#2026 Nonfiction – Travel P. Theroux

Orient Express

#2026 Challenge Watch a movie a day!

JANUARY:

1. Mr. Mercedes – (Netflix) – Love Brendan Gleason…but NOT in this. Turned it off after 3 episodes – disappointment 
2. Lost Illusions (Apple) – Movie only tells only  part 2 of the book…does NOT do Balzac justice! – Bah
3. Pluribus (Netflix) -I like Rhea Seehorn…otherwise I would have turned it off after episode 3 – boring
4. Murder in Monaco (Netflix)- Sloppy production, boring and waste of my time.  – boring  – 01.01.2026
5. Weapons  (Apple) –  Beyond bad…! Nothing remotely creative/intelligent …just a bunch  of zombies. Bah. o2.01.2026
6. A Real Pain (Disney) – Not what I expected…Culkin is too crazy…..and Eisenberg too stiff. 04.01.2026
7. His Three Daughters – (Netflix) -..It was okay…not great.  New York Times films 2024.  06.01.2026
8. Man on the Inside (Netflix) – NOT funny…each episode felt like cringy …stopped after 5 episodes. 17.01.2026
9. Cover-up (Netflix) – many memories about the news in 1960s  – EXCELLENT
10. The New Yorker 100 Years (Netflix) – my favourite magazine! – EXCELLENT
11. Sunday Best: the Untold Story of Ed Sullivan (Netflix) – EXCELLENT
12. The Holdovers – (Netflix)  ….good feeling movie, loved it!  – EXCELLENT
13. Evil Under the Sun (BBC 2)..love Peter Ustinov and Maggie Smith = EXCELLENT
14. Documentary (Art History)   “Basquiet: Rages to Riches”. (53 min)
15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23gz8pbPKOI  = WOW…just WOW!

#2026 Crime Fiction Challenge

1. Make a goal post and link it back here with your goal for this challenge.
2. link to your sign-up  at  Carol’s Notebook 
3. …for the Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge.
4. I’ve discovered that this genre has much  to offer! 
5. Goal:  20 books – DETECTIVE
6. Hashtag: #CloakDaggerChal

  2026 List:

1.  Bless Me, Ultima – R. Anaya (USA) 1972
2.  The Pledge – F. Dürrenmatt (Germany) 1959
3.  The Shape of Water – A. Camilleri (Italy) 2005
4. The Man Who Went Up in Smoke  – Sjöwall & Wahlöö (Sweden) 1966
5.  The Bat – Jo Nesbø (Norway) 1997
6. Fearless Killers – Henning Mankell (Sweden) 1991
7.  In the Darkness – Karen Fossum (Norway) 1995
8.  The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency – A. McCall Smith (Scotland) 1981
9. A Rage in Harlem – Chester Himes (USA) 1989
10.  A Red Death – Walter Mosely (USA) 1991
11. The Looking Glass War – J. Le Carré (UK) 1965
12. A Legacy of Spies – J. Le Carré (UK) 2017
13. Our Man in Havana – G. Greene – REVIEW (UK) 1958
14. The Labyrinth Makers – Anthony Price (UK) 1970
15.  Journey to Fear – Eric Ambler (UK) 1940
16.  Beat in the Shadows – Edogawa Ranpo (Japan) 1928
17.  In a Lonely Place – Dorththy Hughes (USA) 1947
18. The Night of the Hunter – Davis Grubb (USA) 1953
19.  The Franchise Affair – Josephine They (UK) 1948
20.  Cotton Comes to Harlem – C. Himes (USA) 1965

  2025 List: READ

1. And Be A Villian  – Rex Stout –  REVIEW   
2. Berlin Game – Len Deighton  – REVIEW
3. Mexico Set (1984) – Len Deighton – REVIEW
4. Conclave – R. Harris  – REVIEW
5. Call For the Dead – John Le Carré – REVIEW 
6. A Murder of Quality – J. Le Carré – REVIEW
7. The Spy Who Came In From the Cold – J. Le Carré – REVIEW
8. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – J. Le Carré – REVIEW  (Karla Trilogy #1)
9. The Honorable Schoolboy – John Le Carré (589 pg) – REVIEW  (Karla Trilogy #2)
10. Smiley’s People  – John Le Carré (400 pg) – REVIEW (Karla Trilogy #3)
11. The Daughter of Time – Josephine Tey – REVIEW
12. Our Man in Camelot by Anthony Price – REVIEW
13. And Then There Were None (1939) – A. Christie – REVIEW
14. The Secret Pilgrim – J. le Carré – REVIEW
15. The Beaver Theory (2022) – Antti Tuomainen – REVIEW
16. Requiem pour une république (2019) – Thomas Cantaloube – REVIEW
17. Mai 67 – T. Cantaloube – REVIEW
18. Frakas – T. Cantaloube – REVIEW
19. Bird in a Cage (Le monte-charge) – F. Dard – REVIEW
20. Leopold’s Way:  19 Detective Stories – Edward D. Hoch – REVIEW
21. Rodolpho Walsh’s Last Case – Elsa Drucaroff (Argentina) #WIT – REVIEW

#2025 Merry Christmas

#2026 Short Story Challenge

#2026 TBR 26in26

TBR selections for 2026 challenge:     Sign-up at  Rose City Reader (Gillian)

1. The Great Railway  Bazaar – P. Theroux  – REVIEW
2. The Master and Margarita – M. Bulgakov
3. The Making of the President – T. H. White
4. The Red Hot Vacuum – T. Solotoaroff
5. The Election Game and How to Win It – J. Napolitan
6. The New Gilded Age: The New Yorker –  D. Remnick – READING ( pg 261/432)
7. The Battle for Rome – R. Katz
8. Miles: The Autobiography – M. Davis with Quincy Troupe
9. The Kennedy Tapes – E.R. May and P.D. Zelikow
10. Memoires – B. et S. Klarsfeld
11. Kafka: Making of an Icon – R. Robertson
12. Des Souris Des Hommes (bande dessinée) – Rébecca Dautremer
13. Principles of Art History – H. Wölffin
14. An Unfinished Love Story – D.K. Goodwin
15. Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter – M. V. Llosa
16. Between Eternities  – Javier Marías (essays) – REVIEW
17. Heinrich Heine- G. Prochnik
18. Without Conscience: Disturbing World of Psychopaths Among Us – R.D. Hare
19. How the Scots Invented the Modern World – A. Herman
20. A Certain Idea of France – J. Jackson (life of C. De Gaulle)
21. Trilogy – Jon Fosse (3 interlocking novellas)
22. Selected Poems – C. Milosz – REVIEW
23. The Scandal of the Century – G. G Márquez (essays) – REVIEW 
24. Off to the Side – Jim Harrison (memoir)
25. Our Man in Havana – G. Greene
26. The Power and the Glory – G. Greene – REVIEW

#Classic Lost Illusions

by Honoré de Balzac

Finish date: 15.12.2025
Genre: novel
Rating: A+++
#Classics

Good News: What a magnificent novel…this a #MustRead!
It is a great stand alone novel but you can also
start with:
Father Goriot
Lost Illusions …and the sequel
A Harlot High and Low

Good News:

1. Book starts with a detailed look at fashions, furnishings, finances, and class hierarchies in French provincial society.
2. Lucien is headed for a shock in part 2: Paris is ready to crush this wannabe poet!
3. Everyone wants good reviews: actresses submit to journalists….journalists submit to publishers and
4. the public never reads the truth just comments paid for by interested parties who will make money!
5. Lucien feels poetry is being dragged through the mire his friend says:
6. “…you still have your illusions.” (part 2, pg 286)
7. Why have I put off reading this novel for years…no decades?
8. All of the characters want something intensely—love, money, revenge, or social recognition.
9. ..and now we see who is successful and who ends up in the gutter!

Bad News: I watched the 2021 movie Lost Illusions on AppleTV
The movie only tells Lucien’s story that is part 2 of the book.
My advice is to READ the book…the movie is a waste of time!

Parts 1 and 3 are missing from the movie and the ending was never written like this by Balzac!
The movie does NOT do Balzac justice! Awful!

Personal: Balzac weaves in dozens of characters in this 3 book series.
Balzac…supremely gifted storyteller,
adept at the slow windup and the rapid turn of the screw!

Balzac is a phenomenal writer!
You will not be disappointed!

#2026 Challenge: TBR 26 IN ’26

TBR 26 IN ’26

THE CHALLENGE

My first challenge will be. the TBR 26 in ’26 Challenge, hosted by Rose City Reader!

Please join HERE read all the information about the challenge.

#TBR26in26  #bookchallenge2026

#2026  TBR26in26 

1. The Great Railway  Bazaar – P. Theroux  – REVIEW
2. The Master and Margarita – M. Bulgakov
3. The Making of the President – T. H. White 
4. The Red Hot Vacuum – T. Solotoaroff
5. The Election Game and How to Win It – J. Napolitan
6. The New Gilded Age: The New Yorker Culture of Affluence –  D. Remnick  – READING
7. The Battle for Rome – R. Katz
8. Miles: The Autobiography – M. Davis with Quincy Troupe
9. The Kennedy Tapes – E.R. May and P.D. Zelikow
10. Memoires – B. et S. Klarsfeld 
11. Kafka: Making of an Icon – R. Robertson
12. Des Souris Des Hommes (bande dessinée) – Rébecca Dautremer 
13. Principles of Art History – H. Wölffin
14. An Unfinished Love Story – D.K. Goodwin
15. Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter – M. V. Llosa
16. Between Eternities  – Javier Marías (essays) – REVIEW
17. Heinrich Heine – G. Prochnik 
18. Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us – R.D. Hare
19. How the Scots Invented the Modern World – A. Herman
20. A Certain Idea of France – J. Jackson (life of C. De Gaulle) 
21. Trilogy – Jon Fosse (3 interlocking novellas)
22. Selected Poems – C. Milosz -REVIEW
23. The Scandal of the Century – G. G Márquez (essays) – REVIEW
24. Off to the Side – Jim Harrison (memoir)
25. Our Man in Havana – G. Greene – REVIEW
26. The Power and the Glory – G. Greene – REVIEW

• The challenge runs from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026. You can sign up any time before December 31, 2026. 

#NonFicNov25 week 5 “New To My TBR”

1. Here is my  list of YOUR books….that I want to read (TBR).
   
2. It’s important to read outside of your experience,
3. …outside of your time,
4. …outside of your comfort zones.
5. That is the most important take-away  #NonFicNov25

1. Thanks  to the readers for sharing your best non-fiction!
2. Thanks to hosts…
   
3. Heather @Based OnA TrueStory
4. Frances@volatilerune.blog 
5. Liz@librofulltime.wordpress.com
6. Rebekah@She Seeks Nonfiction.
7. Deb@Readerbuzz

1. Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent – J. Dench (@AnaBookBel.com)
2. Dead and Alive: Essays – Z. Smith (@746Books.com)
3. Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin – S. Prideaux (@volatilerune)
   
4. The Coming Wave – M.Suleyman (@unsolicitedfeedback.com)
5. End Times  – P. Turchin  (@BookAroundTheCorner)
6. Everything Is Tuberculosis – J. Green  (@Maphead.com) – READING
7. No More Tears – G. Harris (@lakesidemusings.com)
8. Original Sins – E. Ewing  (@Joyweesemoll.com)
9. Killers of the Flower Moon – D. Grain (@Wordbyword)
10. The Worlds I See: Dawn of AI – Fei-Fei Li  (@unsolicitedfeedback.com)
11. The Immune Mind – M. Lyman  (@breathesbooks.com) 
12. Nuclear War: A Scenario – A.  Jacobson (@musingsliterarywanderer.com)
13. Conversations with Rilke  – M. Betz (@Bronasbooks.com)
14. Africa Is Not a Country – D. Faloyin (@SheSeeksNonfiction.com)

#GermanLitMonth25 Rummelplatz (GDR week)

by Werner Bräunig (no photo)

Finish date: 25.11.2025
Genre: novel
Rating: C
#GermanLitMonth25

Good News: I finished it, whew!

Bad News: There are a series of complexities in the book not obvious to me as a first time reader of GDR German literature: the endless bureaucracy, repressive bureaucrats and a scathing indictment of communism. I was overwhelmed. The scope of characters (…the minor ones who appear then disappear!) the disjointed but passionate writing and my lack of knowledge about the uprising in 1953 of the Soviet owned uranium mines of the Wismut AG, the paper factory in Chemnitz, and a paper factory in West Germany….made for exhausting reading.

Personal: At times I had to read very attentively, re-reading to even grasp the basic meaning of the book! I need Wikipedia to explain to me what happened in the GRD during the 1953 uprising.
It is not is not difficult, obscure or forbidding book in any way, you can get through it with some reading discipline…but it is also NOT for the fainthearted!