2022 Series of PGMCC's reading: Episode Three

Deliberately left blank due to double post.

Having reached 159 posts in Episode Two I think it is time to start Episode Three.

Read in 2022

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

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

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

Books completed in 2022:

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

Uncle Silas by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 27/12/2021 - 06/01/2022 393 pages
Secrets of the World's Best-Selling Writer by Francis L. Fugate & Roberta B. Fugate 07/01/2022 - 18/01/2022 286 pages
The Case of the Lame Canary by Erle Stanley Gardner 18/01/2022 - 23/01/2022 186 Pages
Words Like Loaded Pistols: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama by Sam Leith 23/01/2022 - 05/02/2022 332 Pages
ARCADIA by Iain Pears 05/02/2022 - 18/02/2022 594 Pages
Guest List by Lucy Foley 19/02/2022 - 01/03/2022 371 Pages
Introduction to Detection Mystery Horror by Dorothy L. Sayers 02/03/2022 - 05/03/2022 48 Paged
Passport to Panic by Eric Ambler 05/03/2022 - 13/03/2022 194 Pages
Leaves for the Burning by Mervyn Wall 14/03/2022 - 20/03/2022 243 Pages
The Pigeon House by John Le Carré 21/03/2022 - 10/04/2022 310 Pages
Scoop by Evelyn Waugh 10/04/2022 - 320 pages ROA* DNF
The Sportswriter by Richard Ford 13/4/2022 - ? pages ROA* DNF
"Blood Christmas" by Ciamh McDonnell 14/4/2022 - 16/04/2022 74 pages
"Dog Day Afternoon" by Ciamh McDonnell 16/04/2022 - 16/04/2022 74 pages
The Day That Never Comes by Ciamh McDonnell 16/04/2022 - 18/04/2022 360 pages
Winter by Len Deighton 18/04/2022 - 02/05/2022 620 Pages.
Rosebud by Paul Cornell 02/05/2022 - 05/05/2022 108 pages
Angels in the Moonlight by Ciamh McDonnell 05/05/2022 - 08/05/2022 ? pages
The Accidental Apprentice by Vikas Swarup 08/05/2022 - 21/05/2022 436 Pages
Sisters Gonna Work It Out by Ciamh McDonnell 21/05/2022 - 21/05/2022 45 Pages
How to send a message Ciamh McDonnell 21/05/2022 - 21/05/2022
Last orders Ciamh McDonnell 21/05/2022 - 28/05/2022
Passage of Arms by Eric Ambler 29/05/2022 - 03/06/2022 ? pages
Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter 03/06/2022 - 17/06/2022 446 pages
Death of a Bookseller by Bernard J. Farmer 17/06/2022 - 23/06/2022
McGarry Stateside by Ciamh McDonnell 24/06/2022 - 04/07/2022
My Name Is Philippa by Philippa Ryder 04/07/2022 - 07/07/2022
First Person Singular by Haruki Murakami 08/07/2022 - 13/07/2022
Dead Man’s Sins by Ciamh McDonnell 13/07/2022 - 19/07/2022
The Light of Day by Eric Ambler 21/07/2022 - 25/07/2022 255 Pages
Firewater Blues by Ciamh McDonnell 22/07/2022 - ? Pages

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

My next read will be Paul Cornell's Rosebud. This was published last Tuesday and I am looking forward to dipping into it pages. (It will be virtual pages as I have the Kindle edition.)

>1 pgmcc: Happy new thread, Peter!

Happy new thread!

Happy New Thread! :o)

>6 clamairy: >5 Storeetllr: >4 Karlstar:
Thank you for the good wishes.

Happy new thread from me also, Peter.

>8 haydninvienna:
Thank you, Richard.

Still following. Wouldn't miss it.

>10 Meredy: I hope the excitement lives up to your expectations.

Oh, it always does. You keep one of the liveliest threads around.

>12 Meredy: You flatterer, you!

Happy new thread! I'm looking forward to more of your adventures!

>14 Sakerfalcon: I will try not to disappoint.

I finished Rosebud by Paul Cornell.

>16 pgmcc: Congrats on the new thread. Did you like Rosebud? Or are you still mulling it over?

>17 jillmwo:
Yes. Mulling over. It is written from the point of view of an AI on a craft orbiting a planet in the solar system. The craft is only a few millimetres in size. In the story, Cornell touches on inter-dimensional events, time travel, prejudices, and much more. I think it is meant for a faster mind than mine.

I am now reading Angels in the Moonlight by Caimh McDonnell. This is the third novel in Dublin Trilogy, a trilogy that at this stage I believe has eight books, maybe more.

While it is the third book in the Trilogy, it is a prequel to the first book, A Man With One Of Those Faces, and is recommended reading before reading the fourth book.

McDonnell's books are becoming pallet cleansers and comfort reads for me. This one tells the back story of "Bunny McGarry", a Guard from Cork who is a very prominent figure in the other books. Bunny is quite unorthodox, and you might say he is a very effect copper, but his effectiveness involves a degree of rule bending. From the first time I came across Bunny McGarry I had him pegged as the double of someone I used to work with. I cannot dislodge this matching in my head. Every time Bunny McGarry pops up in the story the image in my head is of my former colleague. There are many similarities.

>19 pgmcc: I would like to see a picture of your former colleague. I have a difficult time holding an image of Bunny in my head. Especially after the book you are reading at the moment, and those set in America. His character remains the same, but somehow his image is fluid in my head.

>20 MrsLee:
Under the European privacy laws his image is personal data and my sharing it without his agreement would breaking the law. If I had his permission my sharing it would be ok. However, getting his permission would involve two things; telling him the purpose I would be sharing his picture, and explaining to him that Bunny McGarry reminds me of him. I suspect the latter would prejudice receiving the former. Also, it would probably lose me a friend.

>21 pgmcc:
Apart from that, I do not have a picture of him.

>21 pgmcc: LOL, yes, I imagine so. What I think I need to do is go back and read the first two books, paying closer attention to his description and to him. I didn't much care for him in the first book, because I didn't think he was a major player at that point. Also, his full character hadn't been revealed. He grew on me in the second, but the third made me reevaluate everything I thought I knew about him. I am calling the third book the one you are reading now, because that's the order I read them in. Talking about the order of these books is like talking about the order of the Star Wars movies.

I have just finished Angels in the Moonlight, a more serious book than the first two in the Dublin Trilogy by Caimh McDonnell. If one read it without reading the first two books that it prequels one might not see as much of the humour. I am spreading out my reads of McDonnell's works, using them as punctuation between books that may not be as much fun.



The Accidental Apprentice is my next read. I have read about ten pages and it has caught me already. It is one of our Lockdown Book Club reads for this month. As it happens it is a book I suggested and it was leapt at enthusiastically. It was written by Vikas Swarup, the author who wrote Q&A, the book that was filmed as Slumdog Millionaire.

>24 pgmcc: The Dublin trilogy is one series I would recommend readers to read in the order they are published in. The author is a master of circling back and filling in. Possibly because he was unaware of the background of the characters when he met them. It makes for a better overall story to find out these early details after you have seen the effects on the characters.

>25 MrsLee: I concur with your thinking. I like the way McDonnell filled in Bunny's background based on the random bits of information he had sprinkled in the first two books while he did not know the full back-story. He did a better job with the prequel than George Lucas did with the Star Wars prequels. The prequels were simply going through the motions to ensure the back-stories matched up with the previously issued films. I felt sorry for the great actors who were sent on screen to simply say words that tied story threads to episodes 4,5 and 6.

>25 MrsLee: So should I circle back and read Sisters Gonna Work It Out before I go forward?

>27 2wonderY: I think once you have met the Sisters, you can read that one any time. It is more specific to them than to the flow of the storyline, although, it's been quite awhile since I read it and having gobbled down several stories in a row, the details of the story are a bit vague to me.

I am enjoying The Accidental Apprentice. I am not making rapid progress through it, but it is a worthwhile book. The story is about a person who has been picked by the chairman of a large organisation to be the next CEO of the corporation he heads. This selection was not conducted with a normal process like advertising or head-hunting; the chairman has picked people amongst the general public whom he observes and believes they may share the values he holds dear. The story is told from the point of view of the CEO's current candidate and it tells her experience of being approached and told that she will be tested over the coming while to see if she is a suitable candidate to become CEO. When I first read the premise it reminded me of the 1954 film, The Million Pound Note (Released as "Big Money" in the US), starring Gregory Peck.

Vikas Swarup has used this unusual scenario to demonstrate issues such as the position of women in Indian culture, in particular in rural areas where old traditions can lead to honour killings and beatings, and the influence of celebrity culture that reinforces social inequality. Swarup's earlier book, Q&A, filmed as Slumdog Millionaire, highlighted poverty in India while the film focused more on corruption. I see The Accidental Apprentice following the same approach of using an unusual premise as a vehicle to highlight injustices and abuse. I am enjoying the book, if "enjoy" is the correct word to use when reading about the situations described, but I am not grabbing it at every opportunity.

The tests are not conducted in a structured fashion with the candidate being brought to a venue and the test administered. As the chairman explains, the tests are chosen by life and the protagonist's reactions/actions/decisions to the situations she finds herself in determine how well she has performed in the test. One is never sure if the situations that arise have happened by chance, or if the chairman has used the resources at his disposal to create the situations. He claims he has not set the scenarios up and also claims "honesty" to be a treasured value that he holds dear.

As this is a selection process, albeit rather unusual, we do get information on the background of the candidate through being with her in her work, home and socialising environments. Like everyone, she has her own ghosts and issues to cope with.

I am finding the book a little mechanical as we step through the protagonist's tests, while the life situation leading to the test is set up and the thought process followed by Sapna Sinha, the main character, as she decides what to do is explained. It is, however, fascinating to learn about Indian culture and get a glimpse at life in both urban and rural India.

My comments about not picking up the book at every opportunity should not be given too much weight. I am bought into this boo, I am gaining a lot from reading it, and I am glad to be reading it. Do not be put off this book by any of my comments. It is and educational book, not just about Indian culture, but about values in life, and specifically, values in business. There is a lot to recommend this book and I do recommend it.

I do not believe any of the above comments constitute a spoiler as one can gain much of what I have said from the blurb on the cover, and I have not included any detail about the issues addressed or incidents that happen.

I have finished The Accidental Apprentice and will give it a score of 4 Stars. I enjoyed this book a lot. It was part "leadership" textbook and part intriguing mystery.

Would I read another book by this author?
Yes.

Would you recommend this book?
Yes.

Whom would I recommend this book to?
Anyone whao likes a mystery, likes to learn about life in India, and anyone who enjoyed his earlier book, Q&A, filmed as Slumdog Millionaire.

It took me a while to read this book. Do not be put off by the length of time it took me to read it. There was a lot in the book, and it dealt with some difficult issues, and I felt I needed to take a break now and again.

After the Vikas Swarup novel I need a bit of a breather. I am turning to Ciam McDonnell once more. The next story in the Dublin Trilogy is a novella called, Sisters Gonna Work It Out. It is supposed to be the backstory to The Sisters of the Saint.

Well, I have read and enjoyed Sisters Gonna Work It Out. It is a novella that gives a little background to the origins of "The Sisters of the Saint". Most enlightening.

I also read the short story, How To Send A Message. It is a very brief incident in which Bunny McGarry gives the Dubin criminal underworld a lesson in communication and how to avoid a cliché.

Currently I am reading Last Orders which starts with a prologue (a good place to have a prologue) in which the scenes at Bunny McGarry's funeral are described.

I need to find my towel and keep it close to me tomorrow.

Yes. Yes, you do.

What’s tomorrow?! I always have my towel nearby; but what am I paying attention to?

>34 2wonderY: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towel_Day

>35 clamairy: Ah. Of course. I thought you might have heard about some construction project.

Or demolition project?

I've got my Towel. It's always right next to my bed. (This is not one of my bath towels; it's a bit smaller and white (so it goes with everything)).

If you are also a fan of the Guards in Discworld, you will wear a sprig of lilac along with your towel tomorrow.

>35 clamairy: I've never heard of that before!

I have finished Part 2 of The Dublin Trilogy. It includes "Angels in the Moonlight", "Sister's Gonna Work It Out", "How To Send A Message", and "Last Orders". I understand there is another story in that Trilogy I have yet to read, but that it is separate from the two omnibus sets.

I have started Passage of Arms by Eric Ambler. It appears to be about traffic arms during The Malayan Emergency, also known as The Anti-British National Liberation War, 1948 - 1960. It is a conflict I know very little about and I will be interested in picking up some of the atmosphere from Eric Ambler. I suspect this book will inspire me to look up some of the history of the period.

>40 pgmcc: Do you often look up historical information while reading or after reading fiction that touches on people or events of the period? I do, and I also like to study maps of unfamiliar areas that figure in my reading. I can spend a long time making a slow virtual trek across a cartological expanse and pausing to Google cities or regions seen along the way. The Silk Road, for example, invited some fabulous online exploration.

>41 Meredy:
I would not say, "often", but I do it on occasion. I will also look up some details after reading the book. I love maps, and will seek out a location on occasion on Google Maps, or even in a physical atlas. Now there's old style for you. :-)

When going somewhere on holidays I would always have ensured I had a decent large scale map so I could explore the terrain around our accommodation. Nowadays I tend to rely on Google on my phone.

In the days when I was a wee, little lad (I'm talking 6, 7, 8+ years old here.), and travelled on car journeys with my parents, I would always use the maps at the back of the Automobile Association's handbook to follow the route we were taking. That is probably where my love of things geographic came from. My love of Geology probably came from messing about on the rocks at the seaside, and looking at the hills that were visible from our home.

Eric Ambler's books are a great trigger for exploration into history and geography. His accounts conjure up rich images of the environment his stories take place in. If the location is real, it is real. In some cases he uses an imaginary country, but his imaginary countries are often based on real countries and real geo-political situations or flashpoints. Hence, even with his imaginary countries it is possible to identify the country his story is really set in and the historic events that prompted his tale. The realism, clear expression of how the political situation affects individuals, and how he provides a picture of life in the time and place, are the things that bring me back to his works time and time again. Reading his books in order of publication has provided me with an historically accurate sequencing of many events around The World. His books tended to be published very quickly after the time in which they were set, i.e. they were very contemporary at the time (if that makes sense). With his earlier books being written and published between WWI and WWII the reader gets a good feel for attitudes and views in European countries at the time. His books are like opening a time-capsule and seeing the country and the people as they were at the time of the story.

>42 pgmcc: Hear Hear! I claim to have learned to read fluently at the "little lad" age you mentioned from the Automobile Association's Trans-African Highways. Sadly, we never got to use it for its intended purpose.

>43 hfglen:
One of the things I regret about progress is that my children did not have the same experience I had of driving through every little town and village when on a journey. For most of their lives the motorways had been developed and people only saw the monotonous same view as the passed towns and villages that are now unseen from the road. My knowledge of the country was built up by travelling the pre-motorway roads.

>44 pgmcc: Yes, I miss the little roads. We are always in a hurry to get everywhere and have no time to take the little roads, even though all of the modern devices we have to use tell us they will "save us time." Where does that saved time go?

I also hate that almost everywhere you go now looks the same as everywhere you've been thanks to the chain stores and restaurants.

>45 MrsLee:
I have been taking photographs of new buildings in Dublin over the past few years. I want to put them together to show that new developments in Dublin are making it virtually indistinguishable from other European cities. Our cities are becoming anonymous.

I have finished Eric Ambler's Passage of Arms and found it very interesting and revealing. It is about a gunning-running scheme in South East Asia. Ambler describes how the deal was set up by describing the everyday activities and ambitions of the characters involved in both the deliberate actions and intentions of the players, and the happenstance that draws them into the events described in the story. This is definitely in the top four of the Ambler books I have read to date.

As with all of Ambler's novels, a hapless individual ends up embroiled in the activities engineered by the primary movers in the gun-running venture. This victim of circumstances makes his first appearance in chapter three. The first two chapters explain how the weapons involved came to be available for sale, and these chapters provide good character building for the men behind the scheme.

In the course of the story we get a sense of how people in South-East Asia view people from the countries of their former colonial masters. It gives a real sense of how the colonial powers worked within the countries that were still under colonial rule, and also the countries that had gained their independence. There is also a good introduction of how the colonial countries work with both the governments of the independent countries and, sometimes, the insurgents trying to oust the incumbent governments.

I have included the image of The Night Comers (Also known as State of Siege) above as I read it earlier and it raised some questions in my mind about Amblers intentions and the meaning of some items in his novels. I believe Passage of Arms has confirmed my initial views on these matters.

The Night Comers was about an insurrection in an imaginary South East Asian country neighbouring another country that had just achieved independence through insurrection. The imaginary country had already achieved independence, but there was a faction that was trying to oust the incumbent government. The book was a good description of how a country that achieves independence through violence after a colonial occupation will often, if not inevitably, fall into a civil war when factions within the country strive for power and do not agree. This happened in Ireland and has happened in many former colonies around The World; not just in South East Asia.

In The Night Comers, there was British engineer coming to the end of his contract on a dam building project. He is the hapless victim of circumstances in this story. In the story he is introduced to a girl of mixed race as an escort. Of course he falls in love with her. His forms a strong relationship with the girl and of course ends up wanting to marry her. While he has good intentions, circumstances dictate that he cannot take her with him when he leaves, but he intends to return for her at some time later. The book left me with the feeling that he did not come back, but moved on. I was not sure if Ambler was just using this device as part of telling a story of how things were and how colonial men treat the people of former colonies, or was trying to highlight the prejudices and abuses that locals suffered.

In Passage of Arms Ambler's exposé of how people of mixed race are treated, and how women in particular were treated, confirmed in my mind that Ambler was trying to highlight abuse, prejudice, inequality, racism, and all the other forms of discrimination. It is not just these traits shown in white people that he deals with. He also describes the xenophobia and inter-racial tensions between many peoples. He has made the point clear in both books that people of mixed race have a particularly bad time in many countries.

Another thing I found interesting about this book, published in 1959, was how South East Asia was mixed up in the struggle between communism and capitalism, with the Chinese supporting communist factions and The West supporting more right-wing groups. The level of unrest and East-West tension in the story reminded me of the present day maneuvering for influence with China trying to project its influence in South-East Asia and the Pacific in general, and the counter measures being taken by The West to retain influence in these areas.

By the way, Ambler has been able to insert a degree of humour into the story that appealed to me.

All in all I found this a thoroughly rewarding read.

Would I read more by this author?
Definitely.

Would I recommend this book?
Yes.

Who would I recommend it to?
Anyone interested in intrigue and who enjoys stories and films such as, The Quiet American or Our Man in Havana.

Has this inspired me to do anything?
Yes. I will be looking up some of the history of colonialism and revolution in South East Asia, and refreshing my knowledge of the geography of the area.

>45 MrsLee: I miss that too. Sometimes I'll take the old local alternatives to the highway, but they are slower.

I like to try out local establishments over chains too. This was all pre-covid though,we haven't traveled much at all in the last 3 years and when we do it is to familiar places on familiar roads.

>46 pgmcc: That's distressing -- to see the unique character of your city be diluted by chains.

>49 jillmwo:
I think it is happening everywhere. Buildings are being built to make a financial return at the expense of culture, character, and charm. A row of modern buildings may look reasonably good, but on finds little character in these temples to cheap that are thrown up with an eye to cost and the need to make a five year return on investment. After five years they will be refurbished or replaced with another soulless construction that will also have to meet its annual return to the investor who has most likely never set foot in the country.

As some of you may have seen on the GD weekend thread, I carried out some book purchases today. Just in case anyone here happens to be curious about what I bought and why I bought them, here are the details.

Visit to Hodges Figgis

Hodges Figgis was my primary target today. My cousin gave me a book token for HF so I could shop there guilt free. I would be insulting to my cousin if I did not use the token.

The Thursday Murder Club & The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman


I read the premise of these books and considered they might be hit or miss. Then I read the first sentence of The Thursday Murder Club and was hooked. What did you ask? What was the first sentence?

“Well, let’s start with Elizabeth, shall we? And see where that gets us?”

The second book in the series, The Man Who Died Twice, was also on display, so I picked it up too.

Death of a Bookseller by Bernard J, Farmer

Anything about books is obviously going to get my attention. Also, I read the first few sentences and again was hooked. It appears to be about a policeman who became a book collector after having had a conversation with a drunk bookdealer who was celebrating his recent acquisition of a rare first edition and was in the process of being escorted on his way by the policeman.

My Hodges Figgis purchases are very much in the cosy crime arena. I was in a gentle mood.

By the time I had picked these three volumes I felt like a change, so headed off to Books Upstairs.

My Name is Philippa by Philippa Ryder


This is the autobiography of my friend Philippa Ryder who is a transgender woman. This is her story from childhood to 2021 when the book was published. I have known Philippa for about thirty years, from before she became Philippa. I bought the book on Kindle, but have not had a physical copy until today. I want to have a physical copy to be able to have her sign it for me.

I have not read the book yet as I expect it to be quite harrowing, but I do plan to do so soon.

This is the Night They Come for You by Robert Goddard.



Write up on the back cover:

One a stifling afternoon at Police HQ in Algiers, Superintendant Taleb, coasting towards retirement, with not even an air-conditioned office to show for his long years of service, is handed a ticking time bomb of a case which will take him deep into Algeria’s troubled past and its fraught relationship with France.

That sold the book to me. Why? Well, I have had an interest in Algeria since the 1970s. I do not know a lot of its history, but I do know it was occupied by France and then gained independence after some troubled times. I watched the film, The Battle of Algiers, in the 1970s and was struck by the similarities between the Northern Ireland Troubles and what happened in Algiers.

In addition to this, I am currently reading The Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter for our Lockdown Book Club, and it too is about Algeria, so I am intrigued to read this story set in Algeria.

Chapters Bookshop purchases.

Facism, A Warning by Madeleine Albright

I have always thought Madeleine Albright was sound, capable and sensible person. Her first words in the book also bought me over:

”On the day fascists first altered the direction of my life, I had barely mastered the art of walking. The date was March15, 1939.”

Hazards of Time Travel by Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates is an author I have been intending to read for a long time. I was introduced to her work by my friend who runs The Swan River Press. The Swan River Press is the only Irish publisher dedicated to publishing gothic, supernatural, and fantastic literature. He had Joyce Carol Oates over to Dublin as Guest of Honour at the Dublin Ghost Festival, and has recently published one of her books, The Ruins of Contracoeur and other presences

Unfortunately I was out of the country when the Ghost Festival was on and did not get a chance to meet her.

That's a rather decent book haul! I quite enjoyed the Osman novels (I love reading about people my age (and older) doing interesting things), and I've been meaning to read the Albright book. It's very much a timely subject here in the U.S. I look forward to hearing about your reading experiences with all the titles you picked up!

Love the name of the bookstore (Hodges Figges).

>51 pgmcc: Anyone would have thought it was your Thingaversary! You've got a lot of good choices there -- Death of a Bookseller may be lurking about on one of my shelves, but I've been immersed in freelance stuff so can't recall off hand. My husband thoroughly enjoyed the Richard Osman mysteries. Those (I am sure) are lurking about in one of the piles crawling up the baseboard because I wanted a chance to read them before passing them on to others.

>52 Storeetllr:
I was pleased with the haul, and I am glad to hear you liked the Osman novels. I look forward to them all the more. >53 jillmwo: has said positive things about them too, albeit based on inference extrapolated from another's reaction to the books.

Hodges Figgis is a great bookshop. It was independent up until some time in the 1980s or 90s. It celebrated its 250th year in bookselling in 2018. It is currently owned by the Waterstones chain, but Waterstones has recognised the uniqueness of a 250 year heritage, so Hodges Figgis is more or less left to its own devices and it has not been totally assimilated into the collective. When you are in Hodges Figgis you would not know you are in a Waterstones shop unless you knew it.

>53 jillmwo:
I am really pleased with the results of my bookshop crawl. I am keen to read all the books I acquired. Like yourself, work gets in the way of my reading. Your husband's reaction to the Osman books, like >52 Storeetllr:'s comments on them, has increased my eagerness to read them.

A very happy un-Thingaversary to me! A very happy un-Thingaversary to me!...

>51 pgmcc: *sigh* I'm very happy for you, but I'm more than just a little envious.

>57 clamairy:
I must say I do enjoy a carefree day wandering around, browsing bookshops, picking up interesting books, and having a nice lunch. The fact that it was a beautiful sunny day on Saturday added to the enjoyment.

I took advantage of the car valeting service in the car park. They did a really good job.

The book is about three generations of a family from Algeria. It is being told from the viewpoint of a contemporary member of the family, i.e. the third generation. She was born and grew up in France. She is currently anticipating a trip to Algeria and has been examining how much she knows, or doesn't know, about her own family's history.

Her father was a child when his family left Algeria at the time of the French departure. Her grandfather, Ali, is the main character in the first part of the book. I am almost a third of the way through. So far it has covered the time before Algeria achieved independence and the French left the country. It described normal village life for the family in the mountains of Algeria. It then describes how the rise of the independence movement, and its associated activists, affected village life and attenuated the existing jealousies and disputes.

I have started the second part of the book and this is focused on what happened the family members when they arrived in France. It is a tale of refugee camps, discomfort, lack of understanding by government and government officials, and the effect on the family members; their status, relationships with others, economic status, and the sense of being brushed under the carpet so as not to irritate the local population.

The first part of the book, i.e. normal village life and the run up to independence, proved very interesting and I was reading it eagerly. The second half is giving me a dragging feeling, but I think this is appropriate given that it is about people in a camp who have lost their life in Algeria and who have no clear picture of where their future lies. Worse than that, they have no control over where their future lies. Their place of living and the work they can do is dictated by the policies the government implements to, in the government's opinion, solve the problem of refugees.

The granddaughter started the thought process of being Algerian, being expected to be Algerian, being expected to follow the mores of two generations ago while the family lived in Algeria, and yet never having lived in Algeria, not knowing what it was like to live in Algeria, and also being expected to be French. I see this book as a struggle for identity by a person who is being pulled in many different directions. It is the plight of many people who are the descendants of refugees.

>59 pgmcc: Well, now you've jump-started some uncomfortable meditation. Although I'm sure this is a very worthwhile read, for myself, I have to admit that I'd likely not go out of my way to pick it up. It strikes me as something that would be utterly painful to read even as I recognize that there are huge percentages of the world population who are currently caught in the undesired status of being a refugee. I was thinking about this as our news was devoting so much time to those in danger in Ukraine. How would I manage if I were to be caught in that situation? I'd be utterly incompetent at coping. I can't imagine what it must be like to have to evacuate suddenly from one's settled life or live in a refugee camp (without some of the most BASIC western conveniences).

I find it amazing that you could absorb so much from what is undoubtedly a distressing narrative.

>60 jillmwo:
It is not a book for everyone for the reasons you list. Normally I would not go for a story like this, but the author has made it very interesting by presenting characters that feel real, whom the reader gets to know, and whose lives we are seeing unfold. I must commend the author, Alice Zeniter for her storytelling and her skill at showing complex political situations unfolding in a very personal fashion. The book has moved on to "normal" life for the family in France, which is life in a small flat with an ever growing family, and the parents unable to speak French. This part of the book focuses on the impact on the relationship between Ali and his son, Hamid, who will be the father of the girl who has started investigating her Algerian heritage.

What has drawn me to this book?

Firstly, I have always had a hankering to know more about Algeria, ever since I watched The Battle for Algiers in the 1970s. It was one of those interests that was at the back of my mind but never acted upon. When I saw the film the Northern Ireland (NI) Troubles were in full swing and watching the film showed strong parallels between what was happening in NI and what happened in Algeria. That probably sparked my desire to know more.

Secondly, having started the book I liked how the author was presenting the situation. It is not political. It is personal, and it shows how people are victims of their environment and what politicians and military/para-military organisation choose to do. That being the case, the book can be read with an eye to what happens in any conflict, not unlike the way I read The City of Brass, a brilliant book with which you hit me right between the eyes.

Thirdly, the author, and obviously the translator, have made this a very easy book to read. It flows very well, and I have not come across any points where either the language or the story caused me to trip up, or think, "This is totally unrealistic." The verisimilitude is strong with this one.

Fourthly, and this is probably the first reason I thought of reading this book, The Art of Losing won the Dublin Literary Award. This has the largest monetary prize in the World for a literary work in English. The books are long-listed by librarians across the World and I have always found the winning books to be very good, unlike the winning books of many other awards.

I have already bought a DVD of The Battle for Algiers for a long overdue re-watch, and I have picked up This is the Night They Come For You because it is set in Algeria.

I received these two pictures from my daughters today. I just had to share them.

My younger grandson, Liam


and my older grandson, Malachí.


Malachí is three and is shown here as he heads off on a school trip to Glendalough.

Oh my goodness! Can they be any cuter? That tongue!

Oh! Aren't they adorable!

Congratulations -- they are two fabulous cuties!

>62 pgmcc: Oh those little cheeks! So cute, both of them!

>62 pgmcc: Your grands are adorable :)

Thank you everyone for your kind comments about my grandsons. I think you can all see why I wanted to share these pictures.

The Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter Translated by Frank Wynne



The Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter, translated from French by Frank Wynne, is a well-rounded investigation into identity, revolution, family history, and the dynamic nature of our world, a dynamism that has persisted from time immemorial. It is about the inevitable cycle that follows colonialism; the struggle for independence, the ultimate struggle for domination amongst the local factions, civil war, and then attempts, some successful, some not, to develop a stable country through democracy, suppression of rival factions, an uneasy peaceful co-existence, or a fragile partnership.

"The Art of Losing" is focused on the search for identity by the descendants of those who left Algeria but were born and grew up in France, but the book's themes, issues, and the personal experiences of all the characters, are common to many situations across the World where people have migrated for one reason or another, and have settled in countries strange to them, and where they are not universally welcomed by the local population.

Racism is a constant backdrop to the story. Its insidious presence is something that is felt by all minorities and victims of hatred. Zeniter is skilful in portraying how the constant presence of racist attitudes affects the thoughts and behaviours of people subject to its uncouth existence.

While this book deals with heavy issues, if does so in a very easily consumed fashion. This book did not contain horror or gore. The book is basically a saga involving the lives of three generations of a family with the unrest being the backdrop that drives the actions of the stories participants. The difficult issues are dealt with sensitively and with great insight into human nature, and the way people are affected by socio-political dynamics in their neighbourhood.

Would I read another book by this author?
This was a powerful book and I learned a lot from it. I would need to think about this question. I certainly would not resist reading another book by Zeniter, but I think I would need a breather between this one and the next.

That is a long way of say, “Yes!”

Would I recommend this book?
Yes.

Who would I recommend this book to?
Anyone interested in how people survive in times of civil unrest and political turmoil.

One of my friends has said she would be reluctant to read this book because it deals with dreadful things like people being uprooted from their homes and having to move quickly leaving their life behind them. The book does deal with these things, but it does so in a very careful way that is not as terrifying as it would have been if the author had chosen to write that sort of book. I do not want play down the horrors of fleeing from war, but this book is about the effects of the unrest and revolution on the sense of identity of the three generations of the family; from the first generation that left Algeria with their children, to their children, and then to their grandchildren.

Has this book inspired me to do anything?
Yes. I have already purchased the DVD of The Battle for Algiers, a film I watched many years ago, and a novel set in Algeria. I have also been forced to think about how the principles and happenings in The Art of Losing are common to many, if not all, areas of conflict throughout history, where people are displaced and then become outcasts in their original country, and yet are not accepted in their new country, even unto the second, third, fourth, and more generations. It asks the question, can someone born in France to people who fled Algeria, really be Algerian if the country of their family’s origin has changed beyond recognition; and can that person be accepted as French in France, where they often meet racist attitudes and abuse despite having been born in France and being claimed as French citizens by the government? This is a common dilemma for the descendants of immigrants in so many countries.

Having done the Proud Granddad bit with the pictures of Liam and Malachí, I am now going to do the Proud Dad bit as my youngest graduated today with his 1st Class Master of Science degree. Very chuffed we are!



A good start to the weekend.

Now to get him out earning money.

>62 pgmcc: >70 pgmcc: What great pictures, thanks for sharing!

Having finished The Art of Losing I am now faced with that dilemma faced by us all at one time or another. What will I read next?

Next Friday we will be flying to France for our first debriefing session since before COVID. It is actually over three years since I have visited our secret base and training camp in The Loire Valley. Travelling light means I will not have much room for real books and will have to make do with the contents of my Kindle. As I am a slow reader I cannot guarantee I will finish a book before next Friday so will have to start a Kindle book now. I suspect I will be diving into another Bunny McGarry novel. Possible the first one about his visit to the US.

>71 Karlstar:
Thank you, Jim.
I just could not keep them to myself.
How is your grandchild coming on?

Beautiful boys, all three of them. They look to be full of fun, too.

>73 pgmcc: Very well, thank you. I'll post a new picture tomorrow.

Congratulations!! You have many reasons to celebrate pgmcc. As to your next read, didn't you say you'd picked up Portable Magic during your last foray into a bookshop? I've been dipping in and out of that and am enjoying it.

It is Father's Day here. Look what my youngest gave me.

>76 jillmwo:
I do indeed have much to celebrate.

I am not familiar with Portable Magic but I did pick up Death of a Bookseller about which we did have an exchange of comments. You might have been thinking about that.

In addition, I also have Two-Way Murder, which I believe was a BB from you. It is on my Kindle, so I can read it when away.

Now, here I have to make a confession. While I said I was going to start reading a Kindle book I actually started reading, Death of a Bookseller. I started reading it on Friday night. It caught my eye and I said to myself, "Oh yes! I wanted to read that soon. It is not too long. I should be able to finish it before heading off on holiday." I also thought of you and your mentioning that you had it somewhere in your TBR Mountain, if my memory serves me well.

So far so good. Very dated and "proper" but still a sound procedural murder case.

>77 pgmcc: Lol! Nice mug! Happy Father's Day.

>77 pgmcc: Wonderful gift and one hopes it is a sufficiently large mug to last you through multiple chapters before you need a refill.

And it's entirely likely that I did get muddled as to the specific book title. But I look forward to your final verdict on Death of a Bookseller.

>77 pgmcc: love the mug!

>77 pgmcc: love the mug, but if the contents of the box it's standing on is (as I assume) wine, then I hope you use a more genteel drinking vessel for the latter!

>82 hfglen: It is indeed wine. There were three bottles to the right that I moved slightly to get them out of shot. I did not want you all thinking I am a complete lush.

I am about three quarters way through Death of a Bookseller at this stage. I am enjoying it as a murder mystery, but I am also enjoying it for its quaint writing. It was published in the 1950s and it has an air of 1950s/60s BBC Television; everything is very proper and correct. It is quite tame and naïve compared to other books, and even Agatha Christie's books have a roguish tint to them that is missing in this book.

It also contains very British classist, everyone in their place and knowing their place, attitudes, with multiple cases of the "lower class" person referring to their better as "Guv'nr".

The story has taken a turn I did not anticipate, although it was hinted at earlier in the book, but if it turns out the turn is a serious turn, I will be somewhat disappointed. Time will tell. I am looking forward to seeing how it ends up.

Peter, belatedly: love the mug. And you have every reason to be proud of your son and grandsons.

>85 haydninvienna:
Thank you, Richard. It is a great mug. Delighted when it was given to me, I was. My favourite Star Wars character, Yoda is.

The picture of my son shows him with a nice smile; one that includes his eyes in the joy. This is a rare occurrence. It is not that he is a miserable person, but when asked to smile for a picture he ends up with a smile that looks forced, and does not really look like a smile. (Not unlike Liam Neeson's smile in the Santa Clause audition video on Youtube when he was asked to be more pleasant.) I discovered the secret of getting him to have a very pleasant, joyful smile for photographs. I ask him to smile; he puts on the grimace that is his deliberate attempt to smile; just before taking the picture I say, "Think of Willow (our little dog)", and his face lights up and I snap the shot. Works every time.

>70 pgmcc: Congratulations to your youngest!
And I love that mug. :o)

Tomorrow we head to France for two weeks. I mentioned this in >72 pgmcc: but thought I would boast about it again here.

As mentioned in >72 pgmcc:, we are travelling light, so no real books, only pretend books on the Kindle.

Travelling light also means no laptop, so I will be posting by smartphone for the duration. That will probably result in typos, reduced posting size, reduced posting frequency, and possibly some unexpected consequences.

While I am enjoying myself away I hope everyone keeps well and has as good a time as you can under whatever circumstances you find yourself.

Oh, no camera either. That means any pictures presented after the event will be from the phone.

>88 pgmcc: Have a great trip, be safe and enjoy!

>88 pgmcc: As Karlstar says, be safe and enjoy. Just a single cautionary note. Don't forget that any Kindle editions of existing manuals on surveillance updates and/or the removal of inconvenient bodies from the scene should be renamed in order to avoid scrutiny by others who may not have the appropriate security clearances.

>89 Karlstar:
Thank you. I will do my best to enjoy. :-)

>90 jillmwo:
Thank you, Jill.

I am currently installing the anti-intruder devices on my Kindle.

>88 pgmcc: Have a blast. I expect a detailed report on any and all cheeses consumed during this trip. 🧀

>93 clamairy:
We plan on making an early morning trip on Sunday to the market in Amboise to stock up on cheese and a few other delicacies we like. :-) Amboise is about 20 minutes from our place and the market is enormous. It is where we discovered Gruyere, our favourite cheese.

Yum! It is delicious. Hope you find some new ones you both love, too.

Well, I made it. I finished the physical book before my trip. For the next two weeks it will be Kindle based reading.

Death of a Bookseller was interesing, but it was a bit naive and dated.

Will I read another book by this author?
Not likely.

Would I recommend it?
Not necessarily, but I would recommended it to some people.

Who would I recommend it to?
Anyone who is interested in the golden age murder mysteries who is a bit of a completist.

Has this inspired me to do anything?
No.

I am sitting in the airport reading McGarry Stateside. It is hilarious. You have to have read The Dublin Trilogy, Parts 1 and 2 to appreciate the plot in McGarry Stateside.

Sorry, MrsLee, Bunny’s view of the US is pretty typical for people here. :-) McDonnell was doing it all for fun.

Have a great trip! >88 pgmcc: I love that you called them “pretend books.” I call physical books “real books.” :D

>97 pgmcc: I know. It doesn't bother me. Each country (and person?) has a different perception of themselves than others have. We all have stereotypes for other countries and their citizens. Some of them are deserved. :)

First CHEESE report from France.

We have arrived in France and are having dinner in Brasserie L’Univers. My starter was a warm camembert that was accompanied by a beautiful salad, toast, and honey. I would never have thought of the honey but it really amplified the flavour and texture of the warm camembert.
Delicious.

Mrs PGMCC had a goats cheese and caramelised pear salad. She thought it delicious. She would never have thought of carmalised pear with warm goats cheese, but now she is a convert.

BTW we are still at our table and are contemplating a selection of cheeses. It is the natural way of meals in France.

Second CHEESE report from France.

The planned cheese course turned into a Profiteroles Maison course. The profiteroles were enormous. Now they are eaten.

>100 pgmcc: Awesome, yes my gourmet chef niece puts spicy honey on warm brie.

>101 pgmcc: I saw your Facebook photo. I've never seen a profiterole that size! Hope it was as amazing as it looked.

Honey and any kind of blue cheese (bleu cheese, lol) is divine. I've had it with soft rind cheeses too, like camembert and brie. So glad you've discovered it, too. Honey is a staple on most restaurant cheese/charcuterie boards in the States. At least the states/restaurants I've been in.

I have a rather vague recollection of being served cheese, honey and a small pile of coffee powder. It was surprisingly pleasant. IIRC the waiter suggested that the idea had come from Jamie Oliver.

Just catching up after being away for a week myself. I hope you have a successful mission to France, and enjoy all the cheese.

I'm given to understand that Pete's secret briefing hideout is not a million miles from one of the top white-wine areas of France. Pete, I hope you get a reasonable sampling of that produce along with the cheese!

>106 hfglen:
We are visiting Vouvray tomorrow. We may achieve that mission objetive.

We got home from our mission to France on Friday. Still recovering and building up to cheese, book and fun reports.

I have lots of pictures and will be sharing some of them here. We had a great time.

Highlights included meeting up with friends we have not seen in over a decade, visit to The Night Market in Duras, acquisition of produce from a CHOCOLATE FACTORY, an evening meal in a lovely bistro, and a stay in Le Grand Hotel de Tours.

Yes, of course there was wine. :-)

>2 pgmcc: Dog Day Afternoon is not doing for you? Haven't read any of it myself.

>109 MattM.WAstate:
I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Welcome to LibraryThing.

I made an impulse buy today.



Despite what you may think, I did not make my way to Eason's on O'Connell Street with the sole purpose of buying this book. I made my way to the shop to buy an envelope and a cup of coffee. What I did buy was a packet of envelopes, a cup of tea, a scone, a pack of three gel pens, and The Princess Diarist. That is how life rolls.

>111 pgmcc: You can never have enough good pens, or books.

>112 Karlstar:
I went back and bought three more packs. I had not realised they were on sale at half price until I checked the receipt on getting back to my office.

>111 pgmcc: If the scones are any good, you can never have too many of those either! Carrie Fisher seems to have made a decent name for herself as a writer as well as an actor.

I am currently reading First Person Singular by Haruki Murakami. It is a series of short stories, or reminiscences. With a fiction writer it is difficult to tell if these are totally fiction or if he wants to portray them as truth. The fact that one of them involves a talking monkey who works in a hotel and gives back-rubs to guests in the bath could be a clue as to the reality of the tales in this collection.

At least one of the stories comes across as autobiographical. It tells of his love of baseball and it contains a number of real life incidents from his life, such as the publication of his first novel.

I find Murakami's writing very captivating and find myself going with the flow. All the stories are written from the, you've guessed it, First Person Singular point of view, with the narrator telling the reader about his experiences and the places he had these experiences.

Whether they are all fictitious or not, all the tales talk about experiences that people have as they grow up, or as they go through their normal lives, and how these experiences make one feel. Several of the stories are based on the type of memory anyone would have from their younger days and how they think back on those events and how they may have influenced the writer in his life. We all have moments in our lives that we remember and think about from time to time. We wonder why we remember that moment and not others. This collection appears to be about Murakami's memories from life and a few made up memories as well. As I said above, you can never tell with fiction writer. :-)

>111 pgmcc: I enjoyed that. Carrie Fisher was a hilarious woman. (And she penned several other humorous biographical books before this one!)

Hope you're enjoying that Murakami.

>116 clamairy:
I have high hopes for Carrie Fisher's book.

The Murakami is proving very interesting. I would say enjoyable, but it is not enjoyable in a great fun kind of way, but in a rewarding, thinking kind of way. Haruki Murakami always gets me thinking. That can be tiring and is probably why I find that after reading a Murakami book I need a while before I can go into another one.

We visited a chocolate factory in France. Well, we visited the chocolate factory shop. The tours of the factory were suspended due to COVID and have not yet resumed. Ths factory is Maison Guinguet and the chocolates are very good; very rich; very delicious. If you follow the link from Maison Guinguet you will get an impression of what I mean by "the chocolates are very good; very rich; very delicious."

I was suprised that the shop had more than just chocolate, and was even more surprised to see not just one, but two Green Dragons.

I did promise some cheese reports from France. The above picture of a stall we found at the Amboise market. We go to this market most Sundays when we are in France. It is very big and we buy a few food items there and some other items. This stall is a new one to us. It looks great and it also has a range of saucissons and salamis.

Amboise market is where we first discovered Gruyere Suisse, our current favourite cheese.

On our first night in France we stayed in Le Grand Hotel De Tours.



It is an old world hotel that has refurbished rooms. Our room was very comfortable and large, with our own bathroom and a dressing room. The corridors and dining rooms have a more dated appearance that is very attractive and gives the place a hint of its former glory.

The hotel was opened in the 1920s and I would recommend it to anyone wishing to vist Tours.

In the photograph, the shop-front at the corner of the hotel building, the one with the metal-work canopy over the door, is a briocherie that sells the best brioche we have ever tasted. We discovered it about five years ago. By chance we were standing outside it about 4pm when the staff started putting fresh brioche loaves in the window shelves. People were flooding into the shop and the brioche was disappearing quickly. We followed the advice my parents adhered to during WWII, if you see a queue, join it. We were very happy we joined it. Their brioche is delicious and we have been buying there any opportunity we get.

Yes, we bought some brioche at 8am the following morning after having breakfast in the hotel.

>119 pgmcc: Holy cheese! That's amazing.

>119 pgmcc: Oh my... I'm very envious.

>110 pgmcc: Thank you.

>119 pgmcc: I'm glad to see that they accept credit cards - there is an opportunity for impulse buying if I've ever seen one!

>124 Darth-Heather:
That has been one of the benefits of the pandemic. People did not want to risk infection from physical money, so they all got the technology to handle virtual money. :-) Now you can use your card to buy a coffee and nobody raises an eye-brow.

Also, the "Tap your card to pay" feature has been a godsend for people who want to take your money from you; it is so easy to just tap your card and spend. It is assumed now that you do not want a receipt, as that is "The Green" thing to do, so you lose track of what you have put on the card. It makes the end of the month credit card statement so much more exciting.

Those dragons are adorable ... and ohhhh, that cheese!

>118 pgmcc: Are there still 2 green dragons at that store? Or did one sneak into your luggage? They wouldn't tempt me unless they were a canister to perhaps hold all the chocolate you bought, but that's just me. I don't like to dust things unless they serve a purpose. Thank you for sharing your trip adventures with us. At least those that were printable.

>127 MrsLee: We were travelling light, so had no room for extra items in our carry-on luggage for the plane, hence the two dragons were still in the shop when we left it. I am not even sure what purpose the dragons served other than being cute dragons. The smaller one does appear to be seated on the lid of a small container. The fact that the item behind them has the french words for , "Lock of hair", leads me to suspect the dragons may not have been intended for such a serious function as containing chocolate.

The chocolate factory shop did contain many items that were not strictly chocolate related. There were many prunes in the shop, including chocolate covered prunes that ended up in our baggage on the plane. Prunes are a speciality of the region with many acres of land covered in plum trees side by side with the vineyards. Oh, yes, I bought a bottle of wine in the chocolate factory shop. It was very good wine; also locally produced.

>128 pgmcc: They don't by chance combine the prunes and grapes in any concoctions, do they?

>129 Karlstar:
I am not sure, but there is a local licquer made from plums which is very nice.

>130 pgmcc: Of course in Eastern Europe or among eastern-European communities elsewhere, you'll find slivovitz / slivovica / whatever, which is liquor distilled from plums. Sampled at your own risk.

Off for another of rest & relaxation. That is the theory. We will be sharing a house with our daughter, her husband, and three of our grandchildren, aged 5, 3 and 1. The term, “live-in babysitters” springs to mind.

Going to be on Achill Island. It is not renowned for its good weather, but we had a super sunny week there last year. We are also at the start of a mini-heat-wave with many health warnings about severe hot weather. In Irish terms that is getting up into the 30s cantigrade.

That is the mid-80's in Fahrenheit, Peter, so yes, you'll be enjoying the warmth. The question is whether the humidity accompanies those temps.

I love the glimpses you provide of Tours. Cheese, dragons and plums seem like the starting element of a charming fantasy novel.

>131 hfglen: I have a bottle of genuine Romanian slivovitz (given to me, IIRC, by tokengingerkid's Romanian partner) in the kitchen. It is indeed potent stuff.

>134 haydninvienna: I once met an Orthodox priest who assured me that like all good Serbs, he distilled his own slivovica. He was bemoaning the fact that he couldn't get the right variety of plums in Johannesburg to continue doing so. Yet the Slovakian social club in Pretoria happily made their own evil spirit under that name.

>132 pgmcc: We have a Red warning for extreme heat in effect for Monday and Tuesday. Predicted max 36°C (96.8° F).

>133 jillmwo:
Nice idea. Dragons of the chateaux and their caves full of cheese.

I acquired another volume from the British Library Crime Classics series. This is the series that includes, Death of a Bookseller.

This was rather a surprise purchase. Some of you may know I have been on holiday in Achill Island in Co. Mayo. Yesterday my wife and I visited The Achill Experience, Aquarium and Visitors' Centre. After looking a the history displays we attended the aquarium tour, and then went to the inevitable shop. We wanted to get three gifts for the three grandchildren we have been staying with.

While browsing the book section, which was mostly for children with the books for older children (i.e. children from 0 to 100) were mostly local history or non-fiction about fish in the local area, I was surprised to find Deep Waters: Mysteris on the Waves, a collection of stories edited by Martin Edwards for the Briths Library Crime Classics series. There was a single copy and it stood out like a sore thumb against the backdrop of Giraffes Can't Dance and other equally graphic books for the under 100s.

I of course snatched this up, bewildered at its presence in the book section, and seeing its only reason for being in The Achill Experience, Aquarium and Visitors' Centre shop was the fact that it was stories about water, not even necessarily the sea. I half thought it was left there by aother visitor in a moment of abstract confusion. When I got to the till it did scan, but even the till operator was surprised that they had such a book for sale.

I suspect someone was putting through an order and spotted the title, "Deep Waters", and reckoned, "That will do us!"

Anyway, I now have a book of stories about water, subtitled, "Mysteires on the Waves".

Purchases made today:

I have started reading Eric Ambler’s The Light of Day

>139 pgmcc: I really enjoyed The Trespasser and The Maidens. I hope you do, too.

I loved The stranger times!

Sounds like a lovely holiday!

>142 Sakerfalcon:

That is good to hear.

>143 libraryperilous:

We really enjoyed ourselves.

>139 pgmcc:



Last night I had prepared a detailed post that explained why I bought each of these books. Of course I moved screen and lost everything. I know I am not the only one this has happened to. Here is another attempt.

Stranger Times is an other series of stories/books by Ciamh McDonnell who wrote The Dublin Trilogy. I have loved his books and will have a go at this series.

The Trespasser by Tana French is another book in the Dublin Murder Squad series (as far as I am aware) and I have enjoyed four of her books already.

The Maidens was written by Alex Michaelides who wrote The Silent Patient, a book I loved.

The purchasing occasion arose as I had some credit left on a book token my cousin had given me for my birthday. Due to the credit on the card I was able to pick up these books for the princely sum of €1.84. Great value. 😊

>145 pgmcc: Nice haul!

>145 pgmcc: The Trespasser is a stand-alone novel, and not part of the series. I didn't love it, but I think that's because I hold her to such a high standard.

>147 clamairy:
Was it as bad as The Searcher?

The Trespasser is part of the Dublin series - The Searcher is the stand alone. I didn't care for either as much as her earlier Dublin books, but The Trespasser is slightly better.

>148 pgmcc: & >149 Bookmarque: Forgive me! I had them mixed up. I did like this one, but not as much as the two that preceded it.

I feel like my thread has an auto-correct function. :-)

>151 pgmcc: I consider it a free perk of belonging to this group.

>146 Karlstar:
I was pleased with it. I went in hoping to find The Maidens and unexpectedly found the other two books that I would have been buying anyway. So, no difficulty justifying the purchases, especially when they came to a total of €1.84.

Pgmcc, we you the one who recommended the movie, "Ek Tha Tiger" or a similar title? I couldn't remember how it got on my watch list, but I enjoyed it.

>119 pgmcc:
I'm wondering how you got all that cheese in your carry-on? Or did you eat it before you left?

>154 MrsLee:
Yes, I am the guilty party. My daughter knew a lot of the dancers in it through her theatre work, and got us all to go watch it in the cinema. We have the DVD and have watched it several times. It is a real feel-good movie, and is very funny.

>155 suitable1:
I am not at liberty to discuss operational matters.

>156 pgmcc: I couldn't remember anything about who or why it was recommended, but since part of it was in Dublin, I thought maybe it was you. I was pleasantly surprised when the first song and dance number began. I think that should be a new normal for Bond films.

>158 MrsLee:
Hear! Hear!
I burst out laughing when he came to his front door to get milk and he was wearing a 007 T-shirt.

Re conversation >154 MrsLee: thru >159 pgmcc: Great exchange there. I see that Amazon provides access to the movie. My husband doesn't like subtitles, but I have no issue with them and will now go look for Ek Tha Tiger.

>160 jillmwo:
I hope you enjoy it.

I am currently reading Eric Ambler's The Light of Day. It is very enjoyable. I can see how Le Carré and Greene took inspiration from him. This book was published in the 1960s and is more mature than some of his very early ones.

Ambler's books are renowned for being about an ordinary person getting mixed up in a difficult situation, usually espionage, criminality or political. This book is a bit different. Our "ordinary person" is a petty crook, so is not as innocent as Ambler's usual "heroes".



I have also started Firewater Blues by Caimh McDonnell and am enjoying it.

At 163 posts I think it is time to start a new thread.