By Slanted Light

Okay, let's catch up again...


This is my second category substitution - First Peson PoV, substituting for Horror, which I had every intention of reading, but I don't particularly like to. And The Lie is a kind of horror even so, about a man haunted by the horror of his experiences in the trenches in World War I, and the deaths in his troop, and particularly of his childhood friend. It's absolutely fabulous, and I do recommend it! It was loaned to me by a friend who loved it, and I've taken long enough to read it that it also counts for my Mount TBR, for which it zooms me up to 11/24.

Mount TBR so far = 11/24
Lj Book Bingo Masterpost

I also read the third book in the Lockwood and Co. series, which I'm still enjoying, but which seem to be getting worse as far as you-can-tell-this-book-was-written-by-a-bloke. The main protagonist is Lucy, and we see Lockwood and Co. through her eyes. But who's on the cover of all three books I've read so far? Lockwood - the boy. And despite Lucy being completely kick-bottom, do we still get things like "You ran like a girl" in the story? Why, yes. Just - things that no kick-bottom girl like Lucy would actually put up with are included as ordinary life, as if they were acceptable to females of any age, and what girls should expect life to be like (technically this is a children's book). Gaargh! Pick up your game, author Jonathan Stroud! You can write - now think as well, please! ... Hmmn, turns out he's a former editor too, so I suppose the fact that he doesn't know better is one of the reasons that such annoyingly sexist books are still being put out and are still on the shelves. It's so annoying - it would be so easy to edit out!

And finally - another one for Lj Book Bingo! I wasn't expecting I could use the book we read for this month's book group, but it was Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend, and it turns out that it's a HBO mini-series for tv, which totally fits one of my squares - TV tie-in/Turned into a TV show!




I almost didn't finish the book though - it felt miserable and grubby and I didn't like any of the characters to start with. I'm not entirely sure I liked them by the end of the book (which turned out not to be the end, but a convenient breaking point before the next chapter book. Gargh!) but something did keep me reading, and not just cos it was a book group book. *g* I suppose I was catching some of the reason that everyone raves about it, but I really was tempted not to keep going after the first chapter or so, so... It'll be interesting to hear the book group consensus!

And that's another Bingo line, too! So now just three squares to go until I've filled the card - and I know my books for two of them. *g*

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

"Australia is in the grip of its worst drought in a century, and it hasn't rained in the small country town of Kiewarra for two years. Tensions in the community become unbearable when three members of the Hadler family are brutally murdered. Everyone thinks Luke Hadler, who committed suicide after slaughtering his wife and six-year-old-son, is guilty.

Policeman Aaron Falk returns to his hometown for the funeral of his childhood best friend, and is unwillingly drawn into the investigation. As questions mount and suspicion spreads through the town, Falk is forced to confront the community that rejected him twenty years earlier. Because Falk and Luke Hadler shared a secret, one which Luke's death threatens to unearth. And as Falk probes deeper into the killings, secrets from his past bubble to the surface as he questions the truth of his friend's crime."

This is our bookgroup read this month, but it's also a book that I've had waiting to be read on my shelf for almost a year, and of course it's a crime novel - so my reading challenges are well and truly catered for with this book.

And I loved it! It's been a while since I read a crime novel, but this one is eminently readable and unputdownable. I ended up leaving work until very late in the day to finish this, because I just wanted to see what was going to happen - and not just with the crime itself. The place and the characters were all real and interesting, and the story's "hero", Aaron Falk, was also someone I could relate to. Bonus points from me, for being set in Australia - and actually in the kind of rural small town setting that I grew up in too, so lots of resonances! There's alot of excellent films and novels that come out of Australia, and we don't get to see all of them over here, so I'm always pleased when one deservedly does well. This time, all the cover hype is absolutely accurate! *g*

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 = 4/24
Lj Book Bingo Masterpost

When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually right on the beat - but real life is a little harder to manage. She loves to draw but is too self-conscious to show it. And she hasn't mustered the courage to tell her friends she's bisexual, not even her openly gay BFF, Simon. So Leah really doesn't know what to do when her rock-solid friendship group starts to fracture. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high, and its hard for Leah when the people she loves are fighting - especially when she realizes she might love one of them more than she ever intended...

I read Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda (such a better title than "Love, Simon") ages ago, and adored it, so I always knew I was going to read Leah on the Offbeat. Obviously I was worried it wouldn't live up to how much I adored Simon, but it turned out that wasn't a problem at all. *g* Albertalli is brilliant at creating people and relationships and then showing us how those things just don't always match up with each other or the world around us all. It's the kind of book that you don't want to put down, because despite all their complications, you want to be in that world. Plus, of course, there's bonus fandom! Leah is into fandom, which somehow makes her even more relatable, despite the fact that she's just 18, and I'm... well, not. *g* Anyway - beautifully, thoughtfully written, comfortable and happy to read - definitely recommended!

I bought this just at the end of last year, so I can squeeze it into Mount TBR (I'd been meaning to buy it for ages too, except that I was travelling, so it was effectively bought a long time before that... *g*) And having thought there'd be nowhere on ljbookbingo for it to go, since I'd used up young adult, of course it perfectly fits Diverse Reads, so yeay. *g*

( 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)