2020 Reading Record of PGMCC - Episode 5

Read in 2020

Title; Author; Status; Start/end date; Number of pages

Reality is not what it seems by Carlo Rovelli 3/12/2019 - 20.01.2020 234 pages
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey 20/01/2020 - 26/01/2020 222 pages
The Last Best Friend by George Sims 27/01/2020 - 31/01/2020 191 pages
Dread Journey by Dorothy B. Hughes 31/01/202 - 05/02/2020 264 pages
Fifty Things That Made The Modern Economy by
Tim Harford 06/02/2010 - 17/02/2020 292 pages.
The Lights Go Out In Lychford by Paul Cornell 09/02/2020 - 11/02/2020 162 pages
It was the best of sentences, it was the worst of sentences. by June Casagrande 17/02/2020 -
The Rook by Daniel O’Malley 17/02/2020 - 05/03/2020 482 pages
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain 06/03/2020 - 09/03/2020 116 pages
When The Wind Blows by Cyril Hare 09/03/2020 - 15/03/2020 254 pages
The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr 15/06/2020 - 25/03/2020 255 pages
Shadowplay by Joseph O'Connor 26/03/2020 - 10/04/2020 320 pages
The Intercom Conspiracy by Eric Ambler 10/04/2020 - 17/04/2020 217 pages
Golden Hill by Francis Spufford 17/04/2020 - 25/02/2020 321 pages
An English Murder by Cyril Hare 26/02/2020 - 02/05/2020 202 pages
The Green Man's Foe by Juliet E. McKenna 02/05/2020 - 09/05/2020 251 pages
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk 09/05/2020 - 01/06/2020 410 pages
Atlantic Fury by Hammond Innes 16/05/2020 - 18/05/2020 320 pages
Selkie Summer by Ken MacLeod 18/05/2020 - 24-05-2020 99 pages
The Schirmer Inheritance by Eric Ambler 01/06/2020 - 02/06/2020 228 pages
Transcription by Kate Atkins 03/05/2020 - 11/06/2020 416 pages
The Last Day at Bowen's Court by Eibhear Walsh 11/06/2020 - 14/06/2020 192 pages
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng 14/06/2020 - 24/06/2020 448 pages
The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty 24/06/2020 - 12/07/2020 766 pages
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett 12/07/2020 - 23/07/2020 334 pages
Hezada! I Miss You by Erin Pringle 23/07/2020 - 29/07/2020 332 pages
Munky by B. Catling 29/07/2020 - 30/07/2020 105 pages
A Man by Keiichiro Hirano 30/07/2020 - 09/08/2020 295 pages
Best of British Science Fiction edited by Donna Scott 09/08/2020 - 233 pages
Fracture by Andrés Neuman 20/08/2020 - 16/09/2020 350 pages
The Green Man's Silence by Juliet E. McKenna 17/09/2020 - 23/09/2020 294 pages
The Quiller Memorandum by Adam Hall 23/09/2020 - 30/09/2020 232 pages
The Financial System Limit by David Kauders, 27/09/2020 - 27/09/2020 49 pages
The Dictator and the Hammock by Daniel Pennac 30/09/2020 - 17/10/2020 276 pages
Quiller: The 9th Directive by Adam Hall 17/10/2020 - 25/10/2020 188 pages
Cabin No. 9 by Beatrice Grimshaw 25/10/2020 - 26/10/2020 12 pages
The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford 26/10/2020 - ? pages
Disoriental by Négar Djavadi 10/11/2020 - 18/11/2020 Abandoned at page 160 of 340 pages
Lucifer and the Child by Ethel Mannin 18/11/2020 - 16/12/2020 291 pages
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel 17/12/2020 -
Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely 20/12/2020 -
Last Stand in Lychford by Paul Cornell 21/12/2020 - 25/12/2020 194 pages
The Siren by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa 29/12/2020 - 29/12/2020 22 pages

I have interrupted my reading of The Dragon Waiting in an attempt to read one of the books earmarked for our next book club reading.

Disoriental is written from the viewpoint of an Iranian who whose is living in Paris.

>2 pgmcc: I love that cover. I hope that the contents live up to it.

>3 Sakerfalcon: I do not know if it is me, or if it is the book, but I am not overwhelmed by it. It is a good book, interesting, but I am not itching to get back to it.

The content is interesting. It is about Iranians living in Europe, France to be specific, and has flashbacks to four generations earlier, and also to the fall of the Shah, an event I remember well. There are many interesting elements to it, including family relationships and social practices, government repression and social activism, and cultural influence.

It starts with the discomfort of an Iranian man living in Paris and how he feels "other", not accepted, different; something that adds to the feeling of being away from home and finding if difficult to feel at home in his new home.

The parents of the main character were involved in political activities at the time of the Shah's overthrow. Her father in particular was an intellectual who was outspoken and often in hiding. Her mother supported the father's ideals and also suffered.

>4 pgmcc: Interesting. E situation that you describe sounds familiar, but the book itself does not.

Has the author written before? Or, I suppose, it must simply be a common situation. :-/

>5 -pilgrim-: I do not know much about the author but I think this was her debut novel.

In my previous threads I have often mentioned how much I enjoy the ghost stories of M R James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936). ("Montgomery Rhodes", for the curious.) I will also have expressed great pleasure at the performances of Robert Lloyd Perry, a performer who tells the M R James stories in the persona of M R James.

Robert plies his trade by travelling around Britain and telling the tales in relatively small venues where he can create an intimate atmosphere that emulates the Oxford study of the great author of ghostly tales. I have attended several of his performances and strongly recommend that you avail yourself of this delightful experience if you ever get the chance.

As you can imagine the pandemic has put an end to Robert's live performances. Over the months of the COVID-19 horror he has adapted and has been telling his tales on-line. His work is carried out under the banner of Nunkie Productions. The link below will take you to a schedule of his on-line performances which are delivered via Zoom and youtube. He suggests a modest donation but is happy for people to donate what they can afford. These performances are a great experience and I think you would enjoy them.

http://www.nunkie.co.uk/schedule

Happy new thread! Hopefully I will remember to look for the M R James stories before next Halloween.

just started Empire of Gold cant wait to get through this gem :)

>9 S.O.Lessey: I hope you enjoy it.

>8 clamairy:
They are worth reading. They are a delight to have told to you by M R James, albeit Robert Lloyd Perry in the persona of M R James.

>9 S.O.Lessey: I have not written a review of The Empire of Gold but my review of City of Brass covers most of the reasons I liked the whole trilogy.

I see from your profile that you are new to LibraryThing (LT) and The Green Dragon group. I hope you like LT and that you will drop into the GD often for a chat and a drink. As you will see from the group page we treat it as a pub where we can talk about books and anything else that happens to come to mind except touchy subjects like politics or religion (See the sign on the group page.). Welcome to the Green Dragon. Let us know what you think of The Empire of Gold.

>9 S.O.Lessey: Ah ha, a new member! Welcome! Promise we are mostly relatively sane here, but cast your eyes over some of the past threads for some idea of what you're letting yourself in for.

>13 haydninvienna:
Relative to what?

>14 suitable1: at the moment, relative to the rest of the world.

>14 suitable1: I’m with >15 haydninvienna: on this one.

I have abandoned Disoriental by Négar Djavadi. It is a worthy book in terms of subject matter and message, but it goes on, and on, and on...

The book is written from the viewpoint of an Iranian woman living in Paris. Her father had been a political activist before the revolution that toppled the Shah of Iran in 1979. The father continued to be an activist after the Revolution and fled the country to escape persecution.

The Disoriental presents the way immigrants in a country are treated and how they feel. It also describes the treatment of women at different stages in Persian/Iranian culture by looking at their plight over four generations. While I did not finish the book I read enough to see how the author was paralleling the treatment of women in culture with the the treatment of immigrants in their adopted home. The treatment of women, even in the adopted home, is still disrespectful and oppressive, but when that is compounded with being an immigrant in that land the effect on the individual can be paralysing.

I remember the Iranian revolution very well, so I can relate to the timeline. This book has a lot of interesting information about the establishment of Iran and the involvement of foreign powers. It was some history that I was not aware of.

I was reading this book for a book club but I am afraid I cannot build up any enthusiasm for the book, I do not have any curiosity about what happens the characters. The world of COVID is miserable enough without making life more miserable by reading about the misfortunes of others. The book is sapping my energy and I need something to cheer me up rather than expose the cruelty of humanity.

Will I seek out another book by this author? No.

Would I recommend it to anyone? Possibly.

Who would I recommend it to? If someone asked me about the reason feminism is important or how immigrants feel in their adopted home-country I would suggest this book as a possibility, but would give them the warning that it does go on, and on, and on,... For a book of only 340 pages to have made me feel this way after only 160 pages that is some going.

Having abandoned Disoriental because it is too miserable and draining I have decided to lighten my mood by reading a book that starts with the burning of two sisters for witchcraft in 1618 in England. Their mother was also accused of witchcraft but protested her innocence and stated that she would eat bread provided to her and that if she were a witch this would kill her. On being provided with bread she proceeded to eat it, choke, and drop down dead after one mouthful. The factual story of this witch trial can be read here.

In the second paragraph we are introduced to Jenny Flower who was born on Halloween in 1924.

I shall read on and report. Bwahahahaha...

This Friday marks forty years to the day from when my wife and I first met. We were both attending the annual conference of The Operations Research Society of Ireland. The conference dinner was a medieval banquet in Bunratty Castle. We have a photograph of us together at the banquet wearing the bibs they give you for eating the ribs they serve. We are having ribs on Friday night as a little commemoration of that wonderful evening.

Our engagement was announced by the president of the society at the following year’s conference.

>19 pgmcc: Lovely story. Thanks very much for sharing. And hearty felicitations to you and your bride.

Our younger son is working on an MBA part-time and has just finished a class on OR.

>19 pgmcc: I hope you enjoy your celebratory ribs and many more years of togetherness.

>19 pgmcc:
How were the ribs?

>19 pgmcc: That is a lovely story! I hope you enjoy your celebration and that there will be many more such anniversaries to come.

>19 pgmcc: Congratulations and best wishes to you both!

>19 pgmcc: Congratulations and loads of happiness!

>20 Jim53:; >21 SylviaC:; >23 Sakerfalcon:; >24 haydninvienna:; >25 hfglen:

Thank you, all. When I can find the photograph I will share it. I usually have it on a shelf in my study but it does not appear to be there at the moment. Oops!

>22 suitable1:
The ribs were fine. The ribs tomorrow night will be much nicer. They have had 40 years to mature.

>26 pgmcc:

Yay for 40 years together!

>19 pgmcc: Quite a milestone! Congrats!

>19 pgmcc: Congratulations! I love the way you are celebrating. My husband and I would have to have cream cheese and bagels, then ice cream if we did that. Only, I have no idea of the date.

>19 pgmcc: Happy anniversary, and may you have many more happy years together!

>27 suitable1:; >28 ScoLgo:; >29 MrsLee:; >30 NorthernStar:

Thank you all.

To add another little detail about our meeting.

A colleague, Ronnie, and I had sat down to lunch at the conference. The tables had four place settings each. My wife to be had travelled down from Dublin to Limerick by a later train and had missed the conference morning sessions. She entered the dining room full of strangers, mostly men, and wondered where she would sit. After scanning the room she picked our table. According to her account of the decision-making process, "I saw Ronnie and he looked friendly. I saw you and thought you looked safe."

>31 pgmcc: Congrats and thanks for the story, that's a good one.

>31 pgmcc:

Safe? One could hope for "interesting".

Oh, belated congrats! I'm sure the ribs were splendid; such a great way to celebrate!

Last Stand in Lychford Kindle edition due for release tomorrow, 24th November, 2020

I will be interested to see what topics Paul Cornell has chosen to attack in this story.

For those of you interested in the Nunkie Production's presentations of M. R. James's stories (I am looking at you Maddz), A View from a Hill is being told by M. R. James (Robert Lloyd Perry) on Friday evening, 27th November, 2020, at 7:30pm GMT.

Copying fuzzi and Sakerfalcon.

1. Name any book you read at any time that was published in the year you turned 18:
The Wind’s Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. Le Guin

2. Name a book you have on in your TBR pile that is over 500 pages long:
The Neutronium Alchemist by Peter Hamilton 1,225 pages

3. What is the last book you read with a mostly blue cover?
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk

4. What is the last book you didn’t finish (and why didn’t you finish it?)
Disoriental by Négar Djavadi

5. What is the last book that scared the bejeebers out of you?
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

6. Name the book that you read either this year or last year that takes place geographically closest to where you live?
47 Seconds by Jane Ryan. A police procedural story in Dublin. Not really recommended.

7.What were the topics of the last two nonfiction books you read?
The world finance system. The Financial System Limit by David Kauders.
Storytelling. The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr

8. Name a recent book you read which could be considered a popular book?
This begs the question of what one means by, “popular”. I shall take it as popular amongst my circle of friends and acquaintances. Empire of Gold by S. A. Chakraborty

9. What was the last book you gave a rating of 5-stars to? And when did you read it?
Hezada! I Miss You by Erin Pringle. July 2020

10. Name a book you read that led you to specifically read another book (and what was the other book, and what was the connection)
Drood by Dan Simmons. It led me to read The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens. Drood was a book that used the name of the main character in Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel. I bought a copy of Drood and decided to read The Mystery of Edwin Drood before reading Drood so I could assess what Simmons had done with the original material. If I were to recommend one of the other, I would recommend The Mystery of Edwin Drood, even if Dickens did not get to finish it.

11. Name the author you have most recently become infatuated with.
It must be a tie between Eric Ambler and S.A. Chakraborty.

12. What is the setting of the first novel you read this year?
A hospital in England. An injured detective takes his time recovering to apply his police procedural training to the question of whether or not Richard III did or did not murder the twins in the tower. Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey.

13. What is the last book you read, fiction or nonfiction, that featured a war in some way (and what war was it)?
Fracture by Andrés Neuman. WWII, in particular the dropping on nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

14. What was the last book you acquired or borrowed based on an LTer’s review or casual recommendation?
Russians Among Us by Gordon Carera. clamairy was the book-bullet sniper.

15. What the last book you read that involved the future in some way?
Best of British Science Fiction edited by Donna Scott.

16. Name the last book you read that featured a body of water, river, marsh, or significant rainfall?
The Green Man’s Silence by Juliet E. McKenna.

17. What is last book you read by an author from the Southern Hemisphere?
Fracture by Andrés Neuman. He is Argentinian/Spanish. Born in Argentina.

18. What is the last book you read that you thought had a terrible cover?
The Last Day at Bowens’ Court by Eibhear Walsh

19. Who was the most recent dead author you read? And what year did they die?
John M. Ford. Died on September 25th, 2006.

20. What was the last children’s book (not YA) you read?
How to be a Lion

21. What was the name of the detective or crime-solver in the most recent crime novel you read?
Doctor Bottwink solves the mystery in An English Murder by Cyril Hare.

22. What was the shortest book of any kind you’ve read so far this year?
The Financial System Limit by David Kauders. 49 pages.

23. Name the last book that you struggled with (and what do you think was behind the struggle?)
Disoriental. I just lost the will to live go on.

24. What is the most recent book you added to your library here on LT?
Theory of Constraints by Eli Goldratt.

25. Name a book you read this year that had a visual component (i.e. illustrations, photos, art, comics)
Reality is not what it seems by Carlo Rovelli. It has some diagrams to explain the concepts in physics it was discussing.

BONUS QUESTION!
26. What is the title and year of the oldest book in your physical library that you have reviewed on LT?
Jane Eyre 1847

Touchstones appear to be taking a rest.

I enjoyed reading your choices and reasons for choosing. This is a very fun quiz. Thanks to fuzzi for getting us started on it!

I like reading the quiz answers as well.

>39 MrsLee: The pressure is on. We are waiting for your answers. :-)

>37 pgmcc: "Jane Eyre 1847" That's impressive!

>37 pgmcc:

#1: Such a good collection.

#15: How did you like Best of British Science Fiction 2019? I ran across that one looking for more Ken MacLeod but have not yet pulled the trigger on the purchase, (sorry to say but Ken had to take a back seat at the time in favor of the latest Elizabeth Hurley... ;)

#23: LOL!

#24: I sold my copy of that one on eBay a couple of months ago. Didn't think anyone else would have even heard of it.

I am up early waiting for three bookcases from IKEA to be delivered. :-)



The map updates as the van moves and the number of drops before mine counts down as they get closer. So exciting.

The simple things in life help during Lock-down.

...only two more visits to complete before they get here. The tension is mounting.

>43 pgmcc: Did you get any of those books from Ikea with the long instructions?

>44 Jim53:
Yes, I got the instruction leaflet.

One can also buy books from IKEA. See below.

>43 pgmcc: I love tracking apps. So much fun to see where your parcel is, whether going or coming!

>46 NorthernStar: I understand they are all run by a company called Big Brother Incorporated.

;-)

Lock-down Book Club update

Our book club Zoom meeting was last night. There were two books for discussion.

Disoriental and A Brief History of Seven Killings. There were seven people on the call. One had finished both books; two were 37% through "A Brief History..."; five had finished "Disoriental"; I had given up on "Disoriental" at 130 pages.

Apart from the person who had finished both books we all agreed that the pandemic and working from home has exhausted us all and we are suffering a bit of lethargy. That is our excuse and we are sticking to it.

We still had a great session and a great chat. It was good fun.

Given our reading performance for this month it was decided to go with only one book for December. The book chosen was, Station Eleven.

>48 pgmcc: Station Eleven is a very good selection for this year. If you haven't read this, yet, then especially the beginning book will take you back to March/April this year. I certainly was reminded of the supermarket scene from this book.

>49 BrokenTune: The back cover bumf was read out by the person proposing it and I can relate to what you are saying from that. As it happens I already have the book, so I can get into it relatively soon. I have to finish at least one other book first.

>48 pgmcc: I have read Station Eleven twice now. Once in 2015 and again earlier this year. Five stars for me both times through. I won't say anything else about the book other than that I hope you enjoy both reading and discussing it.

>51 ScoLgo: That sounds promising.

Are you using the weekend to construct the IKEA bookshelves? Depending upon personal skill sets, this could be a task that only takes an hour or one that takes two days...

And what was the verdict on Lucifer and the Child? Inquiring minds want to know.

>53 jillmwo: I will be constructing bookshelves on Saturday.

Lucifer and the Child is very interesting. I am only about one third through and it is intriguing. It is using the supernatural as an extension of nature and is very much in the folklore magic mold.

I had a helper this morning as I was building a Billy bookcase.



This evening the moon was once again looking beautiful.

>55 pgmcc: so glad you have help on this project! Looks like you have an excellent supervisor.

Beautiful moon picture!

>56 NorthernStar: Thank you!

My supervisor is very demanding and likes to get right into the middle of the task.

While Willow and I were building the bookcase I noticed we were being observed. It must have been an industrial spy trying to get detail on our Billy building process.

>58 pgmcc: So the phrase "A little bird told me" may indeed be factual?

>59 MrsLee: Did you ever doubt that it was true?

>58 pgmcc: I spy, with my little eye....

How did it end up, Peter?

>62 haydninvienna: The spy flew away.

>62 haydninvienna: I think this is more the answer you were looking for.



The far bookcase is the one I built yesterday. The closer one was the product of last weekend's effort.

>64 pgmcc: Will some of the non-book inhabitants move eventually into the less crowded quarters of the new bookcase? Or are there other homeless non-books in an "informal settlement" somewhere out of sight?

>64 pgmcc: Exactly so. Good work, Peter.

Urgh. I have missed a lot. Very belated congratulations to you both on your wedding anniversary. May you have as many more happy years together!

And I see that you have welcomed me back with a BB as usual. I am now looking out for Lucifer and the Child.

>66 haydninvienna: Thank you! And how did yours turn out?

>65 hfglen: The room the bookcases are in is a room that was my eldest's bedroom. It has had two other occupants since then. Consequently it was full of their belongings that they have not retrieved. I have been sorting through the "junk" to make the room useable.

Some of the "junk" was the non-book items you see in the picture. They have been placed on the bookshelf because one of our granddaughters will be with us for Christmas and my wife thought it would be nice for her to see friendly beasties around the house. Whether they migrate to the second bookcase or not will be a matter of the seasons and the beasties' natural instincts; or possibly my wife's view on what our granddaughter will like.

>67 -pilgrim-: Thank you.

I hope you find a copy of Lucifer and the Child. I believe it has been out of print for a long time. The copy I have is from Swan River Press (SRP). SRP produced a limited edition of the book. I happen to collect all the publications from SRP.

>58 pgmcc: Fantastic photo of the spy! He needs some lessons in how to carry out covert missions though.

Good job on the bookcase building. Your supervisor clearly inspired you!

>71 Sakerfalcon: My supervisor was great inspiration. She sat there, chewing on her Bonio, watching everything I did.

The bookcase I put together on Saturday would have been the thirteenth 80cm wide Billy I have put together. My supervisor said I must keep building Billy bookcases until I get it right. There are two more Billys to be built and put into that room, so I have two more chances to improve.

I think the spy does need to attend a class on camouflage. That big red breast is just too flashy for discreet surveillance operations.

Have you started Station Eleven yet? Like >51 ScoLgo: I won't say anything about it, but the theme is extremely appropriate, and while I only gave it 4 stars, not 5, it was a profound and well written read.

>73 Busifer: I have not started it yet. The positive comments are encouraging me to get to it.

>73 Busifer: There is just something about her writing style that works for me. While I found Station Eleven to be a great book, I also understand where it falls short for others.

>74 pgmcc: I hope I have not elevated your expectations, Peter. Even saying something innocuous about a book (or movie) can impact how another person ends up perceiving it. For example, when someone mentions, "Wait until you get to the twist", I get annoyed. Simply knowing there is a twist makes me expect one and tends to ruin the surprise. That simple statement has reduced my enjoyment of many books & films in the past. To be clear, I am not saying there is a twist in Station Eleven. There might be. Or there might not. You will just have to find out for yourself. ;)

Have either of you read any other Emily St. John Mandel titles?

>75 ScoLgo:

Oh ScoLgo, I am really looking forward to reading Station Eleven. Your strong endorsement is making me really excited. I love twists; the more twists the better. :-)

I am very much a believer that high expectations destroy a book. I will try to take deep breaths before reading it.

My wife was was thinking of joining the book club. I showed her Station Eleven and started reading the bumf on the back. When I was reading the second paragraph and it mentioned "a deadly virus..." my wife immediately said, "What idiot suggested this book? That is ridiculous. Who would be stupid enough to suggest we read a book like that in the middle of a pandemic?"

I suspect my wife will not be joining the book club.

Have either of you read any other Emily St. John Mandel titles?

More recommendations for her. You really have my hyped up for Station Eleven and all her other wonderful books.

;-)

>76 pgmcc: Too bad your wife won't be joining your book club. If you enjoy the story, she may wish to visit it some day when the Georgia Flu Coronavirus is firmly in our rear-view mirror. Either way, I will be interested to read what your book group thinks of the novel.

Of the other Mandel titles I have read, The Lola Quartet was my next favorite. The one that didn't really work for me was The Singer's Gun.

>77 ScoLgo: I see the UK has formally approved the Pfizer vaccine and is planning a roll-out. That is the first step out of this mess.

Regardless of expectation regarding Station Eleven I am keen to read it to see how they turn a deadly virus incident into a book that people appear to have strong feelings about.

The Singer's Gun? What was a sewing machine doing with a gun?

I now have thoughts of a military sewing machine approaching a ship and hailing the crew with the message, "Stand by; you are about to be embroidered."

I am hoping that Santa drops a gift card in my stocking so that I can work my way towards purchase of a copy of Lucifer and the Child. Not a lot of extra copies floating about so the ones that are seem to be expensive.

>79 jillmwo: I spoke to the Swan River Press. When their limited edition copies are sold out they plan to add Lucifer and the Child to their list of books available as soft copies. I was told that could be a couple of years before it is available. :-(

I am finding the quality of the writing to be excellent, and the description of the environment and characters is succinct and effective.

>79 jillmwo: Lucifer and the Child is still available directly from Swan River Press for 40€ (currently $48.75 US Dollars). Worldwide shipping is included in that price. There are also a couple of 'brand new' SRP copies on eBay for $48.00 w/free shipping. Older printings are less costly, albeit in worse shape, on Abe Books, Biblio.com, etc...

I am very tempted to buy myself a SRP copy for my Thingaversary, which happens to be today.

>80 pgmcc: and >81 ScoLgo: I have made a note of your input. It's nice to hear that there may be a softcover in their plans long run. I've verified that I can find copies that are in the 45-55 dollar range here in the US through the US outlet that Peter mentioned (that is, abebooks.com). Again, perhaps after Christmas.

But ScoLgo, you should CERTAINLY grab yourself a copy for your Thingaversary!!! (And then you can post a review and that will remind me after Christmas to go buy the book, using whatever clever wiles are necessary.)

>81 ScoLgo: I agree with >82 jillmwo:. The SRP books are beautifully produced.

>83 pgmcc: I just placed the order. The eBay seller wanted an additional $20.00 for the extras, (two publicity postcards laid in, plus a facsimile of the author's signature). I opted to purchase direct from Swan River Press after Brian confirmed that those items are included. Their price of 40€ = $50.23 USD, which is nearly $17.00 less than the eBay option. Considering this book will only increase in value once the 400 are gone, I think I got a very nice deal but...

I have been on a book-buying spree lately and must now stop before Mrs. ScoLgo catches wind. (I fear 'The Look'... o_O)

>84 ScoLgo: Well done. Brian always includes extras like that as part of the price.

I am sure you will enjoy it.

>84 ScoLgo:

Would Mrs. ScoLgo be interested in part-time work for the enforcers? Sounds like she would be a natural.

>86 suitable1: Good Lord! Be careful what you wish for!

>86 suitable1: and >87 ScoLgo: I have heard they're hiring. And if she's really good at The Look, she'd probably be a shoe-in for the job...

>86 suitable1: >87 ScoLgo: >88 jillmwo:

if she's really good at The Look,

"The Look" is, I believe, one of Jill's super powers.

>89 pgmcc: As it happens, this is true. I once got two small boys acting up in church to immediately quiet down when I gave 'em that look, and I was standing about eight feet away from them at the time. Other women in the parish immediately sought me out to learn my secret.

>18 pgmcc: I can't stop chuckling. "Having abandoned Disoriental because it is too miserable and draining I have decided to lighten my mood by reading a book that starts with the burning of two sisters for witchcraft in 1618 in England."

>19 pgmcc: Congrats on 40 years together!

>35 pgmcc: Oh, I'm looking forward to this one! They've all been pleasurable reads.

>48 pgmcc: Station Eleven is awesome. I hope you enjoy it. I also gave it five stars.

Saw the completed shelves on Facebook. Glad you got them completed!

>91 clamairy: Saw the completed shelves on Facebook. Glad you got them completed!

When the room is tidied up a bit more I will share a few pictures to show the six bookcases in that room. At present there is a big mess in the middle of the room; mostly my eldest daughter's detritus that we wish to dump in her house.

>90 jillmwo:
She's a killer queen,
Dynamite with a LASER beam LOOK,
Guaranteed to blow your mind!

I can believe it.

:-)

>92 pgmcc: Looking forward to the pics.
(Sorry for the redundancy. LOL)

Stopping by to say "Hi" sort of in a drive-thru manner. At least it won't be a hit and run like the rest of you tend to do. ;) Enjoying the chatter.

>95 MrsLee: Great to see you drive through. At least you were careful enough not to crash into any of the furniture in the living room.

Keep well!

This is a book I just discovered in our house. I recall buying as a present for someone many years ago. I thought the denizens of the Green Dragon pub would find if of particular interest.

>97 pgmcc: :D I wouldn't want to read it if it is printed like the cover though!

>98 MrsLee: LOL That would add another dimension to the piffle.

>97 pgmcc: For some weird reason that image isn't showing up for me. Tried the link in a new tab. FORBIDDEN

>97 pgmcc: that sounds like it could be fun!

>100 clamairy: That is strange. It is a copy of the image address from the LT page for Balderdash and Piffle. Can you see the image on the book's page?

>101 NorthernStar: With only 23 days left in December it is possible a piffle party may be required to trigger the next thread link. That being the case we may find out if this book is fun or not.

I can see it fine using Chrome on my phone, so it might just be an issue with desktop.

>103 pgmcc: Let the piffling commence!

(I'm going to need help on my thread as well.)

>105 clamairy: As you know I am always happy to lend a piffle when it is needed.

>106 pgmcc: Piffle?

Did someone say...

Piffle?!?

I believe several someones said "piffle."

Pifflemania could break out at any time.

Or Pifflegeddon!

>112 clamairy: Piffleocalypse?

>113 ScoLgo: >112 clamairy:
SuperPIFFLEfradgelisticexpeealadocious!

>113 ScoLgo: Isn't that a character on Sesame Street?

Piffledom reigns supreme!

>114 pgmcc: The sound of that is simply atrocious... ;-)

>115 clamairy: I'm not sure. I mostly missed out on Sesame Street as I was past that age when my family emigrated to the US. But that reminds me of a joke I heard recently...

I was recently asked to name my favorite vampire character.
I said, "The muppet from Sesame Street."
They told me, "He doesn't count."
I replied, "I assure you, he does."

>117 ScoLgo: lol, love that joke!

>117 ScoLgo: Ha, that's great! I never really watched Sesame Street though, only when I was maybe four or five; my parents and my sister remember more about it than I. Visually, though, muppets are adorable!

My kids watched it as wee things, along with all of the other awesome shows on PBS. I did watch The Muppet Show in prime time as a young adult, with my father and we both really enjoyed it.

>97 pgmcc: I vote we give the authors honorary membership of the GD. Er: you didn’t write it under a couple of pen-names, did you, Peter?

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #1

My youngest grandchild, Oonagh, was born on 21st of August. That is now two girls and one boy in my grandchildren collection. I do not intend ranking my Better Side of 2020 good events, but I think this has to be in the running for the first place if I were to carry out a ranking exercise.

>121 haydninvienna: I second your vote, and "no", I was not exercising my identity shifting skills. Those skills are subject to very stringent controls. Discipline would be applied if one used such skills simply for the sake of piffle, no matter how many posts you need to reach the new thread trigger point.

Piffle theme - The Better Side of 2020
Having raised the topic of piffling and piffle parties I have been thinking about how piffling can be beneficial to the participants. I have come to a conclusion. Since 2020 has been full of miserable events and people have been living under a massive cloud all year I thought it would be nice if our piffling had a cheering theme. I have decided to post one piffle post a day in this thread from now to the end of 2020. Each of these piffle posts will contain a description of something good that happened in 2020. We need some balance. I want to leave 2020 with some good things in my mind.

As I only need 30 posts to reach the 250 trigger I expect an overshoot, but do not worry, I will still be eager to participate in other threads with a larger post deficit.

I would contribute to your better side of 2020, but I am bound to secrecy for the time being. Won't be released before 2021.

>124 MrsLee: Oh you tease! You have me on the edge of my seat.

:D

You are just asking for a enforcer visit --- year-end piffle before Christmas time.

>127 suitable1: Bring it on!

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #2

Visiting London for four days in January for a mini break was wonderful. We had not been in London together for leisure purposes for over twenty-two years. We stayed in an inexpensive, clean and fairly comfortable hotel near Hyde Park. We would go back there again. The public transport system (trains; Underground; Overground) proved simple to use, although we did have some difficulty finding the right stations between the Underground and the Overground.

It was novel to have to change currency to visit London. We have not had to do that when travelling within Europe since 2002. Having to buy sterling for England required us to check exchange rates and commission charges. One also has to ensure it is English sterling one is buying as Scottish or Northern Ireland sterling notes are not accepted in England, whereas the English notes are accepted in both Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Our visit had a few high points that will feature in future "The Better Side of 2020" Piffle Posts.

Today I received a copy of The Great Quake by Henry Fountain.



This was a book bullet from NorthernStar and I am really looking forward to reading it. Alison brought me right back to my teenage years with this book, and even to my earlier years. It is about the 1964 earthquake in Anchorage, and I remember that being reported on the news. I would have been seven years old and on mature reflection*, it could have been the moment that triggered my interest in Geology, the subject I eventually studied at university.

One of the topics discussed is plate tectonics which was still a new concept when I was at secondary school and which I found fascinating. Having been reminded about that I also remembered another theory that was in its infancy at the time; the theory that birds are the result of dinosaur evolution, a theory that is generally accepted now as more and more evidence is amassed of dinosaurs with feathers. My Palaeontology lecturer was an interesting eccentric. Apparently he was a leading expert on sponges and was an active participant in the debate about the birds being descended from the dinosaurs. He supported the theory and carried out a lot of correspondence on the topic.

The lecturer was, as I mentioned, an eccentric and there are many stories I could tell about him but I suspect if I wrote them down I would be committing some sort of crime. I think these stories will have to wait until COVID is gone and we can sit down in a physical Green Dragon Inn and tell them over a pint.

*This was a phrase used by an Irish politician when being questioned about some event he "could not remember" but, on mature reflection, his memory improved. That would have been in the 1980s or 1990s. I suppose only people beyond a certain age in Ireland remember it. I like to categorise it with phrases like "plausible deniability"; phrases that politicians use.

>130 pgmcc: my marksmanship was good on this one! Hope you enjoy.

>131 NorthernStar: You got me right between the eyes.

>129 pgmcc: Having never visited Europe, I'm not sure I understand how the currency thing works. I thought everyone used Euros now? Is it only London that is different?

>133 Darth-Heather: The United Kingdom still has a national currency. Of actual members of the European Union, Sweden and Denmark still have national currencies, and so do most of the newer Eastern European members (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland etc). I'm not sure about Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

>133 Darth-Heather: No. The European Monetary Union was a policy of the European Union that the United Kingdom declined to adopt - and as an early member, it got away with it.

Nowadays countries that apply to join the EU are expected to adopt the Euro. However there are various fiscal requirements that need to be met before the local currency can be pegged to the Euro (i.e. a permanent equivalence) and not all immediately reach the targets set.

Thus not all EU countries use the Euro (Poland is another that has chosen to maintain its own currency, as do 6 more.)

Then there are all the European countries, such as Switzerland, Macedonia, Albania and Iceland (for example), who have never joined the European Union and do not use the Euro. (And in 2021 the United Kingdom is leaving the EU and will join them.)

And finally there are a few small countries, such as Andorra and Monaco, that are not EU members, but use the Euro anyway.

The Euro is a currency that is shared by a number of European states. But it is by no means the only currency used in Europe.

>134 haydninvienna: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia use the euro. As does Slovakia.* As you say, Sweden and Denmark are the two EU member states that did not adopt the euro.

The euro is fantastic from a travelling point of view. You can walk out of your house with money in your pocket, travel to another euro zone country and spend the money there; no need to change currency or get travellers cheques. In business within the euro zone it does away with the losses and gains on currency conversion as there is no conversion. Currency speculators lost opportunities to make money on exchange rates as there are fewer currencies.

* Edited to correct error.

wow. That is intimidating. How do you keep track of the different exchange rates when traveling? In the US we don't have much experience with this. I didn't have to exchange money to travel to Canada, as most places accepted American dollars or I just used my credit card. The ATM did give me Canadian currency though, which I used up before coming back.

>137 Darth-Heather:
You can certainly use your credit card in Europe as well - although his widely it will be accepted, and the ease of finding an ATM, will vary wildly from country to country. But you should be aware that the exchange rate that you will be given by the credit card company is likely to compare unfavourably with changing your money at a bank or Bureau de Change.

Am interesting side-effect of the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK had been to hasten the move towards an electronic economy. Many shops currently refuse to accept cash, and require the use of contactless payments.

This is particularly the case in cafés, where the ability to pay without any physical contact between customer and payment device is obviously good hygiene, but at the same time registers the identity of all customers, and thus complies with the government's "Track and Trace" policy regarding eating in public places.

>137 Darth-Heather: Travelling from here in Eswatini, Lesotho or Namibia it's easy: you pay in Rands and expect to get change in a mixture of Rands and Emalangeni, Maloti or Namibian dollars as appropriate; making sure you shed the local currency before returning*, as it isn't convertible anywhere else. Botswana is a bit more problematic, in that a Pula costs rather more than a Rand and ATMs are few and far between (for example, on the Trans-Kalahari Highway there are no signs of life at all between Kang and the Namibian border, almost 500 km away); much the same is true in Mozambique. And nobody in their right mind goes willingly to Zimbabwe, where the inflation rate rivals Germany-in-1923.

For use further afield, our banks offer a facility like a debit card, pre-loaded with foreign currency: US$, Euro, Sterling or Australian dollars that I know of; possibly others as well. Some years ago I used a US$ card from my local bank when visiting China with no problems -- the hotel in Beijing had an ATM, so I could draw Yuan as needed.

*ETA: That may and arguably should remind visitors to Britain of the problems in using Scottish and Northern Irish notes outside their area of origin.

>139 hfglen:
Your ETA comment alludes to a subject that has fuelled many arguments over the years, usually in shops in London. Firstly the shops are likely to claim never to have heard of or seen Scottish or Northern Irish sterling bank notes, and secondly, Lindon shop assistance and managers are no match for angry Scots or Northern Irish who will argue that they are in the United Kingdom and they can spend their legally produced sterling notes anywhere in the United Kingdom. The funniest arguments occur when Republican minded Northern Irish people adopt the Unionist position to beat the shop assistant or manager into submission. This is also stoked by the shop people in Lindon frequently taking Northern Irish accents for Scottish accents.

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #3

A Green Dragon LT meet-up was one of the highlights of 2020 for me. It took place in January in Foyles’ Bookshop café in London. Mrs PGMCC and I got to meet Sakerfalcon and -pilgrim-. We had a great few hours nattering, drinking tea/coffee and enjoying being together.

Claire, next time we are in London we will meet you in the bookshop near your work if you are free.

A big thank you to Sakerfalcon and -pilgrim- for making the effort to meet us. We really appreciate it.

>141 pgmcc: I remember it well, since it was the most recent physical sociall interaction that I have had. It was a joy to meet such interesting and convivial people.

My plans for travel this year have been obliterated (like most other people's), but I hope that if any of you find yourselves in the vicinity of my current location, you earlier that you will be very welcome.

>140 pgmcc: ,>139 hfglen: I have had the argument that you refer to many times! Unfortunately, the legal position i in the UK is that any shop can legally refuse to accept any form of cash that they wish (including, for example, refusing a £50 note of the local currency).

That is what permits shops to operate a card-only policy in the current environment.

I am sorry to hear the news of John Le Carré’s death. His work has brought great pleasure to everyone in our household. I had been hoping for at least one more story from him.

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #4

My fourth "The Better Side of 2020" is managing to meet up with Nick Harkaway for a cup of coffee in the little coffee shop he often uses as a writing venue. Mrs PGMCC and I have been in contact with Nick since 2010 when he was our Guest of Honour at The Phoenix Convention (P-Con) in Dublin. Nick has always been great company and a very intelligent observer of life and world affairs, like his father. Which brings me to the sad news that Nick's father died on Saturday evening. His legacy as John Le Carré will stand out in the world of spy novels and literature in general.

Nick is proving every bit as sharp and insightful as his Dad and I look forward to many more novels and stories from him.

>141 pgmcc:, >142 -pilgrim-: Our meet-up in Foyles would definitely be one of the highlights of my year! It was great to talk about books over tea and to get to know the faces behind the LT posts. I'm definitely up for similar future events once we are allowed.

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #5

A big event in 2020 for me was meeting my on-line friend, Andrew, from the Philippines. We met on a LiveJournal discussion thread in 2006. We were discussing the works of Iain Banks. We have been in contact ever since and have shared our views on various authors, enjoyed one another's family events, and watched one another's families grow. He introduced me to the works of Robert Aickman and Thomas Ligotti. He also introduced me to The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Stories, an academic journal produced by people I knew in Trinity College, Dublin. It took someone in the Philippines to let me know what was going on in my own backyard.

Andrew was invited to give a paper at a conference in London in January and that is what triggered our visit to the city. Our primary objective was to meet Andrew in person for the first time. It was a wonderful encounter. We met in the Foyles' Bookshop café and it was like meeting a relative we hadn't met for ages. Having only communicated by text and photograph on social media and the occasional e-mail for fourteen years there was the risk that the meeting might be a bit awkward. It was not. It was wonderful. I was delighted to get a chance to meet this person who has become a great friend over the years. We not only had some tea/coffee but also did some book shopping together.

Media studies is the general area of Andrew's research. When we met he was lecturing in media studies and was using horror fiction and movies as a teaching tool. For the past few years he has been using our on-line friendship as a case study about relationships on the Internet. I am not sure how he ties that into the Horror genre. :-O Perhaps I am better off not knowing.

I hope I will have a chance to meet more of my GD friends in the future. My real-world meetings with on-line friends have proven to be wonderful and I have always been left with the desire to repeat the experience again. Especially the ones with haydninvienna as they tend to involve a number of pints of Guinness. They have also involved bookshops.

I was reminded yesterday that the number of posts to trigger a continuation thread is 150. I had it in my mind it was 250. This means I am likely to over-shoot the target with my "The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Posts", but I do not care. I am enjoying looking over the months and remembering the good times that have happened in this strangest of years.

Do not worry that all the remaining good events will be concentrated in our four day visit to London. There are a few more that are from London, but there have been other not related to our mini-break.

>148 pgmcc: We are enjoying your piffle posts, Peter. Piffling is good.

>149 -pilgrim-:
I am glad they are appreciated. I am definitely benefiting from them. They are brightening my 2020.

Thanks for dropping by.

>148 pgmcc: Congrats on hitting the target and thanks for the stories.

>151 Karlstar:
Thank you. I am glad you like the memories.

I have committed to a daily good memory of 2020 until the end of the year, so, despite reaching the target I will be piffling on.

ETA: I will, of course, be reporting on reading progress too.

I have a high energy particle physicist working in the room next to me. As far as I know he could be building a black hole in there. I might disappear into a singularity at any given moment.

I had no idea your life was quite so perilous!

I'm watching the piffling from the sidelines, I'm afraid. I've spent far too much of the past 2 weeks trying to write about counterparty credit risk (don't ask) and my brain is fried.

>155 haydninvienna: In olive oil or butter?

>156 -pilgrim-: & >155 haydninvienna:
Hmmmm! Shnpp! Shnpp! Shnpp! Shnpp! Shnpp!...

>155 haydninvienna:

counterparty credit risk

I shan't ask, but it does remind me of some postal regulatory USO costing work I was involved in. We had to work with counterfactuals to compare against the actual. This, surprisingly enough, was nothing to do with politics or a post-truth era.

>156 -pilgrim-: Deep-fried in something less delicious than either, I suspect.

>158 pgmcc: Really, you don't want to know. It's 40 pages long and half of it seems to be equations. I hate Word's equation editor.

>157 pgmcc: Peter! Are you contemplating eating Richard's brains?!

>160 -pilgrim-: Are you suggesting that Peter may secretly be an Alzabo?!?

>160 -pilgrim-: Not much of a menu, I'm afraid.

>161 ScoLgo: It would explain a lot.

>159 haydninvienna: Word is useless for equations.

>160 -pilgrim-: Well, you were going to the trouble of frying his brains in butter or olive oil. It would be rude not to avail of your culinary efforts.

>163 -pilgrim-:
I hate it when my cover is blown.

>164 pgmcc: Not useless, just bloody frustrating. Partly because it has a set of built-in typesetting standards which you try to tinker with at your peril.

>167 haydninvienna: I know the feeling. You work for hours to get the format you want for a specific bit of text/formula/image, and when you get it perfect you realise everything else is now askew.

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #6

One constant positive, be it 2020 or any other year, has been the companionship of friends on LibraryThing, in particular the drinking buddies in The Green Dragon. I have found your presence, conversation and wit very comforting and supportive over the years. The fact that you are constant across all years does not mean you should not be mentioned in a list of good things in any specific year. Your friendship has been a massive positive element in 2020. Coming here to talk about books, the weather, or the delights of cheese, has been a very positive side-bar, a pleasant escape from any negatives in the world.

Let's raise a glass to The Green Dragon and all who sail in her!

CHEERS!

>169 pgmcc: Slainte mhath! Slainte mhor!

I have not said much about Lucifer and the Child in a few days. I have about 30 pages left to read but real life is being obstructive, but not in a bad way. I am still enjoying it and plan to give it five stars.

Those of you who read my book comments and reviews will know I like layers in a book. To paraphrase a simile from the film Shrek, Lucifer and the Child is like an ogre; it has layers. On the surface it is a story about witchcraft in the 1930s/40s, but within that coating we have an argument, but a proper discussion style argument rather than a fight, about nature versus nurture. We also have an objective description of social conditions and how they can affect the lives of people and shape their view of the world and the other people in it.

This book was first published in 1945. The lead up to, and the early years of, World War II are the backdrop to the story. I can see how the author has been drawing from that background and has incorporated some of it in her tale. I am tempted to say the book contains a description of the battle between good and evil, but I think it is more the struggle between two views of the world rather than one view being good and one being evil. Witchcraft is presented as a part of nature and those who look down on it as evil are presented as not understanding its true nature. In these final pages of the book it has become somewhat philosophical and I am trying to keep abreast of what the author is saying. I am sure I will come up with many meanings that the author never thought she put in it, and many of them will probably be at total odds with what she did think she put in it.

While I have not finished the book and am sure the final pages will have some striking events that will turn the significance of the book on its head, I can answer my three acid-test questions at this stage.

1. Would I read another book by this author?
Yes, and I am intrigued enough to want to research more about her writing and life.

2. Would I recommend this book to anyone?
Yes.

3. To whom would I recommend this book?
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in sociology, particularly sociology relating to inner-city living. This book is really about growing up in an environment that has challenges and that suffers from deprivation.

I would ask myself another question about this book:

Any words of warning?
Do not be put off by the the fact this story is, on the surface, about witchcraft. I feel the witchcraft is simply a vehicle to facilitate discussion about deprivation and the difficulties of growing up in an environment that is not ideal.

In my opinion, having read the novel, this book is a coming of age story highlighting the challenges faced by a young girl growing up in a deprived area with limited support or guidance. It is a very human book written by a very knowledgeable author who writes well and gives the reader a clear, objective view of a child's difficult upbringing.

I will return with an update when I finish the final pages of the book.

E.T.A. I have finished the book and found it a very worthwhile read. Five stars.

>169 pgmcc: Here's looking up your kilt!

Mud in your eye!

The sun must be over the yard-arm somewhere in the world!

>171 pgmcc: Witchcraft is presented as a part of nature and those who look down on it as evil are presented as not understanding its true nature. ... To my regret, Mrs H is addicted to the TV show Merlin, which for me is in the "so bad it's just bad" class. Perfect reminder of their take on Uther Pendragon.

>173 haydninvienna: I did not take to Merlin myself.

>173 haydninvienna: I loathed it intensely, but with its final season it did try to redeem itself, by attempting to make its version converge on the original.

>175 -pilgrim-: That's reassuring—that you disliked it, I mean. I can't begin to describe how awful I think it is so far.

>173 haydninvienna: >174 pgmcc: I feel your pain. My M-i-L loves that show. She watches it over and over a again ad nauseum... and does the same with a similar show titled, The Legend of the Seeker, (based on books by the recently deceased Terry Goodkind). Luckily, she has her own TV in her room so her daughter and I are not overly affected.

>171 pgmcc: My copy of Lucifer and the Child is on order from Swan River Press so I won't be reading this post for a while.

>169 pgmcc: May the road rise up ta meet ye!

>177 ScoLgo: I also avoid commentary or reviews of books I plan to read.

When writing comments or reviews I avoid writing spoilers or I cover up spoilers ysing the spoiler mask lest someone unwittingly reads them.

I look forward to exchanging thoughts on the book once you have read it.

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #7

In September, during a period of restriction relaxation, we took a trip to Mullaghmore, County Sligo. We drove up on Wednesday and returned home on Friday. Our itinerary was taken at a slow pace and we had a very relaxing time. Our primary objective was to have dinner at "Eithna's by the Sea". It is a renowned seafood restaurant across the road from the harbour. We stayed in The Pier Head hotel which, as you might guess, is just across the road from Eithna's. Long story short, we:
- dined on excellent seafood in the Hotel bar on Wednesday night after having had a lovely walk on the beach
- On Thursday we:
- visited The Crafters' Basket so my wife could pick up some knitting patterns, wool, and other items of a similar nature
- went to Glencar Waterfall to admire the sites and had lunch in the visitor centre
- visited the grave of W. B. Yeats in Drumcliff

- had our dinner in "Eithna's by the Sea" (See the sea view from the front of Eithna's by the Sea below.)


- On Friday we:
- visited Belleek and bought some gifts for family members (See Belleek visitors' centre, the original pottery building, below.)


- went shopping in Sligo and bought some books (surprise, surprise) and a Aran sweater.
- drove home.

It was a lovely break and broke the monotony of lockdown.

I started reading Station Eleven this morning. It is the book earmarked for our lockdown book club discussion tonight. RL and work minimised my reading time over the past month and I do not believe I will be able to contribute much to tonight's discussion.

>180 pgmcc: Oh, that's too bad. I hope you choose to finish it anyway.

>169 pgmcc:
Yay Green Dragon!

>180 pgmcc: What >181 clamairy: said. I assume the discussion will be full of spoilers for you? That too, is a shame.

>183 ScoLgo: Perhaps he can hit the mute button on his Zoom meeting whenever the spoilerish stuff starts. :o)

>184 clamairy: I like the way you think, Clare! I'm a big proponent of coloring outside the lines... ;)

>185 ScoLgo: There are lines?

>169 pgmcc: Salut! Enjoying your posts.

>186 clamairy: Well, there were until someone colored all over them... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

>187 MrsLee: I am glad you like them. I am just trying to focus on the positive.

>181 clamairy: I managed to join the book club meeting late and missed any spoilers. I was there for a lively discussion on selecting our next read. A Christmas Carol won.

>188 ScoLgo: :o)

>190 pgmcc: Oh good. Will you keep reading it, I hope?

>191 clamairy: I will.

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #8

This one might be considered a bit strange by some of you, and to be honest, if I had not experienced this myself I would have considered it to be a complete anathema. Big Brother is Watching You is not regarded as a positive statement. George Orwell portrayed the evil that can be exercised by an ever observed community in his novel 1984. A population in which every element of human activity was watched or that people believed was being watched is considered a bad thing.

In January, after our trip to London, I received an e-mail from Google. It told me my timeline had been updated and it gave me a link to follow to review my timeline for January. When I followed the link I was presented with Google Maps and a day-by-day mapping of my movements in London. It showed me the time it took me to go from one place to another and it even indicated the mode of transport we took: walked, taxi, train,...

At the points we stopped to take pictures it even presented links to the pictures at those locations.

Previously I would have considered this level of surveillance to be intrusive and to be very creepy. On this occasion, however, the mapping and picture links worked as a great guide to my memories of a wonderful time which, as you will have seen from previous posts, included many happy moments and significant events in my life.

You might say I am looking at The Better Side of Google.

I suppose if I were a crook or an undercover spy I would be reluctant to have my movements tracked in this fashion and would take precautions to avoid such surveillance. The fact that I have two mobile phones should not be taken as significant in any way. I am just glad I am neither a crook nor a undercover spy; that is my story and I am sticking to it, no matter what the official records show.

>193 pgmcc: no matter what the official records show... or more likely don’t show ...

>194 haydninvienna: Seconded.

The LibraryThing records, however, record that pgmcc is the only other member listing a copy of Spycraft Rebooted by Edward Lucas.

We can draw our own conclusions.

>194 haydninvienna: >195 -pilgrim-: I concur. That last paragraph of Peter's appears to be a rather heavy-handed bit of mis-direction. Is he slipping or is the game more complex than immediately apparent?

>194 haydninvienna: I must draw it to your attention that >195 -pilgrim-: is the other member listing a copy of Spycraft Rebooted by Edward Lucas.

>196 ScoLgo: I know not of what you speak.

>197 pgmcc: Ah, but, as acknowledged here, whilst I was merely sucked in by the vagaries of a Kindle Unlimited loan, my esteemed colleague actually owns a copy.

>198 -pilgrim-: Me thinks the lady dost protest too much. It sounds like she is seeking plausible deniability.

>199 pgmcc: I am always plausible, dear boy, and, like a good civil servant (and student of Sir Humphrey Abbleby), I neither confirm nor deny ANYTHING.

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #9

On of the wonderful things about 2020 was enjoying and photographing the beautiful things I can see in or from our garden. I present a sample of those beautiful things below.

>201 pgmcc: Gorgeous.

>201 pgmcc: Masterful! Thank you for allowing us to enjoy your garden as well.

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #10

Visiting the British Library was an interesting and unexpected pleasure during our visit to London.

While I enjoyed visiting the British Library, and I bought books in the shop, I thought I would boost the cheer of visiting this temple to books by adding my my visit to Cecil Court into this post. Cecil Court has many second-hand and antiquarian bookshops. It also has an assortment of establishments selling interesting collectable items. It is also one of two streets in London that are credited with inspiring the creation of Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter novels.

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #11

Marking 40 years from the day Caitríona and I met. I gave the details of this last month, so I will not go into detail again.



This is a picture of my wife and me taken on the evening of the day we met. We met at a conference and the conference dinner was a medieval banquet in Bunratty Castle.

>205 pgmcc: I hope you intend to commemorate the day appropriately.

>206 -pilgrim-: I suspect you are talking rubies.

>207 pgmcc: I suspect that you are thinking appropriately.

Last night I started reading Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely.



I was not feeling an enormous amount of love for Station Eleven. I have not abandoned it but I was getting bored as the Symphony caravan was making its way along the shore of Lake Michigan. I will get back to it, but I find this part of stories, i.e. the long march the author uses to introduce characters and tell the reader about the way the world is now, a bit boring. While the first part of the book introduced characters I found those characters stuck with me. In the caravan I am finding the characters a little less convincing. I know Kirsten was introduced in the first bit but we are now meeting her twenty years on. I am not complaining about the book but it reminded me of another book that I had the same problem with; The Stand by Stephen King. I think my main problem with The Stand was that I read the uncut version which included 400 pages of story that King's editors had cut out for the earlier editions. I think his editors did a great service to the world only to have it reversed by King when he brought out the uncut version stating that it was in response to fan requests. (That sounds like his trying to establish plausible deniability.)



Plenty of people here and elsewhere have said great things about Station Eleven so I will get back to it. I think I have just hit a patch that is not fulfilling my immediate needs. I have just started my Winter break and I want it to be filled with reads that I am picking up at every opportunity and am pining to get back to when I am not reading. Station Eleven is not filling that gap, especially as I have a long list of books I am keen to read; namely:

The Great Quake BB from @NothernStar


Last Stand in Lychford by Paul Cornell Fifth and final story in the Witches of Lychford series. (That is the first time I have used the triple square brackets to link to a series touchstone.)


Reynard the Fox by Anne Louise Avery BB brutally delivered by jillmwo


That Old Country Music by Kevin Barry. This is his latest book and is his third volume of short stories. He has three novels out already and he is my favourite Irish author. This book came out a few months ago and I got it and gave it to my wife to wrap up and save for me until Christmas. Normally I have his books read within a week of publication date. I am really keen to get my hands on this one.


Russians Among Us by Gordon Corera BB from clamairy, delivered almost as brutally as jillmwo's delivery of Reynard the Fox.


The Amberlough Dossier (my second time using the triple square brackets) by Lara Elena Donnelly I believe Sakerfalcon was the marksperson who delivered this BB.


Monkey by Wu Ch'eng-en A BB from MrsLee, and we all know her skill in delivering BBs. A reader is never safe when Lee's about.


While I have loved our lockdown book club, and it has been a highlight of 2020 for me, it has been using up valuable reading time and has prevented my getting to the books I want to read. Part of its purpose was to get us to read books we would not usually read and it has certainly met that goal. The only problem is that I have not found any new authors in the book club books that I would want to read again. :-(

This is a strike for freedom. I will let you know how I get on with Predictably Irrational. It is basically about how Behavioural Economics, i.e. how we are all duped to pay more for the things we buy than their real value.

(Did you notice how I avoided mentioning Spycraft Rebooted; my homework for the holiday?)

I do have an ER book to read and review. It is London Centric edited by Ian Whates, a collection of SF short stories published by NewCon Press. I have enjoyed books/stories published by NewCon in the past.

>209 pgmcc: I will be interested to hear your thoughts on The Amberlough Dossier as I have just recently completed that trilogy. I liked it well enough and found it to be an interesting allegory.

I hope you find more enjoyment in reading Station Eleven once you return to it. I have set aside books before because I wasn't feeling the story at that particular time and place, only to really end up liking it upon coming back later. I hope that happens for you with this book.

>210 ScoLgo: That has happened me too. I suspect it to be the case with Station Eleven as I was impressed enough with the first two chapters.

I hope you enjoy The Amberlough dossier, as you have credited me with the book bullet! Once I passed the first chapter or two I was completely absorbed.

I also enjoyed Station Eleven and hope it works for you when you return to it.

>212 Sakerfalcon: I am looking forward to The Amberlough Dossier but am tempering my enthusiasm so that I do not jinx it with over expectation, but I am quietly enthusiastic. :-)

I suspect I will enjoy Station Eleven when I get back to it.

As I mentioned in post >209 pgmcc: I have started reading Predictably Irrational as a diversion from Station Eleven. Well, on mature reflection I thought a non-fiction book about people being duped into paying more money than they need was not really a joyful read for Christmas week. So, I made an executive decision and am now almost 30% of the way through Last Stand in Lychford. it will be a quick read and I think it will kick start me into reading more rapidly.

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #12



My son's graduation day was a proud moment for me. :-)

With the adventures around the broken oven three days before Christmas I missed yesterday's The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post. You will receive two today to make up.

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #13

Visiting Paddington Station and the seeing the Paddington Bear statues was special for Mrs PGMCC and me having watched the films, PADDINGTON and PADDINGTON 2 with our eldest grandchild approximately x million times, where x tends to infinity.







Yes, Mrs PGMCC was taken for Paddington in the shop with her hat. Her hat is one she has had for quite a while and she normal wore it; it was not worn specially for the visit to Paddington. Unfortunately, on our last day in London it blew away in the wind and landed in the basement area of a building and could not be accessed. A real Paddington type thing to happen.

Of course we bought little Paddington Bears and Paddington books for the grandchildren.

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #14

To avoid queues at the supermarket and to support the local enterprises we started going to a local butcher. What we found there was sausages; the tastiest sausages we had had in decades. There was a local butcher where my wife grew up. It was called O'Gromans, and O'Gormans sausages were amazing. O'Gromans is not no more, so it is decades since we had any sausages like O'Gormans.

The sausages in the local butcher we discovered in March are just like O'Gormans. We have not bought meat anywhere else since March. The butcher is great. We have also discovered their neck pork joint that is perfect for pulled-pork. Their pork ribs are meaty and delicious. Chicken is great, and they cut beautifully thick steaks for us when we ask them. More of this butcher later, as they make an appearance in our story of the broken oven.

We visited Dublin Zoo yesterday. Apart from the animals one of the highlights for me was a sign on the fence at the lion enclosure. It stated:

"Do not stand, sit, climb or lean on zoo
fences. If you fall, animals could eat you
and that might make them sick."

Love the sign!

And there's nothing like finding a good source of meat that you can feel good about.

>218 Bookmarque: there's nothing like finding a good source of meat that you can feel good about.

Was that comment in relation to our new butcher or a comment to the animals in the zoo? :-)

I ah, er...

>217 pgmcc: Good to know there's someone with a sense of humor and people that won't be offended by it!

Best wishes to everyone for the holiday season. I hope Santa Claus was good to you.

I am sitting looking out an upstairs window. My view is at tree level and I am enjoying watching robins, coal-tits, chaffinches, black birds and blue-tits flitting about amongst the branches. George the cat is curled up beside me and is snoring. I suspect he would like the view if he were awake.

ETA: Add starlings and a collared dove to the list.

ETA II: Make that a pair of collared doves and a pair of magpies.

>223 pgmcc: We have pigeons and a grey squirrel which Mrs H is pondering putting out an apple for, although I suspect that our new neighbours on my right are feeding it already.

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #15

I had this further down my list but thought it more appropriate to post it today.

Some of you will know my second eldest is emigrating to the US next month with her husband and daughter. They have been living in Birmingham, England, for the past three years. I have not seen them since 2019 because of COVID-19. They followed all the pandemic instructions and hired a house in Galway (west coast of Ireland) to quarantine themselves for two weeks before coming to us and have been with us since the 14th December. They are returning to England before the end of the year.

We had been worried that they would not get here before leaving for the States and that we would not see them again for a long time, if ever. It is wonderful that they have managed to join us for this time and to join us at this season of the year. This is a real highlight to 2020 for me.

I hope you get some of those at least as we all look forward to a better 2021.

>226 PaulCranswick: I think I am fortunate to have achieved five out of five this year; albeit at a distance for some.

I hope you have been at least half as fortunate as me.

Wishing you, yours and everyone a great 2021.

>216 pgmcc: So did you get the turkey cooked in time?

A belated happy Christmas, and good wishes that 2021 may at least be better than 2020.

>225 pgmcc: That is excellent news. May you lay down many happy memories for the years to come.

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #16

Number sixteen is the reclaiming of our rooms after the departure of our children. Until recently our offspring have been joining us for Christmas and other times and so we have been referring to the bedrooms as we referred to them when they lived here: Deirdre's room, Dónal's room, etc...

One of the rooms had become a de facto store room filled with things moved our of other rooms when we had new floors laid and I was not allowed to move them back to their original locations. This is the room that we have managed to clear and add five bookcases. This has been a great help. It has also given me hope that I might be able to improved the cramped conditions in my own office.

As it happens, the room we have put the bookcases in will be my wife's office. Given her penchant for running for elected office and her love of a particular US TV programme, we are calling the room The West Wing. As it happens, the room is one of three rooms (the other two being my office and the utility room) that were fitted out in the forty foot garage at the side of the house. Yes, it is the west side of the house. I suggested calling the room the Oval Office but The West Wing sounded better.

My older son and his girlfriend got a great present for us. It is a picture containing the images of most of The West Wing main characters and it has images of their autographs. This will occupy a prominent location on the wall of The West Wing, or possibly it will adorn my wife's desk.

It has been liberating to break the link between the rooms and our offspring.

We have also renamed our dining-room. We seldom use it for eating and have in fact moved the dining-room table into our front room. The room formerly known as The Dining-Room is now known as The Den. We use it as a quiet space or a place to watch a film or TV when other people are busy in the front room.

Well, it says something that I visited your thread and was hit all unawares by (1) the reference to Balderdash and Piffle. I have missed more than one recent piffle party here in the pub and must therefore catch up. OTOH, Balderdash is a word that is under-utilized so I shall be exercising it frequently in my conversation during 2021. And (2) the reference to Amberlough which is a BB on the basis of you not having even read it. (Surely that would be out of bounds? Oughtn't one to have read something before lobbing a BB at others? Where are the enforcers?).

Well, I am glad you were able to find some positive piffle to post while there were still a few days left in 2020. And my own New Year's Resolution for 2021 is to return to the Pub more often to share piffle and recommendations with the likes of you! (And everyone else who might be hanging about...)

Well, it says something that I visited your thread and was hit all unawares by (1) the reference to Balderdash and Piffle. I have missed more than one recent piffle party here in the pub and must therefore catch up. OTOH, Balderdash is a word that is under-utilized so I shall be exercising it frequently in my conversation during 2021. And (2) the reference to Amberlough which is a BB on the basis of you not having even read it. (Surely that would be out of bounds? Oughtn't one to have read something before lobbing a BB at others? Where are the enforcers?).

Well, I am glad you were able to find some positive piffle to post while there were still a few days left in 2020. And my own New Year's Resolution for 2021 is to return to the Pub more often to share piffle and recommendations with the likes of you! (And everyone else who might be hanging about...)

>232 jillmwo:
Balderdash is a word that is under-utilized so I shall be exercising it frequently in my conversation during 2021.

I look forward to reading the balderdash you will be writing in 2021.

And my own New Year's Resolution for 2021 is to return to the Pub more often to share piffle and recommendations with the likes of you! (And everyone else who might be hanging about...)

This is something I am delighted to hear. I have missed your contributions.

In terms of the Amberlough I think I might have to give credit to Sakerfalcon as your wound was due to a ricochet off me. Claire fired the shot. Of course, it is debatable that it is a ricochet as the bullet probably passed right through me before hitting you rather than glancing off me.

I am finding that my digging through 2020 memories is throwing up many positive things in my life that help fight off the bad and lend some kind of balance. One can but try. Seeing your post on my thread was a real boost. I am always delighted to hear from you. You have also reminded me of the anticipated pleasure of The Amberlough Dossier. :-)

Think of this as a piffle query for Our Peter. (I've been reliving some rather older memories than just this year's.)

Does Eire have a body similar to the (English) National Trust and the National Trust for Scotland?

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #17

Cooking dishes I had not cooked in a long time and discovering new dishes that I can produce.

Years ago when we were recently married I was given a cookery book of Chinese dishes. One that I cooked several times and liked a lot was Double Stir-fried Pork.



With more time at home I decided to try to get back into the swing of cooking the dishes I used to like. Double Stir-fried Pork was my attempt and it was every bit as nice as I remember it.

I also started looking for other dishes that I could make. A dish we used to eat a long time ago (1980s) was Beef with Ginger and Spring Onion. I have recently taken to ordering this when we order in from a Chinese restaurant. I looked up the recipe and am delighted to report that the home grown version is a success.



Yuk Sung is also a dish we like. After an initial effort that was not as tasty as I expected, I consulted with a friend from Hong Kong and he told me that fish sauce was the key. I did not have Fish Sauce and hence my culinary failure. One I added the fish sauce the dish was excellent.

>234 hfglen:

An Taisce, The National Trust for Ireland, is a voluntary organisation that advocates for heritage and biodiversity in Ireland.

Phonetically An Taisce would be An Tashke.

The Office of Public Works also takes care of many heritage sites. This department would be responsible for any work on buildings in their care, including The General Post Office where my office is located.

Ah! Now I know how I missed them in 1982. It would seem that the main and almost exclusive custodian of heritage sites, and the one the foreign visitor will encounter, is the Office of Public Works. (Unlike UK where that task is shared between National Trust, National Trust for Scotland, English Heritage and DoE, and visitors can't help encountering all of these.)

I rather think that OPW maintains the Attorney General’s chambers on Merrion Street, and I’ve worked in that one.

Looking at my slides from then, I see that several of the interpretation signs this tourist depended on were erected by Bord Failte, a most estimable and exemplary body who also did the guide book we used and our bookings.

>235 pgmcc: That all looks great! We recently found a chicken and broccoli recipe that turned out great, some of the best at-home Chinese we've ever made, of course that's setting the bar a little low.

>240 Karlstar: of course that's setting the bar a little low.

I am sure that is not true.

>239 hfglen: Bord Failte used to do a great job of booking places for people. That is no longer the case. I presume it is a case of cost cutting and also the abundance of on-line booking sites and facilities. But yes, Bord Failte did great work, and still does.

>238 haydninvienna:

You would be correct, Richard. The OPW would be responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of all Government buildings and other publicly own facilities. My sister-in-law is an architect. She retired recently from the OPW. In her time with the Department she designed and managed the redevelopment of Dublin Zoo and introduced the Safari Plains display. She also managed the restoration of Castletown House in Celbridge.

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #18

Our Lockdown Book Club has been a great benefit to me. It has forced me to read authors I would not otherwise have read, and has introduced me to new friends.

As you will know if you have been reading my comments about the books read for the book club I have not found any of the authors sufficiently interesting to want to seek out more of their works, excluding the authors I chose. :-)

The books read to date include:
Flights (My choice and, yes, I would read more of her work.)

Shadowplay by Joseph O'Connor (This confirmed my opinion of Joseph O'Connor's writing; a waste of time. I have read two of his earlier books; one was a pathetic "lads'" type of take on Irish males, and the other a mediocre cops & robbers tale. I had intended to never read another O'Connor book but it was the first one suggested by the person whose idea the book club was. Never again.

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Ann Patchett is someone I might think about reading again. I liked her writing, characterisation, and the story. I felt there was a superfluous tying up of loose ends at the end of the book, but I would not hold that against her.

A Man by Keiichiro Hirano. One of the more interesting books.

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng. Well written, very beautiful descriptions of landscape, interesting detail on the design principles of Japanese Gardens. It had plenty going for it but I just did not connect with it.

Golden Hill by Francis Spufford. I thought this could have been so much better. It just did not make it for me.

Last Day at Bowen's Court: A Novel by Eibhear Walshe. An attempt to gain fame and acclaim on the back of a famous author, in this case Elisabeth Bowen. Rather a poor effort as far as I am concerned.

Fracture by Andrés Neuman. Again a book that had lots going for it but was a waste of good material.

The Dictator and the Hammock by Daniel Pennac. Yes, I will read more Pennac, but then again, this was another suggestion from me.

We are reading A Christmas Carol for our January meeting. This will be a reread for me and is a story I am very fond of. I remember being surprised at the amount of humour in it when I first read it.

Station Eleven was the read for December but I had only started it by the time the meeting was held. I am currently reading the rest of it and I can reassure the fans of this book that I have gotten past the part that was making me yawn.

There were some books I did not manage to get to or did not finish. These include:

The Sound of Things Falling Not read.

A Brief History of Seven Killings Did not get to.

Disoriental Did not finish. May go back to read the ending. Then again I may not. It struck me as having arrived about ten of twenty years too late for the messages it was giving.

>243 pgmcc: I am delighted to see that at Castletown one can "fall into a Brown Study" (an expression I haven't heard in years).

>245 hfglen: I have to admit to having to look up "a Brown Study". Until I found the meaning I had in mind a room with dark wood panelling, leather furniture, and some leather bound books. I was even trying to work out which room in Castletown House it referred to.

Having found its meaning I am well disposed to the term. Thank you for my continued education.

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #19

While some people have ridiculed Zoom on-line quizzes I have found them to be great fun and a wonderful way to keep in touch and build relationships. At an early stage in the pandemic my elder daughter suggested we have family quiz nights using Zoom. (Had I mentioned Zoom a year ago I suspect there would be many people here who would not know what I was talking about. It is my supposition today that there are very few who do not know what Zoom is.) We started to have the quizzes at approximately three weekly intervals with the winner of any given quiz being responsible for organising the questions and running the next quiz. The frequency has reduced due to such factors as the birth of our fourth grandchild, and my other daughter and her family coming to stay with us for a fortnight.

Having had so much fun with the family quizzes I introduced the idea to a group of three graduates I am responsible for in work. Two of them are in their second year in the organisation and have actually worked in the offices. One only joined in October and apart from her first induction day when she attended physically to collect her laptop, has been working remotely since joining. I recruited another colleague to the idea and we have had three quiz nights so far. I organised the first one and our new graduate, who is from Texas, organised the questions for a "Thanksgiving" quiz. The colleague I recruited organised a Christmas themed quiz for our last day in the office (virtually, of course) before breaking for the holiday.

Making up the questions for the work quizzes was interesting as our group is quite diverse in terms of background and experience. Our Texan has not watched many movies, and another graduate, who is from Hong Kong, has only seen a handful of movies from The West. My non-graduate colleague is English and is not as familiar with Ireland as the one remaining graduate, who is from Dublin, and myself. I will not mention the age gaps as I will only embarrass myself. Let's just say that I single handedly raise the average age in the group.

I bought The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories because it contained a short story, The Siren, by Giuseppe Tomasi de Lampedusa, the author of The Leopard, a book I loved and that I found to be very instructive on many levels. The short story did not disappoint.

The story is beautifully written and is very humorous in places. It describes the growth of a friendship between to people of different intellectual and moral backgrounds. Apparently it was written by the author as he was dying of lung cancer and waste written in haste for that reason.

>171 pgmcc: Lucifer and the Child sounds very good. I searched for the keywords "Lucifer and "Child" in my library and got The Essential Laura Nyro, So I guess I'll be looking for other options.

I have been enjoying your Better Side of 2020 entries and the pictures!

>248 pgmcc: I was tempted by The Penguin book of Italian short stories when I saw it in Foyles earlier this year. I resisted, but if you continue to read and rate the stories highly then I may not be able to hold out for long.

>250 Sakerfalcon: Ditto and ditto.

Do you think the idea of meeting in Foyle's was all part of a nefarious plot?

>250 Sakerfalcon: >251 -pilgrim-:

Checks clip to see how many rounds are left.

Did I mention that The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories has a one page biography for each of the authors? That is where I got the information about Lampedusa's health.

>249 Jim53: I am glad you are enjoying the Better Side of 2020 posts and pictures. If I had time I would have put up more pictures in the posts.

Now it is time to prepare today's post.

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #20

I am one of those people who has found working from home beneficial. It is not that I do not like meeting people, but I am glad that I am avoiding two hours commuting every weekday. The avoided commuting has meant I could do more cooking as mentioned in an earlier post. It has given me an impetus (in spurts) to clear up some clutter that I have been meaning to clear up for some time. (There is never any need to nag a man to get things done. If a man says he is going to do something he will do it. There is no need to nag him about it every six months.)

I have managed to reclaim a few square metres of my study. Now I need to see how I can make my books more readily available for perusing and reading. While I have just put five Billy bookcases in The West Wing (my wife's office) they have been filled with her books and other odds and ends. I will have to work on another scheme to get my books visible. By the way, now that our guests are away I was able to dismantle a futon we have been using in The West Wing and remove it from the room. That has freed up the space I needed to put doors on two of the Billy bookcases. I still have boxes of odds and sods to sort out before I can put doors on the other two Billys that we have doors for. Photos promised once I have made the place more presentable.

Yes, working from home has presented many benefits. I have stuck to my daily work structure, so I will not have an insurmountable barrier to get over when I retune to the office.

When I started these Better Side of 2020 posts, I said I would post one every day until the end of 2020. That means there is one more day to go. When I made that commitment I was thinking I might have trouble coming up with good things for the 21 days involved. To address that concern I started a list. There is one more item on that list. Since writing that list I have come up with other items that would have a right to be included. The purpose of these posts was to focus on the positive of the past year to add some balance my impression of the year, to help my mental health, and to demonstrate that there is always hope. I have achieved that for myself. I hope these posts have helped others think of good things for a while.

One piece of news I got today will certainly be on the list of Better Side of 2020 things. My sister, who is the non-musical one, but she is the one that took me to The Jungle Book and Winnie the Pooh and a Blustery Day, and her husband tested positive for COVID-19 about two weeks ago. My Brother-in-law has had his chemotherapy paused for the duration, but he was asymptomatic. My sister had it worse and was very low, not eating, and in a bad way. I called today and she was able to talk to me and she is eating a bit more. She appears to be on the mend and I am delighted to know that. She is my Fairy Godmother. When I was born she, at the age of twelve years old, and my siblings took me from the hospital to the church to be Christened. She is my Godmother and we always refer to her as my Fairy Godmother.

Keep well, everyone.

>235 pgmcc: Those look wonderful! I received several Chinese cookbooks from my friend's collection after she died, but so far I am still in the reading and absorbing stage. Haven't tried a recipe yet.

>254 pgmcc: May your sister heal quickly and thoroughly.

>254 pgmcc: Exactly what MrsLee said -- we hope for your sister's quick recovery. And speaking just for myself, I applaud your efforts towards identifying and calling out the positive points of 2020.

>254 pgmcc: I am glad to hear that your brother-in-law made it through safely and that your sister is recovering.

Finding anything positive to say about this year has been hard. You have identified the highlight of mine; I congratulate you (all) on finding so many.

>254 pgmcc: Holding my thumbs for them both, as Busifer would say.

Thanks for the nudge. I need to start the groups "best of the year" threads.

>255 MrsLee: >256 jillmwo: >257 -pilgrim-: >258 clamairy:

Thank you for your comments in relation to my sister and her husband.

The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post #21

Today is Thursday, 31st December, 2020. Tomorrow will be next year. As I sit here my niece in New Zealand is already in next year. My friends in The Philippines are about 1.5 hours away from next year. I am 9.5 hours from 2021. This makes this post my last "The Better Side of 2020 - Piffle Post".

I could have picked a more exciting one for the final one, but I didn't. My #21 Better Side event is work related. This year I was given the job of project managing a very interesting project working with a great team and the World's best experts in the field. At least, that's what they say.

I cannot be specific about the project for obvious reasons, but it is very interesting. It gives me a chance to learn new things, and the result of the project will have a long term impact on the organisation and its wellbeing. It will also sustain the jobs of many of my colleagues. Not a major fireworks and cheering event, but something that makes my getting up in the morning more worthwhile and beneficial.

The 21 items I have listed as parts of The Better Side of 2020 have been mostly personal. They have been things that have improved 2020 for me and helped keep me sane. I could look across the year and pick out more public positive events, but I chose to stick with the personal viewpoint. I hope you can all see some good things in 2020. I know there have been many bad things, both public and personal, but I have found focusing on what good things there have been in the past twelve months has been of benefit to me.

Good luck to everyone and have a great 2021!

>254 pgmcc: Blessings on your sister and brother in law, Peter. I too think you've done an excellent job in finding some good things in a pretty awful year.

Best wishes for your new project. Best also to you and Mrs Pete and all your family. A great 2021 to all of you.

>261 haydninvienna: Thank you, Richard. Hopefully we will be able to have another meet up sometime in 2021 when we are all vaccinated up and Corona is once more only a beer.

>262 pgmcc: In my opinion, the yellow bottled liquid labelled Corona might once have been beer. But yes, hoping for a meetup over a pint in a cheerier Dublin.

2020 Reading Statistics

I started 43 books in 2020.

37 Fiction; 6 Non-Fiction

I have four books that I have not finished but intend to finish. Two Fiction and two Non-Fiction.

Note, I have not counted the pages in the books to be continued in my pages read count. These pages will be included in the 2021 figures.

Pages read in books/stories completed in 2020: 10,029.

Of the 43 books I started, 28 were written by male authors, 14 by females, and one was a collection of short stories by male and female authors.

I finished 38 books and abandoned 1 in 2020.

>264 pgmcc: Those stats look pretty good. Warmest wishes for a better and happier 2021, Peter!

>265 jillmwo: Thank you, Jill. Many happy returns. Wishing you a 2021 that is better than 2020 is not setting the bar very high so I will wish you a wonderful 2021.