Little Pixie

Shan`t. So nurr. Is it the Kindle or the Kindle Fire which you have ? I`m wondering what to eventually plump for.

What about Kindle books - if you can`t actually see them, are they really there ? They could be like Schrodinger`s cat. Quantum, innit.

The Book Annex. If we didn`t flood, I could make a library in the basement. Well, the TBR list`s now up to 50 books. Bored now. Shall do more typing later, otherwise I`ll be spending all my time doing a TBR list instead of actually reading - and no-one wants that.

Nooo. I`m sure I was happy to get out and start on those books. Well, I`ve now filled two sides of A4 with books to transfer to the online TBR list - and I`m still on the first room.

No arguing with that.

What next - you give Pixie the Cat all your books, then she `loans` them back to you, thus cutting your TBR list to zero ?

I dread to think. That could be next year`s task.

I could get out through the windows.

It`s certainly a crammed-full house. I`m so used to the books, that actually having to take the time to take them down from shelves or out of piles makes them more visible somehow. I`m starting to make lists of them room-by-room, and I`m actually surprised at how many I`ve managed to squeeze in. And how many I must`ve had on the TBR list since the early 90`s. I`m also realising how long I`ve had book piles for ( not a disease. ) I must`ve thought they`d magically produce a book case if I left them for long enough.

Well, I`ve started filling in my TBR list - I thought initially I could force myself to do it all in a week ( hah ! ) but that`s too much work ( and too much traipsing around the house ). I`ve already come across books which I`m looking forward to reading - and had completely forgotten about.

Good Luck !

Such sad news.

Book # 53 : End Games - Michael Dibdin From Amazon : Aurelio Zen is posted to Calabria, where in the heart of a tight-knit traditional community there has been a brutal murder. Zen is determined to find a way to penetrate the code of silence and uncover the truth. But his mission is complicated by another secret which has drawn strangers from the other side of the world - a hunt for buried treasure launched by a single-minded player with millions to spend pursuing his bizarre and deadly obsession. The last of Michael Dibdin`s Aurelio Zen books ( the author died after finishing this one ). It`s a brilliant conclusion to the series about an Italian Police Chief - the dramatic tone and the tension make the moments of farce through misunderstandings and blunderings even more comical. Even the smallest characters are deftly sketched ; one of the minor American characters refers to the country as Iddly. There are big themes of emigres and immigration, and people returning to the Old Country, themes of long-buried crimes returning, and how doing the right thing isn`t always the legal thing. And yes, there`s the whole Whodunnit/Howdunnit thing, but this is also a Proper Novel.

And talking of Treebooks... The book I`m reading atm ( End Games - Michael Dibdin ) has a Techie character in it who`s weirded out `cos he`s reading something in ` Treeware format `.

Ditto. My books purchased this year exceed my books read - this is not unusual. I think I`d get stressy if I didn`t have books waiting for me.

<< Searches for witty comeback and decides on... >> Bah ! I was thinking yesterday that I`m practically out of surfaces to pile books up on. That floor`s starting to look mighty inviting.

27`s still young.

Thanks. I am slowly making my way about and getting used to the board.

Hi Athena. I read the first Laura Lippman ` Tess` book a couple of years ago, and wasn`t sure about continuing with the series - have you read any of the others ? Oh, I also have The Book Thief ( a Xmas present ), various Dickens ( bought years ago with the intention of having a major Dickensian moment and left untouched ) and a Maeve Binchy book called Tara Road ( not read any of hers, but enjoyed the TV film of the book with Olivia Williams, Andie MacDowell).

Well, here goes with the first review. Book #52 A Gentleman of Fortune - Anna Dean It's Richmond, 1806. Miss Dido Kent has developed rather a taste for mysteries, having solved the riddle at Belsfield Hall. When her quiet holiday with her cousin Flora is disturbed by the suspicious death of a neighbour, Miss Dido is once more at the centre of an unusual investigation. All eyes have fallen on the late Mrs Lansdale's nephew 'for it has not passed without notice that he has lost a remarkably tyrannical relation and gained a very fine inheritance'. Miss Dido is intrigued by the rumours and, at Flora's behest, starts a little investigation of her own. And as she does so, she brings more to light than even she could have imagined. Book description purloined from Amazon. Hmm, wasn`t sure about this book for about the first third of it. There are three very similar women in it, and I kept getting confused as to which was which - the book could`ve really used one of those cast lists at the front - and the result was, that I kept having to go back and reread things to keep the women straight in my head. It was fine when all the plot info was revealed and the real detecting began though, and ended up being a quite intricate howdunnit as well as whodunnit. Plus, the book talked about the role of women 200 years ago, and how they really were dependent on men ; the options seemed to be maid/cook/governess/wife, or being dependent on the kindness of relatives for employment as a companion. Looking forward to reading book 3 in the series; the lead lady snoop is developing nicely and has a `will she/won`t she ? ` relationship going on, though I hope it doesn`t get drawn out for umpteen books. There`s a series by Joanne Fluke called The Hannah Swensen mysteries which is a fun read, but it`s up to book 16 now and the lead character still can`t choose between the two men in her life, and it`s starting to feel a bit samey. Not that it`ll stop me from reading them - I can only give up a series it it turns really bad.

Ah, thank you - I`m still finding my way around. I did a TP reread last year, just of the Discworld books - it really made me appreciate his artistry. Oh, and I can`t recommend the Witchy books enough - I think it`ll be the first books I`ll be invested enough in to have a lengthy opinion on whoever they end up casting in the film.

I just assumed from you saying you were at University, which means young to me.

Wow, a 1000 books ! I`m quite impressed, that sounds like your very own library. Me jealous. I too have a To-Be-Watched backlog, some on DVD but mostly on videos ( they had those in the olden days - ask your Grandparents. ) I do Tai Chi, which I find can help with stressy things - hope whatever you do ( and the meds ) are helpful. I shall endeavour at some point to fill in those blanks at the top with my wishlist and that TBR list, though I`m wondering if it would be easier just to post pics of the various book piles. Favourite authors include Kathy Reichs, Amy Tan, Sujata Massey, Jasper Fforde and Terry Pratchett - favourite cosy mystery writers are Joanne Fluke, Donna Andrews , Jeanne M Dams, Rita Mae Brown. I`m waiting desperately for the third in the trilogy from Deborah Harkness - she wrote A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night - think Twilight for the grown-ups. I`m planning on doing short reviews on books, `cos I think longer reviews will stop me from tackling those books... And yes, it`s all Steve`s fault.

Thank you. I see you`ve just overtaken me to reach 55, so well done as well. I started counting ` number of books read per year` in 2000 - the last couple of years, I`ve reached just past 100, so I`m confident this year in my readingness. There`s no TBR plan, though I do have some series which I`m eking out over the year ( one per month for Jeanne M Dams atm, who writes a mystery series about a retired American lady who emigrates to a small UK cathedral town and stumbles across a new body every book, whose murder she feels obliged to investigate. ) Generally I just read whatever I fancy, which is a bit of a means for procrastination... How about you ? Do you stick to a reading list ? I think my TBR list is a smidge over 300 - though I`m not sure how big that smidge is and am scared to look. Curse these discount booksellers and charity books ! Have you done a TBR count lately ?

Boom boom !