I'm about 1/2 way into All Over Creation by Ruth L. Ozeki - good novel about agribusiness, genetic engineering and food politics tied neatly into a story of a farming community (Idaho potatoes).

Just finished All Over Creation last week, teelgee. I thought it was very well done. I finished Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers by Tom Wolfe. I continue listening to The Boat by Nam Le, a collection of short stories. I started reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. Wow! Wonderful use of language. The characters engaged me immediately as well. Looking forward to the rest of it.

Well into reading Mistress of the Art of Death, a historical novel by Ariana Franklin. Finding it more compelling, actually, than the second book in this series, The Serpent's Tale, that I happened to read first.

WH

I'm about halfway through The 19th Wife, a really interesting and compelling book, and also halfway through The Last Lecture, an inspiring book recommended by my mom. I'm really enjoying both.

I just started Water for Elephants yesterday, but I've not read enough of it to really know if I like it or not. I'll prob read more of it today.

I'm about 100 pages into Sacred Hearts, the new Sarah Dunant book.

I Know This Much Is True. Taking a while because life is chaotic at the moment but I really loved The Hour I First Believed and, although this one isn't gripping me in quite the same way, I do find Lamb well worth sticking with - and I'm gripped enough to want to know what happens, even if it is slowing me down a little.

I loved Ruth L.Ozeki's first book, My Year of Meats. I just finished The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood ( excellent) and am now enjoying Alan Bennett's The Uncommon Reader.

Twilight ! ^_^

The Patricia Briggs series: "Moon Called", "Iron Kissed", and "Blood Bound".

I started Practical Magic yesterday and I'm already over halfway through it. This is my perfect summer read! An easy, fast paced, enjoyable read that also has some substance to it!

About 1/2 way through the nazi officer's wife by Edith Beer

Just started the debut novel of Israeli author Gilad Elbom called Scream Queens of the Dead Sea which is a novel about a male nursing assistant (psych tech, really) in a psychiatric hospital. It doesn't have great reviews, but so far I'm finding it entertaining and am liking it.

I started American Gods last night. Interesting premise. I hope that it will be enjoyable for me. I'm not sure I'm the target audience or that it is the right kind of book for me- whatever. Got it from the library and the book is pulling away from the spine :( so I guess I need to be careful with it and I'll let them know later this week.

>10 I put that in my TBR pile since you talked about it the week of the 13th thread. Glad you are enjoying it!

kidzdoc, from last thread: what a great resource list, thanks! Europa Editions merits a mention, the publishers of The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

boekenwijs, from last thread: I'd certainly encourage you to move de Moor's book up your TBR pile.

I'm still on a Phryne Fisher jag, and will be until I figure out why I like these books. The Green Mill Murder is reviewed. It's not that great.

Just finished Bernice Richmond's Winter Harbor (a memoir about summering at a lighthouse in Maine 1939-41) and started Amy Tan's The Kitchen God's Wife. Tan's book was next in my pile, but Richmond's book put me in the mood for Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, a work I read and enjoyed long ago.

Message edited by its author, Jun 20, 2009, 12:44pm.

:: sigh:: comfort read day here in Austin, TX.. The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter: 23 Tales

I'm beginning The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer.

Still reading On the Origin of Species, still reading Mary Barton, still reading Ahead of All Parting. Not a lot of free time for reading right now, so I expect to be reading these three books for the next few weeks.

I'm still reading The Bin Ladens An Arabian Family in the American Century. Though I am really enjoying the book, my brain shuts down after 60 or so pages.

I'm also reading The Glister on my Kindle, and I need to start (and finish) Unaccustomed Earth by Wednesday for a book club.

Still reading and enjoying The Secret Lives of Litterbugs by M.A.C. Farrant, which I will probably finish later today. Next up will be The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman.

I am reading Lisa Jackson - Absolute Fear.

Will finish Presentation of Self in Everyday Life today. I've gotten a little ways into Columbine. I might have to change it to my daytime read. I found it a little hard to sleep to last night. Next?? I'm thinking either The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao or Tender Bar

#22 I can imagine that Columbine is a tough read. I have it on library reserve, and have cancelled and reserved it again in order to push myself back some. Though I definitely want to read it, I decided that I didn't want to read it in the next month or so and need a little more time before I can start it.

Reading Treasure Island for my RL book club and John Adams because I love McCullough's books. I'm enjoying Treasure Island more than I expected and John Adams is fabulous.

I am reading The Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Paganism by Peter Gay. Gay is an excellent historian and I have already put some of his other works on reserve at the library.

I finished Naoko by Keigo Higashino and started The House With the Blind Glass Windows by Herbjorg Wassmo, a 1001 book. Still working on Nixonland, but loving it.

#22 I can vouch for Oscar Wao, snash. It was great!

#17 Loved Guernsey, ktleyed! Hope you enjoy it as much!

#27 - Storeetllr - so far I am! I'll probably finish it today - it's such a fast read - delightful!

I am starting Empire of the Wolves by Jean-Christophe Grange. It is for a RL book group. A mystery/thriller set in modern day Paris, it also involves Turkish immigrants. The wife of a prominent Frenchman is having strange memory lapses. Testing shows she has had plastic surgery, though there is no record of it. So who is she .....

I read Practical Magic a couple of weeks ago and loved it. I can't wait to read more Alice Hoffman books. I just started The Graveyard Book book - really enjoying it so far.

Message edited by its author, Jun 20, 2009, 4:09pm.

Still working my way through Mad Ship and American Psycho. Had a long week at work, didn't get much reading in.

started Mistress of the Art of Death yesterday...and love the Necrophile Pieta on the cover...and the story ain't bad either.

i also found a book that i hadn't finished for which i owe a review : Dark side of the Morgue by Raymond Benson..so far it's shaping up to be "....just another brick in the wall"....fast-paced story but a little ham-fisted regarding rock n roll history..and the History herein is largely fictitious..yikes! but i keep reading 'cause i want to see how the story plays out at the end..

;-p

Finishing up The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven for my book club and have just begun They Were Counted for 1000 Novels.

I'm reading Warbreaker, by Brandon Sanderson. Seriously, he's a genius.

Finished Mistress of the Art of Death. Good book.

Started in The Ghost Brigades.
Also still very slowly reading Doubt: a history. The book is huge and dense, but also very very good so far.

Having gotten hooked by The Honourable Schoolboy, the second in John le Carré's Karla trilogy, I zipped through the first, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and am now reading the third, Smiley's People. Anyone who wants to read this series should not do what I did and should absolutely definitely start with the first one because the secret that is its premise is background for the next two.

I'm reading Lords and Ladies one of the few discworld books that I've never read before, and enjoying it immensely.

I also want to try and finish The Sacred Book of the Werewolf by Viktor Pelevin, I'm finding it tedious in the extreme, but I'm only 100 pages from the end so I don't want to just give up on it.

Message edited by its author, Jun 20, 2009, 7:25pm.

I'm still reading The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. It's taking some time, not because I am finding it difficult, but more because I am savouring every page.

4: thekoolaidmom - I just spent all day yesterday reading the The 19th Wife finished it at half past midnight. I thought it was a great read!

6: Booksloth - I've just bought I know this much is true also because I read The hour I first believed and really liked it. I liked the progression of the characters (character development?) and how rambling the book was.

13: leperdbunny - I read American Gods end of May/beginning of June and I was enthralled. I was *not* a fantasy genre fan but I found the book really clever and fun. Because I liked it so much I'm now reading Good Omens my third Neil Gaiman and first Terry Pratchett book.

Last week I read The Outlander by Gil Adamson and The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff. This week I am reading Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett and The Sea by John Banville then I will finally read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

Message edited by its author, Jun 20, 2009, 7:41pm.

I am currently reading "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman. Next will either be "The Historian" or "The Grapes of Wrath".

I just finished Karleen Koen's Through a Glass Darkly this morning. It was a "meh" read for me. Not bad, but everyone spent so much time being unhappy for various different reasons that I couldn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

My family has been getting hit with bad news left and right, so right now I'm focusing on the third volume of The Selected Journals of L. M. Montgomery. Her books have always been literary comfort food for me. I've been working my way through her published journals whenever I get the chance. I always enjoy being able to get a sense of who my favorite authors were/are as individuals.

Whoops. *does the double-post dance*

Message edited by its author, Jun 20, 2009, 9:23pm.

>40 We're our own reading group this week! :D I'm gonna read some more of American Gods tonight.

This week I will be reading and enjoying In The Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming, as well as Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani and Emma by Jane Austen.

I'm into the last 100 pages of American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld and am loving it. I'm also reading War and Peace and The Great Unravelling by Paul Krugman.

#1 teelgee and #7 torontc, I really enjoyed My Year of Meats too and will look out for All Over Creation.

#s 1,2,7,45 -- I enjoyed All Over Creation. No neat answers or clearly good/bad characters. Very complex issues were explored in thoughtful, sensitive ways. I thought it was thought-provoking and very well done. My mother's family comes from Jerome, ID, and it felt like the book could have been set there.

39 Kiwiflowa, to kill a mockingbird is great, I have read it at least 4 times, and it just keeps improving. When I told a lady at work that I was reading it, she looked at me like I was crazy. Glad to see other’s reading classics, hope you like it.

Finished an arsonist’s guide to writer’s homes in New England last night. I found the story itself quite sad, but the writing is funny. Next up is Kite Runner for my RL book club.

45 cmt: great minds and all that. I’m reading War & peace too, although I had to start over again. I was about 50 pages in & kept getting all the characters mixed up. I have now typed up a little character list of who’s related to who, and now it is making much more sense.

(sorry touchstones not going so well)

#47 bookgirl274, the 75 Book challenge group has a group read of W&P and a few of us are doing it if you want to join in - I'm about 400 pages behind the target though! I started again too - had an old translation from 1972 and just bought the new one by Pevear and Volkhonsky, and it's fantastic.

I just started The Iliad - actually I'm still on the lengthy Introduction, but chomping at the bit to get started on the actual text!

Does anyone know of a group read for this or The Odyssey??

I finished Schuyler's Monster yesterday. It is a wonderful book.
There is a review if you are interested in learning more.

I think I am going to read Secrets of the Unified Field next.

I just started The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford. I find it slow going, but from reviews I have read, this is just how it should be read.

Finished Death of the Party. Now onto Jane Eyre and Christianity and Evolution. These should keep me busy for the week!

I finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society loved every word what a heart warming read, one of my favorites of the year to date for me.

I finished Have Mercy On us by Fred Vargas. If anyone's looking for a crime novel with a nice fresh feel to it,this is it! She is quite a talented writer! Highly recommended! I'm starting Netherland by Joseph O'Neill. I've heard many good things about this one and I'm looking forward to it.

Gave up on Decline and Fall - I can't understand Waugh for my life, it seems. Starting Much Ado About Nothing now.

I should be finishing Forging Stalin's Army this evening. It's been a busy week, so I'm way behind on my reading. Next up is Hitler's Preemptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940

> msf59 - Hi, Mark -

Have Mercy On Us intrigues me. Fred??? Never heard the name used for a person of the female gender. Interesting. I've added it to by TBR Cyber Stack per your recommendation.

Thank you.

WH

I finished A Year in Provence yesterday, and am now reading Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer.

Message edited by its author, Jun 21, 2009, 1:24pm.

Finished T is for Trespass - just a middle of the road addition to the Alphabet mysteries. But it always nice spending time with Kinsey again. I love her wry humor.

Now I am reading Dan Simmons' The Terror. I am totally captivated by this artic horror/ historical fiction tale. I thought I would try something of his in paperback before I consider buying the new release Drood, which seems to be calling my name. It is excellent so far.

I was up until 4 am trying to finish The Oracle's Queen. My husband woke up, took the book, and hid it. I've read this series before, but it is still just as engrossing as the first time.

> 20, lkernagh, your post reminded me I have The Dress Lodger buried unread somewhere. I dug it out and read the first chapter. Also still reading Wesley the Owl by Stacy O'Brien, Collapse by Jared Diamond and Treasure Island aloud to the kids.

eta: LOL, AmyLynn. I know my husband has been tempted to do that, too.

Message edited by its author, Jun 21, 2009, 3:28pm.

Finished Have Mercy on Us All by Fred Vargas Friday evening. Started Brooklyn by Colim Toibin
yesterday morning and finished this afternoon. I seem to be on a roll books are good. I am a very early riser when everyone is sleeping I read :-)

I haven't made any progress in The ascent of George Washington this weekend (I've a bit busier this weekend than I usually am). I did manage to get in a few pages of my current lighter fare, Subwayland, before bed.

I just finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I won't forget this book any time soon! Wonderful! I plan on exploring some more of Europa's publications. I continue listening to The Boat, a collection of short stories, and I am about to begin reading Everyman by Philip Roth.

Today, June 21, I am reading End of Grace by K. Thomas Murphy. I am reading it for review and I am about 1/3 through the book.

#48 cmt, thanks, I will. I'm on my way now to check it out.

I've started Novel Destinations, a non-fiction about visiting author's homes and other sites pertinent to literature, like the bar Joyce wrote of in Ulysses.
Still working on The Stories of John Cheever and I've quickly become a fan.

I finally, finally, finally, finally finished Ulysses.

I'm halfway through Falling Man. Good so far. Delillo's vocabulary and prose is simple.

His themes are far from simple, however.

I just finished off Vision in White almost two month's late for the Romance group's May read. I'll be starting Small Favor by Jim Butcher next.

I am reading Secrets of the Unified Field. I have always been interested in
The Philadelphia Experiment, The Bermuda Triangle and Time travel..
I have read the books referred to in this book.

Interesting read.

I'm reading Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick.

I'm well into Columbine having read most of the afternoon. Put it down at 6 to do other stuff so I can sleep tonight. Parts are uncomfortable upon reading them others seem just facts and descriptions but the scene keep lingering and reverberating long after I put the book down. It's very well done and I am anxiously reading to find the truth and as much of the whys as is possible to get. I've also started The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I'm enjoying it but I'm not very far into it yet.

Just finished The Funeral Makers by Cathie Pelletier. Folks in a little town at the very end of the road in norther-
most Maine in 1959.

Just started I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming. Need to see whats up with the lady priest and the sheriff. There will probably be a murder too.

And started My Life at Grey Gardens by Lois Wright. The author lived with reclusive Beale ladies for a year or so after the filming of the documentary. She appeared in it briefly, the silent woman at the bizarre birthday party. So far, she seems to be dining out on their very strange celebrity. How desperate for notice is she to tie her wagon to a real story of desperation?

i've just finished glue, now i'm starting alice hartley's happiness by philippa gregory.

I'm starting to reread Confederates in the Attic, it's a great read! Sometimes hilarious and sometimes very serious, it's very interesting.

>14 Richard dear...just found out that my library system has all of the Phryne Fisher books listed....so i can request them whenever i get out from under my current reads (yeah sure)

........also my library system has most of the Fred Vargas titles (and Better World Books has all of them available as well)

me, I hope to read Mistress of the Art of Death this week......

Same as last week:

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters (on audiobook)
Anyone but England by Mike Marqusee
Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton
Black Coffee Blues by Henry Rollins
Penguin Modern Classics' selection of George Orwell'sEssays

Still reading By Permission of Heaven and have started Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke.

>49 callen610 - I don't know any reading groups for Greek classics but hope you enjoy the Iliad. I've read The Odyssey and keep going back to the Aeneid every couple of years, it's such a great story. The Iliad's on my pile TBR.

I'm halfway through City of Thieves by David Beniof and enjoying it.

I finished The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama and liked it very much. I look forward to reading more of her. I just received Jim Butcher's latest Harry Dresden novel, Turn Coat, from a guest. It's good fun so far, in keeping with the rest of the series.

>78 I've been working on Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell for a while now. You'll have to keep us updated!

City of Shadows, which continues my Russian theme, combined with Berlin in the 20s and 30s.

To Kill a Mockingbird - I finished this last week. I had not read it before, although I knew the story through the movie. The book was wonderful.

In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar - I'm mostly done. It's a 2006 novel about Libya. The narrator is a 9-yr-old son of a political dissident. The author has an interesting story, which I found on wikipedia. His father has been missing since 1990, apparently in a Libyan prison.

Home Game : An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood by Michael Lewis - this was a Father's Day gift, I might read it next.

>81 leperdbunny, i'll keep you informed. So far I'm enjoying it, but only reading it at home because it's too big to carry around. How many pages in are you?

>76 Hi Jude! Making the liberry work for my patronage and tax dollars by having them vacuum up all the Phrynes available in the county, mwaaahaaahaaa!

Am also preparing to delve into The Kindly Ones.

Decided that, in light of the fluffy cheerfulness of that book, that I'd better get some comfort rereads...City of God and The Belt of Gold by Cecelia Holland.

Finished Olive Kitteridge while out of town for a family wedding. Loved it. Don't you think there is a little bit of Olive in most of us? Started The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which is altogether a horse of a different color. Liking it so far.

>84 I bought a hard copy and soft copy, I am reading out of the soft copy which has like 1,006 pages and I am on page 402. I really haven't read it in a few months so maybe I should commit 100 pages a week or something. It is interesting. I like fantasy and magic and alt history. My BF calls it "Harry Potter" for adults. :)

Finished Redemption on Saturday and started reading Letter from Point Clear. This one is for a book club that reads a book about the local scene every-so-often. Then on Sunday I finished Mistress of the Art of Death. This was a very good mystery with a very good ending. I can't help but think how much of the modern day thinking about professional women was infiltrating the plot line of the book. However, I also realize that if the author didn't put some modern day thinking about women and their place in the work place into the book it wouldn't have an audience. The medieval mindset isn't all that attractive. As was pointed out in the book.

Finished Much Ado About Nothing which was very smart and funny, I loved it. I'd love to see it on stage one day.
Now starting Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

>89 I really enjoyed the movie adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing because I think it was the first thing I remember Kate Beckinsale in. And it had Emma Thompson, love her!

I am currently reading Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. It is just starting to get good! I have also started Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card. I'm having a harder time getting into that one, but I will persevere because I loved, loved, loved "Ender's Game."

This week, I'm ripping through Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. I read about half of American Gods and enjoyed it before putting it down for something else.

I am also towards the beginning of Independence Day which is just an incredible work of fiction. ( In time for the holiday, too). The writing is smooth and relatively easy to read, but I know I'm not giving the book the attention it deserves.

I borrowed Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste from the library. Let's hope I get around to it some time soon.

Still working on Crime and Punishment but really, this has to be the last week I add it here. It's so good, but also so easy to be distracted with other books.
Also have now about 50 pages to go on The Madonnas of Leningrad so I imagine that will not be on next week's list.

If I am good and finish up C&P, I think I might go with Pride, Prejudice and Zombies for fun.

Message edited by its author, Jun 22, 2009, 4:41pm.

#71 cindyp - I just finished listening to Mayflower. It was very informative and busted many myths of the Indians and the Pilgrims. I very much liked his use of diaries and other documents and his interpretation of events.

I'm reading John Adams by David McCullough. I'm about half way through.

I'm also reading my March ER book, The Tory Widow. I loved her first book, Midwife of the Blue Ridge, but this book seems much more stilted and the phrasing is quite awkward at times. I'm having a hard time buying into the story, too. Sigh. I really really want to like this book more than I do.....

Next up will be my May ER book, The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy. Anything related to Pride and Prejudice is fun.

Edited for phrasing.

Message edited by its author, Jun 22, 2009, 4:56pm.

Wow! So great to see a few people on here reading "American Gods" besides me!

Just finished The Winds of Sandee by Arthur W. Upfield.

Currently reading Woman With Birthmark by Håkan Nesser.

Reading The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. It's not as poetic as Something Wicked This Way Comes, but it's still a wonderful collection of fantastic linked stories.

Also reading In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd...you all might recognize the name from the movie, A Christmas Story. Jean Shepherd wrote the screenplay, which was based in part on his book. Not all of the stories relate to the movie, but they're still incredibly entertaining, and of course, reading about Ralphie's coveted Red Ryder BB Gun is always classic!

Up next: Skeleton Crew by Stephen King (I'm spending the summer re-reading his short story collections), Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card, and Airframe by Michael Crichton.

I finished Everyman by Philip Roth, another direct hit on a truth, death in our culture.

I am jsut starting Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke.

Finishing up I and Thou - hope to be done tonight.
Then I want to finish 23 Problems in Systems Neuroscience. I put it down a week or two ago with about 3 problems left. I just needed a break. I'm hoping I can have both of these back on the shelf by the weekend.

Still working on Middlesex (about 2/3 through). It is a book to be read with care rather than speed, and I am very much enjoying it.

From the comments in this thread, I'll have to move All Over Creation higher up the tbr pile. I read and really liked My Year of Meats, and it sounds like "Creation" will be just as good.

Amazon decided to ship one of a two book order to me now rather than have me wait, so I got Confederates in the Attic today and will read that after Jane Eyre, which I am, surprisingly liking quite well.

Confederates will go to my husband after I read it - or maybe my son?!

I am reading Agincourt, my first Bernard Cornwell, and enjoying it although it is definitely more violent than my usual fare. I am also hoping to make some more progress in Biblical Literacy this week, after taking an unintended break from it.

I just finished the LIKENESS by Tana French and i really loved it. You first have to suspend disbelief about an unlikely premise (a woman found dead is a 'dead' ringer for a cop who infiltrates a close-knit set of friends to find the guilty party). Once suspended, it's about 500 pages of characters that I really liked, a concept that I like (a college student inherits a house and with no money but a lot of love, the group turns it into a sanctuary and themselves into a family). I liked the flaky characters and the main character and I liked French's sense of humor and her use of language. Fabulous book, really satisfying....

>Richard- I'm curious what side you'll come down on, after reading The Kindly Ones. Opinions seem to be incredibly divided on this one. I think one reviewer called it "Holocaust Porn"! I think morfam was really impressed.

> 92: estersohnad- I read Independence Day many years ago and I loved it, but shame on me I've never read another Richard Ford novel!

Today I'll start Pilcrow by Adam Mars-Jones, a novel about a disabled boy growing up in 1950s Britain. I'm still reading Metro Stop Paris: An Underground History of the City of Light, an examination of Parisian history based on 12 Métro stops.

#97> coloradogirl, In God We Trust was the one of the true bibles of my youth, at least in the NY/NJ area. When I was in junior high and high school, my friends and I all listened to Jean Shephard's radio show. Believe it or not, he was on the radio five nights a week doing nothing but telling stories and talking satirically about current culture. This was in the 60s and 70s. I even got to see him perform live a couple of times at Seton Hall University in NJ. There was a time when I knew most of those stories by heart, and to this day the best part of watching A Christmas Story is hearing Shep's voice in the narration. He died about 10 years back. He was a great, great storyteller with an insightful eye on the human condition.

I finished The Secret Lives of Litterbugs by M.A.C. Farrant. It generated a few chuckles and it is always fun to read a book set where you live with all the identifiable landmarks.

#61 AMQS - I started The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman and I am finding it to be quite good, having read 122 pages so far.

#82 rockinrhombus - I have heard good things about City of Shadows here on LT and I have it on my 'short' TBR pile.

Taking a break on Hunchback of Notre Dame. Still reading The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, but it's messing with my sleep. :( So I started Queen of the Underworld. Why not? :)

#106 - rocketjk - One of my favorite parts about reading that book is finding the phrases that Shepherd used again in A Christmas Story...it's kind of a backwards way of reading, and a testament to the unhealthy number of times I've seen that movie, but it's still fun! I think one of my favorites is: "Preparing to go to school was like getting ready for extended deep sea diving."

#108 - sanja - I need to read more of the Brothers Grimm's fairy tales. Before we were dating, my (soon to be) boyfriend bought me the complete collection for Christmas, but with classes and work and everything, I didn't have time to read many of them. It was a good indication that I'd found a winner, though! Anyone who buys me a book is automatically placed on my good list! :)

Reading The Increment by David Ignatius. A great spy thriller, which by chance, deals with Iran getting the final components for making a nuclear bomb.

Been done before, I know, but the timing is perfect considering what's going on in Iran at the moment. The novel deals with an Iranian scientist who decides to give up secrets to the Americans. In turn, the CIA, and Britain's secret service plan to thwart (There's a strange word) Iran's plans by smuggling the turncoat out of Iran, with the help of a top secret group called the 'Increments'.

Ignatius is already well known for his political spy novel Body of Lies, which was made into a movie starring DeCaprio and Russell Crowe. And , purely by chance, the family rented said movie last weekend. The coincidences are out and about right now.

Richard, as a fan of The Kindly Ones, I will be waiting with breaths baited for your reaction, although I do wonder about the 'pun'ishment I will suffer should you look down upon the book with disparaging nose and shower me, the kindly one, with your slings and arrows. On the other hand...

>104 Mark, well...the first thirty has sent me scuttling back to Blood and Circuses for a sense of cleanliness and order. I have grave (oh dear, poor choice of words) doubts as to whether this puppy will make it past the Pearl Rule.

>110 morfam, old son: I will be waiting with breaths baited for your reaction
If you're baiting your breath for me, gin usually works.

OTOH, if it's bated breath you mean, well...deep, cleansing one in, hoooooold it, and *whoosh* all out!

I finished Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips and Golden Eggs and other Deadly Things by Nancy Tesler.

I think I'll start on Donna Leon's A Noble Radiance next.It's been a while since I read one of her Commissario Brunetti stories.

>107, lkernagh, I've only read the first chapter of The Dress Lodger, which I enjoyed, so I'm glad to hear that you are liking the book. I finished Wesley the Owl tonight, so I should have more time to continue reading The Dress Lodger.

A friend gave me the ARC of American Rust by Philipp Meyer. I'm starting this book tonight.

Just finished reading 'Burnt Shadows' by Kamila Shamsie (wonderful), and have just started on the train this morning 'Wanting' by Richard Flanagan. Has anyone wondered if Richard had recently read 'Girl in a Blue Dress' by Gaynor Arnold?

Dear Richard

Tis for me to know and for you to find out, whether I meant bated or baited, tomato or tomatoe... let's call the darn thing off.

However, he cleverly segues into a topic that has been bothering him for some time.

I am continually being frustrated by typo errors while reading a book. I wonder if it's just me or if others are noticing the frequency of a missed 'a', 'the' or a misspelling (Richard, FYI, a word spelled as per Canadian Press protocol when using British or American spellings, something I adhered to religiously, while in the journalism biz).

Just today, when reading a book published only a few months ago, I happened across a line describing a vessel making a wide BIRTH around another boat. I have seen similar mistakes in other books. Is it laziness on the part of the proof reader? do they even use a proof reader these days? It is irritating in that it makes one pause halfway through a paragraph, and lose the thread that the writer might be spinning.

I'd be interested in hearing from others, or is the 'print devil' just out to get me for editorial gaffes made during my previous life...

morfam, it's not just you. I've noticed lots of spelling errors. Steadily increasing over the past few years. I think a lot of books are churned out quickly, without the benefit of careful editing. I also think people rely too heavily on spellcheck, which would not catch a birth/berth error.

I agree, I see lots of errors too. I don't think publishing houses are using real live editors much anymore.

I agree. I see lots of berth/birth type things, missing words, and one book I read even used the wrong name for a character (the guy had died a few pages ago, and then he was talking. It wasn't a flashback, they had printed the wrong brothers name). It drives me crazy. One book had so many typos, I was tempted to photocopy the pages, highlight the errors, send them off to the publisher & ask for a job as a proofreader.

LOL bookgirl271, Somebody should. I find so many "there/their", "then/than" and "two/too", errors I was beginning to think that the publishers had decided to make those words interchangeable.

#103 kellian - I loved In the Woods and am glad to read such a positive opinion of The Likeness. It's sitting on my shelves, just waiting to be read. I'll have to move it up in the tbr pile.

I agree about typos and the misuse of language too. I just read about "marshall law" yesterday! It irritated me, so I crossed out 'marshall' and wrote 'martial' in red pen.

I could be a proofreader too, bookgirl271.

Message edited by its author, Jun 23, 2009, 4:06am.

#98 and #87 - how exciting! 3 of us reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. I'm reading slowly but will shortly pick up the pace as the story's getting interesting.

#116 - I agree the number of typos and mis-worded statements do seem to be increasing. Very slack of modern publishers!! Very annoying for us.

Trying not to race through The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters.

On the subject of typos and bad grammar in books, it is one of the criteria I use for ditching a book, even if it's otherwise good. It's just too distracting for me to wade threw (ha ha) mistakes that should have never been made in the first place but which would have been found by a decent proofreader (though not, as was pointed out above, by spellcheck).

Am reading The Night Gardener which is very good, though I did notice one such mistake last night. I'll have to go back and see if it can find it and report.

Also reading Obama's Blackberry which is hilarious and silly and stupid in turn and had me laughing out loud. Pokes fun at EVERYONE.

I just finished The Glister which I did not like at all. I didn't like the characters, didn't like the plot (or lack thereof), didn't like the ending and on and on. I will say that I thought it was fairly well-written and that the author was very detailed and visual which I enjoyed.

I just started Let the Great World Spin hwich I like so far.

I'm reading Song of Susannah the 6th volume of Stephen King's Dark Tower series and The Little Giant of Aberdeen County which is really well written and an all around good read

#109 > "Preparing to go to school was like getting ready for extended deep sea diving."

And in the same scene, another line I believe is in the book, "My brother Randy looked like a tick about to burst."

Having just finished Jazz on the Barbary Coast, about the early days of jazz in San Francisco, I have begun Milk and Honey by Faye Kellerman, because a person needs a good police procedural/mystery once in a while. I picked this up (used paperback) not too long ago at the great Mystery Book Store in Noe Valley/San Francisco. It's the third book in the series about an LA detective and his orthodox Jewish girlfriend. I almost bought the first book in the series instead of the third, just, you know, to ease my order-craving brain, but I was sucked in by the James Ellroy blurb on the back cover that Milk and Honey was "Faye Kellerman's best novel to date: deeper, richer, more emotionally complex." We shall see. First 28 pages are quite good.

Message edited by its author, Jun 23, 2009, 2:33pm.

>127:
Randy: I can't put my arms down!
Mother: Well... put your arms down when you get to school.

I finally started The Book Thief last night. Very promising so far.

Incredible book, jennieg.

I bumped it way up because of all the good comments I've read on LT. I'm planning to savor it.

I've read many of Linda Castillo's books, including OVERKILL and A WHISPER IN THE DARK, but in this one she takes it up several notches, and I can safely say is my very favorite so far!

In Sworn to Silence, Linda Castillo creates a strong, vivid characters within a suspenseful, heart-thumping thrill-ride of a story.

Kate Burkholder,the lead protagonist, is refreshingly unique and possesses a depth that makes a reader want to know more about her, and why she abandoned the Amish life, yet came home to serve and protect the community she left behind. Kate's counterpart, John Tomasetti, fighting demons of his own, is more than a match for her, with an intriguing multi-layered character of his own that magnetizes our attention to the page. Each struggles to come to terms with their past, while focusing on a very real evil haunting Painters Mill.

If those two weren't enough, Sworn to Silence boasts a community of players that add rich texture and flavor to the novel.

I look forward to reading more about Kate and Tomasetti, and more intrigue in Painters Mill.

I finished Novel Destinations today and loved it. I've now worked in a daytrip to Tarrytown when we're in NYC later this year. I'd love to see the inspiration for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

>127 and 128: Somebodies have seen A Christmas Story a few too many times...IF that is possible. :-)

I started reading Prayers for Sale today by Sandra Dallas. She tells good stories about simple people, often set in Colorado, which is a bonus for any book. I need some brain candy after my immersion in The Woman In White last week.

I'm almost done with Shadow of the Wind and I'm finding it hard to get anything else done because I just want to read this book. Fortunately, The Angel's Game should be here by tomorrow.

Finished Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final Twilight book last night for the second time. Absorbed rather more this time. I *really* like these books and don't understand why some people are so nasty about them. Of course, I never understood why people are nasty about Harry Potter either, or Pullman's His Dark Materials.

I guess some people just don't have any imagination.

>68, Sandydog1: Wow! That deserves a round of applause!

>136 : I guess some people just don't have any imagination.

No, people just have different tastes in books. But that doesn't excuse being nasty about the ones they don't like.

>88, benitastrnad: That's not true, and is very narrow minded. If you'd ever read any actual Medieval literature, you would know this.

>139 That seems a bit flammable.

#138: My friends and I have had many a heated debate over books we've read, but you're absolutely right. Respect the books!

Anyway, on a lighter subject, I'm 100 pages into Pride and Prejudice on my second attempt. I've got to get reading, though, because Pride and Prejudice and Zombies just came in at the library, and I want to have the original read before I delve into that!

I also began Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman because I liked American Gods very much. I've only read the first short story in the bunch, but it's very good.

morfam, occasionally the misprints are audible. That is, I recall "profilers" for "prolifers" in an issue of Asimov's several months back. In fact, I've noticed not only a proliferation of audible misprints but also of downright errors of fact etc in both Asimov's and Analog. I don't know the reason, but am becoming old and crotchety enough to blame careless and undereducated young people. Clearly, neither proofreaders nor editors do their jobs properly any more.

>140: Er, well, I guess so. Sorry. Sometimes I have difficulty with my temper.
It remains true though that the popular perception of Medieval as a synonym for backward, closed minded, etc., etc. is inaccurate. People in the Medieval period were no stupider than people today. They had a different worldview, which was *not* necessarily inferior to that commonly held today.

I did not like The Devil Wears Prada, and honestly cannot think of a single positive thing to say about it. However, I'm probably not the demographic it was aimed at. No doubt, there are readers who loved it as thoroughly as I hated it. The thing is, I might doubt such readers' taste, but wouldn't go around deliberately bad mouthing the book. There isn't any point. Probably lots of people don't enjoy the books I do...

I finished Haruki Murakami's After Dark over the weekend and have just started Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder.

Still reading Secrets of the Unified Field. I have been distracted the last several days, doing the thing where I hold the book in front of my face and see words, but reading doesn't really happen. I am hoping to finish it off today, or at least tomorrow. Going back to work hasn't helped. Between chasing around 8 kids, the heat and going back into a construction zone ( with asthma) I feel a little weary at the end of the day. :P

>135: emaestra- I'll be starting The Shadow of the Wind this weekend. Based on all the LT love, I'm getting pumped!

I managed a whole new level of book-related insanity today even for me! Not only have I read two more books since i got into bed last night but i stayed up until 5:40am to do so! God damn Megan McCafferty for writing such addictively hilarious books! I read both Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings in 6 hours and now i'm shattered and desperate to get the other 3 books *sigh*

#148 LadyViolet - being desperate for other books by wonderful authors is an ever-present condition for me!

Right now I'm desperate for more books by Michael Malone, David McCullough, and Sarah Vowell. Plus the last ones by Mary Balogh that I don't own, cleaner/newer copies of my Georgette Heyer's, more Ruth Rendell, and the Ramage series starting at book 4 by Dudley Pope.

Thank goodness for BookMooch! I know I'll eventually get them.

Finished Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The contents were pretty transgressive but the writing very straightforward, I'm not sure what to think of it - I don't think she realised what she was writing.
Starting Love's Labour's Lost by Shakespeare.

I've been reading Team of Rivals off and on since January. Only 65 pages to go.

Next up Number One Ladies' Detective Agency. I love that show on HBO and am ready for next season.

I just finished Megan McCafferty's Fourth Comings late last night, and I'm trying to wrap up Tell Me Where It Hurts by Nick Trout this week! I'm also about 30 pages into Sarah Dessen's Along For The Ride, and next on deck is Georgette Heyer's The Grand Sophy. I've entered quite the busy reading time! :)

# 148: LadyViolet --

I so feel your pain! I've been unable to breathe anything other than Jessica Darling and Marcus Flutie for weeks! I've actually had to temper myself from just tearing through the whole series... because I knew how sad I would feel afterward! I'm going to start Perfect Fifths sometime next week, though. I just have to know what happens!

>153 hehe i know if i had all 5 books that I would have not slept at all and I'd probably be reading them still and then passing out for a good 18 hours afterwards. But luckily (for my bank balance) i can't buy the others right now so i get to stretch out the awesomeness for a while longer but it's unlucky for my mental state because i *really* want to read the next book!! gah!

I finished All Over Creation last night, very good read. Now am into The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg. Trying to crank out a few more books before mid-year!

I'm reading Peter T. Leeson's new book, The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates.

Good stuff!

On the stack to take on vacation next week are Green by Jay Lake, Palimpsest by Catherynne Valente and Julian Comstock by Robert Charles Wilson.

I'm going to read Nothing But Ghosts by Beth Kephart, which I just bought! Some book bloggers are running a grassroots book drive to support this book. If you're interested, visit My Friend Amy's Blog.

I've finally gotten enough courage to start The Fellowship of the Ring. A few years ago I got the box set and disliked The Hobbit so much that I was wary of starting three more of the books in the same vein. So fary I've only gotten to the prologue.

In the non-fiction section, I'm reading Who Am I? by Yi-Fu Tuan. Since I'm the daughter of Chinese immigrants AND I'm studying geography, it's really interesting and relates to me on a really personal level.

I'm also reading Nickel and Dimed, one that I couldn't wait to borrow so I bought, but so far I don't like it because I read a much more humourous take at low-income careers last year with A Working Stiff's Manifesto.

At the risk of being unpopular I’m going to disagree with #138 and #141. I have a nasty opinion of quite a few books which I think is justified. For example, Yes Man by Danny Wallace. When I finished it I was so mad I wanted to beat Danny Wallace with it until it was a tattered and bloody pulp. I felt that the book, which was really the author in disguise, insulted my intelligence. Being affronted and angry in this situation is, as far as I’m concerned, the correct response.

To look at this from another view - I remember reading Gulliver’s Travels as an undergrad and, at one point, wanting to throw it across the room. Our lecturer said this was actually the reaction Swift was trying to evoke.

End of rant.

Our lecturer said this was actually the reaction Swift was trying to evoke.

Somehow I don't buy that. An author wanting you to dislike their book?

I'm reading two non-fiction: Death in the Haymarket : a story of Chicago, the first labor movement, and the bombing that divided gilded age America by James R. Green and Outwitting the Gestapo by Lucie Aubrac. Both are quite good but slow moving.

My two fictions are light--The City of Your Final Destination by Peter Cameron and Black Knight in Red Square by Stuart M. Kaminsky.

I started reading have your cake and kill him too by Nancy Martin a few days ago. I love her blackbird sisters series.

#160 Sorry, should’ve explained myself better. I don’t think Swift wanted anyone to dislike his book. My point was that sometimes authors deliberately use un-likable characters or plot lines to get their point across. I think it’s proof of Swift’s cleverness that I disliked the older Gulliver’s misanthropic views. That my reaction was so strong may have been because I was young and idealistic at the time.

#145: thioviolight - Hope you enjoy Sophie's World, it was one of my favorite reads about 2 years ago, mainly for the "brief" history of philosophy. I found myself taking notes.

#159, et al. If I may crash the debate party, I think it's perfectly all right to trash a book or author if one finds the book loathsome or the author incompetent. However, I do not believe anyone has a right to trash the opinions of a reader as to whether they liked or didn't like a book and why. It is, after all, a subjective thing.

Objectively, the book may be a masterpiece, but if someone hates it, well, that's their opinion and they've a right to it. We can certainly disagree and have our own opinion about whether the book is likeable or loathsome, which is also our right, but no fair insulting anyone who doesn't agree with us. Disparaging a book or author is as far as it should go.

IMHO, anyway.

corneggs, it's possible you may like The Fellowship of the Ring even though you didn't enjoy The Hobbit. They're really rather different in tone and approach.

I've made a start on another book from my amazon splurge - The book of a Thousand days i really liked the other Shannon Hale book i've read so i have a good feeling about this one may finish it tonight depending on whether i pass out at any point due to sleep deprivation from last night.

I finished Stephen Richard Prothero's Religious Literacy last night. Everybody in America should know what's in it, but it's kinda dull reading and, possibly necessarily, incomplete.

Then I picked up Buitenen's The Bhagavadgita in the Mahabharata (irresponsible touchstones) because... Yesterday I watched a DVD of Philip Glass's opera Satyagraha in anticipation of screening it at church on Friday for our little opera group. The opera's libretto is taken from The Bhagavad Gita, and the opera is incomprehensible on its own. I have the book because I am reading, over the years, the whole Mahabharata. I hoped the book would illuminate the opera. It turns out it won't until I am more familiar with the opera. I will probably go on with it anyway.

Robert

Stick with it!! It was well worth it!! If you like Wally Lamb, I believe you'll like this one as well!

I finished City of Shadows last night--very good with some unexpected twists and turns that I really enjoyed. So now I am considering Mistress of the Art of Death even though I have heard it is pretty graphic and disturbing.

Started Maisie Dobbs this morning, too. Still plugging along with Red Mutiny, which is not the book's fault--Bascomb is a great writer, I just am in more of a fiction mood right now.

Just finished The Messenger by Markus Zusak.
For anyone one who has read his book Book Thief you may also like The Messenger. Totally different then Book Thief. It is a YA book. It sure made me stop and think.

I've just started Search for God at Harvard and am enjoying it immensely!

I finished The 19th Wife, finally. It's a good book, but a little draggy toward the end. I skimmed some of the historical fiction parts to get to the modern part... I wanted to know whodunit :-) AND whodunit was a surprise I wasn't expecting ;-)

I'm almost 1/2 way thru Water for Elephants and I love it. It's magical, like the way going to the circus was when we were children. I could devour it and be done, but I'm trying to savor it.

I'm starting Something Beyond Greatness by Judy Rodgers and Gayatri Naraine either tonight or tomorrow.

I finished The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman last night. A good historical fiction about the cholera epidemic in England in the 1830's with a descriptive medical focus about, for lack of a better term, investigative medicine of the time period. A great book but possibly not to everyone's liking in view of the rather grim/graphic portrayal.

Next up is The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill.

Humm......Touchstones appear to have suddenly gone on vacation while composing this post.
Nope... all fixed!

Message edited by its author, Jun 24, 2009, 11:37pm.

Caught the last rays of winter sun this afternoon in my backyard (I live in Australia) while I finished off The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark. What a wonderful book.

Finished The White Tiger! It was a great novel, though the ending could have been richer.

I'm going to try and finish O Fado da Sombra, I'm not getting into it, but I'm going to keep at it for the sake of knowing what happens.

koolmom, thank you! I will stop longing for The 19th Wife now. It had been calling out to me, and goddess knows that the last thing I need is another book~
sheesh! ( Why do they always show up in a huge pile on the porch when the husband is home and I am not???)

Yesterday I had to do the magic trick of fitting about 8 books onto already full shelves. I have more coming and fear that the magic will not continue to work.
A friend also returned a stack of books that I had loaned her... darnit! :P

I'm currently reading The History of Love, and I'm loving it!

Message edited by its author, Jun 25, 2009, 6:49am.

Getting an early start on the July Reading Globally Polar Regions theme read with The Coldest March:Scott's Fatal Antarctic Expedition by Susan Soloman.

I just finished Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, it was amazing. I love it so much I got to find his other books, and now I'm thinking of reading The Grapes of Wrath.
I've also started Kafka on the shore by Haruki Murakami. I don't really like this author's style but I got recommendations from so many people I have to try it.

#166: You're right. That's what other people told me to, but I didn't believe them. This one is much more fun so far.

Okay. Finished Mistress of the Art of Death last night.

There is a tone and sense of place that the author, Ariana Franklin establishes and maintains. I really enjoyed the device of using a disembodied voice and an image of the road that leads a group of travelers into town and at the end of the book a different group of people are leaving the town of Cambridge by a Roman road departing for the next town in their travels. It was similar in feeling to having a "stage manager" introduce the players and setting(s) for the scene of the story unfolding and then wrapping it up at the end.

Picked up an ARC The Natural Laws of Good Luck by Ellen Graf that I had abandoned to focus on MOTAOD, for a while. I'm laughing a lot at the insights the author is sharing about her Chinese emigrant husband, and now his daughter from a previous marriage has entered the picture. I love reading this book and laughing at the images she paints with words, of their relationship and the misadventures that they experience together.

Also, hoping to read and finish a couple of shorter books before they must be returned to the library. Alex and Me by Irene M. Pepperburg and Nose Down, Eyes Up by Merrill Markow. Robert, my DH has read it and enjoyed it a lot.

Books rule.

WH

I just started Shanghai Girls by Lisa See. I also am almost finished with the short stories in In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Pakistani author Daniyal Mueenuddin. I love reading books set in other countries!

I'm plugging away at David Copperfield, and also reading The Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay and A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. All are enjoyable, but I'm not sure what possessed me to read three 500+ page books at once...

bell7 -- "possessed" is an accurate term! ;o) Aren't we all?!

#185 bell7 - I've read and listened to the Bryson book and would consider reading it again - I love the way he writes.

I read David Copperfield in high school and so far that's the only Dickens I have ever been able to bring myself to read (except A Christmas Carol). Good luck.

teelgee - LOL, pretty much. I even considered adding a fourth (short) book just to say I'd finished a book this week...

karenmarie - I do enjoy reading and listening to Bill Bryson. As for Dickens, I have a love-hate relationship with him. I loved A Christmas Carol and A Tale of Two Cities. I hated Oliver Twist. So far David Copperfield is slow going plot-wise, but I am enjoying it for the characters (especially his Aunt Trotwood, she's hysterical).

I finished Middlesex yesterday and I'm still reeling. The best way to describe my feelings about that book are to use the title of another book (albeit one that I haven't read), which is A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. It will be some time before I stop ruminating over that marvelous book.

That said, it's challenging to begin a new book. Last night I tried to start Perfect Life by Jessica Shattuck, which is my May ER book. After two chapters I wanted to slap everyone - not a very auspicious beginning. I may pick up something nonfiction by way of a transition from Middlesex.

edited clarify that by "everyone" I mean the characters in the book ;-)

Message edited by its author, Jun 25, 2009, 2:17pm.

jhedlund - I'll second your response. I read it about three years ago and still think about it, particularly all the historical trivia.

jhedlund, Middlesex is definitely in the running for my alltime favorite book. It is brilliant. I hope he publishes another novel soon. I didn't care a lot for The Virgin Suicides.

I loved Middlesex too, but I need to re-read it because it's been a while.

I'm reading Catching Genius by Kristy Kiernan. It's her first book but the second one I'm reading by her. It's interesting so far..

Even more than not caring for The Virgin Suicides, I absolutely hated it. Disgust and loathing. I got rid of it.

But I loved Middlesex. I wonder how many authors I have that situation with - love one book, hate another? Hmm...

I'll join in on the raves for Middlesex. I also read it several years ago but it remains fresh in my head.

I just finished Columbine and was very impressed with it. The why seems about as clear as our understanding of human behavior allows. I also found all of the peripheral chaos and ramifications very interesting. So many mistakes were made, most a function of humans being overwhelmed in crisis situations, some deliberate and wrong coverups. Although, I guess that's human nature as well, just less forgivable. While reading the book was sometimes difficult, it was fascinating and definitely worth it.

The Virgin Suicides is one of those things that works way better adapted - I love Sofia Coppola's movie adaptation but really can't believe the book has got any fans, I thought it was tedious and cold.

Loved! Mistress of the Art of Death on audio book! And Loved! Guernsey! Hope you did too! Trying to read The Art Thief...very cliche so far

#196 My husband is reading The Art Thief right now too and he said pretty much the same thing about it.

I'm sorry if this is not the place for this information, but in case it is acceptable:

I just found about a "Book Club Bash" in Atlanta on July 16. It's free and sounds like a lot of fun for those of you who are in the area.

http://www.decaturbookfestival.com/Commu...

nice... I wonder if I can visit my son in atlanta at that time???

drat it no! I will be working ..
*pouts*

message 79: BBU1 Loved
City of Thieves, also, The Pearl. Both about Russia

Both are great. Try The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Today I started two books, one from the library and one from my TBR shelves. Wisdom's Daughter by India Edghill is a historical novel about Solomon and Sheba. From my TBr shelves I picked An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor. So far I think I am going to like both.

You might enjoy the biography of Daphne Du Maurier called Daphne by Justine Pacardie. Quite insightful.

Well, I now have two books goingThe Elegance of the Hedgehog and The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell. Translated from Swedish. Enjoying them both.

ALL her books are very good. And interesting.

I'm popping in while on vacation and decided that there's no way I could catch up on all the goings-on here - I'm already too far behind! So I'll just say I am thoroughly enjoying Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer. I let it lanquish in the TBR pile for over a year but so glad I dug it out!

#194 snash, Dave Cullen did an author chat a couple of weeks ago and had a lot of insightful things to say regarding Columbine. I think you'll find it interesting.

I finished The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg - not her best, imo - and am now enamored with The English Patient.

Just finished A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin which was incredible, and am halfway through Sarah by Orson Scott Card. Even though I enjoyed Ender's Game, I am not impressed with this.

Practical magic is amazing. Just finished Home Repair by Liz Rosenberg, which I loved loved loved for the balance of humor and pathos. Have my eye on Olive Kittridge. May re-read some Mary Wilkins Freeman and want to revisit Saul Bellow as well-- it's been too long since I read Seize the Day. Amazing book.

I loved the first part of The History of Love, too, so touching and funny and alive, and think it's a perfect stand-alone story, but the second part of it left me cold. Would much rather be reading Allegra Goodman or Liz Rosenberg or Nathan Englander among the newer Jewish novelists.

After my previous dislike of Dickens with The Pickwick Papers I plucked up the courage to have another go, putting part of my previous dislike down to my dearth of classical reading.

Hence I'm half way through Great Expectations that, to date been more enjoyable and definitely not a chore.

As a light aside I'm also breezing through The Wind in the Willows to knock another off my TBR list.

I am going to start Shake the Devil off today. I was on the phone a lot yesterday, so never cracked it. There was a flurry of phone calls last night.. ugh!
I love talking to my friends but its funny how it seems that half the people you know will call the same day, LOL

#193 asked "I wonder how many authors I have that situation with - love one book, hate another? Hmm..."
This is something that intrigues me also. There are a number of books that, if I'd read them first I would never have tried another book by their authors. For example, I loved Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth but haven't liked any of the other 2 books of his that I've read. I loved Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin but didn't think much of The Robber Bride (although it was very well written).

I wonder how many lovely books I'm missing out on because the first book I read by a particular author didn't appeal.

Message edited by its author, Jun 26, 2009, 7:35am.

I received a copy of Between Here and April by Deborah Copaken Kogan and am already halfway through it. Her previous book was a memoir, I believe, about her experiences as a photojournalist. This is a novel, but I may try to find her memoir as well.

Message edited by its author, Jun 26, 2009, 7:53am.

I've gotten a lot of reading in this week waiting for workmen who have yet to show up. I finished reading The Cellist of Sarajevo and then read Buried Alive by Arnold Bennett. Both of these were chosen at this time to fit in with the June theme (the arts) for the Reading Globally group. I then read A Mathematician's Lament by Paul Lockhart and The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford. I am now reading two memoirs. The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan tells the story of how her mother met the financial needs of a family with 10 children by entering hundreds of contests (and winning many) during the 1950s and 1960s. The other memoir is An Area of Darkness by V. S. Naipaul, an account of Naipauls first visit to India in 1961.

Woohoo progress.. (sort of)
finished Team of Rivals which I've been reading off and on since January.

Picking up and putting down Complete Beatrix Potter: 23 Tales, starting A Month of Summer checking it for sex, profanity and violence (for work), and Number One Ladies' Detective Agency (because I find the show on HBO adorable).

#190-195 - It's good to know I don't need to rush out and get The Virgin Suicides. Part of what made Middlesex so special for me was the setting and the culture. I grew up in Northern Michigan, but spent a lot of time in Detroit (particularly during my college years in Ann Arbor). My brother was born in 1967 in a suburb of Detroit (not Grosse Pointe), so there were a lot of family stories about the riots and what Detroit was like then (and before). In fact, my Dad got stuck in their new and yet unoccupied apartment for three days when the riots broke out. He had gone there to paint the nursery and couldn't leave due to the curfews, etc.

Also, I was once in a serious relationship with a Greek Cypriot, so I could appreciate many of the cultural idiosyncracies. In other words, there were multiple points of reference from which I could relate. That combined with the genius of Eugenides' writing and the originality of the subject matter made it unforgettable.

I'm in the middle of Farm City The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter. It's one of those books that makes me think - boy, that would be so great...as long as I didn't have to kill the critters, dig in the dumpsters, or do the hard work, day after day after day.

Finished Twilight. Now, continuing with I did a Bad Thing.

I finished reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. That was such a rich read. It occasionally felt like I was reading a biography. I felt like I had dipped into some truly authentic Afghan culture (not like I would know the difference). I've had the book for about 2 years but I thought it was going to be different than it was. The themes of guilt, redemption, karma - were so well done. I am so glad I finally read this.

Now I am reading Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie.

About typos in books - I think the problem is probably the same as in most workplaces. Less people are expected to do more work. Every company is looking for ways to cut costs. They let people go but expect the people who remain to keep up the same workload that was previously done by so many more. When I was a social worker - the agency I worked for wouldn't replace casemanagers when one would leave. They would just have a meeting and divvy up that person's caseload among the remaining casemanagers. It made me sick. I couldn't really handle the caseload I already had so I was sure that eventually something would happen with someone on my caseload and I wouldn't know it quickly enough to do something about it and I would end up being sued for neglect. I had to dive off that ship.

Message edited by its author, Jun 26, 2009, 12:20pm.

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I finished reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. That was such a rich read. It occasionally felt like I was reading a biography.

Pam,

That was what struck me as well about this book when I first read it. When I heard the author speak, he said that people still don't believe it was not a true story nor that the characters were fictitious, although he consistently denies both.

Since you are not familiar with Afghan (or Muslim) culture, you'll probably also enjoy Kohsseini's second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns. I actually liked his first novel the best because, to me, it was the more original story of the two.

220/221 - I think Kite Runner was the better novel by far. I think Hosseini was able to bring in his own experiences into it, both in pre-1978 Afghanistan and as an American immigrant; and that gave the story some authenticity. He spent a lot of time in Afghanistan as a child and had some kind of interaction with the Hazara. But his family never returned after 1978, instead gaining asylum in the US.

I'm not quite sure exactly what the problem was (for me) with A Thousand Splendid Suns, but it definitely was not from his own experience.

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Daniel,

My problem with A Thousand Splendid Suns was that, being familiar with the Muslim culture, I did not find the originality in his second book that I did in his first. The second book seemed as if it were written for an audience, while the first seemed as if it were a story that poured forth from his heart simply for the telling.

BTW, I wondered what in the world Hosseini was going to come up with to top his first novel. Just to write a second book after The Kite Runner's success must have been quite an intimidating proposition.

If I recall correctly, his afterword implied he had some trouble making the second book work.

That is the experience I had of the book, SqueakyChu - "a story that poured forth from his heart". I think that's why it felt like a biography. So rich.
And to think I finally read this because I looked in CindySprocket's library to see what SHE might want to read next. LOL!

>225 - ah yes, LibraryThing -- it's a blessing. And a curse.

For those who have read The 19th Wife--does it pick up the pace anywhere after the first 50 pages? I'm at page 48 and about ready to apply the 50-page rule. I can't quite get into it, and that boy, Jordan, is just annoying so far. Not that he doesn't have good reason. And the seesawing back and forth between the two stories doesn't make a lick of sense to me.

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And just to prove what an addictive place LT is, I've now had to add Team of Rivals to my currently reading list.

Not being American its all new to me but I couldn't resist the book after thoroughly enjoying Battle Cry of Freedom, probably the best one volume history book I've ever read.

As has been the case this summer, I have two books going: Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card and Cujo by (who else?) Stephen King. I actually hadn't planned on reading Cujo, but I needed a small paperback to bring with while I waited at the doctor's office, and Cujo seemed to jump off my bookshelf into my hand. I've read it before, but it was several years ago, and I had forgotten how much I liked it.

Lost Boys was listed on a bookmark that I picked up at the library (If you like horror novels, you might enjoy...). I'm about 60 pages into it, and it's been moderately engaging so far, although the writing has been less than stellar. The story line is a bit slow, the dialogue and narration are quite bloated and at times irrelevant, and as my creative writing professor might have noted, Card "tells" more than he "shows." I haven't found myself particularly intrigued or emotionally involved with any of the characters, but I'll give it another 40 or 50 pages to see if things pick up. Otherwise, I have plenty of other books that are clamoring to be read!

I read The Wind in the Willows when I was about six. It's bemusing to find adults reading it for the first time. Since I don't have children, I've had no reason to read it again. But, it's been in the back of my mind to do so...

Just finished listening to a Serpent's Tale and am starting on Burning Bright. It too is a recorded book. I liked the Ariana Franklin books. I listened to both of them and liked the reader on Mistress of the Art of Death better than the reader of Serpent's Tale. While both voices were pleasant there were differences in inflection and pronunciation and that was disconcerting. If books are going to be a series then consistency is important. Sound editors should take note of that and make these needed adjustments.

213: QuestingA- First of all, I agree with you about loving one book by an author and disliking the others. It happens! Which of the Ken Follett books did you not like? His early books, starting with Eye of the Needle are top-notch thrillers.
I'm a fan of A Thousand Splendid Suns and I highly recommend it. I agree The Kite Runner has the better story but there is a rich beauty to the follow-up that I really admired. I hope Hosseini will be around a long time!

#220 Good point, JolieLouise.

I know when it comes to the job that I am in much the same boat ~ or, rather, in the sea and going down for the third time. I used to have trouble keeping up with two bosses, now I'm saddled with two more and (to continue the metaphor) am drowning in the work. I can't imagine proofreaders/editors are in much better shape.

#228 Hi, BookMarkMe! I think you will enjoy Team of Rivals. I loved it ~ thought it was brilliant, actually.

And now you've convinced me to add Battle Cry of Freedom to my TBR list.

227: jbleil

The book does go back and forth between the two stories throughout.

With regard to consistancy of audiobook series narration, it depends on who produces the series. The NLS tries studiously to have the same narrator read an entire series, for instance. When this isn't possible, they get the best possible match. So, I'm spoiled. I read The Thirteenth House and Dark Moon Defender, the second and third volumes of Sharon Shin's Twelve Houses series, in NLS recordings, and so was very disorientated to get commercial recordings of the books and find each read by a different narrator. But Listening Library, which does children's and YA books, has consistent narration throughout any given series.

Maybe pressure on other audiobook producers is in order? I mean, if Listening Library can do it, surely others can do it too.

Regarding The Kite Runner, I remember hearing about people in Kabul flying kites after the Taliban were kicked out and not understanding the significance of it. The Kite Runner made everything clear.

#229 coloradogirl14

seemed to jump off my bookshelf into my hand

That happens to me a lot, too. That's why I like having lots of tbr books on my shelves. I never know what mood I'll be in and what book will work.

#232 msf59 - Ken Follett books - After Pillars of the Earth I read A Place Called Freedom, which i found depressing and rather awful. I do hear that he does good thrillers, so maybe I'll give him another go. Thanks for making me re-think this. Also, I want to read the sequal to Pillars.

#164: dchaikin

Thanks, I'm enjoying it so far. I really enjoyed the basic philosophy course I had back in college, which is the main reason I got this book. :)