Just finished Elizabeth Gaskell's
Cranford and started
The Wilderness by
Samantha Harvey, short listed for this year's Orange Prize. (Also reading 'how to raise and train a puppy' books; one more month and we'll be in the midst of it!)
I'm a little more than halfway through Jane Austen's
Emma. It's proving to be my least favorite Austen of all, and is taking some grit and determination to get through it. I just don't like Emma Woodhouse, and would like to smack her. I just don't care about or for her. I do, however, like Mr. Knightly, and can't wait for him to make the empty-headed thing cry.
I'm slowly making progress in
Of Bees and Mist for the Barnes and Noble First Look program. It's good, and it draws me in, but I'm just not into it. Dunno why. I think that's more my fault than Setiawan's though.
Also reading
The Sandman vol. 1 by Neil Gaiman,
From the Corner of His Eye by Dean Koontz, and
Fruits Basket vol. 1 by Natsuki Takaya, but really not going far with these last few. Maybe I should break from
Emma and read
Sandman for a while, but I've already been in
Emma forever and I'm ready to be done with her.
Last week I read
American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I read the extended author's preferred text. It's the second Gaiman book I've read, the first was
Stardust. This book seemed to get quite a lot of comments in last week's thread. I've never read his sci-fi books to compare it to and to be honest I'm not really 'into' the sci-fi genre. I LOVED
American Gods... all the mythology stuff and the story itself was just amazing. I'm going to recommend this book to friends and family.
I am now reading
The Book of Daniel by E.L. Doctorow. The first few pages of the book were really fragmented and I found it difficult to follow. Luckily the synopsis on the book jacket helped me out. Now I'm about 60 pages in and I'm enjoying it more.
I'm reading
Cranford. About half way through and loving it so far.
Just finished Twilight five minutes ago. Very glad my twelve-year-old niece gave it to me. I'll call her later for a book talk. I've had longer conversations with her since she lent to me than we've had... well... it's good we finally have a shared interest, reading.
Started two books yesterday.
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett and
Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan. My first O'Nan book, but I already put his book about the Hartford circus fire on my Amazon wish list. I lived in Connecticut back when he wrote it and remember hearing an interview on local radio. It sounded fascinating at the time, but I'd forgotten who wrote it until I looked up other O'Nan titles.
#1 - I read Notes back in high school, damn, 25 years ago. It's not the kind of book you love, but it's stayed with me longer than books I read last year.
Still reading Bosnian Chronicle by Ivo Andric, which I'm loving, and sort of in a holding pattern on The Rest Is Noise by Alex Ross.
Touchstones seem to be taking a vacation right now!
Finished
The Given Day by Dennis Lehane. Wow, what a book. Absolutely excellent. If you haven't read it yet, you should. I've never read a bad one by Lehane, but this is by far his best work.
Now I'm about halfway into
A Perfectly Good Family by Lionel Shriver. Not as easy a read as her earlier work
We Need to Talk About Kevin, but very good. It's about three adult children trying to settle the estate of their recently deceased parents. Good bits of humor interspersed. I like her writing.
Still taking my time reading
The Miracle of MSM and trying to tweak my dosage of the stuff. It's actually helping my pain, I can hardly believe it! Now trying to decide how much is the right amount for me. Wish me luck!
Still reading
The Stand (The Complete and Uncut Edition) by Stephen King.
I have a feeling I'll be saying that sentence for another couple of weeks. Atleast. :)
Message edited by its author, Jun 6, 2009, 11:20am.
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.
As I said in my thread, now that I have finished
Dreaming in Hindi, I think I will brazenly ignore the two other books that need to be read and reviewed and move on to
Columbine. Not only does the book itself sound wonderful, but I am completely taken in by the author in his chat thread. He is so interesting, and interested in hearing what people are thinking about his book. There are about 40 posts there now, I think. Amazing for an author chat.
Reading
Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters. I am enjoying it way more than I thought I would.
Finished the Southern Vampire/Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris. It is going to be hard to wait for book 10.
Message edited by its author, Jun 6, 2009, 3:29pm.
>12 I would be interested to hear what you think of
The Miracle of MSM when you finish it. Sounds interesting!
Still reading
Stiff by Mary Roach - though I think I might have to start another book to read alongside it for those moments (eg. mealtimes) when dead bodies just don't appeal... I'll see how I get on!
21: leperdbunny I love the amelia peabody series! make sure yo read all of them. They only get better. whenever I'm down and or can seem to find a book that catches my eye or mood I read on of her's and I get out of a reading slump.
Actually which book comes next to the one I read...
I'm reading
Spilling the Beans by One of the Two Fat Ladies. It has a certain fascination for me because of the era it represents - don't know if I will finish it all at once - probably pick it up now and again. She's marginally younger than I am but she comments on social change that touched me too.
I am mostly reading
Maps of Time, but I have also started
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for my church's book group at my suggestion. I am not much interested in kids, but I am interested in Brooklyn and the growth of America. I think the book may tell me something about that that a history would miss, and I like the tone.
Robert
#5 thekoolaidmom. I just finished
Emma and I too found Emma in need of a slap or two. I will say upon finishing the book, however, that she does grow up some and she becomes less irritating. I'm glad I read it to the end.
I'm now off to choose a new book. What fun.
I finished
Hover car racer by Matthew Reilly which is an action adventure set in the near future. Hover cars have been invented and two teenagers from rural Australia enter the International School of Racing, in Tasmania, which is now a privately owned island. This is a fast paced, exciting read. It is full of humour (like Tassie being privately owned) and it is not too technical, as these books sometimes are. The characters are almost pantomime-like. There are goodies and baddies and you almost feel like you should cheer & boo whenever they appear. My only criticism of the book is the use of italics in the prose. I get really annoyed by writers who don't just let me read and interpret the book myself. Other than that small complaint, I really enjoyed this book.
I also finished The old man and the sea by Ernest Hemingway. This was a re-read for me, so I took it slowly to savour the story. I think it's a lovely story about perseverance & loyalty.
Next up is
An arsonist's guide to writers homes in New England, it's early days, but looks good. And when the long weekend is over I will be starting
War and Peace. I'm going to take my time with it and read it as slowly as I need to, so it will probably be mentioned in these threads for quite some time. Sorry.
Still reading
Terrorist by John Updike and wish I didn't have to go out this evening so I could finish it. However, I will get to meet my sister's new Kindle tonight.
>32 Oooh neat - are you going to get to use it any? I have a Kindle I just bought about 3 weeks ago. I like it. It just reaffirms that I love books and reading. Definitely a companion/compliment to books but not a substitute.
cinyp - that was one of my favorite books last year, it's fabulous!
teelgee, I really cannot believe I waited this long to start it, it's been on my TBR for too long!
>33 - My sister's boss gave her the Kindle last month and she loves it. I'll get to play with it tonight. We're going to Europe together in the fall and she thinks I should get one (so we don't end up in a wrestling match in the airplane aisle). She says it's like having a 24/7 bookstore which could be trouble for me. So far she's downloaded - and read - ten books but she says it can store 1500. On the other hand, only 1500 would mean I'd probably have to own a few Kindles.
I am still reading
Hard Times which is an oral history of the depression. The book is from the 70s so it is a little dated in tone and there are quite a few people mentioned that are not too familiar to me. I am really enjoying it though.
Read Part 1 of
Deep Space Nine Fearful Symmetry and have now flipped the book over to read Part 2. Also read 20 some pages of
Story of the Confederacy and at this rate that one should take me a couple more weeks!! Maybe I'll put a little serious time in on it after I read the other - or maybe not?
Message edited by its author, Jun 6, 2009, 8:20pm.
>37 I think you can back up your books on a flash drive. Most good flash drives for the space for another kindle maybe run 20-40 bucks. So, if you needed the space, that's an option :).
I just finished {Against Medical Advice} by {{James Patterson and Hal Friedman}}. Good page turner of a non-fiction about a young man (Friedman's son) who has Tourette's and OCD. Not textbookish at all as it is told in the son's voice.
Now I am reading some chick-lit, the title of which I have no idea:)
Every summer for the past five years I've done a reread of
William Faulkner's
The Sound and the Fury, absolutely one of the best five books I've ever read. The first time I read it was when I was a nineteen-year old freshman at the University of Pittsburgh. I was killing time before class in the University Bookstore and haphazardly picked it off the shelf and started reading. By the time I stopped I had finished the first "Benjy" section and realized that I had missed the start of my class by an hour. I've never been so mesmerized/confused/impressed by the start of a book. Although I didn't quite grasp what Faulkner was doing, nonetheless I knew that this was a great book, and would take several rereadings before the fog would lift. With each successive read it's become more clear, and is one of the greatest reading experiences I've ever had. I'll never tire of it, and just might request in my will that I be buried with it in my hands.
Message edited by its author, Jun 6, 2009, 8:58pm.
I'm enjoying
Dog on It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery by Spencer Quinn and would recommend it to any dog lovers out there who are looking for some fun, light reading.
And after quickly going through the first half of
The Girls who Went Away and then having to put it down after I was finding it making me both too sad and too angry, I've picked it back up to finish in the next few weeks.
#9 boulder a t - I really enjoy Stewart O'Nan and just loved
The Circus Fire.
I am still reading
Payback: Five Marines after Vietnam by Joe Klein. The book is very well written, but pretty glum, as it tells the story of five individual soldiers and their very difficult times re-adjusting after returning home from combat duty in Vietnam.
In response to all the praise here,
Lark and Termite landed on my TBR pile and I just started reading it this evening. A different style from my last book
Emma, but with adjustment, I'm already sure I will enjoy it. I'm only a few pages in so far.
#46 jmyers24, What did you think of that one? I have had my eye on it for some time now.
Reading
De Niro's Game which grabbed me from the first page, and still reading the stories of Katherine Mansfield. Will start
Missing Mom on mp3 and
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in the car this week.
Reading this week
BUtterfield 8 by John O'Hara Classic, glittering story of a 1930's glamour girl whose ill-starred entanglement with a respectable married man is set against a backdrop of Manhattan bars and bedrooms.
I finished Edwin O'Connor's 1956 novel
The Last Hurrah and found it to be absolutely wonderful. I'd forgotten so many of the story's particulars from my long-ago original reading that it almost felt new again, and O'Connor's very sympathetic rendering of the end of the old-line Irish hegemony in Boston politics was made even more memorable by the raft of one-of-a-kind characters he wove in and out of his story, all very detailed and all very real, making
The Last Hurrah one of the most entertaining things I've read in a while, a broth of a book.
In the first paragraph of Clancy Martin's new novel
How To Sell the 16-year-old protagonist steals his mother's wedding ring, hocks it, and then blows all the cash on his girlfriend. This isn't an exact prelude to a life o'crime, but more a foreshadowing of his career in the jewelry business. He then drops out of school in Canada to join his older brother in Dallas to learn the jewelry trade at eye-level, and Martin's hilariously hard-core story of sex, drugs, and big-spending is off and running, and I could hardly put it down till I was finished, loved it too.
Two weeks ago in the Washington Post the (formerly) esteemed critic Michael Dirda raved at some length about Michael Malone's new novel
The Four Corners of the World, so I got a copy of it, and though I confess I resorted to speed-reading the last 200 pages, have finished this sublimely stupid book, and would really like my money back on it. Dirda's gone straight to the top of my dead-head reviewer list as well.
Right now I'm a hundred pages into a reread (after 30 years) of
Howards End and can only say, Yes, Virginia, there is a reading Santa, and his name is E.M. Forster.
OK, here's an update from yesterday. As mentioned previously, I started and finishe
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett and
Last Night at the Lobster by
Stewart O'Nan.
Uncommon was fun with a surprise ending on the last page. Queen Elizabeth in a book mobile is a fun idea.
Lobster was the better read. Quiet look at what's taken for granted by a lot of people including the customers at a Connecticut Red Lobster in a dingy mall in a dingy town. The manager and staff keep the place running on the last day and night of business. The story takes place over fourteen hours on the fourth day before Christmas. You know the staff and their lives and the day to day workings of a chain restaurant by the end of this short and satisfying book.
So now I'm starting
The Risk of Darkness by
Susan Hill. Hope it's good. I feel kind of duty bound as an early reviewer (even though it was published four years ago). And picking up
Worms Eat My Garbage by
Mary Appelhof so I can take better care of the red wigglers in my basement busy turning banana peels into compost. It's the classic in the field, I kid you not.
Message edited by its author, Jun 7, 2009, 9:39am.
I started reading
The Girls by Lori Lansens yesterday, i picked it up from the library on a whim thinking it looked quite interesting. So far i'm liking it and hopefully i will continue to like it.
Just finished reading
The Divide by Elizabeth Kay, which was a really fun book. Lots of humor, some good explanation for younger minds on why animals become extinct, and delightful fantasy into 2 alternative realities - ours and one other.
I'm still reading
The Secret Supper by Javier Sierra but I've also picked up
The Creator's Map by Emilio Calderon
After a busy week I finally started to read
Reading by Lightning by Joan Thomas yesterday. It didn't grab me at first, in fact after the first two chapters I was toying with the idea of abandoning the book. I stuck with it and I am now 150 pages in and finding the story is flowing better so I will stick with it for now.
>55 LadyViolet,
The Girls was one of my favorite books last year, I think it's outstanding.
I just finished
The Help by Kathryn Stockett and it was excellent. I started
A Fine Balance this morning and can tell already it is going to be great.
I have never read E.M. Forster. The film version of
Howard's End is incredible, if that counts for anything!
I highly recommend
Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides. If you are into true adventure stories that read like a top-notch thriller, check this one out! I'm about to begin
Brooklyn by Colm Toibinand I am still working my way through
Reclaiming History by the great
Vincent Bugliosi. It's a huge book and I'm reading it in small chunks but it's exceptionally well-written.
@24 I watched the movie of
The girl with the pearl earring this afternoon, and that's also a recommendation. Some details of the book don't show up, but the play with the light in the movie is good. I also enjoyed the book, read it some months ago.
I'm about to start
Veranderend licht by Jens Christian Grondahl later this evening.
I finished
Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan. It was an historical fantasy set in Elizabethan England at the court of Elizabeth I, and also at the Fae Onyx Court which was beneath mortal London.
It was well written had a good story, setting and characters. I really enjoyed it.
Now on to
Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke, for a RL book group.
I just finished reading
Columbine.
It is extraordinary, well written and a surprisingly comfortable read.
#54 Boulder_a_t Yes, I know that
Worms Eat My Garbage is the classic of the field. I went to the same Unitarian church with
Mary Appelhof back when it was first published nearly 30 years ago. I find it amazing that it's still being used and is the classic. We have our copy but didn't have the foresight to have it signed.
This message has been deleted by its author.
Finished reading
The Help and enjoyed reading it so much. Compelling.
Have started on Twilight which was chosen as a light, fun read by the next convener/host of the RL book club of which I am a member. So far, so good. Smiling a lot. Remembering high school goings on. (No vamps back then, at Clearwater High School, fortunately).
womansheart
> #54 - I loved reading
Worms Eat My Garbage last year.
This year we are composting and have a new raised bed organic garden ... planning on adding the wrigglers soon. I remember feeding the worms with my Granddaddy when we visited him at his place in Floral City, FL back in the day.
>67 kabrahamson - I cried so much at the
Harry Potter books! I mean, say what you like about J.K. Rowling (personally I love her - she's so like me in so many little ways) but she really knows how to provoke the tears. I cried at the last bit of
The Goblet of Fire, was vaguely perplexed at the end of
The Order of the Phoenix (my favourite little icon - 'Sirius Black: Escaped Azkaban... Evaded Dementors... Killed by drapery'), then cried solidly through the second half of
The Half-Blood Prince and the whole of
The Deathly Hallows... jeez, what an emotional rollercoaster that fortnight was!
I finished
The Alchemist this morning, and it was incredible. I can't believe that I waited this long to read it. I was captivated by the story and compelled by the message.
Strangely enough, I finished
Rapt yesterday which is about leading a "focused life," paying attention to the now more than the future, etc. It was an interesting and unintentional compliment to
The Alchemist.
I've started
Apologize, Apologize and
The Poisonwood Bible.
Message edited by its author, Jun 7, 2009, 5:01pm.
>55 LadyViolet I hope you enjoy
The Girls. I ended up really, really enjoying it even though it isn't my usual cup of tea and I was worried it would become saccharine but it was an unexpectedly good read.
I have finally settled down with a book after picking up and putting down 10 different titles. It would seem
Jeff in Venice Death in Varanasi has broken the spell. Wish me luck because when I'm between books I'm difficult to live with!
Well, I finished my re-read of One Hundred Years of Solitude. I wish I hadn't re-read it -- I preferred the illusion of the memory; some books just don't hit you the same when you are older. Sadly, I removed my old enthusiastic review and wrote a new jaded one.
Now I am reading the second book in Pat Barker's WW1 trilogy,
The Eye in the Door, despite not being overly blown away by the first book. I am hoping I'll like this one better.
Well, I finished
The Trial by Kafka, which I found engrossing if sometimes difficult. (By the end, in particular, it had grown particularly tense.) I'm also reading
Buzon de tiempo, which is a collection of short stories from Mario Benedetti. I'd heard of him only in passing, but with news of his death, I figured this wouldn't be a bad time to get to know his work. They're very short stories, dealing with dreams or sort of mysterious incidents.
I'm also doing a quick re-read of King's
Danse Macabre, finding it more interesting this time around, when I can see some of its shortcomings as strengths.
Finished
Jim the Boy what a delightful read. Now starting
The Mistress of the Art of Death for the LT group read. I am a little behind, but what everyone has said so far it sounds like it won't take long to catch up
Right now reading
TestimonybyAnita Shreve.Just started and I am not wanting to put it down!
I just started Reclaiming Virtue by
John Bradshaw. The beginning has been both wonderful and then shocking. I know I won't get much read this week, as I'm doing report cards, have retirement parties, school bbq's and I'm organizing and executing a pancake brunch at church on Sunday. I hope my virtue can hold off to be reclaimed!
Message edited by its author, Jun 7, 2009, 8:32pm.
I am in the middle of reading
The Girls and enjoying it very much. Have to finish it by next week for book club.
84. Lamplight, I'll bet it can. I hope you will write a review when you are done, and especially if you implement his suggestions. If it is not too hard, let me know.
Robert
I'm just confirming what everyone else has said -
The Girls is a wonderful book!
#28 rdurick - I love
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Smith's writing is so pure and true. I also remember loving
Maggie Now. Perhaps I should re-read them.
#64 msf59 - I haven't heard of
Reclaiming History (and, having researched it a bit probably won't delve into its 1648 pages), but I have read
Helter Skelter several times. I lived in LA during that time as a teenager, and was, and am, fascinated by the whole thing. I also read another book by him called
Till Death Us Do Part: A True Murder Mystery. I lived in two of the cities that played important parts in that book. "The Bug" is a very good writer.
I'm patiently wending my way through
John Adams by David McCullough. It's a very detailed and thorough look at John Adams' life, with many quotes from his and Abigail's letters. What an amazing man. He was much more instrumental in the American Revolution than I thought.
I've temporarily put down
Guns, Germs, and Steel by
Jared Diamond because two weighty nonfiction books is one too many to be focused on.
I'm going to re-start
The Tory Widow, my March ER book, which got mislaid during the frenzy of preparing for my father-in-law's 80th birthday party at our house.
Message edited by its author, Jun 8, 2009, 9:39am.
I finished a short but informative biography called
Abraham Lincoln by James McPherson. I'm now about 100 pages into The Believers by Zoe Heller. Unlike many LT reviewers, I'm enjoying it thus far.
Hoping to finish up
Burnt Shadows today. While it spans so much time and major world events that it would seem to be hard to suspend disbelief in how the characters lives intersect and turn out - it is so well written it works.
Still working on
Crime and Punishment. Also hope to start
The Host for a fun quick read.
After reading all these posts, I see I will have to add
The Girls to my summer reading list.
Message edited by its author, Jun 8, 2009, 9:54am.
Just went to the library and picked up
Mary Chestnut's Civil War on the recommendation of my husband. This may be one that I actually renew online as it is a big book and I have two other books on my table already started - one of the them a Civil War book as well. He says it reads fast, so we will see.
Hi, i've just joined this list, although i've been reading it for a bit. Soooo many interesting sounding books!! I'm currently reading Joseph Conrad (The British Library’s Writers’ Lives) by Chris Fletcher.
reading
Columbine and
Red Mutiny, both sad but satisfying. Trying to decide on a fiction pick--will probably be a reread of a favorite.
Rage of Angels by Sidney Sheldon.
>97: Hi QuestingA! Welcome to the list. You will see your TBR pile increase by the hour.
To get the touchstones to work (which they sometimes don't!) use the square brackets rather than the parentheses. Single brackets for a book, double brackets for an author. When you're composing a message, look at the Touchstones sidebar that comes up, it will explain all.
Just finished
Velvet Elvis by
Rob Bell and gave it to my dad who started it.
Now I'm reading
Into the Wild. I meant to read it after seeing the movie last year, so far it is great.
I've just finished
Graceling by Kristin Cashore. It was wonderful, I'm so happy I read it.
Now starting
Nightingale Wood by Stella Gibbons.
About 2/3 of the way through
Brick Lane, which is about a rural Bangladeshi woman who find herself planted, by arranged marriage, in London where we follow her for decades. It was published in 2003 and covers the 1980's through at least 9/11. I've been reading it in sort of irregular fits and starts; it hasn't fully drawn me in yet.
I'm 3/4 of the way through
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith. It is an absolutely riveting crime story set in Russia in 1953; edge of your seat stuff.
Reading
Sunnyside by Glen David Gold.
The novel is a fictional account of Charlie Chaplin's time spent in Hollywood during the period of the first world war. A myriad of unforgettable people dot the pages and bring the book to life in a most agreeable way
An engaging read, filled with real characters (Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford). It is a long book, but I'm finding it fascinating. Makes me want to start renting those old Chaplin 'silents' again, what an incredible figure the 'little tramp' was, and what an indelible effect he had on the populace of the time.
I groan with longing to be in another era when my kid asks who Charlie Chaplin was, ignores my answer 'cos he's back to his i-pod, and wishes his dad back into slumber agian, after all it's already 8 p.m....
I'm just about finished reading the House the Rockefellers Built, by Robert F. Dalzell Jr. and Lee Balwin Dalzell. It's the story of Kykuit, their famous home in Tarrytown, NY. Also included is much family history of the Rockefellers. Once finished, I'm going to start Geraldine Brooks People of the Book.
Just getting towards the end of Philip Pullman's
His Dark Materials Boxed set. When I set out I'd intended to breakup the trilogy between other books on my reading list but found myself quietly captivated and so have spent a pleasant week reading all three.
In addition I finished a book of Wilfred Owen's WW1 poetry which enthused me to start the
The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry A great reading week, a pity work is now intervening
Finished
Coal Black Horse, which I enjoyed despite the violence and brutality, and decided instead of starting a new book to put more effort into reading
Confederates in the Attic. Finding it much more entertaining now than at first.
Finished Trinity by Leon Uris yesterday. I know, I know! What an oldie! My cousin recommended it to me twenty years ago and I am just now getting it read. But oh what a wonderful book! Of course, it helps that I am just back from Northern Ireland and Belfast so know I can say "I know where that is" when the hero hikes up Cave Hill. I was close to the end of Trinity on Saturday so went to the library and got the sequel Redemption. I have to wonder if the sequel will live up to the first book. Will start on it as soon as I get home from work tonight. Of course this moves Physick Book of Deliverance Dane down a notch on the TBR pile.
#114
My cousin (different one than the one that recommended Trinity) read
Coal Black Horse a year ago and recommended it to me with the caveat that it is grossly violent. She knows that I get really turned off by graphic blood and guts so even though I had a copy of the book I put it in my give away pile and never looked back.
Olmstead has a new book that is out this month. Don't recall the name of it but perhaps you should look for it. I loved
Confederates in the Attic. Horwitz gets the reenactor thing just right.
97-QuestionA - this is definitely NOT the place to be if you EVER want to complete a list of books to read - oh, you may complete ONE list but there will be other lists just waiting for you delve into - it's a "Neverending Story"
119 bookymouse - I just read the first one of that series and I liked it - I am getting them through the library system - my particular library doesn't have them, so I have to "order" them - as I have a couple of other series going as well, it may be a while before I finish this one
Message edited by its author, Jun 8, 2009, 7:09pm.
Finished
The House at Riverton and will start
Suite Francaise later tonight. Riverton was a nice gothic with an unforseeable twist that harkens back a ways in the story. I enjoyed it very much. And I resurrected Suite Francaise from the bottom of a bag of books being donated because of reviews here on LT. Worthy of another try.
I got an advance reading copy of The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan. It's better than I had anticipated. I finished
The Web by
Jonathan Kellerman over the weekend. If you like Kellerman's work, this one's a reliable summer read.
117 curlysue: I loved Tartt's
The Secret History and liked her second, but not as much as the first. I should re-read History, though--I read it a looong time ago and it'd be interesting to see if I still like it.
#122 I just finished
Suite Francaise today. Admittedly, I put it down and picked it up a few times, but then I became engrossed in it and thought it was great. I guess I had to be in the mood for it, if that makes sense.
Message edited by its author, Jun 8, 2009, 8:34pm.
Whew, where to start, tons of activity here since early this morning:
>105: dchaikin- I saw the film
Brick Lane a couple months ago and it's very good. This author has a new book out, right?
>107: morfam-
Sunnyside sounds interesting. I also love the Chaplin films, my kids watched them with me, when they were little, now, forget about it! What do you think is the most definitive book on Chaplin? I would really like to read one.
>110: BookMarkMe- I also loved the
Dark Materials Trilogy. I spaced them out but always looked forward to starting the next one and everyone I turned the books onto, also loved them.
>114: whymaggiemay- I also really enjoyed both of these books, but I think Horwitz's book is very special.
Regarding
Coal Black Horse, I thought it a small masterpiece, and it made my "best of" list for 2008, and yes, there are a some ghastly scenes, but I can honestly say that nothing I have read in any book of war fiction ever left a more visceral (and I mean that word precisely) impression of the horror of war.
msf59 - I had too look it up.
In the Kitchen was/will be published this year. There are two reviews on LT.
Just finished
Burnt Shadows - it was beautifully written and I highly recommend. Will post a more in depth review soon.
Will start
The Host for a little light reading tomorrow to counter-balance
Crime and Punishment.
I finished
Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. It was OK. The ending was good but most of it was rather slow and boring. I have already read
Ringworld and
Titan. Of the 3, Ringworld was my favorite.
Now reading
Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler. It is a mystery set in the UK in the modern day, with ties back to WWII. It is for a RL book group, and is the start of the
Peculiar Crimes Unit series.
I just finished Apples to Oysters by Margaret Webb. What a great book - it makes me want to take my own coast to coast trip exploring not just the amazing food being grown and produced in Canada but also to see the areas she visits and portrays so well.
As for
The Blackwater Lightship, once begun it became obvious that I had read it before. I will continue it, as even though it is all very familiar, I can't remember how it ends. I will finish it in a bit. Good read.
Finished listening to
Your Inner Fish last night. It was my "in the car" reading. I generally don't like to listen to non-fiction as I find it much harder to digest but this book was a good listen. I did go to the library and checked out the hardcopy and to my dismay found that the book had these wonderful sketches and drawings that illustrated the points that the author made in the book. So much for the wonders of multitasking by listening. I started listening to
Mistress of the Art of Death as my next book. I love listening to mysteries and have heard good things about this book from other LT'ers so can't wait to get started on it. Of course, it will mean another trip to the library to get the book and to return my inner fish. Oh well! more car time means more listening time for the books!
teelgee - thanks for the tip on using the touchstone brackets. I've used this successfully elsewhere, but for some reason my computer or librarything didn't like the Joseph Conrad book. go figure.
koalamom - i agree with you about the lists. My backlog of books TBR has morphed out of the list stage and into physical piles scattered around the flat. i'm not allowed into book shops until i've read through at least one of the piles. :)
>134: Yes, it seems the more popular the author, the less likely the touchstones will work. Go figure.
I've picked up
The Secret Supper again by Javier Sierra. I kept putting it down because some other book was dragging me over to flip their pages, but I've gotten to the point now in the book where it's holding my attention so I should finish it this time.
Today I began reading the new posts here since I posted yesterday, Monday, June 8, about 3:30 PM.
I have added TEN BOOKS to my TBR cyber stacks. Oh, dear.
I may be quietly gnashing my teeth, but I wouldn't miss this topic for anything. It is amazing and delightful to find so many titles and authors that I haven't read as yet or to be pleasantly reminded of a book or author that has drifted off of my radar screen for some reason.
I haven't started using the Collections feature, but I can see how cool it will be to be able to label books into the various collections offered and to add a few of my own. More screen/moniter time to come for me.
I am finishing up Twilight for my RL Book Group, which meets on this coming Sunday. I'm considering trying either
The March or
Alison Habens', Lifestory ISBN - 074900651X (no touchstone, help from other LTers always welcome).
WH
Message edited by its author, Jun 9, 2009, 11:59am.
#135 - Actually, what i'm reading is a biography of Joseph Conrad (the author is the less well-known Chris Fletcher). It's part of a series done by the British Library using images from their and other collections. It's very pretty - lots of paintings, photographs and original documents. I read one for Jane Austen, which was much slimmer as so little is known about her life.
What an interesting life Joseph Conrad led!
Way back in #62, the poster mentioned starting Rohinton Mistry's
A Fine Balance ... I just finished that a week or two ago and recommend it highly ... it's a very powerful book about living in India during the 1970s political unrest ... the focus is on characters pretty far down on the economic ladder and what they have to do to survive ... rather bleak stuff here.
Partially as an antidote to that, I'm now reading some mind candy:
Woken Furies by Richard K. Morgan ... kind of sci-fi noir.
msf
Easily the best book I have read on Charlie Chaplin is
Chaplin A Life by Stephen Weissman.
I just started Just After Sunset by Stephen King...my goal for the next little while is to get caught up with all the King books I haven't gotten to which include the last three volumes of The Dark Tower series and Dumas Key
Right now I'm working on Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, The Collected Oscar Wilde, and Keep the Aspidistra Flying (George Orwell). Once I'm finished with one of these, I'll pick back on reading On the Road: the Original Scroll, which is quite interesting compared to the original, published version.
I've reviewed an obscure, quite good first novel from 1979 called A Certain Slant of Light by
Margaret Wander Bonanno in my
75-Books Challenge thread. Short version: I'm very glad I met the honorable people in this book.
edited/dratted touchstone won't go to the right book.
Message edited by its author, Jun 9, 2009, 5:02pm.
#138?> QuestingA, yes, Conrad's live was quite fascinating. It always blows me away to realize that he wrote all that classic literature in what was effectively his third language!
I'm not familiar with the Fletcher biography, and while I don't imagine you'll want to read another Conrad bio any time soon, I can't resist letting you know that
Joseph Conrad by Roger Tennant is quite a good biography. Perhaps the most famous, and also quite interesting, is
Joseph Conrad: the Three Lives by Frederick Karl.
As perhaps you've guessed, I did an intensive study of Conrad for my Masters Degree exams.
Thank you, thank you to all the folks here who spoke so highly of
The Cellist of Sarajevo. I probably wouldn't have considered it except that I kept hearing such good things about it on the threads. I'm only 50 pages in but just love it!
About halfway through
Nightmares and Dreamscapes, a short story collection by Stephen King. I've read all of his short story collections, and this is probably my least favorite, although it's still a fairly entertaining read.
getting through
The Inheritance of Loss by
Kiran Desai but over the past few nights have passed out while reading due to exhaustion - never thought that would be possible!
#149 - Coopers, glad to hear you are enjoying
The Cellist of Sarajevo it is such a compelling and powerful read.
Enjoy!
I finished
Apologize, Apologize last night. This book confirmed my love for all books published by Twelve (http://www.twelvebooks.com/content/index.asp)
I was totally wrong in my expectation of a book about the endless antics of a crazy Irish family who value fun about all else. Actually, the crazy Irish family part was correct, but the topics addressed in the book were serious: parental favoritism, loss of loved ones, depression, disowning various family members, courage (or lack thereof), and others. The central character (Collie) is the oldest son in a family which includes an heiress mother, an attractive fun-loving younger brother, a distracted father (preoccupied by drinking and other women), a drunken uncle, lots of beloved dogs and a serious and unloving grandfather.
Collie’s serious manner makes him an excellent student but pits him forever against her mother. After a series of family tragedies, Collie flounders around with little purpose, making mistake after mistake and undermining any self-esteem he had. Eventually he recovers to a large degree. The book would be unbearably dark if it were not for all of the funny adventures and hilarious family interactions.
I loved it.
Now I'm onto
When Genius Failed: the Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management and
The Overlook.
kiwiflowa: I read
American Gods while on a cross-country driving trip from Georgia to Arizona. It was the perfect book to read while passing the tourist sites, etc. I became a devoted Gaiman fan at that point and have since read Anansi Boys and more, but Gods remains my favorite!
Message edited by its author, Jun 10, 2009, 11:31am.
Hello everyone.
I'm currently working on "Duma Key" by Stephen King and "The Shadow of the Wind" by Luis Carlos Zafrón.
Any recommendations for next week? I have a huge TBR pile, but I can't get enough :)
>155 mariana, I see you have
The Remains of the Day on your TBR pile, and I'd strongly advocate reading it ASAP. If not that, then
Never Let Me Go, the other Ishiguro on your list.
Happy trails!
edited/try again to close itals
Message edited by its author, Jun 10, 2009, 1:12pm.
I just finished reading
Les Hommes protégés and now just have to finish
A Girl's Guide to Vampires (both books in German) so that I can give the book back to the friend who lent it to me.
I also have lots on my TBR pile, especially borrowed books ^^"
Message edited by its author, Jun 10, 2009, 1:17pm.
closing tag
#155 marianapdias
Let me know how Duma Key is! I'm going to read it eventually, but I want to know if I should bring it up to the top of my TBR list!
> coloradogirl14
I remember we talked about Stephen King. I finally decided to try him again after a while.
I'll let you know how it goes.
I continue to be only half way through
The Wheel of Nuldoid which has been a very difficult read for me simply because it hasn't been holding my attention.
I do have to say that the last couple weeks have been exceedingly hectic and I have retreated to the solace of some re-reads to get me through all the stress (time allowing). I want to give this book a fair shake and will continue on now that things are settling down.
Finished
Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters, and it was good but I had a little bit of trouble getting into it. I think I was a bit distracted this week because BF has been playing episodes of BattleStar Galactica- good show by the way. I'm gonna try to come back to this series. I went to the library and got most of the Sebastian St. Cyr series by C.S. Harris. I have heard great things about this series. My local library did have the first of the series but it was not to be found on the shelf, so I had to order it from a different branch. That was like 2-3 days ago- still waiting! Ack! I hate it when that happens. I also got
Haunted Ground By Erin Hart. Also waiting for the second book because I had to order it from another branch.
So, for now it looks like I am gonna start
Haunted Ground.
I finished
Lamb last night. It was funny enough (my chief reason for picking it up), but its fundamental lack of cynicism gave it more substance than I expected. I am glad to have read it.
I am still reading
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and
Maps of Time. They hold my attention.
Robert
I
finally finished
Emma by Jane Austen, not my favorite Austen by far. It's so dense and occlusive. I do come away with a sense of respect and "There but for the grace of God go I" for the women of that time. None could just come out and say anything. To say, "You're an idiot and beneath me" they argued whether a meeting was Friday or Saturday. GACK! It gave me a headache to read it, my sympathies for those who had to live it!
Because I'm scheduled for June 19th to post my review of
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff, I'm going to have to set
Of Bees and Mist aside.
Honestly though... my brain is mush and all I want to do is veg in front of the TV and NOT think. bah
Currrently reading The Politics of Breastfeeding: When Breasts are Bad for Business by
Gabrielle Palmer. It's quite shocking so I'm digesting a bit at a time. I can't believe how babies and mothers have suffered at the hands of big business.
I will need to dive into some froth after to lighten my mood.
I'm well into
Lark and Termite and am finding it fascinating. Besides the compelling story, the writing is full of spectacular images. It makes me want to go back after I've read it and copy some of them down but how would I choose.
This southerner is reading Gone with the Wind for the first time as well as an assortment of women in combat non-fiction books so I know what I may be getting into If and when I decide to join the military.
I've got several books I'm juggling, though since only one's a novel it's going pretty well. I've already read Borges' short fiction, but I'm trying to become familiar with his poetry and so am reading
El otro, el mismo. I'm kind of clueless in how to read poetry, so I'm taking my time with this one, trying to really absorb it, reading a poem or two a day, trying to memorize "El tango." I think I'm learning a new appreciation for it.
I'm also reading to other works in Spanish: short story collections by
Marco Denevi and
Mario Benedetti. Both have some great stories.
Today, I started
Nightmare Abbey, which is a satire on Gothic fiction. It's fun so far, though I'm waiting to see if the author can squeeze more laughs out of the Gothic genre than Jane Austen managed to.
> CarlosMcRey I never could figure out how to read poetry either. I've now found, as you have, that reading one or two at a time works. I keep my book of poetry in the bathroom. Works for me.
CarlosMcRey, of all the Austens to satirize,
Northanger Abbey's the perfect fit. She is a silly, naive girl and the big bad wolf (and his sister) are after her. Meanwhile, she's reading all that garbage and wishing for such a life! I'm going to have to add
Nightmare Abbey to my wishlists. :-D
I just finished
Dark Angels a prequel to
Through a Glass Darkly, I was disappointed with it, but that always seems to happen when you love a book, and then the next one in the series (or a prequel in this case) isn't nearly as good. Pretty much of a let down.
Currently reading (and enjoying)
The Harrowing by Robert Dinsdale.
I started
Graceling by Kristin Cashore and
The Feast of Roses by Indu Sundaresan. Graceling is a YA read that has already grabbed me, and The Feast of Roses is a sequel to
The Twentieth Wife which I read (and loved) earlier this year.
169 jennieg I hope you enjoy
The Annotated Pride and Prejudice. I got a big kick out of it. I wish there were more "Annotated" classics out there. There probably wouldn't be enough of a market, but an annotated
Northanger Abbey, talked about above, would be a fun one.
186 DeltaQueen50, as I think you know, I'm a big fan of
Graceling. Hope you enjoy it.
#188 - Joe, yes, I owe you a big thank you for suggesting
Graceling to me. I am thrilled to find a book that I can just pick up and escape to a whole new world!
Finished
Lark and Termite which I thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks to all of you on LT who recommended it. There was enough of a buzz to catch my attention. I'm now on to
Embers by Sandor Marai. It's one I noted in "1001 Books". I will also soon start
Presentation of Self in Everyday Life which caught my attention at a Barnes and Noble.
#188 I'm getting a kick out of it. The vocabulary isn't an issue for me, but I'm enjoying his comments on the subtler nuances of character.
I've still got
The Girls on the go because i haven't had the time to read big chunks of it with my exams going on but i may get that finished this weekend.
Started another library book today
Princess Academy - depending on how i feel about this book i may have to hunt up some more Shannon Hale books since i've heard good things said about them on LT.
I have had such a good week reading and it's not even the weekend yet!
I finished
Book of Daniel and then I read
Farenheit 451 and last night I started and finished
Rebecca in one sitting! I could not put it down.
Today I have started
Rebecca's Tale.... I want to eat and drink books!! I feel so blessed I have had such a good run of 5 star books in recent weeks.
Finished
"The Painted Veil" this morning. Still deciding which book to choose from my TBR pile.
#193 - kwiflowa -
Fahrenheit 451 is one of my favorites - a book that high school did not manage to ruin for me!
#195 - richardderus - I'm going to take your suggestion, even though it wasn't directed at me! A friend of mine bought me
A Thousand Splendid Suns for my birthday, and everyone seems to highly recommend it.
Still making my way through
Nightmares and Dreamscapes, although I did start in on Peter Benchley's
Beast, which has basically the same plot line as
Jaws if you substitute a giant squid for the great white shark. It's a very fast, very entertaining read that's making me feel better about missing almost an entire week of quality reading time!
#175 snash - I, too, loved
Lark and Termite. To keep track of the quotes I loved, I use tape flags. They're easy to see and don't harm the book.
#175 and 197:
Book darts are also very cool and they're reusable.
#181 ktleyed
I rather enjoyed
Dark Angels. Granted it wasn't great historical fiction (but these days I wonder what is? Aside from
Labyrinth I haven't been bowled over by a work of historical fiction in a long time. Not even
Gabaldon's latest Jamie and Claire adventure was all that good.) as good as the first ones but it wasn't bad either. It kept me reading to the end and I am sure that there is more to the story that will come with the sequel to the prequel. (If the publishers will give it a chance and publish it.) Sometimes I think reading sequels and prequels are like marriage. There is the romance that involves the discovery and then there is living with someone. I also think that the amount of time between the publication of the first two novels and this one is part of the problem with them. When
Koen's first books came out they were just a little bit scandalous and written about a time that wasn't that sexy back in the late 1980's. Things are different now and our expectations as readers are different. How to keep each book fresh and new is a big question for readers and authors. Especially since the author clearly wants to explore the character of Alice in greater depth. I for one want her to do so and will read the next book as eagerly as I read this one.
#181 and 199 - I absolutely adored
Through a Glass Darkly but I read it over 20 years ago. benitastrnad, you're right about the times being different and our expectations changing. I'm not even sure I'm the same person I was 20 years ago! So I probably won't try to read
Dark Angels (although I eagerly read through all the reviews when it came out) and I'm sure I'll never reread the first one, mostly because I'm afraid I'll be disappointed. But I cherish my hardback copy sitting on the shelf.
Apparently, the 50+ books left on my tbr mountain are not as important as I thought. My best friend has given me 2 books that I "absolutely must read." So I've finished
The Last Lecture and am about to start
Franny and Zooey.
I was contemplating starting on
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips but the bearing in mind that I have a long flight in front of me, I decided to leave that aside in my suitcase and bring
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay with me instead onto the plane.
Finished Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer about 1:30 Tuesday morning and finished Must Love Dogs by Claire Cook Wednesday night/Thursday morning. The latter was OK. Read it on the recommendation of my sister. Read the Twilight Saga on her recommendation as well, come to that. Maybe I'd have enjoyed Must Love Dogs more if I weren't just coming off Breaking Dawn. Going to start Better in the Dark, a Saint-Germain novel tonight, maybe. Have already started the next one chronologically, Blood Roses, but all in all think it would be better to read them in order.
#199 and #202 - benitastrnad and coppers - I get your points, but I only just read
Through a Glass Darkly last month, so it's not like I waited 20 years to read
Dark Angels, it was all very fresh in my mind, and I think that's why I was let down. Frankly, I was just very disappointed in the way she portrayed Alice, who was my favorite in TAGD. Alice's personality as a 70 yr. old dowager in
Through a Glass Darkly did not translate well as a 20 yr. old maid in waiting in
Dark Angels, she came across as meddling and bossy with an unforgiving nature. Maybe the author's point was to show Alice changes over time to eventually become a great duchess, I'd like to read that book to show how she changes for the better. I do intend to read
Face to Face next, which I hope I'll like more.
I'm starting
Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher today and am really looking forward to it!
I am reading It Happened in Italy by Elizabeth Bettina. It's wonderful!
More Than Just Race: sounds very interesting.
Still reading
Of Love and Shadows,
Story of the Confederacy and
Mary Chestnut's Civil War. I am within finishing distance of the first two and a quarter of the way into the third. I could just finish one or both of the first two, but the third is a library book, that, I think will have to be renewed - we'll see. It's also a book that I find I have to read in fits and starts. I get bored with it after a while and have to put it down. When I finish the other two, I will probably pick out something else to read when I get bored with Mary Chestnut.
>203 sanja: Ah,
Franny and Zooey.... I may go back and read it again, remembering my dear sainted Irish Catholic mother, who bought the book for me when it was assigned reading in my AP English class, looking it over while waiting for me in the school parking lot. The tongue-lashing my English teacher received over the language used in the book was, well..... It was the sixties and a different day.
I have just finished Circus Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, which was very good. My favourite remains Ballet Shoes, followed by White Boots but Circus is a strong third.
I am now starting The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice.
No touchstones but I must run.
My internet was out yesterday... ALL DAY. When it was finally up and running, about an hour ago, I had 65 email messages, McAfee started dl'ing and installing AND running the virus scanner. *
groan of exasperation*
In the absence of the Internets, I read all of
Darkly Dreaming Dexter, started
The 19th Wife and
The Memory Keeper's Daughter.
Interestingly, Comcast is having a free HBO or Cinemax, not sure... could be both, weekend and I'm sick to death of TV. Should just run out and buy a box of blank VHS tapes and record everything, then watch it later... except, whenever I do that, I never watch it later.
Your Name is Renee Stacy Cretzmeyer
Today I started
Jazz on the Barbary Coast by Tom Stoddard. It's a history of jazz in San Francisco from 1900 to 1940, with the major emphasis on the period from 1900 to 1920. Can't wait to really dig in.
I started Jane Austen's
"Pride and Prejudice" this morning. I've seen several film adaptations of Jane Austen's novels, including the recent "Six By Jane Austen" on PBS Masterpiece Classic, but I've not read the books.
#195 (richarderus) & #205 (coppers), I've not forgotten about
"A Thousand Splendid Suns"; looking forward to reading it soon. I really liked
"The Kite Runner", which I read last summer (watched & liked the movie at about the same time).
#198 (teelee) The 'book darts' look very useful, I'll have to see if I can find them locally.
Message edited by its author, Jun 12, 2009, 8:50pm.
#204 cameling - I recently read
Gods Behaving Badly from start to finish on what just so happens to have been a long flight! :-) I thought it was creative, funny and clever - a rare combination in a fairly light read. I definitely recommend it when you get back around to it.
Postponing Better in the Dark in favor of Man and his Symbols. We'll see how it goes.
#204 and #220, interested in hearing about
Gods Behaving Badly, in my hugungous pile of TBR books.
#223> It's cleverly done and an enjoyable read. Left me wanting a little bit more, as any good book should.
Just finished
Jane Eyre. Its early days in my reading of the classics but I absolutely loved Jane Eyre & Mr Rochester. My favourite classic to date.
Now on to
Catch 22Message edited by its author, Jun 14, 2009, 2:11am.
This message has been deleted by its author.
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