2014 reading diary

inspired by a dear friend's example... what I have been reading. Actual published works, not the blizzard of emails and tender documents. Last year I forgot to list them. Trying again:


  1. The French lieutenant's woman / John Fowles - ended up not caring what happened to Charles and Sarah (isn't it weird to share your name with a protagonist?) but the ideas and images were fascinating.
  2. The virgin in the garden / A.S. Byatt - so many threads of story, I loved how the perspective nd voice shifted so easily and without any confusion.
  3. Our mutual friend / Charles Dickens - magnificent plotting
  4. Gang of four / Liz Bryski - irritating
  5. The name of the Rose / Umberto Eco - as confusing as the first time I read it. But amazing language and setting


2013. Honestly, there were more than this:

?. the year of the ladybird / Graham Joyce - with that title, how could I not? Mysterious, romantic, spooky, fun.

 3. The home of the blizzard / Sir Douglas Mawson
The epic Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-1914, this time in the hero's own words.

 2. With bold needle and thread / Rosemary McLeod
Play with vintage domestic textiles. Weighty yet frivolous!

 1.  Manon Lescaut / Abbe Prevost
I'll let you know when I finish it

-1. The things that don't count but exhaust one's reading mojo: emails, job advertisements, change management bulletins, internal policy documents...
  

... 2012, there were others but I stopped recording midway.

17. An object of beauty / Steve Martin.
Yes, the actor. Writing about the so-called fine art world. Plot not very strong, but rich in context - even illustrations of actual works that played major roles in the story.

16. Mawson's will : the greatest survival story ever written / Lennard Bickel ; with a foreword by Edmund Hillary.
Another Antarctic explorer of enormous character. I will never complain of personal discomfort when travelling again

15. Steal like an artist : 10 things nobody told you about being creative / Austin Kleon.
Fun and thought-provoking. Buying 2 copies - one for teen goddaughter, one for me.

14. The 12 secrets of highly creative women : a portable mentor / Gail McMeekin.
nothing new here

13. Art quilt portfolio : the natural world : profiles of major artists, galleries of inspiring works / Martha Sielman.
Beautiful works and interesting profiles

12. Dombey and Son / Charles Dickens ; edited with an introduction and notes by Alan Horsman.
He didn't deserve his happy ending.

11. Pasquale's angel / Paul J. McAuley.
Set in an alternate history of Florence - Macchiavegli as you have not seen him before!

10. Cold : adventures in the world's frozen places / Bill Streever.
Interesting technical snippets as companion to my Antarctic theme

9. Color mastery : 10 principles for creating stunning quilts / Maria Peagler.
Picked up a good tip here about varying intensity as well as hue and value.

8. Something to answer for / P.H. Newby
Booker Fiction 1969.  A most uncongenial character, deeply confused about what has happened.

7. Last orders by Graham Swift
Booker Prize winner that has set me on a mission of reading all of them. The best feature is how the viewpoint moves among the characters, the growing awareness of the many secrets among an apparently simple group

6. All marketers are liars by Seth Godin
Insight into my new line of work in the Circumlocution Office or at least nearby

5. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
The quintessential tale of self sacrifice protrayed by Dickens' quirky characters. At last I know where "Prunes & Prisms" comes from.  And the Circumlocution Office is alive & well 150 years later

4. Destination art by Amy Dempsey
Wonderful creations in interesting places

3. Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin
A gentle reminder why Le Guin is among my favourite authors. No-one else can combine well-plotted narrative and mysticism with such a deft hand. Now I need to read Vergil's Aeneid

2. The adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Drifting down the Mizzippy, one adventure after another. It's hard to imagine the world was ever like this.

1. The worst journey in the world by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
Cheating a little because I started this late December. Not yet arrived on the icy continent and already I fear for Cherry

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