Robert N Hope
New Year, New Goals
Looking back on 2016, the 52 books was an achievement for me... and a fitting renewed goal for 2017. With age, though, comes discernment (or an absence of patience) and I find it much easier to put down a book unfinished. I'll never make it through all of the books that I want to read and it is silly to spend time on one that I'm not enjoying or indifferent towards. So, the number of 'incomplete' has jumped considerably.
The Winners
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The Egyptologist by Arthur Phillips
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The Jungle Law by Victoria Vinton (story of Rudyard Kipling in America)
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The 6 Messiahs by Mark Frost
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Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen
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The Murder Room by PD James
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Galore by Michael Crummey (a very curious Canadian story)
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My Life as a Fake by Peter Carey
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Medicus by Ruth Downie
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I, Judas by Caldwell Taylor
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Casanova in Bohemia by Andrei Codrescu (excellent story of Casanova in retirement)
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The Illuminator by Brenda Rickman
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The Burning Road by Ann Benson
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Mamigon by Jack Hashian
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Accordion Crimes by E Annie Proulx
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The Stone Woman by Ali Tariq (Spain)
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Wanting by Richard Flanagan (first book I've ever read from Tasmania)
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The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
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The Tusk That Did the Damage by Tania James
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The Black Widow by Daniel Silva
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Brimstone by Preston & Child
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Fool Me Once by Brandeman & Parker
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The Machiavelli Covenant by Alan Folsom
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Exodus by Leon Uris
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Gideon's Sword by Preston & Child
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Illuminated by Matt Bronlewee
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Razor Girl by Carl Hiaasen
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The Physician by Noah Gordon
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The Last Jew by Noah Gordon
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The Art Forger by Barbara Shapiro
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Plagiarist by Benjamin Cheever
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The Double Eagle by James Twining
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Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz (trans. from Polish)
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The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre by Dominic Smith (Australia)
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Trinity by Leon Uris
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The Devil's Brew by Jack Treby
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The Private Patient by PD James
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The Affair by Lee Child
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Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Losers
Light of Day by Jamie Saul
The Sea by John Banville
Gilbert, A Comedy of Manners by Judith Martin
Voices of the Desert by Nelida Pinon (Argentina)
The Fisherman's Testament by Cesar Vidal
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Of Note
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. It isn't often that you read the first of a particular genre of fiction. I suppose Tom Clancy was groundbreaking with Hunt for Red October but, in this era of formula writing with copy after copy after copy (John Grisham, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, David Baldacci, Clive Custler) it is fun seeing the first of its type. The Moonstone is widely considered the first detective novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Wilkie Collins was a good friend of Charles Dickens and worked with him on stories, magazines, plays, &c.
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I am English with a bit of French and German. I don't think that there is any Jewish blood coursing through my veins but wish that there was. I have been drawn to so many good books on Jewish peoples and the tremendous burden their heritage carries that I am envious of their perseverance and survival. I particularly liked The Hope by Herman Wouk, Exodus by Leon Uris, two books by Noah Gordon, and all of the Daniel Silva novels.
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Again, in 2017, I've enjoyed foreign authors with works from Australia, Spain, England, Canada, Poland and Tasmania. The one from Poland, Quo Vadis, stands out for its detailed story-telling... a great book. I include Canada simply because the book was so unique and specific to Canada.
Incomplete
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The Diamond by Julie Baumgold
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Lunatics by Barry & Zweibel
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Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
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Ripper by Isabelle Allende
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A Poisoned Season by Tasha Alexander
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Getting it Right by William F Buckley
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The Nest by Cynthia Sweeney
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Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
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The Atlantis Code by Charles Brokaw
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Tsar by Ted Bell
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George Washington's Secret Six by Brian Kilmeade
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The Good German by Joseph Kanon
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