2016 raidergirl3 reads Baileys (and more)

I want to have a place where I can keep track of my reading, and have a place for LT friends to visit. I'm not a big forum participator, but I do like to chat about reading a bit. I'm a little afraid of getting overwhelmed in the really big groups, and I've always like the Orange group, from back in the Jill days, so I am going to set up shop here. I'm keeping track here of more than the Bailey reads. Last year I read 116 books and 80 were written by women. Yep, this is where I belong.

Jan -Mar
1. A Beam of Light - Andrea Camilleri
2. Rose Under Fire - Elizabeth Wein (audiobook)
3. Mr Chartwell - Rebecca Hunt
4. Funny Girl - Nick Hornby (audiobook)
5. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks - E Lockhart
6. Swamp Angel - Ethel Wilson
7. Our Souls at Night - Kent Haruf
8. A Neighbourly War: New Brunswick and the War of 1812 - Robert Dallison

9. Dead Wake - Erik Larson (audiobook)
10. Undone - Karin Slaughter
11. The Frozen Thames - Helen Humphreys
12. United We Stand - Eric Walters
13. Fates and Furies - Lauren Groff (audiobook)
14. The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine - Alexander McCall Smith
15. The Door in the River - Inger Ash Wolfe
16. The Mountain Story - Lori Lansen (audiobook)
17. Hark! A Vagrant - Kate Beaton
18. Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town - Stephen Leacock (audiobook)

19. Heirs and Graces - Rhys Bowen
20. The Lost Garden - Helen Humphreys
21. Reykjavik Nights - Arnaldur Indridason
22. The Hero's Walk - Anita Rau Badami
23. The Tsar of Love and Techno - Anthony Marra (audibook)
24. The Evening Chorus - Helen Humphreys
25. The Widow - Fiona Barton
26. Her - Harriet Lane
27. Never Cry Wolf - Farley Mowat (audiobook)
28. In a Dark, Dark Wood - Ruth Ware
29. Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories - Agatha Christie

Apr - June

30. The Leftovers - Tom Perrotta
31. Finders, Keepers - Stephen King (audiobook)
32. A God in Ruins - Kate Atkinson
33. A Great Leader - Jim Harrison (audiobook)
34. Ruby - Cynthia Bond
35. Socks - Beverly Cleary
36. Moral Disorder - Margaret Atwood (audiobook)
37. Mrs Roosevelt's Confidante - Susan Elia MacNeal (audiobook)
38. The Summer Before the War - Helen Simonson

39. My Name is Lucy Barton - Elizabeth Strout
40. Hausfrau - Jill Alexander Essbaum (audiobook)
41. Hard Light:32 Little stories - Michael Crummey (audiobook)
42. Yes, Please! - Amy Poehler (audiobook)
43. Last Night in Montreal - Emily St. John Mandel
44. Broken - Karin Slaughter
45. Sweetland - Michael Crummey (audiobook)
46. At the Edge of the Orchard - Tracy Chevalier

47. Every Last Word - Tamara Ireland Stone (audiobook)
48. All the Bright Places - Jennifer Niven
49. Nimona - Noelle Stevenson
50. Divine Collision - Jim Gash (audiobook)
51. The Sin-Eater's Daughter - Melinda Salisbury (audiobook)
52. Poppet - Mo Hayder
53. The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial - Peter Goodchild

Jul -Sep
54. 100 Sideways Miles - Andrew Smith (audiobook)
55. You Went Away - Timothy Findley
56. The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith
57. Rilla of Ingleside - LM Montgomery (audiobook)
58. Boy Meets Boy - David Levithan (audiobook)
59. The Fireman - Joe Hill
60. The Cookbook Collector - Allegra Goodman
61. Egg & Spoon - Gregory Maguire (audiobook)
62. Wolf - Mo Hayder
63. Friends, Lovers, Chocolate - Alexander McCall Smith
64. Grasshopper Jungle - Andrew Smith (audiobook)
65. On the Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta (audiobook)
66. The Night Bell - Inger Ash Wolfe

67. Boy Born Dead - David Ring (audiobook)
68. Shampoo Planet - Douglas Coupland
69. Zap! Nikola Tesla Takes Charge - Monica Kulling
70. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe (audiobook)
71. Moonlighting With Einstein - Joshua Foer (audiobook)
72. Mandela: An Audio History (audiobook)
73. The Observations - Jane Harris
74. Fat Angie - e. E. Charlton-Trujillo (audiobook)
75. I'll Give You the Sun - Jandy Nelson (audiobook)
76. Fallen - Karen Slaughter
77. Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell (audiobook)
78. Heartburn - Nora Ephron (audiobook)
79. The Cracks in the Kingdom - Jaclyn Moriarty
80. Pennies for Hitler - Jackie French (audiobook)

81. The Englishman's Boy - Guy Vanderhaeghe
82. Last Days of Night - Graham Moore
83. Symphony for the City of the Dead - MT Anderson (audiobook)
84. The Nest - Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney (audiobook)
85. End of Watch - Stephen King (audiobook)
86. How It Went Down - Kekla Magoon (audiobook)
87. The Misbegotten - Katherine Webb
88. Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell (audiobook)

Oct - Dec

89. Criminal - Karin Slaughter (audiobook)
90. Fifteen Dogs - Andre Alexis
91. The Wonder - Emma Donoghue
92. This Boy's Life - Tobias Wolff (audiobook)
93. The Trespasser - Tana French
94. The School of Essential Ingredients - Erica Bauermeister

November
95. Girl Waits With Gun - Amy Stewart
96. Orange is the New Black - Piper Kerman (audiobook)
97. The Twilight Wife - A.J. Banner
98. The Couple Next Door - Shari Lapena (audiobook)
99.

Hi, welcome back! I haven't been reading as many Baileys nominees lately but about 2/3 of my reading is by women authors. I'll be watching this thread!

Hi Elizabeth, good to catch up with you! I saw your post on Mary's thread. I much prefer the Orange Prize, too, as opposed to the Bailey. In the Jill days, I would plan one or more Jan/Jul Orange reads, and record these on my thread at 75 Books. Glad you've found a place to track your reading.

I was hoping you would stop by, Laura and Nancy!

I just started Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf and it is wonderful. It's very short, so I'll be finished in a day or so.

>8 raidergirl3: Have you read Haruf's other novels? I absolutely adored every single one.

No, Laura, I had never heard of Haruf til I saw good reviews from someone (thoughts of joy on her blog). I ended up getting the large print book from the library just because there was no wait. I love the premise! Now I'm excited that all his books are wonderful.

I found you , I found you, Hurrah! Wow 116 books in 2015, and 8o of them by female authors. That's awesome!

Absolutely adore Kent Haruf. He's probably the best gift I've received from LT, of all the fabulous recommendations over the years. Have not yet read Our Souls at Night but will read it this year. Elizabeth, if you enjoy him, do read his Plainsong trilogy. So beautiful.

Yes, definitely read the Plainsong Trilogy. Our Souls at Night is wonderful, but since it was his last book (and he knew it), it lacks some of the complexity in his earlier books.

I'd agree - do read Kent Haruf. I read the Plainsong Trilogy and loved it. It will be great to visit with you here. I can't wait for the new " Orange Prize ' book list to come out this year. I tend to read them as the long list comes out and decide what appeals to me.

From 2015 " Orange Prize " long list and short list, I read Aren't We Sisters?, which I really enjoyed, I had already read Elizabeth is Missing , and read Crooked Heart which was such a charmer. Best of all for me was A Spool of Blue Thread. I have Outline by Rachel Cusk, but have ye to read it.

>11 mdoris: yay, you found me, Mary!

>12 lit_chick: >13 lauralkeet: Laure and Nancy: Haruf will be read more this year. I'm glad I realized about the trilogy and looked a bit at the plot lines. I was then able to appreciate the meta comments near the end of Our Souls at Night when the couple talks about those 3 books written about Holt. Not realistic at all, they say. Very cute. And now he's died?

>14 vancouverdeb: I really want to read Crooked Heart but my library doesn't have it yet. What did you think of Elizabeth is Missing? I have some opinions.
I listened to Outline and wish I'd given it better attention. I'm not a writer so I didn't appreciate it as much as others have. A Spool of Blue Thread was good too. Overall, the list had some good reads that I might not have read otherwise.

I think I read Elizabeth is Missing back in 2014 , shortly after it came out . I did not review it, so I don't remember the details, but I did give it 4. 5 stars, so I must have thought well of it Sorry to be so vague. Crooked Heart is so charming!

>15 raidergirl3: when the couple talks about those 3 books written about Holt.
Yes, that was a cute moment wasn't it.

Haruf died in November 2014, of cancer I believe. He wrote the book as an homage to his wife, whom he met later in life. Here's an article about it:
A Book About Us

>15 raidergirl3: >16 vancouverdeb: I really liked Elizabeth is Missing. It was a 5-star read for me.

I finished Our Souls at Night quickly and easily. It was a more melancholy ending that I expected, but lovely.

I also finished a nonfiction book that no one else will have heard of!
A Neighbourly War: New Brunswick and the War of 1812 by Robert Dallison. I received it some time ago with a package of books from a local publisher. I can't even remember why I got the books - maybe as a prize on a challenge? Anyway, the book has been published as one in a series about NB and its military history. While not my usual reading, it was still okay. I skimmed a lot of the military details (batallions, regiments, numbers and stuff) but as a history of the province and its relationship with Maine, and a province we drive through all the time, I enjoyed it. In NB, (and the Maritimes) the war of 1812 didn't really affect life, but no one knew if it might. NB and Maine would have been happy with a declared truce for the duration as trade was so important. Canada was still part of British North America at this time, and the war with Britain and Napoleon was going on at this time as well. US and France have always been allied, as France supported US during this war. Mostly, this book reminded me I want to read more about Napoleon and French history, after reading a a book about Josephine last year.

I also just finished Dead Wake by Erik Larson today. Larson does this kind of book so well - combining a famous event, sinking of the Lusitania, with all the stuff going on around it, plus the people involved.

Hey, that's 2 nonfictions in a row.

You go, girl!
I'm happy that you've set up your thread here and will do my best to stop by from time to time.
I managed to read two Orange Baileys this January: The History of Love, which I really loved and The Mysteries of Glass, which I was less enthusiastic about. It was O.K.
I've said 10,000,000 times before that for some reason I've avoided Haruf. I can't tell you why. I think I own the trilogy, so with the encouragement here, maybe I'll get to him this year. Somehow, there's always something that seems more pressing. I'm glad that you also enjoyed Aren't We Sisters?

So glad you enjoyed Our Souls at Night, Elizabeth.

I finished Feasting, Fasting which was a long listed Orange as well as a short listed Booker, Elizabeth. Put a review on the main page if you are interested. Was a challenge to find - had to get an inter library loan to get it.

>19 LizzieD: Peggy, yay for stopping by! It's not I a had avoided Haruf (like you); I had never heard of him. I liked The History of Love but I felt like I missed something. Sometimes I read too fast and that happens.

>20 lit_chick: I did, a lot. I've got the other Haruf's 'listed' on my library site to read later.

>21 vancouverdeb: I thought I had read Anita Desai or her daughter but it was Jumpra Lahari. Lahari's book sounds similar to your review. One sibling stays in India, one immigrates to US. Sometimes Booker nominees aren't the selling point for me that they should be.

I finished a good police mystery, Undone by Karin Slaughter. The detective Will Trent (book 3) is with the GBI, the Georgia FBI and I think he meets up with another series, but new to me character, the author has one the go, Sara Latsky, (book 7)a doctor/coroner. Hilarity ensues as the investigate a serial murder. Just kidding! It's so grim- the cops are damaged and the killer is terrible. Much like Criminal Minds.

Also reading The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys. It is just delightful!
Also listening to Fates and Furies. Not liking the husband. The second half is the wife's story. I like these books that play with perspective.
Might be a storm day tomorrow. Keep up those winds!

Haven't read The Frozen Thames, so I've just added it to my list. Humphreys is a wonderful writer. I've read Coventry and The Lost Garden and loved both.

I loved Frozen Thames (and just about everything else Humphreys has written).

> 24, >25 Yells: So I guess my next Humphreys will be The Lost Garden as I also loved Coventry.

The Frozen Thames reminded me of London by Rutherford, but in precis version. I think part of what I like is there is such a rich, recorded history of London, so that we know what life was like for such huge periods of history.
I took The Frozen Thames to my mom before I library returned it because I thought she would like it. I was right, but she had already read and loved it!

I also finished United We Stand by Eric Walters. It's a young adult (barely, almost really just childrens) book about the day after 9/11 and a boy who survived and his friend, who's father was a fireman and didn't. It was a good history type book for kids today who don't know what it was like. I only read this for my book club and it was easy and short, just not very deep.

I have a 4 hour drive today to go watch my son play university basketball. A great weekend planned - staying at my sisters, 2 basketball games, shopping in the 'big' city, and visiting a number of cousins. We are planning a eat-out downtown get-together before one of the games. I hope to finish Fates and Furies on my drive over, and maybe a little Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town as well. Half of getting ready for a trip these days is making sure my audiobooks are ready!

I rated Lost Garden higher than Coventry but remember the latter one better. Weird... :)

You've got a great weekend planned, Elizabeth! And the name of the "big" city is ______? Inquiring minds need to know, ha!

Oops, forgot to add that I'm wholly in agreement here: Half of getting ready for a trip these days is making sure my audiobooks are ready! *would have added this to my message above, but the Edit feature is presently acting stupid, so there it is*

Halifax is the big city. Jack's team lost in overtime tonight. Hopefully they will be better tomorrow.

One of the things I wanted to do in Halifax was to visit the library. They've recently built a shiny, new library down town, and it was wondeful! We walked around, up the 5 floors (which have a Hogwarts quality going in different directions.)
I'm trying to include some pictures:

Okay, that one is sideways! It is the view from the overhanging room on the fifth floor. Canada in winter!
Here's a picture from a part of the Card Catalogue Display that covers most of a wall on the first floor. It's pretty impressive.

Sounds like a fabulous new library in Halifax, Elizabeth! Love the view: perfectly Canadian.

Love the picture of the card catalogue display!

>33 lit_chick: The library is fabulous. And there were so many people there, tons of technology, very vibrant.

>34 lkernagh: I don't know if the same artist painted all the pictures or not. Some are old cards, but others are just that size and all kinds of paintings, or made to look like books. It's quite stunning.

Great looking library, Elizabeth! Glad you enjoyed it so much. I'm reading an Orange Prize Winner from 1999 or some such date. A Crime In the Neighbourhood I'm not finished as yet, but an enjoyable read.

>36 vancouverdeb: A Crime in the Neighbourhood looks really good! I should be finding all the Orange/Bailey mysteries and reading them. There are not a lot of mysteries that get nominated, but there are a few.

I apparently read A Crime in the Neighbourhood in 2012 and gave it 3 1/2 stars but can't really remember much about it. I did comment that I was reading a lot of books about messed up kids and this was one of them.

>38 Yells: I've yet to write a review or make comments about A Crime in the Neighbourhood but I think it is a 4 star read. Creepy but thoughtful comes to mind .

Just finished the wonderful The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine. Mma Ramotswe and her philosophical musings are like a dose of meditation. She gets my head in a good place.
I'm on another week-end sports trip. This time we are in Moncton as both my girls are playing in the Atlantic Ringette Championships. U14 and U16 PEI Wave teams. Interestingly, I have no sports ability or background. My only sporting experience is as a fan. I get lots to cheer for with my kids!

HI Elizabeth, Really glad that you liked the new Mma Ramotswe book. I loved it too. Good way to describe it.....She gets my head in a good place..
I too picked up 2 more Helen Humphreys books. I got Coventry and The Evening Chorus from the library. Looks like we have some good reading ahead of us!

Hi Elizabeth, I saw on Mary's thread that you'd picked up The Lost Garden. LOVED this one! Read it a couple of winters ago, and was a 4.5 or 5* read.

>41 mdoris: Mary, I loved Coventry and it made me look into Helen Humphryes. I love how short yet powerful her books are.

>42 lit_chick: I've heard such good things about The Lost Garden I can't wait to read it.

We have *another* sports weekend in Halifax to watch our son play in the basketball conference final, so I'm planning my travel reading now! My husband will drive, so it's real books instead of audiobooks for this trip.

Reykjavik Nights, The Lost Garden and maybe a Tom Perrotta will be making the trip.

My son is a freshman on his university team (Cape Breton) and he has had such a great first season. Last weekend he scored a buzzer beater 3 point shot in OT to win the game 75-74 and put his team in the playoffs. So exciting! We think he may be Rookie of the Year for the conference.

Woot! Good on your son and his team, Elizabeth! You must be very proud of him ... not to mention having a great time doing some weekend travelling and reading.

Indridason is one of my very favourite Scandic-Crime authors. But I think my #5 was Arctic Chill. Drive me bugs (not a long drive some days) how these books are published under different titles. I expect has to do with the translations?

You already know how I feel about The Lost Garden : ).

>44 lit_chick: The numbering of the Indridason series is crazy on LT. There are so many versions of the series I don't even know; I consider Reykjavik Nights to be #10 in my reading. There's another book coming out soon, so while I thought this series had ended, it lives yet.
I just loved The Lost Garden. If I had read any Woolf, especially To a Lighthouse I'm sure it would have added many more layers to the story. Even Woolf-less, I liked it.

My son's team lost in their quarterfinals, by 1 point. So heart-breaking. But we got to take him out to lunch, and see some other basketball, so it was a great weekend. Plus, no daughters with us and eating out in Halifax is always a treat. Hard to believe his first season is done. He did end up being first team All-Rookie which is very commendable. He is a true rookie, right out of high school and many in their league are older, so we are very proud!
But don't worry, sports aren't over - ringette weekend in Moncton starting tomorrow. This is a fun tournament which rewards the parents with a socializing weekend after a long season as much as lets the girls play some games.

Tonight, I'm going to hear Anita Rau Badami at my library. An actual author and literary event on PEI! I'll keep you posted.

Just keeping track here:

the longlist:
A God In Ruins by Kate Atkinson (UK) -requested
Rush Oh! by Shirley Barrett (Australia)
Ruby by Cynthia Bond (US)
The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks (Australia/US)
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (US)
A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding by Jackie Copleton (UK)
Whispering Through a Megaphone by Rachel Elliot (UK)
The Green Road by Anne Enright (Ireland)
The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah (Zimbabwe)
Gorsky by Vesna Goldsworthy (UK/Serbia)
The Anatomist’s Dream by Clio Gray (UK)
At Hawthorn Time by Melissa Harrison (UK)
Pleasantville by Attica Locke (US)
The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney (Ireland)
The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie (US)
Girl at War by Sara Nović (US)
The House on the Edge of the World by Julia Rochester (UK)
The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild (UK)
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout (US)requested
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (US)

I just put a few on hold at the library. Can't wait!

Very fun that you are living in the "sports" world. My days watching and being involved for my kids sports-volleyball, basketball, soccer, swimming are over and I DEARLY miss it. Congrats to your son for his rookie award. That is wonderful.

>47 Yells: Me too! I requested A God in Ruins and My Name is Lucy Barton. Lucy might be a bit of a wait, so I requested it in paper and audio. I tried listening to A God in Ruins on audio, but couldn't get into it. I think the paper of Atkinson will be better for me. I could also get Ruby, but there are a couple other books coming in this week on probably one week loan, so I can't over load myself.

>48 mdoris: It's not even the sports, right?; the parents you spend so much time on the sidelines with for so many years become your social life.

I just picked up Ruby, God In Ruins and The Secret Chord. All look good.

Finished The Hero's Walk and it was very good. I think I really wanted to like it, after hearing Badami speak. I liked her and what she said about her book. Knowing the motivation - a book about a everyday hero - made me predisposed to like it. It could also have possibly the worst character ever - the old granny who shows no growth at all. She was just horrid!

I also finished listening to The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra. I dilly-dallied getting started, so left myself just finishing a day before it would expire. A Tournament of Book contender, still in the running, it is a collection of short stories, set in Russia. The stories are very connected. It would be a good 'novel study activity' to draw a web connecting the stories and characters. I listened to it, and it was quite humourous amid the bleak life in post-USSR. The one- lines were hilarious! The readers had very strong Russian accents; at times I thought they were computer voices reading phonetically. But it certainly made me feel the Russian-ness.

Next up: finish The Evening Chorus, another delightful Helen Humphreys, WW2 England novel. I also picked up a couple of library books: The Widow which I have on 7 day loan, and In a Dark, Dark, Wood by Ruth Ware. Both look deliciously suspenseful and will be perfect for my March break which started today! We had Friday off because our break runs into Easter, and next week Friday is Good Friday.

Lots of great reading, Elizabeth. So awesome that you heard Badami speak. The Tsar of Love and Techno sounds enjoyable ... I like the idea of quite humorous amid the bleak life in post-USSR.

I read The House at the Edge of the World from the " Orange Longlist and loved it, Elizabeth! I reviewed it , for what that is worth. I have read The Evening Chorus which I enjoyed, but not as much as I had hoped. Recently read The Widow too and it was a fun, dark, delicious read! Enjoy spring break!

HI Elizabeth,
I just returned the new Anthony Marra book unread to the library. Drats. Just too much on the go but will get it again! I started The River today by Helen Humphreys. I'm on a roll with her and think she amazes. I lived in Kingston way back when.....so can picture the area she is writing about. It's a beautiful little book. Interesting that you heard Badami speak! Are you going to follow the Canada Reads? I have been following Tof B and it's fun to read the judges responses. Some very good writing by the judges I would say.

Wishing you a wonderful day!

>52 lit_chick: Thanks, Nancy. Badami came so close in Canada Reads and just about won. I read Russka years ago and found the Russian history and people so different from anything I'm familiar with. I wasn't sure about reading Tsar, but I did like it.

>53 vancouverdeb: Thanks for a recommended title from the Bailey Deborah. My library doesn't have The House at the Edge of the World yet, but I'll be keeping my eye out. I liked The Widow and found it a great March break read. I read it really fast and then can't remember much after the fact!

>54 mdoris:,55 Another Humphreys? You are doing very well by her, Mary. Having Canada Reads airing during my break was perfect - everyday at 11am I'd listen. Clara Hughes was adorably wonderful. The only Canada Reads I'd read was The Hero's Walk, but my mom bought The Illegal so I will read it. It was really the only other one I was enticed to read. I've also been reading the ToB too. There are still a few books left that I have read as well.
Thanks for the Easter picture.

I've got two books on the go right now:
The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta is my paper book
Finders, Keepers by Stephen King is my audiobook.

Both are well written, with interesting characters and plot. I've always been a King fan, and I've been meaning to read another Perrotta after really liking Little Children. Apparently I read it in 2011. Wow, it doesn't seem like 5 years ago. Where does the time go?

How did you like Swamp Angel? I own it (probably in a box somewhere!) and have been meaning to read it for a long while!

>58 1morechapter: I liked Swamp Angel. It's faily short, and reads very easily. It's old, from the 60s or 70s, but still relevant. I found it uneven in parts, but that was partly me thinking that more would happen and instead it was a quiet book, of making changes. Hey, you might like it for that reason! She was a pretty strong lady.

Hi Elizabeth. I read My Name is Lucy Barton from this years Orange Prize Longlist and really enjoyed it. I put a review on the main page, for what is worth. I'm currently reading The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah , also from this years long list and so far very much enjoying it.

vancouverdeb: I really enjoyed My Name is Lucy Barton as well. I also loved Olive Kitteridge. Read it before it was announced for the Pulitzer and I was happily surprised when it won.

>60 vancouverdeb: I'm getting close to getting My Name is Lucy Barton and am looking forward to it. You rated The Book of Memory so high! My library still doesn't have it, but I'll definitely keep an eye out for it.

> 61 I loved Olive Kitteridge too! I'm not always a fan of the Pulitzer winners but that one I approved of!

I noticed at the List for the Bailey Prize longlist, there are 6 different books listed as a reader's #1. Not everyone has a lot of books listed, mind you, but clearly there is no big favourite. It will be interesting to see which 6 make the shortlist tomorrow. That might focus my reading. Not really, I've got Ruby out from the library and waiting for Lucy and that's what I'm reading next regardless of the shortlist.

I just finished A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson. I liked it, quite a bit. She throws quite a curve at the end, but I think it actually made me like the book a bit more. It takes a bit of an Atonement twist at the end. Not completely; it wasn't a written version, but Atkinson does mention 'fiction' a lot, and it turns out Teddy and his life was fiction. It is pretty hard not to talk about Life After Life along with it. A God in Ruins is described by Atkinson as a companion book, not a sequel. Both have the same set of characters, and both play with structure.

Life After Life follows Ursula through many incarnations of her life. As such, everything could happen. The idea was cool, but how does that book even end? There was no 'real' life for Ursula; all were equally valid.

A God in Ruins instead just follows Ursula's beloved brother, Teddy. One version only. He was the RAF pilot who in most versions in Life was shot down and either died or was a POW. He and Nancy, one of the girls next door, (I pictured those girls as the Mitford sisters, which I'm not even sure who they are) were childhood sweethearts, and both were pretty perfect. This is the version where Teddy came back home alive, as he does in one version in Live.

A God in Ruins plays with chronology. Back and forth in time we sally, full of foreshadowing so nothing is ever really a surprise. Even within a time period, memories take us back and forth. All of Teddy's life, including his horrendous daughter Viola, her two children Sunny and Bertie, still Ursula are included. I actually preferred the later life with the grandchildren but much of the book details Teddy as a pilot, including all the bombing raids over Germany. (I skimmed some of this detail.)

Last fall, I tried to listen to A God in Ruins and it became one of the few books I've stopped listening to and returned to library. For me, Atkinson's writing style (full of asides in parenthesis) just didn't work for me on audio. I take information in much better visually, and with the back and forth, and the asides, I had no clue what was going on in audio. I'm very glad I decided to try the book again. She is a phenomenal writer and I've very much enjoyed all her books, especially her Jackson Brodie mysteries.

Wonderful comments on A God in Ruins, Elizabeth. You may have convinced me. I read Life After Life when it was garnering such rave reviews here on LT; liked, but didn't love it -- not at all. Makes me think I need to reread it, and then follow it up with A God in Ruins.

>64 lit_chick: Eh, I don't think you need to reread Life After Life. Jump right into A God in Ruins. Life was my least favourite Atkinson book. I liked it okay, but mostly the idea. So, first half the novelty kept me going, but it fizzled. Ruins is a more traditional multi generational story, told in mixed up fashion. Atkinson has lots of layers going on, but even just the family/historical stuff makes a good story.

I love your comments on A God in Ruins and the way you explained the spoilery bit.

>66 lauralkeet: Thanks Laura! It was my thought as soon as I (re)read the ending.

I've been sick on an off the last few weeks, cough and cold. So annoying. My books were only slightly readable so I haven't had a great few weeks.

33. A Great Leader by Jim Harrison on audiobook
Harrison died at the end of March so there was a TIOLI challenge to read one of his books. I found a short audio that was a mystery, so I was very pleased. And then the misogeny, or maybe just a dirty old man who has retired and is looking into a cult leader, but is obsessed with women and their asses and boobs, and omg I was so bothered. Are men this obsessed? He was even annoyed at this 'feral bitch' waitress who wasn't even pretty and he got aroused. The nerve of her! Even his 16 year old neighbour caused him great fantasies. Of course, she was bawdy and flirted with him, but called him Dad. So gross. I guess the mystery was okay, but it was all about him and his fantasies. Even if it wasn't, it felt like it.

35. Socks by Beverly Cleary
Did you know Cleary was 100 last week? How amazing! I picked one that I remembered reading when I was a kid. Socks is a cat, and the story is from his point of view as he gets used to living in a new house, until the couple has a baby and Socks is now bottom rung in the house. Very cute.

36. Ruby by Cynthia Bond
Hmm. This is a tough one. I can see why it gets praise, and why it was short listed for the Bailey prize because I kept reading and wanted to see the characters happy. The writing was amazing. But oh, my. The violence and rape against children by a town, but mostly one man, was horrific. Just horrific. Just when you think it can't get worse, it does.

But, Ruby manages to find a place in herself to survive (how do some people manage to survive that brutality?)
There is black magic, or voodoo or some such stuff in backwoods Texas. Ephram was the only good man in the story and Ruby is the only woman to hope for. I don't think I'd ever recommend it to anyone, and yet I can see why Oprah had it for her book club.

There's a part in the book where Ephram says - if it happened to you, I can at least hear about it. And I get that that is what the book is about, but I really don't want that to be happening to kids. There must be a way to protect kids better.

37. Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood (audiobook)
Atwood was profiled this month as a Canadian author at 75books. (Not sure why, nearly everyone has heard of her and probably read a few, at least here on LT) Anyway, this was a connected short story collection available on audio that I hadn't read. I quite enjoyed it!

No scifi, no future weirdness. Just Cat's Eye Atwood. It wasn't all easy, as I had to look up the stories to see why I got confused a few times. Nothing serious - the last story was an autobiographical story not connected to the other connected stories. Of course.
Kind of like Olive Kitteridge, looking at Nell at different points in her life, from a child dressing at Halloween as The Headless Horseman, to a teenager (loved My Last Duchess, which analyzed the Browning poem by high school students). Marriage to Tig, dealing with his ex-wife. Mostly regular life stuff.

Hope you are feeling better, Elizabeth. You've done some great reading! I'm just about to start Ruby, but the consensus seems to be that it is dark, horrifically dark. I'm hoping that, in spite of this, it is a story that needs to be told.

Mrs Roosevelt's Confidante - Susan Elia MacNeal (audiobook)

I've listened to this whole series on audio, which is a first for me. I really like the narrator, although it took me a while to get the tone of the series. Maggie Hope is an American with British background, living in London during WW2. She is smart, and nosy, so obviously ends up working as a spy by times, or else in Churchill's office. It half feels like it should be a cosy mystery, plucky girl in the right spot, but she is trained, eventually. She's rather always in the right spot, and there is a lot of unbelievable stuff and situations that Maggie manages to be perfect in, but I do still enjoy the books. There will be more books, as Maggie's mother - a German awful woman is still around, and powerful, and her German half-sister, and British father are still lurking.

>70 lit_chick: thanks, Nancy! I am finally feeling better.

The Summer Before the War - Helen Simonson

You go into a follow-up book quite differently from a beloved debut novel like Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. The debut catches you off guard, delighting you in its originality and charm. The second book, with these expectations, will always disappoint, even if it is a very good, historical novel with a completely different outlook and theme. The only disappointment I had was that it was not Major Pettigrew. It did have some slower sections, but overall, The Summer Before the War was very good.

Set in Britain, class struggles, women's rights, WW1, vast cast of interesting characters, gypsies, immigrants - all the things I love in a book. A few large coincidences but overall I enjoyed the read. If this had been Simonson's first book, I would have probably loved it more.

My Name is Lucy Barton - Elizabeth Strout (Bailey Prize shortlist)

This one was just okay for me. Usually I love this kind of book, so I'm not sure what connection was missing for me here. Lucy was an interesting character, and I loved her positive outlook on life, given the horrendous childhood she had. She always seemed willing to like everyone, and see the good in them. I felt a little detached from her whole life but it also seemed she was as well. It may be I was just too tired while reading this one to be able to see beneath the lines and grab the emotion that seemed missing.

Elizabeth, I'm thrilled to know that you've listened to all of MacNeal's Maggie Hope series on audiobook. I've got these on my library list: some audio and some print. Looking forward to them. Sorry to hear that My Name is Lucy Barton was underwhelming.

My 16 year old daughter has her Learner's Permit, so we went for a drive after supper. She's getting all set in the driver's seat, with her sunglasses on top of her head. I suggest she wear her sunglasses, as the sun is bright. "Are you allowed to drive with sunglasses?" she asks.

Kids today!

That's awesome :)

Happy Canada Day! Such a great day, mostly because yesterday was the last day of school for teachers so vacation starts today!

I'm reading Cuckoo's Calling, really good, and am just about finished Timothy Findley's You Went Away, which is also very good. Big summer plans include listening to the YA Sync free audios and reading The Fireman by Joe Hill.

I've been MIA because June - finals and graduation and start of summer sports(soccer and softball) - knocks me out every year.

I read Cuckoo's Calling, too, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I want to get to Career of Evil over the summer.

Hellloooo! A blast from the past! I am so proud that this group is still going! I dusted off my LT tonight and am enjoying looking through the groups. I thought I would need to delete this one but see it's going strong (Yay!). So glad you're still reading the Orangeys (they'll always be Orange Prizes to me). xoxo ~Jill C.

Whoa! LOOK WHO'S HERE!!! Glad to see you Jill!
I might have changed my LT name while you were away ...
~Laura

Haha! I was just looking for "lindsacl"! =)

>77 lit_chick: Nancy, I really liked The Cuckoo's Calling. The mystery was good, but Cornoran and Robin really made the story. Such great characters! I can't wait to get to The Silkworm

>78 mrstreme: Jill!! Helloo and welcome. Great to see you on LT. We've kept your little group here somewhat going. I decided to set up camp and have my reading thread here but haven't read a ton of Baileys. (I'm used to the new name now, esp after following their Twitter.)

>80 mrstreme: I'm glad I mentioned it!

>81 raidergirl3: I loved all three Cormoran Strike books. I hope there's a new one soon.

JILL!!!! Wish you'd come back! And it's still Orange to me too.
Count me a great fan of the Cormoran/Robin books. I'm unfortunately up-to-date and waiting.

Hi Elizabeth! Your thread is so quiet. It was wonderful to "see" you this morning over at my place : ).

Hi Nancy, I read books, and read threads here all the time, but I'm not so good at commenting. I start the year all gung-ho, then it falls off. I've even been forgetting to update my books read. Thanks for coming by and not giving up on me.

*pause*
There, I updated my books read since end of July.

I am just about finished Fifteen Dogs, the Giller prize winner from last year. The Wonder by Emma Donoghue is waiting for me at the library, and The Trespasser by Tana French just arrived for review.

I also have Girl Waits With Gun and Oblivion by Indridason that I picked up last weekend at Indigo's 30% off for teachers.

I'm super excited to get my Early Reviewer book I won in September - The Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield! He is so inspiring.

I see back in >33 lit_chick: I posted a picture of the Halifax library from the winter. I was there again this summer and got another picture of the same scene. I'll try to repost it when I get it from my phone.

I enjoyed Fifteen Dogs, hope you did too, Elizabeth. I also just got a notice that The Wonder is waiting for me at the library.

I started a 2017 thread http://www.librarything.com/topic/246667