Author birthdays this week:

22nd:

Dorothy Parker (1893 - 1967)
E. Annie Proulx (1935)
Colm Tóibín (1955)
Ray Bradbury (1920)

23rd:
Edgar Lee Masters (1868 - 1950)

24th:
Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674)
Sir Max Beerbohm (1872 - 1956)
Jean Rhys aka Ella Gwendolyn Rees Williams (1890 - 1979)
A.S. Byatt born Antonia Susan Drabble (1936)
Jorge Luis Borges (1899 - 1986)
Orson Scott Card (1951)

25th:
Bret Harte (1839 - 1902)

26th:
Christopher Isherwood (1904 - 1986)
Barbara Ehrenreich (1941)
Elizabeth Brewster (1922)

27th:
Confucius (551 BC)
Theodore Dreiser (1871 - 1945)
C.S. Forester (1899 - 1966)
Ira Levin (1929 - 2007)
Antonia Fraser (1932)

28th:
Rita Dove (1952)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)
Leo Tolstoy (1828 -.1910),
Bruno Bettelheim (1903 -1990)
Janet Frame (1924 - 2004)
Robertson Davies (1913 - 1995)

Trivia question of the week: Which of these authors became blind from hereditary retinal detachment?

Teelgee: Jorge Luis Borges (1899 - 1986)??

This week I am reading Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks and Songs for the Butcher's Daughter by Peter Manseau

I'm still working through In The Wake Of The Boatman. The first 1/3 took me most of the week, but I've flown through the rest yesterday and today. I should finish tonight or tomorrow. Also listening to the audio of The Strain, which is getting pretty creepy.

Speaking of Borges, I'm reading his El Lenguaje de Buenos Aires (The Language of Buenos Aires). I also happen to be in Buenos Aires and sometimes find myself thinking how cool it is that I'm walking on the same streets he walked. (What can I say, he's one of my favorite authors.)

I'm also reading Tales of the Knights Templar which is fairly entertaining.

I'm still reading Forbidden Bread by Erica Debeljak, which is slow going, and Runaway by Alice Munro, a collection of short stories. I should finish Runaway this week. I plan on starting The Pearl or The Red Pony, both Steinbeck, after that.

kiwiflowa - is that your trivia guess? If so, yes!

I haven't made much progress with Gilead, lots of interruptions the last two days. Hope to finish it this weekend though. Such a quiet read.

I'm reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Started on my Norwegian edition (2 volumes) three days ago, and I've got an English version as well. I may consult it now and then, at least the notes.
Many, many years ago I read The Grapes of Wrath and I loved it.
Some weeks ago I purchased Steinbeck's complete works (Norwegian, 15 volumes), so I assume I'll read much Steinbeck for some time.

#5, chrine
If you're going to read The Pearl or The Red Pony I'd appreciate if you could tell what you think of it (them).

Im still reading Beneath the skin by Nicci French and have just started reading Oliver Sack's The Man who mistook his wife for a hat.

I started on Lucky Jim last night - a few pages in and I already had a 'choke on my cup of tea' moment, which bodes well. Plus continuing with Biblioholism by Tom Raabe. When I've finished that I'll be reading How I Lived a Year on a Pound a Day by Kath Kelly as my shop/too-tired-to-concentrate book. Heaven knows a few tips might come in handy right about now!

I finished A Corpse in the Koryo by James Church. It is the first book in the Inspector O series. It is set in modern day North Korea. I am not sure how I feel about it.

The setting intrigued me, and the writing wasn't bad. But the characterization and story were not so good. I think he was trying to emulate the strangeness of living/working in a rigid dictatorship. The corpse of the title didn't turn up until page 136, and his identity and murder were not even important. There was a lot of wandering around and cryptic comments. Will read the 2nd book and hope it will be better.

I am now starting The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel by Maureen Lindley. It is about a Manchu princess who shames her family and is shipped off to Japan. War happens and she seems to side with the Japanese. It is an ER book and so far is grabbing me.

Double Take which may be the first Catherine Coulter I have read. Or not.
I thought I had read her in the past but couldn't name a book. This one is pretty good. Entertaining and relaxing read. Just what I wanted.

Thanks for the map to the new thread, Ficus!

I finally finished Under Sea, Over Stone and only have two stories left in my "waiting room" book. So the time has come to move on to other things:

I am moving on to The Dark is Rising the sequel to Under Sea, Over Stone. Hope to catch up on the existing group read!

The new "waiting room" book is another collection of SF shorts. This time Nova 2 edited by Harry Harrison.

Message edited by its author, Aug 22, 2009, 8:13am.

You're welcome Teelgee. :)

Still with Lord Jim and Under Orders and probably will be for a few days.

I'll finish my current book, The Trial of Robert Mugabe by Chielo Zona Eze by this afternoon. After that I'll get back to How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall. I'll read one or two other Booker Prize longlisted books over the next five days, probably The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey and, assuming that I receive it soon, Love and Summer by William Trevor.

Have begun William T. Vollmann's Imperial, a vast history of California's Imperial Valley..."the continuum between Mexico and America"..

At 1200 pages this is one I probably should have saved for my Kindle.

Too tired for history books last night, so I started A Free Man of Color and was underwhelmed. Inkheart failed to capture my interest. Oh dear, I thought, after the Liver Spot Leprechaun and the Nose Hair Gnome were through with their disfiguring labors, they reminded the ADD Efreet that I was here.

Fishing the Sloe-Black River to the rescue. The stories are well-constructed and the characters keenly observed. I so enjoyed that collection. It felt patient, somehow, like it was willing to let me come at it in as many different ways as I wanted, and it would still show me its best face.

Liked it. Will read more McCann.

Ellie, your post #285 from the last thread...I am *so* pleased that my spiritual agony could raise a smile on your face. Truly. Now, to be clear, recite the pledge: "I promise to write sparkling, enthusiastic reviews of boring books Richard could never want to read, and eschew reviewing good books he might want to read."

I have only so many eyeblinks left...I must NOT add books to the TBR, and I am too feeble-willed not to when smart young ladies write glowing reviews. So! I can rely on you, then? Of course! Good!

I just finished Babylonne by Catherine Jinks -a YA adventure set in the times of the battles between the French and the Cathars. I liked the history and the fiesty heroine but found the story ending too abrupt. I think that it screams " there will be another book in this story" a little too loud.

I've been taking a little break from from reading for the last couple of days. But today, I need to start Snow Falling on Cedars for book club and either The Assassin's Gate or Lolita.

This week I'm focusing on finishing up The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro. I have no idea what is going on in the book, and am beginning to lose hope that there will be some sort of explanation or resolution. Great writing, as always, but the narrator is so frustrating! I want him to just ask someone what is going on (he's as lost as I am, poor thing) so that I will know the answer, too. But he wouldn't be an Ishiguro narrator if he made things easy for me.

I'm Lynne, Ellie's mum, and this is my first post so I hope you'll be gentle with me.
My home book is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. The short 'chapters' of its epistolary style are keeping me up well after my usual bedtime! My shop book at the moment is To the Baltic with Bob by Griff Rhys Jones. It's one of those easy reads which can be put down quickly when a customer hoves into view and picked up again just as quickly as they depart, hopefully having just bought a book from us. So far no embarrassing laugh-out-loud moments but I'm keeping a wary eye on it - don't want people thinking we're mad!

Welcome back, teelgee. You have been missed by me.

>20 - Bridget770 - I believe you and your book club members are in for a treat in reading Snow Falling on Cedars. It is a lovely, well written book with beautiful characterization(s) and a wonderful sense of place, with the story set there in the Pacific Northwest.

Enjoy reading it!

I'm well into Grave Goods and can't wait to get back to reading it later today.

WH

> #22 - goosegirl -

Welcome, to you. Ellie has a way of adding depth of flavor to this thread when she posts. She must have good genes from somewhere, eh?

Enjoy your time on LT.

Ruth aka womansheart

>18: richard
Will read more McCann

Colum McCann? Then add Let the Great World Spin to your wishlist! I read it this summer via LTER and loved it.

I couldn't agree more with #25 detailmuse on Let the Great World Spin.

I also forgot to mention that The Assassin's Gate was a LT recommendation, so I'm excited to start that one.

I'm bringing Let the Great World Spin and Carpentaria (which I'm reading for the Reading Globally theme read on aboriginal writing) with me for a few days of road trip and a few days of vacation with relatives. Leaving my tome (Joseph and His Brothers) and my subway read (In Fed We Trust) at home. Hope I can find enought time to read.

>23 Thanks WH!! Good to be back.

I finished up Pyramids and have started Mort by Terry Pratchett. I'm enjoying Mort more than Pyramids so far. Gotta love Death!

I finished The Great Santini which I enjoyed but hated the character of Bull. Am starting the advance reader copy of The Coral Thief. So far, so good.

Right now I'm reading Steve Martin's The Pleasure of My Company

Message edited by its author, Aug 22, 2009, 11:11am.

So I finished In The Wake Of The Boatman last night and actually got 100 pages into Time Of My Life by Allison Winn Scotch. So far it is enjoyable and obviously a very quick read.

Well, it turns out I'll start Revolutionary Road instead of The Black Tulip. I had the Dumas book all picked out and put a bookmark in it, but the Richard Yates one just called out to me.

Funny how that touchstone doesn't work.

Message edited by its author, Aug 22, 2009, 11:20am.

Over There: The United States in the Great War, 1917-1918 by Bryon E. Farwell.

I may be reading a little bit less over the coming months. Football season is here! Hurray for spending entire weekends on the couch!

I'm 3/4 of the way through The Little Book by Selden Edwards, of which I had high hopes at the beginning, but which now I am doggedly finishing just to say I read it. It's a time travel book with three generations of grandfather/father/son meeting up in 1897 Vienna. I'll end up giving it probably two and a half stars for what I am learning about Vienna, but some of the twists can be seen pages and pages, if not chapters, ahead, so it's not nearly so clever a book as it thinks it is.

Then I have a dilemma in choosing what's next. On the top of the TBR pile are The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Likeness, and The Hour I First Believed. Any recommendations?

Edited to try to fix touchstones.

Message edited by its author, Aug 22, 2009, 11:44am.

#33 - Revolutionary Road is well-deserving of its masterpiece status. Enjoy.

Welcome to goosegirl!

As for me, I'm still working on My Life in France by Julia Child. I am so far beyond pleased with this book. I've never watched her shows or (horror of horrors for someone who likes to cook) read her cookbooks. I'd always thought of her as this stodgy, uppity old woman who took herself way too seriously. How far from the truth!! Imagine - Julia Child in a titty bar with her husband! She was adventurous, scientific, intensely curious and observant and had a wicked sense of humor. I'm only embarrassed that it's taken me this long to find out.

I also hope to finish A New Earth and Grayson by Lynne Cox this week.

I will post, but can't see it - The system thinks I have somehow blocked myself. Ha, Ha poetic justice.

Welcome Goosegirl, hope you enjoy LT. Ellie is fun we enjoy her company too.

Richard, I am sorry you didn't like A Free Man of Color . I love the series. The first book was a while ago, but I remember enjoying it.

Ape, yes football has returned, and Brady is back ! Go Pats !

Romulan cloaking device, on now :)

#37 So sorry FicusFan and I am glad I can see what you are saying!

When I heard that people were accidentally blocking themselves I was expecting it to happen to me (poetic justice) !

We can see your posts, Ficus ..... somtimes the more the pity because you invariably cause me to add more books to my TBR pile. ;-) Could you start reading a few bad books or less interesting books for a change please? *mutters dark comments at my overflowing shelves)

Hello goosegirl and welcome. I enjoyed The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society when I read it too.

I'm halfway through A Secret Alchemy and am having a grand time with it. It's about a modern day historical researcher inadvertently delving into the mystery surrounding 2 princes in a tower during the War of the Roses.

We've had houseguests for the past few days (my lovely wife's brother and his lovely family; it's been fun) so my reading time's been a bit diminished. Hence, I'm only about halfway through Satchel: the Life and Times of an American Legend, a terrific biography of the great Negro Leagues pitcher, Satchell Paige. I'm learning a heck of a lot about Paige, of course, whose life was amazing, plus about the Negro Leagues themselves, and baseball in Cuba, Mexico and the Dominican Republic in the 30s and 40s. Amazingly, Paige played and starred in all those places. I read with fascination about the mixed-raced team Paige pitched for in Bismark, North Dakota, of all places, at a time when whites and blacks could take the field on the same team in no other place in America. Great biography so far.

Ooh I missed that Goosegirl, I have the Guernsey book to read. Many on LT raved, so once it went into tradepaper I bought it. But now I have to fit it in.

Cameling glad to be seen, and to help find books good homes :) No, please don't wish bad or boring books on me, I am a completist, and will have to slog through.

Engaging the Cloaking Device ....

#40 you wrote: I read with fascination about the mixed-raced team Paige pitched for in Bismark, North Dakota, of all places, at a time when whites and blacks could take the field on the same team in no other place in America.

Having lived near Bismark in my childhood I can relate to your surprise. They were probably playing on frozen ground until July.

Starting Peter Pan today for my classics book club. Also reading Weekends at Bellvue, my Early Reviewers book.

Finished up Through the Maelstrom, Boris Gorbachevsky's memoir of life in the Red Army. It was an absolutely searing portrait of life on the Eastern Front which keep me up reading well after midnight. I feel somewhat exhausted after the experience. After three and half years of fighting the Germans on Russian soil, the horrific revenge taken by Soviet soldiers when they reached Germany made for grim reading. What the Red Army did to the Germans was no worse than what the Wehrmacht did to the Russians. The sad part is that it was no better.

I've decided to start The Angel's Game this weekend.

I finished The Time Traveler's Wife the other day. It was really unique and I think tomorrow I'll go see the movie with my dh. Since the last 2 books I read made me cry, I thought it was time to change things up with Peter and the Starcatchers. which is like a Peter Pan prequel.
SO
whymaggiemay - I'd be interested to know if you like Peter Pan. I don't remember ever reading it and I may try that after I finish this trilogy.

>25, 26 NOOOOOOOOOOOO

It's really a rotten book and you're in cahoots to trick me into reading it! That's it. Whew. No need to add to TBR.

*denial machine fully functioning*

#42> Well, my surprise did not stem from the fact that they had baseball in Bismarck, but that they had integrated baseball in Bismarck. But you were probably kidding.

>46 *blink*

People can go outside in Bismarck? Really? Huh.

Paperbackpirate, I'm about 100 pages into The Time Traveler's Wife. I wonder if anyone has tried to map the characters in a time line. I'm impressed with the author's work on this.

Last week I casually finished My Life as a Fake by Peter Carey - an enjoyable and thoughtful book. Carey is a master storyteller, IMHO. Then I picked up Barefoot Gen, Volume One : A Cartoon History of Hiroshima which was very powerful.* I'm still recovering. If your familiar with Art Spiegelman's Maus series, this is on a similar level and as hauntingly effective. I've post reviews of both books.

Currently I'm reading Waiting for God : The Spiritual Reflections of a Reluctant Atheist by Lawrence Bush. I'm not sure what I expected, but I'm little surprised at how much this has given me to think about. So far it's really well written.

*edited here. I had some unfortunate wording before. Apologies.

Message edited by its author, Aug 22, 2009, 9:45pm.

I finished Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult....pretty good. I started listening to Hard Times by Charles Dickens, continue "Kindling" Beowulf, and reading The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway.

Hey leperdbunny! Your comment made me think of Pulp Fiction. Have you ever seen that movie? I always wondered if it was edited in chronological order if it would be as good.

I'm new on here, so I hope you will understand if I don't get things right. I am just reading (One Child) by ((Torey Hayden)) It is a remarkable story and a real page turner for me. I have just finished ((ken Folletts)) (Pillars of the Earth) quite an epic read, had to renew it to finish it. Two very different books.

I read the Guernsey book some time ago and it took me back to the war years when some young girls and mothers came to my hometown after the Chanel Iles were occupied, and enjoyed the book even the sad bit.

#52 Welcome! I joined not long ago, and I love the website, and the people make great recommendations. I recently finished Pillars of the earth and loved it.

To use the touchstones, hit the bracket keys that are next to the "P" key. That should link it to the books.

Enjoy!

Edited to fix the brackets.

Message edited by its author, Aug 22, 2009, 5:26pm.

I also read (Snow Falling On Cedars) for our book club and it was a great book and led to good discussion .

Thank you Bridget770 will know for next time ,and thank you for the welcome too.

Hello and welcome. I am kind of new myself. I believe (shout out those who have the date) that there will be a group read in 75 book challenge? of Follett's sequel World Without End early 2010.

(My memory at the moment) I know somewhere somewhen :)

I just have to hold off reading it as I picked up a copy last week!

>52 - Use the square brackets to get the touchstones on your message, rather than the normal ones... Welcome by the way - my mum's just joined too (goosegirl - hi Mum!) so you're newbies together!

I just about finished with "Runner" by Thomas Perry....anxious to see how it ends.

#44 PaperbackPirate,
I'm planning to see the movie "The Time Traveller's Wife" next week.
I bought "Peter & the Starcatchers" for my grandaughter...I'll have to borrow it back from her to read sometime.
I'm not sure if I've read the original "Peter Pan", either. I'm familiar with the story from the Disney version (book & movie) and the stage play.

#52 butsendbooks
You mentioned reading/liking "One Child" by Torey Hayden, I have five other titles by her in my LT library, all of which I've read.
Welcome to LT, it's a great place for "book talk".

Message edited by its author, Aug 22, 2009, 5:58pm.

--> 7 kjellika

I plan to read them both. Depending on when I finish my current books, I think I will be finishing them in early Sept. I'll post a quick opinion and link to my review here once I have.

I'm not, personally, a huge Steinbeck fan but a lady in my book club is and she's reading a Steinbeck every month or so as a side read. I enjoy reading and discussing with her so I'm joining her on them when I have time. It's an online group so if you've ever interested in reading one of the ones that I am (I post my upcoming read on my profile - new ones each month at the top of the list), we'd be happy to have your input.

--> 40 rocketjk

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying Satch. I just order it for my husband from this site I heard about on LT this week, The Book Depository, for $13! Yes, I'm bragging. I can't believe I got it for that little. It's a hardcover. My husband had picked up at the B&N and mentioned that he wanted to read it but didn't want to buy the hardcover/pay $26. Then when I learned about the site, I remember to check the book.

Welcome goosegirl (Sid is adorable - I have a rescue pet too (cat)), butsendbooks, & calm!

#58 catgwinn
Did you spot this http://www.librarything.com/groups/autho...

already asking questions. Looks like fun!

I have to put my 2 cents in for all of you that are reading Snow Falling On Cedars, it has stayed with me over many years. A modern classic!
>35: jbleil- What a great dilemma! I too, have The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo & The Likeness sitting high on my tbr, but I did read The Hour I First Believed and I thought it was excellent! It's like Sophie's Choice!Good luck!
>butsendbooks- Welcome aboard! You have found yourself in a very special place! Yes, we are doing a group read on World Without End, starting Jan 15th. Please join us and if you have any questions,send me a message.
I'm well into Await Your Reply and it's been terrific! A good creepy puzzle!

Hey, welcome newbies!

You know, if we could all agree on one particular subject, we could do some serious damage to World political systems. We is a powerhouse!

Just kidding, I think...

#49 DChaikin, you mentioned that you were 'blown away' by a book you read about Hiroshima. So were millions of Japanese, in 1945. Sorry, but I just had to point out the unfortunate phrasing...

Currently reading The Last Child by John Hart, a riveting crime thriller about the relationship between a 13-year-old and a police detective, and missing children that have been abducted. The story takes place in North Carolina, a place I know absolutely nothing about, except for recognizing names like Wilmington. I'm really enjoying the book and would recommend it.

Like, you need another book for your TBR pile...

Right at this very moment August 22, 2009 - 2240H GMT , I have just finished reading The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger .

Five hours from now, I will be going to the cinema and watch the movie version of this novel.

.

>jburg (from last weeks thread)

Thank you, I'm a great fan of arthurian novels and in some ways it's due to them that I went on to read as much as I do.

I only manage to read in three languages: portuguese (my first), english and castellano. I would really love to be able to read any of the "old" languages, latin, hebrew or greek. I started a russian course but unfortunately it ended abruptly...

I finished Impossible by Nancy Werlin in two days. Now I'm reading Washington's Lady by Nancy Moser. Am 220 pages in and never thought the lives of George and Martha would be so interesting.

History is truly coming alive for me. Paul Revere warned that the Brittish were coming and now the minutemen are gathering in strength as the second continental congress gathers to form plans. It seems as natural to type that as saying the Challenger space shuttle exploded killing all on board for example. It's all part of our history but I never connected before with that part of our countries past. What a novel!

reading the briar king as I am a sucker for free books and it was free for kindle on amazon. Its good so far too! I am always happy when free books do not disappoint :)

Welcome to all the new kids!

>48 leperdbunny - I tried to do that when reading The Time Traveler's Wife and finally gave up in frustration since it seemed to be ruining my enjoyment of the story. I just decided to go with the time flow!

#62: morfam - No, I hadn't noticed that. Oh well, subconscious wording...

edited now.

I'm reading Murder Walks the Plank by Carolyn G. Hart, and so far it's a really fun mystery read.

Started The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. Enjoying it.

# 65 Scarpetta, If you want to have more colonial history coming alive, try the movie 1776. It was first a play and then they made it into a movie (with songs). It doesn't have Washington as a character - they talk about him though. Its about the session of the Continental Congress where they sign the Declaration of Independence. I enjoyed it and have the DVD,

Finished Red seas under red skies. Really good.
Started reading Fallen Dragon.

Also still working my way through The collected stories of Arthur C Clarke. Wasn't impressed at first, but it really gets a lot better starting around 1951-1953 / page 350-400.

I've started in the Dutch version of The girl with the dragon tattoo. The beginning is quite slow, but I guess the action is coming now. I like the book and hope to read a lot in it today (and to find out if I want to buy the other two episodes).

Night and Day by Virginia Woolf

Way too many books have been added to my wishlist from this thread. WAy too many.

I too loved Snow Falling on Cedars and gave a copy to my library. When I read someone elses review not too long alo, I wondered if we had read the same book. Odd how perspective can be so very different with the same story..

I am reading another escape book..Riptide. I am so stressed with school starting and 4 new kids coming in... and just all that it takes to get them sorted out .. the first month is typically hellish. As cute as they are, and as much as I love having them, I just don't think that 3 year olds are ready for full days in school.. especially in a classroom that is as rigid as Marcia runs ours.

I need the escape..

I'm still reading Enchantment by Orson Scott Card and should have it done today, well before his birthday.

I finished and really enjoyed Time of My Life, so now I've started The Day the Falls Stood Still in anticipation of the US release Tuesday.

After reading half a mystery book that was so bad that I had to put it down, I have started a wonderful book Aleppo Tales by Haim Sabato. The reason I stuck with the mystery book so long was that I was at a cottage on an island. Lesson learned- always pack more than one book.

On audio this week, I've got A Moveable Feast going. I very much have a love hate relationship with Ernest Hemingway. I want to like him, but more often than not find myself frustrated with him.

In print I'm reading Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. This is religious retellings at it's quirky / funniest. As an example, Jesus who is not yet known as Jesus but as Joshua wants to be a hornball but an angel told him he can't know women and he's too scared of the angel to ask for clarification on what it means to "know" a woman. Instead he buys his friend Biff whores so that Biff can then tell him all about it. Biff frequently asks Joshua if he should kill people too so that he can describe that sin as well. Joshua replies that he's not interested in that sin. As of about 100 pages in this has already become a re-occuring gag.

I just finished The Battle of the Labyrinth and thought it was great! I am now starting The Demigod Files and can't wait to find out how this series ends.

37, FicusFan: Ape, yes football has returned, and Brady is back ! Go Pats !

I've checked the schedule, and our teams meet in week 3 of the regular season. I'd hit the Caps Lock button and type things like "YOU'RE GOING DOWN!" ...but I find it hard to bet against Tom Brady and the Patriots with any amount of confidence. *grumble*

Message edited by its author, Aug 23, 2009, 1:03pm.

82, Ape - Atlanta ? They are much improved with Ryan. I like him. I too believe in TB and the Pats, but sometimes they take a while to get their act together at the start of the season, so you never know. Lucky for Atlanta it should still be warm at the Razor when they come. Good luck (but not too much :) )

Still reading The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel by Maureen Lindley, an ER book. I am enjoying it.

I'm working on my Early Reviewer's book-- Glover's Mistake by Nick Laird.

I wish I could read at work...ho hum.

Summer Boys by Hailey Abbott
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

Returning Locked Rooms by Laurie R. King to the library -- couldn't get into it. Same with A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton.

Message edited by its author, Aug 23, 2009, 1:39pm.

I've finished Revolutionary Road and now I need something fluffy. I don't really want to think. The problem is that I don't really have anything too fluffy in my library. Suggestions?

I started Money late last week and am still reading that. However I also read the first chapter of Midnight's Children yesterday. That will probably be the next book.

sanja - I took the liberty of looking through your To Read collection, and I see you have Girl With a Pearl Earring in there. It's not super "fluffy" but it's not much of a thinker either. I read it a few months ago and loved it!

Finished Baking Cakes in Kigali - and posted my review.

Working on Living Dead in Dallas and The Other Queen this week.

>81.. Renald! You do know The Demigod Files isn't really the next book after The Battle of the Labyrinth right? Its sort of a sequel to the lightening thief series. I never really understood that, like a teaser until the last one came out. The next book is The Last Olympian ... its good! I hope you enjoy it :)

Message edited by its author, Aug 23, 2009, 3:07pm.

(Computer was acting up last night and wouldn't let me post.)

from last thread
258: : I enjoyed City of the Beasts.

268: You know about Project Gutenburg(sp?), right? Marvelous free online library.

283: Touchstones go to the wrong book, just so you know. Is the book you mean set in an inn or pub called The Green Man? I remember hearing a book of that title read on Radio 4's "Book At Bedtime" some twenty-five years ago. I recall finding it enjoyable but spooky and indeed creepy in places, so I wondered if that's the one you mean.

Ooh! Happy Birthday, Mr. Bradbury!

20: I've been meaning to read Snow Falling on Cedars since it came out. Please let us know what you think of it.

Ummm, how does one accidentally block oneself? No, on second thought, don't tell me. If I don't know how, maybe I won't do it. *sigh*

39: Hmmm. Now I wonder who *they* might be. *grin* Is the book pro or anti Richard? If anti, I am not going to read it!

Still plugging away at The Interpretation of Dreams. Also got back to The Portable Jung last night after catching up with my magazines. Ready for the September issues of Analog, Asimov's and The Bible Today, but who knows when they'll turn up. Still love Jung, though he's rather over my head. Still underwhelmed by Freud. Somehow, I don't think that's going to change.

#44 - I'm loving Peter Pan but it's different than I expected. I remember the play/movie being cartoonish in the "fight" scenes. In the book it's much more life like. One of the first things the narrator says is that the "lost boys" has changed over time as they've died (in battle) or grown up. Still it's lots of fun, though I suspect that rabid feminists would be upset at the "mother" Wendy role.

#46 I was kidding, but I had also thought (when I saw you post) that it would not be as strange for a mixed-race game in that area because of the many native american tribes in the area which migh have been fully integrated into the schools. The Sioux and Blackfoot tribes were/are very much in evidence there.

I am reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I loved Snow Falling on Cedars. It felt like a cross between a better version of The Shipping News (which I did not like) and To Kill a Mockingbird. Guterson expertly conveys the spirit of all the characters, relationships, events, etc. That explanation is the best way I can describe it. The setting is an island in the Northwest USA a few years after WWII. The island has a significant Japanese-American population. The characters are intertwined by their long histories together, not necessarily as friends, but the way people who grow up in small towns are intimately familiar with each other, despite how they feel about each other. I was overwhelmed by how the author captured the essence of the town, love, prejudice, war, a snow storm, etc. in very few words.

I am now reading The Assassin's Gate and enjoying it so far. I'm also listening to Me Talk Pretty One Day while I ride my bike. I have almost fallen off a few times because I am laughing so hard.

Edited to correct spelling error.

Message edited by its author, Aug 23, 2009, 6:41pm.

I am reading Hustveldt's What I Loved. It's pretty good so far, but nothing too special.

Midway through The Secret of Lost Things and it's a big "just okay," but I'm traveling right now and it's been an quick and easy terminal/airplane book. Before it, I finished Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, which was excellent and a hard act to follow.

Finished "Runner"

and started "Buckingham Palace Gardens" by Anne Perry

Message edited by its author, Aug 23, 2009, 7:26pm.

#95 David Sedaris does that to me too. He's hysterical.

I just finished Brooklyn by Colm Toibin which was very good and I'm now reading Mudbound by Hillary Jordan.

I just finished {The Help} and started {The Secret History}

I just finished the book "Lock and Key" by Sarah Dessen. Now im reading "Need" by Carrie Jones

After being away from home the last two weeks visiting relatives, I am looking forward to some uninterrupted reading time. I have started Careless In Red by Elizabeth George this afternoon.

>100: suesche -- try the lower case brackets, the square ones, not the squigglies for the touchstones.

I loved The Help, such an excellent book.

I am loving Gilead, much to my surprise. But will have to put it aside to allow myself enough time to read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay for my book group next week. It's a chunkster.

I am reading The Corrections by Jonathan Frantzen. I just finished reading Monster by Walter Dean Myers.

#90: Yes dancingstarfish, I know it's a companion but some friends here on LT told me that it fits nicely between the fourth and the fifth book, thanks for letting me know though :D

To Sanja (Message 86) 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith.

Message edited by its author, Aug 23, 2009, 8:48pm.

I finished Under Orders and am halfway through Lord Jim. I will continue with that and a book of Tolkien's as well - not the trilogy but one about Middle Earth. The book is downstairs and I can't recall the title just now, but I'll put it on here later.

>87: I'm so pleased you're reading Money. I thought I was crazy the whole time I read it. I wish more books were as good.

I started The God of Small Things and it was so... unpleasant for me to read. I understand how other people like it, but I couldn't figure out who the characters were or what was going on, and I didn't have the motive to figure it out.

Picked up On the Road which is not quite as good as I expected it to be. I guess it's famous because it embodies a literary style and a cultural time and place that many of us are familiar with (even if we weren't alive for it). It's okay for now.

Signed,
Picky Reader

>108 aliay - I've started and stopped The God of Small Things at least 3 times and had that same problem. It's frustrating because it is a book that I really should like.

>99 brenzi - Both of those books are recent favorites of mine and I hope you like them.

This week I've started my LTER The Day the Falls Stood Still and am looking forward to getting into it more. In the car I'm listening to Louise Penny's Still Life and wish I had a longer commute.

Still have about 200 pages to go in Pillars...

Message edited by its author, Aug 24, 2009, 12:25am.

Still reading and enjoying The Outlander by Gil Adamson - I hope to get a few hours of blissfully uninterrupted reading time in this evening.

# 91 Catreona,

You don't do anything to block yourself. The system has become confused and I assume takes the block you have applied to another account and applies it to yours. Sorta like Russian Roulette, maybe you block them, maybe you block yourself (just kidding). Tim fixed it, so I am no longer cloaking. :)

I have finished The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel by Maureen Lindley. I enjoyed it. Not sure what to read next.

Message edited by its author, Aug 23, 2009, 11:14pm.

I'm reading The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

Finished The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan. Great story with lots of interesting facts about Niagra Falls thrown in that help propel the story, not bog things down. I believe this is the author's first novel, and she did a great job.

Just started Main Street by Sinclair Lewis.

I decided to read Principles of Angels by Jaine Fenn next. It is a dystopian SF novel.

I finished Alice James: A Biography by Jean Strouse
-- why it took me almost thirty years to get around to reading it is beyond me: wonderful book.

Now I'm reading The Little Book by Selden Edwards.

I am having a very lovely time reading Christopher Isherwood, Christopher and his Kind 1929 - 1939 and Lost years: a memoir 1945 - 1951.

At home I am reading What on Earth Happened?. The book (the hardcover illustrated version) is simply too big to take on the train with me. It is a lovely book, though some of the chapters are more interesting than others (based on my personal preference for certain time periods and locations).

On the train I am reading The Fire by Katherine Neville, the sequel to The Eight as a quick fiction read between all the non-fiction.

Oooh and on Wednesday I get to go to the UK for a day, let's see what I will pick up there!

>102 Delta Queen 50: will be interesting to hear what you think of Careless in Red. Have read all the Elizabeth George books and even though she was kind enough to autograph What Came Before He Shot Her, I couldn't continue reading after a few chapters: it was so real, heart-rending. Then I read the Careless in Red book and had to turn my head around one more time.

Been at a Genealogy Conference for the past 4 days, so I'm still with Paul Doherty's The House of Death. He's so descriptive that I sometimes forget what the plot is all about.

Message edited by its author, Aug 24, 2009, 5:03am.

I finished Biblioholism: The Literary Addiction by Tom Raabe last night, so now I'll be continuing with Lucky Jim (a couple of funny moments but hoping it improves over the chapters) and starting How I Lived a Year on a Pound a Day by Kath Kelly on the side. Oh happy reading!

I am reading the much praised (here on LT) Let the Great World Spin and enjoying it.

Lord Jim is coming along nicely. I read until my brain "freezes" and then i look at something else. I have about 130 pages to go.

I also have to read next The Shaping of Middle Earth, Journal of a Soul and Star Trek Corps of Engineers Wounds. The last one is light reading but fun and I need that when I am reading the others which may be more intense reads - or I just find I need a break from them.

I will make a go of finishing Lord Jim first and interspersing the others as necessary. Lord Jim and two of the others will finish off my 100 Challenge and the other will start a "Beyond Koalamom's 100" or something to that effect so I can just start a brand new 100 or maybe I'll make it 150, is there is such a thing, in January.

i was wondering do you know a website where u can read books online?

Okay, I'm sold; I'll pick up Let the Great World Spin on my next bookstore visit, probably tomorrow.

(A little voice is pleading, "You don't need any more books!" He's right, but I never listen to him.)

I read two short early reviewer novels this weekend, The Trial of Robert Mugabe and The Country Where No One Ever Dies, which were both mediocre. I'll resume reading How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall, which I hope to finish by tomorrow. I'll also read Not Quite What I Was Planning, a collection of six-word memoirs that one of my work partners lent to me last week.

#122 Try these sites:

ManyBooks.net

Project Gutenberg

While painting my daughter's room this weekend, I began War and Peace on audio. Not easy to keep the names straight, but I trust myself to keep the thread, and I keep a hard copy nearby (a nicely illustrated leatherbound tome from 1939 which I got free from a used book store-- weird story) for reference and review. Also reading The Mind Alive by Harry Overstreet.

I'm on a nonfiction kick this week, so I may be reading these awhile:

Singled Out by Virginia Nicholson (Thanks Sybille.Night for mentioning it, it's really interesting)
A Supremely Bad Idea by Luke Dempsey for Early Reviewers and
You Just Don't Understand by Deborah Tannen and interesting sociolinguistic look at the differences between men and women's talk tendencies

ETA: almost forgot to say, I'm listening to Born to Run - wow, 4 nonfiction books at a time is really not like me.

Message edited by its author, Aug 24, 2009, 10:21am.

> 115: I'll be interested in your opinion of The Little Book once you've finished it. Please post if you can

Just finished South of Broad by Conroy, which I loved, & have just started Gaimen's Coraline, for a change of pace.

>108 I am enjoying Money but I have to say that I am finding the interjection of the author into the story a little jarring. I'm trying to remember if I've ever read a book with that device in it.

Message edited by its author, Aug 24, 2009, 11:26am.

I am currently reading Renegade by Richard Wolffe and I am finding it really intriquing and well written. Pretty timely...

Glad to see the praise for The Day The Falls Stood Still. I also read Pride and Prejudice but bought some Cliff notes so I could make sure I was not missing any majoar themes or plot points.

Beggining with The Complete Plays of Sophocles. I'm on a classics kick for now.

Over the weekend I started and finished T.J. English’s amazingly rich and thoroughly documented, Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba…and Then Lost It to The Revolution. A fascinating look at the Mafia in Cuba from the end of WW II to the Communist takeover.

Message edited by its author, Aug 24, 2009, 2:29pm.

Just finished reading Robert B. Parker book Gunman's Rhapsody. Can't say I would recommend it to others, but I did finish reading it so it can't be all bad. However, if you have other westerns on your TBR pile put this one clear at the bottom. There are other better reads out there. Including Parker's Appaloosa and Brimstone.

Since I am on a Western reading binge I started Resolution. I know, I am reading the series out of order, but I didn't know that when I picked up the books.

I'm reading Walden by Henry David Thoreau this week.

I have read all but the last chapter of Pat Buchanan's book Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War. It made sense to me; I'll have to look around the web for criticism of it.

Robert

Tolkien did not write a trilogy. A trilogy is a series of three related stories that follow one another chronologically, like The Bartimeus Trilogy of jonnathan Stroud or the Space Trilogy of C.S. Lewis. Tolkien wrote a novel called The Lord of the Rings, which was published in three volumes over the course of several years. Similarly, Philip Pullman wrote a novel called His Dark Materials, which was published in three volumes over the course of several years.

Message edited by its author, Aug 24, 2009, 5:54pm.

Neil Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors. After devouring William Manchester's The Glory and the Dream, I needed a quick read and these short stories fill the bill nicely!

I'm reading Petals of Blood by Ngugi wa Thiong'o.

#91 Catreona

The Green Man by Kingsley Amis is the one I read. It is set in and inn by the name of the Green Man. The PBS/BBC TV production of it was creepy but I didn't find the book to be as creepy. Perhaps because I had already seen the movie there were no surprises so therefore no creeps! I do recall it was a good book. However, it didn't inspire me to go back and read any more Kingsley Amis. I have had good intentions to do so but somehow just never got around to getting more of his work.

Thanks for the notification about the touchstones. I'll go back and fix it. These in this message are for the correct book.

137, Catreona, Tolkien did not write a trilogy. A trilogy is a series of three related stories that follow one another chronologically, like The Bartimeus Trilogy of jonnathan Stroud or the Space Trilogy of C.S. Lewis. Tolkien wrote a novel called The Lord of the Rings, which was published in three volumes over the course of several years.

If a trilogy is a series of three related stories that follow one another in chronological order, then doesn't that make the three volumes of the Lord of the Rings "novel" a trilogy? It's just semantics really, but I consider any group of 3 books that "follow one another chronologically" a trilogy, whether you call it the Lord of the Rings "novel" or the Lord of the Rings "trilogy."
*shrug*

Message edited by its author, Aug 24, 2009, 6:41pm.

#108 & 109

Several years ago my book discussion group read God of Small Things. What I found out was that some people liked the book and others hated it. There didn't seem to be any in between. I fell into the "liked it" category. I don't generally like magical realism and this book is full of that. I especially liked the word play in the dialogue and in some of the descriptions. The chapter about going to the airport to great the relatives from away was a real hoot and the double meanings in the dialogue I can only describe as luscious. On the downside, I thought the plot was predictable. I was indifferent about the ending but others in my group thought that it ended in the only way it could.

If you don't like this book don't worry, you won't be the only one. Just put it up and go get another book. There are too many really good reads out there to worry about sticking with it in hopes that you will like it. ... eventually. My one caveat to that statement: if you are participating in a book discussion they you had better read the book because there is nothing that will kill a discussion faster than if a participant hasn't read the book.

I am reading "The truth that leads to eternal life." Watch tower bible @ tract society of pennsylvania.

I suffer from Book ADD - I read way too many at a time. Therefore, I'm working on:

Misery by Stephen King
and
Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King

If anyone has read The Dark Tower series, please tell me how it ever caught your interest. I cracked it open, read until page ...100? And I renewed it numerous times, but I still couldn't force myself to read it.

Now, see, I don't think anyone has Book ADD until they read 5 or more simultaneously. I frequently am reading three or four. I'm always reading at least two, one at home and one on the train.

Oops, I suppose I should add what I'm currently reading:

Finished Peter Pan this morning
Finishing up Hide-and-Seek With Angels (about J. M. Barrie)
Just started Weekends at Bellvue
Will start this evening The Last Crossing

Message edited by its author, Aug 24, 2009, 7:14pm.

I was thinking about reading Peter Pan. Maybe I'll try that for the new 1010 challenge for a children's title next year - if I remember.

I am within finishing Lord Jim, but had to push back all the books I listed somewhere above here as a new book just came out and my hold on it at the library came in - 206 Bones. I wasn't expecting this until later in the week, so I thought I had time to make headway into that pile I created, but alas that wasn't meant to be.

I finished Down the Rabbit Hole yesterday. This book is the first in a mystery series. It was one of the choices on my daughter's summer reading list - she is going into 7th grade. The main character is a 13 year old girl. I enjoyed the book very much. It was kind of a modern day Nancy Drew book.

I am now reading The Soloist which was a book my 11th grader had to read over the summer. I like it so far but don't know that Steve Lopez is one of my favorites.

Of course, after reading this thread, I now am almost compelled to go to the TBR shelves and hunt for Snow Falling on Cedars after the glowing reviews here but I think that will have to wait. I still have an ER book to read next.

I'm almost finished The City Of Ember. I'm not a big science fiction fan but I am really enjoying it!

I finished Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon. I'm still sorting out the ending, it's like a strange creepy puzzle but this is a very good novel, written by a very talented writer. I started Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson. This is about deep wreck divers and salvaging a German U-boat off the New Jersey coast. Fascinating stuff!

Message edited by its author, Aug 24, 2009, 9:16pm.

140: Sounds like that's the one I heard read aloud on the BBC. I also recall it as a good book but, like you, have not been injspired to read any more by the author. *shrug* So many books...

I just picked up The Help, by Katheryn Stockett. I'm looking forward to introducing it to my book club next week on The Women's Nest. Reviews have been outstanding!

I have just finished two wonderfully different books. One is YA; the other non-fiction.
"In Search of Mockingbird", by Loretta Ellsworth is just so good, so woven to "To Kill a Mockingbird"...great YA story that even adults will enjoy.
the other N-F book, by Nora Ephron is "I Feel Bad About My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman"....hilarious, hilarious! great pick-me-up read.
So, now, I need another...
Oh, and over the wknd, I read in 2 hours this powerful, motivating, inspirational, fast-paced N-F book called "Orbiting the Giant Hairball" by Gordon MacKenzie. I have already ordered it from Amazon, and shall reread to make my note in the margin!

141: Division into volumes does not a trilogy make. If memory serves, Wuthering Hights was originally published in two volumes. In fact, IIRC it was standard practice in the Nineteenth Century to publish novels in two or three volumes. Does that make Wuthering Heights a douology? I think not. It makes it a novel published in two volumes. Similarly, The Lord of the Rings is a novel as distinct from, say, The space Trilogy. The latter is *not* one continuous story broken into multiple volumes. Rather, it is a series of distinct yet related tales. Not a matter of semantics but of precision.

ARG. Touchstones!

Message edited by its author, Aug 24, 2009, 10:29pm.

I finished The Demigod Files and now I'm reading The Last Olympian, which is the last installment in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series.

Reading The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger at the moment. Should be finished Thursday, at which point I'll begin The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon.

*groan* I just discovered the "wishlist" feature on the book page. In quick succession, I just added two from the last few posts.

I'm in trouble now.

Add a groan for me too, Storee...

Them books keep on multiplying no matter how fast I try to read 'em. Remember, I always remain faithful to one book at a time, until I'm ready to discard it. I don't know how you people manage more than one, although you obviously can do it, from your many posts and your reading lists.

I may have the bare bones of a King horror novel in the works, the one where the books keep coming until they take over my little reading room, then it's the house, sweeping wife, kid and dog aside... and the house swells up and the books are coming out of the doors and windows and chimney, argh! I suffocate under the immense power of the word... and that's all, folks...

Which is a perfectly good way to tell you that I have just been informed that I have twelve books waiting for me at the library, for pick-up.

>156 *evil chortle* Someone else feels my pain...I have over 130 items wishlisted *here*...I shudder to think of the census at Amazon.

>157 morfam...I haven't reached the heights, or depths, or whatever, of needing to pick up 12 books at the liberry yet, but I have five waiting. The reference desk thinks I'm weird because of the kinds of books I check out, but the circ desk ninnies can't abide me. They must interrupt their nasty patron gossip and nail filing to check out my armloads.

Richard

I am obviously am very lucky to have three of the most helpful little dears behind the desks at my library. They are very obliging, and even recognize me at all times...

The little squeals of delight at my selections are also a wonder to behold. I mention that a lot of the books have been recommended by LTers, and they utter titters and more squeals, then off they bumble, back to sewing Cinderella's ballgown, or whatever they do behind closed doors.

I'm just brimming over with goodness this evening, might be due to MNF, even if it is only the pre-season....

#118 HugoReads - I know what you mean about What Came Before He Shot Her but I did manage to get through it. I still haven't quite forgiven her for the With No One As Witness shocker. I am only about 130 pages into Careless In Red and so far am liking it very much, but I do miss Barbara Havers, hopefully she'll be back in the future.

Message edited by its author, Aug 25, 2009, 12:19am.

Oh, Richard ~ I am so sorry you don't have the same kind of wonderful circ desk checkouters (sorry, but I just spent two full minutes trying to think of the word I wanted and just can't and don't want to take all night till I do, so please forgive my made-up word. ;-)

Anyway, as I was saying, or going to say, the folks at the circulation desk at L.A. Central Library are just wonderful! All are readers and, when there's time, we have lovely conversations about this book or that. One of them wrote a book, which I've been meaning to buy but just haven't gotten round to yet. They all remember my name and ask after my bird (I bring my parrot with me sometimes) and go out of their way to help me whenever they can.

Having said that, the only bad experience I ever had was with one (not a regular) who got annoyed at me for having 10 or so books on hold. :)

>159 morf...THIS is goodness? Oh dear.

>161 Storeetllr, when you remember the name of the book, let me know. I like to support librarians of kindly disposition.

Amusing librarian story...I was in to collect a previous batch of requested books, and logged onto their email terminal to get the title of a book I'd completely forgotten.

The site was **blocked**.

Yes, LibraryThing was blocked by my local library because...wait for it...a circ desk worker complained about it! (At least, this is what the ref librarian I like told me.)

It was unblocked "at patron insistence" and I filed a complaint. So far, no word back.

Richard

This is as gooder as it's going to get. I have spent most of the past few hours over at the 'Gathering' site plowing through the discourse 'tween you and Tim.

Hey, War and Peace wasn't as long as the back and forths betwixt you two. I've decided to wait for the movie...

Message edited by its author, Aug 25, 2009, 1:43am.

I finished The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield a few days ago, and is was a delightful read. Clever, well written, with an dark atmosphere. Unfortunately, the beginning was so gripping and led to so high expectactions that the rest of the novel suffered slightly from it, by comparison. That was what stopped me from giving it 5 stars (or would have stopped me, if I actually gave marks, which I don't).

Now I'm 100 pages into The last witchfinder by James Morrow, which is really good so far. Plus the thema is timely, the novel dealing with Newton's science discoveries, and today being the Galileo telescope anniversary (according to Google). Funny thing : the story narrator is supposed to be the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica itself, and I must say that it has a good sense of humour, for such a dry opus.

I have been ignoring that "Wishlist" key - I'm having enough trouble with the "To Read" one! My shelves are starting to slim down a bit in my den but the Friends are having another sale October 10.

And now I am battling with myself as to whether to read a book now or hold it for the 1010 Challenge that starts in January. Oh, well, as mentioned here there is a never ending supply of books. If I need a title for a category all I have to do is find the appropriate thread and someone will suggest something.

I finished Servants of the Map last evening. The book is a series of short stories with intertwined characters, most set in the 1800's. While each was involved in science or naturalist studies, the stories were much more focused on personal longings. One central theme was dealing with loss of family or friend. Although I enjoyed the book I was never enthralled for reasons that I can't quite put my finger on.

I'm reading Ecological Intelligence and, although I just started Guernica, I was only a few pages in when Abby emailed me to say that Hannah Tinti is on Author Chat for another week or so, so I've put that to one side for now and picked up The Good Thief, whish, so far, is going down VERY well.

#114- I struggled with The Dark Tower too- I think too much time passed between reading the first 4 books and then the remainder- it was tough to get through

Found myself still up at 1.00am this morning to finish The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Loved it! Wonderful characters and helped to fill in some gaps in my history knowledge. Got The Winter of Our Discontent by Steinbeck lined up for my bedtime reading tonight. See how it grips me...

>152
Wow, this is such a hidden gem that I had to pull it out and put brackets around Orbiting the Giant Hairball, an absolutely original, quirky little book about creativity by Gordon MacKenzie (now deceased, a former sketch artist at Hallmark). One of my all-time favs.

Currently reading "The Twice Born" by Pauline Gedge and "A Year in the Merde" by Stephen Clarke. The former is kinda heavy ancient Egyptian fiction, while the latter is very light trivial British/French humour :) Hey, I need a way to balance things out sometimes!

I’m about 100 pages into Dan Baum’s Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans, and really like how he’s structured this thing. The book begins in 1965 with Hurricane Betsy and moves forward in plausibly reconstructed scenes derived mostly from long conversations he had with his nine main characters. It’s third person narrative (except for one annoying character), or near third person since Baum quite often takes the liberty of wandering into his subject's picture. Like it, a lot.

The Night of the Mi'raj :
When Nouf ash-Shrawi, the sixteen-year-old daughter of a wealthy Saudi dynasty, disappears from her home in Jeddah just days before her arranged marriage, desert guide Nayir is asked to bring her home.

Not sure about this book but compelled to finish it...

153: At the very least, the Lord of the Rings is a series of separately published books,. If it's a series composed of 3 books, then it sounds like a trilogy to me. But I'm just simple that way. :)

I finished A Secret Alchemy by Emma Darwin and Raven Black by Ann Cleeves and enjoyed both, one being historical alternating with present day fiction and the latter a murder thriller. After the darkness of Raven Black though I needed something really light and am now reading When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris and it's perfect -- exactly what the doctor would have ordered. He is hilarious.

Finally, I finished Lord Jim. Struggled with it and am not sure what I gleaned from it or what is was really about!

Now back to 206 Bones and the rest of the books on my recliner's table.

>169 goosegirl, I hope very much that The Winter of Our Discontent gives you as much pleasure to read as it did me. I have a RL book circle, and it was one of our most popular reads by far. It got *rotten* reviews when it came out, it was such a departure for the author of Tortilla Flat and Grapes of Wrath to write about this kind of character....

No spoilers!

Enjoy, come tell us what you thought soon! (PS--hi to Ellie)

I'm reading 20 Dollars a Gallon,about the impact of the price of oil will have on our lives. Surprise! It's not all doom and gloom, many effects will be positive. Well written and thoughtful, a book all of us should read!

I am reading Immortal by Gillian Shields and Vampire Kisses: the Beginning (first three books in one collection) by Ellen Schreiber

I just finished The Tipping Point and am on to finish Mayflower.

I read the last, short chapter of Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War last night and found a little fault with it, or at least questioned the chapter a little.

Then I picked up The Big Sky by A.B. Guthrie, Jr. I'm 167 pages into it, a lot has happened, and I'm still waiting for it to get started. If a novel is about character, this novel has a peculiar take on the matter. The fellow focused on seems pretty much not to have any character. I'm not being absorbed into 1830's high plains hunting, trading, and trapping, but I will likely finish reading the book.

Robert

morfam - My librarians recognize me at all times as well. This afternoon, on the way to a doctor's appointment, my daughter and I stopped in to pick up the three books they were holding for us. When I walked in, the librarian greeted me by name. As we walked out the door, my daughter said "Did he call you by name before he even saw your card?" I told her that I knew them because I am in there all of the time and they call me about once a week or so to tell me my book is in. She still couldn't get over it and when we got home, she just had to tell everyone how the librarian knew me by name. My oldest told her - "That's because she is in there about two or three times a week!" Of course, I guess it helps that I remember their names as well and always make sure to talk to them if they aren't too busy.

#172--seanlong--I loved Nine Lives too. Which character do you find annoying?

#183--arubabookwoman --At the moment, and I can't exactly put my finger on it as to why, I'm finding the first person voice of Anthony Wells distracting and annoying. That could change though. We'll see.

Message edited by its author, Aug 25, 2009, 8:04pm.

Finished 206 Bones and though I liked the book and it read well and fast, I think the stories are somehow getting similar - that's not quite the word, actually - the plot is similar.

This is 99 in my 100 and I'll round our that challenge with The Shaping of Middle Earth.

156: The Wish List is indeed a devilish feature. And, don't we love it? *grin*

157: Twelve books? Yikes!

174: I'm curious. Would you consider a novel, say Hominids, that was serialized in four consecutive issues of Analog to be a tetrology?

Message edited by its author, Aug 25, 2009, 8:36pm.

186: Nope, but only because I'd never use the word tetrology. =P

Fruits basket and Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

Leaf Storm by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I have a great library too--those of us who do are very lucky. Richard too bad you cannot find another library to go to. Those rude people should not be working there and to block LT!!!!! That's crazy.

Thud by Terry Pratchett. I'm on a Discworld binge right now.

Just thought I'd throw out these tidbits to stir the "series" vs. "multiple volume book" pot:

From Wikipedia: "Although generally known to readers as a trilogy, Tolkien initially intended it as one volume of a two-volume set along with The Silmarillion; however, the publisher decided to omit the second volume and instead released The Lord of the Rings in 1954-55 as three books rather than one, for economic reasons" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of...

Homer's epic poem The Iliad is comprised of numerous "books," though it is considered one body of work. Again, according to Wikipedia:

"Homer did not name the twenty-four books of the Iliad; they were named by the translators. The poems Odyssey and Iliad each comprise an equal number of books." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliad#The_b...

ETA links

Message edited by its author, Aug 25, 2009, 11:55pm.

I started The Devil's Queen, Jeanne Kalogridis' new book late last night and I'm already nearly 200 pages into it! I was sort of hoping I would get through it by Thursday so I could get a review up Friday and at this rate that doesn't seem like it will be a problem at all. We'll see how baby Devourer of Books does tomorrow though, he slept sort of a lot today, which helped.

I'm halfway through Rachel Seiffert's The Dark Room, and really enjoying it.

Still reading Here Be Dragons and listening to The Private Patient; also started Alexandria by Lindsey Davis, the latest mystery starring Marcus Didius Falco et famiglia, which I got from the library the other day & which I KNOW I'm not going to be able to renew.

Message edited by its author, Aug 26, 2009, 2:15am.

cf. message 7

Finished part 1 of East of Eden.
My opinion so far:
Very interesting characters!
An exciting plot.
Marvellous style!
I'm really looking forward to reading the rest (part 2-4) of this rather long novel. I assume I'll finish it in a couple of weeks, as it is a real page-turner.

Message edited by its author, Aug 26, 2009, 3:59am.

>180: cindyp - I loved Mayflower. I think it's one of his best books. He brings the whole experience of building a colony in a new harsh land surrounded by natives whose language and habits are unknown into such detail. You face the fear the colony feels when members keep dying because of disease and the cold, you cheer their triumph and joy when their crops start taking root and growing, and you feel their fear when relations with certain native tribes start to sour. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I have.

I'm just finishing up the last few chapters of When you are engulfed in flames and chuckling all the way. This is really the most perfect book I could have picked to read after the intensity of Raven Black

Yesterday I finished How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall, which was a captivating read, and Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure, which was mildly interesting. Today I'll start on my next Booker Prize longlisted book, Love and Summer by William Trevor.

I am galloping through The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo after a bit of a slow start. Now I know what everyone has been talking about! I can't wait to get The Girl Who Played with Fire!

Just did something that I haven't done in a while, I decided not to read a book because it was just now capturing me and I felt I could. The book was The Shaping of Middle Earth. I may catch some flak, but then maybe not. I will get into a Star Trek novel (or rather set of short stories) called Star Trek: SCE: Wounds.

I am reading Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes. It's a pretty awful book but I paid £7.99 for it in Waterstones so I'm determined to get my money's worth!

198: cameling, I am definitely enjoying it. I find that I cannot put it down! It is interesting to watch the on-again-off again relationship between the colonists and the natives. Also, it's so interesting to watch them try to deal with illness and try to adapt to their cirucmstances. I'm only about half way through, but will finish be Friday probably. Thanks for the encouragement!

#202 - Karen Mason - Your post made me chuckle, but I do sympathize with you, it's so much more satisfying if the book you want to give up on just cost you the trip to the library!

Finally finished Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. It's a story about a village in England who get's a plague and the villagers collectively decide to quarantine themselves to try and stop it spreading to the surrounding villages. It's a very good book and I think it's my favourite novel by Brooks which was her first one to write and the last one I've read. Now it's a waiting game to see if she writes any more books!

In the middle of reading Year of Wonders I read Lucky by Alice Sebold.

Now I'm going to read Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz a YA book.

Message edited by its author, Aug 26, 2009, 7:37pm.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through a delicious historical novel called A Cafe on the Nile by Bartle Bull.

Here's the back cover blurb: "A nation sits on the brink of war, a city is fraught with conspiracy. It's 1935 in East Africa. In Cairo, at the Cataract Cafe, they gather--professional hunter Anton Rider, his estranged wife and her Italian lover, the pampered American twins Bernadette and Harriet Mills, an English lord down on his luck, a German freebooter who has stolen a fortune in silver from the Italian army. Under the knowing eye of the Goan dwarf and cafe proprietor Olivio Alevado, they lay plots and toast alliances. They plan safaris. They gamble with destiny."

I am absolutely in love with this book. It's rich, detailed, beautifully written, and just plain interesting. I'm going to be sad when it ends.

After that it's my ER book Come on Shore and We will Kill and Eat You All by Christina Thompson and a book I've been told is wonderful that I don't really want to read but promised: The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds.

Not to mention that I'm not going to get Uncle Tom's Cabin read in time for my September 13th bookclub meeting.

I finished My Life in France and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'll be writing a review soon. Now I'm going to start Guernica by Dave Boling. I've had it for a couple of months and it's gotten pushed to the side for various reasons, but now is the moment!

I invited my local library clerks to the movies with me. We were chatting about books that had movies coming out this summer, and I said my hubby probably wouldn't go see Time Traveler's Wife with me. Then invited two of the library ladies.
I also intend to invite them to my martini and cupcake birthday party. (** every birthday party needs a theme)

203 -- might I recommend The Wordy Shipmates as a related read? I thought it was great (and funny).

I opened The Universe Before the Big Bang last night. I was afraid that most of the book would be traveling over old ground, but he explained the red shift in terms of the curvature of the universe acknowledging that the Doppler effect was fully explanatory also. There does seem to be something new to me here.

Robert

I'm in the middle of Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now, which is good... but dense. The stream-of-consciousness style was something I thought I was used to, but now I'm not so sure! Still, I'm very interested in the story and hope to finish it soon.

While I have that going on, I'm reading Darcy And Anne by Judith Brocklehurst, a Jane Austen sequel, and Gossip Girl -- the first book in Cecily Von Ziegesar's series. Yep, a little bit of everything for me!

#207 I'm curious about Guernica. Saw an ad voor the book in a magazine and wonder if I would like it.

205: kiwiflowa I loved Year of Wonders also! I"m waiting for Brooks to write a new one also.

208: LOL

I am reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Better late than never. Pretty good so far.

I WILL finish Lamb tonight because I won't take a half-finished book on vacation with me.

I'm taking Dead Until Dark, The Girl with a Pearl Earring and Hearts of Horses on vacation with me. (and maybe Travels with Charley?)

Not to mention a loaded IPod with Chelsea Handler and Sarah Vowell.

I finished Runaway, Alice Munro's collection of short stories about women, set in Canada. I didn't like it very much but I did think about it quite a bit.

I'll be starting Steinbeck's The Red Pony tonight and I am continuing to sporadically finish Forbidden Bread.

I pulled Broken by Kelley Armstrong out of my TBR pile to start. I don't remember much of the first two books and didn't read the third, but I'm hoping it is one where I don't have to know every detail of the past books to understand this one.

I also continue to make my very slow way through Bio of an Ogre and I picked up City of Ember as well to start. Not sure exactly what I'll stick with.

Message edited by its author, Aug 27, 2009, 7:27am.

Finished The Nights Foul Work by Fred Vargas. I have yet been able to put any of her books down once I start reading them. Read this ione in less then 24 hours. Of course my house looks like it. ;-P

I just finished The Devil's Queen, a day before I was hoping to finish it(!), so now I'm going to start on The Forest of Hands and Teeth to clear my palette from historical fiction before starting either The Greatest Knight or The White Queen.

for the first time in my life I'm reading two novels at the same time, which are: The Flame Trees of Thika Memoiries of an African Childhood by Elspeth Huxley and The Associate by John Grisham

I finished Tipping the Velvet tonight. Lesbian/Erotica, historical fiction, coming of age story, character portrait... The book was all of these. There were times when I lost my empathy for the main character, but they were times when she was lost herself. I rode the roller coaster with her and was thrilled as she found herself again. It was a good and daring book. Besides the character study, it was interesting for its historical setting and view of society.

I am still working myself through What on earth happened?. I don't know what makes it feel like work, I do like the book and the writing. I guess that because of it's size I have to read it at home, and I only do that when I am already to tired for everything else. Ah well, almost done there.

I finished The Fire, liked it, but not loved it.

On my trip to the UK yesterday I picked up 10 new books, and immediately started reading one, The Player of Games, the second Culture book....

>205 kiwiflowa - I'm so glad you enjoyed Year of Wonders! I know I'm biased and I always say this, but Eyam is only a few minutes away from here and I have a photograph of the plague cottages stuck in the front of my copy. The selflessness and bravery of what the villagers did is so inspiring and the novel - slightly altered but thoroughly researched - really brought the horror to life for me... I thought Brooks did very well evoking the sense of fear and revulsion that accompanied the first cases, then the steady descent into the numb practicality in which death became commonplace and sorrow hung tangibly over the village like a grey fog. Wonderful.

Just finished Blood Promise which i'd been dying to read since i finished the last book and now i'll be all anxious until Richelle Mead publishes the 5th book *sigh*
Also been reading Company of Liars on the train to Aberystwyth on tuesday and was reading The Complete Polysyllabic Spree on the return journey yesterday, rather enjoying both books despite how different they are.
Might go on another vampire kick tonight if my amazon package arrives soon - i think there was a conspiracy in Aber to prevent me from buying the second Sookie Stackhouse book cos in the Waterstones there i found all the other 8 books but *not* the second one!! what the hell?? so i had to resort to Zonning it last night and taking advantage of the fact my sister has Prime ;)

Another huzza! for Year of Wonders, a great book. Unfortunately I haven't been able to develop enthusiasm for reading any of her subsequent ones. The stories don't seem as intriguing, somehow; I'd be interested to hear what others thought of them.

I finished Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich, another goofy lark with Stephanie Plum, Lula, Ranger, Morelli and the rest. I just started An Abundance of Katherines based on LT recommendations, and so far so good.

>208 Hehe, that is an awesome birthday theme. My birthday *just* passed. I might have to do that next year.

#226 jnwelch - I loved Year of Wonders but I did not like People of the Book much at all. Haven't read March yet.

What I'd really like is to get a copy of her non-fiction Nine Parts of Desire. Haven't successfully bookmooched it yet.

#226 and other Geraldine Brooks readers

I have read Year of Wonders and March by Geraldine Brooks and have People of the Book on my TBR pile. I enjoyed both Year and March but I do have to say that these books are very different in style and content. Usually authors, especially new authors, tend to write and stay with what made them successful, but Brooks went out on a limb and did something totally different with her first two books. March won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and while it was a good book it didn't totally blow me away. I am not all that big of a fan of the current spate of books that are take-off or send offs of characters from a previous work (ala Ahab's Wife and Moby-Dick) but March was a very good book. However, I can say that it is a book that I think about off and on, and a book that makes you return to thinking about it has lots going for it.

Message edited by its author, Aug 27, 2009, 11:49am.

Re: The Geraldine Brooks books

I haven't read Year of Wonders (yet), but I did read March before it won the Pulitzer and really did not care for it. I agree with benitasmad about not being a big fan of take-offs on characters from previous works. I love Little Women so much that I think I resented the additional "back story" added by Brooks's work. And People of the Book? At the time I read it, I think I gave it three stars, which is average for me.

#205 etc. Wow. I *really* disliked Year of Wonders.

Started and finished Black Betty by Walter Mosley.

Yesterday, I found Conroy's latest novel at the library and snatched it...I was very surprised to see it sitting there, as this is his latest novel in awhile..."South of Broad". So far, so good. His language, descriptions, similies, metaphors all just amaze me. Charleston,SC is a beautiful city, but this book makes it even more so.
Yesterday, I also finished a book by two spinsters who live in NYC. It is called "BookEnds". These two ladies have been friends forever. It is an excellent account of a time and age now gone. Their love of the book is overflowing, and they lament the passing of the book as we know it....with pages of papers, hardbound by either leather or whatever today's books are bound with/by. The internet and, esp. Kindle, are beyond them. Quite interesting read.

Somebody farther up in this thread read $20 Per Gallon and thought it was a good book. ( #178 mlanzotti) I would like to add my endorsement. I purchased this book a month ago and it came while I was on vacation. I started reading it and thought it upbeat and insightful. Of course it predicts the demise of Wal-Mart, an event about which I will anticipate and gloat over, but it also has many positive things to say about how the high price of fuel will force us to become better stewards of the world and bring about positive changes, like better health because people will walk and bike more, and the return of the neighborhood to the cities. If you like non-fiction this book is well written, even has end-notes, and as was said it is not gloom and doom. Unless, of course, you love your car more than you love ... .

#226 et al -

I have to weigh in - I loved March! (and I am not necessarily a big Little Women fan). I also really liked Year of Wonders but I don't think it was nearlly as well-written. I haven't read People of the Book yet, but it's on the list . . .

I am currently reading A Midwife Tale, a non-fiction based on the diary of a midwife in the late 1700's - really just starting out, so can't say much about it except that apparently it did win the Pulitzer. May interest those of you who liked Year of Wonders.

HI Delta Queen 50 & HugoReads: I've loved , I think it's my favourite . is certainly a very hard story, especially for those that having read the previous novel already know how it is going to end...
I can't wait for the next Lynley-Havers story!

HI Delta Queen 50 & HugoReads: I've loved Careless in red, I think it's my favourite Elizabeth George novel. What came before he shot her is certainly a very hard story, especially for those that having read the previous novel already know how it is going to end...
I can't wait for the next Lynley-Havers story!

I just finished Over There by Bryon Farwell, and that completes my 50 book challenge for the year. HURRAY! :)

I also loved Year of Wonders, it was the first Brooks I read and thought it superb. I'm a big historical fiction fan anyway and especially that era and subject. March was enjoyable too, I found it compelling and not obnoxious like some of the other spin offs of characters. People of the Book I liked least, though it was also very well written.

jhowell, A Midwife's Tale is one of my alltime favorite books. Ulrich is genius.

I'm dithering a bit right now, being in the middle of two non-fictions (Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America and The Book of Lost Books: An Incomplete History of All the Great Books You'll Never Read--the latter comforts me by only mentioning things I can't add to my TBR pile!). But I think today it's time to sink into a novel, Smoking Poppy, since I've so enjoyed Graham Joyce's work in the past.

I just finished The Soloist by Steve Lopez and am about to begin The Day the Falls Stood Still which is my latest ER book.

(Touchstones won't load - sorry!)

@238 - thats good to know, teelgee - I couldn't remember how it (A Midwife's Tale, that is) ended up on my TBR stack. For all I know, you might have recommended it!

For a moment there, I was afraid you were going to accuse teelgee of addiing books to the pile. I'm sure someone is sneaking stuff onto mine.

just finished my 4th book in three weeks. i just started reading A women worth loving by Jackie Braun

Another 226 et all...

March is the first Brooks novel I read because I am a fan of Little Women. I found the book a bit ho-hum. It wasn't badly written it just did not appeal to me.

People of the Book is the next one I read and I loved it from the first page. I love historical fiction (and this is one of the best) and is also about the three central religions in Europe: Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

Year of Wonders I've just read and I think it's the best one and that it would appeal to a wider audience than the other two.

I just finished A Cafe on the Nile by Bartle Bull and loved it. I'm looking for other books by him, for all you BookMooch members who might be willing to give anyof them up....

Next on tap are two books that are 'required' reading -

The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds for a personal challenge I have with LTer CharlesBoyd

Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All - July ER book by Christina Thompson

I just finished Hard Times by Charles Dickens and loved it! I am now listening to The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb, "kindling" Beowulf, and reading The Cellist of Sarajevo. Good stuff!

Hi elena_g at >236- Careless in Red would not be my favorite. Compared to all previous I found it a bit thin and to wit, knew the ending approximately- which NEVER happened before with any of her books. I adored Elizabeth George until the downfall: agree with DeltaQueen50 here that I haven't yet forgiven her for With No One As Witness. But, as you, am excitedly awaiting the next Lynley just to see how she will be handling his future.

Finished Paul Doherty's The House of Death and found the details of Alexander the Great's court and war campaigns fascinating. But just these details, probably because I am so unfamiliar with the time period, were a distraction. Plus I knew who they were looking for; just couldn't figure how to get there. Probably won't read another of his books unless I find it on the bargain table, where I found this one. It's interesting that I tagged this as "Historical Fiction" instead of "Crime". Needing to move on to something entirely different, I am continuing with Madeleine Albright's The Mighty and The Almighty. Could this be the only book title with a capital T on the word "the" in mid-title....

Message edited by its author, Aug 27, 2009, 5:03pm.

"118 (HugoReads), #160 (DeltaQueen50),
#236 (elena-g)...
I liked "Careless In Read" very much. I think it's a satisfying follow-up to the events in "With No One As Witness" & "What Came Before He Shot Her". I, too, am interested to see what happens with Lynley in future stories.

As to what I'm reading now...just finished
"Buckingham Palace Gardens", and started "We Shall Not Sleep" (both by Anne Perry, BTW).

Message edited by its author, Aug 28, 2009, 5:15pm.

Satre's "No Exit" and starting "Codex" by Lev Goldman (becasue his new book "The Magicians" was taken out.

I finished and posted a review of Cooking With Fernet Branca on my "75-Books Challenge" thread http://www.librarything.com/topic/71381 ini post #208, as well as on the book's page.

It's hilarious, deserved the MAN Booker nomination, and someone, ANYone who knows how to get to actor John Barrowman needs to turn him on to this ASAP! He was the face I put on the English narrator from the get. I swear this is the perfect movie property for him!

I finished The Little Book by Selden Edwards. I enjoyed it but I sometimes felt as though my belief was suspended by a single thread that threatened to break at every turn, and I thought Edwards might have spared me that feeling if he'd been willing to 'open up' and 'explore the dark corners' enough to write an edgier, more 'out there' kind of book -- we were time traveling after all.

From the first page I wondered if I should trust the narrator of the book -- the main character's mother.

And why is it that the 'feminist' breakthroughs came because of that way-too-wonderful main character, a man, after all? This should have been Weezie's book, not Wheeler's, though by the end of the book I was weary of her way-too-wonderful-ness, too.

And isn't it lucky Wheeler showed up to set Sigmund Freud straight? The sessions with Freud were just a plot device that left me confused about the man himself -- I came away feeling he'd been ill-used, dishonored somehow.

At some point, however, I let myself fall under the author's spell and simply enjoyed the ride, but I know I'll continue thinking about it -- the things I enjoyed (such as the trip to 1897 Vienna) as well as the many things that troubled me.

#35, I appreciated your comments about this book.

Next up: Drown by Junot Diaz

Just bouncing through to thank everyone on this week's thread that provided comments regarding Brooks' novels... I have placed a hold on Year of Wonders - now off to finish my current book which is overdue!

Message edited by its author, Aug 27, 2009, 9:45pm.

The weekend is fast approaching and thanks to you LTer's I will be making a trip to Barnes & Noble to purchase The Day the Falls Stood Still. You guys said it was good, and low and behold I got a coupon from Barnes & Noble for a substantial discount. So they sucked me in and I will go make the purchase. However, it is my last purchase from them as a "member." On August 31 I won't be a "member" any longer so won't have those nice discounts with which to purchase books.

Being a member as always bothered me as I intensely dislike the idea of paying a store for the right to purchase things on sale. If a store is going to offer items for sale why not offer them to everybody? Isn't the idea of a sale to get people into the store to purchase the sale item and other items that aren't on sale while they are in the store? I know that by being a "member" I should feel like I belong to an exclusive group. But I don't. I just feel suckered into paying them $25.00 a year to get a 10% better discount than the thundering herd of non-members. Does anybody else feel like this about "memberships" to stores, or am I some sort of odd-ball?

>254 benitastrnad - I hope you like it! I've still got 100 pages or so to go and just love it!

I've never joined up with BN. Like you, I never liked the idea of paying for a discount - although I've been tempted! However, I am on their email list and I get discount coupons every week or so. I probably got one for The Day the Falls Stood Still but I'm not sure since I got it as an ER and didn't pay much attention. I know it was their pick for the week/month or whatever. So anyway, if you sign up to get their emails, you should still get some coupons at least.

Edit to mention that I am a very happy Costco member, however!

Message edited by its author, Aug 27, 2009, 11:27pm.

Of the Geraldine Brooks books, I liked Year of Wonders the most, then March and I thought People of the Book was rather contrived.

I've finished with When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris and for anyone who enjoys humorous memoirs, this is one you should read. He has a wonderful way of turning ordinary moments into something chuckle-worthy.

Also zipped through The House at Riverton by Kate Morton which turned out to be the perfect book for me because I kept remembering snippets of When you are engulfed so I needed a book that didn't require concentration on my part.

Not sure what I'll read next though ... I only have 2 more books in my suitcase (well, 3 if you count one business book, but I never count those since I don't read those for pleasure) and I'm worried that I may finish reading them and have nothing to read on my flight back next week.

Finished both Player of Games and What on Earth Happened? last night (just couldn't sleep before finishing them both). This morning I read Coraline, which was a quick read.

I will start reading Watchmen now, my first graphical novel ever...

>251 Richard, you know John Barrowman is American, right? Well, Scottish American, I think...

Two days ago I finished Satchel: the Life and Times of an American Legend by Larry Tye. It's a biography of the great Negro League and Major League pitcher Satchel Paige. It's a very good book. My review is here: http://www.librarything.com/work/8278736...

Tonight I will start Bringing Tony Home, a collection of stories by Sri Lankan writer Tissa Abeysekara. After reading two baseball books in a row (the novel The Kid from Tomkinsville followed by the Paige bio), I'm looking forward to heading out to another part of the world!

>258 I do indeed, Ellie, it's not his nationality but his sheer ability to make silliness believeable that makes that a perfect vehicle for him. That, and the farting, or at least that's what David Tennant says of him....

Happy birthday, dear, late, lamented Janet Frame!

I reviewed Fishing the Sloe-Black River by Colum McCann as my seventy-first review for the "75-Books Challenge" in my thread. It's also on the book's page. Short version: Some very good storytelling here, and some odd and memorable characters. Recommended.

Message edited by its author, Aug 28, 2009, 12:00pm.

#252 re The Little Book by Selden Edwards: Your points are great! I too was bothered by the fact that Wheeler had so much to say to Sigmund Freud to set him straight, and by the fact that the book was narrated by his mother. Weezie was certainly given short shrift, wasn't she?

Benitasmad: I'm not a "member" at Barnes & Noble for the very reason you state, but I do have a free Border's Rewards card and get lots of coupons via email, and every so often earn $5 off.

I finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo day before yesterday and have picked up The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb. I have to pinch myself for being so lucky as to have such great books two in a row, and all the grandkids coming this weekend to boot!

#254 benitastrnad--I agree with you re. B&N I refuse to pay for a membership to get a discount. So before I even get a coupon and buy anything, I am already in the hole for $25. I like Borders Rewards, its free and lots of coupons. And it annoys me to no end when B&N asks me are you a member and then proceeds to explain why I should be and I just want to slap them!

Finished Ghost Story by Peter Straub..slow going in the beginning, good book not great

Starting The Ninth Life of Louis Drax by Liz Jensen

#254 benitastrnad-- We decided not to renew our B&N card. With the economy we would not be spending enough on books to make it worth our while. Spend more time at the library.

Finished my ER book Death on the River by John Wilson. It is a YA book. The story takes place at the end of the Civil War in Andersonville. It is graphic, so beware. A mature young teen who likes the history of the Civil War would appreciate this book.

Message edited by its author, Aug 28, 2009, 10:03pm.

Will post here because its about the past week.

Geraldine Brooks: I have read her The Year of Wonders and enjoyed it, it was a RL book group read. Didn't love it though. Found the whole discovery of genetic mutations in village that protected them from the disease, and seems to protect from AIDS today, a more interesting story. I have The People of the Book and Nine Parts of Desire still to read.

#245 Karenmarie:
Bartle Bull: I have a book of his Shanghai Station to read. So you might want to check it out and add it to your list. I am interested in Shanghai where Chinese, Japanese, and Russians mixed, so that is why I picked the book up. Sorry not able to give it up. :)

#256 Cameling
I also love David Sedaris. I get his books as audios so I can hear his voice.

I have to read The House at Riverton for a RL book group this month. I have head conflicting things about it. Given its size I hope its something I will enjoy.

# 248 HugoReads
I have read Doherty's Alexander the Great mystery series. As far as I know there are only 3 books. I found his ideas about Alex far-fetched.. The books weren't terrible but they never really caught on.

I too am enjoying the return of Football, though Brady got squashed again last night, so who knows what is going to happen. He could need an amputation and Belichick would say it was just a bump. We shall see.

Will post my books in the new thread.