Thanks for your review of "Jackfish, the Vanishing Village". I just read the book and found it challenging because of the content, but also because I know the author (and her mom, who is more my age). I find myself seeing the author as the person I know rather than the author; I'm doing this also with a book my brother-in-law has written. It affects how I read/interpret the content.

posted by lamplight at 4:30 pm (EST) on Jul 24, 2008

Wendy,
I may not be much of a fan of literary fiction, and I may ultimately disagree with your recommendations, but I've loved each of your reviews that I've read. They're so thoughtful, and you seem to really put your finger on why certain books become so popular (even if they don't resonate with me). Great job, and thank you!

posted by Caramellunacy at 2:54 am (EST) on Jul 14, 2008

Hi Wendy -

You commented on my TSS post last week that you'd be interested in my review of THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN by Garth Stein. I finished the book today and posted my review. I didn't post any spoilers so I wouldn't ruin it for anyone. Here's the link: http://southerngal-lisa.blogspot.com/200...

I remember from your comment that you are an animal lover too. You would love the book! Take care and I'll see you 'round the blogosphere! :)

Lisa
Books & Cooks

posted by Lamos_FL at 7:47 pm (EST) on May 26, 2008

Wendy, I just checked out both the review blog and the Pulitzer Project. Great sites! The review site is lovely - and the arrangement by release month is different and nice.

At PP, it was all I could do to keep myself from joining - I love those kinds of things too. I was pleased to see I've read all the Pulitzers since 1997, and quite a few before that. I'm going to put PP on my list of things to do after The Wednesday Sisters is launched - something to look forward to! Thanks for the direction there.

Meg

posted by megwaiteclayton at 6:48 pm (EST) on Apr 27, 2008

Wendy, I'm completely flattered that you got the Wednesday Sisters ARC through the PW giveaway. I hope you enjoy it!

And I'm Northern California too, meant to say that when I first posted. Your what you read description could be mine, if you moved historical to second on the list and sprinkled in a few well-written mysteries. I like your MUST READ category, and am curious what "Pulitzer Project" is (clearly something to do with the prize, from the books marked.

-Meg

posted by megwaiteclayton at 3:59 pm (EST) on Apr 27, 2008

Wendy,

I saw from your library that we share a lot of the same books - including several of my all-time favorite authors. I'm blown away by the number of reviews you've done, and am really enjoying reading them!

Meg

posted by megwaiteclayton at 9:16 am (EST) on Apr 27, 2008

The books we share are some of my favorites! I look forward to going through your reviews.

posted by ggchickapee at 8:40 pm (EST) on Apr 12, 2008

Hi Wendy,

I was moved by your review of "The Cellist of Sarajevo" by Steven Galloway. I've had that book on my wishlist for months. I'll get to it eventually. It sounds like just the "bullseye" type of five-star book I really love to read.

When I finished your review, and noticed that it came from you, I remembered your name, writestuff. I added you to my private watchlist of libraries almost a year ago when I joined LibraryThing. We have very similar tastes when it comes to five-star books.

Just thought I'd write and let you know how much I enjoyed your well written review.

Barbara

posted by msbaba at 4:26 pm (EST) on Apr 11, 2008

Hi Wendy,

My name is Dawn Connolly and I am a LibraryThing member and a librarian at Toronto Public Library. I see that you have included “The Outlander” in your library and I loved reading your review of the book. I agree completely. Loved the book!

I run an online book club called Book Buzz and this month we are just getting into a discussion of the book. It’s a friendly group, very relaxed, and we’d love to hear from you, too.

Our website is: http://bookbuzz.torontopubliclibrary.ca

We are also very lucky to be hosting a live online chat with the author, Gil Adamson, on Thursday, March 27, 12 noon- 1 pm (local time). Please feel free to join in.

Thanks,
Dawn

posted by BookBuzz at 5:20 pm (EST) on Mar 19, 2008

Hello,

I recently joined the All Books Africa Group. As a publisher who has just released a novel about the Angolan Civil War, I thought it might be worth bringing to your attention. Ondjaki's Good morning Comrades has just been released (indeed, i'm not sure amazon has changed it status yet). Ondjaki is a Lusophone writer of international reputation, and our edition of Good morning Comrades introduces him to an English speaking audience for the first time. It will not be the last: Aflame Books in the UK is set to release his fable The Whistler, and I know New Directions is also looking at publishing something by him soon. We expect he will become one of the most celebrated African novelists of his generation.

Anyway, if you would like further information on Comrades, you can chcekc out our website at www.biblioasis.com. It is also available online on amazon and elsewhere, and available through any good bookstore.

Thansk for your time, and I do hope that this was not too intrusive. (We're a small literary press based in Canada, and we're just trying to do whatever we can to let potential readers know about the book.

Best wishes,

Dan Wells

posted by biblioasis at 10:06 pm (EST) on Feb 29, 2008

Wendy, thank you so much for the birthday card!!

posted by lindsacl at 7:54 pm (EST) on Feb 11, 2008

Wendy,
I saw on the threads that you enjoy counted cross-stich.
Do you still do this as a hobby? (I loved the website you posted, btw)
If so, I'm looking to cull a good deal of my collection, since I realized years ago it was either give up cross stich or reading. My mother went a bit nuts when she discovered a crafty thing I would actually do, and I've got a huge box of supplies, magazines and charts wishing for someone to love them.

If you're interested, I'd be happy to send you some things. I've felt almost too guilty to sell the collection, but I feel just as guilty with it sitting in the basement.
One of these days I'll bring it up and scan the patterns into the computer so the cover shows on LT.
Just an idea, let me know:)
Cassandra

posted by cckelly at 7:32 am (EST) on Feb 6, 2008

it's been over a year since i stopped by your page but looking over your library again i have to say you have read alot of great books! feel free to stop by anytime with recommendations!!

posted by amanaceerdh at 2:42 pm (EST) on Jan 30, 2008

Hello Wendy,
Thank you for the beautiful birthday card.
It's so lovely, I'm thinking of putting it in a frame.
I love the Victorian girl staring off across the sea.
Thank you for thinking of me:)

posted by cckelly at 12:18 am (EST) on Jan 21, 2008

Well, finally! I have gotten to read "Suite Francaise". It was everything you said, and more, heartrending to say the least considering her fate and history. I know everyone says how terrific "David Golder" was, but to me the writing in SF is so very superior I cannot stress it enough. Have you read "Fire in the Blood" yet? It is on a par with SF as far as I am concerned.
Thanks again.
Cateline

posted by Cateline at 6:14 pm (EST) on Oct 12, 2007

Thanks Wendy for your support, not quite sure what was going on there! Julie

posted by juliette07 at 5:05 pm (EST) on Sep 11, 2007

Hey Wendy....Can't remember if I sent you my link/login. So here I am. Can't wait to discuss The Road in Pulitzer group. I really really enjoyed it. I will get up to Redding before year end!! I owe you coffee!
~Monica

posted by moniccag at 6:06 pm (EST) on Aug 3, 2007

Hi Wendy,
It's actually a magnet about 2"x2", feel free to use it. My daughter sent it to me for my birthday last year or the year before.
Lee

posted by gautherbelle at 9:39 pm (EST) on Jul 31, 2007

Hello Wendy and thanks for both your comment and your friend request. I look forward to keeping in touch and sharing our reads. Many apologies for the multiple spelling mistakes in my first post! Have a good week, Julie

posted by juliette07 at 5:18 pm (EST) on Jul 22, 2007

Hi Wendy it is Julie from Reading Awards cahallenge here,
I have just been browsing your challenges again. Wow I do admire you! I see you have Shantaram listed on your cross border challenge - I have not done a proper review but I can wholeheartedly recommend it. It is lively, vibrant, paints a wonderful, if at times heartbreaking picture of Mumabai. What makes it specail is that it is based on a real life. I read it at top speed and was so enthralled with it I could hardly put it down. I do trust you will find it a really rewarding read, I look forward to your review! Julie :)

posted by juliette07 at 11:56 am (EST) on Jul 22, 2007

Oh for heaven's sake, I've done it again. I was in a used bookstore tonight and picked up a book that struck me, for some reason I wasn't sure of. Bought it and then checked the reviews on LT. Sure enough, the second review was YOURS!! The book is Elizabeth Berg's The Art of Mending. Too funny.

posted by lindsacl at 9:20 pm (EST) on Jul 12, 2007

Thanks for the invitation Wendy! You're right, I recognize many of the member names from other groups. Thanks for thinking of me!

posted by lindsacl at 1:33 pm (EST) on Jun 19, 2007

"Old Filth" is the most recently written book I've read, and tho I found it good enough to recommend it pales beside "Rules for Old Men Waiting" by Peter Pouncey. (Now out in paperback +/or at your library). If you read it I'd be interested in your reaction. Esta 1923

posted by Esta1923 at 9:52 pm (EST) on May 31, 2007

Hi Wendy!

I've checked out your reviews in the past from your other blog site, and I highly value your opinions. (If U didn't already know, thanks for convincing me to purchase: The Book Thief, Ethan Frome, and Suite Francaise,... I look forward to reading more of your recommendations.

Jasmin (from BookCrazy)

posted by jazzyjacks at 2:15 pm (EST) on May 31, 2007

Hi, Wendy--

Thanks for telling me on BookCrazy how to find you here. Just wanted to say "hi," and I love your library! You've got some great books. I am having big fun on this site, and it is wonderful to see another BookCrazy here too. :)

xoxo
Laura Stamps

posted by LauraStamps at 2:51 pm (EST) on May 25, 2007

"Reading soulmate" ... I like that! Ditto!

posted by lindsacl at 12:41 pm (EST) on May 10, 2007

Wendy, thanks for the book group link! I'll go lurk there for a while. I was delighted to find a comment from you, because I was on my way to leave you one myself. Just wanted to say it's nice to have you back on LT talk and Yahoo Groups again. I am enjoying discovering our "affinity" (as LT would say), which shows itself in these discussions and in our reviews. It's really fun to have met you!

posted by lindsacl at 8:35 pm (EST) on May 9, 2007

I wanted to tell you also that you might like Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller. It's about her childhood in Africa and it is a GREAT book.

posted by vgilder1 at 2:11 pm (EST) on May 9, 2007

Cherry was not as good (to me) as The Liar's Club, but that is a REALLY tough book to top! It is definitely worth reading, though. She must be an amazing person. I thought Cloud Atlas was one of the best books I've ever read - have you finished it? And I loved The Inheritance of Loss. Beautiful and sad. I have loved everything I've read this year, actually, except for Snow by Orhan Pamuk. HATED it. Keep me posted!

posted by vgilder1 at 1:43 pm (EST) on May 9, 2007

Hi there,
Just wanted to report to you that I have finsihed 'Ghostwritten'
I have to say it is really excellent. Very similar to 'Cloud Atlas'
it is easy to see actually how he developed 'Cloud Atlas' after reading
this one.
Beautifully written, hard to put down, interconnecting stories containing varying
degrees of humanity and paranoia at its finest!
Highly recommend to you.
Let me know what you think when you have finished it.
okey dokey,
bye for now
Wordwench

posted by wordwench at 8:04 am (EST) on May 9, 2007

Oh I see you've read The Liar's Club - that book just knocked the breath out of me. Hilarious and heartbreaking. Did you read Cherry?

posted by vgilder1 at 7:58 pm (EST) on May 8, 2007

I think you'll like it. I bought it about four or five years ago, maybe? And just never wanted to read it, for some reason. I enjoyed it so much that now I want to read everything she's written. Tell me when you finish!

posted by vgilder1 at 7:55 pm (EST) on May 8, 2007

Arthur & George was good, wasn't it? I had no idea when I bought it that it had any basis in fact. I just finished The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood and highly recommend it!

posted by vgilder1 at 10:51 pm (EST) on May 7, 2007

Did I mention that I bought "Arthur & George" as part of the same Borders 3 for 2 as "The Space Between Us"? It wasn't even on my NYT challenge list. Uncanny...looking forward to your review!

posted by lindsacl at 9:34 pm (EST) on Apr 30, 2007

The thing is, it is a real 'boys' book.
The writing is not beautiful like his others,
it is a bit stilted and I didn't like the setting of
modern day Tokyo, and the nastiness the hero encounters there.
I have Ghostwritten yet to read and I look forward to that,
but unfortunately Number 9 dream, was as bad as Cloud Atlas was good,
if that makes sense!!

posted by wordwench at 8:24 am (EST) on Apr 28, 2007

What did you think of Number 9 Dream?
I loved Cloud Atlas, but didnt think much of
that one. Wondered what you thought.

posted by wordwench at 4:48 am (EST) on Apr 28, 2007

Hi Wendy,

I saw that you're reading Fall On Your Knees! I've read this book 3 times and I know I'll pick it up again (kind of a yearly thing). The characters are so real, the story so unusual and original. Let me know what you think!

By the way, I moving back to Northern Cal this summer. Perhaps we can organize an LT get together at a local bookstore!

Happy reading!
Cate

posted by bleuroses at 12:11 pm (EST) on Apr 24, 2007

Today you posted, "Yesterday I picked up One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. "

And I said to myself, "what was she thinking??!!"
Can't wait to see the review ...

posted by lindsacl at 5:29 pm (EST) on Apr 15, 2007

Hi Wendy
Thanks for your note. Will keep an eye on your what you're reading and your comments.
Amanda

posted by amandameale at 8:34 am (EST) on Apr 10, 2007

Welcome to Books Compared. Hope you'll contribute!

posted by margad at 12:30 am (EST) on Mar 29, 2007

I read a recent post on Bookworms where you listed your YTD reads. I've read many of the same books and thought I'd wander over to your library and I'm watching your blog as well.

Happy reading!

posted by lindsacl at 11:46 am (EST) on Mar 10, 2007

Thank you so much for your help on BookCrazy. Seeing your page really does help me figure out how to "Organize" mine.
I was sooo lost!!!

Thanks again!!
CrystA

posted by CrystaB at 11:10 pm (EST) on Feb 26, 2007

Your review of Suite Francaise truly makes me wish with all my heart it had come out ahead in our reading group this month...grrrr! Beaten out by To The Lighthouse, worthy for sure, but gosh! SF has moved to the very top of my TBR stack! Thanks.
p.s. That is what our cats and dogs are for...spoiling! LOL

posted by Cateline at 10:28 am (EST) on Feb 18, 2007

Loved your review of Grapes of Wrath, I thought you must be a professional reviewer - it gave me goosebumps it capture the book so poignantly.

posted by caz4562000 at 10:07 pm (EST) on Feb 16, 2007

thanks for stopping by. i see you must be a jane austen fan as well. :)

posted by amanaceerdh at 4:52 pm (EST) on Jan 17, 2007