Louis Bayard Mr Timothy (2003)

I read this as a library book in 2009, infact it was a new author, and I went on to read all his books. This is an atmospheric account of Tiny Tim Cratchit, now the grown up Mr Timothy. I enjoy reading all his book reviews as well. The important point of this posting, is that I just purchased this book from the Friends Bookstore for a mere dollar!! First edition, in nearly mint condition, no one else even looked at the book (and I couldn't believe I had missed it since it was in the store from September onwards!). There are absolutely amazing deals in this store.

Neil Gaiman

This week's New Yorker has a great article on Neil Gaimen. CHECK it out! I recommended reading his biography last year (huge 800 pages that I got on Kindle, with wonderful commentary on most of his books). Latest comments and tweets even. The Rochester Public Library has this, as they have purchased most of his novels, comics, dvds, etc. And while you are at it, yes, revisit the dvds of Star Dust, Coraline. He has another in the making (Staturesque) just recently filmed.

Caleb Carr The Lessons of Terror

Yes, this is the same Caleb Carr that wrote the wonderful The Alienist and the Angel of Darkness. I had no idea that he wrote so much non fiction, nor that he was in fact extremely knowledgable in military and political history. He is a contributing editor of MHQ (quarterly journal of military history)and series editor of the MOdern LIbrary War Series.
This is incredibly insightful, well written, and conservative while providing a critical historical context for terrorism today. He does argue that it will fail, but it appears to me it takes more education (of all of us, and them!) and if history is anything to go by, peace will not happen in my lifetime. Hence depressing. But I found many useful definitions, and connections with other historical accounts that made this a useful book.

Richard K Morgan Altered Carbon

Wow, this a thriller ride through science fiction.... revisting earth in the 25th Century is not a pleasant experience, although you will recognize all the major components - still class, problems with race and religion, lost loves and the meaning of friendship in an all too familiar grim future. Life, if you can afford it, is now endless - your consiousness can be easily downloaded into a new 'sleeve' or body. It does take awhile to recognise the face in the mirror, or know what your body is capable of doing. This was a first novel, after reading the jacket, it appears there are more with this now a series! I will definitely look out for these. OK, I confess I was looking for another scottish author and discovered him. But with reviews like: "for every piece of action there is a stunning piece of reflective description, a compelling sense of place and abundant 24 karat witticisms" "marvelous updating of Marlowe film noir...original and effective..." "addictive"

Alexander McCall Smith - Dream Angus

First, anything AMS writes is worth reading.
Second, this is part of a Myth Series published by Cannongate of Edinburgh Scotland from 2005 onwards, with some of the best authors from around the world. Try to find ALL of them. Brilliant idea to update some of the myths, extremely well executed in design, starting wtih Karen Armstrong, A short history of myth - nonfiction introducing the subject. Then Margaret Atwood, the Penelopiad, Ali Smith Girl meets Boy (Myth of Iphis), Victor Pelevin THe Helmet of Horror, Sally Vickers Where three roads meet (07) and AMS Dream Angus (05) who is an ancient celtic god of dreams - it was so good I had to buy the book to have my own personal copy.

Gregory Maguire - Four Stupid Cupids

The Hamlet Chronicles. I find so much of his writing hysterical. What if? Tattletales Club schemes to make the Valentien's day memorable for their teacher - but there are four 'loose' cupids. Mythology well known to Maguire is fresh to the rest of us. "every distance has two ends, and Iam ready to leave this end and go to the other one, however long it takes. I want to go home." and "Miss Earth is a good teacher because she teaches you that reading is better than watching TV" - what not to love!? I try to read several of his books every year - I am almost 'caught up' on the children's literature. Don't forget his adult books : Wicked, Son of a Witch, Mirror Mirror, etc. I love them all.
We have many of these books in the Friends Bookstore too - although I will never donate my copies as I reread all of these.

Nicholas Drawyson A guide to the birds of East Africa

Not that many people know this author, but for anyone who likes Alexander McCall Smith, this is another charming descriptive Kenyan novel. Older romance with jealousies and kindness (Mr Malik and Rose). I loved his 'comb over'. Some interesting bird details too. (2008)

2009 Reading List

Non Fiction
Peter Ackroyd Thames
Steve Almond Candy Freak
Margaret Atwood Pay back (08)
Noga Arikha Passions and Tempers: A History of the Humours
Jaques Bosser (03) Beautiful libraries in the world.
Jenny Bond/Chris Sheedy Who the Hell is Pansy O’Hara? Fascinating stories behind 50 of the world’s best loved books (08)
John Burrow (07) The History of Histories
Caleb Carr 1980 Casing the Promised Land
Caleb Carr The Lessons of Terror (02)
Roger Deakin (09) Wildwood: a journey through trees (British)
David Denby Snark (09)
Jason Elliot Mirrors of the Unseen (06) Iran
Thomas Friedman Hot, Flat and Crowded
Atul Gawande Better(07)
Jane Goodall Hope for Animals and their world
Susan Hill/Piers Dudgeon Spirit of Britain : An illustrated guide to Literary Britain.
Christina Hardyment Malory the knight who became King Arthur’s Chronicler–(05)
Clive James, Flying Visits, As of this Writing
David Kamp The united states of Arugula(06)
Verlyn Klinkenborg The Last Fine Time (1991)
William Least Heat-Moon Roads to Quoz
Tilar J Mazzeo The Widow Clicquot – Champagne!
Larry Millett (1985) The Curve of the Arch Louis Sullivan’s Owatona bank
Larry Millett The Twin Cities
Larry Millett Architecture of Minneapolis
Toby Musgrave, Mike Calnan Seven Deadly Sins of Gardening
Michael Palin Sahara
Shannon McKenna Schmidt Joni Rendon (08) Novel Destinations
Bud Schulberg Swan Watch (75)
Russell Shorto Descartes Bones
Elaine Showalter (09) Jury of her Peers: writers.
Amy Stewart 2009 Wicked Plants – the sordid lives of plants behaving badly
Bruce Stutz Chasing Spring (06)
Frank Kingdon Ward In the Land of Blue Poppies
Robert Wright The Evolution of God.

Biography
Peter Ackroyd’s Brief Lives Series: Turner, Chaucer, Poe, Newton
Alan Bennett Untold Stories
Andrew Butler. Terry Pratchet: the pocket essential guide
Marlena de Blasi 1000 days in Venice 1000 Days in Tuscany (08) The Lady in the Palazzi (09)
That summer in Sicily (09)
Duchess of Devonshire (01) Counting my chickens
Mike Farrell Just call me Mike
William Fiennes.The snow geese : a story of home Craig Fergusson (09) American by choice
Neil Gaiman Prince of Stories (08) bio by Hank Wagner, Christopher Golden, Stephen Bissette
Doris Kearns Goodwin Wait till next year (Dodgers)
Adam Gopnik Angels and Ages Lincoln, Darwin
Carolyn Heilbrun/Amanda Cross The last gift of Time: life beyond 60 (1997) and Writing a Woman’s life
Susan Hill Family
Henry James : a life in letters
Edna O’Brien James Joyce (1999)Byron in Love (09)
Linda Washington. The Secrets of the Wee Free Men
River of Doubt (Teddy Roosevelt)
Nick Toschle (05) King of the Jews
Thomas Wright – Built of Books: How reading defined the life of Oscar Wilde

Literature
Aravind The White Tiger (08 Booker)
Louis Bayard Mr Timothy (03) Pale Blue Eye (06) The Black Tower
Nicholas Drawyson A guide to the birds of East Africa (08 )
Robert Macfarlane Mountains of the Mind (03)
Sandor Marai 1930s translanted 07 Embers
Steven Pressfield The Afghan Campaign
Mary Doria Russell (05) Thread of Grace (nom for Pulitzer) (08) Dreamers of the Day
M. Satrapi The Complete Persepolis

Fiction
Peter Ackroyd The Fall of Troy, Lambs of London (06) Victor Frankenstein (09)
Gil Adamson The outlander (08)
Margaret Atwood The year of the flood
Muriel Barberry Gourmet Rhapsody
Sebastian Barry A Long Long Way. (05, 08) The Secret Scripture
Vanora Bennett Figures in Silk, Portrait of an Unknown Woman
Michael Cox Glass of Time
Tess Callahan April and Oliver
Ellen Cooney A private Hotel for Gentle Ladies and Lambrusco: a novel
Ruth Downie Persona Non Grata
Kathryn Davis Hell
Charles Finch (07, 08) The beautiful Blue Death, September Society
Jamie Ford Hotel on Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Diana Gabaldon An Echo in Bone
Brian Hall Fall of Frost
Katherine Howe Physick Book of Deliverance Dane
Janice Kulyk Keefer ( 07) Ladies LendingLibrary
Stieg Larsson The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo The girl who played with fire(09)
James Levine (09) The Blue Notebook
David Leavitt (07) The Indian Clerk
Joan London Gilgamesh (01)
Sandor Marai Casanova and Bolzano (trans 04)
Robert Nye – Mrs Shakespeare – the complete works
The Late Mr Shakespeare, The Voyage of the Destiny
Matthew Pearl The Last Dickens
Christi Phillips Rosetti Letter (07) Devlin Diary (08)
Alexander McCall Smith The Lost Art of Gratitude

Mysteries
Suzanne Arruda The leopard's prey : a Jade del Cameron mystery (09) (fourth)
Emily Arsenault The Broken Teaglass
Stephanie Barron (09) The white garden : a novel of Virginia Woolf and A Flaw in the Blood (08)
Simon Beckett Written in Bone (07)
Cara Black, Murder in Rue de Paradis, Murder on the Ille Saint-Louis(07), Murder in Montmartre(06) Thad Carhart The Piano Shop on the Left Bank (01)
Tony Cape. The last defector (1989) The Cambridge Theorem
Amanda Cross James Joyce Murder (1967)
David Ellis Eye of the beholder.
Marjorie Eccles, Shadows and Lies (05),
Charles Finch A Beautiful Blue Death, Sept Society Charles Finch 2009 The Fleet Street Murders
Dick Francis, Even Money (09)
Susan Hill The Vows of Silence (07/9)
John Le Carre Mission Song
Quintin Jardine AfterShock (Skinner, Edinburgh(08)
Karen Maitland Company of Liars (07) The Owl Killers (09)
Hilary Mantel. Wolf Hall (09)
Archer Mayor The Pride of Malice
Larry Millet
Disappearance of Sherlock Holmes
PJ Parrish An Unquiet Grave (06)
Thomas Perry Runner (09)
Kathy Reichs 206 (09)
Peter Robinson All the Colours of Darkness (09)
Jill Paton Walsh, Debts of Dishonor(06) The Bad Quarto(07)
John Sanford Virgil Flowers: Rough Country( 09)
Ian Sansom The Book stops here
CJ Sansom Dissolution (03) Dark Fire (04) Sovereign (08)
Kate Shugak novels mostly set in Alaska! so so
Dana Stabenow A Deeper Sleep (07)
Charles Todd A Duty to the Dead (09)

Short Stories
Alan Bennett (02) Laying on of Hands
Michel Faber (04) The Courage Consort and The Fire Gospel
Adam Gopnik (ed) Best American Essays
Ali Smith – First Person and Other stories (08)
Tim Powers A Soul in a Bottle

Essays
Robert Crawford Scottish Books (08)
Michael Dirda, Readings, Bound to Read, Classics
Sam Pickering (08) Edinburgh Days, or doing what I want to do.
10 Books that Screwed up the World

Myth Series
Karen Armstrong A Short History of Myth (05)
Alexander McCall Smith, Dream Angus (05 )
Margaret Atwood, The Penclopiad (05)
Ali Smith Girl Meets Boy (Myth of Iphis)
Victor Pelevin The Helmet of Horror
Sally Vickers Where three roads meet (07)

Science Fiction
Jayne Castle. Obsidian Prey(09)
Dave Duncan The Alchemist’s Pursuit (09)
The Reluctant Swordsman(1988) Mother of Lies(07), Children of Chaos
Jack Finney Time and Again (1970/1995); From time to time
Daryl Gregory, Pandemonium (08)
Greg Maquire
Charlaine Harris (09) Grave Surprise, Touch of Dead
Richard K Morgan The Steel Remains (09) Altered Carbon
Naomi Novik (05) Fast ships, black sails. Anne and Jeff VanderMeer. (ed.)
Tim Powers 3 Days to Never (06)
Terry Pratchett Unseen Academicals (09)
Terry Pratchett Graphic Discworld (08)
Mary Doria Russell The Sparrow (1996) Children of God (1999)
Norman Spinrad The Druid King
Neal Stephenson Anathanem

Childrens
John Connolly The Gates (09)
Kate DiCamillo The Magician’s elephant (09)
Jeanne DuPrau The City of Ember, People of Sparks The Prophet Yonwood
Neil Gaiman Odd and the Frost Giant, Graveyard Book
Susan Hill The Glass Angels (1990)
Gregory Maguire The Dream Stealer (1993) Four Stupid Cupids, The daughter of the moon Missing Sisters and Matchless
Walter Moers A Wild Ride through the Night (08)
Alexander McCall Smith Dream Angus
The Math Curse (!)
Superintendent’s daughter(99), Requiem for a dove (90). (Gil Mayo series)

British mysteries
Wendell Berry White Food
Christopher Fowler Bryant and May series (Water room, 77 clocks, Full Dark House, 10 Second Staircase (06), White Corridor (07) The Victoria Vanishes)
John Harvey(ed) Men from boys.
John Harvey Gone to Ground, Cold in Hand
Susan Hill (Simon Serrailler The Risk of Darkness)
PD James A Private Patient
Morag Joss Fruitful Bodies, Half Broken Things (04) Silver Dagger, Puccini’s Ghost (07)
Julianne Lee A Question of Guilt (Mary Queen of Scots)( 08)
Peter Robinson Piece of my heart (06) Friend of the Devil (07)
Alexander McCall Smith
The Incredible lightness of Scones (or the world according to Bertie)
LA’s Orchestra saves the world (09)
Anne Perry At Some Disputed Barricade(07)
Jem Poster (09) Rifling Paradise (Courting Shadows 2007)
Ian Rankin (09) The Complaints
Charles Todd (Insp Rutledge) Justice(09)
Will Thomas Some Danger Involved, The Limehouse Text, Hellfire Conspiracy, Black Hand

Laughing out loud novels
Michael Palin the Python years

Nature
Verlyn Klinkenborg Timothy, or notes of an abject reptile (06) The Rural Life (03)
Hugh Warwick (08) The Hedgehog’s Dilemma
Robert Macfarlane (05) Wild Places
Frank Kingdon Ward In the Land of Blue Poppies

Armchair Traveler
John McPhee Uncommon Carriers
Andrew Greig Kingdom of Experience
David Breashears High Exposure (IMAX Everest)

DVDs
MI-5 (vol 1-6)
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
James Bond Quantum of Solace
Little Dorrit Saving Grace
Australia Madagascar II
Amadeus Immortal Beloved
Star Trek Layer Cake
Pale Horse Rebus
Up Julie and Julia
Terminator Sherlock Holmes
Ice Age (3)

Romance
Christina Dodd Danger in Red dress
Stephanie Laurens Untamed Bride (09)and Mastered by love(09)
Lisa Kleypas Seduce me at sunrise
Amanda Quick The perfect poison (Arcane society)
Jayne Ann Krentz Arcane Society Fired Up(09), Sizzle and Burn, Obsidian Prey(09)