What are you reading the week of November 26, 2011?

Thanks to mollygrace:

November 26: Marilynne Robinson (1943 - )

November 27: James Agee (1909 - 1955)

November 28: William Blake (1757 - 1827)
November 28: Stefan Zweig (1881 - 1942)

November 29: Louisa May Alcott (1832 - 1888)
November 29: Madeleine L'Engle (1918 - 2007)

November 30: Mark Twain (1835-1910)

December 1: Rex Stout (1886-1975)

December 2: T. C. Boyle (1948 - )
December 2: Ann Patchett (1963 - )

I am well into The Quants by Scott Patterson (CURSE THE TOUCHSTONES) a book on the mathematical geniuses who broke the economy of the United States while accruing so much money that even when the world went bust they could still lead profligate lives in our terms. It's fascinating.

Robert

I am still savouring The Third Life of Grange Copeland by Alice Walker, oh sooo harrowingly beautiful. I must try The Color Purple , the movie was wonderful and I know that novels are always better, the thing is that one does know the main story line!!

i just went to a book signing today and got erin kellys second book, but also bought her first one while i was there, the poison tree erin kelly will be makin a cup of tea and settling down with that tonight i think xx

I'm reading Major Pettigrew's Last Stand with my book club. Delightful!

Robert- Once again, thanks for saving the day and keeping this great thread going! I wish I was off more Saturdays and I could help out!

I've been reading Fun and Games. He writes fast, tough and quirky crime novels and so far this is no exception. I also finished and enjoyed the audio of Good Omens and finally started the audio of In the Garden of Beasts. Like I've mentioned before, I'm a big fan of Larson and this one begins with much promise. Berlin 1933 is both a fascinating and scary time & place.

Thank you Robert and Molly for setting up the new thread.

I finished Child of an Ancient City (first reread in about 20 years, but I knew I'd kept that book for a reason!) and passed it on to my son, who like to read about vampires. I have a feeling he'll appreciate Tad Williams touch on the subject.

Oh, what to read next? Hmm...

I got a kick out of Fun and Games, Mark. I haven't read his others, but I had fun with this one.

I'm in the middle of The Angel Esmeralda by Don DeLillo. I ordinarily do not like short stories as much as I do novels, but some of these are very engaging. DeLillo isn't a "warm, fuzzy" sort, be he really is a wonderful writer.

Blood Red Road was a good YA title with a stubborn and tough central character (Saba) trying to save her twin brother in a wrecked world.

Just started The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock.

There are almost no sympathetic characters nor anyone with any redeeming traits in this one, but I'm finding it to be a page turner and hard to put down. (started late this morning, already more than half-way through it!)
This book has me fascinated. I am trying to figure out how I can love such a story... one filled with mainly awful, damaged, depraved, sickening people? Hmmm, so far I do.

I read a review before I started reading it that said, 'I often found myself wondering how I could ever suggest this book to a person without forever changing their opinion of me.' That got my interest!
I feel the same way, but unless the end lets me down I think I will be suggesting it to at least a few.

>11, I like your quote about book recommendations, Mybookcloset. Wow, that's a heavy book to pass along.

I'm almost done listening to 13 1/2, will probably finish tomorrow. This is a different Nevada Barr in that there is neither park ranger nor national park, it's about a multiple murderer. Maybe not the best thing for this holiday season, but it moves right along. I'll also probably finish tomorrow reading Crossing to Safety. Wallace Stegner just needs to be put in a different class from other writers. It's almost like other people write, but he's a professional, and of course he was. That Charity, what was it like having her in his mind for the length of the book? I think I'm usually right, as do most people probably, but she takes rightness to Olympic levels.

I'm part-way through Atonement - my first Ian McEwan, finally! - and so far I'm really enjoying it. It's more amusing than I expected, with some great touches of black humour that really made me smile. And so beautifully written!

I also started The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby this morning. I'm only a few pages in - not one to rush through, methinks - but I already get the sense that this is going to be a really special book. It's beautiful and sparse (necessarily so, obviously) and I've already choked up once. I have very high hopes...

MArking the thread - still combining The Picture of Dorian Gray with The Bone Garden.

mybookcloset- I read Pollock's story collection Knockemstiff a few months ago and have a copy of The Devil All the Time in the stacks. Glad you are enjoying it.

Ellie- I have not read The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly but I did see the film a few years ago and it was fantastic.

I heard that it was wonderful... I'll get hold of a copy before Christmas I think, and curl up with it one day after I've finished the book. Thanks Mark!

I started Roberto Balano' s 2666 and then had to pick up a knitting book at the library and my eye caught this book: Heidegger's Glasses which I started to read and really like a lot. Not to say I am not enjoying 2666 but that is a big committment

#13 - elliepotten - I'm so glad you're enjoying Atonement! I fall in love with that book every time I read it. It's so beautifully written.

Unfortunately, I haven't been making as much progress with my books as I would have liked (11/22/63, Dracula)...I'm 10,000 words from finishing my NaNoWriMo manuscript (it ends November 30th!!) AND we just got a new kitten! I'm going to try and power through the Stephen King, since I checked that one out from the library & it's due November 30th. We'll see how that goes.

I just finished The Eye of the Heron by Ursula Le Guin, which isn't one of my favorites by her. Still debating on what to pick up next, although I know it's going to be an Asimov or Clarke for sure. I am thinking Foundation's Edge.

Great discussion(s) this week! I loved the movie The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly but have not read the book either. I'll be curious how you like it.

I don't know if I'm entirely giving up on Infinite Jest but it is a lot of work. There are parts I just love, but there is so much "filler" with things I simply find tedious. His block/narrative style takes so much concentration too. I'm not sure if I can hang for 1000+ pages. I also think the footnote technique is vastly over-used and "run its course" (I realize he may have been on the forefront of that, due to copyright year).

So, I just kept staring at that photo on the cover of Annabel by Kathleen Winter - I had picked it up at the Death of Border's and many of you spoke highly of it. So last night, started it, and it sucked me in right away. I just need pure pleasure for a while, I think. Not as much work.

I started and finished The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson yesterday before the thread went up and I quite enjoyed it.

I've got a few books going right now:
The Bungalow by Sarah Jio
Charles Dickens: A Life by Jane Smiley
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Have just finished 1Q84. Have just begun The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco.

I have just begun 1Q84 as well as Ed King. I've been looking forward to both of these and finally have a chance to sink my teeth into them.

Since I have fourteen to go, I don't think I'm going to make it to 50 books this year. Oh well, there's always next year.

Last night I finished I am Half-Sick of Shadows and found this fourth visit to Bishop's Lacey and the continuing murder mystery adventures of young Flavia a delightful, Christmas themed read.

I have started The Seer of Egypt by Pauline Gedge. Only 15 pages into this second book in the King's Man trilogy and love how Gedge has managed to bring me right back up to speed with the characters, the setting and where book one left off..... nice, as it has been a few months and a number of books since I read the first one.

I finished reading And Then There Were None aloud -- suspenseful fun! I'm nearly finished with The Whole World Over by Julia Glass. Next up will be Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff for my book club.

I'm doing a bit of rereading, since I've been sick and not terribly interested in anything challenging: with the demise of Anne McCaffrey, I have removed several of her books off my shelves, to reacquaint myself with their stories. Yesterday I read The Rowan and today I'm reading Damia, which I like more than the former.

Sassinak is waiting in the wings...

As mentioned yesterday, I finished The Greenhouse. The author is from Iceland and it received a number of European awards. I very much enjoyed it but haven't quite figured it all out. It felt very allegorical, sometimes dreamlike. If someone else reads or has read the book, I'd love to hear what you thought.

I finished 13 1/2 and it was a nice little whodunit. Now I've restarted The Art of Racing in the Rain. I hated it the first time I read it, but it's the pick for my book club in December and I've been told that I was too judgemental regarding it, so I have given it a try. In the first chapter I realize why I found it almost nauseatingly distasteful, so I'll probably continue listening only until my next audiobook comes in to the library. Evidently I prefer reading about multiple murderers to reading about dogs who can't wait to die and be reincarnated as human. What self respecting dog would want to be a human anyway?

Good point, Citizenjoyce! In my experience, dogs have a good thing going as is!

I continue with my read and my listen, The Inheritance of Loss and The Custom of the Country.

CJoyce, I guess the dog would be like a child who can't wait to be an adult. If only they knew :-}

I have finished History of Beauty by Umberto Eco. It was a nice trip through the ages of beautiful art, and very easy to see via strips of photos of statues, paintings, and photos of what we have considered to be beautiful.

Also, last night I read Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman. It's a horror story - not my usual thing - with great characters and descriptions of the heat, humidity and problems of a 1930's southern summer. For once, the cover quote got it right: "... seduces you with eloquent prose and sensual period details, then clamps down on your jugular with lupine ferocity ..." I read it in one sitting!

I've been rescued from the dissatisfied dog book by The Daughter of Time which just came into the library. My ears are much happier, aside from the assertion made by the main character about Mary Queen of Scots that she was a large woman and everyone knows that large women are sexually cold, it's a scientific fact. Hm, not a fact of which I was aware.

About 80 pages into The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern which is original, well-written and a definite page-turner. Love it.

ok...ok...I gave in and ordered Night Circus...I could not stand up to all the chat about it!

Just finished The Night Circus and loved it. I listened to a reading by Jim Dale (he's the actor who read all of the Harry Potter novels). It was enchanting. I highly recommend Jim Dale's reading because I'm not sure my imagination would have done it justice. 5 stars!

I'm just beginning my first Penelope Fitzgerald: At Freddie's for book group. Also, David McCullough's John Adams read by Edward Hermann is waiting at the library for me.

NarratorLady > Penelope Fitzgerald is one of my favorite authors! Enjoy!

I have just finished reading the graphic novel The Adventures of Tintin: The Crab with the Golden Claws by the Belgian author Herge .

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Robert, thank you for rescuing the birthdays . . . I figured they were lost in some sort of cyber-techno black hole, never to be seen again. You're my hero.

I finished J. L. Carr's A Month in the Country -- lovely book. Please add my name to the long list of LT members who have recommended it.

I also read P. G. Wodehouse's My Man Jeeves - 8 stories, four of which are about Bertie and Jeeves, the other four featuring another Wodehouse character, Reggie Pepper.

Now I'm reading Brian Moore's The Mangan Inheritance.

I'm glad to see so many reading and enjoying The Night Circus. I was a fan too and we just wrapped up a Group Read on it, over on the 75 Challenge. Stop by and leave a comment.

Speaking of Group Reads, we are going to do our final one of the year and it will be Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh. This begins Dec 7th. We would love to have you join us: Group Read

Finished up Chime by Franny Billingsley. This was one of the two books that caused all the trouble for the National Book Awards. I wanted so much to like this book. It is steampunk, has a great dust jacket, and all that publicity, and good reviews, but it just fell flat on its face. Frankly it is confusing. I should have read the reviews here on LT before I wasted my time. I can't believe that such a poor book was nominated for a National Book Award. I guess it is proof that literary people can make mistakes when judging a book. Thank goodness this book didn't win the award. In the end I gave the book two and a half stars because I did finish it. You can bet this won't be a book I will recommend very highly.

I went back to reading my old spy novel classic Mexico Set by Len Deighton. Much better book than Chime.

#5- I agree- it's wonderful!

I had lots of time to read this weekend due to traveling. I finished Shoeless Joe--definitely a book that I will have to re-read. I also read Growing Up Laughing: My Story by Marlo Thomas and enjoyed that a great deal. I am now debating whether or not to buy Unfinished Desires by Gail Godwin or to settle down and try once again to read some Jane Austen.

I finished Diplomat, a history of international in general and U.S. diplomacy, including to a great degree the history and nature of the U.S. diplomatic service, including observations on its strengths and weaknesses. The book was written in 1959 by Charles Thayer, a longtime member of the U.S. foreign service who also spent time in the OSS and was the principal founder of Voice of America. When the book was written, Thayer had been six years earlier hounded out of government service by McCarthy and Hoover. Reviewed on my 50-Book Challenge thread (http://www.librarything.com/topic/106335) and on the book's work page.

DMO, over this past year in conjunction with the 75 Books in 2011 group's Austenathon I read all six of Jane Austen's adult novels. I can tell you that I am pleased that I did and think therefore that others might like to read her too. I've sold my church book group on Persuasion, but I'm pretty sure that's not the place to start with her. I think for a marvelous light reading experience that has pretty much all of Austen in its construction Northanger Abbey is a good choice. The popular favorite is Pride and Prejudice and the best respected seems to be Emma. So who am I to like Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park? That may be more than you wanted to hear in encouragement to read Austen; if it is, I apologize.

Meanwhile the reason I'm here is to say that last night I read most of Bruce Chatwin's The Songlines. It's okay. I hope to finish it tonight.

Robert

When I saw the movie The Great Santini I was so disgusted with the main character that I vowed I wouldn't read the book, yet I just finished Crossing to Safety and see I've read its sister. Perhaps making the tyrant female made her just a tad more palatable, or perhaps it was seeing her through Sally's eyes. At any rate, I find it difficult to understand why Stegner, who could write perfectly about anything, would choose Sid and Charity. Perhaps academia has more than its share of tyrants and he wanted to explore one. He did it very well, and I should take a few days to ruminate on the relationship, but my hold on The Night Circus just came in at the library, and I need to see what all the hoopla is about.

I'm trying to finish a bunch of oddly assorted stuff

The Plague and I by Betty Macdonald--possibly the funniest book ever written about having TB
Temporary Kings by Anthony Powell--almost done with the Dance to the Music of time
The normal Christian life by Watchman Nee
The Monkey Wrench gang by Edward Abbey--Eco terrorism at its most antic
The Inklings by Humphrey Carpenter--Group biography of CS Lewis and his circle of friends
Destiny of the Republic by Candace Millard--Good history about the assassination of Pres. James Garfield

Don't ask me how I got started on all this stuff at once.

>44 For what it's worth, Robert, I liked The Songlines a lot. He's quite an author. I liked the Austens a lot, too. :-)

Finished The Eagle Has Landed on the bus this morning. Fortunately I was prepared and had Elephants Can Remember stashed in my bag for the afternoon bus ride. (This is why I like mass market paperbacks; they're small enough that I can carry my main book and a backup book in case the main book is finished en route.) I liked the former but was not madly in love with it, and I am quite amused by the latter because of Mrs. Oliver. However, apparently I should have read Five Little Pigs first because there is a bit of a spoiler!

I'm about twenty-five pages into Room and the book isn't really doing it for me. Early days, perhaps?

44 and 47 I've been fascinated by Chatwin for many years. He had quite a life - such an interesting man - a bit of an enigma, I believe. I'm especially fond of his novels On the Black Hill and Utz. The book of his photographs and excerpts from his notebooks, Far Journeys, published posthumously, is another favorite.

I have just finished reading the graphic novel The Adventures of Tintin : The Secret of the Unicorn by the Belgian author Herge .

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Damia is complete, but I'm not sure I'll pick up Sassinak tonight.

(46) Bjace, I've not read anything by Watchman Nee, but I have heard his stuff is good. I'd be interested in hearing what you thought of that book after you finish reading it. :)

I'm starting Sandition and other stories by Jane Austen.

Just finished reading the novel The wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran based on a real life legal case when Margaret and Nancy face prosecution for bigamy.

#49 Cappybear Room did nothing for me either. I really disliked it and ended up skimming the last section. I heard such great things and was disappointed it didn't live up to the hype. I hope you like it more than I did.

I just started The Hunger Games. My son said I just HAD to read them : )

#49 and 55 Room was not for either, the baby talk from the beginning was bugging me, so that was it .

I just finished Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick, and now I'm reading Lord of Misrule (Morganville Vampires Series #5)!!!

How is it so far? The Hunger Games-hgalligher It's been on my to-read list for a while now!

Back after two weeks with a review of Science Fiction Stories by Edward Blishen. Not a bad collection but it disappointed me nevertheless. My review is here,

http://www.librarything.com/review/76731938

Or on my 75 Books Challenge thread 2011,

http://www.librarything.com/topic/120427

Thanks, Mr.Durick. I have tried many times over the years to read Jane Austen but I seem to have some sort of block that prevents me from getting through her books. I'm now attempting Northanger Abbey. I vow to finish it!

TheBookGenie: I read The Hunger Games trilogy at the urging of my daughter and enjoyed it.

I am still recovering from Thanksgiving and a houseful of guests. We have one that is lingering but she is my mother so I can't throw her out. She is actually being a very good guest, I just want my house back(pathetic whimper). Wow - deja vu - I feel like I wrote this same thing here last year!

I'm reading Contempt by Alberto Moravia. It is good but the narrator is self absorbed and pretty heartless. It is not a restful book but I'm too interested to quit. It's written as a relentless monologue.

#61 - I started with Northanger Abbey and, I think Mr. Durick is correct, that is the way to go. I've been slow to enjoy Austen. I read her because "everyone" does but I didn't really grasp the pleasure of her writing. My favorites have been Persuasion and Emma. I know this cheese stands alone but I really liked Emma(the character) and, particularly her father. Whereas, I disliked almost everyone in Sense and Sensibility.

>>49 55 57 - I found Room tough in the beginning and ended up loving it so I'd say try for a little longer to be sure.

Now reading Charles Dickens: A Life by Jane Smiley and Accidents of Providence by Stacia Brown

#56 I heard about Hunger Games from LT so I got the series from the library. I enjoyed them.

I was less than thrilled with my last read, Fashion Victim, and so being in the mood for a comfort read I have started Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott. Rather sentimental, but certainly warm and cozy.

Finished The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton. I found this to be a harsher, blunter Edith Wharton than I am used to, yet still thought it an excellent novel. I am continuing to read The Inheritance of Loss and I am about to begin listening to The Colour by Rose Tremain.

I finished The Wordy Shipmates today. Eh. Pretty interesting subject matter but sort of annoying, repetitive writing.

Now I've started People of the Book and the first few pages have already grabbed me. Hoping for the best after a run of only okay books.

I read some favorite passages from Little Women this morning, in honor of Louisa May Alcott's birthday. I don't know if girls read that book today, but for a bookish, gawky, always-doing-the-wrong-thing girl like me trying to grow up back in the 50s, Josephine March was a lifesaver -- a revelation. The idea that my writings -- those silly stories and poems I didn't dare show anyone -- might actually amount to something someday -- the idea that I might someday have a career, travel, live on my own -- that I might amount to something someday -- that changed my way of thinking about myself and the future. I checked that book out of the library so many times (reading it over and over, not wanting to let it go -- I knew it belonged to me somehow) that my teacher said something to my parents who bought me a copy for Christmas (the copy I was reading this morning).

I wasn't born in November -- like Louisa and Jo -- but I do love this time of year and understood their love for it. Gray, rainy, cold days were perfect for hiding away in my room and writing stories. Others might complain about such weather, but I knew there were others who loved it the way I did. And to see those words in a book -- something expressing feelings I thought were just strange or silly -- that was really something.

In Annie Liebovitz's new book of photographs, Pilgrimage, there is a picture of a page from Bronson Alcott's journal (today is also his birthday)with a tracing of his hand on the page -- and a tracing of Louisa's small hand inside his (This journal is on display at the Alcott home/museum).

Today is also Madeleine L'Engle's birthday. I taught reading to middle schoolers for many years and used L'Engle's books with my classes -- especially the original Time Trilogy -- A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. So I think I'll spend part of this day with Charles Wallace and Meg (a literary descendant of Jo March).

Posted a belated review of Budapest Noir by Vilmos Kondor

http://www.librarything.com/work/8749309/reviews/78769366

....a very good read, it is

#67 I hope you have a good reader for The Colour, it is one of my favourite books.

I finished The Devil All the Time at 4am Monday morning! Could not quit reading. Luckily I had the day off, love vacation Mondays.

Today I finally started The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, after a quick refresher of what happened in The Girl Who Played With Fire.

Having finished The Songlines, I thumbed through two railroad magazines and one fountain pen magazine mostly looking at the pictures.

Then I got a start on Surpassing Wonder an historian's look at the writing of the Bible and the Talmuds. I hope that he has more to say about Ezra's role in the writing of the Pentateuch, but meanwhile the writing is fluent.

Robert

Speaking of Austen I just finished and reviewed her last novel, Persuasion. It just doesn't get much better, IMO:)

Now I'm reading Tony Horwitz's new one Midnight Rising: john Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War; fifty pages in and it's very compelling, in true Horwitz style.

Finished Destiny of the Republic, which is about the assassination of Pres. James Garfield and which I liked very much. Garfield was shot by a delusional office seeker. The wound was probably non-fatal, but due to unenlightened 19th century medical treatment he lingered for 2 months and died.

#73 Are you a fountain pen fan, Mr.Durick? I think they're elegant, but not to be used by one who's writing is as jerky as mine is. Do they write more smoothly than they did back in the 60's?

I often imagine sitting at an old polished writing table complete with flowers and a warm glowing light, writing letters on beautiful paper.

#69 mollygrace, what a wonderful description of comfort from a book. When I was a child I identified with Trixie Beldon and Nancy Drew, but now, in middle age, I am a "bookish, gawky, always-doing-the-wrong-thing" woman, a far cry from Trixie and Nancy. I'd like to find a book about such a woman, one that ends not in romance, but in simple comfort, friendships and belonging. If you know of any, let me know ;)

Norma, when I write I write with a fountain pen (of course with occasional exceptions), and I have something of a collection of them. I write very much less in retirement than I did at work. Although some fountain pens are cranky it is generally a pleasure to write with one. My writing in the sixties was with a Rapidograph or a ball point. I had written in school with a fountain pen in the fifties when ballpoints were only beginning to become common and had problems of their own, and I used ballpoints, roller balls, and felt tips (with only rare use of fountain pens) from college into the nineties. When I switched to a fountain pen I realized that I pretty much had to commit to it, and I did, happily commit to it. Over all that time I don't ever remember fountain pens not being smooth although some had more feel for the paper than others. It is still the case that some have more feel for the paper than others; it is a pleasure to use each.

Too much? I apologize.

Robert

I have just finished reading the graphic novel The Adventures of Tintin: Red Reckham's Treasure by the Belgian author Herge .

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#69. You make me almost like November. #77...I think we're of the same era, but there's little of Trixie and Nancy in my younger self, the one tucked deep inside the grownup version. I'm reading a collection of short stories: Ordinary Life: Stories by Elizabeth Berg. the first story is about a lady who shut herself into her bathroom for a week just to have a getaway and time to herself. I think it's a fine idea!

>69 - Mollygrace, you really touched a cord in me with your description of growing up in the 50's and your love of Little Women. Being Canadian I was always expected to say Anne of Green Gables was my favorite book, but although I do love Anne, I always identified much more with Jo. I am enjoying my trip down memory lane with my re-read of Eight Cousins.

# 61, 62 I love Jane Austen! I first read Pride and Prejudice when I was 11-12 and by the time I was 16 Ihad already finished reading all of her novels. Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion remain my favourites. Emma, Mansfield Park and Sense and Sensibility I didn't enjoy that much. But even then they are far better than most other books I've read.

# 74 "Speaking of Austen I just finished and reviewed her last novel, Persuasion. It just doesn't get much better, IMO:)"

You've said it!

#77, 80, 81 - nhlsecord, lamplight, and DeltaQueen50 - the county bookmobile came to our small town school every other Thursday -- I remember reading a series of biographies (Helen Keller, Marie Curie, Mozart, Edison, Alcott, etc.) written for young people, but I somehow missed Nancy and Trixie and Anne.

nhlsecord, I've been trying to think of books about gawky, bookish girls of any age that end not in romance, but friendship, comfort, belonging. The first author I thought of was Elizabeth Berg -- Never Change comes to mind. I also thought of Sebastian Barry's Annie Dunne which hardly meets your description at all -- she's not "bookish", and by the time we meet her she's old and alone and not very appealing. But there is a measure of comfort and of belonging that is hers by the end. I go out of my way to recommend that book, so I may be stretching it a bit here. I'm sure there are others -- Would some of Kaye Gibbons' books fit that description? I'll have to think about it. Some of us who grew up in the 50's have a hard time remembering the books we read last month, so this may take awhile.

I finished reading Brian Moore's 1979 The Mangan Inheritance -- I miss Moore's books arriving every couple of years or so -- his death in 1999 was like the loss of friend to me -- so it's nice to find one of his earlier books that I hadn't read.

Next up: Doc by Mary Doria Russell Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson are old buddies to those of us who started out watching westerns in the 50's -- yet here I am, back again, wanting more.

#68 Ursula - I do hope you enjoy People of the Book as much as I did. Those stories that follow an artefact through history absolutely fascinate me and POTB started me off on a hunt for more. If it does the same to you then may I also recommend The Thief of Time by John Boyne, although in this one it is a character who lives for more than 200 years, the style is is similar and it also had the effect of keeping me glued to its pages right the way through.

Song of the Nile by Stephanie Dray
Sequel to Lily of the Nile

Last night I started Twenty Thousand Roads: the Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music by David N. Meyer. I came of age during the Byrds/Burrito Brothers era of country-rock music, so I'm looking forward to this a lot.

Winter always draws me to Dickens: after a lot of 'eeny, meeny, miny, mo' I settled on Our Mutual Friend.

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes was very good. The book certainly gets one thinking about memories and old relationships. In the first half or so I was wondering a bit what the big deal was, but by the end, like the main character, I "got it".

#68, 84 > You might also enjoy The History of Love by Nicole Krauss.

I finished 11/22/63 in a massive reading marathon last night, and I was absolutely blown away. I think that one has been moved up as one of my favorite Stephen King books of all time, and for me, that's saying a LOT. Absolutely magnificent and quite touching as well.

I couldn't decide what to read next, so I randomly selected Offspring by Jack Ketchum from my shelf. It's the sequel to Off Season, which I found to be poorly written but fabulously disgusting, so we'll see how this one turns out. I also have Dracula started on my Nook.

>84 Booksloth - thanks for the recommendation. I'm about 10% into People of the Book and really enjoying it, so I'll throw that one on the future list, too.

>89 hemlokgang - thanks for that recommendation, too. I've seen the book but never looked up what it was about.

(62) enaid, I loved Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Mansfield Park, but disliked the people in Sense and Sensibility too.

I have Persuasion on my TBR, might pick it up before Christmas, time permitting!

I never read Nancy Drew as a young person but I did read Trixie Belden books and loved them. I still remember those shiny slick cheap hardbacks that were always on display at the local dimestore. My cousin read all of the Nancy Drew books and was such a fan that she kept the ones she owned and has been collecting them ever since. She has multiple editions of each title and proudly displays them in an old barristers bookcase in her living room.

If you guys like Nancy Drew you might try reading Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak. My book discussion group read this one several years ago and we all liked it. It was just as much fun to read about the woman who owned the publishing company that produced the books and the woman who wrote the first seven as it was to read the Nancy Drew stories way back when a long time ago.

I'm going to have to check out Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her even though I haven't read a single Nancy Drew. I've never been overly fond of mysteries, but I like the idea of a book about the women behind books that inspire girls.

I just finished The Night Circus then I googled Erin Morgenstern. Pardon my ageism, but she seems to be just a baby. Wow, I can only think her future will be very bright. Now I have to look for the discussion group about the book. Next up, continuing in the fantasy realm with one of my favorite authors is The Companions by Sheri Tepper.

93,94 -
Although it was actually a man who created Nancy Drew. But I did love myself some Nancy Drew growing up. Even started an online book club mailing list for Nancy Drew lovers. If only we had had LibraryThing back then!

Mr.Durick, not too much at all. You have the gift of revealing the elegance in ordinary things.

My favourite writing tool is a good, dark, softish pencil with a nice rubbery eraser. When it is worn down to a rounded point it moves almost as fast as my mind does.

ETA I meant the writing point being rounded, not the eraser. Usually.

Well, I'm going to have to check out a lot of books again from this thread. Persuasion and 11/22/63 and Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her and Annie Dunne and others.

And maybe even fountain pens. My oldest brother used to use fountain pens with green ink to write his homework, and I, as a very young child, thought that was such an "adult" thing to do, and brazen.

And in the early 60's (last century - I love to be able to say that) my friends and I used to sit in the choir loft on Sundays with secret codes from Nancy's and Trixie's books hidden under our choir gowns so we could pass messages during the sermon, all the while checking out the deepening colour of the organist's face to see how fast we would have to run at the end of service.

#95
You are partly right. According to the biography it was two woman. The author, Carolyn Keene was a pseudonym created by Edward Stratemeyer, who owned the publishing company and published the first three Nancy Drew books. He had created the Bobbsey Twins and the Hardy Boys and he wanted his new girl detective to follow the same story pattern. The actual author of the Nancy Drew books was a woman named Mildred Wirt Benson. She didn't want to be named as the author because she was a newspaper woman but wrote the first seven Nancy Drew books because she needed the money. The other woman in the picture is Harriet Stratemeyer Adams. She inherited her father's publishing company and continued editing and eventually became the author of the rest of the Nancy Drew books after Benson quit writing them. In some ways the story of the writing of these books and who got the credit and the royalties read much like what happened to some famous song writers and musicians. The book includes notes and documentation at the end to back up what the author says.

This book made for a fantastic discussion with our group. If your book discussion group is looking for a biography that will make for good discussion try this one.

Mr. Durick, I don't see your reading The Night Circus, but the author does say she used a fountain pen to write one of the chapters.

Nor has Erin Morgenstern read my reports to the bureaucracy. I don't especially want her to, or I could offer her a little quid pro quo.

Robert

I am mostly reading a lot of short pieces and in the throes of final pieces for class, so have not been able to really sink into Annabel yet. I was introduced in class yesterday to "flash" fiction (aka nano, short short, micro) and it has been a lot of fun. And hey, a short story I wrote just won the fiction category of a big, local literary/student contest. I'm blown away. Today is a big awards ceremony, and I think some of the judges/authors will be there. So, exciting! I credit being able to write fiction, at all, to the vast amount of reading I do ... including all the AWESOME suggestions here.

Congratulations!!! Let us know how it goes!

Congratulations!!

Just finished The Inheritance of Loss. No wonder it won multiple awards. Thought-provoking with memorable characters and beautiful prose. I am going t start reading Private Life by Jane Smiley and continue listening to and thoroughly enjoying The Colour by Rose Tremain.

Starting Cleaning Nabokov's House by Leslie Daniels.

Just finished Ox Cart Angel by J.A. Arnold - a pretty good YA novel.

>>49 55 57 63 - I gave up reading room after fifty-odd pages. Sorry, Nancy! I could never read more than a few pages before my mind wandered. My wife, on the other hand, devoured the book in just two days.

On the other hand, I'm flying through The Kinks' The Village Green Preservation Society (Thirty Three and a Third series) by Andy Miller about the making of the classic 1968 album. Boy, could those guys argue amongst themselves!

Yea! Congratulations, Carolyn.

Congratulations, Carolyn. Very impressive.

Way to go Carolyn! Excellent!

49: I felt the same way for the first 60 or so pages. But I stuck with it (something I don't normally do; life's too short for uninteresting reads) & was pleasantly surprised.

**Clap Clap** Carolyn - way to go!! That is FANTASTIC!!

Just finished up Ransom by David Malouf yesterday. It was our DEC book club book and I have to admit I was leary. I didn't think I would enjoy it but Malouf really brought out the human aspect of the characters and I found I quite liked it, afterall.

But now ....in honor of the fast approaching holiday season, it's time for something light and heartwarming. Just picked up Knit the Season by Kate Jacob at the library. We'll see ....it might be fluff. I think it's actually part the Friday Night Knitting Club series, which I haven't read, so hopefully I won't feel too out of the loop by jumping right into book 3.

I will be finishing listening to Inkdeath this weekend. I got so engrossed in listening to this story while driving home last night that I took the CD into the house and listened to it while I knitted last night. Can't wait for a quiet house tonight so I can listen to it again, and hope to finish it.

I have really liked this series by the German author Cornelia Funke. The translation of these books is outstanding. The series is classed as YA, but I am really enjoying them. I realize that her work is difficult for readers in the U. S., but I find it very rewarding. I am also frustrated when I try to get others interested in reading them and they don't respond the same way because I think that they are great books. I asked my 17 year old niece about them and she said she tried them but didn't like them. She reads alot and I respect her opinion, but I am having trouble with trying to understand why she doesn't like these books. Besides being a great adventure story the series has lots to say about reading and writing and the quotes the author uses at the beginning of each chapter show a remarkable range of reading done by the author. I also enjoy the tiny illustrations at the beginning of each chapter. They remind me so much of an illuminated book.

Yes, you might have guessed by now that I have a hardcopy of book as well as the recorded copy. The book has some added value that the recorded copy does not have - pictures and poems.

Just finished listening to the audio for Red Hook Road. Nice story but very slow and detailed. I'm about to start Catherine the Great by Robert Massie which I am looking forward to.

#110 I just loved Ransom especially the mule Beauty, to me she was the heroine.

I DID IT! I finally finished Outlander on my Kindle! Woo hoo! This has been an ongoing (and sometimes painful) read for probably 6 months. It held my attention in the beginning but then became VERY verbous (?). Thank heavens it is finished and I have started Explosive Eighteen as my Kindle "gym read". I am still reading The Passage at night but haven't had as much time to read with the arrival of the holidays.

#114
Funny you should use your Kindle to read at the gym. I use my Nook for the same purpose, but otherwise hardly touch the machine. I have been reading Jane Eyre for six months on the Nook while at the gym. I am close to the end of Jane Eyre. Not because I don't go to the gym that often, but because I keep forgetting to take the Nook with me!

I finished and reviewed Tony Horwitz's new book Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War. Now I've moved on to Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck.

Just finished 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami and am just about to start 11/22/63 by Stephen King

I'm reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery for my book group and am not enjoying it.

#118 I know how you feel it took me a few attempts to finally read it all, I skipped most of the deep and meaningful chapters by the young person and just enjoyed the main character's story.

#118 - My feeling on that book is that it "felt" like it was written by two different people. The stories really begin to shine when the Japanese fellow is introduced/moves in. So hang in there. I almost put it down too, and it was one of the rare books I'm glad I stuck with.

#117- two books that are on my TBR list. Let us know how you liked them. Finished Damage by John Lescroart, a most satisfying mystery. Still reading Night Circus on my iPhone and loving it. Just started my ER book, Enchancements by Kathryn Harrison, a novel but a true story of Rasputin's daughter who became a lion tamer and worked in circuses across America. ( No, I did not make this up.)

Enchantments looks wonderful. My library, alas, does not yet have it. Here's hoping.

Hemlokgang put together the new thread, which is here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/127959

A late reply to 119 and 120 on this thread - thanks for your encouragement. Actually I had no trouble reading or finishing The Elegance of the Hedgehog. It was a book club read and I got through it in a couple of days. I found it easy to read, I just really disliked Renee and also Paloma and did not understand the point of the book. By the end I was glad I never have to pick it up again.

I would like to be sorry for being so negative, but I'm not. Discussing books, whether liked or disliked is part of the fun!!