2012 Year End Review continued

The missus and I are back from our surprise Christmas trip to Calgary to visit my daughter and her boyfriend and his family. Had a very nice time. Even saw Skyfall while we were there and loved it. But back home now, after some flight delays due to the bad weather back East. I'm currently ensconced on my comfy sofa, watching Everton vs Chelsea as I work on this BLog.


12 + 2 Challenge

 So where was I before we went away.... Ah the year 2012, a great year for reading. :0) My biggest challenge was my Reading Group challenge in the Book Addicts Book Club. This challenge is the 12 + 2, being you choose 12 books to read over the course of the year, plus two alternates. I enjoyed this challenge and over the year managed to read all of my choices. The books were -
1. Susanna Clarkes - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (a horror/ magic story) finished 24 Jun and given 3 stars
2. Sergei Lukyanenko - The Nightwatch (vampires in Moscow) finished 5 May, 4 stars)
3. Scott Westerfield - Leviathan (alternate history/ steampunk adventure) finished 7 Feb, 4 stars
4. Bill Bryson - At Home (non-fiction/ history) finished 28 May, 4 stars
5. Deborah Cadbury - Chocolate Wars (non-fiction/ history of chocolate) finished 18 Feb, 5 stars.
6. Barbara Tuchman - The Zimmerman Telegram (history/ WWI) finished 9 Jan, 3 stars.
7. Jack Whyte - Knights of the Black and White (historical fiction/ Crusades) finished 26 Jan, 3 stars.
8. Iain Banks - The Wasp Factory (fiction/ mystery) finished 5 Jan, 3 stars.
9. Anthony Burgess -  A Clockwork Orange (dystopian universe/ fiction) finished 11 Mar, 3 stars.
10. Robertson Davies - The Rebel Angels (fiction/ mystery) finished 17 Mar, 5 stars.
11. Ken Follett - The Pillars of the Earth (Historical Fiction) finished 20 Apr, 4 stars.
12. Barbara Kingsolver - The Poisonwood Bible (Fiction) finished 8 Jul, 5 stars.
Alt 1. Vikas Swarup - Five Suspects (Mystery/ India) finished 13 Sept, 3 stars.
Alt 2. Trevor Elleston - Flight of the Phoenix (fiction/ adventure) finished 23 Jul, 4 stars.

There were other challenges over the course of the year that are sort of ongoing challenges that I work on only haphazardly. They include the

Around the World in 80 books challenge, where we try to read 80 books set in 80 different countries.  I have been working on this challenge since Aug 2011. I have currently visited 25 countries. This past year, I've visited some of the following - Pakistan, while reading The Damascened Blade, a Joe Sandilands mystery by Barbara Cleverly, Turkey with Greenmantle by John Buchan, Germany with The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John Le Carre, Laos with The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill, the Congo with The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and others. I managed to visit 9 countries this past year; not a bad year of travelling.

Two of my other challenges involve travel. They are the UK Counties Challenge where you visit each of the English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish counties, a somewhat daunting challenge of 97 various locations. Since starting in January of this year, I've managed to visit 14 counties, all located in England; with books such as Minette Walters' The Tinder Box, located in Hampshire, Ngaio Marsh's Tied Up in Tinsel, set in Devon, MC Beaton's The Potted Gardener set in Gloucestershire. It's an interesting challenge, but definitely a long term one. The other travel challenge is similar to this, but set in the US and involves visiting the 50 states and Washington, DC. I started this challenge in January as well and so far have managed to visit 15 states, not a bad start overall. Some states visited include Arkansas with Shakespeare's Christmas by Charlaine Harris, Colorado with The Sign of the Book by John Dunning and New Jersey with Seven Up by Janet Evanovich. My final challenge is the Authors A-Z challenge which I started in March of 2011. I hate to say it but this challenge has somewhat gone stale for me. It involves reading a book by an author so you use up every letter of the alphabet with the authors' last name. I only managed to fill in the V's this past year with Kurt Vonnegut's Dead-Eye Dick. My remaining letters are I, Q, U, X, Y and Z. I may be able to get a couple this year; I do have an I author on my shelves.. But it will take a concerted effort of searching out books for the remaining letters. As Barney from How I Met Your Mother would say, 'Challenge Accepted!'

Top Ten Favourite Reads of 2012

Number 1 of 2012

Finishing off my review of books for 2012, below you'll find my Top Ten favourites for 2012. There were so many enjoyable reads this past year, but these ten were my definite favourites.

10. The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker (4 stars). This is the second in the Bruno Chief of Police books. It was a worthy follow-on to the intro to Bruno and his small community of Saint-Denis in France. Bruno is involved solving an arson and murder case and must also deal with an American businessman trying to establish in international wine business in the valley. Not only an excellent mystery, the story by Martin Walker provides a well-crafted, interesting description of the small community and the people who live there. I enjoyed very much, like Bruno and his dog, Gigi and also his friends. A nice mix of mystery, character development and just an excellent story.
9. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (4 stars). Book one of a great adventure, fantasy series. I was hooked from the first moment and have since read Books 2 and 3. The missus and I also have seen the first two seasons of the TV mini-series and love that two.
8. Summer of '42 by Herman Raucher (4 stars). I have enjoyed watching the movie a few times. It's an excellent coming of age movie. Having now read the book for the first time, I'm happy to note how faithful to the book that the movie was. I very much enjoyed this story. It's so very well-written. There are many laugh out loud moments, but at the same time, also poignant moments. It left me feeling somewhat sad, maybe for lost youth, lost love. Excellent story.
7. Leviathan by Scott Westerfield (4 stars). This was a fascinating story, that I bought by pure luck. I saw it on the shelf of my local used book store, the cover looked interesting and so did the plot summary. It's set at the beginning of WWI. One of the main protagonists is young Alek, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, whose parents have just been murdered in Serbia by German/ Austrian factions trying to instigate WWI. The other is a young British girl, Deryn Sharp, who disguises herself as a boy to join the British air force, so she can become a midshipman. By chance she finds herself on one of many Darwinist creations, the leviathan, a creature manipulated by pulling various animal gene lines, and creating a zeppelin type machine. If I forgot to mention it, this story is an alternate history, or as mentioned by the author, steampunk. The whole concept is fascinating, the development of the story well-crafted. I liked both of the main characters, Deryn and Alek, as well as the supporting cast; Alek's faithful friends who help him escape German assassins and also the British boffin, Nora Barlow and her Tasmanian tiger, Tazz. Even the illustrations in the book, at least in this particular edition, were excellent. All around an excellent story. Of course, there are two further books, to carry on the adventure. I will be getting them. Highly recommended! (I have since read Book 2, Behemoth and have Book 3 on my bookshelf for this year.)
6. The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies (5 stars). Entertaining, well-crafted, intelligent. The story is developed carefully and lovingly. Story is told from two characters' perspective, two narrators. Both are interesting and I enjoyed both of them. Darcourt, the priest/ professor was most interesting and Maria, the gypsy/ student wonderful and easy to see why all the male characters fell in love with her. It's been ages since I read anything by Robertson Davies and I'm glad I read this story. I look forward to reading the other stories in the trilogy.
5. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John Le Carre (5 stars). A classic spy novel, classic Le Carre story. His third novel, after  Call For The Dead and a A Murder of Quality, it features tired spy, Alec Leamas, the British Secret Services Berlin organiser, who is called home for a special mission. I won't get into too many details as there are so many interesting surprises throughout the story, that I wouldn't want to ruin the story. There is a brief role for Le Carre's most famous spy, George Smiley, but the story revolves mostly around Leamas. The spy craft is interesting, the plot twisting, the story fascinating and one you will have difficulty putting down. An excellent story for those who enjoy spy dramas and also a nicely historical feel for the cold war between the West and East.
4. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (5 stars). What a wonderful book! Devastatingly sad at times, but also the story of survival, love, family. Set around 4 sisters Rachel, Leah, Adah and Ruth May Price who go with their mother Orleanna and father, Nathan Price as missionaries to the Congo in the 60s. A wilful, strong tempered father who doesn't really care for his family, more for his desire to convert the Congolese to Christianity. The mother and her daughters who must cope and try to survive in this new country. A fascinating, well written story about their lives, told from the perspective of the four girls, with introductions to each section by their mother, looking back. At times, I've found it heart - achingly sad. But I loved the story. Beautifully crafted and one that is so hard to put down.
3. HMS Ulysses by Alistair MacLean (5 stars). I'm left speechless by this story. A truly amazing story of heroism of men tired beyond belief fighting a war in conditions unbelievable but true. The HMS Ulysses is a Royal Navy cruiser whose crew have recently mutinied and are tasked once again to meet and escort a convoy on the Murmansk run to Russia. The crew is beaten, tired and the Captain is dying. They sail to meet the convoy of merchant ships at Iceland to take over from the warships escorting the convoy from Canada. The result is a fascinating, horrifying, touching story of this voyage; the love of the crew for their ill Captain, his love for them; the many personalities of the crew and the ordeal they must sail through. The story makes me think of my father as he also sailed to Murmansk, something he doesn't tell me much about. I've read this story before, but so long ago. I'm glad I read again.
2. The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill (5 stars). A new author for me and I'm glad I discovered him. The Coroner is Dr Siri Paiboun, the only coroner in Laos. He's a 72 year old doctor who was appointed the Coroner. He works under poor conditions, has a wonderful staff of two, Nurse Dtui and Mr Geung. Their relationship is affectionate and humorous. The cast of characters are wonderful and Dr Siri is a wonderfully drawn personality, smart, individualistic, curmudgeonly and with a lovely sense of humour. The story is well-crafted, many twists and turns as Siri tries to solve the cases he has been given. There is political intrigue and even a very spiritual aspect. It's a story that draws you in from the very first page and there will be many surprises. In some ways it reminds me of the first Number One Ladies Detective Agency book, different, fascinating and with humour and love and mystery all mixed together. I highly recommend and know that I'll be reading more of the series.
And.....
1. Chocolate Wars: The 150 Year Rivalry Between the World's Greatest Chocolate Makers by Deborah Cadbury (5 stars). One of the most interesting books I've read in awhile. Fascinating history of the development of chocolate, the chocolate industry, the companies involved; Cadbury, Rowntree, Nestle, Hershey, etc. More than just a story about chocolate, even though, the story could not have been written without the ingenuity and imagination of people like George Cadbury and Joseph Rowntree, the story is also a history of the times; how the Quaker ideals were brought to bear in the development of the English chocolate industry, challenges from other companies, dealing with issues such as World Wars and how that might impact on Quaker pacifism, child slavery, the pressures of the current financial system on what were family businesses with 180 years of history. A very fascinating story and well - worth reading. Deborah Cadbury has researched this story exceedingly well and presented the history in a well-written, interesting manner.

So there you have, my review of a year's worth of reading. Once the New Year turns, I'll highlight some of my 2013 Challenges. I still hope to do one or two more BLogs before years end to look at a bit more music and maybe my Top ten Actresses.... Time will tell. In the meantime, Keep on reading and best wishes for 2013.

More Year End Review - Individual Challenge

It turns out this might be my last BLog for a few days. The missus surprised me with a Xmas trip to Calgary to visit my daughter, her boyfriend and their family. It might also be a relatively short post as I need to get up stairs and start packing.. lol

One of my challenges for 2012 was to focus on my mystery / thriller/ spy novels. I decided to work through my authors alphabetically, from A - Z, reading one book per author. Little did I realise how many mystery writers I have on my book shelves. Over the course of the year, fitting in my other challenges and trying to read a couple of freebies a month, I managed to work my way up to the G's, reading 39 books.

5 Roundabouts to Heaven

I started while we were still in England visiting family and friends for Xmas. So my first book actually was a B - author, John Bingham as I didn't have my whole library with me.. ;0). From there it's been a journey, so many different styles, countries. Some books have disappointed, but for the most part I've enjoyed immensely.

Below is my list -
with -
1. John Bingham - Five Roundabouts to Heaven (finished 10 Jan 2012, 3 stars)
2. Rennie Airth - The Blood-Dimmed Tide (finished 12 Jan 2012, 3 stars
3. Margery Allingham - Black Plumes (finished 21 Jan 2012, 4 stars)
4. Karin Alvtegen - Shadow (finished 28 Jan 2012, 4 stars)
5. Kingsley Amis - Riverside Villas Murder (finished 3 Feb 2012, 4 stars)
6. A.C. Baantjer - DeKok and the Death of a Clown (finished 12 Feb 201, 3 stars)
7. Nevada Barr - Track of the Cat (finished 19 Feb 12, 3 stars)
8. Mark Billingham - Buried (finished 25 Feb 2012, 4 stars)
9. Nicholas Blake - A Tangled Web (finished 03 Mar 2012, 4 stars)
10. M.C. Beaton - The Potted Gardener (finished 8 Mar 12, 3 stars)
11. Giles Blunt - By the Time You Read This (finished 12 Mar 12, 4 stars)
12. John Buchan - Greenmantle (finished 24 Mar 12, 4 stars)
13. Jan Burke - Sweet Dreams, Irene (finished 4 Apr 12, 3 stars)
14. W.J. Burley- Wycliffe and Death in a Salubrious Place (finished 10 Apr 12, 3 stars)
15. John le Carré - The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (finished 15 Apr 12, 5 stars)
16. G.K. Chesterton - The Secret of Father Brown (finished 22 Apr 12, 3 stars)
17. Lee Child - 61 Hours (finished 27 Apr 12, 3 stars)
18. Agatha Christie - The Mysterious Affair at Styles (finished 17 May 12, 4 stars)
19. Barbara Cleverly - The Damascened Blade (finished 21 May 12, 4 stars)
20. Michael Connelly - City Of Bones (finished 25 May 12, three stars)
21. Joseph Conrad - The Secret Agent (finished 3 Jun 12, 4 stars)
22. Colin Cotterill - The Coroner's Lunch (finished 15 Jun 12, 5 stars)
23. John Creasey - Death on the Move (finished 23 Jun 12, 2 stars)
24. Elizabeth Daly - Arrow Pointing Nowhere (finished 28 Jun 12, 3 stars)
25. Lionel Davidson - A Long Way to Shiloh (finished 18 Jul 12, 3 stars)
26. Jeffery Deaver - The Bodies Left Behind (finished 18 Aug 12, 3 stars)
27. Len Deighton - The Ipcress File (finished 28 Aug 12, 3 stars)
28. Arthur Conan Doyle - A Study In Scarlet (finished 22 Sept 12, 4 stars)
29. John Dunning - The Sign Of The Book (finished 27 Sept 12, 3 stars)
30. P. N. Elrod - The Dark Sleep (finished 06 Oct 12, 3 stars)
31. Janet Evanovich - Seven Up (finished 9 Oct 12, 3 stars)
32. Elizabeth Ferrars - :The Crime and the Crystal (finished 17 Oct 12, 3 stars)
33. Karin Fossum Don't Look Back (finished 22 Oct 12, 4 stars)
34. Ian Fleming - Live and Let Die (finished 21 Oct 12, 3 stars)
35. Ariana Franklin - Grave Goods (finished 1 Nov 12, 4 stars)
36. One More River - Nicolas Freeling (Didn't finish, stopped reading 3 Nov 12, 2 stars)
37. Night Soldiers - Alan Furst (finished 17 Nov 12, 3 stars)
38. The Perfect Husband - Lisa Gardner (finished 25 Nov 12, 3 stars)
39. Deception on His Mind - Elizabeth  George (started 18 Dec 12)



Old favourites

 It was nice to refresh my memories on many old favourites. Authors such as Nevada Barr (the Anna Pigeon US Park Ranger series), Canadian Giles Blunt with his Cardinal series set in my old home town of North Bay, WJ Burley's Wycliffe mysteries set in England, Barbara Cleverly's Joe Sandilands mysteries set during the Raj in India, John Dunning's Bookman series, featuring not only  a good mystery, but also book shops and hunting for antique books, Janet Evanovich's humorous Stephanie Plum adventures in New Jersey. So many familiar and enjoyable books that I don't often get an opportunity to read as I've so many other books on my shelves to pull down and enjoy.

There have been a few new authors to try out as well. I honestly have tried to avoid starting new series, but when how can you resist when you go to a book store and start wandering around the book shelves. And watching mysteries on TV as well and discovering they are based on mystery series; it makes you want to read them as well. Some of my favourite new series/ authors included; Mark Billingham's Tom Thorne mysteries, set in London; MC Beaton's Agatha Raisin books, a nice chuckle and a great parlour mystery; Lee Child's larger than life Jack Reacher adventures;and Karin Fossum's Swedish mysteries.

But my favourite mystery of the year; both as a new series and just for pure enjoyment was Colin Cotterill's The Coroner's Lunch, featuring Dr Siri Paiboun, the Chief Coroner of the new Communist Republic of Laos. The story was interesting, humorous, with an abundance of wonderful characters. I got the same feeling from it that I did from The Number One Ladies' Detective Agency when I read it for the first time. I look forward to reading more of Dr Siri Paiboun's mystery adventures.

It's been a great year of reading. I plan to continue with this challenge in 2013. I'll highlight some of the authors and books in a future Blog, when I look forward to 2013.

To all, have a wonderful, peaceful Xmas and I wish you the very best for 2013.   Now off to wake the missus and start packing.. ;0) 

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

The Poisonwood Bible was released in 1998. I never really heard about until a couple of years ago, when I saw it during my wanders through various book stores. I found the summary interesting, but I still never bought a copy until Nov 2009, at my local, ABC Books in Courtenay, BC.

From then it languished somewhat on my To-Be-Read bookshelves with all of my others. This past year I chose it as one of my 12 + 2 Reading Group Challenge books. I finally got to it at the end of June. I'm so glad that I finally read the story; what a fantastic tale.

This is the blurb on the back of my edition.

"The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it - from garden seeds to Scripture - is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in post colonial Africa. The novel is set against one of the most dramatic political chronicles of the twentieth century;;;: the Congo's fight for independence from Belgium, the murder of its first elected prime minister, the CIA coup to install his replacement, and the insidious progress of a world economic order that robs the fledgling African nation of its autonomy.Taking its place alongside classic works of post colonial literature, this ambitious novel establishes Kingsolver as one of the most thoughtful and daring of modern writers."

In some ways, I don't think the write-up does the story justice. But if it makes you pick up the book and give it a try, then it's succeeded and you will find a fascinating story before you. The four girls, Rachel, the oldest, Leah and Adah, the twins and Ruth May, the youngest, are each interesting and different in their own right. Their perspectives of the momentous events unfolding about them are unique and different. While these momentous events are highlighted and form the basis for their lives, the story, itself, is much more personal; how this family must cope (or not) after their move from Georgia to a small village in the Congolese jungle. How these girls must cope with a sometimes tyrannical and, often, unforgiving, uncaring father forms a backdrop to the story of their lives in Kingala. The story is sometimes frightening, sometimes touching and poignant. There is great tragedy, rebirth, adjustment and growth. At times, I felt my heart was breaking. It isn't a happy story, by any means, there is great sadness, that being experienced on a very personal level by the girls and their mother and that on a grander scale being experienced by the Congolese people as they are pulled one way and another by the political events around them.

This is a great story, one definitely worth reading. I totally recommend.

Mid-Year Review - 2012

I was updating one of my lists (yes, yes, I love lists... lol) in goodreads, going through what books I read in Jun and it kind of hit me; my goodness, we're half way through 2012. What a fast year! Or maybe years just seem to go quicker nowadays. So I thought it was the perfect time, as I sit here drinking my coffee, watching the rain out my den window and enjoying the cool breeze, to look back, not in anger (homage to John Osborne there), but, with enjoyment, to my reading accomplishments so far in 2012.

Statistically, I've finished 46 books so far this year. My Goodreads challenge was to read 75 books. I still think that's a realistic goal and I'm ahead of the game somewhat, so I don't think I'll change it. According to the stats wizard in goodreads, those 46 books represent 14140 pages. However, that's based on the book editions I have highlighted in goodreads and sometimes I've had to pick copies that are slightly different from the actual ones I've got on my shelf and sometimes the editions I have, don't provide total pages. So 46 books finished, around 14,000 pages and I've got two new books on the go as we end Jun... Now at the start of the year, I indicated I would try not to buy too many new/ used books so I could whittle down my TBR bookshelf. Well, that hasn't worked out quite as well as I'd expected. Ha Ha! I have vetted my bookshelves and returned quite a few books to my local used book stores, but at the same time, as I scroll through one of my book lists, I see that since January, I have also purchased roughly 100.. Now some of those were presents for the missus and there was a big book sale by the Rotary Club, where great deals were to be found and one of my local used book stores closes today so I did buy a few there as there were going out of business sales.. OK, OK, they are all excuses, I love to buy books, I can't deny it. Currently my To-be-read (TBR) list sits at about 400 books. But I will read them all, I swear. :0)

Well, enough rambling, now down to business. An update on my various reading challenges and how they are progressing..

Reading Group Challenge (12 + 2). I had picked 12 books plus 2 alternatives back last December of books that I would like to read this year. As of end Jun, I've read 11 of the books and am just starting my 12th selection, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Enjoying so far. I like how the story is being told from the perspective of the 4 sisters; each has her own point-of-view and sees things differently. Just started so time will tell how the story develops. But I do like it so far. As to my other selections, I've enjoyed mostly. Below is my list and how I rated them.

1. Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (finished 24 Jun 12, 3 stars);
2. Sergei Lukyanenko - The Nightwatch (finished 5 May 12, 4 stars)
3. Scott Westerfield - Leviathan (finished 7 Feb 12, 4 stars)
4. Bill Bryson - At Home: A Short History of Private Life (finished 28 May 12, 4 stars)
5. Deborah Cadbury - Chocolate Wars: The 150-year Rivalry Between the World's Greatest Chocolate Makers (finished 18 Feb 12, 5 stars)
6. Barbara Tuchman - The Zimmermann Telegram - (finished 9 Jan 2012, 3 stars)
7. Jack Whyte - Knights of the Black and White (finished 26 Jan 2012, 3 stars)
8. Iain Banks - The Wasp Factory (finished 5 Jan 2012, 3 stars)
9. Anthony Burgess - A Clockwork Orange (finished 11 Mar 2012, 3 stars)
10. Robertson Davies - The Rebel Angels (finished 17 Mar 12, 5 stars)
11. Ken Follett - The Pillars of the Earth (finished 20 Apr 12, 4 stars)
12. Barbara Kingsolver - The Poisonwood Bible (started 28 Jun 12)

Alternates
1. Vikas Swarup - Six Suspects, and
2. Trevor Elleston - The Flight of the Phoenix

Personal favourites of those completed were Deborah Cadbury's look at the Chocolate industry, which was fascinating; a story of the Cadbury family and their Quaker outlook, plus the history of the manufacture of chocolate, highlighting all of the various individuals who made it the industry it is today. The other favourite was Robertson Davies' first book in the Cornish trilogy, The Rebel Angels. I had read the Deptford trilogy many years ago back in university. It was refreshing to read a Davies' novel again, for its intelligence, wit and excellent characters. I still have 3 books to finish and I'm looking forward to reading all of them.

Individual Reading Challenge Books. The other challenge I gave myself in one of my goodreads groups was to read as many mystery/ thriller/ spy/ adventure novels as I could, working from A to however far I could go this year. That meant one book per author. So far, I've made my way up to D, having just finished Elizabeth Daly's Arrow Pointing Nowhere. One of the nice things about this challenge is that it's provided me with the opportunity to read authors I've not experienced before. Colin Cotterill's The Coroner's Lunch is one such author/ book. I don't know who recommended him, but he is a new writer for me and The Coroner's Lunch, which introduces Laos' only coroner, Dr Siri Paiboun, has been one of the highlights for me this past year. So far in this challenge I've read 24 books and for the most part have enjoyed all of the stories. Below is my listing of books thus far.

with -
1. John Bingham - Five Roundabouts to Heaven (finished 10 Jan 2012, 3 stars)
2. Rennie Airth - The Blood-Dimmed Tide (finished 12 Jan 2012, 3 stars) (DI John Madden mystery)
3. Margery Allingham - Black Plumes (finished 21 Jan 2012, 4 stars) (Albert Campion mystery)
4. Karin Alvtegen - Shadow (finished 28 Jan 2012, 4 stars) (a favourite Swedish writer)
5. Kingsley Amis - Riverside Villas Murder (finished 3 Feb 2012, 4 stars)
6. A.C. Baantjer - DeKok and the Death of a Clown (finished 12 Feb 201, 3 stars) (Inspector deKok of the Netherlands)
7. Nevada Barr - Track of the Cat (finished 19 Feb 12, 3 stars) (US Park Ranger Anna Pigeon mystery)
8. Mark Billingham - Buried (finished 25 Feb 2012, 4 stars) (DI Tom Thorne mystery)
9. Nicholas Blake - A Tangled Web (finished 03 Mar 2012, 4 stars)
10. M.C. Beaton - The Potted Gardener (finished 8 Mar 12, 3 stars) (Agatha Raisin mystery, new for me and very enjoyable)
11. Giles Blunt - By the Time You Read This (finished 12 Mar 12, 4 stars) (Detective John Cardinal mystery, set in Northern Ontario, a favourite of mine.)
12. John Buchan - Greenmantle (finished 24 Mar 12, 4 stars) (sequel to The 39 Steps)
13. Jan Burke - Sweet Dreams, Irene (finished 4 Apr 12, 3 stars) (Irene Kelly mystery, another favourite series)
14. W.J. Burley - Wycliffe and Death in a Salubrious Place (finished 10 Apr 12, 3 stars) (DS Wycliffe mystery)
15. John le Carré - The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (finished 15 Apr 12, 5 stars) (loved it)
16. G.K. Chesterton - The Secret of Father Brown (finished 22 Apr 12, 3 stars)
17. Lee Child - 61 Hours (finished 27 Apr 12, 3 stars) (my first Jack Reacher mystery/ thriller)
18. Agatha Christie - The Mysterious Affair at Styles (finished 17 May 12, 4 stars) (introducing Hercule Poirot)
19. Barbara Cleverly - The Damascened Blade (finished 21 May 12, 4 stars)
 (Joe Sandilands historical mystery)
20. Michael Connelly - City Of Bones (finished 25 May 12, three stars) (Harry Bosch mystery)
21. Joseph Conrad - The Secret Agent (finished 3 Jun 12, 4 stars)
22. Colin Cotterill - The Coroner's Lunch (finished 15 Jun 12, 5 stars) (loved it and will read more)
23. John Creasey - Death on the Move (finished 23 Jun 12, 2 stars)
24. Elizabeth Daly - Arrow Pointing Nowhere (finished 28 Jun 12, 3 stars)

A most enjoyable 6 months so far. Next on my list is Lionel Davidson's A Long Way to Shiloh, an adventure set in Israel. "The message on the Scroll is baffling, fragmented - and sensational! Buried somewhere in Israel is the True Menorah, the great golden symbol of Judaism, lost for 2000 years. The Israelis have a copy, the Jordanians have a copy, and both want the Menorah. the Jordanians have their infiltrators and their strong-arm men. The Israelis have Caspar Laing, a brilliant young Professor of Semitics with a genius for hunches and a most unprofessional libido." :0)

Genre Challenge . Not too much else to highlight. In my UK Book Club, we choose a genre each month and although I've duplicated books from the above lists in some of the challenges, there are others that haven't been listed above. These are the challenges we've taken up in 2012 so far.

January - Non-Fiction - The Zimmerman Telegram by Barbara Tuchman
February - Travel/ Exploration - Long Way Round: Chasing Shadows Across the World by Ewen MacGregor, and
Outposts: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire by Simon Winchester (much preferred, I very much enjoyed this book)
March - Romance/ Erotica - The Virgin and the Gypsy, D.H. Lawrence; and
Summer of '42, Herman Raucher (enjoyed as much as the movie);
April - Psychiatry/ Madness - Lolita,  Vladimir Nabokov (Definitely not a favourite)
May - War - HMS Ulysses, Alistair Maclean (one of my favourite books of the year)
June - Western - The Captive Witch, Dale van Every

Our genre challenge for July looks to be poetry. Not a favourite genre of mine, but I will probably work through a book of Emily Barrett Brownings poems. We bought at one of our antique stores here a few years back and it's at least an 1899 edition, from the inscription in the front cover. Remaining genres are Self-Help and Chemical Fiction and then, I think we'll start again, with probably some new genres.. :0)

Freebies. Finally, besides the challenge lists above, I've managed to squeeze in a few freebies that don't really relate to any particular challenge. If there is a rhyme or reason for the freebies, I've started working through my TBR shelf from the end of the alphabet, trying to avoid mysteries for the most part and just flesh out my reading for the year. These are the freebies that I've read this year so far..

John Wyndham - Plan for Chaos (3 stars)
Ian St John - Ian St John's Book of Soccer Lists (3 stars), a nice easy read, a Xmas prezzie
Jack Williamson - The Humanoids (SciFi) (4 stars)
Jack Whyte - Standard of Honor (Historical Fiction, the Templar trilogy, Bk 2) (4 stars)
T.H. White - The Sword in the Stone (Fiction/ Fantasy). Just started end of Jun and am enjoying very much so far.

So there you have it, my mid-year review. I'm very much looking forward to the next six months. I hope your year has been a good reading year too.. Enjoy yourselves! Keep on reading!

Chocolate Wars by Deborah Cadbury



Five stars

 I finished Chocolate Wars this weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's most assuredly the best book I've read so far in 2012. Deborah Cadbury is a relative of the Cadbury chocolate-making family, although as far as I could discern, her branch was not involved in the Cadbury factories in Birmingham. She does fondly recall the Xmas packages of chocolates that arrived every year. At any rate, she has researched this book diligently and written a fascinating history of the development of the chocolate industry and the families and individuals that brought it to the forefront and turned it into the global industry it is today.

While focused on the English Quaker families that developed the British chocolate industry; the Cadburys, the Fry's and the Rowntrees, Deborah also delves into the other chocolate giants; Nestlé, Hershey and Mars, amongst others.

The book is more than just a story about chocolate, which is fascinating in its own right. It's about a life style, an ethos, a way of life. The Cadburys and other British chocolate makers were Quakers. At the time of their initial experiments with the cocoa bean, Quakers could not become members of Parliament, they couldn't go to university. So their focus became industry; banking, retail, etc. The Cadburys and others chose chocolate. Their efforts to find a process to turn the cocoa bean into something that could be retailed are fascinating. As they became more and more successful, they had to find a way to reconcile their Quaker values with their massive success and money-making abilities. Their solutions make the story even more fascinating. Not only did they deal with industry, they dealt with issues such as slavery, war, poverty and applied their Quaker values to these issues.

It must have been a fascinating time as well as a struggle to develop this industry. Deborah Cadbury has a way with words and makes this whole story so very interesting. The people involved, from the deeply religious George Cadbury to the volatile Forrest Mars, are presented in such an interesting manner. You can picture them very easily. It's a great story, well worth reading and I highly recommend. Mind you, if you have a sweet tooth, it's going to develop a twinge as you read and discover the wonders of the Flake, Curly Wurly, Mars bar and so many others. Enjoy!

Rating: 5 *****