Another week, another thread.

Just finished (Remember Me) by ((Melvyn Bragg)), and about to start (Matter) by ((Iain M Banks)). Easter holidays for 2 weeks so hope to get through a few hefty books.

Currently reading Tithe by Holly Black.

My current book is One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson.

I had begun reading it previously, then paused in order to read Missing (Felony and Mayhem) by Karin Alvtegen translated from the Swedish by Anna Paterson. It is an ILL book so I wanted to read it and return it to our library quickly.

Pleasant reading to all. Now, as for me, ... back to Kate!

Womansheart aka Ruth in Tallahassee

I'm reading The Warden by Anthony Trollope, and so far it is great. My first Trollope! Such an exciting day for me!

Since April is Poetry Month, I'm going to try to work in some poetry reading, and I think this week's poet will be Keats - I have The Complete Poems of John Keats, so I'll be dipping into that.

I'm reading Christine de Pizan: Her Life and Works. Not a bad book, but nothing spectacular either.

>5 jfetting...ooo, lucky you! Trollope is a real keeper, his characters are beautifully drawn and uunlike some other contemporaries of his, he can set a scene without making a huge, unnecessary to-do about it.

May I suggest The Eustace Diamonds as your next read? Such a wonderful story.

Still reading The Art Thief . The writing gets a little better, though now he is overloading on similes. In one scene he used 4 for the same setting. About 100 pages from the end.

I started The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker yesterday. After that I'll read Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie.

Getting back to The Italian Lover, for which I owe a review.

In the past few days, I've finished Barbara Tuchman's wonderful The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World before the War, 1890-1914 and the compelling but strange The Winners by Julio Cortazar. Not sure what's up next.

I've got a couple of great books going that I don't want to put down, Kathryn Stockett's The Help and my Feb ER book Split Estate. Since it's poetry month, I picked up Spoon River Anthology from the library for a reread and also 84, Charing Cross Road because it looked interesting. All good, especially since the weather is so crummy. The problem is I have to do my taxes this weekend...:(

I can't seem to get the correct touchstone for The Help

I am currently reading The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry, and it started out really great and interesting, but now that I'm almost halfway through, it's starting to flatten out. Hopefully with the disappearance with the second woman, who is tied to the Chester-of-an-Uncle Cal, it'll start to pick up. I should be done with it today.

Also started reading my ARC of Mischief Makers Manual by Sir John Hargrave, due out on June 11. It's a lot of fun and is inspiring thoughts of pranks :-D

other reads are From the Corner of His Eye... still... and How to Be a Villian by Neil Zawacki

Message edited by its author, Apr 4, 2009, 1:07pm.

I'm not quite half way through The Wages of Destruction by Adam Tooze. It's nearly 700 pages of very dense economic history on Nazi Germany. The depth of the research is staggering, but it is definitely not an easy read. It will take me two to three weeks to finish it.

still reading Tortilla Curtain. Awaiting the new bifocals so reading has been curtailed temporarily due to major eye strain. Can only read for a bit in the a.m.--then the old eyes get too tired. New glasses in a week--oh man I don't know if I can wait that long.

#15, Can't you go to the store and find a pair of readers on the rack ? They have different strengths and are pretty cheap - $5.00-$10.00.

Still reading the massive The Quincunx - but it is excellent. I guess I am late to the party as it was written in 1989, but I really must recommend it to anyone who loves multi-layered, convoluted period mysteries. It brings to mind Caleb Carr's The Alienist and Dickens' Bleak House -- I think it is better than both though, I'll have to see how it all wraps up. SO impossible to figure out!

Still slowly making my way through The Sunne in Splendour. Am hoping to devote some serious time to it tonight, but no guarantees.

I found my way into The Secret Garden and I don't want to come out. The 999 challenge is doing a lot for my reading. I am becoming more eclectic.

Just finished reading The Inner Circle by T.C. Boyle. An interesting read and one of the author's earlier books. His current bestseller is The Women.

The Inner Circle delves into the history of Kinsey and his inner circle of confederates, who went on to make his sex institute? so famous. Kinsey's books, and fame, during the fifties, are now sexual lore, although I would guess, somewhat outdated.

With all that is now available in cyberspace, it is interesting to look back at sexual mores as a topic that aroused so many, pro and con. The fact that during Kinsey's time film finally became available, so that much of what had previously been only written about, could now to be viewed in all its graphic form. With color, too! Sure dates one, don't it?

Boyle is such a good writer, I have liked him from way back, and this book, despite its subject matter, makes for an interesting study of a somewhat strange individual, and his obsession with everything sexual.

I'm about a third of the way through Early Spring: An Ecologist and Her Children Wake to a Warming World by Amy Seidl. Lots of information!

Message edited by its author, Apr 4, 2009, 2:27pm.

I've also started reading Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake, it's a library book due back next Friday and I suspect it'll take me a while to read, so I'm starting it now and I'll have the lighter ones going alongside it.

koolaidmom, make sure you let us know how you like The Lace Reader once you've finished! I read it about a month ago.

I've gone back to A Prayer for Owen Meany (a re-read) after a hiatus to participate in the LT group read of A Blind Assassin. After that, I needed something completely different, so I read Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. That one was a little disappointed. Meany, however, could NEVER disappoint. I'm loving it just as much the second time around.

I started My Abandonment by Peter Rock, an arc from vine.

Currently reading Passing for Normal by Amy Wilensky, about her experiences with Tourette's and OCD. So far it's not fantastically written and she's coming across as a rather intolerant, self-centred woman - but it's interesting to learn about how sufferers live with the different manifestations of the condition on a day-to-day basis so I'll keep going... It won't take long to read anyway!

Polished off Dust by Elizabeth Bear and already 1/3 of the way through Shadowbridge by Gregory Frost.

Message edited by its author, Apr 4, 2009, 4:29pm.

- The Stand by Stephen King.
- Pig Island by Mo Hayder.

I just finished Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith. Loved it. Love Michael Marshall Smith. I'm sad there are no more novels by him that I can read. I know he writes thrillers under a different name, but I like his futuristic stuff.

Right now I'm in the beginning of Saturn Rukh by Robert L. Forward. It's ok so far.

After jaunting Around the World in 80 Days, I am about to embark on A Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert in audio format. I continue reading my Early Reviewer selection, Outcasts United by Warren St. John.

Finished Ten Days That Shook the World by John Reed. His reportage of the Russian Revolution, from Petrograd, is very readable. The verbatim transcriptions of revolutionary posters and proclamations less so. The language used in the speeches rings particularly hollow after the horrors of Stalinism, but as the late British historian AJP Taylor points out in his introduction to the Penguin 20th Century Classics paperback, Reed's account maybe the best eyewitness account of any revolution.

Started David Benioff's novel, City of Thieves set in the same city as Reed's account but during the 900 day siege by the German army begun in June 1942. Very good so far.

Message edited by its author, Apr 4, 2009, 4:56pm.

Just finished Three Little Words. It's a memoir by someone who survived nine years in foster care (barely). I found it a gripping story written well enough to carry me along on the emotional roller coaster. Quite good. Don't know what's next. I'll have to check out my 999 challenge and see what grabs me.

Just finished Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan, a short story collection about children surviving the many horrors of life in Africa (Hiv/aids, sold into slavery, Rwanda, etc.).

Yesterday I finished The Blind Assassin for the LT group read ( I may have been the last to finish!) and today I finished The Postman Always Rings Twice by one of my favorite authors, James M. Cain.
Now I plan on starting Desperate Passage: The Donner Party's Perilous Journey West by Ethan Rarick.

It's one of those inbetween weeks...as a rule I read one book at a time but I seem to have three going this week. Recently began The Fat Man and Infinity, essays and reminiscences by Antonio Lobo Antunes, about his life in Portugal. Also yet to finish (but slowly working through and loving the language) London River by H.M.Tomlinson and half way through Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere on my Kindle.

I finished my March ER book today - Early Spring: An Ecologist and Her Children Wake to a Warming World. It's a good introduction to climate change and its effect on a specific ecosystem.

And now I get to start Tipping the Velvet by Sara Waters!

>18 shootingstar - I read Sunne in Splendour a few months ago - I hope you're enjoying it as much as I did.

I just finished Down River by John Hart which won the Edgar last year. Very southern and melodramatic, but well-written.

I began Mosquito by Roma Tearne a couple of hours ago. So far it is really, really good.

hello,is it first that write to you.I want that you write me ok, and tell me what is writting. so long.

Still listening to The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker. I'm trying to start The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry for the second time. I started it earlier but only got a few pages into before I had to return it to the library. Hoping to get more into it this time around.

Finished my ER book.See my review. Started All Other Nights by Dara Horn. So far so good.

Currently:
* Pride & Prejudice & Zombies- I never thought my love of Jane Austen and zombies would meet!
* Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis- Just pure fun, I love it.
* Brothers by Yu Hua- From the library. Huge but it's going fast & hard to put down.

I just finished reading Charles and Emma and listening to A Lion Among Men, both of which were decidedly 'eh'. I just started The Mercy Seller and the audio of The Help, hopefully these are better.

damfino83 Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.... that is an awesome title! lol... adding it to my wishlist now ;-)

I just started Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson.

I just finished Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. This is a very inspirational story. His work has empowered people in the midst of ignorance and religious conflict.

In the middle of The Eyre Affair, it got on my tbr list solely because it was mentioned so many times in LT.

I have finished Clash of Civilizations over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio which I loved, and Doctor Olaf van Schuler's Brain which I found interesting.

I am now about to start New Amsterdam by Elizabeth Bear. The summary for this one caught my eye so I thought I would give it a go as something different, outside of my usual reading.

Message edited by its author, Apr 5, 2009, 12:42am.

I started Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks yesterday; it's the April book for my book group.

>38 nancywhite - I hope you enjoy Tearne's Mosquito. I read it in March and loved it.

I finished Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town, which I think every American should read, because it forecasts our future. I am listening to A Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert and I am about to start reading Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff.

I finished My Abandonment by Peter Rock ( no t-stones) an arc from vine, and am about to begin Blest Atheist by Elizabeth Mahlou ( no t-stones ) a february ER book.

I started Larry's Kidney, an Early Reviewer that I just received - one chapter in - seems interesting

I am also reading Bayonet! Forward!, a good insight into the Civil War by one who was there

Finished The Quincunx yesterday. Fabulously entertaining!

Now I am reading McCullough's Antony and Cleopatra which has been sitting on my shelf since it was released. A bit bland so far - IMO the Masters of Rome series slowly but steadily slips downhill as the books move along. But I have only just started - shouldn't be so negative.

Minded the quietest bookshop in the land yeaterday and got through Dear Exile which I had to buy just not sure whether to give to my sister who likes writing letters or my friend who worked for VSO in Uganda. Getting through In Cold Blood though not sure how I feel about it, I wouldn't usually read true life crime... and carrying The Wind up Bird Chronicle around so need to get reading that 'cause it's heavy.

I finally finished The Art Thief by Noah Charney. It did get better after chapter 9, but was still pretty bad. The writing was too florid, the characters was cartoony, and it jumped around so much that it didn't really have a coherent storyline. Still there is some good stuff there, it just needed a lot more real work.

Not sure what to read next. I have sort of started Tell Me Where it Hurts by Dr. Nick Trout - a memoir of a veterinary surgeon at a local mega hospital for animals: Angell Memorial in Boston (have taken my cats here when specialists were needed).

I also need to start The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin for a RL bok group read, and I still need to read Hand of Isis by Jo Graham for ER. Which of course was actually in stores before I received it.

Arrrrgh ! So much to read, so little time.

Seeing as I'm in work today, I've made a good start on The Liar by Stephen Fry. This man is far too intelligent but I love him anyway.

(I wonder why the Touchstone for him comes up as Stephen Fried)

Finished Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay last night and can't get it off my mind. Horrifying fiction story partially told from the viewpoint of a ten-year-old girl caught in the Velodrome d'Hiver roundup of French Jews by the French police in Paris in July 1942. I had never heard of this event before so did some further reading on it.

Needed something a little fluffy to shake it off so plucked Lessons in Heartbreak by Cathy Kelly off the shelf to read next.

I agree with your thoughts on Sarah's Key, but it was a wonderful book.

I decided to go with The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin and get one of my required reads for the month out of the way.

I finished Tithe, which was very good, and am about to start The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss.

#59: Yes, it was a wonderful book. I neglected to say that. I gave it four stars.

Just finished the Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir. Just deciding what to start next

just finished Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer .. and now hoping to read The Host by Stephenie Meyer .. waiting for it to be delivered.

For anyone interested, the famous BBC 100 Books Meme is over here for all to play with.

I started Love in the Time of Cholera Friday night. So far so good. :)

#66 - after doing the BBC thing of richard's I decided to put Love in the Time of Cholera on my TBR list - I have read 100 Years of solitude but not this one

library booksale coming up - will have to take copies of my TBR lists with me (as well as a list of what's on my shelves now waiting to be read, so I don't duplicate - again!)

I'm reading The Tango Singer by Tomas Eloy Martinez for the Argentine portion of my 999 Challange. I'm also reading Companions on the Road by Tanith Lee, which is my first Member Giveaway book.

Finished "Portrait of a Lady" (Henry James) today. Next I'll probably resume my re-read of "Anna Karinina" .

Just finished The Silver Swan by Benjamin Black. Currently reading memoir The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer in Adobe Digital Editions from Overdrive. I can't help laughing out loud at some of the scenes in "Bar"; truly an enjoyable read so far. Also listening to CD Audio of The Shifting Fog by Kate Morton, published in U.S. as The House at Riverton. "Fog" is an Upstairs-Downstairs period novel with a bit of mystery for interest. It's an enjoyable, easy read. Also read "The Soloist" by Steve Lopez last month. Another excellent memoir. (Sorry, but touchstone brings up another book with same title by different author.) I highly recommend any of these.

Correction: "The Soloist" is not a memoir but is non-fiction.

I finished The Lace Reader today and posted my review In the Shadow of Mt. TBR. I was a bit mixed on how I felt about it, even as I started writing the review. In the end, I decided I liked it, even if I was a bit disturbed by it, and gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

I think I'll read a light book next, Love Over Scotland.

I just finished Handmaid's Tale and have started Bill Bryson's hilarious I'm a Stranger Here Myself.

#58,59 Really like the sound of Sarah's Key and have added it to my wish list, so thank you.

#73 I loved that one by Bryson too. Particularly enjoyed the audiobook version read by Kerry Shale. He's an excellent reader of Bryson's works.

My current read, which I'm enjoying immensely, is Brothers in Law by Henry Cecil.

I needed a light read and this fits the bill perfectly. It's an old orange Penguin of my dad's, with the original price of 3 shillings and sixpence still on the front cover.

It deals with a brand new twenty-one year old barrister in London in the 50s and the scrapes he gets into. Great fun.

Since it came out in February Yiyun Le's novel The Vagrants has been unanimously praised and raved on, but I found it so boring and unengaging that I could barely get through it. There's not much of a plot to speak of, I cared not a whit for any of the characters, and the cataloguing of post-Mao depravity alone just wasn't enough to hold my interest for 337 pages.

On the other hand I thought Wells Tower's Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned was pure dynamite, 9 stories that carry not only the hard punch of reality, but enough mordant humor to get you through the rough spots, sort of a cross between T.C.Boyle and George Saunders that's merely brilliant, and I'll be recommending this one for a long time. Not to miss.

I've been re-reading John Updike's Angstrom Quartet this year, and after Rabbit Run and Rabbit Redux, I'm over halfway in his Pulitzer-winning Rabbit is Rich and it's absolutely stunning, post-Nixon angst and dread raised to an art form that's nearly impossible to put down. I don't think Updike ever wrote so knowingly, or so scathingly, about modern America and all its ills, and Rabbit is Rich is simply thrilling. Next up is Zoe Heller's The Believers and can't wait to get to it.

#77 I heard about Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned on the NY Times Book Review podcast, and liked the sound of it, so interested to see it backed up by your recommendation. Thanks. I like the name of the book for some reason.

Yesterday I started Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner which has been okay so far.

Not The End Of The World by Kate Atkinson. I love everything she does.

#77 LouisBranning, Thanks for the warning about The Vagrants. I've been eying it in the bookstore and it hasn't seemed sufficiently intriguing to buy, and now I'll definitely stay away. Have you heard anything about Brothers by Yu Hua? This is in the same bookstore and looks more appealing -- apparently it was wildly popular in China.

I'm continuing my early 20th century history jag with Only Yesterday by Frederick Lewis Allen a contemporary history of the 20s (written in the early 30s) mentioned in several other books I've read.

I feel like I'm supposed to reading When You Come Home* by Nora Eisenberg, an Early Reviewer which is readable, but, well, I read about 100 pages, and put it down to read:

Sorry by Gail Jones - Jones has a really nice way with words. The term "Sorry" references the Australian policy of removing Indigenous Australian children from their parents. It's an interesting story, but it's Jones writing that really sticks with me.

So, I read another hundred pages of WYCH, then put it down again and:

This morning I started The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. There are 262 reviews on LT if your curious what this is about.

*no touchstone, link is here:http://www.librarything.com/work/7823722

pee wee playhouse

Still reading Devil May Care but thought it was too big to carry around in a handbag, so picked up another book to read while out and about, and made a start on The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham.

I finished Blood and Iron yesterday. It's an urban fantasy set in NY and Faerie (and these are your tough-as-nails faeries, not light and winged) that's a bit different from my normal fare, but I enjoyed it enough to want to read the sequel.

Now I've started A Brief History of Time for Lost-related reading. It's hurting my brain to read more than a few pages at a time, so I'm thinking of mixing it up with an easier, to-be-determined book. Maybe Watchmen or Chains.

I had a little dogless time, so read a book without the cold-nose-in-the-face reminder that the dog is there: Since My Last Confession by Scott Pomfret.

A gay Catholic engages with his native church. I am not Irish, as Pomfret is, but amm gay and was Catholic; I suspcted this would be a fun read. It was.

It wasn't, however, a single book, it was a series of stand-up routines written by a gay Irish Catholic SEC bureaucrat with an atheist boyfriend, out on a mission to save the Church from sinking into moral turpitude (too late!) under Bennie the Rat (Pope Benedict XVI, ne Joseph Ratzinger) on the issue of gay marriage.

Fun. Straight people will get as many, if not more, chuckles out of this than will gay guys. The recurring trope Mr. Pomfret uses to describe himself (a colleague at the SEC put his photo in a lineup with the 20th century's ickiest serial killers, and asked people which person in the lineup looked like a lawyer; Pomfret, a lawyer, wasn't selected once) is funny the first few times, but loses punch quickly; likewise his cute nicknames for the people in his quest-story for Catholic gay marriage support.

Read this book. It's good, but one SHOULD read it a chapter at a time between other books the way rocketjk does some books. Otherwise, it's like eating carrot cake as your vegetable.

Thought I posted, but I've got Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim going. It's my first David Sedaris in non audiobook format!
and Two Rivers which is a small town romance (maybe?) I'm still in the early stages not not exactly sure what it is. We rate our books for sex, profanity and violence here at the Talking Book Program and because the person who normally does this is out, I took a book to rate. Since this isn't something I normally do, I'm reading the whole book rather than skimming.
Over the weekend I finished Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac which was good, but not as good as her other book Elsewhere (which I LOVED!) and also read Candy Girl which despite what the touchtone says is by Diablo Cody

Halfway through Prince Across the Water.

i started The Yankee Years by Joe Torre this weekend

To The Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf
Portrait Of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

I just finished The Blind Assassin yesterday (so I guess I am the last to finish it!). I wasn't so sure about it when I first began but I loved it once I got into it.

I am currently reading Voluntary Madness, The Red Convertible and am about to begin The Hour I First Believed.

I read The Lace Reader last year for my book club and while I did enjoy it, I did find some of it a bit weak and disturbing.

I've put aside Zafón's Angel Game to read A Time to Be Born by Dawn Powell. It's one of Powell's New York novels, something of a poison-pen portrait of Clare Boothe Luce. I'm enjoying it, but my Dance Night is still my favorite Powell novel. So far, anyway.

I am reading the last chapter of Vernor Vinge's True Names And the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier. It's a little dated, but it's good. I am reading Vinge's SF story, "True Names."

Just finished Revenge of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz, another funny Izzy Spellman private eye story, and am reading Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier, an interesting novel.

I finished Blake Bailey’s biography of John Cheever this afternoon and haven’t been as impressed by a literary biography since Ellmann’s Joyce. It hits on all cylinders, but most of all Bailey has done an outstanding job of portraying Cheever the writer, striving and persevering against all obstacles, external and internal, to write some of the best short stories in literature. I don’t know if Bailey intended to, but I couldn’t help but think there was a certain nobility in Cheever’s struggle, especially fighting the cancer. A much stronger man than I ever gave him credit for. I came away thinking more highly of the man, despite all the lurid sexual detail.

While I am reading Larry's Kidney, the March Er I just received, I get notified that I am also getting Wife of the Gods from the Bonus bunch. Two in one month - and yet no one thinks much of my reviews.

Message edited by its author, Apr 6, 2009, 6:04pm.

Finished reading Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay and loved it. Have now started The Cleft by Doris Lessing and not loving it so much. She's really gone out there this time and while I find it interesting, it's also hard to read.

Finished Bad Monkeys.........so-so. I am about to start Scoop by Evelyn Waugh for an LT Group Read. I continue listening to A Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert.

#58, 59, & 74 I loved Sarah's Key--it was one of those books that stays with you for a while. Such a heartbreaking story.

Finished Fear and loathing in Las Vegas yesterday. The version I read had some extra bits at the end: a brief bio of Thompson, the writing of the book, the making of the movie, and a few other bits. I read them after the book (I hate reading introductions and so on first, because they usually give away a major plot point), and they really added to my enjoyment & understanding.

Still taking my time with To Kill a Mockingbird, and I'm loving it. I can see why it's a classic, the writing is beautiful and there are delicious moments throughout the book.

Next up is This present darkness given to me by a lady at my church who loved it, although her husband hated it. I guess it's appropriate Easter reading.

I just finished Blest Atheist, an ER book from February.

ick

Next up, Museum of Human Beings

I agree with this advice. While waiting for my new glasses, I did this -- taking my prescription with me so I could get the right correction. They work just as well as my bifocals. Actually, better for long-term reading because I don't have to focus my eyes within a narrow range.

I'm reading Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif. My Biology teacher freshman year of high school had us read the chapter on Pasteur and his discovery of the rabies vaccine. Its taken me this long (4 years) to get around to reading it and I'm loving it. Great stuff.

I finished New Amsterdam by Elizabeth Bear tonight and I must say I loved the book. The stories captured the essence of a good 19 century British murder mystery period piece with a gothic twist of vampires, sorcerers, and a little bit of everything else.

As a change of pace I am going to give Kissing Games of the World by Sandi Kahn Shelton a go.

For some reason my library is clamoring for the return of The Island of the Day Before so i will comply later this morning..those library ladies do get huffy at times! anyway, i started Three Minutes on Love by Roccie Hill....i usually avoid any book that purports nostalgia for the 1960s...especially the Music Scene......which this book is all about. will see how long i last...TMOL was an ER book that got lost on my shelves.

I had planned to finish Naked by David Sedaris tonight, but there are nearly 20 pages missing, evenly divided between the last two essays! Grrrrr. And I paid a dollar for that book! Now I have to wait for it at the library.

I just finished Until We Meet Again and am starting The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

#98 I hope you enjoy Scoop. I thought it was a great light read.

Started Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell. Pretty dark stuff and continues his usual theme of poverty, in the form of a novel this time. Definitely one of my favourite writers.

Started with Deception Point by Dan Brown.

#107- I loved The Elegance of the Hedgehog- I hope you enjoy it

'The Unconsoled', Kazuo Ishiguro. I'm enjoying it but it's taking me a long time. I'm going slowly so I don't miss any important nuance, maybe I'm being too anal about it? Waiting in the wings is 'The Good Soldier' by Ford Madox Ford - the blurb on the jacket promises great things! We shall see ..

#112 your username! I recognise it from somewhere - wasn't it an arty animation from a few years back??

Yes! Thanks for noticing, somethimes I think I'm the only one who remember. It was a Channel 4 cartoon about a .. I don't know, a mite? a tiny creature, anyway ..called Murun, who lived in a crack in a kitchen floor. He was very laid back and philosophical. I'm still living in hopes of the Complete Murun coming out on DVD, but I think I'm waiting in vain!

That's it, I remember now, channel 4. I LOVED it. Count me in for someone else who would like to see the return of Murun.

I seem to remember it was on at something like 5.55 or 6.55 in the evening, in the days when there used to be comedy at 6 on channel 4.

Sorry all for the digression!

Not at all, it was a pleasure.

I've finished The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint, which was better than I expected but remained a "horizontal" novel throughout - there's nothing much besides a few adventures (that are slightly disappointing near the end).
I am now starting The Folding Star by Alan Hollinghurst, by whom I've already read two books I very much enjoyed (The Line of Beauty, life-changing, and The Swimming Pool Library).

Just finished Blaze by King. Currently reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Enjoying it so far.

To: murunbuchstansangur and jbeast -

Just reading your exchange prompted me to track down Murun Buchstansangur on YouTube. Here is the link for anyone interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJHGg9c86...

Lovely. Brilliant. Thank you from me.

Womansheart in Tallahassee, Florida, USA

#109, jbeast:

I'd be interested to know what you think of "Flying". I have it and got about ten pages in as a sample until I decided on something else.

I like Orwell too, but his nonfiction to superior to his fiction.

I added a book called Call Me Kate to what I am currently reading. It is a story about a teenaged Irish-American girl in the mid-1800s in the coal mining area of Pennsylvania. We went to a book signing on Sunday. The author is new and had been doing her family tree which led to her writing this book.

I'm about 100 pages into The Help ... liking it quite a bit so far.

I have just started Reading the OED, I'm up to "C" There are some really wild words out there. None of which I will remember, but I will go crazy knowing there is a word for this that I just can't recall.

I'm also making good progress on Anna Karenina for the GroupRead.

I'm reading an ARC called The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe and am finding it a very good read. I'm about halfway through. There are some awkward phrases, but on the whole, the book is engrossing and I am anxious to find out what happens. Best test of a book!

I'm also reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett for my May Book club Meeting. I'm about 60 pages in and it's a very good read. The problem is that it's so BIG that I can't read it at night in bed - it's too heavy and awkward. So I have to either sit up in the library and rest it on the arm of the sofa or read in the dining room with it on the table. I've got a feeling I'll be reading quite a few "little" books while reading it.

I've finished and reviewed Elizabeth Bear's wonderful collection of linked alternate history stories called New Amsterdam. Short version: go buy it and read it and come and tell everyone about it!

My full review is in my "75 Books Challenge" thread in message 2 for anyone who's interested in more details.

Reading "The Inner Circle by Mari Jungstedt and His Illegal Self by Peter Carey.

"Circle" is an excellent Swedish mystery that takes place on an island off Sweden. An girl who has come to the island to take part in an archaelological dig goes missing and is found dead just after a horse is found decapitated in a farmer's field. The ending isn't obvious and the central characters are realistically drawn. I will definitely read more of Jungstedt.

"Self" is a much more difficult read told in disjointed accounts by the main characters of events tat lead to a young boy taken from his grandmother and transported to Australia by a former classmate of his mother. The basic story seems a bit unbelievable but I'm working my way through on my breaks at work.

If someone knows how to do a touchstone when there is another work with the same title, please let me know. Thanks.

>126 - To get a touchstone when the wrong one comes up first . . . . Type the touchstone, which will appear on the right. Click "others" after the author's name. Scroll to find the title. On some, like The Inner Circle, there are tons - so at the bottom of the list you get after clicking "others" you will get another link saying "see all xx possibilities." Click on this. The Inner Circle by Jungstedt is way at the bottom.

For whatever quirky reason, touchstones bring up titles with one or more of the words you type, and in descending order of the number of copies on LT. Thus, the more "popular" will be at the top of the list, the ones with fewer copies will be at the bottom.

ETA: ARGH - after all that, it didn't work. Oh well, the instructions are still good, it's the touchstone that's wonky.

Message edited by its author, Apr 7, 2009, 3:33pm.

#124
karenmarie, have fun withThe Pillars of the Earth. That is one of my all time favorites! I was disappointed with the sequel World Without End, but I think the book just had trouble living up to Pillars

Maggie's school has the Scholastic Book Fair this week, and she brougth home Bad Kitty Gets a Bath by Nick Bruel. It's been on my wish list since it came out, so we devoured it immediately :-) We laughed so hard, and Mag's favorite part is the picture of Puffball Kitty, just towelled dry. My review for the book In the Shadow of Mt. TBR, complete with vid clips of cats being bathed.

I'm about 1/2 through Mischief Makers Manual and about 3/4 Love Over Scotland. :-D

Just started Duma Key by Stephen King. I'm only about 80 or so pages into it, but I have to say I hope it picks up soon...has taken me a few days to get to the 80th page. I can only seem to get through 20/30 pages at a time which is atypical for me. Normally once I start a good book I can't seem to put it down and sometimes have to peel the pages out of my hands to get things done that need to be done. We'll see if this picks up, if not it's back to the library for another book.

Just finished "March to the Sea "by David Weber, about to start "On Basilisk Station" also by David Weber.
Considering re-reading "Battle Royale" Koushun Takami.

I finished my ER book "Early Spring" by Amy Seidl last night. Today when I got home from work I started Under the Banner of Heaven which my book club selected. Crazy!

#131 sweetirishtreat, I'd definitely say stick with Duma, it does pick up and get intense. I think it's one of King's masterpiece books. ;-)

I finished the book The Janissary Tree and enjoyed it very much. It is an historical mystery set in 1836 in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire. The main character is the investigator Yashim a eunuch. The only problem I had was with part of the ending. They are on the roof and then its over, and I am not really clear on why the plan for revolution didn't work.

I liked the characters and the setting was very well done. I have the 2nd book The Snake Stone but have too many other required reads for the month to start it yet.

I am now reading The Hand of Isis by Jo Graham. It is the second book in the series that started with Black Ships. It is set in ancient Egypt at the time of Cleopatra the last Pharaoh. It is an ER book for February.

Richard and lkernagh:

There is a sequel to Elizabeth Bear's New Amsterdam. It is called Seven for a Secret. It is still in hardcover. I don't know if its a novel or a series of short stories/novellas.

#109 jbeast ~ I love that title! I would read it for the title alone, even if I also didn't like Orwell. :)

I finally finished my reread of A Prayer for Owen Meany and it was better than I remembered it being. I was kind of surprised to see how many negative reviews it has on here, despite being so highly rated. To each his own I suppose. I found it affected me in different ways, six years after my original reading of it, which is enough of a reason to hold on to my copy in the hopes I shall find new enjoyments out of it in the future.

Now starting on Them: A Novel by Nathan McCall which is about race relations in Atlanta. It's for my book club (which is meeting this Thursday, so I have to read quickly!) and I'm really looking forward to it.

Since I have to wait to finish Naked by David Sedaris until I can get a complete copy from the library, I was planning to start Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer. But then my turn for New Moon came up at the library...

#119 Lovely isn't it. Glad you found and enjoyed it. Murun is SO cool. And thanks for the link.

#136 I love the title too. I'm reading it pretty quickly, it's excellent. Typical Orwell, and these lesser known novels of his seem to be fictionalised versions of his personal experiences and beliefs. This one is about socialism and poverty, in a similar vein to The Road to Wigan Pier and Down and Out in Paris and London (my favourite of his). And it is partially set in a second hand bookship which also appeals. This is a long-winded way of saying I'd recommend it!

#137 I plan to add A Prayer for Owen Meany to my wishlist. I've heard a lot about it.

Started reading The Remains of the Day last night, and, after a pretty slow start, I hope it picks up soon. I've heard so many great things about this book, and I hope it can live up to it!

I'm reading in three different books: World without end, Our man in Havana and Neuromancer.

I finished Saturn Rukh by Robert L. Forward. I'm glad I don't just stop reading a book if it doesn't impress me after 50 pages, because the beginning of this book was absolute torture. Way to heavy for my tastes. However, I stuck with it and it quickly became a very good book. And to think I would have missed out on a great story just because the beginning was slow.

Next up will be Grendel by John Gardner. Looks very interesting.

I'm reading Mosquito by Roma Tearne and Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary by Marcus J. Borg which I've been reading on and off since October and have focused on again as we near Easter. Then I came home with a new book, A Year of Reading by Elisabeth Ellington, sat down for a quick page through and read the whole thing in one sitting.

i am reading extras by scott westerfeld right now and the tgird twilight book also.

I'm into birds!! :)

I'm reading The Big Year by Mark Obmascik which had been recommended to me by the LT Birds, Birding, and Books group after I read another birding book last year (which I think I actually liked better - although I haven't gotten that far into this book yet.) Last year's books was To See Every Bird on Earth by Dan Koeppel which I found fascinating not only for the hobby of birding itself but also for the book's discussion of the psychology of birders in general and the relationship between the author and the birder (his dad).

--> 131

sweetirishtreat,

I loved Duma Key which grabbed me right from the start. That you have read 80 pages and have not gotten into it yet is a bad foreboding. Are you a Stephen King fan generally? I am, and after reading that book, I thought it was his best!

I hate books that drag and don't like the down feeling it gives me. If you're not liking it, by all means, move on to something you like better. You can always come back to it again later.

Message edited by its author, Apr 8, 2009, 10:52am.

I started The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins in bed last night and eventually had to force myself to turn off the light! This futuristic novel starts off like a rocket and just keeps going! A real page turner.

Hunger Games is great. The sequel, Catching Fire is scheduled to come out this September.

Just finished my ARC for the Early Reviewer's program: All Other Nights: (wrong touchstone) by Dara Horn. It is about the Civil War with a Jewish slant. Cominbation of spy thriller and historical fiction. My review is here . Next up, the LT acclaimed Lark and Termite.

I finished Christine de Pizan: Her Life and Works this morning, and started Liberty's Daughters.

I am really enjoying The Museum of Human Beings. ... very nice read.

I just started "Strat-O-Matic Fanatics: the Unlikely Success Story of a Game that Became an American Passion" by Glenn Guzzo (no touchstones for some reason). There's a lot of human interest in this story. It's the true story of a young boy suffering in a household dominated by an impatient and verbally abusive father who retreats into his love for baseball and statistics to invent a baseball board game that became one of the most famous and successful baseball dice games (and now computer games) ever. I played Strat-O-Matic baseball as a boy and still enjoy it to this day, in fact. The book is very well researched and, if the first two chapters are any indication, also very well written.

I am LOVING the new book I am reading. It is Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl by Susan McCorkindale. I think it is cute and quirky all at the same time. I hope someone else out there has enjoyed this. :)

Dropped Cathy Kelly's Lessons in Heartbreak after a rather valiant try to overcome the disjointedness of the story and (to me) idiocy of some of the characters. Maybe it's just me, but at less than 100 pages in, there are at least 5 story lines going, and two of the characters are just too annoying for words. Have gone back to make a fresh start at People of the Book, hoping I have the right mindset now. Otherwise I shall have to make an emergency run to Border's tomorrow as nothing else on my tbr shelf is too awfully tantalizing. I think it IS just me.

# 147 jnwelch - You have just made my day, telling me there is a sequel to The Hunger Games. Thanks :)

Edited to add - I've just finished this wonderful book, and I see at the end it basically says there will be another book! I will be one of the ones first in line for the next one.

Message edited by its author, Apr 9, 2009, 2:00pm.

Just finished The Taking by Dean Koontz. I'm now moving on to The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril and hoping it proves to be more entertaining.

Twilight saga (sixth time) *smug smile*

I can't believe i just acted arrogant on a group I have never been in with people i have never talked to!!!! I'm out of my mind!!!

Half through The Elegance of the Hedgehog which is finally getting interesting and New York Trilogy which I'm enjoying, but not enough to get me to spend long periods reading, so it's going slowly.

*sigh* Finished Love Over Scotland, sadly... I'm going to miss these characters so much. My review for the book is In the Shadow of Mt. TBR.

It was my first time reading a 44 Scotland Street book, my first Alexander McCall Smith book, too. I've already requested the first book in the series from PBS and put the other two in the series on my wishlist. I'm eager to get to The World According to Bertie, which is the next book in the series and should have the birth of Bertie's new sibling in it. :-D

Next up A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine l'Engle. I've started this book three or four times in my life, but never been able to finish it. I should have the first chapter memorized by now. I will finish it this time, or die tryin'!

#157 ~ I actually put the book down, took out the book mark and went to search for something else (I think at about 146). But a couple folks here convinced me to keep reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog ... I'm glad I did. Ultimately, I ended up really liking it. But it is almost as if written by two people, the second half is THAT much better. Hang in there!

Along with my Pride & Prejudice & Zombies and still working on the epic "Brothers", I've started Q's Legacy by Helene Hanff, which is kind of a prequel AND sequel to one of my favorites, 84, Charing Cross Road.

#159 I loved "Elegance of the Hedgehog" too, and almost had the exact same reaction. I wasn't sure if I'd like it at all when I started, but about halfway in I was hooked and by the end I was crying and had fallen in love with it!

Message edited by its author, Apr 9, 2009, 4:22pm.

Agree re Elegance of the Hedgehog. It's well worth hanging in there through a sometimes difficult first half.

Well, just finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett and ended up being one of the only women on the planet who did not much care for it (it had moments, but as a whole, not so good - desperately needed an editor). Anyway, on to my ARC First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria by Eve Brown-Waite ...

I finished an ER copy of American Rust by Philipp Meyer. It was a good solid read, maybe could have used some trimming but the author has shown some promise in his debut.
I'm just under 100 pages into Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada and, as expected, it's outstanding!

I have decided to abandon Kissing Games of the World for now so that I can read The Four Seasons: a novel of Vivaldi's Venice by Laurel Corona that I have been waiting for and was jubilant to find out that it was ready for pickup at the library.

FicusFan - I had no idea there was a sequel to New Amsterdam! Thanks!

Message edited by its author, Apr 9, 2009, 8:59pm.

#158 thekoolaidmom - I finished 44 Scotland Street, the first in the series, a few weeks ago and was absolutely charmed by it! It was my first McCall Smith book. I've checked out the next two in the series from the library but haven't had a chance to start in on them yet. I just love the characters, too.

I'm currently about half way through my current ER book Split Estate and am enjoying it greatly! Wonderful, heartfelt story so far.

Started The Ethical Assassin by David Liss. I have read 53 pages and have met several characters. I am safely going to assume that eventually they will all connect in some way. That is what makes reading fun:o)

So I abandoned Them: A Novel after reading about 75 pages. I just couldn't get into it that much. So I just skimmed the last few chapters for my book club, which seemed to work out fine for discussion.

Now starting on Paper Moon by Joe David Brown. It's described as a female version of Huckleberry Finn so I'm looking forward to it.

I'm a bit overrun at the moment! I have 100 or so pages read of Crossed Wires by Rosy Thornton, Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway and A Certain Strain of Peculiar by Gigi Amateau, my ER book for March. I guess I'm reading the latter most actively, but I owe a review for Crossed Wires, too! Hoping to play catch-up this weekend! :)

Hello everyone out there in Easter holiday land. It's a rainy day in Brisbane - perfect for reading. I am really enjoying Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky at the moment and will be heartbroken when I've finished. It is so good. I just love her writing. I have just finished the funny bit where the Perrin family ask Lucile to talk to the German officers and get back their salad spinner/dryer - amongst other precious items - like a spare set of false teeth and portraits of grandfather. Just insane. War is insane I guess. Anyway, I can highly recommend it. It's one of my 1001 books to read before you die books. I hope you all have a peaceful holiday filled with cups of tea, glasses of wine or whatever is your poison, love and books.

I am loving my Early Reviewer's book after a week of not being able to read anything ~ A Final Arc of Sky by Jennifer Culkin is absolutely great. It's a thin book so should be able to get through it in record time. Will review it shortly.

It's so delicious to be able to read again!!!

(touchstones not working)

I finished both Devil May Care and The Kraken Wakes easily enough--enjoyed both. I started reading The Prince and the Pilgrim by Mary Stewart the other day and finished it this morning... it was readable but I enjoyed her other Arthur books more. Next: Vilnius Poker, my ER book from the December batch.

Currently reading Verschroeide Ossobuco by Margherita Pasquini. I like the story so far, but it's a bit hard to read sometimes because of the words she uses. There are also quite a few lines in other languages in this book. The English ones I understand, but my German + Italian are non existent. It's a bit annoying when these lines just randomly pop up on a lot of pages.

It's only 193 pages, so I'm going to try to finish it.

porchy, I got that one too! It is up for reading later today, I think.. or tomorrow.

Finished One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson yesterday. I laughed out loud so many times (one of which I was sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office).

I am now such a fan of Kate and her wonderful characters.

Began a new novel yesterday. This One Is Mine written by Maria Semple. This is her first novel to be published, though she has been a writer for several years for television here in the States. So far, terrific, and fortunately, more to come.

I miss living in Southern California and this book is stirring up pleasant feelings for me.

Cheers, and pleasurable reading to all.

WH

I finished my first ER Larry's Kidney. The other one hasn't even arrived yet. Time to get back to my bookshelves.

Larry's Kidney was good; could've been shorter.

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I am really enjoying Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky at the moment and will be heartbroken when I've finished

Don't be heartbroken. I, too, loved Suite Francaise. Please go on and read Fire in the Blood (by the same author) which I loved even more than Suite Francaise. My husband loved both books as well.

Suite Francaise was an extraordinary book. It was so sad that the novellas that were to follow were never written due to the author's fate and untimely death.

Finished reading Songs for the Missing by Stewart O'Nan. Good read, of the unfortunate events surrounding missing kids.

Yikes! Silly old me, I found yet another book review site - Armchair Interviews - new to me, at least. The result is I now have sixteen books, just picked up at my local library. I'll never get through them all, and I know I didn't need to reserve them all at once, but i guess I'm just greedy, greedy, greedy!

Seems that happens a lot to contributors to this thread, so I do not consider myself strange. But I do have eyes bigger than my (pardon me) belly, so great soothsayer of the library skies, forgive me.

On another note, I recently recommended The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell, and though it dealt with the disturbing events during the Holocaust, I really thought it an extremely important book that should be read, lest we forget.

The silence to my missive was deafening, to say the least, and I wondered if perhaps some line had been crossed, and the subject had become 'verboten' to some. Love to read some views on it...

136/139 - I haven't read Keep the Aspidistra Flying yet (though I loved Down and Out in London and Paris) - but did you know it's also a rather excellent film? Britain's finest - Richard E. Grant and Helena Bonham Carter, I highly recommend it!

156 kara1560 - Glad to welcome another Twilighter! I've read the first three so far, and just bought the DVD for a good movie to watch when I want many, many delicious men to choose from. I finished Eclipse AGES ago and Breaking Dawn is whispering to me from the shelf, but I don't want to start it then find I have stuff to do! I want to be able to curl up with it for a weekend and get carried away like I have with the others. Easter weekend would have been perfect - everything's shut, it's given rain, I have chocolate, I've nearly finished my current read - but now we have guests coming... :-(
We'll see!

Still haven't finished , but I am also reading and and Advanced Reader Copy, that I am highlighting and annotating the hell out of!
Other than that, I am working on my journals and poetry. Oh Spring Break, what a gift!

morfam; I just looked at my library's web site they have The Kindly Ones by Jonathon Littell on their new book shelf. Hope it is still there in the morning. I read the summary and it really looks interesting. You might be interested in reading Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.

Morfam ---- I have not read The Kindly Ones but my husband is reading it and agrees with you. We should we not forget the halocaust. His message that Nazi's and Hitler were not demons but rather people like us, is also very important. We need to watch others but also ourselves to avoid a repeat of history.

Message edited by its author, Apr 10, 2009, 8:05pm.

Hi SqueakyChu - thanks for your message. I finished it this morning and am certainly determined to read more of her stuff. I have been vacuuming and dusting this morning. Must review my Early Reviewers book The new 50 simple things kids can do to save the earth by John Javna. Must go to Brookfield Produce store first though and get medicines for all our pets who are scratching and looking disconsolate. I tried some home made remedies suggested by a google search on Valdemar and he still seems alive this morning - black male guinea pig. You seem to have a small furry creature featured on your profile page too - who is that?

I've finished A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (my review is In the Shadow of Mt. TBR), and I didn't have to die trying :-D I am very glad I didn't give up on the book, a book I've been trying to finish since 5th grade. It was worth it :-D

Now I'm off to read Empire Falls by Richard Russo.

just finished vampire kisses series and now looking for something else to read.:)

Still reading Love in the Time of Cholera, started Leaves of Grass through dailylit (it has over 400 parts!) and as my completely random reading, I have Magarece Godine. I read it years ago and just found an electronic copy, so I'm happy to see if I still understand it.

Finished Call Me Kate and found the reason for this title at the end. This is a story about a young Irish-American girl, age 14, who lives in the anthracite area of Pennsylvania around 1862 She and her family live in a shanty town near the mine where her father works The story beings with her father being severely injured and no longer able to work. Katie finds a job that helps until the job is over. Then they lose the house and must move in with her grandmother. Katie then gets a job in Hazleton, which is several hours away by train, but it helps support the family.

The other story line is about the Molly Maguires, a secret organization of miners who are protesting bad treatment in the mines and also the draft into the Civil War, a fight they feel no part of. If they go to war , they lose their jobs and homes and their families are put out on the street.

We watch as Katie tried to help her family and also a friend who gets involved with the Molly Maguires. Her life is changed completely after an event with the group and at this time she is barely 16.

oh my~ That sounds good koalamom...

We heard the author speak last Sunday, April 5, and were very impressed with her as a speaker. Of course, the book's setting is not far from where I live. The author said it started when she was helping her son (who did the artwork for the cover, by the way) needed to do a family tree for a class project and it just took on a life of it's own after that - even leading her and several family members back to Ireland.

I have also picked out of my book shelves - Mystic River and Infinity's Prism. It seems that a lot of the book si have read recently never made it to the shelves but straight to my table to be read immediately, so I wanted to go back and get a couple off my shelves - especially before that Friends' book sale on April 25!

Finished The Inner Circle by Mari Jungstedt Another excellent Swedish mystery.

Finished Missing Fast read; excellent whodunit although the whydunit is the most intriguing aspect. This is a book I purchased based solely on the reviews on the front page of the book.

Review: http://www.librarything.com/profile_revi...

Currently reading The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders by Marshall Browne. I found this title somewhere in the LT posts. So far, very good atmospheric mystery set in Italy.

I do a lot of Readers Advisory for mystery readers at my library so am always looking for new authors to recommend.

Thanks, Talbin. Your touchstone advice worked!!

Message edited by its author, Apr 12, 2009, 1:08pm.

Finished Mystic River

finished sounder