Oh boy, I haven't started one of these threads for ages!

I finished the (imo) abysmal At Risk by Patricia Cornwell tonight (a book group read). I'm just about to pick up A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro, one of my favorite authors. I needed something good to clear my palate.

Also still dipping into Delicate Edible Birds, a collection of short stories by Lauren Groff.

I just finished Thugs and Kisses by Sue Ann Jaffarian and started The Return of the Dancing Master by Henning Mankell.

Last week I finished reading Guns Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond and I also read If I stay by Gayle Forman. I would highly recommend both.

Then I started to read American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I'm about 1/4 of the way through and I love it. I read Stardust last year which I also found delightful (but I hated the movie) so I think I may make it a goal to keep reading Gaiman's other books in the future.

If I finish American Gods I will start The Book of Daniel by E.L. Doctorow. I read my first Doctorow, The March, earlier this year and has been one of the best books I've read this year so far, so I'm looking forward to reading another of his. I also chose The Book of Daniel because it's about the McCarthyism and the Red Scare in the USA 1950's. Does anyone know of any other books about this period they could recommend? I watched the movie Good Night and Good Luck last week and it's made me want to find out more about it.

*edited to correct author's name - how rude of me!

Message edited by its author, May 30, 2009, 4:06am.

Yesterday I finished Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and started Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr. I'm hoping to finish that sometime today and begin on Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos.

I finished The Last Warrior Queen by Mary Mackey finally. It is historical fiction set in Mesopotamia about 5600 years ago. It wasn't actually bad, it just didn't grab me. Very simplistic writing and the POV was supposed to be a great warrior queen, she was actually rather selfish, passive and stupid. Just glad to be done with her.

Not sure what I am going to read next.

>3: kiwiflowa- There is also a film adaptation of The Book of Daniel called "Daniel", with Timothy Hutton. It's a good film but might be hard to find. I would also highly recommend Ragtime by Doctorow.

I finished The Shack by William P. Young yesterday, which was book #39 in my 75/2009 Challenge.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/55208

In retrospect, I will say, that it is memorable, mostly for how how such a potentially profound theological topic can be written about as though it were the script for a *Lifetime* Channel TV drama.

The writing left me feeling uncomfortable (used, comes to mind), almost as though the author had several things to convey to the reader, but couldn't come up with a way to present the points in an elegant way and ended up floundering most of the way through the story.

Ah well. Read and learn. There are more books waiting in the wings to take their places at center stage.

Currently I have settled in to reading The Killer's Wife a debut novel by Bill Floyd. The suspense in the story is building apace. I'm looking forward to getting to reading some more later today. I have a couple of other books that I am currently reading listed on my profile page, which is helpful for me to remember both where I am in the stacks around the house, AND what I have already dipped into.

Have a great weekend fellow readers.

womansheart

Message edited by its author, May 30, 2009, 7:29am.

I decided to start Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih. It is translated and is about a young man who has been away in the west being educated and living a western life. He comes back to his home, a small village in Sudan and tries to reconcile who he is, with what he learned, and still fit in as an authentic Sudanese person and not a sad western copy.

I'm almost finished with Goblins! An UnderEarth Adventure, which such a fun book that I am enjoying immensely. I'm giving away a copy on my blog, btw. The giveaway ends tomorrow night.

I just finished The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff and have started Giving Up America by Pearl Abraham.

#3 kiwiflowa: you probably would enjoy the Point of Order dvd directed by Emile de Antonio. It's a documentary about the Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954 that brought down McCarthy, and it is amazing to watch.

Since posting on one of these threads, I've read The Mighty Angel by Jerzy Pilch, Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Doblin, and Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy and Why It Matters by George Akerlof and Robert Shiller.

I've just started Bosnian Chronicle by Ivo Andric and am still slowly reading The Rest Is Noise by Alex Ross.

From Dead to Worse By Charlaine Harris, Cont. from last week. Hopefully I'll get to finish it tonight.

I finished the mystery The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin last week. I enjoyed the second book as much as her first one Mistress of the Art of Death. I am already looking forward to reading her third book in the series, Grave Goods.

In the meantime I plan on reading a few new authors for me: is/was by Jenny Sampirisi, Oonagh by Mary Tilberg and Reading by Lightning by Joan Thomas

- touchstone not working for some of these books -

Going on real slow with I did a Bad Thing by Linda Green.

Reading Wink of the Zenith by Floyd Skloot and will then pick up Sandhills Ballad by Ladette Rudolph. Hoping to get to Stone's Fall by Iain Pears very soon!

Message edited by its author, May 30, 2009, 10:53am.

Yesterday I started The Armies by Evelio Rosero, the winner of this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, which I should finish today. After that I'll read In the Falling Snow, the new novel by Caryl Phillips. and Frida's Bed, a novel by Slavenka Drakulic based on the life of Frida Kahlo.

I picked up a book yesterday that I can’t seem to put down, so in addition to Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn I’m also well immersed in The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe by Ann Fessler. It is a social history with first person stories of adoption told from the birthmothers’ perspective. The 50s and 60s were not so much fun if you happened to be young, single and pregnant and how we as a society treated these women is truly appalling.

- touchstones not happy -

Message edited by its author, May 30, 2009, 11:36am.

Ooooooh >17 Frida's Bed sounds interesting. Please keep us posted. :)

I'm a few chapters into The Descent by Jeff Long. It's definitely a little creepy so far.

--> 17

Ooh! Can't wait for your review of Frida's Bed, kidzdoc. Are you going to be using that for the Arts theme for the Reading Globally group? If so, what a great pick and interesting book!

ETA: I just realized that mine was the second "Ooh!" for Frida's Bed. :)

Message edited by its author, May 30, 2009, 12:17pm.

I just picked up Sin and Syntax by Constance Hale last night.

I'm about 30 pages in--through nouns--and it's really well written. So far, I know most of this stuff, but a little reinforcing helps. I'd definitely use it with students.

I attended a quickie one-hour version of her writing course at a conference this spring and was totally taken by her, had to get the book. I want better sentences in my books.

A couple extended passages quoted from Prisoner without a name, Cell without a number were so extraordinary, I want to get that book.

Message edited by its author, Jun 1, 2009, 4:17pm.

#21: Yes, SqueakyChu, I will use this for next month's Reading Globally theme read, along with Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro, which I read last week.

#19: Will do, leperdbunny (nice name, BTW; I'm envisioning a spotted carnivorous rabbit!).

Message edited by its author, May 30, 2009, 12:43pm.

Just started Angels of Destruction by Keith Donohue, author of one of my recent faves, The Stolen Child. I'm only about 40 pages into it now. I hope I love it as much as I loved the previous one.

Been a busy week, still reading One Second After by William R. Forstchen

Kidzdoc Thanks it is a play on words for a spotted rabbit. Thanks I giggled at that one! :D

Getting ready to start Payback: Five Marines After Vietnam by Joe Klein. After reading a story about a Vietnam Vet who went bezerk and died in a shootout with police in 1981, Klein decided, after some investigation, to try to find other members of the soldier's company to find out how they had fared since the war. I guess it will sort of be like a Flags of our Fathers involving Vietnam vets. I'm looking forward to starting it this weekend.

Message edited by its author, May 30, 2009, 2:00pm.

I just finished The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie. This is different from anything I've read. The book was a book club selection, and once again makes me grateful to my book club, as some of our selections are books I might not otherwise read. I wasn't sure I liked the book until I was about 1/3 of the way through. It is breathtaking in scope, weaving together magic and mysticism with real people, places and events. As I said in an earlier post, it is very dream-like and hypnotic, and told in a very fantastical, ornate style.

Message edited by its author, May 30, 2009, 1:44pm.

Unfortunately I'm reading Inspector Morimoto and the Two Umbrellas by Timothy Hemion. This is his first novel, and if this is as good as he can do, he should stick to mathematics books. The story line is insipid and the dialogue is too stilted for words. It is not often I slam a book this hard, but I am so disappointed. I need to find something else and file this one under "don't bother."

Almost finished with Ian McEwan's Saturday, which is quite an intriguing book. The story line is oddly compelling, considering it follows the events of an ordinary day in an ordinary man's life, yet each incident (witnessing an anti-war protest march, a weekly game of squash, etc.) becomes extremely complex and nuanced in the protagonist's mind. I didn't fall head over heels in love with it like I did with Atonement, but it's been a very satisfying read.

Also reading The Green Mile, which is, as usual, proving to be a very, very entertaining story from Stephen King. Not sure yet what I'm going to read after I finish Saturday...I might re-read one of Stephen King's short story collections.

Still reading The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Some of these stories would traumatize the kids nowadays. I love it. But since the book is huge, I started The Hunchback of Notre-Dame as my away from home book.

#19: Will do, leperdbunny (nice name, BTW; I'm envisioning a spotted carnivorous rabbit!).

You mean like...

http://amolife.com/image/images/stories/...

:D

Message edited by its author, May 30, 2009, 2:28pm.

Still reading The master and Margarita by Bulgakov. Highly recommended!
Strange things happen in Moscow: people disappear, die... The Devil is on a visit to Moscow! At the same time we read the story of Pontius Pilate.
This book critizes the Soviet regime of Stalin.

#32 All that's missing is the teeth. :)

#30 I LOVED The Green Mile.

#28 & #33 The Master and Margarita is now toward the top of my TBR list, as is The Enchantress of Florence.

Just finished The Ruby Tear by Suzy McKee Charnas of Walk to the End of the World fame, writing as Rebecca Brand. The first third was a vampire romance, then it turned into something else, something I think might be profound. Anyway, it was...different. I can't quite decide whether it was just okay or brilliant.

Am going to start The Scarecrow by Connelly and The Graveyard Book on audio by Neil Gaiman next.

>32 HAHAHAHA. That's cute!!! :D

I finished Never Let Me Go which I really enjoyed.

Now I'm starting Columbine and Expensive People.

I'm finishing up Right of Thirst by Frank Huyler, as well as continuing through the audiobook of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I read Outlander a few years ago, but I'm trying to go through the series again before the next book is released in the fall.

Last night I started Olive Kitteridge. The writing is transparent, and the themes or behaviors are not remarkably compelling. Today, reflecting on it, though, I realize that the characters are real to me and facing real forces of life, pretty much as they should do in a good enough novel. I'll be happy to get back to it tonight.

Robert

After a trip to the bookstore, I've now also started In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien.

just started the lovely bones by alice sebold. have only listened to the first tape. the narrator is alyssa bresnahan whose reading of smilla's sense of snow won me over to her as a narrator some years ago.

am continuing with fire from heaven by mary renault, tale of two cities, regeneration by pat barker and dribs and drabs of barchester towers by anthony trollope as the mood strikes. he's a very comfortable read for me so i use him as some people use comfort food. ;)

had to give up on innocent house by p.d. james because the tapes were so old they were inaudible and kept jamming. oh well. have 3 audiobooks waiting for me at the public library and about 5 on the way from rfb&d. oh happy day.

I finished my Early Reviewer Looking After Pigeon by Maud Carol Markson this morning, and started The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time this afternoon.

I'm within 200 pages of finishing My Wars are Laid Away in Books. It's not bad, but the last book that took me this long was the exceptional Team of Rivals.

I think my next book will be The Jewel Box by Anna Davis. I've just started it and it appears to have a mystery man who just put down our lead character who is female. Just enough to make me prick up my ears.

Just finished my first ER book Saints in Limbo by RIver Jordan (still need to write my review) and have just started The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg.

Story of the Confederacy is among the next ones I'll read and I am thinking of getting Sound and the Fury from the library and possibly Grim Grotto to fill out my 999 (GG will finish a category and I plan to finish that series as well).

Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (now with ultraviolent zombie mayhem!). A good reading week!

I started The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger about two days ago.

Just started Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy.

Hunger, the sequel to Gone, by Michael Grant. Awesomeness.

Change of plans. Picked up Promises in Death by J.D. Robb from the library and couldn't help myself. I started it right away. Also picked up Watchmen, the graphic novel, and started that too. It's my very first graphic novel ever. I just had to see for myself what all the fuss was about. So far, it's strange, but I like it.

I'm just about finished with The Collected Stories of Isaac Babel. Interesting, but I don't know if I've really been in the right mood for them. Started The Trial yesterday.

Currently reading Down the Santa Fe Trail and into Mexico: The Diary of Susan Shelby Magoffin circa 1854.

Still working on Emma and The Last Lincolns. I'm about half way through Emma and still guessing how it's going to end up. My enthusiasm for The Last Lincolns has dimmed a little, not because it's not well written but because the characters are not terribly likable. My impression is that Mary Lincoln was a charming, feisty lady until tragedy hit. The death of two sons and her husband was too much and she became fairly despicable. The one son who survived was equally unpleasant. I'm just getting to the grandchildren so we'll see what they're like.

I've just started People of the Book, and it's so far really good.

Message edited by its author, May 31, 2009, 10:59am.

Just finished Wartime Britain and bought Austerity Britain, 1945-1951 (Tales of a New Jerusalem but have decided to give myself a break from social history and am on Got You Back by Jane Fallon good easy read.

#54 RedBowlingBallRuth

I really enjoyed People of the Book, too.

Just finished Use of Weapons. Really good, but very difficult as well. Can't imagine what the book was like before he rewrote it to be easier.
Now reading Poison Study and Music of the Primes.

Just started reading MY OLD SWEETHEART by Susanna Moore. Wish I'd read it when I was in Hawaii.

I finished Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih. It was very well written and very interesting. It packed a lot into a small number of pages. I think my review is almost as long as the book :).

Now starting Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. The previous book has been compared to a reverse HD, so I thought I would read it next.

#59 FicusFan

I wasn't a big fan of Heart of Darkness when I had to read it for my English Lit class, but there were quite a few people in my class who did enjoy it, so I hope that you fall into the latter category! I think my biggest problem was that I had to rush through the story, so I didn't have time to mull it over. (My second biggest problem was that my English professor couldn't teach worth anything, so the book was kind of doomed from the start.)

Thanks coloradogirl14. I have read King Leopold's Ghost last summer which was about Belgium Congo, so I have some background in the history. Hopefully it will be OK.

I am reading Precious: A Novel by Sandra Novack.

I finished The Wreck of the Batavia by Simon Leys last night. It's the only book I've come across where only the first half of the book is about the subject on the cover (the reason the reader bought the book) and the second half is about a fishing trip the author went on many years ago.
I started Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (a birthday present from Mom) and I'm also working on Red Lobster, White Trash and the Blue Lagoon: Joe Quennan's America

This week I am reading The Garden of the Finzi-Continis for 1000 Novels and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven for book club.

I started The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst (Booker 2004) a few days ago. Can a book be both compelling and wearying at the same time? I imagine it will be done in a day or two.

Continuing my LotR reread with The Return of the King. I'll start something else this week but not sure what I'm in the mood for.

Yesterday I started Jessica's Guide to dating on the dark side and i finished it this morning (i did read it from half 11 through to 2 in the morning though ;)
Today i also read Wicked Lovely whilst trying to do some revision at the same time and it worked rather well really. I will probably start something else tonight but not really sure what... i may have to dash out to my car and retrieve Pagan's Crusade from my boot/trunk where i've been hiding it all week to keep my parents from finding it and to keep me from reading it.

I am reading Hush by Anne Frasier. It is a really good mystery. It may go to the top of the list of best mystery read so far in 2009.

I am also reading Murder in Little Egypt by Darcy O'Brien. I have had this on my bookshelf for years. I thought it was about time I read it. I enjoyed another book by this author.

Message edited by its author, May 31, 2009, 1:09pm.

I finished is/was by Jenny Sampirisi yesterday afternoon. It was an okay book, although not what I was expecting after reading the back cover synopsis.

Last night I started Oonagh by Mary Tilberg and I have to say that I am LOVING this book, having devoured the first seven chapters last night and looking forward to an afternoon of reading today. It is set in the 1830's and tells the tale of Oonagh, an eighteen-year old girl who emigrates from poverty stricken Ireland to Upper Canada with her sister's family and where she starts a relationship with the town barber, a runaway slave from the Southern US.

Starting Dead and Gone today by Charlaine Harris.

Starting Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres and The Odyssey by Simon Armitage, a dialogue version. Both very good so far.

I finished Expensive People this morning, and I enjoyed it. I love Joyce Carol Oates which is probably biased by the fact that I grew up in Buffalo, NY. But I really enjoy her writing style.

Expensive People is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek tale about Suburbia. The story is told from the perspective of a son whose father climbed the corporate ladder (moving his family from suburb to suburb every 18 months). The mother seemed to be a woman who was trying to avoid being the cliche housewife and only succeeded in being very cliche. The son is an only child and a geek who is very socially-awkward.

I'm on to Unaccustomed Earth and Columbine.

I finished Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood on Friday. This fictionalized account of a notorious murder in Canada in the 1800s was, to me, not up to the standards of the other two Atwood books I've read, The Handmaid's Tale and The Blind Assassin. I enjoyed the book, but expected more.

I started The House at Riverton by Kate Morton, a gothic novel. Okay so far but I'm only about 30 pages in. The weather in northwestern Pennsylvania is too gorgeous to spend too much time in the house this weekend.

Still working on Atlas Shrugged, seems like it's taking forever and since my brain needs something a little lighter I picked up The House on Tradd Street for a pleasant diversion.

I've just finished Silent on the Moor by Deanna Rayburn and it is a simply delightful whodunit that I couldn't put down once I started it. Anyone who's read the other 2 Lady Jane Grey mysteries will be pleased to know that our intrepid detective continues with a new mystery and retains her intelligence and humor.

I wish I could say that I had enjoyed The Stars at Noon by Denis Johnson which I've also just completed but that was a bit of a dirge.

'nuff said ... I have started on The Secret Supper by Javier Sierra and I have high hopes for this book.

I'm reading Taal is zeg maar echt mijn ding, a book about how we use our language (Dutch) at the moment. Containing a lot of awful constructions of which you know you use them yourself as well. It's a funny, slightly confronting, light read, which is ok after just having finished In cold blood.

My next read will be Indecision by Benjamin Kunkel. Probably start it tomorrow, as I have a day of (Whit Monday), only have some vague plans and the sun might be shining (= with a book in garden :) ).

I'm reading The Wheel of Nuldoid which I received as a result of a review request by the author. It's a pretty cute fantasy so far although I haven't figured out if it is more of a young adult or an adult story yet.

#59> FicusFan, If you can go slowly through Heart of Darkness you will be greatly rewarded. The insights into human nature Conrad offers us are extremely rewarding. Anyway, Conrad is my favorite author and Heart of Darkness on of my three favorite Conrad stories, so I'm biased!

#65> citygirl, I read The Line of Beauty this year, too. I know what you mean about its being both wearying and compelling at the same time. In the long run, though, it's a book that's well worthwhile, or at least I found it to be so.

I have just started reading Everything must go by Elizabeth Flock.

about one third of the way through All Shall Be Well; and All Shall Be Well; and All Manner of Things Shall Be Well by, Tod Wodicka.

Odd read but very good !

Just started The Egyptologist by Arthur Philips this weekend. Intriguing at least in the first sixty pages.

#77 rocketjk, thanks. I am finding it a bit of a slog. I don't really like older works (the writing style), so it has to be slow.

>80 Sounds interesting, may put this on my wishlist. Let us know how it goes :).

>73 My mom is trying to read Atlas Shrugged. Good luck to both of you.

Finished "Agnes Grey" (Anne Bronte) this morning. Next up: a couple of shorter Henry James novels: "The Turn of the Screw" and "The Aspern Papers", published in one volume along with two short stories.

#80 - Intriguing is the right word! A favorite from a couple of years ago. Planning to reread it later this year. Hope you like The Egyptologist as much as I did!

I am reading the latest book by Brian Freeman, In The Dark. It's really good so far.

Message edited by its author, May 31, 2009, 9:51pm.

I finished The Armies by Evelio Rosero on Saturday, which was superb, and abandoned The Bathroom by Jean-Philippe Toussaint this morning after reading half of it. I'll put aside the Caryl Phillips novel I had barely started for the moment, and start Miles From Nowhere by Nami Mun, which I had left at my parents' house during my last visit there. It's about a young Korean emigrant who decides to leave her dysfunctional family at age 13, and lives on the streets and in homeless shelters, becomes addicted to drugs, and engages in petty crimes afterward. It is on the shortlist for this year's Orange Award for New Writers, which will be awarded on 3 June.

Message edited by its author, May 31, 2009, 11:29pm.

Finished up Goblins! An UnderEarth Adventure by Royce Buckingham, and I hope he writes more UnderEarth adventures :-) It was an absolute romp on the literary playground!

I picked up Katka by Stephen Meier and read about 1/4 of it before setting it aside to read The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald ( review here ). Meh... it was okay, but I think it would have been much better if he'd decided to turn it into a novel. The movie will probably be better.

*sigh* back to Katka now. I've got a June 9th tour date for it. Painful, but short and easy.

I started reading Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis tonight. So far I'm enjoying it, even though it's mildly disturbing in parts. It's a quick read though, so I'm hoping to finish it by tomorrow.

i just finished fried green tomatoes by fannie flagg, now i'm reading the handmaid's tale by margaret atwood.

fried green tomatoes was amazing. i flew through it so quickly, it was a very enjoyable read.

i'm not that far through the handmaid's tale yet, but i'm liking it so far.

#89, EddieWinslow, I mightily enjoyed Crooked Little Vein, great fun.

I'm in the middle of Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos and really loving it. I made myself stop reading after the first chapter because I was afraid that otherwise I'd forget to eat dinner.

Well very early this morning I finished The Lucky One and i have to say that I'm loving Mr Sparks' work more and more- i will *have* to get hold of more of his books the two i've read so far have been brilliant. ugh unfortunately i'm bloody shattered now.

I've abandoned The Last Ember by Daniel Levin, an ARC that sounded good and might have been good had it been written by someone else. I found it stilted, confusing, and awkwardly phrased. Blech.

I picked up John Adams by David McCullough as an antidote. The beautiful language and intellient phrasing made me feel better immediately.

I'm also going to re-start The Tory Widow by Christine Blevins. It got lost in a stack and I just found it again.

#92 - Glad to hear that Belong to Me is "un-put-downable" I just finished Love Walked In and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm looking for to reading the sequel.

#94 - I found John Adams to be a great read, although not a quick one, hope you enjoy it.

Finished the LTER book The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown. I've given it five stars, at least for the moment because it so strongly captured my attention and imagination.

I've started Brick Lane by Monica Ali, which was short listed for or won several awards in 2003/2004.

Message edited by its author, Jun 1, 2009, 9:34am.

I finished Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich which was a wonderful read. I can't even begin to say how good it was. I'm on to Netherland and am 3/4 of the way through and I have to say it's not living up to my expectations.

#77, rocketjk. I finished The Line of Beauty last night. Boy, I whipped through it faster than I thought. You're right, it is worthwhile and leaves you with some thinking to do.

#92, devourer. I read Belong to Me almost entirely on an airplane. It's both enjoyable and worthwhile. Maybe a leetle saccharine.

#98. I too loved The Plague of Doves. It was incredible. Netherland is on my short TBR list, and I'm sorry to hear it hasn't been great for you.

I enjoyed Netherland but feel it was perhaps a bit over-hyped, and even though O'Neill's prose was as elegant as any, every time he went on about cricket, my eyes would begin to glaze over and I was hit by a case of instant boredom.

I'm doing something fairly odd (for me) this week. I have three books going at once. Normally, I'm a one book at a time gal but our beloved dog has been diagnosed with bone cancer and so I'm spending a lot of time with him snoozing and me sitting beside him. I don't know if its the impending death thing or what but I ended up with these three books:Drood, Other People's Daughters Life and Times of the Governess and All the King's Men on at the same time. I'm amazed at the brilliance of All the King's Men. I read it in high school but now that I'm much older I get why it is a classic. Its way too deep for a shallow sixteen year old.
Drood is quite good and an unexpectedly hefty tome at some 800 pages. Other People's Daughters is turning out to be kind of funny - that Mary Wollstonecraft! - and tragic at the same time.
I'm not a multiple book reader so this feels a little odd. But it beats crying which upsets the dogs!

Sphere by Michael Crichton. Will definitely finish it this week. As is typical of him, it started slow, but once everything gets established, it has become very enjoyable!

For my concurrent nonfiction read, I'm working on 10 Dumbest Mistakes Smart People Make. It's a great cognitive-behavioral therapy book.

#97 If you end up liking Brick Lane, I strongly recommend The Story of Zahra.

Finished Four Spirits by Sena Jeter Naslund yesterday morning. It is strange reading about things that happens when one is a teenager. I remembering it being bad in the south, but having it brought to mind again after electing President Obama. I hope there are a lot of smiles in the south.
Started Beach House by Jane Green last evening it was so good I finished it this morning.

Silas Marner by George Eliot. Hmmm.

I am getting ever closer to the end of Shelby Foote's first volume of his Civil War narrative, Fort Sumter to Perryville. It is not a quick read, but quite good and very readable even for someone like myself who almost exclusively reads fiction. I can't believe the second two volumes are each even longer, though. I definately recommend it to all you Civil War buffs out there who haven't yet made the plunge.

I am reading A Room With A View by E.M. Forster right now. Don't ask me why, though. It's on my iTouch so why not? I really like it though, it feels like school...

Still working on The White Tiger and O Fado da Sombra, I did a lot of shifts this week so my reading has fallen behind.

102: enaid > I'm so sorry about your little friend and I hope you continue to find solace in reading, as indeed we do all.

Just finished Brave New World and am starting Me Talk Pretty One Day.

Finished Belong to Me, loved it. Now I'm on my way to go start In The Sanctuary of Outcasts.

#103 gaialover

Sphere is one of my favorite Michael Crichton novels! I discover something new about that book every time I read it!

Finished The Green Mile and I can't believe it took me this long to read it for the first time. It was a FANTASTIC story, and I can't wait to read it again!

Geez, I go away for a couple days and it takes hours to get caught up!

Just started Crazy '08, about baseball history. Looks very promising.

#104 gaialover - Thanks, I'll make a note that one, I have never heard of it before.

One Second After by William R. Forstchen

Fairly standard story about the collapse of the U.S. after an attack by an E.M.P. (electrical magnetic pulse weapon. The author goes into great detail about the decisions that a small town most do to survive. He does this by the use of the debates that the people who make up the ruling council have.
The book has a more ominous tone than other ones in this sub genre, (Alas Babylon, Earth abides, Damnation Alley, Lucifers Hammer etc.).
I think the author is trying to show how tenuous our hold on and way of life is. In this way he succeeds. But I couldn't get into or care for any of the the charactors. The story just seemed to go from one clique to the next. There were no surprizes or twists, you knew what was happening before you turned the page.

106: richardderus,
Silas Marner AHHH!!, that book still makes me crindge. Was forced to read it in school, Hated it!!. needless to say I failed English that marking period. In all fairness I have tried to reread it serveral times over the years but those old twinges keep comming back.

I had mostly enjoyed the first half of Iain Pears' Stone's Fall, but the second half was downhill all the way, with Pears piling one cliche on top of another, some very dubious plotting, and an extremely unsatisfying ending. It made me want to scratch my own eyes out for being gullible enough to actually finish it. If Pears' book wasn't bad enough, next I picked up Luis Alberto Urrea's poor, dumbed-down excuse of a novel Into the Beautiful North, and after a hundred pages I hated everything about it, felt the urge to scratch my eyes out again, but instead just tossed it, thereby doing myself a very large favor.

Right now I'm rereading Edwin O'Connor's 1956 novel The Last Hurrah, and the first hundred pages have been marvelous.

I recently finished The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun.

Now I'm reading Everything That Rises Must Converge and David Copperfield.

I finished The Killer's Wife by Bill Floyd yesterday evening. Three and a half stars, maybe four. Liked it.

I'm now reading page 64 of Michelle Richmond 's No One You Know and liking it, thus far.

womansheart

Just for fun, I added Deadfall to the other 2 books I'm reading now. Just for fluff is actually more correct here. :)

WOW! You have all been very busy.

I read

The Last Bridge
One For The Money
The Anansi Boys &
Chosen by a Horse

Message edited by its author, Jun 1, 2009, 6:08pm.

This week I am reading A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Lost Art of Being Happy, both of which I am enjoying very much.

I'm still on The Jewel Box which is about a flapper girl in the 20s and her choices of men. She seems all varnish and no polish. There is no substance to her. She is just drifting through her life thinking she is all that and a bag of chips. I am enjoying the sister more and more and less is said about her but it is enough.

I read Belong to Me last fall and was dissapointed in it. I thought it was OK but not great. I had heard the author speak on a radio program and thought it sounded good. I have a copy of Love Walked in and after reading Belong to Me I have moved it to the bottom of the TBR pile. If I had a long plane trip planned I might dig it out but otherwise not planning on reading it anytime soon. Belong to Me caught my attention enough for me to keep reading but I thought it slide off at the end. Somebody earlier described it as slightly saccharine and they were right. Not a bad book - but not great either.

It took me no time to read The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night-Time so now I'm reading Barbaro: America's Horse since The Belmont Stakes is this weekend.

#105

I read Four Spirits several years ago because it was a book club selection for my group. I live in Alabama and it was out Alabama book for the year. In a unanimous decision we all decided it was one of the worst books we had ever read. I dragged myself to finishing it because of the peer pressure I thought I would have from the group of readers. Instead when we all got to the meeting we had a good laugh because we all said it was a waste of time and that we had read it because we thought everybody else was going to have it read. We live here and couldn't figure out who was what and why they were doing what they were doing. We thought the characters were very poorly developed and the story just didn't make sense to us.

By-the-way, most of the group is made up of non-native Alabamians so perhaps our problem was that we weren't here at the time and perhaps don't understand the culture. But then the reviews were bad so this was one time we agreed with the critics.

102: enaid: sad news about your dog, but nice to spend time with him.

I'm still going with Hover Car Racer by Matthew Reilly, it's a quick, exciting read. For something rather different I'm re-reading The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. It's a very short book, but I'm taking my time and enjoying it, seeing as I know what happens.

Finished Madness Under the Royal Palms: Love and Death Behind the Gates of Palm Beach by Laurence Leamer. Started Terrorist by John Updike.

102 enaid - I am sorry to hear about your beloved family pet :-(

106 richardderus - Silas Marner... I am not even going there!!!

Note to self: Add The Egyptologist to TBR pile **groans at sight of existing piles**

On the reading front: I finished Oonagh last night and found it to be just an amazing story! Next up is Reading by Lightning by Joan Thomas.

Message edited by its author, Jun 1, 2009, 11:29pm.

@34 Storeetllr:
Good for you! Let me know what you think of The master and Margarita! :)
Have fun reading.

Message 102 Enaid: What a crushing blow to the heart. My dog Buster passed a few months ago. Maybe take some pictures so you can remember him well. Nothing eases the pain but time, but he can live in your heart and memory forever. You are so good to be cherishing him now when he needs you most.

#112 coloradogirl14 -- You're so right! Sphere is awesome! I almost missed my bus stop today because I was so caught up in the story. (I'm about half-way through). Of course, I'm a bit of a computer nerd so all the talk about binary and hex got me all excited ;-)

As hoped I finished my LTER book Forbidden Bread by Erica Johnson Debeljak (and got my review up) and also finished Natasha's Dance by Orlando Figes to be able to start Monday fresh with two books.

Continuing on my E. European reading I just started Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevesky.
Also going to start Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie.

Happy reading all!

>128 Ditto on The Egyptologist.

I have come back to The Miracle at Little No Horse, which I left at home when I went to visit my son. It is too good to risk losing or leaving behind..

I finished The Last Lincolns this morning. My review can be found at www.librarything.com/work/book/45495519. It was very well written and answered a question I've been curious about for decades. Sorry, I don't know how to make the review location into a live link.

I started Shanghai Girls last night, and I am really enjoying it so far. The book contains great descriptions and visuals which makes me feel like I am watching a movie.

Message edited by its author, Jun 2, 2009, 11:14am.

Just finished Megan McCafferty's Charmed Thirds (loved it!) and am holding myself back from immediately ripping through Fourth Comings. After reading the first book in the series, I immediately ordered all the rest -- I knew I'd become hopelessly addicted, and I can't stand it when I'm dying for the next book in the series and I have to try and hunt it down!

No, I'm being good -- I just started something new: Alexandra Potter's Me and Mr. Darcy. I'm hoping I like it better than other reviewers... seems pretty good so far.

I am reading Montana 1948 by Larry Watson. I'm also reading Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson aloud.

Well... Arrhumpf (Flourish) I'VE BEEN STARTING ULYSSES last Sunday. Once more... I've even invented an aphorism : to start Ulysses is like to stop smoking : you usually do not succeed at once.

Message edited by its author, Jun 2, 2009, 1:58pm.

Finished:
- Poison Study. okay reading, but very simplistic and predictable plot. Not going to read the next two parts.
- Music of the Primes. Mixed feelings about this one, seemed like a ** book and a **** book blended together. Quite annoyed by the lack of actual mathematics and thought Fermat's Last Theorem was much better overall. Still, many of the biographical parts were nice. Maybe it's just my math background that makes me so annoyed at the oversimplification.

Now reading:
Collapse and State of the Art

I am a bit into Story of the Confederacy, but today I made it to the library and picked up Sound and the Fury (promised a friend I'd try more Faulkner) and Grim Grotto. I am trying to finish that series up - 2 to go after this one, but this will finish my Children's category on my 999.

#140 Sander314 - I appreciate hearing your take on Music of the Primes as I was about to order this for my husband. I think I will hold off for the time being.

I like the bold date in the subject line btw :) easy to find!

I just finished Montana 1948 by Larry Watson. A sad, sweet, thought-provoking little gem of a book. Not sure what I'm going to read next.

I devoured the entirety of At First Sight this evening- I am going to *have* to buy up all the Nicholas Sparks books i can find cos this man is simply wonderful. I've cried at the end of all three books by him that i've read so far and in my books that's brilliant. Ooh i'm dying to go on a massive amazon spree!

Just finished Nineteen Eighty-Four and today I started The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I've only read a few pages, but already I'm really excited about reading it and can't wait to pick it up again.

I hope to finish The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie tonight. It was a nice break from Russian tragedy and Nazi hunting. The I hope to start The Language of Bees and The Red Mutiny. The last is by Bascombe, who wrote a great book on the search for and capture of Adolf Eichmann.

I'm about 2/3 through Twilight. My niece lent it to me. It's fun. I understand what girls her age see in it, and it's led to some good book talks with her. She's usually shy and quiet, but she's excited to talk about Twilight. She's read them all. Not sure how far I'll take it.

Turn about is fair play. Maybe you can lend her something.

Just finished my first Elizabeth Berg - The Year of Pleasures - and was very pleasantly surprised, I must say. I thought it might be a bit 'old' for me - it tells the story of a woman who has lost her husband of many years to cancer and is seeking to find herself and a new life as she had promised him before his death. It was actually very charming and full of wisdom, whether you've lost your husband, broken up with a partner or just need a bit of a lift and a reminder of how important it is to seize the day...

Now I'm halfway through Gold by Dan Rhodes and have again been very pleasantly surprised - it's funny, different and a lovely read for a warm day in the garden!

Just finished Saints in Limbo by River Jordan (Early Review) Loved it!!! I also just finished Address Unknown, a very short, but heartbreaking book by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor.

There is an author named River Jordan? How cool is that?

Rocking

By coincidence I picked up two of Neal Bascomb's books recently: The Hunt For Adolf Eichmann and The Perfect Mile.

Both were excellent reads, especially Eichmann's story which reads like a spy thriller, for me. As an ex-athlete, (and I go back a number of XXX's) the story of Roger Bannister's first sub four-minute mile brought back sweet memories of another time and place.

I will look for bascomb's other books with pleasure...

Great list of books!

I just finished reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and loved it.

I am in the process of reading Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen and while it is good, it is not her best effort. My next 2 books are women of the silk for book club and still alice for an author lunch.

>116: Louis- Please don't gouge your eyes out! You need those babies! Sorry those 2 highly anticipated novels fell flat. Bummer!
I finished Home by Marilynne Robinson and it did not disappoint. She is such a strong writer. I started Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides. It's about a rescue mission in the Pacific during World War II and so far it's incredible!
I also have The Egyptologist in my tbr. Maybe I need to bump it up a little!

Oh boy .... I'm away for a couple of days and look what happens.... I find more books to add to my wishlist! The Egyptologist, Gold and The Last Lincolns have all made it to my list

I'm halfway through The Secret Supper and enjoying it ... but I've also gotten a little sidetracked with a vampire read in Kiss of Darkness by heather Graham which a friend recommended which starts out in a thrilling vein.

I finished and really enjoyed In The Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White and am starting Bought by Anna David.

I spent my evening reading and finishing the Grim Grotto - just two more Unfortunate Events titles to go.

Since it is late, I'll just go and read a chapter of Story of the Confederacy and maybe tomorrow I'll start Sound and the Fury.

I finished Brooklyn by Colm Toibin which I enjoyed greatly. I love reading about the Irish immigrant experience (although in this case my family came over many years before the character in the book did).

And now for fun I thought I'd try Dog on It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery by Spencer Quinn.

To all you Neil Gaiman lovers: I'm thinking of buying American Gods based on the recent reviews and recommendations. It seems like it's a science fiction book, which is not my favorite genre, will I still enjoy it? Thanks!

I'm reading "Map of Bones" by James Rollins

Finished reading Katka by Stephen Meier, and did not like it at all. I feel bad about not liking it, because it's a self-pub and it's been a seven-year journey for him... and I am to post a review of it on June 9 for the blog tour... and an honest review won't be a kind one. *sigh* I feel bad about that... where's the chocolate.

Since my next review date is June 19th for The 19th Wife, I think I'll take a second to read Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan. It looks like a good fantasy kind of book, and I need something fun.

I have been reading like a fiend lately because fairly soon I just won't have the time. Tonight I started Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond, the author of Guns, Germs and Steel. The book is required reading for a class I'm taking next month, and so far it's fascinating. I will also slowly work my way through The Summer Book by Tove Jansson, a series of vignettes of a young girl and her grandmother during a summer spent on an island in the Gulf of Finland. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am also reading Treasure Island aloud, and it has my girls on the edge of their seats!

>115usnmm2, 128 lkernagh...Silas Marner is one of my RL book circle's reads. I think, based on the nausalgia vu (combined nausea, nostalgia, and deja vu...a word that a good pal of mine and I, driving through the South, coined to express our sense of horrified identification with some of the South's ickier qualities) I am experiencing, it's a re-read from high school days like usnmm2 mentions. It has so far failed to be pleasant, but it's quite interesting in its weird way.

>160 Bridget. I provide a countervailing dissenting voice to the praise surrounding American Gods. I found it quite disappointing. I wasn't impressed by the depths of characterization, which is both as detailed and as polite as I can be without going into spoilers.

about half way through the lovely bones and am fascinated by it. i have many questions both about the narrative device, if that's what it's called, and about matters within the book itself. it's well narrated by alyssa breshnahan.

in the queue are the big sleep, the graveyard book, cutting for stone, unaccustomed earth, and the enchantress of florence.

I've put up some reviews in my "75-Books Challenge" thread over here. Tapas on the Ramblas, Stain of the Berry, and Sundowner Ubuntu...I went on a Bidulka tear.

Message edited by its author, Jun 3, 2009, 2:11am.

I've just finished Harry, a History, Melissa's book. I've cried so much I feel completely drained of energy. This book is basically the story of my life, and of course since Melissa wrote it, it's the story of the life I wish I'd had too. That I'd dreamt of having. It's just incredible to read about something so close to your heart. It was like losing my best friend all over again, something I already felt when I read Deathly Hallows. I don't know what to say.

!60Bridget770: American Gods is the only Neil Gaiman book I haven't much enjoyed, and don't have in my LT library. It's fantasy, not science fiction. He's too good a writer for it not to be entertaining, but this road trip and battle of the gods book just didn't grab me. I much preferred ones like Neverwhere, Anansi Boys, Coraline, Stardust and The Graveyard Book, and his graphic novel Sandman series.

#165 -- Read The Big Sleep next! I love that book!

AMQS Collapse is on my TBR stack. Glad to hear you're finding it interesting.

A recent trip toCross Creek was the impetus for my picking up Short Stories by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Unfairly, Marjorie Rawlings’s place in fiction has steadily declined. She is known more for The Pulitzer Prize winning The Yearling, which remains popular to this day, though largely as a children’s book. Most of her novels and short stories use Florida as a backdrop, and her powers of description, preciseness of detail and powers of observation are second to none. The esteem for which she was held by her peers at the time was summed up by Wallace Stevens, who, after visiting Cross Creek in 1936 said that, “Mrs. Rawlings is a very remarkable woman in her own right as distinct from her literary right.”

Message edited by its author, Jun 3, 2009, 9:48am.

Still reading American Rust and am enjoying it as much as possible...since all these people could be my neighbors.....will have to start Mistress of the Art of Death for the LT group read, though...soon, soon...i promise.....;-)

Still enjoying The House at Riverton by Kate Morton. It's a gothic novel that, by no means up to the standard of The Thirteenthn Tale, nevertheless gives a fascinating glimpse into the lives lived by servants in large English estates in the early twentieth century. There is supposed to be a mystery, a romance, and a twist, but I haven't discovered them yet. Still, a nice read.

>172 Jude, THERE you are!! Glad you're not in a literary ditch somewhere, having been mugged by some truculent Neil Gaiman book or another.

As for Mistress of the Art of Death, the sooner the better. What a ride.

#160: Bridget770 - I'll jump in on the American Gods commentary. Definitely not sci-fi, it's fantasy-ish, but really more of a mythology. The background concept is ...well it's just really cool. Somewhere I've seen a quote(s) from Gaiman that about how and why he intentionally simplified the narrative in American Gods, and I suspect that has turned some readers off. It didn't bother me too much, and I enjoyed it.

Message edited by its author, Jun 3, 2009, 3:49pm.

#171: SeanLong - Thanks for those comments. I have Cross Creek sitting on shelf, waiting for me.

I'm reading Cahiers III, the one about psychology, dreams, memory, and sensibilty, by Paul Valéry, and Avoid Boring People by James Watson.

LOL @ rd

moving on to Dreaming in Hindi

#160 and others

I'll jump into the Neil GaimanAmerican Gods discussion with this comment. I read it expecting to not like it and found out that I did like it. It is not Sci/Fi. It is fantasy. It is mythology. It is also social commentary. Like others on this list I found its use of mythology and mythological figures inventive. If you are already knowledgeable about various religions and mythologies you will see where some of the story is heading long before it actually gets there, but there are surprises in store along the way. I have not read Anansi Boys but American Gods made me want to take time to read it. I will also confess that I actually listened to American Gods in my car and thought it worked very well as a listening book. I think this book will make you want to learn more about some of the mythical, legendary, and religious figures that are used in the book, as well as being entertaining. I'd give it a go. If you don't like it it won't hurt any of our feelings. As readers we all realize that not everybody likes the same books and we certainly don't like the ones we like equally. So take a chance and dive in and let us know what you think about the book.

Finished No One You Know by Michelle Richmond. I liked so many things about this book that I want to tell folks about ... but I want to let it brew sufficiently in my brain for a bit before I serve it up. (No, not with cream and sugar. But a freshly baked croissant on the side wouldn't be too shabby). The protagonist is a coffee taster/cupper which is something of skill developed to almost an art form.

Just today, I began reading The March by E. L. Doctorow. Very early on in the book, but, my husband really liked reading it a couple of weeks ago. So ... here goes somethin'.

WH

Reading Still Life by Louise Penny while on a week end vacation in Columbus, Oh. Heading out to all the Half Price Book stores in the next 4 days:o)

I finished Frida's Bed by Slavenka Drakulic tonight, which was superb; I've submitted a review for it, as well. Yesterday I finished Rose: Poems by Li-Young Lee, and Monday I finished Miles From Nowhere by Nami Mun, which were also very good. I'll resume reading the new Caryl Phillips novel, In the Falling Snow, and More Than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City by the Harvard sociologist William Julius Wilson.

I'm currently into New Magics edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden for my bedtime reading.

I have just begun Dreaming in Hindi, and so far I am liking it a lot..
I find myself reading more memoirs these days.

Having a hard time with Sound and the Fury - can't make any sense of it - for other books at this point I'd've put it down and gone on to other things, but as it is Faulkner and for my 999 and a good friend recommended it, I will plow on - I just get the feeling I am not cut out for "Classics" - well some classics, I like Steinbeck

I haven't been able to get in step with The March by Doctorow, so I've chosen to read The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

It is definitely getting me all stirred up and then carried forward on the shoulders and in the hearts of the strong characters and the daunting tales of the maid's stories and experiences.

WH

I'm about halfway through The Chosen One right now and planning to start Lost Boy today as well, they seem to make sense together.

>186: The Sound and the Fury was a troublesome book for me as well, although I did enjoy Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. I think a Faulkner "help" group is needed!

I've just finished LeHane's The Given Day and will write my review later today after I've had a chance to organize my thoughts. It was an amazing book about Boston in the period after WWI.

I just finished The Book Thief and absolutely loved it! I am about to start The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins for an LT group read, and I continue listening to Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson hoping I will begin to like it more than I do so far.

#186 - koalamom re: The Sound and the Fury -- just keep reading and let what seems like nonsense flow right on past. It becomes clearer (I won't say completely clear) as the book moves on. Then you go back and read the first two sections again and figure some things out. I'm not going to say I loved it, but it is a worthy read and stays with you in a kind of haunting way.

I finally finished the first Volume of Shelby Foote's The Civil War: A Narrative; quite good, but took forever!

Now I am onto a re-read of One Hundred Years of Solitude. I considered this my favorite book in my 20's. I am curious to see how magical realism holds up now that I am older, cynical, jaded. So far, the jury is still out.

morfam--
I have started Red Mutiny and it is written very well. I have been pulled in--again. I think the Eichmann book was breathless, just so well paced, and this book is too.

Almost done with Snake Agent by Liz Williams, an interesting supernatural mystery involving interactions between heaven, hell and Earth, and halfway through Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres, a well-written WWII story set in Greece and Italy, and the same for The Man in the Brown Suit, an Agatha Christie mystery featuring an amateur detective.

I got my hands on an advance copy of Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant. Incredible work--it's the first I've read by this author, and I think I'm hooked.

I've also been reading a lot of non-fiction. Praying for Sheetrock and Going Down Jericho Road both are about (in very different ways) the civil rights movement. I highly recommend both!

> 189 Donna828, The Given Day made my best of for 2009. I've never had 700 plus pages go by so fast. I look forward to reading your review.

Message edited by its author, Jun 4, 2009, 11:54am.

>181 WH, No, not with cream and sugar. But a freshly baked croissant on the side wouldn't be too shabby If that's how it goes chez vous, meet the plane from New York arriving Hassletassee this afternoon. Have the freshly baked croissants in the car. ;-P

>183 kidzdoc, excellent review! I thumbs-upped it, and put the book on my ever-burgeoning wish list at the 'zon.

>186 k-mom...Faulkner is not generally known for ease of access. I agree with jhowell, that the best course is to let it flow past you. I predict you'll be swimming instead of thrashing about p100. I think the key is *not* trying to make sense of it.

I decided that, since the group read of Mistress of the Art of Death is ongoing, to hold off a review for a little while. So I picked up The Forger's Spell, a non-fiction work on the 20th Century's most successful art forger, and am deeply and happily engrossed.

I just finished Crazy '08, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It has many bits that are just begging to be read aloud.

Started A Song for Arbonne for the group read; Mistress of the Art of Death is next.

Yesterday I finished The Descent by Jeff Long. The first chapter was quite horrifying, but the rest of the book didn't quite live up to that in my opinion. Regardless, I still loved it. So far I've really liked both of Jeff Long's novels, and I'll be reading the sequel to The Descent as soon as I can get my hands on it.

This morning I quickly read The Shepherd by Frederick Forsyth. It was a nice little novel about a pilot's struggle to land his plane after an electrical failure causes his radio to stops working. I enjoyed it well enough.

Later today I'm going to start The Stand by Stephen King. It's the uncut edition so it's quite massive.

194: DMO You're so lucky I love Sarah Dunant's books! Specially the birth of Venus was great. I'm really looking forward to Sacred Hearts. You should really try and read the other two as they are sort of a trilogy.

I almost cried when I saw that the advance copies would be US only...

l'm slogging through The Fated Sky: Astrology in History by Benson Bobrick. Slogging because the stupid decisions and self-fulfilling prophecies people have brought about because of their belief in an astrological forecast really pisses me off, so I have to keep putting it down.

Finished Still Life after breakast this morning. Will be starting Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman later today. So far agood day, lovely bike ride, walked through Park of Roses. heavenly smell.

#'s 189, 191 - that's what I was told to do - just read and let it flow over me - whether I go back and reread the first sections remains to be seen - I have, at this point, finished the first two sections - partly I am confused by the years mentioned - part 1 is 1928 and 2 is 1910 then it's '28 again???? I am realizing that it is "rantings of a madman" - I do plan to get through it though and then I'm taking on a Star Trek novel just for something completely different - Deep Space Nine: Fearful Symmetry (this is a flipbook with two similar stories about alternate universes) as well as continuing to read Story of the Confederacy.

>198: Ape- Is the book The Descent have anything to do with the film released a couple years ago? I'm not a fan of the current crop of horror films, but I did enjoy that one!
Cindy- I just picked up The Anansi Boys the other day. I've never read Gaiman. Let me know what you think!

>203 msf, RUUUUUUNNN!

Ok all the love and kisses given to the Physick Book of Deliverance Dane made me go dig out my copy and move it to the top of the TBR pile. However, it may be awhile before I get to it as I am still 250 pages from the end of Trinity by Leon Uris. I am really liking this book and even at 760 pages I am burning through it fairly fast.

I just finished Duma Key, which was pretty enjoyable though not particularly scary. It had a few nicely creepy scenes, but I got the impression King wasn't that interested in telling a horror story. Considering the amount of King alter egos who seem to be social realists, why has he never foregone horror and/or supernatural elements in any of his novels? (Or is there one I´m not aware of?)

Speaking of which, I'm attempting a quick re-read of Danse Macabre for the King's Dear Constant Readers group.

I'm also about halfway through Kafka's The Trial. The slow build of paranoia is fascinating, quite different than his short stories where it seems to be either all pervasive or come on suddenly.

In a funny coincidence, The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot starts off very much like Angels and Demons--which I finished last week--with an academic (albeit one with a real discipline) flying off to Switzerland on a secret mission. From there, they kind of diverge.

msf: They are actually very similar, in the sense that they both involve a group of people exploring a vast system of underground caves and discovering some not-so-pleasant sub-humans...but they actually aren't connected in any way. Though I would say if you liked the movie, you'd like the book, because they are so much alike.

Also, I have to agree with you. It's rare for me to like these modern horror movies, but The Descent was really good. :)

msf59; This is too scarry, I also have never read any Neil Gaiman. Heard good things about Anansi Boys so I thought why not. So far it seems strange enough to keep me interested. Does that make sense?

Finished Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada.
An incredible read worthy of the praise that has been heaped upon it. (Touchstones not working, again).

For no discernible reason, I seem to be picking up books about Nazi Germany, this being the third book in the last month on the subject. This is not good for a Jewish boy. Prior to Fallada's book I read The Kindly Ones and then The Hunt For Adolf Eichmann.

Regarding my last read, it is obviously difficult to justify the crimes that were committed under Hitler's Third Reich, and one may scorn the 'average' German who lived through those times, and often uses the excuse of ignorance in an effort to hide his guilt.

But after reading Every Man Dies Alone I admit to some sympathy for the German people, who were forced to live under unbelievably harsh conditions and, in some cases, were tortured and executed for opposing the Nazi regime, not with violence, but words, both spoken and written.

Such is the plot behind Fallada's novel, his writing is beautiful, there were often times when I was close to tears, or completely revolted at scenes of actions taken by the Nazis against their own citizens.

I plan to offer up a more critical review, when I can figure out how to do it...

#169--thanks for the encouragement. i've decided to hold on that one, though you've now weakened my resolve, as it's a book from recordings for blind and disabled/dyslexic and i can keep it practically forever. and i got this frightening stack from the library that will take a long, long time to listen to.

i started enchantress of florence today and find it difficult to listen to. some books were just made to be read visually and not heard.

i usually like man-booker winners and i've read
good things about it here, however, so i'm going to stick with it through at least a few tapes. if i can't follow it, i'll move on.

thanks for the post though. :)

Finished Brad Gooch's "Flannery." Posted some reading selections of it and a review at http://payingattentiontothesky.com/book-...

Will get the review up here too.

You're welcome to peruse.

Love these kind of threads though

jayd

Message edited by its author, Jun 5, 2009, 10:43am.

I've been stuck on the Wagons West Series by "Dana Fuller Ross" for the last week or so and can hardly put them down. I'm glad I finally got to the bottom of this thread. My local library is going to be upset with the number of requests I've put in from seeing all of your posts above.

Finished both The Chosen One and Lost Boy yesterday, so today I'm starting The Sky Isn't Visible From Here. I have some serious catch-up to do on reviewing!

I am currently reading Don't tell mummy by Toni Maguire and today i started reading Black Seconds by Karin Fossum

203, Mark, I have to agree with Richard.. Anansi Boys gets a big thumbs down from me.

DOB, how was The Chosen One?

I've just finished Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit - it was completely different from what I thought it would be. I didn't expect it to be so funny, full of supernatural elements and the writing so smart and playful, it was all the more moving as it never thinks of being sentimental. Will definitely read more of her books.
Not sure what to read next, I have so many to choose from! I have to reread As You Like It, I read it for the first time earlier this week but I always read my Shakespeare plays twice (the first time I read only the text, the second I read the text, the notes and the introduction). I also have to finish Nightingale Wood by Stella Gibbons which I've been neglecting because I felt like reading something else when I started it (I'll probably start it all over again). There's also March by Geraldine Brooks which I put aside for whatever reason (start all over again too). I would really like to read Graceling by Kristin Cashore as soon as possible too, as well as a few other YA books, including Terrier by Tamora Pierce, and perhaps The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (opinions are welcome). I need some dystopias while waiting for Catching Fire to be released (I don't expect Forest to be nearly as good as Games, though).

Message edited by its author, Jun 5, 2009, 5:57pm.

I'm reading The Divide by Elizabeth Kay today. I'm enjoying it so far .. an interesting fantasy book about parallel universes so to speak, where the mythical animals in one world are real in the other, and vice versa ... but a boy manages to cross over the Continental Divide, falls into the other world ....and.... ?

>217 cameling, is either alternate reality ours?

I just finished Gold by Dan Rhodes (I reviewed it on my 50-Book thread, but I'll be getting a copy of my own soon so I can add it to my library too...). It's wonderful - quirky, full of brilliant characters, and Rhodes is very good at whipping the rug out from under his readers every once in a while. Not only that, but there were some moments that had me giggling aloud, which is always a good sign. Possibly my fave book of 2009 so far.

Now I'm reading Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. Possibly I shouldn't have started it over lunch (chapter one dives straight in there with the handy use of human heads in practising cosmetic surgery procedures), but it did mean that when I nearly accidentally ate a dead woodlouse with my salad it was the lesser of two evils and didn't make me sick... :-S

Richard and mckait. I am going to agree with you. After 170 pages I had to stop. I am not into that type of book. For me it wasn't going anywhere.

>219 elliepotten -- LOL!!!!!!!! I always warn people not to read that one whilst eating! It's a fabulous book though, fascinating yet macabre.

146: Fluffyblue - I hope you like The Poisonwood Bible I attribute that book to getting me back into reading four years ago. It's a fascinating story with beautiful prose.

181: womansheart - I read The March by Doctorow earlier this year and I really enjoyed it. It was my first book by him and I picked it up because I liked Gone With the Wind. I'm currently reading The book of Daniel by Doctorow and have Ragtime in my TBR pile. I think Doctorow tells a really good story.

186: koalamom - I've tried to read Faulkner too recently. I tried Absalom, Absalom! and didn't finish it. But looking back I didn't dislike the story I just found it difficult to read. I will give it another go at some point.

I finished The Sound and the Fury last night. I didn't want to put it down when I finished the third section. I find Faulkner difficult but compelling - I had to finish it even though I was confused by it. I'm still not sure where he was going but I am not unhappy that I read and finished it. Now I will read something lighter - Deep Space Nine Fearful Symmetry and I'll continue reading The Story of the Confederacy which I find I can read so much of and have to read something else - a little too much battle description, though not really serious, if you follow my logic.

>215, mckait
The Chosen One was good, a little heartbreaking. However, I have to say that for real skill with the whole teen stream of consciousness thing, Laurie Halse Anderson still has Carol Lynch Williams beat.

I finally finished The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. It was horribly overwritten, and had a preposterous conceit, that seamen of the time would speak in such a manner (narrator).

I suspect that the horror of the Victorians was not anything that happened in the jungle, they didn't expect anything better of the natives, but that a white, christian, educated man was involved in it.

In our day, after the holocaust there is very little horror to be had for Kurtz's behavior. We see the treatment of the natives as horrible. In the past the treatment of the natives was OK because it was for their good, to civilize them. For people of the time it was acceptable violence, but the violence of the natives for their own reasons was evil. I guess not much has changed. Our violence is OK, but that of our enemies/inferiors is evil.

I have moved on to Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan an historical fantasy. It is set in the court of Elizabeth I and also the Fae Onyx Court, underneath the mortal London. The Fae queen has helped Elizabeth to power, and now she is beholden to the Fae. It is good, but I haven't had the time to get far into it. I may have to put it aside to start my monthly RL book group reading.

I have to say I am not a fan of Neil Gaiman's writing, it seems dull and lifeless. Didn't like American Gods at all. He is fun to listen to though. He was at Boskone after AG came out. He said he was basically trying to write something to cover his visits to all the weirdness of America: Wall Drug, The Big Ball of Twine, and many other roadside oddities ....

I'm continuing with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which I'm really enjoying, as I'm a fan of both Jane Austen and George Romero. I've also started Agatha Christie's Endless Night.

Thanks DOB, I have been looking and looking at that one, but I keep on passing it by. I think I will continue to do so for now, anyway. :)

225: FicusFan - that would be a great first post for a thread on The Heart of Darkness.

I found a different reaction - Kurtz brought up a very mixed and complex response from me.

> 230 Dchaikin, sorry to take so long to answer. I saw your post and then lost the thread.

I am not really up to a whole thread on HOD, but if you want to talk about it, you can post your response to the book on my Challenge thread here after message 67.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/61719#...

I have a more complete review too. I don't have much of a feeling about Kurtz at all and would be interested to hear what you thought of him.