Cameling's Throw Down With a Side of 1010 - Part 4

My categories for the 1010 Challenge are:
Biographies : Perfect Hostage
Travelogues : An Area of Darkness
Crime/Mysteries : White Nights,The Cipher Garden
History : A Forger's Spell
Business Non-Fiction : Drive : The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Classic literature : Anna Karenina
Historical Fiction
Short Stories : Love Begins in Winter, What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us,Nocturnes,The Elephant Vanishes
Asian fiction : The Palace of Illusions,The Last Chinese Chef
Fantasy : The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers >/b>

January Books Read
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Love Begins in Winter by Simon Van Booy
Double Cross by James David Jordan
Drive : The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink
The Information Officer by Mark Mills
Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
The Salt Smugglers by Gerard de Nerval
White Nights by Ann Cleeves
The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us by Laura van den Berg
An Area of Darkness by V.S. Naipaul
The Good Good Pig by Sy Montgomery

February Books Read
The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones
Georg Letham : Physician and Murderer by Ernst Weiss
A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif
The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse
Beyond the Blossoming Fields by Junichi Watanabe
Key Lime Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke
Suffer the Little Children by Donna Leon
Not Quite Paradise : An American Sojourn in Sri Lanka by Adele Barker

March Books Read
The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
Cat's Claw by Amber Benson
The Cipher Garden by Martin Edwards
Sundowner Ubuntu by Anthony Bidulka
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
Dreaming Water by Gail Tsukiyama
A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny
No Sleep Till Wonderland by Paul Tremblay
Nocturnes : Five Stories of Music and Nightfall by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Girl of His Dreams by Donna Leon
The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Swan for the Money by Donna Andrews
Still Life by Louise Penny
Politically Correct Bedtime Stories by James Finn Garner
Chess Story by Stefan Zweig
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny

April Books Read
A Brutal Telling by Louise Penny
Going, Gone by Laura Crum
The Sleeping and the Dead by Ann Cleeves
Madam Will You Talk by Mary Stewart
Cream Puff Murder by Joanne Fluke
Perfect Hostage by Justin Wintle
Descartes' Bones by Russell Shorto
Logicomix by Apostolos Doxiadis
Kindred in Death by J.D. Robb
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
The Beautiful Miscellaneous by Dominic Smith
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

May Books Read
White Masks by Elias Khoury
Cassanova by Ian Kelly
Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood
The Green Mill Murder by Kerry Greenwood
Sweet Dates in Basra by Jessica Jiji
Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama
A Forger's Spell by Edward Dolnick
Mona Lisa Awakening by Sunny
Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie
Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart
Mastered by Love by Stephanie Laurens
Amandine by Marlena De Blasi
The Elephanta Suite by Paul Theroux

My first thread appears here : http://www.librarything.com/topic/78973
My second thread appears here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/83496
My third thread appears here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/85876

Went on a Louise Penny bender and am now up to speed to her latest book. Whew! I think her next one is out only later this Fall.

Finished reading A Fatal Grace, A Cruelest Month and A Brutal Telling over the last few days, so I'll do a quick review of them all.

Loved Fatal Grace and Cruelest Month and both mysteries had me guessing right up till the end as to who the murderer was, and the motives for the murder. What I like about these Three Pines mysteries is that there's never any shortage of suspects and and Chief Inspector Gamache and his team's constant probing into the lives of the residents of Three Pines continues to unearth new secrets among the neighbors.

I see how with this series, it does make sense to read them in order because otherwise, I'd not have understood the discord that Agent Nicole brings to the team.

The latest book in the series, A Brutal Telling was a surprise to me because I wasn't suspecting the person who was finally arrested at all. Not sure I liked this ending because it adds a bit of sadness now to my favorite village in Canada, and I don't know if the residents will be able to bounce back like they usually do.

Tried reading Hens Dancing by Raffaella Barker and had to pull the Pearl Rule on this one ... ugh! dead boring.

Found you, my friend! You can never escape!

>2 cameling:: Not sure I liked this ending because it adds a bit of sadness now to my favorite village in Canada, and I don't know if the residents will be able to bounce back like they usually do.

I still have A Brutal Telling left to go in the series. This makes me nervous.

Starred, of course! But why are there are there two new Cameling threads? Is the other one from your evil twin? Or are you the evil twin?

Starred again. Haven't tried any Louise Penny yet but have her noted for my tbr list.

Found you again, Caroline. Glad to see you back.

Hey there, Mark, glad you found me ... as you can see, I didn't try too hard to escape.

Tad : You'll still enjoy the book, I think ...and I'll be interested to see what you think of the ending.

Darryl : muaaahahahahaaaaaa..... come into my lair, my pretty........ do I frighten you?! I think there's only 1 of me .... I'll have to look for this other 'new' thread. I know I started one but there were some problems with posting my updates, so I deleted it and started it again. Maybe it didn't delete clean?

Kerry : Definitely try out the Three Pines series .... they're really addictive.

Glad to have you here, as always, Stasia.

Am I frightened? Absolutely. I'm still afraid of a deadly barrage of clunky boots, heavy books, and other blunt objects. I think I'll go to the other, less threatening Cameline thread.

Just kidding. You're starred, as usual.

Interesting ..... thanks for the link, Darryl .... I'm not sure why the thread didn't get deleted. Oh well, I'm sure it's something I didn't do right.

You know, if you didn't keep recommending so many wonderful sounding books to me, you'd not be the target of my various blunt objects ..... I have some leftover marshmallow peeps though that I don't know what to do with .... hmmm.... read anything good lately, Darryl?

Read an ER book yesterday that is one of my April TIOLI Challenge books. A nice little YA mystery, Going, Gone by Laura Crum.

Gail and her family decide to go on a camping vacation and visit an old friend of Gail's. They're also going to visit 2 horses that they've turned out at her friend, Lonny's ranch. What a shock it is for them to get there and before they're fully settled in, discover that Lonny is being arrested for the murder of 2 people.

Gail, in the process of riding a new horse, does a little investigating on her own and with the deputy sheriff, who's an old friend from school. They uncover a cattle rustling operation, and a number of people in town who could have motives of their own to kill the brother & sister. But will they find the truth before someone else gets hurt? And will they be able to save Lonny?

A well-paced murder mystery aided by some wonderful horses.
3 stars

Cute! Are you going to pelt me with the marshmallow peeps if I recommend another good book?

I brought several books with me to read: The Plague, for the group read; two other novels from the 2010 Orange Prize longlist, The White Woman on the Green Bicycle and Black Mamba Boy; Dreams in a Time of War, the new memoir by Ngugi wa Thiong'o; and two new poetry collections, Morning Haiku by Sonia Sanchez and Bicycles: Love Poems by Nikki Giovanni. I should finish two of the novels, the memoir, and both poetry collections by the end of the week, and I think they will all be very good.

Somehow I lost you Caroline but found you now. I've got Penny's The Cruelest Month up next so I'm not going to read your reviews just yet.

I've got you starred again!

#3. I read Hens Dancing last December. I confess, I loved the cover and bought the book on sale at bookcloseouts.com.

It was boring and lacked a plot other than rich British country girl raises children and animals.

Raffaella Barker is whimsical and part of a very English genre (we have shopping novels and books like The Nanny Diaries; they have mothers with troubled marriages and other domestic woes retreating to the country, aka the 'aga saga'). I quite enjoyed Hens Dancing but then didn't finish its sequel, Summertime. I did get her latest, Poppyland, from the UK to try once more, though I'm in no rush to read it.
(edited to fix bloody touchstones...)

Darryl : Hope you're enjoying Nikki Giovanni ... I love her poetry. Sounds like you've brought a nice stack of books with you for your trip. I'm looking forward to my copy of White Woman on the Green Bicycle ...well it's my brother's copy but since he's just finished reading it, he said he'd let me have it.

Bonnie : helloooo my lost friend. I'm glad you found your way back to me. I missed you.

Anne : Thanks. Hope you had a great birthday yesterday

Linda : Ha! I bought the book because I liked the cover and I thought it sounded fun. I like British country, I like reading about kids and animals ... but this lost me.

Suz : Hmm... I think given that you couldn't finish Summertime is a good indication that I should keep away from Ms Barker.

Aha.

Louise Penny, Louise Penny! Someday I'm going to succumb. If I do, which one do you think is her best?

#20: Bonnie, just my two cents, but I think in order to fully appreciate Penny's books, you must read the Three Pines series completely and in order.

sheesh! I lost ya there for a day or so..
found, starred and posted.

i do agree with #21

Found you!

Voila! Richard

Bonnie : Absolutely agree with Stasia and Kath .... I started with the 4th book by accident, and then I went to the first and read the rest in order. They are all sort of connected, and some things will make sense only if you read them in order.

Hey there, fliss .... so glad you found me.

I'm falling into a bit of a reading funk actually .... can't seem to wrap my head around anything I pick up. Perhaps it's my allergies ... my eye's been itching and my head feels all stuffy. ugh!

Allergies are the worst! Hope you feel better soon.

I know! Read a 15083665pp fantasy novel that's been touted to you by a "friend" with an evil sense of humor! Preferably one that's only available in a collectable edition costing $50.

And then I hope you spill durian juice on it.

Tigana indeed why the effrontery...!

Allergies.. gak! I understand your plight.
Hope the funk passes quickly~

I found you! I starred you!

I agree with you, Kath, and Stasia about the Penny series. They are wonderful, but much better to read them in order!

I'm reading the third one now.

Allergies all better ... but an evil work week kept me away from books and much online time. I was working 41 hours straight with no sleep this week and was completely knackered when I finally did get to bed. Feeling much better now after a day of rest yesterday .... didn't go in to work at all.. they owed me for the previous 2 days when I really used up all the fuel I had.

I'm feeling back to normal now and yesterday I put aside everything I had started but couldn't get in to, and I went to my TBR Tower, and plucked a book I've had for a really long time but never got around to .... and it was perfect!

The Sleeping and the Dead by Ann Cleeves is not part of the Shetland Island series, but it's just as good.

The stabbed body of a teenage boy is found at the bottom of a lake after a drought, 30 years after his murder. Nobody seems to know who he really was, how he came to be living in the area and what could have happened to him. He seemed to have appeared out of the blue, and his disappearance was accepted as part of his mystery.

As Inspector Peter Porteous and Detective Eddie Stout wrestle with this mystery that seems to have no answers but only questions every corner they turn, another teenage murder take place. Is it related to the body in the lake? What would these 2 teenagers a generation apart, have had in common that would cause someone to need to kill them both?

As our homicide team interviews hostile, unwilling, and even the morbidly excited people, taking them back to events that would have taken place more than 30 years ago, repressed memories surface, old secrets are uncovered, and yet more questions emerge.

This is an excellent piece of crime fiction. We are kept guessing right until the very last page.
4 stars in my opinion.

Another Ann Cleeves to add to my wish list! After the conclusion to the Shetland quartet, which packed an incredible wallop, I ordered The Crow Trap as my first foray into her other work, but haven't read it yet. She is def. a talented crime writer.

#28 : You didn't like Tigana, Richard? Seriously? I'm shocked! I'm hyperventilating. How could not like it? I think it's Kay's best book. Aww.... phooey.... were you perhaps suffering a particularly bad attack of the megrims when you read it? Ms Stella had an accident on your bed perhaps? What indeed could have caused such a hostile reaction to the book?

*shakes head and goes in search of potato chips*

Suz : I'm looking forward to reading Blue Lightning which is already on my wish list. Ann Cleeves is definitely one of my favorites. I love the way her books are so quiet and calm .. it's the unveiling of the secrets that everyone has and everyone hides that make her mysteries so appealing to me. Plus I'm always kept guessing till the very end. ;-)

I have read non of Kay's books. I had Tigana and another...but they wandered off with Cory last year and never came home.

Cleeves. The Shetland books did not bowl me over I'm afraid......

now I want potato chips.

There is something so satisfying about potato chips. Just ripped open a bag of salt & pepper chip. I like mine sandwiching thin slices of Granny Apples. Hey the fruit's keeping it a healthy snack, right?

Added The Plague and The Sleeping and The Deadto my ever growing wish list.

Salt and Pepper chips are so yummy!

Never tried them with apples, I must say :)

I thought Ricardo gave "Tigana" a good review? {surely I'm not hallucinating good fantasy reviews for Richard...}

ETfix tupo

lol @ ETfix tupo

sorry, but its funny

Glad to see you back, Caroline, even if you are adding yet another book to the BlackHole!

>40 mckait:...I try.

I lost you too--starred the other thread, which has no activity to speak of, and didn't find this one until just now!

Caroline,

Is Cleeves along the same lines as Three Pines? Or an entirely different kind of mystery series? I'm just about finished with The Plague (wonderful read) and will start on The Cruelest Month shortly.

Cleeves is much different!

Tiffin : I thought he did too... but then I thought I read that he didn't ... could have been just me misinterpreting what he wrote on my thread.

lol on the ETfix tupo ...

#41 : Stasia - always pleased to return the favor!

#42 : Good to see you again, Roni. I'm not sure what happened with that other thread .. I started it, but then it didn't take, so I started another one, then deleted the other one. But somehow it refuses to be deleted! And now I can't even find it myself! go figure. But I'm glad you found me here.

#43 : Bonnie - I don't think they're similar at all. Three Pines has a village full of wonderful neighbors who love each other and a delightful Inspector who reminds me of a cuddly grandfather. Cleeves' crime fiction is a little grittier, IMO.

Was just about to start reading a Charlie Huston book last night, but Mary Stewart caught my eye, and I decided to read her instead .... feeling guilty because she'd been in my TBR Tower for a few years now.

Madam Will You Talk was a delightful read. A holiday in Avignon turns out to be less than relaxing for Charity Selbourne when she finds herself befriending an unhappy little boy whose father allegedly killed his best friend.

A sightseeing visit unexpectedly bring her in contact with the boy's father and she finds herself on a race to keep him away from the frightened boy. She leads him on a wild goose chase, but can she keep the boy safe from him. Or perhaps is everything not as they seem? Who is the stepmother meeting in the dark and what nefarious plans are they hatching? What secrets does the boy hold that he's afraid to share? And why is his father following her?

A wonderful tale of suspense, where nothing is as it seems. The only bit I found rather silly and unnecessary to the tale was the sudden romance for Charity. It seemed rather far-fetched because of the situation she was in. But other than that, it was an enjoyable cosy mystery.

Probably the closest similarity between Cleves and Penny is that they are both character-driven mysteries.

#47: I am adding that one to the BlackHole. I have not read that one by Mary Stewart and I really like her books.

I'm a big fan, too, and that was the first one I read. Loved it, loved the setting.

I haven't read Stewart since the Arthur series... but I loved that.

#47 I know I've read that one, but it was at a point when I was reading a lot of her stuff - is it the one where they have nylon swimming costumes and sheets in some sort of luxurious setting? I know that in one of her girl-finds-mystery-while-on holiday novels has them. I don't know why, it just stuck in my memory. Possibly because I had hysterics at that point. Nothing like nylon to date a book ;o)

Thanks to everyone for clearing up the difference between Ann Cleeves and Louise Penny. I think I got "grittier" out of it. I'll finish the Three Pines series before getting into any other mysteries.

I was not much of a fan of Tigana either, although for some reason that I can't figure out I seem to have given it three and half stars. But that was waaaay back in 2007 and in the here and now I can't really recall much about it. Clearly, for me, it did not have much staying power. Doubtless this is why I've not tackled anything else of Kay's. I've got a few things of his stashed away on the wishlist, but have not had the least impulse to import any of them into the actual library.

>52 flissp:, I have no idea -- I don't remember that heroine going swimming. LOL re nylon... that, and sending telegrams...

I've got The Ivy Tree in my TBR Tower, but I think I'll put in a bit of space between Madam Will You Talk before I pluck Ivy Tree out of my Tower to read.

Stasia : Yaaay.... I like her books too.

Kath : You should try one of her non-Arthurian books... I know you'll like them.

Bonnie : I'm glad you're enjoying Three Pines so far. When you're done with these, I'm sure we can do something to introduce you to more mystery series. ;-)

Sorry you didn't enjoy Tigana .... but don't let it put you off other Kay books. I didn't much like The Last Light of the Sun but I know quite a few people did. I've heard that Ysabel is a good one, and I've got that in my TBR Tower and hoping to bring it out for a read this year.

Suz : I want to say that some people in the UK and Australia still refer to stockings as nylons. I'm trying to remember if I've actually heard real people mention them the last times I was in these countries, or if they just sound so normal because I've been watching alot of British tv and movies lately.

I will do that :) soon.. very soon..

My mother still calls them nylons; so, occasionally, do I... Dunno if it's the Canadian thing, being raised partly in the UK or simply that I'm old fashioned...

Living in the UK, the only person who I've ever heard refer to tights as nylons is my 102 year old granny... Of course that doesn't mean to say she's the only one!

#55 It may be a bit of an odd memory to have - and yes to the telegrams! ;o)

#56 Have you read Touch Not the Cat? I think that's probably my favourite of her non-Merlin novels (the first two Merlin novels being way ahead of everything else for me).

I haven't read that one yet, Fliss ..... I'll add that to my wish list and look out for it.

I'm also going to give Angela Thirkell a shot ...seems like a number of people here on LT have nothing but good things to say about her.

>56 cameling:: Suz : I want to say that some people in the UK and Australia still refer to stockings as nylons.
We called them nylons in Canada but now they are just called pantyhose, with the demise of the garter belt...although the Brits call pantyhose "tights", I believe...we call the warmer heavier-gauged cottony ones tights.

I enjoyed The Ivy Tree. Hope you do, too when you get to it!

Just finished reading Cream Puff Murder by Joanne Fluke. What a hoot. Hannah Swensen, our intrepid baker sleuth, is on a stringent diet because she needs to fit into a custom dress for her mother's book launch. To help speed up her weight loss, her sister signs her up for some exercise programs at Heavenly Bodies.

Of course, nothing in Hannah's life ever runs smoothly, so during one of her visits to the gym, she decides to relax in the jacuzzi, but her plans take a swift detour ... there's a dead woman floating in the jacuzzi.

This time, though, rather than frown at Hannah's attempts to help with the investigation, the sheriff's office actually asks her for help because all the senior police officers were personally involved with the victim, and are therefore taken off the case. The catch is that since they were personally involved with the victim and therefore potential suspects, they are not allowed to talk to Hannah about the case or even be seen to be speaking with her. How they proceed to provide her with well-meaning investigative tips provides some funny moments.

And since this is a Hannah Swensen mystery, one has to expect the usual discussion and description of various cookies and desserts. Makes for mouth-watering reading in between trying to figure out the murderer and the motive.

Great fun.
3.5 stars

I just love Hannah because as person she is so true to life - don't we all have to fight the battle of bulge just to get into that special dress as well as struggle with those men and their well-meaning assumptions that women can't handle thngs as well as they do?

Cream puffs goood...*Homer drool*

For someone who's on a diet to look good in my suit for a conference I'm going to speak at next week, I definitely empathized with Hannah. :-)

Richard : you want to read this book, because she's got a recipe for cream puffs with different fillings, such as blueberry, vanilla custard, chocolate pudding ..... mmmm... I'm going to try it out one of these days

yum! Caro, I have seen pics of you... I can't imagine you not looking lovely in anything....

awww.... shucks... thanks, Kath .... as you can guess, I don't post pics of me having just gotten out of bed, or after a run.... no sense scaring everyone. ;-)

>68 cameling: So saith the elegantly lean, soignee Caro. This is a woman who would make a potato sack covered in spider webs look like something YSL had been planning since the 50s, but never had the model who could carry it off.

Caroline, anyone who diets for only A WEEK to get into a suit gets no compassion from me! Nope, nada. I'm worried that I only have 10 weeks to look like a human being vs a giant potato head before book-day. Pshaw... :-)

#70: I am with you, Suz! Here I am struggling to lose 100 pounds (the good news being that the first 30 are gone) and Caroline probably only had to lose 5.

I've enjoyed your comments on other threads so much I decided to come over.

>71 alcottacre: You go GF!

LOL ... you are so good for my morale, rdear .... i love you and your bad eyesight.

Suz : I happen to like the Potato Heads .. they're so cute. I have 3 of them in my office. Nonetheless, I'm sure you don't look like Mr Potato Head.

Stasia : Wow .. congratulations! That's wonderful.

I'm horrible at dieting, I hate to diet because I love food too much. I actually don't know how much I weigh and how much weight I need to lose. I only get weighed when I'm at the doctor's for my annual physical. I just go by how tight my clothes start to get or if I start to pant after climbing up 2 flights of stairs. But I know I need to lose some weight, especially now my metabolic rate has slowed as I've aged. Ugh!

Welcome, Suslyn .... nice to see you here.

I came home to find 2 boxes of books that I bought during that recent Book Depository sale! whoo hooooo! I'm psyched! Now I'm just so excited I keep looking at my pile of new books

#74: I wanna come look!! (and drool) . . . so where is the list of your haul?

Morning Caroline! What books ya get? Being pleasantly nosy!

#74 Must be the day for book deliveries! I just got my shipment from bookcloseouts.com. (And I think my bookshelves are about to collapse . . .)

Pray tell us, what goodies have you gathered in this shipment?

Yes Caroline, what'd you get? I'm hoping mine are waiting for me when I get home.

Yes, do tell! I'm going to list mine from bookcloseouts.com tomorrow :D

We all want to compare boxes of treasures!

Still waiting for my book closeouts -- heavens, that will be a giant box!

I've just about gotten over staring at the books in glee ....
Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child
Blood Ties by Pamela Freeman
All Around Atlantis by Deborah Eisenberg
The Bellini Madonna by Elizabeth Lowry
Abomination by Colleen Coble
About Grace by Anthony Doerr
Watermark: A Novel of the Middle Ages by Vanitha Sankaran
The Woods by Harlen Coben
Music, Food and Love by Guo Yue
Logicomix by Apostolos Doxiadis
Annette Vallon by James Tipton
American Cookery: A novel by Laura
Amagansett by Mark Mills
Perfect Hostage by Justin Wintle

I can't wait to receive my box from the bookcloseouts.com sale too!

I had to put aside everything else I was reading because I really wanted to read Perfect Hostage by Justin Wintle.

That there is very little international coverage of Burma speaks to the choke hold that the junta have over the Burmese and foreigners living there. The horrors of genocide against the ethnic minorities by Burma's military regime resulted in hundreds of thousands of Karens, Mons, Chins, Kachins, Shans and other non-Burmans to flee across the border to Thailand, India and China.

In a country where, as one UN senior official in Bangkok said, " just to turn your head can mean imprisonment or death", rose a woman who espoused democracy and human rights, a woman who returned to Burma, leaving her comfortable life in England, leaving her husband, her sons and her friends, in the knowledge that this was the time for her to take a stand for the people of Burma, to continue the work her father, assassinated General Aung San, started.

That she has remained under house arrest starting in 1989 and not executed like many other dissenters to the military government indicate the government's recognition that this woman the people call 'The Lady" was not someone they could make quietly disappear without an international outcry and repercussions.

The woman is Aung San Suu Kyi, and her amazing story through letters, speeches and clandestine interview notes by many brave people of Burma, is well told in this book. You may not agree with how she chose to try and bring about unity, and you may not agree with her decision to choose to stay in Burma instead of being with her children, but you will admire the strength of character this Nobel Peace Prize winner displays even in the face of tremendous physical and psychological challenges.

I couldn't put this down .. it's a humbling, terrifying, thought-provoking and inspiring read.
4.5 stars.

Hi Caroline- Perfect Hostage sounds very good! I wasn't familiar with the book or the author. BTW, were you joining us on the Murakami? I posted a General Thread link. Hope you are having a nice weekend!

Hi Mark - I can't stop thinking of what I've read in Perfect Hostage. I'm also glad I read it because I didn't know the history of that country before. Before this, I'd heard of Aung San Suu Kyi and read bits and pieces about her, generally only what was covered in the papers when she was placed under house arrest again, or recently when the American swam across the lake (I think it was a lake) to her property and was arrested.

Yes, I will be joining you on the Murakami group read. Looking forward to it. Thanks for pointing me to the thread link. We start on May 1, right?

I'm looking forward to the reviews of some of those!!

I'm whistling as I try to pick out what to bring with me to Los Angeles. I know I want to read Descartes' Bones on the plane going over. But I'll be there for a 2 day conference so I'll need another book for the flight home and then maybe 2 more for while I'm there.

I'm hoping to bump into a quaint little bookstore on tomorrow afternoon when I walk about

Caroline,

Excellent review of Perfect Hostage. I'll be adding that one to my pile as I've been fscinated with the choices this woman made for some time. Thumb!

Loved your review of Perfect Hostage, Caroline; I'll add this to my wish list.

Nice haul from The Book Depository!

Have a safe trip to (Beat) L.A.

Definitely sounds intriguing, onto my shopping list it goes!

Two other excellent & relatively recent books about Burma are Emma Larkin's Finding George Orwell in Burma and From the Land of Green Ghosts by Pascal Khoo Thwe. The former is a pseudonym for a writer who somehow manages to keep getting visas to travel in Burma under her real name; she has a new book due out soon that I'm getting an advance copy of about the country in the wake of that Typhoon/Cyclone Nargilis. The other is by a Burmese from, I believe, the Karen or Shan tribes (it's on my shelf and I can't reach that far tonight!) and how he ends up at Oxford or Cambridge as a student after literally walking through the jungle and hiding out with the rebellious northern tribes after the annulled elections and one of the subsequent revolts that closed the universities and put his life in jeopardy. Both are 5-star books for me, particularly the last, since it's really Burma from the inside, written by an extraordinarily good and imaginative author.

Thanks Bonnie and Darryl. It really is a worthwhile read.

From the Land of Green Ghosts sounds interesting -thanks for the recommendation, Suz. I'll have to look out for it.

#81: Nice haul, Caroline!

#82: I am adding that one to the BlackHole. It sounds too good to pass up. Thanks for the review and recommendation.

So.... where are you going to put all the new ones? :)

I always try to ask myself that before I buy ANYthing.
It is not hard to deny myself a kitchen gadget, but books?
Well, they stack...

Have you read The Lizard Cage, a fictional look at political prisoners in Burma, harrowing but excellent? It led me to buy several other books about Burma, none of which I've read, and all those mentioned above sound fascinating too.

Caroline

Happy Sunday to you. I so enjoy your thread. I've added Perfect Hostage to the list of tbr.

Congratulations on your hot review listed on today's home page!!!!

I smile when I read the posts regarding books we buy and pounds we try to lose.

I'm waiting for my large box of books from bookcloseouts.com. When I open the box it will be like Christmas morning...However, the toy chest is filled and I'm not sure where in the world to put the new goodies. Like Terri, my shelves are already crowded.

>93 rebeccanyc: Yay, I have The Lizard Cage on its way as part of my Book Closeouts haul.

Aha! Gotcha. Please ignore my small panic on your last thread... I have been away too long. :-)

Hope you have a good trip.

I spent a half hour on Wikipedia reading about Burma/Myanmar after reading your review this weekend. A small detail, but it was interesting to find out that the two words are variations of the same word in their country--they seem/sound so different in English.

Good grief. I lost Stasia over the weekend, and now I realize, I lost you too - were you together? Way behind on threads.

I was a fan of Mary Stewart's Arthur series, haven't read her in a long time. Adding Madam Will You Talk. Sounds great. Also adding Perfect Hostage because I have not read much about Burma. Sounds fascinating.

Thanks!

Every time I read or hear about Burma/Myanmar I think of the delightful and strange little book (okay, not huge :) Saving Fish From Drowning. Loved it.

Conferences I think are extremely tiring events. You sit and listen for long hours in the day, and then try to catch up with work at night after the evening networking drinks and dinners.

Glad to be home now for a few days before I head down to Brazil on Sunday. Looking forward to catching up on some sleep.

#99 : Glad you found me again, Jenn.

#100 : Yes, I've read Saving Fish from Drowning ... Amy Tan's one of my favorite authors.

Just finished reading Descartes' Bones by Russell Shorto. A very good and interesting read. I had no idea how many people built on the foundation of Descartes' works. The first chapter briefly covered Descartes' life, his philosophies, his medical research and observations, his study of light, optics and weather phenomena, and his mathematical analysis that would be the foundation of calculus.

Upon his death, he was first buried in Sweden, but later his bones were taken across to France, the land of his birth. Somewhere along the way, he first lost his little finger to Hugues de Terlon, knight of St John and collector of holy relics. Terlon was responsible for arranging for the removal and transfer of Descartes' body from Sweden to France. What happened during this process has turned out to be a mystery for all ages .... how does one, placing a skeleton in a new copper coffin, manage not to notice that the skull is missing?

While there are references to Descartes' bones and we are informed of the sudden realization much much later, that there is a major part of the skeleton that is missing, the main focus of this book is not the mystery behind Descartes' bones, but really the movements that have arisen following his death. As the father of modernity, his works were said to influence other notables that followed, such as Newton, Locke, Hume, Voltaire, and Berzelius.

Starting with Descartes' life, we're taken through the period of the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, the scientific exploration in the 18th and 19th century, and the continuous battle between religious faith and reason.

I'll give this 4 stars.

Traveling is exhausting! You seem to make the very best of it and I admire that trait.

With a fully charged iPod and a good book, I can take travel in my stride. I'm just bummed that I didn't have time to find a cute bookstore while I was in LA.

I forgot that nobody walks in LA, and was walking from the hotel for about a mile towards Olvera Street, and had a few cars honk, stop and ask if I was lost or wanted a ride. That was kind of surprising. Certainly wasn't the type of response I was expecting ... but I decided to take a taxi back to the hotel after dinner, just incase. ;-)

ye gods....!

Hi Caroline- Glad you made it home ok! I hope you can get some rest before Sunday!

I nearly got arrested for walking in Dallas -- all of four blocks, from my hotel to a restaurant. That's when I decided I wouldn't want to live there.

#101: I have Descartes' Bones around my house somewhere waiting for me to read it. Now all I have to do is locate the book. Thanks for the reminder, Caroline.

I know someone who was walking in LA and ran into someone else who was walking and not only were they both from NYC but they knew each other! But I also know someone who was stopped by the police for walking in LA.

>108 rebeccanyc: LOL

I was hoping to walk from my B&B to the site of the conference I'm going to in Salt Lake City -- the PR lady from the Mormons was horrified. I'm now a bit worried -- it's only 8 blocks?!?!

Well at least I didn't get stopped by the police for walking in LA. I don't think I could live in LA .. shortage of good happy trees and the freedom to walk whereever I want.

Lots to do tomorrow and a potluck to attend on Sunday before I head out to the airport for a flight to Sao Paolo for a few days.

I'm trying to pick a couple of books for the flight down and back.

Suzanne,
Have you ever been to Salt Lake City? The city blocks are huge. Walking is not bad there - no one will think you're lost like in LA, but seriously very large "blocks" and may be a longer walk than you think (:
What conference are you attending?

Seconding nittnutt...those 8 blocks are about the same as walking from Lexington Ave to 11th Ave in Manhattan. Not undoable, just allot time accordingly. Then again, I'm the weirdo who lived on 30th btw 8th & 9th, but drank nightly at 28th & 3rd. (I had a pash for the bartender.) Hoofed there and back every night for over a year.

Genealogy conference -- next book to be titled "Bluebloods, Black Sheep & Missing Links: America's Obsessive Search for its Roots." That's assuming my agent finds a publisher! :-)

#114: I cannot wait for that one. I would publish it for you if I could, lol.

#106 Woah, woah! Confused Brit here - you can get arrested for walking in some US cities?!?

#101 Glad you got back safely Caroline.

>116 souloftherose: LOL I'm afraid it's because in LA one might be confused with a streetwalker, not the same as a person who walks along the street. :) And, no, I've never heard of anyone getting arrested for walking on street. Crossing in the wrong place (jaywalking)? yes. Walking along an interstate (autoroute)? Yes.

>Chatterbox. I'm so impressed! Sounds like the perfect gift for a friend who did our genealogy. I do hope it gets published soon :)

>116 souloftherose: LOL I'm afraid it's because in LA one might be confused with a streetwalker, not the same as a person who walks along the street. :) And, no, I've never heard of anyone getting arrested for walking on street. Crossing in the wrong place (jaywalking)? yes. Walking along an interstate (autoroute)? Yes.

>Chatterbox. I'm so impressed! Sounds like the perfect gift for a friend who did our genealogy. I do hope it gets published soon :)

116, 117. I'm afraid in LA it's a class and race thing: if you're walking, you must be poor and therefore up to no good, and this is even more "true" if you're African-American in a "good" neighborhood, as my friend was. He wasn't arrested, but the cop asked to see his ID which, for someone doing nothing criminal, certainly borders on the illegal.

I did consider the streetwalker angle after the 3rd car honked and slowed down ...but then I figured that since it's in the middle of the afternoon, I'm in cargo pants and a tee shirt ...if they thought I was a streetwalker, then streetwalkers are definitely dressing casual these days in LA! ;-) Or maybe they thought I was a streetwalker on my way to work? hmm... pondering, pondering.

No street walking for me on my own in Sao Paolo though next week. I'll be with a couple of colleagues (2 burly guys), although I think if it came down to it, I may have to protect one of them! haha...

Suz : I hope you find a publisher for your next book. I'd love to read that. What goes into your decision making process when it comes to deciding what to write next?

Heather : Thank you ...glad to be back...even if I have to leave again tomorrow evening. ;-) I have a bit of a manic travel schedule for the next 3 weeks.

Suzanne - I want to know when your book is published - my mom is obsessed with genealogy and I will need to buy it for her. It's a generational thing - my grandmother and G grandmother too. I am holding my breath - the disease will get me yet.
My brother got married in SLC 2 weeks ago at a great little nursery called Cactus and Tropicals. We went to Temple Square to see the flowers. Not a lot of the tulips were in bloom, but they were coming. If they are in full bloom it is a sight not to be missed.

Finished Logicomix, a graphic novel about the life of Bertrand Russell by Apostolos Doxiadis this afternoon.

If you're expecting an historically accurate look into the development of logicians, don't read this book. It's a graphic novel! It's not meant to accurately depict events as they unfolded. What it does however, for all who know the history behind the great figures of Frege, Cantor, Gődel, and Wittgenstein, will chuckle at some of the deviations from historical truth .. or be annoyed by it, depending on your sense of humor.

This novel captures the young life of Bertrand Russell, founder of the Russell Paradox and co-author of Principia Mathematica. It traces his life's journey from his childhood when he was first exposed to mathematical reasoning to the period in his life after the 3 volumes of Principia Mathematica were published.

It's a wonderful way to introduce maths, logic and reasoning to non-mathematicians. The examples of Russell's Paradox, for example are humorously depicted in the comic drawings of barbers. It introduces us to the works and minds of some of the other great mathematicians of the 19th Century in a manner that takes away what many would consider the dryness of the subject and presents them as charming subjects.

Interlaced with the life of Bertrand Russell in this novel, is a modern day rehearsal of Aeschylus' Oresteia. The relevance of this play is made clear at the end of the book and provides an interesting and apt finale.

As with most graphic novels, there are tiny details in the background which make this even more interesting reading, and at times funny.

The artist is Annie Di Donna of TinTin fame, and you can see the same style in some of the characters drawn in this book.

I'm going to give this 4 stars.

Streetwalkers dressing down.. lmao

I figure it will take 18 mos to 2 years, alas -- first find publisher, then write book. The editing process, as I've discovered, takes about nine months. (Coincidence???)

I'd like to have it out in time for Xmas 2011, but that would really be pushing it. My agent can't start to market it until the first month's sales nos. are in for book #1, which means mid-July/early August. Given that that is summer... Odds are if I find a publisher by Sept. & deliver the book in March... Well, who knows. It's all guesswork!

With the genealogy book, it was simply that it's a massive phenomenon and while there are lots of "how to" books, there's nothing about the who, what, why, etc., esp. the "why". I'll be going to a genealogy class at BYU (yes, it's a college program...), behind the scenes at the LDS library, into a DNA testing lab run by one of the folks that tells you who your g-g-g-g-g-g-grandmother was, and who you're related to, and to the conference. So it will be a busy week.

Caroline -- that sounds like a hoot! And what a great name for the author... *eyes roll*

I am definitely buying your book (: I like the idea of doing the who, what, why.

I am a BYU grad - and while I never took a genealogy course, I know people who did. Apparently it's a great program.

I would be more in the genetics camp. I'd love to go to the DNA lab. Funny story - my genetics prof. also taught my father 18 years previous. First day of class, I'm sitting there, minding my own business, and the prof. sticks his finger at me and says, "was your dad Sidney or Byron?" I was stunned. I nearly claimed my uncle (you'd have to know my dad).

#123: I already have that one in the BlackHole. Glad you liked it, Caroline.

Have a great time in Sao Paulo! Safe travels.

>125 Chatterbox: This sounds like a job for Walker & Co! If you were a man, you'd be Mark Kurlansky...entertaining writer of books on subjects you never knew you were interested in.

Enjoy Sao Paulo, Caro darling, and keep in mind it's *sniff* FALL down there...go breathe some delightful pollution...I mean air!...that's untainted by the hideous, inexorable stomping closer of the dreaded, vile, horrendous Summer.

Thanks, Stas.

rdear .. it may be Fall, but the weather's forecasted to be in the 80s and apparently I'll be trying to stay dry from the thunderstorms that they're claiming will hit 2 of the 3 days that I'll be there. That should wash some of the pollution out of the air ... I hope. The last time I was in Sao Paolo I ended up with a throat infection from the pollution.

Caroline- Have a good safe trip! And keep the breathing to a minimal! Are you all-ready on your way?

Thanks, Mark. No, I haven't left yet. My flight is at 7pm ... so I have a few hours to go yet. Will start packing in an hour. Just wanted to get my LT fix for the day in first since I may not have time to do so for the next 2 days or so given my packed schedule.

Nice review of Logicomix, Caroline! I'll have to look for it. Is this the same Bertrand Russell who wrote A History of Western Philosophy?

Have a safe and not too taxing trip. Is it a direct flight, or do you have to go through Miami or elsewhere?

Caroline - hope you have a good & safe trip with no delays. Is the pollution worse than in Hong Kong?

Safe travels, Caroline!

Happy travelling once again, Caroline!

And now I have a question: as a puzzled Brit who has always been a little confused by American street numbers, can someone explain how this baffling system works? Take Ricardo's post:
I'm the weirdo who lived on 30th btw 8th & 9th, but drank nightly at 28th & 3rd.

Now, nobody's disputing this, but what exactly does it mean? When people in movies throw out the fact that they live on the corner of 7th and 11th, what do they mean?!!! *takes a deep befuddled breath and goes for a little lie down. Not in the streetwalker sense*

In New York, numbered avenues run north-south, while numbered streets run east-west. So, if someone tells you that they "lived on 30th btw 8th & 9th" you would know that they either lived on 30th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues, or 30th Avenue between 8th and 9th Streets. Except...Avenues don't go that high, so you know it's the former.

And, of course, there are further confusions because between Third and Fifth Avenues, you have Lexington Avenue, Park Avenue and Madison Avenue...but no Fourth Avenue (Park takes its place in the grid). But, hey, you get the idea. ;-D

And Broadway adds more confusion, as it cuts across Manhattan from west to east, as you head from north to south.

However, this confusion pales in comparison to the names of the streets of London, which seem to change every dozen blocks (e.g., Whitehall Street-Charing Cross Road-Tottenham Court Road-Hampstead Road-...)

Or Denver, where streets turn into other streets (University becomes Lincoln or 285 becomes Hampden becomes Jefferson becomes Hampden) but Colfax goes from the mountains to Kansas, pretty much.

Here in Sherman, one side of the street is Houston, but the other side is called Lamar :)

And to add even more confusion, when Tad says "New York," he is being a true New Yorker and only meaning Manhattan when he says "New York." When you get into what we quaintly call the "outer boroughs" (e.g., Brooklyn and Queens), the numbering system is crazy: in Queens, in particular, you can have (to make up an example) 39th Road, 39th Street, 39th Place, etc., and they may not be very near each other.

Also, all of Manhattan is not on the avenue grid Tad mentions, especially at the northern and southern tips.

Darryl : yes, it's a graphic novel of the early life of Bertrand Russell who wrote A History of Western Philosophy

One of the things I love about NYC is that it is so easy to move around because of the grid system ... I am directionally challenged and this is one of the few cities that I don't get lost in.

Thanks all, Brazil was crazy busy with meetings and a seminar. But they sure do know what's important, and we had at least some wonderful long lunches and dinners to relax a little. No pollution in Sao Paolo at all to speak of in comparison to Hong Kong or India. Very windy and apparently it rains alot, so that sort of cleans the air.

It's been hectic at work as well since I got back, leaving me with no time at all to read. :-( But that is all going to change tomorrow ... well at least the reading part anyway. I'm off again on another trip .. this time to Singapore and Sydney. I think I'll take White Mask with me as my plane read and pick out a few more books to keep me company for the next 2 weeks.

Kindred in Death by J.D. Robb - another wonderful Lieutenant Eve Dallas futuristic crime novel in the series. I can't get enough of this writer. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who is uncomfortable reading about brutal crimes though because she can get rather graphic at times. But I've not found her to add gratuitous violence in her stories.
3 and a half stars

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse - An old read, and one I missed greatly. A wonderful classic I think, to follow the path of Siddhartha, a Brahmin's son, who wants more out of life than to follow in the footsteps of his father. His journey takes him through poverty and richness, meditation and debauchery, loss of self and inner peace.
5 stars

The Beautiful Miscellaneous by Dominic Smith was a really interesting read. A boy of slightly higher than average intelligence keeps trying to measure up to his genius father's expectations and fails to do so. He is involved in an accident, emerges from a coma to find that he's suddenly a savant. The story is his journey - how he handles his newfound talent, what he does with it, how he interacts with others, and the continued puzzle he poses to his father and mother. I really liked this book .. couldn't put it down.
4 stars

YAY! you're home safe and sound.. !

Caro's back, everyone can return to being happy and normal. It's only a day or two, but at least the brood's all together now.

I have GOT to have The Beautiful Miscellaneous ! found it used .... lovely!

Caroline- Welcome back! Missed you, my friend! Hope all is well!

Thanks for the welcome home cheer ..... but I'm off again tomorrow morning. ;-) Heading to Singapore for a few days and then on to Sydney for about 4 days.

So sorry I haven't posted as often as I'd like. .. end of semester details keep my running behind....

I always find such great conversations and wonderful books when visiting here.

Happy trails to you and safe journeys.

Caroline, how do you do it? I'm exhausted just thinking about your schedule :)

The Beautiful Miscellaneous looks very good indeed. I will have to keep an eye out for it.

Glad you enjoyed Kindred in Death. I just finished the latest, Fantasy in Death, a couple weeks back.

Stay home for a while, would you? I am with Bonnie - exhausted just thinking about your schedule.

Hi and bye...you really do get around the world.

I've missed your LA and Brazil trips and about 70 messages - Descartes' Bones has gone onto my wishlist. Thanks!

Am still giggling at the streetwalker in cargo pants image....

~be safe....

Be safe! Glad you're liking Robb... I've really enjoyed the several I've read. I'm thinking they'd make good re-reads too.

Welcome back and safe travels again! I always worry that I won't take enough books away on trips so i take a ridiculous number just to be safe. My work colleagues think I'm insane (mind you some of them have admitted to never reading so I think they're insane).

I've heard lots about the J.D.Robb series, I've been meaning to try them.

Would you pack me in your suitcase??? Please???

#135 -- the hidden joke in that comment, Ellie, is that whoever said this essentially walked across most of Manhattan in order to get a drink at a particular bar. (In midtown Manhattan, there are bars on most corners.)

I'm very happy that I live on a street with a NAME! (and not a number)

The most confusing place I ever lived was Tokyo, where a tiny minority of major thoroughfares have names (eg Aoyama dori) and the rest are house numbers, block numbers, etc. My address was 2-16 Hiroo 2-chome. Which roughly translates to the 16th house in the second block of the second sub-district of the neighborhood named Hiroo. Without maps, we'd have been lost. I went to parties and never arrived due to this kind of stuff.

Went to the genealogy lab; the day before I did my own DNA test for Genetree. It will get my matrilineal DNA only, which I know is Irish (Mary Jane Casement is the last ancestress in that line, born in Co. Down around 1820), but I'm curious to know if we are related to Sir Roger Casement, who was hung for treason by the English during WW1; he was the author of the report that exposed all the nastiness in the Belgian congo, but was also an Irish nationalist. I'll be going to sit in on some BYU genealogy courses once I've got a publisher for this.

Sorry for thread hijack, Caro - safe travels with many books...

Caroline, I trust that you're bringing at least a couple of more books besides White Masks on the plane with you. How long does it take to get from Boston to Singapore?

Just stopping by to say Hello.

Angela (amwmsw04)

Singapore and Sydney! ...oh, so jealous... I hope the trip is fantastic :)

*sighs* I guess American street navigation will have to be another one of those baffling things, like quantum mechanics and the London Underground system, that I will just have to leave to people who actually use it on a daily basis and know how it all works...

Already got Siddhartha on my shelves Caroline, but The Beautiful Miscellaneous has gone straight on the wishlist, sounds wonderful! Sadly it might have to wait a bit since I'm on a strict mother-imposed buying ban - one book in, one book out - to the extent that Mum is holding my latest Amazon order hostage until I have delivered two more books onto the shop shelves to fulfil my part of the exchange... Oh, woe is me! If only she hadn't just happened to drop by the flat when the piles of books in the living room were at their most rampantly chaotic! ;-)

Trust me, Manhattan streets are FAR simpler than quantum mechanics. Or even the Tube.

The Beautiful Miscellaneous sounds awesome! Onto the list!!!

Safe travels, Caroline!

#141 "One of the things I love about NYC is that it is so easy to move around because of the grid system ... I am directionally challenged and this is one of the few cities that I don't get lost in."

For some strange reason, I actually find cities based on grid systems almost impossible to deal with. I'm actually better with winding roads that end up where they shouldn't. In Australia, I used to get hopelessly lost in Melbourne, whereas had no problems at all with Sydney. New York was just about OK, as long as I didn't stray too far from the bits with lots of landmarks. I suspect it's a consequence of growing up in villages surrounded by roads leading nowhere...

#147 Oh, so, so jealous (although not of the plane time) - enjoy your travels!

#156 Suzanne, that Tokyo address is hilarious - I have a Taiwanese friend who, when he went back to live there for a while had a similar address based on Units and blocks - you'd use up the entire envelope writing the first line of the address. Thankfully he's now moved to France...

#160 Ellie, just NEVER use the Tube map as a guide for getting around overground and you should be OK ;o)

Grids definitely make it easier to get around in a large city that you are unfamiliar with. Washington DC is like that with Number streets going E/W and Lettered streets going N/S . They even have a system where once you pass Z Street they then start with street names that start with A - one syllable, once the one syllables are used up then two, and so on. The only problem in DC are the state streets that run diagonally and the circles- no body in DC knows how to drive a circle!

Reminds me of a funny story: When my son was young (7 or 8), we were looking for a street in St. Louis County called Madison. I kept driving back & forth, and couldn't find it. Finally, he said, "It's the next street." I asked him how he could possibly know that, and he said it was because the other streets were in President order, and Madison should be next. He was right!

There are streets in Berkeley like that - we called them the President Streets.

>165 tloeffler: Kudos to your son! That's pretty amazing :)

St Louis can be very confusing.

Love that story, terri :)

#165 See how useful it is to know all your US presidents? (Smart kid!)

Thank you all for keeping my thread from stagnating into green pond scum while I was away. I had all the intentions of checking in and putting in some LT time while I was in Singapore and Sydney but unfortunately, my schedules there turned out to be extremely hectic, what with work meetings during the day, and turning into a maniacal social butterfly at night with friends I hadn't seen in ages, some of whom happened to be in the same city at the same time.

I keep up on Facebook a bit more easily because it has a Blackberry app. But LT doesn't yet have an app that makes it easy to update your posts or read threads on a Blackberry.

On The Beautiful Miscellaneous - be warned ... I liked it but Kath didn't.

Terri : What an astute son you have. Fantastic story!

Bonnie : My travel schedule isn't always this hectic. Usually I'm not out for more than a week and a half, but this year has been a little unusual and I was tired of the travel by the time I got to Sydney since it was my 4th week on the road. I'm glad to be home, sleeping in my own bed, drinking water out of my own fridge, and doing mundane things like grocery shopping and laundry.

flissp : I find Sydney very easy to move around and have rarely gotten lost there. Melbourne too is relatively easy. Boston on the other hand, is a nightmare! I am constantly lost, and can never find my way out of the city to go home ... and I live only a half hour away from the city without my GPS!

suslyn : I love J.D. Robb and keep all the books in her series. They are my go-to books whenever I am in a reading rut and I enjoy re-reading them.

White Masks by Elias Khoury is a really interestingly put together book. Written by a journalist trying to find answers to the death of an elderly man who was found naked and beaten on a street in Lebanon. What he did was to interview various people who had some form of contact with the man while he was alive, both when he was a sane and happy man, and then later when he seemed to have descended into his own private mental hell of insanity. With each interview, we receive not just a different look at the man, but also insights into these different people and their lives during Lebanon's wars. These stories are funny, sensitive, disturbing and touching ... and all seek somehow to explain the life of the murdered man.

Very well written as a translated work and worth the time to read it as well.
4.5 stars

#172: I got that one in the other day based on Tad and Darryl's recommendations and now yours. I best get busy on it!

Ditto what Stasia said.

Glad you are home from your enormous trip! White Masks is on my book radar, but I'm not buying it till I've read Gate of the Sun, which has been sitting here for about a year.

Oh goody good good, Caro's home so all is well in the LTverse. *contented sigh*

I thought of you last night, Caro darling, as I was making the pound cakes for dessert at tonight's shrimp boil. Somewhere in the dim recesses of my memory, I recall that you like the pound cake...I made the extra-dense 9-egg version from The Joy of Cooking, and mysteriously half of it disappeared while we were watching "Gigi" last night! Two pound cakes made, one and a half left, and eight or nine to feed...I'm not likin' my odds.

Welcome Home, Caroline! Great to have you back! White Masks sounds great! People have been buzzing about this one!

Glad you got back safely Caroline!

Welcome home Caroline! White Masks is already on the pile but you just shoved it up. Thanks (I guess).

Glad you are safely home. Hope you get a chance to relax a bit!

I love you all ... thank you for welcoming me home. It's good to be back ... and I've been eating enough over the last 3 days to make up for being away for all this time! Ack! But I did go shopping with a friend visiting from Canada today, so since we walked all afternoon and carried heavy shopping bags, that should constitute as exercise, right?

rdear ... pound cake and Gigi?!! That's my idea of heaven! I love Gigi ... watched it again on TMC about a month ago. *sigh*

I've read 2 really good books, 2 ok books and 1 'Just slit my wrist now' book while I was gone.

An ER book, Sweet Dates in Basra by Jessica Jiji was devoured in a single sitting! This book starts off with a view of Iraq as a country of peace and racial harmony. Shi'ites, Shia, Jews, Christians living next to each other as friends and neighbors. 2 boys, a Muslim and a Jew grow up as best friends and brothers at heart if not in blood. Their childhood is idyllic and they live as much in each other's family as their own.

The reader grows with these 2 boys, their sorrow when the father of one of the boys dies, their thrill when a sister marries, their anger when a suitor to a sister proves to be a liar and a cheat, their innocent joy at just living, and their fear when they start to see their community start to fray at the edges with growing political and racial unrest.

As the majority of Arab Iraqis start persecuting the Jews who were their friends,looting their homes and businesses, there are some who understand that what's happening to the country is madness and wrong, stand up for their friends, provide shelter, food and protection, even at the threat of their own safety. What was heartening were the moments when individuals helped others regardless of faith and race, not expecting or wanting repayment, but offering their hand just because they cared and because it was the right thing to do. What was inspiring were the determination and resilience by people who refused to give up or give in to persecution.

In the background and adding some sweetness to the main story of these 2 boys who become men, is an ill-fated romance between a Midaan servant and the Jewish boy. Why was she sent out to work while her drunken father found a husband for her sister? Why does her mother not stand up for her, and what is the mystery behind the book that was left to her, a book written in a language she does not understand, and the strange looking dinar?
Will she find a way to find a husband and have children?

I loved this book. I couldn't put it down after I started it. It made me cry, it made me laugh, it made me sad, the injustices angered me and the sweetness touched me.
I had given this 4.5 stars when I first reviewed it, but now thinking about it again, I think I'm going to put it at 5, because I know I'll want to read it again.

Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama is one I would classify as a YA novel. We are taken on the life journey of Pei, a young girl born into a poor fish-farming family in China. She's curious, full of life and despite her uncommunicative parents and quiet sister, loves her family. When their farm starts to fail, her father consigns her to a silk factory and her wages are sent home for the family.

It's a hard life, but the house of girls who work at the factory become her new family. She forms new friendships, and is especially close to an elder 'sister' Lin. She later decides to go through a 'hairdressing ceremony' where girls pledge their lives to silk work and give up on marriage.

Life in China in the 1930s was full of uncertainty with the encroaching threat from the Japanese, and Ms Tsukiyama paints a good picture of the chaos that ensues when Pei's world starts to change once more. She describes life in rural China and the bustle of city life in Canton very well.
3.5 stars

Wow! Adding Sweet Dates in Basra based on your enthusiastic review. Glad someone else categorizes Women of Silk as a YA novel too. And, you're happy with pound cake?! No whipping cream, no added strawberries or raspberries?

I'll take the strawberries and whipped cream too if they're there, but I'm happy with plain pound cake by itself as long as it's made with loads of butter. :-)

Adding both of your recent reads to the BlackHole, Caroline.

I *avoided* this book when it was in the ER program because I thought it would be sappy.

Noy *YOU* come along and make me want "Sweet Dates in Basra". Drat! Blast!

Adding Sweet Dates in Basra. I was interested when it was on the ER list, your review was excellent. Thanks!
I read Women of the Silk several years ago and liked it. I agree, YA would be a better category.

sweetie snookums rdear, Sweet Dates is definitely not a sappy book. I thought it might be a little sappy myself but I was hooked into the different family dynamics in the 3 central families from 3 different racial and religious backgrounds, and that's before the political upheaval came into play to add yet another dimension to these relationships. I'm soooo glad I gave it a shot by requesting it on the ER program.

The Green Mill Murder and Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood. More of Phryne Fisher as Melbourne's fashionable private investigator. If you don't enjoy the series, you won't enjoy these ones. No children abused or hurt in these 2 books though, which I understand has turned some people off some of the others in this series. Good for a light read when you have a couple of hours to spare and don't want to get stuck into a heavy tome. 3 stars each.

Casanova: Actor, Lover, Priest, Spy by Ian Kelly turned out to be a terrible bore. There were moments of interesting insight into how people traveled during the 18th century. As the author had alluded to Casanova being not just a famous lover, but also someone who had gone into the priesthood, was a musician, wrote books, plays and opera, became a soldier and was a Cabbala faith healer, I was expecting more out of this book. Instead, it continued to play on the affairs that Casanova fell into or orchestrated and just touched on all the other aspects of this man's character and career. I think even a 1 star rating is a little high but I did like the bits that spoke to life in the 18th century in Venice, Paris and Constantinople.

How do I miss all the wonderful ER books and choose instead books that are.....not wonderful? It happens again and again. Oh well, adding Sweet Dates in Basra to my pile.

I'm glad you had a mess of good books -- maybe they make up for Casanova? Glad you found some highlights even there :)

Re: "Casanova"...imagine being able to make sex boring! This is an author with an anti-talent!

He doesn't talk about the actual sex ... no details there. Just lots of name dropping of who Casanova slept with or seduced, or was seduced by, both male & female as well as speculation over who he may have had a sexual relationship with. Really ....who cares?!! Seriously! I wanted to know more about the other careers he was supposed to have dabbled in.

What I said...he made sex boring! I can't imagine a finer proof of the truism "what you repress will always come out" than what you just said.

170. Getting back to The Beautiful Miscellaneous ..
I didn't not like it.. but I didn't love it..
I thought it fizzled out, and didn't become what it could have...
just sayin....

Glad you are back :)
you are missed when you are away you know...

rdear : What I didn't understand was when I looked at reviews of this book on Amazon , it actually received 4 stars by some people. Maybe it's just me.

Awww.. thanks, Kath. I miss you all when I'm away too. Sometimes my trips aren't too tightly scheduled and I have time to log in to LT, but sometimes I just have too much going on in the day, and then have to catch up on work emails at night when I get back to the hotel.

I can see where you're going with The Beautiful Miscellaneous though .. I kinda wish the ending was a little stronger, and that the author could have made something else out of his gift.

I needed that little vacation, even if it was only driving up to Montreal. No work for 5 days, no peeking at email, no phone calls, no plans, no decisions except for where to have breakfast, lunch and dinner. Pure BLISS !!!

And I'm back ... one day back at work and I have a tension knot in my right shoulder. *sigh*

I did manage to get some reading done, 1 great, 1 fun and 1 huh?

A Forger's Spell by Edward Dolnick was a book I really enjoyed. I'd divide this into 2 works, one that covered the voracious hoarding of art by Hitler and Goering during the Nazi invasion into Europe, and then one that covered the history of art forgery, with special attention given to the forged works that were attributed to Johan Vermeer by a number of artists, including Han van Meegeren.

I never knew there was so much involved in trying to pass off forged works, especially forgeries of the Old Masters. Focusing on van Meegeren was key because of all the forgers out there, he seems to have managed one of the most impressive forgeries in centuries, fooling museum curators, art directors and reknown art critics. The path towards becoming a forger and then the business of selling forgeries was nicely detailed as well as how they were uncovered. The book also covers the various tests that paintings go through if their authenticity is called into question.

The parts of the book that focused on Goering and his obsession with art, jewelery and clothes was pretty entertaining. His only rival to grabbing the great works was Hitler, to whom he wisely gave in whenever Hitler looked to be interested in acquiring something that Goering himself wanted. I had thought that the Nazis stole most of the art they acquired, but with Goering and Hitler, it appears that they took pride in not stealing outright, but 'persuading' the owners to let them purchase the works. It was amazing how many paintings and sculptures were acquired by both Hitler and Goering by the end of WWII, and the extent to which they tried to hide their treasures when the Nazis surrendered.

The personalities of art critics were also covered and I think they have affirmed my belief that I don't need their advise to tell me what art I like what I don't.
I'm giving this 4 stars.

Mona Lisa Awakening by Sunny - this is my huh? read. If you like Laura K. Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series, you may like this book. I thought it was a very poor imitation of the Meredith Gentry series. The characters were all too similar, the challenges snapping at the heels of our mixed blood heroine yawningly boring, and the relationship between the characters insipid at best.
1 star .... and I think I'm being generous here.

Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie was a really fun read. Enter Agnes, co-writer of a cookbook with her chef fiance, and co-owner of a beautiful old house that's going to be the venue for a huge wedding with mob connections. The problem is Agnes has an affinity for hitting people with her frying pan. Granted she has good reason to, and mostly it's in self-defense, but bodies start piling up around her, a delicious hitman turns up ostensibly to save her while he's trying to sort out an unfinished job of his own, some people keep trying to steal her dog, and what's with Brenda, the previous owner of the house who looks to be sabotaging the wedding?

Good entertaining fun, guaranteed to get you chuckling along the way.
3 stars

I am glad you enjoyed The Forger's Spell. I liked it when I read it last year.

I think I am going to read Agnes and the Hitman in the next couple of months. It looks like a good summer read.

Welcome back, Caro! The gravity around here has finally returned to normal, you and Berly-boo both back posting.

I think I'll give Agnes and the Hitman a whirl, it sounds rompy and campy and fun.

Hey there Stas, I thought it quite incredible that the later Meegeren forgeries could have passed muster - they looked horrible!

Hallooooo there, richeroonie
Every once in a while, campy reads are fun and Agnes and the Hitman is definitely that.

I started reading Once on a Moonless Night by Dai Sijie because I really liked My Muo's Traveling Couch and Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress but this one is making me yawn and I'm not even at 50 pages. I do wonder if maybe I need to put it aside for a spell and try again later on.

Caroline- Glad to have you back! Like Richard pointed out, it's always a bit quieter around here without you! Not that your a big mouth or anything...
The Forger's Spell sounds very good! I have taken note!

missed ya!

*waves enthusiastically*

so are you in one place for more than a few days runnning now???

Caroline,

You come back into town and immediately I have to add someting to my towering tower. **sigh** The Forger's Spell sounds really good.

Caroline...Caroline...that name sounds familiar, I can't quite place it though...

Welcome back!

Hi Caroline! Glad you're back. I had some catching up to do here, and you've read some great books. I loved your review of Sweet Dates in Basra.

Mark, I know my mouth has to be quite big because my size 7 foot fits in it quite comfortably on certain days! ;-)

The Forger's Spell is a definite keeper for my bookshelf and the only thing I wish the publisher had done differently was to print the pages with the copies of Vermeer's paintings and those of the various forgeries in color instead of black & white. I've seen some of Vermeer's works in various museums in Europe, UK and the US and his colors are amazing. I'd have really liked to have seen how the forgeries compared in terms of color luminosity as well as the actual execution.

Kath : Right back at 'cha.

Suz : Hey new fb friend! *waves back equally enthusiastically*
Glad to be home and yes, I'm putting down roots for a spell. I need time to kill more plants after all and this year I'm going to try and grow more tomatoes and if I'm lucky I might just get a few for myself instead of the feeding the clan of greedy squirrels and chipmunks that live around my yard.

Bonnie : Oops? Nah... sorry, you've added your share of recommendations to my dangerously obese wish list, so if I can exchange the blessing, I'm glad for it.



Darryl : Thank you .... while I have not yet forgotten my own name, I have on more than a few occasions, forgotten my hotel room number and tried to get into the wrong room. Had a few awkward encounters because of this. One guy who opened the door as I was jangling the door knob, thought I was the call girl he had ordered from some escort service while I thought he was a burglar in my room.

Anne : Sweet Dates of Basra is definitely one of my favorite reads for 2010 so far and one I know I will re-read down the road.

A guy from the Turkish stock exchange once succeeded in opening the door to my hotel room in Switzerland, clad only in bright green silk boxer shorts. He claimed he thought it was his room. I was unconvinced, still have no idea how he got in, and flung shoes at him until he left.

And what was he doing outside of his room in his boxer shorts?

Caroline, I had just added Sweet Dates of Basra to my wish list and then found it on the shelves at my library a couple of days later.

#201: Linda and I were talking about that a couple weeks ago when she was reading the book. How could art experts be duped by such obvious forgeries?! I still do not understand it.

#208: I agree with you about the plates. Why not do at least some of them in color?

BTW: I am extremely vexed with you that you did not take up my offer to come visit Texas on your all-to-brief vacation. I know it is 90+ degrees here, but still :)

#210: Yeah Suz ... what was he doing walking around outside his room in only his boxers?!

#211: I hope you grabbed Sweet Dates off your library shelf when you spied it up there, Bonnie. Hope you enjoy the read.

#212 : I wonder if sometimes they're so desperate to appear to be the ones validating a lost masterpiece that they overlook the obvious?

Hmmm.... I THOUGHT we were driving in the wrong direction! Imagine that ... a planned trip to visit dear ol' Stas over in TX and we find ourselves on the Canadian border instead. Go figure! ;-)

#213: I guess I will forgive you this time!

Re the boxer shorts -- to this day, I have no idea. I spent the rest of the conference avoiding him like the plague...

213: I have started reading Sweet Dates in Basra. I don't know how to judge it; I feel like I'm reading a children's book. Did it feel like a children's/YA book to you too?

#198 I feel for your return to work stress. I had 3 days out of the office last week and felt wonderfully relaxed and calm when I went back in on Friday, only to find that the work I left with people hadn't got done and a client had called to say she was leaving in a week, could we finish up our work for her by the time she left? Well it all got done but I was feeling pretty wiped out yesterday, thankfully we have a long weekend in the UK.

And welcome back btw :-)

#214 : Whew narrow escape ... Stasia is still speaking to me. Yaaay! I can put away the family sized bag of potato chips I was going to crunch my grief away with..... wait, what am I thinking ... i could celebrate with it instead!

#216 : Yes, it felt like a YA book at the start but then it changed as the book progressed along with the boys maturing as well. Don't give up on it yet, Bonnie.

#217 : Ugh .. I feel for you, Heather. What a rude welcome back you had. I had a pretty hectic Friday morning and early afternoon as well, but I did at least manage to clear everything off my plate for the long weekend by 3.30pm and then headed out with some friends to do some well deserved and much needed bar hopping for the rest of the day and night.

#218: You could send some my way too, you know :)

#219: Alas ....

This is why I always have a book with me whereever I go .... just in case I get stranded for a few hours while waiting for AAA to come fix my car when it breaks down. The time was well spent reading and finishing Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart.

Not cosy but a nice gentle mystery read around a woman and a teenage boy who fly into Vienna. Timothy is besotted with the Viennese Lippizan horses and Vanessa is a vet looking for her husband who was supposed to have been in Stockholm but who, if evidence was correct, was in Vienna. Their search leads them to a small circus where a wagon fire had claimed 2 lives.

Ms Stewart, as always, does a marvelous job of describing scenic locations and she gives a good detailed history of Lippizan horses as well. She gives very little away, and there are little surprises throughout, which makes reading her books so enjoyable.
3 stars

Someone recommended Mastered by Love by Stephanie Laurens to me and since it was raining this afternoon and I was feeling too lazy to move off the couch, I decided to give it a try and I found it to be pretty boring. Historical romance supposedly with a mystery, but it was more of a bodice ripper with very little thrilling mystery. Definitely 1.5 stars in my opinion.

#221: I have not read Airs Above the Ground yet, but I really like Mary Stewart's books, so I imagine I will get to it eventually. Thanks for the review, Caroline.

I have Mastered By Love somewhere in my house to read. I guess there is really no rush to get to it, lol.

And I still want some of your salt-and-vinegar chips!!

Like the munchy cat ~

Wish I had that Stewart... the unread ones I have are all Arthur books.

Glad you escaped the boxer dude!

I read Thousand Days in Venice and liked it, so I was really pleased to receive the ARC of Amandine by Marlena De Blasi. I just read it and am quite disappointed. It starts of quite promisingly, but then tapers off into something rather shallow.

A Polish aristocrat's daughter has had a child out of wedlock in the 1930s. Worse, the father is the brother of the woman with whom the aristocrat's husband was having an affair, and whom he later murdered before he killed himself. The Countess takes the baby and has her placed in a French convent together with a young woman hired to be her guardian. Neither the guardian nor the Abbess of the convent are told or given any information about the identity of the child's parents or grandparents.

This book focuses on the child, Armandine, and her life in the convent, followed by the flight she and her guardian take just as Hitler's army invades France. There was such potential to take the characters to a greater depth, but I felt the author just scratched the surface and skated off it.

It's not a bad book, but not a great one. I'm wavering between a 2.5 and a 3 on this one.

Caroline- Sorry your latest didn't work out for you, at least there is always the next one. I will send out The Privileges tomorrow, my friend!

#225: I think I will skip that one. I hope you enjoy your next read more, Caroline!

You know, I almost always feel that there is something good in a book, even if it is not one we enjoy as much as we had hoped. Now mind you.. I do feel that there are exceptions..

Thank you Caroline, for not adding to the pile, for once :)

You're right, Kath. There were some good things in Amandine but just not enough to make the book a truly satisfying read for me. Having said that, I can also see how and why some people would actually give this a much higher rating than I would. *pondering, pondering* ..... nope, I'm staying with my 2.8 star rating.

With the last 2 meh reads, I'm going to pick up something I'm pretty much sure I will like for my next read. I'm tossing between In the Woods by Tana French or Already Dead by Charlie Huston.

I'll get you next time, Bonnie. :-)

Hi Caroline- Tough pick! Huston or French! You won't go wrong either way!

French!

Actually I went with neither and picked up The Elephanta Suite instead by Paul Theroux. I generally like his writing and he's never (so far) gone wrong for me.

Cast them all aside. Enfold yourself in Saskatoon and read Aloha Candy Hearts at last.

ETA: I realize I failed to mention the "why" of my peremptory statement, leaving others with the entirely untrue idea that I can command your behavior successfully: Date with a Sheesha, the NEWEST Russell mystery, is published! W00T! It wingeth its way unto me even as we speak, published as it was on 27 May. *bliss*

Just popping by to say hi. I tried reading de Blasi once but I'd read too many of those living in Italy memoirs by then, so it wasn't a goer.

I am sooo late here...sorry. Just a Drive-By, this...promise I'll do better.

;-}

Richielito - I've already read Candy Hearts and was waiting for his latest to be released. So woot indeed.... I'm thrilled that it's finally here and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy. I've been missing deal Russell Quant dreadfully. What would make my month would be if Louise Penny released her next Three Pines book this month too! ;-)

Hi Kerry ... thanks for stopping by.

Jude : No worries and no apologies required. Always nice to see you whenever you have time to visit.

Just saying Hi. I've been lurking.

Stopping by to say hi.

>237 cameling: You've read Aloha Candy Hearts but not reviewed it? Oh. I see. Going off of Russell, are you? I mean, not reviewing it and thus letting all the world know how sweet and doofus-savvy-successful he is...well....

Just a quick hello . . .

*waves*

I understand how a planned read can be derailed.. lol
I was going to start Islandia but haven't yet. First there was Little Giant and now Breathless..good intentions but...

Good to see you, Terri. Thanks for stopping by.

I don't think I do well with planned reads ... I think it may have something to do with all those books I had to read in a particular order in school when I would have preferred just picking whatever I wanted to read from the list at any given time.

The Elephanta Suite by Paul Theroux is a thought provoking read. 3 different and interesting novellas of different lives in India. A American couple spend a few weeks at a luxurious spa in India. An American lawyer comes to India to negotiate contracts between American and Indian companies. A young woman comes to India and joins an ashram.

In each of these stories, these individuals have preconceived ideas of what defines India. Each one will have their first impressions of India affirm their initial assumptions. Each one will start to experience India through the people they interact with and slowly they change and their impressions change. The interactions that make such a difference in these stories span the spectrum of the diversity of people in India. We are introduced to those in the service trade, prostitutes, ambitious executives, an elephant mahout, the spoiled rich and pimps among others. Theroux slowly peels the obvious away and starts to help us uncover subtleties in mannerism, ideology and culture on both sides, that of the foreigners who have immersed themselves to varying degrees in India, as well as that of the Indians themselves.

These individuals who came to India will not leave unchanged. Each journey is described with such pointed detail you're drawn to the characters.
A 4 star read

Caroline- Good review! I read The Mosquito Coast many years ago and loved it but have never read anything else by him. I have the audio of The Great Railway Bazaar & it's sequel downloaded on my computer and will get to them at some point!

Thank you, Mark. Mosquito Coast was my first introduction to Paul Theroux and I've read Riding the Iron Rooster and Fresh Air Fiend, both of which I also think are excellent reads. I've got his latest book, A Dead Hand :A Crime in Calcutta in my TBR Tower and I hope to get to it later this year.

I haven't yet read The Old Patagonia Express and the Great Railway Bazaar but I've heard that they are also enjoyable.

I read somewhere that his brother, Peter Theroux, also writes but I haven't yet come across any of his book. I'd be curious to see if he writes just as well.

I am adding The Elephanta Suite to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Caroline.

I also want to thank you for the recommendation of True Notebooks. I am 65 pages in and enjoying it.

enjoying the conversations

Also eavesdropping....hi!

Sounds like I've been missing out on something; must look for something by Theroux. Iguess I'll start with Mosquito Coast.

>244 cameling: Four Caro-stars = wishlisted

#247 : Stas, I'm soooo pleased you like True Notebooks. I thought that was such a moving book and you get to see past the tough exterior of these incarcerated criminals ... I ended up feeling quite sorry for a few of them.

hey there Susan and Berly :

#250 : Bonnie - Mosquito Coast is a good book of Theroux's to start with. Quick .... run to the library!

#251 : got'cha Richard.

Caroline- I'm also a fan of True Notebooks. The only Salzman I have read!
In regards to Mosquito Coast ,did you ever see the film version with Harrison Ford and River Phoenix? It's an excellent film!

True Notebooks is so worth reading!

*trudges off to find True Notebooks

My new thread is : here