Well, the lucky number for this spin was 13, which was especially lucky for me, as I had already started reading #13 on my list – Best Short Stories by Jack London. Some years ago I noticed that Jack London always appeared on American lists of best all-time books, and yet I had never heard of him. So, I downloaded his two most famous books, TheCall of the Wild, (1903) and White Fang (1906), and enjoyed them both. Last year when my 86 year old childless uncle died, we were invited to help ourselves to anything left in his apartment, so I greedily fell on the books, and carted a large bagful of classics home from Sydney to Perth. One of the books was this collection of short stories. In general I really enjoy short stories, but after reading the first few in this book, was becoming a bit bored as they were all set in the Klondike during the gold rush era, and were all about extreme cold and suffering. Luckily I continued though, because later stories involved other settings, such as Hawaii and the South Pacific.
London is particularly good at describing survival (or not) under extreme conditions, including intense cold, starvation, and supremely destructive hurricanes. He is also especially adept at describing animals and their behaviour, to the extent that you have an understanding of the animals’ points of view.
Overall this is an excellent collection, though probably best dipped into over time, rather than read cover to cover as I did. It gives a great picture of the harshest aspects of the life of adventurers more than 100 years ago in remote parts of the world, and Jack London really does know how to write. I am glad to have discovered him.
This past year I have been ridiculously obsessive about keeping records of my reading, so here are the stats:
I read a total of 104 books, 86 of which were from my physical collection of books not yet read. Unfortunately, during the year I added 131 books to my shelves (eek!), so I am starting 2020 with a physical TBR of 221, and a resolution to avoid charity shops as much as possible this year (no hope of avoiding them altogether – they are such goldmines!)
Of those 104 books read, 29% were by Australian authors (40% of whom were women), 43% by women authors, 13% by persons of colour.
10% were classics, 8 were books in translation, and there were 10 books of more than 500 pages (2 were more than 600 pages). 21% were non-fiction, of which most were memoir or biography.
I am anticipating that this year will be fairly similar, (apart from the book buying problem), though I have some time-consuming activities happening this year (first grandbaby due in May).
I have signed up for several Goodreads challenges yet again – this does help me to tackle books I do want to read but would otherwise deprioritize. I am already known as the complete book nerd, so I might as well go the whole hog.
This is an idea that I have seen in several blogs, but most are referring back to Laura. It’s fun – you need to answer questions using the titles of books you have read this year. Here is my list:
In high school I was The Reader (Bernhard Schlink)
People might be surprised by The Single Ladies of the Jacaranda Retirement Village (Joanna Nell)
I will never be A Gentleman in Moscow (Amor Towles)
My fantasy job is Letters From Father Christmas (JRR Tolkien)
At the end of a long day I need Normal People (Sally Rooney)
I hate Illegal Action (Stella Rimington)
Wish I had Cakes and Ale (W Somerset Maugham)
My family reunions are Remember Me? (Sophie Kinsella)
At a party you’d find me with Your Blue-Eyed Boy (Helen Dunmore)
I’ve never been to The House of the Spirits (Isabel Allende)
A happy day includes River Journeys (Russell Braddon, Germaine Greer & others)
Motto I live by: Chairman Mao Would Not Be Amused (Howard Goldblatt ed.)
On my bucket list is The Little Breton Bistro (Nina George)
In my next life, I want to have Black Opal (Katharine Susannah Prichard)
I joined with the last spin but didn’t read my book, so I am having another go. The task involves making a list of 20 books still remaining on your classics list. On 22 December, a number will be posted from 1 through 20. The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin List by 31st January, 2020.
This is an Australian classic, published in 1955, but set during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when many men roamed the countryside on foot looking for work. The book is about a man who finds himself caring for his 4-year old daughter on the road. He resents the fact that she is a shiralee, a burden, who not only slows him down but also makes it hard for him to go drinking in the pub, take on certain jobs, and get involved with women. On the other hand, he slowly realises that she is good company and that they really care for one another. The slow development of the very strong relationship between father and daughter is charming, and beautifully told. The swagmen lived a very tough life, but there was a culture of support and genuine willingness to help others in need, always paid forward somewhere down the line – this is something that was essential back then, but is sadly lacking in our modern times. I have always enjoyed reading about life in early Australia, and this little gem is well worth reading. The story was made into a movie and a tv series, both of which I saw many years ago, but as ever, the book is the standout.
I read this for the Goodreads Around the Year Challenge for week 44 – a bookrelated in some way to a tv series or movie you have enjoyed. It is also one I have now ticked off from my Classics Club list.
I remember enjoying several novels by Rudyard Kipling (especially Kim) years ago, so was interested to read his short stories. This version was put together in 1997, but the stories were originally published in other collections between 1891 and 1904. I was quite disappointed – many of the stories are so out-of-date now as to be irrelevant, but despite that, I wasn’t even enjoying the writing very much, or the references to life in India. Settings do attract me to books, and, having travelled in India back in the 1970s as well as more recently, I can relate to descriptions of the climate/weather, the caste system, the food, etc, but somehow many of these stories left me cold. There were some that were amusing, and a couple that I really enjoyed (sorry, I have already forgotten which ones), but overall I found this book somewhat irritating. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood and/or my expectations were too high.
This book was the third completed of my Classics Club list.
This is my first time doing the Classics Club spin – members need to create a post that lists twenty books that remain “to be read” on their Classics Club list – my list has 62 books on it, and I have only read 2 so far, so it was easy to pick 20. On Monday 23rd September, a number from 1 through 20 will be posted, and the challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on my Spin List by 31st October, 2019.
Here is my list:
Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen
The Englishwoman in America – Isabella Bird
Lorna Doone – RD Blackmore
The Story of the Stone Vol2: The Crab-Flower Club – Cao Xueqin
The Last of the Mohicans – Fenimore Cooper
Tales of the Thousand and One Nights – NJ Dawood (Translator)
This week I have finished one book, and have started three more…
A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny was my choice for the Around the Year Challenge #36 – a book featured on an NPR Best Books of the Year list. This is one in a series about Inspector Gamache, who lives in a village in Quebec. I saw Louise Penny speak at the Perth Writers Festival last year, and was charmed by her. I had only read the first in her series, but then came across this one in a charity shop – I think the 13th book in the series. Gamache is an interesting character – a detective who does not fit the usual stereotype. He lives in a small village, which in this book turns out to be a village not included on maps – hmmm. Despite some questionable background, the stories are always fun and characters well-drawn. The other residents of the village feature in each book, so I think the charm of the series comes from the community of characters rather than just Gamache himself.
I began reading/listening to the audiobook of A Gentleman of Moscow, and am about a third of the way through it. Though I appreciate audiobooks in some ways, I do find that I am easily distracted and lose certain passages. I find I can only listen while driving, but even then I find myself distracted, and of course am unable to turn back to listen again, so although I am really enjoying this book, I know I would appreciate it more if I was reading a real book. I am loving the language, so will see how I go with the rest of it.
I have also begun reading ‘The Best Short Stories’ by Rudyard Kipling, for the Popsugar Challenge ‘two books that share the same title’. I found this challenge irritating (who has two books with the same title?), but managed to find this book as well as Jack London’s short stories (luckily also called ‘The Best Short Stories’, so hope to enjoy them all. The first two Kipling stories were somewhat annoying, being filled dialogue attempting to represent various accents, which was distracting. I have now read a third story, and becoming more engaged.
Due to a desire to have a break from Kipling’s stories, I began the next in my Around the Year challenge – a book set in a school or university – for which I have chosen ‘ Friendly Fire’ by Patrick Gale. I have read several of Patrick’s books before, and always enjoy them, so I expect to finish this one before the others I have embarked upon.
Oh dear, I’m not doing so well with keeping this blog up-to-date. Since my last post, I have read following books:
Uncommon Type – short stories by Tom Hanks. This was for the AtY prompt ‘a book you have owned for at least a year, but have not read yet’. I bought the book when it first came out because it had such great reviews and I had always admired Tom Hanks, but I do wonder if it would have been published had he not already been so well-known. I did enjoy some of the stories and his clever and amusing turns of phrase; I also enjoyed the common thread of typewriters, as I collect old writing implements (mostly inkwells rather than typewriters though). Some of the stories were not up to scratch in my opinion, but I am glad to have read the book.
Nancy Wake – a biography by Peter Fitzsimons. Nancy was an Australian who was highly decorated by France, USA and UK (and eventually, Australia) for her efforts as a secret agent during World War 2. She was married to a Frenchman, was fluent in French, and worked very closely with the French resistance as she undertook many very dangerous missions. It is a fascinating life story, but I did not enjoy the writing. Peter Fitzsimons is a well-known Australian journalist and ex national team footballer. He churns out books, mostly about aspects of Australian history, and has a very distinctive speaking style (enthusiastic but also hectoring) – I could hear his voice throughout this book and it irritated me. In my opinion he puts too much of himself into his books and I am not inclined to read another one. Nancy though – she was amazing. This one was read for the AtY Challenge prompt ‘a book with a person’s name in the title’.
Chinese Lessons by John Pomfret. I read this for the Popsugar Challenge – ‘a book set on a college or university campus’. As I studied China and Chinese language at university way back in the 1970s, and then lived and worked there for 5 years more recently, I am always drawn to books about this most fascinating country. John Pomfret was one of the very early exchange students from the US to China, spending a year at Nanjing University where his classmates had just lived through two of Mao’s worst programs: the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. Pomfret went on to become a journalist, spending much of his career in China, and after attending his Nanjing class’ 20th reunion, he caught up with the lives of several of his former fellow students. This is quite an old book (published 2006), but it gives a fascinating insight into the lives of a generation that saw massive changes over the years.
Normal People by Sally Rooney was my local Book Club’s choice for August. It was a quick read, and everyone in the group enjoyed it (we are a relatively mature group – ages ranging from mid-50s to 80+). I knew the book had had a lot of hype, but many had never heard of it, and groaned on realising that it was Irish (we seem to have had a lot of very dark and depressing Irish novels over the past few years). Luckily this young, fresh voice was enjoyed by all. The story follows two academically gifted young people who have connected secretly at high school where he is popular and she is a complete outsider. When they move to university, somehow she becomes the popular one (she is rich, like most of the other students at Trinity College), while he struggles to fit in (he is poor). They remain dedicated to one another while each pursuing other partners – I just wanted them to stay together. This author is one to watch.
Coffin Road by Peter May. This is a crime fiction author I really enjoy, especially because of his settings. I first heard of him while hiking in the Outer Hebrides (Scotland), where our guide made recommendations of books set on Lewis and Harris, and how excited I was to discover that he also has a series set in China! I really enjoyed his Harris Trilogy, so was very happy to come across this stand-alone novel, also set on Harris. It starts with a man washed up on a beach, hypothermic and having lost his memory – a good story with relevance to current issues. This one was for the AtY challenge ‘a psychological thriller’.
The Department of Sensitive Crimes by Alexander McCall Smith is the first in a new series by this most prolific author of books that are unfailingly thoughtful and amusing, and able to put a positive spin on most aspects of human behaviour, no matter how strange. I always enjoy his books, though this one, about a detective in Sweden, was rather slow and not as polished as many of his others. I read it for the Popsugar challenge prompt ‘a book set in Scandinavia’. I still laugh whenever I see the umlaut above the A in the author’s name – another example of his sense of humour. I have seen him speak several times, and he does a lot of giggling at his own jokes – very endearing.
This is a classic that I have tried to read several times, but this time I managed to get all the way through. Despite often falling asleep, and struggling with the small print and yellowed pages of my 1977 small format paperback edition, I persevered and was very glad to have actually read it. The motivation was the Popsugar Challenge prompt to read a book that has inspired a common phrase or idiom, and I was surprised to find that this book not only inspired ‘Lilliputian’ but also ‘yahoo’ – a race of disgusting, ugly, uneducated human like creatures. The other surprise was that it is not even remotely what I would consider a children’s book – I learned so much from reading the notes/references about social and political events at that time, and although I found the writing style difficult to engage with, it was a fascinating read in many ways. Jonathan Swift was clearly a man of strong opinions and a savage wit – I don’t think I would have liked him much.
It is a shame that the popular understanding of this book is mostly only about Gulliver’s visit to Lilliput – some of the other lands he visits are equally strange and interesting, but I was skeptical about the fact that he seemed always to become a favourite of the royal family of each land, often for several years, until something negative happened and he had to leave.
This book was the second completed of my Classics Club list, and it takes my total TBR list down to 219!
Me, My Shelf and I 