By Slanted Light

The last time we saw our intrepid reader, it was the start of June and she'd read 43 books so far this year. It's now nearly the end of August, and I've read 57, though it might be a few more cos I'm pretty sure I've forgotten a few night-rereads...

I'm afraid my Mount TBR hasn't advanced at all. I was on 10/24 when I posted last, and I still am. I'd really better get on with that - I'm not halfway, and we're rather more than halfway through the year now! I keep getting distracted... *g* Lj Book Bingo is going a bit better, though!


I'm invoking a Category Substitution, because I'm never going to read a cookbook or food memoir (just, why...?!), and I'm using A book set in the future, which is Emma Newman's Planetfall (and in fact the three sequels, After Atlas, Before Mars and Atlas Alone). As you can tell from the fact that I then read the three sequels, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It's original science fiction! It's not blokes (or women written to be blokes) going around the universe killing other beings, it's thoughtful and its interesting, and I can completely see the future that Newman imagines not too far away! Will we one day be printing all our food (or willing to spend above the odds to eat actual real, fresh food)? Will our houses be built like that (I wish!)? Will....? Well no, you should go and read it! *g*

So I've got another line too - Bingo! *g*

I also realise that another book I read fits a square - not one that I'd ever have imagined for this book though - apparently there are some places (guess which country...) where this is a banned book, because it includes "discussion of alcohol, poverty, bullying, violence, sexuality, profanity and slurs related to homosexuality and mental disability" (the main character has hydrocephalus, and is both teased about it and has learned to joke about it himself). It's not an easy read, because the harsher details read as very true, but it's an ultimately uplifting read, I thought. I've always liked Sherman Lexie's books, and this is his first Young Adult book. Totally worth reading - especially when people want to stop us being able to!


Another square substitution - this one I'm going to use my first Wildcard on! I tried to read a graphic novel/comic - I actually took a bunch out of the library, ages ago, but I ended up taking them back unread, because if I'm faced with a pile of fiction and a pile of graphic novels, I'm afraid I'm always going to read the fiction. And I have piles and piles to read, so... *g*

Oh and wheeee, that's another Bingo! too! *g* Remarkable Creatures was a book group book, and although I didn't make it to that book group, what with being in Switzerland at the time and all, I really enjoyed the book. It wasn't what I expected actually, with a healthy dollop of speculative romance in the middle, and also from the pov of Elizabeth Philpot (who I now see was another palaeontologist of the time), but good and readable and interesting!

So - five book bingo squares left (and two are almost certainly going to be my other allowed category substitution, and my other wildcard) and fourteen Mount TBR books to read.

As soon as I've finished the ones I'm reading at the moment... *vbg*

Sorry - catching up on posts... *g*


Mount TBR so far = 8/24
Lj Book Bingo Masterpost

"When he learns that he could be the heir to an unexpected fortune, Harry Vane rejects his past as a Radical fighting for government reform and sets about wooing his lovely cousin. But his heart is captured instead by the most beautiful, chic man he’s ever met: the dandy tasked with instructing him in the manners and style of the ton. Harry’s new station demands conformity - and yet the one thing he desires is a taste of the wrong pair of lips.

After witnessing firsthand the horrors of Waterloo, Julius Norreys sought refuge behind the luxurious facade of the upper crust. Now he concerns himself exclusively with the cut of his coat and the quality of his boots. And yet his protégé is so unblemished by cynicism that he inspires the first flare of genuine desire Julius has felt in years. He cannot protect Harry from the worst excesses of society. But together they can withstand the high price of passion."

This was a reread a few weeks ago, and I've belatedly realised that I can use it to fill in another lj-bingo square (and I don't buy enough e-books to make it worth waiting for the next one, so... *g*)

This is the first book in my second favourite K.J. Charles series - The Society of Gentlemen trilogy (and my favourite book in the series, too). As I expect from Charles, the characters are real, the world is real, and its all made more interesting than just forbidden-love-in-the-past, because she makes that past a real place too. If you haven't already, these are definitely worth reading! *g*

Oh and also - Bingo again! Hurrah!

Mount TBR so far = 7/24 (still!)
Lj Book Bingo Masterpost

One balmy June evening in 1881, Phoebe Stanbury stands before the guests at her engagement party; this is her moment, when she will join the renowned Raycraft family.
As she takes her fiance's hand, a stranger with a knife steps forward and ends the poor girl's life. Amid the chaos, he turns to her groom and mouths; 'I promised I would save you.

( Sounds like it should be good, right? )

Mount TBR so far = 7/24
Lj Book Bingo Masterpost

When Nicholas' father dies, he, his mother and sister are left penniless. To earn his keep, Nicholas becomes a tutor at Dotheboys Hall but soon discovers that the headmaster, Wackford Squeers, is a one-eyed tyrant who insists on a harsh regime. Nicholas embarks on an adventure that takes him from loathsome boarding schools to the London stage. Dickens confronts issues of neglect and cruelty in this blackly comic masterpiece.

This was our bookgroup's book for the last two months, because it's 831 pages of very small writing - I'll be interested to find out how many of us actually did read it, even with all the extra time! I must admit that it wasn't an easy read - it was a bit of a slog sometimes. There were times when I just wanted the story to move on, or it was pretty clear where something was going to happen (because it really morally had to), but on the other hand there were also times when I found myself amused to the point of smiling out loud, and although I will admit to not picking the book up as often as I would have many other books, I really did want to read on to the end to find out what happened (or at least how Dickens was going to make it happen).

What I mostly found myself thinking, as I read, was how much people haven't changed in many ways, since Dickens' day. Money is still what makes the country go around, despite the efforts of people who genuinely want to do the best for others, and the people who want money still couldn't care less who they hurt in their efforts to get more of it. Luckily there are those few people, like the Cheerybles and the Brodies, who make it all seem worth the next breath.

I'm glad I've read this - but I'm also glad that I've finished it, and it was a lovely feeling the day after to realise that I could pick up any book I wanted to read again. Yeay!

I also realised that I hadn't used my Historical fiction square yet, so there's another reason it was worth reading Nicholas Nickleby! *g*

I'm behind, I'm behind, what happened to February?! Not that I wasn't reading, I was reading, just... not posting about it. Oops.


Mount TBR so far = 7/24
Lj Book Bingo Masterpost

Lord Alexander Pyne-ffoulkes, the younger son of the Duke of Ilvar, has a bitter grudge against his wealthy father. The Duke intends to give his Duchess a priceless diamond parure on their wedding anniversary - so Alec hires a pair of jewel thieves to steal it.
The Duke's remote castle is a difficult target, and Alec needs a way to get the thieves in. Solder-turned-criminal Jerry Crozier has the answer: he'll pose as a Society gentleman and become Alex's new best friend. But Jerry is a dangerous man: controlling, remote and devastating. He effortlessly teases out the lonely young nobleman's most secret desires and soon he's got Alec in his bed - and the palm of his hand.
Or maybe not. Because as the plot thickens, betrayals, secrets, new loves, and old evils come to light. Now the jewel thief and the aristocrat must keep up the pretence, find their way through a maze of privilege and deceit, and confront the truth of what's between them... all without getting caught.

This was an automatic-buy for me, since it's by KJ Charles, although I was good and waited for it to come out in paperback rather than buying the e-book because it's published first and then having to buy the paperback later (cos I want her books in paperback - I enjoy them more that way, as I do any book). Happily it also fits the Published this Year square for ljbookbingo - yeay!

( Any Old Diamonds... )

( Booklist 2019 )

Mount TBR so far = 6/24
Lj Book Bingo Masterpost

The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan
Charlie Howard travels the globe writing suspense novels for a living. To supplement his income - and keep his hand in - Charlie has a small side business: stealing for a very discreet clientele on commission.
When a mysterious American offers Charlie 20,000 euros to steal two small monkey figurines to match the one he already has, Charlie is suspicious; the job seems too good to be true, and of course, it is. He soon finds the American beaten nearly to death, and the third figurine has vanished.
Back in London, his literary agent Victoria (who is savvy naive enough to believe he actually looks like his jacket photo), tries to talk him through the plot problems in both his manuscript and in his real life - but Charlie soon finds himself caught in a caper reminiscent of a Cary Grant movie, involving safe-deposit boxes, menacing characters, and a beautiful damsel in distress.

( I wasn't expecting... )

And yeay - because not only is the title six words long for ljbookbingo, but it's been on my shelf for at least a year, so it's another one for Mount To-Be-Read too! *g* And oooh, look - nearly two full rows! *vbg*

It just squeezes into Mount TBR (loaned to me by a friend when I got back from Australia - but I figure if a loan's been on my shelves for more than a month waiting to be read, then it counts as TBR - and this has been here since last year. *g* And it's also

( Books 2019 )

Mount TBR so far = 5/24
Lj Book Bingo Masterpost

Who says you can't run away from your problems? Arthur Less is a failed novelist about to turn fifty. A wedding invitation arrives in the post: it is from an ex-boyfriend of nine years who is engaged to someone else. But Arthur can't say yes - it would be too awkward; he can't say no - it would look like defeat. So he begins to accept the invitations on his desk to half-baked literary agents around the world. From France to India, Germany to Japan, Arthur almost falls in love, almost falls to his death and puts miles between him and the plight he refuses to face. Less is a novel about mishaps, misunderstandings and the depths of the human heart.

I bought this last year at an airport, and then proceeded to carry it around with me for the rest of the trip... I thought the blurb sounded entirely promising, and I rather fancied something joyful and funny.

( The trouble with Arthur Less... )

Well this was unexpected... yeah, I've had a fairly lazy, cosy Saturday in today... *vbg*


Book Bingo Masterpost

It is the winter of 1952, and Isabel Carey is struggling to adjust to the realities of married life in Yorkshire. Isolated and lonely, she is also intensely cold. And her husband - a doctor - is rarely home. And then one night she discovers an old RAF greatcoat in the back of a cupboard. She puts it on her bed for warmth - and is startled by a knock at her window. Outside is a young man. A pilot. And he wants to come in...

( This is our bookgroup book... )

Isn't it bliss to be choosing the next book to read! *vbg*

( Books 2019 so far )

Mount TBR so far = 2/24

It's the early 1930s. Antarctic open-sea whaling is booming and a territorial race for the mysterious continent is in full swing. Aboard a ship setting sail from Cape Town carrying the Norwegian whaling magnate Lars Christensen are three women. Lillemor Rachlew, who tricked her way onto the ship and will stop at nothing to be the first woman to land on Antarctica; Mathilde Wegger, a grieving widow who's been forced to join the trip by her calculating parents-in-law; and Lars' wife, Ingrid Christensen, who has longed to travel to Antarctica since she was a girl and has made a daunting bargain with Lars to convince him to take her.

As they head south through icy waters, the race is on for the first woman to land on Antarctica. None of them expect the outcome and none of them know how they will be changed by their arrival.

Based on the little-known true story of the first woman to ever set foot on Antarctica, Jesse Blackadder has captured the drama, danger and magnetic pull of exploring uncharted places in our world and our minds.

I absolutely loved this book - it's beautifully written, about something amazing, and every character and place is real and interesting and worth reading about. I can't believe that it was so hard to get hold of (we were supposed to read it for book group in MK last year, but gave up because it just wasn't practical), because it's just that good. It follows the lives of the three women, and is very real about them - they're not made out to be paragons or heroines or anything other than real people in an extraordinary situation, and that's a measure of quality - and equality in a book for me. It follows the paths of their lives as they struggle to be who they want to be against early 1900s mores, and are ultimately thrown together on this journey to the Antarctic. The Antarctic, of course, is another character entirely - mysterious and elusive and ultimately just as real as any of the others.

I've used this book for the New to You Author square on my Bingo card, because I have every intention of finding more books by Blackadder (she's written one about Mary Queen of Scots too - apparently she was fed up with people asking whether she was related to Rowan Atkinson, went to visit Scotland to find out more about the real Blackadder family - she's Australian, by the way - and ended up writing The Raven's Heart)

( Booklist 2019 so far )

Mount TBR 2019 Challenge
Now that I'm all unpacked again, and hopefully at home for a while, I'm looking forward to getting back to reading properly again. Not that I ever stopped reading, but last year's Mount TBR didn't get as far as I was hoping (since they all ended up in storage for eight months of the year...), and otherwise I just read, without talking much about it. Which might have been a relief to you all (*g*) but I'm going to give tracking it here a go again this year! I have lots of To-Be-Read books on my shelves, and I'm in a book group that meets once a month. And I'll include fanfic too, because that's reading. ETA - oh, and I forgot to say! I'm going to try for Mount Blanc again this year (24 books) but actually hope that I can climb higher and higher... *g* (My 2019 Mount TBR post)

ETA - ooh, found another reading challenge to play! Livejournal BookBingo - at ljbookbingo

Booklist 2019
1. Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift (bookgroup)
2. You take the Hippy, I'll take Goldilocks by Gil Hale (fanfic re-read)
3. In a Land of Shadows by Gil Hale (fanfic re-read)
4. The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham (MountTBR, LjBookBingo)
5. A Walk on the Beach by E.T. (fanfic re-read)
6. Chasing the Light by Jesse Blackadder (Mount TBR, LjBookBingo)
7. November by Sebastian (fanfic re-read)
8. Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford (Mount TBR, LjBookBingo)
9. The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore (Bookgroup, LjBookBingo)
10. Cold Water Morning by Fictonwriter (fanfic)
11. All or Nothing by Kate MacLean (fanfic re-read)
12. Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli (LjBookBingo, Mount TBR)
13. Chameleon's Dish by Kitty Fisher (fanfic re-read)
14. Less by Andrew Sean Greer (LjBookBingo, Mount TBR)
15. Gravity's Angel (by Jenny Parkinson?) (fanfic re-read)
16. Band Sinister by K.J. Charles (LjBookBingo, re-read on paper)
17. Whisper of a Kill by Lois Welling (fanfic re-read)
18. Redemption by Kate Maclean (fanfic re-read)
19. What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera (new book, LjBookBingo)
20. The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli (new book)
21. The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan (Mount TBR, LjBookBingo)
22. The Stars are Fire by Anita Shreve (Mount TBR)
23. Sebastian Collected 2 (Adagio series) by Sebastian (fanfic re-read)
24. Any Old Diamonds by K.J. Charles (new book)
25. Of Tethered Goats and Tigers by Tarot (fanfic reread)
26. Artemis by Andy Weir (lj book bingo)
27. Fruit of the Spirit by Cherilyn (fanfic re-read)
28. Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens (Bookgroup, lj book bingo)
29. Geekerella by Ashley Poston
30. A Fashionable Indulgence by K.J. Charles (reread, lj book bingo)
31. The Fourteenth Letter by Claire Evans (lj book bingo)
32. The Dry by Jane Harper (bookgroup, Mt TBR, lj book bingo)
33. The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston (new book)
34. Point of Sighs by Melissa Scott (reread)
35. The Mystery in the Minster by Susanna Gregory (Mt TBR)
36. The Queen's Man by Sharon Penman (Mt TBR, lj book bingo)
37. Cruel as the Grave by Sharon Penman (new book)
38. Death by Silver by Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold (reread)
39. A Seditious Affair by K.J. Charles (reread)
40. A Gentleman's Position by K.J. Charles (reread)
41. A Death at the Dionysius Club by Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold (reread)
42. Dragon's Lair by Sharon Penman (new book)
43. Light on Snow by Anita Shreve (book group)
44. Painted Angels by Angelfish (fanfic)
45. Prince of Darkness by Sharon Penman (new book)
46. Planetfall by Emma Newbury (loaned sci-fi book)
47. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
48. The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg (book group)
49. After Atlas by Emma Newbury (library book - series)
50. Point of Knives by Melissa Scott (re-read)
51. Arcadia by Sineala (fanfiction)
52. Remarkable Creatures by Tracey Chevalier (book group)
53. Before Mars by Emma Newman (library book - series)
54. Atlas Alone by Emma Newman (library book - series)
55. Lockwood & Co.: The Screaming Staircase (new book)
56. The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles (re-read)
57. A Case of Possession by KJ Charles (re-read)
58. Lockwood & Co.: The Whispering Skull (new book)
59. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (book group)
60. Lockwood & Co.: The Hollow Boy by Jonathan Stroud (new book)
61. The Lie by Helen Dunmore (loaned book, Mount TBR)
62. Flight of Magpies by K.J. Charles (re-read)
63. Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell (library book)
64. A Case of Possession by K.J. Charles (re-read)
65. Magpie Lord by K.J. Charles (re-read)
66. Shoes for Anthony by Emma Kennedy (Book club)
67. Carol by Patricia Highsmith (book club)
68. Proper English by K.J. Charles (new book)
69. Summer at Mount Hope by Rosalie Ham (Mt TBR)
70. The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell (Mt TBR)
71. Sense & Sensibility by Joanna Trollope (Mt TBR)
72. All the Lonely People by David Owen (new book)
73. Island Innocents by Glen Fiddich (fan fiction)
74. Tea for Two by Alexandra (fan fiction)
75. The Wookey Hole Affair by Martin Miller (Mt TBR - couldn't finish)
76. A Foreign Field by Margaret Mayhew (Mt TBR)