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Member: sydamy

CollectionsYour library (608), Currently reading (2), Wishlist (128), 1001 books (37), Sydney's Library (157), Amy's library (53), Prize Winners/Nominees (71), Own but Unread (110), All collections (875)

Reviews37 reviews

Tagsfiction (446), own (345), library (281), series (159), young adult (148), 2009 (118), 2010 (105), mystery (102), 2011 (95), 2008 (86) — see all tags

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Recommendations2 recommendations

About meI'm a female from the Toronto area, mid 40's and I work part time. I love reading, and will read almost anything if it's good. Not that I haven't read my fair share of trash, some of it even on purpose :) I try to get in some classics as I'm quite lacking in that area, but new stuff comes out all the time luring me away with their shiny new covers! I participate int he 75 book challenge and have yet to actually accomplish it but each year I get closer.

My 2013 75 book challenge

http://www.librarything.com/topic/146774

My Top Reads for 2012

Blood Meridian
Bring Up the Bodies
Tell the Wolves I'm Home
Count of Monte Cristo
The Fault in Our Stars
Gone Girl
Telegraph Avenue
Song of Achilles
State of Wonder
Defending Jacob
Arcadia
The Dovekeepers
Sisters Brothers
Ready Player One
Snow Child

My Top Reads for 2011

The Invisible Bridge
We Need to talk about Kevin
Night Circus
Divergent
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
The Forgotten Garden
Chaos Walking Trilogy
Game of Thrones
Unbroken
The Lacuna
The Art of Fielding
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Super Sad True Love Story

My Top Reads for 2010

City of Thieves
One Day
Jellicoe Road
All the Pretty Horses
Under the Dome
Sarah's Key
Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Juliet, Naked
Open: An Autobiography
The Passage
Shutter Island
The Hour I First Believed
The Mortal Instruments Series

Top Read for 2009

Fingersmith
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Ella Minnow Pea
The Given Day
The Art of Racing in the Rain
The Yiddish Policemans Union
The Hunger Games
Mudbound
Water for Elephants
Those who Save Us
Cutting For Stone
The Help

---------------------------

My younger daughter's reading challenge

----------------

About my libraryConsists of works that I have read, want to read and own but have not yet read. My two daughters have started to added some of their books to my account as when they stated to keep track they were not old enough to open their own LT account.

Groups75 Books Challenge for 2011, 75 Books Challenge for 2012, 75 Books Challenge for 2013, Canadian Bookworms, Crime, Thriller & Mystery, Fforde Ffans, Group Reads - Literature, Jewish Bibliophiles, Jewish Fiction, Read YA Lit —show all groups

Favorite authorsCormac McCarthy (Shared favorites)

Also onBookMooch

Membership LibraryThing Early Reviewers/Member Giveaway

Real nameSusan

LocationToronto

Account typepublic, lifetime

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

Member sinceOct 10, 2007

Currently readingInstructions The by Adam Levin
The vanishers by Heidi Julavits

Most recent activity

sydamy added:
The vanishers by Heidi Julavits

sydamy rated, added:
Lolita, 50th Anniversary Edition by Vladimir Nabokov

sydamy rated, added:
The Light Between Oceans: A Novel by M.L. Stedman

sydamy rated, added:
The Stranger's Child (Vintage International) by Alan Hollinghurst

sydamy reviewed, rated, added:
And Sons: A Novel by David Gilbert

(read review)

sydamy rated, added:
The Round House by Louise Erdrich

Hi Susan- I saw that you gave the Englander collection 4 stars. I have one story left and I think it has been excellent. He is a new author to me and I'm looking forward to reading more of his work.
You know I started a Short Story Challenge on the 75, a few weeks ago, if you would like to stop by and comment that would be great: http://www.librarything.com/topic/136708
I also saw that you are reading Arcadia. That one has been high on my WL.

Mark

posted by msf59 at 4:43 pm (EST) on May 20, 2012

Susan- We just saw Veronica Roth at a book signing last night, so we have a copy of her latest. You gave it 5 stars! Wow. Better than the 1st? That's great news.

Mark

posted by msf59 at 9:39 am (EST) on May 5, 2012

Wow... you popped up in my similar libraries list, and we really seem to be liking the same sorts of books :) Thanks for the best of 09 list -- I've stolen a couple titles off of it ;)

posted by shesh at 8:57 pm (EST) on May 3, 2010

Susan, I couldn't help but look at your "Top Reads of 2009" list. Glad to see both Fingersmith and The Help up there; I'm pretty sure I was influenced to read them this year by you. :) And ohhh I lent The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to my friend. I hope I can get around to that one soon!

- Steph

posted by stephxsu at 4:43 pm (EST) on Jan 31, 2010

SPOILERS AHEAD for A Pigeon and A Boy by Meir Shalev...

Susan,

I agree with you completely, point for point, on Shalev's book!

I didn't dislike Yair. I disliked what Shalev made Yair into. Yair started out just fine as a typical Israeli. The end of the book made absolutely no sense to me. He goes back and forth between the two women without rhyme or reason. What?!!!

Shalev's book disturbed me greatly because I loved two books of Shalev's that I previously read. In fact, The Blue Mountain is one of my favorite books which I have in my (very small) permanent collection.

The way Raya got pregnant was not only absurd, it was probably impossible. Someone who's bleeding to death is going to force an erection to get sperm to mail by carrier pigeon to his far-away girl-friend. Again, what?!!!!!!!!!

Why was there an epilogue?! It added absolutely nothing to the story. This was not based on a true story so that everyone needs to know what happened years later. This was a novel. That epilogue was downright silly. Shalev should have ended his book way before he did.

I love the beautiful way Shalev writes about Israel, its people, the land, the animals, the plants, the weather, everything. Why did he mess up this story? I am so upset at him.

I loved Baby's story. I absolutely loved the parts about the pigeons. I even loved the pigeons talking. I hated the senseless violence to the pigeon at the end. That also made no sense. I read somewhere that Shalev explained that was a symbolic act in which Yair rids himself of the past. I don't agree he needed to do that. He loved his mother. He had a tender spot for birds. This was simply out of character for Yair. What was Shalev thinking? I feel as if I knew Yair better than the author! :)

I ended up giving this beautifully-written book only 3.5 stars because I was so upset with it.

End of rant! (I really did need to complain to someone who has also read this book, so thanks!!)

Loved hearing your thoughts. I appreciate your sharing them with me.

Madeline

posted by SqueakyChu at 7:39 pm (EST) on Jan 14, 2010

Well I only checked it out from the library so it really wasn't a big risk on my part! Hope you like The Frozen Thames.

posted by coppers at 1:16 am (EST) on Jan 13, 2010

Hi! I'm just stopping by to say that I picked up Helen Humphrey's Coventry which you had mentioned on my thread. It's a quick read and I'm about halfway through. It's wonderful! Thanks for mentioning it. Joanne

posted by coppers at 11:59 pm (EST) on Jan 11, 2010

Thanks for leaving a comment. I saw we both posted how excited we were to get an advance copy of Chitra Divakaruni's new book and realized we must have similar tastes to have such different books in common. Many of your books are on my TBR list too! I haven't signed up for the 75 book challenge yet this year. I'm still debating. I fell off the book wagon this year when I suddenly decided to go back to graduate school and I haven't been doing much pleasure reading, but I'm taking advantage of the winter break right now. Hopefully classes will be a little easier this year and I'll have more time for the fun stuff!

posted by _debbie_ at 10:28 pm (EST) on Dec 23, 2009

Susan- Thanks for the message and don't worry about posting your daughters YA books, I'm only skimming for quality. Actually I loved a few books this year, that were coined YA, (for reasons I'm not sure) and they were "The Hunger Games" & "The Book Thief".
Mark

posted by msf59 at 7:05 pm (EST) on Dec 3, 2009

Hi Susan- Thanks for stopping by my "new" Challenge! I'm consistently meeting interesting people, with great literary taste, here on LT. I scanned your list up above and I'm very impressed. I will be starting "Cutting For Stone" next week and I'm currently reading "Half Broke Horses", which has been very good. You have so many I plan on reading, very soon, "Yiddish Policemans", "given day", "angels game", I could go on and on! Impeccable taste! I'm glad you enjoyed the "POTB" group read. You were asking about future reads. We are doing "World Without End" January 15th and I think I'll go with "Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie (who I've never read) in March. BTW, I see you have read "Olive", it is currently in a tie with "Lark & Termite" for best book of the year, IMHO! Take care!

Mark

posted by msf59 at 8:48 pm (EST) on Dec 2, 2009

Hi! Thank you for stopping by my thread. I posted a reply there but thought I'd stop by here and basically say the same thing in case you don't see it there.

Half Broke Horses is the colorful life story of the author’s grandmother. Jeannette Wells describes her book as a “true life novel” and explains in her notes that although much of the story is true, she had to fill in a lot of the holes herself thereby fictionalizing some aspects. She also found that she had some contradictory information.

My guess would be that she did that to avoid any claims of misrepresentation of the truth. It really is well done.

I hope you stop by again!

posted by coppers at 8:49 pm (EST) on Dec 1, 2009

Hi;
Mark and I have been discussing the possibility of another group read in November and want your input. We have narrowed it down to two books at this point. "The People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks and "The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield. So chat it up with friends or us and let us know if you are up for it and what you think. Probably the same plan as with "Pillars of the Earth" which seemed to work out perfectly for almost all of us.
Think it over and give one of us a shout.
hugs and looking forward to hearing from you,
belva

posted by rainpebble at 10:10 pm (EST) on Sep 8, 2009

No need to thank me. I want to thank you for your participation. Hope to run into you often

posted by callmejacx at 8:36 pm (EST) on Jun 18, 2009

Thought you might be intersted in joining my new thread. Check it out.
http://www.librarything.com/topic/66785

posted by callmejacx at 10:27 pm (EST) on Jun 16, 2009

Thank you for your comment today in the message boards re: collections. I was so excited to join LibraryThing to have a place to track all the books I read and find reviews and recommendations, but lately I see that many (hopefully not the majority) of the people on this site just want to show off their massive collections (rampant consumerism). I thought Library in the title might even suggest that we use and appreciate our public libraries. I'm pleased to find someone who might agree with me. For now, I'm not changing anything to separate collections until these hotheads settle things. nice to meet you--Jenny

posted by GCPLreader at 6:01 pm (EST) on Jun 16, 2009

Hi sydamy, I've recently joined the group to read 75 books for 2009 and I have created a graphical tracker from the Ticker Factory, but I have no idea how to get it to my profile or update it. Could you tell me how? Thanks!

macart3

posted by macart3 at 8:33 pm (EST) on Jun 7, 2009

Not only is it neat that one finds someone who lives close but also that has a neat library. Glad that you accepted my invite.

posted by callmejacx at 5:54 pm (EST) on Jan 11, 2009

Yes, Susan, same with me. When I went searching for childhood classics to put on my list, I actually found that I'd read many of them to my two boys. I loved those times. I am still a bit envious of some of my friends, though, who have had the added pleasure of remembering their own reactions to these books as they read them to/with their children--or are feeling such happy anticipation of giving their favorite childhood books to their children at just the right age. For example, when I suggested to a friend that her daughter would love being read Anne of Green Gables, she said, "But I loved reading those books so much that I'm waiting until she can get to the age where she can read them herself.

posted by bonniebooks at 3:28 am (EST) on Jan 5, 2009

Susan, tickers and spreadsheets--who's calling whom organized??! :-) Thanks for responding to my 50-Books Challenge thread last month; I'm so excited to have all these new books to read, many I would never have heard of had I not discovered LT! Just wanted to say, HAH! Me organized? I've just abandoned my 50-Book thread in favor of posting all comments about the books I'm reading on my 999-Challenge thread only. Since I was talking about the same books on both, it was feeling redundant on my part. I want to spend more of my time reading. Anyway, I've starred people in both groups, including you, so hopefully I won't miss anything. Happy reading! :-)

posted by bonniebooks at 2:29 pm (EST) on Jan 4, 2009

Hi, Susan! Finally, LT let me get to your library! :-) You have an interesting mix, including many books that I want to read. I'll star your thread--maybe sometimes we'll be reading the same book, that would be fun! :-)
Bonnie

posted by bonniebooks at 10:26 am (EST) on Dec 31, 2008

Mooched! I'll reserve it for you when I get it and let you know.

Your literary tastes are as eclectic as mine. The two books you're currently reading are both fantastic. I recently got "The Lacemaker" through BookMooch, but haven't read it yet. Funny how the piles grow faster than I can read.

posted by RidgewayGirl at 1:06 pm (EST) on Nov 21, 2008

Oh, p.s. Canada is totally fine, I checked your profile and knew that already anyway =)

posted by DevourerOfBooks at 7:03 pm (EST) on Oct 2, 2008

How about we go through BM, but I refund you your extra point, because it won't cost that much to send? I'm off to list it right now.

posted by DevourerOfBooks at 7:03 pm (EST) on Oct 2, 2008

Hi

Someone has tentatively asked for "Infidel" but she doesn't have enough points right now. I told her I'd hold it for a month. If I can't send it to her I'd be happy to send it to you. I have 2 copies, one for BM and one to read myself. Once I read it, I'll list the 2nd copy too.

Beth

posted by mcna217 at 1:31 pm (EST) on Sep 20, 2008

That is so awesome!! What a great idea! Keep me updated.

posted by budrfly9 at 11:36 am (EST) on Aug 28, 2008

Hello,
I cancelled my Mooch for Christine Falls. It seems that the book owner could take up to 45 weeks to send the book and his account is on vacation. I plan to buy the book soon from my local bookstore. When I finish it I can check back with you to see if you still require it. If so I can reserve it for you then if you like.

posted by budrfly9 at 10:21 am (EST) on Aug 27, 2008

Okay.. Thought I would ask. I will send the book out in a few days..

:D

take care
k

posted by mckait at 8:28 am (EST) on Aug 10, 2008

Nope! It is finished, reviewed and up, reserved for you :)
It came in a few days ago.
I had the Eight, but had not read it until they said I was getting The Fire. I posted a review.
Neither was my cup of tea, but The Fire was better imo.

I doubt I will get it mailed before next week.. hope thats okay..?

kath

posted by mckait at 6:04 pm (EST) on Aug 8, 2008

Sure! I will reserve it for you. You know its an ARC right?

posted by mckait at 11:07 am (EST) on Aug 8, 2008

hi there

what are ARC's

posted by melissagagnon at 9:09 pm (EST) on Jul 24, 2008

hi there, I am an early reviewer for King of the road, do you want to share our thoughts together on it

posted by melissagagnon at 8:26 pm (EST) on Jul 24, 2008

I saw your comment and you are welcome to it. Welcome to Bookmooch.

posted by budrfly9 at 1:16 am (EST) on Jul 24, 2008

an orange july, that sounds fun! :) i am about to embark upon the stephanie meyers books myself. absolutely loved 'the history of love...' hope you do as well! i thought hotel du lac was good, but i don't know if i would say it was "great" definitely worth a read though! she reminded me of a modern jane austen or edith wharton. happy reading!

posted by amanaceerdh at 8:01 am (EST) on Jul 14, 2008

Hi sydamy,

Thanks for adding me to your interesting libraries! I think I have to add Shiraz to my Want to Read list - hope you'll review it when you're done.
I've just finished The Book Thief and The Glass Castle - now I'm reading Chelsea Handler's memoirs for a complete change of pace.

Best,
starfisian

posted by starfishian at 10:40 am (EST) on Jul 13, 2008

i am also about to read the septembers of shiraz, so please let me know what you think... did you hear about it from bookclubgirl as well? i hope you can make it thru middlemarch. i was very dissapointed that i couldnt!

posted by amanaceerdh at 8:39 am (EST) on Jul 10, 2008