I noticed that the new weekly post had not been made, so here it is.

I'm reading Confessions of a Thug, which I'm finding sort of slow. I'm also re-reading Graphic Classics: H. P. Lovecraft as a break from all the thuggery.

Just finished We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver....WOW what a disturbing story. It was extremely well written and totally captivated me to the very last page.

Still deciding on what to dive into next.....

Finished Round About a Pound a Week by Maud Pember Reeves, which was very interesting, and I'm now starting another Persephone title, The Children Who Lived in a Barn by Eleanor Graham. "It shows five children successfully looking after themselves when their parents go away and fail to return". It's a favourite of Jacqueline Wilson's.

My mother gave me Mister Roberts. Then I'm planning on reading Shattered.

porchsitter - it took me several days to get into something else after reading ...Kevin. Agree with your assessment, I've never read anything quite like it.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey. Wonderful book. Even if the touchstones don't work.

I'm currently reading The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, as well as War and Peace.

I'm going to try a David Baldacci novel....Split Second. Not sure if I'll like it or not. Hubby reminded me of the movie we saw that was based on Baldacci's book Total Control, which starred Clint Eastwood....a very good movie! So, I'll give this one a shot. We have several of Baldacci's books waiting to be read, and I'm ready for something that I'm not used to reading....expanding my horizons, I guess.

teelgee.....yes, I still feel the aftershocks of the "Kevin" book. It was much different than I expected it to be, much more powerful.

I finished The House of the Spirits last night, and now I am reading The Woman in White.

I have just started reading A question of love by Isabel Wolff

Just received four books in the mail the past two days: They are on my tbr IMMIDIDIATELY list:
Walt Disney bio
The Uncensored Bible
Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair (already read)
Bird by Bird
have to get these read, I have two more books coming Monday or Tues!

I just started reading Orcs by Stan Nicholls and loving it already :)

Message edited by its author, Jan 4, 2009, 6:52am.

Just finished The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick - great read of a first novel about family strife

I finished Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean by Edward Kritzler (a misleading title, but interesting nonetheless) and am now reading The River Between by Ngugi wa Thiong'o.

I am reading Obama's Dreams from my Father as it was one of my xmas pressies.

For once, I don't have a bunch of other books on the go at the same time as I've been away from home for longer than expected (due to sudden illness while visiting my parents) and I've finished everything I brought with me. Finding it odd not to have options but Dreams from my Father is proving good company during sleepless flu-riddled hours

Starting to delve into the holiday books:

Stanley by Tim Jeal
The Complete Roman Army by Adrian Goldsworthy
The Greco-Persian Wars by Peter Green
Collected Poems by Philip Larkin

And, onward with the Little Dorrit reading project.

Just finished Affinity by Sarah Waters, the weakest of three I've read by her.

Just started Moby Dick I read half of it twenty years ago and never finished. Time to do it again. Beautiful so far.

Feet of Clay
Mayflower: A Story Of Courage, Community, and War

I figured it would be easier to keep track of two books at a time, as opposed to six. Also, with a goal to read at least 150 books this year, I need to keep organized!

to 16:

cornerhouse,
I just gave Little Dorrit to my partner for Christmas. So far he rates it up there with Bleak House and David Copperfield.

I'll be picking it up later this winter.

I read two short works over the New Year's holiday. The first was Bagration 1944 and the second was Nomonhan: Japanese-Soviet Tactical Combat, 1939. Friday night I started Ivan's War.

Currently I'm reading Stealing God's Thunder by Philip Dray. So far it's been an interesting read and has held my attention hopefully I'll finish it this week.

I just finished Geraldine Brooks' People of the Book, which was quite wonderful. I'm just starting Captain Alatriste by Arturo Perez-Reverte. I'm looking forward to a little swashbuckling.

I am reading Dream Chaser , The Selected Poems of Federico García Lorca, and Spain..A Culinary Road Trip and am quite enjoying them all!

Talbin, I'm all up for some swashbuckling also!

Carlos, I read that graphics classic last year. I loved it.

Message edited by its author, Jan 4, 2009, 12:22pm.

Fear and Trembling by Amelie Nothomb was a great, quick, fun read- Chicklit meets Japan meets Kafka. Moving onto Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (Or Almost All) of it Back by Frank Schaeffer. Fascinating.

I'm reading The Jungle Book just for something different. I finished Pompeii last night.

I'm almost finished Darkmans, which was a brilliant start to the year. Next is Three Day Road.

Message edited by its author, Jan 4, 2009, 12:45pm.

I am currently reading The Coffee Trader for a book club read on LT. I also have a few other books that I may read at the same time depending on how fast I read this one.

Finished with A Supremely Bad Idea and am now barreling through Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus and wondering why I didn't read it years ago. I'd forgotten how much I love Card when he's really on his game.

#19: boulder_a_t:

Yeah -- so far we're liking Little Dorrit -- but we're only in the fifth chapter. We're reading it at the same pace and intervals in which it was originally serialized. And, for the time being, at least, I'm reading it aloud.

Slowing things down like this is interesting; for instance, it's a rather long time before we even get a glimpse -- and it's a passing glimpse at that -- of the title character herself.

#3 Porchsitter - I now what you mean! I read We need to talk about Kevin over a year ago but I still remember how I felt after finishing it. It's like being on a roller coaster.

This week I am reading The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. I am going to go back and take notes because the history, latin, and rambling subplots are confusing me. Stay tuned for a mixed review lol.

I'm reading The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde ! It's my first book by him. I plan to read The Big Over Easy next.

I have looked at Kevin quite a few times. I have kept away from it, due to it being so disturbing. When porchy and teelgee and now kiwi agree that it is very disturbing I will continue to avoid it. I am not up to that right now. I read Reliable Wife which I loved! It was so much more than I expected it to be. and I am nearly finished with The Society of S which is....meh~

I am okay with meh~, right now though ... I need all of my energy to feel sorry for myself since I have to go back to work tomorrow... lol

>32 mckait...back to work *snicker* since I haven't got work to go back to! Hee hee hee...I get to read all day!

nyah

ETA: Forgot to mention that I finished I Should Be Extremely Happy in Your Company by Brian Hall--annoying moments with the native american narrator made the book a less pleasurable read than it would otherwise have been.

Message edited by its author, Jan 4, 2009, 3:44pm.

Today I'm sticking to Addition by Toni Jordan, as a nice light-read after London fields. Tomorrow I will start with The coffee trader.

Still working on The Summer of 1787.

I started 2009 off with Waiter Rant. Found myself skim reading the last 80 pages of that book and finished it with a 'ho-hum' feeling. I moved on to From A to X: a story in letters and Thin is the New Happy and found both books to be enjoyable, quick reads.

Next up is Death with Interruptions.

I am currently reading The Blind Assassin By Margaret Atwood. I am finding this to be a slow read, but it is interesting. I don't know if I will finish it this week, but am determined to get through the novel.

Still on The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Work Hard, Be Nice and I'm listening to Benjamin Button on my ipod.

I'm still reading The Pleasure of Reading, edited by Antonia Fraser. It's a nice collection of pieces by famous writers, discussing their childhood reading, what inspired them, how reading defined them, and what they like to read now. Hopefully tomorrow I'll start something else alongside it - Bearded Tit (Rory Mcgrath's autobiography) or New Moon by Stephenie Meyer - I have a free day and I'm desperate to get a good run at it since I couldn't put Twilight down and I get in trouble with my mum when I get in deep and she wants me to do something else!

# 36-I borrowed Waiter Rant from the library. I never finished it. I just didn't like it.

I have about 100 pages remaining in The Friday Night Knitting Club. I hope to finish it soon.

Am a third of the way into Stuart: A Life Backwards. It's a fascinating and, so far as I can guess, very accurate picture of the "homeless culture"; what it does to your mind, how these people think etc. For something completely different I just bought 180 More Extraordinary Poems for Every Day. Since I find myself writing poetry, I thought I should read some.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through The Dark Queen by Susan Carroll. It's pretty different from what I normally read, but I'm enjoying it.

#38 cyellow30 the gurnsey letter and Potato Peel Pie Society is a great read. I bought it for my sister in law for a Christmas gift because I liked it so well and she is an avid reader.

Finished Grace by Richard Paul Evans and starting Little Chapel on the River or The lost continent or who knows maybe both!!

I feel the pain of going back to work tomorrow after being off since the 23rd of Dec.

I finished Hot and Sweaty Rex by Eric Garcia
It is the series about dinosaurs who live among us in latex people suits. This is the last book. It seems like the author ran out if ideas. The other books had actual mysteries, this book was about the POV Vincent juggling two mob families, each of whom think Vincent belongs to them. If they find out about his relationship with the other, its curtains for Vincent. So the mystery was to see how he was going to do it, and if he would stay alive. Then it became find the 'other' snitch. A good bit of the book had to do with backstory, and memories, so it seemed to be looking back, and not forward. It was OK, but one of those you are glad when it ends.

I am now starting The Mosaic of Shadows by Tom Harper
It is set in 1096 in the Byzantine empire in Constantinople. Someone is trying to assassinate the Emperor Alexios and the POV character Demetrios Askiates is told to find the would-be-killer. There are lots of enemies inside the walls of the city, and the first crusade has arrived outside the walls, and no one knows if they are there to help against the Turkish army , or to sack the city themselves.

Turns out that the local small city library has a much better graphic novel selection than the local large city library.
So I grabbed some graphic novels and manga for reading/re-reading.

Tsubasa: vol 1, Tsubasa: vol 2, xxxholic: vol 1, xxxholic: vol 2, Flight: vol 2
Because of this distraction, I am still not finished Down and Out in Paris and London but I go back to work tomorrow morning with a 1.5h commute on transit each way. Lots of reading time.

The Black Tower by Louis Bayard.

Finished THe Book of Air and Shadows which was OK, but a bit of a disappointment for me. Started The Magus which is interesting but slow going so far due to lack of reading time.

Currently reading, and hoping to finish today, Atonement by Ian McEwan. Loving it at the moment! :D

I finished Crazy 08 and Invitation to a Beheading earlier in the week, and both were fantastic, and now I am in a reading slump. Help! I've tried and failed to read Pere Goriot, The Penelopiad, The Boat, The Collected Stories of Noel Coward, and something else that I can't remember. Nothing appeals to me (and when I don't want to read Noel Coward, there is something very very wrong).

I just finished The Book Thief last night. Hard as it was to start another book after that, the 999 challenge waits for no one, so I picked up The Heretic's Daughter. I'm not very far into it, but it's definitely grabbed me.

49> Read Europe Central. It's hard, so you'll have a good reason to be reluctant, but it is good, so you may be drawn into it.

I stayed back from The Mahabharata and Fundamentals of American Law last night reading the introductory material and first sutta in The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya (Teachings of the Buddha). I'll probably get back to one of the first two tonight.

Robert

Im only new to LT and am loving this site!! Im currently reading The hour i first believed and am loving it!! I was hoping it would be as good as I know this much is true and so far have not been disappointed!

I finally finished 2666 by Roberto Bolaño on Friday, and will finish The Illusion of Return, a novella by the Lebanese author Samir El-Youssef, later tonight (after the Eagles-Vikings NFL playoff game). I'll start reading The Obscene Bird of Night by the Chilean author José Donoso Yáñez tonight, and I hope to start A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong'o later this week. I'm still working on Trusting Doctors: The Decline of Moral Authority in American Medicine by Jonathan Imber.

kidzdoc-how did you like 2666? I recently bought it and was wondering if I should move up on the TBR pile.

Just started The Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez-Reverte today after all the praise this author gets on LT.

I finished A Wedding in December yesterday, and started Brave New World last night. So far I am really enjoying BNW even though it's creeping me out!

I'm still enjoying Laura Lippman's Hardly Knew Her and am about half way through.

This afternoon at the library I picked up The Man Who Invented Christmas by Les Standiford. It's about Charles Dickens. I don't know anything about it - has anyone out there read it yet?

57> I read The Man Who Invented Christmas shortly after it was released and liked it very much. I found a lot of it to be information I already knew, but that's because I've studied Dickens quite a bit. I think it was presented really well, though. You should enjoy it if you've got an interest in the time period.

I finished The Jungle Book this morning, read The Tales of Beedle the Bard in about an hour this afternoon, and started The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory tonight. Loved Beedle, as I knew I would, and I've always enjoyed Kipling.

I'll miss vacation and my constant bookish ways.

# 55 mstrust, I admit that I have not read too many Perez-Reverte book, but of those I've read The Flanders Panel is my least favorite. Read othres if you're not wild about this one.

# 58 Thanks - I confess to knowing very little about Dickens but just from reading the first couple of pages it seemed like it might be a very interesting read! I will hang onto it.

#54 I did like 2666, although it is unlike anything I've read before. I gave it four stars out of five, and I may add an extra half-star after I think about it and read some critical reviews. It consists of five loosely connected chapters, which are all linked to the murders of hundreds of female maquiladora workers in the fictional Mexican border town of Santa Teresa, which are based on the actual unsolved murders that have taken place in Ciudad Juarez since 1993. The major characters of the book are from all over the globe, and dozens of other people are connected to these characters; they seem unessential to the characters and to Santa Teresa, but their lives and stories, for the most part, flow seamlessly within the book. The only part of the book I got a bit bogged down in was the chapter about the murders, which was around 300 pages long, and had dozens and dozens of murders, and a hundred or more different characters. Fortunately Bolaño describes the murders in a journalistic fashion, as a crime reporter who discovers the bodies rather than blow by blow details of the murders as they took place, which permits a somewhat detached view of each individual murder.

I guess the best thing I can say about the book is that, after 898 pages, I wanted to read more!

Message edited by its author, Jan 4, 2009, 10:04pm.

I have roughly 50 pages left of Freakonomics. I'm not really sure what I am going to be starting next.

However, I am off to a good start on hitting the 50 book mark for '08.

Message edited by its author, Jan 6, 2009, 12:18am.

>61 its so weird to hear that description because I'm in the beginning of the book, and wasn't really sure where it was heading. Still with the academics and their love lives and friendships. Guess I'll keep reading! It sounds so different from what I've read so far.. it almost sounds like a completely different book!

I'm finishing up Gay Travels in the Muslim World for my book club that meets tomorrow night and then I'll be starting Reading Lolita in Tehran for my other book club that meets on Friday night. Hopefully I'll be able to get it finished.

Can anyone help me figure out how to get a negative sign in front of the LT ratings stars? I want to rate Manservant and Maidservant and I can't get the proper thing unless I can figure out how to give it -5 stars, and turn the type red, and add a tiny skull-and-crossbones to warn off innocent browsers.

I want to find out where Icky Crumpet-Burnoose is buried, dig her up, kick her a few times, and then demand my money back (I got the book as a gift, but mum's the word, huh?) from her heirs. Servants speaking at the same hoity-toity level as their educated masters. Children whose voices sound *precisely* like their parents, and the servants. Characters drawn very, very finely and with a charming economy of line, which is a larger pleasure than usual coming in this mouse-infested, louse-ridden agglomeration of glue and wood chips they call a book.

Oh, did I mention I didn't like it much?

Message edited by its author, Jan 5, 2009, 12:32am.

Richard, too funny! I'm glad you read the book, if only to give me such a good laugh over your summary of it!!

I've already put David Baldacci's book Split Second aside....I'm not in the mood for that right now. I'll pick it back up later. Instead I've chosen Walking on Air by R.S. Jones. I wonder what a therapist would say regarding my book choices lately.....hmmmm.....dark reads = ??

One of you mentioned that you had a hard time chosing another book after you read We Need To Talk About Kevin....I guess I'm having the same problem.

I hope this current choice will fit the bill. Not sure why I'm drawn to the dark side lately....maybe it's the winter time, post-holiday blues.

I finally finished Mr. Timothy -- great read!

I, too, had a hard time choosing another book after reading We Need to Talk About Kevin. It was such an intense, disturbing, excellent book that left a lasting impression. I had a hard time unraveling myself from the story to focus on another. But I recommend it to others all of the time.

>9
I just started The Woman in White too (Christmas present)... race ya !

my friend gave me a link containing the prologue of an upcoming E-book "the final Awakening" by Ashish Mohan. i liked the excerpt now am looking forward to read the novel..

>61: kidzdoc- Thanks for the review on 2666. It's in my tbr pile and I plan to get to it, in the near future. It'll be my 1st Bolano.

I started the new year with The Namesake which I finished yesterday. Then I quickly read Pasquale's Nose by Michael Rips so I could pass it on to my husband who is now in a nursing home. This morning I started a collection of short stories by Gogal which contains the The Overcoat meantioned in The Namesake. Meanwhile I am waiting for an Amazon order with the The Coffee Trader. This morning I also noticed in our weekly regional paper that our town library is holding a book discussion this Thursday on A Thousand Splendid Suns. It's been on my TBR pile, so I will start it later today.

Am reading Jane Eyre,by charlotte Bronte.Just finished the part where she is rescued by St.John after wandering for three days in hunger and despair

Just started on Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1) by Stephenie Meyer. Enjoying it:D will probably aquire the rest of the series even if people around me claim it's teenage lit... I like it anyway.

Author of G.E.N.I. Genetically Enhanced Natural Intelligence

Message edited by its author, Jan 5, 2009, 8:02am.

#65 Absolutely hilarious!

#37 I've started the blind assassin countless times but never seem to get very far!

I've just finished White Tiger which I thought I should read as it won the Booker. Surprisingly, I enjoy it immensely, much more so than most Booker winners.

Aside from that, I'm reading lots of Susanna Gregory mysteries.

I just started the Dante trap today but found it unbearable 20 pages in.

I just started reading Letters From Yellowstone.

I finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson and thought it was pretty excellent. The fact that he managed to hold my attention through the financial wheeling and dealing demonstrates his talent.

I began The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff for Orange January. So far, it is a little meh with moments of greatness. Fair enough, I suppose, from a debut writer.

I'm halfway through The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson. Its better than the first one!

I just finished an ARC of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. I love that title, and the book was pretty good for a first book by Jamie Ford. I didn't like it as much as some of the other early reviewers. I thought his writing was less than stellar.

Next up is A Mercy by Toni Morrison. Now that woman can write.

Finally got around to reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Wasn't as thrilled about it as I was hoping to be. Anyway, I am currently reading Willful Neglect by Mary Morgan. Great read so far.

#46 smiley - what did you think of The Black Tower? I have it on my tbr pile, it just doesn't seem to be calling to me yet.

I'm reading Fingersmith now and finding the beginning a little slow, but will keep going, as I have heard wonderful things.

I'm still reading The Pleasure of Reading but am on the home stretch now, that bit where suddenly the pages seem to go much faster, like at the end of a toilet roll! Today was an ideal book day - up early, snow outside, family out ALL DAY shopping - so I made coffee and toast and juice and other lovely things and sat in front of my fan heater all day reading New Moon. I knew I'd be in trouble if I tried to get a good run at it another day - my mum thinks I read too much. Strangely, she never threw that one at me when I was little and ploughing through books like there was no tomorrow whilst the rest of my peers played video games...

I just started The Grift this morning, finally. So far it is quite good, but I came into work to such a lovely little stack of books that had arrived while I was out of town, that I wish I wasn't currently reading anything and could dive in at lunch. Oh well, I would never have made it through the 40 minute wait at the doctor's office this morning had I been bookless.

83: sydamy:

Like it so far but I'm only about half way through. It is not necessary but at least a passing familiarity with the French Revolution and the Nepoleonic era will allow for a better read.

Finished SPIN by Robert Charles Wilson. Good sci-fi - interesting ideas, strong writing; some of the blurbs called it 'literary sci-fi' and that works for me. Maybe a little tedious toward the end. The fact that there's a sequel is a little strange, but I'll check it out eventually.

Started Focault's Pendulum. I've read my fair share of 'difficult' authors, so I can say with some authority that Eco just needs a good slapping. I'm finally about 100 pages in and he's going into the Templars; up until now, I'm not sure what the hell he was going on about. Whatever - I shall persist; I *think* there might be a story in here somewhere...

started On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan last evening and...boy howdy!...this is going to be one fun-filled...day at the beach....;-p

I'm reading Boo by Rene Gutteridge. It's Christian fiction about a horror Steven King-like novelist who converts to Christianity much to the dismay of the town who thrives as tourtist spot for his fans. The book is pretty predictable and I'm not sure if I'll finish it.

I'm close to finishing Europe Between the Oceans: 9000 BC-AD 1000. I'm a bit lost in a swirl of roving Celts, Goths, Franks, other Germanic tribes, Magyars and the like. Actually, I'm quite enjoying them. Not sure what's next. Maybe Ellen Foster or maybe The Book of the Unknown, an Early Reviewer book I really need to read.

>90 Europe Between the Oceans looks fascinating - it's going on my TBR right now.

Message edited by its author, Jan 5, 2009, 2:47pm.

I've finished rereading The Tempest for a book discussion in a few days, and plan on starting The Last Lecture next.

Just finished The Pickwick Papers and am now reading The Body on the Beach.

I'm still working on The Worst Hard Time, which is fascinating but drier than I expected, started Darwin's Radio, and listening to The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, which I'm still loving.

Kids' Letters to Harry Potter by Bill Adler :) Cute read so far!

Am halfway through Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which I am delightfully enjoying every spare moment I can! I probably picked it up too soon, though, as I am now anxious for spring and the start of farmer's markets' goodies to arrive!! I'm also being inspired to get serious about gardening myself...we'll see if my resolve holds 'til spring.

Started and finished The Lucky One yesterday. Started Faceless Killer by Henning Mankell late last night so I'm not really sure how I'm liking it.

Currently a few chapters into Requiem. I havn't had much time to read lately though, so I probably won't finish it any time soon.

#91 CatyM - if your OK with some difficult reading in parts, and breaking up your reading to look at a ton of maps, I would recommend it.

I already read Rubicon (excellent) and A Rum Affair (dry but good) to start off the year. Now, I'm reading The Calculus Wars (could be worse). I'll bring get to Helen of Troy by the end of the week. Nothing like hitting three different Dewey Hundreds in one week!

The Woman in White is one of my favorite novels. It is very suspenseful. Wilkie Collins did a great job with this book.

#22 - Talbin, please let us know how you find Captain Alatriste and
#55 - mstrust, please let us know how you find The Flanders Panel.
Both sound really interesting, but so did The Fencing Master and I ended up finding it only 'meh'. The writing just didn't grab me. I've already bought the other two and The Club Dumas, so I'm hoping Perez-Reverte only gets better.

#59: AMQS. Which others of his did you read and which did you end up liking the best?

I started reading Melusine by Sarah Monette for my first book of the year. It started off a little slow, and I found myself confused by all the made up words and places, but I can feel myself being drawn inexorably into the world of Melusine.

# 102 sandragon, I read and enjoyed The Nautical Chart and The Club Dumas, and I've given both as gifts. I actually really liked The Flanders Panel all the way through... until the ending left me so disappointed it colored the rest of the book for me. I thought the idea was fantastic -- an art restorer uncovers a clue in a centuries-old murder on a painting, and has to play the game of chess depicted in the painting backwards to solve the mystery, while someone in the present-day is also playing a deadly game of chess with her. I almost wish the author would re-work the ending.

I just finished Death with Interruptions by Jose Saramago. The writing style consisted of a series of run-on sentences which took a few pages of reading for me to adjust to. Once I had developed a rhythm for the writing style I was able to sit back and enjoy the political satire of how a fictitious nation grapples with the inexplicable fact that the populace has stopped dying, making eternal life into a rather difficult problem. Overall, I found the book fascinating although the ending struck me as lacking 'something'.

AMQS, I'll keep myself braced for the awful ending of Flanders Panel and maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. (Expecting a great ending and being disappointed has happened often enough in my reading life, the opposite must be possible too.) Come to think of it, I also have The Nautical Chart since by brother gave me his duplicate copy. Good to hear you liked that one also.

sandragon, now that you're expecting the worst, you'll probably like it. I hope you do!

Finished Freakonomics and I am now starting Saddam King of Terror.

Finished The Children Who Lived in a Barn which was good, and starting Greenery Street by Denis Mackail.

Message edited by its author, Jan 6, 2009, 3:12am.

LOL @ #87 mikepatrick

I read Name of the Rose and enjoyed it.. I have Foucalt's Pendulum but have not opened its covers yet. I suspect that when I do I will think of you~

I am reading Splendid Solution and finding it surprisingly interesting.

Ooh I loved Foucault's pendulum but have to admit it was slow going and a bit difficult in places. I'm not ever totally sure if I'm really getting it when I read Eco, but I enjoy it nonetheless!

Just started The siege of Krishnapur today. Not sure about it yet. Seems quite witty.

I also lend my support to Fingersmith and The woman in white, both brilliant novels, Waters' obviously influenced by Collins.

I'm reading When the Emperor Was Divine for Orange January. I'm finding it to be a soft, easy read although the topic is disturbing.

Finished Feet of Clay, still reading Mayflower, and starting Case Histories.

I am late getting in here once again!

I just finished reading The March and my 999 is up to 2 already. I borrowed Heretic from the library and have Design for Murder coming from one of the other libraries in the system. I had thought my library had it, but it turned out that they had a book by that name but not by that author (mine is the one listed in Touchstones).

Finished The River Between by Ngugi wa Thiong'o, one of his early novels, and started 2666 by Roberto Bolano and The Great Crash of 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith.

>103 Melusine is also one of my "sooner rather than later" books for 2009 being listed on all three of the challenges I'm participating in. I've heard very good things about it.

Today I have PsyCop with me to start and then I'll be moving on to Wuthering Heights.

edited to add

I just picked up Babylonne by Catherine Jinks from the library which I've been waiting to read since it showed up on the October ER list. This is certainly a "must read immediately" book for me!

Message edited by its author, Jan 6, 2009, 1:50pm.

Finished Killing Floor by Lee Child, which I quite liked.

Now reading Eight Lives Down, (an ARC) by Chris Hunter. Interesting.

Just finished Memories can be murder. Will start reading The Merry Wives of Windsor by Shakespeare after lunch.

Yesterday I finished Saralee Rosenberg's Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead and Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach (I loved both!), and I'm starting John Green's An Abundance of Katherines this evening. Can't wait!

sandragon & others on the Arturo Perez-Reverte discussion. He is one of my favorite authors, and this is the order of preference for the ones I've read:

1. The Flanders Panel - and I thought the ending was brilliant, so it will be fun to hear what you think.
2. The Club Dumas
3. The Seville Communion
4. The Fencing Master - I agree this one was mediocre compared to the others

I have both Captain Alatriste and Purity of Blood, so I will be looking forward to Talbin's report!

>87 mike, a hearty second to that! I want to send Gent.le Sig. Eco a t-shirt with "Eschew Obfuscation" on it, but I don't have an address in the Afterlife. An opinion, yes; address, no.

I have finished The Fabric of Reality by David Deutsch. My review (located here) is favorable.

That leaves me with a dilemma...what to read now....

Just finished "Tall, Dark & Hungry (Argeneau Vampires, Book 4) by Lynsay Sands" and am starting "The Song (Sons of Destiny Book 4) by Jean Johnson. Both are Romantic Fiction and parts of series that I started reading last year. One of my goals for this year is to finish each series that I have started. Happy New Year and Happy Reading! :)

I finished Call Her Savage by Tiffany Thayer (a male writer) over the weekend. The book has all the appearances of a pulp novel, but really was a pretty well written book. Published in 1931, it was the story of a "willful" woman who tried to have life her own way without knuckling under to societies norms for women at the time. Surprisingly, the book began with the main character's grandparents as they came across the plains in a wagon train, and worked up through the next generation to explain the character's antecedents.

At any rate, the book was very much in the "determinist" school, wherein characters are shaped by their environment in a way that leaves them very little wriggle room, fate-wise. Sort of a Theodore Dreiser with a touch more licentiousness.

A bit predictable in parts, but over all I enjoyed the characterizations and dialogue. I did a bit of investigation online and was fascinated to learn that this book was made into a move starring Clara Bow as part of her ongoing efforts to make the transition of silent screen star to talkies. Bow's work was generally praised in the movie, but the film itself was panned for being over sentimental and sensationalized.

I haven't decided which full-length book to read next, but I'm going through some shorter works, including stories from A Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales by Hawthorne, Prize Stories 1994: the O Henry Awards, Hungry Hearts by Anzia Yezierska and Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by M. R. James.

richardderus: Thanks for your review, it was very interesting. I wonder whether part of the reason that he might be less puglistic (if that's even a word) in his materialism is because the multiverse is not a proven scientific theory as yet (although very attractive to many people, if nothing else because it enables a not-too-horrible explanation of the universe we live in...)

I'm still reading Sarraounia, a historical novel written by Abdoulaye Mamani about Sarraounia, the warrior-sourceress-Queen who rules part of what has become Niger, and a particularly unpleasant French colonial Captain who has taken his brief (get to the Sudan please) and decided this means he needs to decimate all the villages and massacre everyone on the way. The showdown is imminent. It's not phenomenal literature, but quite an interesting read and the author clearly has a lot of affection for his country.

I've finished The Illusion of Return by Samir El-Youssef and A Grain of Wheat by Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʾo this week, which were both excellent.

Here's my review of The Illusion of Return (4-1/2 stars):

The narrator of this novella is a Palestinian who emigrated from war stricken 1980s Lebanon to London, who receives a phone call from a long lost friend who has also emigrated, to the United States, and wishes to meet with him during a layover at Heathrow Airport on his way back to Lebanon. They haven't spoken to each other or returned to Lebanon after a tragic day that deeply affected both men and their families.

The book's title refers not only to the narrator's belief that it is an illusion that Palestinians can return to their former homes, but also to the impossibility of accurately reexamining memories of the past. It is very well written, and the author, who grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, gives us a vivid portrayal of the complexity of life in wartime Lebanon, and the pain and isolation that is a daily experience of its exiles.

And my review of A Grain of Wheat (5 stars):

This stunning and searing novel, which was written by Mr Thiong'o in 1967, is set in a village in Kenya just prior to the country's independence from Britain in 1963. However, much of the story takes place during the Emergency (referred to by the British as the Mau Mau Uprising) that took place from 1952-1960, which led to the deaths of a few dozen settlers and tens of thousands of Kenyans, and caused the destruction of numerous villages and the breakdown of Kenyan social and economic society. The main characters in this story were all caught up in the retribution that took place after a freedom fighter from the village kills a particularly violent District Officer, and each of them betrays someone dear to them or to the movement, with devastating results. I was unaware of how horrible the Emergency was, but Mr Thiong'o gives us an unforgettable view of colonial Kenya.

I'm also reading The World Is What it Is, the autobiography of V.S. Naipaul, by Patrick French. I'm planning to start One, Tilting Leaves by the Filipina author Edith L. Tiempo today, and The Obscene Bird of Night by the Chilean author José Donoso Yáñez later this week

Message edited by its author, Jan 6, 2009, 3:57pm.

I had to abandon The Time Machine in order to focus on A Suitable Boy. I had to abandon A Suitable Boy, because it was due back at the library, and I couldn't renew it. I will get back to these 2 books in the next month.

Am getting into No Logo which is proving to be thought-provoking. And last night started Get Shorty. Elmore Leonard is a delight. I find myself smiling & chuckling to myself as I read his books.

I loved No Logo - I found it absolutely fascinating and it was so enlightening even in today's more cynical, aware consumer society. Hope you enjoy it!

# 127: elliepotten: Great comments & yes I'm enjoying it, although I'm finding the concept of Ernest Hemingway inspired furniture a bit bizarre.

heyyy im new 2 librarything but i love it what yopu talking about.... oh duh books im reading the twilight saga

I'm reading The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn, an Inspector Morse mystery by Colin Dexter for my 999 challenge. The reason I chose it? It's a very nice ImPress Mystery, "The Best Mysteries of All Time" that I picked up at the Thrift Store for 50 cents a while back. I was in the mood for an aesthetically pleasing book and am enjoying it - both aesthetically and as a novel - immensely.

I'm reading The Time Traveler's Wife. I haven't gotten too far into it so I'm not sure how I feel about it yet.

Finally, finally finished Down and out in Paris and London by George Orwell which I enjoyed greatly, despite the distractions that kept me from finishing it fast.

Next up is Voice of the Fire by Alan Moore. I'm interested to see how well he can do fiction since I am a big fan of his graphic novels.

The library called and the copy of Design for Murder that I had ordered came in - and in record time - I only asked for it yesterday afternoon. So now I'll have two library books to read and all my TV shows are starting to have new episodes again. Maybe that's why I got so many books read over Christmas - no TV shows to watch!

I do hope to start The Heretic this evening during commercials!

I'm reading Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett and a lit text book called England in Literature.

Message edited by its author, Jan 6, 2009, 7:19pm.

I'm reading/enjoying "Anna Karinina" by Leo Tolstoy (the recent translation by Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky). I'm just starting Part 3.
I read it many years ago for a Russian lit. course in college, so it's like I'm reading it for the first time.

I had started The Guernsey Literary a while back ,but then put it aside to read some other books. I'm starting it again today for my book club this Friday.

I'm slowly getting into Walking on Air by R.S. Jones....not sure if I like it or not.....it's gradually getting more interesting. The characters are slowly getting more real but the writing seems a little choppy. It's a short book so I shouldn't have any trouble finishing. Hoping it gets better, though.

Just finished reading The End of the Affair by Graham Greene. Fantastic book. Am thinking of getting into Kitchen Confidential next after reading Waiter Rant at the end of last year and really enjoying it.

I am reading The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, and it is quite interesting so far.

I am also listening to Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers.

And now I am going to turn off this infernal machine and go read.

Just finished Oscar and Lucinda and started The Road Home by Rose Tremain. Yum.

I finished Brave New World this morning and started Animal, Vegetable, Miracle this evening. I'm reading them for a challenge where I have to read one book with a place name in the title (BNW) and one with a food name in the title (AVM). Brave New World really made me think.

>>119 - My now husband and I became engaged while reading On Chesil Beach out loud to each other. :)
Of course, it certainly had nothing to do with the attitudes of the two main characters!

I finished reading The Exorcist and my husband and I watched the movie together this evening. The first time I saw that film I was messed up for a couple of weeks after - needing to leave the lights on at night, etc... It was much easier for me to watch this time. I think having read the book helped.

Now I am reading Hostage to the Devil by Malachi Martin. I've had this book for years and decided to stick with my current theme.

I just finished The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn and have started Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah.

Dog Eat Dog, by Laurien Berentson

Message edited by its author, Jan 7, 2009, 7:47am.

I finished "The Final Awakening", Looking for another fiction......

I have finished The Book of Other People by Zadie Smith/Various Authors and Have now started Doomsday Book by Connie Willis which so far is brilliant.

I found out that I am getting Love Potion Murders in the Museum of Man from Early Reviewers and Lincoln's Men by Daniel Mark Epsteinfrom HarperCollins to review - this is after being told I wasn't getting books to review this month.

Message edited by its author, Jan 7, 2009, 7:08pm.

Reading Pere Goriot by Balzac for Group Reads-Literature and am about to start A Mercy by Toni Morrison.

#147--I thoroughly enjoyed the Doomsday Book.

Message edited by its author, Jan 7, 2009, 9:43am.

I am in the middle of Blue Heaven by CJ Box. Good story, great characters.

>149 I just finished A Mercy last night and will be posting a review today or tomorrow. Very powerful book. My current book, Charlottle Gray by Sebastian Faulks has been long neglected on my TBR pile. I'm not really expecting it to measure up to the magnificent Birdsong which I read last year.

I just finished The Ghost Brigades. Right now I'm reading Fledgling by Octavia Butler.

133: heliophobe,

I'm a huge Orwell fan, but his nonfiction is greatly superior to his fiction. If you haven't already you might want to take a look @ The Road to Wigan Pier and Homage to Catalonia two of my favorites. His essays are generally very thoughtful and good reads.

New book for this rainy, dreary day: Caesar's Vast Ghost by Lawrence Durrell. Perfect escape from the weather!

153: Smiley

I am definitely going to need to read more of his stuff. I'm really excited that the library I work at has a good sized collection of his works.

I'm reading The Road To Wellville by TC Boyle- quite good and funny

Finished The Last Lecture in an afternoon. Now I'm reading Castle Roogna in my attempt to read the Xanth series, or reread, as the case may be for individual books (this one's a reread).

I just started Beastly by Alex Flinn, a YA book. I can't put it down. And I LOVED Doomsday Book!!

I'm reading Pale Fire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and as of tomorrow, Fair and Tender Ladies for the Southern Lit Book Club. :)

I am in the middle of The Heretic's Daughter. It is an interesting, fast read and with the rainy night here I will probably be finished the book later tonight.

I finished Stardust by Neil Gaiman and I'm about to start Farthing by Jo Walton. I was unimpressed with Stardust. Nothing much happens. This is a case where the movie is much better than the book.

I just started Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. I suspect that I may be crunching through this one for a while.

#160 - I just finished The Heretic's Daughter today. I'll be interested to hear what you think. I liked it, but was a bit disappointed based on what I'd read about it here on LT. Now I'm off to The Coffee Trader for the LT group read...

163: jhedlund

I have finished the Heretic's Daughter and while I found the descriptive detail of life in 1690's Massachusetts and the family dynamics interesting, the book as a whole did not resonate with me as a fascinating/ enlightening page-turner for the topic at hand, or for historical fiction in general. I will have to stick to my original assessment: it is an interesting read.

I finished Atonement and am now fifty pages into American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Recently I’ve finished a reread of one of my “desert island books,” Alan Gurganus’ Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, which was an absolute, uninhibited reading pleasure.

Next I moved on to Ha Jin’s War Trash, which I found to be a very powerfully moving and haunting novel. I’ve never read Jin before and found his prose to be very unsentimental and nonjudgmental for a war novel. Excellent stuff. And I swear that Yu Yuan, the main character, was modeled after Eneas McNulty from Sebastian Barry’s book, The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty.

Now reading Irish author Gerard Donovan’s Country of the Grand.

Message edited by its author, Jan 8, 2009, 8:53am.

#162 - don't give up on Anna Karenina - once you get going it is really quite captivating, it is not a slog as most Russian lit is (for me, at least) I just read it recently and absolutely loved it!

I am still reading The Magus by John Fowles. I am definately enjoying it, but as another LTer said recently it does seem to be a rather silly novel. My copy has a bit from the author at the begining which hints that he, himself, doesn't really count it amongst his best work and thinks it works best for adolescents.

I am halfway through The Heretic. I discovered that the book I got from the library Design for Murder, I had already read and it is listed as such here, so I will just send it back after I finish The Heretic, which is also a library book.

I, then, will get into Lincoln's Men by Epstein which I got as a review copy from HarperCollins's First Look program.

I'm reading Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey. Haven't read anything by him yet. It is about people who live in LA. There are some great fact pages interspersed between the reading.

Also I'm listening to Act of Treason by Vince Flynn. He is such a good author. You don't want to put his novels down.

Finished The Constant Princess today because I'm home sick with a sinus headache, and have now moved mournfully into some pre-reading I'm supposed to do for classes, which start next week. Still have two more chapters to go in Texts and Contexts and then need to start War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust.

Ah, grad school. :(

Still working on some shorter pieces, which today/tonight will include "Games" by Terry Bain from Prize Stories 1994: the O. Henry Awards and "The Parcel" by Arnold Zweig from the Modern Library collection, Great German Short Novels and Stories.

>169 I'd be interested to know what Bright Shiny Morning is like - I saw it reviewed in The Times, but the few (and mixed) reviews I found put me off until I knew more about it...

I am glad to hear Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All is so good. I bought a copy a few months ago.. it is on my read soon shelf.

I finished A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss. It was a very good historical thriller and I recommend it. I'm finally starting Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson. I know this is a highly regarded novel on these threads and I know it won't disappoint. The first 60 pages are excellent. He reminds me of a Norwegian Cormac McCarthy.

Ok, so I'm a little behind, but I finally started the Twilight series. Started Twilight last night and can hardly put it down. It's one of those "don't want to go to work because you want to read a book" books... Can't wait to get book 2.

i finished On Chesil Beach....and started The Coffee Trader for the LT group read....and Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar for a group read on Shelfari...the juggling act i have to perform with the last two titles will be a wonder to behold!!

I got a real deal tonight!! My husband bought me An Irish Country Christmas by {Patrick Taylor} for Christmas. I really enjoyed it, first time I read any of his books. I realized it was the third book in a series. I went to B&N and saw they had the first one in paperback for 14.95. I kept nosing around through the store and went up front to the bargain section only to find the first one in HARDBACK for 5.98. With a 10% discount and a gift card I got An Irish Country Doctor and can't wait to read it!!

I am currently reading Little Chapel on the River another book I recommend.

Little Chapel on the River is a little gem of a book. Sadly, John Guinan, who ran the pub/store, died last year of brain cancer, and Guinan's is no more.

I just started Testimony by Anita Shreve.

Just finished The Heretic and I plan on getting Engaged to Die from the library today or tomorrow and I also have Lincoln's Men by Epstein (it's new, I may have to enter this myself into LT) downstairs.

I just finished Laura Lippman's Hardly Knew Her which I loved and am starting my early review book Etta which, 10 pages or so in, seems very promising!

I finished The Summer of 1787 the other day, and started After Elizabeth.

I've just started Portrait of an Unknown Woman...I'm hoping it will pick up a bit to be honest!

I'm off to a slow start with a new year of reading. I'm on book two of the year with People of the Book.
It's really making me wish I had more time to read this week, but some how not being a football fan hasn't kept me from watching bowl games.
A yum-yum to the people reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle I made the green bean frijoles mole this past weekend and it was a great different dip. It does need some spice though. Red pepper flakes perhaps? Hubby doesn't like green beans and even he said it was good.

>175 - I did the same thing. I live next door to our family home and my mum kept harassing me because I was reading it too much - I ended up reading for four and a half hours one night to finish it, all curled up with chocolate milkshake and chocolates, it was BLISS.

On that note, I've just finished New Moon and hopefully will FINALLY finish The Pleasure of Reading in the next hour or two, so I can start completely fresh with something else before I return to Stephenie Meyer for Round 3! My 50 Book Challenge is moving nicely today...

Message edited by its author, Jan 9, 2009, 6:17pm.

I started Lobotomy:Surviving the Ramones last night.

I finished A Pirate of Exquisite Mind the other night. It was very enjoyable, I learned a lot from it, and I highly recommend it.

Now I seem to be floundering. In fact, I'm having a difficult time staying focussed on any of the books I've tried to read in the past few days. These include The Black Tower by Louis Bayard, Jack: Secret Histories by F. Paul Wilson, a YA Repairman Jack novel, Salvation in Death by J.D. Robb, and a supernatural thriller by Suzy McKee Charnas called The Ruby Tear. I've also got Sharon Kay Penman's When Christ and His Saints Slept, The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly, Killing Circle by Andrew Pyper, and Zorro by Allende on my TBR pile but for some reason none of them are calling to me.

I hate it when this happens. 8-(

World of Null-A, loved it when I was about 10 and wanted to see how it holds up at 40. Enjoying it so far, although it's been so long all I really remembered was the title.

I am currently reading {Case Closed: by Gerald Posner}. I'm just over halfway through the book and then after that I am going to read {Einstein} by {Walter Isaacson}. I am a big history nerd.

#176 - So which method for reading Hopscotch did your book group opt for?

I recently finished Graphic Classics: H. P. Lovecraft, 1st edition. I also peaked at the 2nd edition at my local bookstore. I enjoyed the 1st edition, but the 2nd is definitely better.

I'm still reading Confessions of a Thug, which is sort of slow going, and I just started Santiago Dabove's La muerte y su traje.

#187 - Maybe you could page through a magazine or something for a bit, something like O, and get inspired...or you could just play eenie-meanie? Or throw them all in a laundry basket and pick one out like a bingo game...LOL. I know the feeling!! My method is to pick the one that comes first in the alphabet. In your case it would be Black Tower, by Bayard...but you could be contrary now and go for Zorro!!! LOL

Book nudgers, sounds like you have another client here!!!!

I'm still enjoying Dog Eat Dog, by Laurien BERENSON (misspelled in my earlier post), poodle lover that I am, then it's on to another Helen McInness mystery.

Message edited by its author, Jan 10, 2009, 3:33am.

I've just finished Greenery Street by Denis Mackail : I don't think I've ever read a book as annoying as this one. It was excrutiating having to go back to it to finish it nonetheless because I paid for it.

Now starting The Fortnight in September by RC Sherriff.

I have just started to read Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

I'm reading Nixonland by Rick Perlstein....still. Lack of concentration makes this book last longer than intended :-)

>190-the group left it open..the way to read Hopscotch...since some folks aren't used to this style of writing...i am going for the Straight Ahead method...so i can get an idea of the Story...but i will skip to the "extras" as i feel like it...

You may never want to visit LA after reading this. Of course it is fiction, but there are quite a few facts interspersed throughout the book. It's a story that follows 5 different people, 2 are a couple, who live in LA. One is the daughter of immigrant parents, another is a movie star, another is a street person and the couple are young kids who moved to LA from the midwest. I'm finding it sad knowing that there are probably people just like this.
It is well written.

I just started Books, Baguettes and Bedbugs by Jeremy Mercer. I've already read it once, a couple of years ago, but I'm feeling so very bookish right now and I know much more about Shakespeare and Co. than I did last time - so fingers crossed for a really absorbing and newly enlightened read!

I finished Sarraounia and inexpertly reviewed it but thought it was a good read. Then read Murakami's after the quake, short stories set after the Kobe earthquake but really focussing on "quakes" in normal people's lives and how they try to deal with them.

I've now started the rather large Tale of Genji, and am suffering slightly from culture shock but enjoying Seidensticker's translation.

I'm reading Emma by Jane Austen and Boomsday by Christopher Buckley for my book club.

Storeetllr,

I hate it too. Maybe if you try something really, really light and fluffy, and fun.

a Stephanie Plum book
or a Christopher Moore book,
or a Terry Pratchett book

Or something from a series you like.

I’m reading Killing Rommel, historical fiction. Not much on character development but an excellent insight on the mechanical side of the English North African campaign.

I'm reading The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb, and it's excellent so far.

Storeetllr - I had the same problem last week (different books, though). I cured myself by abandoning all reading for a few days and instead watching 2 seasons worth of Fry and Laurie as Jeeves and Wooster.

If movies aren't your thing, then I agree with FicusFan. Fluff!

I'm reading Company of Liars by Karen Maitland. It's historical fiction -- very well done, although a little depressing. My next Januray book will be a little more fun. This is my first post, so I'm not sure how to get the title and author to come out in blue, like everyone elses. I'll figure it out eventually....

Message edited by its author, Jan 10, 2009, 12:37pm.

Welcome lamplight,

To highlight books (called "Touchstones" here in LibraryThingland) just place the title in brackets, then look to your right to make sure the appropriate title and author appear. If not, which has been known to happen, just click on "more" and a list will appear from which you can choose the correct title. Welcome again and enjoy!

Message edited by its author, Jan 10, 2009, 12:34pm.

Eureka! It worked. Thanks a bunch. This is such a great site.

Thanks, appydo, Ficus, and jfetting ~ Last night I forced myself to continue reading the Repairman Jack novel but was all meh about it.

I'm going to take jfetting's advice and forget about reading this weekend *gasp!* and watch movies instead. I've got Pride & Prejudice (the BBC version) and Lonesome Dove, both of which I bought for myself on sale just before Christmas and both of which will be reruns, and also the first season of Weeds, which my daughter gave me for Christmas. If that doesn't inspire me to get back to reading, then I don't know what will!

My library is doing a contest that's like a BINGO game. It's a 5 x 5 set of squares with library info in each. Some of the squares are services that library does that patrons may not be aware of, some are books to read that one might not have tackled.

The one I am tackling is A Winter's Tale. I haven't read much Shakespeare since high school and thought this was a good way to read one of his plays. It will also be a good addition to my 999 Challenge. and who knows maybe I'll read another play sometime.

I am also halfway through a review copy of a book due out in February called Lincoln's Men. The book is about the three private secretary's of Abraham Lincoln. So far it is interesting, but I am having my usual non-fiction attitude in reading it - slow and a chapter at a sitting.

I'm only a few pages from the end of Walking on Air by R.S. Jones and I am so glad! This has been one of the most (if not THE most) depressing book I've ever read. It seemed really disjointed in the beginning but then once things started coming together, it was just terribly, terribly sad and heavy. I cannot wait for this one to end. If you are already depressed or chronically ill, DON'T read it. I'm serious.

I am anxiously looking forward to my next read, which hopefully will be much more enjoyable. I just got a big box of books from bookcloseouts.com and am having a hard time deciding which one will be chosen first!

just finished Pursued by furies: a life of Malcolm Lowry and am dipping into The journal of Joyce Carol Oates 1973 - 1982 and Looking back by Shusha Guppy which is a book of interviews with women writers and I'm also rereading Letters to Milena because no one writes love letters like Franz Kafka.

Just finished "The Song" and am starting "The Cat" (book 5 of the Sons of Destiny series by Jean Johnson)