Recent Book Activity

If I'm stuck in a book, I don't even hear people talking to me! I will read and enjoy most everything - although my clear favourite is fiction in the historic and fantasy genres. By and large, I prefer reading English over my mother tongue German, and will also pick up the occasional book in Dutch if I can get my hands on one... But well, I'm happy as long as I've got a decent read - and I guess that's what I share with the rest of this group!!!

Read in 2008:
"Harry Potter en de Steen der Wijzen" (HP #1 in Dutch!) - J. Rowling
"Digital Fortress" - Dan Brown
"Assassins of Rome" - Caroline Lawrence
"The Thieves of Ostia" - Caroline Lawrence
"Im Schatten der Burg" (German translation of "Glenraven II")- Marion Zimmer Bradley
"Dead Man's Ransom" - Ellis Peters
"An Excellent Mystery" - Ellis Peters
"The Raven in the Foregate" - Ellis Peters
"The Leper of St Giles" - Ellis Peters
"Kruistocht in Spijkersbroek" reading now


Read in 2007:
"Buster's Diary" - Roy Hattersley
"My Tudor Queen" - Alison Prince
"The Chronicles of Narnia" (7 books) - C S Lewis
"The Grail Quest" (3 books - Harlequin, Vagabond, Heretic) - Bernard Cornwell
"Sister Fidelma" mystery series (4 books - Suffer Little Children, The Subtle Serpent, The Spider's Web and Badger's Moon) - Peter Tremayne
"Spiel des Schicksals" - Barbara Wood (German translation of "Hounds & Jackals")
"Mammut" - Gregory Fuller (German translation)
"Distant Voices" - Barbara Erskine (collection of short stories)
"The Witch of Exmoor" - Margaret Drabble (an unusual "mystery")
"Corpse Candle" - Paul Doherty
"Dissolution" - C.J.Sansom
"The Diary of a Young Girl" - Anne Frank
"The Dark Horse" - Marcus Sedgwick
"The First Horseman" - John Case
"The Lovely Bones" - Alice Seebold
"Girl with a Pearl Earring" - Tracy Chevalier
"King Solomon's Mines" - H. Rider Haggard
"Golfing for Cats" - Alan Coren (part-read - the most boring humour I've ever come across)
"Gobi: Tracking the Desert" - John Man
"The Wheel of Time" Series - Robert Jordan (book 1-8)
"Icehenge" - Kim Stanley Robinson
"The Colour Purple" - Alice Walker
"Ender's Game" - Orson Scott Card
"The Little Cat Behaviour Book"
"Cat Stories" - Stella Whitelaw
"The Bone People" - Keri Hulme
"Journey to the East" - Hermann Hesse
"Tulip Fever" - Deborah Moggach
"Caedmon's Song" - Peter Robinson
"Hunting Unicorns" - Bella Pollen
"Blackberry Wine" - Joanne Harris
"Fatherland" - Robert Harris
"The Leper of St Giles" - Ellis Peters
"A Rare Benedictine" - Ellis Peters
"The Rose and the Thistle" - Jean Plaidy
"Whispers in the Sand" - Barbara Erskine
"His Dark Materials" trilogy (Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass)- Philip Pullman
"The Nine Tailors" - Dorothy Sayers



Read in 2006:
The Angel of Darkness - Caleb Carr (BC ring; a huge and unusual murder mystery, with an odd crew of amateur sleuthes and narrated by a youngster with a NY underworld background reflected in his language - intriguing but enjoyable)
Cloud of Sparrows - Takashi Matsuoka (BC ring; a smurai novel set in the latter half of the 19th century - fascinating insight in a changing society with some unusual twists and turns, and an equally unusual constant-switch-viewpoint style)
Words of Hope - (BC loan; bible verses and pictures for meditation/devotional)
The Word and the Void Trilogy - Terry Brooks (BC RAK; fantasy novels set in the American here and now; a definite trilogy ending with one of the hero's death in the 3rd novel: Running with Demons; Knight of the Word; Angel Fire East)
The Lake of Dead Languages - Carol Goodman (requested for swap; a very unusual murder mystery/thriller set in a girl's boarding school mainly around their Latin classes/connections; kept me on my toes - great characters with great relationships to each other to their various layers of past...)
The Good Earth - Pearl S. Buck (requested for swap; a strangely unpresuming story of the life of a Chinese farmer and his family during the last Emperor's reign, cleverly written and interesting for all its cultural detail)
Enemies of the Empire - Rosemary Rowe (BC ring; whodunnit set in Roman Britannia - entertaining story with many twists and turns I wouldn't have anticipated)
Catalina's Riddle - Steven Saylor (BC ring; next volume of the Gordianus the Finder Roman sleuth stories - set around the consulship of Cicero and the revolt of Catalina, with a whole lot of political/historical background)
The Queen's Fool - Philippa Gregory (own; more or less continuing in the style of The Other Boleyn Girl, at the later Tudor Court, this depicts the sad and lonely life and reign of Bloody Mary and the horrible dangerous times she brought about, seen through the eyes of a Jewish girl who is Holy Fool at Court)
The Virgin's Lover - Philippa Gregory (BC ring; follows on from "The Queen's Fool" about the early years of Queen Elizabeth I's reign, based around her love affair with a nobleman of dubious heritage)
The Creature in the Case - Garth Nix (BC surprise ring; a quick little read picking up the story of the Abhorsen Trilogy - nice to be back in the Old Kingdom and Ancelstierre)
Pompeii - Robert Harris (BC ring; very different from other Harris novels - a straightforward thriller set in the Roman Empire in the four days before and during the catastrophic eruption of the volcano Vesuvius)
Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About - Mil Millington (own; a comedy about life in England on the background of an anglo-german relationship - funny but should be taken with a pinch of salt!)
Hiding from the Light - Barbara Erskine (own; another great story of ghosts and witchcraft versus the powers of the Church, bound into a fantastic tale of ancestry and Essex past)
James Herriot's Cat Stories - James Herriot (BC ring; charming bedtime read - a collection of short stories about his own cats as well as vet experiences involving cats - each of them cute and different, and some that make you cry...)
Jesus the Man - Barbara Thiering (BC ring; a weird attempt at drawing up an alternative set of events around Jesus from that told in the gospels - rather dry and confusing but partly interesting backgrounds)
The Iron Hand of Mars - Lindsey Davis (BC ring; another episode in the life Falco, the Roman sleuth with the dry humour...as enjoyable as ever!)
The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom (BC ring; a thought-provoking yet easy read set in an unusual interpretation of Heaven, with five lessons for life that seem more useful before than after death!)
The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (brilliant mystery novel that keeps you on your toes - fascinating to see the "treasure hunt" unfold alongside the hunt for a murderer)
Daggerspell - Kahterine Kerr (BC; first in a series of fantasy books in the "Lord of the Rings" genre - good setting, interesting characters, and some good fantasy ideas - looking forward to further volumes)
Poseidon's Gold - Lindsey Davies (BC ring; another Falco whodunnit set in ancient Rome - great mystery with a lot of personal and emotional involvement of Falco's entire family to give it yet another angle...great witty writer!)
The Torn Veil - Gulsham Esther (friend's loan; a book of Christian testimony from a former muslim girl; a really miraculous story!)
Deception Point - Dan Brown (BC ring; another great read very much in the same league as the Da Vinci Code but with a totally different topic: the intrigues around presidential elections in the USA)
The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher (BC ring consisting of 5 books: "Storm Front", "Fool Moon", "Grave Peril", "Summer Knight" and "Death Masks"; a series of mystic murder mysteries - the sleuth is a true wizard who has decided to go public with his abilities and team up with the police in solving a double murder - involves some fantastic creatures and concepts)
Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom (BC ring; a very moving book about some fundamental wisdom through the eyes of man dying slowly of ALS)
Das New York Tagebuch - Else Buschheuer (BC ring; only read the part of the book (a diary) that concerned itself with 9/11-18 - very close to the heart report of her feelings and anxieties of being close to the terrible Twin Tower incident; found the language in the rest of the book "too cool" for my taste - ridiculous)
Mary Called Magdalene - Margaret George (BC ring; very readable historical novel with well researched background; brings alive the gospel story of the Bible with extensive cultural and geographical background)
From Finland with Love - Roman Schatz (loan by friend; humourous account on Finland and the Fins by a German expat - partly weird, partly hilarious!)
The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde (loan by friend; unusual whodunnit in a witty fantasy/science fiction type setting with alternative history)
Eleven Minutes - Paulo Coelho (BC ring; diary-type on prostitution - not much like other Coelho books I've read, missing the "story" scenario...)
"Dawnspell" and "Dragonspell" - Katherine Kerr (the last two volumes of Kerr's fantasy epic - getting darker and more gripping with each sequence but a happy ending relieves it all...)
Labyrinth - Kate Mosse (an alternative grail quest, set in the mysterious lands of the old Pay d'Oc in Southern France and the Cathar religion who thrived there once, the story plays the same set of people, re-incarnated, in the same tangle of story in the early 1200s and present day; very readable!)
Angels and Demons - Dan Brown (BC ring; the prequel to the Da Vinci Code, it features the same hero in another symbology treasure hunt - this time to save the Vatican from destruction)
The Church Invisible - Nick page (BC ring; science-fiction style thesis into the church of the future - one very unusual book!)
The Book of God - Walter Wangerin JR (BC ring; the whole Bible compressed into a novel - slow start but great for an overview of the stories contained in the Old Testament, and the Gospel brought to life)
Number Ten - Sue Townsend - (a humouristic take on the British government I would say, quite amusing but a far cry from the brilliance of "The Queen & I")
Holy Fools - Joanne Harris - (BC ring; an historic almost "whodunnit" type novel with lots of twists and turns that kept me on my toes - certainly want to read more from this author)
Burned Alive - by Souad (BC ring; an amazing book with a true story that to our understanding is absolutely unbelievable and so very shocking - an eye-opener on Muslim extremist cultures)
Watching the English - Kate Fox (BC ring; an amusing take on "The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour" by an English anthropologist; interesting but after a while a bit repetitive)
The Tale of Murasaki - by Liza Dalby (BC ring; story of a Heian period lady who is the author of The Tales of Genji; written in the form of an autobiography based on poems and letters found)
The Dinosaur Hunters - by Deborah Cadbury (BC ring; discourse on the people involved in the discoveries of dinosaurs in Britain and the first theories on the age and evolution of the earth)

Read in 2005:
Hokkaido Highway Blues - Will Ferguson (BC loan; witty and interesting hitchiker's travelogue in Japan)
A Morbid Taste for Bones - Ellis Peters (Christmas present; Cadfael Chronicle #1; very entertaining medieval whodunnit)
The Ruby in the Smoke - Philip Pullman (BC loan; first of the Sally Lockhard series; mystery story aimed at younger teenagers but an entertaining read for adults, too)
The Secret Hunters - Ranulph Fiennes (BC loan; haunting but gripping; true story of Nazi atrocities and the post-war hunt for war criminals)
Monsoon - Wilbur Smith (Christmas present; part of the Courtney saga - early 18th century seagoing/pirate adventure)
Desert Flower - Waris Dirie (BC ring; another haunting gripping true life story - describes the horror of female circumcision in Africa and the rise of a poor African nomad girl into the ranks of top models of the world, through determination and a series of unexpected events)
Desert Dawn - Waris Dirie (BC ring; the second volume, documenting the author's return on visit to her home country. An even stronger inside into the problems of the poor rural communities in desert Somalia.)
The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (BC ring; big compelling hybrid fantasy/science fiction novel about a man, who through DNA mutation cannot "stay in present time", disappearing and reappearing in his own or his wife's past or future)
The Book of Dead Days - Marcus Sedgwick (BC ring; fantasy children's book - easy little read about a magician's quest to escape paying the price for a deadly dark bargain)
The Drawing of the Dark - Tim Powers (BC ring; fantasy story set in authentic Vienna of the 16th century - intriguing mix of an original plot with old myths)
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down - Anne Fadiman (BC loan; the story of an epileptic Hmong child and the resulting cultural clashes between her parents and the medical community in the US, with a lot of anthropological background)
American Gods - Neil Gaiman (BC Ring; a fantastic concoction bringing alive all and every old myth and legend there ever was, in a contemporary setting!)
Woman at the Edge of Time - Marge Piercy (BC ray; science fiction - clever cross over between racist, poverty and perception problems of contemporary times and two future visions, one community and health orientated friendly; the other the usual greed and progress driven and robot operated hostile - with contact between future and present via "time-travelling of the mind")
Felidae - Akif Pirincci (BC ring; fantasy murder mystery - a philosophical whodunnit set in the world of cats - talking animals represent human characters and behavioral traits; a story of many twists and turns)
84 Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff (BC ring; double bill with "The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street" - collection of letters between American book fan and London 2nd hand bookshop around WW2 time; and story of the authors visit to London after this collection was published - delightful!!!)
The Cater Street Hangman - Anne Perry (BC loan; first of the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels - Victorian whodunnit, very enjoyable read!)
The Queen and I - Sue Townsend (bought for PC; read 2nd time - great satirical novel about royal family living in poverty)
Black Notice - Patricia Cornwell (BC loan; a Kay Scarpetta novel - as usual, good suspense, slightly gruesome murder mystery from the viewpoint of a medical examiner; unusual twists...)
The Gate to Women's Country - Sheri S. Tepper (BC loan; unusual fantasy/science fiction novel - a fateful not-quite-love story set in an alternative society developed after a fatal nuclear war)
The Silver Pigs - Lindsey Davis (BC ring; humorous whodunnit set in Imperial Rome - well-paced mystery of murder and treason alongside an unusual romance)
Timbuktu - Paul Auster (BC ring; interesting little story written from the point of view of a dog, companion of many years to a slightly deranged vagabond)
Autobiography of a Geisha - Sayo Masuda (BC ring; quite a different life from Mineko Iwasaki's in Geisha of Gion - maybe rounds of the picture somewhat although I would disagree with some of her points on life in general)
Witch Hill - Marcus Sedgwick (BC loan; a rather sinister little story of fictional historical background but a very compelling quick read with the obligatory happy ending of a children's book)
Roman Blood - Steven Saylor (BC ring; a Gordianus the Finder mystery, set in ancient Rome - great suspense story felt very real with Cicero being one of the main acting characters! - felt truly transported back to school days...)
Five Hundred Mile Walkies - Mark Wallington (BC ring; travelogue of a man with his borrowed dog and camping gear, walking around the coastal path of the English South-West Peninsula, his encounters, achievements and mishaps - hilarious!)
Seabiscuit - Laura Hillenbrand (end of BC ring; biography of three man and a most extraordinary racehorse - the story of how they met, learnt to love and to trust, and came to unprecendented fame)
Caroline, The Queen - Jean Plaidy (BC ring; a biographical novel that diminishes the distance of several hundred years and brings the English court of the Hanoverian dynasty to life - from the viewpoint of its Queen)
Sabriel - Garth Nix (BC swap; first of the Old Kingdom trilogy of fantasy children's book - reminiscent of Harry Potter it has two alternative worlds and it's full of magic, but very readable for grown-ups, too!)
Lirael - Garth Nix (BC ring; second book of the Old Kingdom trilogy)
Abhorsen - Garth Nix (BC ring; third book of the Old Kingdom trilogy)
White Apples - Jonathan Carroll (BC ring; another one of his most fantasmic fantasy novels - people returning from death, unborn children making contact - all in real time; a fascinating read)
Lenten Lands - Douglas Gresham (BC ring; autobiography of C.S.Lewis's stepson - unfortunately, not as informative as expected)
Felidae on the Road - Akif Pirincci (BC ring; the second mystery of the cynical feline sleuth Francis - a bit over the top but good environmental message and amusing witticism)
The Glass Palace - Amitav Ghosh (BC ring; family saga set in Burma/Myanmar, India and Malaya, spanning three generations from the end of 19th century to the end of the 20th - an incredibly sad story)
The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail - Michael Baigent (BC ring; an absolutely fascinating if controversial treatise that makes you want to go on check all the references, too...)
Shadows in Bronze - Lindsey Davis (BC ring; 2nd of the Falco novels - see "The Silver Pigs" above - even better than the 1st, can't wait to get the next one!)
The Bonesetter's Daughter - by Amy Tan (BC ring; another great Amy Tan novel about a young Chinese-American woman and her family being haunted by the past and how they overcome the problem...)
The Victorian House - Judith Flanders (BC ring; only partly read this - found it too repetitive and detailed but learnt a lot from the bits I did read; may well try my hand on it again some time...)
Flood - Richard Doyle (BC ring; a gripping fast-moving catastrophe novel right at my doorstep = London; compelling and frightening if partly a little far-fetched...)
The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break - Steven Sherrill (BC ring; intriguing account of the Minotaur's plight in present day America - human but not quite, horns and all... - but failed to convince me)
Shattered Dreams - Susan Stewart (BR ring; a captivating story of an abused wife's escape to freedom)
Inside Hitler's Bunker - Joachim Fest (BC ring; short but shocking account of the last days at the core of the Nazi Reich and the unbelievable madness there)
A Fortune-Teller Told Me - Titiano Terzani (BC ring; fascinating travelogue-cum-insight into the psychic life of the orient - captivating read!)
Fragments - Binjamin Wilkomirski (BC ring; apt name for a book that really is a fragmental recollection of a horrific Jewish childhood in Poland under the Nazi regime - a quick read that gives much to think about!)
The Bookseller of Kabul - Asne Seierstad (BC ring; fascinating insight into the life of a "middle-class" family in Afghanistan, and into Islamic traditions - highly recommendable)
Archangel - Robert Harris (BC ring; a thriller about a supposed heir of Stalin's - the author's usual play with alternative history...great suspense, good fun, but not quite believable)
The Nine Lives of Montezuma - Michael Morpurgo (BC ring; children's book about the dangerous life of a farm cat; quite endearing little story)
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides (BC ring; interesting account of an hermaphrodite life and his ancestors' stories; very well written and amusing around this serious topic)
Geisha - Liza Dalby (BC ring; wonderful insight into the world of geisha and Japanese culture from "an outsider who managed to get inside" - entertaining as well as informative and a great addition after having read Geisha of Gion earlier on)
Tailchaser's Song - Tad Williams (BC ring; lovely quest tale set in animal world with the heroes being cats - quite unlike the other Williams novels I've read but very readable, too)
It Ends With Magic- Spike Milligan (BC ring; sort of a children's book; sort of a family history; sort of a comedy - an unusual, quirky book that I enjoyed but don't know what to make of...
The Places In Between - Rory Stewart (BC ring; remarkable and very readable travelogue of a journey on foot through the mountains of Afghanistan in winter)
Amrita - Banana Yoshimoto (BC ring; a very readable book that goes on and on without arriving...still not quite sure what it is about!)
The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galazxy - Douglas Adams (BC swap; first of five - a rather fantastic type of science fiction but great fun to read!)
Stasiland - Anna Funder (BC ring; a fascinating collection of stories and biographies from the former GDR brought to life by the wonderful personal style of Anna Funder - insight into a totally unbelievable regime!)
Venus in Bronze - Lindsey Davis (BC ring; another Falco whodunnit in ancient Rome - they are getting ever better!!!)
Arms of Nemesis - Steven Saylor (BC ring; another thrilling ancient Rome whodunnit - this is of the Gordianus the Finder series, and an imposed deadline and some added mystery make it even more compelling to read...)
The Palace of Heavenly Pleasure - Adam Williams (BC ray; a huge historical fiction saga around the Boxer rebellion in China - adventure and romance in a wonderful exatic setting; very good read)
Red Azalea - Anchee Minh (BC ring; a gripping autobiography of a woman grown up in the Cultural Revolution in China, showing a slightly different aspect through some rather unusual relationships)
Sophie's World - Jostein Gaarder (BC ring; a crash course of 3000 years of philosophy skillfully woven into a mindboggling fantasy tale of dual reality; superb!)
Animal Farm - George Orwell (BC ring; a classic I read in English studies years ago and always wanted to read again - it was so much better now!)
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury (BC ring; a quick but compelling read of a scary science fiction world that reminded me of Orwell's Big Brother Is Watching You stuff - what imagination!)
The Prince and the Quakeress - Jean Plaidy (BC ring; well researched and presented historical fiction of the time of Geroge II and George III)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K.Rowling (loan from non-BCer; every bit as readable and spellbinding as the previous HP novels but getting darker all the time)
The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass (aged 37 3/4) - Adrian Plass (BC ring; hilarious comments on Christian life in the form of a diary - full of truths but enormously entertaining)
What's the Point of Christmas - J. John (BC ring; would call this a tract rather than a book - has interesting facts but nothing I could call new really; bit disappointing; quick read though)
The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory (loan of unregistered book from local BCer; a historical novel I enjoyed immensely - a lot of background and detail on the fascinating Tudor era which, living close to Hampton Court, I find very interesting; shedding a different light on some happenings...)
Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell (BC loan; another Orwell book I've always wanted to read - frightening prospect, the idea described here! - some passages of doctrine and ideology are a bit slow-going but other than that most readable!)

Read in 2004
The Ra Expeditions/Thor Heyerdahl; Medicus/Noah Gordon (in German: Der Medicus); Shaman/Noah Gordon (in German: Der Schamane);Ride the Wind/Lucia St Clare Robson (in German: Die mit dem Wind reitet); Crewel World/Monica Ferris; The Phantom of the Opera/Gaston Leroux (in German: Das Phantom der Oper); Black Wind Blowing/Peter Essex; Along Came a Spider/James Patterson; The Return of Merlin/Deepak Chopra; Postmortem/ Patricia Cornwell; Dragonprince/Melanie Rawn; The Passion/Jeanette Winterson; Gaijin/James Clavell (in German, same title); Unnatural Exposure/Patricia Cornwell; Darkspell/Katherine Kerr; Jinian Star-Eye/Sheri S. Tepper; Aestival Tide/Elizabeth Hand; Don Camillo and the Redhead/Giovanni Guareschi (in German: Don Camillo und die Rohaarige); The Nine Gods of Safaddne/Anthony Swithin; Moghul/Alan Savage; Primary Colours/ Anonymous; The Eight Banners/Alan Savage; 3001 - The Final Odyssee/Arthur C. Clarke; The Heavenly Horse from the Outermost West/Mary Stanton; The Death Committee/Noah Gordon (in German: Die Klinik); Empire of the Sun/J.G.Ballard (in German: Das Reich der Sonne); The Fair in Emain Macha/Charles de Lint; Ill Met in Lankhmar/Fritz Leiber; More Kinky Friedman/Kinky Friedman; Behind the Scenes at the Museum/Kate Atkinson; The Bridges of Madison County/Robert J Waller; Mere Christianity/C S Lewis; Singapura/Christopher Nicol; Byzantium's Crown/Susan Shwartz; Earth's Children (The Clan of the Cave Bear; The Valley of Horses, The Mammoth Hunters, Plains of Passage, Shelters of Stone)/Jean M Auel (partly in German: Das Tal der Pferde; Die Mammutjaeger); Mr God - this is Anna/Fynn; English Passengers/Matthew Kneale; The Potter's Field/Ellis Peters; The Mists of Avalon/Marion Zimmer Bradley; If only they could talk/James Heriot; Time of Arrival/Susan Sallis; Memory Sorrow and Thorn (The Dragonbone Chair; The Stone of Farewell; To Green Angel Tower - Storm/Siege)/Tad Wlliams; Never Pick Up Hitch-Hikers/Ellis Peters; A Child Called It/Dave Pelzer; The Lost Boy, Dave Pelzer; Kingdom of Shadows/Barbara Erskine; A Man Named David/Dave Pelzer; Sleeping in Flame/Jonathan Carrol; When We Were Orphans/Kazugo Ishigiro; The Raven in the Foregate/Ellis Peters; Geisha of Gion/Mineko Iwasaki; The Dumb House/John Burnside; The Tin Princess/Philip Pullman; Monks Hood/Ellis Peters; The Leper of St Giles/Ellis Peters; The Alchemist/Paulo Coelho; A Bloody Field by Shrewsbury/Edith Pargeter; House of Echoes/Barbara Erskine


Although most books on my bookshelf are marked PC or TBR I would be quite happy to lend them out for reading as long as the reader returns them to me...