Being put in your place

No: Malcolm has not been idle these last few days.

• He has sanded the parquet in his front hall.
• He has hoovered and buffed the house after said sanding.
• He has started to stain and seal the said parquet.
• He has read a bit.
• He has endeavoured to cause havoc among the ungodly.
• He has indulged a lot.
• He has blogged a bit elsewhere.

All in all, it had been a good week ...

... until the New York Times published its list of 100 Notable Books of 2009.

And Malcolm had to recognise he had hit a new, all-time low ...

Two!

Just one fiftieth of the list.

For the record they are:

• Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall (O.K., O.K. — it's still the Lady's side of the bed. But the spirit is willing, y'know);
• Richard J. Evans's The Third Reich at War, which was not to be hurried, and has been a constant companion and friend for at least the last ten days.

As for the rest ...

Yawn.

However, Malcolm has to hand a small pile of the following:

• Two and a half Michele Giuttaris;
• Robert Harris's Lustrum;
• Michael Connelly's Nine Dragons (though Dewi Harries reckons it's not up to the usual mark);
• William Boyd's Ordinary Thunderstorms;
  

and

• James Ellroy's Blood's a Rover (which looks like the next one up).
  

So:

• To finish the floor;
• Three weeks to go before daughters and their spawn decide what Dad/Grandad would really like for Christmas,
• including an extended Eurostar weekend among the Belgians.

No rest for the wicked. Sphere: Related Content