Caroline's 2024 Reading (Part 4)

By Vanessa Bell


In Virginia Woolf's bedroom (Monks House), copies of books she owned, the originals are in an archive.

'Hanna en Dante' by Ellen de Groote

Love that Vanessa Bell painting, Caroline. Such rich hues. There's something about it that really speaks to me.

Last years books read: https://www.librarything.com/topic/353378#8221464

Books Read in 2024

Fiction

House on Endless Waters (Emuna Elon (05/01/24) ****
Orbital (Samantha Harvey) (11/01/24) ****
City of Girls (Elizabeth Gilbert) (22/01/24) ****
I who have never known men (Jacqueline Harpman) (27/01/24) ****1/2
Day (Michael Cunningham) (31/01/24) ***1/2
Held (Anne Michaels) (02/02/24) *****
When the Dead Come Calling (Helen Sedgwick) (19/02/24) ***1/2
In a Summer Season (Elizabeth Taylor) (04/03/24) (*) ***
Searching for Van Gogh (Donald Lystra) (30/03/24) ****
Stone Yard Devotional (Charlotte Wood) (04/04/24) ****
Pet (Catherine Chidgey) (07/04/24) ****1/2
The Light Years: Cazalet Chronicles 1 (Elizabeth Jane Howard) (15/04/24) ****1/2
The Convenience Store Woman (Sakaya Murata) (23/04/24) ***1/2
Marking Time V2 The Cazalet Chronicles (Elizabeth Jane Howard) (21/04/24) ****1/2
Confusion Vol 3 of the Cazalet Chronicles (Elizabeth Jane Howard) (28/04/24) ****1/2
Casting Off - Cazalets 4 - (Elizabeth Jane Howard) (04/05/24) ****1/2
All Change Cazalet Chronicles 5 (Elizabeth Jane Howard) (11/05/24) ****
The Last Devil to Die (Richard Osman) (21/05/2024) ****
Table for Two (Amor Towles) (28/05/24) ****1/2
So Long, See You Tomorrow (William Maxwell) (01/06/24) ****
The Garden of Evening Mists (Tan Twan Eng) (15/06/24) (*) (reread) *****
Scaffolding (Lauren Elkin (19/06/24) ****1/2
The Boy With a Bird in His Chest (Emme Lund) (22/06/24) ****
Absolutely and Forever (Rose Tremain) (24/06/24) ***1/2
Baumgartner (Paul Auster) (06/07/24) ****1/2
The Sentence (Louise Erdrich) (11/07/24) *****
I, Julian (Claire Gilbert) (19/07/24) ****1/2
Where Angels Fear to Tread (E.M. Forster) (22/07/24) ***1/2
This Strange Eventful History (Claire Messud) (08/08/24) ***1/2
The Flemish House (Georges Simenon) (09/08/24) ***
Enter Ghost (Isabella Hammad) (14/08/24) ****
Death at the Sign of the Rook (Kate Atkinson) (27/08/24) ***1/2
The Safekeeper (Yael Van Der Wouden) (30/09/24) ****
Intermezzo (Sally Rooney) (18/10/24) ****
The Balkan Trilogy: The Great Fortune (vol 1) (Olivia Manning) (10/11/24) *****
Cold Enough for Snow (Jessica Au) (13/11/24) ****
The Cloisters (Katy Hays) (24/11/24) ***1/2
Tremor (Teju Cole) (16/12/24) ****

Non-Fiction

Enchantment: Reawakening Wonder in an Exhausted Age (Katherine May) (20/01/24) ****1/2
Lifescapes: A Biographer's Search for the Soul (Ann Wroe) (08/02/2024) ****1/2
Novelist as Vocation (Haruki Murakami) (11/02/24) ****
To Sir, With Love (E. R. Braithwaite) (14/02/24) (****)
Pure Wit (Francesca Peacock) (29/02/24 - leap year!) ****
Sara Shamma: Bold Spirits (Dulwich Picture Gallery) (02/03/24) *****
An Interrupted Life (Etty Hillisum) (April 2024) *****
Prospect House (Gilbert McCarragher) (19/04/24) *****
What There Is To Say We Have Said: Correspondence of Eudora Welty and William Maxwell ed Suzanne Marrs (18/05/24) *****
The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise (Olivia Laing (31/05/24) *****
The Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism (George Monbiot/Peter Hutchison) (04/06/24) *****
Rural Hours: The Country Lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann (Harrier Baker) (30/06/24) ****1/2
38.An Uneasy Inheritance: My Family and Other Radicals (Polly Toynbee) (04/07/24) ****1/2
Essays One (Lydia Davis) (27/07/24) *****
Cairn (Kathleen Jamie) (03/08/24) ***1/2
On James Baldwin (Colm Tóibín) (19/08/24) *****
Wandering Through Life (Donna Leon) (21/08/24) ****
The Uptown Local: Joy, Death and Joan Didion (Cory Leadbeater) (24/08/24) ****
On Wanting to Change (Adam Phillips (01/09/24) ****1/2
The Scent of Flowers at Night (Leïla Slimani) (01/09/24) ****
84 Charing Cross Road & The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street (Helene Hanff) (15/09/24) (*) *****
Everything I've Ever Done That Worked (Lesley Garner) (20/09/24) ****1/2
Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love and Liberty (Hillary Rodham Clinton) (23/09/24) ****1/2
The Art of Power (Nancy Pelosi) (30/09/24) ****1/2
Storm Pegs: A Life Made in Shetland (Jen Hadfield) (07/10/24) ****1/2
A Beginner’s Guide to Dying (Simon Boas) (08/10/24) ****
Meditations for Mortals (Oliver Burkeman) (13/10/24) ***1/2
Uprooting (Marchelle Farrell) (25/10/24) ****
Our Malady (Timothy Snyder) (27/10/24) ****
Into the Dark: What Darkness is and Why it Matters (Jacqueline Yallop) (28/10/24) ****
Blythe Spirit: The Remarkable Life of Ronald Blythe (Ian Collins) (04/11/24) ****1/2
The Serviceberry: An Economy of Gifts and Abundance (Robin Wall Kimmerer) (19/12/24) *****

Poetry

Four Quartets (T S Eliot) (14/01/24) twice today *****
May Day (Jackie Kay) (07/07/24) ****
'The Butterfly House' (Kathryn Bevis) no touchstone yet (27/09/24) (28/09/24) ***** (twice)
The Stone Age (Jen Hadfield) (06/10/24) ***1/2
The Butterfly Hotel (Roger Robinson) (11/10/2024) ***1/2
Selected Poems and Prose: Gerald Manley Hopkins (13/10/24) *****
Le Guin: Collected Poems (Ursula K Le Guin) (24/10/24) ****1/2
The Crumb Road (Maitrey Abandhu) (01/11/24) ***1/2
The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (Omar Khayyám) (04/11/24) (*) ****
Geis (Caitríona O'Reilly) (08/11/24) (*) ****

Rereads (already counted above (*))

Four Quartets (T S Eliot)
In the Summer Season (Elizabeth Taylor)
The Garden of Evening Mists (Tan Twan Eng)
84 Charing Cross Road & The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street (Helene Hanff)
'The Butterfly House' (Kathryn Bevis)
The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (Omar Khayyám)
Geis (Caitríona O'Reilly)

DNF
Creation Lake (Rachel Kushner) DNF 04/11/2024: read 200 pages (half)

TOTAL: 84

Fiction: 40
Non-Fiction: 31
Poetry: 12
DNF: 01
Female: 52
Male: 26
Non-binary/trans:
Various:

UK: 37
US: 23
US/Dutch: 01
Canada: 01
UK/American: 03
UK/Palestinian
Israel: 01
Belgium: 01
Japan: 02
Syria: 01
NZ: 01
Malaysia: 01
France: 01
Ireland: 03
Morocco/France: 01
Dutch: 01
Trinidadian/UK: 01
Persia: 01
Australian/Asian: 01

BOOKS ACQUIRED 2024

141

08/14/11/12/16/12/12/14/13/15/09 (1 gift)/10 (1 gift)

(Last year's numbers: (16/14/15/11/09/14/11/10/08/13/21(oops)/21)=142



BOOKS RELEASED
1 book out for everyone in plus:

10 (4 weren't in my catalogue)

Last year 520 books went out plus 1 out for everyone in (160 in, a third of previous years, but too many). I've been abysmal at updating my catalogue though. I'm going to aim at no more than 59 73 in this year.

>3 AlisonY: It's one of my favourites Alison. A corner of her home in Charleston House.

Happy new thread, Caroline. I love the paintings. Who did the one in >4 Caroline_McElwee:? I am a sucker for paintings of books, libraries and women reading, and you hit me with all of those.

>8 BLBera: 'Hanna en Dante' by Ellen de Groote, Beth. It's a fave and I have a hard copy I printed a while back, was too lazy to go get the title/painter yesterday.

Happy new thread!

>10 drneutron: Thanks Jim.

Happy new one, Caroline. Lovely toppers!

>12 jessibud2: Thanks Shelley.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread.
My Didion read, which I'm casting at your feet, was a success. The Year of Magical Thinking strikes me as a book to return to.

>14 figsfromthistle: Thanks Anita.

>15 Helenliz: I’m glad it hit the spot Helen. It must be due a reread for me. It is certainly a book to revisit and reflect on.

Happy New Thread, Caroline. As usual, I love the bookish toppers. I have still not read Sally Rooney. Am I missing something?

>17 msf59: I think you might enjoy her Mark. Her theme is relationships of all kinds. She's very good at them for someone so young - early 30s.

75. Into the Dark: What Darkness is and Why it Matters (Jacqueline Yallop) (28/10/24) ****



A fascinating exploration and history of the dark. Is it a presence or an absence? What has been believed across time. How it has in Western cultures at least been demonised, is the dark side, the bad etc. How, in most peoples lives at some time it has been or remains something to fear.

She also uses Art and literature to explore the subject.

It is also a look at dementia, the darkness her father is subject too, and how darkness unsettles him in his dementia.

Surprised that she didn't include an exploration of the countries who have longer periods of darkness or light, Iceland for example. Nor the aspect of darkness that most people do enjoy, eyes open with head under the covers. In the dark, and safe.

Happy new thread, Caroline! I love seeing the shelves with Virginia Woolf's books on it.

>19 Caroline_McElwee: Congratulations on hitting 75 books!

Congrats on hitting the goal!

>20 alcottacre: Thanks stasia. I wish I had that much bounce!

>21 drneutron: Thanks Jim. I seem to do so around the same time each year.

Happy new thread Caroline!

You hit me with a book bullet for Ursula K. Le Guin's Collected poems in your last thread, and you've already got me with Into the dark: what darkness is in this one. Great marksmanship!

>23 Sakerfalcon: I've been practicing Claire. Both good reads.

>19 Caroline_McElwee: Congrats on reaching 75 books. Looks like # 75 was a good one!

>22 Caroline_McElwee: I have never had that much bounce, so I can relate :)

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

>25 figsfromthistle: Thanks Anita. I think you might enjoy >19 Caroline_McElwee:.

>26 alcottacre: If only it was bottled Stasia.

Happy new thread dear Caroline. x

I've watched Lee tonight. He's gone to London for the weekend, so my Friday usually involves a curry, red wine & cheesy tv. Tonight I've had a curry, red wine and a very good, film. So thanks for watching it & posting, I might not have watched it without that nudge.

>29 Helenliz: Glad it hit the spot Helen. It is a fine film.

76. The Crumb Road (Maitrey Abandhu) (01/11/24) ***1/2

Some thoughtful poems from this Buddhist poet, many about his young life and his burgeoning homosexuality. Unsentimental nostalgia, and a sense of place.





The Small Boy and the Mouse
By Maitrey Abandhu

When he closed his eyes and asked the question,
he saw an egg, a boiled egg, lodged
above his heart. The shell had been broken off,
with a teaspoon he supposed, it was pure curd white
and still warm. Inside – he could see inside –
there was a garden with rows of potatoes,
sweet peas in a tangle, and a few tomatoes, red
and green ones, along with that funny sulphur smell
coming from split sacks. There was an enamel bathtub
in the garden, with chipped edges, a brown puddle
staining around itself, and a few wet leaves.
He could see down the plughole, so the sun must have shone,
and he heard his father digging potatoes,
knocking off the soil, and his mother fetching the washing in
because the sky promised a shower. There was a hole
or rather a pipe under the tub, where the water went,
and down at the bottom was a mouse – its ribs were poking out,
its damp fur clung together. The mouse was holding
a black-and-white photograph of a boy
who might have been three or four years old;
the boy was playing with boxes, or were they saucepans
from the kitchen? – he was leaning forward and slightly blurred.
And what was strange about the picture,
apart from being held by a mouse who sat on his haunches
and gripped it in his forepaws, was that the space
around the boy, the paleness around him, expanded,
got very bright and engulfed the mouse, the bathtub, the garden,
and the egg with its shell cracked off.
After that there was nothing, apart from the dark
inside the boy’s head and a kind of quiet
he’d never had before. He opened his eyes. All the furniture
looked strange, as if someone had rearranged it.

77. The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (Omar Khayyám) (04/11/24) (*) ****



This is a reread, probably my fifth.

Verse 11 is probably the most famous.



Illustrated by Otway McCannell.

78. Blythe Spirit: The Remarkable Life of Ronald Blythe (Ian Collins) (04/11/24) ****1/2



Long a fan of Blythe's work, although still to get to his most famous volume Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village. An eccentric in the best and gentlest way. A solitary with a deep gift for friendship. A listener of people and the world. Son of a gravedigger who pretty much educated himself. He died last year aged 100. He inherited his home Bottongoms which he wrote about in several volumes from the artists John Nash and his wife Christine.

I went to see the film based on Claire Keegan's quiet but powerful novel Small Things Like These. It couldn't have been done better.

>34 Caroline_McElwee: I looked up a trailer for “Small Things Like These” and it looks great. Can’t wait to see it!

Karen O

I picked up a copy of Our Malady from my local library this morning. I didn't know that it was a slight book, less than 180 pages in length for the US paperback edition, so I'll definitely read and review it this week.

ETA: This would seem to be an especially topical book this election, as the Republicans' Project 2025 playbook includes a major goal of dismantling the Affordable Care Act from what I understand.

Creation Lake (Rachel Kushner) DNF - I think I'm in the minority, and I gave it 200 pages, more than normal when not being grabbed, it needed to be read in long bouts, but found it quite repetitive, and wasn't desperate to get back to it.

>35 klobrien2: It is worth your time Karen.

>36 kidzdoc: I will look out for your comments Darryl.

Hi, Caroline. I am not at all surprised by your response to Creation Lake. I could tell immediately that it was that kind of polarizing book. I ended up really liking it. There is a lot of sneaky, deceptive stuff going on under the surface of that one but you have to mine it.

>34 Caroline_McElwee: I can't wait to see this one!

>39 msf59: I definitely wanted to like it more than I did Mark.

Looking forward to the results on 12 November. Re-posting this here:



Booker Shortlist

Read (in order of preference)

Held (Anne Michaels)
https://www.librarything.com/topic/356305#8397439

Orbital (Samantha Harvey)
https://www.librarything.com/topic/356305#8355769

The Safekeep (Yael Van der Wouden)
https://www.librarything.com/topic/362160#8635709

Stone Yard Devotional (Charlotte Wood)
https://www.librarything.com/topic/359011#8494091

DNF:

Creation Lake (Rachel Kushner) (ordered)
https://www.librarything.com/topic/365327#8661881

Not yet read

James (Percival Everett) (May not read this year)

Based on LT reviews I suspect James might win.

About the six shortlisted books:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/sep/16/each-of-the-six-booker-novels-does...

>34 Caroline_McElwee: oh oh oh! Going to keep an eye out for that for sure.

Did you see Small Things Like These at the cinema? Which one?

Going to look for your review of Lee - I already noticed that it's available to watch and added to my watchlist. I am spending a ridiculous amount of money on lots of TV choices at the moment, though at least Mike and the kids are making use of some of it, and I've finally got round to watching some films.

Looks like you and I are reading quite a lot of the same books, and in many cases with fairly similar ratings - though I liked Creation Lake a lot more than you did, and perhaps Stone Yard Devotional a little more - those are the only two I've read on the shortlist (another two longlist books) - I've borrowed some of the others but I'm not going to get round to them in the next 5 days or probably in the next 5 weeks! - and have some other books I'm really looking forward to - including Louise Erdrich's newest novel (I loved The Sentence too when I read it a couple of years ago. Will probably just let Booker ebooks be returned automatically and return the paper ones and rejoin any queues, though of course there is the law that library reservations turn up when I'm thinking that if I get into the queue now I can catch up with some existing current reads/loans and maybe get the other books in 3 months time.

>43 elkiedee: Lovely to see you about Luci. I saw Small Things Like These at our new independent cinema Forest Cinema (Waltham Forest, where the old Empire was), but it must be on general release.

I'm going to see 'Blitz' tomorrow, and maybe 'The Piano Lesson' on Monday (the latter I hadn't heard of til it appeared on the schedule).

I didn't realize that Small Things Like These was being made into a film! It's good to hear that it is well done. I love that book.

I'm looking up Forest Cinema - see it's in E17 (Walthamstow) so that's an easy bus journey from Tottenham for me, it's only slightly further than Wood Green.

And ooh, Paddington in Peru! And several other interesting looking films.

>45 BLBera: There wasn't much publicity at all about it Beth.

>46 elkiedee: Glad its within reach Luci. I have gone most weeks since it opened last month and seen something. And All day Monday (my non-working day) is £5 per movie.

I'll wait a couple of weeks for Paddington to let the kids see it!

79. Geis (Caitríona O'Reilly) (08/11/24) ****



Wonderful use of language in this volume by Irish poet Caitríona O'Reilly.

Autotomy


For years I have sought to know
what the quiver tree

wordlessly comprehends.
On the Namib plain

the thickened air emits a shriek
fine as bats’ ultrasound

that is the frequency of heat,
of the burning life

with which it has come to terms.
I should like one day to see it

tight-skinned, thickly powdered
as de Pompadour.

Cumbersome, oedemic,
it bears its heavy inflorescence

like a witness to some
continual atrocity;

or else, in the way of tongue-cut women
(Lavinia, Philomel)

it amputates what is most precious,
then quickly seals the wound

so that the scar no longer shows;
the stumps smooth as sea-washed bone.

Went to see Sir Steve McQueen's fine Film 'Blitz'. Inspired by seeing an historical photograph of a mixed race boy being evacuated from London in the 1940s. It follow's his story and that of his mother in London, who works in a munitions factory. As this was work a family friend did during the war, whose fingers remained yellow from the chemicals, it was interesting to see this dangerous work that fell to ordinary women at that time.

Oh, I will be on the lookout for Small Things Like These in film. I loved the book.

>50 EBT1002: Short novels like these are rarely small, and are often made into powerful and sympathetic films Ellen. I still have her short story collection Antarctica to read.

80. The Balkan Trilogy: The Great Fortune (vol 1) (Olivia Manning) (10/11/24) *****



Starting a third read of this wonderful trilogy set in Rumania at the beginning of the second world war. English newlyweds Guy and Harriet Pringle are settling into their new life together. Guy returning to his teaching job for his second year. Harriet adjusting not only to a strange environment, but surrounded by people her husband knows and she does not, and in many respects realising she may know her new husband even less. As the war shifts around them they are watchful of the future.

Peopled with deliciously eccentric characters you feel you know.

The BBC dramatisation from the 1980s was entitled 'The Fortunes of War' and was a fine rendition of the books.

Caro, as you know I recently read this on your recommendation, and loved it. We watched the Fortunes of War dramatisation back in the 80s and recently found it on YouTube. It's excellent, but we've had to pause while Chris catches up -- he's currently reading the third book.

A lovely smorgasbord of culture here Caroline, as always.

I also didn't know Small Things had been filmed, will look out for this.

I have my fingers crossed for a win for James today. On the other hand, I have had Rachel Kushner on the kindle for a while, but have struggled to get into it.

>54 charl08: I decided that as it was a rarity : 5/6 women nominees I would only read them before the winner announced. I like Everett's work and will certainly read his book though.

Delighted to see Orbital won the Booker Prize.

Same here, Caroline!

>56 Caroline_McElwee:, >57 kidzdoc: I haven't read it yet but requested it from the library last night, thanks to both of your reviews on the book page.

>56 Caroline_McElwee: I am with you too, Caroline. I know this one won't work for everyone but I loved it's experimental style.

Someday, I will get to The Balkan Trilogy. Happy Wednesday!

>55 Caroline_McElwee: Sounds good. I cannot lay my hands on my copy, am fuming. What have I done with it (?!!)

>52 Caroline_McElwee: Five stars. Wow. I have the NYRB edition of this trilogy and now I will move it up on the list. Laura has also been talking about it. Maybe I'll make it my focus for the first part of 2025.

>61 EBT1002: I hope you will enjoy it Ellen.

>61 EBT1002: Caro inspired me to read it, Ellen. When I was reading The Cazalets earlier this year, she recommended the trilogy (and its sequel trilogy). And I'm glad she did!

>52 Caroline_McElwee: I am starting The Great Fortune in the next few days. I certainly hope that I enjoy the trilogy as much as you and Laura did.

Have a great day!

81. Cold Enough for Snow (Jessica Au) (13/11/24) ****



A short novel from Australian/Asian writer Au. Set in Japan, where a daughter has arranged a trip with her mother. Dense, layered stories from the present and the past, interwoven.

This was a recommendation in an interview with Anne Michaels, the answer to 'what was the last book you gifted?'

>65 Caroline_McElwee: I think you liked that one more than I did, Caroline!

>66 charl08: I wavered between 3.5 and 4 Charlotte, there were definitely moments when it was the latter for me.

I finally got to the Vincent Van Gogh exhibition Poets and Lovers at the National Gallery. A wow exhibition for sure, which included a couple of paintings from Private Collections that have not been seen in public for many years, if ever, and some others that have never been in the UK, now loaned by other galleries across the world, including the US, Greece and the Netherlands. Vincent in the canvas. This is my cocaine!


The Poet's Garden, Arles. Private Collection


The Path in the Park, Arles


The Green Vinyard

I went with my bro Ryan, and he bought me the catalogue as an early Christmas present. I had planned to let him take it home to go under the tree, but changed my mind. As a member I can go back as often as I like, and I want to read the catalogue before my next visit, maybe mid December (it's on until mid-January). I want some more time with these gorgeous paintings. It was pretty full, but we were lucky in there was a lull in the queue when we arrived and we whistled straight in. It was round the block when we came out.

The centre of London at the moment is just rammed with tourists, and I'm put off travelling to other major cities and making them unpleasant for their residents as I find it myself here. Also at finding favourite cities abroad too crammed for pleasure now.

Had lunch with Ryan, and endured a 3.5 hour commute home due both to protests leading to rerouted buses, as I can't use the speedier tube for the next six weeks due the renovations meaning the lift is out of service at my exit point and I can't do two flights of stairs anymore.

Those are stunning, Caroline! I wonder if this exhibit will come here to Toronto.

I was also at the Art Gallery this week but haven't yet organized and downloaded my pics. Hopefully before the end of the weekend.

And I hear you about transit disruptions. My city is full of them. Constantly. Grrrrr

Happy Sunday, Caroline. I know you keep up with the current films. I just saw Anora and it was fantastic. This director has quickly become one of my favorites. I also recently saw The Outrun, a perfect showcase for
Saoirse Ronan.

>68 Caroline_McElwee: Wow! These are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

>68 Caroline_McElwee: oh wow! What a great experience!

The Van Gogh sounds like a wonderful exhibition, Caroline. Will it travel?

The catalogue looks lovely Caroline. Very tempting! I know what you mean about getting the timing right. I still recall a Klint exhibit at the Tate which was so busy it put me off "showstopper" exhibits for quite a while.

Hope your transport works are resolved soon, that sounds like quite a delay.

>69 jessibud2: >72 BLBera: No, Shelley/Beth, it doesn't look like it will travel, the catalogue only mention's London. It is for the celebration of the gallery's 200 years, and its purchase/foresight back then of acquiring two of his works.

>70 msf59: Anora is on at my local cinema Mark, but I plan to see Gladiator II this week if I'm well enough tomorrow (got a bit of a lurgy), but will put on my list to see/stream.

>70 msf59: >71 figsfromthistle: >72 BLBera: >73 charl08: It is such a great exhibition. I've seen so much of his work in the canvas over the years, including several visits to the VVG museum in Amsterdam, and these just expanded my knowledge of his work. Such a body of work over 10 years!

The catalogue is beautiful Charlotte. I have a lot of catalogues and books of his work, and wasn't sure I needed to add another but I did.

It was certainly a WOW exhibition for me Anita.

Maybe we should announce a week (or a month) when no tourists are allowed in London and New York City, so that the citizens can enjoy their towns. (Disney does something like that, offering Floridians sharply discounted admissions to Disney World in February.)

>75 ffortsa: I like that idea Judy.

There are about two weeks after the festival in Edinburgh like that (before the undergraduate students start arriving). I always rather liked it.

>68 Caroline_McElwee: Looks like a gorgeous exhibit. Very envious.

>77 charl08: Still not been to Edinburgh Charlotte. I had an apartment booked then the pandemic hit. Need to put it back on my list.

>78 Oberon: It really was Erik.

Yesterday I had my application for voluntary redundancy accepted, which will allow me to finish work on 30 May 2025, 14 months before my official retirement age. Happy dance. Lots of lovely planning to commence in the next six months.

I have been working full-time for 47 years, and evenings and weekends before that, so I deserve those extra months off.

There will certainly be plenty more of this going on:


Young Woman Reading a Book is a painting by Ulizsse Caputo
(Of course, I'm not so young these days ha!)

Sadly a massive downsize of books too, I did very little pecking at that this year. Though bought 2/3rds less than in the years 2022 and before which is better than nothing I suppose.

Oh wow. How lovely. Hope there are lots of gallery visits in your newly-free future too!

>80 Caroline_McElwee: How exciting!
>68 Caroline_McElwee: I have that on my list. Ought to buck ideas and get on with it.

Congrats, Caroline! In addition to having something to truly look forward to, removing the *on the clock* aspect from your life will be a fun adjustment to have to make, lol! I can tell you from experience, you may find your days even fuller than when you had actual commitments to keep! A lovely problem to have.

>81 charl08: Thanks Charlotte. I felt a lot more head space when I woke up in the night. Definitely more gallery visiting. And get out of London more to do that too.

>82 Helenliz: Absolutely exciting. Thank you.

You need to be quick for the VVG Helen, unless you are, or become a Member, I think the last tranche of tickets went on sale Monday. There are still some for Dec/Jan I think.

>83 jessibud2: Yes, everyone tells me that time fills quickly when you have more of it Shelley. Thanks for the congrats.

>84 Caroline_McElwee: thank for the prompt, booked for 12th December and going to the British library's medieval women earlier in the day.
Excellent culture vulturing day.

>80 Caroline_McElwee: Oh an early retirement! Great!! It's a real change, but I do recall the first 6 months after my retirement I felt a sense of freedom that can't be beat.

(Then, of course, as Jessibud2 predicts, all sorts of things got scheduled!)

>85 Helenliz: Glad you got a ticket for VVG Helen. I want to see the medieval women exhib too, but nowadays two exhibs in one day is beyond my stamina. As a member of the National Gallery I can go back as often as I like so do plan a couple more visits, just focusing on the rooms with the paintings I am less familiar with.

>86 ffortsa: Haha, yup I'm ready for that. I'm what I think of as a flexible planner, so I'll have different levels of goals, some with timelines and others without. I'm looking forward to the pre-planning work Judy.

>87 Caroline_McElwee: Being a good hour on a train out of London means that I want to make the most of a trip in. Friday will be a veging day to compensate!

Congratulations on early retirement, Caroline!

>89 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl.

Last night I went to see 'Gigenis: The Generation of the Earth' at Sadlers Wells.



Choreographer/dancer Akram Khan's return to the stage after an 8 year break. It was mesmeric and received a 10 minute standing ovation. Only about 75 minutes long, with extraordinary voice and music accompaniment. I have seen many of his productions over the years.

Short trailer here:

https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/akram-khan-gigenis/

>80 Caroline_McElwee: Congratulations, Caroline. Retirement is wonderful. Thanks to you, I did see the Small Things Like These film. I thought Cillian Murphy's acting was great, but I still liked the book better. :)

>92 BLBera: Murphy gave a very nuanced performance I agree Beth. My sister has my copy of the book at the moment, I’ll reread it when I get it back. There are a handful of films that do the books justice, I felt this did, but agree there was something about the book.

ETA: And thanks for the congrats Beth.

>80 Caroline_McElwee: Congratulations on the upcoming retirement Caroline.

>94 SandDune: Thank you Rhian. It is still sinking in, but I’m delighted.

>91 Caroline_McElwee: Very very very jealous!! I would have loved to have seen that.

I remember some of us saw a performance (Alvin Ailey?) at Sadlers Wells during my last visit to London if I recall correctly. I remember a photo I think I took in a very good nearby vegetarian restaurant on St John St, and Joe, Debbi, Claire were in the photo. I can't remember the name of the restaurant of if you were there, as it seems I may have gone there twice during that visit with someone else.

>96 kidzdoc: I wasn't there that time, but the restaurant was The Gate, which closed sadly this year Darryl. I had dinner with Joe and Debbi there one year, i think you were due to join us but were unwell.

>97 Caroline_McElwee: Yes, that was it. I'm sorry to hear that it closed.

Is the Niche still open? Bianca told me that it was the first entirely gluten free restaurant in London, and we had a nice long late lunch there one day.

ETA: It may have been that Bianca and I went to The Gate by ourselves, and that only Debbi, Joe & I saw Alvin Ailey at Sadlers Wells. I miss those good times.

>98 kidzdoc: Yes, the Niche is still going Darryl. Really must try it. I saw the writer Peter Ackroyd dining there when I passed it years ago, he used to live in the area.

Happy Friday, Caroline. Congrats on getting your retirement date. The months will go by quickly. They sure did for me.

>100 msf59: Thanks Mark. I’m so ready for it, and do have a month+ off between then and now, so that will help.

>98 kidzdoc: I have seen Alvin Ailey with you, Darryl, and I think it was on that occasion when we dined at The Gate with Joe and Debbi. Good times!

>80 Caroline_McElwee: Congratulations on your retirement, Caroline! I look forward to hearing about your adventures!

Thanks Claire. I realised I have at least a month of leave between now and end of May, so it won't feel too bad.

Checking in after too long an absence, Caroline. I am finishing up the first book of the Balkan Trilogy today. Thanks to you and Laura for the recommendation! The trilogy has been sitting on my shelf unread for far too long.

Have a fantastic Friday!

>102 Sakerfalcon: Yes, now that you mention it I definitely remember the four of us going to The Gate before seeing Alvin Ailey, and having a nice chat in the lobby during intermission. Good times, indeed!

Congratulations on your pending retirement! Wow, how good must that feel!!!

Enjoy filling it with all those artistic pursuits that always end up sidelined when you're working.

>104 alcottacre: Glad you are enjoying it Stasia.
>106 AlisonY: Thanks Alison. There will definitely be more cultural activities.

Went to see:



Epic, brutal, bloody but ultimately hopeful. Fine performances from all.

Paul Mescal interviews Ridley Scott

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/nov/15/paul-mescal-ridley-scott-gladiator-...

82. The Cloisters (Katy Hays) (24/11/24) ***1/2



A solid debut novel from Katy Hays. Ann Stilwell turns her back on her suburban life after graduating, and the loss of her father, and her grieving mother. In New York, where an expected summer job at the Met falls through, she finds herself working with a group of historians at The Cloisters, where some are exploring the concepts of fate and divination in Renaissance Italy, and the use of the tarot.

Complicated relations and events ensue.

It has flaws, but it was an enjoyable read.

>82 Helenliz: Hmmm.....the setting is intriguing, not sure about the subject matter.

>102 Sakerfalcon:, >105 kidzdoc:. We remember that fun night with you all at the Gate and Alvin Ailey! We miss seeing you. Claire, Debbi had open heart surgery a month ago and is doing beautifully.

Our Pittsburgh gang just showed up, so I’ll just say a quick hello, Caroline. The new Murakami is aces.

>111 jnwelch: The new Murakami is heading my way at the weekend Joe. Glad it worked for you. Have fun with the family.

>111 jnwelch: Joe, I hope Debbi continues to recover well

>111 jnwelch: Please send my love and healing wishes to Debbi. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the family.

>112 Caroline_McElwee:. I’m still reading and liking the new Murakami, Caroline. As usual, I have no idea where he’s heading with all the strange goings-on.😀

>113 elkiedee:, >114 Sakerfalcon:. Thanks, Elkie and Claire. Debbi continues to do well; we see her cardiologist in a week for a directional appointment. We suspect she’ll be transitioned to cardiac rehab to build back her strength and stamina.

We had a great Thanksgiving, with son and DIL and grandkids joining our daughter and us in Chicago and our DIL insisting on making the T-giving feast, which was delicious. They were with us for a week and we already miss them.

>115 jnwelch: Glad you had a lively family thanksgiving Joe. How successful wer you at reining Debbi in.

My sister forgot the Murakami, but will bring it at Christmas.

Having a bit of a reading blip. Dipping into this and that but not settling anywhere. It will pass.

Met a friend in town for a pre-xmas lunch. En route a quick visit to a real bookshop, if not an independent one, but I love this small branch of Waterstones. Here's my wee haul:

>117 Caroline_McElwee: Hope it returns soon Caroline.

>119 charl08: Thanks Charlotte, getting back on track.

83. Tremor (Teju Cole) (16/12/24) ****



The main narrator, Tunde, is a photographer and professor. We follow his thinking and travels as he looks at how colonialism has shaped the way in which art created outside the Western art history eye is perceived, shaped, valued or not. I found this aspect of the novel especially thought provoking. I have been thinking about how museums and galleries need to change, but how they shape the way viewers interpret non-white art is something I want to explore more. As well as the concept of ownership.

Between the narrators story at beginning and end, and inspired by Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities are a myriad of voices from Africa telling of their lives. These men and women are intended to be seen as the subjects of the art that goes 'unseen' or uncontextualised in the western galleries where the work is often hung.

There is also a strong theme about music, as well as Malian music, western classics, especially Bach. For a short novel, it covers a lot of ground and offers much to think about.

Don't worry about not always knowing who is speaking or being spoken too in the middle part of the novel. Just float in their lives.

>121 Caroline_McElwee: Nice review, Caroline. That's on my list of books to read next year, as it won this year's Anisfield-Wolf Award for Fiction.

>122 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl, I think you will like it. It is the second of Coles novels I've read, the other was Open City, and I have his photography book Blind Spot

>123 Caroline_McElwee: I also enjoyed Open City, Caroline. I have two of his collections of essays, Known and Strange Things and Writing in a Dark Time, which I intend to read next year.

>121 Caroline_McElwee: Wasn't it amazing? I was tempted to start at the beginning again just for the pleasure of his company.

My cover has a strip from the Turner painting on it.
I prefer yours.

>118 Caroline_McElwee: Nice wee haul! Maybe it will help get your reading mojo back.

>120 Caroline_McElwee: Yay!

>121 Caroline_McElwee: If nothing else, that one sounds like an interesting read. Adding it to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Caroline!

>124 kidzdoc: Oh no, I love essays...

ETA: Ha, I see from LT I already have both volumes, though may take a while to put my hand onthem.

>125 charl08: I know Tremor will get a reread Charlotte. I want to listen to some of the music (noted the pages of mentions). I love Bach, and Salif Keita. Most of the other Malian musician's are new to me.

>126 alcottacre: Always glad to add to your black hole Stasia.

>121 Caroline_McElwee: Great comments on Tremor; it sounds like one I would like.

>118 Caroline_McElwee: Nice book haul. I loved The Western Wind; Harvey is so good with setting.

>129 BLBera: I think you would like Tremor Beth.

I loved Harvey's Dear Thief too.

84. The Serviceberry: An Economy of Gifts and Abundance (Robin Wall Kimmerer) (19/12/24) *****



Everyone should read this fine, uplifting little book, not least those who shape how we function in the world. It is not an overnight solution to our woes, and certainly will be harder to achieve in big urban environments, but small seeds.

It is another volume that also highlights how we are fed misinformation about the capacity to shift from neoliberal capitalist behaviours, and the use of scarcity in that system to inflate costs to achieve profits for big business.

She also mentions a book I started and got distracted from a couple of years back, despite agreeing with what I was reading, Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics, top of my list for 2025.

>131 Caroline_McElwee: I have been waiting for this one, Caroline. I loved Braiding Sweetgrass.

>131 Caroline_McElwee: - I also loved Braiding Sweetgrass. I just requested this one from the library but I see there are only 56 copies in our system and 415 requests ahead of me. So, I also requested the audiobook, only 2 discs so perfect to listen to while I work on a puzzle. And with 19 copies in the system and no requests ahead of me, I should have it by next week! (I will cancel the book request).

>132 BLBera: >133 jessibud2: You will both love it. I've had Braiding Sweetgrass for a while, nudging it up over the holiday.

>130 Caroline_McElwee: Here's Harvey's books in her life piece:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/dec/20/samantha-harvey-i-wrote-love-lette...

Happy Friday, Caroline. For some reason, The Serviceberry didn't quite work for me. I much preferred Braiding Sweetgrass but I am glad that you and Shelley loved it. Maybe I'll give it another try someday.

>135 msf59: It's interesting what connects with us Mark. While having practical use I loved her hymn to the natural world, but I wasn't comparing it to her earlier volume. Though I have read some oftge essays in her moss volume.

Solstice cheer, Caro!

>137 richardderus: Ooo, those are beautiful RD.

>138 Caroline_McElwee: I fell in love with that display idea, too, since I have no room for a tree but could manage a flat surface for some little candleholders to stand the toppers up in.

>139 richardderus: I have no room for a tree either RD. I have not decorated at all this year, I will be at my brothers for sibs get-together this year, and time just got away from me, but normally I decorate the table by my reading chair with baubles and lights. Here is the year before lasts display:

>140 Caroline_McElwee: That looks lovely Caroline.

Hope you have a good Christmas break with family.

>140 Caroline_McElwee: What a festive display! Enjoy the get-together.

>140 Caroline_McElwee: Very nice.

>118 Caroline_McElwee: That is a lovely little haul, Caroline. I really am missing the UK just at the moment.

>121 Caroline_McElwee: That is also on my list of books to read for 2025.

Nadolig Llawen, Happy Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Thinking of you at this time, Caroline.

>145 SandDune: >146 PaulCranswick: >147 Whisper1: Thank you for your Christmas greetings Rhian, Paul and Linda, time got away from me this year and I failed to zip around the threads.

Some books I'm looking forward to in 2025

Non-Fiction

Open Socrates (Agnes Callard) - January
Resistance (Steve McQueen) - February
Changing My Mind (Julian Barnes) - March
Is the River Alive (Robert McFarlane) - May
No Straight Road Takes You There (Rebecca Solnit) - May
Electric Sparks (biog of Muriel Spark) (Frances Wilson) - June
Memoir (Jacinda Arden) - June
Dead and Alive (Zadie Smith) (Essays) - October

Fiction

Another Man in the Street (Caryl Phillips) - January
Theory and Practice (Michelle de Kretzer) - February
Dream Count (Chimamanda Ngosi Adichie) - March
Ripeness (Sarah Moss) - May
I'll be Right Here (Amy Bloom) - June
The Housekeeper (Rose Tremain) - September
The Two Roberts (Damian Barr) - September

From The Guardian's list:
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/dec/28/from-chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-to...

I'll be very interested to get your take on Another Man in the Street, Caroline. I've read many of Caryl Phillips's earlier books, both fiction and non-fiction, but his later efforts left me cold and I haven't read anything by him in years.

ETA: I set up my first thread in Club Read 2025 earlier today, and my main focus will be on books in my personal library that I've wanted to read for years but haven't gotten to yet.

>150 kidzdoc: I've set my cushion down in your 2025 reading lounge Darryl.

>151 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks, Caroline! I'm now reading The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, which I don't expect to finish this year, and my first "new" book of 2025 will be The Omni-Americans by the great African American essayist and novelist Albert Murray, which is the first book in the Library of America collection Albert Murray: Collected Essays and Memoirs, one of the aforementioned books that I've owned and wanted to read for several years.

Needless to say I'll follow you in 2025 as well.