Kerry (avatiakh) continues to read in 2021 #2

Currently Reading:

The Once and Future King by T.H. White - audio - (book 1 complete) - stalled
Clarice Lispector: The Complete Stories - year long shared read - 13 stories done - stalled
King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett - audio
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt

My 2021 category challenge thread is here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/325810

My 2021 categories:
1: Books into film
2: Historical fiction
3: Scifi & Fantasy
4: Z to A children's book challenge
5: For the Young
6: Challenges
7: Crime
8: Off my shelves
9: Israel Focus
10: Short stories & novellas
11: Non fiction
12: New, Shiny & Unexpected
13: Extras
14: Bingo

I have several books I started in 2020 but haven't yet finished for various reasons -

The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrell
The gendarme by Mark Mustian
The story of the last thought by Edgar Hilsenrath
The song dog by James McClure
The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale - DNF - don't think I can finish this one, too bland.

I also have 4 ANZAC challenge books left to read -
The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks
Professor Penguin : discovery and adventure with penguins by Lloyd Spencer Davis - stalled
Living in the Maniototo by Janet Frame (1979)
The Second Bridegroom by Rodney Hall

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Group reads that I'm joining in with:

Voss by Patrick White - February
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (3 vols) by Luo Guanzhong - year long
The Complete Stories: Clarice Lispector - year long
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt - April-June

April Reading Plans:

Challenge reading -
10 chapters of Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
Birdie by Tina Shaw - NOT a children's book so substitute -
Josh by Ivan Southall
The Queen's Brooch by Henry Treece
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani

I need to finish a few that are on the go -
Childhood by Tove Ditlevsen
The Saffron Runners by B.G. Fox -DNF, not my sort of read it turns out
The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale - DNF
The Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffrey
Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler - audio
The Plotters by Un-su Kim
The Garden by Carol Matas
Snowflake, AZ by Marcus Sedgwick

a few others on my radar for the month -
I pity the poor immigrant by Zachry Lazar
The Memory Monster by Yishai Sarid
Starsight by Brandon Anderson
Lenny's Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee

and other library books
The Outside World by Tova Mirvis
Dragonclaw by Kate Forsyth
Valiant Gentlemen by Sarina Murray

My library sold off some books recently so I couldn't resist.
The Penguin Book of First World War Stories
Joan Rivers: diary of a mad diva
Long summer day by R F Delderfeld
Peace by Gene Wolfe
Spies and Commissars: The Early Years of the Russian Revolution by Robert Service
Chasing Goldman Sachs by Suzanne McGee
Comptoir Libanais - cookbook
Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook
Scandinavian Baking by Trine Hahnermann

Happy new thread, Kerry. I like the picture of your library book sale finds. The cover of the Penguin Book of First World War Stories is interesting, as is the list of contributing authors. I would like to find a copy of that at my next library sale.

Happy new thread!

Happy new one, Kerry.

I am a fan of RF Delderfield. I love his book To Serve Them All My Days and often put it on "favourite" lists. Long Summer Day is the first in the A Horseman Riding By trilogy. As I recall it is a decent read too.

Happy new thread!

Going back to the discussion on Korea in the last thread, one of the most interesting books I read last year was The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See. She's Chinese American so it's written by an outsider from the US, a (mostly) historical novel about the island of Jeju and 20th century South Korea during and after WWII and to the present day. But while I don't know enough to know if it's really like that, it felt as if she'd tried to imagine her characters' views properly and not just put the opinions of a modern American woman into their mouths. I've read and heard a lot about repression in North Korea but this portrays repression from several occupiers and from South Korea's own government. I read it before lockdown, my sustained reading slump and everything else.

>9 PaulCranswick: I loved To Serve Them All My Days - I heard the first part on a book radio digital channel and bought and read the whole book. I have quite a few of his other books through Kindle offers (including Long Summer Day I think but haven't actually read any yet.

The Penguin Book of First World War Stories looks interesting and I see Suzanne's book there too.

Happy new thread, Kerry!

Kerry pleased to inform you that you are the recipient of my Book Recommendation of the Month award for April 2021 for catching me with a book bullet for The Dig by John Preston.

Have selected something for you but need your address to send it. Please PM it to me, Kerry. xx

Happy New Thread, Kerry!

Happy new thread!!

Apologies to all visitors to my thread. I went on hiatus on this site for a few months. Having been active here since 2009, I'm quite surprised that I spent so long away.
My reading has also been downhill but coming back slowly. Hope to update here through the day.

>7 labfs39: Yes, my library rarely does a sale and this one turned out fairly lucrative even though I missed the start of it.

>8 quondame: Wave back to you

>9 PaulCranswick: >14 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul. Thanks for the info on Delderfield.
Honoured as I mentioned back in May to be selected for this.

>11 elkiedee: Hi Luci, thanks for the rec for The Island of Sea Women. I've read and enjoyed one or two by Lisa See and have seen this one on the library shelves, might even find it in a charity shop. I'm currently reading The Plotters which I started earlier this year ad then took back to the library. It's by Un-su Kim, a South Korean writer. I'm enjoying it though the plot is unusual at this stage at least, revolving around assassins who've been doing the dirty work for political plotters for several decades.
>12 elkiedee: Need to discover Delderfield by the looks of it. Yes the Penguin War Stories book looks good. I just have too many books in my house and loathe to cut down the numbers of the unread.

>10 drneutron: >13 FAMeulstee: >15 jnwelch: >16 Berly: Wave back. Sorry again for taking my time.

49) Prodigal Son by Gregg Hurwitz (2021)
crime
Orphan X #6. I finished this in late April. Not as good as previous outings though Orphan X's origins are discovered here. The next book, Dark Horse, comes out in 2022.

50) Josh by Ivan Southall (1971)
children's
Carnegie Medal 1971. Another winner from way back when. This was very hard to like and yet still ends up as a memorable read. Josh visits a small country town to stay with his great aunt. He's looked forward to the visit, it's the town where his family originally settled a few generations ago. Right from the start everything goes wrong, he's resented by the local children, his great aunt reads his poems and all his attempts at explaining himself are misinterpreted or just not listened to.
'For fourteen-year-old Josh Plowman, Ryan Creek, the country town that was settled by his great-grandfather, is a jungle compared to the city life he's used to. During his three-day visit his encounters with the young people of Ryan Creek move inexorably from mutual bewilderment and confusion to an explosion of violence'

Probably one of the ugliest covers i've come across.

51) Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (2021)
scifi
The Murderbot Diaries #6. Another entry in the Murderbot series, not up there with some of the others, mainly because the plot is centred in one place and just requires some detective work rather than out and out action. Enjoyable for all that.

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52) The Cook of the Halcyon by Andrea Camilleri (2021 Eng)
crime
Commissario Montalbano #27. Almost at the end of this series, sigh. This one was originally conceived as a film script and Montalbano ends up acting rather more like an undercover agent than a police detective. Fun.

53) The Fine Art of Invisible Detection by Robert Goddard (2020)
crime
Hmmm. This never appealed that much and while I finished the book, there just seemed to be a missing element to the story. The main character is Umiko Wada, a middle-aged Japanese secretary to a private detective. When her boss turns up dead, she has to leave Japan for London and solve the mystery or end up dead herself.
Love the title and coverart.

54) The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary (2021)
fiction
I really enjoyed her first two books but this one was a much lesser read. Due to a fenderbender, Addie is forced to invite her ex and his friend to continue the journey in a mini. The car already contains her best friend and another guy, so this is a squeeze. They are all heading to Scotland to attend the wedding of a mutual friend. A few further calamities later they are not even sure they'll arrive on time.
Didn't care for any of the characters.

55) Mulbridge Manor by James Reeves (1958)
childrens
Delightful children's book. A group of children are asked by old Miss Matilda Jay to help her find her brother's will in the Manor. He left the property to her, but her nephew wants it and only the lost will can prove that. Lots of adventure, afternoon teas, secret dens. Fun and nostalgic.

56) Mirror's Edge by Scott Westerfeld (2021)
YA scifi
Impostors #3. I'm enjoying this series though Westerfeld has killed off a few decent characters over the 3 books. Series starts with the story of twin sisters, one raised as heir and the other raised in secret to be her bodydouble.
Leaves us on a bit of a cliffhanger with the arrival of an interesting character.

57) Seven Ghosts by Chris Priestley (2019)
YA
A Barrington Stoke book for dyslexic readers. Simple but enjoyable ghost story with a great little twist at the end.

58) The Dry by Jane Harper (2016)
crime
Aaron Falk #1. I enjoyed this. Falk goes back to the country town where he grew up to attend the funeral of his childhood friend, wife and child, an apparent murder suicide. Not everyone is happy to see him back especially when he stays on to help the local cop uncover the truth.

59) Tell Me Lies by J.P. Pomare (2020)
crime
This one plays on your mind a far bit. Psychologist Margot Scott has a seemingly perfect life but it all starts to unravel when a new patient enters her life. Overall I wasn't totally enamoured but I have his latest book on request from the library.

60) A Cat, A Man, And Two Women by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1936 Japanese) (2017 English)
fiction
Shinoko's marriage is over and she's forced to move out. Her husband and new wife are comfortable. Shinoko demands that her ex hands over Lily, the pet cat whom he discovers he loves more than either woman. Enjoyable Japanese literature.

61) The Surface Breaks by Louise O'Neill (2018)
YA
A retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen tale of The Little Mermaid. O'Neill is a good writer though I didn't love this retelling which was rather grimm!

Your Lie in April, Vol. 1 by Naoshi Arakawa (2011 Japanese)
manga
Can't remember what drew me to this one but I also watched the first episode of the anime based on the manga. It has also been made into a film. Anyway it revolves around a young high school pianist who lost the ability to play due to his late mother's overbearing ambitions for him.
Not really my thing but interesting to explore the various styles of manga out there.

eta: Arakawa is the illustrator for A school frozen in time and I was looking into the writer, Mizuki Tsujimura, at the time.

_
63) Hacking, Heists & Flaming Arrows by Robert Muchamore (2020)
64) Piracy, Paintballs & Zebras by Robert Muchamore (2021)
YA
Robin Hood 1&2. More middle grade than YA, though with a fair amount of violence. The third book, Jet Skis, Swamps & Smugglers, just came out. Robin Hood in a dystopian world. He's recast as a young boy with older half-brother, Little John. Adventure and action galore.

Look at all those books! You must feel good and caught up again. Nice to see you!

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65) Grey Wolves by Robert Muchamore (2011)
66) The Prisoner by Robert Muchamore (2012)
67) One Shot Kill by Robert Muchamore (2012)
68) Scorched Earth by Robert Muchamore (2012)
Henderson Boys 4-7 series. Decided to finish this series as I had enjoyed the first three books. Set during WW2, spy Henderson has recruited, at first by chance, a group of children who he trains to become agents who can assist the French resistance against the Germans.
Grey Wolves is about sabotaging a u-boat base.
The Prisoner follows 14 yr old Marc, who is taken to Germany to a forced labour camp, his escape and return to the French countryside and orphanage where he once lived.
One shot kill is about an operation to rescue French scientists and take out an underground bunker where research into the VI flying bombs is being developed.
Scorched Earth is their final mission, to help the allies by hindering the progress of German tiger tanks travelling via Rouen towards the invasion troops. The series ends with the liberation of Paris.
Highly enjoyable reads, lots of action and adventure.

69) A School Frozen in Time, Vol. 1 by Mizuki Tsujimura & illustrator Naoshi Arakawa (2008)
manga
A School Frozen in Time #1. I had the novel Lonely castle in the mirror by Tsujimura out from the library and not enough time to read it, so decided to try their manga instead. Not my thing at all.
About a group of students stuck in a time glitch not knowing which one of them had already died in real time. Confusing and difficult to follow.

70) Laureate's Progress by Quentin Blake (2002)
nonfiction / childrens
For my ZtoA children's list. I had DNF discarded 2 YAs by Matthew Quick and was looking for another 'Q' writer. This was quite illuminating to read, a look at about 3 or 4 years of Blake's working life in illustration and writing for children during the time he was Children's Laureate. I've since had a few books out from the library that he mentioned. One was Manxmouse by Paul Galico, though I've returned it unread as I'm not reading fast enough.

71) Wizzil by William Steig (2000) illustrated by Quentin Blake
picturebook

An excellent story about a bored witch and her battle of revenge against Mr DeWitt Frimp of Frimp Farm.
Blake was asked to do the illustrations by Steig who was 93 yrs old at the time, not because Steig was too old but because he was too busy.

72) People from the pit stand up by Sam Duckor-Jones (2018)
poetry

Druckor-Jones is the son of writer Lloyd Jones and brother of teacher / writer Avi Duckor-Jones. He is a sculptor/poet and his second book of poems, Party Legend, has just been released. I enjoyed most of the poems in this book, I'm not much of a poetry reader so can't comment beyond stating whether I liked them or not. Here's one I found online....

The woman at the shops she said
Is it you who plays the loud music?
& I said uh oh haha is that good or bad!
& she said I just want to tell you that I feel like I know you
& she had this awful husband

She said I was so tired It was me & the kids & I was so tired
Fell asleep in a pile of laundry about two in the afternoon & the girl
from next door she saw me through the window She came over
She sent me to bed cleaned the house
Laundry dishes whole thing

& I said once when I was very sad
my mother came over with her powerful vacuum &
took care of the floors

We were both quiet for a moment Then I said any requests?
& she said
I like it best when Maria Callas sets the hedge aquiver
(“Suburban Rescue”)

73) Daylight Runner by Oisin McGann (2008)
YA scifi
Sol lives in a domed city in what is possibly the last city in the UK or even Earth. His father has disappeared and a gun wrapped up in a scarf left for him. The police take Sol from school for questioning...but who can he trust and is the city really dying. Quite exciting, though typical of its type.

74) Cue for Treason by Geoffrey Trease (1940)
childrens
A great read. Historical fiction set during Queen Elizabeth I reign. Peter and another runaway from Cumberland end up in London working for a theatre company when they uncover a treasonous plot against the Queen. They must return to Cumberland to uncover the evidence.

75) The Lady With Iron Bones by Jan Mark (2000)
children's
A quietly clever story. Hidden at the back of her neighbour's garden is an old garden ornament, Ellen calls it 'the lady with the iron bones' and thinks nothing more, however her friend Claire begins to see the lady as more than just an ornament.

This is Where I Stand by Philippa Werry & illustrator Kieran Rynhart (2021)
picturebook

A statue of a soldier to remember the lost and wounded from WWI stands through time and all weathers seeing the changes of those who turn up at each year's ANZAC Day. Effective.

Congratulations on getting past 75!

>43 avatiakh: Geoffrey Trease was one of the authors I requested by ILL back in the 60s, but I can't remember any titles or plots. And I confused his work with Alfred Duggan's a few decades later.

76) Draw me a hero by NK Ashworth (2020)
YA
I ended up really liking this one. One drawcard is that the setting is a nearby suburb to where I live and also partly on Waiheke Island. I liked that the boy/girl dynamic was friendship and that they collaborate on a graphic novel project.

...so I sometimes browse the manga at my library and choose a few vol. 1 items that look promising. Of the ones I finished there are double numbers going back unread or after only a couple of pages read.

76) So Cute It Hurts!!, Vol. 1 by Gō Ikeyamada
manga
Twins boy & girl, both named after historical Japanese personages. When boy, Mitsuru, needs his sister, Megumu, to ace his history test at his all-Boys school, he persuades her to swap places for a few days and attend his school while he gets to be her at her co-ed school. Should be easy but unexpected situations arise.
Fun though not my thing.


77) Handa-kun, Vol. 1 by Satsuki Yoshino
manga
This one I could continue. Handa-kun is under the impression that all his fellow students hate him when in fact they are in awe of him and he has celebrity status at his school, not that he knows. This puts him in hilarious predicaments where he completely misjudges fellow students' actions.
This is a prequel for another popular manga series, Barakamon.


78) The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 1 by Natsu Hyuuga
manga
Another that I'll continue with, my library only has the next volume though.
Maomao who has trained as an apothecary, is still a young girl when she's kidnapped and sold as a servant girl to an imperial palace. Her usefulness is soon made apparent and she becomes a handmaiden & foodtaster for the king's favourite consort.


79) Animal Academy: Hakobune Hakusho, Volume 1 by Moyamu Fujino
manga
Too silly but cute. Neko has been rejected from all the high schools she's applied to, now her final chance is Morimori High. On arrival she discovers that the other students are animals who are learning to be human. She has to pretend that she's a cat just like her room mate.

80) A Distinction of Blood by Hannah March
historical crime
Robert Fairfax #4. Not sure why I started with book 4 as I own book #1. Anyway it's a standalone read, quite enjoyable too. Fairfax is a young gentleman who has fallen on hard times and so makes a living as a tutor. His latest employer asks him to discreetly investigate his daughter marriage before beginning his tutorage work. Unfortunately the son-in-law turns up dead the next day. Set in the 1760s.

81) The Inkberg Enigma by Jonathan King (2020)
graphic novel

A mystery around the town of Aurora which depends on the local fishing industry for it's success. Miro and Sia discover the secret lies with a 1930s Antarctic expedition. Fun read, lovely artwork.

82) Real World by Natsuo Kirino (2003 Japanese) (2008 English)
crime
An interesting read. Four teen girls support rather than report Worm, a high school student, who has murdered his mother. He stole one of the girl's phone and bike and has been making calls through her contacts list. The summer ends differently to how any of them ever suspected.

>36 Berly: Hi. I'm happy that I finally caught up now just have to read some threads. I only kept up to date on a few.

>46 quondame: I'm sure I read something by Trease before but nothing comes to mind. This one was a good read. I've picked up a lot of mediocre books this year.

Current reads to see me to the end of August include:

Romance of the Three Kingdoms- 6 more chapters (75-80) for my yearlong read. I'm still on track.
The Last Cavalier by Alexandre Dumas - audio - 10 hrs left and Renee/Hector is leaving Burma
The wind on the moon by Eric Linklater - children's for my ZtoA challenge
Angel Mage by Garth Nix - YA for my ZtoA challenge - should have read this last month
Lalani of the distant sea by Erin Entrada Kelly - children's for my ZtoA challenge
The Plotters by Un-su Kim - getting there
The Memory Monster by Yishai Sarid
Force of Nature by Jane Harper

I've made significant progress in all these. Also have a few more such as The goblin emperor that I've had to put aside for a couple of weeks.

That is a massive catch up, Kerry, I was glad to see you posting.

Congratulations on reaching 75 and beyond!

I have put The Dry by Jane Haper on my library wishlist.

Hi Anita - I was dead in the water for a few weeks. Feeling more me now. I did the catch up as I find it useful to have all my reading in one place and while I log everything I read over on GoodReads I don't do comments there. One of my problems was just finding everything I was reading to be 'not great'.

I'll have to post a photo of my newly three legged cat. He's fully recovered and hops along very well, just needs all his fur to grow back. He jumps up on our flower pot to get at the catnip but often falls down as he finds it a little harder to balance. Currently curled up on the sofa, fst asleep.

Lovely to see you back and posting and reading up a storm, Kerry. I have missed you.

Congratulations on 75 and then some!

Your book should arrive very shortly. There was a hiatus in my ordering mainly due to the lockdown here and my own depressions over losing a very close loved one recently.

Great to see you posting here, Kerry. I missed you too. Esoecially because we seem to share an interest in classic children's books.

Wow, you've blown way past the goal! Congrats!

>56 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul. I'm on the lookout as our mailbox doesn't protect much from winter rain.

>57 elkiedee: Yes, I enjoy those classic ones. I'm constantly noticing the similarity in our reading over on GR.

>58 drneutron: Hi Jim. Passing 75 is always an achievement though I seem to be on a go slow with my reading this year.

83) The Memory Monster by Yishai Sarid (2017 Hebrew) (2020 Engish)
fiction

This one I've been trying to read all year. The book is in the form of a report, the writer has been employed by Yad Vashem for several years to be a guide for school & military Holocaust tours to Poland. He fell into becoming an expert on the Final Solution as a graduate student when other career options were closed to him.
He's thrown himself into the work and slowly unravels as the weight of history, memory etc weighs in.
He knows all the facts, how to get an emotional response from school kids but questions about the why behind it all start to overwhelm him.
Thought provoking and I'm glad to have read it.

84) The Apothecary Diaries Vol. 2 by Natsu Hyuuga
manga
My library only has the first 2 volumes in this series so I won't be able to continue this series. The artwork is lovely and the story is interesting, mystery and intrigue at the imperial palace. Our heroine is trained in apothecary and so has a knowledge of poisons, so she's now a food taster.

Bloom: a story of fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli by Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Julie Morstad (2018)
picturebook
I really love the illustrations used in Maclear's picturebooks so grabbed this one when I was last in the library. I'm interested in Schiaparelli's story as her daughter, Gogo, married into a family that I have been researching so I had already knew a little about the Schiaparelli history. Her granddaughter, Berry Berenson, died in 9/11.
This covers the creativity and success of Schiaparelli and how despite the disapproval of her family and hardship she followed her dreams.
The cover illustration is just stunning, I love the eyelash detail.

>60 avatiakh: That looks a goodie, Kerry.

Have a lovely weekend.

>63 PaulCranswick: Hope your weekend was good too. I spent mine at home - locked down.

85) The Plotters by Un-su Kim (2010 Korean) (2018 English)
fiction
Another that I've had on the go almost all year. It just fell between the cracks even though I loved the first few chapters. It's quite different, Reseng, the main character, is an assassin. He's known no other life having been raised by Old Raccoon in The Library, the headquarters of a crime network of assassins and spies. I really enjoyed this and hope that the movie gets made.

I've also managed to complete my 10 chapters of Romance of the Three Kingdoms#71-80. This is also an enjoyable read, lots of characters but I'm managing.

86) Lalani of the distant sea by Erin Entrada Kelly (2019)
children's
A lovely read that is seeped in Filipino folklore. Kelly suggests the Aswang Project https://www.aswangproject.com/ for more information on the many monsters mentioned in her book.
Lalani lives on a small island that is not rich in resources. Every few years they send out a sailing boat manned by brave sailors but they never return from the mists. There are stories about the past when the people first came to the island from the north.
I have two others by Kelly, I requested them from the library when I first started this book.

Hi, Kerry, good to see you back. You do know that the Goldman-Sachs book was written by our own Chatterbox, don't you? (from your April book sale)

Thought of you at the library today when I saw The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox, the New Zealand writer you introduced to me. Have you read it? It looked interesting.

>68 ronincats: Hi Roni. The main reason I picked up the Goldman-Sachs book was because of Suzanne.
I read The Absolute Book last year and wasn't as enthused as other readers. Looking back it is probably better than I initially thought, though never one i'd reread. She really tried to do a lot in this one and some of it worked for me though other times not so much.
I think her Wake is a more entertaining read.

Time Magazine has published a booklist: The Greatest YA novels of all time. They chose a bunch of current YA writers to put the list together, it's almost entirely US books and many entries are from the last 10 years. Not my list at all. Why didn't they include a few children's literature experts...I don't know.
https://time.com/collection/100-best-ya-books/

>67 avatiakh: That's a lovely cover.

>69 avatiakh: My own reading is obviously a bit Anglophile but you are right that the Time list is extremely US-Centric in its selections and, far too much up to date if you ask me too (and therefore too slanted towards the concerns of today than the excellence of the story telling).

I nevertheless had 12 books read from the list including the two by John Lewis. Both of those books are worthy and well worth a read but do they have the literary merit to justify Lewis being the only author (I think with two books) and are they really YA books?

I'm tempted to attempt my own list but this really is a subject area where I would need to defer to some of you in the group far better read/versed than I.

>69 avatiakh: >71 PaulCranswick: Yeah, I suspect that at least half of the books selected will not be on any similar list after 30 years. Should there still be folk around making such lists in 30 years. I hope so. And I hope that they are even more diverse in subject and source.
Of course any list made up in the USA is going to be myopic.
I've read 25, and of the most recent ones I've gone as high as 4 stars on 3 of them.

>71 PaulCranswick: >72 quondame: I've read 41 of the books, mostly from the first 75 or so books. Many of the more recent inclusions seem to be popular rather than worthy.
Anyway more recent ones that I also gave 4 stars+ to:
Long way down by Jason Reynolds
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
both are verse novels and great reads for boys.

>73 avatiakh: Oh, I'd forgotten I read Long Way Down but I gave it 4 stars. I liked Pet and With the Fire on High but didn't think much of Children of Blood and Bone or Akata Witch and rather disliked Scythe.

>74 quondame: I haven't read Children of Blood and Bone as yet, I did try the first chapter and it didn't grab me at the time though I intended to give it another go. I haven't read Scythe though have it on my shelves, I've liked others by him.
GoodReads have a YA month and also did some lists such as '48 New YA Books That Are Extremely On Trend' and one comment was that there weren't many recent books featuring straight male protagonists.
I find that many teens move on and read mainly adult books while YA is also read by young women, librarians and educators.
https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2138-48-new-ya-books-that-are-extremely-on-t...

87) The Last Cavalier: Being the Adventures of Count Sainte-Hermine in the Age of Napoleon by Alexandre Dumas (1870)
fiction / 35 hours on audio
Sainte-Hermine Series #3. This was originally published in serial form in local newspapers around France. The installments were never collated and published in book form till 2005. The English edition finally appeared in 2008.
The series is about the fate of three brothers, and this book devotes a good chapter or two recounting the older two brothers' stories, very heart wrenching ones indeed.
It was very interesting to listen to the story behind the book and about Dumas himself, Napoleon and his overspending spouse, Josephine - all covered by the lengthy introductions.
Hector/Renee has some mighty adventures through the course of this book. I just listened for enjoyments sake and did not care that Renee was a larger than life character.
From wikipedia: 'The novel was lost until the late twentieth century. Dumas scholar Claude Schopp found an almost-complete copy in the form of a newspaper serial. A number of Dumas' previously forgotten works have been found, but this novel is the largest and most complete at 900 pages.

The novel is a swashbuckling tale set during the rise of the Napoleonic Empire. A key scene features the Battle of Trafalgar and the death of British admiral Horatio Nelson.'

>76 avatiakh: Interesting Kerry, I wasn't aware of that one. Looks like as lengthy as many of his other epics.

>77 PaulCranswick: Highly enjoyable too. I hadn't known about it either till I came across it in the audible library. Now listening to King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett, only 40 hours.

88) Angel Mage by Garth Nix (2019)
fantasy
Read for my ZtoA children's writers challenge. Set in an alternate 17th century France. Fantasy involving angels, musketeers and an avenging angel mage. The world building was really great though I did not care that he changed the gender of many of the characters - the Cardinal, Dartagnan, Rochefort & many musketeers are women serving a queen.
Four talented young people, a doctor, a musketeer, an icon maker, and a mathematician have a common bond and come together as friends at the Star Fortress.

>78 avatiakh: I really enjoyed 3/4 of King Hereafter. The entire book was great, and a just the sort of historical fiction I love, but boy was the latter section hard on the emotions.

>80 quondame: I had to restart a few times as chapter 1 & 2 were hard to follow at first but now I'm ok. I read the Kirkus review which helped me understand which one was Macbeth.
...so I've got that to look forward to at about 30 hours in.

89) The Jew's Beech by Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (1842)
novella
I must have stumbled onto a list somewhere of 19th century German literature as I have two 19th century novellas out from the library. This one is poet, Von Droste-Hülshoff's only work of prose and is well worth reading.
It's loosely based on a true story that she found in her family archive about two murders in the local village.
There's a good review on the book's LT page and some more discussion of the book on this blog - https://praymont.blogspot.com/2008/06/die-judenbuche-jews-beech-by-von-droste.ht...

eta: the other novella: A village Romeo & Juliet (1856) by Gottfried Keller

>81 avatiakh: It's not really a spoiler, more of an incedent that doesn't influence the plot but since it's in the middle I'll hide it now:


The white bear bit is echoed in Lois McMaster Bujold's The Hallowed Hunt to some hilarity.

>83 quondame:. I've listened to some more and am enjoying it a lot. Talking about it with my daughter as I go. She's enjoying being on the sidelines. I'm up to the meeting between Malcolm and Canute. Duncan & Thorfinn (Macbeth) are also present. Interesting about the range of languages in use and how Thorfinn could be at a disadvantage - not sure yet if it does.
I won't check the spoiler till I'm further along.

90) We dream of space by Erin Entrada Kelly (2020)
children's fiction

Kelly has written a great book centred on three siblings, all struggling in different ways and living in a home with out of sorts parents. In the background is the upcoming 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger launch, their science teacher had applied to the programme to be the first teacher in space, and is running a project in her classes following the upcoming launch. Bird is completely wrapped up in the project, her dream is to be NASA's first space shuttle commander.

91) The wind on the moon by Eric Linklater (1944)
children's fiction
Read for my ZtoA children's writer's challenge. I hadn't heard of this book till I saw it in a line up of Vintage Children's Classics at my local bookshop a few years ago. At the start I thought it was going to be a slog of juvenile antics by two silly sisters, but the book won me over with their time as kangaroos stuck in a zoo and from then on the book was an enjoyable read. Dinah and Dorothea are in for a year of behaving badly when the wind on the moon blew into their hearts or so their father said as he headed out the door on another business trip.

I'm now reading Eva Ibbotson for my ZtoA children's writers challenge. I had Madensky Square down for reading as I own a tatty paperback copy and thought it a chance to get it off my shelves. Several of Ibbotson's adult romance novels were republished as YA over the last ten years or so, so I thought it would be one of those, but it's about a dressmaker in her late 30s who is a mistress of an older army officer.
So I put that to one side, I will finish it but later in the month. I picked up her One dog and his boy only to find that I read it back in 2011. So I've e-borrowed Magic Flutes // The Reluctant Heiress from the library and don't think I've read this one as yet.
I've read almost all her books but the field is hard to navigate as many have a different title in the US. Her oldest son, Toby Ibbotson is a writer as well.

92) Magic Flutes by Eva Ibbotson (1982)
YA
This was originally published as adult romance and then republished as YA under both titles Magic Flutes & The Reluctant Heiress from 2009.
It's a light romance read set in and around Vienna in 1922. Most of the action revolves around a Viennese opera company. Ibbotson also manages to inject some political background. The Austrian aristocracy is crumbling away, and Austria must negotiate a huge loan from the League of Nations due to the unfavourable peace treaty.
I enjoyed this. Considering how many lovely covers there are, this 2020 Macmillan edition cover did nothing for the book IMO.

My Thingaversary was a couple of days ago, I signed up in 2007 so 14 years here. I have a few book purchases lined up to consider, will decide over the weekend.

>89 avatiakh: Would love an excuse to pile another 15 books onto my more than slightly teetering TBR. Still I don't often need much excuse!

Have a lovely weekend and have fun choosing your books. x

>89 avatiakh: Belated happy Thingaversary, Kerry!
Fourteen years is a long time, good luck deciding on your Thingaversary haul.

93) A Village Romeo & Juliet by Gottfried Keller (1856)
novella
A lovely story with a bittersweet ending. Two farmers cause their own ruin with a fight over an unclaimed field between their own fields. Their children no longer can have anything to do with each other, but as they enter adulthood fall in love. They celebrate their love with a golden day of eating well, walking in the woods and dancing. Both know they can't be together but also that they can't live apart.

>90 PaulCranswick: >91 FAMeulstee: Thanks. I've purchased a couple of e-books so far.
East of Midnight by Tanith Lee - MagicQuest series
Should We Stay or Should We Go by Lionel Shriver

Sitting in my shopping basket at BookDepository -

In the Shadow of Wolves by Alvydas Slepikas
A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes
Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
Twenty and Ten by Claire Huchet Bishop
preordered -
The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik - 28 Sep publication date

My Abe books shopping basket:
The Republic of Whores, The Engineer of Human Souls & Sins for Father Knox by Josef Skvorecky
The Becket Factor by Michel David Anthony
The Children's Crusade by Henry Treece
The Seventh Swan by Nicholas Stuart Gray - MagicQuest series
Robinsheugh by Eileen Dunlop - MagicQuest series
Time Piper by Delia Huddy - MagicQuest series

Booktopia AU shopping basket:
Searching for Charlotte: The Fascinating Story of Australia's First Children's Author by Kate Forsyth

I need to re-check if I can get any of these through my library and not sure why I'm hung up on Josef Skvorecky.
These books have been in the shopping baskets for a few months as I tend not to buy so many books anymore.

The MagicQuest series started in the 1980s by Ace Publishing, republishing worthwhile juvenile fantasy. Around 16 or so books came out before they stopped and just published them under Ace. The editor was Terri Windling. Some of the books are quite obscure so I might try an interlibrary loan for The Wicked Enchantment by Margot Benary-Isbert.
https://tolkienandfantasy.blogspot.com/2017/12/magicquest-first-juvenile-fantasy...

>93 avatiakh: Thanks for the reminder about the MagicQuest books and the link. That's ever so long ago now.

>94 quondame: Oh great. I didn't know about this series but have read several of the books. I came upon The Seventh Son on some book list and saw that it was a part of a publishing series so had to know more about it.
I haven't read Paul R. Fisher or Brian Stableford and their books seem to be out of print and hard to find. Are they worth seeking out?

>86 avatiakh: I remember my teacher reading The Wind on the Moon to the class when I was 7 or so, and I was so pleased when I found it again when Jacob was little.

>96 SandDune: It could have been lost to time so I appreciate when a publisher brings these books out into the world once again. My most vivid memory of being read to at school was Three Men in a Boat when I was 9 or 10. I loved that book.

I'm thinking of my category challenges for next year, mainly because I'm failing at most of this year's lot. I've decided to have a 'Road Trip' category as I love a good road trip story.
Most online booklists focus on the USA and then many road trips novels focus on relationships/romance but I've managed to come up with some that look interesting. I would prefer fiction, though lots I'm considering are non fiction.

A couple of humorous ones I've enjoyed in the past few years:
Piglettes by Clementine Beauvais - YA, girls on bicycles across France
The Grand Tour by Adam O'Fallon Price - black comedy about a book tour across America

I've just started Dodgers which looks like it could be a road trip novel as well. I read The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary earlier this year and wasn't overly thrilled by it .

I've never read On the Road or Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance so I' might have a go at those.
Local novels include:
State Highway One by Sam Coley
Attraction by Ruby Porter
Guitar Highway Rose by Brigid Lowry - YA

others that look interesting -
Red Dust: A Path Through China by Ma Jian
We all loved cowboys by Carol Bensiman - Brasil
Travels with Charlie by John Steinbeck - US
The Motel Life by Willy Vlautin - US
Chasing the stars by Virginie Grimaldi - Scandinavia
The rest of their lives by Jean-Pail Didielaurent - France
As I lay dying by William Faulkner - US
Marrow and Bone by Walter Kempowski - Europe
A hundred thousand worlds by Bob Proehl - US/Comic Cons
Catch the Rabbit by Lana Bastasic - Europe
Women who blow on knots by Ece Temelkuran - Turkey
The Cruise of the Rolling Junk by Scott Fitzgerald - US

Would welcome some recommendations

>95 avatiakh: I can't tell you about Fisher or Stableford, the first I don't remember encountering at all, though that doesn't mean I didn't - I was running and buying books for the local F&SF club library from 76-88, but I paid more attention to women authors. Brian Stableford's name is familiar, but I've no associated memories about him or his writing either. I've read many of Terri Windling's anthologies. She seems to me to have been a major force in getting more women published more often.

>98 avatiakh: I liked Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance enough to read it at least twice, decades apart. Parts of it insinuated themselves into my mind and come up whenever the circumstances are right.

>99 quondame: Thanks. I decided that life is too short to pursue Fisher and Stableford, I have enough fantasy on my tbr so no need to seek out these forgotten possible gems. I haven't read Windling's anthologies but am aware of them. I possibly have 1 or 2 lurking in a cupboard somewhere.

I've owned a copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance for some years, another book I continue to overlook. Thanks for your feedback.

>98 avatiakh: The only book of that list that I have read is Travels with Charlie by John Steinbeck. For me it was a very enjoyable read.

Anita, I read Steinbeck's A Russian Journal some years ago and Travels with Charlie would be a good follow up.
There are some less known books in my list above, I searched my library's catalogue as I hadn't come across an Australian roadtrip novel, still haven't found one.

I'm doing a DNF on Martina Cole's The Know after 60 pages. Just not my thing at present. I have a large trade paperback copy picked up from a charity shop, but I'm ditching the book to the book exchange one this neverending lockdown finishes.
Lockdown level 4 has been extended for another week. Only allowed out to buy essentials like food and medicine. We can also walk/run/bike in our neighbourhood for exercise but that's about it.
We have an extra person & their cat in our home this time round. My son's friend (newly met) asked if she could stay with us as she doesn't live in Auckland and didn't fancy being under the same roof for an extended period with her mother's husband, who likes everything done his way. She's a free spirit, a hippy that usually travels in a housebus so its been interesting. Our house is big enough to allow multiple people space for themselves.
Anyway after four weeks of lockdown we are still all friends, though my cats are all still traumatised by their glimpses of Bonny, her cat.

I'm still watching K-dramas, though have watched the best of them by now.
Currently 'Mad Dog' and 'Bad Guys'.

I found another road trip novel to consider:
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (Oct 2021)

The Motel Life is still among my vast TBR - I read and loved Lean on Pete years ago, think it was an Early Reviewer book. I have a Netgalley of The Lincoln Highway and a Kindle copy of Women Who Blow on Knots.

>104 elkiedee: I have a copy of Lean on Pete though haven't seen it for a long while. Women who blow on knots looks interesting, though I have to hold back on these reads till next year.

Our city's severe lockdown is into the 5th week this time and even when/if we go down a level next week it's just the same except we'll be able to buy coffee from the doorway of a cafe or pickup takeaways. So my library request list has gone up to over 90 items before lockdown I was around 30. Some are cookbooks, picturebooks or dvds, but I shouldn't keep adding books. Some I can freeze and some are very popular so I won't be getting them all at once.

I finally got my BetterWorldBooks parcel that I ordered in June. Most are ex-library, all have an annoying very sticky barcode sticker on the spine. Most are for me to read then donate to the Book Exchange at my local shopping centre. I ordered these so long ago and before that they sat in the shopping basket for some months, so I hardly know my motivation for each book, just that many are unavailable through my library.
A Florentine death by Michele Giuttri - crime in Italy
Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger - baseball novel
The Ramsay Scallop by Frances Temple - historical fiction
About the B'nai Bagels by E.L. Konigsburg - children's/baseball again
The Outside World by Tova Mirvis - Jewish fiction
Days in the history of silence by Merethe Lindstrom - Norwegan fiction
The Mournful Demeanour of Lieutenant Boruvka by Josef Skvorecky - Czech fiction
The past is a foreign country by Gianrico Carofiglio - Italian crime
Traitor Angels by Anne Blankman - YA about John Milton & Paradise Lost
Virtually Jewish: reinventing Jewish culture in Europe by Ruth Ellen Gruber
Never the last journey by Felix Zandman - memoir

...and I'm onto the final volume #4 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, aiming to complete by early December.

94) Triton of the Sea omnibus 1 by Osamu Tezuka (1969)
graphic novel
Forgot to add this one when I finished it about 10 days ago. Quite a good read for its type. I enjoy these dips into older comic books. This was an omnibus, so over 400 pages. Triton's clan is being wiped out by Poseidon and his children. Triton is found as a baby and raised on the land, as he grows he discovers his true identity.

95) Wynter's Thief by Sherryl Jordan (2019)
YA
A great read told in alternating chapters between Wynter and Fox. It's set in medieval England around 1346. Wynter is a captive of her father, travelling from village to village, she is a water diviner and that's how they earn their living. Fox is a thief, forced to this level by an unjust branding of a 'T' for thief onto his cheek as a young child, no one trusts him and he can't get work so has to steal in order to live. He happens to visit the same village as Wynter on the day she is declared a witch.

96) The driftway by Penelope Lively (1978)
children's
Another good read from Lively. Two young children run away from home after Paul, the older child, cannot accept his new step-mother's presence. They head to their grandmother's home in the next town, taking a lift with an old man and his cart. They travel on The Driftway, an ancient road to Northampton and Paul 'listens' to messages from various travellers through time.

>109 avatiakh: Interesting.....I haven't seen that book by Lively before.

I'm sure I did read The Driftway and I have a copy catalogued in my collections - I probably read most of her books for kids published by the early 1980s - but I don't remember it.

Phew, a lot to catch up on here!

>28 avatiakh: Scott Westerfeld. I read the first three books in the Uglies series when they came out and didn't realize he had continued to write them. Did you read them all? Recommended?

>34 avatiakh: I saw and enjoyed the anime Your Lie in April when it first came out.

>37 avatiakh: Sadly our library doesn't have any of the Muchamore books. I would have given them a try. They sound like something I might enjoy.

>40 avatiakh: Blake was asked to do the illustrations by Steig who was 93 yrs old at the time, not because Steig was too old but because he was too busy.
Lol. I love this! Boris and Amos is one of my all-time favorite books.

>41 avatiakh: We were both quiet for a moment Then I said any requests?
& she said
I like it best when Maria Callas sets the hedge aquiver

I'm not much of a poetry reader either, but I laughed aloud at this, then read it again and was quiet.

>60 avatiakh: Wow. The Memory Monster sounds intense. Since both you and Deborah (arubabookwoman) recommend it, I'm adding it to my wishlist.

>87 avatiakh: Eva Ibbotson. My daughter and I read several of her books back when. My favorite was Journey to the River Sea, even the title is a pleasure, and my daughter was just saying the other day that she wants to read Island of the Aunts to her young cousin.

>89 avatiakh: I joined LT in March 2008, so a year after you. I hope you enjoy your shopping. >93 avatiakh: I can recommend In the Shadow of Wolves by Alvydas Slepikas. Although I only gave it 3.5 stars at the time, it has stayed in my memory whereas so many have not. Reading my review, it seems my issue with the book was that it could have used tighter editing. Anywho, I did have this background info:

The author originally intended to make a documentary about the wolf-children, but lacked funding. Over a decade later, the idea became this novel, the author's first. It won book of the year when it was first published in Lithuania in 2011 and became the most widely read novel in Lithuania in 2012. Although the author was able to interview one woman who had been a wolf-child and learned a great deal about another through her son, most of the people and their stories seem to be largely forgotten.

Have you read much Josef Skvorecky? I have only read Miss Silver's Past and was not overly enamored.

Pausing here, but I'm almost caught up!

>98 avatiakh: Road trips:

Midnight in Siberia: A Train Journey into the Heart of Russia by NPR journalist David Greene.

Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins (support from National Geographic)

>102 avatiakh: I've tried a couple of c-dramas lately, but I find k-dramas consistently better.

>105 avatiakh: I thought the The Outside World sounded interesting, so I had purchased it too. Unfortunately, I didn't care for it and gave it only 2.5 stars.

Lisa - you've given me lots to comment on!
Scott Westerfeld - I've read all the Uglies books and enjoyed them, this new series is quite good too. I've read most his books, liked his Midnighters series as well.

Robert Muchamore writes adventurous and realistic teen fiction. His teens are not PC at all and have the raging hormones, disdain for authority figures etc that is more typically met in RL than between the pages of the books. Try one of his standalones Arctic Zoo or Killer T if you can find them.

I haven't read Boris & Amos but have it out on e-loan from the library to enjoy.

I also enjoyed that poem. He does have a way of writing. I like the layout of his poems as well. He goes across the page rather than short lines one after the after.

The Memory Monster gives a different angle on Holocaust education so well worth reading for that alone.

I've read and enjoyed most of Ibbotson's books. I thought Island of the Aunts was one I hadn't read but that's just an alternate title for Monster Mission. I hope your niece enjoys being read too.

Thanks for recommending In the Shadow of Wolves, I must go and complete my order. I have to check pricing & shipping in multiple online bookshops before I order, plus recheck if I can get it from the library. That background makes it even more interesting.

I haven't read anything by Skvorecky, earlier this year I bought a used book by him, but had to return it immediately as the inside pages were being eaten by some larvae. Because I couldn't have the book I became a little obsessed about him. My library doesn't have anything by him.

>113 labfs39: Thanks for the roadtrip recommendations. I'll look into them. I read most of Paul Theroux's rail adventures long before I joined LT. i can also recommend Tschiffely's Ride: Ten Thousand Miles in the Saddle from Southern Cross to Pole Star as a good travel memoir.

Like you, I can't stand the C-dramas. My ear is now tuned to the Korean language and apart from the whiney-ness of some female actors, I'm quite happy to watch sub-par K-tv over anything else from the region.
I can recommend a French crime/legal drama, Spiral / Engrenages (Fr). I've watched 5 seasons and have just started season 6. I've had to purchase the dvds over the years.

I'll take note of your thoughts on The Outside World, not sure where I took note of this one.

>110 PaulCranswick: Paul - it's a children's book though one that would appeal more to an older or adult reader than a child.

>111 elkiedee: I can see this one disappearing into the mists of time considering all the books you must have read since then.

Excited because it is 28 Sep here and that means that Naomi Novik's The Last Graduate comes out in the next few hours. It's the sequel to A deadly education, one of my top 2020 reads.

Kerry, I'd lost you and have now had to catch up with so much that I have missed.
Do you have any K-dramas to recommend? I have only just started watching them over the last few months, but really enjoying how different they are from my normal choices.

>117 charl08: Hi, I've got behind with everyone this year and my reading took a dive too.
K-dramas - there was a discussion on my last thread. Some are quite cheesy, but can get dramatic. There are repetitive elements in the stories at times, but I've become quite addicted for all that.
I like action and fantasy elements so my list might not always appeal.
Lisa mentioned 'Crash Landing on You' and I liked it a lot as well as it covers both North & South Korea.

'Descendants of the Sun' - my son was recommended this one, I enjoyed it
Because This Is My First Life - the first one I watched
Romance is a Bonus Book - set in the world of publishing
Itaewon Class - loved this one
W Two Worlds - loved that characters jumped between two worlds
A Korean Odyssey - Korean retelling of Journey to the West
It's ok, that's love - interesting look at mental health
Rooftop Prince - quite fun
Good Doctor - impressive acting by main character
Voice - good crime show - 2 seasons
Vagabond - great action
Once Again - a good family drama
My Golden Life - another family drama

>118 avatiakh: I've seen the first seven in your list (eight counting Crash). I'll have to check out the others. I sent you my favs via PM.

>119 labfs39: Thanks Lisa. I will go through your list.

97) Dodgers by Bill Beverly (2016)
fiction / crime
I really loved this one. A young LA street thug is sent on a mission with 3 others, to kill a judge, a key witness, in their uncle's court case. A road trip across the US with his younger brother and two others.

98) The secrets of strangers by Charity Norman (2020)
crime
A man with a shotgun holds five people hostage in a London cafe. Over the day they bond and work together for a peaceful solution while the police negotiator also tries to convince the gunman to let them go. This ended up being a very good read.

99) Love Story by Erich Segal (1970)
novella
I picked this up at a charity shop a while back and last week realised it fitted my books to film category challenge. I remember playing the film's theme music on the piano when I was still at school. The book has nifty dialogue, a bit dated but still effective. "Love means never having to say you're sorry."
A sentimental read, I remembered some scenes from the film as I read the book.

>123 avatiakh: My copy has this same cover. I was enamored as a teen. I must be getting old or more pragmatic, because these days I think love does mean saying sorry. :-)

>124 labfs39: Yeah, I liked how that phrase worked in the book and it reminded me of those 'Love is...' cartoons of the same 1970s vintage.

>125 avatiakh: Definitely. And Ali MacGraw was iconic in the movie.

100) Three Envelopes by Nir Hezroni (2014 Hebrew) (2017 Eng)
crime
About a rogue Israeli agent. He was recruited even though not meeting the strict entry criteria because the ones in charge are going to use him. Even though there is no appealing character this is a good read.
There's a sequel. which will come to me when our lockdown ends and libraries reopen.

101) The Hollow Land by Jane Gardam (1981)
children's
For my ZtoA children's writers challenge. Set in Cumbrian farmlands this is about two households, one a farming family and the other a down to earth London family who have a lease on the next door property for their summer holidays. Harry & Bell have adventures, Harry meets the odd, eccentric locals like Granny Crack, and grows to love the natural beauty of the area. Bell grows to be a farmer just like his father & grandfather, down a long line of generations.
A lovely nostalgic read, not sure how appealing it would be for children but I loved it as an adult reader. Jane Gardam can do no wrong in my book.

>116 avatiakh: The Last Graduate is good. But now we have to wait again.....

>129 quondame: My copy left the UK on 6 Oct, so not sure how long before it arrives in my mailbox.

My October reading plans:

I have only ten chapters left in my year long read of Romance of the Three Kingdoms so hope to finish this month.
Legacy by Whiti Hereaka - a timeslip YA
Sylvie by Sylvie Kantorovitz - graphic memoir
Cats of the Louvre by Taiyo Matsumoto - graphic novel, started
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassini - my books to film category
Jews don't count by David Baddiel - nonfiction, started this in Sep
Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt - novel about the Pendle witches 1612 trial. This is set around the area my father's family came from and one witch had my family name so maybe some family history? - about 30% done
Madensky Square by Eva Ibbotson - fiction, started last month and put aside
The Missing of Clairdelune by Christelle Dabos - YA fantasy, bk 2
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

others I have read a few pages and want to continue -
The Passenger by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz
Stormswept by Helen Dunmore - YA, bk 4 of Ingo Chronicles
Professor Penguin: discovery and adventure with penguins by Lloyd Spencer Davis - memoir, started this a year ago and put aside

I've been tidying some of my book piles and pulled out -
The Poetry of Secrets by Cambria Gordon - historical YA, about Spain's conversos
The Honey Siege by Gil Buhet (1952) - looks fun
...and so many others. I hope to read these two by year's end. The Buhet book was twice made into a tv series - 1959 & 1987 so fits my books to film category.

102) Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong (14thC)
classic
A Chinese epic written in the 14th century about the fall of the Han dynasty and its division into three lesser kingdoms (206 B.C.-A.D. 220). Over 2,000 pages and in 4 volumes, this was my year long read and well worth the effort. So many characters, some I lost track of as others came forward to lead the battles, politicking and so forth. Based on fact though there are a few fictional characters and perhaps episodes sprinkled in this was very readable and at times exciting narrative.
"The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been."
My next foray into Chinese classics will be Journey to the West which I hope will be equally readable.

>132 avatiakh: Congratulations on finishing, Kerry. Quite the accomplishment.

>133 labfs39: Thanks. I've joined my children in being in awe of this era of Chinese history. They've been fans since childhood, created quantities of artwork and stories, even my bookmark was a laminated scan of one of their drawings. Now I want to watch the 100 odd episodes of the tv show plus Red Cliff.

>132 avatiakh: Quite the achievement. I have seen that loads of times in the stores here and considered getting the four volumes for myself. Looks like I might do so after all.

>135 PaulCranswick: Paul - I aimed for ten chapters per month but sped up a bit towards the end. We have a thread in the category group for the book, only two of us kept at it in the end. I purchased the book in 2004 and the first couple of volumes have been read by other family members, I'm the first to read all four volumes.
https://www.librarything.com/topic/328008#n7626523

>136 avatiakh: Nice to see that Judy (who I loving refer to as "Guru") managed to also accomplish the full set.

Does look like just the thing I would enjoy.

103) Madensky Square by Eva Ibbotson (1988)
fiction
Quite delightful, Susanna has a dressmaking business in Madensky Square, Vienna. She lives above her shop and we follow her story and also the lives of her friends, clients and neighbours over the course of a year just before WWI.
Such a varied collection of characters, all the stories are addictive.

104) Legacy by Whiti Hereaka (2018)
YA
For my ZtoA children's writers challenge. This didn't really do it for me though I learnt a few things about Maori participation in WWI. It starts in the present day, Riki is bringing his great great grandfather's war diary to his mother, a history student, when he is hit by a bus and timeslips to WWI Egypt and then on to Gallipoli taking his great great grandfather's place in the Native Contingent battalion.
Every section starts with a transcript from a 1970s interview between Alamein, his grandfather and great great grandfather, Te Ariki.
The writer gives multiple references of her research for this book which seems to have been quite extensive.
Winner of the New Zealand Children and Young Adults Book Award (2019).
Keen to read her other YA, Bugs.

>138 avatiakh: I've never read any of Eva Ibbotson's adult fiction. I should look for it.

Not even trying to catch up, Kerry, just dropping by to say "Hi."

>140 labfs39: I'm aware of A Glove Shop in Vienna and Other Stories as well as Madensky Square, not sure of any others.

>141 alcottacre: *Waves* to Stasia

105) Katipo Joe: Blitzkrieg by Brian Falkner (2020)
YA
Katipo Joe #1. A great new series by Falkner set during WW2. A teen boy who has spent most of his childhood in Berlin with his diplomat parents has his world shattered on Kristallnacht when his father is arrested and he discovers his mother is an undercover agent. A couple of years later, when back in London, he is recruited by British Intelligence as a child operative and sent on his first mission.

106) Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt (2010)
Historical fiction
Tells the story of the Lancashire Pendle witches and their 1612 trial. Sharratt does a great job of describing the lives of these poor folk leading up to their arrest. How their simple faith in pre-reform Catholic folklore, accepted practices only a generation or two before, became under James I, a form of witchcraft and Satanism as described in his 1597 book, Daemonologie. He wrote this after the North Berwick witch trials of 1590 and Shakespeare based his Macbeth witches on this book.
The women's chants were Latin prayers and blessings, the chief witness at the trial was the 9 year old daughter of one of the women. She was taken in by the witchfinder's family but cast out after the trial and some years later also accused of being a witch.
I was drawn to the story of the Pendle witches due to family history research. My maiden name is the same as two of the witches and that side of my family hails from the same area of Lancashire.

From wikipedia: 'The trials of the Pendle witches in 1612 are among the most famous witch trials in English history, and some of the best recorded of the 17th century. The twelve accused lived in the area surrounding Pendle Hill in Lancashire, and were charged with the murders of ten people by the use of witchcraft. All but two were tried at Lancaster Assizes on 18–19 August 1612, along with the Samlesbury witches and others, in a series of trials that have become known as the Lancashire witch trials. One was tried at York Assizes on 27 July 1612, and another died in prison. Of the eleven who went to trial – nine women and two men – ten were found guilty and executed by hanging; one was found not guilty.'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendle_witches

>143 avatiakh: That looks interesting, Kerry.

>144 avatiakh: I have a 19th century novel The Lancashire Witches by the wonderful William Harrison Ainsworth on the shelves which I really should read soon.

>14 PaulCranswick:. I have the next Katipo Joe book ready to go. Brian is an Australian based kiwi for the past 10 years or so.

Sharratt references The Lancashire Witches along with others on the local folklore. I have a NF on the shelves about the Scottish witches that I should read.

107) The Truth about Celia Frost by Paula Rawsthorne (2011)
YA
Had this one in my collection for a few years, now I've read it and can cull it. Quite a good read for teens as we are now stuck in a pandemic and this one is based on a mystery illness the main character has. Celia is always an outcast at school, the other kids call her a freak. She has to wear gloves and can't do any vigorous activity as she must be protected from injury at all times.

108) Alfonso Bonzo by Andrew Davies (1986)
children
Decided to make this my 'D' book for my ZtoA children's writers challenge. I did have The Missing of Clairdelune by Christelle Dabos on my list but it's a bit of a doorstopper that I don't feel like tackling right now.

This starts as a fun read and as events develop continues to a more unsettling one. Billy Webb is a really good swapper, sometimes it's only a 'lendsie' and other times it's a 'keepsie'. He meets his match when the mysterious Alonso Bonzo, an Italian exchange student turns up and starts making swaps with him.
This had been recommended to me by Wayne Mills who runs the KidLitQuiz as a great read for boy readers. It was made into a tv show in the 1980s.

>143 avatiakh: Too bad my local library does not have that one. It sounds like it is right up my alley.

Happy Tuesday, Kerry!

>149 alcottacre: It just won best junior novel in the Ngaio Marsh Awards for Crime writing.

109) The Moon in the Cloud by Rosemary Harris (1968)
children
This won the 1968 Carnegie Medal (UK), so another to cross off the list. I've read a few of the older winners this year.
This is set around the Noah's Ark story. Noah's son, Ham, is ordered to go to the kingdom of Kemi to bring back a pair of lions and a pair of exotic cats. He gets Reuben, an animal tamer and musician to go in his stead, leaving behind his beautiful wife, Thamer.
This is a darn good yarn, Reuben and his animals are a delight and Harris includes some fairly mature themes here, such as Ham's tricks and lusting for Reuben's wife. Ham has promised Reuben to get a berth on the Ark for at least Thamer if he succeeds.
Love this cover art too.

Carnegie Medal (UK) Winners update-
still a long way to go, might make this an ongoing challenge for next year.

2021 Jason Reynolds Look Both Ways
2020, Anthony McGowan, Lark - Read
2019 Elizabeth Acevedo, The Poet X - Read
2018 Geraldine McCaughrean, Where the World Ends
2017 Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea - own
2016 Sarah Crossan, One - Read
2015 Tanya Landman, Buffalo Soldier - Read
2014 Kevin Brooks, The Bunker Diary - Read
2013 Sally Gardner, Maggot Moon - Read
2012 Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls - Read
2011 Patrick Ness, Monsters of Men - Read
2010 Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book - Read
2009 Siobhan Dowd, Bog Child - Read
2008 Philip Reeve, Here Lies Arthur - Read
2007 Meg Rosoff, Just in Case - Read
2005 Mal Peet, Tamar - Read
2004 Frank Cottrell Boyce, Millions
2003 Jennifer Donnelly, A Gathering Light - Read
2002 Sharon Creech, Ruby Holler - Read
2001 Terry Pratchett, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents - own
2000 Beverley Naidoo, The Other Side of Truth - own
1999 Aidan Chambers, Postcards from No Man’s Land - Read
1998 David Almond, Skellig - Read
1997 Tim Bowler, River Boy - own
1996 Melvin Burgess, Junk - Read
1995 Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials - Read
1994 Theresa Breslin, Whispers in the Graveyard
1993 Robert Swindells, Stone Cold
1992 Anne Fine, Flour Babies - Read
1991 Berlie Doherty, Dear Nobody
1990 Gillian Cross, Wolf - Read 2021
1989 Anne Fine, Goggle-eyes - Read
1988 Geraldine McCaughrean, A Pack of Lies - Read
1987 Susan Price, The Ghost Drum
1986 Berlie Doherty, Granny was a Buffer Girl
1985 Kevin Crossley-Holland, Storm
1984 Margaret Mahy, The Changeover - Read
1983 Jan Mark, Handles
1982 Margaret Mahy, The Haunting - Read
1981 Robert Westall, The Scarecrows
1980 Peter Dickinson, City of Gold and Other Stories from the Old Testament
1979 Peter Dickinson, Tulku - own
1978 David Rees, The Exeter Blitz - own
1977 Gene Kemp, The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler - Read
1976 Jan Mark, Thunder and Lightnings
1975 Robert Westall, The Machine Gunners - Read
1974 Mollie Hunter, The Stronghold - Read
1973 Penelope Lively, The Ghost of Thomas Kempe - Read
1972 Richard Adams, Watership Down - Read
1971 Ivan Southall, Josh - Read
1970 Leon Garfield & Edward Blishen, The God Beneath the Sea
1969 Kathleen Peyton, The Edge of the Cloud
1968 Rosemary Harris, The Moon in the Cloud - Read
1967 Alan Garner, The Owl Service - Read
1965 Philip Turner, The Grange at High Force
1964 Sheena Porter, Nordy Bank
1963 Hester Burton, Time of Trial
1962 Pauline Clarke, The Twelve and the Genii - own
1961 Lucy M Boston, A Stranger at Green Knowe
1960 Dr IW Cornwall, The Making of Man
1959 Rosemary Sutcliff, The Lantern Bearers - own
1958 Philippa Pearce, Tom’s Midnight Garden - Read
1957 William Mayne, A Grass Rope - own
1956 C S Lewis, The Last Battle - Read
1955 Eleanor Farjeon, The Little Bookroom - own
1954 Ronald Welch (aka Ronald Oliver Felton), Knight Crusader - own
1953 Edward Osmond, A Valley Grows Up
1952 Mary Norton, The Borrowers - own
1951 Cynthia Harnett, The Wool pack - Read 2021
1950 Elfrida Vipont Foulds, The Lark on the Wing - Read 2021
1949 Agnes Allen, The Story of Your Home
1948 Richard Armstrong, Sea Change
1947 Walter De La Mare, Collected Stories for Children
1946 Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse - Read
1944 Eric Linklater, The Wind on the Moon - Read
1942 ‘BB’ (D J Watkins-Pitchford), The Little Grey Men - own
1941 Mary Treadgold, We Couldn’t Leave Dinah - Read 2021
1940 Kitty Barne, Visitors from London
1939 Eleanor Doorly, Radium Woman
1938 Noel Streatfeild, The Circus is Coming - own
1937 Eve Garnett, The Family from One End Street - own
1936 Arthur Ransome, Pigeon Post - own

Carnegie Medal (UK) - still to read

2021 Jason Reynolds Look Both Ways
2018 Geraldine McCaughrean, Where the World Ends
2017 Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea
2004 Frank Cottrell Boyce, Millions
2001 Terry Pratchett, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
2000 Beverley Naidoo, The Other Side of Truth
1997 Tim Bowler, River Boy
1994 Theresa Breslin, Whispers in the Graveyard
1993 Robert Swindells, Stone Cold
1991 Berlie Doherty, Dear Nobody
1987 Susan Price, The Ghost Drum
1986 Berlie Doherty, Granny was a Buffer Girl
1985 Kevin Crossley-Holland, Storm
1983 Jan Mark, Handles
1981 Robert Westall, The Scarecrows
1980 Peter Dickinson, City of Gold and Other Stories from the Old Testament
1979 Peter Dickinson, Tulku
1978 David Rees, The Exeter Blitz
1976 Jan Mark, Thunder and Lightnings
1970 Leon Garfield & Edward Blishen, The God Beneath the Sea
1969 Kathleen Peyton, The Edge of the Cloud
1965 Philip Turner, The Grange at High Force
1964 Sheena Porter, Nordy Bank
1963 Hester Burton, Time of Trial
1962 Pauline Clarke, The Twelve and the Genii
1961 Lucy M Boston, A Stranger at Green Knowe
1960 Dr IW Cornwall, The Making of Man
1959 Rosemary Sutcliff, The Lantern Bearers
1957 William Mayne, A Grass Rope
1955 Eleanor Farjeon, The Little Bookroom
1954 Ronald Welch (aka Ronald Oliver Felton), Knight Crusader
1953 Edward Osmond, A Valley Grows Up
1952 Mary Norton, The Borrowers
1949 Agnes Allen, The Story of Your Home
1948 Richard Armstrong, Sea Change
1947 Walter De La Mare, Collected Stories for Children
1942 ‘BB’ (D J Watkins-Pitchford), The Little Grey Men
1940 Kitty Barne, Visitors from London
1939 Eleanor Doorly, Radium Woman
1938 Noel Streatfeild, The Circus is Coming
1937 Eve Garnett, The Family from One End Street
1936 Arthur Ransome, Pigeon Post

I'll have to have a look on my shelves, in some boxes, book piles etc for the ones I own and dust them off.

>152 avatiakh: The Carnegie Medal is not an award that I have followed; I have only read a handful of the titles and haven't even heard of many of the authors. I read less YA now that my daughter has moved past that stage. Tamar is one I hope to get to though.

>151 avatiakh: I am disappointed that my local library does not have that one.

Happy weekend, Kerry!

>151 avatiakh: I like the look of that one, Kerry.

>152 avatiakh: I have only read four of them. Two of them this year, I am pleased to say.

>154 labfs39: I'm fairly picky now when it comes to books for young people. I'll read my favourite writers, books lying around the house, plus others that get favourable reviews. Tamar is excellent. Aidan Chambers is always worth reading, his book Postcards from No Man's Land is also set in Holland.

>155 alcottacre: I was lucky to visit a used bookshop that specialises in children's books at the beginning of the year and got several classic children's books from there.
There's an LT book list - 'Genesis in Literature' - you might find something else worthwhile on the list.
https://www.librarything.com/list/11184/all/Genesis-in-literature

>156 PaulCranswick: It was a good little read once it got going.
We discussed the Carnegie Medal earlier this year and I decided to try reading more from the winners' list.
They also have an extensive nomination list, longlist & shortlist each year with lots of excellent books making the grade. The nominations for next year's awards are released on Monday.

Lovely sunny day today though lots of thunder and a light rain around 5pm.
We're still in lockdown, I think it's been over 80 days that we've been restricted to our homes and limited shopping.

I ordered some books from Amazon Australia this week -

The Way It Is Now by Garry Disher
Love Stories by Trent Dalton - this is getting excellent reviews
Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi
The Magician by Colm Toibin
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
Treacle Walker by Alan Garner
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
How Do You Live? by Genzaburo Yoshino
Still Life by Sarah Winman
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
The End of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird
Girl A by Abigail Dean
A Cold Wind Down the Grey by Wendy M. Wilson
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
The Last Rose of Shanghai by Weina Dai Randel

some are e-books and almost all were on sale.

eta: I also received the 4 volumes of Journey to the West, the editions are translated and edited by Anthony C. Yu.

>158 avatiakh: Interesting mix of books you'll be getting delivered to your doorstep. Have you watched the film version of Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 with Gong Yoo? I haven't, it's one of the few works of his that I haven't watched.

>159 labfs39: I haven't watched that one. Silenced just became available on Netflix so I'll be watching that in the next few days.
Not sure how i came about that mix of books. I follow some publishers and writers on twitter and so find out about some that way. Text Publishing (Australia) does many of the Australian editions of new fiction from UK & USA as well as Australian writers & translated works so I pick up on several from their twitter feed. I read The Irish Times literary section, they mention lots of interesting reads.
As I haven't had access to my library for the past 10 or so weeks because of our current lockdown I felt the need for a book buying splurge.

>157 avatiakh: Thanks for that link, Kerry.

>158 avatiakh: Nice haul! I hope you enjoy The Lincoln Highway as much as I did.

Happy weekend!

Currently reading -
The Witch Family by Eleanor Estes - a bit juvenile
Argo by Antonio Mendez - dry but interesting, I'm up for watching the film again when I'm finished
Spycraft by Brian Falkner - YA, Katipo Joe #2
Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton - crime set in Falkland Islands, not sure if I'll keep going with this one, the setting is the drawcard for me
Peace under Heaven by Chae Man-sik - Korean fiction

also on the go but put aside for various reasons, I'd like to finish these by year's end
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
The Book of Whispers by Kimberley Stark - YA
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune - fantasy
King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett - audio
and a couple of library books I've yet to start despite them being in my home for almost 3 months
Valiant Gentlemen by Sabrina Murray - historical fiction
The Lost Shtetl by Max Gross - just can't get going

Oh and I ordered two more book last night as they were very cheap -
Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell
The Gone Book by Helena Close - YA

>160 avatiakh: Silenced is intense. The impact the movie had on the country is phenomenal. It made me respect Gong Yoo; he was the driving force behind the production of the movie. I'm glad it's now going to be available on Netflix for wider distribution.

I look forward to hearing what you make of The Lincoln Highway and all the others.

110) Argo: how the CIA and Hollywood pulled off the most audacious rescue in history by Antonio Mendez (2012)
non fiction
Interesting red overall. I saw the film some years ago and always wanted to read this book as a follow up. It's a fairly dry account and possibly inaccurate with some details. The film is actually based on a chapter from Mendez's first book Master of Disguise: my secret life in the CIA and an article, 'Canadian Capers' in Wired magazine. Mendez wrote this book, a fuller account, with Matt Baglio as the film was being made.
The role of the CIA in the rescue of 6 hidden American Embassy workers during the American Embassy hostage situation of 1979/80 was not known for 17 years. In 1997 the CIA celebrated their 50 year anniversary and gave 50 notable agents a Trailblazer Award. Mendez received one for this mission and was then encouraged to talk openly about it for the first time.
While reading the book mention was made of two New Zealand diplomats and when I looked them up I found that they played bigger roles in the hiding and extraction of the hostages than is mentioned in the book. In the film they refuse to offer help at all which is clearly not what happened.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/1979-chris-beeby-and-richard-sewell-the-argo-story...

I spent the rest of my book vouchers today -
At night all blood is black by David Diop
Island by Siri Ranva Hjelm Jacobsen
The Island of missing Trees by Elif Sharak
M. son of the century by Antonio Scurati - novel about Mussolini

and visited my favourite used bookshop
They were coming for him by Berta Vias Mahou - novel about Camus
The Mangan Inheritance by Brian Moore
The Familiars by Stacey Halls - another Pendle witches novel

...so am reading manga which I finally was able to pick up from the library the other day - 1 down 3 to go.

>165 avatiakh: If I wanted to learn more about this, would you recommend the movie, or one of the books?

>166 avatiakh: Some more interesting titles

Lisa - I loved the movie and I think if you watched that and maybe read a few news articles from 1997 onwards you would be fairly set.
The book is a quick read. The New Zealand angle is completely reversed in the film (they wouldn't offer any help) and only touched on in the book, so do read that NZ Herald article as it was NZ embassy personnel that drove them to the airport not the Canadians, as well as hiding several at the NZ embassy in the early days.

>169 avatiakh: I wonder why Affleck chose to portray NZ's assistance the way he did. From the few articles I read, it seems like he deliberated and made the decision; it wasn't ignorance of the facts. I'll check out the movie.

>169 avatiakh: I must admit that I don't know the details of the story, Kerry, but it does seem quite disrespectful to those who actually offered and gave their help to portray a refusal. With bio-pics whilst there is some licence it should have some limitations as to render a false narrative clearly causes that false impression to stick in those whose only experience or knowledge is the film.

Have a great weekend.

>170 labfs39: >171 PaulCranswick: I think it may have been that the whole story was unknown due to the CIA not wanting their role known till 1999 so by the time it came out details were forgotten. The CIA circa 1980 were happy for the Canadians to claim all credit as it helped with the negotiations with the actual hostages.

>166 avatiakh: Nice haul, Kerry! The only one I have heard of is The Island of Missing Trees, which I have heard good things about. Looking forward to your thoughts on them when you have time to read them all.

Happy weekend!

>173 alcottacre: Hi Stasia, I was quite taken with her 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World so am looking forward to this one.

111) The Witch Family by Eleanor Estes (1960)
children
For my ZtoA children's writers challenge. This was a bit juvenile and an average read. I saw a review by a more enthusiastic reader who said that this book portrays the power of a child's imagination and I'd have to agree with that.
Amy sends the Old Witch to live on the Glass Mountain where she has to learn to be good and can only come down for Halloween. if she behaves herself. She's joined by Malachi, a bumblebee, and Hannah, a girl witch.

I only have the ABC writers left to read now for this challenge. I've taken many books off my tbr pile doing this challenge.

112) Yoshi no Zuikara: The Frog in the Well Does Not Know the Ocean, Vol. 1 by Satsuki Yoshino (2019)
manga

As I've 30 books to read to fulfill my GR 150 books challenge, it was a relief for the library to open last week for click & collect and I was finally able to pick up some manga. Quick reads to make up for my dismal reading achievement for the year.
This one was about a 32 yr old manga artist, still living on the small island where he grew up and his change from writing a fantasy to creating a 'slice of life' manga based on his island home. Mildly interesting, though possibly will grow on me so I've requested the next one.

__
113) Handa-kun, Vol. 2 by Satsuki Yoshino
114) Handa-kun, Vol. 3 by Satsuki Yoshino
115) Handa-kun, Vol. 4 by Satsuki Yoshino

Continues the stories about Handa-kun, the high school celebrity who misunderstands his fellow students and thinks they all hate him whereas they worship him which makes him unapproachable and causes all kinds of misunderstandings.
Not as great as the first volume but I've requested the next two volumes anyway as I want to read about the class trip to Kyoto.

>174 avatiakh: I have 10 Minutes 38 Seconds on order - it has been in the BlackHole for a while now - so I hope I enjoy it as much as you did, Kerry.

>178 alcottacre: Oh, I've been meaning to read that - but it's not on any hold or recommend list - did your black hole get so hungry it nibbled on my wish list?

>179 quondame: Probably. The BlackHole is a devourer of book titles.

>178 alcottacre: >179 quondame: I liked it and intended to read another of hers, but months go by and I never got round to it. My tbr pile here at home resembles Stasia's black hole.

>181 avatiakh: Well, I am glad that I am not the only one!

>181 avatiakh: & >182 alcottacre: You are certainly not the only ones!

My TBR of physical books in Malaysia (not counting the relatively small number in the UK) stands at a just updated 4,282 books. I daren't add those books that I have listed on a wishlist or target list.

>183 PaulCranswick: That's fairly massive Paul, though you do have the excuse of no public libraries. Will you be shipping them back to the UK? They might need a container of their own.
Every time I go through a pile with the idea of culling a few, I still get excited about reading almost every single one.

>182 alcottacre: We also have extensive dvd & cd collections - my husband is the guilty party with these.

I've just signed a petition to try and stop this senseless culling of 600,000 of New Zealand's National Library books. They're to be sent to Manila and supposedly scanned '-
'We believe this has been decided without enough consideration, and that these books are of universal interest and are a historical part of the National Library of New Zealand. Most of the Overseas Published Books Collection, featuring over 600,000 books from many countries, will soon leave our country, to go to the Philippines where they may be digitized by Internet Archive. The Library has already disposed of many of these overseas published books and we believe none will ever come back again.'
'"All the hard work of thoughtful librarians, their acquisitions and curation over the past century (and more), will be undone. The National Library is descended from the General Assembly Library, founded in 1862. Some of our books threatened with disposal, and many in the Alexander Turnbull Library have drawn from that heritage. The books are part of our tradition. They are special items, not worthless, ageing assets – and their value is increasing with time.'
'An international group of authors including Sir Philip Pullman are concerned about the National Library's partnership with the Internet Archive.
“To find that a great national library like that of New Zealand is collaborating in a scheme to break the cherished copyright laws and give our work away for nothing is profoundly shocking,” said Pullman, the president of the United Kingdom Society of Authors, in a recent letter sent to the library.'
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/readingroom/an-end-to-the-national-library-affair
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/126965961/authors-gather-for-literary-protest-a...

>185 avatiakh: I hope the petition is successful, Kerry!

Thanks Stasia. It's a done deal I'm afraid.

116) The way it is now by Garry Disher (2021)
crime
Disher's latest is a stand alone novel set mostly in a beach town just outside of Melbourne. I enjoyed reading this, Garry Disher is a firm favourite for me.
The plot revolves around the cold case of the mother's disappearance 20 years earlier. The father, a retired police officer, was the main suspect at the time though no evidence came to light. The son, a suspended police detective, has been obsessed with clearing his father's name.
The novel was a first for me for featuring the Covid pandemic. The main character's father goes on a cruise and ends up in a Tokyo hospital while his partner sits in isolation in the cruise ship cabin for several weeks, both have Covid.

117) Spycraft by Brian Falkner (2021)
YA
Katipo Joe #2. Further adventures of teen agent Katipo Joe. This time his adventures take him into the elite circles around Hitler. He joins a small group of teenagers who are under the wing of Eva Braun, documented by film director, Leni Riefenstahl and nurtured by Himmler. They are vying for their place in history. Joe's mission is to find out whether Hitler is going to focus on an invasion of Russia or England, which invasion plan is only a decoy.
A little over the top but exciting reading for the average teenager.

>183 PaulCranswick: Yes I will ship them back, Kerry.

Need to find a suitable place to house them though.

The Witchling's Wish by Lu Fraser (2021)
picturebook
The text scans well, the illustrations and story are charming and I love the last couple of sentences.
A lonely little witchling wants a friend and her spellbook tells her she needs the fur from a little girl's favourite teddy-bear to make a friendship spell.

118) Jet Skis, Swamps & Smugglers by Robert Muchamore (2021)
YA
Robin Hood #3. Robin is only about 11 but already a master at archery and hacking. Continues his adventures, this time it is foiling a people smuggling operation. These are a little juvenile but still fun.

__
119) Handa-kun, Vol. 5 by Satsuki Yoshino
120) Handa-kun, Vol. 6 by Satsuki Yoshino
121) Handa-kun, Vol. 7 by Satsuki Yoshino
manga
These three complete the series, each one is progressively weaker entry. #7 is a collection of vignettes, including a class reunion six years later.
Handa-kun is a high school student, he thinks everyone hates him, whereas most students are fans and think he's awesome.
The series is a prequel to the Barakamon series.

122) Barakamon vol.1 by Satsuki Yoshino
manga
A young but disillusioned calligrapher, Seishuu Handa, decides to live on an isolated island. Rural life is new to him and his first friend is a small girl, Naru, who seems to be everywhere at once. Lovely, and funny.

Elsa Schiaperelli's Private Album by Marisa Berenson (2014)
photography
Berenson is Schiaperelli's grand daughter and these photographs illustrate moments in Schiaperelli's life, some are family oriented and others taken for her fashion salon. Quite stunning. I researched the Berenson family for my husband's genealogy.

Delightful image 'of Marisa Berenson and her sister photographed for the 1954 Elle Christmas cover wearing scarlet velvet dresses by Schiaparelli. These were two of the last dresses made by the couture house before closing its doors in the same year. Berenson went on to be a leading model in the 1960s before moving into acting.' Berenson's sister died in 9/11.

123) The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani (1962)
fiction
My daughter gave this to me some years ago after studying the novel at university. Finally I pulled it off the shelves for my 'books to film' category. A slow but sustaining read about an aristocratic Jewish family in the days before WW2 breaks out. Their world is shrinking with restrictions and the rise of facism.

Peanut Butter and Jelly by Ben Clanton (2018)
children's graphic novel
Narwhal and Jelly #3. Silly story. I'm not sure why I got this from the library, though I do like to see graphic novels for all ages, anyway not one for me and not one I could recommend either despite its popularity.

124) Asadora vol 1 by Naoki Urasawa (2019 Japan) (2021 Eng)
manga
Urasawa is known for his great Monster manga series which I read last year. I saw this at our local Graphic Novel Cafe and decided to try it. The art is great and the story compelling.
Asadora starts with a typhoon, a kidnap that turns into an unlikely friendship and ends with a monster (Kaiju) emerging from the sea.
Hope to read more.

125) Sylvie by Sylvie Kantorovitz (2021)
children / graphic memoir
This is quite lovely. Kantorovitz tells the story of her childhood, growing up in an apartment at a school where her father is the principal in France. They are the only Jewish family in the town, her parents fight often and Sylvie discovers her love of art.

126) Onibi: Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter by Atelier Sento (2016)
manga / YA
Two young foreigners come to a remote corner of Japan, they want to discover the unusual and mysterious side of Japan. They buy an old camera that the seller says can capture images of the spirit world.
The art is lovely, the story is a bit blah but does show an unusual side of Japan's folklore.
Yokai - supernatural beings
Publisher's website: 'Cecile Brun & Olivier Pichard are French comic book artists known collectively as Atelier Sento. Through traditional techniques using watercolors and colored pencils, their work conveys an unusual side of Japan—of small villages in the mountains, colorful matsuri festivals and forgotten spirits of an ancient world.'

_
Troll-Apple Pancakes by Ethan M. Aldridge (2020)
The Goblin by Ethan M. Aldridge (2019)
illustrated story
I bought these last year during lockdown to support Aldridge whose work I've enjoyed. The Troll-Apple story is wordless about a troll-child sent on a quest to bring troll-apples home for baking. The Goblin is about a goblin that resides quietly in an abbey, spending his time illustrating a book.
I just like his artwork, he tweets quite often about his work, lately he's been trying digital illustration.

127) Sneeze: Naoki Urasawa Story Collection by Naoki Urasawa (2020)
graphic novel
This is a mixed collection of pieces, some are taken from Urasawa's travels and interactions on rock gigs, some are short stories. I liked the story about the kaiju fan who becomes a hero.

128) Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko (2007)
children
for my ZtoA children's writers challenge.
Tales from Alcatraz #1.
Moose Flanagan moves to Alcatraz Island when his father takes up a job as a prison guard/electrician. His mother wants to send Moose's older sister to a special school in San Francisco as she's autistic. Great plot.
I've been meaning to read this one for years, I finally did and thoroughly enjoyed it.

129) Johnny Delgado: Private Detective by Kevin Brooks (2006)
YA
I'm a fan of most Barrington Stoke books which are simply told stories for dyslexsic or reading reluctant teens written by some of the UK's pre-eminent YA writers. This one is gritty and quite the urban thriller, all in under 100 pages.
Johnny lives on a council estate and has decided to set himself up as a detective. Things quickly get out of hand and he finds himself in trouble.
There's a sequel but it might be hard to track down.

130) If only by Adele Broadbent (2019)
YA
for my ZtoA children's writers challenge
This mixes a teen romance with Project Jonah in a way that works rather well. Project Jonah is an anti-whaling movement in New Zealand that started in the 1970s and also embraces saving stranded whales.
Broadbent works at Wardini Books which is owned by writer Gareth Ward whose work I also enjoy.

131) Conrad Cooper's Last Stand by Leonie Agnew (2014)
children
Last book for my ZtoA children's writers challenge. Yay!
Set in the 1970s around the 1978 Bastion Point Protest here in Auckland. Conrad lives with his Mum and step-Dad who is a policeman and quite the authoritarian parent and spouse. Conrad has a good heart but is quite naive and too young to understand a lot that's going on. He decides to adopt Tane (God of the Forest) as his god and has inner soliloquys with him.
There's a lot to like in the story but also it's hard to get your head around Conrad's discovery of the Maori world, the book treads a difficult path with this.
Agnew' first book Super Finn won the Tom Fitzgibbon Award which I always loved to see the presentation of when i was involved with Storylines NZ. It's for a first manuscript written for children and the writer returns the following year for their book launch.

The Bastion Point protest was one of the starting points of Maori renaissance, a reawakening to their culture and protests for return of land that had been taken by compulsory acquisition.

132) The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain (2014)
fiction
This was a delight to read, especially with the mention of books throughout. Bookseller Laurent finds an abandoned handbag, the phone and wallet are missing and as he goes through the contents, he wonders about who the owner could be and tries to track her down.
Laure is the victim of a mugging and ends up in hospital in a coma.

Seraphin by Philippe Fix (1967 French) (2019 Eng)
illustrated story

A delightful illustrated story about Seraphin, an inventor, builder of gadgets and his friend Plume.

133) Monkey Island by Paula Fox (1991)
children
Quite an interesting look at homelessness. Clay is living in a rundown New York hotel with his pregnant mother when she disappears. After a few days Clay doesn't know what to do and takes to the streets before the school sends Child Services to take him. He lives several weeks on the streets in the lead up to Christmas, having made friends with Calvin and Buddy. They show him how to live rough. Eventually he is reunited with his mother after a stint in hospital and foster care.
What's interesting is how Calvin tells him not to spend too long on the streets, that there is a point you reach of no return, where you can't go back to a normal life.

I've been reading a lot of shorter works due to being so behind in my reading and wanting to meet my GoodReads target of 150 books. Over there I count everything I read which I don't do on LT.

Current reads include -
The Lost Man by Jane Harper - Australian outback mystery
Last Instructions by Nir Hezroni - sequel to Three Envelopes
Blood Moon by Lucy Cuthew - YA verse novel that I'm not enjoying but feel I should finish. I'm 48% done.
Dare to disappoint: growing up in Turkey by Özge Samancı - graphic memoir
I've read a few pages of -
Homesick by Eshkol Nevo - TIOLI read for Paul's challenge
The Circlemaker by Maxine Rose Schur - Jewish juvenile
An Earthly Knight by Janet McNaughton - historical fantasy based on Tam Lin

>196 avatiakh: I also read The Garden of the Finzi-Continis this year, Kerry. Are you going to read the other Ferrara books?

Yikes, you come back for one day and I'm inundated with book bullets. Congrats on finishing your ZtoA children's writers challenge!

>195 avatiakh: Elsa Schiaperelli's Private Album by Marisa Berenson. Not my usual cuppa, but what an interesting family story.

>203 avatiakh: I remember reading and enjoying Al Capone Does My Shirts with my daughter. There are three more books in the series, but I didn't continue on for some reason.

Making notes of Sylvie, Seraphin, and Dare to Disappoint. Over in Club Read we are going to be starting a graphic novel thread in 2022. I want to broaden my knowledge of graphic novels (and manga) to include more international authors. I will let you know when the thread goes live, in case you want to drop by. So far we've been working out definitions and merits on my thread.

>212 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita. I don't think I'll be trying for more of his books at present. I've taken note of several Italian writers published by Europa Editions and will be reading them.

>213 labfs39: Hi Lisa. I'm not going to continue the Alcatraz series either. My ZtoA challenge was almost entirely my own books so has been great for getting books off the shelves, read and out of the house finally.
Seraphin is a digital picturebook I got during last year's lockdowns.

Graphic Novels - I'd love to look at that challenge. I've read some fantastic GNs over the years and manga can be fun too. I also like to read international GNs.
A few of many outstanding ones include -
The Osamu Tezuka story: A Life in Manga and Anime is a fascinating GN biography.
Alice in Sunderland by Bryan Talbot (UK)
A Chinese Life by Philippe Ôtié & Li Kunwu
The Eternaut by Hector G. Oesterheld (1950s scifi, Oesterheld became ​one of Argentina's disappeared in the 1970s).
manga - Message to Adolf by Osamu Tezuka

>214 avatiakh: I'll definitely let you know when the GN thread goes live. I'm looking forward to learning more and reading a broader range of authors.

I've read all of Bernice Rubens books and would love to read/see her play, Hijack.
'Written by a Booker Prize winning novelist, this is a hilarious tale about the extraordinary attempts sometimes made to get published. An author who has written a three thousand page novel can't get an agent, let alone a publisher, because his work is too long to read.
He hijacks a publisher over the long Easter weekend and obliges him to sit and listen while he reads his novel aloud. The novel is played out on an inset stage and frighteningly reflects the duplicity of the publisher's own life.
The author plays many parts, including psychiatrist, marriage broker and tireless cabdriver. The publisher is obliged to play himself in several roles. The author, the publisher, his wife and his mistress all play various roles on the inset stage. Over the course of the two acts, a relationship develops between the hijacker and his hostage. Sheer terror on the publisher's part dilutes to irritation and finally to a deep affection.'

134) Blood Moon by Lucy Cuthew (2020)
YA
This verse novel was listed in a GoodReads challenge that I do each year as part of a group of NZ readers. We each nominate 3 books and then for 2 months we try and read as many books as we can from the pool. The challenge does throw up a selection of books I wouldn't normally come across and this was one.

Described as a strong feminist read dealing with cyberbullying and the topic of menstruation. There's a section in the book that's almost 'too much' and yet it is needed for the rest of the book to work.
Frankie loves physics and astronomy, she wants to intern during summer at the local observatory. She falls out with her best friend and then has an incident with the guy she has just started to really like. A meme about the incident goes viral and eventually Frankie must tell her parents and deal with it all including finding out who first posted the meme.

This works as a verse novel, it would have been too dreary to read in novel form. I almost dropped it at the halfway point but kept going due to comments made in the book pool group.

135) The Lost Man by Jane Harper (2018)
crime
Set in the Australian Outback, this gives an idea of how harsh life can be living on a station far from anywhere. One brother is dead, another has lived as a recluse for ten years and the third seems never to have grown up.
Quite a good read, my third by Harper for this year.
Last week I watched The Dry (2020) which stars Eric Bana. As always not as good as the book.

>218 avatiakh: I loved The Dry (book), Kerry but its follow up didn't quite grab me and I didn't finish it (must try again). She has another couple already and I will give her another try.

Have a lovely weekend.

Hi Paul. Yes, I bought a couple of her novels when I was in Aussie a while back but didn't bother to read them. I also loved The Dry but floundered through Force of Nature. This one wasn't too bad.

The rain has stopped but it's still windy, so not the summery weather we could be having.

>220 avatiakh: The weather here is awful too. We have changed the site access arrangements at Merdeka 118 project but the car park isn't ready so I have been getting Grab (Uber) to work and back. This is fine but not in persistent rain. I decided to take the car this morning as the client doesn't work on Saturday so I can use their limited parking but the engine wouldn't start after so many days of not being used!

Had a quiet laugh to myself when I randomly googled 'ramsay scallop' to find out if Frances Temple's novel, The Ramsay Scallop, was YA or childrens, and the result was a youtube clip of Gordon Ramsay cooking scallops. The book is YA.

>188 avatiakh: Too bad my local library does not have any of Disher's books. It sounds like a series I would enjoy.

>196 avatiakh: I read that one years ago. It is probably long overdue for a re-read.

>207 avatiakh: I will have to see if I can find that one. It looks right up my alley!

>218 avatiakh: My local library has a copy of that one. At least I have a chance of getting my hands on it.

Hi Stasia - Too bad about Disher. I started reading him because we are related, something like 5th or 6th cousins, my grandmother was a Disher. You might find his books on digital somewhere.
I had the Finzi-Continis on my shelves for several years and always felt guilty about not reading it.
I got Seraphin as an e-book, not sure why but possibly I wanted to look at the artwork. Digital doesn't really work for that.
Jane Harper is a popular writer though I'm more fond of Disher and Chris Hammer. There's other Australian crime I want to get back into as well.

Just picked up my library requests, these have been stacking up over the last week after I unfroze my request list. I'm not going to the library as often due to lockdown rules.
From bottom to top -
Junkman's Daughter by Sonia Levitin - picutrebook
Simon Boom gives a wedding by Yuri Schul - picturebook
The Heartless Troll by Øyvind Torseter - graphic novel
It was the war of the trenches & Goddamn this war! by Jaques Tardi - graphic novels
To fight in silence by Eva-Lis Wuorio - childrens
Jacob's Rescue by Malka Drucker 7 Michael Halperin - childrens
Uncle Misha's Partisans by Yuri Schul - childrens
The children of Willesden Lane: beyond the kindertransport by Mona Golabek & Lee Cohen biography
The Waterbearer by Diane Hofmeyer - childrens
Winter notes on summer impressions by Fyodor Dostoevsky - nonfiction
Oedipus at Stalingrad by Gregor von Rezzori - fiction
A glove shop in Vienna by Eva Ibbotson - short stories

I requested these during our strict lockdown so must have been going through some lists as there is a lot of Jewish and Holocaust titles in this bunch.
The Ibbotson book is a newly published edition, one of those little blue books from the MacMillan Collector's Library, so I might end up getting my own copy as I have a few of those.
_

Sunday afternoon doesn't deter couriers from delivering 3 books -
The sermon on the fall of Rome by Jérôme Ferrari - Prix Goncourt 2012
Berlin Blues by Sven Regener
Overthrown by strangers by Ronan Bennett
These last two have been on my LT wishlist for a few years.

>225 avatiakh: I have the Ibbotson too, beautiful looking little book.

136) Last Instructions by Nir Hezroni (2018)
thriller
Agent 10483 #2. The sequel to Three Envelopes. This continues on from the first book, Agent 10483 should never have been recruited to the organisation (Mossad?) and yet he was and manipulated for a particular mission. Now he comes for his revenge.

>227 charl08: I love those little blue books with their gilt edging.

137) Dare to disappoint: Growing Up in Turkey by Özge Samancı (2015)
graphic memoir
This was a delightful read with lovely artwork. Little Özge was quite the contrary child growing up in 1980s Turkey. Along with her experiences at getting educated she also covers the growing Islamisation of the country. While failing more often than succeeding academically, Özge finally finds her niche in the closing pages - to be an artist.
She now lives in the US and is an associate professor in Northwestern University’s School of Communication.

>225 avatiakh: Wow, that is a lot of books. As usual, I will be interested in your thoughts on the Jewish and Holocaust titles you received.

>230 avatiakh: That one sounds interesting. I will have to see if I can get hold of a copy. Thanks for the recommendation, Kerry.

Have a wonderful week!

>230 avatiakh: I will look for that one too, Kerry.

>230 avatiakh: I put in an ILL request for it early this evening. It will be my first read for the Asia Reading Challenge and the Graphic Novels thread.

>231 alcottacre: Hi Stasia - yes, these were mostly books from the stacks and I should be able to hold onto them for 3 months, though someone wants to read To fight in silence so I'll have to read that one before the due date.

231> 232> 233> Well worth seeking out. From such shaky beginnings she has become a respected artist and very well qualified academically.
https://www.ozgesamanci.com/

Junkman's Daughter by Sonia Levitin (2007
picturebook
Part of the 'Tales of Young Americans Series'. An immigrant story, coming from East Europe the family expect the streets to be paved in gold. Harsh reality, their father is a teacher but he can't work in education because his English is poor. The family works hard to succeed.
I'm not a fan of the illustrations which are too attractive for a story of hardship.
From Kirkus reviews - 'hobbled by bland illustrations and flawed page design....it’s the eldest daughter who spots the discarded bottles and other rubbish in the snowy street that...sparks the slow but steady growth of a successful business. That rubbish looks brand new in the art, though, as does the spacious urban setting, the tidy interiors and the clothing on the shiny-faced protagonists. Along with providing little sense of what immigrant neighborhoods actually looked like in the 20th-century’s early years and giving no visual clue of the family’s poverty, the illustrations don’t always leave space for the daughter’s narrative'


Simon Boom gives a wedding by Yuri Schul (1979
picturebook
Silly fun. Simon Boom is a rich man and wants nothing but the best of the best no matter the cost but in a roundabout way he ends up serving the guests at his daughter's wedding nothing but springwater.


The Heartless Troll by Øyvind Torseter (2015)
children/graphic novel
Delightful. A retelling of a fairytale about the seventh son of a king. What shines more than the story is the artwork. I have seen Torseter's picturebooks before though I didn't recognise his name when I requested this one.

138) Lenny's Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee (2018)
children
A delightful story, gets a bit heartbreaking towards the end. Set in the 1960s it's about two young siblings, Lenny and Davey and their Mum who is working two jobs and constantly worrying. Davey starts to grow and grow, by the time he starts school he's almost as tall as his teacher and he keeps growing.
Their life revolves around the weekly arrival of their 'build an encyclopedia in your home'. Early on, Lenny loves the 'beetles' and Davey falls for the 'American eagle'. Anyone reading the book will love both these children.
I've had this on my shelves since it was published so pleased to finally have read it.
Foxlee is Australian but has set this book in the USA.

>236 ronincats: Merry Christmas Roni.

Have a lovely holiday, Kerry.

Happy Holidays Kerry!

These were our family ornaments this year and, despite COVID, a merry time was had by all. I hope the same is true for your holiday and here's to next year!!

>239 PaulCranswick: >240 quondame: >241 Berly: Hi Paul, Susan & Kim. Thanks for the greetings.

I'm well over halfway through King Hereafter and today found some questions Dunnett answered about her research and writing the book. It's on the Dorothy Dunnett website and I was looking to find more info on the real life person Macbeth or Thorfinn, Earl of Orkney. She mentions her reading list for KH was over 700 books long.

1975, Day 1, contract to write the first properly researched historical novel on the real Macbeth, on which there is ample academic material. (younger son then aged 11).
Day 2 (virtually), discover the academic material is mostly ancient and full of gaps, the exception being the deconstruction of Shakespeare, which is popular and has been well and accurately tackled.
Day 3, sort out which few areas have been updated, mostly in monograph form, and verify from the universities that absolutely no historical department is currently re-examining this period.
Day 4, resign myself to collecting and analysing primary material, as soon as I have read through and noted the secondaries. This included sources (including foreign ones) for info on the Celts, the Picts, the Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons, on current laws and customs on marriage, fostering, bastardy, kingship, on the detailed politics of surrounding countries, on biographies of individuals such as Canute, Emma, PopeLeo, etc. etc. Also early charters, monastic annals, fragments of early poetry (plus linguistic studies), the Icelandic sagas, saints' lives, early histories written under the Stewarts, and a lot about the Norman Conquest (plus Norman and Breton charters) to identify the Normans who fled to Macbeth. Also everything relevant in archaeology.
Lovely discoveries about the Archbishop of Dol. Travel, including visits to Rome, Goslar, Vienna, Brittany, Normandy, the Celtic Library at Harvard and all relevant places in the UK, including many visits to Orkney, collecting published material and looking at buildings and museums. Compilation incidentally of 145 interlocking European family trees, laid out in miniscule writing on a piece of wallpaper 20 feet long. Discovery that the story still didn’t make sense. Awful dawning realisation that it did make sense if Thorfinn and Macbeth were not half-brothers but the same person. Grinding of teeth (original research is not a good idea for a novelist). Decision (courtesy of my publishers) to continue researching, and in particular track to its source every accepted fact that contradicted this theory.

By the end of 1979, evident to me that the Thorfinn/Macbeth case was stronger than any other, and the investigation was now academically viable. Moment of truth; continue for ten years and exhaust all the lines of research? Take another year, and publish the case as it then stood as non-fiction? Or write, with the facts I then had, the novel I had been contracted to write in 1975? I chose to write the novel, beginning in January 1980 and finishing in March 1981 (younger son now aged nearly 17 and forgiving). The rest, as they say is history....."

https://www.dorothydunnett.co.uk/dunnett-qa-king-herafter.php

eta: Here is Dunnett's tour of Macbeth's Scotland, she was asked many times by readers of KH as to where to go for their favourite scenes.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/travel/1985/05/26/on-the-trail-...

139) The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik (2021)
fantasy YA
Scholomance #2. I loved the first book and this one was also very good. The ending was a bit cliffhangery so I now have to wait till September 2022 to find out. Very recommended if you like your fantasy a touch on the dark side.

>242 avatiakh: Oh cool! I knew she did a lot of her own research, but didn't go back and re-check the web site after my 2000something read and (partial - I often skip out before the final 3rd) re-reads. While that final 3rd is the best? depiction of a man going down fighting I've ever read, still it's a rough, rough fall.

>243 avatiakh: Yes! I want to see what's at the bottom of that cliff, speaking of falls 'n all.

>237 avatiakh: My local library has a copy of that one, so I will have to check it out. Thanks for the recommendation, Kerry!

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season. Happy New Year!

>244 quondame: I'm just past the trip to Rome and have decided to let the book ride over into the New Year as trying to slog through the last 14 hours in the next three days isn't worth it. I had not listened for a while, only got going again a few days ago when I had my first trip out of Auckland after our long lockdown.
This coming year I hope to reread the Lymond books via audio.

Yes, Novik's final Scholomance book will be one of next year's highlights.

>245 alcottacre: A lovely children's book, one like many that appeals to adults too. I will look out for her YA novels.

I have decided to just concentrate on one more book before the year ends, Homesick by Eshkol Novik. It's a TIOLI read and is fairly enjoyable so far. I have quite a list of unfinished reads but they can all be tidied up in January or beyond.

>246 avatiakh: I loved the polar bear sections. When I later read their echo in The Hallowed Hunt I appreciated a new version of the story.

>247 quondame: Oh yes, those sections made good use of my imagination. I haven't read The Hallowed Hunt so will push it up the tbr pile.

My reading plans for the end of the year went out the window with a couple of days of hardly picking up a book or audio instead of the intense sessions of reading that I had envisaged.
So Homesick & King Hereafter will be January reads and instead I've got a children's book, The Circlemaker by Maxine Rose Shur, to see out the year as I should finish it easily today.

According to GoodReads where I log all my reading, in 2021 I've read 38,986 pages from 153 books (on LT I don't count picturebooks).
Shortest book: The Goblin by Ethan Aldridge at 17pages
Longest book: Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong at 2,339 pages.

Most popular book: Everything, everything by Nicola Yoon - 956,799 people shelved this book on GR - a typical YA read
Least popular book: Mulbridge Manor by James Reeves - 5 people shelved this book on GR - classic English children's book from the 1950s, a great story.

Highlight of the year for me would be completing the Romance of the Three Kingdoms it ended up being a shared read with Judy / DeltaQueen50.

>248 avatiakh: Nice year-end wrap up, Kerry! I wish you good reading in the new year.

>248 avatiakh: Great year of reading, Kerry. I've never thought to look at my most/least popular book. New year end category for next year.

140) The Circlemaker by Maxine Rose Schur (1994)
children's
This wasn't meant to be my last book for the year but great plans often fall apart. This was an adventurous story, set in 1852 about a 12 yr old Jewish boy having to run from his home in a small village in the Ukraine when the soldiers come to force young Jewish boys into the army for 25 years of service. He must make it across the border into Hungary to be safe.

From the author note: 'The law was set by Czar Nicholas in 1827, Jewish boys from age 12-18 were conscripted to military service, they'd receive religious and military education till they turned 18, then they'd begin their 25 year service They were called Cantonists because they were taken to live in military garrisons in distant 'cantons' or provinces. In 1851 the quota for Jewish boys was increased to percentages impossible for the Jewish communities to fill. Often they were forced to send children as young as 8 years old, these children were sent to provinces as far as possible from their homes, they were made to walk, often for six months to a year to get there. The Cantonist battalions' main purpose was to convert the Jewish boys to Christianity. When the Czar died in 1855 his heir abolished child conscription.'

>248 avatiakh: You beat me by 2 books and about 2,000 pages, Kerry. I like that wrap and may borrow some of it with your leave.

Forget your stresses and strains
As the old year wanes;
All that now remains
Is to bring you good cheer
With wine, liquor or beer
And wish you a special new year.

Happy New Year, Kerry.