Another summer reading week: Kate Mosse's Sepulchre, cardboard characters, thin plot and pretentious writing but still strangely compelling; John Harvey's Gone to Ground, excellent crime-writing; and Simon Lewis's Bad Traffic, a completely surprising book with a Chinese 'hero' who speaks no English creating mayhem in the English countryside - delightful.

Started reading Book 2 of Midnight's Children. Group read.

Reading In Search of Lost Time (page 60 of 3660 pages. A real challenge.

Reading The curious incident of the dog in the night time. Funny.

I'm reading Jose Saramago's Baltasar and Blimunda. It's an interesting tale of a man who lost a hand in a war, and a woman who can "see inside" people. Set in Portugal during the Inquisition. They've met up with a priest who wants to build a flying machine. Sounds kind of strange, and it is ...

# 1, GrayHead: I thought the same thing about Sepulchre, minus the part of being compelled. So I decided to abandoned it. If you finish it, I'd be interested in hearing what you think about it!

I'm reading A Million Little Pieces at the moment, and I'm finding it alright. Nothing special.

I'm reading a couple of futurism books.
The Way We Will Be 50 Years From Today edited by Mike Wallace and The Future of the Internet And How to Stop It by Jonathan Zittrain.

Not a Sepulchre fan either. I was quite disappointed. I was 3/4 of the way through it at the dentists office and the receptionist said she would love to read it. By the time I left I was nearly finished... so I handed it over . Not Sry.

I am having trouble setting down with a book right now. I think I am still mired down after reading Gap Creek and so I am having trouble choosing a read.
I am actually thinking of reading The Lace Reader again, to get back the feeling it gave me the first time....

Recently finished:
Children of the New World by Assia Djebar - very interesting
What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn - ordinary
Now reading: Cindie by Jean Devanny - lovely.

I usually like to read through one book at a time but this week I am looking at Granta 101 , Cultural Amnesia by Clive James and Field of Mars by Stephen Miller.
Before LT, I used to find many of the books that I read throught the articles and short stories in Granta.

I'm about 1/4 of the way through The Richest Season by Maryann McFadden, and I really love it. It's wonderfully heartwarming and I just don't want to put it down.

Also reading The Conquest of Gaul, though not nearly as fast as I want to. I've finally got through the introduction.

koolaidemom, I was fortunate to mooch The Richest Season, and I am waiting for it to arrive. I am glad to hear it is that good!

I'm really loving I was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley. It definitely lives up to the witty, humorous title! If you like David Sedaris, try this book! There's a really great essay about playing Oregon Trail in the early 90s.

Message edited by its author, Aug 3, 2008, 11:27am.

I am reading Never Let Me Go (finally) and it is great!

Still reading The Elegant Universe. It's due back at the library next Friday, and I'm barely in the second chapter. It is very well written. I'm glad I finally found a book that doesn't talk down to me.

I'm about 40% of the way through The Unabridged Edgar Allen Poe and about one-third of the way through Gravity's Rainbow, both of which I'm taking my time on. I'm varying it up with Desolation Angels and Weird Tales: The 21st Century.

Chapter 12 of Romance of the Rose by Julie Beard & Chapter 3 of The Overlord's Bride.

I received The Sunday Philosophy Club : An Isabel Dalhousie Mystery
by Alexander McCall Smith from a lovely mooch transaction. I tore into the package right on the porch and sat down in the shade to read it. This should help my book moodiness and clear out the cobwebs left by my last read!

btw, thanks richard for recommending these books!

I started Bleak House a couple of nights ago and was enchanted by the fog! But then got sidetracked by Restoration by Rose Tremain and was just notified of a couple of books waiting for me at the library that I want to read right away (Dear American Airlines and Persepolis) so Bleak House will be on hold for a week or so.

teelgee, I've had Dear American Airlines on reserve all summer, and I've still got three people ahead of me. Perhaps I'll get it before Halloween!

After reading The Savage Detectives, I picked up another Bolano - Last Evenings on Earth. This one is short stories. I so like his style and I can already tell I will be looking for his work everywhere I can. I also am four chapters into The Age of American Unreason. I thought it would be more about modern times, but so far it has been history lessons. Though I am enjoying it, I do hope she gets onto something besides the Darwin controversy.

I'm also reading Bleak House this week, still. I'm only on chapter 6, and it's great, but I'm reading it slowly since it's really long and not super transportable.

My other read this week is Mountolive, book three in The Alexandria Quartet. I just finished Balthazar yesterday, which showed everything that happened in Justine in a completely new light, so it'll be interesting to see how Mountolive will change things up some more.

finished In Babylonby Marcel Moring and posted LT's first reader review of this fine/weird/funny book

this morning am breezing through Bloody Jack...by L A Meyer...for comic relief

Message edited by its author, Aug 2, 2008, 12:47pm.

Starting Angels & Demons by Dan Brown today.

Message edited by its author, Aug 5, 2008, 3:40pm.

#19, jfetting: You should really like Mountolive, especially since it has the most straightforward approach of any of the 4 books, and clears up any plot ambiguity that might be lingering from the first two. I've run across others who suggest that if you're gonna read the Alexandria Quartet, you should begin with Mountolive, so you know exactly what's going on in Justine and Balthazar before you pick them up.

I survived our store's midnight release party for Breaking Dawn last night and suppose I'll start reading it this afternoon (so I can facilitate a book group next week).

I'm also 1/2 way through Christopher Meeks's wonderful short story collection Months and Seasons, which I'll be reviewing this week, at his request.

Next in line are Assisted Loving, Stalking Irish Madness for LTER, Matrimony, and The Handmaid's Tale...amongst many more.

How can it be August so soon? Two daughter, two granddaughters and I had a grand day shopping and lunching yesterday. Of course, a stop at BN was the best part of the day. The bargain racks always are a source of must haves. When Your Body Aches (Does this give away my age?) Quite Honestly John Mortimer Love,Lies and Liquor M C. Beaton and more.Had to have the new J. A. Jance Damage Control This will take me all of August and more. I haven`t even finished Espresso Tales by McCall Smith

I've finished Breaking Dawn, and so I'm headed back to The Shadow of the Wind. Also planning to get going on Midnight's Children this week.

I have finished The Sunday Philosophy Club : An Isabel Dalhousie Mystery
by Alexander McCall Smith, already. It was a very quick read, and it has restored my good reading humor.

Now I believe it will be easier to choose the next book.

I'm going through some of "between books" right now, anthologies and collections, etc., from which I read a single story/essay at a time. My next few will be:

"Major Engagement in Paris" from the collection Thirty Stories by Kay Boyle

A few poems by Catherine French from the Spring 1996 Gettysburg Review

"Panopticum" by Andrei Michaelovich Sobol from the collection An Anthology of Russian Literature in the Soviet Period from Gorki to Pasternak

#22 LouisBranning - oh good! I could use some clearing up of the storyline - "ambiguous plot" may be the perfect descriptor for the first two books. Actually, though, I think that part of the charm of Balthazar and Justine is the uncertainty. What is really going on? Plus, I love Durrell's writing. Such pretty sentences.

I'm most of the way through Conquering Gotham I find that it reads a bit like The Devil in the White City, but that the "plot" --if you can call history a plot -- jumps around much less. (There's some character overlap, too, but not so much in the really central people.)

I also started reading Priestess of Avalon as at-home reading.

I'm back to the biography, Catherine the Great: love sex and power by Virginia Rounding, after taking a month off to read more pressing books and for my trip to Florida (the biography is too large to carry around with me). I am enjoying it a lot ~ Catherine was one heck of a woman! ~ and am almost finished. Next up will probably be something light and frivolous.

Currently reading two books: George Mills by Stanley Elkin and City of Quartz by Mike Davis.

Finished The Rebel Angels, the first novel in Robertson Davies's Cornish Trilogy, which I didn't like nearly as much as Fifth Business and the rest of the Deptford Trilogy, so I haven't gone on to the second novel for now.

Finished The Condition by Jennifer Haigh, which grew on me more and more as I read it and got to know the characters and their complex family relationships.

On the nonfiction side, I've started Jane Mayer's scary The Dark Side; I've admired her reporting in "The New Yorker."

I finished The Historian this morning. I really loved it - fabulous escapist reading that I thought was fairly well-written -- for the genre, for sure. There are so many reviews on LT and I was surprised by how many people hated it and thought it was fluff.

I just started Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury which I have never read -- it is not really grabbing me so far.

#6-mckait-Gap Creek was a dark read. No sunshine and lightness in that book, and it stays with you for a looooong time. I still think about it occasionally, and I read it probably 2 or 3 years ago. Whenever I am doing some, what feels like, odious chore around the house, I think of that book, and things look pretty good here in 2008.

#33-rebeccanyc-Glad to hear a positive review for The Condition. It is on my wish list.

Went to Borders today and used some rarely seen self-restraint and bought one book off the Bargain Book shelves, Wish You Well by David Baldacci. Look for Borders' stock to drop on Monday :D

#25 shootingstarr7 said, I've finished Breaking Dawn

Did you sleep at all today?

I got a lovely recommendation for and gift copy of Half of a Yellow Sun from my daughter today. Mr. Man and I finished The Lace Reader and loved loved loved it!

mckait, so wonderful to know that ISabel's healing powers are available to you! I find her the precise opposite of craptastic. I cannot feel down after spending time in Isabel's company, much like spending time on your company makes a bad mood simply unsustainable.

booklady dearie-punkin, Mr. Man and I send you loving hugs of sympathy as you begin your slog into the fetid jungles of Breaking Dawn. One of our adoptees, a lass of otherwise impeccable taste, is hooked on these book-like objects and reads long passages to us. Last night was no exception, she bounded into my room spouting purple prose at me after she got the book. (The younger people were all here playing D&D.) I wish you success. I suggest Imodium, BTW, before reading.

I need sleep. Yard sale, 102f, ugh, I send waves and hugs all around.

hugs back at ya richardear! hope you sold all of your shtuff!

richard: thanks for the love and sympathy...It's been a busy weekend, what with the release party and my brother- and sister-in-law moving to town w/ their 3 kids, so I'm only 150 pages in (that means 600 more to go), and I barely made it through the honeymoon passages without getting sick. eeew.

shootingstarr: you must be incredibly devoted to have finished it already. wow!

I finished reading Breaking Dawn after a marathon reading session that lasted about 8 or 9 hours, and I fell in love with it! I found the tone of the novel to be much different than the rest of the series, and although I was a little surprised about the somewhat anticlimactic nature of the climax (see if you can figure THAT one out!), I was really satisfied when I finally put it down. And I must say that I had a blast at the midnight party at Borders...although I really felt sorry for all of the employees who had to deal with the screechy 14 year old girls! Bnbooklady, you have my sympathies for having to deal with a crowd like that!

Having given up on The dream life of Sukhanov I picked up Interpreter of Maladies and am so glad I did.

Started The Last Flight of the Macaw by Bruce Barcott today - nonfiction story of the "Zoo Lady" in Belize who is/was (?) fighting to prevent construction of a damn.

I started to read The Madonnas of Leningrad and thus far it is holding my interest.

I've finished reading and reviewing Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman and Bonk by Mary Roach.

I've started Red Storm on the Reich and In Hazard.

I hope to finish the later book tomorrow and write my review soon after. My impression so far is that it's an exciting tale of a ship caught in a category 5 hurricane during the 1920's. The author has gone to great lengths to get the facts right and capture the challenges of weathering such a storm. It really gives you the feel of being right there on the ship.

Just finished Slow Motion Riot by Peter Blauner. It was quite good.

Will be diving into Case Histories by K. Atkinson today ~ I'm really excited because I've heard nothing but good things about it from you here at LT...can't wait!!

I just cannot bring myself to read that Twilight series. So many people rave about it, but my bookvoice screams "no, no no" so I am pretty sure it is not for me.

ETA

oh! and I am reading Open Channel today.

Message edited by its author, Aug 3, 2008, 8:33am.

Yesterday was a reading Granta day. I finished two books
Granta 101-new editor is Jason Crowleyand this issue had no theme but a wonderful group of authors. ( Annie Proulx and Hilary Mantel to name two)
Granta 92 The View From Africa I have been reading this book on and off for a while. Many authors who I have seen on LT recommendations contribute to this issue.

Despareaux by Kate DiCamillo. Absolutely surprising book about a mouse, a human princess, a sorrowful girl, and two evil rats.

Very much in the style of an old fashioned fairytale. Some nice dark elements. Not one I'd read to very young children.

Message edited by its author, Aug 3, 2008, 8:28am.

I'm reading Solaris by Stanislaw Lem(English translation). I've seen both the Russian and the American movies and was wondering how they compared. I read somewhere that Lem did not like the Russian movie. Which isn't very hard as the movie drags on forever. Really, does the audience need 10 minutes of a car driving down a road?
I also read that the book has been the source of a lot of speculation about what the author is really saying.
Personally, it seems a bit Kaftka-like.

Message edited by its author, Aug 3, 2008, 10:13am.

In reply to Message 34: jhowell:

I read most of Fahrenheit 451 but had to give up on it toward the end.

Message edited by its author, Aug 3, 2008, 10:12am.

Reading and enjoying The Geography of Love.

#34 jhowell - Keep trying with Fahrenheit 451! It's one of my favorites!

Still reading too many books.

The Power Makers by Maury Klein - good, and it's an ARC
One More Year by Sana Krasikov - blech, but it's an ARC
Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

eta Born on a Blue Day.

Message edited by its author, Aug 3, 2008, 11:17am.

I'm reading Maus II : a survivor's tale : and here my troubles began by Art Spiegelman. The author's experiences so closely parallel my situation within my own family that I have to read this excellent book in only very tiny doses.

Message edited by its author, Aug 3, 2008, 11:55am.

I just started Angela's Ashes, I've heard a lot about this book, so I have some pretty high expectations.

Angela's Ashes was one of those books that really stuck to me after I read it. Hope you like it!

I just finished Fahrenheit 451 - just OK for me; Bradbury's writing is pretty powerful in places, but overall these dystopian novels leave me cold.

Off to search the TBR pile. . .

#48 ThePam - if you haven't already done so, be sure to read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. It's wonderful.

Message edited by its author, Aug 3, 2008, 1:54pm.

On the recommendations of many LTers, I have started Dennis LeHane's Mystic River, and now I see what all the hoop-la is about! Am also listening to Magyk by Angie Sage, which is a YA fantasy, diverting enough though not as good (so far) as HP or Artemis Fowl.

I'm reading Flaubert's Madam Bovary. I've been meaning to read it for years, literally - it's only because today I'm researching a non-fiction piece on Richard Yates that served as a reminder. Yates was a huge Flaubert fan and Madam Bovary can be seen quite clearly in both Revolutionary Road (April Wheeler) and The Easter Parade (the Grimes sisters).

#59 ~ Storeetllr.....I love Dennis Lehane...have you read Shutter Island yet, by chance? A great book with a fantastic ending! Highly recommend. Enjoy Mystic River, also a great book.

#51 Hi, Porch ~ Thanks! Mystic River is my first Lehane. I have Shutter Island on the hold list at the library and am waiting for it to come in.

#60, belwebb, Interesting point about Flaubert and Yates; I hadn't known Yates was such a big Flaubert fan when I read Revolutionary Road, but I see what you mean. I reread Madame Bovary a few years ago, and had a much different impression of it than when I read it as a teenager.

I'm reading A Way of Life, Like Any Other by Darcy O'Brien, funny, sad, and wonderfully written.

I am reading Once in a Lifetime by Kristin Hannah. I am loving this, so far. My thanks to LT and Abby for introducing me to Kristin Hannah through ARC books.

This is sort of a paranormal romance. I really love the concept.

#48 ThePam I just recently read The Tale of Despereaux for our kids discussion for summer reading. It was cute, but dark. Her book Because of Winn-Dixie which was a discussion book a few summers ago was much more lighthearted.

#33 rebeccanyc - What's Bred in the Bone is much, much better than The Rebel Angels. Don't despair!

I plan to start The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini next. I realized that I've read very little general fiction this year, so I figure it's about tie I dived into some of the stuff I've got on hand.

On the agenda for this week: Cruel as the Grave by Sharon Kay Penman, The Eight by Katherine Neville, Needful Things by Stephen King, Great Feuds in Science by Hal Hellman, and from my TBR mountain The Tomb by F. Paul Wilson, The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs, and The Lost Men by Kelly Tyler Lewis.

Last week I received The Jane Austen Book Club and The Mermaid Chair from another moocher and was so excited to start both. I started Jane Austen, but to this moment have yet to be able to break page 40. I very rarely ever find a book that I can't get into, but this one is it. This weekend I went to visit the parents so I took The Mermaid Chair and am loving it. In between all the shuffling activities for the kids of pool, park, back to the pool and back to the park to keep them busy, I haven't been able to put the book down. Off to read some more...

yay me! I mooched it from one of our lovely LTers :) and I look forward to reading it. I lived outside of Boston for a few years, and my husband worked in Charlestown. I always loved driving across the Mystic River Bridge... This promises to be a good read for me .I can hardly wait to get it!

Yes Mystic River is quite good. I have Gone Baby Gone on my TBR pile that I am saving for an upcoming beach vacation.

#66 - I decided on a Sharon Kay Penman for my next book as well - Here Be Dragons -- I think she is officially now my favorite historical fiction writer. So far, very engaging.

>39 booklady, there there, pat pat, only 599 more pages of stuff to wade through. I have the headache pwders ready when you need 'em.

>46 mckait, how was Open Channel? Sounds interesting.

I had another long day in the sun, then dinner out, and now Mr. Man is all weepy at my packing and selling and donating and generally preparing to leave. Never seen the man cry so much.

This is tiring!

I gave up on Baltasar and Blimunda even though I was halfway through. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen or for the characters to develop more fully, but apparently it was not to be. Now reading Isabel Allende's autobiographical Paula, and have become immersed in this book much more quickly. I do love Allende's writing.

I've started Case Histories ~ I'm about 40 pages in and loving it ...thanks for the tip, y'all! Looks like it's going to be un-put-downable! :o) I love the way Ms. Atkinson writes. I may have to find her other books. (I love the title Emotionally Weird.) Heeeee!

I just finished Disobedience by Naomi Alderman, the 2006 winner of the Orange Prize for New Fiction, and I'm still reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. Next up for fiction? I'm not sure - An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Sunne in Splendor by Sharon Kay Penman or The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. What wonderful choices . . . .

Edited to add a period.

Message edited by its author, Aug 3, 2008, 8:25pm.

Today I'm reading the story "Lady McBeth of the Mtsenk District" by Nilolai Leskov from the Noonday collection Selected Tales by Nikolai Leskov.

#73 Talbin - good choices! The Sunne in Splendour is one of my favorite all time books, and I'm reading The Shadow of the Wind right now, though I haven't made much headway since I've been really busy this weekend. I want to read An Artist... but I have to get my hands on a copy of it - my library doesn't even have it, but so far I've loved everything I've read by Ishiguro.

0bazooka0: Angela's Ashes was one I had a really tough time getting through but am so glad I finished. Hope you enjoy it!

ETA: richard--am now into the mid-500s of Breaking Dawn and hope to finish tomorrow. I agree with the previous poster that the writing is better/more interesting than the first 3 books (I think it has to do with her alternating narrators this time), but still not loving it.

mckait: you're right to stay away...and I'll tell you everything you need to know in my spoiler-filled post this week.

Message edited by its author, Aug 3, 2008, 10:19pm.

i'm reading fannie flagg's standing in the rainbow. i read can't wait to get to heaven earlier this summer not realizing that this book "came first". i've enjoyed all the books i've read by flagg so far.

Just got three holds from the library. Not sure which one I'll start with. Maybe Genesis by Bernard Beckett, or Disquiet by Julia Leigh, both quick reads or Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith - one of the Booker Prize longlists.

I am a few days behind in my posting. I was a good doobie and stayed off the computer and read.

I finished Nefertiti by Michelle Moran. I thought the writing was fabulous, but the content left a bit to be desired. Think the HBO series the Tudors, MTV history, transplanted to ancient Egypt.

Her characters were one dimensional - the goodies squeaked and the baddies oozed. Not lot of depth or shading to them. Also it was like some kind of horrible high school flashback. Spoiled, self-absorbed, emotional volatility, lack of perspective were the high points. It devolved into Nefertiti's rivalry with Kia, and following her around while she sulked and raged. Very tiresome.

Then I read Gunpowder Plot by Carola Dunn for RL mystery group. My first book in her Daisy Dalrymple series. I try to start at book 1, but couldn't get it so I picked this one up, book 15.

I was able to pick everything up, and it was a quick read, pretty well written. Of course it had real problems as a mystery.

It was set after WWI and dealt with the social changes, but there were 2 people murdered at an English Country House and the reader never gets to see the crime scene. ! You only got scraps from the conversations of the characters. The murders were almost 100 pages into the book which was only about 300 pages long. Way too much set up.

The characters were very stereotypical, and the deducting was pretty much administrivia, and practically handed out. The red herrings, if there, didn't work, and it was obvious who the killer was.

Then I read The Princess of Burundi by Kjell Eriksson. It is one of the mysteries from Sweden. For some reason they are publishing them in English out of order. This is the 4th book in the Ann Lindell series. She is a detective in Uppsala, where the story takes place. She is out on maternity leave in this book, and only make a few appearances.

It wasn't bad, a bit dry, and jumpy with the writing (but its a translation). There were too many police to keep track of, and they broke into philosophical discussions on society, crime, politics, and change, during meetings and at other times of the day. The criminals did too ! Think Bergman Lite if he had done a crime film, but not as slow or as boring.

Now reading The Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse: A Novel by Victor Gischler . A post apocalyptic, pulpy, book.

I am still slogging through Center of Gravity. I would dearly love to abandon, but I feel obligated to finish (birthday present from stepmother, written and self-published by the brother of a friend of hers...) Sigh. When I am actually reading it I zip through as fast as possible, but I really have to force myself to pick it up.

Our current read-aloud is Prince Capsian by C.S. Lewis.

I'm reading my July ER book, Wife in the North. I'm enjoying it, but it's not making me want to put down whatever I'm doing to race off and read it (obviously, since I'm on LT instead of reading!).

Last night I finished Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and started The Maytrees by Annie Dillard.

Porchy, Case Histories sounds good.. a little gory? But good
rddear, I really enjoyed Open Channel . It is a sequel, but after reading it there is no point to reading Angel Cafe, the first book, imo. I would certainly suggest this author to a friend. It was a perfect idle sunday read.

I am currently finishing Secret Supper and I will then send it off to a nice moocher in Alaska, if she does mooch it. I have it reserved for her. I have about 10 pages to read I think? I may then go to The Historian which has been languishing on my shelf for many months. Depends on the mailman. :)

Reading Everything Is Cinema by Richard Brody, a biography of Jean-Luc Goddard.

Also in the middle of Raymond Queneau's Witch Grass (Le chiendent)

Finished Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Other Stories by Carson McCullers this morning. Go back into Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. I'm taking my time with that one. Small doses are fine.

Headed for Cape Cod for the weekend and think what to read on the train an ferry, best way to get to P-town from Portland, ME. Maybe The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Maybe The Bottom fo the Harbor by Joseph Mitchell
. Maybe both if it's a rainy weekend.

I'm about halfway through Into this World We're Thrown by Mark Kendrick and starting Fallen by Erin McCArthy.

Message edited by its author, Aug 4, 2008, 10:05am.

Just finished The Sutras of Abu Ghraib by Aidan Delgado and now reading Strange Piece of Paradise by Terri Jentz. In between, reading Living your Yoga by Judith Lasater to keep me grounded.

Finished Jose Saramago's Blindness (no touchstones for Saramago?!?!?!?! wtf?). Brilliant. It was my first book by him; love his style - he makes you read carefully.

For a total change of pace, I grabbed Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton. Never having read Hamilton before, and never having read decent 'space opera' before, I was fully expecting it to be craptastic. Well, the prologue started with a bang, and I'm still going strong. Not literature, but so far not garbage, either.

Message edited by its author, Aug 4, 2008, 11:54am.

I have {Strange Piece of Paradise} in my tbr pile {for quite some time now}. Let me know what you think of it. I'm finishing up In the Woods by Tana French. It's excellent.

I've just started Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie today and am listening to The Jungle by Upton Sinclair on CD for commute reading.

>88: mikeepatrick, I've heard good things about Blindness and now wish I had chosen that book instead of Baltasar and Blimunda, which I threw against the wall on Saturday (see #71)

>90: Ex_Libris, a couple of classics there, eh? I read and enjoyed Midnight's Children not long ago, and my daughter is about to start The Jungle as part of her summer reading requirement for 10th grade English. I am assured reading will commence any day now ... :-)

Today I'm going to start the Russian science fiction/totalitarian horror story We by Evgenii Ivanovich Zamiatin, as found in the collection An Anthology of Russian Literature in the Soviet Period from Gorki to Pasternak.

Finished Geography of Love which I thought was very good. I am sure this book will be getting some attention!

Will now start Land of a Hundred Wonders as we are hosting the author tomorrow.

Pillars of the earth by Ken Follett.

lindsacl - I am wondering if summer reading for school is ever successful. My daughter started The Grapes of Wrath last weekend, knowing that she has band practice all day for these last three weeks. To make matters worse, she and her boyfriend are reading it to each other. While that sounds cute and sweet, neither of them has a clue about the book and they are halfway through. As they say, "every other chapter is like, so completely boring."

Meanwhile, I still have nine books from the library and two weeks before I have to be back at school. Perhaps I can read during those oh so scintillating (NOT) faculty meetings. Due back next, and therefore to be read next, are The Plague of Doves and So Brave, Young, and Handsome.

I finished A Million Little Pieces yesterday, and started reading A Very Long Engagement this morning.

Well, after finishing Superdove and Stealing Athena this weekend I started Farworld last night...and promptly left it at home today, in a near-bibliomergency. Luckily, 6 books came in the mail today, including my July ER book, so I've started that.

>95: emaestra, you wrote, I am wondering if summer reading for school is ever successful... Well, in the case of my daughter and The Jungle, there will be a test on this book in the first week or so of class. So there's an incentive. However, she had to read 4 books this summer and the others required more parental "push."

sisarus let me know how The Maytrees is--I recently bought it. I wasn't crazy about Eat, Pray, Love--liked her section in Italy but then it got boring and she got whiny. What did you think?

I felt the same as you momom248 about Eat, Pray, Love, yet so many others are just nuts about it.

I'm still working on The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury. I'm finding I'm not much of a short story reader. Not to mention most of the stories are so similar. It's just not holding my attention.

In the odd momnets between packing activity, I am reading Orsinian Tales one at a time...like rockertjk's "between books."

Busy busy!

Sounds of the River is my train book and Rhett Butler's People is my "at home" read. Am enjoying Rhett Butler more than I thought, but I still may not make it to the end. You know it's not great when you'd rather be reading the non-fiction book.

Currently reading Great Expectations, and it needs to be finished by next week. Augh. It's a great book, but it's slow reading. My escape book is an audiobook of The Year of Living Biblically.

>36, 39,
Well, I kind of cheated a little bit. There were *no* holds on the book for the library I work at, and so when it came in and the children's librarian processed it on Friday, she let me take it home. So I read it Friday, and finished around 1 am... just about the time everyone else was getting their copies and starting it. I was actually a bit disappointed with it. So it's not so much that I'm devoted, I just had a bit of a head start is all.

I am reading Sir Charles Grandison this long weekend. I started the first volume a couple of weeks ago, and am a good part through the second-to-last volume. It is, contrary to expectations, engaging and exciting.

(Edited to fix my brackets!)

Message edited by its author, Aug 4, 2008, 4:14pm.

#58, Whymaggiemay...

Thanks. I really liked the book and per your suggestion have ordered "Edward Tulane" from the library.

Oh yeah, currently reading

Message edited by its author, Aug 4, 2008, 4:33pm.

I am well into ( 80ish pages) First Daughter by Eric Van Lustbader from a very generous mooch member. I am enjoying it very much!

I have a bad cold and wandering among the following books.
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
The Bernini Bust by Iain Pears
Toronto Noir edited by Janine Armin and Nathaniel G. Moore

Finished Carolina Isle by Jude Deveraux and have started Wildcard by Rachel Lee...

Just finished the audio version of The Lodger: Shakespeare on Silver Street by Charles Nicholl and have moved on to Roddy Doyle's The Woman Who Walked Into Doors. In print, just started Midnight's Children.

I'm working on my ER book, Sweetsmoke, which I'm liking so far. I'm also reading Pretties by Scott Westerfeld (a library book) and Eat, Pray, Love for the Go Review That Book! group.

I'd planned to start The Kite Runner today, but this morning I realized that I was craving short fiction. I started in on the fifteenth edition of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror instead, and am enjoying it very much.

I finished The Memory Room this morning (and excellent it is)

next up: Things The Grandchildren should know

message 99 and 100
I agree with you regarding Eat, Love, Pray. A friend who has the same reading interests and mine recommended this book and said it was her #1 book thus far this year. I started to read it and simply found it boring. I just could not get into it at all.

torontoc --feel better soon!

I am going to start Sweetsmoke my early reviewer book I just received. Can't wait!

Due to a surprise trip back to my parents' home today--minor family emergency, but no one is dying--I had plenty time to finish Breaking Dawn on the plane. Like mckait, I was disappointed (not that I expected much to begin with).

My review is in Readerville

I also finished Christopher Meeks's Months and Seasons, which I thoroughly enjoyed and will review soon.

Tonight, I'll begin Assisted Loving. Looking forward to a nice, light read...I hope it's as funny as the cover makes it look.

Message edited by its author, Aug 4, 2008, 11:03pm.

Breakfast book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - picked up paperback UK children's edition in Nairobi last week

Lunch book: What is the What by Dave Eggers - haven't had enough of Africa just yet, although I'm skipping across the continent from where I just traveled

Evening book: Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson - fits with current high interest in foreign humanitarian mission/sponsorship

I've never tried reading specific books at specific times of day, but as I've gotten into the habit lately of reading multiple books simultaneously, I'm thinking this might be a way to both finish more books (i.e., I don't neglect one in favor of the others) and engage in more genres at once.

grkmwk - love the breakfast / lunch / dinnner idea!

Finished Genesis and Disquiet. Now starting Child 44.

Just finished The ravine by Paul Quarrington, and loved it.
It is a laugh-out loud novel, authored by a man of many talents. Quarrington, who has written ten novels, is an award-winning screenwriter, filmmaker and playwright.
He is a Canadian (yea!) and has won prestigious literary awards in Canada.
It's his humorous take on life that got to me tho' and the novel, which takes place in the Toronto area, concerns the lives of three men, their childhood pranks, the growing-up process they each experience and the many loves, marriages and divorces they suffer through. Because of Quarrington's familiarity with the TV business, a lot of the action takes place in front and behind the cameras.
It's not a long read, but it is most enjoyable, and it rates five stars in my library.

In The Woods by Tana French - very good!

#83 ~ mckait.......so far, Case Histories is not too gory for me, although where I left off yesterday was a little shocking (but I love shocking ~ *smile*)....I'm not too far into it yet because hubby has been on vacation from work this week so we had alot of extra activities going on and I have also been working on my business whenever I get a chance ~ but good news ~ he is going back to work tomorrow (LOL) and I should be able to return to my wonderful solitude, carving out a few hours of reading time, I hope!!

p.s. Have you received your mooch from me yet? I sent it out several days ago, so if not yet, soon!

Finished reading Exit Music by Ian Rankin last night. Rather sad to be leaving Inspector Rebus behind.

Started reading The Restraint of Beasts by Magnus Mills. It is a very light read, with an odd humour to it. I'm already half way through it so could have it finished tonight.

After that I think I'll read So Many Ways to Begin by Jon McGregor as I enjoyed If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things so much.

I know just what you mean, porchy. The husband has taken vacation time while I have been off. It does cut into the solitude! Nope. Nope, no book yet, soon I am sure :) I was horrified when not only did 6 books show up from mooch and from Amazon ( used) yesterday, but so did a box of 6 books from Amazon ( The Outlander series) from Ebay, and then if that wasn't bad enough five minutes later UPS dropped off my ER book! All of them five minutes after he rolled out of bed at nearly noon. Timing is everything. =:-{

First Daughter ... Well I am 3/4 through the book. Sadly, the more I read the less impressed I find myself. I really wanted to like this book. More on that later, as I will review this one.

Next up my ER book The Fire.

I started reading Oxygen by Carol Cassella. It's really good so far.

Let's see, its going to be one of those weeks that I juggle several books at the same time, I'm sure there is a treatment for ADHD readers.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer - Got it at midnight at a party at Barnes and Nobles. So far I'm half way though and I love it! Although it seems far different from the first three.

Sex with Kings by Eleanor Herman - a nonfiction historical telling about the mistresses and love affairs of the European royalty, very interesting although Herman tends to jump all over the place with her writing.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd - I just started it the day before i got Breaking Dawn, probably not the best thing to do really, but so far I've enjoyed it. Reminds me of Fanny Flagg's writing.

To top of my list I'm reading The Complete Guide to Dog Training because I've just gotten a little 11 week old golden lab puppy who will need lots of attention.

Just finished March by Geraldine Brooks. Quite good, though not sure I see the "Pulitzer" of it. Now starting Manuscript of Ashes by Antonio Munoz Molina.

finished Things The Grandchildren Should Know and it was absolutely marvellous. I'm not really into memoirs and I'm only familiar with the first three Eels albums, but I found the book un-putdownable and finished it in one day. highly recommended!

next up is Twilight - now that the series is complete I'll try the first one - if I don't like it I'm sure my daughter will.

I'm reading Wife in the North too, and I'm feeling the same way about it as the previous poster said. Meh so far.

So I've put A Very Long Enagement aside (bored me to tears!), and picked up Coraline by Neil Gaiman instead.

Stayed up late to finish Center of Gravity -- sang the Hallelujah Chorus to celebrate being free of it. Now I'm staring long and hard at my TBR pile... think I'll go with The Hard to Catch Mercy by William Baldwin.

#130 RedBowlingBallRuth -- A Very Long Engagement can be hard to get through. It definitely wasn't what I expected. I did have to take notes about who was who and who did what, and draw diagrams to help me keep track (and when I loaned out the book, I loaned out the notes as well). I'm glad I finished it, though.

#s 99 and 82 My bookclub read The Maytrees and really enjoyed it. I did not expect to like it as much as I did. We all actually had written down excerpts from the book we wanted to read aloud, which very rarely happens.

I'm currently reading The Good Earth. I must say it is greatly exceeding my expectations.

Just finished Different Seasons by Stephen King, and I absolutely LOVED it! I've never been a huge fan of novellas (I don't find that I can zip through them like a short story or devote a large chunk of time to them like a novel), but I absolutely LOVED all four novellas in Different Seasons! It was nice to read some classic Stephen King after slogging through the mess that was Insomnia.

I'm still rereading Interview with the Vampire and I have Relic to get through, but I think I'm going to reread It or Dreamcatcher before I go back to school.

I've taken Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts up to the mountains with me for a few days; I bought it based on many recommendations here on LT, and this seemed like a good opportunity to read a long book. I'll also be reading Making Mountains:New York City and the Catskills by David Stradling which I left up here the last time I visited.

Reading the forgery of venus by Michael Gruber.
This ia a splendid follow-up to the book of air and shadows. Gruber has become one of my all time favorite authors, so I'm not disappointed by this book.

I'm reading two books at the moment...
Geralds Game and Lisey's Story by Stephen King

glamrockskisuit Brave reading two King's at the same time. Lisey's Story is my favorite SK book. ;-)

:) I think King is a fab author. Misery is my fave one at the moment.

I'm just finishing up In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, a much shorter read than Omnivore's Dilemma. I started my July ER book, Sweetsmoke by David Fuller last night.

I'm about halfway through Assisted Loving: True Tales of Double Dating with My Dad, and it's pretty decent so far....not quite as light as I was hoping for, but interesting and funny.

#139 - I'm reading In Defense of Food this week too!

Because of distractions *cough cough* Breaking Dawn (which I have decided that I liked) and Expect Resistance *cough*, I'm not yet finished with Foucault's Pendulum. Should be in a couple of days though.

Next up after that, unless I get distracted again, is Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Gack. Moving stinks. Mr. Man read me the rest of Orsinian Tales last night, his first LeGuin if one can imagine living 35 years on the planet without reading The Left Hand of Darkness or A Wizard of Earthsea, and he's keeping the entire set I vacuumed up at my own yard sale (a friend's donation). I grudge it not, a convert to LeGuinishness is a valuable thing.
Now please...no one cause me cardiac arrest here and tell me y'all haven't read Dr. Ursula Kroeber LeGuin's gorgeous prose...

#142 richardderus - I've read The Left Hand of Darkness for one of my high school English classes, and even though my partner and I had to churn out a bunch of essays and do a ton of research on it, I actually enjoyed it, even though I'm not a huge fan of science fiction.

The Earthsea Trilogy was a favorite of mine years ago...
My LeGuins wandered off with my kids as the years went by... but as you say, a convert to LeGuinishness is a good thing...

Just started my ER book Sweetsmoke as well. So far so good. Then back to Time Travelers Wife.

Desirable Residences by E.F. Benson, The Book on the Bookshelf by Henry Petroski, and Birds' Nests in Their Beards by William Stevenson (about Indonesia in the 1950s and 1960s)

I finished The Madonnas of Leningrad and highly recommend this book.
Last night, I started The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Thus far it is slow, but holding my interest.

#118 But where's the bedtime book? ;D

Just started Deer Hunting With Jesus: Dispatches From America's Class War by Joe Bageant.

I just finished In the Woods by Tana French. It's an excellent thriller. I am starting The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. I'm looking forward to this one, based on the stellar reviews.

I still have a bad cold that wasn't made any better by reading Toronto Noir edited by Janine Armin and Nathaniel G. Moore. This is a terrible book-please don't read it.
I did finish Black Swan Green by David Mitchell which was terrific.
Still reading Cultural Amnesia by Clive James and liking it.

I really got down to reading Farworld yesterday and was totally captivated, read the entire 400 pages (it is young adult and a quick read).

Since I didn't think I could read a little bit of Sweetsmoke right before bed, I decided to go ahead and begin One More Year. These debut short stories have been getting mixed reviews, but I'm LOVING them so far - at least the two I've read!

#64, Dara85

What did you think of the ending? (talking about Despereaux)

I'm having mixed feelings and I'm not exactly sure why.

As for the tone, it was dark wasn't it. My children are 6 and 8 y.o. and I actually ended up paraphrasing it. My youngest is pretty sensitive to injustice, and I think the bits about Miggery Sow would have been too much for him.

I finished Einstein and enjoyed it--the challenge of hanging on to the physics was tempered with good writing and an interesting life. Also, the coming book group discussion propelled me through any slow parts.

I squeezed in The Eyre Affair which was a fun read and am now a few pages into The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York. It's 1200 pages but has pulled me in, and again a book group date of 9/21 holds sway. I'll balance that with The $64 Tomato because that's what I'm harvesting now!

Anyone else feeling blue because the TBR pile looms and any new titles for the wish list are soooooo far from being read? I'm loathe to add new works to my "lifetime" list. I think it's time to go cold turkey on Law and Order reruns!

I attended a Janis Ian concert last night and bought a copy of her newly published autobiography Society's Child. Thus far it is darn good!

I finished Months and Seasons, which is a wonderful collection of short fiction, and the review is up in Readerville . I'm also giving away a signed copy to one lucky reader.

I also finished Assisted Loving: True Tales of Double Dating with My Dad, and it was funny, touching, and a very enjoyable summer read.

Now onto The Handmaid's Tale, which I've been excited about for quite a while.

#156: Hope you enjoy The Handmade's Tale as much as I did! It's a great read.

I finished Coraline yesterday, and started Scarlett this morning. I'm really excited about the latter, as I loved Gone with the Wind, hopefully it delivers.

I finished Priestess of Avalon rapidly, and have had it back on the bookshelf for a few days now.

Today at lunch, I finished Conquering Gotham, and started A Monarchy Transformed while waiting on line at the post office.

I just started Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones.

The longlist for the 2008 Booker Prize was announced last week, and I'm trying to read as many of the 13 books as I can before the winner is announced in mid-October. On Sunday I finished Netherland by Joseph O'Neill, and early this morning I completed The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, which were both excellent. I started reading A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif, which has made me laugh out loud a half dozen or so times in the first 30 pages. I also started 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff.

I'm only 30 pages into The Handmaid's Tale and am loving it. Atwood's prose is just so wonderful, I felt pulled into the story from the very first page.

#160 kidzdoc I just finished A Case of Exploding Mangoes, it was great. I was unaware of the actual event before reading this book. I reserved it from my library a while ago and feel quite smug that I did that well before the Booker list came out.

I just picked up from local thrift store:

The Giver by Lois Lowry
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I finished The Richest Season by Maryann McFadden today. I really enjoyed the book. It's an emotionally touching book, one I could really relate to. My review is In the Shadow of Mt. TBR.

sydamy: I loved The Giver! It's one of our family's favorite. :-D

I finished The Richest Season by Maryann McFadden today. I really enjoyed the book. It's an emotionally touching book, one I could really relate to. My review is In the Shadow of Mt. TBR.

#119 - It didn't strike me until recently that I should try to divide my books by time of day/meals, but it just so happened that I was reading them this way, so I thought, why not?!

#148 - If I'm still reading at bedtime (lately I've been turning out the light quickly), then I tend to read either the Bible - I'm working through the OT right now - or one of the faith books that I have going (I don't list these frequently, as they take me much longer).

#159 I read Mister Pip earlier this year and loved it (although I have to agree that the ending was abit of a let-down). Such a powerful message about the importance of books.

No sign of my ER book Smoke Gets in Your Eyes LP so I started a recent acquisition Bridget Jones's Diary. Very entertaining.

sydam: enjoy The Giver...it was one of the first books that really made an impression on me when I read it in 6th grade. Then, I re-read it in college a few years ago and appreciated it so much more. It is truly a work of art, and I hope you'll love it as much as I did.

I officially *heart* Margaret Atwood and am happily trotting off to spend the rest of the evening with The Handmaid's Tale.

I finished His Way (agh, touchstone not working), a political biography about one of NZ's prime ministers. It was a doorstopper, but a good read about recent history. My new downstairs book is Water for Elephants , and my upstairs book is Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Both are great so far. My car book is languishing under the front seat...

I plan on reading an arc of Philip Roth's Indignation next.

Travels With a Donkey by Robert Louis Stevenson (I have a 1911 edition that has apparently never been read, so I'm enjoying it for that reason as well)

The Gunslinger by Stephen King

trying to finish Pandora's Star by Peter Hamilton

and starting the 2009-10 MASL Gateway nominee list with In Search of Mockingbird by Loretta Ellsworth

oh yeah, also about halfway through my ARC of Blackbird, Farewell by Robert Greer... look for my review in a few days

Message edited by its author, Aug 7, 2008, 11:01am.

cmt: I hope you enjoy Water for Elephants...it took me forever to pick it up, and it was so unexpectedly wonderful.

Kara Kush - Idries Shah

Gale Force by Rachel Caine, Dayworld Rebel, Everything's Eventual by Stephen King, and Obsessed by Dekker.

> trying to finish Pandora's Star by Peter Hamilton

Me, I'm just starting. My first Hamilton, and I went in well aware of his reputation for being quite wordy. Well, the first 100 pages rocketed by. THEN I got to the part where one of the characters does this storm-powered glider adventure-ish thing that went on *needlessly* for PAGES. Uh, excuse me? Pete, were you trying to destroy any momentum the story had up to that point? Is this what I'm in for for the next 1900 pages? I've just never had anythying go from so interesting to so dull with the simple flip of a page...

#170> I'm curious to know what you mean by "reading an arc" of Indignation, which I see is not due out until September 1. If you'd said "reading an erc," I'd have assumed you meant "early reviewer copy." But "arc" is a puzzle to me. Perhaps a publishing term of some sort? "Atmospheric reviewers copy"?

>176 ARC stands for advanced readers copy I think

# 176
'Advance Reviewer Copy' is what most publishers seem call these early review books.

>175

yes I recall that longgg passage. I'm sure that it will have bearing later... surely

I'm up to about p.200 and hoping that my mooching of the rest of Hamilton's books don't prove to be a mistake

I'm reading Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin, and will probably finish it on the commute home tonight. The heroine of this novel, set in the England of Henry II, is a woman trained as a doctor in Salerno, who is sent to England to help solve the mystery of the deaths of several children.

It's a lively glimpse into the life of medieval Cambridge, and the landscape is vividly realized. Like all medieval mysteries I've read, it's greatest weakness is the requirement that the main character be far too modern in her or his worldview. Of course, it would be hard to have a 'detective' without some of those modern ideas...

There's a romantic sub-plot, which I found a little too predictable, but it didn't reduce my enjoyment of the novel. It's not great literature, but it is a lot of fun. I'd recommend it highly.

#169 cmt ---I agree w/ bnbookladly--I too loved both Water For Elephants and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is also a great read.

I started reading When We Were Romans last night, but I'm also in The Conquest of Gaul ...zzzzz....|-o

I'm starting Twilight today, too. Since I have Breaking Dawn and haven't read any of them, maybe I should hopped-to and get 'em read.

I told myself that I was going to start Relic but I just can't seem to find any initiative. Instead, I'm still rereading Interview with the Vampire, but I've also started in on It for the ten millionth time. I also have Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King lined up before I go back to school.

Still reading Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray. Becky Sharp just gets more scary.

koolaidmom: best of luck with Twilight. You know how I feel about those :)

>182,
You should fly through the Twilight books. High literature they're not (but I did enjoy them for what they were).

I finished Harry Potter book 1 today :/

I'm starting "How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read' by Pierre Bayard.

But I really did read Harry

:)

Me Snodgrass - I come in peace.

Nearly a hundred pages into Twilight, and the only complaint I've had so far is that it kind of dragged in the Science class while Edward and Bella were chatting. I'd have to say, for now, I'm hooked.

I can relate to Bella, feeling awkward and overlooked in high school myself.

#188 - thekoolaidmom

I agree with shootingstarr7...the Twilight saga will never be an example of fine literature, but I find them to be extremely addicting and entertaining! Although I must admit that I never really liked Bella until halfway through Breaking Dawn. I hope you enjoy the series!

Finished Wildcard by Rachel Lee and have started The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster...

>180 Ynergy, another item on the Amazon wish list...that sounds really exciting. When I'll get to read it, that's really exciting too...permaybehaps when I'm 60. Twelve years in my TBR pile isn't out of the question....

>184 kittycatpurr, Becky Sharp is very, very well named, don't you think? Almost Dickensian in the accuracy of that one.

>187 Snodgrass, peace is good, but is that a ~meh~ face on Harry book 1? What was the problem for you with the book?

koolaidmom, I wasn't overlookable in high school and I wanted to bellow at Bella in the little snippets that my young female fan-friend reads to me and Mr Man (most often at 1 in the morning, standing in the bedroom door book in hand and excitement in her voice, when I for one want to be snoring mightily) as each new book comes out. But they have struck a ginormous nerve in the reading public. It makes me so happy to see so many young people with their faces shoved in a book that I care relatively little what the book is.

I just got The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing, which I will be delving into as tonight's bedtime book.

I'm starting Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach.

I am reading either Troll a Love Story by Johanna Sinisalo ( recommended on LT ) or
A Royal Affair George III and His Troublesome Siblings by Stella Tillyard. I read Tillyard's first two books Aristocrats and Citizen Lord and enjoy her style.

I just finished reading Go Green (pretty good), Distracted (too smart for me), and Whiteout (fantastic). Now I am reading Ring of Hell which is so far enthralling and terribly sad at the same time.

http://www.lettersonpages.com

Still reading Child 44 (it's good) and just finished listening to Surrender by Sonya Hartnett (a bit of a wild ride!)

Finished Jonathan Livingston Seagull and have started Hatteras Blues by Tom Carlson.

Message edited by its author, Aug 8, 2008, 1:44am.

>192 beebowallace

I just read Jonathan Livingston, I thought it was wonderful! Such a lovely tale, and Jonathan is such an inspiring character.

richardderus

There's nothing wrong with good boy Harry. I guess it was my own fault for setting the bar too high with expectations. I felt the book lacked a strong plot in itself. I wasn't left with strong enthusiasm to pick vol2 before sunrise. I believe its one of those serials that's slow to kick in.

The Girl's Guide to Hunting & Fishing sounds very interesting!

I'd love to hear ur review :)

Reading "Sparta". (No point in touchstones as there are tons of books with this title). Edited by Michael Whitby.

Also finishing up "Go with Me" by Castle Freeman. A quick read, it's sort of like McCarthy-lite :)

Message edited by its author, Aug 8, 2008, 9:13am.

Insofar as Breaking Dawn goes, I wasn't really sure I would like it, but it turns out I did. A lot.

When I went to get the oil changed in my car this morning I forgot the book I started last night (Prophecy of the Flame by Lynn Hardy), so I pulled my emergency back up book, Unleash the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon out of my glove box. As usual now I want to finish reading it so will need to replace it with a different emergency back up book for next time.

I just started Breaking Dawn this morning. I have not read any of the early reviews for this book so I am starting it with an open mind.

I finished reading Astonishing Splashes of Color yesterday.

After finishing and LOVING both One More Year by Sana Krasikov and Sweetsmoke by David Fuller, I'm off to start First Daughter by Eric Van Lustbader... a bit of a change of pace...

The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium - An Englishman's World - picked this one up at a recent library sale.

50 pages left in The Handmaid's Tale, and I know it's going to earn a spot on my favorites. Then, it will be off to either Matrimony, The Sex Lives of Cannibals, or Haroun and the Sea of Stories...I can't decide.

Suggestions?

I'm giving up on Twilight (read half the book - not my thing - my daughter will probably love it) and starting on Newton's Wake

I have my head in way too many books at once. I am listening to the audiobook of Roddy Doyle's The Woman Who Walked into Doors--am nearly finished with it. I'm halfway through Excellent Women; read half of Half of a Yellow Sun, skimmed the rest, and am working on reading it over more carefully; just started The Hindi-Bindi Club and Midnight's Children; and am rereading North and South.

Just finished Simple Prayers this morning. I still have Great Expectations to finish in print form, and there's three different audiobooks going. I'm hoping to finish Great Ex today, but with the amount of work I have to do, it's more likely that The Year of Living Biblically (one of the audiobooks) will get finished first.

Big Brown just stopped by and dropped off my copy of House and Home by Kathleen McCleary. I'm on her book blog tour, Sept. 26th is my day. :-D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

crap, I had a brain fart and posted this in the wrong thread. I could just delete it, but that would leave one of those annoying gaps that say, "message deleted by author"... and this way you know I goofed.

To make this an actually appropriate post to this thread... I'm soooo loving Edward! Is it wrong for a thirty-something woman to enjoy Twilight this much?

Message edited by its author, Aug 8, 2008, 1:01pm.

The girls and I finished Prince Caspian this morning. Our next read-aloud will be The Bookstore Mouse by Peggy Christian.

I am enjoying The Hard to Catch Mercy by William P. Baldwin.

After reading so much about The Lace Reader here on LT I requested it from the library. I keep checking their website to see how many people ahead of me... should only be another couple of weeks!

So this week I've read The Peanut Allergy Answer Book twice since my two year old son's diagnosis on Tuesday. I'm also reading Rushdie's Midnight's Children along with a bunch of other folks for the Group Reads group and, in a largely unsuccessful attempt to lighten my heart, Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich.

>204 booklady, Haroun and the Sea of Stories has staying power, The Sex Lives of Cannibals is quite unintentionally depressing, and I have no opinion whatever of Matrimony the book because I've never heard of it and, of the estate, I have a fairly dim opinion since my own two marriages proved to me that mixed marriages are a mistake and I can't legally marry Mr. Man.

Margaret Atwood

HOW did you get a touchstone for this woman and I CAN'T?! Dang!

>210 nancyewhite, I am so sorry to hear of your son's condition. That's a miserable one to manage. I am sending supportive energy. There! Feel that? ;-)

ETA: >198 Good lord, Snodgrass, I cruised right past my response to you! Apologies, apologies. So far the review of The Girl's Guide to HUnting and Fishing: ~meh~ Mildly amusing. The hoo and the pla, the ker and the fuffle that attended its initial publication had me hoping for hilarity and hijinks. Some grins. A giggle here and there. Nothing stellar in the first 40pp.

Message edited by its author, Aug 8, 2008, 5:39pm.

I am currently reading "Thin: A Memoir of Anorexia and Recovery" (a re-release of "A Shape of My Own")by Grace Bowman.

I hope to start reading "Vanished! Explorers Lost Forever" by Evan Balkan this weekend. It was an early reviewers' book that arrived really late but just flipping through it it seems like it will be worth the wait.

Fast Friends by Jill Mansell, Can't put it down. A reunion with old school friends can be a truly joyful occasion. Then again, as Camilla Stewart discovers, sometimes it can change your world forever. Is riotous you've just got to read it.
Mirandas Big Mistake by Jill Mansell, you've got to read this one its "brilliant" Its funny, its sad, its romantic with a great ending.

I finished Go Go Girls of the Apocalypse by Victor Gischler. It was an impulse pick. I saw it in the store, and thought maybe it would be worthwhile in a goofy, fun kind of way. It wasn't.

Among its other problems it is another book with bad pacing. What is it with authors. You get about 50 pages from the end, and they are still setting up the big event. So everything is packed into too few pages, and at the start of it, you are left to wonder is it going to be one of those cliff hanger with sequel books ? Turns out not to have a cliff hanger, more like a fizzle. If there is a sequel, it will have to go on without me.

I am now reading Tomato Red by Daniel Woodrell. Poor white trash, but with some very good turns of phrase, so far.