Happy Hallowe'en, all you ghouls and boys! Here are author birthdays for the week. Sorry, no trivia tonight, I've been tending to a very sick puppy (who's on the mend, I'm happy to say!)

Oct 31:
John Evelyn English diarist who also wrote treatises on air pollution, horticulture and architecture (1620; d.1706
John Keats British Romantic poet (1795; d.1821)
Dick Francis jockey and novelist (1920)
Neal Town Stephenson American writer, known for his speculative fiction works, which have been variously categorized science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and postcyberpunk. He has also written under the pseudonym of Stephen Bury (1959)

Nov 1:
Georg Philipp Harsdörffer, prolific German Baroque poet and translator (1607; d.1658)
Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, French poet and an influential neoclassical critic (1636; d.1711)
John Strype, English historian and biographer (1643; d.1737)
Stephen Crane, novelist, reporter, and poet, author of The Red Badge of Courage (1871; d.1900)
Grantland Rice, American sportswriter (1880; d.1954)
Sholem Asch, Polish-born Yiddish American novelist and playwright (1880; d.1957)
Hermann Broch, Austrian novelist (1886; d.1951)
Henri Troyat nee Lev Aslanovich Tarasov, prolific French author, biographer, historian and novelist of Armenian descent (1911; d. 2007)
Margaret Taylor Burroughs, African-American poet, artist, and art teacher (1917)
James J. Kilpatrick, columnist, newspaper editor and grammarian (1920)
Gordon Rupert Dickson, American science fiction author (1923; d.2001)
A R Gurney American playwright and novelist (1930)
Edward Said,Palestinian/American (born Jerusalem), music critic for The Nation and political essayist (1935 - 2003)
Lee Smith, US Southern writer (1944)
Zenna Chlarson Henderson American elementary school teacher who wrote a series of fantasy novellas and short stories. (1917 – 1983)

Nov 2:
Barbey D'Aurevilly, French drama and literary critic, novelist, and short story writer, whose masterpiece is considered to be Les Diaboliques (The She-Devils) (1808; d.1889)
Daniil Leonidovich Andreyev Russian poet and mystic who wrote The Rose of the World while in a Stalin prison camp (1906; d.1959)
Odysseus Elytis, Greek poet and 1979 Nobel prize winner (1911)
Michelle Cliff Jamaican-born U.S. novelist and poet whose novels are concerned with social and political issues (1946)
Thomas Mallon, American novelist and critic (1951)

Nov 3:
Lucan aka Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, Spanish/Latin poet, author of Bellum Civile (39 A.D.; d.65 A.D.)
Thomas Kyd, English (Elizabethan) dramatist, wrote The Spanish Tragedy (1558; d.1594)
William Cullen Bryant, American romantic poet, editor, and lawyer; he penned the poem 'Thanatopsis' (1794; d.1878)
Karl Baedeker, German publisher of the famous Baedeker travel guidebooks (1801; d.1859)
Gustaf Adolf Tenggren, Swedish illustrator who illustrated Disney movies and Little Golden Books (1896; d.1970)
Andre Malraux, French novelist (1901; d.1976)
James 'Scotty' Barrett Reston, American journalist (born Scotland) (1909; d.1995)
Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Australian aboriginal poet and writer (aka Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska Walker) (1920; d.1993)
Terrence McNally, Florida playwright (1939)
Joe Queenan, American humorist, critic and author wrote a fairly scathing view of Dan Quayle and the American Vice-Presidency. (1950)
Massimo Mongai, Italian science fiction writer (1950)

Nov 4:
Eden Phillpotts, British novelist, poet, and playwright (1862; d.1960)
Alfred Henschke,German novelist, playwright and magazine publisher known by his psuedonym Klabund (1890; d.1928)
Ciro Alegria, Peruvian novelist (1909; d.1967)
C K Williams, New Jersey-born poet (1936)
Rosina Doyle Bulwer-Lytton (née Wheeler) wrote and published fourteen novels, a volume of essays and a volume of letters. (1802 –1882)
William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers was a Cherokee-American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer and actor. (1879 – 1935)



Nov 5:
Philippe de Mornay, French writer (1549; d.1623),
Ella Wheeler Wilcox, American writer, poet and positivist (1850; d.1919)
Ida Minerva Tarbell, author and investigative journalist ('muckraker'), nemesis of Standard Oil Company (1857; d.1944)
James Elroy Flecker, London-born poet, dramatist, and translator (1884; d.1915)
Will Durant, Massachusetts-born writer and historian, who with his wife, Ariel, authored the 11-volume Story of Civilization (1885; d.1981)
Charles MacArthur, playwright and screenwriter known particularly for his plays with Ben Hecht, Twentieth Century and The Front Page; he was married to actress Helen Hayes and friends with the Algonquin Round Table group (1895-1956)
Thomas Flanagan, who wrote an acclaimed Irish historical trilogy (1923; d.2002),
Geoffrey Wolff, Los Angeles-born novelist and memoirist (1937)
Tom Phelan, Irish novelist (1940)
Sam Shepard, playwright, screenwriter, short story writer and actor (1943)
Joyce Maynard (1953), writer and novelist.

Nov 6:
Colley Cibber, English dramatist and poet, re-writer of Richard III (1671; d.1757)
Jonas Lauritz Idemil Lie, Norwegian novelist; one of the Four Greats of 19th-century Norwegian literature (1833; d.1908),
Robert Musil, Austrian novelist whose unfinished novel The Man Without Qualities (Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften) is considered an important modernist novel (1880; d.1942)
Harold Ross, New Yorker founder (1892; d.1951)
James Jones, Illinois novelist and author of From Here To Eternity (1921; d.1977)
Diana E. H. Russell, South African feminist researcher, writer and activist (1938)
Michael Cunningham, American writer; author of The Hours, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1999 (1952)

Message edited by its author, Oct 31, 2009, 12:43am.

Will Shakespeare, "Twelfth Night". In addition to 3 favorite scripts, watched an excellent fairly recent video of "TN".

Dan Brown, "The Lost Symbol".

Rereading a couple by F. Scott Fitzgerald, "Babylon Revisited" and "Flappers and Philosophers".

Philippa Gregory, "The White Queen". Continuation of her historical novels on English history. With this one she begins a jump from the Tudors to the Plantangenets; one rose to another, as it were.

Mark T. Conard, "The Philosophy of Martin Scorsese".

Ann Waldron, "The Princeton Murders".

Also involved in some fairly heavy-duty remodeling. Mostly plans and suggestions from various sources; and mostly short reference, since the actual planning was done long ago. Bringing this to fruition gives us a feeling similar to others from the past: finish writing a book, poem or article; a musical score; a language; a major successful recipe; a lab project; a season.

I finally managed to get throug , The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters in the end i just struggled to get through, wasn't really catchy. in it's shifing point of view it was very interessting and it forced the reader to be attentive, but it was a bit to much concentrated an sexuality and the rescue of the protagonist was very unlikely at some points
now I'm reading Die Wahlverwandschaften (Elective Affinities) by Goethe and I'm going to start The Canterbury Tales today.

Message edited by its author, Oct 31, 2009, 5:13am.

Telgee - just sending love and best wishes to that sick puppy. Hope all's well again by now.

Reading my first ever Harlan Coben (Promise Me) and, so far, a little bored and disappointed. I don't often read this type of book but picked it up fancying a bit of a change and hoping for a fairly quick page-turner. So far (136 pages in) nothing much seems to be happening .

I'm also still browsing a couple of essays a day from The Atheist's Guide to Christmas as well, though, and that is much more fun. I'd really recommend this funny and thoughtful book to everyone who doesn't plan to spend Dec 25th in church. And a large chunk of the profits go to the Terence Higgns Trust and if that isn't a good cause I don't know what is.

I'm reading Viruses, Plagues & History by Michael B.A. Oldstone and Over My Dead Body by Rex Stout.

In pursuit of a full picture of the man Byron, just finished 'Augusta Leigh' by Michael & Melissa Bakewell. Far better than expected as Augusta really comes out as a strong character beset by Georgian social codes and her crazy half brother, rather than the hopeless 'candle in the wind' of the Byron biogs.

Also reading Mark Billingham's 'Scaredy Cat', my first of his. Got in the mood seeing him and Val McDermid at the Manchester Lit Festival last week. They were both funny about readers having no qualms about intricate gory details of murders and path lab but taking up their protest pen at the slightest hint of a sex scene. See the point. This book has a scene with two kids playing cricket with live frogs - erggghhhh! - any need for that? No sex scenes yet theough... apparently complainers have always used green ink, even though they now have infinite choice with e-mail fonts - strange that...

I'm in between books. Finished Unnatural Selection Friday night. I never have much time to read on weekends, since I'm always watching football, so I'm just going to wait until Monday to start The Wrath of Alexander the Great by Terry McCarthy.

I'm reading The Sea by John Banville, recommended to me because one of my favourite books is The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney. Only on page 10 but I love it already.

ah that picture takes me back!

im just starting to read Sookie Stackhouse's Book 7 and i can't wait to finish it to read all the remaining books!

Read all of The Prophecy of the Sisters this *ahem* morning as I started it after i got back home at 2ish in the morning and invariably i only got up an hour ago ;) Pretty interesting and somewhat creepy book that is *obviously* gonna turn into a trilogy or something of a similar ilk. But as long as i get paperbacks methinks i'll be alright with that.

I'll finish two short books by Annie Ernaux today, The Possession and A Man's Place, and then start The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, for Hallowe'en and the Reading Globally October theme read. I'll also get back to the new Thelonious Monk biography.

Finishing up James' The Turn of the Screw and also reading The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector and will return sometime this weekend to Life and Fate by Vasili Grossman.

Been in a reading slump for a few weeks. But should finish Jackass Frigate by Alaric Bond and looking forward to starting The White Rhino Hotel: A Novel by Bartle Bull.

The Adams Family are the best!!! But they should have left Thing in the box!

I finally finished Madame Bovary last week, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder last night. I actually preferred the novella at the back, a little festive heart-warmer about a young runaway who turns up at The Cookie Jar just before Christmas...

So now I'm in the middle of three books. My main read is Marley and Me (the joys of dog ownership without the mess!). I also dipping into the New Moon Illustrated Movie Companion and What it Feels Like by A.J. Jacobs. It's a collection of mini-essays about all kinds of experiences most people will never have - being bitten by a shark, having Ebola, being hit by lightning, walking on the moon... Sadly some of the stories fall completely flat in their conciseness. Hmmm...

Oh, and of course, I'll be joining Mark and Belva starting People of the Book tomorrow!

Message edited by its author, Oct 31, 2009, 9:55am.

#14, usnmm2, Bartle Bull's The White Rhino Hotel is just terrific, have read all Bull's books and there's not a bad one in the lot. I notice you're also reading Guy Vanderhaeghe's The Englishman's Boy, a book I'm still extremely fond of.

I finished Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood and was fairly disappointed with it. I've admired so many of her novels over the years, including Oryx and Crake, but this new one just didn't connect and I was glad to be done with it.

I just finished Philip Caputo's new book Crossers and while it was reasonable entertaining, its ending turned rather lame, and Crossers wasn't nearly as good as Caputo's last book, the 2005 novel Acts of Faith, which was simply a superior piece of work.

I hadn't decided whether or not I was gonna read John Irving's Last Night in Twisted River, but I noticed this morning that Amazon had dropped the price on the Kindle edition from $15.40 to 12.38, so I downloaded it, and so far so good after roughly 50 pages.

Finished and almost finished with two disappointing ones: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, a techno-thriller centered around hacking that looked like fun but wasn't my cup of tea at all, and The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis, the first of a series of mysteries set in ancient Rome that looked promising but just hasn't grabbed me.

Luckily I picked up the fourth in Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series and am thoroughly enjoying that.

I just finished re-reading Rebecca for like the 18th time - a suitably creepy book to read around Halloween. This week, I'm continuing on with The Life of Charlotte Bronte and starting I Capture the Castle.

#14 usnmm2 and #16 LouisBranning - I loved A Cafe on the Nile. It never occurred to me that it was part of a series, so now I'm desperate for all Bartle Bull's other books. I've got them all wishlisted on BookMooch (darned finances - can't just buy what I want right now!)

>18 Ohh you've just given me the craving to read Jamaica Inn since it's just as creepy and it's sitting up on my shelf just asking to be read!

>Louis- Nice to have you back sir! I've heard good things about the latest Irving, I hope you enjoy it. The Bartle Bull books sounds very interesting. Which one should you start with?
Ellie- Yes, the Group Read for People of the Book will start tomorrow. Here's the link:http://www.librarything.com/topic/73347

Read How to Write a Damn Good Mystery by James N. Frey in advance of National Novel Writing Month, tomorrow through 11/30. Very, very helpful book, practical ideas amusingly expressed. II promise to do what he says next time, but it's too late for the current year.

As a NaNo read, I have Collected Poetry and Prose of Wallace Stevens. I love his verse and I am ignorant of his essays. Short = good right now.

Anyone interested in reading along as I write Death in Blue&White, I'm posting to http://www.librarything.com/topic/75687

I'm finishing up Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble then I'll start The Seance by John Harwood

Still reading The Lost Symbol. It's gotten to the "cant put this down" point so I'll probably finish it soon.

#21, Hey Mark, I think you might like the Bartle Bull novels, and by all means start with The White Rhino Hotel because that's where Bull presents his original cast of characters that appear and re-appear in the following books, and is a natural lead-in to the wonderful A Cafe on the Nile.

Mysteries are not my thing but the first two books of Larsson's trilogy totally captivated me. As I started The Girl Who Played with Fire, I was skeptical. It seemed so like the previous that I feared that it was one of those situations where once was spectacular, but unrepeatable. Then somewhere a third of the way through, I found myself completely caught up once again. I find Lisbeth a totally intriguing character and it was fascinating to put together her amazing past. While the fleshing out of the Lisbeth character was the focus of the book, each of the other characters were drawn clearly enough to add to the depth of the novel.

I can not begin to imagine where a third book will go, but I'll be checking it out.

#26,snash, I got totally wound up in Stieg Larsson's novels too, and as purely exciting as The Girl Who Played With Fire turned out to be, I didn't think it nearly as good a story per se as The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

#27 Louis, as for the story, I would agree with you. However, since what makes people tick is what interests me the very most, I found The Girl Who Played with Fire equally as interesting.
Have you read the third? If so, does it keep up the quality and suspense?

Just past the halfway point in Johnny Tremain and enjoying it a lot. I didn't recall from my junior high English class reading of this book what an unpleasant fellow young Johnny could be. A very believable character, in fact.

Message edited by its author, Oct 31, 2009, 1:27pm.

I am finishing up with Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier which I am really enjoying. Will be starting on People Of The Book later today for the group read and I have Jim The Boy by Tony Earley waiting in the wings.

I am also a big fan of Bartle Bull as well. This is an author I would probably never have heard of except for LT.

#28, snash, the third book of Larsson's Millenium trilogy The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest is scheduled to be published in the US on 10/10, and it should be worth the wait.

Message edited by its author, Oct 31, 2009, 2:26pm.

I finished Make Room! Make Room by Harry Harrison last Sunday. A surprisingly good read. It was much better than I expected for a science fiction novel written in 1966. Taken out of its context it is a dated diatribe on population growth. The teaming, over-crowded city it imagines is portrayed compellingly, but the future it describes arrives earlier than it really should. 1999 to be specific. The chapter long jeremiad on the need for freely available birth control is the most jarring anachronism. However, the story and characters (which include a decaying New York) are more than interesting enough to make you overlook the outdated parts.

Followed that up with The Shockwave Rider, another ancient science fiction novel from when I was a wee lad. This time circa 1975. The author sets up a world of straw men for his hero to knock over and defeat. The reward the reader reaps from the hero's accomplishments is concomitant with his achievement. Nothing. The less said about the excreable book the better.

Now I'm starting The Year of the Flood. The thought occurs to me that I should probably start one of those fifty book challenges next year.

Message edited by its author, Oct 31, 2009, 2:26pm.

I have not been posting or reading the threads much lately. Hope to fix that. I have been reading and tied up with work/read/sleep.

I am just starting Veil of Roses by Laura Fitzgerald, about a young woman from Iran coming to the US.

Presently reading Soulless by Gail Carriger which has so far been an interesting amalgamation of cozy mystery, steampunk novel and paranormal romance. I've never read anything quite like it before and am really enjoying it.

Letter from New York by Helene Hanff. Interesting compilation of her BBC Woman's Hour Broadcasts from 1978-1984. Most interesting to me because I lived in NYC then.

I just finished The Shakespeare Secret today, and was a bit disappointed. I have always been fascinated with Shakespeare, and was looking forward to reading this book, but I do not think it was well written. The good thing about it though, was that it made me want to revisit my Shakespeare works, so I've spent the day reading sonnets and also started on Romeo and Juliet, which I have read so many times that I know portions of it by heart.

In addition I have started reading Phantoms by Dean Koontz.

I am enjoying The Mother Hunt, I just love Archie!

Just finished The Wonder Spot last night. Now I'm about to start The Broom of the System--it's been on my TBR list for ages.

In honor of Halloween, I'm reading Dracula. I'm also reading one coming out next spring: THE HERETIC'S WIFE by Brenda Rickman Vantrease - it's wonderful!

I've been wanting to read Dracula, and Frankenstein, since I haven't read either of them, but I didn't think to grab them this month for Halloween. Maybe I'll wait a couple months and read them for Christmas. =P

#12 ~ kidzdoc.......enjoy The Haunting of Hill House....my favorite scary book (and movie) of all time. I read it last year for Halloween, and it still sends shivers up & down my spine like it did when I was a young girl. The old, original movie (not the remake) was outrageously scary!

This year I am reading a collection of short ghost stories ~ Classic Ghost Stories edited by Bob Bowers.....very creepy, perfect!!

In honor of Halloween, I'm reading two zombie novels. Brian Keene's The Rising is quite funny. It reminds me of the Evil Dead movies. Joe McKinney's Dead CIty is more of a straight horror novel. The writing is a bit pedestrian, but there are some nice moments of tension.

Was able to get the movie 84 Charing Cross Road. Watched it this afternoon. Anyone who has enjoyed the book,will surely enjoy the movie. by Helene Hanff

I just finished Babylon by Bus on audio - excellent.

And, outside of the car, I just finished reading The Great Influenza.

I just finished Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason, and it's a great book.

I'm in the middle of Blood From a Stone by Donna Leon now, about my favorite Venetian police commissioner, and I'm starting Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder

Happy Halloween!

Started volume one of the three volume Penguin edition of the unabridged, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon today. So amazing I have to share the first two sentences:

"In the second century of the Christian era, the empire of Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most civilized portion of mankind. The frontiers of that extensive monarchy were guarded by ancient renown and disciplined valour."

The work just rolls on like that page after page, chapter after chapter. In the 60+ pages of introduction editor David Womersley makes the point that Gibbon's style has overshadowed the historical tour de force that Gibbon accomplished with Decline and Fall.

jonesli -- Archie; New York City
Cameling -- Brunetti; Venice

When I was young I thought Archie Goodwin was the perfect man. Now I'm older and I lean more toward Guido Brunetti. So much of what I know of their two cities (neither of which I've visited) comes from the two of them. I think that well-written detective stories tell you as much about a place and time as any other type of writing -- the attention to detail, the outlook and demeanor of the guy doing the legwork, his ability to use the resources of his city to solve a crime, the way -- deep down -- he feels about the city and its people, the extent to which he is (and isn't) the quintessential New Yorker or Venetian, his own particular combination of vulnerability and courage, intelligence and instinct. Plus, with Archie you get Nero and that wonderful house (and the incredible food), and with Guido you get Paola and that labyrinth of a city (and the incredible food). Either way, you're going to gain a few pounds -- but it's a small price to pay for spending time with a man you love.

Message edited by its author, Nov 1, 2009, 3:22am.

Reading three books:
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Peony in Love by Lisa See
The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri

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

Finished a 'bit on the side' book this morning, What it Feels Like, edited by A.J. Jacobs. Bottom line: should have been a fantastic bunch of essays on amazing experiences - was actually a patchy, cobbled-together collection with one or two exceptions. Don't bother.

Message edited by its author, Nov 1, 2009, 8:29am.

The Chicago Tribune announced their 2009 Heartland Prize winner for fiction:
Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips
Non-fiction: Methland by Nick Reding
IMO, Lark and Termite is a great book and I've heard terrific things about Methland.

Since I am not doing too much - or trying not to anyway, I read the entire Bluestar's Prophecy yesterday - all 516 pages. I like this series - it has cats.

Next I think I will finish that latest Star Wars trilogy by reading Star Wars Abyss.

Too many choices - I want to read them all!

>51 My son has been reading the Warriors manga series and is now interested in the regular novels as well. I've been able to mooch most of the series in hardcover from BookMooch but still have to pick up the first and third books. I'm going to give them to him for Christmas.

I've just finished volume one of a new to me manga series, Descendants of Darkness and since I finished Soulless (from post 34) last night I pulled The Crystal Throne by Kathryn Sullivan out of my tbr pile to start today.

Hopefully I will finish Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King this week.
I really like his short stories but I'm really getting tired of them (plus, the book is heavy and hard to carry around). Only 250 pages to go. Wohoo!

I think I will start The light fantastic by Terry Pratchett after that ^^

Started in Tunnels Of Blood by Darren Shan. Liking the series so far. :)

Finished Medicine Balls by Dr Phil Hammond. If you've ever worked for the NHS it's worth a read - not much has changed since the book was written. I could identify with many of the situations and it had me howling with laughter at times.
Still reading Terry Pratchett's Making Money which has now become my shop read. Bedtime read is going to be Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg and my day off read will be Stephenie Meyer's Breaking Dawn.

I meandered into Boarders last Friday and walked out with Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne. I've just started it and I can tell it'll be interesting. I've also just started Library at Night.

Just started Peculiar, MO by Robert Williams. Looks like a good book, and at .99 on Kindle, hard to pass up.

Finished Green Darkness which I loved because of the ending chapters, and also The Scarpetta Factor which is classic Patricia Cornwell. Now reading Fallen and hopefully Unhallowed Ground.

After a week I'm only on page 36 of The Witches of Eastwick. I can't figure out why it's going so slow.

I am currently reading The Little Stranger after having seen that several other LTers read and enjoyed it. I am loving it so far even though I don't think that I have gotten to the "meat" of the story yet.

Upstairs I am reading Midnight's Children, downstairs I am reading The Tender Bar

> libraryrobin- I have not read your upstairs book, I do plan on it but I did read your downstairs book, The Tender Bar and thought it was wonderful! Hope you enjoy it!

The Tender Bar is a total winner.

#50 IMO, the Chicago Tribune picked a wonderful book. Lark & Termite is one of my faves from 2009.

Currently reading four:
Downhill Lie by Carl Hiaasen
The Perfect Ride by Gary Stevens
Paper Trail by Ellen Goodman
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

Given the length of A Suitable Boy (1474 pgs. in very small type) I'll no doubt be reading it into December.

I finished The Witness Tree last night - An easy to read, fast paced fictitious account of the American diplomatic dynasty, the Dulles family, with a focus on Foster, Eleanor and Allen Dulles, during the period 1911 to 1947. While written as an espionage thriller, it is fact based and peppered with interesting people and events of the time period.

Next up is People of the Book for the group read and Zeitoun.

I'm excited to be among the group now reading People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. Very good so far.

>Dracula...Maybe I'll wait a couple months and read them for Christmas. =P

LOL!

Dear Ones and unknown readers ...

Yesterday (Saturday, Oct. 31) I finished a book by Gregory Curtis that I enjoyed very much and highly recommend, The Cave Painters: Probing the Mysteries of the World's First Artists. Five stars, without a doubt, ... (more ? see link below)

http://www.librarything.com/work/1741891...

I returned to Susanne Alleyn's book A Far Better Rest for reading pleasure and for one of the RL Book clubs I attend, I have reluctantly, begrudgingly started reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies because the meeting is coming up next Sunday. So far, Ms. Alleyn's writing is winning most of my time and attention.

Good reading, and to those of you writing a novel this month ... I hope the character and plot ideas are streaming straight from your brain to your keyboard with ease and only minor revision(s) necessary along the way.

Continuing with The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt, a wonderful tale by a masterful artist. Have also begun her sister, Margaret Drabble's A Writer's Britain: Landscape in Literature

Message edited by its author, Nov 1, 2009, 2:16pm.

I haven't been able to find all the Agatha Christie books in the stores near me, so I finally ordered them from Amazon. And now they're not shipping them in the order I want to read them. Well, such is life.

So, while on night shift and not being able to cook and eat like a normal person, I started My life in France by Julia Child. I'm very impressed by the clear voice presented in the book.

I gave up on Promise Me. I just didn't care what happened. So now I'm on to one in which I care very much, Antigona and Me. I'm still less than 50 pages in and I so want good things to happen to this instantly lovable woman.

Reading My Life in France by Julia Child. also enjoying the photos that her husband took.

I'm in the home stretch of The Hemingses of Monticello - I don't want to leave that world quite yet, so I'm looking for a good Jefferson biography. Maybe American Sphinx?
I'm also about 1/3 through Script & Scribble - a book about writing and penmanship. It's pretty good so far.

I took a detour in my planned reading this afternoon to read When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.... what a fantastic YA book! It is set in 1978-79 New York City with an intriguing puzzle the narrator, 12 year old Miranda, is trying to fathom out. That is all I am going to say about the puzzle, or I should say puzzles... With interesting neighborhood residents, great characters and a plot that kept me captivated, this is a brilliant, quick afternoon read I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend.

Message edited by its author, Nov 1, 2009, 7:25pm.

Just finished The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan. The book had found its way into this thread a few weeks back--sorry, I don't remember who mentioned it. It seemed the perfect book for Halloween reading.

I did find it very frightening, mostly for a sense of nightmare you get from it--the feeling that the characters are trapped, cannot get away from the danger that confronts them.
It was well-written and a good read. Thanks to whoever mentioned the book in the first place!

Karen

I finished 5 books on vacation:

The Help
South of Broad
Mothers and Sons
"The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest"
Married to a Bedouin

I have nothing new to add to the various reviews on first 2 books.

I loved Mothers and Sons. The way Toibin describes Ireland is captivating. These stories ring true for any parent-child relationship. Highly recommend.

"The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest:" It finishes the trilogy and does not disappoint.

Married to a Bedouin: I met this author (and bought the book) in Petra, Jordan. It's a fascinating story about how a woman from New Zealand met, married and lives with a Bedouin man and his culture. Not to mention she lived in one of the 7 Wonders of the World. I highly recommend this book for people who plan to visit Jordan or the Middle East.

Right now, I'm reading Trans-Sister Radio and thinking about reading Gone with the Wind for the first time.

I'm reading Plan B by Jonathan Tropper. I read This Is Where I Leave You last month and enjoyed it a lot so I want to read his other books.

Finished Across the Endless River by Thad Charhart late last night. I enjoyed it, although it has its flaws. I'm not sure what's next. Maybe Cave Art by Jean Clottes, which I just picked up from the library. It's a beautiful book...

Finished Jane Eyre last night and loved it. Just started Leviathan by Philip Hoare this morning, about mankind's fascination with whales, and I am loving it so far.

I'm reading Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, I'm only about 100 pages in, but so far I am enjoying it.

I've started reading Der Name der Rose by Umberto Eco. I didn't manage to get far, so I'm just at 20 pages, but it promises to be good, so I will see how it goes on.

I'm reading The Somnabulist - I should be done by Wednesday at latest - possibly sooner since it's good enough that I'll probably finish at home rather than wait for the next day's commute.

Just read Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman, as recommended by WholeHouseLibrary in another thread. It was a very fun read. The first essay, on marrying libraries (I'm engaged), was my favorite but I could really relate to several others. She's definitely more intellectual than I, and some reviewers describe her as snobby, but it didn't bother me. Similar style to Hanff in many respects.

Next up is David Ramsey's Total Money Makeover, recommended by several friends. In preparation for setting up a joint budget, etc. I ordered several through the library and this one is due first.

I finished My Name is Legion a very good, thought provoking book which was much better than I expected.

I have now started reading The People of the Book for the 50 book challenge group read.

Having finished American Lion neatly enough on the way home from work Friday, I started The Making of the Middle Ages on the way in this morning. It's a bit dry so far, but I'll give it to the end of the day. I already had one false start with The Lost Art of Gratitude over the weekend.

I'm nearing the end of Einstein: His Life and Universe and starting Thursday Next: First Among Sequels. I needed a little light reading after Al.

Just started Faith by Peter James. I was hooked after the first couple of pages, so much so that I ended up reading over half of the whole book in bed last night. Just as well I didn't have work today!

Message edited by its author, Nov 2, 2009, 11:24am.

Just started my 1010 challenge (running Nov '09 thru Oct '10), and just started Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

Last night I got through all of A Walk to Remember and it reaffirmed to me that Nicholas Sparks is a master at what he does and i adore his books even though i'm unable to see by the time I finish them as i'm crying so much.
Not sure what i'm going to read tonight- I may just be good and read some stuff for uni that i need to do for tomorrow.

I've just finished Lord of Misrule and started Following the Drum. Still reading The Heretics Feast.

Message edited by its author, Nov 2, 2009, 12:05pm.

#3 Tullah Rose

I don't know how Glass Books of the Dream Eaters is in german, but I found it to be very surreal in English. I couldn't decide if it was truly a dream or not. It seems to be a cross between a Victorian penny novel, a modern romance novel, and spy thriller. I just am not sure what category it should be in. However, I found it interesting enough that I read the second installment in the series - The Dark Volume. I even want to read the ending volume when it comes out. I want to know if the Cardinal and Miss Temple get together.

You are right about the sexuality in it. I couldn't decide if it needed to be there or not. It was also puzzling in that the sex wasn't blatant, but it was erotic and clearly there to set the mood about a society that is sexually repressed and give the story some sexual tension.

I started Marley ane Me this morning

#92. I loved the book - luckily I read it before seeing the movie since the movie was lacking.

I have moved on to The Moonlit Cage by Linda Holeman, an author I usually enjoy. Finished Jim The Boy yesterday, such a well-written book! Still reading People of the Book for the Group Read.

#74-I'm still waiting to get my hands on When You Reach Me from the library-I really want to read it!

I'm about to start Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult-I always love her books, even though some are far better than others. I hadn't even known this one was out, so I'm very excited to start it around all the homework I have to do for graduate school.

#81-Tallulah_Rose,

You might want to find a copy of Key to the Name of the Rose by Adele J. Haft. It translates all the Latin passages in the book and clarifies most of the major issues of medieval thought that surround the action of the novel.

#94, DeltaQueen50, I love Tony Earley's Jim the Boy, and the sequel to it The Blue Star is wonderful too. The 3rd book in Jim's trilogy comes out in 2010.

I am definitely going to read the sequel soon, and now, I will be looking for the third one as well. Thanks.

'Tis the season.. Mayflower A Story of Courage, Community and War.
Also on audio, still have God Bless John Wayne going, but should finish that up today or tomorrow.

I finished Dracula one day before Halloween, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm still reading Jane Eyre but I'm having a hard time with it. I guess I need some time to recover from the 2nd part of the book. . .

Now though I am reading The Flanders Panel for the The Europe Endless Challenge. Leave it to me to get a book about something I know nothing about: chess and art. Oh well. Time to learn something, eh?

I just finished Wuthering Heights, which is, I think, a book best read for the first time in one's teenage years (or early 20's, at the latest). The review was fun to write, though.

Next up, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, probably followed by Elizabeth von Armin's The Enchanted April.

Message edited by its author, Nov 2, 2009, 5:08pm.

Whoops, double post.

Message edited by its author, Nov 2, 2009, 5:08pm.

I gave up on John Banville's The Sea. Just couldn't get into it. maybe it was the time or my mood, but for a Booker Prize winner it just failed to grab me. I guess it is an example of not all books are for everyone. I also finished the YA book Mimus and started listening to the second volume of Octavian Nothing - Vol. 2. The language in this book is outstanding. M. T. Anderson manages to capture the use of the English language of the 1770's so well. However, I can't imagine that YA's would read it. Maybe I'm wrong because it is a good story.

I started the YA novel Great and Terrible Beauty and just can't put it down. This one is great!

I ve just finished reading' 1909 Armenian event's in Maras ' and am still reading Virnia Woolf's FLUSH ....

I finished two books today, La traduction est une histoire d'amour (Translation is a Love Affair), a beautiful novella about love and language centered around a mystery, by the Canadian author Jacques Poulin, and A Sorrow Beyond Dreams by the Austrian author Peter Handke, which was an interesting but abstract book about his mother's troubled life and early suicide.

I've started reading An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro, which won the Whitbread Award in 1986. After that I'll pick up Chowringhee by Sankar, a classic work of contemporary Indian literature, which describes the lives of those who work and stay in an opulent hotel in Calcutta.

I finished up The Lost Symbol last night. It takes a little bit to get going but once it did I couldn't put it down. I did end up guessing two of the "surprises" at the end, though I still enjoyed.

Now I've started Memoirs of a Geisha.

I'm finally reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle in anticipation of attending a book signing/talk by the author that is scheduled for tomorrow evening. So far, I'm enjoying the book.

i wish i could read all the entries. they're fascinating. thanks everybody and special thanks to fredbacon for using the word 'jeremiad.' made me smile.

lessee. i'm still moving along with brideshead revisited by Evelyn Waugh and am so enraptured by the narration that i can't pay attention to much else. Jeremy irons' continues to amaze. he simply woos the listener into character and scene. swoonly.

on tape two of she walks these hills by Sharyn McCrumb, a compelling book set in east TN where i live.

have started Ross Thomas' briarpatch. thus far i don't like it as well as the Artie Wu/Quincy Durant/'Otherguy' Overby/Georgia Blue ensemble books, but it's Ross Thomas narrated by Frank Muller, so it's good.

noodling along in the man of property by John Galsworthy for the silly book game. i've read it so many times i almost know it by heart.

about 2/3 through Agatha Christie's sad cypress my first ever Christie. David Suchet's narration is excellent.

and rereading Nevada Barr's Firestorm because Barr, park ranger Anna Pigeon and narrator Suzanne Toren are an unbeatable combination.

stalled out on heat wave by Penelope Lively after enthusing wildly over the first tape last week. i expect i'll get back to it after i finish brideshead.

I finished Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor by Tad Friend and started Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner.

Tho Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark - starts out well.

I am slowly, for some unknown reason, reading Star Wars Abyss. Just can't get into reading.

>111: koalamom: It's pretty weird, isn't it, how sometimes we inveterate readers can't get into reading? Those dry patches are dull, dull, dull, but we are so glad when they are over.

I'm about 3/4 through Dennis Lehane's The Given Day. It's my first Lehane and I have to say it wasn't thrilling me until just about now. Not sure what will be next.

#93- I'm about 55 pages into Marley and Me and so far I am loving it

I am almost finish reading The Outlander by Gil Adamson. I plan to finish it tonight. I don't know what I will be reading next.

#113 - I did get a lump in my throat at one point reading the book. In my defense, I had a dog growing up. My wife teased me about it... I walked in when she was reading the book a week later and she was crying and she never even had a dog, so I feel a little vindicated.

>111 and 112 You are so right. Why does that happen? I'm just finishing up the third book in a row that didn't do anything for me and I KNOW if I had read them at another time they would have been 4-5 star reads. Crazy.

I just finished reading Nightlight: A Parody, and loved it. Surprisingly funny and not the usual take on Twilight satire.

Next I'm going to start reading Possession, because I've been carting an old copy around with me for the last three moves. It's time.

#116. I find personally, there's a number of reasons:

Events in your life at the time - if you're readily relating to something in the book, you're probably more attached to the message.

What you've read recently, or previously - for instance, something groundbreaking to you can make another otherwise groundbreaking work mundane since the theme was similar.

Seasons - I think in general, moving from summer to fall or especially fall to winter tends to make reading a little less enjoyable for me. Part of it is just the change in daylight. But, once winter is in full swing, reading can be enjoyable again, especially when you get to stay indoors on a cold day with a good book.

#117. I'm kicking around the idea of reading Possession...I've read two other Byatt works and have two out from the library right now that I should read before month's end. I guess however I'm left after reading them will decide if I read further. So far, I've loved Byatt's short stories Little Black Book but was a little let down by Angels and Insects.

I finished Lehane's Shutter Island and found it to be a good, fast-moving thriller/mystery with a good twist at the end. Now I can see the movie (whenever it comes out. I saw the trailer for it about 4 months ago).
I'll be starting an ARC-Ambrose Bierce's Write It Right.

I finished Margaret Drabble's The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws this morning. What an extraordinary book. I'm going to be thinking about it for a long time -- I may need to read it again soon. It's not a book for everyone -- and I felt at times as though I wasn't smart enough (or perhaps reading intensely enough) to take in all she was offering. I kept thinking that if I could somehow map the book -- find some way to see it as a mosaic or jigaw -- it might reveal so much more to me. It seemed to meander, and yet I always felt (hoped?) there was a method to the madness -- a pattern in the carpet -- even if I didn't quite grasp it. Drabble uses jigsaws as metaphor -- she looks at her family history and tries to impose order, but recognizes that, unlike the jigsaw puzzle, life is not so orderly, will not stay within the frame. There are missing pieces and pieces left over, pieces that trouble us because they do not fit.

I'm so tempted to read this book again immediately, but I know from past history that isn't good for me, so I'll go on to something else. But I'll keep it close by -- and I'll get back to it soon.

The 'something else' I'll be reading next is a book recommended by Drabble in a recent interview . . . English author Julia Blackburn's The Three of Us: A Family Story.

Message edited by its author, Nov 3, 2009, 12:59pm.

After reading the first two Roy Tucker books recently, The Kid From Tomkinsville and World Series, I couldn't resist and went right after the third of the series, The Kid Comes Back. These are YA books that tell the story of Tucker, a young player on the Brooklyn Dodgers. The first two books were written in the early 40s. The third was written in 1946. Where the Kid comes back from is dangerous combat service in World War Two. These books were fascinating to me as a young boy in the early 60s. They're still good today, too.

I've got more than my usual number of books going on right now.

On my Ipod: I'm finishing up Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer. I love Krakauer, but I don't think a book about the Army and football was really for me, whenever he described battle or ball games I would sort of blank out.

In print: I've been reading essays from Shelf Discovery for the past few days for a reading challenge I'm participating in, it is a great book to stick in the diaper bag and read while I'm feeding the baby.

I finished The Seance by John Harwood last night and picked up one of my Early Reviewer books, The Private Papers of the Eastern Jewel by Maureen Lindley. I think this one is going to be a bit of a chore, I'm not really enjoying the main character or the writing.

This morning I temporarily put down The Private Papers of the Eastern Jewel in favor of Liar by Justine Larbalestier because I'm going to her signing tomorrow night.

I finished Leviathan by Philip Hoare which wasn't what I expected, but which I still loved. Now a short read for me, De brug (The Bridge) by Geert Mak about the bridge in Istanbul...

Last night I finished The House of Rothschild by Niall Ferguson. It was fascinating. Today I had to google the family to catch up with them this decade. We get, in the book, to see the workings of a tight-knit powerful family. We get to see what power bankers actually have in government, or the basis of it anyway. I stumbled across this work, and I was very lucky.

After that I turned to Melville's Clarel and the Intersympathy of Creeds by William Potter. This is a lightweight academic overview of Melville's long poem. I am reading it in preparation for reading the poem itself. The importance of religion and what it might mean in a person's life is a continuing theme in my reading. It is, presumably, literature too.

Robert

#123. "The House of Rothschild" sounds interesting. It's going on the Mountain.

Sean191: do read Possession its one of my favorite books of all time. It is really an experience, the feel of the period, the poetry, the love story. ahh I have to read it again...

Meanwhile

We finally started the group read for People of the Book loving it so far.

#76, Bridget770, I bought Married to a Bedouin last week. I've visited Jordan (and of course Petra) a few weeks ago and found it a pity that I didn't find this book before going. I plan to write it soon.

I read two mysteries recently Fractured by Karin Slaughter and Shoot/ Don't Shoot by J.A. Jance

I am now reading Prairie Tales by Melissa Gilbert (This title does not come up on touchstones.) It seems to be an easy read. If you loved the TV series Little House on the Prairie, this is a book you may not want to miss.

I've read just enough of The Crazed by Ha Jin to know that it will be a good airport/airplane book. I haven't been disappointed by one of his books yet.

I read The Crazed several years ago, and loved it. BTW, his newest book, A Good Fall: Stories comes out in the US on November 24.

Finished Zeitoun - found the non-fiction account of hurricane Katrina and the aftermath a very quick read.

I am pacing my reading of People of the Book to keep in line with the reading pace of the group... 58 pages in so far, but it is my evening book so there will be further progress this evening.

In the meantime, I have picked up leaving tangier by Tahar Ben Jelloun as my current backup/commute to work book.

Finished De Brug, it was a short book, and ok. Now reading Dodenboek (Book of the dead) by Preston & Child, the third in the Pendergast trilogy (and my first), but I think I can manage without having read the other Pendergast novels...

# 96 Smiley
Thank you for the tip. Fortunately I have a version with explanatory notes to the Latin passages, unfortunately there are not all latin passages translated. For the main medieval thoughts I am in the lucky situation that I study German and English and have medieval studies in it, so I know pretty much about the medieval time.
But I will go have a look i there is a german version (I'm reading in german), I think with the Latin passages it will help me.

Message edited by its author, Nov 4, 2009, 4:49am.

#127 Viviane, have you read Angels and Insects? If so, how did it compare to Possession?

I finished The Crystal Throne by Kathryn Sullivan last night and it was better than I expected. I also started Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog.

# 129 dara85: I am going to have to look for the book Prairie Tales by Melissa Gilbert. I loved Little House on the Prairie tv show and books.

I finally finished The Outlander by Gil Adamson. I have 3 books I plan to start reading:

Die Smart by Kathy Lane
Sylvia, Rachel, Meredith, Anna by Robert Slentz-Kesler
Act Like a Gentleman, Think Like a Woman by Maria Bustillos

I hope I can handle all three at once.

Was reading The Master and Margarita. Even though I was enjoying the book, right now I am besieged by exams and assignments and this is not exactly a light read. So, maybe I will get back to The Master and Margarita later. Right now I’m reading The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim for my Monthly Author Reads group.

There are a lot of active posters in this thread, so I thought I'd try to get support going for an idea I posted in the "Recommend Site Improvements" forum (thread is http://www.librarything.com/topic/76354 ). Here's the post:

"I post in a lot of groups, by my standards, and sometimes I want to go back to threads I've started in different groups. Presently I have squads of stuff starred, so that search is tedious; I won't even go into the size of the "Your Posts" choice.

Would it be a royal pain to introduce a "Threads You've Started" choice in the "Your World" bar? It would make my personal life easier, and I can imagine that of others as well."

If it sounds like a good idea to you, please go over there and post a response. It makes the request more popular, and so more likely to be granted.

Message edited by its author, Nov 4, 2009, 11:40am.

#139 Just thought I should let you know that link only takes me to a blank page.

I read Wildthorn last night and enjoyed it quite a lot - it's like a shortened PG-version of Fingersmith with less of the malicious plots .

#139: I clicked on your link in the post and I just get a blank page. I will see if I can find your post in the group.

#139 Richard

http://www.librarything.com/topic/76354

hope this takes people to your thread. Neat idea even if I don't start many threads - Useful in the challenge groups;)

Edit to say checked the link and it works for me.

Message edited by its author, Nov 4, 2009, 11:43am.

Thanks to Booksloth and crazy4, I fixed the link. My bad, sorry!

ETA and calm too!

Message edited by its author, Nov 4, 2009, 11:46am.

Thanks for fixing the link calm and richardderus. I did find the thread and posted a reply.

Monic'a

My Husband's Affair Became the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me...please, please go read the searingly honest, fearless, and soul-searching review member booksfallapart wrote of this book. It's...I don't know...it's rare to read a person's inner pain on a screen and, instead of wanting to turn away, wanting to thank them for telling about it publicly.

It's a hard subject to deal with, and booksfallapart does it beautifully.

I finished up the zombie novels Dead City and The Rising a couple of days ago. Though I initially thought The Rising was pretty funny, it turned out that it was just badly written. The moments where Keene is actually trying to be funny were really the only thing that worked for me. Too bad he didn't write a comedy.

Dead City, on the other hand, was pretty enjoyable. Not transcendent, but a solid treatment of one man's day-long struggle to survive and find his family as a zombie plague rages across his city.

I've now left zombies behind, for the subtler darkness of Terrence Holt's In the Valley of the Kings. Intriguing so far. The stories have a certain Kafka/Poe/Borges feel, which is both a benefit and handicap. Benefit because I love those authors and their stories. Handicap because I think Holt's own voice hasn't yet broken through the sense of homage/pastiche.

I finished Fallen and now starting Lavender Morning. Not sure if I will continue with Unhallowed Ground as Lavender Morning has been good out of the gate. Also bought The Heretics Daughter and Though Waters Roar at Sam's Club.

I'm enjoying Charles Pierce's Idiot America. It's highly readable and fun, for the most part, unless I think about it too much.

I finished The Wet Nurse's Tale yesterday and found it to be an entertaining bit of historical fiction.

I finished Handle With Care this afternoon, and it was another amazing Jodi Piccoult book-difficult read because of the subject matter, but well worth the journey.

I'm now starting the latest in the Three Pines series (my new favorite series!), The Brutal Telling.

I read P.G. Wodehouse's Ring for Jeeves last night and was highly amused by it - wonderfully English and very witty.

Finished The Enchanted April. My review,

http://www.librarything.com/work/150163/...

Or on my 50 Book Challenge thread,

http://www.librarything.com/topic/72408

Next I'll be reading something that has been on my TBR pile for quite some time. My next read is The Playboy of the Western World by J. M. Synge.

#146. >>> That's the first time a book review made me cry. Beautiful. Thanks Richard for pointing us to it.

Just popping in to catch up on what I've been reading lately before going back to the library books mountain...

Taking a break from my longer read, The Woman in White, I read Fire by Kristin Cashore and When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, taking about a day each earlier this week. Now I'm back to my classic, which is getting more interesting, and listening to 13 Things That Don't Make Sense. I'm making an effort to keep pushing on in The Woman in White before starting another book, but we'll see how long that resolution lasts.

I finished reading One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez a few days back and am eagerly looking forward to tonight's book discussion of this work at my local library. I am now reading A Breath of Fresh Air by Amulya Malladi and R. K. Narayan's Malgudi Days. With respect to the latter, I am taking Jhumpa Lahiri's suggestion and reading just one story per day.

Thanks for the link Richard to that review. Now I think I may want to read the book because it really hits home.

Currently I am reading Act Like a Gentleman, Think Like a Woman and I am really enjoying it.

Booksloth.....just wanted to let you know, I think you're right about Jodi Picoult's Change of Heart. I'm about 2/3rds the way through it, and it is just plain weird. So unlike her other books, which I've found to be thought-provoking, heart wrenching & powerful. This one is really odd, and I'll be glad once I finish it. Of course, her writing is very good, which is why I've decided to finish it. It's just the story that is off the wall. Looking forward to something else.

i am now reading Veiled sentiments for my
anthropology class it is a long book but sounds very interesting so far. it could a little confusing on how they decribe the Veiles. has anyone read it>?

Finished and reviewed The Housekeeper and the Professor. From my review:

In The Housekeeper and the Professor, Yoko Ogawa uses mathematics and baseball as metaphors for life and, in so doing, has written a very imaginative and charming novel. The housekeeper is a single mother, living in Japan in the early 1990’s, when she is assigned to the brilliant mathematics professor. She is his tenth housekeeper, the previous nine having been unable to deal with his special requirements. Ever since the Professor suffered a head injury in a car accident many years previously, his memory ends in 1975 and his short term memory only lasts eighty minutes.

Read more here: http://www.librarything.com/profile_revi...

And started The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway.

#159 brenzi - I'm happy to hear you enjoyed Housekeeper. I thought it was a little gem.

#157 For me it was at least partly because the whole premise was so weird. If someone had killed the rest of my family and my remaining child could only survive by having that person's heart (overlooking for the moment the unlikelihood of successfully transplanting an adult's heart into a child) would I accept it? I think the only moral question here is, would I wait until he died?

Still reading Star Wars Abyss. I find it so strange to being having this problem with a book of this nature/genre. Guess I am not into reading this week. I did read two large books on the weekend, both the kind you want to read in one sitting anyway so maybe the 800 pages I read over the weekend made me not want to read the next so fast!

I finished Great and Terrible Beauty and started on The Welsh Girl. Great and Terrible Beauty was really good. There are many people who think that YA novels aren't as meaty and full bodied as adult novels, but this one was an exception. It was very well written with lots of food for thought. I enjoyed it and recommend it. Now it is off to the library to get the second book in the series.

I was out most of yesterday and didn't feel like hard reading at bedtime. I had brought home from Borders Alphabet Juice by Roy Blount, Jr., so I read a chunk of it. It is not as good as I had hoped, but he has chosen Western Massachusetts over Georgia so he gets some bonus points.

I hope to have a book of similar weight in today's mail. They may vie with one another for tonight's reading.

Robert

Finished David Byrne's Bicycle Diaries today. I thought the book would give more of a picture of various cities around the world. That's there but for the most part each city was used as a springboard to a variety of musings about the nature of people, society, art etc.
His views on a livable city were particularly interesting.

Hi All, I am new here but thought I'd add my current reads. I am half way through A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry for my Tuesdays at Ten book club. I also am about half way through True Compass, Ted Kennedy's memoir. I'll get back to it as soon as I finish my book club selection.

>justmejo- Welcome aboard! You are in a very special place! It looks like you are reading some very good books!

Hi justmejo - another welcome! I'm waiting for my turn at the library with True Compass. How is it going?

Thanks for the welcome msf59 and coppers. I'm excited to have found the Library thing. Coppers I am enjoying True Compass. Most of the Kennedy's public years. I was a young teenager for John Kennedy's presidency. I think that makes it even more enjoyable.

#161.....well, I finally finished Change of Heart. The whole book was very strange. Not her best work, that's for sure. I think the author is so well known for writing incredibly thought provoking stories.... but went just a little (okay, alot) overboard on this one.....trying too hard, maybe, and still not achieving what she had hoped. The writing was good, of course.....she's a good writer for sure. But the story was just, well, crazy.

Got my third hot review!!! This one is for The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim.

I just finished The Little Stranger and I absolutely loved it!!!! Thank you to my fellow LTers for mentioning it. I don't think I would have found this book on my own. I have looked at Sarah Waters other books and will be checking some of those from the library in the future.

I started Mennonite in a Black Dress last night which I received recently as an ER book. I am only about 5 or so pages in but it looks interesting and entertaining so I hope to enjoy it.

After I finish that, I have the new Jodi Picoult as well as an Ian McEwan that was recommended here recently. Not sure which one I will read first.

I am reading The Last Jet-Engine Laugh by Ruchir Joshi for the Reading Globally India theme read. It was recommended here on LT.

#172 bookaholicgirl - I've got The Little Stranger moving closer to the top of my tbr pile. I read my first Sarah Waters book, The Night Watch, very recently and absolutely loved it!

Almost done with "Abyss" and hope to finish it soon - can't wait to see if Luke gets back to Coruscant!

I am heading over to the library for a couple of book on my wall list. Hope they don't take as long to read!

I finished off Fairy Tale last night and started Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton.

I have just finished the last book (Silver on the Tree) in my omnibus edition of The Dark is Rising Sequence ready for the group discussion (75 book challenge).

I am one third of the way through People of the Book and am going to try to pace the next third to fit in with that group read (50 book challenge).

About half way through Black Venus a collection of short stories by Angela Carter and have just started the third chapter of Out Of Eden: The Peopling of the World by Stephen Oppenheimer.

Now all I need to do is decide what should be added to the currently reading pile. The book to get lost in ... thinking ... back later!

I stopped reading Father Brown because it became too repetitive. Now I'm well into The Night Watch by Sarah Waters. Some pages are very disturbing, but the story and the writing is gripping. A very striking book, for the moment.

Did it - finally - finished Star Wars Abyss. It turned out not to be as long as I thought - they put in an excerpt from the next volume - and I thought this was a trilogy - guess not - again!

Not sure what I'll read next - didn't get to the library yet either - maybe I'll go after lunch?

Alternating with The Book of Unholy Mischief is The Criminal Mind, which I hadn't actually meant to read yet but when it arrived through the post I picked it up, flicked through a few pages and the next thing I knew I was hooked.

I finished reading A Far Better Rest a day or two ago. I highly recommend this book, my first by author Susanne Alleyn. It serves with elan as the back-story to A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and IMHO, out classes it by many a rustique kilometer.

If interested in reading the review I posted it here:

http://www.librarything.com/profile_revi...

or at the Main page for the work:

http://www.librarything.com/work/123508

Interesting to me how this worked out, but, I am well underway on Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for my RL/Face to Face book club coming up on Sunday afternoon. (I would NOT have chosen this one as my number seventy-five, nor would I have purposefully sought out another book based on a Classic work of literature). However, it IS my number sevety-five and it is another book spun on the skeleton, so to speak, of a classic, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

It is amusing to read, as was the original work on which this book of Zombie lives and times in merry ol' England is based, and sometimes the humor reaches far, far beyond good taste and into the gross category ... very gory ... both actually. Do you laugh when you are uncomfortable? This one's for you. It is sort of a Jane Austen guests writes for Saturday Night Live .

Seth Grahame-Smith, the second author of this creation, is quite clever and must have a semi-permanent pouch in his cheek from fitting his tongue in that place so often whilst writing this work.

Though I can predict much more zombie mayhem, I still plan to finish the reading of it, out of respect for my friends in the book club.

We are having Zombie wine (not kidding) with our cheese and crackers. I will admit that I am somewhat hooked at this point in the story I know so well, and I do want to see what happens to Dear Darcy and our s'hero, the intrepid Jane Bennet.

Message edited by its author, Nov 6, 2009, 12:48pm.

Did that do it?

Yes - thank you!

For all those who enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, I noticed in the bookstore yesterday a new one, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. It's got quite a cover!

Thanks to you theaelizabet for turning off the italics. I have tried more times than I can say to close the HTMLX command, however, no luck. You did it! Thank you.

Ruth/womansheart

You're very welcome!

I'm in the throes of trying to decide what to read next. I have a good start on The Welsh Girl and have The Night Watch and Book of Unholy Mischief close at hand.

#180 Booksloth

Let me know what you think of Book of Unholy Mischief I have that one on my TBR pile and am trying to decide whether or not to move it up or down.

#186 DeltaQueen50

I have noticed that cover and you are right it is something! Very enticing and exciting looking.

So, fellow LT'ers whats going on with the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and the Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters? Why are people reading them?

#189 Well, I don’t know why everyone else is reading them but I know that I won't. For those who are reading them, it's their own choice. To each his/her own. For me the original Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility are good enough, thank you very much!

I'm home today with nothing to do but sit with an ice pack and read (not so bad actually) and so I've gottten about half way through Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon. I was confused and frustrated with it early on especially since I didn't really like any of the characters. Some are growing on me now so I'm enjoying it a lot more. It's kind of fun trying to work out exactly what's going on.

#189 benitastrnad - Of the three books you mentioned reading, I have only read The Night Watch and loved it. I can't believe I let it sit on my bookshelf for so long!

>189 & 190 -

I did not want to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies but I like the member of my book club that selected it and she was going after something light and a little scary in the spirit of Halloween.

I resisted and postponed reading it until finally, I had to pick it up after being notified that it was being held on reserve for me at the main library.

I will have fun with my book club friends discussing the book and drinking wine and socializing. Not a book I would have chosen, but, it is clever, not blasphemous, just fun. I am going to learn to lighten up and stick with something new and have some good laughs at no one's expense. I felt the same way about Twilight when another person chose that one for our club read. Borrow/don't buy it.

Good friends are worth reading a so-so book once in a while, IMHO. And, a good laugh is worth a bunch, too.

Just saying.

#193 Yeah, this is exactly why I'm not a part of any book club. I'm afraid that I'd be forced to read something I don't want to. Another thing is that I don't drink. Maybe that is another reason of my not joining a book club. Just kidding! :-)

#151-LadyViolet,

Code of the Woosters is also excellent. As are the somewhat different Mulliner stories.

Code of the Woosters is one of my favorite Bertie & Jeeves stories.

I'm reading The Fugitive Queen by Fiona Buckley. I'm still recovering from Einstein: His Life and Universe.

I'm currently reading Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and enjoying it. I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies earlier this year and thought that was also fun, and I'm a Jane Austen fan who dislikes the all fan fiction books using her characters. I see these Austen/monster books as being so over the top and outrageous that it's hard not to laugh.

Reading two The Beach by Alex Garland and Christmas Promise by Anne Perry I don't usually read two mysteries at once, but totally different from each other.

Edited to correct touchtones

Message edited by its author, Nov 6, 2009, 7:21pm.

Welcome justmejo! I hope you love Library Thing as much as we all do--it is a special place--wonderful people!

I am reading Brooklyn by Colm Toibin. So far so good.

Just this very minute finished Dennis Lehane's The Given Day. It was my first Lehane and I'm not sure yet what I think of it. On the one hand, I always like historical fiction, but on the other, I couldn't get too wrapped up in the characters or action. I'll give it a few days to soak in.

Next up is The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz for my RL book club. I know almost nothing about this book, but it doesn't seem the sort of thing I usually enjoy. I guess that's why I'm in the book club, to be exposed to books I wouldn't normally pick up. That and the camaraderie. And the chocolate.

And with that....here is your brand new thread for the new week.