What Are You Reaing the Week of February 25th - March 2nd 2012?

Feb. 25

Italian dramatist Carlo Goldoni (1707; d.1793)
Rhode Island native, African American novelist, journalist, and reporter George Samuel Schuyler (1895; d.1977), best known for his satirical novel Black No More; Being An Account of the Strange and Wonderful Workings of Science in the Land of the Free (1931)
author Frank Slaughter (1908; d.2001) aka C.V. Terry
Anthony Burgess (1917; d.1993), essayist, novelist, and musician, author of A Clockwork Orange
Trinidad-born journalist, novelist and travel writer Shivadhar Srinivasa Naipaul (1945; d.1985)

Feb. 26

French novelist, playwright, and Romantic poet Victor Marie Hugo (1802; d.1885), exiled to the Channel Islands during Napoleon's reign, author of Les Misérables (1862)
U.S. author, Lincoln's private secretary and biographer John George Nicolay (1832; d.1901)
French writer Vercors aka Jean Marcel Bruller (1902; d.1991)
sci-fi writer Theodore Sturgeon born Edward Hamilton Waldo (1918; d.1985)

Feb. 27

Besides Longfellow, above,
Boston-born African American dramatist and poet Angelina Weld Grimké (1880; d.1958)
John Steinbeck, Calif. novelist and 1962 Nobelist (1902; d.1968)
Chicago native, novelist and short story writer James Thomas Farrell (1904; d.1979)
Chicago editor and novelist Peter DeVries (1910; d.1993)
India-born British novelist Lawrence Durrell (1912; d.1990), authored The Alexandria Quartet
U.S. novelist Irwin Shaw born Irwin Gilbert Shamforoff (1913; d.1984)

Feb. 28

French essayist Michel de Montaigne (1533; 21 Montaigne essays)
English cartoonist and Alice-in-Wonderland illustrator, John Tenniel (1820; d.1914)
Russian poet in the Symbolist movement, linguist, and literary scholar Vyacheslav Ivanov (1866; old style birthdate is 16 Feb.; d.1949)
NYC-born, Wisconsin-raised screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, novelist, and journalist Ben Hecht (1894; d.1964)
English poet and critic Stephen Spender (1909; d.1995)
Kansas native, physician, syndicated newspaper columnist, and historical novelist Donald Coldsmith (1926; d.2009)

Feb. 29

3rd poet laureate of the U.S., also novelist and critic Howard Nemerov (1920; d.1991)

Mar 1

U.S. novelist, editor, and critic (borpan>: n Ohio) William Dean Howells (1837; d.1920), who served as editor of Atlantic Monthly from 1871-1881, and whose novels The Rise of Silas Lapham (1885), A Modern Instance (1882), and others are ralistic potrayals of American manners
British biographer, critic, and Bloomsbury Group member Giles Lytton Strachey (1880; d.1932)
Japanese writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892; d.1927)
Oklahoman native, African-American novelist, essayist, and short story writer Ralph Waldo Ellison (1914; d.1994; The Invisible Man)
U.S. poet and pacifist Robert Lowell Jr. (1917; d.1977)
2nd U.S. poet laureate Richard Wilbur (1921)

Mar 2

Yiddish story teller Shalom Aleichem (1859; d.1916)
NYC-born writer John Jay Chapman (1862; d.1933), whose best-known work is Emerson and Other Essays (1898)
Dr. Seuss alter-ego Theodor Geisel (1904; d.1991)
journalist and novelist Tom Wolfe (1931)
writer John Irving (1942), born Exeter, N.H.

Just finished Phineas Finn. I just love Trollope's social commentary and character development! Moving on to listen to Great House by Nicole Krauss.

I just started When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman

Thanks for getting us off to a roaring start, Hemlokgang! So many greats this week!

I'm just starting reading Greenmantle by John Buchan, which should be a fun, quick read.

Nearing the end of The Tiger's Wife, which so far has been somewhat disappointing, and a ways into another good Dr. Siri mystery, Thirty-three Teeth. Also reading two graphic novels, Catwoman The Trail of Catwoman by Darwyn Cooke, and Echo: The Complete Edition by Terry Moore.

I'm reading Constantine's Sword, a really fascinating and readable history of the Christian church and it's horrible treatment of the Jewish people throughout history.

I haven't picked a fiction read for the week yet.

Thank you for providing all the birthdays hemlokgang!

I'm reading Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. It is one of my husband's favorite books, and there is a group hosting Fantasy February on here so I thought now would be a good time to read it. So far I am enjoying it. It's a lot easier going than Lord of the Rings, although I loved those books too.

Before I had ever heard of him, Tracy Hickman was in my apartment talking to my 2 college roommates when I came home one day. He was mentoring them because they wanted to be fantasy writers and they were all Mormon. He was nice and was not surprised that I didn't know who he was.

Finished Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes a few days ago. Loved it! Moved on to Curiosity by Joan Thomas - my book club's March selection. Only about 100 pages in and so far, so good - it's very well written.

I finished reading London Match by Len Deighton. This is the third in this trilogy and I enjoyed them. Even though they are old - published in the 1980's - I found them to be engaging. I plan to move on to the very intriguing sounding Frozen Thames by Helen Humphries.

I finished and REVIEWED Emma by Jane Austen. Simply delightful. Now I'm reading the very short novella Silk by Alessandro Baricco.

Still working on Lamb : The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, Keeper of Lost Causes, and Best Short Novels 2004.

I finished A Free Man of Color by Barbara Hambly las night and started both The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde as well as The Last War: Detective Ferrets and the Case of the Golden Deed by Richard Bach. I think both will be quick reads.

Posted a review of The Lola Quartet by Emily St John Mandel...here:

http://www.librarything.com/work/11936378/reviews/82304997

;-}

Thanks for the start, hemlokgang! I'm starting Mythago Wood, first in a cycle by the late Robert Holdstock. So far, so gorgeous.

Finished Our mutual friend, which I loved up to the end, in which Dickens (and some of his characters) played a nasty trick on a character "for her own good." Still, I really enjoyed it. Also finished Darkness at noon by Arthur Koestler, which had never read before. Am reading Lion country by Frederick Buecher.

Just finished Van Gogh: The Life by Steven Naifeh. It was excellent, but at 800+ pages only for thosereally interested in Vincent. Just started Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain.

Thanks for starting the week, Hemlokgang.
I'm almost finished with both The Vampire Tapestry and the audiobook of The Big Short, both excellent, and I have my next two books picked out.
Seitherin, I keep seeing mention of Christopher Moore books I want to read, Lamb looks like one of them, Fool is another. I need to get off the shelf and pick one of these up. What are your thoughts on Lamb?

Good start Hemlokgang. I've read some Theodore Sturgeon, and while some of his stuff is very good, some of it is rather weird. Different tastes, hmm?

I read Is Our English Bible Inspired last night, and started reading Heavy Time this afternoon. I'm trying to take it easy (recovering from pneumonia), so I'll probably do some more reading tomorrow. :)

Finished The Fighting Temeraire: The Battle of Trafalgar and the Ship that Inspired J. M. W. Turner's Most Beloved Painting by Sam Willis (3 1/2 stars Naval history)

A good history inspired by Turner's 1839 painting of the H.M.S. Temeraire being towed to the break up yard by a steam tug. The history covers the years from 1759 (The Seven Year's War) till 1815 (The Battle of Trafalgar). Reads like a novel in many places. A good read for the arm chair historian. ( Wiliis doesn't let history get in the way of a good story).

Next up is The Cruiser by Warren Tute ,( a modern naval fiction book)

Posted another review:

The Pleasure Dial: An Erotocomedic Novel of Old Radio by Jeremy Edwards

http://www.librarything.com/work/12276241/reviews/82984751

It is "naughty"...with lots of sex...but it's sweetly innocent, in spite of itself

Went to the library today, and started digging into The Wilder Shores of Love by Lesley Blanch, which I am loving so far! It's about 4 different Victorian women who defied convention and headed to the mysterious East. The first mino-bio is about Isabel Arundell Burton, wife of famed adventurer Sir Richard Burton. This kind of stuff fascinates me!

I'm just finishing up Best American Short Stories 2011 edited by Geraldine Brooks. I'm not usually a big fan of short stories but there are more than the usual number of gems in this one, including one from A Visit from the Goon Squad which has intrigued me.

Great start hemlokgang - thanks!

>10 Bonnie - Silk is an interesting little book. I'll be waiting for your thoughts!

I'm breezing through the second half of The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney and enjoying it quite a bit. On audio, I'm revisiting Louise Penny's A Trick of the Light mostly because I'm in love with Ralph and his wonderful narration.

I only just realized as I typed the above that I'm reading two penny books! :)

I have a few things going at the moment:
Girl Unmoored by Jennifer Gooch Hummer
The Sister Queens by Sophie Perinot

In audio:
Sister Queens: The Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile by Julia Fox

(yes, I have two books with essentially identical titles going, these are two different sets of sisters who are also queens)

@8 I loved Flowers for Algernon too. I'm still reading the epic Great Sky Woman by Steven Barnes. It's still good.

#10/23 I thought Silk was an extraordinary book. Also looking forward to hearing your thoughts, brenzi.

Reading The Invention of Air this weekend, then moving on to A History of the World in 6 Glasses, followed by Ten Tea Parties (ER book I've been neglecting). It's going to be an historical week.

Finished The Southern Tiger, an ER book which is a political memoir written by Ricardo Lagos, president of Chile from 2000 to 2006. It presents his view of the history of Chile from Allende to the present with insights into the policies introduced that made Chile a thriving country. As a political memoir it's rather self serving but interesting nonetheless.

I am still reading Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland and loving it. It is just a beautiful book of the imagery, customs and beauty of the native peoples in and around British Columbia during that time. The downside is it has really sparked my painting (my undergrad degree is a BFA before I went and did that law thing) and I've been painting more than reading. But it's nice to come to at the end of a day. I also will have to check out The Passion of Artemesia too.

Thanks for the nod on VanGogh: A Life ellenflorman. I cannot get too much Van Gogh ... so I'm anxious for that one. Ah, so many books, so little time1

I finished The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien, as edited by his son, Christopher. Personally, I'm happy I read it, but I can't say I recommend it. Full review on the book's work page and on my 50-Book Challenge thread.

I finished reading In The Skin of a Lion. Michael Ondaatje creates the most lovely imagery with his prose. So gifted. Good story too! I am going to start reading 2666 by Roberto Bolano.

31 Ah, I was planning on the 2666 group read in March, but I'm thinking I won't have my current book done in time. I'll be looking forward to your review.

I'm impatiently waiting for my mom to finish up the last chapter of her book so we can start on The Graduate together. In the meantime, I'm reading small chunks of Columbine, as it is understandably quite depressing, and listening to North and South at work, which I downloaded on a whim and am surprised to find myself enjoying.

cammy, I didn't know there was a group read for March....which group?

I'm still reading Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain. I'm also reading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle which I last read just about 50 years ago.

>10/23/26: I confess I didn't much like Silk, but am also looking forward to your thoughts, brenzi: perhaps you'll redeem my perception.

>16, thanks for the recommendation of Quiet, ellenflorman. Just put it on hold at my local library, where I'm #201 on the list, so very glad to be hearing about it now and not later!

I'm still reading Debt: The first 5,000 Years; it's due back on Wednesday, and I'm starting to hope that I might make it. Then again, it's so dense with material (so far, he's covered everything from ancient Mesopatamia to Medieval Islam - and I've still got 100 pages to go!), that I think I should then start over at page 1 and read it again.

This year I want to read at least one book in French, so I'm going to start a book I got for my birthday last year: Monsieur La Souris, by Georges Simenon.

Carolyn, do check out The Passion of Artemesia. I thought it was wonderful, as was its heroine. I'd never heard of Artemesia Genteleschi before, and she's become one of my favorite artists.
You are spreading your creative wings, aren't you?

Finished reading Queen Hereafter by Susan Fraser King
Also read The World of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes

This is Water- David Foster Wallace. Feeling rather philisophical this week. It's true that humans need to be more compassionate in every day life. Maybe we all need a crash course on changing our "hard wired" mind.

I am rereading Anna Karenina as I have persuaded my book club to read it. It has been my favorite book since I first read it over twenty years ago and I am still loving it. I also have started Lost Memory of Skin - love Russell Banks also - and will probably read through the rest of the books nominated for the PEN/Faulkner award.

I finished and REVIEWED Alessandro Baricco's sensual and romantic novella Silk. Lovely, spare prose. Achingly beautiful story. Not sure what I'll read next as I'll be travelling. My iPad is loaded though.

I've finished and reviewed Thirty-Three Teeth, the second installment of the Dr. Siri Paiboun, Laotian national coroner series, in my thread...post #114.

Tonight I started Allen Drury's Advise and Consent. I read this once a long time ago, before I was old enough to really understand it, I think. I'm looking forward to it, but at 760 pages, well, so much for my 50-Book challenge for this year! :)

#42 It always gives me a warm glow when someone else loves a book I have loved too. I would agree with every single word in your review. Enjoy your travels - anywhere exciting?

I finished and loved When God Was a Rabbit and am reading something totally different now, Feed.

I have started Mockingbird by Charles J. Shields, a biography (unauthorized, of course) of Harper Lee. Has anyone read it? I'm very interested and love To Kill A Mockingbird but sometimes reading author biographies changes my feelings about the novel. I'd hate to tarnish my feelings about To Kill A Mockingbird.

#41: I read Mockingbird and I'm afraid I don't have a lot of great things to say about it. I, too, am a big fan of To Kill a Mockingbird, and I was sorely disappointed.

I read Silk by Alessandro Baricco many years ago and loved it so much that I bought it for a friend for a gift. I understand that it was made into a movie, but I never did see that it was released. Does anybody know anything about that?

I finished listening to Oh the Glory of It All by San Francisco rich boy Sean Wilsey. It was a prime example of a memoir that should have been pruned to half its size and then published. The last quarter of the book was much more interesting than the first three quarters. I continued to listen to it because I was determined to find out what it is that people like about these tell-all memoirs. After reading this book I can honestly say that I still don't understand why people read that stuff. I know that publishers publish it because people buy it, but good grief there is so much better material to read, why get stuck on these?

I also finished reading Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys. I didn't realize that when people said it was a short book, that they meant that its format was small. It is also a short book at 192 pages, but every page is a real sparkling gem. She sure got alot out of ice in cold clear terms. Great little book.

I started listening to Blue-Eyed Devil by the late Robert B. Parker this is his last book about Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch and it is very short. I liked these westerns. I will miss not having more of them.

I am just starting Blankets by Craig Thompson, and Shadow Valley by Stephen Barnes. Shadow Valley is the sequel to Great Sky Women that Cammykitty is reading right now.

#47 & 48

Mockingbird is an unauthorized biography so there are going to be big holes in it for that reason if no other. I also understand that few of the people who live in Monroeville, Alabama would talk to him about Harper Lee. That probably didn't help either.

#47 & 48
Mockingbird is an unauthorized biography so there are going to be big holes in it for that reason if no other. I also understand that few of the people who live in Monroeville, Alabama would talk to him about Harper Lee. That probably didn't help either.

#51:That is certainly all true. It's a shame, too, because all of the reclusiveness and lack of information seem, in some ways, to give fuel to the detractors who claim that it was really Capote who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, or who, at least, was largely responsible for writing it.

Where do you find the group read threads, e.g., 2666 coming up in March? Thanks!!!! I might hop on that one.

The Group Read of 2666 is over at the 12 in 12 Challenge, found HERE , but I just checked and the thread hasn't been started yet, but there is talk of setting one up later today. When it goes up, I will try and come back with the link.

I just finished Night Circus and Crave, and I'm picking up 1Q84, after a bit of a rest. I love the beautiful descriptions, but sometimes I need something faster paced. Though I just adored Night Circus, so perhaps I'm picky about descriptive novels.

Thank you DeltaQueen50! I found them ... I also may do The Windup Girl. What a fun area, that 12 in 12. I've read most of them, but some I had not. I always wanted to tackle Middlemarch - so what a perfect August read. Thanks for the heads up!

#56 Glad you found it, Carolyn. The 12 in 12 is a fun group!

I finished The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas, maybe the best vampire story ever. I also finished The Big Short which did not contain humor as I'd thought, but then, it's pretty difficult to be humorous about catastrophe. Michael Lewis does delve into the personalities of the people who predicted the crash. It seems Asperger's is a help in understanding financial situations because it allows you to see the trees instead of the forest. Next up is Aftershock: the Next Economy and America's Future by Robert Reich. And my audio is Dreams from My Father written and narrated by Barack Obama. I may be the last liberal in the country to get to this.

I finished Lydia Millet's Ghost Lights which I enjoyed but with reservations that are probably not the fault of the book, but the result of the fact that I read it so slowly. Life has been interfering with my reading of late and I'm having a hard time staying focused. I was going to read The Night Circus next but I think I'll wait until I have more time for it. I thought I'd try reading something that doesn't demand so much of me, so I picked up Robert Crais' latest Elvis Cole detective novel Taken which I'm enjoying -- but I always enjoy spending time with Elvis and his partner, Joe Pike.

#49 Yes, I'd also heard about the movie but never seen it. I just found a review though - http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/movies/14silk.html - and it looks as if we didn't miss much. The story itself is so subtle and nuanced that I can see how it might be utterly impossible to translate to film without it being horribly clumsy. And the leading man in the photo isn't abit how I imagined the protagonist, though maybe that's just me.

About a week ago I started reading Jamrach's Menagerie and then got stuck out of the house without it but having just accepted a parcel from Amazon on my way out. Obviously, I was forced to start that one which turned out to be Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes and which was one of the best 'stalker thrillers' I've read in a long time. It kept me up into the early hours when I found myself hurtling towards the end one bedtime.

I've now gone back to Jamrach's Menagerie and am about half way through and loving every word. There's nothing better than a run of exceptional books (not when you have a bad back anyway!)

Rafa written by himself Rafael Nadal. I am so excited to read this. He's my absolute favourite tennis players, if not my *favourite* celebrity.

#47, 48, 51, 52

Thanks everyone! I realized that I just wanted to know the big facts and not the all of the nitty gritty as Harper Lee doesn't want to share her life with the masses. I skimmed the book and then put it away. I was kind of irritated when a book seller made a connection to Lee who offerred to sign a book for him. He went out and found two first editions (US and a British), which she then signed, and then he SOLD one of them. You got a connection with her and then you do exactly what she hates.

So, I will love To Kill A Mockingbird and leave the woman alone.

Sometimes it's better not to know, BBleil.

Enjoy the works without knowing about the author. :)

Thirty-three Teeth was an excellent Dr. Siri mystery, second in Colin Cotterill's series set in Laos. Next up is Iron and Silk by Mark Salzman.

Started reading Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths last night. So far I'm really liking the atmosphere that the author creates.

I am interested in feedback from folks who have read Great House by Nicole Krauss.

>66 Great House is the study of the persecution of Jews told by discussing the ownership of a desk. It's kind of a weird way to look at the topic, but fresh viewpoints lead to increased understanding. The characters are complex, certainly not always likable. I enjoyed it very much, but it can be a bit of a difficult read.

For something light and quick to finish off the month, I'm reading Gena Showalter's Animal Instincts. It's been a good month as this will be book 13 for me! :)

I am now reading Awakening the Buddha Within and really enjoying it, soothing and applicable to real life. This book had been recommended to me many times and I bought it about 10 years ago. Clearly, for whatever reason, now the time is right for me to digest it. Lovely book.

I reviewed another ancient Book Circle read, DOUBLE INDEMNITY, in my thread...post #115.

Finishing up The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente. After a rough beginning, when I wasn't sure I wanted to read it, the story took off, and now I am a solid fan. Also reading Lynn Viehl's Darkyn novel Frostfire, which I'm finding a bit slow and slightly scattered but good enough to continue. Finally, listening to the third in the Jack Reacher series, Tripwire, which is as intense as usual. And I started Under Heaven but put it aside because right now I can't seem to concentrate enough to do credit to a Guy Gavriel Kay novel.

ETA a touchstone, which seems to be a bit tetchy.

#66 and 67

I started Great House without knowing anything about it, and I really found it difficult. I think if I had benefitted from Citizenjoyce's take on it, I may have started it with the right frame of mind.

#64, let me know how you like Iron and Silk. About a year ago I read another of Salzman's books and really liked it. Very thought provoking. Will be interesting to see what you think of this one which appears to be so different.

>#67.....Thank you CitizenJoyce...just what I was looking for!

You're welcome. That was very simplistic, but maybe it's a little way in.

I'm reading Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes. I'm only about 100 pages in, but so far I'm enjoying it. It isn't the type of book I typically read, but I was intrigued by the idea of a novel, 30 years in the making, written by a Vietnam Vet. So far, so good!

I finished and loved Feed by Mira Grant and am now reading The Dispossed by Ursula Le Guin

Reviewed my first Charlie Chan mystery, Behind That Curtain by Earl Derr Biggers, quite an interesting vintage mystery from the 20's.

My review is here,

http://www.librarything.com/topic/130815#3265789

Just started The Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus lastnight. It is a very unusual story- not sure yet what to make of it, but definitelydifferent.

We're in the process of moving to center city Philadelphia so have been having a hard time finding time to read but I did finish Lost in the City by Edward P. Jones. It's an excellent collection of short stories set in Washington DC during the 50's to 70's. The characters are black, many elderly. Jones captures a mood and situation brilliantly. The stories reverberate with humanity struggling with the effort of making sense of life.

Finished and reviewed Long Sunset and am wondering which work of non-fiction to read next.

Am up to 1984 in The Kenneth Williams Diaries.

My wife resurrected the evening reading group at her library and our first novel is The Help.

#80

I read All Aunt Hagar's Children a couple of years ago and enjoyed those stories. He is a good writer.

I have lots of books going right now and am getting little reading done in any of them. To tired at night to read without falling asleep.

I've been neglecting one of my favorite threads over here. I finished the terrific story collection, Stay Awake. Dark & haunting.
I started the Art of fielding. Nearly 100 pages in and it's been excellent. On audio, I'm listening to Raylan, Leonard's latest. It's breezy & fun.

>whymaggiemay- I recently finished Iron & Silk and thought it was great. You won't go wrong.

Under the wire! Only three hours and forty-five minutes of Leap Year Day left, locally, and I wrote my review..Lucky 13!...of Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson for the 75ers's Fantasy February, over in my thread...#163.

I am reading A Diary from Dixie and think it may take me all year. I am only in August 1861, but feel like it should be at least June 1863. Also reading Death Comes to Pemberley.

I finished Stef Penney's newest, The Invisible Ones, which I thought was a great read and very entertaining, but only a so-so mystery.

I'm also just about half way through An Available Man by Hilma Wolitzer. It is delightful!

Finished Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen and started Dominion by C. S. Friedman.

Finished Debt: the First 5000 Years. Gets very political in the last 100 pages, not all of which I agree with (or thought was well-enough documented anyway), but still very rich in historical detail. I'll have to read more by him - once I've recovered from this one. Meantime, something fluffy...

I am half way through Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Excellent book.

I am really enjoying In Country by Bobbie Ann Mason, this author reminds me lots of Annie Proulx. I have ordered Shiloh and Other Stories by Bobbie from Amazon.

>88 That sounds fascinating! Off to wishlist it now. Thanks!

I'm just now starting Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings by Amy Kelly. It's far too soon to tell how it's going to go. It should be very interesting, though. She was a vrey powerful figure of her time, and I know very little about her. I'm reading this in honor of Women's History Month.

For study - Sisters and Rivals in British Women's Fiction. 1914-39 by Diana Wallace. For leisure, I'm indulging my love of good children's fiction with Noah Barleywater Runs Away

Starting Jack Miles' God: A Biography. It's very interesting so far, but definitely not a quick read.

Finished Dominion by C. S. Friedman and started A Stark and Wormy Knight by Tad Williams.

#87 seitherin

How did you like The Keeper of Lost Causes? this is one that I have been thinking about getting. It has had good reviews but that doesn't always make it a good book.

#83, msf59, Sold. Down loaded to my kindle both Iron and Silk and his fiction book on a similar subject The Laughing Sutra.

I just finished Iron and Silk on Caro's and Mark's recommendation, Maggie, and it was excellent.

Through a colleague I learned of this really great book site called Alibris and the last load of books I ordered have come from there. I started Life,the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams

I'm reading Saving Faith by David Baldacci. I've been reading his books chronologically as he wrote them. So far they keep getting better and better.

Started reading Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman last night and got sucked in immediately. I don't know anything about her (or Russia) but I'm really enjoying the book. I also scored a copy of Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen through the ER program, so I'm excited about that.

I'm in the mood for some fluffy, easy historical fiction, so I'm reading The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory. I guess I must be a Yorkist at heart, because I'm finding these Lancasters incredibly irritating.

Almost done with Hellburner by CJ Cherryh. Not sure what will follow...

#96 benitastrnad

Overall I liked Keeper of Lost Causes although I did have a bit of trouble getting into it at the beginning. It is not nearly as good as the Stieg Larsson books.

I've just started The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Absolutely fascinating book.

I am just finishing up Christine Falls and in the first few chapters of March by Geraldine Brooks.

I've been sick as a dog this week, which means I've gotten in a lot of good reading. Finished up The Good House by Tananarive Due, which a fantastically creepy story with well-developed characters, and I finally got hooked into The Hunger Games this week. Some people warned me that the books wouldn't live up to the hype, but I devoured the first book and can't wait to get my hands on the second!

Now, I'm finishing It, which I've been reading for the last 3 months or so...ditto Dracula on my Nook. And once I finish those, I'll have more freedom to jump into something new.

Glad you're feeling better, Coloradogirl. Nothing like a good blood sucker to bring the bloom back to your cheeks.

I really enjoyed Noah Barleywater Runs Away - this generation of young readers has some wonderful books to choose from. Still studying Sisters and Rivals in British Women's Fiction (no touchstone) - one I would highly recommend for anyone with an interest in women authors of the period. And for light relief I'm now being hugely entertained by Grow Up by Ben Brooks (who, incidentally, was only born in 1992! How ancient does that make me feel?!)

Finished and didn't really like Great House. I am going to start listening to A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear.

#66 hemlokgang

I noticed that you had rated and reviewed Great House by Nicole Krauss. In short you didn't like it. I wondered why. Can you elaborate? This book was nominated for a major award (I think a Pulitzer Prize?) and her previous book History of Love was well liked. At least you moved on to one of the amazing Maize Dobbs books.

I thought History of Love was phenomenal! I could not become engaged by almost any of the characters in Great House, and although I am usually quite at home with plots that jump around before coming together, did not connect to this in any way. In light of the positive acclaim, it may just be one of those disconnects that is tough to explain. It is possible that it failed as an audiobook, and I can imagine it might read better as an actual book.

I'm reading Midnight in Austenland, Shannon Hale's sequel to Austenland. A bit of a slow start, but so far so good.

So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba. Am now reading The fifth queen by Ford Madox Ford, a fictional biography of Katherine Howard, Henry VIII's 5th wife.

I started and finished Dracula this week and liked it very much. It was not as scary of exciting as I thouight it would be, but the writing was very good, I liked the characters and the story was fascinating. in know now why it's a classic! :D

Trying to finish Sophie's World which I have been reading for quite a while now....

Sophie's World is one I have had on my TBR list for some time. Just haven't gotten to it yet.

I finished listening to the novella Blue-Eyed Devil. This one is a western by the late Robert B. Parker. I really like this series. Not too many authors writing westerns, but Parker fills this one with a lot of action a little bonhomie and even some warrior philosophy via a few pithy quotes from Klauswitz and other warrior writers. This one was short and entertaining.

Finished Hellburner, a worthy read but not my favorite book of Ms. Cherryh's. I felt it needed a little more at the end, or perhaps a sequel.

Not sure what I'm going to pick up tonight...I'll let y'all know.

Trying hard to clear a few of those TBR oldies - now reading The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly.

>94 NielsonGW, you're right: God: a Biography is good, but not a quick read. I was interrupted in the middle of it last year, and still haven't gotten back: thank you for the reminder!

Meantime, have started The Price of a Dream: the Story of the Grameen Bank, which I was more excited about before I realized that it never mentions Kiva... because it was written *way* back in 1996. In any event, any history of Grameen/microcredit is unlikely to fill my craving for post-tome fluff, so I'm reading Tears of the Giraffe. Well, not fluff at all, really, but undemanding. A perfect little brain break!

I have just started a very unusuaal novel A Solitary Grief by Bernice Rubens.

Loving The Gods of Gotham by Lindsay Faye an ER book, as I attempt to balance my reading with so many other things happening right now.

This week's thread is here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/133685