I'm not reading a 1001 book at the moment, but am always curious to hear what books from the list others are reading.

I'm giving Ethan Frome another go. I started it previously, but got distracted.

Good luck with Ethan Frome. I really like Wharton in general as an author but have always struggled with that book. I haven't attempted to re-read it since I had to in high school. I am not sure if I don't like the book or the cranky English teacher I had at the time.

I am reading The Wings of the Dove this November. It will probably take me into December as well.

Message edited by its author, Nov 1, 2009, 11:58pm.

I'm starting Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. I read Beloved in high school and my feelings can only be described as pain and loathing...and I hate feeling that way about a Nobel winner, so hopefully this will redeem her for me.

I'm planning on a couple books . Let ya'll know later !

Im reading Written on the body.

Finished Count of Monte Christo which was wonderful.

Now just starting The Hours. I'm not sure whether not having read any Virginia Woolfe will spoil this for me. Maybe it will inspire me?

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow has been chosen as a November read in my book group, so I'm looking forward to this :)

Just finished Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (which was ok) and On the Eve (which I would highly recommend), but now I am starting the first volume of Proust's novel.

I am halfway through Swann's Way, and I'm not sure I'll be reading the other six books of Remembrance of Things Past.

Im reading Written on the body.

Let us know what you think of that one . . . it's in my TBR pile but I keep passing over it.

Now just starting The Hours. I'm not sure whether not having read any Virginia Woolfe will spoil this for me. Maybe it will inspire me?

Reading Virginia Woolf will enrich your reading of The Hours. Mrs Dalloway and The Hours are the ultimate companion read combination. Have fun.

Just finished Atonement and Dirk Gently's Holistice Detective Agency. I have started Herzog and then am going to move onto Frankenstein.

Oh! I'm just finishing Frankenstein now. Quite the verbose monster!

Moving onto The Old Curiosity Shop next. I used to enjoy Dickens a lot in school and am looking forward to getting reacquainted.

I'm listening to the radio play of The Midwich Cuckoos, by John Wyndham, and loving it so far.

I have just finished Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood which I thought was a fascinating book. I have now begun The Handmaid's Tale by Atwood. It is interesting but rather depressing.

lindab, I preferred Alias Grace to the Handmaid's Tale myself, but I know the later has a huge fan base. Anyway, I finished listening to The Midwich Cukoos, and figured it was just too short (I thought I was downloading an audio book, but it was a radio play), so I checked my hard copy, and sure enough, it wasn't identical. So now I'm reading the book.

edited to try and fix touchstones, but alas, no luck.

Message edited by its author, Nov 3, 2009, 5:17pm.

Just finished Tarzan of the Apes. Now reading Herzog and so far don't think very much of it. Also just starting Tirant lo Blanc. I am looking forward to reading that. I like thos knightly tales....Ivanhoe and Don Quixote. All that jousting and swash buckling......opps! I got pulled back into that piratey thing for a moment.

Still getting through Tom Jones, ugh, sigh. Have just started Corelli's Mandolin which I think I will enjoy and am seriously eying In the First Circle.

I am reading both Mrs. Dalloway and Neuromancer. The two couldn't be more different.

#20 Good luck with Captain Corelli - probably my all-time favourite book. Many people find this one really hard to get into but if there was ever a bok worth persevering with it's this one.

I'm actually reading 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die which I scored (in mint condition) at a used bookstore yesterday. Previously, I've had to borrow it from the library. Planning to read Christ Stopped At Eboli from my TBR pile.

I just started Vanity Fair

In the middle of Malone Dies. I really wish he would get on with it!

I am reading Brideshead Revisited. Also hoping to get to The Count of Monte Cristo and Vanity Fair this year.
--BJ

#26 - ooh like your choices. All three are brilliant (especially the Count).

I've just finished The Scarlet Letter which I loathed with a passion. I think I'm going to read Of Human Bondage next possibly with Amsterdam (which I still haven't got more than 10 pages in to cos I never get round to it) and maybe Bleak House on the side.

I've been reading the Dickens aloud to my daughter at her dinner time (she's only 21 months but likes being read to) and it's definitely a surreal experience trying to read it out!

I'm about to start The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Díaz del Castillo.

Julia

Reading The Riddle of the Sands, over halfway already thanks to Monday being my day off. Really enjoying it so far, I saw the film years ago, so have that in my head.

@Nickelini I've just finished The Hours so now on to Mrs Dalloway seems like the right thing to do!

#27> Sounds like a grand thing to read to your daughter! I don't think mine would stand for it at the moment, she's a huge fan of the rather amusing The Terrible Plop and happily recites it in my ear as I read it to her at bedtime. She can now recognise the word "PLOP" (along with her name) which might startle her Kindi teacher when she starts school next year. :)

I'm sort of dipping into The London Orbital by Iain Sinclair. Very dense, a lot going over my head, but I'm still finding it rather fascinating. We'll see if I make it to the fifty page mark, however!

And I must start Vanity Fair soon. I'm looking forward to it!

#31 I'll admit it is fun! I wouldn't worry about plop - my girl's just discovered the word boobies. Plus we are trying to potty train so everything is 'Poo'. Hopefully Dickens will be a calming influence!

Just finished Amsterdam and started On Human Bondage. I've been reading it online and just picked up the paperback and realised that it's a lot longer than I'd thought. Not too sure about it yet...

Currently reading A Question of Upbringing by Anthony Powell it`s the first volume of the Music of Time series. I have In Search Of Lost Time, Foucault`s Pendulum,Don Quixote all partly read but yet to finish. Started Ulysses by james Joyce but will never finish it.I have a bad habit of starting books and then starting another. So far i`ve read 119 of the list. 1001 books have now become 1283 with the addition of the titles from the new edition and that increases to 1301 because you have to all the read the music of time books and you have to read all the Barsetshire novels and because i am also reading titles from the SF Masterworks list and the Fantasy masterworks list (32 books read so far) this puts the total up to at least 1422 books. One thing is for certain at my age (48) i will never finish them unless i live to be 98 at the rate i read. it will be fun trying.

Hi there solitarycyclist. Just dropping in to say that I, too, am trying to do the two Masterworks lists in addition to most of the 1001. Just tickled to see someone else mention them.

I finished Miss Pettigrew Lives for a day. Cute and sweet, but not sure it belongs on the list.
Next up is Dr Zhivago. I also checked out The Sea on cd. I'm not good at listening to books. I start thinking about other things and then miss important parts. I tried to listen on my commute today, but still zoned out and now I have no idea who this new character is. Audiobooks just might not be right for me.

Hello NeverStop Trying glad to hear from some one with taste. The only bad thing about the masterworks lists is that they seem to have stopped adding to them. Gollancz also started re-releasing classic SF with the yellow covers but i can`t find a list of releases anywhere.

Ooh, I like the Sci-fi/Fantasy Masterworks series too! I'm not trying to complete the list, but the ones I picked up at the shops were always spiffing reads, and not necessarily books I ordinarily would have picked up. (I do like sci-fi and fantasy, but I generally read newer books, not older ones in those genres.)

#32> Ah, yes, boobies are very popular with young Miss Boo too. She particularly likes the "prickles" they have (she can never remember the word "nipples"). Gives me the giggles every time.

To get back on topic: still going with London Orbital - it's my sofa book which means I get to read a few pages here and there when the kids are distracted by the TV. Not an ideal reading situation, but given how choppy. The writing is. In this book. It rather. Works. Plus, I can ponder each dense reference without any need to read quickly. I think I've hit 50 pages now, and will continue. Only 500 to go. I might be some time...

I finally finished Swann's Way. It is quite disheartening to slog through such a long book and not even be able to check something off the list without reading another six volumes! Ah well.

I finished reading the Midwich Cuckoos last weekend and now I'm listening to the audiobook of Villette, by Charlotte Bronte.

jlelliott - I am currently reading Swann's Way. I plan to check off the books on listsofbests one at a time to assuage my disappointment somewhat.

http://www.listsofbests.com/list/21242

-40 How are you liking it? His writing is undeniably lovely but I was quite satisfied with the companionship of his neurotic or (intentionally) tedious characters after a few hundred pages, making the remaining few hundred a little trying.

I decided to start with something completely different, so I started reading 2001: A Space Odyssey. The writing is quite a shock after Proust.

Do you find the writing in 2001: A Space Odyssey poor or just very different?

Currently reading The Castle by Frank Kafka myself. Weird, just plain weird.

-42 I wouldn't say it is poor, so far (I'm only on page 56 of 226). It is just spare and to the point, as science fiction writing often is. It is not dreamy and composed of sentences that go on for pages, and is thus a really high contrast to Proust.

Last week I finished The Sea by John Banville and am currently reading The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro.

#44 Oh wow! The Unconsoled is amazing!

#45 I'm glad you said that because, quite honestly, I'm having a tough time with it just now. Your reaction is encouraging. Normally, I zip right through Ishiguro's works.

re 39 How did you find The Midwich Cuckoos? I recently got a copy free with the Times, but know nothing about it.

I am reading The Tin Drum - very creepy, but well written.

I'm back to reading a 1001 book, it's Fingersmith, and I'm having a ball with it!

Beloved - Morrison.
I like it very much!

#47 Midwich Cuckoos is a lot of fun. It's written by the guy who also wrote The Day of the Triffids and both books were made into very popular sci-fi films back in the 60s (MC was called Village of the Damned). The book, as is typical of sci-fi from that era, doesn't have the 'edge' (translate that as 'blood and gore') that it might have had if written today (though it has more than you might expect for its era) but it's a snappy, easy-to-read and nicely creepy little story. I read it again recently after about 30 years and found it every bit as enjoyable now as it was then. You'll also find it is one of those books that makes up a lot of our cultural background and there are references and inspirations that appear in a lot of more modern books - Stephen King seems to be a particular fan. I think you'll like it a lot.

#46 I think The Unconsoled is more of a 'sink into' than a 'zip through' example of Ishiguro's work. It's decidedly weird but it's worth the time and effort you put into it. It was also one of those books that I didn't realise how great it was until after I'd finished. Despite the fact that there was a lot I never quite got my head around, it came back to haunt me afterwards and is one of those books I've never quite been able to get out of my head. Hope it does that for you too!

Just checking in for the month. I feel the same way about The Unconsoled, Booksloth!

I'm listening to Cecilia by Fanny Burney and I'm disappointed. It goes on and on and on with not a lot happening. Nowhere near as enjoyable as Burney's Evelina.

re 50

Thanks, it is sometimes a bit daunting to pick up a book you have no idea about. I will bump it up the list :)

#41-I'm not sure yet how I'll feel. I'm not halfway yet, so maybe I haven't had time to really get pummeled by the characters. So far, I'm still enjoying the writing style.

I'm still listening to Villette (C. Bronte) on audio book, and I started The Sun Also Rises (E. Hemingway) last night which I expected to hate, but so far am enjoying quite a bit.

Just finished Tirant lo Blanc.....very sad ending.

Does anyone know where I can get an on line copy of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter?

I am also working on The Thousand and One Nights. Wow!! This one takes a long time.

I just started The Violent Bear it Away by Flannery O'Connor. So far...it's weird. And I like it.

#57 Wow you read fast! I love the fact that you started off liking it and by the end... well I'm going to say didn't! Definitly not in a hurry to pick that one up after your review.... though I did like Vanity Fair...

58- it's not BAD, it's just BIZARRE. I know that's O'Connors schtick or whatever, but it kind of takes you out of the story which drives me nuts. There are definite eyebrow raising WTF moments. But it's not badly written or horribly offensive or anything. It's like if Chuck Pala-whats-his-name wrote about fundamentalist religion. It couldn't help but be strange.

Finished Fingersmith one of my more enjoyable reads from the old 1001 list. Now about to start The House of the Spirits, I think it is on the old and new list. I've read other's by Allende, so I think this is another one I'll enjoy.

Message edited by its author, Nov 21, 2009, 3:42am.

#60 HOTS may well be Allende's best book. Enjoy!

I just started in The Three Musketeers. Classic adventure!

I'm currently reading author Rocco Leonard Martino's satire, "Cancel Christmas." It raises a very important issue of tradition versus expediency and profit. And, it shows that romance can be depicted without explicit sexual scenes.

I've started Blind Man With a Pistol, by Chester Himes. Actually it was an Xmas present from my OH last year ... not quite sure what made him get this one for me ??

Finished Mrs Dalloway which I unfortunately found really tedious. I had to force myself to finish. Found myself drifting off continuously. Perhaps I'm a bit dim for this sort of literature.

Oh well, now for a big boofy blokes book......Little Women

Finally finished Tom Jones a couple of weeks ago, thank god! Am now mostly done with Corelli's Mandolin which I am thoroughly loving and have just started The Club Dumas. The last is unfortunately giving me the irresistible urge to read Dumas's listed books; oh well, looks like I have my work cut out for me. Lol.

I am determined to finish Gravity's Rainbow before the end of this year, so I finally picked it back up today. Only about 35% of the book left!

I finished The Sun Also Rises, which I liked better than I expected to, and it's a pretty quick read too. Still have Villette on my iPod, but haven't had much time to listen lately. I think I'll start Northanger Abbey tonight or tomorrow.

I finished Mrs. Dalloway and wanted sooo much to love it. Ended up liking it instead. I will be starting Wuthering Heights next.

#69 Can't say Mrs D will ever e one of my favourites ut, if you can bear to go through it all again, it does improve with rereading. It was a uni set book for me and I did find that all that analysis and deep thought kind fo forced me to enjoy it eventually.

When I studied Virginia Woolf, my prof repeated that her novels only make sense on the second reading--the first reading you only get a few of the zillion things she crams in there.

Just finished Sister Carrie. Excellent read.

I've taken a detour away from The House of the Spirits and picked up The Wasp Factory very dark Scottish humour from twisted characters. Next I'll try Passing another small novel that I hope I can finish over the weekend.

#65 I agree re Mrs D - I just cannot get on with Woolf. Re #71, maybe I do need to re-read them... I just have a feeling that life is too short and i am never going to get on with her... and there are 7 more in the 1001 that I haven't yet read. Darn.

At long last I am reading Slaughterhouse Five.

I just started Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky. Because I may not have SAD now, but I'm trying to get it. Depressed winter, here I come!

george1295 asked "Does anyone know where I can get an on line copy of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter?"

Yes, I just read it online from a copy of Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki which is available on Google Books. This isn't the Kawabata translation listed in 1001 Books, but it is the same story. Just go to books.google.com and search for "Japanese Fairy Tales." Ozaki's book comes up first on the list. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter starts on page 109.

Message edited by its author, Yesterday, 1:51pm.

@77 Thanks greatly for this info. Consquently, I now have read The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Its only 20 odd pages.

Meanwhile, I'm still reading Little Women

-77, 78 Fun, me too. Princess Moonlight reminded me of Thumbelina.