Kylie

The train tore along with an angry, irregular rhythm. Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith

The list doesn't include non-fiction, plays or poetry.

I finished The Dig Tree yesterday and have started Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith.

What an awesome job! You seem to keep working for people who love reading, which is awesome. It was lovely of her to let you take any books you wanted. How tempting it must be! I have Papillon on my TBR pile.

My last (somewhat vague) post in this thread said that I was around the 100 mark. I've actually read 113 books from the combined lists. Recent books I've read: 2016: Michel Faber Under the Skin 2015: Mark Z Danielewski House of Leaves; Daphne du Maurier Rebecca; Voltaire Candide 2014: Alain de Botton Essays in Love; Nancy Mitford The Pursuit of Love; Donna Tartt The Secret History It seems I've been averaging 3 books per year, so I may as well try to read at least 2 more this year! I have 228 books from the combined lists on my TBR pile. I'm not actually trying to read the entire list, so these books are mostly books I was interested in reading anyway.

In other news, I've been asked to be the Stage Manager (SM) for The Sound of Music, which my amateur theatre group is doing in May/June. I went along to a rehearsal last night, having missed the first couple of rehearsals. Now, keep in mind that I've only done two shows before. The first was Twelve Angry Men, which was an easy job because I just had to make sure there were 12 men and that they had a few props before they went on stage. No one left the stage during the show, so I didn't have to worry about getting people into position for entrances etc. As soon as they went on stage, I sat down with a book and a torch and read for the next couple of hours. Easy peasy. The second show was Don't Dress for Dinner, which had about half a dozen cast members but more comings and goings from the stage, and more props (including me manually ringing a phone from the side of the stage). It was more challenging, and I had to be on my toes all the time, but it was still fairly easy. Now imagine a musical (which I've never done before) involving at least a dozen children (I'm not good with kids and have no idea how to talk to them), 2-3 dozen nuns for the chorus, and countless other cast and crew. And I only know a few of them from past shows, so there are dozens of faces and names to learn. Gulp. And have I ever mentioned that I'm extremely introverted, very shy and hate being the centre of attention? So I entered the main auditorium last night and was greeted by the director, who I had worked with on the previous show. She introduced me to the musical director (MD), who said that she'd heard I was a great SM. Aww. Then the MD said 'Everyone! This is Kylie, the Stage Manager!' Cue dozens of pairs of eyes staring at me and greeting me. I hate being the centre of attention, even if it's only for a couple of seconds! A while later, all the nuns started filing in to practice a couple of songs. The MD introduced me and made me stand up so everyone could see me, and then told them that I have to do everything I say. Geez, I can only imagine how embarrassed I looked. I am so socially awkward! And this was only part of the group. There are many more cast and crew I have to meet, but they're spaced out across rehearsals because they can't have everyone rehearsing at once. I don't have the loudest voice, and I'm pretty much the least confident and authoritative person I know, so I don't know how I'm going to go with ordering all of these people around and making sure they have what they need and that they go where they're supposed to go! But the challenge is kind of fun. It'll help me be less reclusive for a few months, and everyone seems super nice, so I'm sure it'll be fine. I was wondering (quite seriously) whether I should take a pot and spoon so I can bang the pot when I need people's attention. I mentioned that to my Mum and she should I should borrow Captain Von Trapp's whistle. That's actually a brilliant idea. I think I have a whistle around the house from my SES days, so I might take that along. I have no hope of being heard over dozens of excitable actors getting ready for a show! In fact, I'll be needed in so many places at once that I've been told I can have 'minions'. I think just one will do (time will tell if I need more help). So my first order of business is to find an assistant (anyone want to come over and help me?) And then I have to start learning some names, otherwise it will be 'Excuse me, but can you, you, you and you go over there?' By the way, after just a couple of rehearsals, the large choir of nuns sounds FABULOUS. It's going to be an awesome show. Also, I'm going to be very heavily involved in the group's second production for the year, The 39 Steps, which we'll be starting to prepare for some time while The Sound of Music is in production, so I'm going to be very busy soon!

<sigh> I typed up a long post and then lost it when I had to restart my computer. Let's try again... Thank you for all the kind words about Scout. She's settling in very well. Frankie, no, she is not treating my books with respect. I glanced into my library one day and saw that two shelves of books were on the floor. She must have pulled them out so she could hide in the space behind them. I've now closed the library off so she can't get in. Then a couple of days later I found a few of my downstairs non-fiction books on the floor in front of their bookcases. This was not long after I had just finished tidying those shelves. I've had an excellent start to the reading year. I read 7 books in January, and those were read in around 3 weeks, as I was flat out with work for 1 week. I rated most of them 8 or 9 out of 10, which is excellent (I'm a tough marker—not too many books get full marks). Summary Matt Haig The Boy Called Christmas 9/10 Barbara Sleigh Carbonel 7/10 Al Franken Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them 8/10 Jon Ronson So You've Been Publicly Shamed 9/10 David Mitchell Slade House 9/10 Michel Faber Under the Skin 8/10 Robert Kirkman The Walking Dead Compendium #1 (ebook) 8/10 Tonight I finished a book I started last month: The Dig Tree by Sarah Murgatroyd. It was an excellent and enlightening read on a period of exploration that I always wanted to know more about: Burke and Wills' expedition to traverse inland Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north. The expedition was disorganised and full of inexperienced people. It did not end well. To put it briefly, Burke and Wills (and two other members, Gray and King) separated from the main party and later missed a rendezvous with them by a matter of hours (the main party having waited more than 4 months for them). Members of a rescue party then went back to see if they had returned, but by then Burke, Wills and King had left by another route (Gray had died earlier), and they were missed again. Burke and Wills died sad and lonely deaths, and King was rescued by local Aborigines who looked after him for months until a search party found him. It's a terribly tragic tale of bad timing and incompetence, but also a fascinating and compelling story. Highly recommended if you're interested in early Australian history and exploration.

The first one that comes to mind for me is Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind. Another is Becky Sharp from Vanity Fair.

My goodness, that's a lot of books! I love your new curtain, and I'm so pleased you found some of your books in the attic. I know you've been wanting to find them for a while. I hope you find the rest soon!

Makes sense, then!

I'm about halfway through The Dig Tree. It's a great read.

I'm so pleased to hear that you're enjoying JS&MN, Ian. A very rewarding read.

I had heard about this release recently and meant to tell you about it because I know you used to read the BSC. Great minds think alike!

Oh Kay, that's hilarious! Poor Louise. I'm sure she will be/was happy to hear that you enjoyed it more when you read it.

Pfft. Gryffindor needs me to balance out the likes of you. How on earth did you get into Gryffindor anyway?! You're a Slytherin if ever I saw one.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is sort of fictional, but based on real events. Just to be clear, Hunter (or the character that is based on him) doesn't die in the book. I have mixed feelings about Hunter. He's an awesome writer but wasn't exactly a 'good guy' in real life. Both the book and the movie are indeed awesome (although it's been a while since I saw the movie)...Now I want to read the book again!

I've finished the first Walking Dead compendium. I've decided that I'm not going to read beyond the second compendium until the show catches up. Although I really want to know what happens in the comics, I started watching the show before reading the comic, and I'd like the story to keep unfolding for me through the medium of TV. Although I may change my mind at any time. I quite enjoyed the comic, but I shouldn't have read it at the same time I was re-watching the series, as I started getting quite confused which events I'd seen happen in the show and which had happened in the comics.

Of those books that you abandoned, are there are any that you might want to revisit. Like, with the library loans, did you abandon them because they had to go back to the library, or perhaps because you weren't really in the mood, but you know you might be at another time? I love your challenge to visit all of your local libraries. I can't believe Finland has so many libraries! They must be well patronised and valued by their customers. I look forward to hearing your reports about them. Do you have a favourite one of those you've been to?

Gryffindor! I thought I'd be Hufflepuff or maybe Ravenclaw. Never thought of myself as a Gryffindor. Abby, there's no way you're a Slytherin!

I didn't think my Playboy guess would be right! I love Emma Stone, but I guess I'll be avoiding this one.

How could a movie about a bunny be awful? Or was it the Playboy type of bunny?

That's a tough one! I love secondhand bookshops because they're cheaper and you can often find out-of-print or hard-to-find books. It's exciting because you never know what gems you'll find! On the other hand, I love checking out all the new releases in big brand stores. I have a local Dymocks store that's good for new releases and popular books, but their classics section is a little disappointing. It rarely changes. But if I go into the huge Dymocks store in the city, there's a much larger selection, and they always stock the newer editions of classics (you can never have too many copies of some books ). But for me, the best purchases in terms of variety (both newer releases and hard-to-find books) and price (around $6 for as-new, recently released paperbacks) are from the book fair in Canberra. And better yet, all proceeds go to Lifeline (a charity for suicide prevention and crisis support). So...secondhand is best for me, but it's nice to splurge occasionally on a brand new book!

Sounds good! I'm watching House Hunters.

And here's part two.

Done 'When Captain James Cook stood on the deck of the Endeavour in March 1770 and felt the hot dry winds filling her sails off Australia's southern coast, he declared that the country's interior would be nothing but desert'. The Dig Tree by Sarah Murgatroyd