SusanJ's 75 Books Challenge - Thread 10

Hello, and welcome to my tenth thread for 2019.

I'm Susan, a Kiwi living in London for the past 24 years. During the working week I'm a lawyer so I love nerdy legal stuff, which crops up in more books than you might expect.

Over the past few years I've started to read a lot more non-fiction, so my reading is now more balanced between F and NF than it was in the past. I think I spend more *time* reading NF than F, but NF books tend to be longer and more complicated than a quick novel.

While I have been reading mostly from the library, I do have a fair few books that I've bought (mostly for the Kindle) and I need to keep my eye on those so that I actually read them instead of just accumulating them. Every year I give up reserving or randomly borrowing library books during November (which is renamed "No!vember") but this year I also added June.

Books read during 2019

September

146. Dear Mrs Bird by A J Pearce
147. Heartburn by Nora Ephron
148. Those People by Louise Candlish
149. The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson
150. The Alphabet Murders by Lars Schutz
151. The Holiday by T M Logan
152. The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
153. Our House by Louise Candlish
154. Science Left Behind by Alex Berezow
155. Break In by Dick Francis
156. Inland by Tea Obreht
157. Misogynation by Laura Bates
158. I'll Be Gone In The Dark by Michelle McNamara

October

159. The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company by William Dalrymple
160. House of Glass by Susan Fletcher
161. You Are Here by Hiawatha Bray
162. Strangers In Their Own Land by Arlie Russell Hochschild
163. A Year At the Circus: Inside Trump's White House by Jon Sopel
164. The Swimming Pool by Louise Candlish
165. Bad Day at the Vulture Club by Vaseem Khan
166. Kitty Peck and the Music Hall Murders by Kate Griffin
167. Five Giants by Nicholas Timmins
168. Blood & Sugar by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
169. Remembrance Day by Henry Porter
170. The Swallows by Lisa Lutz
171. The Truants by Kate Weinberg
172. The Way of All Flesh by Ambrose Parry
173. The Other Americans by Laila Lalami
174. McMindfulness by Ronald Purser
175. Breaking Dad by James Lubbock

November

176. Inferior by Angela Saini
177. The Zhivago Affair by Peter Finn and Petra Couvee
178. Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke
179. Platform Seven by Louise Doughty
180. From the Corner of the Oval Office by Beck Dorey-Stein
181. Divided: Why We're Living in an Age of Walls by Tim Marshall
182. Biased by Jennifer Eberhardt
183. Blue Moon by Lee Child
184. Targeted by Brittany Kaiser

December

185. Commander in Cheat by Rick Reilly
186. Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
187. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
188. Maoism: A Global History by Julia Lovell
189. Tidelands by Philippa Gregory
190. Homesick by Catrina Davies
191. The Twittering Machine by Richard Seymour
192. Death in the East by Abir Mukherjee
193. She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey
194. We Have Been Harmonised by Kai Strittmatter
195. Catilina's Riddle by Steven Saylor
196. First Bite: How We Learn to Eat by Bee Wilson
197. The Alchemist's Secret by Scott Mariani
198. The Last Kashmiri Rose by Barbara Cleverly
199. Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy by Serhii Plokhy
200. The Awful Secret by Bernard Knight

I have a few series on the go, so in this post I'm going to list them so that I don't forget where I'm up to. Reading in order is important to me :-)

Series I have started and still have squillions to go *happy sigh*

I'm going to list these in date order, because why not.

Steven Saylor's Gordianus the Finder (about 100 BC)

Roman Blood
Arms of Nemesis
Catilina's Riddle

Ruth Downie's Medicus (Britannia, 108)

Medicus
Terra Incognita

Priscilla Royal's Eleanor, Prioress of Tyndal (East Anglia, 11th century)

Wine of Violence

Ellis Peters' Cadfael (Shropshire, 1135 - 1145)

A Morbid Taste for Bones
One Corpse Too Many
Monk's Hood

Bernard Knight's Crowner John (Devon, 1190s)

The Sanctuary Seeker
The Poisoned Chalice
Crowner's Quest
The Awful Secret

Susanna Gregory's Matthew Bartholomew (Cambridge, 1348)

A Plague On Both Your Houses
An Unholy Alliance

Cassandra Clark's Abbess of Meaux (Yorkshire, 1380s)

Hangman Blind
The Red Velvet Turnshoe
The Law of Angels
A Parliament of Spies

Shona Maclean's Alexander Seaton (1620s)

The Redemption of Alexander Seaton

Philippa Gregory's Fairmile series

Tidelands

Katie Griffin's Kitty Peck (1880s)

Kitty Peck and the Music Hall Murders

Michael Pearce's Mamur Zapt (Egypt, 1908)

The Mamur Zapt and the Return of the Carpet

Barbara Cleverly's Joe Sandilands

The Last Kashmiri Rose

Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver (England, 1920s/1930s)

Grey Mask
The Case is Closed

John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee

The Deep Blue Goodbye

Mal Sjowall's Martin Beck

Roseanna

John Sandford's Lucas Davenport

Rules of Prey

Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch

The Black Echo

John Harvey's Charlie Resnick

Lonely Hearts
Rough Treatment
Cutting Edge

Faye Kellerman's Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus

The Ritual Bath
Sacred and Profane

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's Agent Pendergast

Relic
Reliquary

Steve Berry's Cotton Malone

The Templar Legacy
The Alexandria Link

Harry Bingham's Fiona Griffiths

Talking to the Dead
Love Story, With Murders

Mari Hannah's Kate Daniels

The Murder Wall

Karin Slaughter's Sara Linton

Blindsighted

Karin Slaughter's Will Trent

Triptych
Fractured

Paul Cleave's Christchurch Murders

The Cleaner

Stuart MacBride's Logan McRae

Cold Granite
Dying Light
Broken Skin
Flesh House
Blind Eye
Dark Blood

Annie Hauxwell's Catherine Berlin

In Her Blood
A Bitter Taste

Cara Hunter's DI Adam Fawley

Close to Home
In The Dark

Jane Casey's Maeve Kerrigan

The Burning
The Reckoning

Angela Marsons' DI Kim Stone

Silent Scream

Lesley Thomson's Stella Darnell

The Detective's Daughter

Manda Scott's Ines Picaut

Into the Fire

Susan Mallery's Mischief Bay

The Girls of Mischief Bay

Series I'm caught up with and waiting for the next one *tapping foot*

Lee Child's Jack Reacher, obvs
C J Box's Joe Pickett
Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon
Elly Griffiths' Dr Ruth Galloway
Vaseem Khan's Baby Ganesh Agency
Abir Mukherjee's Sam Wyndham
Lynne Truss's Constable Twitten
Anthony Horowitz's Daniel Hawthorne
Attica Locke's Highway 59

Not really a series but I need to keep track of my Dick Francis finishes (Hi Julia!)

Proof
Nerve
Forfeit
Reflex
Rat Race

184. Targeted by Brittany Kaiser

This is an excellent read, by one of the former employees of Cambridge Analytica who blew the whistle on the company's activities with vast amounts of data from Facebook. These included the "micro-targeting" of messages to potential voters in the US (and possibly some influence on the Leave.EU messaging during the Brexit referendum) and questionable practices working for politicians in other countries. It's well written and by the end she is on a different path, trying to do the good that she always wanted to do in the world.

Happy new thread! And to be ahead of target on 3 out of 4 tickers for the year with a month to go has to feel good. Go Susan!! Raaaa!!!

>4 susanj67: Oh so very true. I have no kind of poker face at all.

Happy new thread, Susan.

Happy new one from me too.

Ditto from me :)

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Susan!

>4 susanj67: hah!

I like your list of series. I loved the Martin Beck series. It gets better as the series progresses.

>4 susanj67: - Same!

Happy new one!

>6 Helenliz: Thanks Helen! I'm pretty pleased with the ticker progress, as I didn't reach 75 NF last year.

>7 PaulCranswick:, >8 charl08:, >9 RebaRelishesReading:, >10 figsfromthistle: Thanks Paul, Charlotte, Reba and Anita!

>11 BLBera: Thanks Beth :-) I really need the series list to keep track of them all. There are so many out there.

>12 katiekrug: Thanks Katie. I will need all my "inside voices" this week.

This morning was so misty that Canary Wharf disappeared, and the river was dead flat and glassy. All it really needed was a sunset to be a Turner painting. But the mist cleared (ish) so this afternoon I walked to the Wharf for a paper and to return my library book. And, for those keeping track of my battle not to borrow the Mao book, it is *still* on the d*mned shelf at the library, tempting me, but nevertheless I resisted :-) I bought my paper at Waitrose, checked Boots for the masking brush that they say on their website that they stock but do not *in fact* stock, and got the bus home. 6,300 steps, so not bad. Yesterday at Westfield I bought the newest Lego ornament for my office Christmas tree, which will debut in just a week!



He's a toy soldier, and he will join the reindeer, log cabin and snowman that I already have. This year they also have a Santa and a penguin, but the penguin doesn't fit my "Woodland Christmas" theme, and I didn't like the colour of the gift that the Santa was carrying. I suppose, as I was in the Lego shop, I *could* have just bought the appropriate pieces in a different colour, but that didn't occur to me at the time. And I love the toy soldier anyway :-) I will make it tonight, while I watch something not very demanding on TV. I really need a seven-year-old I can outsource it to, but I don't have one.

I also snagged one of the new Revlon glosses (actually the "Ultra HD vinyl lip polish"), exclusive to Superdrug at this stage. I have to stop buying them. Glosses were so rare for a while in the days of matte, matte and more matte that I bought them when I saw them but they're coming back into fashion now and I still keep buying them. I checked out the new branch of The Works, which is a pretty decent size but seemed to be a bit light on books. I hope they're not going over to other stuff and losing the books. They had a giant stand of Frozen II merch at the front of the shop, so if there's a Frozen fan in your life then you should hasten over there. Waitrose also had a lot today, including a *castle*.

I'm making progress with Once Upon a River, but it's not really grabbing me. It's had such great reviews that I'll continue, though. Also it cost me 99p so of course I will :-)

A penguin, you say.... excuse me while I check out the Lego website.

>13 susanj67: Your ornament is darling. I didn't realize Lego made ornaments. As a child I asked for Lego (actually I don't think that brand existed yet but there were the same kind of blocks) every year for my birthday and Christmas. I got a tube of them early on but there weren't enough to build a house with (which is what I desperately wanted to do) so I kept asking and kept hearing "you don't play with the ones you have" and never got any more. When my son was little he had a HUGE collection of them and I loved playing "with him" with them :)

Happy new thread, Susan. You already got me with a BB. Targeted is now on my library hold list which is filled with nonfiction. Its too bad they take longer to read because my reserved books keep coming in batches. There is no limit on the number of books I can have on hold at my library. Just think of the trouble you could get yourself into!

Happy New Thread, Susan!

Happy new thread!

>14 charl08: Charlotte, I hope you found the penguin :-)

>15 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, they do a few ornaments every year. They come in a clear plastic sphere, so once they're made up they're safe from losing bits to curious little fingers :-) We had two lots of Lego when I was young - never enough to build what we wanted to, as you say! ETA this link to the US Lego site - maybe you could start a collection for little Q :-) https://www.lego.com/en-us/search?q=bauble You would have the fun of putting them together until he's old enough.

>16 Familyhistorian: Meg, Targeted is a pretty quick read, particularly for a NF. She tells the story really well. I believe my library has gone back to only ten reserves, which is both a backward step and a bit of a relief at the same time :-)

>17 ronincats: Thanks Roni! This is my last thread of the decade. Ooh :-) I'm sure we'll all be glad to start the Twenties, because it has a proper name at last. The past 20 years have been a bit confusing on that front.

>18 drneutron: Thanks Jim!

This morning my firm had a special viewing of the new Troy exhibition at the British Museum, so that was fun. The curator gave a talk as we walked through it, so there wasn't a lot of time to stop and look at things, but it's really well done (and the talk was good). It helps to know your Homer, but there's a section about modern interpretations of the Troy story that includes Women and Troy, and there's a quote painted on the wall from The Silence of the Girls, which I was glad to see.

Otherwise my week is going fantastically awfully. If anyone has any experience getting women's loos changed back from "gender neutral" (the men's, of course, are still just for men) then I'd love to hear from you.

>3 susanj67: Series reading: Very envious that you still have 9 books in the Charlie Resnick series and 9 in the Martin Beck series to go. Have you read Elly Griffiths' other series, mostly set in 1950s Brighton? #5 jumps forward a few years. The Stranger Diaries is also a great read - she didn't write it as the beginning of a new series but I would like to catch up with the detective character again. And I have the first book in a boarding school series that she's started for younger readers out of the library, A Girl Called Justice.

Do you now about this, Susan? The link goes to an external site because I couldn't find a touchstone on LT:

The Hero by Lee Child

>20 elkiedee: Luci, I haven't read the Brighton series by Elly Griffiths, but maybe I should start. I did read The Stranger Diaries and enjoyed it, but I couldn't help thinking that she could have used the time to write another Ruth Galloway book, particularly with all the different strands in that series being so busy. I hadn't heard of the children's one - the Amazon page looks good, though. I was a huge boarding school book fan when I was younger.

>21 rosalita: Julia, yes, I did know about it but thanks for posting the link :-) It's more a long essay than a book, sadly. And, once again, I'd rather he'd written 11,000 words of the next Jack book.

I've just borrowed four books from the library. I decided I couldn't deal with being erased *and* sugar-free *and* having no library books, so I picked the library books. I'm continuing my women's rights fight, but I'm not going to prevail today and I needed some quick comfort. So instead of a Snickers, I borrowed:

Maoism: A Global History, which was still on the new NF shelf
Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump, which is one of the books shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year prize
Island Stories: Britain and its History in the Age of Brexit
The Color Purple

The last one was from a huge display of the BBC's "100 Novels That Shaped Our World" https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/494P41NCbVYHlY319VwGbxp/explore-the-li... and a lot of them were brand new. (I still recommend the companion series from BBC2 which is now on the iPlayer). The Color Purple is part of the library's Core Collection, but is usually grimly filthy, so now I have a brand new one :-)

>23 susanj67: Well if it was a choice between breaking the no library books or the no sugar rule, you probably picked the right one to break. But commiserations anyway.

If it makes you feel better I am in no way, shape or form going to clear all of my library books before the beginning of December. I've decided I'm going to set that as a task for the end of the year, so that I can at least start the new year with an almost empty library loan list.

I have seen the intro show for "100 novels that shaped our world" and watched 2 of the series. It's not a good idea if you don't want to add more books to the list that need to be read. I've only read ~ 24, I think.

>13 susanj67: Love the Lego ornament, Susan. I got Scout the Lego Advent calendar.

>23 susanj67: you couldn't deal with being "erased"? What did I miss?

I admit I haven't read all your previous threads. I may be able to guess what you're referring to.

Look forward to hearing what you make of The Colour Purple. I have it on Kindle but think I have my old stripy spine Women's Press copy. Exactly what I have on those shelves is a bit hidden behind other books, mostly too many library books and a lot of short story anthologies (single author collections are shelved if they're lucky with other books by the author, but most are probably in boxes and piles with everything else, as I ran out of shelf space a couple of years after moving into this house in 1998).

>24 Helenliz: Helen, I'm glad I didn't cave on the sugar :-) It's five weeks today. Woo-hoo! The roomie says by eight weeks I should be out of the danger zone (i.e. thinking about biscuits) but I asked how to deal with never having anything to look forward to ever again and she laughed at me. Young People. There are only three episodes of the programme I mean, so you might have seen them all. I thought they were really well done, and should have been on earlier in the evening.

>25 BLBera: Beth, Scout will *love* the Lego Advent :-) I've just made up my toy soldier. It was quite hard, but I think I did it right. The instructions were a slightly different colour from all the pieces, which added a challenge.

>26 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, I mean the gender-neutral toilets. I really, really hoped that my firm wouldn't jump on the "woke" bandwagon, but it seems to have done just that. We are shortly supposed to be getting amendments to the Gender Recognition Act which will allow "self-ID", so any man who wants to terrorise or assault women can just say that he *is* a woman (because apparently it's all in the mind, not actual science or anything) and get access to spaces like toilets, changing rooms, women's refuges and other single-sex facilities (there have even been a couple of cases of violent male prisoners deciding that they were actually women, getting transferred to women's prisons and raping female inmates). Some organisations are trying to score woke points from the trans lobby by making facilities "neutral" now. John Lewis and Marks & Spencer, for example, say that people can use which ever changing rooms make *them* most comfortable, but they don't seem to care about the other people (i.e. women) who might already be in them. It essentially means that anything men want, however ridiculous, can just be taken off women and given to them. And we thought, in the West, that we were making such amazing progress with women's rights. Now we're going backwards.

>27 elkiedee: Luci, well now you'll know whether you guessed correctly :-) I should have read The Color Purple years ago, so I'm glad to get to it. They had all sorts of other great things in the display too, but I had the three NF books by then. I know what you mean about lack of shelves - it's one of the reasons why I almost never buy anything now except for Kindle. If I had all those in hard copy the flat would be full and I'd have to find somewhere else to live.

I've started the Mao book, and it's very readable indeed. I think I'm going to enjoy it *and* learn a lot. I wonder if I could cope with a bit of the Trump one before the TV thing at 9 that I want to watch. On balance, given the rage situation, probably not.

It's really interesting, Susan. Scout looks at the picture and makes it her way, doesn't follow directions. I was talking to my sister about that, and her engineer and architect sons were the same way. So, who knows where Scout's talent lies.

>29 BLBera: Beth, I am wedded to the instructions, which may be why I type stuff for a living instead of designing and building useful things :-) I watched my youngest nephew put something together when he was about 5, with no help from the instructions whatsoever and I was awed :-)

>29 BLBera: I find that interesting, I was once a scientist, and I'm a stickler for instructions. A natural follower of rules me (unless they're stupid, when I tend to rebel). Which might be why I'm now in Quality. The place where those with a pedantic turn of mind find like minded souls.

>31 Helenliz: Helen, admit it - you just like Stuff In Order. And there's nothing wrong with that :-)

Two announcements for UK LTers:

1. Look up Foyles on Twitter and see the gorgeous bookmark they are giving away with purchases for Christmas. So pretty!

2. The Secret Rooms is a Kindle Daily Deal today. It's excellent. And if you don't already have Black Diamonds, read that too :-)

>28 susanj67: Aaaand, what should turn up in my Twitter feed, but a Waterstones post for...a Harry Potter *Lego Advent* calendar.

>32 susanj67: Want One of Those! Shiny!

This Morning did a thing on advent calendars. Some beautiful ones, but some of them were so expensive!

>34 charl08: Yes, I think I'll have to find a Foyles and buy something. Because that makes economic sense :-) Apparently Harrods has a £104,000 Tiffany Advent, with a diamond-related present behind every door. A bit samey, I'd say. It's like a calendar full of matte lipsticks.

I splashed out on a tea advent calendar. I get a different variety of tea (to include herbal infusion things) every day. Because that's the kind of rock'n'roll life I lead. >:-)

>28 susanj67: Ah, I see. Never heard the term "erased" before. You certainly make some good points.

>36 Helenliz: Helen, did you get the Twinings one? It looks good. I bought the Holland & Barrett one. I'm going to put it in the office, but I've already taken out teabag 1 to have on Sunday :-)

>37 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks Reba.

A talk to Young People shortly, and then I have to be a pretend witness this afternoon. They always make me be the crabby one. I have no idea why.

>38 susanj67: No, I treated myself to the one from Teapigs. I adore their mint and chocolate tea, it's like drinking warm aftereights, without the calories. I like the way I get to sample all different tea types, without having to buy a whole box. As someone who actually isn't all that fond of ordinary tea (shhh, don't let on), it's been a revelation.

>39 Helenliz: Ooh, it looks great! (I don't understand why vegans would need the caramel one replaced with something else, though - isn't caramel just sugar? Now I am trying to think whether there is a variety of sugar that is derived from animals).

>40 susanj67: caramel is often made with cream, along with the excessive amounts of sugar. I am a fan of the Rooibos Creme Caramel, so that sounds like all the more for me. >:-)

>38 susanj67: Maybe you're the best actor?!!

I wouldn't have realised about the caramel. Good to know. I went to a vegan thing and they were talking about "true" vegans not wearing wool. I didn't realise that.

>41 Helenliz: Helen, yes, I see. Oddly, I was thinking about caramel being made by heating up a tin of condensed milk, but the whole "milk" thing passed me by :-)

>42 charl08: Charlotte, I just hope no-one tells NZ about the wool thing.

Yet another attack in London, and the Daily Mail is saying that two people have died. Heartbreaking. The knifeman was disarmed by some incredibly brave members of the public, though - amazing. No doubt he will be a member of the Religion of Peace, from a council house in Shadwell, with a giant family I am paying for, all known to the security services. And lessons will be learned. Sadly, not lessons that involve people being deported.

Well, so far we have:

Religion of Peace - check
Known to the police/security services - check. It seems he was a recently released convicted terrorist *wearing an ankle tag*. Because of course he was.

I'm just waiting now to see how much his awful family are costing us all.

The newspaper reviewers on Sky News were the most strident I've seen. It seems that the original attack took place at Fishmonger's Hall in the City, and he was chased out of the building by someone carrying a fire extinguisher and someone thought to be carrying a stick. Except it wasn't a stick. It was a narwhal tusk that the person grabbed from a display before they set off after him. "It makes you proud to be BRITISH" said the paper reviewer, pointedly.

The craziness continues. One of the "heroes" was a convicted murderer out on day release (he slashed the throat of a young woman with learning disabilities and a mental age of 15 and dumped her body in woods). Her family is horrified. However, his actions could conceivably see him sent back to serve his entire (life) sentence, instead of the bare minimum. Attacking someone in the street has *got* to be a breach of his day release conditions. And even thinking a mean thought about someone from the Religion of Peace is treated as a hate crime here, so attacking such a person is a double whammy. If the "computer says no" mentality of the public sector just looks at those two factors and nothing else, he's toast. And we're always being told about other decisions made by "the computer" which fail to take all relevant issues into account, so in this case it could actually work in favour of the law-abiding public. That would be a first.

It's day 1 of my Advent calendar, so I'm trying the turmeric and ginger* tea. It's pretty nice. The tea bags are pretty small, but the calendar was only cheap. I might not buy a whole box of this flavour but I'd try it again.

*Actually GREEN tea. Must pay more attention.

>45 susanj67: Maybe it's in an assorted box? One can hope.

>46 thornton37814: Lori, yes, maybe. That would be good. Actually it's turmeric and *green* tea, so I don't know why I typed "ginger" apart from it being quite early at the time :-)



185. Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump by Rick Reilly

This book is both terrifying and hilarious at the same time. By this, I mean that if you read it there will be a voice in your head going OMG!OMG!OMG! but you'll also be giggling at many of the outrageous stories about Trump and everything golf. It's very well done, and even though I know nothing about golf I really enjoyed it. Actually, it's probably a better read for the non-golfer than the golf fan, as true fans will be aghast at what he's done to their beloved game. The dedication is particularly appropriate:

"This book is dedicated to the truth. It's still a thing."

In other news, I joined Amazon Prime on Thursday night. I looked up a programme on the Fire stick early last week, to see how much it would cost to watch it. I didn't go ahead and click, but on Thursday an envelope from Amazon showed up in the mail, with a credit-card-sized card with my name on it, telling me that I could have a 30-day free trial. Now, they offer these trials from time to time - I've had Prime trials a couple of times before and I haven't continued with it. Part of me thought that the mailshot was over the top and they could have just emailed me. But half an hour later I'd signed up for Prime. Weird.

Anyway, I've started watching The Marvellous Mrs Maisel and Modern Family, and now Netflix is emailing me with suggestions, apparently jealous. I also have access to "Prime Reading", which is something different to Kindle Unlimited, and involves a selection of about a thousand books and magazines that I can borrow. But it doesn't say for how long. Does anyone know for hour long? Or can I only borrow one at a time?

OMG another email from Netflix arrived *as I was typing this post about Amazon*

Aaaaand, Amazon is fighting back by offering me three months at half-price after my trial, and then a lump sum of £79 per year. (The monthly payment here is £7.99 per month). Yes, I have signed up. I wonder what will happen next?

I can't find the answer to the Prime Reading question despite looking in all the legal-ish places, so if anyone knows then that would be great :-) I tried downloading a book last night to see if there were instructions about when it expires, but I couldn't see any. There's just a "return this book" option on the "Manage your content" page. But if I don't return it then it must return itself at some point. And now I have another book to read. Maybe I'd better get on with it...

I had apple and cinammon tea, on the grounds that as of 1st december it is acceptable to put cinammon in every drink. >;-)

No idea re Prime. Maybe it is Forever? Does it say anything in the "manage your content" option?

I found once I'd watched Mrs Maisel there wasn't much on Prime I really wanted to watch. The films and documentaries still seemed to come with a fee, which I could pay on google play (I bought a dongle) and not have to pay the monthly fee.* I liked not having to think about the postage but I am hoping that having to think about postage will cut how much I order from them.

*But this may well be I just wasn't looking properly!

I love The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Susan. Eagerly awaiting Season 3 which comes out in a few days.

Hope you enjoy it!

We've had Prime for mailing purposes for a few years now and Netflix comes with our phones so we have both but we watch Prime a lot more than Netflix. Especially Acorn and Britbox. I love them both.

>45 susanj67: A tea advent calendar! What a great idea.

>48 Helenliz: Helen, it is definitely the season for cinnamon :-)

>49 charl08: Charlotte, I think if it was forever it wouldn't say borrow, but they're very short on the type of nerdy legal detail that I like :-) I've found quite a bit of TV that I want to see, including all the series (I think) of Empire. I *love* that show! I followed it like a True Fan as it was broadcast, but then there was a series break during series 2 and I didn't realise it had started again, so I had to stop watching due to having missed episodes. Now I'm going to catch up on it all. I watched two episodes this afternoon :-)

>50 katiekrug: Katie, yes, I read something about season 3, so I'd better hurry up!

>51 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, the Starz channel also looks good for silly historical dramas :-) I'm eligible for a free month of that too (I think it can be separate from my Prime trial month) and then it's £4.99 a month. I'll watch everything else first :-) I can also access their Twitch gaming platform and get deliveries from Amazon Pantry. Wow. Anyone would think that Jeff Bezos was trying to take over the world :-)

>52 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita! I thought a different tea every day would be fun, as I don't have a beauty Advent this year. Instead, I bought myself one lovely thing. But I hankered after doors to open :-)

I've read about half of The Colour Purple this afternoon, and it's excellent. I'm also making good progress with the Mao book. All in all a successful booky weekend.

I don't think there's a time limit, Susan, but there is a limit on how many you can have downloaded at any one time. I think that's about 6.

>54 ronincats: Aha! Thanks Roni :-)

*Note to self: Must not download multiple books to see if the limit is the same in the UK as the US*

*Tempting, though*

My office Christmas tree is up, and looks gorgeous. I may be biased. I've also hung up my tea Advent from the picture rail in my office (with one of those little ornament hangers). Today's tea is moringa, but I'm currently having a latte, which I forgot to make in my Christmas mug.

>55 susanj67: My tea update is Chocolate flake tea, which I'll leave for the afternoon, as I don't drink milk in the morning. You'll need to describe what moringa tastes like, as that's not one I've come across before.

>56 Helenliz: Helen, it's hard to say what it tastes like...I didn't like it at first but I'm half-way through a mug now and it's OK. Not something I'll try again, though. Here's the low-down on moringa:
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-22401/10-powerful-benefits-of-drinking-moringa-e...

Off to the library in 49 minutes to return Commander in Cheat. Not that I'm counting, or anything. I shouldn't go too crazy as I have two ebooks which say they're "Available soon" after their hold suspensions ran out over the weekend. Ooh :-)

Homesick: Why I Live In A Shed by Catriona Davies
The Twittering Machine by Richard Seymour

But they're stamping till 23 December. From tomorrow, they're stamping into the New Year. Heh :-)

>58 susanj67: It can't be the end of the year already! And the end of the decade. Let's not play that game.

>59 Helenliz: Helen, I believe it is :-)

I told the library lady I'd be back for a giant spree once things were due back in the New Year. She looked slightly worried, as I now have *six* things out OMG.

>60 susanj67: I keep testing to see if I can get past Xmas on the online renewal. Although then I get thrown by the two day opening in between. Fun times.

>61 charl08: Charlotte, you might have a few days to go if you have days open in between. My library closes from lunchtime on Christmas Eve until 2 January (which is ridiculous in such a poor borough, where kids use the libraries for peace and quiet to do their homework and escape overcrowding) so I think I should be OK from today. And that's lucky, as Death in the East has just come in.

I've also got Tidelands from the elibrary (reserved ages ago, put on hold for No!vember).



186. Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

Hmmm. Much admired, but not by me. I didn't like The Thirteenth Tale either, but for some reason bought this from Amazon when it was 99p. It took me ages to read it because I simply didn't care what happened to any of the characters. But it's another one from Mount TBR, so I can move that ticker along a bit.

Yup, ours reopens on the 28th (switched over yesterday). Hope you enjoy Death in the East. I think I will pass on Once upon a River.

>63 charl08: Charlotte, you may well need new books by then :-)

Cheeto has got the 'ump, as we say here, and flown home early because Justin Trudeau was mean to him. Yes, there has been a Nato conference this week, but I'm not sure there were protests, as we have run out of steam. FLOTUS won the outfit prize last night, and today went to do something with schoolchildren. People seem to like her, but maybe it's just pity.

Do you mean that awful yellow thing she wore yesterday? Blech.

I don't pity her. And I sure don't like her.

I did love the video of Trudeau, Macron, et. al. talking smack, but cringed at the embarrassment of it as an American. *sigh*

My preferred candidate for President - Kamala Harris - dropped out yesterday and I'm back to feeling hopeless.

So, um, yeah. Was I supposed to bring sunshine here? Sorry...

>65 katiekrug: Katie, yes, about that sunshine... :-)

I thought the yellow thing was OK. It seemed to be a strange dress code, so it sort of fitted right in :-) This morning as I left the house the sky filled with helicopters. Well, OK, there were four. But everyone stopped in the street and looked up, in case one of them was Marine One. I saw that Harris had dropped out, but the coverage here tends to be Bernie Sanders and Pocahontas Elizabeth Warren, with a bit of Bloomberg thrown in. I'm not sure he's actually standing yet, though, is he?

Our own election is nine days away. My local Labour MP (who has been excellent for the constituency) is retiring, so we have a candidate put forward by Momentum (the hard left-wingers) who has circulated anti-Semitic material online and who is already being investigated for council house fraud. Mind you, none of that is particularly unusual in Tower Hamlets. I wanted to go and see her when she ventured down here to see people who won't vote for her, and ask if she'd ever had a proper job or had just worked for corrupt foreigners (she was the secretary to the former Mayor who was thrown out of office for corruption) but I knew I'd end up getting arrested and Priti Patel would deport me. You have to be careful if you're here with Indefinite Leave. Well, *some* of us do. Others get a totally free pass of course.

Today the inquests were opened for the two young people who were killed on Friday. They would be alive today if it wasn't for the political correctness that cripples the country.

Bloomberg is officially in. I saw an ad on TV produced by his campaign. I'm disappointed in him. I have liked him, generally, but I think it's nonsense that he's running.

I really don't like Sanders at all. I think he's a total phony. I don't hate Warren but she doesn't excite me like Harris did. I'll have to do more research and read up on her more, I guess.

A friend of mine, whom I greatly respect, is working for Buttigeig, and I like some things about him, but I think he'd be better as an "exciting"* VP pick.

I dunno. I might just sit back and see who wins the nomination and then vote for him/her, either holding my nose or not.

*wherein exciting just means not old, straight, AND male. It's a low bar.

So I had to come on here to get updated about the current news about the NATO conference. You are just so much closer to what is happening, Susan. Sorry to hear about the latest London Bridge incident and the young people who were killed.

I was wondering about the erased bit too. Thanks for asking for an explanation Reba. Those kinds of signs have been in some of our public buildings for a while but I have only looked at the women's washrooms not the men's although at the Vancouver Writer's Fest we women were able to go in either washroom which threw the men off because they weren't used to waiting.

>67 katiekrug: Katie, frankly it's a wonder we get any news at all about the Democratic candidates given the fascination with Cheeto :-) I hope there's someone you can support. I don't have anyone I can support, so it's all about tactical voting.

>68 Familyhistorian: Meg, I'm not really sure what the Nato conference was supposed to achieve, but at least it finished with only the Trump drama, and there is always drama with him so really it finished without incident :-)

The gender-neutral toilets issue is driving me mad. It's just one front in the broader men's rights movement, which seeks to erase biological women and make a "woman" just a state of mind. And the medical experimentation on children is chilling. The world will look back on it like we look back on lobotomies now, or foot-binding in China. I read an interesting article this morning which argued that it's a form of FGM, which is illegal here and accepted by multiple official bodies as a form of child abuse. (Apparently about two-third of referrals at the moment are girls). If it was being promoted to children in Africa there would be *uproar* but no-one dares to make the point here because they'll be called a TERF* or a Nazi or a transphobe. The (Western) world has gone completely mad. https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/11/25/gender-reassignment-the-wests-answer-to...

*Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist. Or, in other words, someone who believes in women's rights.

The Mail has a sweet article about FLOTUS's visit to a Salvation Army centre in London yesterday :-)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-7758823/Melania-Trump-receives-honest...

>70 susanj67: Let me see...what is it you call a woman who sells her body for money? As to Bloomberg -- "literally anyone besides Trump". Bloomberg is older than I would prefer and more centrist but if that's what it takes I'm in (I like Kamala too and Warren but don't their either is/was electable -- Buttigeig may be a viable option someday but he really needs more experience imho but, you're right Katie -- maybe an exciting VP candidate. Oh heavens, if this could only be over

>71 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, I think I saw a t-shirt somewhere that said "Absolutely anyone else", or something similar :-) I am very excited by the impeachment news. I know it's not the end, but maybe it's the beginning of the end.



187. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

I should have read this *years* ago. It's superb, and a must-read for everyone. Plus my copy from the library was brand new and clean (but its cover doesn't appear on LT so the one above is not mine). An excellent, brand-new book. What more does anyone really need?

>62 susanj67: I wasn't a huge fan of The Thirteenth Tale either, Susan. It sounds like I can pass on her new one. I trust your judgment.

>73 BLBera: Beth, I'm always worried when people trust me, but thank you!

Today is warmer than it looks. I was all prepared for a very cold walk to the Wharf but it wasn't cold at all. I went to Pret for an early lunch (if you're looking for a cheese toastie at the Wharf at the weekend, go to the Veggie Pret in the main mall, opposite Currys (it used to be an Eat)). The others just have the ham and tuna ones). Then I went to the library, where We Have Been Harmonised was waiting for me. There was also a trolley next to the reserves shelf with a whole lot of books with people's names on them, so I had a good look at that too. Maybe they've given up shelving the reserves. Who knows? I managed not to borrow anything else, and I returned The Color Purple, so I'm holding steady on the loans front.

Then I went to Waitrose for a Times, and £10 of other groceries in order to get the Times for free. That's not hard when the Christmas double issue of the Radio Times is available (£4.95 and now perfect bound because there are some jobs that are too big for staples). And then I got the bus home. I think the Wharf is about the only shopping mall safe to visit now until about February, as the Westfields will be absolutely packed. The Wharf doesn't have much in the way of kids' things, so it won't get as many (tiny, screaming) visitors. I'm not even sure if they're doing Santa's grotto this year.

I had yesterday as a day of holiday which I planned to spend reading non-stop, but it didn't quite work out like that. However, I made some progress. I'm a bit stuck on the Vietnam/Cambodia chapter of the Mao book, so I need to get through that today and on to another part of the world. The Africa chapter was very good. I think Vietnam/Cambodia are in my too-hard basket, along with Northern Ireland (albeit not for Maoism). There are some subjects that are so complicated that I'll never understand them.

I got one of the Xmas Foyles bookmarks posted to me Susan -really lovely.

>75 charl08: Charlotte, what a nice thing to arrive in the post!

I'm 80 pages away from finishing the Mao book. Maybe, just maybe...But I have to do some housework now, which involves the ironing and vacuuming with attachments. I vaguely considered going to the new exhibition at the Wallace Collection but I didn't get up in time to go in to the West End before five million shoppers descended on it, so I'll go another time. https://www.wallacecollection.org/whats-on/exhibition-forgotten-masters-indian-p...

She Said has arrived at the library for me, so that's exciting. I think I'll give up on Island Stories because the first bit was a bit meh and then it got a really bad review in yesterday's Times.

188. Maoism: A Global History by Julia Lovell

This is my 75th NF book of the year, and it is *excellent*. It's not a subject I'd given any thought to, but I liked the look of the cover, and then it won the Cundill Prize. It looks at how Maoism spread to other countries in the world and was interpreted in those countries. Who knew, for example, that it was so big in Peru? The chapters look at various different regions (Africa, "Indochina" (Vietnam/Cambodia), the West) or specific countries (Peru, India, Nepal, Indonesia), and it's a really good read. It ends with a look at the legacy of Mao in China today. The hard copy is a beautiful book, too, with the really expensive paper and four sets of colour plates.

I flipped through We Have Been Harmonised earlier and saw references to Mao, so I think it will be useful to know what I do when I read that one.

And on the subject of history, here's an article from History Today in which nine historians select their favourite books of the year.

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/review/books-year-2019

75 non-fiction books this year--that is AMAZING, Susan!! Congratulations!

>79 ronincats: Thanks Roni! I'm pleased that #75 was such a good one, too :-)

There are a couple of great Kindle bargains available today (maybe for longer):

The first is Bad Blood by John Carreyrou, which is about Theranos, the amazing company that, um, wasn't.

And the second is the James Pope-Hennessy biography Queen Mary. This was out of print until the very entertaining The Quest for Queen Mary was published recently (it's about the writing of the biography) and now it's back in Kindle format. I'm about half-way through The Quest for Queen Mary so I was delighted to find the actual biography itself for 99p.

189. Tidelands by Philippa Gregory

This is a really good read, set in England 1648, as the country wonders what to do about Charles I. But London is far away for the characters in this book, which is set on the coast of Sussex, in the tidelands. It features Alinor Reekie, a midwife and healer whose husband has deserted her, leaving her to bring up their children alone. But very quickly her life changes...

This is the first in a new series, which I didn't realise when I started it. It seems to take a while to get going, but not when you see it as part of a series. It's pretty new, though, so it will be months before the next one. I want more story! And I want it now!

Hi Susan - just pausing to say hello!

I had heard of Tidelands but didn't think much of it. You are making me want to add it to the WL... Bad Susan!

I have Tidelands from the library. It's been out a few months I think. I'm juggling reservations at the moment, and it's taking me a while to read them, so it may be that I have to return this and rejoin the queue again....

>82 susanj67: Sounds like that's a series I may want to try!

ETA: Discovered it's already on my wish list for Overdrive/Libby.

>82 susanj67: tempting... I grew up on that stretch of the south coast (although the New Forest to the White cliffs is a pretty long stretch!) next to the sea, well next to the muddy bit 'twixt land & sea. It's a definite maybe from me.

>83 katiekrug: Katie, I *am* a bad influence :-)

>84 elkiedee: Luci, I found that it read pretty quickly, once I started it.

>85 thornton37814: Lori, we think alike! I reserved it from the elibrary a while ago but suspended the hold last month or I would have had it sooner.

>86 Helenliz: Helen, I just looked up the island in the book, which was "Sealsea", and it's a real place (now Selsey): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selsey

>82 susanj67: Oh Susan, don't tempt me!! Oh well, maybe I can get it as an ebook -- it sounds like a good travel read.

OK, I caved (didn't take long did it?) and now it's on my iPad waiting for a trip.

>87 susanj67: Well I know where that is. OK, that bumps it up to maybe a definite.

>88 RebaRelishesReading:, >89 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, it's your birthday, so just consider it a birthday buy :-) It will be a good one for a long flight.

>90 Helenliz: Helen, that's nearly a clean sweep of everyone!

I just gave Booky Work Friend a tour of my Christmas tree in the office. Remember last year when I bought the goat ornament and all y'all thought it was a dog?



Well, it turns out that BWF *also* thinks it's a dog. Darn it! "Srsly," she said, "how is that a goat?" I explained that it *just was*, so she took a picture of it to seek more views.

Tidelands looks good.

That ornament was a dog last year, and it remains a dog even if I zoom in on the image. I think it would need vertical-pupil eyes to definitely look like a goat to me. It's a very cute dog, though!

You didn't get me with a BB for Tidelands because it is already on my library wishlist, so someone else beat you to it.

>91 susanj67: I'd say that is a dog, Susan.

On the subject of the ornament, I agree with the remarks of the previous speakers; that ain't no goat.

Could we have a picture of the doggoat ornament 'on tree'? Maybe that would help? #teamdog

>92 rosalita: Julia, but what about the bell round its neck, hmmm? Classic goat.

>93 Familyhistorian: Meg, not you too!

>94 Helenliz: Helen, I refer you to my bell comments, above.

>95 charl08: Charlotte, maybe later, but if there's an actual #teamdog now then I'm unlikely to change your mind...



190. Homesick: Why I Live in a Shed by Catrina Davies

This book has got a lot of praise in the UK, and as a memoir of the author's decision to live in a shed to save money and not have to work all the time, it works. But it's also partly a polemic about the cost of housing in the UK and haw crazy it is and how Boris Johnson is evil. It works less well on that front. There are a couple of vague references to the author having a "good degree" and then it turns out that the good degree is from CAMBRIDGE. She's literally one of the most privileged people on the planet. Despite that, she's worked only minimum wage jobs, which she hates. And yes, housing *is* crazily expensive in many parts of the UK (she lives in a touristy part of Cornwall, which doesn't help) but I don't think it's ever been the case that nice houses just dropped into people's laps for doing nothing because "the system is so unfair and jobs are rubbish" (I paraphrase). The baby boomers may now be sitting on houses worth a fortune, but most of them have toiled for *decades* in jobs that they probably hated, and with interest rates far, far higher than they are now. That always seems to be overlooked by people who want a "fulfilling" job (or not to have to work at all) *and* all the nice things. My sympathy is with people who've had no opportunities and are really stuck, and not with people like the author, who needs to pull herself together.

I just pointed to the goat on my Christmas tree and asked the roomie what it was.

"It's a dog," she said.

What is Wrong With People.

What.

I think the issue with the ornament is the tail. I've never seen a goat with a tail that long. Also, the coloring just screams dog...

Maybe you could just pretend it's a goat-dog hybrid, born of an illicit, inter-species love, and then everyone is happy :)

>91 susanj67: I wa just scrolling down to comment on the tail -- I agree Katie, never seen or heard of a goat with a tail that was more than a little stub -- but, yes, why not a hybrid. There are mules and ligers so why not a "doat" or a "gog"?

>98 katiekrug: Katie, this is what happens when you read Christmas romance novels :-)

>99 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, well, maybe. I like "doat". The roomie has left now, so I can't try it out on her.

It's the election here today, and the news is reporting long queues at polling stations. But when I went to vote this morning, there was a long queue because there was only one person handing out the ballot papers. Usually there are two tables so the queue moves twice as fast. It will be interesting to see whether the turnout is really that much bigger than other elections once it's all over, or whether polling station organisers just couldn't find enough people with only six weeks' notice.

The polls close at 10pm but I won't be staying up to see the count. My constituency always takes days anyway, because they're hopeless. And at least once in the past they've had to stop the count and move it into premises here on the Wharf where there is proper security. We also have a police officer at every polling station in the area, because certain locals can't be trusted not to intimidate people and create mayhem.

I had originally only offered "doat" but then thought perhaps there should be more choice so went back and added "gog"

Best of luck with your election. It will be interesting.

I went postal this time - for voting I mean. >;-) So I missed out on my main source of fun on election day, winding up pollsters. A girl's got to get her kicks somehow.

I've been enjoying the #dogsatpollingstations hashtag on Twitter. There are some very cute doggos in the UK!

>101 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, we finally have a result and a large majority for the Tories, so we might now move out of the "round and round in circles" phase that's taken up the last 3.5 years.

>102 Helenliz: Helen, I didn't see any pollsters this time. Or anyone outside at all. Maybe they were scared away by the police presence.

>103 rosalita: Julia, the dogs at polling stations photos are quite a thing here :-) I did see one photo in an Evening Standard gallery with a horse, though. It reminded me a bit of WeRateDogs and their "We only rate dogs. Please don't send us photos of..." except it wasn't a dog :-) But there were lots of very good boys and girls, waiting patiently for their humans to vote.

I took Homesick back to the library last night, and saw Lost Children Archive in the new fiction. I know I've seen someone on LT mention it - maybe Beth? Anyway, it looks good.

The BBC History magazine has published its list of the 37 best history books of the year. https://www.historyextra.com/magazine/history-books-year-2019-christmas-gift-gui...

I'm not sure why they settled on 37 but they mostly look excellent and I want them all. All except the Mao one, which I've already read :-)

>105 susanj67: One was already on my wish list. I added a few others.

>106 thornton37814: Lori, I am being such a bad influence this week! I'm glad you found something tempting. I wishlisted some at the library and reserved a couple immediately :-)

>107 susanj67: Well, at least you were hit by your own book bullet.

>105 susanj67: Trying to be strong. I understand that I am supposed to be able to see the floor in my bedroom...

>108 thornton37814: Lori, that's true :-)

>109 charl08: Charlotte, I'm not sure about being able to see the floor, but maybe worry if you seem to be quite close to the ceiling when you walk around.

I have just filed my tax return. Yass!!!! HMRC has given up their "nudge" behaviour and moved onto "incessant nagging". I get an email nearly every day reminding me that my tax return is due (at the end of January). And yet today when I logged on it said that I had to confirm my email address, as if they don't email me *every blooming day*. I may have said that to the screen. You also now need a "recovery word", which they advise writing down (!) and they send login codes by text, so it's quite a business before you can even enter any figures. But eventually I got through it, and now it is done. Aaaaaah.

This morning I went to Westfield, which was not as crazy as I expected, but then a lot of people probably won't be paid until Friday, so I'm not going there next weekend. I was later than usual because my brother rang me to discuss his trip to the UK next year - he is coming in March for a course for work and staying on for a few days, so we were discussing Arrangements and making a Plan. Dad would be proud :-)

>109 charl08: floors are overrated. >;-)

>110 susanj67: hurrah for plans! We went food shopping today (don't usually, but been othjerwise occupied most of the weekend) and it seemed like the world and his wife was in Tesco's. *shudder*

>111 Helenliz: Helen, you were brave to venture into Tesco :-)

I went to the Wallace Collection, to see their new exhibition "Forgotten masters: Indian Painting for the East India Company", which is excellent. https://www.wallacecollection.org/whats-on/exhibition-forgotten-masters-indian-p... Definitely worth a visit if anyone's in London.

And I've just ordered the Christmas presents for New Zealand, so that is Christmas (and my brother's birthday) DONE. Yay! I've had a very productive weekend indeed.

Wow, taxes done AND presents done!! Kudos to you, Ma'am. How nice that your brother is coming for a visit (even though he'll be working while there it counts as a "visit" doesn't it?).

>113 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks Reba! Yes, part of my brother's trip will be roaming around like a tourist. He's doing a qualification through work and the course is part of the third and final year (it's not compulsory, but the pass rate is significantly higher for the people who do it) so he's combining it with a few extra days in London. He'll be here for about ten days in all. He and my sister-in-law lived here for a couple of years in the mid-90s, so he'll notice huge changes.

I've started Death in the East after my visit to the exhibition this morning and it's going well so far.

>105 susanj67: You are a total enabler, Susan, but, sadly, my library doesn't have some of those titles. I did find myself hitting the "for later" button repeatedly, though. I really should go through that list sometime soon.

Sorry to hear about the results of your election. Planning a London visit with your brother sounds like fun.

>115 Familyhistorian: Meg, I have a "for later" collection of book reviews in an envelope. I'm almost too scared to look inside it :-)

Apparently it is snowing up North, but down here in the soft South it looks like quite a nice day. I might get some steps in at lunchtime if it stays clear.

I started The Twittering Machine last night, which is about the terrible influence of social media on the sanity of the world.

From a meeting at which coding came up:

Me: "There's a good episode of "Explained" on Netflix which looks at coding. They have all sorts of subjects."

Lawyer from upstairs who I don't really know: "Do you have to watch the whole series in order first?"

Me (after a pause): "It's just the one episode."

Me (in my head): WANNA BE MY BEST FRIEND??!!

>117 susanj67: - LOL, Susan!

So, Susan, have you laid in your holiday reading?

>118 katiekrug:, >119 katiekrug: Hi Katie!

My Christmas reading is currently:

Hard copy

The Twittering Machine (actually due back on Tuesday) - started
Death in the East - started
We Have Been Harmonised
She Said
Lost Children Archive
Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy
Chances Are

Ebooks

Catilina's Riddle - started
The Alchemist's Secret

I don't think any more reserves will come in now :-(

>121 katiekrug: - I am eager to hear what you think of She Said. I won't get to it until the new year.

That list should keep you busy, at least until Christmas Eve ;-)

>121 katiekrug: I am also looking forward to She Said. I seem to have stopped reading in the last few days, for which I blame the lure of Alphabetty Saga and all the TV. I'm re-watching a series that was on a couple of years ago, which has a series 2 screening over Christmas. I thought I'd never seen the first one, but it is eerily familiar. So either I didn't see all of it (which is unlikely, given my love of Order), or it wasn't very memorable. Vexing.

>120 susanj67: That seems very restrained, Susan! We Have Been Harmonised is unlikely to make for cheery reading (but fascinating, nonetheless).

Did you see William Dalrymple has reviewed a new book about the Arab Spring? Sounds interesting. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/18/buried-life-death-revolution-egypt...

Just watching the news report of the gingerbread city at Somerset house. Hope they're keeping everyone well back - it looks amazing.

>123 charl08: Charlotte, I hadn't seen that review, but the book looks very good. Thank you! I hadn't seen the gingerbread city either. I hope they have lots of it available in the shop, because just looking at the pictures makes me hungry :-)

I just arrived at the office and found two wrapped presents on my chair. Different paper, but the wrapping style tells me that they're from the same person. But there's no card or other indication of who they're from *awks*. They seem (from their shape, weight and slight bendiness) to be books. One may be for my birthday, in which case I want to save it. But I also need to thank whoever they're from. If I open one and there's still no indication then I have to open the other one. One has cream paper with gold stars on it (in glitter). The other one has line drawings of animals with party hats on, but nothing about Christmas. So either one could be for either day. aaaargh. Advice pls.

Well, holding each package away from me, I undid one edge of the wrapping to feel inside (without looking, and spoiling the surprise), and there is no card in either one. But one may be a box of something, and not a book.

Also, I am covered in glitter.

I gave in and opened one, and they are from Booky Work Friend. The one I opened was Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland and we have been discussing her recent reading about the Troubles. It won the George Orwell Prize for Political Writing, and it looks very good. I'm leaving the other one wrapped up :-)

Lovely time of the year isn't it, Susan?

I have to say I have so enjoyed reading your threads this year - good sense, good reading and plenty of smiles. Have a wonderful weekend.

Hi, Susan! Book presents are the best presents! Good on your BWF. I had Say Nothing out from the library but it disappeared from my Kobo before I could get to it. I still want to read it someday. The author was interviewed on one of my favorite podcasts (Why Is This Happening?) and it piqued my interest.

I've just finished a nonfiction book I think you'd like: The Prodigal Tongue: The Love-Hate Relationship Between American and British English. It's written by an American linguist who is now a professor at Sussex University, who also has a blog called Separated by a Common Language.

>127 PaulCranswick: Paul, yes it is a nice time of year. There are kids running around the mall with balloon animals, so one of the firms has just had their children's Christmas party :-) Thank you for your kind words about my threads. It has been a vexing year in many ways, so I'm hoping 2020 is perhaps a bit calmer.

>128 rosalita: Julia, I'll have a look for that podcast. Norther Ireland is in my "too hard" basket so BWF is helping me to understand it. I was excited to see The Prodigal Tongue in the elibrary catalogue, but it turns out to be a different book (!). I've reserved the correct one.

It's official - Christmas has now started. The Queen took the train to Norfolk this morning. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-7813531/The-Queen-way-start-winter-br... I love seeing this story every year :-)

Say Nothing is on my library WL and has gotten rave reviews around here, so I am eager to get to it. Maybe next year - which is suddenly very soon!!

>139 charl08: Katie, I had never heard of it! But yes, next year is pretty soon. The new roaring twenties. Yay!

I'm gonna get a pixie cut and wear dresses with beads and bangles! And learn to dance the Charleston....

>131 susanj67: It's very good, Susan. Def recommended.

>129 susanj67: The podcast is hosted by Chris Hayes, who is an anchor on MSNBC (the left-leaning cable news channel over here). He always has the most interesting guests and discussions.

I'm glad you weren't snookered by the wrong Tongue!

>126 susanj67: After reading Say Nothing I had a much better understanding of the troubles in Northern Ireland. It also gave me some context for what I had seen when I was in Ireland. We visited Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin when we were there and there was a reenactment of the speech given by Patrick Pearse. He is also mentioned in the book so I have a better understanding of what I heard there, as well.

Booky Work Friend sounds like a good one.

>132 katiekrug: Katie, that all sounds most excellent!

>133 charl08: Thanks Charlotte!

>134 rosalita: Thanks Julia - I've found the main page for the podcast so I'll investigate. There are some really interesting ones listed.

>135 Familyhistorian: Meg, a much better understanding is exactly what I need. It's such a huge topic that it's hard to find a way into it.

It is alternating between bright sunshine and rain here, which is my excuse for getting the bus to and from the Wharf to go to the supermarket. M&S was nearly empty - perfect. I planned to go to Waitrose too but I didn't have any carrying capacity left, so maybe tomorrow.

I'm closing in on finishing The Twittering Machine, so that's my reading goal for today, and maybe a bit more of Death in the East.

191. The Twittering Machine by Richard Seymour

The "twittering machine" in the title refers to a painting by Paul Klee, and not specifically to Twitter, as the author looks at social media as a whole and how it has made us word hard so that our information can be sold as a commodity by the tech giants. He looks at the problems (addiction, trolling, lying, extremism) and the urgency of doing something about it. It's a good read. LT is now my only form of "social media" (and actually it lacks many of the features that make the other kinds so destructive) and I am fine with that :-)

I walked to the Wharf this morning (yay!) to return The Twittering Machine and go to Waitrose. There were about 5,000 people there, but at least they had all the tills open. Maybe other people have started to ring up from the queues and complain :-) Back now, and I really must read something.

Yesterday I signed into Netflix on my Fire stick, (instead of the app on the TV) and got a fancy new interface but *no time* between episodes. The TV app has a 15 second countdown, which gives me time to find the remote and turn it off. But last night I got sucked into five episodes before I knew where I was. Dangerous!

Then I got an email from Netflix saying that someone had signed into my account from Waltham Forest, but there was a note that WF might not be the actual location. I am MILES from Waltham Forest, so goodness knows what they were using to work out where I was. Anyway the email said the sign-in was from a "streaming stick" so I decided that it would be a huge co-incidence if someone in Waltham Forest had hacked my account at the very moment I signed in on the stick for the first time :-) I think I prefer the app on the TV, but it's useful to be signed in on the stick just in case the TV app gives up the ghost. The TV is 6+ years old, which is probably geriatric in tech terms.

>138 susanj67: That sounds like the time I was told someone signed in from Preston (same county, but that's about it).Scary tech in a whole different way to >137 susanj67:

Tried to explain panto this morning.
(Oh no I didn't. ..)
Why do you boo? (Er..)

>139 charl08: Charlotte, it makes me amused when I read things about how the tech companies know *everything* about us. Not quite everything...Maybe you could explain panto to me next time I see you? :-)



192. Death in the East by Abir Mukherjee

This is book 4 in the excellent series about Captain Sam Wyndham and Sergeant Surendranath Banerjee of the Calcutta police. But Sgt Banerjee only appears towards the end of this one, which sees Sam in Assam, and lots of flashbacks to Whitechapel in 1905 and one of his earliest cases. "Death in the East" refers mostly to the East End of London, although there are mysteries to solve in Assam too.

Tech companies may know a lot about us, but there's a lot they don;t know. I got a repeated ad for Long Tall Sally. It's a dress shop for women over 5ft 10 or some such ridiculous height, and shoes in a size 8 and over.
.
.
.
I'm 5ft 2 and take a size 4 shoe. I'm not long, not tall and not called Sally. So that's 3 strikes.

>139 charl08:. I couldn't even begin to. One of my (many) most embarassing childhood memories was a panto. My dad always used to cheer the baddie (no, I've no idea why either). One year we went to a theatre that had an apron stage. Baddie comes on, entire audience dutifully boos, with the exception of my father, who cheers. Baddie walks to mid stage, turns 90 degrees to face my father, bows, says "Thank you Sir" turns to face front and continues. I wished the world would open and swallow me up whole.
I think it's amazing I turned out as well as I did, all things considered.

>141 Helenliz: Helen, ahem - point of order: 5ft 10 is not a ridiculous height :-) (But my feet are a size 5. "You are so tall but your feet are so small" said a lady in the John Lewis shoe department recently). I have never had the Long Tall Sally ad, but what irritates me is ads for stuff that I've already bought. I know that the ad system can't know, but there should be some way of telling it. I've either bought the thing or I've decided against it, and in neither case do I need ads for it. We didn't have panto in NZ...which, on balance, I'm quite glad about :-)

193. She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey

This is the story of how the New York Times broke the Harvey Weinstein story back in 2017, and how it started the new version of the #metoo movement. The last part of the book is about the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford in the Supreme Court nominations hearing, and that is less interesting but it's still an excellent read overall.

>142 susanj67: No panto?! I did find some comic videos made by US theatres putting on pantos, trying to explain what to expect. What amused me about the kids I took was that they didn't realise the ugly sisters were men, but looking at the programme and the actors' photos were totally unfazed by it. Clearly this was not the most bonkers English thing they've come across.

Happy Christmas to all my visitors :-)

Sky's breaking news is showing Prince Philip leaving hospital (in a suit and tie - "I don't think we'll ever see him wearing a shell suit", said the commentator) and now he's in a helicopter flying back up to Norfolk.

Question of the day: Where is a helipad within a five-minute drive of the King Edward VII hospital? Maybe in Regent's Park? Maybe where Marine One lands when the President is here? Surely a talking head will address this soon.

>144 charl08: Hi Charlotte! No panto. I knew what it was, but I'd never seen one. In fact I still haven't seen one. Oh no I haven't...

In more royal news, there is much cuteness in the Sussexes' Christmas card: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50901576

Or in other words, Happy Christmas! And have a great New Year as well.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas, Susan. May it be filled with books that always come in the right order.

>148 SandDune: Thanks Rhian! Happy Christmas!

>149 Helenliz: Thank you Helen :-) Books in order are *exactly* what I wanted for Christmas :-)



194. We Have Been Harmonised by Kai Strittmatter

I saw this reviewed and then mentioned by Charlotte, so I reserved it. It's a superb read, but chilling - all about how China under Xi Jinping is cracking down on the very limited freedoms that China enjoyed for a few years, and, at the same time, is trying to take over the world. It's subtitled "Life in China's Surveillance State", but it's about more than surveillance, because one of the author's points is that if people *think* they're being watched and judged, they will change their behaviour even if they're not. Very highly recommended - this is one of the best NF books I've read this year.

>149 Helenliz: Tee hee.

>150 susanj67: Basks in the knowledge that I recommended this.

Hope you have a relaxing day.

>151 charl08: Charlotte, some basking is definitely warranted - it was *so good*! I am having a relaxing day - I might finish a novel next. Or watch The Crown. Or sort out endless book review supplements. The neighbours have People, but they are not being noisy (I heard them arrive, via the stairs, which makes me think the lift is broken again). I don't think the Clompingtons are up.

195. Catilina's Riddle by Steven Saylor

This is from the "Roma Sub Rosa" series, set in ancient Rome. Main character Gordianus the Finder has relocated to the country after inheriting a farm, and lives there with his adopted son, Meto (from book 2) and his wife Bethesda and their daughter Diana. But headless bodies keep turning up, and then the charismatic Catilina appears...

There's lots of Roman politics in this, but I enjoyed it despite not knowing a huge amount about Rome. I really need a giant series to get to grips with it all. I read the first one in the seven-book series by Colleen McCullough years ago but couldn't (easily) get the others. But now the elibrary has them all...Or there's the Robert Harris trilogy. Once again, too many choices.

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, some other tradition or none at all, this is what I wish for you!

Thank you for keeping me company in 2019.......onward to 2020.

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

>154 ronincats: Thank you Roni!

>155 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul!

>156 AMQS: Thanks Anne!

Today is my birthday, so I opened the second package from BWF and it's R F Foster's Modern Ireland, 1600 - 1972. We were discussing this recently and it sounds good, although quite a project. However, I'm not exactly a stranger to giant NF books :-)

I've started a new Christmas/Birthday tradition, which is to start a new series on each day. Yesterday I read half of book 1 in Scott Mariani's Ben Hope series, The Alchemist's Secret which so far involves a lot of breathless running around (in France) in search of an old formula for longer life. There are also lots of guns. And today's series start is going to be The Last Kashmiri Rose, which is a detective series set "in the last days of the Raj" although it's 1922 so "last days" is a bit of an exaggeration.

A very happy birthday to you, Susan! A new series started every day for how long?! I'm breathless just thinking about it. :-)

Happy birthday Susan! Hope you have a good day.

Happy birthday, Susan. Sounds like you are going to be busy with Irish history for a while!

>158 rosalita: Thanks Julia! Just the two days, but you've given me an idea for my retirement...

>159 Helenliz: Thanks Helen :-)

>160 charl08: Thanks Charlotte :-) Yes, I may finally Learn About Ireland.

The Overground is running for the first Boxing Day in the history of ever, so I went to Westfield. There were *dozens* of police all over the place, and even a knife arch outside. Holy moly. I had lunch at the upstairs food hall, and went to the M&S food hall, which was my plan, but otherwise I was pretty glad to get out of it. At least, I was until I got to Canada Water again to wait for the Overground (which is running only every 15 minutes) and an aggressive beggar was roaming around ranting about Boris Johnson and calling everyone names. He got on the train (I walked up to the other end) so I sent a text to the British Transport Police to report him, but the staff at the station must have seen him for ten minutes on their CCTV and they did nothing.

So I'm pretty pleased to be home again, all things considered. I'm going to finish the Scott Mariani, in which someone has "laughed a musical laugh" (oh dear) and start Chernobyl before I start my birthday series. Busy busy busy :-)



196. First Bite: How We Learn to Eat by Bee Wilson

I borrowed this from Prime Reading just after I signed up, and I've been reading it on my very short commute so it's been a slow one. However, it's really good. The author looks at how we learn to eat, and how we might, if we want to, change that. A lot of it will be particularly interesting to people with young children but it's relevant to everyone, particularly if you'd like to expand your repertoire of foods but you find yourself a bit stuck *raises hand*. There's another one (maybe a sequel?) called The Way We Eat Now, so I'll keep an eye out for that.

197. The Alchemist's Secret by Scott Mariani

This is the first in a series about Ben Hope, a former member of the SAS who now rescues kidnapped children due to a Dark Secret in his past. But this one's not actually about a kidnapping - instead, he has to run around France trying to find a secret formula written down by an alchemist. Lots of baddies are also after the formula, and everyone is being chased by a French detective who can't believe the body-count and is, in the way of French people in books written by Brits, gloomy and embittered.

There's a strong Dan Brown influence, and I was reminded also of the Steve Berry series, but this was a decent enough read and there are lots of others in the series so yay!

Happy Birthday, Susan!

First Bite sounds interesting. We are currently visiting my SIL/BIL and their 3-year old is a pretty picky eater. How does he not get tired of applesauce, peas, and chicken nuggets?!?!

Anyway, I like the idea of starting new series as a gift to oneself. I may do that for my birthday in April :)

calm and I could use some friends over here in this new joint...

The 2020 Group is up!

First order of business for today is to wish my Hubby happy birthday -- second order is to wish YOU a very happy birthday!! I hope you both have lovely days.

>163 katiekrug: Thanks Katie! Little Charlie is doing well with the peas at least, and the applesauce if it's not sweetened. The trick seems to be introducing just a tiny taste of something over multiple days, until the child gets used to it (unless they have a real phobia of specific foods, in which case there is a different thing to do). I hope you're having lots of fun with the world's best dog, and the humans :-)

>164 drneutron: Jim! OMG! Thank you :-)) I'll be right over.

>165 RebaRelishesReading: Thank you Reba! I'm headed over to your thread to wish MrReba a happy day.

Oooh, belated Happy Birthday wishes, Susan!!

>167 ronincats: Thanks Roni!

Two of the borough's libraries are open today, so it's tempting to go to Whitechapel and return the three books I've finished. Maybe too tempting...

I bought myself the first series of Succession as a birthday present yesterday - it's available via Amazon and I now have something in my Amazon video library. I wasn't aware that I *had* a video library, but it's just like buying digital music. In other words, MAGIC. But it did mean that I watched the first three episodes last night instead of reading anything. Oops.

I went up to Whitechapel and returned my books and then had a look around. It's the biggest library but it's a horrible place - gloomy and stinky and the stock is mostly in a shocking condition. But I did see Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age in the new paperbacks and then I found the hardback upstairs, untouched by the chain-smoking nose-pickers, so I borrowed it. I made myself stick to just the one thing as it's pretty long, but it looks really good. I took a chair over to their China section to have a good look at what they had, so now I know :-)

I want to read the Frank Dikotter trilogy about Mao, but I think I'll have to buy it to get clean copies.

Ooh, the elibrary turns out to have the first two in the Dikotter trilogy, so that's excellent. I've just clicked "Recommend" on the third one so they might buy it too.

I've read the first three chapters of the Chernobyl book (which, amazingly, I found on the shelf even though the ebook has a minimum four-week wait) and nearly half of The Last Kashmiri Rose (which is not set in Kashmir, although I knew that). I need to start The Lost Children Archive tomorrow as it's due back on Thursday next week.

>78 susanj67: I haven't heard of any of the history books; obviously I need to read more. :) The Country House Library sounds interesting.

>82 susanj67: Tidelands goes on my 2020 list.

>96 susanj67: She sounds irritating. You make choices, right?

>91 susanj67: If the snout were longer and the tail shorter, it would look more like a goat.

>104 susanj67: I did love Lost Children Archive, but I think it got a lot of love here on LT.

Hope your holidays are happy!

>171 BLBera: Hi Beth!

I think you will like Tidelands, although I say that cautiously after The Secrets We Kept...

And I agree re the Homesick book - there are definitely things to be written about the housing situation, but not by this author. I read something a while ago by a US writer complaining about her minimum-wage job at Amazon (or somewhere similar) and she turned out to have an MA from Berkeley. Yeesh.

I have been out, but only to the Wharf for a few things at Waitrose and a paper. There are no knife arches there. This afternoon I need to tackle all the book review supplements that are piling up. I'll have to try and find a 1980s music countdown on TV or the radio, and then my happiness will be complete :-)

>172 susanj67: Hoping you find what you're looking for. I made it to Waitrose this morning - needed some greaseproof paper, as I'm steaming Christmas puddings. And that's the rest of my day taken care of!

>173 Helenliz: Helen, for some reason the Now That's What I call Music! 1980s channel on Freeview has been turned into a Christmas channel, but there's a radio tuner app on the Fire stick, and it has Absolute 80s. Whew!

Number of bookish supplements scanned so far: Seven.

Number of interesting-looking books (using very strict criteria, and not counting things I'm likely to see at the library anyway): Five.

>174 susanj67: Only five? Wow. Bonus points for self control there, Susan.

>175 charl08: Well, some of the supplements are a bit old, so they have books that I've already read :-) The Times does a lot of war stuff that doesn't interest me, so it's not as dangerous as some others. That said, I have just reserved or wishlisted four out of five thrillers from a recent round-up. Heh. Maybe I should stop now and read something.

NY Times published a list of 100 books to read from 2019 the other day. I haven't had the courage to look at it yet.

>177 RebaRelishesReading: Reba, well, good luck when you do :-) This weekend's papers are starting to look at what's coming out in 2020. I don't think we can ever catch up :-)

Netflix seems to have detected that I am cheating on it with a series I bought from Amazon, because it's just sent me an email *packed* with suggestions. I am going to email my former pretend-boyfriend Elon and tell him to pause the whole colonising Mars thing and work out a way to add some more weekend to every week.

>175 charl08: Definitely bonus points for self control!

I already have a few new ones for 2020 on my list. Louise Erdrich and Julia Alvarez both have new ones coming out.

>179 BLBera: Beth, I may have been slightly reckless with the Kindle deals lately, though...I'm looking forward to the third book in the Wolf Hall trilogy, which is out in March. I should reread the first two...



198. The Last Kashmiri Rose by Barbara Cleverly

This is the first in the series I picked on my birthday, and it's set in Bengal in 1922. Commander Sandilands of the Met is finishing a secondment to the police in India when he's asked to look at one last case. It takes him out of Calcutta and into a lot of intrigue. There was one aspect I found a bit odd (The casual way he jumped into bed with Nancy, without feeling even a bit guilty that she had a husband) but overall it was a good read.

I started The Lost Children Archive yesterday but it's not for me, so I'll be DNFing it. Today I'm going to make some more progress with the Chernobyl book.

Sorry that The Lost Children Archive wasn't for you. I preferred her writing re the Mexican border / refugees in NF, and it's much shorter (Tell me how it ends).

I haven't picked up that Chernobyl book yet, as felt I wasn't able to cope with more after watching one episode of the series and feeling completely overwhelmed by it. Alexievich's book didn't have the same impact, although still had the "shouting at the tv" type effect (how could they be so blind/ignorant/ badly prepared....).

>181 charl08: Charlotte, I haven't see the Chernobyl series, but the book starts quite slowly, with a lot of background. The explosion doesn't happen until about 100 pages in. It's very good, although I don't understand all the technical stuff. But he signposts things that are Bad. I still remember when it happened, although I was on the other side of the world then. We'd get up and a whole day of bad stuff would already have happened. There was huge frustration that the Soviets were being so secretive about the whole thing. It must have been worse here, though, with the worries about whether the radiation cloud would hit the UK.

The Chernobyl series doesn't seem to be available to buy (yet) but Amazon Prime returned a whole lot of other things when I typed the word, so I've added some to my wishlist.

It's sunnied up here in the last hour, so I might go out. Goodness.

Yesterday continued sunnily, so I walked to the Wharf and went to Waitrose. And, after a foggy start today, it's another nice one. The Scottish Highlands reached 16.8C on Saturday night, which is nuts. I think this is the warmest winter I've had here (so far, anyway). This morning I set my alarm for 7.30. to reacquaint myself with getting up at a reasonable time. I go back to work on Thursday.

I've nearly finished the Chernobyl book and I aim to start the Opium Wars one later. I'm also a third of the way through the next Crowner John mystery in that series - I'm aiming to read one in each series and then start again. And I've picked up Through a Glass Darkly again - I really want to finish it before I forget what I've already read.

We've been having weirdly mild weather, too, Susan. I hope we don't end up paying for it in spades later on....

>183 susanj67: Yesterday was really mild- almost too warm for a scarf - but was very glad of my bobble hat this morning. Hoping to get to the beach before I go back (same day as you) - unlikely to be mild there though.

I wondered if the Chernobyl thing might be accessible via a sky pass, but I've only seen them for sports, so probably not?

>184 katiekrug: Katie, it's supposed to drop here tomorrow, to maybe 2C (ouch). But they don't even have snow in Moscow, apparently, so the city has spread fake snow for the New Year. Odd.

>185 charl08: Charlotte, I've checked Now TV and it *is* indeed available with an entertainment pass. But I can't get the app on any of my gadgets, so I'd also need a stick. They're doing a stick + 2 month Entertainment pass for £26.99, though...I sort of wish I'd got Succession that way now. Never mind - I am bad with too much choice and already feeling a bit overwhelmed with Prime and Netflix :-)



199. Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy by Serhii Plokhy

This is the book that the TV series is based on, and it's excellent (if frightening). The Chernobyl disaster seems a long time ago now, and it was very far away when I was in New Zealand. But the world came very close to a catastrophe that would have wiped out Europe. And, as the author points out at the end of the book, nuclear power plants are now being built in countries with poor safety records and/or unstable regimes, meaning that the risk is still very real. Even countries with excellent safety records can be risky, as we saw with the earthquake at Fukushima. Very highly recommended.

>186 susanj67: Will this be your last one for 2019? Sounds like an impressive one to end on.

>187 charl08: Charlotte, I thought I'd try to round out at 200 :-) I've got about half of a Crowner John mystery left, so I'll finish that. I don't want thread 1 of the new decade to start with a whole lot of whining about how he writes the female characters. I'd give up the series but I love all the legal nerdiness.

I've just got back from Waitrose, and got drizzled on walking there and back. I think it must be under new management because (a) they had all the tills open AND (b) the nice young man at my till (c) folded my newspaper and (d) wished me happy new year. Any one of these things would have been remarkable in themselves. All four had me looking round for cameras.

200. (Woo-hoo!) The Awful Secret by Bernard Knight

This is book 4 in the Crowner John series, which follows the work of a Devon coroner in 1198. Sir John de Wolfe is in charge of everything from inquests to piracy to sturgeons, assisted by Gwyn, a red-haired Cornish giant, and Thomas, a de-frocked priest who acts as his clerk.

These are fascinating from a nerdy legal point of view, but the author writes all the women as shrews (Sir John's wife) or cheery-whore-types (Nesta, Hilda etc). It is *beyond* annoying. Despite never seeming to wash, Sir John is apparently *irresistible* to all these women (apart from his wife).

Knight has also given up explaining Thomas's background, too. In the first couple of books it's made clear that he was *wrongly accused* of indecent assault when he tried to confess his feelings for a young woman, but the "wrongful" part is now missing from the description, and he's just written as someone thrown out of the church for indecent assault, as if that's fine.

But that rounds out my year's reading (and complaining - no, wait, there are still quite a few hours of the day to go, so I can't call time on the complaining just yet). Overall it's been a good reading year.

Congrats on 200, Susan!

>188 susanj67: Congrats on a happy supermarket experience to end 2019 :) Happy new one in just a few hours!

>190 katiekrug: Thanks Katie!

>191 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks Reba! I heard the NZ New Year fireworks on the radio at lunchtime, but radio isn't really the *ideal* medium for fireworks...

Well done on reaching 200! And Happy New Year.

Congrats on reaching 200, Susan! Happy New Year! See you in 2020!

Another resolution is to keep up in 2020 with all my friends on LT. Happy New Year!

Well done on reaching 200!

Happy belated birthday and Happy New Year, Susan! >180 susanj67: I like the Commander Sandilands series. I really should get back to it.

Congrats on reading 200!

>193 Helenliz: Thanks Helen! Happy New Year!

>194 BLBera: Thanks Beth! Happy New Year to you! I'm heading over to my 2020 thread shortly.

>195 PaulCranswick: Happy New Year, Paul :-)

>196 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul!

>197 Familyhistorian: Thanks Meg! I definitely want to continue with the series.

My 2020 thread is here:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/314350