A Year in First Lines

A number of years ago I joined in this meme that takes the first line of each month’s post over the past year to see what it tells you about your blogging year.

I do like an end of year wrap up post that helps me to reflect on what I've read. A Year in First Lines has the added bonus of checking in on the state of my blog.

January

• First Book of the Year 2020

Can you believe it's this time of year again?!

2019 was a year of working hard, staying close to home and change.

• It was curious to read this. 2019 was a laying low kind of year thanks to changes in our working and family life. Maybe this is one of the reasons why I haven't found the restrictions now in place thanks to Covid too hard to handle. I had a whole year beforehand to practice!

February

• Such A Fun Age | Kiley Reid #USfiction

I had no intention of reading Such A Fun Age. The premise sounded only mildly appealing/interesting.

But really, I'm rather over the whole adulting trope with a world peopled by no-one but twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings. Yet it was hard to completely resist the buzz surrounding the release of this book.

• I'm a little disappointed that this was the first book review to make this list. It was fun, but not particularly memorable. Ten months later I can barely recall anything about it except the supermarket scene. The things I do for work!

March

• The Forest of Wool and Steel | Natsu Miyashita #JPNfiction

I wanted to love The Forest of Wool and Steel far more than I did in the end. 

A coming-of-age story about a piano tuner from a remote mountain region in Hokkaido had all the right ingredients for me - one as a former (very amateur) piano enthusiast and two, as a recent visitor to Japan. It was beautifully, elegantly written, with gorgeous chapter illustrations showing a piano slowly being returned to the wild. Nature, naturalness and nurturing were ideas that ran through the piece. It's tone was pianissimo (softly, softly), it's tempo larghissimo (as slow as possible).

• Oh dear. Another forgettable book that failed to really capture my imagination. Although, as we now all know, March was the month that the news about a certain virus racing around the world, hit the headlines. We had also had a mini-disaster at work with a flood in mid-Feb. I was off work for just over a month while everything was being renovated.

April

• The Covid Chronicles #2

I left you at the end of The Covid Chronicles #1, heading off into the wild, wild west with Mr Books.

Our first stop was to visit my parents. This was the first time we found ourselves considering how social distancing might work in the real world. As we drove into town, we realised that we shouldn't hug my parents hello, or even shake their hands. The news was full of images showing Prince Charles bowing to people to avoid shaking hands. So we waved and bowed too!

• During my time off work thanks to the flood (see March), Mr Books and I decided to go on a roadtrip to the South Australian wine regions. Concerns about a certain virus kept us from going overseas and our roadtrip consisted of listening to Dr Norman Swan's Coronacast updates. During the final days of our trip, we had to do a sprint to get back across the stateline into NSW, just hours before the borders closed. At this time, I had the idea of writing my own Covid updates...The Covid Chronicles were born!

May

• Talking to My Daughter About the Economy | Yanis Varoufakis #NonFiction

Talking to My Daughter About the Economy took me AGES to finish...and now even longer to review!

I want to be the kind of person that is informed about financial stuff, but honestly, the word economy just makes my eyes glaze over and my brain go numb. Keeping daily accounts and a family budget - yep, got that. Managing things like home loans, savings accounts, superannuation, paying bills - yep, can do. But as soon as you go down that old rabbit hole of world markets, capitalism and economic stimulus, you lose me. Every single time.

•  Yikes! Yet another book that failed to live up to expectations. My aim for 2021 is to post reviews about books I love at the beginning of the month instead!

June

• Book Stop

Given that we cannot travel outside our home state, let alone the country, at the moment, I thought I might indulge my bookish instincts with my itchy feet and explore the world via bookshops.

• A new meme was one of the many ways I tried to beat the blogging blues this year. I've only managed to post two Book Stop editions so far, but I have three more in the wings.

July

• Claris The Chicest Mouse in Paris | Megan Hess #PictureBook

Every time I see these very chic, very elegant picture books, I want to say Cla-reece. I have an acquaintance called Cla-reece. However to read these stories, I have to make a huge mental effort to say 'Paris-Claris' in my head a few times to find the rhyme.

• Picture books are my cheats way of joining in a blogging event when I have not planned ahead well enough. In 2021 I will do better - I will plan ahead!

August

• Maigret and the Killer | Georges Simenon #ParisinJuly

A big part of the reason I love reading Maigret's so much is the glimpse into life in Paris in the middle of the 20th century. Maigret and the Killer opens with Mrs Maigret and her man, dining out with friends discussing the merits of the Madame Pardon's 'unparalleled boeuf bourguignon...filling, yet refined', provincial cookery that was 'born of necessity', whilst finishing off the meal with the obligatory 'coffee and calvados'.

• I have come to love my time with Maigret during Paris in July. Thankfully there are so many titles in the series, I will be able to participate in this particular blogging event for many more years to come!

September

• The End...

of 20 Books of Summer Winter.

• Another community blogging event completed, even if I do feel seasonally challenged the whole time!

October

• 1001 Books #Update #Booklist

My edition of the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die is a 2009 reprint by Harper Collins Australia with a Preface by Australian journalist and book lover, Jennifer Byrne. Back in February 2016, I spent one ghastly heatwave weekend, going through this book and compiling my read and to-be -read lists with the idea that I would constantly refer back to it and update it.

• Another post reflecting my ongoing Covid blogging malaise. I read steadily throughout the year, but I struggled to maintain my blogging mojo. Recycled posts featured more than ever during the later half of 2020.

November

• AusReadingMonth 2020 Master Post

Welcome to AusReading Month 2020!

Now in it's eighth year, AusReading Month is all about reading and talking about Australian literature.

• November is my biggest blogging month, with AusReading Month, Non-Fiction November, Novellas in November and Margaret Atwood Reading Month. 

December:

• AusReadingMonth Wrap Up Post

As they say in show business, that's a wrap folks!

AusReading Month is tucked away for another year. 

• AusReading Month is a huge time for me. I start planning for it in September, so that I can have enough posts for every second day (leaving some spots for the weekly Non-Fiction November posts). The first week of December has become a time of putting my feet up and having a little blogging break. And as you can see here, the rest of the month becomes a time of reflection and meme participation!

What do your first lines reveal about you?

My Life in Books - the 2020 edition

Annabookbel has posted her annual My Life in Books meme. It's a fun way to finish the reading year and a nice opportunity to look back over all the books read during 2020.

The rules are simple: using only books you have read this year (2020), answer these prompts. Try not to repeat a book title. (Links in the titles will take you to my reviews where they exist.)

In high school I was: Some Tame Gazelle
People might be surprised by: Life After Truth
I will never be: The Parisian
My life in lockdown was like: One Hundred Years of Solitude
My fantasy job is: Elizabeth and Her German Garden

At the end of a long day I need: The Spare Room
I hate being: The Red Head by the Side of the Road
Wish I had: The Pull of the Stars
My family reunions are: The Tempest
At a party you’d find me with: Girl, Woman, Other

I’ve never been to: Cherry Beach
A happy day includes: Humankind
Motto I live by: How We Live Now
On my bucket list is: A Month in Siena
In my next life, I want to have: The Secret Library of Hummingbird House

Six in Six

When it's cold and grey outside, the only solution is books. And when you can't decide which one to read next, then the next-best thing is to blog about books!

Thankfully, FictionFan came to my rescue today with her recent post Six in Six.

The meme originates with Jo @The Book Jotter, who has been writing about Six in Six since 2012.

The idea is to reflect on the first 6 months of your reading experience for this calendar year. Then throughout July:

share 6 books in 6 categories, or if time is of the essence then simply share just 6 books. Whatever combination works for you as long as it involves 6 books. Of course the same book can obviously feature in more than one category.

Jo has an ever expanding list of six categories to choose from, or you create your own. I have done a mix of both.

Six best books of 2020 (so far):

My favourite and best books tend to be big on character, with a definite sense of place, and I do love fine writing.

• The Dutch House - a genuine delight with lots to saying about mothering.
• Girl, Woman, Other - rich, diverse story-telling. Immensely satisfying
• In Love With George Eliot - gentle, insightful peek into Eliot's writing life and marriage.
• Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line - my hidden gem for the year.
• The Parisian - an extraordinary, rich, classic story of a man out of time and out of place. Review to come.
• The Thursday Murder Bookclub - entertaining from start to finish. A September release. Can't wait for book 2.

Six shortlisted books:

• Actress - shortlisted 2020 Women's Prize - not as good as I had hoped, but enjoyable enough.
• Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line - shortlisted 2020 Women's Prize & one of the reasons why I love shortlists. I may never have found this gem if not for it's nomination.
• Girl Woman Other - Winner Booker Prize 2019, shortlisted 2020 Women's Prize
• Middle England - Winner of the 2019 Costa Book Award & all about Brexit.
• Redhead by the Side of the Road - shortlisted 2020 Women's Prize & just missed out on being in the list above with it's lovely characters with issues.
• The Parisian - Winner 2019 Palestine Book Awards

Six books in translation:

• The Forest of Wool and Steel - a bit of a slog to be honest. 
• The Conquest of Plassans - Zola never disappoints. The fiery ending in this one was a surprise.
• The German House - thoughtful story about post-WWII Germany coming to terms with the Holocaust - who did what and who knew what.
• One Hundred Years of Solitude - a reread of this South American classic that made more sense second time around.
• The Plague - review to come.
• War and Peace - reading one chapter-a-day for the entire year. I'm half way through.

Six From the Non-Fiction Shelf:

• The Feel Good Guide to Menopause - because it will happen to at least half of us one day! Might as well be prepared.
• The Fast 800 - the latest update by Mosley on his diet that actually works for me.
• A Month in Siena - exquisite, beautiful and thoughtful essays on art, loss and family.
• Ten Doors Down - an adoption memoir.
• Fathoms - glorious stuff all about whales.
• 488 Rules for Life - lots of fun.

Six classics I've read this year:

• Moby-Dick - if you have the time, and you're in the mood for a long meander at sea, pondering the meaning of life, then this is a classic you should not overlook. Worth the effort.
• Under Milk Wood - read as you listen to the sultry tones of Richard Burton narrate this wonderful play with words.
• The Dyehouse - a forgotten Australian story thankfully rediscovered by Text Classics.
• The Tempest - not my most favourite Shakespeare. I've learnt that listening to and watching plays is much better than reading them!
• The Cardboard Crown - another little known Australian classic, part memoir, part fiction and part of a quartet.
• Katherine Mansfield short stories - so far I've read 5 this year - 2 still to be reviewed. I love her!

Six books set in Australia or written by an Australian:

• Cherry Beach - starts in Melbourne, finishes in Canada, lots of YA angst in the middle.
• The Rain Heron - just missed out on being in the top 6 as well. The ending wasn't as strong as the start, but, oh, the beginning was tremendous stuff indeed!
• The End of the World is Bigger than Love - a YA eco-dystopian 
• Truganini - an insightful bio into the life and times of a Tasmanian Aboriginal woman.
• Sand Talk - fascinating look at Indigenous thinking.
• The Secret Library of Hummingbird House - fabulous time-travelling primary school aged fiction. Review to come.

I Should Have Read That Book

Originally created by Beth @Books Nest, I Should Have Read That Book is easy to play and a perfect way to while away a rainy Saturday afternoon.

Rules:

Link to the creator’s blog (booksnest.co.uk) in your post
Answer the questions below
Thank the person who tagged you and link back to their post
ENJOY THE TAG!

The Questions:

• A book that a certain friend is always telling you to read:
• The Parisian | Isabella Hammad
• A dear friend has been telling me to read this book for about a year now.
• It sounds exactly like something I would love.
• The only problem is, it's a brick of a book (576 pages).
• One day, Libby, one day!

• A masterful debut novel by Plimpton Prize winner Isabella Hammad, The Parisian illuminates a pivotal period of Palestinian history through the journey and romances of one young man, from his studies in France during World War I to his return to Palestine at the dawn of its battle for independence.Midhat Kamal is the son of a wealthy textile merchant from Nablus, a town in Ottoman Palestine. A dreamer, a romantic, an aesthete, in 1914 he leaves to study medicine in France, and falls in love. 

• When Midhat returns to Nablus to find it under British rule, and the entire region erupting with nationalist fervor, he must find a way to cope with his conflicting loyalties and the expectations of his community. The story of Midhat’s life develops alongside the idea of a nation, as he and those close to him confront what it means to strive for independence in a world that seems on the verge of falling apart. 

• Against a landscape of political change that continues to define the Middle East, The Parisian explores questions of power and identity, enduring love, and the uncanny ability of the past to disrupt the present. Lush and immersive, and devastating in its power, The Parisian is an elegant, richly-imagined debut from a dazzling new voice in fiction. 




• A book that’s been on your TBR forever and yet you still haven’t picked it up:
• The Devil's Pool | George Sand
• I read my first Sand (Mauprat) twelve years ago with a great deal of delight and pleasure.
• It hasn't been easy to find print copies of her other work, but this one has been with me for over a decade now, and still remains unread.



• A book in a series you’ve started, but haven’t gotten round to finishing yet:
• The Grand Days trilogy | Frank Moorhouse
• Grand Days and Dark Palace were two of the books I regretted parting with during the big book cull of 2007.
• I first read them in my late twenties and adored them and Edith and everything about her.
• I reread GD in 2006 and found that somehow Edith and I had gone our separate ways.
• But then in 2011, Moorhouse finally published the final book in the trilogy and I knew straight away that I wasn't done with Edith after all.
• All three books are now waiting for me to reread (the first two), so I can finish the final book.



• A classic you’ve always liked the sound of, but never actually read:
• The Master and Margarita | Mikhail Bulgakov
• I even have two copies of this book! 
• Although it's my 2017 Vintage Russian cover with deckled edges that will stay with me.



• A popular book that it seems everyone but you has read:
• Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine | Gail Honeyman
• Also fits the first question.
• Libby has been trying to get me to read this one for over a year.
• Please don't tell her, that I just can't.
• I've tried to read it a few times, but I cannot get past the first page.
• I'm bored by the writing and Eleanor straight up.
• I have no desire to go any further.
• And I'm completely fine about that!



• A book that inspired a film/TV adaptation that you really love, but you just haven’t read it yet:
• Game of Thrones | G R R Martin
• I may never read these behemoths.
• Mr Books has. And now, he's waiting, waiting, waiting for Martin to finish writing the final books.
• He assures me that there is way more back story in the books, but I am not going to commit to reading this series until Martin has actually finished writing them ALL!



• A book you see all over Instagram but haven’t picked up yet:
• American Dirt | Jeanine Cummins
• Nothing like (bad) publicity to boost sales and curiosity.
• A brief run down of the controversy can be found here.
• I was never going to read this book, too violent for my tastes, but it's fascinating to watch the book world eat one of it's own.



• I first spotted this Book Tag at Theresa Smith Writes.
• If you'd like to join in too, consider yourself tagged.

Life According to Literature Tag

I first saw this little meme back in 2015. 

Given my ongoing blogging malaise, I thought I'd revisit it to see what my 2019 reads might reveal.

THE RULES: Using only books you have read during the year (2019), answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title. Let me know below, if you've joined in too.

• Describe yourself: There Was Still Love | Favel Parrett
• How do you feel: Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope | Mark Manson
• Describe where you currently live: How Green Was My Valley | Richard Llewellyn
• If you could go anywhere, where would you go: City of Trees | Sophie Cunningham
• Your favourite form of transportation: The Painted Ponies | Alison Lester
• Your best friend is: Family | Hetty McKinnon
• You and your friends are: Ordinary People | Diana Evans
• What's the weather like: Strong in the Rain | Lucy Birmingham & David McNeill
• You fear: Flames | Robbie Arnott
• What is the best advice you have to give: Create Calm | Kate James
• Thought for the day: To Die But Once | Jacqueline Winspear
• How would I like to die: My Sister, the Serial Killer | Oyinkan Braithwaite
• My soul's present condition: Girl, Woman, Other | Bernadine Evaristo

The Translated Literature Tag

Created by Diana @Writings on Papyrus (a now defunct blog), this book tag is fabulous for anyone who loves to read books in translation.

All the wonderful links on Diana's blog have now, sadly, been lost. But hopefully we can start a new chain of favourite translated books for us to get excited about. Feel free to leave a link in the comments if you'd like to join in.

I. A translated novel you would recommend to everyone:

• The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree | Shokoofeh Azar. Not only does this book have one of the most colourful, enticing book covers ever, it contains a story that draws you into it's dreamy, magical world of war, love and the search for peace.

• Bonus Recommendation: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer | Patrick Suskind. A slightly shocking, even subversive romp through Napoleonic Paris with a man who has a heightened sense of smell. This book will leave you bemused and confused, in a good way.

II. A recently read 'old' translated novel you enjoyed:

• Les Miserables | Victor Hugo. A successful year-long slow read was the ideal way to tackle this chunkster. With 365 chapters, it's made for this kind of readalong - I highly recommend this approach. You'll learn everything you ever needed to know about Waterloo, the sewers of Paris, and the barricades. And love. In all it's guises.

III. A translated novel you could not get into:

• Don Quixote | Cervantes. Sorry to all the fans of this epic Spanish novel, but I got tired, so very, very tired of the joke that never ended, the cruel humour that seemed so pointless and the story line that never went anywhere and kept repeating. It wore me out completely. The only enjoyment came from researching certain sections and reading along with others (I'm looking at you Silvia & Nick in particular) who were devoted fans. For them, I kept on trying, as long as I could.

IV. Your most anticipated translated novel release:

• The Memory Police | Yōko Ogawa

• The Memory Police is a 1994 novel by Yōko Ogawa. 
• Published in English by Pantheon Books and Harvill Secker August 2019
• Translated by Stephen Snyder. 
• It is a science fiction novel set in a future of mass surveillance reminiscent of 1984, and written in a strange and dreamlike style influenced by Kafka.

On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses—until things become much more serious. Most of the island's inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few imbued with the power to recall the lost objects live in fear of the draconian Memory Police, who are committed to ensuring that what has disappeared remains forgotten.

When a young woman who is struggling to maintain her career as a novelist discovers that her editor is in danger from the Memory Police, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her floorboards. As fear and loss close in around them, they cling to her writing as the last way of preserving the past.

V. A foreign-language author you would love to read more of:

• Banana Yoshimoto | Kitchen & Moonlight Shadow were enchanting short pieces that have me very curious about what else she can do.

VI. A translated novel which you consider to be better than the film:

• My choice works the other way round - a film of a translated book which was far superior to the book goes to Out of Africa | Karen Blixen.

VII. A translated 'philosophical' fiction book you recommend:

• The Travelling Cat Chronicles | Hiro Arikawa

VIII. A translated fiction book that has been on your TBR for far too long:

• The Master and Margarita | Mikhail Bulgakov. I can't even remember where or when I picked this book up now. But it's Russian, there's a cat and the title contains my favourite cocktail. I really should have embraced this years ago.

IX. A popular translated fiction book you have not yet read, but want to very soon:

• Norwegian Wood | Murakami. I'm overdue for another Murakami experience & I've decided this one should be next.

X. A translated fiction book (or author) you have heard a lot about and would like to find more about or read:

• Patrick Modiano
• Svetlana Alexievich

Any thoughts on which one's I should prioritise?

It's So Classic Book Tag

I currently have 3 chapters left in The Count of Monte Cristo Readalong I've been participating in since May and my very own 7-month long Moby-Dick Readalong is just one month young, so when I spotted this meme popping up on various friendly blogs this week, I knew it would be one that I would join in sooner rather than later.

What is one classic that hasn’t been made into a movie yet, but really needs to?
Zola's complete Rougon-Macquart series!

What an incredible feat of cinematography, casting and costuming it would be. With 20 books that could easily be given 3-4 hrs each, this series could run across several seasons. The special effects, historical accuracy and location shoots could see it rival Game of Thrones for drama, conflict and nasty families.

What draws you to classics?
I love historical fiction, so even though many of the books we now consider classics were written contemporaneously by their authors, they read as historical fiction to those of us who come after. 

I love learning about times gone by. How people lived and the times they lived through. I like to be reminded that though our clothes, technology and pop culture icons might change, certain universal ideals and behaviours do not. 

History does repeat itself, all the time. We simply refuse to learn the lessons of bygone times.

What is an underrated classic?
Most Australian classics fit this category. They're barely known and appreciated in Australia, let alone anywhere else. 

The Fortunes of Richard Mahony by Henry Handel Richardson is a case in point - how is this extraordinary classic not a part of every Australian school reading list (except for the vast size of it perhaps, but when has stupendous size ever put off a serious reader of classics?)

What is one classic that you didn’t expect to love, but ended up loving anyway?
Moby-Dick. Although I have yet to finish it, so it may be too early to call!

John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids was also a surprise hit when I first read it in my twenties. It turned me onto the whole wide, wonderful world of early sci-fi.

What is your most favourite and least favourite classic?
Favourites are easy -  Persuasion, Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility.

Least favourites - Madame Bovary, Dubliners and Vile Bodies.

Who are your favourite characters from a classic?
Atticus Finch (good guy), Anne Eliot (shy girl gets her man), Bilbo Baggins (braver than he thought he could ever be), and Dorothea Brooke (stays true to herself & finds happiness in love eventually).

What’s a popular classic that you felt wasn’t actually that great?
Wuthering Heights (too much teenage angst for me), Don Quixote (repetitive and quite cruel) and anything written by Hemingway (pompous ass).

Who is your favourite classic author?
I have two - Jane Austen and Emile Zola.

In your opinion, what makes a classic a classic?

Time is the key factor for me. A contemporary story may attract a lot of attention and buzz during the time that the author is still alive, and for that first generation of readers who loved the book, but it then has to travel across time to speak to new generations of readers for it to be a true classic. I'm happy to call books written in the past 25-50 years modern day classics - these books have the potential to speak to multiple generations across time, but have yet to prove themselves. 

Books that have universal, timeless themes is the other factor. It's not always possible to know these at the time. They only reveal themselves with the passing of the years.

Moby-Dick was a flop during Melville's lifetime. It wasn't 'discovered' and recognised as a classic  until the 1920's, when he became considered a writer ahead of his times.

Many Australian women writers from the 19th and 20th century also fit this bill. Ignored and marginalised by the patriarchal literary scene of their time, their work has only been rediscovered in more recent times thanks to the wonderful work of Text Classics.

My bonus question: What movie about a classic book was better than the book?

Out of Africa by Karen Blixen has been one of my major classic book disappointments. It was disjointed and emotionless. However the movie was heart-breakingly beautiful and memorable.

If you'd like to join in, consider yourself tagged.

Visit Rebellious Writers for all the details and pop by to see what Hamlette, Joseph, Silvia and Ruth also have to say about these important bookish matters!

The A-Z of my TBR

Despite some solid efforts in the past couple of years to lower Mount TBR, the pile still looks as high and as wide and as deep as it did in 2017.

To help me remember what treats I have lurking on the bottom of the pile, I try to regularly join in memes like this.

A - And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov

B - Beggar Maid by Alice Munro

C - City of Djinns by William Dalrymple

D - Dancing With Strangers by Inga Clendinnen

E - England and Other Stories by Graham Swift

F - The Flaneur by Edmund White

G - The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson

H - A History of Books by Gerard Murnane

I - Island Home by Tim Winton

J - Juggling by Barbara Trapido

K - The Key by Junichiro Tanizaki

L - Les Parisiennes by Anne Sebba

M - The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami

N - Notebooks by Betty Churcher

O - Origins by Amin Maalouf

P - The Peacock Spring by Rumer Godden

Q - Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym

R - Resilience by Anne Deveson

S - Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

T - The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein

U - The Unknown Judith Wright by Georgina Arnott

V - The Virgin in the Garden by A.S. Byatt

W - Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

X - Xtabentum: A Novel of Yucatan by Rosy Hugener

Y - You Daughters of Freedom by Claire Wright

Z - The Zigzag Way by Anita Desai

Which A-Z's are hiding on your TBR pile?

Have you read of the books on my list?

Which ones should I prioritise?

Help!

Twenty-Four Things

I'm constantly looking for ways to highlight the books on my TBR pile.
It's a great way of reminding me of what's actually there; to bring long forgotten books lingering on the bottom of the pile to the front of my mind again.

Twenty-Four Things was a meme that traversed the blog-o-sphere a couple of years ago.
I've adapted it into a TBR post.
Please feel free to join in.

Photo by Dustin Lee on Unsplash

4 Books On My Desk

+ The Real Jane Austen by Paula Byrne
Three-quarters read.
I'm loving this book but I only seem to be able to read it for Austen in August.
Hopefully I will finish it this August!

+ Why Read Moby Dick? by Nathaniel Philbrick
I'm planning on hosting a Moby Dick readalong around August/September.

This is part of my prep.
Are you ready to have a whale of a time?

+ The Feel Good Guide to Menopause by Dr Nicola Gates
I'm almost there (the menopause part not necessarily the feel good part) and wondering what I still have to look forward to!!

+ Rice Noodle Fish by Matt Goulding
Purchased last year when we got back from our trip to Japan.
Have been meaning to dive into it ever since.

4 Books On The Bottom Of The Pile

+ Rites of Passage by William Golding
This award winning book has been sitting on the bottom of my pile for about five years now.
I enjoy 'nautical, relational novels', especially ones that fit in a visit to Australia, which this one apparently does.
It would also help me with my Nobel Prize and Booker Prize reading challenge.

+ The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
This book made it's way onto my pile prior to 2016.
It has stayed on my TBR thanks to my 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die challenge.

+ G by John Berger
Another Booker Prize winner & 1001 Book challenge book, that is patiently waiting for me to be in the right mood to read an 'experimental, non-linear novel'!

+ The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk
I've been meaning to read a book by Pamuk for years and years, but they're all so thick and never seem to make it to the top of the pile!

This would count towards my Nobel Prize reading challenge if I ever get around to it.

4 Books New To The TBR

+ Memories of the Future by Siri Hustvedt
An ARC recently acquired via work (lucky me!)
I adored What I Loved and have been keen to read another book by Hustvedt ever since.
Now to just find time to fit it in....

+ The New Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan
An ambitious purchase as I still haven't read Frankopan's earlier book, The Silk Roads.

+ The Master by Colm Toibin
A stylish new edition has just been published by Picador.
This will no doubt sit on my pile until I come over feeling all Henry James-ish!

+ The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey

This one comes highly recommended by my colleague who knows of my love for a good cosy crime wrapped up in historical fiction.

4 Books That Won Awards

+ The Known World by Edward P. Jones
Winner of the 2004 Pulitzer prize for fiction and the International Dublin Literary Award.

+ The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
Winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Non-Fiction prize.

+ Milkman by Anna Burns
Winner of last year's Booker prize.

+ Flights by Olga Tokarczuk

Winner of the Man Booker International Prize in 2018.

4 Books I'm Keen To Read ASAP

+ Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak
Twenty years in the making, hopefully not twenty years lurking on my TBR pile!

+ Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia edited by Anita Heiss 
I've been reading good things about this book & would prefer to get to it before it's 'old news'.

+ Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
Two of my colleagues have read this - one loved it and one was 'meh'.
I'm the tie-breaker :-)

+ The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein
This keeps garnering shortlist nominations and winning awards.
Given my fascination with the themes of death and grief in literature, I really should have read this when it first came out, but some of what I've heard about the trauma side of this book, makes me feel squeamish.

4 Books I'm Thinking Of Discarding Unread 

+ Every Third Thought by Robert McCrum

'In 1995, at the age of 42, Robert McCrum suffered a dramatic and near-fatal stroke, the subject of his acclaimed memoir My Year Off. 

Ever since that life-changing event, McCrum has lived in the shadow of death, unavoidably aware of his own mortality. 

And now, 21 years on, he is noticing a change: his friends are joining him there. 

Death has become his contemporaries' every third thought. 

The question is no longer "Who am I?" but "How long have I got?" and "What happens next?" 

This book takes us on a journey through a year and towards death itself. 

As he acknowledges his own and his friends' aging, McCrum confronts an existential question: in a world where we have learnt to live well at all costs, can we make peace with what Freud calls "the necessity of dying?" 

Searching for answers leads him to others for advice and wisdom, and this book is populated by the voices of brain surgeons, psychologists, cancer patients, hospice workers, writers and poets. 

Witty, lucid and provocative, this book is an enthralling exploration of what it means to approach the "end game," and begin to recognize, perhaps reluctantly, that we are not immortal.'

+ Weatherland by Alexandra Harris

'In a sweeping panorama, Weatherland allows us to witness England’s cultural climates across the centuries. 

Before the Norman Conquest, Anglo-Saxons living in a wintry world wrote about the coldness of exile or the shelters they had to defend against enemies outside. 

The Middle Ages brought the warmth of spring; the new lyrics were sung in praise of blossoms and cuckoos. 

Descriptions of a rainy night are rare before 1700, but by the end of the eighteenth century the Romantics had adopted the squall as a fit subject for their most probing thoughts.

The weather is vast and yet we experience it intimately, and Alexandra Harris builds her remarkable story from small evocative details. 

There is the drawing of a twelfth-century man in February, warming bare toes by the fire. 

There is the tiny glass left behind from the Frost Fair of 1684, and the Sunspan house in Angmering that embodies the bright ambitions of the 1930s. 

Harris catches the distinct voices of compelling individuals. 

“Bloody cold,” says Jonathan Swift in the “slobbery” January of 1713. 

Percy Shelley wants to become a cloud and John Ruskin wants to bottle one. 

Weatherland is a celebration of English air and a life story of those who have lived in it.'

+ White Mountain by Robert Twigger

'Home to mythical kingdoms, wars and expeditions, and strange and magical beasts, the Himalayas have always loomed tall in our imagination. 

These mountains, home to Buddhists, Bonpos, Jains, Muslims, Hindus, shamans and animists, to name only a few, are a place of pilgrimage and dreams, revelation and war, massacre and invasion, but also peace and unutterable calm. 

They are a central hub of the world’s religion, as well as a climber’s challenge and a traveler’s dream. 

In an exploration of the region's seismic history, Robert Twigger, author of Red Nile and Angry White Pyjamas, unravels some of these seemingly disparate journeys and the unexpected links between them. 

Following a winding path across the Himalayas to its physical end in Nagaland on the Indian-Burmese border, Twigger encounters incredible stories from a unique cast of mountaineers and mystics, pundits and prophets. 

The result is a sweeping, enthralling and surprising journey through the history of the world's greatest mountain range.'

+ Being a Beast by Charles Foster

'How can we ever be sure that we really know the other? 

To test the limits of our ability to inhabit lives that are not our own, Charles Foster set out to know the ultimate other: the non-humans, the beasts. 

And to do that, he tried to be like them, choosing a badger, an otter, a fox, a deer, and a swift. 

He lived alongside badgers for weeks, sleeping in a sett in a Welsh hillside and eating earthworms, learning to sense the landscape through his nose rather than his eyes. 

He caught fish in his teeth while swimming like an otter; rooted through London garbage cans as an urban fox; was hunted by bloodhounds as a red deer, nearly dying in the snow. 

And he followed the swifts on their migration route over the Strait of Gibraltar, discovering himself to be strangely connected to the birds.

A lyrical, intimate, and completely radical look at the life of animals—human and other—Being a Beast mingles neuroscience and psychology, nature writing and memoir to cross the boundaries separating the species. 

It is an extraordinary journey full of thrills and surprises, humor and joy. 

And, ultimately, it is an inquiry into the human experience in our world, carried out by exploring the full range of the life around us.'

Should I read or discard?
#24Things

#6degrees January

#6degrees is a monthly meme hosted by Kate @Books Are My Favourite and Best.

Oftentimes I haven't read the starting book for this meme, but I can assure you that I only play the next 6 books with ones I have actually read. 

If I've read the book during this blogging life, then I include my review, otherwise, you just have to take my word for it!

This month the starting book is The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles.

Are you game?

Old image alert - Kate @Books Are My Favourite & Best now hosts #6Degrees but this is a good refresh of the rules.

Starting a brand new year discussing one of my favourite books feels promising.
The French Lieutenant's Woman is a book I read and loved many, many years ago. I was inspired by it to visit Lyme Regis on my last trip to the UK in 2007. So I will take the easy and obvious connection here and pick Jane Austen's Persuasion as my next link in the chain.

One of the key episodes in Persuasion also occurs in Lyme Regis, when Louisa Musgrove falls down the steps of the Cobb. This action changes the course of the story not only for Louisa, but several of the other key players as well.

Katy's fall off a swing in What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge also had dramatic, life-changing consequences for Katy.

As a child I was fascinated by this story of chance and adversity. It also spawned a couple of follow-up books, What Katy Did at School and What Katy Did Next. Even as a child I was concerned by the gender stereotyping and prescriptive behaviours promoted in these books. As a modern, young feminist 70's kid, I was grateful to be living in such enlightened times!
It was in part, the restrictive dresses and clothing worn by the characters in many of my favourite childhood classics, that influenced me in my decision to not wear dresses in my everyday life (except for compulsory school uniforms) from the age of 8 to about 30!

The waste of time and pain of looking after long hair was another childhood fixation that I've never really outgrown. Which is why I adore the scene in Little Women when Jo cuts off all her hair. I always wished that she had embraced the freedom of her new style and kept it short from then on.

The best short, pixie-style, haircut ever, belongs not to a book character, but to a fictional TV character. This may not strictly be within the rules of the meme, but any chance to revisit my love for Janine Turner's hairstyle in Northern Exposure is worth breaking a few rules for!

Which then also allows me to jump easily and naturally into Alaska with Eowyn Ivey's To the Bright Edge of the World. Her fascinating, moving and slightly magical story blends fact and fiction about the early exploration of the Alaskan landscape.

One of the curious facts that captured my imagination at the time, though, was Eowyn's name. Her parents were fans of Lord of the Rings and named her after one of Tolkien's main female characters. Fortunately, they didn't have a boy - Bilbo would be a hard name to live up to!

Today I've travelled from Lyme Regis to Ohio and Massachusetts, through Alaska and all the way to Middle Earth to bring you my six degrees of separation! Accidents, women's issues and baby names were my main links.
Where did you end up?