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Member: cabegley

CollectionsYour library (2,487), Wishlist (604), Currently reading (1), To read (762), Read but unowned (97), All collections (3,091)

Reviews39 reviews

Tagsfiction (1,687), unread (1,290), read (1,034), living room (912), TBR (617), bedroom (521), kindle sample (354), tbr (323), norwalk library (283), 1001 (255) — see all tags

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About meI have been a fanatic reader for, well, ever since I can remember (and I can remember pretty far back). I work in publishing, but for puzzle magazines, so not for anything I actually read.

NOW READING:
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

LAST 10 BOOKS READ
Eugene Onegin, Alexander Pushkin
The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them, Elif Batuman
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2012, edited by Dave Eggers
As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto, edited by Joan Reardon
Lord of the Flies, William Golding
From Here to Eternity, James Jones
In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez
Shame, Salman Rushdie
Ready Player One, Ernest Cline
Rites of Passage, William Golding

About my libraryTOP 5 FICTION 2012
Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon
Voss by Patrick White
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

TOP 5 NONFICTION 2012
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2011 edited by Tim Folger
Night by Elie Wiesel
Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
Joseph Anton: A Memoir by Salman Rushdie
Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss (also most beautiful, uncategorizable read of 2012)

TOP CLASSICS 2012
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (also top reread)
Moby-Dick: Or, the Whale by Herman Melville

TOP MYSTERIES 2012
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
The Crow Road by Iain Banks

TOP COLLECTIONS 2012
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
The Best American Essays 2011 edited by Robert Atwan

TOP TRANSLATION 2012
The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki

TOP ODDBALL 2012
The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall

TOP THOUGHT-PROVOKING 2012
The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam

TOP WESTERN 2012
Warlock by Oakley Hall

TOP YA 2012
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie

TOP FANTASY 2012
Little, Big by John Crowley

TOP FUN READ 2012
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

TOP "YOU'RE ONLY GETTING TO THIS NOW?" 2012
I, Claudius by Robert Graves
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Rites of Passage by William Golding

TOP BIOGRAPHY 2012
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

TOP HISTORY 2012
Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature and the Shaping of the American Nation by Andrea Wulf
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowel

TOP TITLE 2012
Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,000 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them by Donovan Hohn

TOP FIRST LINE 2012
"It was the day my grandmother exploded." (The Crow Road by Iain Banks)

HONORABLE MENTION FIRST LINE 2012
"'Take my camel, dear,' said my aunt Dot, as she climbed down from this animal on her return from high mass." (The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay)

TOP FICTION 2011:
At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell

HONORABLE MENTION 2011:
Sorry, Gail Jones
Jean de Florette and Manon of The Spring, Marcel Pagnol
The Siege, Helen Dunmore
Fortunes of War, The Balkan Trilogy, Olivia Manning
A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan
True Grit, Charles Portis
Great House, Nicole Krauss
The Cellist of Sarajevo, Steven Galloway

TOP NONFICTION 2011:
Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution, Simon Schama
Just Kids, Patti Smith
The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness and Obsession, David Grann

HONORABLE MENTION 2011:
Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory, Ben Macintyre
A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1924, Orlando Figes
The Wordy Shipmates, Sarah Vowell
My Ears Are Bent, Joseph Mitchell
Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks and Big Pharma Flacks, Ben Goldacre
Consider the Lobster, David Foster Wallace
A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson

TOP REREADS 2011:
Arcadia, Tom Stoppard
Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne

TOP FICTION 2010
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Tirra Lirra By the River, Jessica Anderson
Galore, Michael Crummey
The Dud Avocado, Elaine Dundy
In the Woods and The Likeness, Tana French
The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid
Frederica and Cotillion, Georgette Heyer
The Iliad and The Odyssey, Homer
Ulysses, James Joyce
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Stieg Larsson
Palace Walk, Naguib Mahfouz
Ransom, David Malouf
A Place of Greater Safety, Hilary Mantel
As Meat Loves Salt, Maria McCann
The Ice Storm, Rick Moody
The Wizard of the Crow, Ngugi Wa'Thiong'O
Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

TOP NONFICTION 2010
Fun Home: An American Tragicomic, Alison Bechdel
American Bloomsbury, Susan Cheever
Zeitoun, Dave Eggers
The Lost City of Z, David Grann
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Edmund Morris
Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting that Revolutionized Wine, George M. Taber
Eleanor of Aquitaine, Alison Weir

TOP FICTION 2009
The Hero's Walk, Anita Rau Badami
The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Muriel Barbery
Villette, Charlotte Bronte
Nights at the Circus, Angela Carter
Rebecca, Daphne duMaurier
Sea of Poppies, Amitav Ghosh
The End of the Affair, Graham Greene
Life and Fate, Vasily Grossman
Measuring the World, Daniel Kehlmann
Unaccustomed Earth, Jhumpa Lahiri
Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel
Let the Great World Spin, Colum McCann
Dear American Airlines, Jonathan Miles
To Siberia, Per Petterson
Crampton Hodnet, Barbara Pym
The Radetzky March, Joseph Roth
Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie
The Boys in the Trees, Mary Swan
At Mrs. Lippincote's, Elizabeth Taylor
The Road Home, Rose Tremain
The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton

TOP NONFICTION 2009
The Defining Moment, Jonathan Alter
Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights and Murder in the Jazz Age, Kevin Boyle
The Big Burn, Timothy Egan
The Diary of Anne Frank: The Critical Edition, Anne Frank
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science, Richard Holmes
On a Grander Scale: The Outstanding Life and Tumultuous Times of Sir Christopher Wren, Lisa Jardine
The Curious Life of Robert Hooke: The Man Who Measured London, Lisa Jardine
The Ghost Map, Steven Johnson
Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal, Ben Macintyre
1776, David McCullough
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, Kate Summerscale
The Great Hunger: Ireland 1845-1849, Cecil Woodham Smith
The Brother Gardeners, Andrea Wulf

TOP 5 FICTION OF 2008
Small Island, Andrea Levy
The Quincunx, Charles Palliser
Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates
Netherland, Joseph O'Neill
Out Stealing Horses, Per Petterson

TOP 5 NONFICTION OF 2008
Ingenious Pursuits, Lisa Jardine
Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire, Amanda Foreman
John Adams, David McCullough
The United States of Arugula, David Kamp
The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters, edited by Charlotte Mosley

TOP HUMOROUS 2008
Queen Lucia, E.F. Benson
They Call Me Naughty Lola, edited by David Rose

TOP FOR YOUNG READERS 2008
The Summer Book, Tove Jannson
Summerland, Michael Chabon
I Am the Messenger, Markus Zusak

TOP COLLECTIONS 2008
No One Belongs Here More than You, Miranda July
Servants of the Map, Andrea Barrett
The Best Nonrequired Reading 2007, edited by Dave Eggers

TOP HISTORICAL FICTION 2008
Zoli, Colum McCann
Haweswater, Sarah Hall
The Colour, Rose Tremain

TOP IN TRANSLATION 2008
Arabian Nights and Days, Naguib Mahfouz
Embers, Sandor Marai

TOP MEMOIR 2008
Persepolis 2, Marjane Satrapi
The Sex Lives of Cannibals, J. Maarten Troosten

TOP HISTORY 2008
Founding Brothers, Joseph J. Ellis
London: The Biography, Peter Ackroyd
Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War, Nathaniel Philbrick

TOP NEW FICTION 2008
The Outcast, Sadie Jones
The Story of Forgetting, Stefan Merrill Block
The Gravedigger's Daughter, Joyce Carol Oates

TOP OLDER FICTION 2008
Maps for Lost Lovers, Nadeem Aslam
The Idea of Perfection, Kate Grenville
The Pursuit of Love, Nancy Mitford

TOP CLASSICS 2008
Bleak House, Charles Dickens
Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray
Agnes Grey, Anne Bronte

FAVORITE FICTION OF 2007
Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Achidie
Queen Margot, Alexandre Dumas
Troubles, J.G. Farrell
North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell
The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Michael Chabon
The Way We Live Now, Anthony Trollope
Case Histories, Kate Atkinson
Away, Amy Bloom
Middlemarch, George Eliot
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
The Lizard Cage, Karen Connelly
Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
Restoration, Rose Tremain
Mason & Dixon, Thomas Pynchon
Ship Fever, Andrea Barrett
A Thread of Grace, Mary Doria Russell
The Twyborn Affair, Patrick White

FAVORITE NONFICTION OF 2007
The Circus Fire, Stewart O'Nan
Young Men and Fire, Norman Maclean
The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty, Caroline Alexander
We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families, Philip Gourevitch
Up in the Old Hotel, Joseph Mitchell
The Worst Hard Time, Timothy Egan

FAVORITE AUDIOBOOKS OF 2007
The Hungry Tide, Amitav Ghosh
The History of Love, Nicole Krauss
The Secret River, Kate Grenville
The Four Feathers, AEW Mason

GroupsAnglophiles, Annus mirabilis, Arab, North African and Middle Eastern Literature, Barbara Pym, Best of British, Biographies, Memoirs and Autobiographies, British & Irish Children's Fiction, Club Read 2009, Club Read 2010, Club Read 2011show all groups

Favorite authorsChimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Louisa May Alcott, Kate Atkinson, Jane Austen, Pat Barker, Louis de Bernières, T. C. Boyle, Peter Carey, Michael Chabon, Jonathan Coe, Charles Dickens, Roddy Doyle, Alexandre Dumas, Penelope Fitzgerald, Amitav Ghosh, Allegra Goodman, Andrea Levy, Naguib Mahfouz, Thomas Mallon, Ian McEwan, Larry McMurtry, Rohinton Mistry, Haruki Murakami, Joyce Carol Oates, Philip Roth, Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Ahdaf Soueif, Wallace Stegner, Neal Stephenson, Claire Tomalin, Anthony Trollope, Barry Unsworth, Sarah Waters (Shared favorites)

Also onBookMooch, Facebook, LinkedIn

Membership LibraryThing Early Reviewers/Member Giveaway

Real nameChris

LocationNorwalk, CT

Account typepublic, lifetime

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/cabegley (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/cabegley (library)

Member sinceJun 29, 2006

Currently readingAnna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Leave a comment

thank you. I still think Falen is the best version. DM THomas has also done a new one, which I have not read yet, but based on his translations of other Russian poetry, I have high hopes for it.

Impressive library you got there!
Murr
Ah yes, I do recall reading that on our 'reading' thread. I read it over 10 years
ago, so it's worthy of a re-read I think.

I loved the film version as well - mostly because anything Emma Thompson and
Kenneth Branagh did was wonderful to me!
Chris,

Funny that you should mention the Balkan Trilogy. I just received the first
in the trilogy, The Great Fortune, from my own error! For some reason, I
thought it was a Manning I didn't have, but it turned out to be the first
in the Balkan Trilogy, which as you saw, I have in a omnibus. Deceiving Marketing!

Since it's essentially a duplicate for me, would you like it?

Cate
Thanks, Chris! I posted your thoughts in Le Salon on the "Enter, Stage Right" thread.

Teresa
Hi Chris. I just read your comments about Arcadia over at Club Read. I'm in New Jersey and hope to see the play soon. Would you mind if I quoted your comments (with full attribution, of course) over at a new theatre thread in Le Salon? I think they would interest several folks over there.

My Best,

Teresa
Hi Chris
Picked up Interpreter of Maladies from your recommendation and pleased that I did. Aside from the stories being good, Lahiri's cultural experience as an Indian-American makes this a very interesting book.
Thanks.
Amanda XX
Look at you, adding the complete works of Georgette Heyer to your library! :)
Hi Chris

I have noticed your recent additions and wondering if you are planning a shortlist reading marathon before the Booker winner is announced? I dont see The Little Stranger in there? I have a copy of both The Little Stranger and The Childrens Book and planning on reading both very soon.

I see we share similar reading tastes. I am currently reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and it is a page turneer and so exciting and I think about getting back to it all day at the moment. I love a book like that. The third in the trilogy is due for release October 1 here in Australia and I have placed an order last night as I know I am going to want to read all three in quick succession.

Enjoy your weekend

Jenny
Chris,

Easter Parade landed in my mailbox today! I am looking forward to reading it asap.
Many, many thanks!

Christine

Hi, Chris! Somehow, I have lost track of you on LT, and I haven't visited anyone's blog in ages. I hope you're doing well. Looks like you're reading wonderful books again (my Mount TBR is groaning).

Take care,
Jill =)
Hi Chris,
You will thoroughly enjoy The Historian on audio. It was so well done. It sent chills through me! And I was listening to it at my desk (working believe it or not!) and during daylight hours. She put a lot of research into that book and something like 10 yrs of her life. Anyhow, I hope you like it as much as I did.
Glass Castle, oh my isn't that a story? Yikes. I was so knocked out that I wrote to her. She wrote back (still have the email). She was kind enough to answer my questions as to how her siblings were and how her mother was. I have shared it will a lot of people as I worked pt in a book store and sold many copies & customers would come back to hear what her email said. I have since seen a video of her and her mother and it showed some of her art and it seemed pretty good actually. I hope to read/discuss the book in my bookgroup. It will be fun.
Ever read A girl named Zippy? Funny as all get out. And Haven Kimmel is Great to listen to. She's adorable!
Disney? Ha! I thought for sure it was somewhere in Africa. Hopefully one day you get to see the real deal in Africa, it's a magical place.
Cheers,
Clamato
Hi Chris!
You are so organized!
I like the tree photo, where was that taken? Such character in those branches.
I too like audiobooks but don't have as much time now to listen to them. For awhile I was such an avid listener, I was interviewed by the N.Y.Times. A couple of my faves for production values as well as content are "The Historian" and "The History of Love", both well done. Oh and "The Glass Castle" was a lot of fun too and what a story!
Anyhow you have a very interesting collection and I will be sure to keep up with what you add.
Cheers,
Clamato
Wow! Thanks for letting me know about the "hot reviews". I had removed that feature from my homepage, but I just reinstated it. I wonder how a review becomes "hot"? Anyway, thanks for the PM and comments on Persuasion!

Laura
You've got it! Will mail it out Monday or Tuesday. Best, Lois
Hi Chris,
Its been a little while i came on LT. found you in member connections, loved your profile. The habit you have of going through different formats of reading. I was just wondering, where do you get all the audio books and different formats of books. Do you use an online bookstore to order few?
Hey Chris,

for cd's I can recommend last.fm. It remembers the song you play on your pc and then recommends new artist.

Andreas
Hi Chris

thanks for adding me to your list :) My favourites so far by Anthony Trollope would be all the books in the 'Chronicles of Barset' series starting with 'The Warden' and 'Barchester Towers'. Other (non-ecclesiastically themed) ones which I've enjoyed include 'He Knew He Was Right', 'Lady Anna' and 'Dr Wortle's School'. The first two have similar levels of tension and drama of 'The Way We Live Now'. There is also the very popular Palliser series, starting with 'Can You Forgive Her?' which has political themes, but I haven't read any of these yet. Trollope wrote about 45 novels so there are so many I am still yet to read!

regards

Laura
Hi, Chris. I'm a fellow editor. I've gleaned several new book ideas from your site and appreciate your posting them.

Keep in touch!
Hi Chris--

I'm new to LT. Checked out your library because we have 50+ titles in common (I'm very much at the beginning of cataloging, so we may have many more). At any rate, decided to drop a note because I see in your profile that you're from Norwalk, CT, the city where I grew up (and where my dear old mum still lives). I've lived in California for quite a few years now, but still love my Norwalk.

Happy reading!

Becky
Thanks for sending the info on this. I cannot believe how much you read! it is inspirational.
D McG
Yep, I was sad to give up on London too. I may yet buy it, but I have so many unread books as it is. There was just no hope of reading it in a month. We have 2 tornado-like kids aged 1 and 4 so I'm very jealous of your week of holiday reading!! Hmmm...maybe in a couple of years. Especially if I spend less time here and more time with a book...

Your library is fantastic - I had a wee look at it last week after I saw your posts about what you were reading.
Hallo Chris,
Sorry, it took a while, bit I finally caught up with your review of Ingenious Pursuits, which was very sharp indeed (I hadn't considered poor Harrison...). It is such a fascinating period, isn't it? I can't wait to hear your verdict on the Hooke booke :-)
All the best, Carolyn
Hi, Chris: I finished Gentlemen of the Road earlier this week, but have been so busy with work (and reality TV viewing) that I haven't written my review yet. Overall, I liked the book - it was my first Chabon read - and I am intrigued to read his other two books that are sitting on my shelf: The Yiddish Policeman's Union and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.

My biggest impression of Gentlemen was "Wow! That's some vocabulary he's got!" =)

I hope to get my review up before the weekend....I will be curious to read yours.

Take care,
Jill
Hi Chris, I did enjoy [Dogs of Babel] but read it so long ago I can't remember why! Isn't that sad?
Hi Chris, I just saw that you are starting [Lost and Found], I have that on my tbr pile. Have you read [The Dogs of Babel]?
Hi, Chris: Just a quick note to let you know that the book arrived. And it still had Terri's post-it note to you in it, which will be my bookmark for this book.

Thanks again!
Jill =)
Thank you so much for sending the book. I will let you know when I receive it! I am very curious to read it, especially after your comment!

All the best,
Jill
I wanted to say thank you for your support on the 50 book challenge group. You are right, I'm still reading and that is what counts!

Hugs!-Kat
Thanks for that Chris. I was just about to post this link on the Reading Globally group but saw your reply and just had to share it with you. I revisited this 'friend' and found her huge resource had developed even further! The site is at http://astripedarmchair.wordpress.com/wl/#comment-1588.
Chris, Thank you for adding me to your interesting library category. Flattering but I trust it will not disappoint you! Reading your profile was exceedingly interesting. I see we also share 40 books but this probably has more to do with the fact that you have a large number of books. My husband has just told me that it is not significant - oh well we can't all be mathematicians! Now I look more closely, my suggestion is that you have are an anglophile .... !
Intersting to read about your son - I look forward to following his progress.
Best wishes Julie
Hi -

We haven't conversed yet but somehow I found your library.

Oh, I paged through what we share and so many of the books we have in common you have listed as TBR. I am excited that you stil have them to read - I must say I don't know which one to recommend you start with next (not that you are asking my opinion!)

I would suggest any of the Alice Munro's or the Carol Shield's. I don't read a lot of Irving, but I must say Trying to Save Piggy Sneed really left an impression upon me.

Personally, I love the academic novel, so I just picked up Tobias Wolff and David Lodge. Have you read Stoner by John Williams. Have you read it??? My favorite of 2007.

Anyway, hello and keep in touch.

Best
Alpahorder
p. 104 0f 446 (good call!). "you're not Mr. Tiplady?" He says something about her doing a 'roaring trade', out of curiosity wants to know what she charges. Helen is looking at the clock and thinking "go away!", but is too polite to let it show. they start to talk about what she charges. His manner changes, he seems interested but yet he is smiling. She becomes cautious. Maybe he's a lunatic...She'd often thought about how vulnerable she and Viv were, so close to Oxford Street and yet cut oof, up here.. Can't discuss it with you now, she said primly, if you care to come back during ordinary hours, my colleague (she glances towards the stairs, the lavatory) will be happy to explain the whole process. His interest is piqued more, he asks about her colleague. She says they're closed for lunch. A pity, he says. Tomorrow perhaps, she says. His manner changes once again after realizing what she was doing. "Look here, I'm sorry. I think I've given the wrong impression." At that moment Viv came up the stairs and into the office. She must have heard his voice and wondered what is going on. She looks at him in amazement, blushes. Helen catches her eye, making a little gesture of alarm. He steps forward and begins to laugh. "I'm afraid I really did give you the wrong idea. It isn't a wife I'm after, you see. Just Miss Pearche. Viv colors deeper. She glances at Helen and then introduces him as Robert Fraser, a friend of her brother's. She asks if Duncan is alright. Nothing like that he says, I was just passing. Duncan asked you to come? she asks. Just hoping you'd be free, just a whim, he says. Moment of awkward silence. Helen thinks she should 'get on." Viv says 'no, it's all right" and they head for the door (middle of page 106).
Wow! you really read some great fiction in 2007, Chris. What a list that is! - Lois
Chris, If you husband is not a musician he might find some of Musicophilia interesting. Don't despair.
Amanda
There is another one that I got free last year from the town library as they were throwing books out(read: culling, rotating, down-sizing). Most of the victims were novels over which no one should shed a tear. But Wiesel? The book is [The Town Beyond the Wall]. It was my first book by him. It caught me by surprise. The story was in flashbacks, dreams, and it took me a while to sort it all out. And then the trap sprung, and I was dumbfounded by its effect on me. Incredibly powerful.
I have not read [The Night] yet, but have the updated version, corrected by his wife. I have so many TBR! I helped a friend who managed a bookstore, and as a Thank You, received nearly 40 books of my choosing! But enough, I hope you are as impacted by Wiesel as I was.
Good day! I looked at the books we share, and would like to recommend Wiesel's book in your TBR pile. It is fiction, but made up of countless pixels of lives. Powerful book.
Jer
Ha, really? That's excellent!
HI Chris
I was looking at your profile and I am totally going to steal your ideas for a few of your lists. I wanted to let you know and give you the full credit.
Notably, "last ten books I read" and "what I am reading now."
I keep a book journal too, I am going to look into filling some old dates.
thanks for the great ideas :)
-kristen
Hi Chris,

I first read Salter in a writing workshop I was in and was surprised to find out how much I enjoyed "The Hunters," since it is a story about fighter pilots in the Korean War. Then I read "Light Years" which I believe is a masterpiece. It is somewhat difficult reading, as it takes some effort to follow the time shifts, but it is a beautiful, haunting, and ultimately sad portrayal of a place, a time, and a marriage. I've read almost everything else he wrote but, for me, nothing stands up to these two.
Rebecca
Hi Chris,

Thank you for your lovely welcoming message and congratulations. Library thing is a very recent discovery and I am very much enjoying my initial explorations.

Allie
Hi Chris,

Interesting comments about Sammar's anger at Rae. I had not thought about that. I was struck by how important his religion was to her. With mixed-religion marriages so common in Western cultures, I really hadn't thought about how important that was.

I agree with you that I would have liked to know more about Rae. I understand "why" we don't, in that the book is so much from Sammar's POV, but it was a bit frustrating at times. I am glad you liked the book though ... I really enjoyed it also!

Laura
Hi Chris, saw your request to chat further about The Translator. Want to do that here? What did you think of it?
Chris, I send the To Kill a Mockingbird CDs out today. - Lois
Hi Chris

Just dropping by, those trees are amazing..like something out of harry potter!

:-)
I agree with the user avaland, that your idea of a second account for children's books is a great one. Being in my 50's, I also feel I have "earlier life" books!
Astonishing Splashes of Colour is definitely worth the reading. It's a difficult book to describe, not quite like anything else I've read. Morrall does a marvelous job of depicting a woman with depression; she sees her state of mind as colors. Not a spoiler--you find out in the first few pages that she has lost a baby and can't have another, but as the story unfolds, it's clear that a lot of other things in her past have also affected her. The pace really picks up as you go along. I've been recommending it to a lot of people.
Wow, we have a ton of books in common! I also just finished On Chesil Beach, and it's still lingering with me. What did you think of it?
That was a tame discussion compared to some I've seen, even on our very own Forum! They're never worth participating in. It occurred to me last night that the health of the science fiction genre can be determined by the health of the SF magazines. It's all relative, I suppose.
Mabel Maney is camp - parodies of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, and James Bond. It's hilarious, but not *literature*... :)

I have a friend who's trying to get me started on Roddy Doyle - you're apparently a fan?
"Shared favorites" (authors) - I wish we had had this feature before I met you in New York! Since you apparently have impeccable taste in authors.

Abby
Thanks for your review of The Road, Chris. It sounds like one of those ones which stays with you for a long time and one where you have to be in the right frame of mind in order to handle it. It will go in the TBR pile to wait for that time.
Hmmm. I see you have a second account for your kids' books. I've been thinking of doing the same. My 'kids" are in their 20's but I have a hoard of books that were their, not to mention many books from when I was young, AND excellent juvenile books I've collected from library sales for future grandchildren. So how's the two account system working out? I want to catalog them but really don't want it to affect my affinity (although my SF & F, which I don't read much of these days, already blows that to some extent). Are your children still at home?

Best, Lois
Okay, I'm sitting her saying "milk cartons" what is she talking about. I can't remember saying anything about milk cartons, I don't even drink milk. Then, it came to me "milk crates," where I keep my books. Well, now that that's clear as mud, I am still not finished. I have about 10 or 15 crates to go. I found some poetry and a cartoon. I'll post the carton on my profile so you can see it. I was in love with a man in the late 70s, but circumstances were against us.

About Soueif, I enjoyed her to a point. I really enjoyed the picture she draws of life and culture in Egypt for the various characters. But the personal part disappointed me. What kind of marriage was that? I just found that hard to accept even as I enjoyed the characters. The other book I felt sort of the same loved the insights on Egyptian life and culture, could't accept the coincidence of the family connection. I thought the glimpse of life for the English woman who goes to Egypt and marries the Egyptian man was a compelling love story, but would have been better served if she hadn't been so perfect. Still and all I think Soueif is talented.
We've 99% affinity. We share 101 books and I've actually read most of them. I see we both enjoy Indian literature also fans of Mahfous.
Hi! Greetings from Italy!
I have seen that we have 98% affinity!!
I'm planning to read Drop City as soon as I can acquire it from the library.
Thanks for making me aware of [Drop City]. Many years ago my husband and I attempted to do a "back to the land" thing in Oregon. No sooner had we bought the land and begun to realize our dream when a group of urban counter-culturists bought the adjacent land and proceeded to turn our dream into a nightmare, blasting us with rock music from stereo speakers that they set up outside and over time attracting an endless procession of casual, usually noisy and thoughtless visitors. I've often wondered how long we would have stayed there if our neighbors had instead been quiet, elderly folk. Perhaps things worked out for the best after all.
cablgley-thanks so much for remembering to get back to me...my favorite Auster so far is [book of illusions]...excellent!
would like to know how your group finds [Leviathan]...i am a big Auster fan, have Leviathan on the shelf unread.
Thanks for the Book Buddy pillow info. I think I’ve given up on “Jonathan Strange…”, but it might comer in handy for John Irving’s “Until I find You”.

We share 167 books – not bad. The usual suspects, plus the not so usual; Robertson Davies, Kate Atkinson, Arturo Perez-Reverte, and Jonathan Coe. You have lots of quintessentially English books too Penelope Fitzgerald, Wikie Collins, Anita Brookner…
Your reading program sounds like something I should try myself. I have so man7y unread books it's ridiculous. I really must stop rereading books so often - it's just so tempting. I don't know if I could stop buying books though...
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