I finished
A Florentine Death by
Michele Giuttari, Ok, but I'm not encouraged to go and seek out another of his. I went on to read Henning Mankell's
Depths which was a dusturbing but very readable psychological study into the obsessed mind of an early 20th Century Swedish naval surveyor. Very different from the Inspector Wallander series. I've all but finished Nassim Nicholas Taleb's first book
Fooled by Randomness which I've enjoyed - though not as much as
The Black Swan lot's of disturbing but lucid thoughts on the misuse of probability and economics. I'm now reading Ben Elton,
Dead Famous a delightful melange of crime, satire and Big Brother.
I'm delighted to see that last weeks' thread broke 200 posts - I think that's a first (maybe once before). And less delighted but unsurprised that three of the four author touchstones are broken.
I just finished reading a fab book called Gate of Angels by
Penelope Fitzgerald, that i checked out of the public library. The writing was SO good at getting inside the time and person. whew! I didn't want that one to end; it is short,more a novella, really.
Just finished
Anagrams by Lorrie Moore and an audio version of
Mothers and Sons by Colm Toibin. Started the audio of
Age of Shiva by
Manil Suri, which I'm enjoying so far. I will probably start Unaccustomed Earth this weekend.
Message edited by its author, Jun 13, 2008, 6:07pm.
I finished Robertson Davies' delightful
Fifth Business recently. (I will be reading more Davies!) I'm currently reading a big, sprawling academic/religious adventure,
Gospel, by Wilton Barnhardt.
Medellia12, I read
Fifth Business for a book group recently and immediately bought (and read) the next two books in the Deptford trilogy
The Manticore and
World of Wonders, and then sent off for The Cornish Trilogy -- since this is all three novels in one volume, I'm saving it for when I have (I hope) some vacation time (too big to cart around on the subway).
#8: Yep, I had bought the Deptford Trilogy omnibus, and I recently scored a copy of the Cornish Trilogy omnibus off Bookmooch (what a find!). I did manage to haul Deptford around on the subway with me, but the Cornish Trilogy is even bigger. :-p
I'm about a third of the way through
The Gargoyle, and I am seriously digging it. I don't have a clue where it's going, whether Marianne
is delusional or she really has lived 700 years.
I'm also working everyday writing a novel... I'm working on chapter three right now. So far, those who have read it (my select few I trust to be dirt honest about it) are really excited about it, and hound me for more. It's really cool, and maybe, in the near distant future, it'll
my ARC on the ER list. :-D
I'm reading
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood - great book. It's been deposed from the top of my TBR pile many times before, so I'm really glad to finally get to it.
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I loved (The Blind Assassin), and just finished (Never Let Me Go) which is really staying with me. I'm now getting into (The God of Small Things).
rrrrrr - I can't get the Touchstones to work correctly today - sorry!
I am still reading
I Am Legend although I am nearly finished. I think I have two or three more stories to go and should finish it either tonight or tomorrow. I have enjoyed the stories so far with the exception of one or two. I am glad that I decided to read the whole book and not just the title story.
After I finish this up, I will either read
The Know-It-All,
Stiff,
When We Were Orphans or
In Defense of Food. They are all from the library and due around the same time. I think I will probably start with
The Know-It-All and then work through the rest of them.
>16 gayle -- use the square brackets (on the keyboard to the right of "p"), not parentheses, for touchstones.
This thread lured me on a zig-zaggy path to some fun reference books last week (titles in msg 29).
Now I’m back to The Omnivore’s Dilemma, a
must-read exploration of our modern food supply. I’ve also been dipping into
When You Are Engulfed in Flames … and noticed that 17 of the 22 essays previously appeared in The New Yorker, to which I subscribe :(
I just started reading
Judge Sewall's Apology on the train home last night, so needless to say I'll still be reading that into next week. But I'm reading at a pretty good clip: I'm already sixty-something pages in after three commutes and a lunch (and I just finished
Twelfth Night in a day, too), so I'm packing some of my tbr books in case I finish my current reading while in Seattle.
Not that there aren't bookstores in Seattle, mind you.
Currently re-reading
Fahrenheit 451, and I am absolutely entranced. I had to read it for one of my high school English classes, and I find it MUCH more enjoyable now that I can read it for pleasure! I'm already 80 pages into it, so I should have it finished sometime tomorrow morning.
I plan to start
Eclipse One, edited by Johnathan Strahan, later tonight. I borrowed it from the library for the
Ysabeau S. Wilce story and originally planned to read that alone, but the rest of the book looks interesting enough that I'll read the whole thing.
I finished
The Garden of Last Days, and it is, quite literally, a story that kept me way up past my bed time and on the edge of my chair. Story telling of the best kind. I spoke with a friend today who thought that the ending was rushed, and we got into quite a friendly argument about it, but for me, I couldn't wait to turn the next page, and did not care how late it was. I have no doubt that Andre Dubus III is destined for even greater things in the future.
I'm now doing a reread of
Sebastian Barry's A Long, Long Way, still for me the best book that never won the Booker prize, and all the evidence I would ever need that Barry is incapable of writing a duff line. And now that I think about it, I believe that as great a book as it is,
John Banville's
The Sea, stole the Booker from Barry a couple of years ago. I hope to finish it this weekend so that I may start Barry's latest,
The Secret Scripture, which is due to arrive Monday.
Message edited by its author, Jun 13, 2008, 9:04pm.
>10
thekoolaidmom - I don't want to say, "I told you so..."
I finished
Last Seen in Massilia by
Steven Saylor last night and have just come home from the library to find another one in the Roma Sub Rosa series. I couldn't put it down, and loved the historical detail as well as the plot. I'd never heard of him before LT.
I'm a chapter into
The Berlin Wall by Frederick Taylor (touchstones wonky) and am less than enthralled so far. The content looks great, but I'm not loving his writing style - too many sentences. Without. Verbs. "Not just for the nineteenth but for the twentieth century too."
#18 and #19 - I loved
the Omnivore's Dilemma and liked
In Defense of Food. Both made me happy to live in a country where cows eat grass, for now at least!
I finished
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson. A mystery with lots of characters to keep track of but that's part of the fun. You sure don't get bored with any of them. Laughed out loud quite a few times. Her next novel in the Jackson Brodie mystery series will be published this fall. Looking forward to it.
Next up is either
Thanksgiving Night by Richard Bausch (picked it up at the library) or
Charity Girl by Michael Lowenthal for book club.
#7 Medellia12,
I agree with all the comments here on
Fifth Business. You will find it makes an excellent gift too. I really liked
Gospel by
Wilton Barnhardt. As a novel it has some significant flaws but what a work of sustained imagination and an enthralling read. The only work of fiction I know with a non-fiction index.
Oh, I finally finished the first volume of
The Civil War: A Narrative by Shelby Foote and I am about 70 pages into the 965 page second volume.
Message edited by its author, Jun 14, 2008, 1:33am.
#29, Smiley: Because I'm trying to hang on to too many things at once, I simply can't remember if at some time I recommended
The Impending Crisis by David Potter. It's a superb account of the 13 years just before the Civil War. I read it after I read Foote's history, and I think I was better off for it because many of the prominent figures of the Civil War are in it and you read the book knowing what was coming afterwards. I could better appreciate Jefferson Davis, for instance, because I read Potter's book after Foote's comprehensive history.
I just received an Amazon gift certificate for my birthday, and I tell you, it's a disaster! Trying to decide which books to buy! Should I get books that are far down on my lists? I'd better not "waste" it on mysteries I'm sure to get anyhow. But then there the ones at the top of my 9 lists! But why not use it to buy "speculative" books? And how to prevent myself from forgetting the limit of the certificate and going on a berserk buying spree?
I never dreamed that a book gift certificate was so hazardous to my mental health!
I'm still wrapped up in
Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon, and will be for a while... it's good, but it's looong, and I have had very little actual sit-down reading time recently. I also have
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan and
Colors: The Story of Dyes and Pigments by Guineau Delamare (random!) waiting for me at the library, so that'll probably constitute my reading for at least the rest of the week.
I have had much more time to listen to audiobooks, so after finishing three (short ones) last week, I'm just getting into
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky.
grkmwk - Hugo Cabret is amazing. Enjoy.
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I am reading Forget You had a Daughter: Doing Time in the 'Bangkok Hilton' by Sandra Gregory with Michael Tierney
Touchstones not working!
Just finished
Fahrenheit 451 in record time, and I'm glad to see that high school did NOT ultimately ruin it for me. Granted, I kept hearing my English teacher in my head, but I appreciated it in a way that I couldn't in high school. Currently reading
Terminal Man, but I'm anxiously awaiting a book I put on hold at the library:
Chicago Stories: Tales of the City. It's a collection of short stories about the city from Chicago writers such as
Nelson Algren and
Saul Bellow, and I can't WAIT to get started on it!
A Clockwork Orange is BRILLIANT!! The language is hard to follow at first, but once you pick up the slang, it transforms into an amazing story!
Finished
Sourcery last night, and am now out of Pratchett, unless I spend money I don't have (me? Never!)
My reading schedule is a bit confused at the moment, since I finally have all my books in one place for the first time in a few years. I basically keep grabbing whatever book strikes my fancy, read a few pages, then put it down and wander off to the next.
I'm still reading
Essential Avengers, and will try to finish that and
Swann's Way this weekend. How's that for diverse reading?
I am halfway through
Beautiful Children. This was mentioned here on LT and it is so not what I was expecting. Pretty good anyway. I also am about to start
Krik? Krak! because I have enjoyed her other work, and because it's due back at the library very soon.
I too am starting The Wapshot Chronicle by John Cheever, after reading that he wrote it in a period of "intense happiness." Cheever is not usually on my list of "must-reads," but this is not, I understand, a usual Cheever. I found Gods Behaving Badly delightful. I'm staying up late and finding excuses to take a reading break to read John Crowley's The Translator. He does a remarkable job of writing (as usual), this time a dead-on portrait of the personal and intellectual life of a young woman and her relationship/mentorship by a Russian poet. I think Crowley is close to a perfect writer. I've lately been reminded again and again to reread Robertson Davies, so I'm glad to see so many people in this list are reading him now.
I read
The Vampire of New York by
Lee Hunt which was an impulse pick at the library. I am glad I picked it, it was well written and well researched. I was afraid it was a romance novel!
Also read
The Last Colony by
John Scalzi which was the end of a good science fiction trilogy.
Book Lust by Nancy Pearl is an evil book that recommends books in various genres. I need this like the ocean needs salt...
When China Ruled the Seas by
Louise Levathes, a short, interesting book on China's exploration of the sea and why it stopped.
The Aaronsohn Saga by Shmuel Katz was a book on a man and history that I had no real knowledge of. Worth reading. It is an ER book.
I thought
Pictures from an Institution by
Randall Jarrell was a bit slow and perhaps old-fashion.
The Arcanum by
Thomas Wheeler was a fairly standard occult novel but well written. I am not certain it is worth reading but I don't regret the time for myself.
Message edited by its author, Jun 14, 2008, 3:52pm.
Read & finished
Beginner's Irish. I'm on chapter 15 of Penelope & Prince Charming by Jennifer Ashley.
Message edited by its author, Jun 14, 2008, 4:40pm.
Even though it had been glowingly reviewed nearly everywhere, Jonathan Miles' new novel
Dear American Airlines came as a very pleasant surprise, and I can easily recommend it to everyone. Besides being extremely funny, it's also rather wise, and very sad too, and I found the voice of the Benjamin Ford character hard to resist. What really amazed me about it though is that, at first glance, the book looks tiny and short at 180 pages, but it's surprisingly dense, with a lot to read and think about, and it took me almost 4 days to get through it, truly a terrific novel.
Right now I'm halfway through Irish playwright
Sebastian Barry's novel
The Secret Scripture, and all of it's fairly mesmerizing so far. Up next will be
David Wroblewski's The Story of Edward Sawtelle, and it looks like a good 'un too.
My summer vacation started the first week of June, so I've been indulging in an orgy of "fun" reading for the past two weeks.
I just finished
1632 by Eric Flint. I liked the book very much on an initial reading, finding its plot quite similar to
Island in the Sea of Time by S.M. Stirling. However, though both books deal with a 20th century American town being transplanted, root and branch, to the distant past,
1632 was far more determinedly optimistic -- a deliberate authorial stance, according to Flint's afterword. At first I liked this optimism, but by the end of the book I found the facile way his 17th century characters adapted to late 20th century mores and social customs more and more unrealistic. It was a fun read, but not a book I'll be buying for my permanent library.
Over the last week I also read
Duma Key by Stephen King and
Blasphemy by Douglas Preston. Neither book was as formulaic as I'd feared, and both made great summer reading. A word of warning, however. Deeply religious folks will probably find the
Douglas Preston book offensive. As an atheist I loved it.
I also just finished the first three Bug Man books -- a series of books about forensic entomologist Nick Polchak by
Tim Downs. I went backwards with these, reading the latest in the series first --
First the Dead -- one of the perils of browsing my local branch library's shelves. For those out there who love the character of Gus Grissom in the original CSI, I highly recommend these entertaining and educational mysteries.
My lighter reading included rereading two of my favorite Georgette Heyer romps through Regency England --
The Grand Sophy and
Sprig Muslin. Always fun reads.
My weekly dose of nonfiction took in
Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World by
Dan Koeppel. An interesting look at America's favorite breakfast fruit -- and a book I think fans of
The Omnivore's Dilemma and
Mark Kurlansky's
Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World will also enjoy.
I am reading
In the Miso Soup by
Ryu Murakami. It's brilliant, but the plot has turned (predictably) dark, and it's become a bit too much for me to read on the train in the mornings :) I keep freaking myself out!
For non-fiction, I am slowly working on
Maybe One by Bill McKibben, which discusses the environmental and societal impacts of families who choose to have one child (vs. two plus). So far, it's not gripping, but not awful.
#48 Christmas: Did you find
Beginner's Irish helpful? In the past I've used Learning Irish : an introductory self-tutor by Micheal O'Siadhail. I can remember my grandparents speaking Irish, and I picked up a little, but once I get past the formalities I'm hopelessly lost.
Message edited by its author, Jun 15, 2008, 11:13am.
#55, 0bazooka0 - I read
The Poisonwood Bible for the first time about a month ago and cannot recommend it highly enough! It was phenomenal...tied for the best read of 2008 so far (other is
Rebecca, a book I meant to read for years before I finally did). Hope you enjoy!
I just finished reading "Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife" by Irene Spencer. VERY VERY VERY GOOD! It is very sad but it also makes you realize how brainwashed a lot of people are in the Mormon Fundamentalist Group. I always see the things on TV and always think that they should know better but most of them don't. A lot of children are brainwashed from an early age and its all that they know and think its what they have to do in order to get to heaven. Im just glad to see that she is now out of the polygamist community and most of her children are as well. Her oldest living daughter who she talks about a lot in the book is actually my neighbor which is what made me interested in the book because it makes it more real.
Next up: "The Tenth Circle" by Jodi Piccoult.
I'm taking a little break from
The Hollow Hills, which I do enjoy but for some reason takes a lot of effort, and have started
Ella Minnow Pea. Can a book with such a dire message be called fun? It is, and takes a lot of effort in a different way (all those big new words!)
After sort of Stumbling on Iris Johansen and buying a used copy of
Pandora's Daughter , I was hooked. I mooched
Final Target and
On The Run.. with a few others mooched and "to receive".
I read Final Target Yesterday and enjoyed it a lot! On the Run is for today....
Her writing is less fluffy than romance ( although her website shows she has written plenty of that..,) less thriller than ...Dan Baldacci..
edited to fix hallucinatory spelling error
Message edited by its author, Jun 15, 2008, 1:06pm.
#53 lindsacl - My first "book on tape" and my first
Isabel Allende was
Ines of My Soul. I thought it was pretty good. Which of her novels would you recommend?
I'm halfway through The Ten-Cent Plague by David Hajdu, a fascinating history of 1950's paranoia in America in the face of insidious comic book violence and immorality. Having grown up in the fifties and read just about every comic that was on the racks every month during that time, I'm thankful I haven't grown up to be some sort of monsterous fiend!!
Also beginning my most recent ER book,
The Genizah at the House of Shepher by Tamar Yellin.
I'm reading
Don Quixote, the new edition translated by
Edith Grossman. I was really afraid that it would be dry or difficult to read, but so far it has been both funny and thought-provoking. That said, the book is heavy (over 900 pages), and I'm only 1/9 of the way through. I guess this will count as my summer read!
I started
China Road a week ago but was seduced into reading
The Monsters of Templeton instead, which much to my surprise hooked me on the first page. Now am back in China with Rob Gifford and loving it! It's just fascinating. I could hardly put it down last night to sleep! Now
that is my definition of great non-fiction!
I finished
Miles From Nowhere on Friday and it was really good! I wrote a review if anyone wants to check it out.
Started
Gun, With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem on the same day, and while it's not as much fun to read as my last book, it IS at least good enough to keep me reading.
I think after Gun I'm going to read
Offshore.
Message edited by its author, Jun 15, 2008, 5:46pm.
#67, abealy: The Ten-Cent Plague was great fun from beginning to end, and one of my non-fiction favorites this year.
#71, doctorsidrat: Lethem's
Gun, With Occasional Music is one of early sci-fi books, but still rather bizzarely entertaining.
Jthierer:
The Aviary Gate. I'm about 50 pages in, and I'm liking the historical chapters much better than the modern ones.
Same here. I think I'm really going to enjoy the book, but the historical chapters are the real draw. I'm going to have to take a break from these, though. In the last few months, I've read
The 19th Wife,
The Terror and now
The Aviary Gate, all a mix of historical fact/fiction, and two of them a mix of past/present.
I'm also listening to
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. The stories are all so sad!
I started
The Know-It-All on Friday night and am thoroughly enjoying. I am only up to E but I haven't had much time to read in the past few days. I should probably get through it very quickly which is good considering that I currently have about 12 books from the library that I need to get cracking on!
Finished
the Brothers K, which I loved. Now I am reading
Brave New World, which I have never read before. It is a quick and interesting read, though I typically don't like futuristic dystopian type novels.
#39 and 43
I started reading
A Clockwork Orange not knowing there was a list of terms in the back of the book. So, I was reading wondering "Am I going to be able to read this? I'm not sure I know what is going on!" Then thankfully I figured everything out and I can tell it is going to be extremely interesting.
#72: Yeah, I like the mix of classic detective-noir stuff and scary,
Fahrenheit 451-like future. Plus I like recognizing the stuff from Gun's world that have popped up in other sci-fi books; a system similar to karma cards was in Cory Doctorow's
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, for instance. :D
#77 - Lucky! My copy never had a glossary in the back! But I had the same problem when I first read it - I thought I would have to try REALLY, REALLY hard to keep reading, and then it was like a switch came on in my head. And that prompted me to read the book a second time so I could understand the beginning as well.
I'm currently 80 pages into
The Ruins and I can't tell if I'm going to like it or not. Normally I like thriller novels of that nature, but everything seems a wee bit predictable at this point.
Mythology, Elantris and
North and South have all been on hold for a bit as I finished other books, but I've resolved not to start another book until I finish at least one of these. (Let's see how long that lasts. Considering the fact that I came home with over a dozen books from the used bookstore yesterday, it may not be long!)
Just finished reading "Out Stealing Horses" by "Per Petterson". Takes place in Norway where the writer has retired to an isolated place and finds his neighbor is a childhood friend. Well written and descriptive - excellent read.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I'm almost finished with
The Gargoyle, which is beyond amazing
Thank you, DoB!. I
was going to read
The Cell, but a week or so ago, I added
Skeleton Crew, which is a little more than half done now, and
Two for the Dough, which I haven't even started, to my inventory at BookMooch so I could mooch another book. Now, these two are NOT rare books on there, there's 10+ books available for each of them, so I wasn't expecting them to be mooched. BUT, I got an email saying they had been moochieded. So, now they are next on ze leest to be read.
That'll teach me!#76 LouisBranning: Are you trying to make me jealous or what, Louis? :-)
On the subject of short novels (Dear American Airlines was mentioned above), I finished
Project X by
Jim Shepard. Imagine Catcher in the Rye, only current, with a smartass 8th grader rather than a dullard, and just generally better. I didn't care for the ending, although there is a certain inevitability about it. Anyway, the trip was worth it.
#97
Sabriel is amazing!
I love that whole series!
I'll be finishing my Early Review book
The 19th Wife by
David Ebershoff today or tomorrow. I really am enjoying it.
Next up is
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton for the Literature Group Reads group.
My 2.5 year old has put
Atonement somewhere that I cannot find it even after tearing the living room apart. If I do find it, I'll finish it up too. Luckily for me, I skipped ahead and read the last book so I know the ending. (I know, I know but sometimes I just can't help it).
Edited for weird capitalization.
Message edited by its author, Jun 16, 2008, 10:55am.
I finished
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson yesterday. It's contemporary YA fiction, and I found it very enjoyable. I want to read more books by the author now.
Just started
The Best Game Ever by Mark Bowden -- my dad convinced me to watch a DVD about the 1958 championship game between the Giants and the Colts, and I am very glad I did because chapter 1 started in the midst of the 3rd quarter, and without the DVD I would've had a much harder time orienting myself. I'm a little annoyed with the mechanics (there's no table of contents, the middle of the chapter entitled "Johnny U" is really about Colts' coach Weeb Ewbank, and I found a typo), but the story is written in fast-moving narrative that blends football history, mini bios of well-known players, and the championship game of 1958 really well. I'm reading it really fast for nonfiction, and will probably finish it by the end of the week.
I also read the next Bone book,
Eyes of the Storm. Such a fun series -- I'm putting the next book in the series on hold at the library soon.
I'm currently reading
the moonstone which started out as promising but isn't holding my attention like
the woman in whiteI've just got a gift card for Borders for my birthday and am putting off going in as I can't decide what to spend it on!!
Hi Nancyewhite. The book
The 19th Wife is one that is posted frequently. I'd be interested in learning your impressions when you are finished. Perhaps I'll add it to the huge pile of to be read this summer.
# 68 > Don't worry, RcCarol. I started Don Quixote with the same concern you mentioned, but it stays funny and thought-provoking too all the way through. A delight from start to finish. I don't know why I was so surprised by how funny it was, but there you have it. I remember being similarly surprised by how funny Jane Austen was when I read Emma, too. But Don Quixote is on my list as one of the two or three funniest books I've ever read, along with Confederacy of Dunces and the Jasper Fforde books.
Today I'll be reading the chapter on Art Tatum in Gary Giddins' terrific book,
Visions of Jazz: The First Century.
Finished
1984, and started reading Girl With the Pearl Earring.
>104, I know I'm not the person you asked, but I thought that
The 19th Wife was very good. It really kept me interested.
I've been focusing on short books since Friday because I'm going out of town for a week and I want reviews to post on my
blog while I'm going. This weekend I finished
Ex Libris,
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, and
Admit One (okay, I finished Admit One today at lunch).
I'm now working on The Fires by
Alan Cheuse and am probably going to start
The House on Mango Street as well. If I can get reviews written for them and for two other books that I finished in the past week, I should be good and I can pick any length book I want next!
#111, 112:
The Road to Wellville is very entertaining, one of Boyle's most under-rated novels, and
Drop City's terrific too, an NBA nominee when it came out.
I just finished
The Ruins, and I'm glad to say that I found it quite entertaining. The beginning was a little slow, and I was afraid that I'd have to struggle through it, but it picked up speed about halfway through. The characters seemed to be pulled from Hollywood's go-to grab bag (I'm sorry, but I don't find four stupid, irresponsible, and drunken twenty-something people all that intriguing), and the plot seemed slightly cliche, but I was roped in anyway. Stay away if you're looking for a book with substance, but if you're looking for a quick, entertaining story, I recommend picking it up!
Currently reading
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, because I'm extremely ashamed that I've never read anything by Mark Twain. After Huck Finn, I have a stack of books to work through that includes
Lord of the Flies by William Golding (a reread),
Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (another reread),
The Dead Zone by Stephen King,
Disclosure by Michael Crichton,
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer, and
Chicago Stories: Tales of the City. Not sure which one I'm going to read after Huck Finn.
#116 - Same here! I had to read DitWC for one of my college courses, and I thought I would hate it, particularly because I had to read it over the summer AND I had to write an essay on it, but I really enjoyed it, even the chapters that described the World's Fair. I'm a Chicago girl at heart, so I think that might be why I enjoyed it so much. So I decided to reread it without having to make notes or worrying about research - maybe I'll enjoy it even more!
Today I finished
Beautiful Children. There were parts of this book that had me disgusted, but it was, in the end, a very disturbing and intriguing book. I all but cried at the end. Next up come
Pale Fire and
Pnin. I don't know yet if these will bring me to a happier place.
Message edited by its author, Jun 16, 2008, 7:21pm.
I'm currently working
Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell. I loved
The Sparrow, also by Russell; it was my favorite book of 2007. This one is distinctly different. Much more historical fiction, with the setting in 1920-ish Cairo. It explores British influence upon the Post WWI formation of the modern Middle East, particularly Iraq. Very, very interesting and eye-opening. I've heard the ending isn't great, but so far the getting-there is fabulous.
Hi alaskabookworm
I read
The Sparrow when it was first published. I remember it was a very spiritual, but disturbing book to me.
Thanks for the info. re.
Dreamers of the Day Is this a new book of hers?
#90: I'll be sure to check them out, then!
I finished
Gun, With Occasional Music this morning and was glad the ending was done so well. If it had been any different I think I would have ended up not liking the book.
I didn't bring
Offshore with me to school (because I thought it might add on too much weight to my already loaded purse, boo), but I did bring
The Ruby Raven by
Michael Dahl, and it turned out to be the perfect summer book: light and humorous and small. Huzzah! I'm about halfway through it now.
# 118
Pale Fire is one of the best books I've ever read! Absolutely brilliant, and funny, and I would argue not at all disturbing. Enjoy!
#120 Whisper1:
Dreamers of the Day just came out a couple months ago. Since I haven't yet finished, please take the following with a grain of salt: as far as I can tell, story-wise/genre-wise, this book has little in common with
The Sparrow. This has been a not-infrequent complaint about the former. As you probably remember,
The Sparrow is typically put in the sci-fi genre (but really, its a very difficult book to describe and classify). It is indeed intensely spiritual; exploring, but not answering, the age-old questions of why God allows bad things to happen; is there really such a thing as "destiny", etc. As it does deign to answer the unanswerable, and because Russell dares to expose the deepest "sins" any sentient being might commit against a higher power, it is very troubling.
I would suggset, again with that grain of salt, that
Dreamers of the Day similarly asks difficult questions. Only this time, rather than being about God and the meaning of life, it explores one piece of the very multidimensional Middle-Eastern puzzle. In this book, there have been little factoids casually tossed out that have taken my breath away. Her descriptions of the Great Pyramid in Giza, for example, is wonderful and tangible. Her descriptions of Winston Churchill and T. E. Lawrence are similarly fascinating. During the reading of this wonderful book, I have spent a great deal of time on the Web doing cross-referencing. Every word is intentional. Its protagonist, one Agnes Shanklin, is so wonderfully lovely and endearing... Its that kind of book.
These days, I frequently cite the following quote from Franz Kafka; it gets to be a bit redundant, but is still unequivocably true: "If the book we are reading does not wake us, as with a fist hammering on our skull, why then do we read it?... A book must be like an ice-axe to break the frozen sea within us."
Okay, I'll be the first to admit that Stephenie Meyer (whose teenage vampire romance series I'm currently working through) isn't exactly an "ice-axe", but Mary Doria Russell very much is. (One woman's potentially controversial opinion.)
I finished
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson today,
my review's here, and I was just blown away. It's definately on my top five reads list. Thank you DevourerofBooks!
Now I'm off to finish
Skeleton Crew, as I promised to send it Wednesday, and I still have about a third of the book to go. :-D
I'm reading
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: The Only Authoritative Text: Based on the Complete Original Manuscript published by the University of California Press. This makes the third version of Huck I have.
The traditional one most of us have read. The 1990s Random House edition with parts added and now the UoCP edition. The first half of the Huck manuscript was lost for a hundred years and showed up in the early 1990s. A fascinating story in itself.
All these versions have been interesting to follow and I am finding the UC edition enlightening. It was published in 2001. The UoCP had published the Mark Twain Project's edition in 1985 but five years later the manuscript was found. Thus the 2001 edition.
wow, #127
VisibleGhost, I did not know all that. Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge! ;-)
So, what you're saying is I now have to reread
Huck Finn because part of mine weas missing?
Well, he was already on my ToBeReRead pile... :-D
#125 -- alaska, I thought that
The Sparrow was extraordinary. Definitely, as you say, troubling, and I'm intrigued that
Dreamers of the Day is as unrelenting in its questioning. Have you read
Children of God? I'm interested to hear opinions on it, because I keep looking at it but have yet to pick it up.
As for me, I've been pretty ADD in my reading lately (which is unusual -- I am more likely to select a book and focus on it until it's finished). Currently working through:
The Autobiography of W.B. Yeats (not a cohesive autobiography, but a collection of autobiographical writings -- the non-narrative style makes this hard going, so I've been picking my way through for quite a while)
How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read (hilarious -- for anyone who has gone through graduate school, particularly in English or related topics, this one will make you laugh and then go "oh, wait, that's true")
Something Beginning with P (a mixed bag of poetry for children)
A book of paintings and stories about Sligo, a place I love.
And I'm still dipping and tasting my way through
Cultural Amnesia, which is perhaps the most remarkable book I've read in my entire life -- every few pages I find some new gem to ponder and love.
And I just today finished
War of the Worlds, which I very much enjoyed.
Okay, I think this post might be long enough. :)
I finished
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton on Sunday. What a wonderful book! I moved on to something completely different yesterday:
Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America by Stephen G. Bloom. It's about the conflicts and questions that arise when a group of Hasidic Jews open a kosher meat processing plant in the almost 100% white, Christian town of Postville in northeast Iowa. Along the way, the author is exploring his own sense of Jewishness and how he fits into his newly adopted state of Iowa. I've enjoyed the first few chapters.
I just started The Wishing Year today- my Librarything Early Reviewer book
#127 VisibleGhost- I had no idea that was the case! Thanks for sharing. I'll definitely have to track down this updated version.
As far as current reads go, I started
Melusine by
Sarah Monette this morning. I'm really enjoying it so far; it's dark and twisty and she keeps throwing out all these little tidbits that I'm sure will come together in a strange and wonderful ways by the end.
#127 VisibleGhost - I'll be curious too to hear what you have to say. Is it worth reading the manuscript that was lost? And where did the tradition Huck Finn come from?
#135 I thought
Girl with a Pearl Earring was just beautiful to read.
Chiming in about
The Sparrow, I just finished it a few weeks ago and also really liked it and will now read anything of
Mary Doria Russell's
I just finished
The Forgery of Venus by
Michael Gruber, and have started
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. My daughter is plowing through this series and I wanted to see what was holding her interest.
I'm still working my was through
Middlemarch (hangs head in shame), I'm slow but I am really enjoying it. I will start
Age of innocence, for the next Group Read, but on audio hopefully I will get this done before the next book is chosen.
Finished
Mosquito by Roma Tearne and
Taylor Five by Ann Halam, both of which were very good. Now for something completely different, I'm reading the 3rd mystery in a series,
Voices by Icelandic author Arnaldur Indridason. These are excellent police procedurals.
Finished Penelope and Prince Charming by Jennifer Ashley (touchstone not working) Now on Chapter 3 of
The Fallen Angels by Bernard Cornwell &
Mesmerized by Candace Camp Chapter 2.
#129 beserene: I haven't read
Children of God yet, though a friend recently did. He liked but didn't love it. I'm not sure when I'll get to it.
#137 sydamy: I've been working on the
Twilight series as well, though I don't have the excuse of one of my kids reading it. I don't think its all that great, but somewhat entertaining. A much better YA series is
Libba Bray's about 16-year-old Gemma Doyle, set in the Victorian era. That one is fantastic, and also has the supernatural/romantic aspect to it.
#58 SeanLong - the audio cd was helpful but the book was a complicated read.
I just finished
Pat Barker's
Regeneration Trilogy, which I thought was brilliant. I didn't feel like I connected quite so well with the middle book,
The Eye in the Door, but
The Ghost Road was easily back up to the standard of
Regeneration, exploring humanity and its reactions to the first world war in particular. I'm feeling a bit lost without the characters. Stupid war.
I think next I'm going to treat myself to a re-read of
Interpreter of Maladies, and I should start
Lord of the Flies, a Go Review that Book! assignment. (Which probably feels more so because in my head it's a book no-one ever reads except at school!)
Oh, and I picked up Part one of
A History of the English-Speaking Peoples in the library and have tentatively started it. I feel that given he founded my college *and* won the Nobel prize for literature (amongst, y'know, other stuff), the least I can do is give it a go...
132> kidzdoc, I adore
Haroun and the Sea of Stories: I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! It's wonderfully imaginative.
Message edited by its author, Jun 17, 2008, 6:12pm.
#140 alaska - Thanks for the recommendation, I will definitely tell my daughter about them, so she can add them to her ever growing TBR pile. Should an 11 year old have a TBR pile???
Just finished
Lady Boss by Jackie Collins and have started
Deadly Pleasure by Brenda Joyce, book 2 in her Francesca Cahill series...
>146
My 11 year old has a TBR pile for sure. I suppose I could be passing worse habits on to him.
My kid's keep their pile on my Mt. TBR. Not that mine would really get that smaller without them, because we read them together. :-)
I zipped through Anita Shreve's
The Weight Of Water which I thought was great, and I'm also in the middle of
Dead Watch by John Sandford. I also want to start
Whispers by Dean Koontz soon since it's a Go Review That Book! pick.
#125, 129, et al. ~ Just have to jump in to praise
The Sparrow, one of the most inspiring (notwithstanding its "troubling" aspects) and compelling novels I've ever read. I've reread it a few times and even bought extra copies to pass out to friends, most of whom were as enthusiastic as me about it.
Children of God, while not as important (or thrilling) as
The Sparrow, is a book that should be read if only because it expands on the themes of
The Sparrow in a way that was very satisfying, at least to me.
I also read
Dreamers of the Day which I thought was very good (not as good as
The Sparrow, but that would be a difficult feat). It is very different from Russell's first novel ~ in fact, aside from
Children of God, none of her novels are much like any of the others, and I think she meant and continues to mean to make each of her novels as unlike the others as possible. I agree with the way alaska described Dreamers. I will only add that I wasn't charmed by the ending, which seemed somewhat forced to me, though I think I understand why she wrote it the way she did.
Message edited by its author, Jun 17, 2008, 9:19pm.
Hi
I simply want to say I'm enjoying the posts regarding
The Sparrow. A friend gave this book to me when it was first published. She raved about it. After reading all the comments re. this book, I think I'll re-read it. I remember being somewhat bothered by the graphic nature. I'll try to re-read this again this summer and see if I can obtain a clearer perspective.
#146 sydamy: I can't think of anything more wonderful than a tween having a TBR pile. Good job, you're obviously raising you kid right.
To all who inquired about the traditional Huck Finn. How did it come about? It's a long story with many details coming out over the years. In a nutshell. Twain's publisher wanted to release Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn in matching set. Huck was quite a bit longer than Tom so the publisher asked Twain's permission to cut out part of Huck. Twain agreed. This version was the version that was released to the public.
The manuscript containing the 'cut' parts was misplaced and thought lost. Then it is found and legal battles ensue over who owns it and has the right to sell and publish it. A compromise settlement is reached which allows Random House to publish their version first. It includes commentary.
After a certain amount of time the University of California Press which runs the Mark Twain Project is allowed to release theirs. It includes commentary and notes that go into more detail than the Random House edition. These are the old ISBN numbers for the UoCP editions. They are probably updated now with 978 ISBNs.
Hardcover - 0-520-22806-5
Softcover- 0-520-22838-3
#146 - TBR piles are an all-ages venue. I had my first at around twelve.
I'm finished with all of the short books I was reading last weekend to get a backup of reviews, so now I'm on to an ARC of
The Lace Reader. I wanted to be sure to read and review it before it is published.
Jean Christophe by Romain Rolland (Nobel Prize winner in 1915) for the 3rd time over the past 20 years
Finished
The Ruby Raven faster than I thought, and so started
Krippendorf's Tribe by
Frank Parkin. I haven't got a handle on the humor yet, but I think I will soon. Er, hopefully.
At this rate my TBR pile will be dust by the end of the summer! :D
I finished
Sebastian Barry's
The Secret Scripture the other day, a book I'd expected to like a whole lot more than I finally did, but it just didn't ring any bells for me, and I found it a mostly ho-hum affair, was glad to be done with it.
The new
Tin House came in the last few days, and it's been pretty good so far, have only read a few things, but it's always fun when a new one arrives. Right now I'm a hundred pages into
David Wroblewski's first novel
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, and am completely surprised at how great it is, and really don't like to put it down, always a good sign.
A handful of us are re-launching the Deep South Reading Group and looking for some new folks to join us. We've decided to kick-off with the great
Larry Brown's
Father and Son, a Southern powerhouse of a novel from 1996, and one of Brown's best books, so even if you're only halfway interested in Southern lit, please check it out and join in our ramblings, with magnolias and mint juleps for all.
#146 -- and where do you suppose your 11 year old learned to have a TBR Pile?
Just finished writing my
review for
Skeleton Crew. THANK GAWD that book is done.
not that it was bad, just that it's been on my "currently reading" list forever.Now I've got to hurry up and read my already-mooched
Two For the Dough by Janet Evanovich. Mercifully, she's a fun and easy read!
Popped
The God Delusion onto my iPod this morning to listen to while I mowed the lawn.
I am reading
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf for the first time. It is certainly beautiful, and poetic, but I haven't really decided whether I am enjoying it or not. I think I am :)
I am reading
Cryptonomicon and it is interesting so far - just really long.
Another quesion" About the Pat Barker Trilogy - what is the order of the books - how should I read them - ie which book should I read first.
I'm reading
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.
I've read a rather long introduction and some pages of chapter 1 in my English paperback edition.
Last night I started
Little Beauties by Kim Addonizio, which has been on my TBR pile for a long time.
I just finished one book and do not know what to pick up next... more later when I make a decision...
#171 Thanks so much - I think I own two of the books in the triology :)
Finished
Gospel after several days of fun reading. As you said in #29, Smiley, not a perfect book (resorting to stereotypes, prose merely adequate, etc), but such a great read anyway. Funny, well-plotted, and packed with fun trivia.
Started
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks last night. I have loved everything of hers that I've read. So far its great.
Started
When Gods Die, the second Sebastian St. Cyr Victorian mystery by C.S. Harris, last night. So far, so good.
Today, instead of disciplining myself to jump back into the autobiographical writings of W.B. Yeats, I started reading
Good Omens. Again. Man, I love that book!
I just finished
Losing It by
Valerie Bertinelli. Surprisingly good book, I devoured it in one day. I found I could totally relate to it and her problems, especially the dieting and weight gain up and down. I was curious about her life and I'm glad I read the book - gave me a lot of motivation. A candid account of her life growing up and marriage to Eddie Van Halen.
I picked up
Dark Sister by Graham Joyce. So far its okay.
I am not looking for a heavy read, just entertainment right now...
this fits...
So far this week I have read. Thief of time Terry Pratchet, loved it first I've read of the disc world series. Loved his play on names and words Jeremy Clockson made me smil. Also read Five people you meet in heaven, Mitch Albom. Interesting and thought provoking. Just started The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden the first in the series about Julius Caesar. If it's half as good as Wolf of the Plains (about Genghis Khan) I'm in for a good read.
I'm almost finished with
Huck Finn (less than 100 pages to go), and while I've found it more readable than other classics I've tried, it hasn't jumped out and grabbed me, either. I'm also reading
Disclosure by Michael Crichton, but I'm only a few pages into that.
>175 - jemsw: What did you think of
Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl? I picked it up for 25 cents at a library sale and am hoping that it's good.
>143 smiley, you might really like her
Thread of Grace. It takes a bit to really get into it, she has a large cast of characters to introduce, but I thought it excellent.
#181:
Good Omens has been on my booklist forever! I need to pick it up soon.
#186 Whisper1 ~ I've been eying
Dark Angels but haven't picked it up yet to read. How is it so far?
>192 Thanks, varielle! Also, I took a peek at your books tagged cooking, and notice that you don't have
Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany by Bill Buford. Given your books about cooking collection, I know you'll like it.
193> RcCarol: Heh, sounds a little bit like
War and Peace. Well, if it's as good as that I'll be very happy :-)
I just started Requiem, Mass.: A Novel by John Dufresne.
Message edited by its author, Jun 19, 2008, 7:47pm.
>197 I will have to look into
Heat and at it to my to be acquired list.
I have been slowly working my way through
Deep Space Nine: Millenium. The Reeves-Stevens write the best Star Trek books because unlike some spin-off authors they actually watch the series and know all of the little details from previous episodes, then drop those references in the story without it seeming pandering or obvious. Plus even though most of the character-drawing is done in the show, they still flesh out the motivations and feelings of the characters in the book well, when a lot of the other authors just lean on shallow depictions.
I finished
Deerskin by Robin McKinley early this week, and I'm currently on The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, Vol. 13 (edited by
Stephen Jones) for my bedtime reading. Hopefully, I can still make myself go to bed without any nightmares.
#195
Hi Storeetllr
Thus far, I like the book. I've recently read other books re. Charles II and the restoration. He truly was quite a cad! Thanks for asking!
In addition to
Dark Angels by Karleen Koen, I am also reading
1 Dead in the Attic by
Chris Rose. Rose, a Times-Picayune columnist at the time of Katrina, tells gripping stories of events. This book will break your heart.
I've read
The Mistress' Daughter by A. M. Homes this week and have just started The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver.
Am struggling to get the touchstones to work I'm afraid...
Message edited by its author, Jun 20, 2008, 9:21am.
I started
In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce this morning. It's decent, but it's really not what I feel like right now. At least it's short, and on my lunch break I"ll go out and buy what I
really want to read.
Finished
Bonk and since I enjoyed her other book so much I wanted to like this more. And I can't really say what I didn't like about it, I suppose the studies she examined weren't as interesting this time around as in
Stiff.
After I finished that last night I started and finished
Henry and the Clubhouse. I've been on a Beverly Cleary binge since hubby and I will be going to Portland, Oregon at the end of July. Is it weird that I am excited about going to the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Park and walking down the real Klickitat Street when we are in Oregon?
I think I am starting
The Tipping Point next. Apparently there is a wait list for it at the library.
>211: thekoolaidmom, that's a great name for a blog!
I absolutely loved
Cloud Atlas. I recommend it to people all the time.
Poisonwood Bible is also excellent.
Finished
Unaccustomed Earth - why are some people so opposed to any hint of a happy ending? Even in real life, sometimes things work out okay.
Listening to
Another Thing to Fall by Laura Lippman. Not loving it so far, but sticking with it. Still reading
The Aviary Gate, but I should have that finished up this weekend.
ktleyed, I saw that at the library and have thought about reading it. I'd be interested in what you think when you're done.
>189--Talbin
I really liked
Tender at the Bone. I thought it was strongest at the beginning, but there were still a lot of wonderful moments later on. I liked its unabashed gluttony and the way Reichl frankly puts forth all those periods in her life when she hadn't really a clue what she was doing, showing the people and the meals that made those periods worthwhile all the same.
#217 bell7 - I had it on reserve at my library, I was curious about it too, I've been looking forward to reading it and glad I finally got the call it was available. I'll post my review when I'd one with it.
#212
lindsacl: Thank you! It was LT inspired actually. There's a thread called "How big is your Mount To Be Read?"
by the way, I did get that reveiw for
Two for the Dough up
here.
Cell really hits the ground running! By the third page the whole world's going to pot with people ripping other's throats open with their own teeth and one guy who bites a dog's ear off. Not reccomended for the squemish! I'm 70 pages in already... I just can't put it down!
#220 thekoolaidmom - Let me know what you thought of
Cell when you're finished! I read it a couple years ago, and I remember it dragging in spots, but I could be wrong. I just bought it off of the bargain rack at Borders, though, so I plan on rereading it at some point anyway - I just wanted to know what you thought.
Just finished
Disclosure by Michael Crichton, and I was completely blown away! I had a few misgivings at the beginning of the book, since I know next to nothing about business or the workings of corporate America, but it transformed into a fabulous read! Crichton poses an interesting take on the concept of sexual harassment in the workplace and gender equality, and what happens when a woman is the perpetrator of sexual harassment instead of the victim. An EXCELLENT read!
For what it's worth, we read
The Zookeeper's Wife for a recent book club selection. Although no one was bowled over by writing style, we all were moved and amazed by the story! Survival, creativity, loyalty, family......just to name a few themes. I hope all of you are as astounded at the behavior, both good and evil, as I was.
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