It's Valentine's Day! Woot! Happy V-Day to all and much happy reading.
Message edited by its author, Feb 14, 2009, 1:36am.
It may be Valentine's Day on the East Coast, but I haven't gone to bed yet on Friday.
When I do, I will likely read in the fifth book of the
Mahabharata about the threats and pleas for peace between the two sides of the family. The Mahabharata is huge, and I cannot see not reading the whole thing; I have felt that way from the first or second book.
I also have
The Leopard at hand for a book group in March and for the discussion on LibraryThing. I could divert into it at any moment.
Robert
Message edited by its author, Feb 14, 2009, 2:07am.
I am on the West Coast as well so it is still Friday night, but Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. Hope you all get lots of chocolate and lots of books from cupid!
I'm reading
The Lace Reader at the moment. I'm struggling to finish it, because although I find the characters and the themes interesting, I think the plot is moving along way too slowly. I keep putting it down and picking it back up because it has so much potential, but I can't seem to just read through it for longer than a few minutes. We'll see.
I've also got
Blindness to look forward to for a group read. I'm hoping it's a good one, because it was my suggestion, what with the movie coming out soon.
I'm reading
The Leopard for the LT group read. It took me awhile to get into it but now I'm liking it lots.
I'm reading
Shikasta which is a little confusing, a little slow, and seems oh so long! (but it is getting better :)
I'm about halfway though
The Girl with No Shadow (the sequel to Joanne Harris'
Chocolat). I'm enjoying it, much not as much as the first book. I would like to read something next to celebrate Darwin's 200th birthday. Maybe
The Origin of Species or a biography. Any suggestions? :-)
Well, I am indulging in the chocolate covered pretzels my Valentine gave me, and continuing to listen to
Dracula by
Bram Stoker, and continuing to read
The Leopard for an LT group read.
I finished
Drood by Dan Simmons. Short review: Read
The Egyptologist instead; it's shorter AND better.
Slightly longer review: to FULLY appreciate this book you'll need to 1) really, really love Dickens but also realize that genius is rarely accompanied by light and fluffy personality, 2) be an opium addict, 3) love bitter, unreliable narrarators, and/or 4) love bitter, unreliable narrarators over the course of 770 pages that should have been edited down by a few hundred.
Still, what Simmons has done here is fairly Herculean, which I can totally appreciate. That said, I found it a rather odd choice of subjects around which to base a novel, particularly in how it played out...
But you see what I mean about Drood and The Egyptologist being very similar books? I spent the last week going, 'Yeah, I've read this once already...'.
I've moved on to
The Almost Archer Sisters.... a little strange, hard to get into, but once I broke page 50 I didn't want to put it down.
Still reading
Searching for Memory and am finding it a little slow but fascinating, none the less. There is certainly nothing black and white about memory. What we remember, even those stories of our past that make us who we are, is very much a function of our state of mind when it happened and when we're trying to remember it. No wonder my husband and I remember events from our early years together quite differently.
I'm reading
The Historian. Finished the first 6 chapters last night. And now, in honor of Singles Awareness Day, I'm going to go do charity work and stop feeling sorry for myself.
Still working on
Middlesex which is taking longer than expected. I've been enjoying it so far, but it doesn't seem to keep my attention for very long. I keep putting it down to watch The West Wing, which is kind of unlike me...
Eh, it's suppose to rain all day today so it may be the perfect time to make a significant dent in it. :o)
Reading
Giovanni's Gift by
Bradford Morrow and enjoying it. I am alone in the house today, a rare pleasure, which makes reading that much more delightful.
Just re-read
Enders Game last night which I haven't read since I was a kid. I loved it just as much the second time, I may go for the full series today!
I've had a morning working at the charity shop, so I've come home to indulge my singleness with books, toast and chocolate. I'm still reading
Eclipse and, to my surprise, starting to fall a teeny bit in love with Jacob and Jasper over Edward... I can almost hear the sighs of the Meyer haters, but I'm single on Valentine's Day and therefore fully entitled to fall in love with not-quite-human fictional characters, okay?!
After this I HAVE to read one of my library books, tempting though my own TBR pile is. The renewal situation is getting a bit ridiculous now!
Message edited by its author, Feb 14, 2009, 12:13pm.
cyellow, I hope you get to a better place with Grapes.... It is an amazing book. But I understand that feeling, when you're reading something you have to read and have all those other titles staring at you, beckoning you to come over to the dark side!
I finally finished
Disquiet by Julia Leigh. I can't believe it took me 4 days to get through this small, 120-page book! It is definitely a 'dark' rather disturbing look at a family that could benefit from some group therapy sessions with a psychologist. That and the writing was disjointed in places so I never managed to connect with it.
Time to get back into more familiar territory so next up is
The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie.
I am 550 pages in
The Hour I First Believed. I have really enjoyed the book up to this point. This section is a bit boring, I hope the pace picks up again.
I am also reading
American Wife.
Message edited by its author, Feb 14, 2009, 2:43pm.
It may be Valentine's Day but we just got back from a seminar on our 16th president. He was supposed to talk as well but got snowbound in Michigan. The other three scheduled talks went off without a hitch and the seminar was out early.
Oh, this "Lincoln" is the one who greeted President Obama at ford's Theatre on Thursday - then he went to Michigan and got snowbound!
I haven't read much today except the newspaper. I prefer fiction!
#15, 16 - I loved
The Egyptologist!
Finished
Slaughterhouse-Five. Truth be told, it didn't do much for me. Too random. A classic, really?
#25 - I'm sorry you're not liking
Grapes of Wrath; now that to me is a worthy American classic.
Anyway, not sure where I'll go next. Maybe
Black Water - a short Joyce Carol Oates novel on the 1001 list.
I am still reading
The Story of the Cannibal Woman by Maryse Conde. It is interesting, and a bit odd because the main character is so passive. Not sure what the author is trying for, but maybe it will all work out in the end.
Richard,
The Retrieval Artist series by Rusch is very good. My favorite is book 2 ,
Extremes which has an extreme Moon marathon and some sort of poison/disease outbreak in the middle of it. Very taught and fascinating.
Loved
The Grapes of Wrath and found it a page turner that I couldn't put down.
I'm still working on
The Moor's Last Sigh. Unfortunately, I'm in the middle of a paper right now that is cutting into my prime weekend reading time! One more page, one more page...
I picked
Reading Lolita in Tehran back up and I am determined to finish it, hopefully this weekend. I don't know why it's not holding my attention very well.
I'm almost done with
Freedom's Landing by Anne McCaffrey and am eager to get
Freedom's Challenge, which is the next book in the series, I believe.
After
Landing, I'm going to be reading
Matrimony by Josh Henkin. I'll be hosting a giveaway for an autographed copy of the book, too.
I'm also reading
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (reading the Chronicles in the order Lewis intended), and
Emma by Jane Austen.
Oh, and I'm also reading
How to Be a Villian: Evil Laughs, Secret Lairs, Master Plans and More! by Neil Zawacki, which is a funny little book.
I am just on the last few pages of
The Blood Spilt, took me awhile to get into, but I eventually found myself quite caught up in it. Next up is
The Kitchen Boy which I am looking forward to reading tonight while I babysit the grandkids.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I put The Garhole Bar aside because I'm bored with it .... but I will have to pick it up and finish it tomorrow because it's my club read.
I decided to read
Recipes for Cherubs this morning. it's a book I had started but then put aside after a chapter because something else was more interesting. I'm very glad I picked it up again and perhaps I was in the mood for something just like it today because I found it to be an absolutely delightful book. A little mystery here, a little art there, some Italian food here and a charming lost child finding her way into a family she never knew she had ... it all made for a riveting read that kept me indoors all day ... with breaks taken for breakfast, lunch and a little house cleaning.
I'm still on
Old Goriot from the previous LT Group Read, and am still listening to
Right ho, Jeeves duing my commute. Woe is me; I've so little reading time!
Cheers cameling - that's another book for my wish list! Which now stands at... wait... 247 ITEMS. Oh dear.
I was "forced" to read
The Grapes of Wrath in high school, some 35 years ago and it still remains the best book I ever read. Sucks? Come on!
I too loved
The Grapes of Wrath and am currently reading
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair...what a muckraker! I am surprised by how much I am enjoying it.
#41 - I just picked up a used (yet new) copy of
The Jungle and am looking forward to rereading it.
My husband just finished reading
Grapes of Wrath. He loves it. I think this is his 3rd time reading it.
I hope everyone enjoyed their Valentines Day - no matter how you spent it. Mike and I just got back from one of our favorite little dives where we like to get pizza with pepperoni, pineapple, and yellow hot peppers. A nice, relaxing evening.
And now we're going to read and . . .
Goodnight. :)
coppers, bettyjo: I read Upton Sinclair's
The Jungle last year and thought it was extremely entertaining, then went on to read his novel
Oil!, which I also enjoyed despite a bit of bagginess here and there.
I am just going to go ahead and read
The Audacity of Hope which has been languishing on my TBR pile. I figure if I don't read it soon cynicism and harsh reality will spoil it.
# 4 - I, too, am reading
The Lace Reader but having the opposite experience. I love the fact that it is unfolding slowly, building the anticipation. Different strokes I guess.
I have to add my praise for
The Grapes of Wrath, which I keep meaning to re-read and
The Jungle, which I had to read in college and loved!
The Boleyn Inheritance - Philippa Gregory - is very good so far : )
I also read
The Grapes of Wrath in high school, though I have a vague memory of the content (something about a turtle is all that remains from my memory of the book, but I've watched the movie several times).
As to Sinclair's
The Jungle, I read that for my college history class. Having worked in meat packing, I can tell you that not much has changed. Some of the safety issues have improved, and some of the sanitation, as well. However, it remains much the same. Flies, roaches, mice, bats and birds, even, can be found in the plants, and the USDA official can only watch so much. Meat hits the floor and is thrown back online, fingers and other appendages are lost and usually (but not always) recovered, and deaths still occur (during my two and a half years there, I knew of 3 or 4 deaths, and knew several amputees personally). Hope that doesn't put you off eating meat ;-) .
The only issue I had with the book was it's soap operatic feel. I couldn't help but laugh that so many bad things happened to the family... come on, no one has THAT bad of luck.
I loved
The Jungle too but had to read it in 7th or 8th grade,
I finished
The story of the Cannibal Woman by Maryse Conde.
It had such promise, and a very interesting beginning, but the structure was dodgy and the main character was an empty well. I have no idea why the author created her that way.
She never read, she didn't care about the news or current issues and events, she didn't socialize, she didn't like whole swathes of people in general (Americans among them), or specific people that she met. She considered herself a painter but she couldn't name her paintings, say what they were about, or what motivated her to paint them. She was offended all the time, but never engaged, rather she disengaged even further and left. It just baffles me, The book had so many issues, race, poverty, mixed marriages, tragic current times, hateful pasts, straight vs gay, and national identity.
On top of that the writing/structure was not good. The author would put clauses in sentences that changed the subject in the middle, and then changed it back at the end.
There would be pages of backstory and the next line would be some minor comment about the current day. So it switched all the time, and you couldn't always tell when you were, and who was being discussed. Character descriptions changed in a short time (dreds, shaved bald, silky mane).
I am now reading
Angel-Seeker by Sharon Shinn for another RL book group.
It is book 5 of the
Samaria series. It is SF and religion, done very well. Some humans have been bred into 'angels' so they can intercede with the orbiting 'god' (technology) that protects them and helps them (weather, medicine ...) on the alien planet they have colonized.
Message edited by its author, Feb 15, 2009, 12:57pm.
ficus, I actually have that Shinn series. I haven't read anay aoaf them yet. It looks like it might be a good one. Sorry to hear about
Cannibal Woman.. I have that one too ;p
I just finished
A Trip To The Stars ..an amazing read. Not sure what will be next~
I read a most interesting review of
Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell this weekend. The book appears not to have been released yet.
Despite its title, the almost 1,000 page novel deals with cruelty and guilt mainly through the Nazi era. Littell is a French/American author who has won numerous literary prizes, but is unknown to me.
I wonder if anyone is familiar with the author or his works.
I finished
The Black Swan a few days ago. The less said about that book the better. I never want to hear about Taleb's boyhood in Amioun, Lebanon again. He brings it up constantly, and it has nothing to do with his premise. Read his book
Fooled by Randomness instead.
I'm finishing up
Barbarossa The German Campaign in Russia. It's a short book covering the operational and strategic aspects of the German invasion of Russia. Written in a terse style, it is matter of fact and to the point, but it gives you a good feel for the alternatives considered and the reason for the choices taken. Throughout the summer and autumn of 1941, Hitler seems to be channeling Hamlet when it comes to Moscow.
My one complaint with the book is that I'm never really sure if the author is quoting documents or paraphrasing them. When discussing an operational directive outlining the missions for the various army groups at a particular date, the author seems to retain the structure of the original document, suggesting that he is translating verbatim what was written. However, in many places the phrasing suggests that he has summarized and interpreted the contents of many sections and subsections of the documents. Interpretation is certainly acceptable. It's his job as an historian. It would just be nice if the line between the documentary evidence and the interpretation were clearer.
I'm not sure what to pick up next. I read an interesting review in the NY Times for Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World. It looked very interesting. I think I'll head out to a book store and see if I can find a copy.
#53
LheahJLove: I loved
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings! I pretty much love anything by Maya Angelou, though.
If you like Angelou, I'd recommend
Nikki Giovanni. Also an African-American poet, I've had the honor and pleasure to know her personally when she was an instructor at the university I attended. She is a very sweet, while at the same time a no-nonsense, person.
The Genie in the Jar finally fell apart after many years of reading over and over and over by all three of my girls who still quote it to this day, "Take a note, spin it around" Careful baby, don't prick your finger!" The artwork in the book is also excellent :-)
#57 Thanks thekoolaidmom!
I read
I know why the caged bird sings as a freshman in high school. But I think I might appreciate it more, now. So I'm re-reading it.
I LOVE
Nikki Giovanni I've heard her speak twice, once at Stanford University, once at the University of Michigan. I love her poetry. I have a collection of her essays... and I love them too!
LheaJLove:
Sacred Cows and Other Edibles is another great book by Giovanni. It's a prose book, and addresses the practice within the African-American of tearing down anyone who becomes successful. She presents exceptional insights and a well thought out argument, as well as a solution for both sides of the problem: haters should strive for better and encourage each other, and those who do succeed, help where you can, but close your ears to those who criticize you for wanting to be better.
Not only does
Sacred Cows speak to the AAC, but, honestly, it's a great book for anyone whose friends wish to keep you down in the mud with them. I once heard a story that an aviary rescue place found an eaglet in an abandoned nest, and they took the baby back to their sanctuary. The bird was raised among chickens, and never attempted to fly. He never realized he was a majestic bird of prey!
I'm still reading
Los nacimientos. It covers the discovery and conquest/invasion of Latin America in short vignettes, (like historical flash fiction) from pre-1492 to the year 1700. I'm covering about 10 years a day at the moment and am up to 1565. A really vivid history.
I just finished
Black Magic: 13 Chilling Tales which was a fun anthology of weird tales, ranging from Hawthorne to Bradbury. Last night, I started
Astor Piazzolla: A Memoir a birthday gift from my sister.
#55, morfam - Is the title of
The Kindly Ones an allusion to the Furies of Greek mythology? I only make the connection because of Neil Gaiman's
Sandman, Volume 9.
I finally finally finally finished
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. I hated the ending. And come to think of it--the entire book was not that good. Very disappointed in this book. Just started
A Golden Age and so far so good.
Still reading
Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris. The mystery is secondary to...a Suadi novel of manners?
#54 Mckait,
I hope you enjoy the
Samaria series. You may also enjoy
The Cannibal Woman too. It may just be me.
#47 jhedlund: I just finished
The Lace Reader and have mixed feelings about it. I can't make up my mind whether I liked it or not. I like the lace reading and the hazy, dreamy quality of the writing, but the plot (especially the ending) was altogether too predictable for me. Hmmm... Will have to think about it. I don't regret reading it, though!
I've just started
Blindness, which I wanted to read before the movie comes out, and I'm LOVING it. It's about a mysterious epidemic of blindness, and the book is so engrossing that I find myself forgetting I'm reading a story rather than living it. I hope the movie does the book justice!
#58 - Isn't it amazing how books that you cringed at reading, but had to finish in high school (something about being tested on the contents), you now find to be totally different?
I am now reading
Anna Karenina (still) and am getting though it - this time, though it is a little dull (to me), but I guess that's the magazine serial effect on me.
Am almost finished with The Garhole Bar and I loath the book. If not for the book club, I wouldn't even have bothered going this far into the book. It's just not that interesting. *grumble, grumble* I have another 3 chapters to go ..... *sighs* ... I think I need some frozen custard to get me through this ordeal.
For yucks, I read
Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling this evening to cheer myself up. Now THAT is a fun little book to read.
>44 JolieLouise - sounds like you had a fun Valentine's Day! I spent mine falling in love with fictional characters again... Anyway, speaking of those fictional characters, I finished
Eclipse today so I'm starting one of my library books at last. I'm going for
Egypt's Golden Empire: The Age of the New Kingdom by Joyce Tyldesley. I've heard good things about her books on Ancient Egypt, so I'm looking forward to it!
I am still reading Lark and Termite - I am enjoying it but just haven't had much time to read this past week. Hopefully, this week will be better.
I read
The Lace Reader for my RL book club a few months ago and really enjoyed it. I also read
The Grapes of Wrath a few years ago and it is one of my all time favorites. I am sorry that you are not enjoying it.
I finished Modern Magic by Anne Cordwainer, which I loved and gave it the rare 5-star rating. Then I finished up
The Screaming Skull, which I had put down to read Modern Magic despite the fact that I only had 2 stories, because I didn't like it much. The last 2 stories didn't change my opinion.
Right now I'm actually not reading anything, I need to take a trip to the library tomorrow and visit Amazon...or dig through my closet for some of those old YA books I bought as a kid but never had time to read...
Tonight I started my ER book, Modern Magic by
Anne Cordwainer. Ape, it's nice to hear you enjoyed it!
Message edited by its author, Feb 15, 2009, 9:13pm.
#72 - It was nice, Ellie. Cozy and sweet.
Still reading in The French lieutenant's woman. I like it very much!
#30 jhowell - I feel exactly the same as you about Slaughterhouse-Five - why is it such a classic? Mind you I felt the same about
Brave New World and
Fahrenheit 451. The only dystopian classic I like is
1984, which could be because I love the writing style of Orwell.
With Slaughterhouse-Five, to me it was clumsily written and the key thing i guess, I just didn't get it!
#80 Leuntje - I read
The Collector by Fowles last year and thought it was brilliant and wanted to read more by him. So now thanks to you I think I will read
The French Lieutenant's Woman.
I am currently reading
Tibet, Tibet by Patrick French, which I'm loving. After that I think it will be
Coraline by Neil Gaiman, which I like the sound of. Possibly followed by
Tender is the Night.
Message edited by its author, Feb 16, 2009, 5:44am.
I've finally got around to starting
The Gargoyle and am seriously wishing I'd read it sooner. So far it's very good. I have high hopes for making real progress on it during the rest of the week.
I actively disliked
The Egyptologist - it's my genre and should have been a favorite, but go figure. (I just put my in-very-good-shape hardcover copy on BookMooch in case anybody's interested!)
#33 mcelhra - I put
Reading Lolita in Tehran down last year - it didn't hold my interest either.
I almost put down the book I'm reading,
Land of Marvels by Barry Unsworth, but it has picked up and is moving along nicely. This is good since it's an ARC and I specifically asked for it. I'm glad I'll be able to write a good review although I have written bad reviews about ARCs before.
Since I can never confine myself to one at a time (and I know I'm not the only one), I'm currently reading
Executioner's Song,
She came to stay and for something a bit lighter,
Outliers.
The first half of
Executioner's Song was amazing and disturbing, but I'm finding the second half tougher to get through.
I started
She came to stay because I'm also trying to work my way through
Simone de Beauvoir's four volumes of autobiography at the moment, and she talks a lot about the writing of this book in
The prime of life.
And
Outliers is interesting and not too taxing. Something to read when I'm feeling a little distracted and/or tired.
I read
The Jungle back in high school and recently snagged a copy as to re-read as a follow up to
The Omnivore's Dilemma.
koolaidmom--How did your stint in meat-packing affect your eating habits?
>77: dara85- Hang in the there with
In the Woods. It's an excellent crime thriller!
>Karen- Thanks for the heads-up on the
The Egyptologist. I managed to snag it.
>84: bookishness.net- Keep up with
Executioner's Song! It was one of the best non-fiction books I ever read, right alongside
In Cold Blood.
Ah! That was you, msf59! Glad you got it. I'm sending it today or tomorrow. I brought it to work with a blank mailer in case somebody grabbed it this morning - I have two others to send with it.
Just started reading
Drood by Dan Simmons. Haven't gotten very far but very interesting so far.
Nixonland. Politics RULE. Great book, but I've been reading it for a week. I'm TIRED.
I didn't think much of
Slaughterhouse 5 either. I thought it lacked perspective. If you look at all the people who have been on the earth before us, different ethnicities, and civilizations, we have always been standing on a pile of bones, not to mention those of the lower life forms (supposedly) that we eat and use for garden fertilizer.
A very good dystopian book is
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. I think it actually predates the others, but was smothered by Stalin and his people in the SU.
I finished, at long long last,
The Traveler by
John Twelve Hawks. ~meh~ Good enough to read, not enough to keep, so off it goes to my favorite book charity, who knows who she is.
Chores today. Soap operas instead of books because I can't hold a book and vacuum.
I am still working on
House of Abraham, and enjoying it but I get distracted. It may take a while. I am also reading
A Royal Pain for diversion, and
An Intimate Anthology. I enjoyed
Eden's Outcasts and am a fan of LM, so will probably enjoy this too.
#77:
In the Woods is good, but the sequel of sorts,
The Likeness, is even better! I am anxious for a new book to be published. I really like her style.
Is it wrong to wish for a minor cold so I could stay home and read?
#81 - Yeah, I think that is my problem too - I am not a big fan of the dystopian genre. Even Margaret Atwood (an author I typically love) even her
Oryx and Crake was a dud for me. I haven't read
1984 yet so maybe I'll give that a try sometime soon.
#77, 93 - I am so loving
Tana French's novels. I daresy the best in the mystery/thriller genre I have ever read!
I am forging on with
Audacity of Hope. Not as engaging as his first - too much like a civics textbook - but he certainly is eloquent and persuasive.
Reading:
The Thornbirds by Colleen McCullough
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
Just purchased : Drood by Dan Simmons
Oooh, I LOVE
The Thorn Birds. Read many years ago and seen the movie several times. Enjoy!
I can hold a book and vacuum.....
you need more practice :)
I am rather looking forward to meeting J12H :)
I made a pot of chicken tortilla soup for medicinal purposes and I am off to go back to reading
See Jane Runtata for now~
Message edited by its author, Feb 16, 2009, 4:32pm.
>79 JolieLouise - It sounded lovely, much better than all the overrated nonsense Hallmark peddles every year. Maybe next year... :-(
I'm about halfway through
Rant by Chuck Palahniuk. It's my first book by Palahniuk and I'm enjoying it a lot. A black comedy, laugh out loud funny from time to time, disturbing more often, but always astounding in terms of Palahnuik's imagination.
Also, I'll add my praise for The Executioners Song. One of the most disturbing yet utterly compelling books I've ever read. In my opinion, Mailer's true masterpiece.
Now that I've finished The Garhole Bar with a deep deep sigh of relief, I am embarking on
Flight of Aquavit by Anthony Bidulka and
Dog on It by Spencer Quinn. It should be interesting reading 2 mystery novels at the same time by such different authors.
>97 mckait, I don' wanna learn to hold a book and vacuum! I wanna learn how to convince my sainted aunt that the cleaning laddie needs to come every, not every other, week! Actually, this was his week to come but his wife just had a baby and since their first child died shortly after birth, he's sticking close to home for a while.
>98 Ellie dearest lass, Hallmark serves so many squintillions of people with that treacle that we shouldn't even bother rating it. It's above, and below, rating. In the US, Hallmark's television treacle is even more sappygoopysmarmy than you'd credit...an entire 24-hour channel of storytelling that gives me acute diabetic sugar issues. Even my sainted aunt, 90 years old and a reader of Harlequin romance novels since their invention in 1953, thinks the stuff they broadcast is a little namby-pamby. And yet there are her eyeballs, glued to the set, absorbing it all.
Isn't that scary to think on? That people love their stories so much that the level of skill in the telling is only of secondary importance? *gulp*
>99 jk,
Fight Club is brilliant. Excellent. Revelatory.
Ditto what you said about Mailer's
The Executioner's Song, too. I thought
The Naked and the Dead was proof that some reputations are of their time, and don't translate well into other times. *cough*Stendhal*cough*
>100 cameling,
Flight of Aquavit makes it to the bedside at last! Oh, how I hope you fall in love with Russell Quant and Saskatoon the way I did! I've even considered going to Saskatoon just to see for myself what the gestalt of the place is. Shall we get up a trip for fall?
>101: Eddie- Back to great 60's books again, huh? Well, those are 2 worthy & diverse choices! Thompson is an incredible journalist and even though I have not read
Rosemary's Baby in many years, parts of it still haunt me. Enjoy!
I just skimmed all 105 posts in about 5 minutes...
#8: kidzdoc - Where did you find
Travelling with Djinns? I can't a copy for sale in the US, (or the book depository), well, with one exception for $143 on amazon!
#61: momom248 - I agree about "Sawtelle."
#82: shootingstarr7 - I really enjoyed
The Gargoyle, hope you do too.
As for me, I'm reading
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which is fantastic so far. It reminds me a little of
Middlesex.
Just finished
The Miracles of Prato (from Amazon Vine - it was pretty good) and am about to sit down with another Vine book, Leaving India: My Family's Journey from Five Villages to Five Continents by Minal Hajratwala.
Message edited by its author, Feb 16, 2009, 11:44pm.
#106: dchaikin, I bought my copy of
Travelling with Djinns on Alibris, which was apparently the last copy available. Unfortunately it has not been published in the US. The only copy I could find from my usual UK sources (The Book Depository, Amazon UK, Alibris UK, Foyles, The London Review Bookshop, eBay UK) was an uncorrected proof on AbeBooks UK for £18.00.
I'm currently reading The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Imagine being able to time travel. great eh? lottery numbers and stock market predictions are at your mercy. the slight snag is that you have little control of when you time travel and you can take nothing with you when you do (i.e. clothes, mobile phone etc etc), so you always arrive naked and have to find a way of providing for yourself. In short beg, borrow or steal.
This is a lovely, witty, well written book which i'm 3/4 of the way through. I urge anyone and everyone to go get themselves a copy.
Currently reading Nobels Testamente by Liza Marklund. Seems like a good book so far.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. After the eighty-seventh recommendation, I broke the rule of a lifetime and bought it new in hardback, albeit from Amazon with a whacking great discount. Only on page 9 so far, but loving it immensely.
The only down-side is that it has just the kind of lovely warm tone that makes me want to give up trying to write, because I just can't do that sort of thing with words. It makes me feel happy and inadequate all at the same time.
Message edited by its author, Feb 17, 2009, 8:52am.
#109: kidzdoc - well, I resisted buying it for about an hour or so...thanks for finding it.
I'm glad you were able to get it, dchaikin. I should finish it this afternoon, and I'll post a review of it on my 75 Books and Club Read threads.
I am currently reading The Piano Man by Marcia Preston. I loved The Butterfly House, so I am hoping that The Piano Man is just as good!
Oooh, thanks - I just bought
The Butterfly House (£1, British Heart Foundation, in hardback as well - come on!) so I think I'll boost it up my TBR pile...
I'm rapidly coming to the end of Elizabeth Noble's
The Reading Group, which I've really enjoyed. Next on the list is Laurie Halse Anderson's
Catalyst!
I've started
Paradise Lost, which is so much better than I expected. Does anyone know, did
Milton intend Satan to be the character I root for? Because he is.
>123 It's hard to know if Milton
intended for Satan to be so darn dynamic, but most people find him to be their favorite character - by far. I hope you're enjoying
Paradise Lost - that's one I'd like to reread this year.
As I understand it, Milton's main object was to write and publish and English epic. Then at the beginning he says that he intends to justify the ways of God to man.
Satan is not a good guy in the book despite that he is glorious. When he first lies there in Hell he is a riveting object. He has some now common arguments to justify himself, but mostly he doesn't contribute to the welfare of mankind or of heaven.
I have read that Byron was the first to see Satan glorified in Paradise Lost.
Robert
>124 I am enjoying it, very much. I can't believe I waited this long to read it!
>125 Oh, he definitely isn't a good guy by any means. He is just so interesting, and he gets all the good lines. That first scene where he is lying in the lake of fire was great - I read it a couple of times before moving on.
>103: I guess I am back to the 60s books again; I had never really thought about that. I really liked the film Rosemary's Baby, and so far I'm really enjoying the novel. I haven't got too far into Hell's Angels yet, but it's quite interesting.
Message edited by its author, Feb 17, 2009, 7:32pm.
I came to a pause in the Mahabharata, so last night I picked up
The Leopard. I read about a third of it then set it down to read the introduction to
Rethinking the Mahabharata. Both are attractive.
Robert
Message edited by its author, Feb 17, 2009, 7:45pm.
richardearcurmudgeon,
I am trying hard to sympathize with your dilemma..perhaps it is my lifelong lack of cleaning laddies or ladies that prevents it?
I have invented many ingenious ways to read and do near anything and everything. The biggest issue I have found is page turning, since I read so quickly. A pencil with a good eraser nearby has been a godsend while kneading bread and doing dishes.
Now dry your tears and run the vacuum, fold the towels and then make some popcorn.
That last is apparently because I am craving popcorn tonight.
I am off to read
Hummingbird's Daughter.
I just finished
Hannah Arendt Martin Heidegger about the love affair between these two philosophers. It's a quick read. I really like Arendt's work; Heidegger is a real pain. But you don't need to know their philosophies to get it. I'm in the middle of Hell by Henri Barbusse about a man who finds a little peep-hole above his bed and well, you know. Some prose poems by Francis Carco, a bohemian from the 1920's, and then
The Paris Review Interviews Volume 1 with interviews from Hemingway, T.S. Eliot, Borges, Saul Bellow, Kurt Vonnegut, and a good handful of others. The Hemingway interview is very good, though the interviewer is a complete moron and so Hemingway messes with him a lot. Anyway, I can pick up the last two books and choose things to read at random, non-committal.
I'm still working on
Team of Rivals and
The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe.
Just finished
King John in my project to read all of Shakespeare's works by the end of the year. Off to a good start, having completed the Comedies and now the first of the histories. Still reading Thames: the Biography by Peter Ackroyd when I need a break from the Elizabethans, and I have
Postwar still hanging in there, although I've set it down for a couple of weeks now. I haven't given up yet - it's fascinating but very, very dense.
AnnaClaire, I thought
Team of Rivals was very good, surprisingly so for so hyped a book. I thought the expansion of the biography to cover other prominent men from the period really did flesh out Lincoln in interesting ways.
>102: richardderus, Bidulka got me at
Amuse Bouche ... I love Russell Quant and after reading
Tapas on the Ramblas, I'm completely hooked on this guy, his fashionista friend Anthony and I even love his dog Barbra. It's so easy to get into the character here, and he does paint a beautiful picture of Saskatoon. Fall trip, fall trip.... yippeee!
>135, billiecat, I am heartened by your review of
Team of Rivals. I have the book and it's on my TBR pile. I've been wondering when I would start to tackle this because while I am very interested in reading it, I've also been worried that the hype may have played this book up more than it's worth.
I finally hit the halfway point of the 755 page
The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb. What a phenomenal novel. I could read and read this one forever.....I don't want it to end. I love the way this man writes.....it just flows and eases you into the story. The story centers around a man and his wife (she was in the school the day the Columbine shootings went down, she was the school nurse) and what a transformation their lives go through after that tragic day. This will be one of my all time favorites, I'm sure. I hope it doesn't take him years to write his next book. If you are waffling on whether or not to get this one....I vote a hearty Thumbs Up!
Just wanted to say thanks for the messages of encouragement for finishing
Executioner's Song. I'll get there I'm sure, I'm just pausing for a while and regrouping.
#87 I agree that it is one of the best non-fiction books I have ever read, and I haven't even finished it yet. I think so far I'd rate it above
In cold blood#99 And I also agree that it is disturbing. I think that is why I have put it down for a little while. My mood was really starting to get affected by it, and not in a positive way. The fact that it can affect my state of mind really shows that it is a great book, but I needed to get out of that head space for a little while and think some happy thoughts!
I've started
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. I have great expectations.
Message edited by its author, Feb 18, 2009, 6:36am.
#107: momom248 - I think you would enjoy both books, but I'm very sorry for making you have to read them ;)
This message has been deleted by its author.
Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, about murder and architecture and chi-town. so far so good, but not very romantic reading...
dchaikin they both just moved up on the TBR pile!! And I'm sure I will enjoy if the LT reviews are any indication!! Oh so many books, so little time.
I got off to a very slow start on
Anna Karenina - 10 pages in before my son started crying. Had to take him to the ER for croup (again). Finally got to sleep at 4 a.m. I'm a bit of a zombie today, so I'm going back to
Tales of Beedle the Bard until I can think clearly again.
Beedle is much easier to read. I find with "Anna" that it is a bit boring after a while, so I read a "part" and then read something else to break it up. I find those books that started out as serials to be like that, but then they were the TV of their day - you'd have to wait for the next installment to find out what happened!
#149- hope your son is feedling better- I'm working on Riven Rock by TC Boyle who is becoming one of my favorite authors
I finished Lark and Termite last night and really enjoyed it although I don't think I felt everything was quite "explained" enough for me. I have started
Against Medical Advice which is a true account of a young boy's struggle with Tourette's. Unfortunately, while I find the story very interesting, it is written by James Patterson who apparently thinks that most of his reader's are incapable of understanding words of more than two syllables and has difficulties with chapters longer than three pages at the most. Oh well - at least it will be a fast read.
Just finished
By the Sea by Abdulrazak Gurnah. What a wonderful book, such elegant writing.
cdyankeefan, I think Boyle's
Riven Rock is one of his most under-rated novels, a terribly sad (but true) story that's just compulsively readable.
Hi all, still sick, watching TV mostly but because I'm finding the offerings there so dreary I picked up a book by one of my late mother's fave-rave writers: Rumer Godden's
A Candle for St. Jude. Published 1948. Short (about 55,000 words). Very entertaining on a rainy day with constant interruptions for garage-door-fixing discussions, lunch-making, and schnerkling my nose.
A Russian emigre ballerina becomes the Madame of a ballet school-cum-theatre in London. She has the expected outsized ego, talent, and skill. Her mousy sister-in-law is her general dogsbody and amanuensis. Her students are preparing for a do-or-die show, and the story is about how Madame grapples with finally having a student as good as she was, whose own outsized {see list above} matches and even exceeds Madame's own.
It might not sound very interesting, but here as in so many places it's the storytelling, the line-by-line high quality of the writing, that makes the story told so involving. I'd say anyone with three or four hours to spare should keep this little underappreciated peridot of a book very much in mind. It's also a perfect car (waiting for kids or whatnot, not at stoplights!)/train/doctor's office book, right up there with a cozy mystery by
Patricia Wentworth or
Margery Allingham.
>136 cameling, what say we do an LT birthday scramble around Saskatoon in September? Anyone else wanna spend my 50th in Canada?
>141 judylou,
Shikasta is one weird book. The whole of "Canopus in Argos: Archives" concept was completely left-field for
Doris Lessing and I don't know exactly what to think of them...I'm not Lessing's biggest fan (loathed
The GOlden Notebook), and I am a reader of SF, but somehow these snuck in under my dismissal radar. I'd say The Marriage Between Zones Three, FOur, and Five is worth your time to read. It's as elliptical as
Shikasta and somehow more satisfyingly
grounded in something indefinable, that certain atmospheric something that tells the reader that the writer was really there.
Blech. Off to die now.
132: zoe.higgins,
Volume 2 & 5 of the
Paris Interviews by George Plimpton are also excellent. Did you know that, at least in the first five books, the author that was interviewed got to edit and approve the text before it was published?
Finished
Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris. The mystery was only so-so, but her characters and setting were excellent. I hope she writes more and
Finding Nouf was a very good read.
132: zoe.higgins,
Volume 2 & 5 of the
Paris Interviews by George Plimpton are also excellent. Did you know that, at least in the first five books, the author that was interviewed got to edit and approve the text before it was published?
Finished
Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris. The mystery was only so-so, but her characters and setting were excellent. I hope she writes more and
Finding Nouf was a very good read.
Haven't decided which nonfiction to tackle next.
wow, some nice reading going on. I Have been wanting to read
Against Medical Advice. I enjoyed Goddin's
House of Brede very much!
richardear, such Drama!
Make a pot of chicken soup, drink lots of tea with lemon, honey and Jamesons, wrap in a blankie andyou will be just fine. promise.
There will be NO dying. There will be no talk of dying. Got it busterdear???!!
richard, I'm with mckait--you will not be dying no way no how!! And like mckait said got it buster!! Feel better.
I am reading
Revenge of the Rose. I just finished
The Canterbury Papers which needed more concentration but made me feel like I was Indiana Jones in a Robin Hood movie. I hope The Rose is not considered a slumming book. No one has mentioned it in any of the posts I skimmed. Oh Dear!
poor richard ....i'm joining momom and mckait in forbidding you to seek an early death - chin up, wrap up in a nice thick blanky, drink copious mugs of lemon & honey green tea, and if you can't manage it, try and call out for good chicken soup or make a batch of super cheesy mac & cheese (this always works for me) and you should be better in no time.
besides you have to stay alive to make it to Saskatoon in Sept - what a brilliant idea. Me in , me in!
I've started on
Never Change by Elizabeth Berg and will probably finish
Flight of Aquavit tonight.
Poor Richard - but with all these LibraryThingers sending get-well-vibes and virtual chicken soup you'll be fine in no time...
Talbin, you aren't paying attention~ we have a moratorium o talk of dying.
Blank Comes for the Archbishop, if you don't mind.
:)
Oh, I thought the moratorium was just for Richard. Although I must say that _____ Comes for the Archbishop is most definitely not a depressing book in any way.
Well, he does get a bit dramatic, so we should try to help him...
I will look at that book~ I read a Cather or two in years gone by, but that doesn't sound familiar. Thanks for understanding about the _____ thing..
Richard,dear
About your mortality...visiting Saskatoon in sweet September may well turn out to be a fate even worse than death.
However, for resurrection purposes, I would recommend you try Regina, Saskatchewan instead. So much more to see, it's been around a lot longer and was named after Queen Victoria. (Of England, not the old dear at my local). Lots of old buildings built around the time and lots of stately green lawns and Parliamentary edifices, with cherubs and gryphons and monkeys, oh, my.
I much prefer my mountains and oceans to the Prairies, and I realize I will not be welcome in Saskatchewan until H... freezes over, or next winter, whichever comes first.
#166, Talbin, I agree with you. "Condition That Must Not Be Named" Comes for the Archbishop was a favorite of mine, too.
I'm reading
At the Still Point by Mary Benson for the Reading Globally Africa read, and
Acheson by James Chace, about Dean Acheson.
Have just finished
Cicero by Anthony Everitt and
Waiariki by Patricia Grace.
Am going back to read the rest of this thread now!
Not dead yet.
Now, now, now...
DEATH Comes for the Archbishop is one of the very best books of the first half of the 20th century, so give it its full name. Besides, and I feel very Dumbledoresque saying this, but not to name something is to give it too much power.
Taking a page from y'all's book, I have swilled that ghastly boiled shrub-trimming slop and now I have to pee a lot and have a bad taste in my mouth. Is this meant to distract me from other miseries? Chicken soup, bah, I made beef stew with beer as the stewing liquid. Used about 1/4 cup of Tabasco in my bowl and feel loads less congested!
Finished
Giovanni's Gift and was molto depressed. I'll review it soon. Since cameling talked about
Bitter Lemons while in Singapore (I think), I've decided to read
Sicilian Carousel and get a whole Durrell gestalt goin' here. Then it's on to
Monsieur, or The Prince of Darkness.
Or maybe
O, Pioneers!, wasn't it k-mom who talked about picking that one up recently? Too blah to look up the citation upthread.
cameling, should we heed morfam and change the time? I mean the purpose is to visit Russell's city, but perchance the timing...naaah. I wanna look at that AWful, soulless McMansion subdivision for myself. And WHERE is Sereena?!?
Ellie, momom, Talbin et alii...y'all're sweet. I'm going off to ___ now.
mckait, *nyah* Your package ain't goin' out 'til I got no more fever so there. *smooch*
#161 Cameling - I tend to really enjoy anything by Elizabeth Berg.
#155, thanks for your comments richard. While
Shikasta was a bit of a trial to read, it definitely had me interested. I will read the others in the series - not sure when though!
I am now reading
My Antonia and listening to
The Elves of Cintra.
No problem richardear. Fever makes me feel like ______warmed over. I had one the whole time my daughter was home ( and after) . Terrible! That is one of the reasons I get so angry when the kids are sent to school with fevers. Down a couple of aspirin with that whiskey, and it might help a little .. for a little.
Barb is still reading Skeletons so it might be a few days for yours, too.
I woke at 3 am and couldn't go back to sleep... so I suspect that I am in for a looooong day.
Hummingbird's is shaping up to be a good read~ and I am still barely into it.
hope you feel better today, Dumbledear
if Richard will just post the name and number of his pharmacy I'll see about getting him an antibiotic called in, ferrcrissakes -- all this drama . . . ;)
I finished
Audacity of Hope; pretty good but not my kind of read. Now I'm reading the LT acclaimed Lark and Termite .. and it is quite good so far.
I'm reading (Real Life CSI) by Connie Fletcher.
If anyone would like to know I am enjoying
The Grapes of Wrath a lot more now that I am further into it.
Message edited by its author, Feb 19, 2009, 10:30am.
richard beer and tabasco sauce in your beef stew eee gadds!! BLECH is all I can say--but if it helped --eat some more :)
Had a day off work so spent quite a lot of time in the library and book shops today. From the library I got:
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers (which I must be typing in wrong because I can't get the touchstone to work).
WeaveworldThe Pirate's Daughterand I bought (bad me):
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Temeraire#178> cyellow30, Yes, in fact, I am happy to know you're enjoying Grapes of Wrath more now. It's one of the all time greats, for me; I was sad to hear you weren't liking it.
I enjoyed the
Grapes of Wrath very much. It was a ScrantonReads book in 2007 and my husband and I decided we would read with Scranton!
I was skeptical but surprised that I actually liked it and have gone on to read and will continue to read more Steinbeck.
I guess you can never really know what you'll like until you try it.
I've finished and reviewed
Matrimony by Joshua Henkin (
In the Shadow of Mt. TBR.
I'm about a fourth of the way through Prince Caspian, the fifth book in C. S. Lewis's
Narnia series. :-D
Message edited by its author, Feb 19, 2009, 7:26pm.
I just finished reading
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows finally finishing the series. Now I need to find something to hold me over until Michael Scott's next book comes out in May. Sigh...anyone have a recommendation? While at the library I just couldn't decide. I want to take a break from the fantasy books but don't know where to turn next.
Message edited by its author, Feb 19, 2009, 8:55pm.
>176: jhowell- You are in for a treat! Lark and Termite has been heralded on these threads, by a "chosen" few but it's now it's my turn. There are no other books, this is the BOOK! Phillips has crafted a beauty and she sets the bar incredibly high. I cannot imagine a better book being written for the rest of the year. Although, I sure hope a lot of authors try.
>Richard- To answer your question, is this book worth your hard "unearned" money? You bet your bippy!
I'm also nearly finished with
Shakespeare Wrote For Money by
Nick hornby. These books about books are a lot of fun. It reminds me of hanging out with you guys!
I'm trying to read
Prep right now and deciding what other book to start. Unfortunetly, my infant hasn't given me too much free-time this week.
Someone sent me
The Food Bible by Judith Wills today ..... err.... interesting I guess. Would be more interesting if I knew who it was that sent this to me though. Do you think someone is trying to tell me something about my bad eating habits?!
I'm loving
Never Change and think I've found a new friend in Elizabeth Berg. Must go look for her other books
I finished
Against Medical Advice by
James Patterson and while I found the underlying story interesting and disturbing at the same time I also found the book highly unsatisfying and could not stand the writing style. I never really felt that you understood the main character's condition fully nor got a real glimpse into his treatment - from the book it appears that he is just given different medications and then sent home. I guess this is possible but it just seems like there was much more to the story that we were not given the privilege of knowing. And did I mention how much I HATE James Patterson's writing style!!!!?????
Tomorrow, I will begin
A Confederacy of Dunces which has gotten many mixed reviews here on LT but is also where I learned about it so I have some high hopes.
I finished
Bookmarked for Death by Lorna Barrett. Enjoyed it very much. The characters are good and the RL local settings and references are cool.
I am now reading
The Ridiculous Race by Steve Hely. It is a non-fiction, about 2 friends who race each other around the world, the only stipulation is that they not use airplanes. It looks at funky places, and activities and is also humorous.
And Mckait I have bad news. My book group was tonight, and all those who read
The Story of the Cannibal Woman by Maryse Conde, panned it. The problems were terrible main character, and inability to keep the story, timeline, actions and characters straight due to the author's writing style. No one would read the author again. So I suspect its not just me. But your mileage may vary.
After struggling through Beloved, and because I was on holidays, I have been reading relatively easy books that I knew I would like.
First up was
The Time Machine by H. G. Wells. What a brilliant book! The narrator isn’t the Time Traveller, but someone to whom the TT tells his story. It seemed like something told around a campfire.
Next was
About a boy by Nick Hornby. I’ve seen the movie quite a few times, but this is the first time with the book. I loved it; made me laugh out loud in quite a few spots & chuckle quietly to myself in many more.
Last was
Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith. This is the third book in the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. These books always make me feel warm & fuzzy inside.
So now I’m back to
A Suitable Boy, which I had to abandon cause it was due back at the library. I've started back where I left off, at page 836 but am picking up the story.
I also started
People of the Book for my book club. So far so good.
And everyone else in my book club disliked & struggled with Beloved, too. We could all see the depth and the importance of the book, but didn't relate to it, and found it hard going.
I am taking a break from
Angle of Repose. Not because I don't love it -- I do, but I had to set it aside to prepare for an interview and some exams, and in the meantime it was my turn for
The Uncommon Reader from the library. There are others waiting for it, so I will not be able to renew it. Enjoying it so far, and looking forward to returning to
Angle of Repose.
#189...cameling...I enjoy Elizabeth Berg too. I've read a few of her books and have several that I have not yet read in my TBR pile. Glad you found her!
I think it's so ironic that everyone thinks Lark and Termite by
Jayne Anne Phillips...is the latest.....BESTBOOKOFALL
i have lived in SE Ohio..off and on..for over 30 years..i discovered Ms Phillips at
Machine Dreams..then i bought
Shelter...i come from WV Hillbilly stock..so L&T is no surprise
there was a series on NPR...WV Writers...i have the address to buy the tapes of the show (can't recall the title)..will post when i do the do-se-do..i am seriously tired here
hey...i'll get back here...J A Phillips is no flash-in-the
frying-pan
;-p
#192 Bookgirl - It is so strange how a book will "hit" people so differently. I don't know if it had to do with "when" I was reading it but when I read
Beloved I just couldn't put it down! Although it sounds like it "hit" everyone in your reading group the same.
still going with
Team of Rivals though less so because of various due back at the library commitments.
Finished
Battle of the Labyrinth the foruth book in the Percy Jackson series. And an now anxiously waiting for book 5 (May 8th)! Did I mention how much I love this series?
I also started
American Wife last night. LT tells me I will LOVE this book, so we'll see.
>185 et2304 - Ooooh, let us know how you get on with
Zorro - I keep drifting past it in bookshops and wondering whether to buy it or not...
Now reading
Temeraire which I'm enjoying hugely
Message edited by its author, Feb 21, 2009, 9:40am.
# 200 Ktleyed - I agree with Coppers above,
The Book Thief is excellent. I just finished it last week.
> Jude- my favorite hillbilly friend. Hope I wasn't laying it on to thick with BESTBOOKOFALL. To be honest, I had never heard of her before but now I have seen the light and I will pursue her other offerings. I've already mooched
Machine Dreams and wishlisted
Shelter. It feels nice, being a head of the curve, huh?
# 196 JolieLouise, I also think culture and experience has a lot to do with it. As an Aussie book club, there was a lot of things we missed or had no idea about.
#206 - You're right, Bookgirl - I didn't check to see where you were from.
Currently reading Clive Barker's Imajica.
Imajica was really a good read. It has been a long time, but I still remember that much!
For the confused, the new thread is
over here now.
(back to top)
I am trying hard to sympathize with your dilemma..perhaps it is my lifelong lack of cleaning laddies or ladies that prevents it?
richardear, such Drama!
