Tag: 2010

CITY PICKS -AMSTERDAM

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SOURCE -REVIEW COPY

City picks/lit is a series of books ,all about different cities ,using extracts ,short pieces and journalistic pieces about the cities ,This one is all about the Dutch Capital Amsterdam and was part funded by thee Dutch foundation for translation of Dutch literature .The collection was compiled by Heather Reyes The editor of the whole series and Victor Schiferli A dutch graduate ,he worked for the Dutch translation foundation and as an editor for Penguin .It is published by Oxygen books

The book is divide into a number of sections ,each reflecting Amsterdam in a different way ,I love Amsterdam the first is a general introduction why people love the city Alain De describing arriving at Schipol airport and the trip to the centre of Amsterdam from his art of travel .Then we read piece about the canals of Amsterdam ,Cees Nooteboom talks about the sea and the land a wonderfully poetic piece from Hollands best known writer .

First of all the land .The North sea beats against a row of dunes that resist it and rolls ,green grey ,brown grey to the place where it finds passage .From there it whips around the land ,between the walls of islands and becomes the Wadden sea ,the Zuider Zee .

from the philosopher without eyes by Cees Nooteboom .

Then we Gather Peoples thought on the must see places Geert Mak from his books about the City picks Vondel park as one of the Places ,of course Anne Franks house here described by Indian writer Salil Triparthi  ,then we here writers describe the art ,the wonderful collection of dutch masters Van Gogh is described by the spanish writer Cesar Antonio Molina .

Van Gogh was always obsessed with being recognized and success but if it had worked out like that would he have painted the way he did ?

Molina on Van Gogh

Then we see how Amsterdam is a nation with in a nation ,very different in some ways than the rest of the Netherlands .John Ezards obituary too The Franks lifeline Miep Gies is very Touching this wonderful women ,deserves to be remembered  ,the tolerant Amsterdam is discussed with their liberal drugs and infamous red light district .the Croatian writer Dubravka Ugresic tells us the cost of the red light district in human traffic from Eastern Europe .then the Historic Amsterdam our own Simon Schmama talks about the city through Rembrandt’s eyes .the section on the second world war includes an extract of  Anne Franks diary ,a wonderful piece on a childs eye view of the war ,and the last section is about the future of the city ,

Well that was a quick flick through the book the sections and some pieces I enjoyed ,Cities are like a Living breathing creatures and this book is like a paint of this creature ,AMSTERDAM ,i ve been only a couple of times for the day to this city and loved it this book remind me of the bits I liked the people the canals its wonderful artistic legacy ,this book is great if you want to go there have been there or just want to know about the city as an armchair traveller .Now there are a lot of different writers mainly Dutch but also from around the world ,the translators seem to have done great jobs .

I ll leave you with another person on this great city .

OCTOBER ROUND UP

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A busy month here manage to clear some of my back reviews still got some to write ,I ve struggle to blog sometimes this month due to work as there has been a shortage of staff thus my workload has increased ,well here is what I managed to read .

  1. the bad girl by Mario Vargas Llosa .
  2. Traveller to the east by Thomas Molfo
  3. I saw Ramallah by Mourid Barghouti
  4. the life of an unkown man by Andrei Makine
  5. The weekend by Bernhard Schlink
  6. Three seconds by Roslund and hellstrom
  7. The end by Salvatore Scibona
  8. To the end of the land by David Grossman
  9. Urn Burial by  Sir Thomas Browne
  10. The haunting of hill house by Shirley Jackson
  11. The hound of the baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

well eleven this month not bad as have been busy at work ,the challenges for the year .Book of the month well two the Schlink and Grossman

100 books in a year -110/100

52 books 19/52

well passed a hundred and add one to my around world in 52 books ,got few more countries down on blog this month taking total up to 56 .

NOVEMBER  PLANS

Well November plans ,well I’ve got lot library books need reading ,a Henrich boll ,three Ghanian books ,purge sofi Oskana among them so want clear them near start then end of month want to read some more Bolano have Amulet ,getting Skating rink and maybe another as I plan to read 2666 over christmas .

What your November plans ?

Happy Halloween

~ winstonsdad ~ 12 Comments

Well Halloween is here and I m reading my first ghost story for a long while ,not huge horror and Ghost story fan . what are your favourites ?

Mine is hound of the baskervilles not really horror but scary in places.

This time of year means Parkin – a local cake gingery ,treacly and with some oats in .

wonderful with a hot drink on a cold night .

so what plans have you tomorrow ?

and I leave you with a great spooky song

TO THE END OF THE LAND BY DAVID GROSSMAN

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Source – Library

David Grossman is a israeli writer ,he served in the israeli army in the 70’s then went on to study philosophy ,he is known as a peace activist having previous being sack from national radio for refusing to downplay the declaration of the Palestine state .he has won numerous award the most famous being the Bialik prize for Hebrew literature .

To the end of the land is the story of Ora and Offer ,mother and son in modern-day Israeli Ora is doing his national service which is drawing to an end much to Ora’s thankfulness .Offer doesn’t return to his mother ,he wants to join a large offensive that is just being mounted .This shocks Ora who panics that the “Notifers” will appear at her door ,she had planned a trip to Galilee across the country with Offer on his release from the army ,she is single he husband and other son having left her she contacts her husband best friend Avram and as it transpires Offer real father to join her on this pilgrimage to avoid what she fears will be Offers death ,as they set off she starts to tell Avram  bit by bit and writing down Offers life as if the act is a way of keeping her son alive so we hear Offers life unfold through his loving mothers eyes ,as Avram tries to support the women he was once so close to .

Where was I

He fell .

oh she groans in painful surprise,the air slashed out of her in one sweep .Don’t say that .

I wasn’t thinking .I’m sorry Ora

No it’s okay .You should know that when I talk about him with you ,He’s alright .He is protected

How ?

I don’t know .Thats what I feel .He is preserved .

Yes

Does that sound crazy ?

No

should I tell you more ?

Yes

tell me more ,about him

about Offer

This is were we find what talking about Offer means to Ora .

Right now here is the most important bit about this book ,after the first draft Grossman lost his own son in an attack whilst he was serving his national service  ,so the emotions in this book are very realistic ,as he was struggling with his own grief .It deals with parental love ,war and the bond between old lovers .Ora is in some ways Grossman and Ora in some ways is his son .If you want a story that touches your heart this is it ,especially when you know the story of Grossman own son .This of all the Israeli books dealing with the Palestinian conflict and its effects on everyday life in Israeli.

The book was translated by Jessica Cohen a well known translkator from Hebrew .

THE END BY SALVATORE SCIBONA

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SOURCE REVIEW COPY FROM JONATHAN CAPE .OUT NOV 4

Salvatore Scibona is an american writer ,he was named on the recent New Yorker twenty under forty list .He grew up in Cleveland Ohio and went to the creative writing course at university of Iowa ,he is from an Italian american family

The End is his debut novel it is set in his native Ohio in the early fifties ,well 15th august 1953 mainly .we focus on Elephant park an Italian community we open meeting Rocco the local baker who has just received word that his son has died in a Korean P.O.W CAMP  ,the day is Assumption day a carnival is due as the novel progress we see Rocco meet people and also we are sent back to Rocco’s youth in Scilly .We see poverty community and also a crime ,we meet a number of characters a seamstress ,a jeweller .as Rocco comes to terms with his loss whilst the is this carnival and other things happening in his life .

He was Five feet one inch tall in his street shoes ,bearlike in his round and Jowly face ,hulking in his chest and shoulders ,nearly just as stout around the middle but hollow in the hips and lacking a proper can to sit on (though he was hardly ever known to sit ) and wee at the ankles and girlish at his tiny feet ,a man in the shape of a lightbulb .

the opening and we meet Rocco .

This is a stunning debut novel ,assured with a unique voice ,he has been compared to the greats Joyce ,Faulkner and Bellow ,some are deserved, setting most of your events on a single day will always be compared with Joyce but in reality they are two completely different books this is about a community .Bellow is probably nearest to him of the comparisons in a lot of ways it is like bellows early books ,like seize thew day which follows a similar aged man over a day I wonder if part of this comes from stories Salvatore heard growing up around the dinner table .The characters in this book are beautifully drawn and realistic.Its nice to read a book about the Italian american community that avoids the obvious clichés of that community .He richly deserves to be on the new yorker list and also for this to be a national book award shortlisted book in 2008 .This is like a Edward hopper painting come to life or the kiss photo that is so famous it evokes the fifties and the struggles of that time for a working class community post WW2 struggling with another war .

THE BAD GIRL BY Mario Vargas Llosa

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Well I had this down to rea on my around the world in 52 books list .Having read a couple many years ago by him ,after seeing the aunt Julia film which had a great performance from Peter Falk .Well if you didn’t know Mario won this years Nobel prize being the first Nobel winner from south America since Gabriel Garcia Marquez in 1982 .Mario Vargas Llosa was born in the Peruvian provinces in late thirties ,he went to military academy the subject of his first novel ,his books are both historic and have modern-day setting he often uses his own life experiences in his books .

The bad girl follows the life of Ricardo ,we meet him as a teenager in the 50’s in lima a love affair with lily or as in the title the bad girl starts and ends due to the difference in class etc ,Ricardo does well in his studies and ends up in paris working as a translator in numerous languages ,this is in the sixties so there is a backdrop of the city in the sixties with its protests and bohemian atmosphere ,Ricardo meets Comrade Arlette ,this women reminds him of lily in so many ways they have a passionate affair ,the book continues on the same path him traveling to different cities and meet women with the spirit of Lilly and having increasingly passionate and kinky love affairs .this takes us through london ,Tokyo back to peru and ending up in paris ,all this with a sparkling cast of friends including a mute boy .We see the history of times hippies ,seventies and Japans rise .

My only contact with Peru ,for by now I rarely saw Peruvians in paris ,continued to be the increasingly desperate letters from uncle Ataulfo and Aunt Delores always sent me regards in her own hand ,and from time to time I would send her scores for playing the piano was great diversion in her invalid life .

Ricardo family struggles at home in Peru unde General Alvarado’s dictatorship  .

Now I loved this Llosa has a real flow to his writing that draws you in bit by bit ,there is a lot of sex in this book but it is well written and helps the plot also gives you the true scope of the affair or affairs there is a question whether it is the same women or different women with the same spirit this isn’t answered but I felt form a man falls for the same spirit in different bodies ,the affair is a life long passion the encompasses the world ,these part the cities and times they were written really feel like they are from Llosa own life and that he’d been in paris and in London and Tokyo during the periods described in the book .Worthy nobel winner yes his books are always readable and  meaningful .Like Aunt Julia that was made into a film I could see this novel-making the move into a great film .The book is translated by Edith Grossman ,she has previously tranlated 5 of his books previously as you’d expect is perfection from the best translator of Latin American fiction

Have you read him ?

have you seen the films made of his books ?

What do you read when trapped underground?

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As the Chilean miners are on the verge of a Thunderbird like rescue after 65 days underground in a small area .yesterday I wondered on Twitter if one of the great Latin American novelist would right this story ,the miners have been visited by Isabel Allende and she donate some of her books for the miners to read .so I wondered what books would be best for them to read ? For me I thought of life of pi by Yann Martell maybe a tale of survival at sea would be a way to escape to a wide open space ?

A comedy novel by Wodehouse maybe ?

Ones of those epic novels 2666 ,moby dick , Ulysses ,Proust  ,the man without qualities ?

What book would you want to keep you company ?

I hope and pray they reach there families safe and sound soon

Coconut Unlimited by Nikesh Shukla

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Nikesh Shukla is a writer poet and film-maker ,coconut unlimited is his debut novel ,Nikesh is well-known in London LIT circles due to his involvement in numerous events .coconut unlimited is the story of three school friends

I ve decide to review this intertwine my own life ,this coming of age tale and its humour made me smile and remember my own teen years in a similar way to black swan green by David Mitchell and rotters club by Jonathan Coe ,this story c=starts at the start of a new school term and Amit ,Ananad and Nishant  they discover hip hop and get dragged into the culture and finding records ,in my life it was Billy Bragg and the smiths ,listening too John Peel buying the NME ,the lads have a collection of oddball and helpful teachers a bit like my own school ,at home parents struggle to grasp this new love ,memories of my own mother saying what is this music ,why you got your hair like that echoed in my head as I read the book .They decided to form a crew and become budding hip hop stars ,dearly needed at the time uk hip hop being mc tunes and Derek b ,I briefly try to rap myself for 5 minutes at the back of a local school with a lad called Mike Hurst this last all of twenty Minutes as I realised I am on of the most tone-deaf out of tune rappers that has ever been lol .but the guys in the group coconut unlimited  and title of the book give it a real go  ,starting with small gigs and a visit to a studio ,one of my favourite passages is the first trip to a real record shop ,and its Knowledgeable owner this remind me of the shop in Congleton where I grew up Beat route run by a man also called Stu like me this guy seemed to know everything and like the guys in the book really shocked me at times .

I did Eddy .They moaned ,though .They couldn’t believe you’d sell stuff like Tupac and Snoop just cos you have all that metal stuff in your window .

Well he said looking over his pince-nez glasses at Anand and me ,you boys how much stuff sells to the disenfranchised white youths with a middle class amount of pocket-money in his wallet .I ‘m a Beatles man myself but I’ve got to make money somehow and ,face it suburban school children love goth and heavy metal – it’s like a club tuneless ,I’d say not like Lennon .He was the last of the greats ,so you guys in a band ,eh ?

meeting the shop owner .

A fresh talent for sure ,this is my book of the year so far and shows yet again Quartet’s great taste .a wonderful insight into growing up in the london suburbs and being asian at same time ,this book will touch you if you read it  .I was left wanting to hear John Peel’s dulced tones saying here are a new group whose debut EP  I m playing coconut unlimited ,then it’s but on at wrong speed to start with .there is also a mix done by Nikesh to accompany the book here is a link .

disclosure I got this from Quartet for review .

national poetry day – the book of things by Ilhan Berk

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Ilhan Berk was turkey’s foremost poet a member of the post modernist ,he was a leading light in the second new genration of Turkish poets ,Salt publishing has published a number of his works in translation including this one translated by the Aanglo Turkish poet George Messo,his style is sparce ,visual using ppictures and photos ,avant grade but approachable ,he lived most of his life in Bodrum and Died in 2008 ,as the theme for National poetry day is Home ,I thought of Ilhan Berks long Poem – House

A GRAND METAPHOR :HOSE II

House rings instantly at the door of the world’s rich images.

*

House:privileged existence.

*

House is a grand metaphor :both right beside us.and at the end of the earth .

*

The house is you.

*

House is your homeland

*

Our name ,house

*

The house has no one.

*

Everything talks at home .

*

Stairs either go up,or down

*

At home the door is either opeen or closed.

*

The house is tight lipped.

*

Language is the house.

House stores time and lives.

*

Narrow paths feed the house.

*

A great dream: to be at home .

*

House :throne of the unconscious.

*

House is the world .

this is the first part of long poem called House .

love  clever Typography ,his use of language ,which has been wonderfully brought alive in English by George Messo ,simple at times but like a magic eye picture full of depth and hidden meanings the more you read theem ,if you want a collection that will stick with you to next National poetry day and beyond try this one .

Winstons books new and old

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Some recent arrivals at Winston’s towers –

second-hand book sale –

The rendezvous and other stories by Daphne Du Maurier I ve read a couple of her novels Rebecca being my favourite ,saw this collection of haunting stories and thought they’d make perfect winter evening reading stories focus on husbands breaking loose ,a married women committing suicide and a steamer being saved by a mysterious ship ,sounds wonderful .

Agents and Patients by Anthony Powell –

Now this book is from his dance to the music of time cycle ,it flows another young man Blore-smith from Oxford via paris and Berlin in the thirties with a large chunk of humour ,should be interesting Simon at inside books recently reviewed another Powell here and found his humour had dated slightly ,so be interested to see if this is still fresh .

Clochemerle by Gabriel Chevaller

This is a satire from a french writer ,has been reprint a number of times last time 2004 ,this is a 50’s penguin thou my main reason for buying it as I love the old orange and white covers ,set in a french village follows the struggle as they try to build public toilets in the village ,sounds funny .

Journey by Moonlight by Antal Szerb –

A real find a Pushkin press book ,from a Hungarian writer ,it is the story of follow Milahy on his honeymoon in Italy as he struggles with his past and marriage  considered on of the best novels from Hungary .

FROM A BLOGGER

from Annabel at Gaskell ,the Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning ,I was reading about this after remember the tv series a few weeks ago and had marked it down as a book to get the a few day later Annabel was want to get rid of some books and this was one ,I was lucky to be sent it thank her greatly ,the books follow Guy and Harriet a couple through the Balkans during the second world war .

received for review –

Urn Burial by SIR Thomas Browne

Thomas Browne was a writer ,Physician among other things ,a look at Kevin’s site aquarium of vulcan will tell you loads about him ,this slim volume a new edition by New Directions in the pearl series ,is a discussion musing on the discovery of roman urns in the 17th century and to mans experience on this mortal coil and struggle with mortality ,there is a forward by W G Sebald from rings of saturn were he talks about Browne and seeing his skull .

POEM STRIP BY DINO BUZZATI

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source – own copy purchased from amazon

publisher –  NYRB CLASSICS

Dino Buzzati was one of italys leading writers ,he work all his life as a journalist in Milan for the corrierie della sera,during the war he served as a journalist in Africa attached to an Italian marine troop ,he had his first novel published in 1933 ,he is best known for his 1940 novel The Tatar steppes the story of an officer stuck at an old fort in the desert as time passes .Poem strip was his last book  published in 1969 and was his only graphic Novel .

The book follows Orfi a young  brooding musician who falls for a women who is already dead  but up on the surface from the underworld Eura ,he follows her to a door on the viva saterna in Milan ,this door leads to the underworld ,eventually Orfi enters this underworld he wants to bring Eura to the real world again and has a day to find her ,he avoids the temptation of the underworld where he is offered different women to try out  and also sees the chaos of the underworld  .but sticks to his guns .It combines music ,sex and the dark side of life wonderfully .

A sample of the artwork the story itself is a modern retelling of the greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice myth the descent to the underworld if you aren’t keen on reading the original greek  myths this is one of the best modern retelling of this myth .The book is very graphic in places ,you can tell Dino Buzzati liked the female form ,it is compelling and obviously was a real passion for Buzzati who also did a number of actual paintings connected to the story ,these were exhibited in Milan in 2007 .This book is a real find as ever by NYRB they keep turn these wonderful books up .A warped take on the sixties from an  Italian perspective from a philosophical and thoughtful writer ,this has made me want to read Tatar steppe that has been on my wish list for ages .The story was translated by Mairna Harss who has translated a number of the best known Italian writers ,she did a great job of making Orfis songs still seem poetic in translation .

winstons coffee and muffins

~ winstonsdad ~ 6 Comments

Well I ve had a busy non blogging week spent a lovely day at skegness with two of the people I support ,we were lucky and got a nice sunny day .It has been a quiet week for book news .

BOOK NEWS –

The nobel prizes is announced on the 7th october .I did a post wondering who was going to win ,have since seen other and spoke to people ,my feeling is a joint Amos Oz /Elias Khoury award would be a great idea .Also Juan  Goytisolo s a writer that may deserve it the well known Spanish writer is considered one of the best from Spain in twentieth century .What are your feelings ? would you like some one realtively unkown in the english to win like recent years ?


Granta announced a list of writers in Spanish to read ,like there english list of writers to watch ,A lot of the names are new to me ,this seems like a great entry level to the next genration of writers from spain and latin america .

NDRÉS BARBA – Spain, b. 1975
OLIVERIO COELHO – Argentina, b. 1977
ANDRÉS RESSIA COLINO – Uruguay, b. 1977
FEDERICO FALCO – Argentina, b. 1977
PABLO GUTIÉRREZ – Spain, b. 1978
RODRIGO HASBÚN – Bolivia, b. 1981
SÒNIA HERNÁNDEZ – Spain, b. 1976
CARLOS LABBÉ – Chile, b. 1977
JAVIER MONTES – Spain, b. 1976
ELVIRA NAVARRO – Spain, b. 1978
MATÍAS NÉSPOLO – Argentina, b. 1975
ANDRÉS NEUMAN – Argentina, b. 1977
ALBERTO OLMOS – Spain, b. 1975
POLA OLOIXARAC – Argentina, b. 1977
ANTONIO ORTUÑO – Mexico, b. 1976
PATRICIO PRON – Argentina, b. 1975
LUCÍA PUENZO – Argentina, b. 1976
SANTIAGO RONCAGLIOLO – Peru, b. 1975
ANDRÉS FELIPE SOLANO – Colombia, b. 1977
SAMANTA SCHWEBLIN – Argentina, b. 1978
CARLOS YUSHIMITO – Peru, b. 1977
ALEJANDRO ZAMBRA – Chile, b. 1975

there is a spanish blog as well,of the writers only 3 have been translated so far in to English .

of the writers it apears

C BY TOM McCarthy

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This is my second booker shortlist read this year ,Tom McCarthy is considered the next big thing in british lit and this book as very technically clever .Well I enjoyed it ,at times found it very hard going .The book centres on the life of Serge Carafax a young man born on the cusp of a new century the twentieth century ,he is born ,to a family working at a deaf school,he soon becomes fascinated by the new technologies that are appearing and becomes a expert in radio and electrical equipment this sends him through the main events in the first few decades of the twentieth century ,he loves the planes in the first world war and ends up getting caught and made a prisoner and at a prisoner of war camp getting involved in escape plans and caring for his fellow prisoners ,post war he ends up in the swinging twenties of london and the drug scene ,then becomes a wireless operator for what was the internet of its day as it was a   front row technology of the day and led many a young man like Serge to the far-flung corners of what was the British empire then ,well that is the simple overview of the book .but this book is like a cryptic crossword each page has layers and meanings ,there is a great deal of symbolism about technology and its place in society,war drugs ,travel many things cleverly woven .McCarthy has firmly placed himself in the top echelons of British writers .

The static’s like the sound of thinking .Not any single person thinking ,collectively ,It’s bigger than that, wider – and more dialect .It’s like the sound of thought itself,its a hum and rush .Each night ,when Serge drops in on it ,it recoils with a wail ,then rolls back to the crackling waves that carry him away ,all rudderless ,untill his fingers nudging the dial , can get some traction on it at all ,

opening of chapter 3 shows Serges connection with radios and there workings .

I m not going say I got this book completely I d be lying, it is a book that maybe takes a couple of readings to break its shell completely but as my first reading I loved it ,echos of Pychon and Bolano as it says on the cover maybe even early Ballard in places .If it wins the booker it will be a worthy winner . This is my last of the shortlisted reads ,Did have Finklers question from library but they wanted it back ,so will read at a later date .

DID YOU LIKE THIS BOOK ?

WHO DO YOU THINK WILL WIN THE BOOKER THIS YEAR ?


SEPTEMBER ROUND UP

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Well had a bumper month this month ,got through books this month ,have include a few more books in english this month but also a lot in translation still feels like right balance also cleared some of the proofs I ve got will try to clear some more next month well here is what I read this month .

  1. River of shadows by Valerio Varesi
  2. portrait of mother as young women by F C Delius
  3. The guest by Hwang Sok-Yong
  4. the long song Andrea Levy
  5. the Paper House by Carlos Maria Dominguez
  6. Santa Evita by Tomas Eloy Martinez
  7. Vivian and I by Colin Baker
  8. coconut unlimited by Nikesh Shulka
  9. cat and mouse by Gunter Grass
  10. poem strip by Dino Buzzati
  11. Decline and fall by Evelyn Waugh
  12. a very short introduction to spanish literature
  13. c by Tom McCarthy
  14. What he’s poised to do by Ben Greenman

As you see I ve read more than I ve reviewed the highlights were coconut unlimited and decline and fall ,I ll try to catch up next month on reviews .

Challenges –

99/100 books – just reading my 100 th book of year the end Salvatore Scibona

18/52 Around the world manage one book ,but have passed 50 countries this year so fairly happy with scope of reading

OCTOBER PLANS

R.I.P reading ,city lit book ,the new Andrei Makine a thriller ,a collection of female writing from eastern Europe ,the new David Grossman book will finish Don Quixote .catch up on the books I ve read on blog .

HOW WAS YOUR SEPTEMBER ?

WHAT PLANS YOU GOT FOR OCTOBER ?