Yet more summer reading (mostly because we haven't yet seen any summer here): I finished The Glass Books of Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist which is an excellent baroque crime thriller, kept me going through 745 pages and looking forward to more. Then onto a Harlan Coben binge: Deal Breaker, Fade Away, and Drop Shot all finished; now part way through Back Spin which I've read before but this way I get the back story in sequence. And thanks to the Series pages here for giving me the reading sequence (the publisher's list inside the books is worse than useless for this).

Message edited by its author, Aug 23, 2008, 6:30am.

I think it's time to get into a different What are you reading now. The one for August 1 is up to 302 and slow to get into!

I am reading

1000 Years, 1000 People and am up to 701
Pride and Prejudice and am within striking distance of finishing it (Yes!)
Day of the Vipers, a backstory of Star Trek:DS9

I'm reading Troll:a love Story by Johanna Sinisalo.

GreyHead, just how thick is a 7450 page book? };->~

I'm reading Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do by Tom Vanderbilt.

I'm also starting The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri by David Bajo. A debut novel that I had never heard of until yesterday when I espied it in the new release section. Love, sex, books, and mathematics. I'll see.

Lush Life by Richard Price, took me a little while to get it, but now I know what's going on and I like it.

I'm about a third of the way through The Queen in Winter, a collection of four novellas. It's decent so far, but the first story didn't exactly blow me out of the water.

I was happily cruising along, reading King Leopold's Ghost (though I was away most of last week and didn't get any reading done, too tired at the end of the day). I suddenly realized that I have Two books due for Book Groups next week. Oops.

I am now starting The Icarus Hunt by Timothy Zahn, and Perfume by Patrick Suskind. Not sure if they will be done in time (Tuesday, Thursday).

Message edited by its author, Aug 16, 2008, 10:46am.

I love Perfume! One of my favorites of the year. It's a quick read - I bet you'll finish by Thursday.

I'm still on Bleak House, but I'm up to chapter 13 now so it's crawling right along. I really like it, I'm just slow. Also, I started The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and everyone who raved about it is absolutely right. Love it.

I'll finish that this afternoon, so I'll probably start reading Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman when Bleak House gets to be too much. I've never read Gaiman before, but I wanted to read his story about Susan Pevensie so I picked it up from the library.

edited because I can't spell. Or punctuate.

Message edited by its author, Aug 16, 2008, 10:50am.

I'm about halfway through Gravity's Rainbow and The Unabridged Edgar Allen Poe. I also am working on The Fire by Katherine Neville, which is an Early Reviewer book.

#8 - is it me or do all the "classics" crawl along?

I am readin Pride and Prejudice as I know people who love Jane Austin and thought I'd better see what it was they liked and I am afraid I just don't get it.

This happened when I read Mark Twain, too.

I finished Ines of my soul last night, and I really enjoyed it! Started reading The Hours this morning.

#8: jfetting, Thanks. I hope so, but the other book is due Tuesday, so I will start Perfume second,

#10 Koalamom Yes it does seem that way with a lot of older books. Then you have modern people who deliberately set out to write like that too !

Message edited by its author, Aug 16, 2008, 11:27am.

I just finished Dearly Devoted Dexter which was lots of fun, next up for me is Something More.

Late last night, I finished The Lace Reader, which I read pretty much in one sitting. So, yeah, not bad. Today I will start Dear American Airlines which I finally got from the library after three months on hold. After that I think I will get to Signed, Mata Hari. Again I find myself reading books in the order they are due back at the library.

#11 RedbowlingBallRuth - I just finished Ines myself and loved it - reviewed it too. I like Allende's work.

I saw the movie The Hours and think I'll put the book on my "I Want to Read that" list. (I find a lot of books this way - guess that's the point of LT!!!!)

#10 koalamom

I have a hard time with classics too...it's not just you!

I'm just glad that now I do not have a sheet with a gazillion questions to answer about the book. Teachers always found the most minute thing and based several questions on that!

I can enjoy a book better when I don't have to answer minute questions!

I copied and pasted this from the last thread, since I posted it so late last night.

I finished reading New Moon and posted my review In the Shadow of Mt. TBR.

I liked it... I did... and I'm addicted to the books, particularly to EDWARD... but wasn't as fond of this one as the first. Maybe I didn't like it as much because Edward broke up with and left Bella, so I had to suffer through most of the book listening to her whine... and almost die... again... without the wonder and beauty ... and romance... of Edward.

Seriously, Bella is starting to get on my nerves.

BTW! Those of who who might be Twilight fans, Meyers is writing another Twilight book called Midnight Sun and it's told from Edward's perspective. :-D

#8 jfetting - the Susan story was my favourite in the entire collection. I hope you get as much out of it as I did.

I finished Earth Abides which I completely adore, and started my friend Mickey Z.'s novel CPR for Dummies which is cruising along at a tremendous pace. So far so interesting. Two sex scenes in 15pp, neither one gratuitous or unsavory. Always knew there was a reason the guy is my friend. Too bad about the whole straightness thing, though....

(Mick, just kidding of course, you know I love Michele.)

#5, ktleyed, Lush Life is one of my favorite books so far this year.

I'm on the verge of finishing The Dark Side by Jane Mayer, impeccably researched, horrifying, and chilling.

I'm reading Midnight's Children and am ready to begin with Bleak House.
BH has an interesting introduction by Nabokov, and MC has an essay by the author (Salman Rushdie).
Both novels are group reads (LT group: 'Group Reads - Literature').

Message edited by its author, Aug 16, 2008, 3:04pm.

#18 thekoolaidmom

I've always been a Team Jacob kind of girl, but I agree with you on the fact that Bella is extremely irritating in New Moon. I never saw her as brave or sincere or pure...I see her as a whiny martyr whose "selfless" actions are driven by her own self interests. And the fact that she accepts her own half formed assumptions as truth really bugs me...like when she believed that she and Edward were going to be leaving Forks in the beginning of the novel.

On another note, I finally finished reading Interview With the Vampire for the umpteenth time, and as usual, it was worth every second I spent reading. I'm closing in on the last 400 pages of It, so maybe I really will have time to read Hearts in Atlantis before I go back to school!

I just finished Naruto Volume 6 and am about to start Naruto Volume 7. Honestly, I enjoy these rather more than I think someone my age should... :-)

Still working on The Mysterious Island and The Color of Magic. I'm hoping that having a vacation from one of my part-time jobs this coming week will aid in shortening my over a foot high pile of library books and audiobooks....

ETA: Honestly, I put touchstones in but they're not working. :-(

Message edited by its author, Aug 16, 2008, 3:11pm.

I am reading Symptoms of Withdrawal and Incantation. Couldn't decide so I started both. That is bad. Very bad.

I finished Possible Side Effects by Augusten Burroughs. My review is at The Book Lady's Blog .

I am reading an ARC of The Hunger Games which I got from entering a contest. I totally forgot all about it untill last week when the book showed up in the mail! What a nice surprise!

can't read Burroughs, on principle.

I've never read Burroughs, but now I'm intrigued...

SPILL IT, MCKAIT! please, I mean :-D

Have you read anything of his KAM?

It is all horrible stuff. I can't help but wonder if he isn't...embellishing. Either way, I cannot bear to read it.

I, like some others here, had some pretty dreadful things go on in my childhood. I don't/ can't bear to dwell on them. Reading such stuff is not good for anyone, in my opinion, even though it might be good for the writer.
I did read Running With Scissors, and that is why I feel this way.

>30...mckait..my friend...can i give you my Take on '"memoirs"

#1- they have to SELL copies..so, a little embellishment goes a long(sometimes too far) way...do you belive everything you read:?...not i, said the little red hen!
i have a friend in NYC who has written several MEMOIRS and his editors always encouraged him to, uh ,embellish (yuck, crap snort!!!but i love that word..EMBELLISH!!! okay,,i'm nuts, and OLD...sue me!

read a Memoir...take IT with a ton of salt
that's my opinion..and i'm sticking to it!...Mea Culpa..and all that jazz

I did see the movie "Running with Scissors" and thought it was total crap. The idea all that could happen to one human was beyond unbelievable. An embellished memoir? Fact-based fiction, more like.

Now that I know Bourroughs wrote Running with Scissors, I'm up to speed.

BTW, didn't I read something James Frey (Oprah's favorite memoir writer) said something like lies + non-fiction equals really good non-fiction?

Message edited by its author, Aug 16, 2008, 6:26pm.

I finished The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus and I've started Thirteenth Night by Alan Gordon.

>32..heads up James Frey's Memoir was..mostly..fiction..part of the whole flap...HOWCANTHESEPEOPLELIETOUSTHEDASTARDS..
AHEM my little rant..i wonder how Oprah...never mind i don't like Oprah,,,she deserves the "screwing" she got on that one...pardon me if i offend..i will make it up to you later..
check up above on #31 for my TAKE on memoirs
thank you for putting up with my Rant!

Message edited by its author, Aug 16, 2008, 6:43pm.

Oh my -- I just finished the Story of Edgar Sawtelle -- I am feeling so .. so .. I don't know how to say it without spoiling anything -- but I feel like I need to ring up the author and a have a word with him!

James Frey I really disliked that guy..

I guess I am looking for more happy in my emoir reads. I liked Janice Erlbaums books. Tough times, but good read and It wasn't all negative. I recommend both of her books .

mckait, agree! I disliked Frey on the show where Oprah introduced his book, and thought why would I want to read about him when he was even more unlikeable??? Have also avoided Burroughs's books, too sensational/shocking. But I am in the middle of an audiobook of Look Me in the Eye by Aspergian John Elder Robison, Burroughs's brother ... okay so far.

The Late Bloomer's Revolution by Amy Cohen. I just finished The 19th Wife and I absolutely loved it!

I should finish Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall tonight or tomorrow. Next up The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff. I guess I am on a Morman kick!

Detailmuse.. I want to read Look Me In The Eye eventually.
I am hoping to get a copy of The 19th Wife sometime. I am also anxious to read American Wife, it is on my wishlist at amazon :)

Message edited by its author, Aug 16, 2008, 8:59pm.

For #35. So how did you end up feeling about "Edgar Sawtelle"? I finished it a couple days ago, with mixed blessings.

#8 - Fragile Things is a great choice to begin with Gaiman. I've always loved his short stories, and if you like that book, I suggest Smoke and Mirrors.

I'm reading The Eyre Affair and The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories. It's a pretty strange jump between the two, but both books are fascinating so far.

>mckait from last week's thread, also jfetting and others who commented on The Historian: I was so so ready to love this book. I love books about creepy unexplained coincidences and investigations into hitherto unimagined corners of a parent/guardian/authority figure's life. I adore books about vampires. I am wild for books that reimagine and revisit historical time periods that don't bore me rigid *cough*theAmericanCivilWar*cough*. And a rotten ending will just cause me to become unhinged. If Ms. Kostova is a Thingamabrarian, I say this to her directly: WRAP IT UP and leave it alone. Don't dribble on for 140 more pages.

>AMQS from last week's thread, oh yes ma'am you did your evil work all too well. I Amazonned Crow Lake before the end of that day. Side note, I really enjoy reading literature by Canadian writers. The settings are all just unfamiliar enough in their particulars that I get the frisson of foreignness and still no need for a slangtionary to understand what the heck they're talking about like Irvine Welsh's books.

As a young person I read a lot of Mordecai Richler's books, starting with St. Urbain's Horseman. Canada has been an ongoing source of literary pleasure since then. Paul Quarrington's funny funny Whale Music and others; Pierre Berton's squanchy-jawed look at the modern age; Candas Jane Dorsey's SF inventions...I wish to goodness these were all best sellers south of that long border.

I just powered through The Hunt for the Seventh today because HarperCollins really wants their review before the 30th and I've got 4 more books (3 of them fairly long) that I wanted to have read and reviewed by then as well. That leaves me onto one of those very books, American Wife to start on as soon as I tear myself back away from LT.

P.S., mckait, leave me a message on my profile expressing your desire for American Wife. I won't promise anything, but if I feel that it is one that can be released after I finish, I might be able to release it in your direction.

You know, at one point I was really excited to read The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. The reviewer in my local paper (Houston Chronicle) called it about the best book she had read in 13 years of reviewing. I joined the hold list at my library, and am currently sitting at 108th. But I think you all have convinced me not to read it (see #35 jhowell, #41: msf59 along with lots of comments on previous threads). The responses here have been really consistent. Great beginning, irritating finish.

Just finished Sweetsmoke by David Fuller, an early reviewer book about slave during the civil war attempting to investigate a murder. Very good, but I'm still processing and I'm not sure how to explain. It's a good story, well written, comes across as exceptionally well researched, and I found it profound in many ways. I also found part of it a sort of crazy-plot-driven mystery.

Not sure what's next. My TBR says To A God Unknown by John Steinbeck. I haven't read him before.

-edited to fix a typo

Message edited by its author, Aug 17, 2008, 9:55pm.

Currently reading The Abstinence Teacher - so far not bad!

I just finished Quiet, Please: Dispatches from a Public Library by Scott Douglas and This Sister by Poppy Adams. Yesterday I started Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs and an old book by Paul Gallico called Too Many Ghosts. I remember that it really scared me when I read it decades ago, but imagine it will be pretty tame in this day and age. Touchstones not working.

# 42 spiraledstar - Oh good! I'm always a little afraid whenever I read a book by a previously unknown-to-me author (especially prolific ones) that I picked their one lousy book to read. So I'm glad to hear that people liked Fragile Things. And I'm happy to hear you are enjoying The Eyre Affair!

#44 richard, 'twasn't me who commented on The Historian, but I'm adding my vote to the pro-Historian column. However, I will agree that she could've used some editing. But, oh, the scenes in Budapest! I want to go there now, you know?

The editing thing seems like a common problem these days. Does anyone else feel like this? So many authors ramble way past when they should have stopped. This was Kostova's first book, right? Her editor should have stepped in. Sometimes I wonder if publishers mistake length for excellence. Overall, though, I did like it. I always like a good vampire story.

Finally, I have The Story of Edgar Sawtelle on reserve at the library, and am starting to worry about all the negative reviews. I'm glad I didn't buy it.

richard... I too absolutely hate a bad ending. The best of books can be spoiled by a weak or puny ending. Once or twice I have read books that not on, only have a good ending.. but a sort of final chapter that sums up what happened
after the ending. I loved that even more!

I will read The Historian. I want to. I think what is so daunting is its size. I have a hardback copy, and it is heavy! I love long, thick books.. but they are not so portable..

I am glad I followed my instincts on The Story of Edgar Sawtelle..as well as Twilight and the rest of those...( my instinct was to run away, run away!)

Message edited by its author, Aug 17, 2008, 7:30am.

I don't want y'all to misundersatnd me about The Story of Edgar Sawtelle -- I think it is a worthy read and would definately recommend it. There are some parts that are overwritten and repetitive, but on the whole -- it was great.

I would not classify the ending as bad - meaning poorly written. It does not drag on like some say of The Historian, there is great emotional catharsis --it is hard to discuss without spoiling anything --lets just say, I remain haunted by the ending. But I would say - do read it.

Message edited by its author, Aug 17, 2008, 8:11am.

>46 dchaikin, To A God Unknown is unknown to me, but John Steinbeck was a writer whose power and economy and good fortune in his editors (see discussions above) make anything by him worth reading.

East of Eden was, by today's standards, pretty much a sudser and would've gotten a paperback initial release, but it's an excellent sudser (is this term unique to me and my sister? meaning soap-opera-y chick-lit-like melodrama). Please let us hear from you about it as you go on, since I for one am really curious about the book.

>49 jfetting, over in the science fiction fans forum I posted a long rant about editing in today's publishing world, which boils down to:
It's really really hard to edit a book so that you mine out the best pieces and conk the writer in such a way as to create better, less sloppy tale-telling habits. It's really easy to find an interesting project that has (as what does not?) flaws, buy it, and tell the writer, "Go fix this up and send it back to me when you're done." THen, when it comes back, coo and lavish praise, publish it, and at most have your editorial assistant go over it once before it gets copyedited and proofread.

Not everyone in publishing does this, of course, but the majority of editors would be hard pressed to find TIME to do the editing work that is needed to bring a good book to its polished greatness. How can a publisher justify the expense of having people sit around reading and scribbling when they could be churning out promotional copy, surfing this newfangled interweb thingie looking for bloggers to pimp their authors' books to, wining and dining the agents who supply the product they survive off of, etc etc?

Oh dear...I thought I was going to boil that down...seems I just made it shorter by leaving out bits. Whatever, so sorry, I will now cruise forth to say sorry about imputing motives to you re: The Historian.

>50 mckait dearie-blossom, you will read this and, I devoutly hope, love it with a passion. I don't want you to waste a single reading moment when work and life make their unending and unmeetable demands on you. But go in with your eyes wide open: Budapest is a character in this book that will steal your heart, as happened with me and jfetting (so it seems). I went to Budapest in 1968 (my father's timing for trips was impeccable...landed in Paris during the May 1968 student riots, visited Eastern Europe during the Prague Spring) and have never been so overwhelmed by a city's character. I loved the place. Florence made an equal impression on me that same trip. Other places, well, they were just places.

>51 jhowell, I thank you for making your reservations clear while qualifying them as reservations only, not warnings. I still think this is one of my "not until I'm desperate" books or one I'll acquire when it's on a dollar table somewhere.

I finished Troll:A Love Story by Johanna Sinisalo. It was fascinating , well crafted and translated although the ending was a little -hmm- out of left field and artificial. The science fiction part kicked in a little too late. Still an interesting read. Now balancing Away by Jane Urquhart, Cultural Amnesia by Clive James, Granta 96 War Zones and a few more.

#52 ~ richardderus.....I love the term "sudser"!! Thank you for adding a great new descriptive word to my biblioholic vocabulary!!

Our local library system has what it calls "Scranton Reads" every year. Last year they read Grapes of Wrath which I found to be very good (a classic I liked). I now intend to find more Steinbeck to enhance my reading lists.

And I actually finished Pride and Prejudice - sort of. The edition I was reading from is part of a set of books containing many classic authors, like Shakespeare, Browning and Austin. The austin also has Sense and Sensibility, which I have already mentioned. I got to within 5 pages of finishing P&P when the book suddenly went into S&S (and the first fewpages of S&S are wrong too after you get a few pages in, however. I willnow go to the library and read the last few pages to see the outcome.

The set was bought back in the 60's (not by me) and put on a shelf. Some of the collection have been read, but not the Austin, obviously. ARRGH!

Still working on A Monarchy Transformed. And knitting.

#52 richard - I think you're right, and that it's really too bad. As a reader I think it'd be worth it to take the effort to make a good book great, or a decent book good, but I don't know anything about the publishing world.

#55 koalamom - oh no! That's terrible! It would drive me crazy to be thisclose to knowing how it all turned out and then have to wait. Especially for this book...

I'm reading The Eight so that when I read The Fire I'll have the story clearly in mind since I originally read it in about 1994,then re-read about 3 years ago.

I'm also still slogging through The Power Makers by Maury Klein. Slow-going but rewarding nonfiction.

Just finished Sweetsmoke and happily give it a 5* rating. You can read my review here: http://www.librarything.com/work/5474830....

Now on to Queens of Havana by Alicia Castro.

Finished Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth yesterday and starting Fault Lines today. I will be reading it in English, but cannot find a touchstone for that. It will be released in the US in October.

#55 koalamom: I loved The Grapes of Wrath, don't miss Cannery Row and my personal favorite The Moon is Down.

FWIW, I really liked The Historian. Perhaps I'm used to drag-on endings or something, because I didn't notice it so much.

#52 Richard: I echo the thanks for the term 'sudser' I'll add it to my bookcabulary.

Oh and I've started Dorsai! by Gordon Dickson (hard to believe that I've left this science fiction classic series til this late in life) and In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson (prompted by finishing his A Walk in the Woods and The Cactus Eaters by Dan White).

Message edited by its author, Aug 17, 2008, 11:47am.

#52 Richard, I love "sudser". It's perfectly descriptive and concise. I always called those kinds of books frothy or frou-frou (the latter reserved particularly for books containing more froth and less book).

I was wondering if the lack of good, thorough editing was just me getting older, less patient, and more persnickety. It's a relief to see that I'm not the only one! I agree that the world of books and publishing has become a huge production machine -- like everything else, I guess. That makes the true gems and true craft all the more special.

Years and years ago I read and loved Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns. The unfinished sequel, Leaving Cold Sassy contains the beginning of the sequel, author notes for some of the rest of the story, a short biography of the author, and a very interesting peek into the editing process of the first book (described as a very committed, two-way journey), written by the editor. I'd like to think that dedicated process still takes place, but like Richard, I suspect that the promotion machine looms large over it all.

Nothing at the moment. I'm waiting for my books to be shipped - GRRR!!!!

I was supposed to start Good ol' Harry Potter vol2 but I can't bring myself to pick it up. I tried to like vol1 but I couldnt :/

thanks, kcs_hiker, I love getting new ideas for books

now if someone could invent a longer day for me to get caught up on just what I physically have in the house so I could go onto my ever growing lists!

Never gonna happen - I just go to another booksale and refill the bookshelves!

Ah, go ahead Snodgrass99, pick up HP #2.

Actually I didn't get into the series until I was given a copy of #4 and then I had to go out and buy the first 3 before I could read that.

Even at 700 pages, these books are hard to put down.

sudser= good word and many thanks richard from dearie blossom.

I rather like that and may have to change my user name.

I read both of those, #62, at my sisters urging.

If I were to tag them, it would be ewww!

POI The Fire does have a brief summary of The Eight, in the beginning, to bring you up to speed on what has gone before. Having read The Eight once, while wearing a baseball cap to try to keep my head from exploding, I send Kudos to anyone who reads it more than once. I cannot imagine doing that. The Fire was better in some ways, but I will never read either of them again. They have been mooched away with my hope that the new home will appreciate them more than I did.

Isn't it a good thing we all like different things?

I jumped into Hearts in Atlantis this morning, and I haven't been able to put it down! It's different that most of King's other novels, but it's extremely readable...I couldn't believe it when I looked down and saw that I was 80 pages in after what seemed like a few short minutes!

Snodgrass99 - Try reading the 2nd Harry Potter book! It's one of my favorites, even though it was written for younger readers. If you can make it to the 4th book or so, I think you will be rewarded...the series gets darker and much more complex!

#66 mckait, I read Cold Sassy Tree when I was about 17, and I've often wondered if books I really loved when I was younger I would love if I read them now. A few years ago my book club read The Mists of Avalon because many members had loved it years ago. This time around we all decided it was probably best read before age 20.

I've heard similar things about The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books -- that if you don't read them when young you may never enjoy them. I have never read them, but I would be interested in hearing what other LTers think.

I just started The Physician's Tale by Ann Benson this morning. Too early to decide if I like it or not. I enjoy books that weave a tale by jumping back and forth in time. I recently finished Labyrinth and Sepulchre by Kate Mosse and enjoyed both books.

#68 I read Cold Sassy Tree within the last year, at the age of 50+. I really enjoyed it.

I recently reread A Tree Grows in Brooklyn having read that at 16 or 17 and I really enjoyed it a second time.

I have read them twice and got something from each experience. My first time was back in the 60s when they became popular - before the movies, way before the movies had the right technology to do them justice. I was in high school then and I think you could enjoy them now.

Well, I got to the library and finished Pride and Prejudice. It was OK, but could have used fewer words. But I guess that's what they liked back in the early 1800s; that was their entertainment, their TV/movies, so to speak. - And we tossed the defective book.

I got to 800 in 1000 Years... and am halfway through Day of the Vipers.

I picked up Sugarplum Dead while at the library. didn't feel right going there and not coming home with a book and I am trying to get through this series so I can start another - that I discovered on LT.

this week i am reading "Dali and I" an LibraryThing early reviewer book and getting around to the Alchemist and Animal Farm

I've started The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow today. I have never read anything of his and had heard this mentioned as the possible 'Great American novel.' I don't know about this. A bit hard to get into so far.

#52 richardderus - "sudser" eh? Not how I imagined Steinbeck. Anyway, I'll be happy to give feedback here. But before I read it, I'm going to take a few days and catch up on the NYTimes Book Reviews. I'm up to July 6.

#51: jhowell - Thanks for the extra note on Sawtelle. Maybe I will go ahead and read it. Who knows, I have quite some time to decide!

The Adventures of Augie March is a rather difficult book to get into, and very possibly an over-rated one as well, but it did establish Bellow's reputation rather solidly however. I abandoned it after 50 pages about 20 years ago, but went back to it about 5 years ago, and really liked it. The book's sort of free-floating picaresque style can be annoying at times, and it's interesting that Bellow never once used this particular approach again in any of his subsequent novels.

Love and Mayhem Chapter 16.

Message edited by its author, Aug 20, 2008, 8:27pm.

Gee, I'm glad "sudser" has made a hit. It's always seemed perfectly descriptive and accurate to me.

Just got back from my first-ever SF convention, ArmadilloCon 30. It was a test of my resistance to temptation in the dealer's room. I ended up buying two books, Finding Serenity and Serenity Found, but that was only because not one of the authors was there at the con. I knew I would be unable to stop buying if I started in with authors there in front of my face, including fan-fave John Scalzi who was the Guest of Honor.

It was a wonderful day. I am so pleased I got to do it!

Just finished Lush Life by Richard Price.

#52 richard - I really loved loved East of Eden which I read when I was 19 or so, I ate it up. Yes, probably overly melodramatic by today's standards, but I can't agree with you about calling it a "sudser", based on your definition of "sudser". The book was a departure, in my opinion, from a lot of his other works, but an excellent sprawling tale, a classic story, full of irony and symbolism.

hehehe I have Mists of Avalon, and was long past twenty when I first read it. I read it again nearly every year. It has some essential truths within that I miss if I go too long without a visit.

I so loved a Tree Grows in Brooklynn as a young girl. I mean to get another copy soon. I have tried to mooch one without success. I guess I will have to buy a copy..

:)

Glad you had a nice time richard.

jhowell, #35, etc., dchaikin, #46, jfetting, #49, mckait #50, and any I missed about The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. I've said before that I was annoyed by this book, so I'll try not to repeat what I've already said. I did read it against my better instincts (so much hype) and at the beginning hoped for the best and was drawn in. But it was way before the end that I started losing interest, and the ending did nothing to resolve the questions in my mind.

Message edited by its author, Aug 17, 2008, 4:56pm.

doncha just hate it when you give into the hype?

I do. It really makes me feel used, LOL.

I did not have that problem at all with The Lace Reader. A fair amount of hype there, but it pulled me in and I regret not one dollar nor one minute of time spend reading it.

I am currently reading A Civil Campaign and just finished Twilight and New Moon. It isn't very often I find new books that catch my interest, as I am really a character driven reader and must deeply care about the people involved pretty quickly. But, hey, who doesn't care about Miles Vorkosigan?

Just finished A Week in October by Elizabeth Subercaseaux an Early Reviewer book, and am reading another Early Reviewer selection, The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti. I am also listening to The bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen on audiobook.

I loved Bleak House, but am happy to be buzzing along at my more regular pace.

>79 kt, The book was a departure, in my opinion, from a lot of his other works, but an excellent sprawling tale, a classic story, full of irony and symbolism

All of which I agree with, and none of which alters its sudser-ness to me. I don't think of "sudser" as a BAD thing, just a descriptive label. F/ex, Mr. Man and I adored loved ate up The Lace Reader and that was the sudser to end all sudsers! I think East of Eden is justly famous, and in fact underappreciated by modern readers.

And still a sudser. But we can ATD, I feel sure....

The Mists of Avalon hasn't made it past my eyes in many a long year, but I liked it when I read it. I feel no call to re-read it. Should I, mckait? And thanks for the good wishes!

>83 shellysn, I for one am a big Miles fan. His teratogenic defects made him so much more appealing as a character to me, and the slow changes he underwent...wow...I love Ms. Bujold.

richardderus> I agree wholeheartedly about East of Eden. I read it in book club and we had one of the longest conversations we have ever had about any book in 14 years of meetings. And to say the least, we are not short-winded (is that a word?) in the first place.

>86 hemlok, "short-winded" strikes me as a useful one, so it's a word now. "I shall try to be short-winded" will now appear in my writings somewhere. Love it!

How are you, BTW? Are the Germans still with you?

I just finished reading Leo Tolstoy: Complete and unabridged: three novels published by Barnes & Noble in its 'Library of Essential Writers' series. The three novels are: The Cossacks, War and Peace, and Anna karenina. I feel a sense of accomplishment though it took me 3.5 months to read all three during my daily commute on the ferry from Marin County to San Francisco.

Starting on next monday, I will resume reading The Mill on the Floss in George Eliot: Complete and Unabridged: Four Novels in the same "Library of Essential Writer" series. The four novels are: Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, and Middlemarch. I had read Adam Bede in January.

Still meandering through Shadow of the Wind. I took a break from it one night this past week to read Silk by Alessandro Baricco, but other than that, it's moving along swimmingly.

#76 - Agree with you so far, Louis about Augie March -- as soon as I get into a section, he is off on another 'adventure' with all new characters to get a hold of. It is readable, but I'm not enthralled.

#89 shootingstarr7 - I'm leaving for vacation on Wed. to San Francisco and Monterey and am bringing Shadow of the Wind with me to finish up. I had already started it, but then stopped reading it to finish up some library books.

I also intend to read Cannery Row and Son of the Morning by Linda Howard. We'll see how much reading I actually get done while I'm not on the plane.

#85 - richard, yes we can ATD, but I still have a hard time with the words "chick lit" used in the same sentence as Steinbeck. :)

Just finished my ER Sweetsmoke David Fuller I have to agree with #46. Please read my review. I liked it.

richardderus> In an effort to be as short-winded as possible, yes, the Germans are here for one more week......All we have left to do is hit Niagara Falls, some shopping, celebrate my son's 17th birthday..............breathe.......breathe......
and that is being short-winded ................

richard, I always wish you well :D

I think you should read Mists again, but not now. In November, when the sun sinks early and the air is chill. That is when you should read it. It has a deep spiritual meaning to me, a rightness. Let me know if you do pick it up... I will pick mine up too ..that is the time of year I like to settle into it. After reading that book, I tried reading other works by that author. They were entertaining, but lacked any substance. I feel like Mists was a gift from her muse, or her guides, or? It spoke to me in a way no other book has.

Today I finished the Christopher Kennedy Lawford book, then read The Right Attitude to Rain. I love Isabel! This was a perfect sunday afternoon read. Anyone read this one?

I also started Dennis Lehane's Mystic River. I doubt I will get more than 100 pages in before I need to sleep.

I've just finished Stardust - what a lovely read. Not as good as his Sandman stuff, but then nothing ever could be, IMO. Now I'm off to start World War Z, since my BFF says that I *have* to read it.

# 95: scaifea,
I read World War Z a couple months ago and thoroughly loved it! I hope you enjoy it as much!

I just finished Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson. I am starting Surprised by God by Danya Ruttenberg which I need to read for work. Since I'm an atheist, it is not one that I might have picked off the shelves of my favorite bookseller. Since it is published by Beacon Press and has a back-cover blurb by Lisa Jervis, co-founder of the magazine bitch: feminist response to pop culture, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll enjoy it.

I'm working on finishing Brave New World, The Zombie Survival Guide (same author as World War Z, but I still need to read that), and Physics for Entertainment. I've been working on them for some time and I'd like to finish them. (No, I don't read slowly... just in very small increments.)

Oh my goodness! I've missed such conversations these last couple days.

I don't blame anyone who avoids Burroughs on principle. It's not great writing, and I was rather aggravated with him by the end of the book. I'll take David Sedaris any day, and I didn't really love his most recent one, either.

Look Me in the Eye is wonderful...Burroughs's brother is a much better writer. I wrote a short review at The Book Lady's Blog a month or so ago.

I'm currently about 100 pages into The Sex Lives of Cannibals, and while it's good, I'm not loving it as much as I wanted to.

I have to say, I listened to a couple of Augusten Burrough's books on audio (he narrated them himself) and I laughed myself silly. I don't know if he made it all up, or even just a little, but the way he read it on audio cracked me up so bad. I have a feeling the book version wouldn't be as killer funny as the way he spoke it on audio. I know....his whole "story" is controversial and if really true, just horrible. But the way he told it still made me laugh.

I need to check out his brother's work.....and David Sedaris too! Thanks for the recommendations, booklady.

Also, I might be in the minority again here, but I also occasionally love a "sudsy" book....just for fun.

I'm just so glad that so many different people with so many different tastes can gather together around the forums here and share.... it's a good thing.

mckait ~ Dennis Lehane is one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy Mystic River. You should try Shutter Island sometime soon, if you haven't already. It was great and had a stunning ending!

mckait

How lovely to think of you sinking into The Mists of Avalon. I read it when it first came out and became utterly boring in my attempts to get everyone I knew to read it too. I never found another of her books that was as good. Enjoy, enjoy.

>91,
Hope you enjoy your visit to the Golden State! At least you're going two places where the weather is cooler- it's miserably hot inland from SF and Monterey. *glances at her overworked ceiling fan and sighs*

You'll probably finish the book before I do. I'm literally just at the halfway point.

I started Atonement last night, just a tiny bit. I'm curious what all the fuss is about. I have to say, I loved the first couple of pages.

porchy, this is my first Lehene. Someone else suggested him and I picked up two but haven't read them yet. Mystic River caught my attention, so it is first.

karogers... I read it when it first came out too. My sister bought it for me.
I too tried to get everyone to read it! ( unsuccessfully, I might add). Love it.

Finished my ER book, The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti. It is a fabulous story! I just started The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood for an LT Theme Read, and it is looking good.

Just finished The War of the End of the World by Mario Vargas Llosa - liked it; epic in proportion, though repetitive at times. This week, will start Genes, Peoples and Languages by Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza. The author is the world's leading expert on human population genetics, and here, he gives an account of genetic variation, supported by language and archeology, providing evidence of the links between races. Will also start The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric. Still working on the monumental Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey through Yugoslavia by Rebecca West. Dragging myself through Somersault by Kenzaburo Oe. At the same time, got 100 Selected Stories of O Henry as my light read.

I am close to finishing Bitter Sweets. I am really enjoying this one. I also started Blood Brothers-Nora Roberts this weekend. I do not usually read Roberts but heard this was a departure from her norm. and worth reading.
I am slowly reading Breaking Dawn. Not because it is boring, just because it is difficult to lug around.

#104 Vonini

Although it may not seem so at first, Atonement has become a very controversial book, at least to us LT-ers! We seem to be split down the middle in terms of whether we liked it or not. I personally LOVED Atonement, so I highly recommend you keep reading! It gets a bit slow in the middle, but that might have been because I thought the middle of the movie was slow too. (I saw the movie before I read the book.)

Finished Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout and I'm recommending it to everyone.
Now reading Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote.

Message edited by its author, Aug 18, 2008, 9:29am.

> 109 coloradogirl14

I had noticed that about Atonement, which made me really curious, so I decided to check it out for myself. I haven't seen the movie yet, do you think that will be an advantage?

#96 msf59: Thanks! I'm excited about reading it - I'm a fan of zombies in movie form, but I've never read a zombie book before.

I read Atonement before I saw the movie, and I think it enhanced my enjoyment of the movie as much of the novel is concerned with inner thoughts of characters which are not apparent in the movie.

I've abandoned Something More, though I usually enjoy Paul Cornell's work this one failed the '50 page test' in a big way.

next up: A Brother's Price

Just finished reading Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay over the weekend. I couldn't put it down. It is based on the story of the roundup of Jews by the French occupied government in 1942 interwoven with the story of a journalist who is assigned to cover the 60th anniversary of the event.

Just before that I finally got around to Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. After reading it, I'm not all that anxious to read any more Hemingway.

Also this summer I have read Ann Patchett's Run and Chris Bohjalian's Skeleton's at the Feast (I had read The Double Bind, not long before). Both very good. I also had a chance to reread Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby which I hadn't read since high school. Since it plays a big part in the Double Bind, I felt like I had to go back and look at it again.

I'm now picking up Philip Roth's Operation Shylock. (I've been on a Philip Roth kick this year and have read all but about five or six of his books intermittently since last winter. I had not read much of his since the early '70s and have rediscovered what a great author he is.

I also took a brief excursion into early 20th century American History with a volume I picked up in a used book store during vacation, Woodrow Wilson As I Know Him, published in 1921 by his private secretary, Joseph Tumulty. Fascinating.

>91 ktl, I can see that juxtaposition of chick lit and Steinbeck making one twitchy. Perchance if the "sudser" definition is known to be flexible and not to require each of its elements to be applied fairly...?

>93 hemlok, that was so concise as to be short-winded, though I am just plain winded at the thought of the activity level chez hemlok.

>94 mckait, let's set that up. Plan to reread The Mists of Avalon the third week of November with me. I will be on the road fron 11/5-11/12 because my daughter and her husband are planning a ceremony and I cannot miss it. Anyone else interested in a group read?

>99 booklady, no joke on the conversation-missing front! I will be computerless for at least a week starting 8/23 and I say now that I can't imagine doing anything other than just diving into the current conversations. Catching up? *eep*

Sex Lives of Cannibals was an uncomfortable book for me, and I read the whole thing not just the Pearl-Rule 50. Mr. Man and I talked about why we were so uneasy about this book. FInally we came to the conclusion that we're itchy in the presence of the author's unexpressed and seemingly unacknowledged sense of superiority hiding itself as a bewildered bemusement that we just did not buy.

FWIW. So on to happier topics: How happy was Mr. Booklady to see you again, and what books came while you were away? Lists, I'm lookin' for lists....

>100 porch, oh so true to me. His memoir in several volumes is scary awful, but so is The Glass Castle and I don't see much carrying on about how SHE made it all up. But then Jeannette Walls isn't out to be humorous. Wonder if that has something to do with it?

>107 deebee1, I read Black Lamb and Grey Falcon a long time ago when I was on a Yugoslavia kick (Illyrian Spring started it all those years ago) and I haven't revisited it because it's just such a task to read such a dense book. Are you enjoying your trip with West,?

msgemini: I'm glad to hear that Bitter Sweets has been enjoyable for you...it's coming up on my TBRs in a book or two.

Richard: Mr. Booklady was thrilled to see me, of course, and I came home to some great books at work this morning...but I'll post those lists you're looking for over on the "what books came into your home" thread, so I guess you'll have to find me there. Re: The Sex Lives of Cannibals: his sense of superiority is irking me a bit, but I'm still enjoying it...not loving it, and not sure how I'll feel in the end, but so far it's OK.

richardderus/mckait - I would interested in a group read of The Mists of Avalon. It will be new to me.

I'm still reading the fantasy Prophesy of the Flame which is very unusual as it is told in the first person, present tense. The story moves along quickly but it is a very unusual perspective.

Also started City of Ember due to the interesting movie trailer I saw and Heroes Unwrapped which is a Linden Bay romance anthology.

#3 Torontoc: How are you liking Troll: A Love Story so far? I never heard of it, but it sounds interesting.

I stopped reading The Color of Magic for now. Eventually I'll return to it, but I just have to be in the right mood to enjoy the humor. I finished listening to The Tenth Circle today. I enjoyed it, though the ending was not unexpected.

I've started reading A Walk in the Woods for nonfiction librarian research, and I'm going to start The Dark is Rising for Go Review That Book! shortly. I'm still slowly but surely making my way through The Mysterious Island.

#111 Vonini

I'm not entirely sure...if you're enjoying the book so far, then I would say you'll probably be okay without seeing the movie. For me personally, I might have had a harder time with the book if I hadn't seen the movie previously. I think knowing, and loving, the story previously helped me get into Ian McEwan's writing style.

I've just picked up The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins to read whilst I'm on holiday. Whilst I don't really take Dawkins seriously, and I am a theist (that is "a theist" not "atheist") it'll be interesting to read his point of view - I do hope he goes off on a rant regularly in the book!

I'll probably pick up The Dawkins Letters by David Robertson once I'm done.

Just finished reading The Hours, and started Good Bones and Simple Murders by Margaret Atwood.

#115 Richardderus: i picked up BLandGF for my background reading for a trip to parts of the former Yugoslavia this week, and i'm enjoying the book very much. Trying not to overwhelm myself with its density by reading them in parts slowly and carefully, and cross-checking with other sources the history bits to help reinforce my memory. Certainly one of those reads that require some effort from the reader, but which is very much worth it.

Just beginning Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - adored the Moonstone so I am looking forward to this

I finished three books this weekend, Knocked Out By My Nunga Nungas, Siddhartha, and With Our Good Will.

So I started on some much anticipated books: 7th Heaven, the most recent Women's Murder Club, and Smoke Screen, the newest from Sandra Brown.

finally(!) finishedWhen We Were Orphans...and boy howdy...what a wonderful book...although i thought, for a while, that all the characters were Lunatics...wonderful example of Memory as Trickster...a slow, slow burn of a story, and, even though the ending was a bit pedestrian...it was appropriate to this story

....unlike The Historian's ending...which was WIMPY-central!!!!but,,yeck! i disliked that book...over-hyped, over-written,over-wrought...a big let-down in the end... but that is solely my opinion...

I read Blaze yesterday, my review is In the Shadow of Mt. TBR. I rather enjoyed it. It was a bit different from Stephen King's usual fair which is why he had written it under the nom de plume of "Richard Bachman."

Still working on Confessions of a Contractor and Conquest of Gaul.

dchaikin & richardderus count me in. I have never done a group read, and look forward to it.

:)

Richard
Thank you for re-introducing Steinbeck to the discussion group. Practically anything by him is worth reading, tho', in his case, he can appear rather long-winded in some of his books.
I loved East of Eden but I wonder how many ever saw the movie adaptation of said book. What an awsome cast in its day - James Dean, Raymond Massey, Julie Harris and Jo Van Fleet among others. And directed by Elia Kazan.
Methinks I could be preaching to the those of
tender years, (my 18 year-old son, who hasn't the slightest idea who these aged geezers are, and will never, ever watch a black and white film).
Ah, sweet memories of a life long forgotten, but can still stir this old crank's bones when watching good old classic movies or reading Hemingway or Steinbeck. Now those guys could write...
To heck with yer short-winded comments.

if i can find a Used Copy-or Book Mooch a copy- by November i will be in...look forward to the discussion/dissection...*yum yum...group book fun*

duh...
this is for >94 & >116
hiya mckait & Richard!!!!

Message edited by its author, Aug 18, 2008, 6:49pm.

I am 200 people away from finishing 1000 Years...
I will probably finish Day of the Vipers tonight
and will start Sugarplum Dead tomorrow

Also went to the library today and picked up Prince of Frogtown by Rick Bragg. He's a Pulitzer winner who lives around Anniston, Alabama. We got to meet him and hear hm talk a couple of times, once about his book I am a Soldier, ... He's a real down home type of guy.

look hard jude, it is a wonderful read...

>mckait..i actually started to read The Mists of Avalon a couple of years ago..but the person i borrowed from got very shirty with me for some reason and wanted the book BACK PRONTO!! si tossed it at her head...some people, right??

i did this post once already and lost half of it...better than losing half of my mind, right?

anyway...i would love to do a book chum discuss here...a hoot-and-a half...no?

hope all is well with you and yours..let's just keep reading and YES buying books..many steps toward sanity in this insane world

smiles to you

Message edited by its author, Aug 18, 2008, 8:00pm.

I see a lot of them around second hand bookstores and trades.. I hope you can find one. holding thumbs! It would be fun to have you in the group :0 )

there are no bookstores where i live...50 miles away is the local Mall..Waldenbooks..

i buy most of my books through BIBLIO.COM.. a clearinghouse of used bookstores..i LOVE the site though it takes time to find your books
i recently joined BOOK MOOCH too..great more temptations for this ole' BOOK JUNKIE!!!!

i will search..yes i will

› 342 used from $0.01 used at Amazon. $3.99 shipping, and its yours for 4$. Although your may be able to find it somewhere else for less...

> Richard: count me in on that group read... I've actually never read The Mists of Avalon ... and I probably need to

>120 Bell7: I read The Color of Magic... and haven't touched a Pratchett since, despite having repeatedly heard him touted as one of the best SFF authors ever.

I'm reading Mosquito, by Sri Lankan author Roma Tearne. This is a much more pleasant read than my last book, The Piano Teacher, which I couldn't stand and gave up on after about 100 pages.

>Richard, mckait, ksc, jdthloue: I don't see myself reading The Mists of Avalon again (for the record, I did enjoy it, but not enough to commit to re-reading 800+ pages), but I would like to participate... perhaps I'll read a different Arthurian re-telling at the same time you read Mists.

I've been gone for a while, just got back from a family vacation going all along the East Coast. One of our goals is to get our kids to all 50 states. Boothbay Harbor, Maine is absolutely beautiful and the place to be with a book by the ocean!!! Why I am telling you all this, we could not believe how many used book stores is all along Maine. Our first stop on the way up for bookstores was in Burlington, VT at a Barnes & Noble. They have one whole section of "used books", the first B&N I have been in that does that. My son really made out great on his collection at that stop and I picked up a few as well. Than another great find was the "big chicken barn" this place was fabulous in Maine. The website is www.bigchickenbarn.com. Check it out!!! If anyone has been to any of these areas let me know what you think. Camden, Maine also had several bookstores with super bargains. Has anyone else found this along the East Coast?

Anyone planning on attending the National Book Festival this year? The 2008 author list is posted. I hope this isn't the last year for having it.

>140...AMQS
may i suggest the Grandaddy of Arthurian ...novels..The Once and Future King by T H White...which includes The Sword in the Stone...The Queen of Air and Darkness...The Ill-Made Knight...and The Candle in the Wind...

i know the Touchstones here don't Add-Up...but go with The Once and Future King..you won't be disappointed..:)))

I just got done reading "The Ghost Orchid" by Carol Goodman. (Fiction) It's a mystery that takes place in upstate New York. It has to do with a seance and trying to solve a murder that took place in the late 1890s. It mixes the present and the past. It was kind of confusing at first until I realized that one chapter would be the present and the next would be the past all throughout the book. It's a good read and has a twist in the story.

I just started reading A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold. It's kind of different, but I like it!

#143 jdthloue -- thank you! I actually own The Once and Future King... it has been languishing in my TBR pile since I bought it at a library sale a year or so ago. It will finally see the light of day this Nov:)

I just finished The lovely bones by Alice Sebold, which was a lovely book despite its turn-off synopsis - I enjoyed it very much. I had resisted reading it for a long time, but finally took the plunge and I am glad I did.

Presently, I am about 75 pages into Die Apothekerin by Ingrid Noll (the Pharmacist), which is a dark humored crime story about a pharmacist with tendencies to a bit of slight murder, when people are in her way. It is deliciously tongue-in-cheek and evil.

Next up I have The Shadow of the wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

#138 kcs_hiker - for what it's worth, The Color of Magic is Pratchett's first discworld book, and it's generally considered one of his weakest. If you ever try again, consider Small Gods. But, as for the SFF aspects, well Pratchett is really more about satire (and silliness) than fantasy.

I have started Baby Proof by Emily Giffin. I am having some surgery on Wednesday, so I wanted something light & fun.

I read East of Eden in high school (too many years ago!) and loved it, it is so beautifully written and full of symbolism.

Just finished Timbuktu by Paul Auster and plan on starting City of Thieves tomorrow. I don't know too much about it but it's waiting at the library so I must have heard good things to put it on hold!

Finished The Abstinence Teacher, started The Girl who Played Go which I just couldn't get and left it after only 20 pages and am now starting The Gift of Rain.

# 149 ejd0626 -- Good luck on Wednesday. I hope everything goes well.

#152 AMQS -- thank you so much! I'm nervous, but it's just minor surgery, so I should be fine!!!!!

I am also starting a book called Cat Counsellor about cat behavior...maybe it'll help w/ my 2 spoiled brats!

ejd0626: I was told once (by a surgeon) that minor surgery is surgery that somebody else has.

I should probably read that book, but at age 15, my cat has naughty elevated to an art form.

Actually, that is what exactly what my surgeon said to me when I went in for my consultation today. I also asked him about scarring & he said, "A scar is small as long as it's on someone else!"

I spent most of yesterday afternoon reading Jessica Hagedorn's Dogeaters, which I'm quite enjoying!

Right now I'm reading The Shia Revival, Chris Offutt's The Good Brother, and Joe Sacco's Notes from a Defeatist. I'll probably read James Wood's How Fiction Works tomorrow afternoon.

I'm reading Infinite Jest, by Wallace... and I think it will take more than this week!
Till now, it's torrential, overweening, cynical... adorable. But not simple!

Happy to "meet" all of you, I've just discovered this site
claudia

These days I'm half into "Pierre and Jean" by Guy de Maupassant.

Also reading "An International Episode" by Henry James, a very delightful one

The Once and Future King by T H White another favorite, I have read it, and The Book of Merlin many times.

It is in a way, the antithesis of Mists..both wonderful reads.

Current reads:

True Tales of American Life edited by Paul Auster
The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux
Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

>161 Grammath

I have Oryx and Crake on my TBR. I understand it's a pretty bleak dystopia? What do you think of it?

#158 - Infinite Jest is my favorite book, although I've not been able to muster a re-read in the five years since I first finished it. WEAK. Seriously, if you make it through the first 100 pages and are enjoying it, it only gets better. Here's hoping Wallace eventually writes another novel....

I didn't care much for The Once and Future King when I read it in high school, but I loved it when I picked it up again a few years ago.

Haven't read Infinite Jest, but I thoroughly enjoyed his essay collection Consider the Lobster when I read it about a year ago.

I'm still trying to finish The Sex Lives of Cannibals, which has a great title but has been somewhat disappointing thus far. I intended to crank it out last night, but homemade ice cream and drinks with my neighbors sounded like more fun.

I'm currently reading The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas. I' only about 150 pages in out of 500, and I suspect it will get weirder.

Next I'll probably read Stuart A Life Backwards by Alexander Masters or attempt to finish Saturday by Ian McEwan which I've started twice already. But The End of Mr Y will probably keep me occupied most of this week.

>138 kcs_hiker, that's disappointing, though after reading about 50 pages in Color of Magic not entirely surprising. I have to say I really enjoyed the first several Pratchett books I read -- the Tiffany Aching series really suited my (admittedly odd) sense of humor.

>148 dchaikin, I might try Small Gods too. My first Discworld book (besides Tiffany Aching, which is pretty much its own series) was Lords and Ladies. It made plodding through Midsummer Night's Dream THREE times so much more worthwhile. (I love Shakespeare generally, but I really hate that play)

As for what I'm reading, I haven't finished anything, but yesterday I did start The Dark is Rising and started listening to Captain Alatriste by Arturo Perez-Reverte. My long commutes end this week, so I may have to have it on while I'm cleaning in order to polish off the audio. Oh, and I've also started listening to The Iliad, which I have tried to read before and never got very far. I've been listening to it before I go to bed, and finding that this may not be the best method as it's really easy to lose track of what's going on.

I finished American Wife last night and really, really enjoyed it. It is yet ANOTHER contender for my best book of the month. I'm not sure how I'm going to choose, because nearly everything I've read this month has been fantastic.

I'm now working on Resistance: A Frenchwoman's Journal of the War by Agnes Humbert, translated by Barbara Mellor. I'm not quite 20 pages in, but the writing is fantastic so far, and I can't imagine I'll find anything to fault with the story, since it is Humbert's actual secret journal from her time as a member of the French resistance in WWII.

Oh, I'm glad to see so much interest in a group read of The Mists of Avalon! But so as not to take away from "What are you reading now?" space and hijack the threads, what do y'all think of creating a group called "Group Reads - Fantasy" forum a la this here little ditty? There's also a Group Reads Sci Fi forum, so it's not like the idea is untested. Opinions?

Just started Family Values which is lesbian lovestory. Fun reading to break from more serious books. So far it is OK but not the best writing in town. Story is different but a little hard to believe. This is the first book by Vicki Stevenson and it appears to be the first of the Family of Choice Series.

91: Welcome to my neck of the woods. If cool temperatures in summer are your thing, you'll have a blast.

Working on three books now:
George Mills
The Character Factory
Lanterns and Lances

I'm almost finished with Sweetsmoke, my ER book, and I hope to post a review of it soon.

I'm also reading My Family And Other Animals for the Go Review That Book! group and I'm enjoying it a lot, it's very funny.

#171, I read My Family and Other Animals when I was about 12, loved it, and went on to read all the other Gerald Durrell books; I'm so glad it's still around.

On a bit of a tangent this week:

Finishing up The Watchmen by Alan Moore because I loves it.
Started and finished Survival by Julie Czerneda. I have liked her writing for a while now, but I haven't read this series.

Also probably going to start with Slaughterhouse Five by Vonnegut as well.

#150 Coppers: This was the group I was talking about! Ha. I've heard great things about City of Thieves, so let me know!
I started After Dark by Haruki Murakami. He's such a great writer! I've only read one other, Kafka by the Shore, but I'm convinced he's one of the best working today! Any other Murakami fans out there?

>174,
After Dark was my first Murakami, and I read it last month. I thought it was great. I've got a few others of his at home in the TBR (Kafka on the Shore, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and After the Quake). So I'm still in the process of becoming a fan, but I'm definitely headed that direction!

I own both After Dark and Kafka on the Shore, but I haven't yet read them. I started my Murakami love affair with Norwegian Wood, then fell completely in love with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. I also really liked Sputnik Sweetheart and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. Fortunately there are still many of his books for me to read.

#94 & 116 I would like to join your Mists of Avalon
group.It should be interesting.I've never done a group read before. Hurry November !

Richard -- probably a good idea either to create a new group or at least a new thread in this group.

A few years ago I received a gift of some very good mead from a local (CO) meadery -- I think I'll try to find it again. It sounds perfect to me for an Avalon/Camelot read in November!

#170 - Shortride Oh you do live in Steinbeck land! Cool summers - definitely what I'm after, considering I'm sweltering right now in the NJ humidity! We're taking off tomorrow for the West Coast - can't wait to read on the airplane - 6.5 hours!

Message edited by its author, Aug 20, 2008, 12:04am.

>178 AMQS, I think a forum in the group reads...don't want to cause additional tsurres here in this cramped forum. I'll get busy in October.

"Mead" and "very good" in the same sentence, not separated by "was poured down the nearest slop bucket and that was" seems odd to me....

Richard -- yes, I know. That's why it was memorable. I admit it sounds dreadful now. When it's very cold outside, a cup of hot mead is, well, not dreadful. Maybe I'll go all out and roast a boar's head with some acorns, too.

Reading The Girls by Lori Lansens - fabulous book. Novel about conjoined twins from their POV.

Finished The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood and I must say I was disappointed. I guess she should stick to her own original fiction rather than re-wording someone else's. There were some witty lines, but otherwise it just seemed boring. The original was too good!

I am just starting The Zahir by Paulo Coelho. If you can believe it, I just closed my eyes and pulled the first book from my TBR pile that I touched. It was 11:30 last night and I was too tired to work up my usual enthusiasm for choosing the next read!

175: shootingstarr7, thanks for your comments on Murakami. I guess I have a lot of catching up to do!

I just finished Waiter Rant it was an EXCELLENT book. I recommend it to anyone!

I've started several nonfiction books, and I guess I'll see which one sticks . . .

Libraries in the Ancient World by Lionel Casson -- reading this on the subway
How Fiction Works by James Wood -- needs more concentration than I seem to have right now
Shush! Growing Up Jewish under Stalin by Emil Draitser -- just picked this up yesterday, but seems interesting
Names on the Land by George R. Stewart -- I've really been looking forward to savoring this and will probably take it with me when I go away tomorrow

Still need to decide which novel on my TBR pile is calling out to me . . .

Well, inspired by The Dice Man, I picked 6 books from my TBR piles (6 very different books) and rolled the dice. I'd read the one the dice picked. Fun way to mix things up ^^

I just started Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga set in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). It captured me from the word go. The first line of the book: "I was not sorry when my brother died."

I'm still slogging through the last 50 pages of The Sex Lives of Cannibals. How can this book have such high ratings and positive reviews here on LT? I just don't understand.

On an entirely unrelated note, I've posted a few pictures from my library wedding at The Book Lady's Blog for anyone who's interested.

Message edited by its author, Aug 20, 2008, 11:34am.

As much as I'm enjoying Resistance, it is fairly slow going (I'm not even 100 pages in yet), so I'm going to do a little dual-book action so I don't fall behind on all of my review books. With that in mind, I started The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex by Pagan Kennedy this morning. I'm enjoying it very much, although I've moved on from Alex Comfort (Dr. Sex) to Amy Smith. I have a feeling that all of these essays will be fabulous.

>189 booklady, I did warn you about the bloody cannibals...abandon ship....

I love the black and white photo of you and Mr. Booklady on the taxi. The expression on your face...! It's completely adorable.

I am so so not into pictures. I look like Quasimodo's queer uncle at the best of times. Having my picture taken is not on my list of life's pleasures. Mr. Man doesn't like it either, so it's never a source of conflict. As soon as my daughter emails me a file of a photo taken of me, her and her husband (Mr. Man wielding the camera) I will change my profile pic.

richard: I'm not usually that photogenic, but I'm telling you, our photographer was amazing....just wait until you see the ones of us IN the taxi....hawt!

I just started Family Matters, I loved A Fine Balance so I have very high hopes.

Omg bnbooklady, your pictures made me smile. My wedding is next years, so Mr. 0bazooka0 and I are hurrying along with the plans.

Still reading the well-written Bottomfeeder by Taras Grescoe, which explores seafood sourcing and overfishing, reminiscent of The Omnivore's Dilemma's exploration of industrial land-based farming.

I'm also reading an arc of Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron. It's as much a memoir of a small town as of an abandoned kitten, and the description of Iowa farmland in the opening pages evoked Willa Cather's Nebraska.

bnbooklady, your pics are fabulous! Congratulations!! May you have a lifetime of wedded bliss!

bnbooklady, your wedding looks like one for the books! It definitely lpooks like it was your wedding, and not just for everyone else. Good for you. Best wishes!

thanks, everyone! Mr. Booklady and I looked a tons of wedding locations, and nothing really fit until we found the library. I was never one of those girls who had been planning her wedding since the age of 5, so having such a unique setting made it easy to build our theme.

We named the tables after our favorite books, used literary readings from The Great Gatsby and Letters to a Young Poet in place of scripture in the ceremony, and tied everything into our shared love of books. We are fortunate to have families who were very supportive of us doing it our way, and that meant that we were happy, and everyone had a great time.

One for the books, indeed!

Finished reading Good Bones and Simple Murders by Atwood, and am about to begin Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami.

#198: RedBowlingBallRuth, I've started Murakami's After Dark. Have you read any of his other books?

Since I've got a bunch of Alexandre Dumas pere on my TBR, I've decided to have a Dumas marathon. I'm starting with The Three Musketeers, moving my way through the four sequels to that (Twenty Years After, The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Louise de la Valliere, and The Man in the Iron Mask), and I'll conclude with The Count of Monte Cristo. So today, it's the Musketeers.

I finished The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie on Sunday, and I'll finish Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith later today. Then, I'll start A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz. Is anyone else plowing through the 2008 Booker Prize longlisted books? If so, which is your favorite so far? At this point, I would choose the Rushdie book.

>168 Richard..(hi there, you:))..sounds like a good idea to be separate from This Group

what are we going to name ourselves?
because i have a feeling we won't be reading Fantasy..solely...gosh i am almost a poet, no? no!, you say no!???
oh that's okay Richard..you are still a good Book Junkie

*smooch* to you...JUDE

Richard, I don't think you look like that at all, but rather teddybearish and sweet... silly you....

I need to get me some mead!

I'm reading Creators by Paul Johnson and The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich. I'm making very slow progress with both because my daughter is taking up most of my time now. However, they are both very enjoyable.

#182 teelgee I have had 2 people in the last month recommend The Girls and now you. Since it was Orange listed, I moved it up my list to read this summer. First, I have to finish and review July's ER ARC's, lest Abby's algorithm skip me next time around.

> 194
If you are enjoying Bottomfeeder you might like the book I just finished by LT author Trevor Corson called The Secret Life of Lobsters. I loved it -- when a friend asked me what it was about I said, "Science, sex, and politics--a winning combination!." Who knew lobster sex could be so fascinating. I bet it beats cannibal sex!

I also just finished The Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Now I'm looking at LT talks to help me decide something new that I may never heard of.

Sorry I don't know how to make the links--I sort of use a computer like a typewriter that is much easier to edit and doesn't use paper unless you need a hard copy. :-)

bnbooklady - Those are amazing wedding pictures. But, Mr. Booklady? Well, I guess there are Ms. Mansfield and the like, so sure.

Richard - Thanks for volunteering. I guess I'm vaguely partial to starting in this group is because it's this thread that started it. So, it seems consistent. But, start it where ever you like, just be sure to let us know.

jdt *waves hidy* mckait (who thinks I'm acceptable looking, so needs glasses/cataract surgery) and dchaikin: If we start a thread in this forum, shall we call it "Group Read - Mists of Avalon"? The only advantage to starting a forum instead of a thread is that it makes the message traffic lower. That's also the disadvantage, since it means others aren't aware of the existence of the group read unless they stumble across it.

For me, I don't care (as my Italian stepnonna used to say) but since I'd like to be as inclusive as possible and attract the largest possible cross-section of readers, a thread in this forum might serve that purpose best. Other ideas? Small group fans, now's the moment to speak up, when we're a solid month away from making the plan an actuality....

Scroodles of loving hugs to all and sundry, as I go back out to sweat while packing *blech*

* waves back* post it here, richardear... Is my opinion... I am trying to keep track of all who express interest, but fear leaving someone out..

I am reading Wicked - only about thirty pages in, but I like it so far!

Yeehaw! I finally finished The Sex Lives of Cannibals and will post a review in the next couple days.

Now it's on to Stalking Irish Madness for LTERs.

I finished When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson earlier this week, and loved it. It confirmed why she is one of my favourite authors.

I'm now reading the graphic novel version of Coraline by Neil Gaiman, which is a lot of fun. It's the first time I've ever read a graphic novel, so it feels a little weird to be reading pictures as well as words.

Forgot to add...I'd be interested in the group read of Mists of Avalon too. I'd never heard of it before, but it sounds great.

Message edited by its author, Aug 20, 2008, 11:21pm.

Glad to hear that the new Kate Atkinson book is a good one! I'm impatiently waiting for our library to get it in and processed.

#174: Hi msf59!

I'm a big fan of Murakami, he's one of my favorite authors! I fell totally in love after reading Sputnik Sweetheart, which was lent to me by a friend (I later got my own copy), and also enjoyed Kafka on the Shore very much. Since then I've read Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, After the Quake and South of the Border, West of the Sun. I also have most of his other translated books TBR! =D

I finished Jessica Hagedorn's Dogeaters last night, so I'm going back to The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2006: Nineteenth Annual Collection (edited by Ellen Datlow and Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant) tonight for my bedtime reading.

>206: MusicMom41
thanks :) it's now in my wishlist along with Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World.

You can link book titles and authors to their LT pages simply by enclosing them with the square brackets (by the "p" key ... not parentheses) -- one set of brackets for a book, two sets for an author. Next time you post a comment, look to the right of the comment box and you'll see instructions.

I finished Fragile Things, which was wonderful, and I started The Ginger Man which I can already tell will not be wonderful.

Started To a God Unknown yesterday. I'm about 40 pages in.

Today I will be reading Strike from Space by Phyllis Schlafly.

Please add me to the Mists of Avalon group read. I've never read it and would love to do so as part of a group. Currently, I'm reading A Manuscript of Ashes.

Phyllis Schlafly writes SF? Who knew?

Okay, so I'm still reading Resistance and The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex, but I'm also reading all the comments I'm getting on my blog since it was mentioned in Shelf Awareness, a publishing industry daily newsletter. *does a happy dance*

You can see the issue here, the mention is in the Monique and the Mango Rains section, about halfway down the page. It mentions LibaryThing as well, so it is double excitement.

>221, woohoo, terrific publicity for your blog and a good, good deed by you :)

I cringe that the Literary Ventures Fund gets kudos, though, since they're AWOL on shipping five ER titles -- including Monique!!

It is so strange that they're so slow shipping for ER, because they sent me and some other bloggers books almost out of the blue (due to a Shelf Awareness ad, actually, I think) and have been super responsive when I have emailed them. I think they may be going through some transitions now, though, so perhaps that is why? I'm pretty sure that they are the reason that Monique and the Mango Rains is even available in stores, though because, from what I hear, the publisher mostly just sells books to professors through catalogs.

Edited: out of the blue, not out of the blog.

Message edited by its author, Aug 21, 2008, 11:38am.

#189: Yeah, I read Kafka on the Shore earlier this year, and enjoyed it greatly. I haven't read After Dark, though. Although I haven't gotten very far yet, in Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the end of the World it seems like a very good read.

#182 ~ teelgee.....I read The Girls many months ago and found it absolutely wonderful. A really interesting read.

#214: thioviolight

The only Murakami I've read was After Dark, recommended by a friend and I really liked it. It was quite different--quirky--and reminded me of Virginia Woolf because of its unusual structure. Could you recommend which one of his I should try next? Is there one with a bird in the title? I had never heard of him before Lynne told me about After Dark.

Message edited by its author, Aug 21, 2008, 7:38pm.

I finished Thirteenth Night by Alan Gordon. Really enjoyed it even though I guessed who done it way before there was any evidence to base a guess on.

Next up is The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly.

210 - Wicked was good. Then try the sequel Son of a Witch

Breakfast: Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
Lunch: What is the What by Dave Eggers
Dinner/evening: The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted by Elizabeth Berg
Bedtime: Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris

I started Stalking Irish Madness this evening...I'm only 30ish pages into it, but I'm enjoying it much more than I expected to.

#217: jfetting

I'm glad you thought Fragile Things was wonderful. I loved it myself!

#226: MusicMom41

I haven't read After Dark yet (though I just bought a copy a couple of weeks ago), but it looks very promising. I can't believe I forgot to mention Dance, Dance, Dance in my post -- that's my absolute favorite Murakami so far! You could try that one next. I found it a bit sad, haunting, beautiful!

He has a book called The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, but I haven't read that one either.

Finished 1000 Years... and Sugraplum Dead

Now I am going to start Prince of Frogtown and will try to keep it at one book at a time for a while - three was too much

#125 If you enjoyed the moonstone you should love the woman in white - personally, I prefer the woman in white any day!

#210 Wicked is one of my favourite contemporary novels. The sequel isn't so great.

I read lord of the rings every couple of years or so and often get different things from it - I have yet to see the films!

I'm currently reading the name of the rose and am finding it hard going despite being an eco fan. I just can't keep up with all the different religious sects that all accuse each other of these heinous crimes, and I'm only about 50 pages in but not much seems to have happened so far! I shall plough on for a bit with it. Probably doesn't help that I also can't read latin.
Next up is probably world war z - I bought it for my husband earlier this year and he reckons it's fab.

I have a copy of Name of the Rose. I bought it because Eco's name kept appearing in crossword puzzles and I was intrigued - amazing where one can find books and authors to try. I haven't gottne to it yet.

My review of The Sex Lives of Cannibals is now at The Book Lady's Blog .

I'm still enjoying Stalking Irish Madness.

Finished The Guernsey Literary and Potatoe Peel Pie Society last evening. My review is posted.I'm still plugging away on T. R : the Last Romantic Teddy Roosevelt was an interesting man. Still have to decide what to read from my TBR shelves. I need to take a break from T.R. once in awhile.

I finished The Girls by Lori Lansens last night - I was blown away by this book. Stunning. Can't stop thinking about it.

I picked up Garden Spells - I needed some light fluff to follow up with. Seems to be working.

Wow.....folks are reading some great stuff this week! Murakami is one of my all-time favorites, and Wicked......well, I read it in book club years before the musical, and loved it. I have seen the musical twice and am a huge fan, in fact just started listening to it as I signed into LT this morning.

I'm off to get on a plane and will talk to y'all maybe next Monday.

*sending happy thoughts for a safe trip*

#231 thioviolight

Thanks for the suggestions. I will check them out next time I get to the book store (it's 40 miles away so the trips have to be planned!). since you recommend Dance, Dance, Dance I'll probably try that one next.

233: mrsradcliffe & 234: koalamom,

I remember reading an interview with Umberto Eco where he said his publishers wanted him to cut back on the first 75-90 pages because of the lack of action and he said something like if the reader can't make the climb up the mountain they don't belong in the monastery.

As far as the history and Latin translations are concerned their is an excellent little guide called Key to the Name of the Rose by Adele J. Haft that any good sized library or bookstore should be able to provide.

I have read (struggled) through a few books that could have been made even better if there had been a bit of editing - i.e., fewer words. I just finished Pride and Prejudice and felt that way about this book.

I just finished A Walk in the Woods. What a great book! I'm definitely going to have to keep the author in mind for future reading (my TBR pile grows by the minute...).

I haven't started anything new, but I'll be deciding whether or not to give up on The Mysterious Island this weekend. I'm over 100 pages into the 600+ tome, but can't get myself motivated to read it.

>244 Bell: if you liked A Walk in the Woods you might look up The Cactus Eaters by Dan White... humourous and somewhat poignant. Also you might check out Robert Louis Stevenson's Travels With a Donkey in the Cevennes of which you can read more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travels_wit...

Message edited by its author, Aug 22, 2008, 9:05pm.

#244 koalamom - Editing Pride and Prejudice? Instinctually that just seems wrong. Well, OK, if you don't like Austen, editing it down would shorten the annoyance of reading it. But, if you do like her, then, well, I don't think length is an issue. Austen is kind of interesting in that I think some people just read Austen to, well, to read Austen. Just my 2-cents.

I gave up and paid Boing for a wifi membership...I am in travel hell trapped in Baltimore until a $*(!%$^ plane gets here from Florida.

I hate hate hate flying.

>245 kcs_hiker, thanks for the recommendations! I've added them to my ever-growing TBR list. I don't tend to read a lot of nonfiction, so A Walk in the Woods was actually a book I assigned myself for the month of August. I was pleasantly surprised by how very much I enjoyed it.

>247 richardderus, So sorry! I hope the rest of the trip is much more pleasant...

Reading The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. Stunning, unique, beautifully written and utterly imaginative. I am half way through it, and cannot take my eyes from the page, and my thoughts from its characters.

I'm about half way through City of Thieves and am really enjoying it.

I started Reading Lolita in Tehran tonight. I love the way she writes.

I was finally able to find time to finish Nerve Damage by Peter Abrahams. I must say I was very disappointed in the ending. The book took off with a great start, continued on with steady momentum, but came to a crashing *thud* at the end. I can't believe Mr. Abrahams would finish a book this way. This is the first book by this author that I was not 100% happy with. Oh well....

Moving right along, I have chosen my next book to read while hubby is on vacation this coming week ~ Quality of Care by Elizabeth Letts. This is one of the books I purchased from bookcloseouts.com (the summer dollar sale) It looks like a good one. Keeping fingers crossed. It's relatively short, so depending on how busy we are during hubby's "off" time, I should be able to get through it pretty quickly....which is good because we have a huge stack of books waiting. I'd like to make a dent in that stack within the next few months....except we keep bringing more books home. *sigh*

#251 ejd0626

Reading Lolita in Tehran was one of my favorite books that I read in 207 and one of my favorite memoirs of all time. I love how they use literature to help them understand and cope with the chaos going on in their society. I have found that same relationship with literature in my life. I have often said that often there is more truth in fiction than nonfiction.

I hope you enjoy the book.

#246 dchaiken - I respect your opinion and I was expecting a couple of other LTers (who are on my friends' list) to come in on this.

I agree some people enjoy a book that others can't wade through. I have had books that I got to page 50 or so and discarded. This was not the case with Pride and Prejudice, I finished it. It just took a while, especially when the copy I had ended with five pages of Sense and Sensibility and I had to hightail it to the library to read the last chapter!!!!!

I may go back to Austin at a later date. Is there one of hers that you would recommend? Anyone?

I'm reading The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy...only a few chapters in but it seems to be a fun book:) Just finished A girl Interrupted *bleh* and Son of a Witch *applause*.

I think Gregory MacGuire should have stopped with Wicked. I liked the musical as well - Ben Vereen played the wizard when I saw it and Rue MacClanahan played the school mistress.

His other books are good, though.

Hitchhikers Guide ... was a fun read. The first time I saw the BBC show, I had come into it in the middle of the series and it made no sense. When I got to see the series from the beginning, it didn't make any more sense, but I learned that was how that book/show was. I think Douglas Adams was insane!

>256 I thought Maguire's Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister was on par with Wicked, which I loved. But Son of a Witch did not light my fire.

I'm currently reading The Yiddish Policemen's Union, and am thoroughly enjoying it. Michael Chabon is becoming one of my favorite authors.

And all of you are giving me ideas--thanks!

I'm just starting This House of Sky and am enjoying it. Ever since I read The Whistling Season, I've been an Ivan Doig fan.

Message edited by its author, Aug 23, 2008, 2:55pm.

#256 koalamom

I agree with you about Hitchhikers Guide...

However if you want to explore his "sane" side, I have a book to recommend:

My older son is an utter fanatic about Douglas Adams and everything he wrote. When he made a trip to London several years ago he was even able get a personal interview with Adams shortly before he died. I think the reason he got the interview was because he wanted to tape it for his middle school science class where he was using Last Chance to See by Adams as one of the texts.

You might also want to read this book. It is nonfiction. He and a photographer travel to inaccessible places all over the world to photograph and write about endangered species. I loved it.

Message edited by its author, Aug 23, 2008, 6:54pm.

Chapter 2 of Mystic Isle by Joanna Wayne

#260 - thanks for the info; I'll add it to my want to read list

I'm about to start two new (to me) books. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut and The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester.
I'm easily distracted though, so who knows what else will pop up and demand to be read.

I have a lot screaming and whispering to me to read them! And the Friends boook sale is in a few weeks. Fortunately "my supplier" couldn't come down for the holiday weeked as he found out he has to start teaching his lab next week instead of the week after! It'll give me time to "catch up" as if that'll ever happen!

#241: MusicMom41

No worries! I hope you enjoy the book as well as Murakami's other works! =)

It turns out that Hitchikers Guide to The Galaxy wasn't working for me. I read like 4 Chapters but it just wasn't flowing well. Not to say I didn't like what I did read, it seemed very comical, but I found myself glancing at the bookshelf thinking I would rather be reading...(a number of newly mooched books). So I put HGTTG back on my bookshelf for another time and grabbed The Other Boleyn Girl and already it's going smoothly and I am already enthralled in the story 50 pages in:)

#263: I am also easily distracted, even more so when I am reading something that isn't working for me and there are lot's of unread books on my shelf:)