I'm still reading
The Unbearable Lightness of Being. It's weird. I can't put it down once I start reading, but if when I'm not reading, I don't know if I want to continue it.
This week's four:
Turkish book: I finally finished A Cup of Turkish Coffee when I gave up on any serious efforts to figure out the Turkish before I looked at the English. I compared Turkish to English, but that was all. I then went on to an easier Turkish-English bilingual book: Fourth Company by
Rifat Ilgaz. I get the gist of the Turkish without resorting to the English at least 50% of the time, and it makes me laugh, too!
Spanish book:
Novelas Ejemplares by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. I'm hoping to make some serious progress with it this weekend. Unfortunately, it's one of a long list of things I'm hoping to make some serious progress with this weekend.
English book at home: I finished re-reading
Strong as Death by Sharan Newman. It's just as good as I remembered, and more interesting when you use a map while reading it. I've just read a couple of pages of
Fred Harvey: Creator of Western Hospitality, an exceedingly short biography by William Patrick Armstrong. It's got lots of pictures.
Book for lunch break at work: I'm still on Masterpieces of Mystery & Detection an anthology edited by Rosamund Morris. The stories are from the first half of the 20th century, and they're showing their age.
I'm not doing too well with the touchstones this week. I'll just have to get through these books so I don't have to try again next week.
I should finish
Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon this afternoon or tomorrow - talk about compulsive reading! I've left work early several times this week so I could go home and read! After that it's
The Journal of Curious Letters by James Dashner while I've got it from the library... and then after that, I'll have to see what I'm in the mood for.
Current audiobook is still
The Meaning of Night: A Confession by Michael Cox, which has been very enjoyable so far, in part I think because of the excellent match of the narration to the tone of the story.
#1 - Greyhead - I will be starting
The Yiddish Policemen's Union later today, as soon as I finish
The Cellist of Sarajevo. Your comment has intrigued me. Based on others' feedback, I understand the beginning of the story is a little hard to get into, but the book takes off once you get past that hump. I appreciate these disclaimers because I have zero patience for slow-starting books. =)
I started
Deep Ancestry since it's on this month's Early Reviewer's list. I want to be finished with it in time to pass it on to someone who has requested it, just in case she isn't picked to receive it.
I really enjoyed
The Yiddish Policemen's Union too, an exceptional novel, though not quite in the same league as
Kavalier & Clay.
I've never been a fan of Martin Amis's novels, but I'm almost halfway through his 2000 memoir
Experience and it's just astonishingly good so far.
Message edited by its author, Apr 5, 2008, 8:34am.
I've decided that I'm going to concentrate on trying to make headway with
War and Peace cos I'm not making much headway with it otherwise. It seems to work better being read in big chunks. So that's the plan for the weekend at least :-)
I've also started
Emma for when I really can't read W&P (it's just too heavy to try to read in the bath!) and to try to contribute to the Girlybooks group read.
#AnnaClaire: I'm intrigued by the title. What is that book about?
It's an Early Review book, about classical music. I'll put up a review sooner or later.
I'm still reading
Jane Eyre, haven't had much reading time this week. I hope to finish it this weekend so I can start
The Lottery which is my bookclub book for our Friday meeting.
I finished
Sputnik sweetheart which I enjoyed. I think I liked this book better than
Kafka on the shore - I enjoyed the writing and the story line better.
I also finished Amesterdam by Ian McEwan and I also really enjoyed this book - what delicious themes but I am not sure how I felt about the ending.
I am now reading
The light of day and am liking his writing style - I am only a few pages in. This is my first Graham Swift book.
I just finished The Story of Forgetting by Stefan Merrill Block -- an amazing book that I read thanks to recommendations here on LT and great reviews. What is most remarkable to me is how young the author is; although parts of it reflect very contemporary culture, his ability to get into the minds and imaginations of much older characters is extraordinary.
And I'm still reading
The Horse, The Wheel, and Language -- slow going, but fascinating.
>7 fleela, I brought Deep Ancestery home from the library yesterday. I opened it just to browse and got half way through it before I was able to put it down again. Are you finding it to be compelling, too?
I'm reading
The Best of the Bellevue Literary Review, a 2008 anthology drawn from the New York University School of Medicine's semi-annual literary journal. Recommended by an LT-er (though nearly a singleton here), its medical-related short stories, essays and poetry are powerful. I read little poetry, so I'm especially liking that.
A Canticle For Leibowitz is proving to be quite a good read, but with all my trip preparations I doubt I'll finish it today. It looks like it'll be coming on the plane with me.
I also plan to return to some Guy Gavriel Kay over the next little bit. I figure I'll start with
Sailing to Sarantium and
Lord of Emperors, then move on to my absolute favourite book:
Tigana. Once I've exhausted those, I plan to read Shogun by
James Clavell. I've been meaning to read it for years.
My bedtime reading at the moment is
A Year in the World by Frances Mayes, which I'm enjoying, but I like it better in small doses than long stretches.
When I get enough homework done for the afternoon I'm going to reward myself by starting Jonathan Carroll's
Glass Soup.
I'm about 240 pages into my 750-page history of
The Medici family by G. F. Young. It's not fast reading, but it is a very interesting survey of Renaissance and the political, artistic and cultural life of Florence during that time.
Storeetllr, I've read nearly all of Brookner's novels and
Hotel du Lac is my favorite of them all.
I finished
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini yesterday and was drained emotionally by that book. I'm looking for something a bit lighter, so I've started
Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire.
Also, I'm reading Stephen King's
Skeleton Crew when I am out and about, or waiting at dance class or appointments. Since it's a collection of short stories, I can pick it up and put it down as needed without really losing much.
After
Wicked, I'm going to read
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. I've heard mixed reviews of this book, but I saw the movie before I knew about the book and I liked the movie.
I'm currently reading
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. I bought it after philosojerk said how much she loved it. So far so good - I'm having a hard time putting it down! I haven't been making much progress in
War and Peace (well, actually, no progress at all), but plan to spend some quality time with Leo this week.
>31 Talbin, make sure you have the second book (
A Clash of Kings) close by for when you're done... I didn't, and I had to wait for two whole weeks to get my hands on it. Nearly killed me. ;) Those books are wicked addictive.
Carry foward from last week is The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. For some reason I'm having a tough time getting through the first pages of part 2. Ah, well, perseverence.
I've started
Holy Disorders, 2nd book about Gervase Fen by
Edmund Crispin. British mystery, 1940s, eccentric Brit stuff. Fluffy and fun until I can break through K&C.
#25 - I remember reading
A Canticle for Leibowitz in high school but not much about it. (no surprise there, I graduated HS in 1971).
>32 Thanks, fyrefly. I'm already planning my trip to Borders. Actually, today I scored
A Feast for Crows at my library book sale - a hardback in perfect condition - so now that I own the 4th in the series I seem to be committed! ;)
>28, 29: I really enjoyed
Hotel du Lac as well!
Right now I'm reading
The Piano Tuner. This book starts out in an odd
Apocalypse Now sort of way: in 1886 the British army enlists a London piano tuner to go visit a corporal, stationed in the Burmese jungle, who 1) demanded that he have a piano, and 2) later demanded it be tuned or he would resign. Said piano tuner has just arrived in Burma ... it seems there may be more to this story than meets the eye. But then I'm 1/3 of the way through and he has yet to meet the corporal. Although a few other soldiers have talked about how strange he is. I kind of like this book but the
Apocalypse Now similarities grate a bit.
#32, #34: OK, you two convinced me--just checked out
Game of Thrones and sequels at amazon, read the rave reviews there about the series, too--and ordered them! I HATE hanging around waiting for sequels to exciting books--takes too long for stuff to reach me!
LouisBranning and lindsacl ~
Hotel du Lac will be going on my top 5 of the quarter, if not of the year. I can't get it out of my mind. Some of the most incredibly gorgeous prose I've ever read! cmt ~ I hope you manage to get hold of it. I really think you'll love it.
Finally finished
Neither here nor there, my first book by Bill Bryson and was a bit disappointed. It was okay, but I had expected a lot more from it. Still, I understand it's not considered his best book, so maybe I'll try another one in a while.
Now reading Anansi Boys, my first book by
Neil Gaiman (thank you LT-ers!) and enjoying it very much. I only started it late last night and am already about 1/4 through! It just reads so easily and I'm really curious as to how the story will develop. I think this may be the beginning of a collection :)
I am currently reading
Three Cups of Tea and than plan on reading Kite Runner. I started reading the book on Julia Childs, when she lived in France. I cannot remember the name, I just happened accross it at Barnes and Noble and sat down and started to reaad. Now I am wishing I had bought it. It was quite interesting.
#35 Overall, I loved
The Piano Tuner, but I was a little disappointed in the conclusion. It will be interesting to see what you think when you've finished the book.
#48 I finished Mister Pip a few weeks ago and thought it was a wonderful novel. I'm considering teaching it alongside
Great Expectations.
Last night I started
First Love, Last Rites, a collection of short stories by Ian McEwan. Although I love most of his work written since
Enduring Love, this is an early one and falls into what I think of as his "kinky stage"--incest, sadomasochism, etc. I'll be skimming it, I'm afraid.
I'm also reading
Mr. Skeffington by Elizabeth von Arnim and listening to the audiobook of
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky.
Message edited by its author, Apr 6, 2008, 10:16am.
By my bed this week is Small Death in Lisbon. Robert Wilson. He has a unique way with words that makes you stop reading and just relish the feeling of the phraseology. I wish I could find a sample for you. Besides the good writing, I'm happy as a clam that it's a combination (through flashbacks) of a historical tale of corrupt Nazis and modern day mystery in Portugal. They're connected but I won't know how until the last page.
I just finished
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by
Marisha Pessl. I loved it! I know many people hated it and thought the writing was under-edited and pretentious. I, on the other hand, found it clever, mysterious, and challenging. It's my favorite read of 2008 so far.
A little behind in my Early Reviewer book. I am reading
The Dark Tide by
Andrew Gross. A great page turner. I can't wait to see how it turns out.
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I liked
Suite Francaise very much even though it's not the type of book I usually read. Even better than that book was Fire In the Blood, also by
Irène Némirovsky. My husband read the latter and thought it was great.
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I think it's really a shame that
Special Topics in Calamity Physics is so hard to get into at first. Many people give up in the beginning because of all the tangents in that part of the story. To me, it was so worth the extra effort I had to put into reading it.
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Fire in the Blood is the story of a man who returns to live in rural France after traveling the world over. He reflects on his youth after having attended a family party.
Message edited by its author, Apr 6, 2008, 6:56pm.
#44, Vonni, with bryson it really depends on which book you read.
A walk in the woods and
In a sunburned country (also known as 'Down Under' sometimes) are his best ones.
In a sunburned country is my favorite, its funny and smart and a lot of fun to read. After i read those i went on and read his other ones, but they aren't half as good as those two. My advice is read those cuz they're great!. :)
Message edited by its author, Apr 6, 2008, 7:31pm.
>64 I concur re:
A Walk in the Woods by Bryson - it's great. I started another of his (can't even remember the name) and it wasn't nearly as funny in a flowing sort of way - it felt forced.
I finished
The Remains of the Day today and absolutely LOVED it. Ishiguro is a remarkable writer. Just picked up Carol Shield's
Unless. And of course, still on
War and Peace. Slow steady progress.
ETA: the other Bryson one was
Notes from a Small Island - I didn't get very far into it and put it down.
Message edited by its author, Apr 6, 2008, 7:37pm.
I'm in the middle of
No Country for Old Men, I have not seen the movie and really had no idea what it was about. I thought I should read it first, as movies rarely do justice to the book. It took a bit to get used to the writing but I'm really enjoying it, and now actually want to see the movie. (crossing fingers that it was adapted well).
#60, 61- I, too, loved
Special Topics . .. -- in the end I embraced its quirks and found the mystery actually quite satisfying.
#65 - I'll be interested to see what you think of
Fifth Business. I have mixed feelings -- beautifully written, but for some reason I can't seem to motivate to finish the rest of the trilogy. A teensy bit boring, maybe.
I am still working on
The Sunne in Splendor. It is a fabulously entertaining long diversion that I will miss when I am done.
#68 jhowell: You might give the rest of the Deptford Trilogy a try. Davies was a remarkable writer. The first book
Fifth Business, is sort of the foundation stone, and the other two build on that. The second book,
The Manticore is really strange but wonderful, set in Zurich in a psychiatric clinic. The third,
World of Wonders, features a magician and is yet another quirky tale. The characters are unforgettable.
Davies wrote another trilogy, the Cornish Trilogy, which I like even better than the Deptford Trilogy. The Rebel Angels,
What's Bred in the Bone, and
The Lyre of Orpheus all have as their protagonist, in one way or another, an art expert and collector.
Davies writes really well--always goes back to--small town Canadian background for his protagonists, and it's very effective.
If you're having trouble getting into the Deptford Trilogy, try the other, which might be more intriguing. But don't miss out on this wonderful Canadian writer's work.
On the agenda for this week: Finishing up both
Soldiers of the Night and
Deathstalker, then working through
The Queen of Attolia,
Perdido Street Station,
Cry, the Beloved Country,
Black Swan Green,
Cranford, The Monsters of Templeton,
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,
Shattered Dreams,
Lady Susan, and
Cultural Amnesia.
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Just curious. Did you finish reading
Special Topics in Calamity Physics or did you quit in the middle?
One thing I thought *was* clever was Pessl's use of nouns as verbs. They were so colorful.
I actually started listening to this book on audiotape. When I got near the end, I had to get hold of a hard copy of the book and find out quckly what was going to happen. I was really absorbed in the story at that point and didn't mind the citations.
Did anyone else especially like the scene in which Blue threw the books at her father, citing each book as she threw each it? I thought that scene was great! :)
>71 alcottacre: do you sleep? eat? work?
#73 teelgee: Sleep? Yes, but not much. Eat? More than I should, which you would know if you ever saw me, lol. Work? Yes, as a housewife and homeschooling mom and a part time job
> 64, 66
Thanx guys, I think I will try another one by Bill Bryson, but not for a while. It wasn't that
Neither here nor there was bad, it's just that it wasn't as funny as I had expected it to be. It did have me sniggering on some occasions though, but mostly I either found it not funny or had the feeling he was trying too hard. And I sometimes thought he was just complaining way too much. ^^
I recently finished
Larry Woiwode’s grand memoir,
A Step From Death rather quickly, and what a wonderful read it was. His writing is so smooth, perfect and poetic despite the wandering, interrupted pace, but that didn’t bother me because that’s exactly the way memory is. What a perfect pitch that book had. Thanks to Louis B. for recommending it.
Message edited by its author, Apr 7, 2008, 8:33am.
>77 I'll weigh in and say definitely bump
Cry, the Beloved Country up on the list. I read it last summer and thought it was excellent - beautiful and haunting, and definitely a book that everyone should read.
#77 thekoolaidmom: I gave up on
Perdido Street Station already - I could not even make myself go to page 50 as I normally do. I may try again at a later date, but for right now, I have put it aside. I started
Cry, the Beloved Country and have made it to page 83 and so far, it is very good.
#72 Yes, I finished it. I did want to find out what happened, but it irritated me.
82> rebeccanyc, I felt exactly the same about it. I think for me, it was partly that it felt missold: the cover was going on about a murder mystery and the murder didn't happen until 2/3rds of the way through. And the story up until then wasn't really interesting enough to me to be worth it. Actually, I think the writing style was one of the few things I *did* like about the book. There just wasn't enough *plot* for me...
#82, #83 I couldn't finish it. I haven't felt so strongly negative about a book since I tried to read
The Dante Club. In both cases, it seemed to me that the authors were young writers trying way too hard to be clever and original. I had no trouble following the plot, as far as I got, but I despised the overload of silly metaphors and similes. (No one's hair could possibly look like old ranch salad dressing dripping over a Rollo.) And both books were extremely overhyped.
It's a good thing for writers, however, that readers have varied tastes.
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I think I liked it because I had no expectations about the book. I thought the title sounded interesting, and I went into the story blindly. I like to be surprised. As I started reading it, I thought it was to be a story about a strange group of students, à la
The Secret History, which it indeed turned out to be.
ETA:
--> 83
(No one's hair could possibly look like old ranch salad dressing dripping over a Rollo.) You haven't seen my hair after coming out of a shower! ;)
Message edited by its author, Apr 7, 2008, 9:33am.
The other overhyped book by a young writer that I finished but that really irritated me was
The Emperor's Children. I'm always interested in younger, newer writers, but am often disappointed because (big unfair generalization coming up), they often have a lot of technique and writing ability but not that much to say and not much experience with the world outside their own corner of it. And then along comes The Story of Forgetting by 20-something Stefan Merrill Block which is an amazing book, and especially so because it is so unusual for such a young writer to have such insight into the characters of older people, and such perspective.
Started Philip Roth's
The Dying Animal over the weekend. He really is a dirty old man, but his writing lets him get away with it.
I really ought to crack on and finish
Foucault's Pendulum. I'm less than 100 pages from the end, but it has taken me 6 weeks to get there.
My new audiobook is
Tony Hawks'
One Hit Wonderland, read by the author, as he takes on a bet to have a hit single anywhere in the world within 2 years.
*87 LOL at the Philip Roth description. Love it. Have yet to read him but he's on my 888 challenge list. :)
Not excited by current read so I'd better do it quick and get it over with. Reading an ER from outside LT and the author could have done in it in half the pages. For example her lists of 15 had duplicates that could have been summarized in 10, etc. And it is all info that has been done so many times.
Besides that, continuing on with
Life of Pi aloud when hubs is home at night - about halfway now.
Chapter 7 of
A New Earth by Tolle with the online class tonight after my Relay Round Table meeting.
And as soon as the ER is wrapped up, I'll pick up
Bloodsucking Fiends again to continue the 888 challenge.
Hoping to wrap up the ER in the next couple of days, errands and demands of teen allowing...
Message edited by its author, Apr 7, 2008, 10:48am.
Started
Late Nights on Air last night. So far
really enjoy it, but have only read a little bit so far.
Message edited by its author, Apr 7, 2008, 11:18am.
i am new and confused. Can someone please
tell me how to make your book title and author
blue. I thought you put brackets around it,
but that didn't work.
#91: It is brackets, but it's square brackets, not parentheses. You should find those square brackets to the right of the "p" key.
Edited to say: welcome to LibraryThing!
Message edited by its author, Apr 7, 2008, 11:14am.
Thank-you Medellia12, got it now!
Also reading
The Wyvern Mystery by Sheridan
Le Fanu. Reading it for an online 19thcentury
reading group. So far it's good.
This message has been deleted by its author.
Regarding Bill Bryson, I, too, like his books but find him snarky bordering on obnoxious in some of his writing. When he's not complaining about something or someone he's at his best (although, he's also quite funny when putting someone down). I think
A Walk in the Woods was most charming, possibly because of the presence/distraction of Katz.
I recently read
Notes from a Small Island and it took me forever, which was rare for me and a Bryson book.
I was particularly amused by the following description of Roman driving in
Neither Here Nor There though:
"I love the way Italians park. You turn any street corner in Rome and it looks as if you've just missed a parking competition for blind people. ... I was strolling along the Via Sistina one morning when a Fiat Croma shot past and screeched to a smoky halt a hundred feet up the road. Without pause the drive lurched into reverse and came barreling backward down the street in the direction of a parking space that was precisely the length of his Fiat, less two and a half feet. Without slowing even fractionally, he veered the car into the space and crashed resoundingly into a parked Renault.
Nothing happened for a minute. There was just the hiss of escaping steam. Then the drive leaped from his car, gazed in profound disbelief at the devastation before him - crumpled metal, splintered taillights, the exhaust pipe of his own car limply grazing the pavement - and regarded it with as much mystification as if it had dropped on him from the sky. Then he did what I suppose almost any Italian would do. He kicked the Renault in the side as hard as he could, denting the door, punishing its absent owner for having the gall to park it there, then leaped back in his Fiat and drove off as madly as he had arrived, and peace returned once again to the Via Sistina, apart from the occasional clank of a piece of metal dropping off the stricken Renault. No one but me batted an eye."
Ahh, thanks for that omphaloskepsis! It's cheered me up and given me a welcome break from proofreading my friend's (not amazingly written) paper...
#87 About Philip Roth -- he used to be a dirty young man, so I think he has a perfect right to be a dirty older man! And he is a wonderful writer and doesn't always write about sex!
I know, rebeccanyc, but I couldn't resist chucking the comment in. My tongue was firmly planted in my cheek.
The Dying Animal is my fourth Roth after
Portnoy's Complaint,
Goodbye Columbus and
Everyman so I hope you can see how a reader might get that impression of Roth after only reading those selections from his cannon.
I read
Everyman last year, a book where sex plays very much a secondary role (although it's still there) and on that basis I absolutely agree with you, he is a wonderful writer.
>77: thekoolaidmom, just adding my endorsement for
Cry, the Beloved Country to those of philosojerk and alcottacre. I just read it in January. I came to it without much knowledge of what it was about. It completely bowled me over, was my top read for the first quarter, and I expect will be a serious contender for my 2008 Top 5.
Enjoy!
I just started The Historian and am enjoying it so far....I did recently read The Yiddish Policemen's Union and I agree that it was weird but good
The Magician's Nephew, although now that I am into it I realize that I have read it before. You have no idea how often this actually happens.
#99 Grammath, I'm a big Philip Roth fan, and I think American Pastoral (can't believe it doesn't touchstone) is his masterpiece -- if you haven't read it, do try it.
I'm reading
Happenstance by Carol Shields which I am loving. Next up is probably
The enchantress of Florence the recommendation in this thread spiked my interest.
>Teelgee I read
Unless a couple of years ago and loved it, it made me ant to read everything by Carol Shields. Have you read
The stone diaries so far that's been my favourite of hers.
I finished
As I Lay Dying and will be starting
Red Lights by Georges Simenon. I am also reading Twenty Love Poems and A Song of Desire by
Pablo Neruda. I am listening to A Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith.
rebeccanyc-
I just finished The Story of Forgetting and I heartily agree with you. A highly recommended title.
As I read more of these threads, I realize we think quite a bit alike. I had similar problems with
The Emperor's Children, and I love most things about books and NY.
Am now in the middle of
The House on Fortune Street based on teelgee's rec. More to come!
>105 marvas - I read The Stone Diaries years ago and so don't remember much about it, other than I liked it a lot!
#106 ~ Hi, hemlokgang ~ do you mean
Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair? That is one of my very favorite books of poetry, and your mention of it made me look for it in my bookcase. Where it should be but is not. It's not anywhere. I hope no one stole it. :) Actually, I hope I didn't lend it to someone and forget about it, which happens too often these days. :( Well, I can always buy another copy, and refuse to loan that one out.
After about 5 weeks, 400 pages and finishing about 4 other books,
The Stand, by Stephen King, has hooked me and it's my only read right now. Usually I would have given up sooner, especially since I'm not a big fan of King's, but so many people raved about it that I wanted to give it a good try. I'm glad I did. Now the introduction of characters and setting up of events is over (I'm still kind of in shock that it took 400 pages) and the story is moving along more quickly.
Message edited by its author, Apr 7, 2008, 11:48pm.
Last week I finished up
Jane Eyre which I read specifically so I can read
The Eyre Affair which I have heard so much about.
However I went to Borders last week and they had the new Jodi Picoult Change of Heart: a novel for only $17. I really enjoyed her recent novels so I bought it and am reading it this week :)
I'm about half way through The End of the Jews by
Adam Mansbach ...a brisk read with interesting characters.
Message edited by its author, Apr 8, 2008, 6:30am.
I'm in the middle of and utterly absorbed by
The Painter of Battles by Arturo Perez-Reverte. This is the latest book of his that has been translated into English. Just like all the rest of his books, it is absolutely wonderful; it is also disturbing. Perez-Reverte was a war journalist, having hit all the wars except for Iraq--he was retired and writing by then. This novel is about a retired war photographer who is painting a huge mural of war and battles from all ages when an old photograph comes back to haunt him.
Perez-Reverte seems to be using this novel as a reflection on human evil, and some of the things he has his protagonists saying on the topic are both thought-provoking and really disturbing--I keep using that word but it's the only one that fits.
Every single one of his books is a winner, as far as I'm concerned. There are still a few that haven't been translated into English; I'm about to get at least one and use it as a textbook to push my spanish to more than an everyday level, where I'm stuck now.
I finished
The Piano Tuner yesterday, and found it disappointingly predictable. Now I'm reading
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle which is just perfect for springtime. I can tell I'm going to be a very inspired and motivated gardener after this!
# 117 - lindsacl - I have
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle on my TBR list for a reading challenge. I will be very curious to read your review when you're done with this one!
#104 rebeccanyc
American Pastoral is on Mount TBR, as is
The Plot Against America so I'll get around to it, er, soonish...
It's a lovely book. I've read it several times. I would urge you to finish it.
I'm reading
Peony in Love and have the wonderful opportunity to see the author, Lisa See, next week in Baltimore. I have to finish the book first, though! :)
Message edited by its author, Apr 8, 2008, 8:30am.
#123
I agree with you.
Plot Against America was the first Philip Roth I read and I rather enjoyed it. Then I read American Pastoral and decided that I didn't need to buy any more of his books.
I enjoyed
Plot Against America and
Sabbath's Theater.
I just finished
Red Lights by Georges Simenon. I suppose that for a French author, writing about an American, New England, holiday weekend road trip it was okay. The protagonist is fairly interesting, but frankly the novel seemed trite. Then I tried taking into account that the book was written in 1955, and can imagine that at that time this novel was a definite change of pace with its in depth psychological bent. So-so.
I think I will start
After Dark by Haruki Murakami next.
Message edited by its author, Apr 8, 2008, 11:00am.
I finished
The Yiddish Policemen's Union today and thought it was a great "who done it" story. Definitely one of most unique stories I have ever read. Now, I am reading
March by Geraldine Brooks, and it has sucked me in as I thought it would...
mrstreme- I loved
The Yiddish Policemen's Union also. Did you know that The United States Minister of the Interior actually proposed the Alaskan idea as a "resolution" for the Jewish immigration problem? The proposal never made it to the floor of Congress, however. That really made me sit back and think!
>128 mrstreme, glad you are liking
March so far!
#129 - hemlokgang -
The Yiddish Policemen's Union was like a Jewish Lethal Weapon for me. A ton of fun. No, I didn't know that the U.S. Interior actually proposed an Alaskan "alternative" for Jewish people. How interesting that would have been!
#130 - lindsacl - I remember you enjoyed
March - so it doesn't surprise me that I am loving it too. =)
I finished up
After Dark by Haruki Murakami, a brief yet very intense read. The entire story evolves within roughly six hours, between midnight and 6am. This is another example of Haruki Murakami's brilliant writing. It is edgy, poignant, disturbing, and unique. Murakami explores the duality of the soul and of society and throws in some interesting commentary on sheer luck, good or bad. Fabulous!
I have begun
Sacred Time by
Ursula Hegi.
Message edited by its author, Apr 9, 2008, 10:46am.
I finally finished my ER book from the Bonus Batch,
Franklin and Lucy and am taking a quick break to read Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult, which is someone else's library book before I get to my ER book from the regular March batch,
The Venetian Mask which just arrived this week. I shall also be listening to Charles Lamb's
Tales from Shakespeare on my Ipod, as downloaded from librivox.org.
Message edited by its author, Apr 9, 2008, 11:01am.
#4
I am finishing
Dragonfly in Amber this week as well. I know exactly where you are coming from. I am in love with this series. I just discovered them this year thanks to someone from LT. I have stayed up way too late on too many nights reading this book simply because I couldn't stop myself. By far my favorite books ever in the history of the universe. :)
I finished
The light of day. I didn't really enjoy the story but I really liked the way that Mr. Swift writes.
I am now, finally, reading
The book thief - it only took me two years to get to this book. I am enjoying it so far - about 200 pages in.
#141 keren7 Two years? Why so long? Big TBR pile? or took that long to acquire it? That's a depressing thought that it might take two years to get to the books I'd love to read. :-(
I finished the Martin Amis memoir
Experience and thought it one of the best things I've read this year. Not being any sort of an Amis fan, I would probably never have read this on my own, but a friend swore I'd love it, and he couldn't have been more correct. Amis's novels have never worked for me, and I've always found his brand of post-modernism more annoying than anything else, plus the fact that in his essays and reviews, his writing always seems to exude an air of such arch narcissism, that it often distracts from and overrides his message. Surprisingly though, this very same quality somehow works to his advantage in this wonderfully non-linear memoir form, and his book truly belongs in a class by itself.
I'm a hundred pages into
Siri Hustvedt's new novel
The Sorrows of an American and pretty engrossed with it so far. I've not been familiar with Hustvedt's work before, this is her 4th novel, but I don't think her more prolific husband Paul Auster has written a book this good in a very long time.
Ok, definitely checking out some of Siri Hustvedt's work now. This is the fifth time I've seen her name mentioned in the last 4 days, and I'd never heard of her before. That's definitely a sign.
I have Siri's book in my TBR pile. I will look forward to what you have to say about it Louis. I read her years ago when we hosted an event with her at our bookshop. She was wonderful.
SqueakyChu--I'm reading
Peony in Love too. I'm halfway through it now. You'll have to let us know how Lisa See's reading goes.
Koolaid mom
I owned the book for two years - I think my TBR pile is just that long :(
le sigh
i (finally) finished dream of fair to middling women by Samuel Beckett; it was tough going but i feel better for having read it: i smiled at the end and that's indicative of my enjoyment.
i should be done with
eats shoots and leaves tomorrow; i've probably read it, start to finish, 6 or 7 times in the last two weeks.
when i was done with the
beckett today, i picked up a book called The Wormdigger's Daughter by
john farrell in the train station: i'm already 100 pages in; it's really tugging at my Irishness (ie. historical love-of- missery).
i've add
The Yiddish policemen's union to my amazon wish list based on all the chatter on here about it: it sounds great, i was watching a related video on amazon that really got me interested. i tried to add
the war at the end of the world but it dosent seem available here in europe.
Message edited by its author, Apr 9, 2008, 8:14pm.
Finally finished my book
Out, so now I can start with my mind in peace on Dune.
I hardly ever read more than one novel at a time, so the book's imprint on my memory is as clear as I can get it.
Also ordered three more books so my TBR mount little, can grow. Here they are:
-
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
-
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
-
The war of the worlds by H.G. Wells
The last two are re-reads from a couple of years ago, and The LOTR I just had to read after reading
The Hobbit.
Message edited by its author, Apr 11, 2008, 2:33pm.
'The Namesake' and 'Who Moved My Cheese'.
Girl with a Pearl Earring arrived through BookMooch today, and I've started reading it as at-home reading. Reading about classical music requires a little more focus than I have after work and dealing with the MTA.
I finished
The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry tonight, and although I enjoyed it overall, I found myself increasingly irritated by the formula for each chapter that became more apparent the deeper into the book I read. Every chapter followed a "personal tale plus Cordon Bleu tale (that just so happened to share a common theme) equals life lesson" formula (with a recipe to accompany). It became ridiculous after a point. And the coincidence of her hearing that same song at crucial points in the narrative was pushing it. It was like a bad chick flick (I won't be surprised if it becomes a movie starring Jennifer Garner, coming soon!).
Anyway, having vented about that, I turn to my own Mount TBR. What's next? Why is it always so hard to choose? I've read so much about
Out by
Natsuo Kirino but I think I'll start Tell Me Where It Hurts: A Day of Humor, Healing and Hope in M Life as an Animal Surgeon by
Nick Trout next.
Message edited by its author, Apr 9, 2008, 10:54pm.
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Have you read
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (also by Lisa See) yet? I liked that book better than I'm liking Peony in Love.
The former is more of a "real" story. I don't care for the way the story about "Peony" is told in the same way that I didn't much care for "These Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold. Too many ghosts!! :)
What Lisa See is exceptional at is bringing the superstitions and customs of long ago China to light. She incorporates these into her story-telling with great ease and in an interesting way.
I am reading
Santa Steps Out which is hilariously naughty,
Middlesex and Super-Cannes: A Novel. I usually read only 2 books at a time, but finals week is coming up so I am adding another so that I may fully procrastinate. ;)
Santa... is an erotic fairy tale. Its out of print but I borrowed a copy from a friend. If you have ever wondered where the Tooth Fairy gets the money she leaves under pillows, or how the Easter Bunny seems to have an endless supply of sweets, this book will offer a theory or two.
# 136: hemlokgang
After Dark sounds really good! It's one of the few Haruki Murakami books I haven't gotten yet. Something to look forward to!
I just finished Anansi's Boys by
Neil Gaiman. My first Gaiman and I really enjoyed it even though I don't particularly care for African lore. He's a very gifted writer and I'm sure I'll pick up more of his work in the future.
Next up will probably be
Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut, looks like an excellent dystopia. Can't wait! ^^
I’m half-way through Jhumpa Lahiri’s latest book of short stories,
Unaccustomed Earth, and I have so say I’m quite impressed. She’s very spare and subtle, and slowly reveals her characters step by step, like peeling away an onion. Every story seems like the most vivid, that is, until you read the next. Word of advice -read her sentences very slowly in order to squeeze everything out of them you can. You won’t be disappointed.
Message edited by its author, Apr 10, 2008, 7:51am.
Sean,
I am so glad that you are reading and loving Unaccustomed Earth. I loved it too and am eagerly handselling it to people in our shops becuase it is so beautiful. I wish I had them to still look forward to. I guess I could re-read.
I do have the new Tobias Wolff collection on my night stand. You read them, right? Or was that Louis who was raving?
Nancy
I'm enjoying UE so much, Nancy, that I think I'll have to pick up
Interpreter of Maladies too. This is the first I've ever read Lahiri, and it's been a pleasant surprise. I bought UE because a friend who works at an independent bookseller kept pushing it on me. I also read a quote by Lahiri whereby she stated that my all-time favorite short story author, William Trevor, was a big, big influence on her, and she considered him the greatest writer of short stories of the 20th Century, and you know, I can see the influence in her writing.
I've only read the first few stories in the Wolff collection, and liked them very much. I'm going to pick it up again soon. I believe Louis finished it and enjoyed it, especially the earlier stories.
Message edited by its author, Apr 10, 2008, 8:40am.
It's great to read these reviews of
Unaccustomed Earth. Lahiri's previous books are some of my all-time favorites and I have been eagerly anticipating this one. I can just feel your enthusiasm for this book so I've just placed a hold request at my library!
I just put a hold on Unaccustomed Earth too -- there are already 200 holds on it at our library and it's not even processed yet. I'm happy to see people know about it and want it! (unhappy about the long wait though). Actually, I've only read two of the stories in
Interpreter of Maladies, so I still have the rest of that to look forward to.
Man, retirement can't get here too soon. Mount TBR is beginning to topple.
Message edited by its author, Apr 10, 2008, 9:56am.
I just finished
Dragonfly in Amber by
Diana Gabaldon. Wow.
Starting the next book in the series,
Voyager, tonight. I hope it does the same thing for me that the first two books in the series has done.
#165 MDLady - I don't think you have anything to worry about -
Voyager is a very satisfying read! It lives up to everything you hope it will!
#165: I think the most disappointing book in the series is
The Fiery Cross. I love the series, but that one book was a letdown, at least to me.
>161: SeanLong
You can listen to Jhumpa Lahiri read and discuss Trevor's story, "A Day"
here.
Funny ... I had to have
Unaccustomed Earth in my hands the day it was released ... but I was just finishing
The Book Thief and now find I'm hesitating to begin UA ... like I need some space between two such good books.
>168: Detail Muse
Thanks! and double thanks!!
I was just reading in the NYT’s Paper Cuts blog that
Unaccustomed Earth will debut on the NYT April 20th bestseller list at No.1 Pretty powerful stuff considering it’s a book of short stories. Which, by the way, makes me wonder - Before now, has a book of short stories ever made a direct leap to No. 1 on any bestseller list?
Message edited by its author, Apr 10, 2008, 12:52pm.
>164: teelgee, I was surprised to be only #24 in queue. Our library network serves quite a large & populous area west of Philadephia, so I'd have thought there would be more demand. Maybe they've done a better job of managing the supply side and have their elves carting zillions of copies around the county ...
I finished
A Game of Thrones yesterday, and even though I was home sick, I had to make a trip to Borders to get
A Clash of Kings. I'm already on about page 200 and I haven't even entered it into LT yet! This is shaping up to be a great series - it's very hard to put down.
#152
About formulaic books. I used to love Dean Koontz but after a while I just couldnt stand to read the same basic story over and over again. beautiful women, handsome man, kid, dog and evil beast. The only thing that seemed to differ was the evil beast.
Yawn
#173 keren7: I see your point, but Dean Koontz has come up with some interesting and varied evil beasts.
#173 & #174
keren7 and
LydiaHDI recently read my first Dean Koontz book,
The Darkest Evening of the Year, and thought his writing talent was spectacular, but was annoyed with the sudden crap ending. The spirit of the woman's dead daughter as a guardian angel possessing the dog and miraculously healing the two? Honestly... I was P.O.'d by the deis ex machina ending.
Still, I picked up
The Taking, also by Dean Koontz, in myTBR pile and I have
Ticktock in my library, still unread. *sigh* sometimes I never learn.
#174 and #175
I was bowled over by my first Dean Koontz read,
Dragon Tears which I read when I was fifteen. I loved it and immediately wanted to read more. I then read
The Hideaway and then I read
Cold fire and then I got bored with the formula. I would still recommed
Dragon Tears as I loved that book. But I have not read Koontz since I was eighteen - a loooonngg time ago.
I pre-ordered my copy of
Unaccustomed Earth several months ago, but I'm still waiting. I also ordered the DVD collection of Gaskell adaptations, including
Cranford, which doesn't come out until May, so to get Amazon's free shipping, I have to wait.
Fortunately, I have plenty of good books to fill in the time. I finished my audiobook,
Suite Francaise, last night and have started listening to
Gaskell's
Ruth this afternoon. Both are quite good.
I'm almost done with Ian McEwan's
First Love, Last Rites. I love his later work, but, like
The Cement Garden, the "ick-factor" for this one is a bit too high for my taste. Not sure what I'll move on to next.
>22 Definitely!
I finished up
Deep Ancestry and started
The Years of Rice and Salt last night. I think they make up an interesting nonfiction to fiction transition.
Message edited by its author, Apr 10, 2008, 5:07pm.
>179: sydamy, I'm sure it's OK. The three books, while all wonderful, are completely independent. You might as well add the others to your TBR pile now though!
>136, 156 ... haha thioviolight, I added that book to my TBR pile/list after that post too. lol it DOES sound good!
>179 Sydamy
Welcome to the Jhumpa Lahiri fan club - I am sure you will be a member as soon as you start UA. You will definitely want to go and read her other work. I am thrilled that we introduced her to another reader.
Good work, alpha, and I'll be getting to Lahiri's book next week, really looking forward to it too.
Tatleriv--I totally agree about
Never Let Me Go which was the first Ishiguro novel I read. After that, which I loved, his others have not lived up to my high expectations.
SqueakyChu--Yes I read
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan last year. Your thoughts are interesting because I am enjoying
Peony in Love and getting through it more quickly than I did
Snow Flower. I am in agreement about
Lovely Bones which I didn't care for much, but I don't feel that way about this novel. It is holding me captive in that I want to know where Peony's going to go from here (I have 100 pages till the end).
How far are you or have you finished?
--> 186
I'm about 80% through Peony in Love. I must say that Lisa See has a very beautiful way of writing. She takes history and culture and weaves a thoroughly engrossing story. As a result of reading both of See's most recent novels, I feel I've gained a better insight into Chinese culture. I'll have to just stop getting put off by ghosts and realize what an important part of Chinese culture they are. :)
I have one of Lisa See's older books here at home, but no on ever talks her other works. The book I have is called
Dragon Bones. I wonder if it's any good. I guess I could read it and find out. :)
My husband also liked Peony in Love better than Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.
Message edited by its author, Apr 13, 2008, 8:53am.
I am reading
My LIfe in France by Julia Child. A very interesting read, full of culture. Makes you want to go and live the life for a while. Where you meet the real people and not just the vacation experience.
Went to Barnes and Noble yesterday and found there are more and more books I am wanting to read - someday.
187--
Yes, I've seen her earlier books on amazon. From brief descriptions, it seems as if her most recent ones are more literary while the others are more mystery. Let us know what you think of
Dragon Bones once you do read it. Did you see Lisa See's reading yet?
Reading A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex by
Chris Jericho. 35-some odd pages in. Loving it so far.
--> 187
Not yet. I'm just finishing up
Peony in Love and will be seeing Lisa see this Wednesday (4/16/08) evening.
deep heat- chris manby
#193: I just finished
Children of God last night and while it is still very good, I thought
The Sparrow was better. I will be interested in seeing what you think.
Sounds like you had a great reading vacation! I am soooo jealous!
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Helene Hanff 84 Charing Cross Road
I finished The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon, still weirdly wonderful; I'm not sure that I understood any of it but it was compulsive reading. Finished Richard Dawkins The God Delusion too, I think I agree with him . . . but got a bit lost towards the end. I''ve not quite completed Simon Scarrow's Young Bloods, the first of his Napoleon & Wellington trilogy - great, has already cost me several hours sleep.