Author birthdays this week:

August 29th:
Oliver Wendell Holmes (Sr.) (1809 - 1894)
Count Maurice Maeterlinck (1862 - 1949)
Preston Sturges (1898 - 1959)
Sue Harrison (1950)

30th:

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797 - 1851)
Elizabeth Longford (1906 - 2002)

31st:
Théophile Gautier (1811 - 1872)
DuBose Heyward (1885 - 1940)
William Saroyan (1908 - 1981)

September 1st:
Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875 - 1950)
Rosa Guy (1925)
Eugene Field (1850 - 1895)

2nd:
Joseph Roth (1894 - 1939)
Allen Drury (1918 - 1998)

3rd:
Sarah Orne Jewett, (1849 -1909)

4th:
Francois-René de Chateaubriand (1768 - 1848)
Mary Renault (1905 - 1983)
Richard Wright (1908 - 1960)
Joan Delano Aiken (1924 - 2004)


Trivia question: Which of these authors wrote what was considered the first American existential novel?

Well, the person would have to be American, so I'll say Jewett.

I'm reading five books right now--a biography of Dodie Smith, The Luminous Life of Lily Aphrodite (published as The Glimmer Palace in the US), Dead Man Riding (my light reading--a mystery), The Fly on the Wheel (a Virago Modern Classic), and From time out to hard time : young children in the adult criminal justice system

I've just read Go Ask Alice anonymous and A Deadly Secret by Laurie Faria Stolartz. Both were quick reads. Go ask Alice was heart breaking. A deadly secret was a bit ho-hum.

Next up is: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party by M. T. Anderson

Still reading East of Eden. Love it.

I've just read The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie. It was so good.

Yesterday I finished Drown by Junot Diaz and a little book given to me many years ago by a friend, The Story of the Other Wise Man.

Now I'm reading The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly.

Next up: The Tender Land: A Family Love Story by Kathleen Finneran.

It's been a busy old week here and I don't seem to have been doing much reading at all. I've read a fair bit of How I Lived a Year on Just a Pound a Day under the counter at work, but poor old Lucky Jim has been suffering a bit from my unwillingness to get up early enough to read over breakfast, and my utter lethargy every evening! Maybe this week will be better...

>mollygrace- How was Drown? Ever since reading Oscar Wao, I've been trying to snag a copy of his 1st book. I've heard good things.

I barely started Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen, when I was distracted by the Kennedy Tribute that Dan was watching. I watched instead of read.. but so far I am liking it. It is a vine ARC.

I'm just starting Jarhead by Anthony Swofford. I saw the movie years ago and LOVED it, one of my favorites of all time...and I didn't even know it was based on a book until I saw this at the library. I'm very excited about reading it now.

I hope to finish up The Other Queen this upcoming week (if not this weekend) and finally start on Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

I am going to start my next challenge with Journal of a Soul and probably something else as sometimes I can read non-fiction only so far when I need a break and want to read something else for a while.

I'm reading The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford which is hilarious. I love the way she writes. In addition, I'm reading Austerity Britain. Right now, I'm at the part where Kynaston talks about the formation of the National Health Service, which seems particularly appropriate right now.

I'm about halfway through El Delirio de Turing, a novel about cryptography and hackers in Bolivia which is in some ways reminiscent of the work of William Gibson or Neal Stephenson.

I recently started Titus Groan. It has a very unique style, which I'm enjoying, though it does require a certain level of attention.

Good job, teelgee! Love the info.

I'm reading my July ER book, Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All by Christina Thompson. I'm really enjoying the mix of personal memoir and history of New Zealand.

I finished reading Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising yesterday and decided on a change of pace before going on to Greenwitch.

So last night and this morning I read Falcons of Narabedla (an early Marion Zimmer Bradley).

Still not ready for more Susan Cooper so I have just started reading Fairyland by Paul J. McAuley.

I finished Snow Falling on Cedars and loved it. My book club did not feel the same. Most thought it as too slow.

I'm starting The Help this weekend in preparation for the Decatur Book Festival next weekend. I'm also working on Gertrude Bell.

Still on my Pratchett kick with Equal Rites and Night Watch.

Nearing the end of An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, a quite good YA title, and just bought Tracy Kidder's new one, Strength in What Remains. Can't wait! What a writer, and the story sounds compelling.

Last night I finished Say You're One of Them. Each story was more horrific than the last. A very disturbing read. Now on to something lighter: Last Night at the Lobster.

>17 Bridget770
I'm with you on that one - I loved it!
I'm halfway through To the Baltic with Bob by Griff Rhys Jones as my shop read. I can pick it up and put it down without losing track of events but I have to watch out for the unexpected laugh-out-loud bits when there are people browsing.
My home read is The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck. Starting to get into it now but taking longer than usual as I seem to be beaten by tiredness at the end of the day. Need a day off to do some catching up!

Yesterday I finished The Outlander by Gil Adamson, a historical fiction of a woman on the run in the Canadian wilderness from her brother-in-laws for murdering her husband. I enjoyed the plot, the characters and found the historical portrayal of Frank, Alberta and the Frank Slide a great read.

Last night I started Palimpsest by Catherynne Valente - only 55 pages in and liking it so far.

I am about halfway through Money. School started this week and about all I can manage when I get home is the sofa.

I finished The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway. Quite a book! I am starting So Brave, So Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger, and continuing with Beowulf and The Hour I First Believed.

>17 - Bridget770 - I loved Snow also. It is time for a re-read of that one. Slow food, slow reading, slow breathing, slow hand ... many, many, good things in life are slow.

Yesterday I began reading The Good Thief which is a marvelous book with a very distinct sense of place, mood and a very compelling protagonist. The supporting characters are quite distinctive, also. I'm hoping to finish before the end of the Hannah Tinti - Author Chat here on LibraryThing.

I have a couple of other books on the floor by my side of the bed that I have begun reading. Hannah's Dream: A Novel and Going to Bend: A Novel both written by Diane Hammond. Interesting story, characters and some excellent, realistic dialogue.

Off to a good reading week, I'm sure.

womansheart

I have learned through this site that I am a simple man, enjoying the company of friends and fellow book readers. I do not ask for much, the occasional jibe from my mentor, Richard, the lucidity of other fine scribes, who take so much delight in the written word.

So imagine the wonder and excitement I experienced upon receiving an email from an author whose novel I had so enjoyed, that I felt I had to write her. The book was Black Water Rising by Attica Locke, a fine mystery novel, which takes place in Houston, Texas, and has as its hero, a black man. That is far from the life I have led.

It was one of those reads where I felt I should let the author know how much it was appreciated, and enjoyed, both as an education and as a well written novel. So it was a revelation to receive a reply from dear Ms Locke, that she would take the time to pen a beautiful reply, and it brought much joy to an old grouch like me.

As I said, I am a simple man...

Message edited by its author, Aug 29, 2009, 1:26pm.

I'm reading Philippa Gregory's new one, The White Queen. It is better than most of her stuff recently, but still doesn't compare to The Other Boleyn Girl. Also, some of the passages seem strangely familiar, as if I've read them before. Now, I'm not accusing Ms. Gregory of plagiarism, but it is odd.

>#26 - morfam -

Thank you so much for your post about the email from Attica Locke. I can certainly understand your pleasure in getting a personal response from an author that you admire.

I am quite fond of simple men and women. Sometimes we are easy to get along with and pretty easy to please. And, often we are satisfied with lots of things in life that are free or, at least, low cost. I always tell my DH that he got a "cheap date."

An author's time and what she/he does with it does have value and I hope you will enjoy the attention that she gave you by taking the time to write a response.

I wish you many days and nights of joy ... fellow reader and friend ...womansheart aka Ruth

I finished Peter and the Starcatchers this morning which was cute, and next I'll read my er, The Day the Falls Stood Still. Sounds like the other people who have read it liked it.

>2 Nope, no Jewett.

Finished The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. Liked it very much, with a few reservations: Some of the mystery was not hard to figure out. Flavia, was way too smart and worldly for an 11 year old. Other than that it was a captivating read that took the reader to a strongly imagined world and held him there.

Can anybody tell me why mysteries have to run into a series?

Started Dexter Filkins' The Forever War. Well written, interesting but also disheartening.

Message edited by its author, Aug 29, 2009, 4:11pm.

2 and 30> The Country of the Pointed Firs seemed existentialist to me even if it was written before there was, nominally, existentialism, so I thought of Jewett before I read Christiguc's response. But the book was too sweet to be admitted to the canon of the black dressed blase creatures of the left bank, so I am waiting for the "correct" (note the scare quotes) answer.

Robert

ETA: Probably Richard Wright.

Message edited by its author, Aug 29, 2009, 4:26pm.

Robert, yes, Richard Wright is correct. At least according to Wikipedia.

I'm reading my ER book, Che and Fidel. I'm about half way and very much enjoying it. My general sweep of knowledge about them and the revolution is getting filled in immensely. I'm also reading Only Yesterday which is an excellent picture of everyday life in 1920's US.

31, Smiley, Can anybody tell me why mysteries have to run into a series?

I don't know, but I feel the same way with fantasy. Nothing wrong with series, but it'd be nice if there were more stand alone fantasy novels. :(

6: Thanks for reminding me of The Story of the Other Wise Man. I read it some years ago and recall it as utterly charming.

Morfem, lovely post. I'm pleased for you.

Had to start Blood Roses again, having lost my place. It's coming along well now, as is The Interpretation of Dreams. But, I've been tired lately and so reading hasn't been all that easy. *sigh*

First things first: I haven't started my next book yet. It will be This is How by M.J. Hyland , which I'll start tonight. I just finished Disquiet by Julia Leigh for which I posted a review.

I'm surprised that people can really keep together the threads of so many different novels at one time. (I see christiguc is reading five books now. How do you do it?) I tried reading three novels at the same time once, and I mixed up all the characters and plots. If they're very different, e.g., fiction/non-fiction, I can understand it, but 3 novels in print? No, I've realised I'm not able to do that. One print and one spoken word I find doable.

Message edited by its author, Aug 29, 2009, 6:25pm.

Still working on Mort by Terry Pratchett. Should finish it up this week and then I'll be giving Pratchett a break.

I finished The Last Olympian and I thought the whole series was awesome, I know it's not great literature but very entertaining.

I started and I'm liking so far The Time Traveler's Wife. I heard so many good things about this book, I knew I had to read it next.

Finishing up The Angel's Game this evening. I have an over abundance of books to choose from next. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to pick up tomorrow.

Finishing Leaf Storm by Gabriel-Garcia Marquez and still reading The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse.

Message edited by its author, Aug 29, 2009, 7:34pm.

Started on Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey and so far, so good. I'm liking it and wish I had more time to really sink my teeth in this for long stretches.

Finished Rashi's Daughter by Maggie Anton. I like learning about different religions, so I found this book most interesting.

Almost finished Wanting which was short-listed for this years Miles Franklin Award, in Australia.
It's an odd combination of Historical Fiction, drawing parallels between Charles Dickens and John Franklin, the Arctic explorer and Governor of Van Diemen's Land - their "wanting" in their infatuations to what's "wanting" in their characters.

Except that I can rule out quite a number as not American,--and Jewett has been ruled out-- I donʻt see any name very promising for "1st American existential novel".

But giving it a try: my 1st choice is William Saroyan. Dubose Heyward a distant second.

Finishing up the Emperors of Chocolate, and will then move on to finish up Far Appalachia. Then I need to see what the magic bookshelf in the living room offers up next.

45> Roland, see 32 and 33.

Robert

Starting Part Four (The Gates of Ubar) of James Rollins' "Sandstorm".

Hopefully will have it done by Thursday so that I can start the next book I'm going to read when I fly to Albany on Friday, which will most likely be "Separation of Power" by Vince Flynn

I have had no time to post the past week. So I have to catch up.

I finished Principles of Angels by Jaine Fenn. I enjoyed it. A dystopian story set on a domed habitat above a dead planet. Had 2 of my favorite things domes and Angels ( no relation to heaven or religion).

Very amusing allegory of where society is heading. Loved the idea of voting for the death of politicians (probably just after televised executions become old hat). Characters were interesting, story was good if a bit standard. Lite on the explanation of the Angels, but still a fun read.

I read Netherland by Joseph O'Neill
About a European family who come to NYC before 9/11. Their relationship is on the rocks and the event pushed them further apart. Wife takes the son back to England and Dutch husband stays on in NYC.

They were forced out of their loft by the disaster and end up in an odd residential hotel. The husband begins to hang around with the strange people in the hotel once his wife leaves. He also becomes fascinated with his childhood game, Cricket. He spends time with a shady character from Trinidad, a Cricket friend, and spends a lot of time mooning over things, and endlessly talking about the minutiae of Cricket.

Writing is akin to verbal diarrhea, sentence structure should be a criminal offense, lack of focus or coherence. Still it had some redeeming value, but not more than 3 stars worth.

I am now reading The Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri
Set in modern day Bombay its about a poor man, Vishnu, who lives on a landing in an apartment building. He does odd jobs and is the fulcrum of the battle between 2 wives who are waging war against each other for various real and imagined social infractions. Vishnu has become comatose and is dying as the battle of the women rages genteelly around him. He is mentally reliving moments of his life.

Hi rdurick

Thanks.

Curiosity: which title by Wright? (He is "on my TBR" but havenʻt read anything by him except short stories.

I slacked a bit towards the end, but I finished up The Time Traveler's Wife and just started on 1984 by George Orwell today.

50> Roland, I was thinking, I think, of Native Son which I read probably in the early sixties and which may be all that I have read of him.

Robert

I am reading for my entertainment at the moment - Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden

I just finished reading The Broker by John Grisham and just going to start reading The Case For Israel by Alan Dershowitz of whom i read some very good reviews

Thanks, rducrick

Hi, morf!

Susanne Alleyn sent me a message thanking me for praising A Far Better Rest in my posts over the years. The lady deserves praise...she made an anti-Dickenisan enjoy A Tale of Two Cities's elided bits.

She's got the chops, ladies and gents, if you haven't seen her book before now, please go get it and read it. Authors don't live on aetheric connections alone. Bills need to be paid. Support the authors you love with your purchases of their NEW books!

I second Richard's assessment of Susanne Alleyn, though I haven't yet read A Far Better Rest. It's next on my to buy & read list. I have read her mystery series starring Aristide Ravel set in pre- and post-Revolutionary Paris. First two (Treasury of Regrets and Game of Patience) were enjoyable, but the latest (The Chevalier of the Apocalypse, which is the prequel set before the Revolution) is brilliant. Until I read her stuff, I was not a fan of historicals set in or about France. Atmospheric, historically accurate details of Paris at the end of the 18th century, excellent political details and portrayals of the players of the day, real and fictional.

ETA title of latest novel and to try and fix touchstone which WOULD NOT FIX. Aargh.

Message edited by its author, Aug 30, 2009, 12:47am.

I'm currently reading my one book at a time...Woods Burner a debut novel by John Pipkin. It's a beautifully written book about Henry David Thoreau and the fire he accidentally started in the forest of Concord woods, while he was building his cabin at Walden Pond.

Pipkin has taken this incident to develop a fine story of the famous philosopher's lifestyle, largely imaginary I would suppose, and intertwines the event with fictitious characters, who make the novel interesting and unique. I had some doubt when I learned about the novel, but it has been an absolute pleasure so far, and I am confident it will finish strong.

I've noticed that in the majority of my posts, I usually like whatever it is I'm reading, and wonder, how come? But then, after reading recommendations from LTers, and reading reviews and blogs from numerous sites, my mind is probably made up that I'm going to like the book before I've even started it.

After all, when you are reading one book at a time, why would I attempt to read something without any appeal or that has been largely panned by the audience. The warden can read a book overnight, but I need a buggy and a whip to get going. That's why I can look over to the other side of my playroom, and see eleven books that came from the library today, and must be read at a pace of a book every two days.

Ain't gonna happen...He sighs...

Message edited by its author, Aug 30, 2009, 1:08am.

>50 and 52: This is what Wikipedia says about it:

Wright moved to Paris in 1946, and became a permanent American expatriate. In Paris, he became friends with Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. His Existentialist phase was depicted in his second novel, The Outsider (1953), which described an African-American character's involvement with the Communist Party in New York. In the book considered the first American existential novel, Wright warned that the black man had awakened in a disintegrating society not ready to include him.

Message edited by its author, Aug 30, 2009, 2:41am.

I finished Watchmen last night. I loved it, but probably need to read it again to get absolutely everything. It also makes me want to read about the Watchmen too.

I started The Lovely Bones yesterday. It was recommended to me because I liked The Time Traveller's Wife. I am hoping to finish it today.

Taking a break from some of the things I'd been reading and going for some lighter fare: Seeing Me Naked by Liza Palmer.

msf59 - The ten stories in Drown are powerful, unsentimental, sad, funny, moving. Several of the stories are about a family -- told by the younger son -- and I was particularly drawn to those. You are immediately in each story -- sometimes a very uncomfortable place to be, by the way, which is another testament to the quality of the stories. Now I want to read Oscar Wao.

Catreona -- reading The Story of the Other Wise Man after reading Drown was jarring, but I see why so many people love the Van Dyke story.

Last night i started reading Torey Hayden's first novel called Overheard in a dream.

37, qotn: I know a guy who sometimes reads 20-25 books at a time! :O The last time I checked he had about 15-17 books going. I don't know how someone can do that. I'd start getting confused if I tried to read more than 3-4.

>morfam- I heard the author of Woods Burner, on a podcast, awhile back and yes the story sounded very interesting. Glad you are enjoying it.
molly- Thanks I need to track Drown down! It sounds excellent.
I finished Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson. Anyone interested in reading an excellent true adventure story about modern day deep-sea divers and a missing World War II U-boat,this is the baby!
I just started The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. This is a big book for a thriller but it seems to move along at a nice clip!

#49 FicusFan: I couldn't agree more about Netherland. I couldn't understand all the praise.

64 - my mom used to manage 7 and I found that incredible - like you I find it hard to do more than 3 - but if they are different genre, it helps

At the moment I'm sticking to two at a time after years of monogamous reading (virtuous lass that I am, haha). I'm fine keeping them separate but for me the danger is that one book ends up getting read a whole load more than the other so one chain of books hurries onward while the other stagnates. That seems to be ever more true now I'm working in the shop, because a light read is best under the counter and in sleepy evenings, which leaves little energy for anything a bit more consuming of time and effort. Still, I'm trying to be a bit disciplined, plus when winter comes we'll have more time for reading in days off and the quietness of tourist-free Bakewell...

ETA: Random thought: Isn't 'monogamous' a horrible word? Not the meaning, the word itself. Horrible.

Message edited by its author, Aug 30, 2009, 9:53am.

#49, #66 I loved Netherland; in fact, it was one of my favorite books of last year. I found it beautifully written, moving, funny, dead-on accurate about contemporary NYC, and very perceptive about the fragility and complexity of human emotions and relationships. In fact, it prompted me to read other books by Joseph O'Neill.

But differences of opinion are one of the things that make LT so wonderful.

Message edited by its author, Aug 30, 2009, 10:21am.

Ficus & Bridget- I agree with you on Netherland. It is a book I wanted to like more and there was much to admire in it but overall it came up short.
> rebecca- I'm glad it worked for you!

I'm reading The Devil's Company by David Liss. I believe that this is the third in the series about Benjamin Weaver, "thieftaker" or in modern terms, private eye.

#69, Rebecca, There were brief moments that worked, but overall it was just not for me. I am glad you liked it. NY Times thought it was the best book of the year, so there are others who also enjoyed it. You're right the greatness of LT is the vast array of experience and opinions.

Can't say I will read anything else by O'Neill though, but I hope you enjoy.

I have The Devil's Company on my TBR pile. After reading your post above torontoc, I did a search and your right, Benjamin Weaver also appears in A Conspiracy of Paper and A Spectacle of Corruption.

I haven't read any of David Liss' novels... does anyone know if The Devil's Company can be read as a stand alone novel or should I start with A Conspiracy of Paper and work my way through the books chronologically?

Still working on Guernica by Dave Boling. I'm also going to listen to David Sedaris' Barrel Fever this week. I'm very excited because his audios are almost always checked out of the library, but this week I got lucky! I have the dead tree version, but after seeing him read last fall, I'm inspired to listen to him tell the stories in his own voice. If at all possible, it's even funnier that way.

Also, I'll be reading Freddy goes Camping by Walter Brooks to my daughter this week.

#69 Rebecca I very much appreciated your perspective on Netherland. I thought there was a good change that I was missing part of the book because I had never lived in NYC. Your wonderful review of Let the Great World Spin confirmed my thought that people who live in NYC have unique perspective on books set in NYC, even though I loved Let the Great World Spin.

Go Ask Alice is a work of fiction, although it was first believed to be non-fiction. It was written as a "cautionary tale". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Ask_Alic...

I just finished The Day the Falls Stood Still which I absolutely LOVED and that is high praise from someone who is not a fan of the historical romance genre. There was much more to the story, however, then just the romance and the book was full of interesting information about Niagara Falls and hydroelectric power and also contained many interesting photographs as well.

I am now moving on to Unlikely Disciple which was recommended here on LT. I am looking forward to reading it. A friend of my son's recently decided against going to a particular college because you had to sign a covenant in order to be accepted and the covenant was extremely strict. One of the rules had to do with girls/women in boys dorm rooms and the rule included the boys' own mothers!

Hello all, I'm new to the site. Check my profile for my library and all.

Anyways, right now I am working on Stephen Coonts' Deep Black: Arctic Gold. I also have Harry Potter Book 7 I am working on, but that is my day off reader.

I really don't know how long I will last on this Group. My Wish List at the local bookstore gets longer and longer. The latest- morfam's Black Water Rising. That's not even out in paperback over here, but I've put it on the Notify Me list at the store.

Getting more and more into Madeleine Albright's The Mighty and The Almighty albeit rather late in the day, literally and figuratively.

Message edited by its author, Aug 30, 2009, 1:27pm.

As last week ended, I finished Night and Day by Virginia Woolf. Now I am focusing on Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell - my rule is that I should read a book before seeing the movie.

cf. #4
I'm reading Education's End by Anthony T. Kronman.
Interesting. Makes one think.

finished The ninth life of Louis Drax by Liz Jensen... liked it very much

haven't decided if I want to start one from my towering TBR stack or wait until tomorrow and start The Rapture by Liz Jensen... library called it's in just have to go get it..

hmmm.....

I finished The White Queen this morning and have started on Funny in Farsi, mostly for a quick break before I go on to another large historical fiction tome, The Greatest Knight. I'm hoping I can finish Funny in Farsi today, or tomorrow at the latest.

i think ther's a movie on that too...if i am not mistaken..

I've been jumping between a couple of books over the last few days and I've still got two unfinished books from last week which i want to finish along with some library books.
Currently reading
Last Chance
The Hound of the Baskervilles

Unfinished
Company of Liars
The Complete Polysyllabic Spree

Still to read
What I saw and How I lied
Specials

>68 "monogamous" always sounded faintly botanical to me, like something describing a tree or a shrub. Not a pretty set of sounds, though, you're right.

I am midway through White Nights by Ann Cleeves.

I'm reading The Glass Room by Simon Mawer, one of the Booker list books, and really enjoying it. It's set - so far - in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s.

I'm also reading Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther to reduce the unread Virago collection... short, funny, but so frightfully upper-class British that it's making me squirm! (Darling, the garage hand brings the car in the mornings...) The book was originally a series of columns in the Times during WW2.

Finished Careless in Red by Elizabeth George this morning. I have mixed feelings about it. I found it rather dragging until about page 300 when Barbara Havers entered, from there the investigation seem to pick up. I also thought that the story could have been told in 500 pages rather than the over 700 pages it took. But I enjoyed the setting, liked most of the characters, and am looking forward to her next one.

I am now going to start a historical novel, Eagle In The Snow by Wallace Breem from my TBR pile, and from the library, I have Winter of the Wolf Moon, second in a mystery series by Steve Hamilton.

Last week I finished The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, a short novella imagining that Queen Elizabeth II and other Royals are not pleasure readers, and what happens when she is introduced to the concept. Also Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin, a CSI mystery taking place 1170-1171 AD; interesting perspectives on the Crusades and Moslem/Christian/Jewish relations, world of women at the time and Henry II. Also a lighter mystery They Did It With Love by Kate Morgenroth about a mystery book club member working to solve the mystery of another member's murder. Started The Ginseng Hunter by Jeff Talarigo.

#72 and 75, FicusFan and Bridget, Thanks for your nice responses. Bridget, it is true that I have a fondness for books about NYC because I've lived here all my life and love it. Another recent book that really captured a segment of contemporary NYC is Lush Life by Richard Price, but I think that's one that non-New Yorkers really might have a hard time with. And I'm sure people who live in other places have unique perspectives on books set in their areas, too. And I also think that to be really great, a book has to transcend place, no matter how finely that place is represented. I thought Netherland did, but obviously others don't.

# 90 Thanks Rebecca. I have been to NYC often as a visitor, but have only seen the surface.

I read all the raves about Lush Life and suggested it to one of my RL book groups. There is a member who used to live in NYC and she wanted to do it. We have it scheduled for August of 2010. Will be interested to see how us non-NYC-ers will feel about it.

Wow. I started Dan Chaon's Await Your Reply late yesterday, stayed up until 3 a.m. this morning reading, and finished late this afternoon. What a wild ride this book took me on. If I had to recommend only one book as a must read so far this year, it's definitely this. Bloody fantastic. My concern now is that anything I read next will pale in comparison.

Just finished Faces in the Fire by T. L. Hines. This one really surprised me. It was not at all what I expected. I posted a review here if you are interested:
http://www.bookvisions.blogspot.com.
If anyone else has read it, I would like to know what you thought.

Just finished The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. Loved, loved, LOVED it!

Still undecided what to read next.

Finished The Lovely Bones yesterday. Didn't love it, but it was ok. Started Attila the Hun this morning in the train.

I kept reading Le dernier chasseur de sorcières by James Morrow (The last witchcatcher, or something like that in the original english) until last night, when I realised that it just bored me and the characters were getting on my nerve. So disappointing, since I found the beginning tremendously funny. But then I lost interest and the cliches became unnerving (the Native American part was really so "good savage" that it was ridiculous). Plus I can't understand why heroins must always be so stunningly good-looking, even though it really isn't the point of the story (being intelligent is probably not enough for a woman to be the main character of a novel, she must have some REAL important quality that people will care for, like, hum, blue eyes - ok, I'm bitter, rant is over :) )
Add to that more explicit scenes than necessary, and I decided to stop the pensum and kiss the book goodbye. I feel awfully guilty, being one of those that usually keep reading 'til the bitter end.

To follow this defeat, I have Out of Africa, short stories by Alice Munro and The Bottoms, a thriller by Joe R. Lansdale (not sure of the touchstone for this one). I don't know yet which one I'll choose.

I'll resume reading Love and Summer by William Trevor and Blood and Guts: A Short History of Medicine by Roy Porter. After that I'll probably read Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, which is the current favorite to win this year's Booker Prize.

Over the last few days, I've finished Born to Run, Singled Out and A Supremely Bad Idea.

I'm now (still) reading You Just Don't Understand. Yesterday I started The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane - I'm just a chapter in but enjoying it so far - and I started listening to Johnny Tremain (a reread).

I was planning on starting The Greatest Knight this morning, but instead I think I'm going to do a quick reread of The Hunger Games before Catching Fire shows up at my doorstep in a couple of days (I'll break in the middle of The Greatest Knight for Catching Fire, too).

#73 I would read Liss's first novel about Benjamin Weaver first- it gives you more background on his life and relationships.

Devoured & then reviewed The Good Thief. One of the best of the bildungsroman style with a wonderful protagonist and supporting characters.

Link to review:http://www.librarything.com/work/5364148/reviews/42936808

Now, I'm giving my attention to Hannah's Dream, a book my DH really liked and thinks I will like it, too. Wonderful writing and characters that I'm growing quite attached to (or strongly disliking).

Toodles, WH

I finished and reviewed Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All. I really liked it.

I'm now reading a book for a personal challenge with CharlesBoyd called The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds. He and I are each reading a book we wouldn't normally consider reading. He's reading Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut.

It's a fast read so far and almost against my will I'm liking it. What I don't like about it and caused me to say I'd never enjoy it still holds true - it's a book about evangelical Christians. Not being Christian and having a very negative attitude towards evangelicals in particular, it's tough going from that aspect but very well written. I like the narrator, Ninah.

Message edited by its author, Aug 31, 2009, 1:10pm.

I am listening to Born in Death and reading Julie and Julia. Like them both very much so far.

In the middle of Jane Green's Mr. Maybe and Jen Lancaster's Bitter Is The New Black. Both are moving along quite well!

I thought I was going to read Bringing Tony Home straight through. This is a collection of five (I think) longish short stories written by Sri Lankan author Tissa Abeysekara. Reading a collection of short stories straight through is contrary to my normal policy of reading such collections as "between books," collections and anthologies I read one entry at a time between the full length novels and histories I read.

Anyway, Bringing Tony Home looked intriguing enough that I thought I'd just read straight through. The reason I changed my mind about that isn't that the first story, "Bringing Tony Home" isn't good, but that, instead, it was so good that I decided not to rush through the collection after all. So onto the "between books" stack it goes instead.

I've read over some of the LT reviews of this book/story, and it seems that some readers are put off by Abeysekara's extensive descriptions of both natural and man-made surroundings during this tale. For me, however, those descriptions came to mean as much to the tale as the storyline itself. In this story, form is truly function, and because the tale is so much one of the narrator's memory, the surroundings being recalled really help the entire reverie take shape and take on a life of its own. The storyline, which centers around a young boy's trip to retrieve the family dog left behind in a move, is extremely touching in and off itself, but it is the entirety of the remembered experience that really makes this story live and breathe.

At any rate, I'll look forward to reading the rest of these stories one by one between other books in the near future.

I haven't decided what book to take up next, but for now I'm spending time with some of my other "between books." Today I'm reading the short story, "Jean Gourdon's Four Days" by Emile Zola as found in a lovely old collection, published in 1910, called International Short Stories (Vol. III - French).

Finished Waiting for God : The Spiritual Explorations of a Reluctant Atheist by Lawrence Bush. This book had, for me, some amazing ideas in the first 30 or so pages that I'm still thinking about. But the rest was only mildly interesting.

Now reading Stories in Stone : Travels Through Urban Geology by David B. Williams, an Early Reviewer. I've only read a little, but his section on brownstone was quite interesting (see, for example, Brooklyn).

I'm also looking at the pictures in (but not actually reading) Earth from Space : Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum by Andrew K. Johnston. All satellite photos, some fascinating stuff if that kind of thing interests you.

I just got a notice that Amazon is shipping me Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, the sequel to The Hunger Games. I suspect that a lot of LTers who didn't get advance review copies will be reading that book in the coming days.

Halfway through A.S. Byatt's accomplished novel, The Children's Book. How do they keep so many characters and notions in the air at once?

I'm now about 100 pages into The Eyre Affair. A Bronte obsessed friend has been raving about the series for years and I'm in need of a fun read after making it through Cortazar's Hopscotch, so I ran out and got a copy. It's much more plot-driven than most of what I've been reading this summer (Ulysses, I'm looking at you), which makes for a relaxing change of pace.

I'm reading The Guernsey literary and potato peel pie society. Enjoying it, but not really my genre. A little bit too cozy...

#26 Morfam

So happy to hear that you got a reply from an author. I have a friend who writes to authors to let them know if he has enjoyed a book and asks them if they will sign a book if he sends them the book and a prepaid mailing envelope to return it. He says that rarely is he refused. And he has several signed copies of books with some rare signatures. (Has one signed by Joseph Heller!) Authors on the whole are a gracious bunch.

#73 lkernagh

I read Coffee Trader by David Liss. It is not part of a series about Benjamin Weaver. It is set in Amsterdam in the 1600's and is about the beginnings of the stock market. For me it was very timely because the author did a good job of explaining the history of the development of the stock markets, the futures markets, selling short, etc., since I was reading it last fall when the financial world was starting its swift crumble. This book is not a part of any series that I know of.

I started reading a young adult novel Hattie Big Sky this weekend because I finished reading Zorro by Isabel Allende. I also finished reading Blue Highways yesterday and I have to say that I loved this book. Even though it was first published back in 1982, for a book that I purchased twice I found it just as interesting and remarkable today as it must have been back then. I first purchased this book back in the late 1980's then put it in a box of books at a garage sale because I had to move and was tired of lugging boxes of books around. Then I found it again in a used book store when it was screaming at me to pull it from the shelf and purchase it. It was very interesting to see what has changed along the highways and byways of this country and what has remained the same. I am glad that I finally took the time to read it. I have two other of his books on my TBR shelves and perhaps need to get them down and read them right now.

I had laid aside Well and the Mine but picked it up last night and started reading it in earnest.

In addition to reading Journal of a Soul, I also started The 13th Warrior (or Eaters of the dead as the touchstone prefers to call it). I had to sit a a couple of waiting rooms today and my paperback copy of "Warrior" was lighter to carry and fit better in my purse than did the hardback of "Journal".

#112 benitastrnad - thank you for the comment regarding David Liss and Coffee Trader - it would appear that I definitely have a new author to start reading!

#100 torontoc - I have taken your advice and placed a hold at my local library for A Conspiracy of Paper to better understand Benjamin Weaver's character. Thanks for responding!

#108 Muzzorola - your comment is actually one of the reasons why I ended up abandoning The Children's Book - That and the indepth ramblings of the characters - I really think I need to be secluded on a deserted island with zero distractions if I were to make it through Byatt's latest book. I wish you the best of luck :)

I have finished Palimpsest by Catherynne Valente - an interesting, descriptively poetic story about a fictitious city the residents of the city and the 'immigrants'. I did a quick read of Jon Paul Fiorentino's quirky novel Stripmalling, part graphic novel, part retro 80's satirical examination of a writer trying to make it in the literary world while experiencing a mid-life crisis, while still finding time to poke fun at big box corporations.... a difficult story to try and explain but a fun romp all the same!

Currently reading Never Sleep with a Suspect on Gabriola Island, by Sandy Frances Duncan and George Szanto, a new mystery series set in my neck of the woods, islands off the coast of British Columbia and Washington State. I have passed the half-way mark and will be up late tonight with this page-turner....

Edited to try and fix touchstones....

Message edited by its author, Aug 31, 2009, 8:10pm.

I'm about halfway through The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday by Neil MacFarquhar. It is a really interesting look at the Middle East by an American journalist who grew up in Libya and has spent nearly all of his adult life living in the region. He offers insight into how people of different Middle Eastern cultures view themselves, their countries, Islam, and the West through conversations, stories, and anecdotes.

I'm also listening to The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell. Part history lesson, part comedy routine about the colonists of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

I am reading A Canticle for Leibowitz on the advice of someone who described the book as 'Life Changing'. I am about half way through the book. Unfortuately, so far, I still have the same life I started with.

I finished Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom on the treadmill at work. I started Miracle on the Mountain by Mike and Mary Couillard.

Finished Night Watch. Its now my favorite Pratchett book! I'm still reading Equal Rites and I started today on the first book in the Vampirates series Demons of the Ocean. The second book I borrowed so I really need to finish it so I can give it back, but Pratchett's books have me hooked right now and its hard to tear myself away from them.

My first posting on this thread as I only recently discovered the site. I was so pleased to read in #113 benitastrnad about Blue Highways which my husband and I read last summer. We had taken it with us on our trip across the US on Route 66 and I had no idea how apropos it was when I packed it into my suitcase. I can't wait to read Prairy Erth also by William Least Heat-Moon which is also here on my shelf. The book is an in-depth exploration of an area of Kansas and my husband assures me that it is a good read.

I have just finished reading Tara Road by Maeve Binchy and Young Bess by Margaret Irwin. I tend to read two books at a time because the hardbacks are easier to read downstairs at the kitchen table and the softbacks are better for bedtime reading.

My next choice for downstairs is Far from the Madding Crowd and the other will be Captive Princess which takes up where Young Bess left off.

You may notice that I tend to read books which are not currently best-sellers and that is because I used to be unable to pass a garage sale or church bazaar. I have had to wean myself from the habit though as I have more books now than I could possibly read in the rest of my life. It was a very painful process.

"You may notice that I tend to read books which are not currently best-sellers and that is because I used to be unable to pass a garage sale or church bazaar. I have had to wean myself from the habit though as I have more books now than I could possibly read in the rest of my life. It was a very painful process.

I'm in that boat, too, except for the "weaning away" part. I read Far from the Madding Crowd about 10 years ago and liked it a lot.

Started my First Carol O'Connell Killing Critics. Pretty good mystery.

Message edited by its author, Aug 31, 2009, 10:05pm.

We now have a new computer at the office, but there's a new desk that's due to be installed this week. In the meantime, I'll probably finish Common Sense and Other Writings. And very possibly that large triangular mohair shawl I'm knitting from a pattern that really would be better for a second triangular shawl.

I finished What Does Somebody Have to do to Get a Job Around Here? and I think it's a must-read for anybody who's been suffering through a slow economy (read: many of us). The writer was a hiring manager and has a lot of insight into why some people don't get hired for the jobs they qualify for. I have yet to test these tips out in the real world, but I will definitely remember them in the months to come!

I got excited reading about Tracy Kidder's new book in the New York Times book review and instead of waiting for it from the library I picked up one of his older books, Home Town, instead. I cannot tell you how perfect Home Town is for me-- I love Kidder's style, his subject, AND his topic. Northampton is one of my favorite little towns, and I'm interested in Smith College.

Message edited by its author, Sep 1, 2009, 12:00am.

#117, rhansen, I wouldn't say A Canticle for Leibowitz was life changing for me, but it did make me think, especially after I had finished it. And it changed my life in so far that I have discovered a world of SF that is not all galactic battles and evil aliens! I do recommend the book, I loved it (I read it because Anathem, which I loved, was supposedly a rip off of Canticle...).

I finished The Universe Before the Big Bang last night. It was over my head. That's okay, but I can't talk about it. I have The Big Sky underway, but I may try to dig out something in non-fiction for the rest of the night.

Robert

Reading several books at the moment:
The Road to Avalon by Joan Wolf: This is a different, more realistic take on Authurian legend focusing more on characters and their relationships.
The King's Shadow by Elizabeth Alder: I read this in middle school and really enjoyed it so when I came across in in a book sale recently, I picked it up. Unforunately, reading it now has been a big disappointment. The main character doesn't do much except narrate the historical events happening around him. More than half-way through and I don't expect much improvement.

Started:
The Princess and the Goblin by Georgy MacDonald: Only a couple of chapters in but MacDonald's narration is really throwing me off.
The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley: Read this several years ago but I'm seem to be on a British historical fiction/myth kick and McKinley is one of my favorite authors.

On Hiatus:
Eleanor and Franklin by Joseph Lash: Nonfiction takes me forever to get through but I do like this book so far. It paints an excellent picture of the times and evolution of Eleanor Roosevelt.
The Obituary Arrives at Two O'Clock by Shizuko Natsuki: Not interesting like I thought it would be. Will finish eventually.

Well I unexpectedly had to go to hospital in the middle of work on Monday, had surgery, discharged today (Tuesday) and now have the rest of the week off - LOADS of reading in store for me I think this week. So I have two books to read for the global reading challenge for September The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon by Richard Zimler and A History of the Siege of Lisbon by Jose Saramago I might break those up with a YA novel, The disreputable history of Frankie Landau-Banks by Emily Lockhart.

kiwiflowa...oh oh! That sounds omnibus...I hope you're all better now (said with a screechy falsetto).

The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon was a real treat for me when I read it a few years ago, it let me submerge in a culture and lifeway long gone and really *feel* it with the characters. Hope you'll feel similar pleasure.

Ivy: The Life of I. Compton-Burnett made it home from the liberry with me. I abhor and detest the woman's writing, I think it's accurate and horribly insulting to call her the English Hemingway, and I couldn't resist checking this massive tome out so I can shop around for nasty secrets to barb future insults to her work with.

White Nights by Ann Cleeves was a letdown, but not a disappointment.

Finished reading Hannah's Dream minutes ago and wanted to post right away.

This book is full of wonderful stories, many layered, easy to follow. The characters are interesting, appealing (or, not) and believable. There is laughter and a few tears. Animal lovers will enjoy this book, as a wonderful elephant, named Hannah is it's centerpiece and all the human characters lives revolve around hers. (Kath, not to worry, if you know what I mean). Uplifting ending ... dreams do come true.

It has been great finding, through my DH, an author whose books are new to me, Diane Hammond. She is a writer who makes reading so effortless that I floated through her book with the utmost pleasure.

Highly recommend this one. Four and a half stars - **** 1/2.

womansheart

Message edited by its author, Sep 1, 2009, 2:33am.

#120 Welcome, Jellylava!

If you're like most of us here on LT, you will start lamenting all the new books you hear about and then add on to your TBR list/pile - no matter how many you already have in hand, you won't be able to resist.

It's a nice problem to have.

My name is Mark and I have that problem too...quietly sits back down.
Big wave to Karen & Ruth!

Just finished The Simulacra, which I didn't like much.

Actually tackling Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things and then moving on to a few big fat computer books to get ready for a few projects I've got in mind.

I might read Children of the Mind at the beach next weekend though :-D

I thoroughly enjoyed Jacqueline Kelly's book for children of all ages, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, and I was deeply moved by Kathleen Finneran's The Tender Land: A Family Love Story -- tender indeed.

Now I'm off to the 1920s with The Green Hat by Michael Arlen.

120 - welcome to our group - I rarely post a new book here and usually feel out of place, sort of, if you know what I mean, but what that usually does is add to my To Read collection, which means that in my lifetime I will never run out of things to read, I just don't read them when everyone else is. It's like that Mary Tyler Moore show when she first gets to Minneapolis and Lou Grant is asking her questions and she always answers the previous question after he asks his next one.

I finished the most remarkable Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay last night.

Will now return to my regularly scheduled program of finishing Gilead.

I finished Attila the Hun on the train this afternoon, and will now delve into Bad Science... I guess this is a non-fiction week for me...

Today I'm reading Catching Fire! Now off to ignore the computer for a few hundred pages...

First of all I want to thank all of you who replied to my post last week about the membership at Barnes & Noble. Last night was the end of my yearly membership with them and I did not renew. As I said I abhor the practice and decided I was not going to participate in it anymore. Besides I led me to buy way more books than I needed. This should force some economy on my very book larcenous soul.

#120 Jellylava

Welcome. There are many other LTer's who have the same problem as you do. I am going to warn you right now that joining this group won't help you. It will only add lists of books, or in my case, the books themselves to the contents of your place of abode. If you don't go out and acquire the books through purchase you will be making many trips to your local library where you can get the books at the price of a library card.

If you have questions about this group or about LT don't hesitate to ask. Somebody will jump in with the answer.

#126 rdurick

I am wading through the book Trouble with Physics and find it above my head most of the time but I keep plugging away at it because every-so-often a light comes on and I have an ah-ha moment. I think this kind of book stretches a reader and even if you don't understand all of it the very process of reading it will cause you to make connections that you never would make without the small bits and pieces of knowledge you found inside the covers of that book.

#136 teelgee

I read Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay soon after it came out. It was a selection for the reading group to which I belong. The best part of the book was the first part in which the author incorporated the Golem story. I will confess that I wasn't that enamoured with the book but it seems to have been widely read. It was a very long book and I thought the ending of the book was hurried and almost like a "lets get it over with" kind of writing style.

>141 -- benitastrnad -- I pretty much loved the whole book; I did feel the ending bogged down, actually - I thought it could have ended about 50 pages earlier. I just thought it was so fascinating and well written and such an interesting look at the comic book industry, which I had given very little thought to. Good to hear your thoughts. I also read it for a group but then ended up not able to attend the meeting, so I'm curious what the others thought of it.

140> benitastrnad, yeah, that's why I do that from time to time. If the book is too far over my head, it does me no good, but a little bit can stretch things and hint at things that I might get in another context. I liked Trouble with Physics; he would say that the author of The Universe Before the Big Bang can't test his assertions -- I can only sit back and watch.

I was unwilling to move into a fictional world last night, so rather than pick up The Big Sky I got a good start on The Myth of Evil. It is pinning down some stuff that I have needed to have pinned down. I am looking forward to finishing this book.

When I came to a chapter break in the hard book I turned to Blondie: the Bumstead Family History. I finished it and turned out the light.

Robert

I just started yesterday A Certain Justice by P.D. James-so far, so good. I feel this one is moving along a lot faster than the last one of hers I read, which is a positive thing for sure.

I haven't actually finished a book in about two weeks- I was reading Behind The Scenes at the Museum and Fragile Things at the same time and for some reason it wasn't working. I usually have two or three books going at the same time, but for some reason these two together seemed to drain me, even though I liked them both. I did get sidetracked by the stack of magazines I bought (yea! Martha Stewart's Halloween issue is out!), but I'm going to blame it on the extreme heat.
I have moved on to Coraline and I'm concentrating on just finishing that.

128: Holy smokes! I hope you feel better soon!

Sunday night I decided to start at the beginning and read all seven Harry Potter books in a continuous stream. Not at all sure I'll make it, or even why I thought of trying, but it's sort of fun.

#128> I, too, read and very much enjoyed The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon a few years back.

As for me, I am still wandering happily through my "between books." Today I am reading Faulkner's short story "Spotted Horses" as found in the short story collection Stories, British and American.

Message edited by its author, Sep 1, 2009, 6:13pm.

#145 mstrust

I bought the Halloween issue last night! I love that magazine. So instead of reading a book last night I read that magazine. Gosh! I love that costume on the cover. Makes me want to get my Medusa costume out of the closet and think about make-up and a new costume! Great ideas for cocktails. Or as she said Shocktails!

O.K. Fantastical scheme for book publishers on the continent and elsewhere in the reading world to make sure their books are being read by readers everywhere.

With me so far?

They find a site such as 'What are you reading now', filled with eager beaver readers of all ages, likes and dislikes, smart or 'not-so-smart'(I have trouble with elevator buttons), five book-a-week readers or one a month. The publishers and bookshop chain owners insert their inside people on to the site to keep pushing books of all types; fiction and non-fiction, recommending as many of them as possible so that readers will continue to build their TBR stacks to mountainous heights, and ensure a steady supply of consumers, rushing out to obtain those books by any means...

and then...and then...

Which is a rather convoluted way of bringing to your notice yet another book that has to be read, which I finished almost in one sitting. Marcus Sakey's latest, The Amateurs. This guy can do no wrong, in my opinion. I have read everything he has written, and am convinced he is the best there is in the crime novel genre. Sakey is the author of Good People,
The Blade Itself, both being developed for feature movies, and I admire him for the way he can take ordinary people, and put them into situations that have you wishing, with baited breath, that they had never ventured into.

His stories are always believable, with twists and turns that come at the most unexpected times, and always have me wishing that I had thought of that, and boy, I would never have guessed that was going to happen. The Amateurs is about four long time friends from different walks of life, who meet on a regular basis at a neighborhood bar, for small talk, and much booze.

The four hatch a plausible plot to rob a gangster of his 'takes', but when it all goes horribly wrong, as I said before, you just wish they had left well alone, hey, who needed to ill-gotten gains anyway, life wasn't that bad for the four of them. But good turns to bad in a hurry, and before long, the excitement and thrills of the chase have you checking every page number to make sure you haven't missed anything. Great suspense...

Crime novels are o.k. for me, not really books that I go out of my way for, but when they are as good as Sakey's are, I look forward to his next outing...

Message edited by its author, Sep 1, 2009, 6:22pm.

I knew it. A mole amongst us.

His plan is working, I am definitely moving Marcus Sakey up on my TBR pile!

While waiting on a couple of books to arrive from Amazon, I'm reading Tim O'Brien's short but very powerful If I Die in a Combat Zone: Box Me Up and Ship Me Home.

>149: morfam- Great description on Marcus Sakey! I am also a big fan of his work and being a Chicagoland resident, I have to say he knows the city very well. Yes, I will be looking for my copy of The Amateurs.! And yes, I will keep an eye out for the MOLE!

I'm multi-tasking more than usual this week. I still have to finish up My Life in France, but I took a fluff detour and started Club Dead last night. I am also listening to Will in the World in my car, since I got about half-way through it on last weekend's road trip.

I am reading The Day the Falls Stood Still by Kathy Marie Buchanan, an ARC that I am really enjoying. Terrific historical fiction and since I am originally from Niagara Falls NY I have an interest in books set around the Falls.

>155 - I just finished it - enjoy!

Just finished The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb. I am now listening to The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer, reading So Brave, So Young and Handsome by Leif Enger, and kindling Beowulf.

Oh Mr. Morfam you really know how to make a person want to pick up a new author. I love mysteries and it is always nice to see a new one to me, recommended:-)

shinyone, I was getting ready to cave and buy a copy of My Life in France with Meryl Streep on the cover (sic), but I see I can actually get a hardcover with Julia Child on the cover. Sold!

#146 Catreona - I'm thinking of reading all the HP books in order and consecutively next year. I have it as part of my 1010 challenge. I'll be interested to follow your experience of reading them that way.

Still reading Time Traveler's Wife. I really must finish it. I watched the movie which was pretty good. :)

Thanks Catreona! I'm loaded up on pain killers so actually not much reading has been happening yet... the mind wanders...lol

richardderus & rocketjk > Have you read the others in the series? I must admit I bought Midnight Hunting and Guardian of the Dawn separately before I realised they were part of a series and The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon is the first one and therefore the one I should read first - so I got it out of the library. There is another one... The Seventh Gate which is the last of the series which I don't have.

I just finished Slow Reading by John Miedema. It was a waste of time and effort. The book is not quite content free, but it is close, and it is ill written.

Robert

finishing up Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich my mom gave it to me to read...pure entertainment, no thinking involved :)

will start The Rapture by Liz Jensen next, picked it up from the library today...have heard good things about it from fellow LT members

I've just finished Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey and loved it. I think it's just a few notches below Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay but it kept me gripped throughout and I begrudged every moment I had to put down the book to get on with activities such as work, meals and sleep.

I'm starting The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard for a different pace

I finished The Red Pony by Steinbeck. The simple stories are well-written and truly give the feel of what it was like to be a 10 year old living on a ranch back then.

I really need to finish Forbidden Bread by Johnson-Debeljak and get it reviewed. I might not allow myself to start another book until I do. But I worry that I just won't read much then. I plan on reading The Pearl after that, followed by The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.

I finished Fidel and Che, and ER book last evening. It was a fascinating look at two extraordinary people working on numerous levels. As a dual biography, it presented new intimate information and painted a full portrait of each of them and their friendship. As a history of the revolution and Cuba, it once again gave a full and detailed picture, particularly up until Che's death. No matter what one thinks of the Cuban revolution, Simon Reid-Henry presents an engaging and interesting story.

Message edited by its author, Sep 2, 2009, 9:23am.

I started and finished Catching Fire yesterday. !!! I hope Ms. Collins really gets cracking on the third book and gets it out ASAP. Now I can really get down to business with The Greatest Knight. Amazingly enough, I've actually read 100 pages of it over the past two days while reading The Hunger Games and Catching Fire.

I am rereading Cat's Eye. I never finished it in my Women's Lit course and I remember thinking it fascinating, but extremely dense. I hope I am not sacrificing my piece of mind. My classmates would think me insane.

Hi, Jet-Doyle ~ I started Cat's Eye but it just didn't capture my attention so put it down after a couple of chapters. Tell me it gets better, and I'll try again.

I don't mind dense, but uninteresting is another story.

I'm about halfway through The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb. I didn't realize that the first part of the book was about Columbine, but the middle, where I am, is about the devastating personal aftermath of a fictional victim. I wonder what the last third will be about? (No, no, don't tell me! The discovery is the best part of the journey. I hope I haven't spoiled it for anyone with my sentence, above.)

Wally Lamb excels at painting a picture of flawed, yet sympathetic characters. Just when you think the main character is getting with the program, he reacts in the worst way possible. You just have to read the book to know what I mean. It's unfortunate that I have to work for a living and only get an hour for lunch.

#146 and #160 Catreona and jhedlund - I just finished re-listening to all 7 Harry Potters.

I've read the books twice and listened to them twice. I found it a great thing to do - details stay in your mind and 2 books down the road you say "Ah ha! That's why Dumbledore said that!" or "Ah ha! That's why that spell got mentioned."

And I can't stop listening! I just re-started book 7.

Scary. Our public library doesn't have a good selection of books-on-tape and I don't have the money to actually buy any now.

So Harry Potter it is.

#164 curlysue - I loved The Rapture. I got it as an ARC and couldn't put it down.

I just finished The Rapture of Canaan and wanted something light and fluffy, so picked up Handling Sin by Michael Malone. So far so good, but then I've loved everything of his I've read so far. I expect to like this one too.

I'm about to start (as in, as soon as I make this post) The Sky People by S.M. Stirling.

Just started Family of Secrets by Russ Baker. It's thick, but it looks juicy. The author will be speaking at the library here 5 days from now. Wonder if I can get through it by then?

#162> No, I did not know Last Kabbalist in Lisbon is the first in a series. I might look into that, but I would have to reread the first book again first, since it's been quite a while.

I've just finished The Library of Shadows and am looking forward to settling down to a good flight back to the US with Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden which a dear friend gave me, promising that I'll enjoy it.

Message edited by its author, Sep 2, 2009, 5:59pm.

I needed an emergency book while waiting for my grandson at school. I found one in my trunk. The Seven Stairs by Stuart Brent. It is a true story of the opening of a bookstore in the Chicago Rush Street area, after WW II. So far it is a pretty good book.

Today I finished Summertime by J.M. Coetzee, a 2009 Booker Prize longlisted book (seven down, six to go). I also read a wonderful novella, Beauty Salon by the Mexican author Mario Bellatin, which is narrated by the owner of the salon, who converts it into the Terminal, where people with an end-stage unnamed disease that is similar to AIDS come to spend the last days of their lives.

Tonight I'll resume reading Love and Summer by William Trevor, another 2009 Booker Prize longlisted novel.

Message edited by its author, Sep 2, 2009, 9:41pm.

cindy, I love your emergency kit: flares, reflective tape, book.

emaestra, I am so into the book, I am going to have to replace it in my trunk. lol

#125, divinenanny, which did you think was better and should I also read Anathem now? The only book that I can recall having a profound and lasting effect on me was Atlas Shrugged but so far A Canticle for Leibowitz is a good read.

#181 rhansen55. The story of Anathem is more fleshed out. What I found a bit dissapointing in A Canticle For Leibowitz was that just when I was into the characters, and when I wanted to know what happened next, we skipped to the next section. The relation between the two is in the fact that they both have a split in society between monastic life and daily life, where knowledge is preserved in the monastic institutions. In Anathem it is all one period of time, and the philosophies are explained as we go along. Anathem is more of an adventure with a background. If you like adventures then I would say, read Anathem. It isn't easy, it isn't short, but I found it well worth it in the end!

Finished The 13th Warrior, aka Eaters of the Dead, a Beowulf knockoff as it were.

I struggled a bit with it, but got through it - must have been that "classics" note that I didn't pick up on right away - not sure if I ever read Beowulf.

I am almost finished with Journal of a Soul and then will go wherever my bookshelves take me, probably something short and fast. I have a couple of books coming in from Amazon and my Dan Brown is also due soon as is the latest Stuart Woods (have that on hold) and I just found out I am getting an ER this month.

I was never convinced that I cared about the life of a geisha, but apparently i do. Finally getting around to reading Memoirs of a Geisha and am totally entranced. I'm also reading Only Yesterday which is also great. I seem to be on a roll.

Last night I finished Julie and Julia for my book club this Sunday. Gave it three stars. Gave the accomplishment of the author five stars.

Have begun reading Lark and Termite.

Happy reading to all.

WH

I finished Gilead last night - a lovely read. Now reading I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. Quite engaging so far.

>177 cindsysprocket, I forgot I have a copy of The Seven Stairs, given to me by Stuart Brent himself. His was a wonderful bookstore and I still miss it.

>184 snash, Memoirs of a Geisha was a really fun book to read...our book circle read it long ago and it still crops up in conversations there.

>185 WH, betcha you'll love Lark and Termite!

>186 teelgee, is this your first read of I Capture the Castle? I envy you...that was a lovely book andd discovering it was pure pleasure.

>188 Yes, my first read. I think I'm going to love it.

I finished Money last night. What a ride. I began The Neon Rain which looks to be a fairly quick read.

I'm reading The Notebook, quite a popular book, I read it so that I can watch the movie later (my rule is never watching the adaptions before reading the book).
I also picked up Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (since last week actually). I watched the movie already, and that's the biggest regret of my life.
And I've been reading Because of Winn-Dixie at the library. Gonna finish it in 2 or 3 days.

Message edited by its author, Sep 3, 2009, 11:17am.

I just finished reading "The Name of this Book is Secret" by Pseudonymous Bosch. It is a YA book. I eventually called it "the book that would never end" cause it took FOREVER to get to the ending....a mystery novel, to be sure.
So, now I can finally start "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate", which I am so enjoying. Again, another YA book. I have to find "My Life in France" for book club this month. hope it is worth the effort to find it in our library!

I just finished Fairyland by Paul J McAuley. Interesting book, I am wondering how to describe a dis-jointed, reality-skewed futuristic trip through Europe in a way that does justice to this book.
In a complete change of direction I am now reading The Picture of Dorian Gray as my "at home" book and the penguin popular classics Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen as my "waiting room" book.
I also need to fit in Greenwitch for a group read.

My grandson and I are reading Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell together. I had forgotten what an excellent book this was. We are both enjoying it.

I am about to start Saratoga Trunk by Edna Ferber for the simple reason that it was sitting on a bookshelf in my house.

When I travel, I like to read books set in the area. Just returned from Charleston/Beaufort/Fripp Island S.C. and read The Great Santini while in the airports and in the air. Great choice. Now I am looking for The Lords of Discipline before reading South of Broad.

In the meantime, was excited to finally pick up Dark Places by Gillian Flynn at the library. I had a long wait and my fellow Missouri Readers have probably forgotten it by now.

I'm right in the middle of Stuart Neville's The Ghosts of Belfast, and it is one ripping grand mystery yarn. This is Neville's first book, and it rocks. All the recent hype placed upon it is well deserved. Look out Ken Bruen, here comes Neville.

I just finished Mayflower and am starting The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

I'm in the middle of Look Both Ways which is a nonfiction novel about bisexual politics, Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan, Stranger than Fiction by Chuck, GLBTQ for my GSA and Oedipus the King for my English class... I hope I'm not forgetting anything... Oh! And I'm reading Bukowski and Ginsberg to help my slam poetry... so, yeah. I need to finish some of these before I get more. Oh, has anyone read Lamb by Christopher Moore? What do you think of it?

>#185 Ruth- I hope you enjoy Lark and Termite! It is at the top of my list for the year! A thing of beauty!

>188 Richardderus. Yes I'm about a little over a third of the way through Memoirs of a Geisha. We're having some tile laid and carpets cleaned tomorrow and I'm having a hard time putting the book down to get ready.

I finally finished Journal of a Soul. I always thought highly of this man and the book only confirmed it.

I will now go to something completely different - Murder Most Celtic, which is short stories so I can read one or two and read something else or whatever. In that case, I also plan to look at Star Trek Pantheon.

By then all those other books that Amazon has coming my way will arrive.

Today I finished two books: The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick and the audio of The Strain by Guillermo del Toro. I already started my next audio book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Jim Dale version), and am about to start a new book, The Widow's Season by Laura Brodie.

Last night my book group decided to read Krakatoa by Simon Winchester for November discussion. I got home and read a chapter of The Myth of Evil then needed something less intricate to carry me towards sleep, and so I started Krakatoa. It seems a little glib but informative enough.

Robert

#187 I am still enjoying The Seven Stairs. I envy you. I would have loved to have seen his store. I am not even sure where I bought this book. It was used.

Finished The Ginseng Hunter by Jeff Talarigo, about a plain living man of North Korean descent living near the border of China, North Korea and Russia. His life is guided by nature - the seasons, the weather, etc. when the chaos of the industrial/political world intrudes. Very thought-provoking, and a grim reminder of life in North Korea.

I'm better than half way through What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn. The plot is interesting, but I'm finding the characters universally depressing and the black/satirical humor overdone.

I actually finished two books today.

On audio, Louise Penney's wonderful Still Life read by Ralph Cosham. That man could read a chemistry text and I would be transfixed. I have the second book in the series but I want to wait a week for the library's audio copy to get checked back in. This is the first time I've preferred audio over actual reading.

And I quickly read Steinbeck's The Moon is Down. A great, great read. I'm just finishing up the introduction. I'm appreciating the intro more after finishing the book than I would have prior to reading it.

Message edited by its author, Sep 3, 2009, 10:12pm.

#176 cameling

OH boy! now your are going for a wild ride! Did you know that Wolf of the Plains is part of a series written by Conn Iggulden. Clearly, there will be the reading of a series in your future.

I haven't read the series myself but have heard good things about them and have put them on my radar screen. In fact I have been eyeballing them for some time now. Maybe I'm the one with a series on the brain? Let us know how you like this one.

#197 Seanlong

Since visiting Belfast last spring I have been interested in books about that beautiful city. Can you tell us a little more about the book? You don't have to write a whole review just a little more information.

I finished reading $20 Per Gallon this morning. This was a not a gloom and doom book with the outlook for the world and us surprisingly optimistic. I am sure that I will feel the pain when the price of gasoline starts it inevitable rise once again, but this time I am going to try to look at some of the good things that can happen with that rise in the price. Like the end of Wal-Mart and the return of the railroads to America. What were we thinking to let that wonderful transportation system slip away?

I have long been a reader of books about the petroleum industry so as long as I have oil on my brain I started reading Oil on the Brain as soon as I finished the above mentioned book. Oil is my current non-fiction book that I will slowly read while buzzing through my current novel Well and the Mine.

The sad thing about reading $20 Per Gallon is that it gave me a whole list of books to add to my TBR list. Titles like High and Mighty: SUVs -- and Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger. Oh woe is me! The list just gets longer.

#198: I just bought The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time today (along with 24 other books!). I was flipping through it and the layout reminds me of Marcus Zuzak's works.

Message edited by its author, Sep 3, 2009, 10:42pm.

Just finished Bad Science and am starting on The Book Thief by Markus Zusak now. It is one of the books I got because my eye was drawn to it because it is one of the most wishlisted books....

>191 BichHoang: Have read both The Notebook and Perfume- Perfume, twice likewise Notebook. The Notebook movie was excellent and endearing; Perfume I really didn't even want to see- the book captured the scents and I couldn't see how a movie could do that.

>205 cindysprocket "I am not even sure where I bought this book. It was used." - You have captured the essence of most of my library - wonderful. But sometimes I wonder not only where I bought the book, but why??

I finished Love and Summer by William Trevor this morning, a beautifully told story set in a small Irish town in the mid 20th century (review to come). Today I'll continue my Bookerthon with Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, and I'll start reading a collection of short stories, Coloured Lights by Leila Aboulela, a British writer of Sudanese descent.

Just started The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory-I have high hopes for it as I love her other works. So far it's pretty good, though I'm not loving it as much as I've loved others of hers.

>170 Storeetllr - My marginal notes end at Part II -- so I sympathize completely. I don't mind dense, either, but from what I remember it was wordy and I was rereading pages often. I'll let you know if I can toddle through.

I haven't posted in a while. I finished The Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri. It was set in a modern day Bombay apartment building with the homeless handy man, Vishnu, who lived on a landing, dying. The life and battles in the building swirl around him while he is unconscious. He becomes an issue when he makes a mess and no one wants to pay the ambulance or hospital bills.

There are 2 Hindu families locked in a bourgeoisie battle, and a Muslim family quietly battling itself. Vishnu dreams of his childhood, and his many years of living on the landing. He also begins to wonder if he is the real god Vishnu.

It was an interesting look at Indian life, and was well written. I enjoyed it, but thought it was too long, and it left some of the threads in the story hanging.

I am now reading The Resurrectionist by James Bradley. It is set in 1826 London and follows a young man who is apprenticed to a famous anatomist. They dissect human bodies for medical studies. The practice is actually illegal and they rely on bodies dug up and snatched from the grave.

The book has just terrible reviews, but so far its very good (page 127). The writing is spare and matter of fact, the characters are interesting and the story is good. Of course the subject matter is ookie, so maybe thats why.

My seventy-fifth review is up on my "75-Books Challenge" thread at last...Six Geese ASlaying by Donna Andrews...nothing like ending on a high note.

*sigh* I guess I have to retire the thread now, having reached the magic 75. Anyone wanting to take a valedictory tour, it's over here.

As if!

I finished Michael Arlen's The Green Hat and now I'm reading Louise Erdrich's The Beet Queen.

I just finished The Widow's Season which was haunting and lovely. Now I'm not sure, maybe Mistress of the Vatican? My other main option right now is probably The Marriage Bureau for Rich People.

That Siren of the Bookstacks, cameling, just posted a review of Wolf of the Plains. I had to add the book to my wishlist after I read this in her review:

"This is not a book you'll want to read if you know you don't have time to devote to it, because you'll miss all your deadlines and get yourself fired from your job. Having said that, this is not a ponderous tome and the words flow like silk."

*woman is a menace, needs to be stopped*

#174--jsundman--I'll be interested to hear what you think of Family of Secrets, and what Russ Baker had to say when you heard him speak. I read it earlier this year and was very intrigued.

I finished Await Your Reply -- a fast, compelling read but just a tad dissatisfying -- and am reading the fascinating The Glass Room, recommended here on LT by kidzdoc.

Kafka on the shore, which is great so far.

Congrats on the 75 richardderus.

>222 richardderus- went to look at the description of Wolf of the Plains and found that Tales of the Otori by Lian Hearn also fits that description. A fantastic so-called young adult series of ancient Japan? The question mark because the Asian country is never specifically identified- good story, good continuation, fascinating example of social structure.

I've finished Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler and Elantris by Brandon Sanderson, and I've started Mistborn by Sanderson.

#224: I'm looking forward to your comments on The Glass Room, Rebecca!

208: Yes, Conn Iggulden wrote a series of 3 on Genghis Khan. Depending on where you're buying the book from, his first in the series comes under 2 titles : Wolf of the Plains and Genghis: Birth of an Empire. I've got the 2nd in the series, The Lords of the Bow but I need some space between the first before I start reading the 2nd so I'm not overwhelmed by the imagery that he so masterfully presents.

The third in the series Bones of the Hills was released a few months ago but I'm trying not to buy too many hardcover books because they take up too much space on my bookshelves, so hopefully by the time I'm ready to read the third in this series, it will be out in paperback.

If you like historical fiction and Conn Iggulden's writing, you should also look for his Emperor series on Julius Caesar. They are equally mesmerizing.

I've just started Gold of Kings by David Bunn

>205 He was a sweet man and very kind to me. I still miss him and his shop.

I finally finished Lucky Jim on my lazy day off. Now I'm onto author 'B' of my alphabetical reading thing, and after a bit of indecision I'm going for Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs.

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

I finished The Big Sky by A. B. Guthrie, Jr. last night. It is filled with big characters, and it is uncanny how small the characters are in the big landscape.

It almost makes me want to read another novel.

Robert

Read all of Catching Fire last night and now seriously annoyed that i have to wait for the third book to come out. Gah darn you Suzanne Collins!!!

Might pick up Club Dead later as I reckon I'll be in a vampire mood after watching True Blood tonight.

>226 Thanks, teelgee! I made it with room to spare, and I wondered if I'd make it at all when I began. Unemployment does *wonders* for one's reading time.

>227 Hugo, I read the first Hearn book and was very interested, and then just forgot all about them. Thanks for reminding me! I love the Japanese-y cultural milieu being the background, no elaborate whys or wherefores and no indication of where it's different than our knowledge of ancient Japan, or any other Asian country I know about. Makes it fun. I think of that technique as being respectful of the reader's intelligence.

Is predicted in post 123, I finished Common Sense and Other Writings this week -- the next day, in fact. I'm now about ¾ of the way through Shakespeare's Kings, though after this book (or maybe the next) I'll slow back down again: I now have my desk at the office, my computer is set up, and all I need is internet access before I spend my day here on the boards, instead of hiding behind a book.

I'm almost done with Homer's Odyssey by Gwen Cooper and I am about to start Julie and Julia by Julie Powell and I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max.

#231 jennieg; I lived and worked in Chicago on S. Michigan in the mid-60's. I guess I never traveled far enough north to find his store. I see on the internet that his son closed the store this last March.
His book will be one of my favorites and a keeper.

Message edited by its author, Sep 4, 2009, 7:56pm.

Finished Murder Most Celtic and will now get to Star Trek Pantheon. Scott borrowed The Butlerian Jihad from the library and I may get to that when he's done, though he may have to renew it for me, but we'll see. We have a busy weekend ahead with both La Festa and Railfest (at Steamtown) in Scranton. And the weather is supposed to cooperate, too!

Finished So Brave, So Young and Handsome by Leif Enger, loved it! Just starting The Insulted and the Humiliated by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I continue listening to The Septembers of Shiraz and kindling Beowulf.

reading The girl who played with fire by stieg larsson. good so far!

Message edited by its author, Sep 4, 2009, 8:39pm.

160, jhedlund: Well, *gulp* donno about experience. I sort of expect it to be exhausting though. *grin*

Finished Blood Roses and returned to Man and His Symbols, sort of a jarring experience.

Last night also finished The Sorcerer's Stone and started The Chamber of Secrets. One does regard Snape rather differently knowing the truth about him, I must say. I always regarded Dumbledor as the hero of the series, but after finishing it, I wondered if Rowling knew from the start that Snape was the real hero and if she wrote it from HArry's POV for a particular reason. The same story from Snape's POV would have been rather more interesting in some ways and certainly far darker and more tragic. Also, of course, it would have been an adult series, not a children's one.

211: Twenty-five books...all at once? Oh my!

I finished Un Lun Dun by China Mieville and have just started Galore by Michael Crummey.

hemlokgang- Glad you enjoyed So Brave, So Young and Handsome! I have it sitting in my tbr. How did it compare to Peace Like a River?

New thread for the week: http://www.librarything.com/topic/72493

aaarrghhh. Forgot again. Senior moment. Thanks Ficus!