The Historical House: Mary, Malta! Help! Help Malta!

New Books Finished in 2018

Life after Life (Kate Atkinson, great book, an astonishingly good writer)
The Tiger in the Smoke (Allingham, just the slightest bit overwritten for my tastes but very good)
Tradition & Sanity (Kwasniewski, see LSN review)
Podróż Wędrowca do świtu (C,S. Lewis, tłum. Polkowski)
Goodbye, Things (Sasaki, inspiring)
Horace and Me (H. Eyres, moving but apostate)
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy (W. Irvine, quite fun if ultimately atheist)
Beowulf the Dragonslayer (R. Sutcliffe, satisfyingly Anglo-Saxon in its rhythms)
The Lovely Bones (A. Sebold, v. good)
A Long Way Down (Nick Hornsby, v. good)
The French Country Table (Washburn, better read than a cheap romance novel)
A Guide to the Stock Market: How the Stock Market Works (Croft, off-putting, class-conscious & surely out of date)
The Geeks Guide to the Writing Life (Vanderslice, interesting)
Self-Sufficiency: Hen Keeping (Hatcher, useful)
Human Croquet (Atkinson, genius)
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (Amy Chua, gripping, painful, frightening, made me cry)
The Zero Waste Home (Bea Johnson, inspiring)
The Abolition of Woman: How Radical Feminism is Betraying Women (Nash, brilliant)
The urban hen :a practical guide to keeping poultry (Paul Peacock)
Family guide to keeping chickens (Anne Perdeaux)
Make your own beer and cider (Paul Peacock)
Booze for free :the definitive guide to homebrew (Andy Hamilton)
Eat Move Sleep (Tim Rath, inspiring)
Grow your own vegetables (interesting)
French Women Don't Get Facelifts (shallow)
Murder is Easy (Christie, good--I guessed the murderer for first time)
Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories (Christie, good)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Haddon, brilliant)
Miss Moneypenny's Guide to financially independent women (McGregor, ok but blogs are better)
Low Cost Living (J. Harrison, interesting)
Książę Kaspian (C.S. Lewis, tłum. Polkowski)
Escape Everything (Wringham, inspiring & fun)
The Elegance of the Hedgehog (Barbery; trans, Anderson, brilliant)
Marrying Off Mother (G. Durrell, dirty and disappointing)
The Sleep Revolution (A. Huffington, fun)
Authentic Happiness (Seligman, some use, ultimately atheist)
Eat that Frog (Tracy, v. helpful)
Mad about the House (Watson-Smyth, informative & enjoyable)
Happy by Design (V. Harrison, excellent)
Girl's Guide to Decorating (A. Ahern, inspiring)
Patios & Courtyards (Royal Hortic. Soc., interesting)
Love Your Garden (A. Titchmarsh, interesting)
Poland: A History (A. Zamoyski, sweeping)
Stamboul Train (G. Greene, sad)
Multilingualism : a Very Short Introduction(Maher, tooth-achingly PC)
Crewe Train (R. Macaulay, funny & sad)
The Outcast (Sutcliff, master class on drama)
The Silver Branch (Sutcliff, brilliant)
Amore and Amaretti (Unintentionally desperately sad)
Better than Fiction 2: True Adventures from 30 Great Fiction Writers (Lonely Planet, v. good)
The World My Wilderness (R. Macaulay, excellent)
Third Girl (Agatha Christie, genius at puzzles)
We Can't All be Astronauts (Clare, made me grateful for own lot)
Jane of Lantern Hill (Montgomery, wonderful)
The Truth is Out There: Brendan and Erk in Exile, Vol 1 (Amadeus, good)
Why We are Catholic (Horn, very good)
Siostrzeniec Czarodzieja (C.S. Lewis, trans. into Polish by Andrzej Polkowski)
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (J. Peterson, awesome)
A Short Guide to a Long Life (Agus, amusing pop medicine)
Bertrand Russell's The Conquest of Happiness (Phillips, not Russel, so disappointing)
The Nursing Home Murder (N. Marsh, dull)
Każdy dzień z Jezusem
Home From the Vinyl Cafe (S McLean, l'd until cr'd)

New Books Finished in 2017

Peak: Secrets from the Science of Expertise (Ericsson & Pool, useful)
Becoming Fluent (Roberts & Kreuz, brainy)
Cheap Sex (Regnerus, reviewed)
Off With His Head (Marsh, excellent)
False Scent (Marsh, v. good)
Artists in Crime (Ngaio Marsh, good intro to Marsh)
How to Speak Any Language Fluently (Rawlings, useful & original)
Moonwalking with Einstein (Foer, amusing and inspiring)
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (Kondo, potentially life-changing)
The Little Book of Talent (Coyle, useful)
Grit: the Power of Passion and Perseverance (Duckworth, excellent)
Deep Work (Newport, very useful)
That Memory Book (Ramin, thought-provoking)
The Journalist's Handbook (Fletcher, amusing)
The Power of Silence (Sarah, instant spiritual classic)
The Devil Hates Latin ("Gagliano", amusing spot-the-reference novel for Traddies, needs editing)
Noble Beauty, Transcendent Holiness (Kwasniewski, very good. See LSN review.)
The Fast Diet Recipe Book (Spenser, useful)
The Art of Simplicity (Laureau, hilariously contradictory but strangely convincing)
The AP Guide to News Writing (oh, 20th century America, I miss you!)
Closed Casket (Hannah, entertaining and very clever)
The Signature of All Things (Gilbert, marred by sex obsession)
Positive Thinking (Hasson, zzzz)
The Clever Guts Diet (Mosley, intormative & amusing)
Unlocking Italian with Paul Noble (Noble, very clever)
The Benedict Option (Dreher, awesome)
An Omlette and a Glass of Wine (David, v. good)
Italian Food (David, a bit patronizing)
The History of English Food (Dickson Wright, v,good)
Cooking for Claudine (Baxter, quite fun)
Summer Cooking (David, also absorbing)
French Provincial Cooking (David, great for hospital waiting rooms)
The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Hamid, stunning: clean, crisp writing)
After the Funeral (Christie doing what she did best)
The 8-week Blood Sugar Diet Recipe Book (Bailey, Schenker; absorbing)
This Way to the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen (Borowski, trans. Vedder; unforgettable)
Harry Mount's Odyssey (Mount; lovelorn)
Dummies' Guide to Ancient Greece (good general review)
The Man Who Deciphered Linear B (Robinson, surprisingly sad)
Lalka (The Doll) Bolesław Prus (trans. Walsh, genius)
e.Explore Ancient Greece (DK, good review with illustrations)
The Toll House (Heyer combining romance with murder)
The True Story of Fatima (John de Marchi, very engaging)

New Books Read

Ancient Greeks (Ladybird, good summary)
A Man Without Breath (Kerr, plot-driven Nazi Noir)
How to Improve Your Memory for Study (Hancock, v. useful)
Jak tata pokazał mi wszechświat (Stark, trans. Skalska, moving and funny)
Regency Buck (Heyer, plot ruined by Infamous Army)
How We Learn (Carey, insightful)
Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning (Brown et al., all teachers should read it)
Success with Languages (ed, Hurd & Murphy, Routledge; brilliant)
One Night in Italy (Lucy Diamond, chicklit)
My Year with a Horse (Hazel Southam, gently moving)
Polish in 4 Weeks, Part 2 (Is there a Part 3??!)
Essential Bushcraft (Ray Mears, highly advanced)
Greene on Capri (Hazzard, enlightening)
Good + Simple (Hemsley & Hemsley, inspiring)
The Rage against God (P. Hitchens)
Wheat Belly (Davis, interesting)
The Obesity Code (Fung, interesting)
Bath Tangle (Heyer, beautifully complicated)
Baltic, pies, który płynął na krze (Gawryluk, cudowna)
The Abolition of Britain from Winston Churchill to Princess Diana (Peter Hitchens, answers the question "What HAPPENED?")
High Heels and a Head Torch: The Essential Guide for Girls Who Backpack (Duke, louche)
Food for Fitness: How to Eat for Maximum Performance (Bean, good)
Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies and Why (Gonzales, good)
Zima, której nie było (Minasowicz, good)
Survival: The Ultimate Practical Guide [...],( Akkermans et al., awesome)
Mezzofanti's Gift: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners (Erard, fascinating)
Franklin i ukochany kocyk (Bourgeois, trans.)
The Low-Sugar Diet Cookbook (Graimes, useful)
Dlaczego żółw ma popękaną skorupkę?(Gakuja, Lloyd)
Muminki; Koniec świata i inne opowiadania (Jansson, trans. Brzoza et al.)
Letters from London (Barnes, aged badly)
Jak przechodzić przez ulicę? (Zubrzycka, reviewed)
The Noise of Time (Barnes, brilliant)
Made in Quebec: A Culinary Journey (Armstrong, delightful)
Elephants Remember (Christie, good)
Adam Mickiewicz: The Life of a Romantic (Koropeckyj)
Think Smart: A Neuro.. (Restak, good)
Brighton Rock (Greene, great)
Lord Edgware Dies (Christie, good)
Footsteps in the Dark (Heyer, terrible)
Flaubert's Parrot (Barnes, brainy)
Soumission (Eng. trans.) Houllebecq
Pan Tadeusz (Eng. trans.) Mickiewicz
The Fox at the Manger

The Historical House

Saturday, 14 January 2017

Mary, Malta! Help! Help Malta!

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