Deborah (vancouverdeb) reads in 2024 Thread 4

The Northern Lights we saw Friday night.

I'm Deborah, 40 years happily married to Dave, who retired March 21 2024. . We have two adult sons, Daniel, 39, and William, aged 34. William is married to Serenade, and they have blessed us with two grandchildren, Melissa, 6, and Miles, 3. Besides reading, I do love to do jigsaw puzzles, walk -with or without our dog, Poppy, likely a Poodle- Maltese mix . I've been here on LT for nearly 15 years, and I enjoy historical fiction and mysteries , as well as many other genres. I'm keen to read book prize contenders, lately mainly the Women's Prize for Fiction and the Booker Lists. Last year I read 41 books and I expect to read about the same number this year. In previous years I have managed to read 75 books, but my love of jigsaw puzzles has changed that.

January

1) Drama Free: A Guide to Managing Unhealthy Relationships by Nedra Glover Tawwab American, F, 4 stars library
2) The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, American, M, 3.5 stars off the shelf
3) Absolution by Alice McDermott , American, F, 3 stars library
4)The Little Book Of Icelanders by Alda Sigmundsdottir Icelandic, F, 3 stars New
5)Reykjavik by Ragnar Jonasson , Icelandic, M, 4 stars Library

February

6) Silas Marner by George Eliot , British, F, 3.5 stars , library book / audiobook
7) The Last List of Mabel Beaumont by Laura Pearson , British, F, 4 stars my book.
8) The Road from Belhaven by Margot Livesey, British, F, 4 stars, library.
9) The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo American, F, library, 4 stars
10) The Book of Days by Francesca Kay, British, F, ebook, 4 stars

March
11) Nightbloom by Peace Adzo Medie , F , New, 4 stars
12) Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville,Australian F, library, 4 stars
13) The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright ,Irish, F, library, 2.5 stars
14) The Prey by Yrsa Sigurdardottir , Icelandic, F , New, 4.5 stars

April
15) Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad, British/ Palestinian, F , library, 3 stars
16) Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan, Irish, F, New, 4.5 stars
17)The Maiden by Kate Foster , Scotland, , F, New 4.5 stars
18)The Night in Question by Susan Fletcher, F, UK. Library, 4 stars
19)The Brotherless Night by V.V Ganeshanathan , F , American ,new 4.5 stars

May

20)The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey, F,British, new, 5 stars
21)Soldier Sailor byClaire Kilroy , F, mine, Irish, 4 stars
22)Long Island by Colm Toibin , M, library 4 stars
23)The Household by Stacey Halls, F, new,

Prize winners and nominees

Silas Marner by George Eliot 1001 books to read before you die
Nightbloom by Peace Adzo Medie Womens Prize for Fiction Longlist 2024
Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville Women's Prize for Fiction Short List 2024
The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright Women's Prize for Fiction Short List 2024
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad, Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlist 2024
Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan Women's Prize for Fiction Longlist 2024
The Maiden by Kate Foster Women's Prize for Fiction Longlist 2024
Brotherless Night by V.V Ganeshanathan Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlist, 2024, Carol Shield Prize shortlist 2024
Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy , Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlist, 2024

Currently reading
The Household by Stacey Halls

Women's Prize for Fiction Long List 2024

The Blue Beautiful World by Karen Lord
And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliot
8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster by Mirinae Lee
Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville
Western Lane by Chetna Maroo
The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright,
A Trace of Sun by Pam Williams
Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan,
Hangman by Maya Binyam
Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy
The Maiden by Kate Foster
In Defense of the Act by Effie Black
River East, River West by Aube Ray Lescure
Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshanathan
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
Nightbloom by Peace Adzo Medie

Women's Longlist for Fiction as rated by my reading so far
1)Brotherless Night by V.V Ganeshanathan 5 stars
2 Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan 4.5 stars

3) Western Lane 4 stars
4)Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy 4 stars
5) The Maiden by Kate Foster
6) Nightbloom 4 stars
7) Restless Dolly Maunder 4 stars by Kate Grenville
8Enter Ghost 3 stars by Isabella Hammad
9) The Wren, The Wren 2.5 stars

My Ranking of the Women's Prize for Fiction 2024 so far
1 Brotherless Night 5 stars
2Soldier Sailor 4 stars
3Restless Dolly Maunder 4 stars
4 Enter Ghost 3 stars
5The Wren, The Wren 2. 5 stars

Still to read - River East, River West

Welcome to my new thread! Please drop a star, lurk, de lurk - all welcome!

Vancouver - pictures Dave and I took a few weeks ago from Prospect Point.

I finished Soldier Sailor this evening, from the Women's Prize Shortlist. I'll create a review tomorrow. It took me a while to get into it, quite a while, maybe half through it began to grab me. I liked it, but I much preferred Brotherless Night.

I was lucky to get my hold of Long Island in from the library and so I have started that this evening and it very promising.

Happy new thread, Deborah!

>1 vancouverdeb: Spectacular picture!

Happy New Thread, Deborah! I love the Northern Lights topper. Glad you got to see it. I hope you had a good Mother's Day. How is the new Toibin? That one seemed to come out with little fanfare.

Beautiful northern lights! Thanks for posting. Happy new thread, Deborah!

Happy new thread, Deborah!

Happy new one, Deborah!

The photo of the Northern Lights is beautiful.

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the new Colm Toibin...

Happy new thread, Deb. We had northern lights here too, supposedly. Not sure I would have seen them anyhow, from the city, but (I fell asleep!!!)

>1 vancouverdeb: Wow! Just - wow!

Happy New thread!

Happy new thread Deborah!

And >21 Storeetllr: said it just as it came to me. Wow what a thing to see.

Lucky you to see the northern lights Deborah. What a beautiful photo!
Happy new thread my friend!

Happy New Thread, Deborah!

Spectacular photo of the lights! Although I saw them, my photos are not good - and we could only see green with naked eye. A once in a lifetime event for sure!

>15 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita!

>16 msf59: Hey there, Mark! I felt lucky to see the Nothern Lights. Yes, I had a good Mother's Day. William and Melissa and Miles stopped by, and they gave me a framed picture of us all, and some home baked cookies. I'm about 97 pages into Long Island and enjoying it very much so far.

>17 Kristelh: Thanks Kristel. Dave managed to get a good photo of the lights.

>18 drneutron: Thanks Jim and thanks for all the work you do here in the 75's all year round.

>19 katiekrug: Thanks Katie! So far, I'm very much enjoying Long Island . I'm about 97 pages into the novel.

>20 jessibud2: I'm in the city too, but I'm sure the further you are from light pollution, the better for seeing the Northern Lights. Dave was out in school field in Richmond and that helped him get a better view of the Lights, I think.

>21 Storeetllr: Thanks Mary! I thought Wow too!

>22 quondame: Thanks Susan! I felt lucky to see the lights too.

>23 mdoris: Thanks Mary. I've seen the Northern Lights a couple of times in the past, but I was much younger then. Just a kid.

>24 streamsong: Thanks Janet!Likewise, I could only see streaks of green in the sky with the naked eye. The Iphone camera lense really enables one to see the colours.

Slightly late to the opening party, but happy new thread, Deb.

Happy new thread, Deborah. Great photo at the top. How lucky that you got to see the light show.

I am really looking forward to Brotherless Night.

Happy new thread, Deborah. What a great picture of the aurora! You are so lucky to have gotten to see that.

>28 PaulCranswick: Thanks for stopping by, Paul

>29 BLBera: Thanks Beth. I think you will enjoy Brotherless Night. I feel fortunate to have seen the Northern Lights.

>30 atozgrl: Thanks Irene. Dave did manage to get some good pictures of the Northern Lights.

Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshanathan won today's Carol Shield's Prize. I hope that bodes well for the Women's Prize for Fiction Prize this year. This is it's second year for the Carol Shield's prize for fiction and the winner is a woman or Nonbinary individual that lives in the USA or Canada. $150,000.00 USD, so not a bad prize at all.

>32 vancouverdeb: Good news for an excellent novel, Deb.

I am on my 5th of the 6 shortlisted books for the Women's Prize and it is head and shoulders the best so far.

>1 vancouverdeb: It was quite a wonderful sight in Ontario as well.

HAppy new thread!

>32 vancouverdeb: I mentioned on Paul's thread, Deborah, that I have that one on order from Blackwell's. I am very interested in reading it, more than any of the other books on the shortlist (or the Longlist for that matter!)

Happy new thread, BTW!

Hi, Deborah. I will be hanging out with Jackson today. I have not seen him in a while. Glad to hear you are enjoying Long Island. Brotherless Night sounds excellent too. On the TBR it goes.

>33 PaulCranswick: I agree, Paul. Very good news for Brotherless Night. I just have River East , River West to read from the The Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlist and I doubt it will top Brotherless Night for me.

>34 figsfromthistle: I'm glad you saw the Northern Lights in Ontario as well, Anita. It was lovely!

>35 alcottacre: Thanks Stasia. I hope Brotherless Night arrives soon from Blackwells. You must be disappointed in your local library . I think they ought to have the Women's Fiction Prize Shortlist in by now.

>36 msf59: I saw the fun picture of you as the bad guy , Mark, and being jailed by young Jackson! Enjoy yourself! Yes, I am loving Long Island. I can hardly put it down. I hope to finish it this evening.

Hello Deborah, it is dangerous to visit over here.......so many good book ideas.

Love your Northern Lights photo up top! Very jealous as I slept through the one good night we had here. Happy new thread!

>39 mdoris: I try to make my thread dangerous, Mary! Full of BB I hope! :-)

>40 Berly: Thanks Kim! I tend to be a night owl, so it was no problem for me to be awake during the the display we had.

I have finished Soldier, Sailor and Long Island and just need to come up with some reviews for them, which I will try to do today. I've started on another good book, The Household by Stacey Halls . I've read all of Stacey Halls previous books, The Familiars, The Foundling and Mrs England. I am just a few pages in, but it seems very promising.

Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy 4 stars

The Publisher Says : Well, Sailor. Here we are once more, you and me in one another's arms. The earth rotates beneath us and all is well, for now.... In her first novel for over a decade, Claire Kilroy takes us deep into the tumultuous early days of motherhood. Exploring the clash of fierce love for a new life with the seismic change in identity , Kilory vividly realises the raw emotions of a new mother. As her marriage strains under the burden of domestic duty, a chance encounter with an old friend offers her a lifeline to the woman she used to be.

My review: It took me until about the 1/2 way point in the novel to feel engaged with the story. Prior to that, I had to force myself to continue reading. Overall, it was a good read. It is written as a stream of consciousness , or perhaps as a letter to her son, " Sailor". " Soldier" or mom, is brand new to motherhood , and is in the midst of postnatal depression. This is a story of both the joy and the horrors of early motherhood. I struggled a bit with her husband being portrayed as so useless and unhelpful as a parent. Perhaps this is because this was not my experience. We come to realize that Soldier is an unreliable narrator. But as the story progressed, I came to appreciate Claire Kilroy's wonderful prose and raw capture of motherhood.

Long Island by Colm Toibin 4 stars

This is a sequel to Brooklyn, which I read many years ago. But it can easily be read as a stand alone. Eilish Lacey is Irish, and married to Tony Fiorello. She lives in Long Island with her husband and two teen-aged children, Rosella and Larry. The Italian family live very close to each other , and are much intertwined. One day a man knocks on Eilish's door and tells her that her husband has fathered a child with his wife. This man tells Eilish that when his wife gives birth to the baby, he will deposit " the bastard" on the family's doorstep. Understandably, Eilish is shocked. Soon afterward, she tells her husband p. 21 " There is no circumstances under which I am going to look after a baby. It is your business, not mine. "

From there, Eilish decides to return to Ireland for the first time since her marriage, ostensibly to visit her mother for her 80th birthday. When her husband asks when she will return, she gives no reply. Her children join her in Ireland to meet the family. Upon her return, Eilish meets up with old best friend, the now widowed Nancy, and her old flame, Jim. This is a riveting story of love, loss, grief and loneliness. The ending is ambiguous , and I cannot wait for the third installment.

Highly recommended.

I stayed up until 1am the next night to try and see some lights, but nothing.... : (

>44 vancouverdeb: Sounds good!

Hi Deborah, thank you so much for putting The Last List of Mabel Beaumont in my sights. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and was sorry to see it end.

Have a great weekend!

Hi Deborah!

Happy new thread. Nice picture of the Northern Lights. No such luck here, Northern Lights were visible, and that is really special here in Holland, but not here in the city.

Brotherless Nights sounds like a real find. I’ll be looking for it.

Have a nice weekend.

>32 vancouverdeb: I received another of your recommended books in today, The Night in Question, but Brotherless Night that I ordered at the same time is still not here. *Humph*

>43 vancouverdeb: Well, that one is already in the BlackHole due to its being on the Shortlist, but I am happy to read that you enjoyed it despite the slow start.

>44 vancouverdeb: I did not enjoy Brooklyn when I read it, so maybe a re-read of that one is in order before I read the sequel. Maybe my tastes have changed in the interim. It has been years since I read it.

Have a super Saturday!

>45 Berly: Dave and I looked for the Northern Lights the next night too, but we didn't see anything either, Kim. It was a good read, Kim, I'm sure you will find at your library or bookstore.

>46 DeltaQueen50: I'm delighted that you enjoyed The Last List of Mabel Beaumont, Judy. I really did too. We don't have any special plans this weekend, but I'm sure we'll enjoy the sunshine that we have so far.

>47 EllaTim: It's quite rare to see the Northern Lights in the Vancouver area too, Ella. I think this is the first time that I am aware of , and I've lived here for 60 years. I had seen them a couple of time when I was a just kid, once in Saskatchewan .and once while flying in plane with my dad - I was able to sit in the flight deck as he was an airline pilot, so that was quite fun. I hope you can get a copy of Brotherless Night soon. It's really worth the read.

>48 alcottacre: I hope you enjoy The Night in Question and I hope Brotherless Night will arrive soon, Stasia. I think you will enjoy Soldier Sailor Stasia. I checked and I gave Brooklyn 3. 5 stars when I read it, which means that I liked it, but I didn't love it. But it has been so long since I read, I don't remember it well, so it was lucky that the book could stand on it's own. Thanks for the Saturday good wishes!

Happy Victoria day long weekend!

Happy Victoria Day, long weekend!

Wow! That's a beautiful picture of the Northern lights. Ours were disappointing.

Wow! Beautiful shot of the Northern Lights. We didn't see them here in southwest Missouri...maybe some of the rural areas did but there are too many artificial lights where we live.

I'm excited that Brotherless Night is getting closer to my hot little hands. I am next in line at the library. Read faster, people!

>51 figsfromthistle: Thanks Anita! You too!

>52 Kristelh: Thanks Kristel. I hope you are enjoying your long weekend as well - or the long weekend in May a different one in the US ?

>53 The_Hibernator: Thanks Rachel . Did you look through the lens of a Iphone ? If you look only with your naked eye, you only see lighter streaks and bit of green , but one can see so much more with an Iphone camera.

>54 Donna828: Thanks Donna. Dave did get a good picture of the Nothern Lights. I know the feeling of read faster, people, as I have holds at the library as well! I hope you get Brotherless Night soon.

>55 vancouverdeb:, Our long weekend is next week; Memorial Day. I am retired so they're all long now. But it does give me opportunity to have more time with family.

>57 Kristelh: thanks for the info re the Long Weekend, Kristel. Dave and I are also retired so likewise, every weekend is a long weekend here too. It's nice.

Hi, Deborah! I can't catch up, but your view of the northern lights was magnificent. They were visible here, but I didn't manage to see them at all.... Once several years ago I saw a great bright green swirl in the northwest sky that was either a hallucination or the lights. I saw no mention of them anywhere, nor did any of my friends going home from the same event see what I saw.

I have access to Brotherless Night, and you make me want to get to it soon!

Ah, retirement. For us pretty much every day is Saturday except Sunday.

>59 LizzieD: I'll bet the big green swirl was the Northern Lights, and not a hallucination. I hope you can get to Brotherless Night soon,Peggy. Yes, in retirement each days is pretty much Saturday except Sunday.

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Have a terrific Tuesday, Deborah!

Hi, Deborah. We are back from camping and gearing up for another trip on Friday. Hoping to see Jack today for a bit. I didn't get as much reading in, as I would have liked this weekend, but I am enjoying Table For Two and my audio The Searcher. I have Long Island on the TBR.

Just heading out the dentist for a cleaning. Be back later. Have a good day, everyone!

Thank goodness it's just a cleaning! Hope you have a good day Deborah! Where did the sun go?

Hope the cleaning goes smoothly!

Hi Deborah, Love your photo of the Northern Lights! They were seen here in Colorado but I only saw a very light reddish sky briefly in the north. We are south of Denver so the city lights were in the way. Had we driven north and east an hour or so we would have seen more. Oh well, next time. ;)

I'm glad to see you enjoyed Long Island. I'm 20th out of 21 copies on my library's hold list so I should get it soonish. I hope the copies they still have on order come in soon!

Hi Deb my dear, a belated Happy New Thread dear friend. Thank you for posting a message for me about my missing in action. I got back on yesterday when the new laptop arrived, it is lighter and slimmer than my previous one and i am really enjoying it.

Last night we went to The Grand Theatre in Leeds to see Pretty Woman, it was fabulous and i nearly didn't go.

Hope all is well with you, Dave, Poppy and the rest of the family dear friend, sending love and hugs from both of us.

>62 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia! I'm not sure my Tuesday was terrific as I spent it at the dentist. But thanks for the good wishes!

>63 msf59: Mark, I'm glad you had such a wonderful weekend away and getting ready for another one. I'm glad you are enjoying your current books and that you have Long Island soon to be up.

>65 mdoris: Well, yes, Mary, it was a just cleaning. However, the dentist found a couple of areas towards the front of my mouth that may or may not have the start of a cavity. She treated it with something called Silver Fluoride Diamine, I think it is. But, without my knowledge it has stained a small part of two of my front teeth and that is not acceptable to me. So I'm waiting on a phone call from the dentist to see what can be done - either a filling or can she put a white filling colour over the top? Because two small stains are making me crazy!

>66 Kristelh: As above, not quite , but thanks Kristel

>67 Copperskye: Thanks Joanne. It was great to see the Northern Lights. Yes , next time, whenever that is. I did indeed enjoy Long Island and glad you are soon getting it from your library.

>68 johnsimpson: Good to see you, John. I'm glad you found the right new laptop. I was more than happy to let people know why you were not able to get onto your thread, happy to help, dear friend. I'm glad you enjoyed Pretty Woman and it's a good thing you went, given that you enjoyed it so much.

>70 vancouverdeb:. Hmm, that should not be, and if it stains, you should have been informed. I hope it can be fixed.

>70 vancouverdeb: Oh dear Deborah. A trip to the dentist and 1 step forward and 2 steps back. HOpe you get the staining sorted out. Argh!

>70 vancouverdeb: Deb, I imagine the stains on your front teeth do drive you crazy when you look at them. I'm hoping there will be a solid resolution.

I look forward to hearing about what, if anything, the dentist will do with this situation.