Consistently, predictably, dependably, unwaveringly ERRATIC

Happy day but very tired. *yawns*

Now carols are always beautiful but if you are sad they can make you feel sadder. (There are some people who always find that beauty makes them feel sadder, which is a very mysterious thing.)

101 Dalmatians ~ Dodie Smith

But after a good day ...

What I've just finished reading

Underline: Greatly enjoyed; highly recommend.
Strikethrough: Did not like; do not recommend.
#Meh# It was okay; had some good points but I'm not keeping it.


Fiction - new

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I bounced off this some time ago but trying again, it was very powerful. Spare writing but very dense imagery. I didn't read a lot at once. War is stupid and wasteful and horrible and humanity can be wonderful and terrible and so very ordinary. Yes, I cried.

War Horse (War Horse #1) by Michael Morpurgo

I saw the play last year (no, year before, now) and it was amazing. The puppetry was so clever and Joey and Topthorn really came alive. Again, it showed the terrible wastefulness of war (I cried.) The book ... a trifle too, hmm, twee? Better for kids, but see the play if you ever can. (I've never tried to watch the movie. Even knowing the film horses weren't being harmed, I'd be thinking of all the real ones who never came home.)

The Earthsea Quartet (Earthsea Cycle #1-4) by Ursula K. Le Guin

I've read several Le Guin books but not the Earthsea Cycle for some reason? I know we had this quartet at some point but it must have been loaned to someone and never come back. I'm not sure what to say about these except that they're beautifully written, you need to go with flow and you need to be in the mood for fables more than fantasy and it's interesting to see how easily skin colour can be changed in high fantasy and whites become the foreigners so why doesn't it happen more often?

Pangur Ban The White Cat (Pangur Ban Celtic Fantasies #1) by Fay Sampson - DNF

Thin children's novel picked up at a sale for light reading. Main characters were so unpleasant that I gave it up after two chapters - yes, they were meant to learn from their mistakes but since those mistakes were a) trying to kill a cat and accidentally killing a fellow monk who was defending the cat (but still blaming the cat for his killing!) and b) trying so hard to pursue the man who killed her brother that she drowns her horse in the pursuit even knowing the horse was out of its depth - yeah, I really didn't give a shit about the two humans, I just felt deeply sorry for the cat who was stuck with two people who wanted to kill him.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

Utterly delightful and I can't imagine why no one gave me this as a child.

The Animals of Farthing Wood (Farthing Wood #1) by Colin Dann

Thirty-five years later and the environmental message is still depressingly on point. But it's a good adventure story and I laughed out loud as the animals rushed out of the church.

Corsets & Clockwork: 13 Steampunk Romances edited by Trisha Telep

Mixed bag, as with all anthologies but I enjoyed a lot of them. 'Romances' imply HEAs to me though and these ... er, not necessarily.

Non-fiction - new

Champagne: How the World's Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over War and Hard Times by Don & Petie Kladstrup

A bit scattered to start with but once it reached WWI, it was amazing and horrifying. The utter devastation of Reims and Champagne in general was so ghastly (reading about the Germans' deliberate destruction of the Reims Cathedral right after reading about Joan of Arc seeing her king crowned there made me feel sick) and yet the most celebratory of wines continued to be produced there. And the amazing way the population went underground to live in the limestone caves to escape bombing. I'd like to read a more comprehensive history of both champagne and Champagne.


Fiction - rereads

Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume

As an Australian, Judy Blume was not a formative author for me but the one book of hers I did read was a favourite. When I saw a trailer for the movie adaptation a while back, I quite literally nearly fell off my chair in shock - Wolf was being played by a Native American actor! It's rather sad how genuinely surprised I was by that ... I found the DVD at the library a few ago and it's a pretty good adaptation, I think. There's a bit more romance between Wolf and Davey but it worked well. However I was distracted because it had been so long since I read the book and yet so much felt familiar to me but I couldn't quite remember what had happened only in the book. Having read the book again (and loved it and cried), I'd like to watch the movie again (and cry again.)

What I'm reading now

Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century by Mark Mazower

What I'm reading next

Mum just discovered two Christmas presents she managed to knock under the bed while wrapping others - Parks and Rec S1 and The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff - and somehow didn't realise they weren't with the other presents she gave to me. (This is not really surprising. She completely forgot about the Marvel Encyclopedia she bought for me back in November - I had to remind her - and the same thing happened the year before with a handbag. She hides them too well and doesn't make lists, I guess.) I think the Huff book may be next for fiction!

It's been so hideously hot and humid the last few days, I've felt sick to my stomach most of the time. Cool change has just come through!

Books of 2014

Underline: Greatly enjoyed; highly recommend.
Strikethrough: Did not like; do not recommend.

Without going back over all my posts and Goodreads ratings, these are the books that stand out in my memory.

( Non-fiction - new reads - 94 )

( Fiction - new reads - 47 )

( Non-fiction - rereads - 6 )

( Fiction - rereads - approx. 156 (I probably forgot a few)  )

All non-fiction - 100
All fiction - 203 (approx.)
All new reads - 141
All books - 303 (approx.)

If I'd been counting as I went along, I would have pushed myself to read a few more new books in December rather than letting myself rest with some rereads. 100, 50, and 150 new reads would have been nice numbers! But considering how utterly lousy things have been in many other areas, I'm very pleased with how much non-fiction reading I was able to do last year. Not sure how much of it I remember at this point though ...

Books of November

Underline: Greatly enjoyed; highly recommend.
Strikethrough: Did not like; do not recommend.
#Meh# It was okay; had some good points but I'm not keeping it.

Non-fiction

The Prospect Before Her: A History of Women in Western Europe, 1500 - 1800 by Olwen H. Hufton

The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex by Owen Chase

The Gilded Stage: The Social History of Opera by Daniel Snowman

Prince of Europe: The Life of Charles-Joseph de Ligne by Philip Mansel

Holy Madness: Romantics, Patriots, and Revolutionaries, 1776-1871 by Adam Zamoyski

#Casanova: Actor, Spy, Lover, Priest# by Ian Kelly

How to Create the Perfect Wife by Wendy Moore

The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes

The Lunar Men by Jenny Uglow


Fiction - new

The Arrangement (The Survivors' Club #2) by Mary Balogh

The Ice Princess (Patrik Hedström, #1) by Camilla Läckberg

Festive in Death by J.D. Robb


Fiction - rereads

Miss Wonderful by Loretta Chase

Mr Impossible by Loretta Chase

Lord Perfect by Loretta Chase

#Not Quite A Lady# by Loretta Chase

J.D. Robb rereads - I don't feel like going through and trying to match up names to plots but they're all pretty good light reads.

Thankless in Death
Concealed in Death
Calculated in Death
Delusion in Death
Celebrity in Death
Fantasy in Death
Kindred in Death
Salvation in Death
Strangers in Death
Creation in Death
Innocent in Death
Born in Death
Memory in Death
Origin in Death
Portrait in Death
Purity in Death
Holiday in Death

Books of September

Underline: Greatly enjoyed; highly recommend.
Strikethrough: Did not like; do not recommend.
#Meh# It was okay; had some good points but I'm not keeping it.

Non-fiction

Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Heart of a New Nation by David A. Price

The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir (Ooh, this pissed me off. It was so slipshod and biased and just so ... sloppy I was ready to declare myself pro-Richard just to spite the author. And I hadn't even cared! Fortunately, the following book was a lot more even-handed and methodical and the author had obviously been annoyed by the Weir book as well, providing some specific refutations.

Royal Blood: Richard III And The Mystery Of The Princes by Bertram Fields

She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth by Helen Castor (So many fierce and awesome ladies!)

#Joan of Arc: Maid, Myth and History# by Timothy Wilson-Smith

Mary Tudor: England's First Queen by Anna Whitelock

Mary Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser

#The Queen's Agent : Francis Walsingham at the Court of Elizabeth I# by John Cooper

The Weaker Vessel: Woman's Lot in Seventeenth-Century England by Antonia Fraser (reread)

Fiction - rereads

The Daughter Of Time by Josephine Tey

Georgette Heyer

I would recommend pretty much everything Heyer but I'm underlining some standouts among these.

A Civil Contract
April Lady
Arabella
Black Sheep
Charity Girl
Cotillion
Cousin Kate
False Colours
Frederica
Friday's Child
Lady of Quality
Pistols for Two
Sprig Muslin
Sylvester
The Corinthian
The Foundling
The Grand Sophy
The Nonesuch
The Quiet Gentleman
The Reluctant Widow
The Talisman Ring
The Toll-Gate
The Unknown Ajax
Venetia

Books of July

Underline: Greatly enjoyed; highly recommend.
Strikethrough: Did not like; do not recommend.

Non-fiction
The Lady Queen: The Notorious Reign of Joanna I, Queen of Naples, Jerusalem, and Sicily by Nancy Goldstone (Who'd be royal? Good grief.)

Behemoth: The History of the Elephant in America by Ronald B. Tobias

The Astonishing Elephant by Shana Alexander

Vulture: Nature's Ghastly Gourmet by Wayne Grady

The Story of Rats: Their Impact on Us, and Our Impact on Them by S. Anthony Barnett

The Plague Race by Edward Marriott (reread)

Pasteur's Gambit by Stephen Dando-Collins

Fiction
The Princess Bride by William Goldman

The Secret Hour (Midnighters, #1) by Scott Westerfeld

Touching Darkness (Midnighters, #2) by Scott Westerfeld

Blue Noon (Midnighters, #3) by Scott Westerfeld

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (animal abuse: the way the water horses were kept on dry land was cruel and the descriptions of the poor land horse, Dove, being forced into to race against them despite her terror were vivid and really upset me. Also, it was a boring book with a great starting idea.)

The Shadow Thieves (Cronus Chronicles, #1) by Anne Ursu

Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales by Tamora Pierce

Strange Angels by Lili St.Crow - DNF (blatant racism from a miserable main charcter. And if I wanted to read a female-led AU version of SPN, there are far better fanfics out there.)

Lament by Maggie Stiefvater - DNF (creepy new guy, inexplicable connection with main female character ... tedious.)

Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey (SO REFRESHING!!!)

Thalia, The Failure by Robin Klein (silly reread from childhood)

I left the house today for the first time in two and half weeks - excepting the two visits to the doctor for the cold-turned-bacterial infection, plus raging allergic reaction to the first lot of antibiotics. Fun! Mum's knee has been doing better so she was able to walk the dogs sometimes - when it wasn't raining. Poor hounds, they did get a bit bored. But we went to the market today, mostly buying things that don't require much cooking since I'm still wiped out. The hounds had many cuddles, both from new people and regular admirers. Then we stopped at a pet supply store on the way home and along with necessities, we bought two new squeaky toys - a fluffy pink and brown ... apatosaurus? for Miss Shadow and a glossy blue and orange triceratops for Mr Nosey. There were many happy squeakings this afternoon.

Books of May

Underline: Greatly enjoyed; highly recommend.
Strikethrough: Did not like; do not recommend.

Non-fiction
The Tyranny of Distance: How Distance Shaped Australia's History by Geoffrey Blainey

Australian Children Through 200 Years by Suzane Fabian

Australian Transport Through Two Hundred Years by Brian Carroll

The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty by Caroline Alexander

In the Heart of the Sea: The Epic True Story That Inspired Moby-Dick by Nathaniel Philbrick

Hen Frigates: Wives Of Merchant Captains Under Sail by Joan Druett


Fiction
Bite Me (Pride, #9) by Shelly Laurenston

HONEY BADGERS!

Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson, #5) by Patricia Briggs

A Bite to Remember (Argeneau, #5) by Lynsay Sands

Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega rereads

Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, #1)
Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, #2)
Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, #3)
Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, #4)
Cry Wolf (Alpha & Omega, #1)
Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega, #2)
Fair Game (Alpha & Omega, #3)
Alpha & Omega short stories in On the Prowl and Strange Brew

Poor hounds are greatly unimpressed after suffering a bath today. But they are all clean and soft and silky now - and Mr Nosey's post-bath extended booty shake was his most magnificent yet!

Books of March

Underline: Greatly enjoyed; highly recommend.
Strikethrough: Did not like; do not recommend.

Fiction
Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts

Concealed in Death (In Death #38) by J.D. Robb

J.D. Robb rereads
I did my major reread and catch-up last year and continue to profess my deep love for the Dallas&Peabody friendship/partnership and the way these characters and relationships grow and change.

His Burial Too (Inspector Sloan #5) by Catherine Aird

Death by Darjeeling (A Tea Shop Mystery #1) by Laura Childs - DNF
The first chapter was so excruciatingly twee I couldn't read any further.

Non-fiction
A Fever in the Heart: And Other True Cases (Crime Files #3) by Ann Rule

Notorious Australian Women by Kay Saunders

The Complete Book of Great Australian Women: Thirty-six women who changed the course of Australia by Susanna de Vries

The Ship Thieves: The True Tale Of James Porter, Colonial Pirate by Siân Rees
A frightening introduction to brutality of the Australian transportation system. My favourite part though, was about two pages worth a British official and a Chilean official going back and forth over legalities and logistics regarding the escapees. You could almost hear the British guy having apoplexy. I have to wonder if the Chileans a) really were that inefficient, b) just didn't give a shit or c) they enjoyed fucking with him. It was hilarious.

Tasmania's Convicts: How Felons Built a Free Society by Alison Alexander

The French Explorers and Sydney by Colin Dyer

Bound for Botany Bay: British Convict Voyages to Australia by Alan Brooke

What I've just finished reading

Non-fiction
Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast by Lewis Wolpert

I nearly dropped this one when there was a mention of evolutionary psychology but I persevered. The author's ideas about beliefs, how they're formed, why science often seems so contrary to 'common sense', about causal beliefs being related to toolmaking, were all quite fascinating. After that, it all became quite messy as the author discussed beliefs in specific areas and I felt like I was getting a good look at the author's belief-set.

Nothing Like it in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-69 by Stephen E. Ambrose

Mediocre coverage of a fascinating subject. The transcontinental railroad was an incredible feat and the fact that it was all done by hand labour is breathtaking. I'd love to read a book that really looked at the men who built it rather than constantly talking about how much everything cost.

NB: According to reviews, the book contains a considerable number of errors so I really want to read a different book now.

Raffles and the Golden Opportunity by Victoria Glendinning

Raffles was a man born slightly too soon. He should have been born in Queen Victoria's age of empire-building. As it was, he had the ideas and the drive but minimal if any support and how the man did not have multiple nervous breakdowns, I have no idea. At the worst point, he and his second wife lost three of their four children in six months (a fifth would die in infancy.) The ship they boarded to take them back to England, where they would be reunited with their one remaining child, caught fire and sank. All of their possessions, including a collection of art and natural history specimens and all of Raffles' manuscripts, were destroyed.

The Ice Balloon: One Man's Dramatic Attempt to Discover the North Pole by Balloon by Alec Wilkinson

A fascinating story that was less preposterous - and more tragic - than it sounded. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for a whole book so the author included more information about the Artic and other expeditions. This can be done well but here it was very choppy. Still, I enjoyed it.

I reread Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded by Simon Winchester. My recollection was that I hadn't enjoyed the science parts very much and that was still the case. I was surprised, since I liked The Crack in the Edge of the World so much. I read some reviews that said Winchester had recycled Krakatoa's plate tectonics material for Edge but I don't think so. Both books do discuss plate tectonics and New Geology but in Krakatoa it's from the angle of volcanoes and in Edge, it's earthquakes. Rather different! I just didn't find the science parts as interesting for some reason. I also found Winchester's attitude towards modern Jakarta, Islam, Indonesian history, etc, somewhat patronising.

What I'm reading now

The Balloonists: The History of the First Aeronauts by L.T.C Rolt

What I'm reading next

No idea!

What I've just finished reading

Non-fiction
The Australian Book Of True Crime by Larry Writer

Really enjoyed this. Solid writing, a good range of cases including quite a few I'd never heard of (and why had I never heard of the Lesbian Vampire Killers?) although I was surprised Ivan Milat of the Backpacker Murders wasn't included.

The Museum of Hoaxes by Alex Boese

According to my Goodreads shelves I had read this before but I couldn't remember it. Entertaining light read covering hoaxes throughout history and looking at the differences in hoaxes from different periods.

One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson

I usually enjoy Bryson's writing and I enjoyed this. America was in a time of amazing change and the way he shows it is well done. The personalities who come through the page all seem so real - Hoover was a very odd man; I kind of wanted to pat Coolidge on the head; I never knew anything about Babe Ruth besides 'baseball player' before this but pro sports is still throwing young guys in the deep end, isn't it?; whatever Charles Lindbergh later became, I felt so sorry for him by the end of the summer! Once a person becomes a 'celebrity', their treatment as a human being seems to go out the window.

Radio, movies, Hollywood, the seed of the Great Depression, the beginning of commercial aviation, Mount Rushmore, Prohibition, Al Capone ... it was quite a summer.

I did find the narrative a bit jumpy and hard to follow at times but my copy was an uncorrected proof and I'm not sure if it was the final text. It did have some obvious spelling and setting errors.

Ghosts of New York by Susan Blackhall

Light, chatty accounts of well-known New York ghosts. A couple were genuinely creepy, a few were intriguing enough to make me want to know more. Mostly for ghost or New York buffs.

13: The Story of the World's Most Popular Superstition by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer

Again, I 'shelved' this as read but I only remember the first chapter. Interesting look at how recent the unlucky 13 superstition really is and Friday the 13th, even more so. In this day and age, it's a little unnerving how widely a superstition can spread via mass media, even replacing local superstitions.

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach

I really enjoyed Stiff: the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers but I was mostly 'meh' about this one. Too much of the author trying to be funny, not enough trying to sort out what was going on.

Will Storr Versus The Supernatural by Will Storr

Much better. Again, 'shelved' as read but I only remembered the first chapter. I was fascinated by Storr's journey from total skeptic to possible believer (but still skeptical.) He never seemed to be writing for effect. He was respectful of all those he met along the way, even when they seemed like utter lunatics to me. But I was left queasy by the final story - what happened to Denzel? Whatever was going on, it didn't sound like he'd be safe around his mother or priest.

Lily Dale: The True Story of the Town that Talks to the Dead by Christine Wicker

I wish she'd picked a timeline and stuck to it. Just when I'd be getting into someone's story, she'd abruptly end the chapter and switch to a totally different person or experience. By the time that person's story came around again, it would feel out of the blue. Lily Dale sounds like a fascinating place with a fascinating history but I found this book - which is really more of a memoir - quite muddled. Then again, maybe that suits Lily Dale.

Reread Affluenza by Oliver James. I remembered I'd read this as well as the Clive Hamilton book and got it out to skim again. Ah. That would be why I'd rated it two stars. Decent ideas but wrapped up in a whole lot of arrogant, self-satisfied, pompous ... go for the Clive Hamilton book. Far less annoying and a lot shorter.

What I'm reading now

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

I started this last week but haven't opened it again this week, just buried myself in the non-fiction.

Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast by Lewis Wolpert

Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science by Jeff Meldrum

What I'm reading next

No idea!