, but I do think it sounds interesting.)

I've also been puzzling over how to deal with the library books that are due back when I go on vacation at the end of the week -- it's a complicated mixture of returning and re-requesting on different days, reading some at work, some on the bus, and some as much as I can before I have to return them.

Before I get into those books, though, reviews of the two books I managed to finish today:

Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters, by Malcolm Hulke
Category: The Mysterious Garden, Poets’ Pub (August TBRCAT)
Source: Book Bazaar
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/119684104

Sometimes raiding the Doctor Who stash is exactly what I need. And this was in the 2019 Pool, so even better.

The Crow Road, by Iain Banks
Category: Twa Plack
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/170569994

I've been meaning to read this for years, for Peter Capaldi reasons (he plays Uncle Rory in the miniseries). As soon as I read that he had floppy auburn curls, I knew he'd been perfectly cast :D The book is great but definitely requires an extended period of sitting down to get fully immersed in it.

Managed to polish off two library books before my vacation! I also took back a few more this evening.

The Mad Hatter Mystery, by John Dickson Carr
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/171553851

This was one of several American Mystery Classics ordered by my library. I quite enjoyed it. This wasn't a locked-room mystery, just a really good Golden Age mystery novel. (Sometimes I don't have much patience for locked-room mysteries, because I know I can't figure them out and don't need the detective being a jerk about it.) The American Mystery Classics cover is REALLY SCARY. If it weren't a library book I would have put it in the freezer.

Brainstorm: Detective Stories from the World of Neurology, by Suzanne O’Sullivan
Category: Old Willie
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/172133603

I asked my library to order this because someone on Litsy had read it and it sounded great. It was! If you liked Unthinkable, by Helen Thomson, you might like this one as well.

>65 rabbitprincess: Thanks for posting the pictures. I always enjoy seeing meetups.

I'll take a BB for Brainstorm. I can always count on you for a few BB of a medical nature each year. Now I need to read some of them.

>79 clue: They are such fun! I've enjoyed finding new tea places for us to try, too :)

>80 dudes22: I've been getting more into medical books for some reason. Probably thanks to the Wellcome Prize. At any rate they are a weirdly good way for me to de-stress.

****

I'm visiting my parents this weekend (a five-day weekend!) and am raiding their bookshelves rather than bring my own books to read. I've read one so far:

The Regatta Mystery, by Agatha Christie
Category: David Hume
Source: pilfered from parents
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/139917400

For some reason this collection popped into my head -- my parents had two identical copies, and I have one at my place. So I read the one that was here. Probably not fully deserving of a 3-star rating, but vintage paperback covers trigger my nostalgia reflex.

****

And even though I didn't bring my own books with me, I did go out and buy more... we paid a visit to a bookstore near a British grocery store and I bought the following:

Dreams of Empire, by Justin Richards (a Second Doctor novel)
Doctor Who and the Daemons, by Barry Letts (a Third Doctor novel)
Le Matou, by Yves Beauchemin (a classic French-Canadian novel)
The Kalevala, transcribed by Elias Lonnrot and translated by Keith Bosworth (a Finnish epic poem)

****

Lastly, I went to Fan Expo Canada today and spent most of the day either meeting Peter Capaldi or waiting in line to do so. The autograph queues were LONG (as I expected). He very kindly signed a print copy of Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth (because I couldn't very well get him to sign the digital download of the audiobook...) and I sung the praises of the Portrait of Scotland documentary. ("That was a long time ago," he said. "You should do another one!" I said. "Maybe I will!" he said.)

ALSO... got a photo op. My Twelve cosplay has officially been dubbed "fantastic" by the man himself :D

What a fun picture! Lucky you.

I had never heard of the Wellcome Book Prize. I'm going to check it out for reads. And - great pic!

Yay, the annual Doctor Who pic! I'm glad you had another fun year at the expo. Why don't they go ahead and put a tardis there for you guys to leap out of in the pics? Would it make the fans heads explode?

Fabulous photo!

>81 rabbitprincess: Oh how fantastic! Peter Capaldi sounds like such a lovely guy in real life, as well as on screen.

Although the Wainwright Prize is my own favourite prize (it's for nature writing), I do like to keep an eye on the Wellcome Prize too. I totally get the destressing by reading medical non-fiction, I do that too!

>82 DeltaQueen50: I do feel very lucky indeed!

>83 dudes22: Thanks! And enjoy the Wellcome Book Prize. That's where I found out about With the End in Mind, by Kathryn Mannix, which will definitely be my book of the year. (Not really a book one can "enjoy" per se, but my boss and her husband both read it on my recommendation and they said it changed their lives!)

>84 mstrust: I don't know about annual, but yes I have had them fairly frequently! There is a Doctor Who Society with a separate booth at the show, and for a small donation you can take pictures of yourself with their TARDIS. I've done this in cosplay, and it ROCKS.

>85 VivienneR: Thanks! I can't stop grinning every time I see it :D

>86 Jackie_K: He really is! I was saying to a friend today that he really makes me want to be a better person. He is super nice and he's super nice to EVERYBODY.
Glad I'm not the only one who reads medical books to de-stress!

>81 rabbitprincess: Love your Capaldi photo op! I'm currently watching season 2 of "The Hour" and loving his character in it!

>88 christina_reads: Aaaaahhhh I have to borrow that from the library! :D I'm re-listening to Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth at the moment. *heart eyes*

****

Finally finished a book I've had on the go for over a month.

Scotchman’s Return and Other Essays, by Hugh MacLennan
Category: George Jamesone
Source: Russell Books
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/88182041

I didn't like this one as much as I liked Cross-Country. It might have worked better as a bedside book than as a bus book.

Having some fun with Golden Age mysteries from my side of the pond.

Rocket to the Morgue, by Anthony Boucher
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/171942692

I don't generally go for locked-room mysteries, but this was light and fun, and the glimpse into the early sci-fi community in the United States was fun. I especially liked the cameo appearance by the author.

August recap

With more busyness at work and a vacation at the end of the month, I’m pleased that I managed 17 books.

The Wallace, by Nigel Tranter
The Wanderer, by Michael Ridpath
Covert Entry: Spies, Lies and Crimes Inside Canada’s Secret Service, by Andrew Mitrovica
Telling Tales, by Ann Cleeves
The Goodbye Look, by Ross Macdonald
The Future is Female!: 25 Classic Science Fiction Stories by Women, from Pulp Pioneers to Ursula K. Le Guin, ed. Lisa Yaszek
The Brick Moon, by Edward Everett Hale (Serial Reader)
At the Controls: The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Book of Cockpits, by Dana Bell, Tom Alison, and Eric Long
The Map of My Dead Pilots: The Dangerous Game of Flying in Alaska, by Colleen Mondor
The Snooty Bookshop, by Tom Gauld
Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters, by Malcolm Hulke
The Crow Road, by Iain Banks
The Mad Hatter Mystery, by John Dickson Carr
Brainstorm: Detective Stories from the World of Neurology, by Suzanne O’Sullivan
The Regatta Mystery, by Agatha Christie (reread)
Scotchman’s Return and Other Essays, by Hugh MacLennan
Rocket to the Morgue, by Anthony Boucher

My favourite book of the month was The Future is Female!. An excellent collection of sci-fi stories. I feel like I’ve been expanding my sci-fi horizons a bit this year and am hoping that trend will continue.

None of the books I read received a lower rating than 3 stars, which is pretty good! It does make it more challenging to pick a “least favourite” though. I guess with a heavy heart I’ll say Scotchman’s Return did not live up to my expectations.

Currently reading

Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray — Serial Reader. I’m still plugging away. It’s funny that part of it was set in Belgium, given that my family is planning a trip there for next year.
An Acre of Time, by Phil Jenkins — I borrowed this from my BF’s parents and have put it on hold a bit to finish all of my library books. It’s a slightly frustrating read because there is no map of the acre under discussion!
Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens — Serial Reader. I’m picturing Ralph Fiennes as Magwitch and Gillian Anderson as Miss Havisham.
Collected Ghost Stories, by M. R. James — Faded Page. The story “Martin’s Close” is being adapted by Mark Gatiss for broadcast on BBC4 at Christmas (and the adaptation stars Peter Capaldi!), hence my getting this collection off Faded Page. I’ve already read the first volume, but I’m re-reading it because “Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad” is brilliant.
Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth, by Frank Cottrell Boyce — audiobook, read by Peter Capaldi. This is a re-read inspired by meeting Peter at Fan Expo and getting him to sign my print copy.
Running Blind, by Desmond Bagley — my current bus book. A mid-20th-century thriller along the lines of Hammond Innes or Alistair MacLean.
The Voices of Nîmes, by Suzannah Lipscomb — One of the History Dans (Jones or Snow) mentioned this on Twitter… probably Jones now that I think about it. It may end up being a book I partly read, mark my place in, and return and re-request so that I can finish it.

September plans

Dorothy Dunnett is on the on-deck pile. I really want to have Pawn in Frankincense started this month. And my parents are coming up for a visit toward the end of the month, so if I can read some of the books I borrowed from them, I’ll be able to send them back.

I also have way more library books than is strictly necessary, but that’s nothing new.

>91 rabbitprincess: So An Acre of Time is an in-depth history of just one acre? Sounds interesting! I would want a map as well, though.

>92 NinieB: Yes, it is an interesting concept! I've figured out roughly where the acre is located, but it took me like 100 pages to be reasonably certain. And the acre is located in Ottawa, where I live. Someone who isn't as familiar with the city would have a much harder time visualizing it.

>91 rabbitprincess: Hope you love Great Expectations! Ralph Fiennes, love him. But the movie version I saw has Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham--and she's great!

I'm ploughing my way through Vanity Fair as well, but not getting very far! I'm going to try and make a bit more of an effort with it this month.

>94 Tess_W: So far I am enjoying it very much! Pip is an engaging narrator. I especially like his comments on the contradictory nature of grownups ;) Helena Bonham Carter would make an excellent Miss Havisham too.

>95 Jackie_K: Good luck! I think having daily installments is making Vanity Fair much easier to read, in my case.

>96 rabbitprincess: Yes, I think I might have done better with that. My ebook is over 800 pages, so it's a bit daunting all in one go!

>97 Jackie_K: Yikes, that would be daunting! I'm finding the M. R. James Collected Ghost Stories a bit daunting in e-form, and it's only 600 pages.

I love serial reader for those daunting ones!

>99 Tess_W: Serial Reader is honestly one of the greatest things since sliced bread, at least in the reading world, and at least for me ;)

September is off to a good start with a British Library Crime Classic.

Smallbone Deceased, by Michael Gilbert
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/172088548

I was particularly excited to see this book as part of the British Library Crime Classics imprint, because it's been on my to-read list since 2008. It's a fun read for those who like the classic sort of mystery, and the law bits are well done but not boring.

>100 rabbitprincess: I read Moby Dick, Tom Jones, and Clarissa on Serial Reader.

>102 Tess_W: Clarissa would have been an especially good choice for Serial Reader!

****

Another reading achievement unlocked for me: re-reading an audiobook!

Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth, by Frank Cottrell Boyce (audio, read by Peter Capaldi)
Category: The Mantelpiece, David Hume, Twa Plack
Source: iTunes
Rating: 6/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/work/18467745/reviews/148266264

And yes, I still maintain my astronomical 6/5 rating. Five stars for the story, an extra star for Peter's narration. I'm going to have to buy some print copies for my friends who have kids in this age group.

>103 rabbitprincess: I got the print copy for Christmas, but this could persuade me to look up the audio narration too!

>104 Jackie_K: :D I strongly endorse this! I am also going to go ahead and endorse his audio reading of Watership Down despite not having read it yet ;)

"Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, Lad" is a great spooky story, and there's a very good adaption starring John Hurt on Youtube and Amazon Prime. I hope to see the adaption by Gatiss that you mentioned. I've liked just about everything he's done.

>101 rabbitprincess:

I have three books by Gilbert and can't remember having read any of them. Maybe I should give one of them a try.

>106 mstrust: I've seen pictures of that John Hurt adaptation and it looks great!

>107 hailelib: Smallbone Deceased would be a good place to start, in my opinion! :)

****

It's been a somewhat disappointing week, in that on Wednesday I kept thinking it was Thursday... and Thursday I kept thinking it was Friday...

Less disappointing is that I've managed to finish three books!

The Voices of Nîmes: Women, Sex and Marriage in Reformation Languedoc, by Suzannah Lipscomb
Category: Mary Queen of Scots
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/172133777

I found this so interesting that, even though I am declaring it finished because I couldn't renew it and couldn't finish it before the due date, I'm re-requesting it so I can read the last couple of chapters. They won't affect my review, though.

Running Blind, by Desmond Bagley
Category: The Blue Hat
Source: Friends of Library and Archives Canada bookshop
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/156729638

Light entertainment in the vein of Innes or MacLean, but not quite as fun as MacLean. Still, points for being set in Iceland.

Death on the Aisle, by Frances and Richard Lockridge
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room
Source: library
Rating: 1/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/172219411

A DNF for me, I'm afraid. I'm not overly fond of amateur sleuths these days, and the tone was much too light for me. Not that I like my books steeped in gore, but sometimes the dialogue is just a bit too arch and frivolous for me.

Great pics of your LT and Peter Capaldi meet-ups! Thanks for sharing.

And I'll take two BBs: for Invisible Women and The Future is Female.

>109 LisaMorr: Great choices! Enjoy! (I think the cover of The Future is Female is almost worth the admission price in and of itself.)

I've been indulging in mysteries a bit lately.

The Long Call, by Ann Cleeves
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/173056461

I dropped everything to read this when it came in at the library, and I have no regrets. An easy four stars. Looking forward to more of Matthew Venn.

A Puzzle for Fools, by Patrick Quentin
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/172345211

This was a good amateur-sleuth book. I don't know if I'd read others in the series, but this is worth checking out.

>111 rabbitprincess: I'm looking forward to getting around to that Ann Cleeves "first in series" in the next month or two. I need to get caught up on ARCs first!

>112 thornton37814: I was lucky to get it from the library the same week it came out! Checking the On Order section of the library catalogue every weekday (or most weekdays) paid off.

****

It's been a very busy week and I'm not quite sure where it went. And next week is going to be busy both at work and at home, so today my plan is to read and relax.

I read this book the same year I bought it, which is something of an achievement.

Medicine Walk, by Richard Wagamese
Category: The Blue Hat, Poets’ Pub (shared read with VivienneR and DeltaQueen50)
Source: By the Lake Books, Burlington, ON
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/164421118

This is a beautiful book about the family we have and the family we choose, and about our individual stories, and in a way about having a good death that allows you to exit the world with grace and dignity.

>113 rabbitprincess: - You are KILLING me with book bullets this year! I'm riddled with holes. :)

>114 dudes22: I have had some very strong books this year! Looking at my books of the month so far, I found that two of them (With the End in Mind and Into the Abyss) were library borrows that I ended up buying my own copies of.

(edit for punctuation)

>113 rabbitprincess: I have Medicine Walk on my TBR and will hopefully get to it later this month. I am looking forward to it as I loved Indian Horse.

>116 DeltaQueen50: Now I have to read Indian Horse!

I loved Medicine Walk! I've been intrigued by Frank Starlight since reading Starlight in July and now I know the full story. I'll be looking for more by Wagamese!

>81 rabbitprincess: I love that photo of you with Peter Capaldi! I had to miss FanExpo but I did do a long weekend at TIFF with family and friends. One of the films I saw was The Personal History of David Copperfield. Peter Capaldi plays Micawber and he is terrific in the role.

>118 VivienneR: And now I'm going to have to read Starlight! I'm so glad we all decided to read this together :)

>119 mathgirl40: It turned out pretty great! So glad you liked P-Cap in David Copperfield. I wish I could have gone to TIFF to see that!

How is it already Thursday? The week has flown right by. And of course I'm piling up a big stack of books to read AND planning to be very social over the next month. This will obviously end well.

Piling up a couple of reviews.

A Cold Death in Amsterdam, by Anja de Jager
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room
Source: borrowed from parents
Rating: 2.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/171057636

This was OK. It may have suffered in comparison to some really good mysteries I've been reading recently. I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it.

I read this one now because my parents are coming to visit this weekend and I wanted to give them back at least ONE of the many books I borrowed from them this summer ;)

Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson, by Mark Bourrie
Category: Mary Queen of Scots
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/172686129

I was excited to read this one and it largely met my expectations. There were some goofy editing glitches, but I only noticed them because I'm an editor and I'm paranoid about missing goofy things in my own work ;) I'd definitely recommend this if you're looking to find out more about the guy who has a hotel chain named after him.

>121 rabbitprincess: I have had to edit quite strictly and been edited similarly, so I feel your pain! Once you've trained yourself to see mistakes, there's no going back.

I also loved Medicine Walk. What a great and moving story. Richard Wagamese is a wonderful author and it's too bad that he's passed away and there won't be any "new" stories from him. I fully intend to read all the books he did manage to leave us.

>122 NinieB: I don't see my mistakes and typos in my posts and reviews until a month after I've posted. The embarrassment is multiplied.

>123 DeltaQueen50: I've added all of his books to my list at the library. (Yes, I've got book lists everywhere!)

>122 NinieB: It just sort of kicks in! But I hope I've become a bit more chill about seeing those kinds of things in books. I know what sort of work the editors must have put in and can understand typos or wrong words slipping by--for every one thing I see, there's probably about 10 things that I don't see because the editors caught them!

>123 DeltaQueen50: Yes, I want to read the rest of his catalogue too, and other similar authors.

>124 VivienneR: I make more typos on my iPad, probably because the touchscreen is harder to type on.

>125 rabbitprincess: I have a habit of dashing off a post (or message) and hitting send before I read it over. When I see it later I can hardly believe it was from me.

>126 VivienneR: I had a bit of that at work recently, re-editing a report I'd worked on several months ago. I found a couple of hilarious typos that have since become running jokes with my colleagues. We don't make fun of *people* for making typos, but we do giggle at the typos themselves, like the time I wrote "steakholders" instead of "stakeholders". (I must have been hungry at the time...)

****

A busy weekend around these parts. Saw the Highland Warriors exhibition at the War Museum, and it was great. Lots of claymores, dirks, and targes, and yes there was a bit where you could try on tams and kilts. I love trying on hats! And there were smatterings of Gaelic on the walls. The area around the museum was busy too, because today was the Canada Army Run. My parents picked a great weekend to visit, especially because all the stuff they wanted to see (War Museum, History Museum, the art gallery) was in the area affected by road closures :D But they decided to park at a park and ride and actually try our brand-new LRT! They really liked it, so at least someone's happy with it ;) It is a very nice train, but there will probably be growing pains. Like people need to learn how to MOVE ALONG THE PLATFORM so that the area immediately in front of the escalators isn't crowded :-/

Anyway, I've been kind of picking at books here and there. Continuing my Ann Cleeves binge...

Hidden Depths, by Ann Cleeves
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/172720461

I liked this book, as I have liked all the Vera books so far, but this plot was just a little bit on the weird side for me. That said, I've rounded my rating up on Goodreads because I liked Vera as always, and the book itself moved along at a good clip (maybe too good of a clip).

>127 rabbitprincess: - I was reading something to my husband once and mispronounced tendrils as trendils. It's become a running joke now and, believe it or not, that word appears in almost every book I read, where I loudly announce, "I've got trendils!". And we laugh.

>128 dudes22: Ha! And what an interesting word to come up so often!

****

I'm on an aerospace kick these days, particularly the space.

Leaving Orbit: Notes from the Last Days of American Spaceflight, by Margaret Lazarus Dean
Category: Old Willie
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/172133704

I really liked Dean's technical but accessible style -- if you want a reasonable introduction to the space program, this is a good one. The bibliography will point you in good directions too. I've already put Michael Collins' autobiography on my to-read list.

Also decided to call a book finished...

An Acre of Time, by Phil Jenkins
Category: Mary Queen of Scots
Source: borrowed from BF’s parents
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/168422450

I borrowed this book from my BF's parents in May, started reading it in August, lost momentum sometime in August, and haven't picked it up since. I like the idea of telling the history of a place by what happened to a particular acre of land, but I kind of need a map showing the actual acre in context...and my edition didn't have that :-/

>129 rabbitprincess: - I read Dean's book The Time It Takes to Fall a few years ago and liked it a lot.

>130 dudes22: I may have to hunt that one down as well, and then go from there to non-fiction accounts of the Challenger disaster.

****

Yesterday my BF and I went to a wedding, so there was dinner, drinks, and dancing. And today there is reading and relaxing. I do have to keep moving periodically though, because if I stay too long on the couch, I'll fall asleep, and I don't do well with naps :-/ So here I am, up for a bit, to review my latest completed book:

How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems, by Randall Munroe
Category: George Jamesone
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/173121989

I borrowed this as recce for my dad's Christmas present, and yes, I think this will do nicely for him. I loved the chapter about emergency landings (especially because Chris Hadfield contributed to it!), and overall the humour was very well placed. One cartoon in particular nearly made me choke on my lunch! I haven't read What If? yet, but now I have to!

While I was relaxing this afternoon, I was enjoying some Doctor Who audio drama.

The Diary of River Song, Series 3 (Big Finish audio drama)
Category: The Mantelpiece, The Mysterious Garden
Source: Big Finish
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/150957688

I like River Song's stories a lot, and this box set is no exception. I especially liked how it was closely tied to the Eleventh Doctor's era while also fitting in the Fifth Doctor. Very cleverly done.

September recap

I blinked and September was gone. Didn’t have a lot of energy for reading, which is why I feel like I staggered through these 15 books.

Smallbone Deceased, by Michael Gilbert
Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth, by Frank Cottrell Boyce (audio, read by Peter Capaldi) (reread)
The Voices of Nîmes: Women, Sex and Marriage in Reformation Languedoc, by Suzannah Lipscomb
Running Blind, by Desmond Bagley
Death on the Aisle, by Frances and Richard Lockridge
The Long Call, by Ann Cleeves
A Puzzle for Fools, by Patrick Quentin
Medicine Walk, by Richard Wagamese
A Cold Death in Amsterdam, by Anja de Jager
Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson, by Mark Bourrie
Hidden Depths, by Ann Cleeves
Leaving Orbit: Notes from the Last Days of American Spaceflight, by Margaret Lazarus Dean
An Acre of Time, by Phil Jenkins
How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems, by Randall Munroe
The Diary of River Song, Series 3 (Big Finish audio drama)

My favourite book of the month was Medicine Walk. Powerful and beautiful. Definitely going to have to get more Wagamese books.

My least favourite book of the month was Death on the Aisle. Yet more confirmation that I am not digging the amateur sleuths much these days.

Currently reading

Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray — Serial Reader. I haven’t been reading my serials much this month, annoyingly.
Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens — Serial Reader. Plugging away.
Collected Ghost Stories, by M. R. James — Faded Page. I’m somewhere in the second volume but haven’t read it in a while.
Pawn in Frankincense, by Dorothy Dunnett —One of the big fat history books in my Pool. I’m likely regretting the decision to read it on the bus, but here we are.
The Immortal Beaver: The World’s Greatest Bush Plane, by Sean Rossiter — One of the nerdy aviation books I borrowed from the library. Not very many pictures, sadly. Or not many colour ones. A pity, because the Beaver is stinking adorable.

October plans

I did start my Dorothy Dunnett, and I managed to return one of the books I’d borrowed from my parents, so those plans were accomplished.

This month I want to focus on the books I’ve pulled out for RandomCATs but not read yet. And maybe get another historical novel from the Pool started; I’m thinking Ships in the Bay!

Thackeray and Dickens at the same time! Wow! You are adventurous!

>134 thornton37814: I normally use a random-number generator to pick my Serial Reader reads, and that's what it picked! It was a strange trend.

Another nerdy aviation book completed.

The Immortal Beaver: The World’s Greatest Bush Plane, by Sean Rossiter
Category: Old Willie
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/171577359

This is a solid history, but I felt as though there could never be enough photos. Also, the text got a bit dry in places. But still, a good book for existing.

>133 rabbitprincess: I started a list a few weeks ago of things I might want to concentrate on next year. I put Dorothy Dunnett on the list the first day. I've planned to read her for a long time and just never gotten to it. I have the first book in the Lymond Chronicles and the Game of Kings. I just wondered if you preferred one over the other?

>137 clue: A Game of Kings is the first book in the Lymond Chronicles. I've definitely liked the first two books in the series better than the next two, because the first two are set more in Scotland. I also have the first book in her House of Niccolò series, as well as a standalone, King Hereafter. (Of course, I haven't read either of those!!) You'll want to read her when you have long stretches of uninterrupted time.

If this isn't my Best Title of the Year, it's definitely going to be in the top 3.

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death, by Caitlin Doughty
Category: Old Willie
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/173383826

If you've read Doughty's other books, this is worth looking at too--and definitely worth picking up for the tiny mortals in your life.

Well, here's a disappointment.

Flight 232: A Story of Disaster and Survival, by Laurence Gonzales
Category: Old Willie
Source: library
Rating: 1/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/172720521

The story of the flight itself, which happened 30 years ago this past July, is an interesting one and one that certainly deserves to be told. However, in this book, it is told in a jumbled manner, jumping from the passengers to the cockpit to air traffic control to the survivors 20 years later to the first responders at the time of the crash to the cockpit to the passengers to the cabin crew to the cockpit to the NTSB investigators to the survivors 20 years later... I also found some of the wreckage photos upsetting, and there was a bit too much detail about the injuries received. I'm going to read the NTSB report instead.

Knocking out a couple more books.

The Concorde Story, by Peter R. March
Category: George Jamesone
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/173496812

A little postcard book with lots of lovely photos of Concorde. The text was all right.

A Grue of Ice, by Geoffrey Jenkins
Category: The Blue Hat
Source: borrowed from Grandma and Grandpa
Rating: 2/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/171113904

The Antarctic stuff was thrilling, and I liked the female helicopter pilot, but there weren't enough floatplanes (another edition has one on the cover, which is what led me to look for this book in the first place), and the villain was so melodramatic that he seemed to have wandered in from another book.

Finally finished a book I've had on the go for almost a month!

Pawn in Frankincense, by Dorothy Dunnett
Category: Walter Scott, Twa Plack, Poets’ Pub (October SeriesCAT)
Source: Book Bazaar
Rating: 2/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/138119743

I found this quite a slog. It could have been bad book timing on my part, or the less familiar setting (I definitely find it easier to read historical fiction set in, say, Scotland), or the pace of the story. The last third really did pick up though, and I will read the last two books in the series.

Coming by to say hi, and spotted a Caitlin Doughty book to WL!

>143 mstrust: Excellent! I've enjoyed all of her books so far.

****

I've spent the latter half of this week fighting a dastardly cold. Given that I haven't had a cold since LAST Thanksgiving, I probably shouldn't be complaining that much, but I am a wimp when it comes to colds. So I've been looking for undemanding reads. This one fit the bill admirably.

Killer’s Payoff, by Ed McBain
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/173631877

A satisfying early installment in the 87th Precinct series. The edition I read (Thomas & Mercer) contains an introduction by McBain that talks about how Cotton Hawes, one of the squad detectives, came about.

Hoping you make a quick recovery in time for Thanksgiving! Ed McBain makes a good comfort reading companion.

>144 rabbitprincess: A cold is always a more than adequate reason for complaint. I hope you're wrapping yourself in scarves and spending your free time reading, while drinking teas and hot toddies.

>145 VivienneR: I'll likely be recovered from most of the sinus congestion by Thanksgiving -- we're having the dinner on Monday this year. But now I'm in the "coughing every time I start talking or laughing" stage.

>146 RidgewayGirl: I've been drinking lots of tea and water and NeoCitran, the latter at least to help me sleep at night. I've also been bingeing a lot of QI, although it might not be a good idea to watch comedy panel shows when one has a hacking cough.

****

Being off work with a cold means that my regular reading schedule is thrown off. So I took today to finish off my bus book from last week.

An Advancement of Learning, by Reginald Hill
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room, Poets’ Pub (August RandomCAT — back to school — this is set at a university)
Source: Book Bazaar
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/119684157

This is the second book in the Dalziel and Pascoe series, and it's a straightforward police procedural. Some of the later books in the series do innovative things with structure and form, but this one was nice and uncomplicated. I always picture Dalziel as Warren Clarke, but Pascoe in my mind's eye will always be Martin Freeman.

>147 rabbitprincess: I didn't know Martin Freeman ever played Pascoe. He would be excellent. I always think Hill had Warren Clarke in mind when he created Dalziel.

Glad you are feeling better, although coughs can hang around for a long time in my experience.

I hope you're feeling better. I went to the walk-in yesterday with a sinus infection and spent most of yesterday sleeping after I got an antibiotic. Hoping to just lounge around today and do some reading. Or maybe just watch football.

>148 VivienneR: He hasn't; that's just the fantasy casting department in my head talking! And yes, Warren Clarke was perfect. I miss him!

>149 dudes22: I found this morning that I'd been trying to sleep with one pillow instead of the two I'd been using for the past few days, so I'll take that as a sign that I'm feeling better.

>147 rabbitprincess: A cough and a comedy show is not a match made in heaven. but at least you can pause until the coughing fit passes and then carry on. >:-) Feel better soon & Happy thanksgiving thing wot not.

>150 rabbitprincess: You missed your true calling! And gave me an astonished gasp!

>151 Helenliz: Thanks, Helen! I'm feeling much better today.

>152 VivienneR: Fantasy casting is a bit of a hobby of mine -- a friend and I have a running joke about owning a TV movie production house and producing dramas based on odd news stories (for example, the maple syrup heist in Quebec a few years ago).

****

I spent the latter part of my cold-ridden Thanksgiving weekend with an essay collection.

Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West
Category: George Jamesone
Source: pilfered from work “little free library”
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/174152524

I'd had this on the pile forever and never got around to it, and it turns out this was the perfect time to read it.

>110 rabbitprincess: I'll also look into The Future is Female now! Short stories are lovely.

>154 pammab: Excellent! Enjoy!

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Getting ready to go to a book sale (because I am obviously desperately short of reading material) and wrapping up reviews on a couple of library books.

Silent Voices, by Ann Cleeves
Category: Three Men of Exactly the Same Size in an Unequal Room
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/173631794

My steady devouring of the Vera series continues. I may take a short break, but the series has served me well this year, so I am anxious to continue.

Bodies from the Library, Volume 2: Forgotten Stories of Mystery and Suspense by the Queens of Crime and Other Masters of the Golden Age, ed. Tony Medawar
Category: George Jamesone
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/173727675

An interesting assortment of stories. I must confess that I sampled just the first few stories before declaring this collection finished, but that's mainly because I am really busy at work these days and haven't had much energy for reading (and at the same time, what I've been having on the go hasn't appealed).

Went to a library book sale today and netted a few things:

La traversée du continent, by Michel Tremblay
The Trojan Horse, by Hammond Innes
Roman Britain: A Very Short Introduction, by Peter Salway
Cruising Attitude, by Heather Poole
Sea Fever, by Sam Jefferson

Then my BF's aunt, with whom I was visiting the sale, found me Civil Aircraft of the World, by John W. R. Taylor. I don't have enablers in my family at all :D

I was getting fed up with what I had on the go, so a reread seemed to be in order.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
Category: The Mysterious Garden, David Hume
Source: bought at Chapters as a set, I think
Rating: 5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/70444305

I hadn't read this in years, but was inspired to do so after having an impromptu quote-off with one of my coworkers. Such a fun book.

It's been a busy week, so I'm only just now getting around to posting a book I finished several days ago.

Lone Wolf, by Linwood Barclay
Category: The Blue Hat
Source: pilfered from Mum
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/155947903

One of Barclay's early mysteries, and it's a bit light. Probably best for the completist.

Met my French goal for the year, although not with the French book in my Pool! Hope I can still finish that one as well.

Vol de nuit, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Category: Boats at Royan, Poets’ Pub (September RandomCAT - Equinox - night in title)
Source: Renaud-Bray, Complexe Desjardins, Montréal
Rating: 3.5/5
Review (en français): https://www.librarything.com/review/170405600

I bought this at the end of June, so to read it four months after purchase is pretty quick on my part. I liked this better than Pilote de guerre; it felt more poetic and almost a bit magical. But maybe I just have to read Pilote de guerre in a different edition; I really liked this edition of Vol de nuit.

Finished two books yesterday -- I needed a stay-at-home day.

Concorde: A Photographic History, by Jonathan Falconer
Category: George Jamesone
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/173471532

I liked this better than The Concorde Story -- it's bigger, for one thing, with more room for lovely photos. The captions are succinct and informative, and directional arrows and notes indicate clearly which photos are being referred to. Worth picking up.

The First Cell: And the Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last, by Azra Raza
Category: Old Willie
Source: library
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/174462131

This book is likened to When Breath Becomes Air and is blurbed by Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Emperor of All Maladies, so if you liked either of those books, you might like this one too, if "like" is the right word for a book on a serious topic that is of deep personal relevance to pretty much everyone. It calls for a rethink in how we're dealing with cancer: we need to put more resources into identifying cancers before they become widespread, so that treatments can wreak less havoc on the patient's system. The only reason this isn't five stars is that the writing is perhaps a smidge on the technical side for the general reader.

A few very good books to finish up the month. Monthly recap coming shortly.

Cheer Up Love: Adventures in Depression with the Crab of Hate, by Susan Calman
Category: Twa Plack, Poets’ Pub (June TBRCAT - Book bullet from Jackie_K, and November CalendarCAT - Susan Calman’s birthday November 7)
Source: Waterstones somewhere in Scotland (I want to say Perth)
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/160724179

I like Susan Calman and I liked this book. I related especially to her description of paranoia and anxiety -- are we twins?

Circe, by Madeline Miller
Category: The Blue Hat
Source: library
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/174462092

An utterly beautiful retelling of Circe's story from Greek myth. It's worth the hype.

The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side, by Agatha Christie
Category: David Hume
Source: pilfered from my grandparents
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/70475431

A reread inspired by watching two adaptations recently. Interesting to see how the adaptations differed from the source material. In some ways they improved it by streamlining the number of characters. But the book itself is still very good.

October recap

October rushed to a close, and at one point I didn’t think I’d have much to show for it. But a resurgence in reading energy helped catapult me to 19 books read.

The Immortal Beaver: The World’s Greatest Bush Plane, by Sean Rossiter
Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death, by Caitlin Doughty
Flight 232: A Story of Disaster and Survival, by Laurence Gonzales
The Concorde Story, by Peter R. March
A Grue of Ice, by Geoffrey Jenkins
Pawn in Frankincense, by Dorothy Dunnett
Killer’s Payoff, by Ed McBain
An Advancement of Learning, by Reginald Hill
Shrill, by Lindy West
Silent Voices, by Ann Cleeves
Bodies from the Library, Volume 2: Forgotten Stories of Mystery and Suspense by the Queens of Crime and Other Masters of the Golden Age, ed. Tony Medawar
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams (reread)
Lone Wolf, by Linwood Barclay
Vol de nuit, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Concorde: A Photographic History, by Jonathan Falconer
The First Cell: And the Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last, by Azra Raza
Cheer Up Love: Adventures in Depression with the Crab of Hate, by Susan Calman
Circe, by Madeline Miller
The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side, by Agatha Christie (reread)

My favourite book of the month was The First Cell. Another one of these devour-in-an-afternoon non-fiction books. It had personal relevance to me especially, given that the author specializes in a condition that my grandfather had, and the anniversary of his death is coming up soon.

My least favourite book of the month was Flight 232: A Story of Disaster and Survival. I was shaken by some of the wreckage photos, and the telling of Flight 232’s story was disjointed. I didn’t finish this book.

Currently reading

Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray — Serial Reader. I will finish this in November!
Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens — Serial Reader. I will finish this in November too!
Collected Ghost Stories, by M. R. James — Faded Page. I read a bit more of it this month but will be chipping away at it.
Watership Down, by Richard Adams (audio, read by Peter Capaldi) — I started reading this while I was sick with a cold last month and will have to find another cosy weekend to finish it off.
Vimy, by Pierre Berton — Borrowed this from my parents to brush up on my WW1 history. Next year we are planning a trip to the Netherlands and Belgium, and in Belgium we’d visit Ypres and Passchendaele and the Somme.
Around the World in 80 Trains: A 45,000-Mile Adventure, by Monisha Rajesh — The library ordered this and it is blurbed by Michael Palin, so I am totally interested in this idea.

November plans

This month I read two books that had been set aside for RandomCATs, hurray! No historical novel yet though. I doubt my Pool will be completed this year. Oh well!

I started prioritizing some “whatever the heck I want” reads, especially on the bus, so I will continue to do that. I also have the new Kopp Sisters and John le Carré novels to read — they will make great “whatever the heck I want” reading.

>162 rabbitprincess: I want to finish Vanity Fair in November too. I have been making heavy weather of it.

>163 Jackie_K: I had to rewind a bunch of times, but I finally finished it today!

****

I went to a book sale today: the highly popular Rockcliffe Park book fair, which runs every year on the first weekend of November. I had to give it a miss in 2017 and 2018 thanks to buying too many books on our UK trips (and at Bouchercon in 2017) and having to go on book diets.

I think next time I'm NOT going to carry my purchases in my bag until I have paid for them; keeping my hands full forces me to be more mindful of how much I'm buying :D

Ended up with 13 books:

The Mary Celeste and Other Strange Tales of the Sea, by John Gilbert Lockhart: One of my friends found this for me, so I had to get it. I like old-timey books and books about the sea, so this was a winner on both counts.
My Word Is My Bond, by Roger Moore: I thought Roger Moore's autobiography was on my to-read list, but turns out that was Bond on Bond, a book about the actual James Bond movies. Oh well.
The Black Tide, by Hammond Innes: Another Innes thriller, this one about an oil tanker and Cornwall.
Hangman’s Beach, by Thomas H. Raddall: A historical novel involving boats and set in Halifax. It also has a forbidden love affair, which I hope won't make me barf too much. I am slightly allergic to romances :P
Stalking Point, by Duncan Kyle: I picked this up solely on the strength of the cover, which shows two bright yellow seaplanes. It's a WW2 thriller, too.
Checkpoint Charlie and the Wall, by Werner Sikorski: Written in English by a German author, this book seems to be a short introduction to the history surrounding the Berlin Wall. It would complement all of my various Cold War readings. I picked it up mainly because of the format -- a sleek black paperback reminscent of some of my Maigrets.
The Journeying Boy, by Michael Innes: A green-Penguin edition (similar to my edition of The Devil in Velvet) of a book on my Top 100 Crime Novels list. I don't usually expect to get books that are actually on my TBR list at book sales, but this was a good find.
L’Ingénieur qui aimait trop les chiffres, by Boileau-Narcejac: A locked-room sort of mystery by the authors behind Vertigo.
Maigret et le corps sans tête, by Georges Simenon: There were several Maigrets on offer, and I picked this one for the title. A headless corpse?! Cool.
La Fée carabine, by Daniel Pennac: This was on my "maybe" list and I have no earthly idea why it was there. But I have it now!
Le Roi de fer, by Maurice Druon: Book 1 in the Rois maudits series, so now I can finally start it.
Le Lis et le lion, by Maurice Druon: Book 6 in the Rois maudits series.
Quand un roi perd la France, by Maurice Druon: Book 7 (of 7) in the Rois maudits series. Now I just need books 2, 3, and 4.

My friend who found the Mary Celeste book also found a bundle of Doctor Who Adventures magazines -- five issues for two bucks! And because Doctor Who Adventures is targeted to the younger end of the Who fandom, they came with badges and notebooks and other cool things. I am easily pleased. Although the mag with the Weeping Angel mask is pretty scary!

>164 rabbitprincess: Excellent haul! :D

Great haul, rp. Book diets are unhealthy and should be avoided!

Nice haul!

I'm already pretty sure that I'll be taking a few BBS for my husband's future Christmas/birthday presents once you read and review those sea/boat books. You're so dependable :)

Those books should give you some good reading.

Looks like you had a good time!

>165 Jackie_K: I really lucked out in the French section!

>166 RidgewayGirl: For me it's like going out for dinner -- if I go out for dinner too much in too short a time period, I enjoy the dinners but feel a bit unhealthy as well. So I try to spread out my book-buying sprees over the year and go without if I've had too much already.

>167 Tess_W: Thanks, this sale is a good one!

>168 dudes22: Stalking Point talks about U-boats AND seaplanes, so I'll keep you posted on that one especially ;)

>169 hailelib: Yes, I'm really looking forward to them!

>170 mstrust: I did indeed :)

****

Started off the month right with the book sale AND finishing my two very long-standing Serial Reader reads.

Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens
Category: The Blue Hat
Source: Serial Reader
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/171940238

I liked this one well enough -- it was interesting to finally see Miss Havisham -- but I liked David Copperfield better.

Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray
Category: The Blue Hat
Source: Serial Reader
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/170072772

This took me a long time to finish, but there are some well-drawn characters here. Becky Sharp is definitely more of an antihero than a hero!

I am taking the day to get caught up with threads and love that you had another photo opportunity with Capaldi. Such a great Dr. Who-styled pic!

>113 rabbitprincess: - Another great review for a Wagamese book. There seems to be a lot of Wagamese love here in the group!

>127 rabbitprincess: - Like people need to learn how to MOVE ALONG THE PLATFORM so that the area immediately in front of the escalators isn't crowded :-/ LOL! I tend to encounter that type of behaviour when I go to the mall. ;-)

I really need to start using Serial Reader. Seems like the perfect solution to reading classics.

>172 lkernagh: Thanks for stopping by, Lori! Always great to see you :D

That Peter Capaldi pic turned out really well! AND he called my costume fantastic, so I am over the moon.

I'm glad the stars aligned for us to do a Wagamese read this year -- he is so great.

Haha yes!! And that behaviour at malls is going to ramp up once the Christmas shopping season is underway :-/

I heartily endorse Serial Reader, not just for the well-known classics, but for trying random weird things I would not otherwise have heard of!

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Going to start a new thread for the last little bit of the year. Stay tuned!