What You're Reading the Week of 9 Sep 2006

Mostly a writing week - in my bedtime fiction reading I finished Neal Stephenson's Interface (bizarrely has no touchstone), very enjoyable and started Sara Paretsky's Fire Sale, her writing seems more sophisticated these days (if that's the right word) but much more laboured.
Anna Karenina War and Peace Leo Tolstoy

GreyHead: I don't know if anyone has ever mentioned this before, but I really like the pictures you use to start out new threads here.

I just finished War of the Flowers by Tad Williams and Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I now moved on to Dispatches from the Edge by Anderson Cooper and Wanderwelt Schweiz and Switzerland (Lonely Planet) to prepare for when my friend comes here in two weeks.

I'm just starting Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. Has anyone else read this?

Still reading Henry James' Italian Hours and also Effie in Venice. I just finished Donna Leon's Blood from a Stone and have just begun Alessandro Baricco
s An Iliad, which I'm liking very much. Like Silk, the language is very spare, pared to the bone.

Hello all.
This my first group and thus my first message.
I finishede Siddharta by Herman Hesse yesterday and started on The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli. Apart from that I am reading everything I can put my hands on concerning two persons, one dead, the other alive. I am a translator and a consultant of sorts on a documentary film that is in the making, concerning these two persons. It means that there is not much time for reading anything else, but I try. Before those two a lot of mysteries, could not concentrate on much else. Read three in a row by Swedish author Helene Tursten.

I've always wanted to get my hands on Siddharta but I'm not sure if it's for me. How did you find the book?

I read it in a Swedish translation. It has been on the unread-shelf for two years and I somehow knew I would like it and have been saving it :) I was not disappointed. In a way it is a self-help-book published in the early 1920's - much better written than some of all those self-help-books published today. Even though the logic of the contents is not flawless, it is well written. I always treasure a writer that masters the art of writing a good book that is under 200 pages. This is one example. So many books of contemporary writers are simply too long, the editors are either not doing their job properly or they want the writers to deliver +400 pages. I can think of one youngish writer that can do this. His name is Sjón, or Sigurjón B. Sigurðsson. You find information on: http://www.bokmenntir.is/rithofundur.asp?cat_id=598&author_id=82&lang=8
His book Skugga-Baldur has not yet been translated into English, but it has been translated into several Nordic languages. Keep an eye out for it, it is a wonderful book and he is a remarkable person, one of the nicest people I know. He got the Nordic Council's Literary Award for that book.
Siddharta can be found on amazon.

RhiGirl - there's a whole thread on Jonathan Strange over here.

theclicheherself - I had to read Siddhartha for a high school English class. I remember it being one of those books that's short enough that it's a quick read, but that's got enough to it that you could really take your time and get a lot more out of it than what was on the surface.

Once a complete stranger told me to read Siddhartha. One day I will. :)
For now, I'm reading all those books I need to read for school. I just finished The Tortilla Curtain for my English class and now I'm reading Don Carlos for German class. It's not as bad as everyone in my class claimed, but I still hope I get through that quickly! I have so many books waiting to be read these days.

(My first post too! Exciting. Hi!)

Well. Just finished Tom's Midnight Garden to my son; one of the three greatest children's books ever ~ ever ~ always makes me cry at the end. Then there's Nigel Trantor's The Islesman for a little lightness. And Tess of the D'Urbervilles which i am utterly ashamed to confess never having read. Not very much at the moment, come to think of it.

L.

My first post in a group also. Just finished reading two books, one I decided (after going back and forth) that I liked quite a bit, and the other started out strong but faded badly halfway through. The one I ended up liking a lot was Theft: A Love Story by Peter Carey. I do recommend it, especially for those who have an interest in early to mid-20th century modern art, which plays a significant role in the plot. The book that disappointed me was Memoirs of a Muse by Lara Vapnyar. And I just started Every Visible Thing by Lisa Carey, Tim's spouse and an amazing author. I've thoroughly enjoyed her first three books, and it looks like this one will also be a joy.

I'm reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Also my first post!

Just started Children's Hospital by Chris Adrian, a new novel from McSweeney's. Fantastic! (At least so far.)

Just finished Kite Runner. I see why people like it, but wasn't really blown away.

I just finished reading The Chronicles of Narnia. It was very different reading them as an adult from when I read them as child. I understood more of the allusions and allegory he soaked the books in. And I felt really mad at him for bringing everyone to "heaven" at the end of The Last Battle except for Susan. Poor Susan. I can't image what I would do if I were in her shoes.

I also finished Odd Thomas and I may go get the next Odd Thomas book at the library. I found it to be my type of quirky.

I'm currently reading two books, my living room reading book is Creative License by Danny Gregory. I love it so far, it's just like reading someone's actual journal, since it's in handwritten print instead of your usual mechanical print. For my bedtime reading, it's The Enlightened Sex Manual by David Deida. I chose that one for bedtime reading for obvious reasons. Gives me a chance to apply what I just learned.

Thanks, fyrefly! That was pretty interesting, although I didn't know what some of the other posters meant when they said "Regency." I've gone through a few chapters already and it's quite fun - and I'm one of those people who thinks Austen's stuff is horribly tedious.

Still (slowly) working my way through Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian. I'm enjoying it, but my limited knowledge of naval terms and language means that reading takes a lot more effort than normal, and is therefore going a lot more slowly. Goal is to have it done by tomorrow so that I can start Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, which I'm really looking forward to.

Last week I finished up Son of a Witch, and I'm currently listening to The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. So far, I'm really enjoying the book, although it's too creepy for me to listen to right before I go to bed!

I’ve just started So Many Ways to Begin by Jon McGregor. He also wrote If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, which was one of my books of 2005 (although it was published in 2003 I think). This was his first novel, and in some ways could be considered a writing assignment - a day in the life of a London street. There were some shocking parts, but it was so sensitively written throughout, that you became lost in it. A reviewer compared it to a Robert Altman movie, with its cast of independent characters, whose stories come together in a tragic climax. I have high hopes for his new book, but as everyone says, the second novel is the hardest to get right.

Thanks philipivan, for reminding me about Peter Carey’s Theft: A Love Story, I’ve not got on with all of his books, but liked Illywhacker and Oscar & Lucinda. Other good art novels are Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut and Any Human Heart by William Boyd, both involving the Post Impressionists, and Headlong by Michael Frayn about Breugel (which I never spell correctly).

I tried Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, but it defeated me. I love to read best in bed, and it wasn’t engrossing enough, for me to forget the ache in my hands from holding it.

I've just started Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs. It's taken me about 20 pages just to get used to the style in which it's written! So far, it is sort of grimly fascinating, in a similar way to A Walk on the Wild Side by Nelson Algren. There's also something that reminds me strongly of Trainspotting, possibly the use of the vernacular.

Next on the list for this week is Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami. The discussion in last weeks thread on why (or why not) people don't like Murakami was interesting for me - I started with Norwegian Wood which is apparently his most "mainstream" book. I enjoyed that, so I'm trying out some of his others.

Killeymoon #21: I'd love it if you could keep us posted on your opinion of Sputnik Sweetheart as you progress. I was, once upon a time, a literary agent in NYC and developed the habit of reassessing writers whose work I loathed every so often. This kind of thread is a great way to have others do the dirty work for me!

I am deep into my birthday-gift-to-myself book The Summer Isles by Ian R. MacLeod. Aio Publishing brought out this limited edition of 500 copies, hardcovers bound in fake suede and fake leather with a gold-foil signature blocked onto the front board and signed and numbered by the author, which shamefully for American publishing is the first stand-alone publication of this wonderful novel of alternate history. (I suspect it's because the main character is gay, as does the author per his introduction to this edition.)

I think Henry James possesed me for a minute there, that unparenthetical sentence above is the longest I can recall writing outside a novel manuscript.

So I'll go away now.

magus, have you tried a Book Buddy pillow? I got one as a gift, but I found this one at the Bas Bleu website:

http://www.basbleu.com/stores/1/Navy_Ticking_Stripe_Book_Buddy_P2557C48.cfm

It's a pillow for your book, with straps to hold the book. Makes it much easier and more comfortable to deal with larger books while reading lying down. It may not be enough to interest you in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, but you may like it for other weighty bedtime reading.

Interesting that I just bought a copy of Peter Carey's Theft which I intend to read once I finish Brightness Falls. It seems to be the thing to read this week.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke.

Just finished How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn. A book I've meant to read for some time, and I wish I'd read it sooner now. Fantastic book.

Now started Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. The first of his books I've read, but my wife has read a few and really enjoyed them. Seems interesting so far

Still reading W E B Du Bois The Quest of the Silver Fleece - enjoying it, but constant interruptions preventing me making much progress.

Did break off and read Felix Bogarte Ghost Car 49 for a bit of light relief ( in the Dead Detective series, published by Books Noir of Glasgow.

Am also reading a 1920s Union Jack magazine with a Sexton Blake story Zenith Declares War, featuring the ultimate Blake villain Zenith the Albino. if I appear to be talking gibberish, all will be revealed by looking at the various Sexton Blake sites - Blakiana is good for the old stuff.

I am reading Mendel's Dwarf. I love it so far.

I finished Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd yesterday. At first I was put off by his references to women as the weaker sex and similar terms. As the novel progressed there were men who reacted in the same ways as women in the book, so I began to think he was deliberately, slyly undercutting all the stock stereotypes. The novel slows down in spots, but is worth reading for the insights into human nature.

I'm reading Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, and it's histerical. It's kind of a stepping stone memoir though his life to present (not that he's very old). His dry style of approaching life, and constant obsession with cigarettes, dead things, and other unusual stuff is great. If you listen to This American Life on NPR regularly, you've probably heard him once or twice.

I'm rereading Philippa Gregory's The Queen's Fool at the moment.

Having finished up All Shook Up, which is better on the sociology than the music (I now have a review up), it's on to A Sphinx on the American Land.

Apex Hides The Hurt by Colson Whitehead

I'm reading What the River Knows by Wayne Fields - it's a daily diary of sorts, so I'm reading one day per day in the evening. I'm just finished with August 19.

Porno by Irvine Welsh ... I read him like he's doing neo-noir crime stuff, thus not taking him too seriously, and end up really enjoying his books.

I finished Saul and Patsy by Charles Baxter last night. I enjoyed it very much, and it kept taking unexpected turns when I thought it was going to do something predictable. The characters were all well drawn and he writes beautifully.

I took How to Read Literature Like a Professor out of the library yesterday and read the first 15 pages or so before bed. It seemed quite interesting, so I think I'll stick with it. I started listening to Dancing Shoes by Noel Streatfeild with my kids yesterday--her Ballet Shoes was a favorite when I was young--and am still listening to The Big Over Easy while alone in the car.

Started The Master by Colm Toibin which is a fictionalised account of the later years of Henry James. I love the way it reads - unpretentious, very smooth. Nearly finished Special Topics in Calamity Physics and I feel ripped off. Something has kept me going (the humour?) but the teeny plot is enormously padded to c.400 pages. Sadly, a waste of my time.

I just started Kafka on the Shore. It's always a treat for me to read this author's writing. I'm enjoying at a lot so far.

I absolutely love Saul and Patsy! It is a fantastic book. Baxter doesn't appeal to everyone, and even a lot of Baxter fans had problems with Saul and Patsy.

Murakami Haruki is an amazing author! One of my husbands favorites! I haven't yet read Kafka on the Shore, but I have read a lot of his others, particularly his short stories. I think he has a new book of short stories either out or coming out.

Right now I just finished up Bass Ackwards and Belly Up, which is a young adult novel, and wasn't very good. I'll probably start On Beauty soon, as it is my book club pick this month!

The new Haruki Murakami book with short stories is out here already. I just saw it at the book store this afternoon and held it in my hand for about 10 minutes, trying to decide whether or not I wanted it. I put it back, went to look at some other books, went back, took it out again, looked at it again. And left the store without buying anything. I am so proud of myself! I am going to buy it sooner or later though.

I finished Dispatches from the Edge by Anderson Cooper and started Do Penguins Have Knees? and Stiller.

Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood has been a joy. Playful and interesting for the different perspective on Odysseus. Marghanita Laski's Little Boy Lost has been reprinted. A friend told me about it and said she'd read it after it came out in the late 1940s. Despite the title it's not sentimental: a father having, to say the least, mixed feelings about tracing his son in post WWII France. I don't think I'll persevere with the third book The Commonwealth of Thieves by Thomas Keneally. I'm interested in the early colonisation of Australia but Robert Hughes's book on the same subject was far superior.

Hi there Words: have you tried Henning Mankell yet? His detective stories set in southern Sweden are unputdownable i.m.o. I only got to hear about his books this year. He gets 'Golden Dagger' crimewriters' awards.

Hey, hazelk ... funny you mention henning mankell ... I had recently picked up The White Lioness on kind of a lark, but had trouble getting too much past the first couple pages ... the detective seemed a little too ... naive, I guess ... a woman comes in, tells him a couple of things, and all of a sudden he's sure it's some big, out-of-the-ordinary case ... I don't know ... I suppose I might give him another try ... on the other hand, Swedish crime-wise, I sure enjoy Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall.

Moving right along, I zipped through A Sphinx on the American Land and I'm now going to start The Great Nation by Colin Jones.

@ hazelk. I have read every single detective story Henning Mankell has written :) (you can see them in my library) I have not read his novels, not yet. I used to live in Skåne, the part of Sweden where inspector Wallander lives and works, so I know the area. I like inspector Wallander, and in the newer ones it is Wallander's daughter that is the inspector we follow.

I started the Clarke book Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell but got distracted by other books and family life so I haven't gotten back to it. I'd say I was about 1/3 of the way through. It took some concentration to remember all the characters so that's why I put it aside in favour of some easier reads. I will get back to it soon though. I'll let you know then how I liked it. Right now I'm reading The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes which is about the settlement of australia by penal colonies. I've always been curious about it so now I will have a chance to satisfy some of that curiosity. I'll let you know how that goes also! I'm afraid I'm a bit ADD in my reading. I get distracted by whatever I find that's new at the used book store or that my daughter recommends. She just had me read Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer which was totally frightening and a real eyeopener. She has a bookclub that she reads with and that was the last book they did. Terrifying!!

Over the last few days I've read Valiant which I enjoyed; Shadow Magic also enjoyable; Giants of the Frost which was interesting and Code name: Dove which was a bit forced.

I'm currently reading mounting desire which is proving to be fun if a bit overdone and plan to read Mind Game after that.

Finished The Night Manager by John le Carre.

Gave up: Until I Find You by John Irving (I know, I tried! But I just didn't get all that into it, plus I received Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami who like some other posters I absolutely love, but can't quite say why. My wife introduced me to his works when we first started dating and I've never turned back. Perhaps its an emotional attachment?!?)

Also started: Absolute Friends by John Le Carre and Numbers in the Dark by Italo Calvino.

I'l have a look for the two other Swedish crime writers you mention. But how on earth would you get on with the hugely selling Agatha Christie and her ilk: talk about improbable and those settings. I suppose one has to accept the genres thing. Used to get through Ed McBain's stuff as soon as they came out.

I started I, Claudius by Robert von Ranke Graves last weekend. It's a german translation from 1950 or thereabout, and sometimes feels a bit "stiff" --although von Ranke Graves said in the foreword that he and the translator aimed for an accessible style. They even translated the latin military terms into German (legion = Regiment, etc.).
Interesting read, I just read about the battle at the Teutoburg forest in 9 AD, where the Romans took a sound beating. So sound indeed that they hardly ever ventured east of the Rhine after that. I am looking forward to finally visit the battlefield this autumn (it has been found in the late 1980s and excavated since. Fascinating to find a place that has made it's way into mythology does really exist).

Just out of curiosity, do you find it better to have the Latin military terms translated into German equivalents? I was reading an English version of Tacitus' Annals earlier this year, and all the military terms were translated into British equivalents - and I couldn't stand it. I have some knowledge of various Roman military positions, since I'm studying classics, but for the most part I was completely at a loss about the British ones. It might as well have translated them as "Military 1, Military 2", etc., where the numbers are completely arbitrary.

I don't know Latin, and don't know much about Classic history, but for me the "original" terms are a part of the history. I am always fine with an appendix. And knowing that three legions are about 24.000 men (or one legion about 8.000) is enough for me, at least in this general context.

Warbrideslass, I had to stop on Clarke's book also - the pace is drastically slow.

Now I'm reading One Bullet Away by Nathaniel C. Fick. Lately I've been reading different books about the USMC by former Marines, and this one is quite fun.

I started two: Michelle Embree's Manstealing for Fat Girls and The Bitch Posse by Martha O'Connor. So far, neither one is doing much for me.

To keep me company on my ride to work, I selected the library CD of The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh, I started it this afternoon. I've never read anything by this author before and find that the beginning of this book has already grabbed me. Can't wait for tomorrow morning's commute! :-)

I'm starting on book 1:"Edward Cline's" 'Jack Frake'

SqueakyChu, I read Ghosh's The Hungry Tide last year and rather liked it, especially his descriptions of the everyday life of those living in the Indian tidal lowlands, fascinating stuff.

I'm about halfway through Howard's End by E.M. Forster - its really wonderful.. I thought that I'd already read it (!) but decided to re-read after finishing Zadie Smith's On Beauty.. (Turns out I was thinking of A Room With a View)

Oops ... I've adjusted the touchstone above for Maj Stowall and Per Wahloo, as they're actual a writing team, not two separate authors ... well, they're two separate authors, of course, but the crime novels I've read are written by the two of them together.

Last night, after several weeks, I finished Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman. Not only is this a very long book (often compared to War and Peace), but it was slow-going because it is grim (dealing with the siege of Stalingrad, Nazi death camps, Soviet work camps, Soviet politics and prisons), contains many interwoven stories and characters, and is beautifully written. But it was well worth it -- a wonderful book.

I'm reading Hunting Midnight by Richard Zimler, my first book by this author and I'm enjoying it a lot up until now.

I'm reading Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane, Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson and Deep South by Nevada Barr.

Maj Sjöwall (1935) and Per Wahlö (1926) were husband and wife as well as writing partners. He (Per) died in 1975. They wrote 10 mysteries together, I think inspector Martin Beck is the "hero" in them all, actually something of an anti-hero.

I know this sounds ridiculous in someone of my age, but I read The Catcher in the Rye and Fahrenheit 451 this weekend. I was not raised in the US, and my language of instruction at high school was not English, and so I never read it at the time when most Americans appear to have read it.

Because it has been so widely read, there are ubiquitous references to it in general conversation and idiomatic speech here, and I finally decided to catch up :-)

Right now I am combining some serious reading - Ramayana, the C. Rajagopalachari version - with a little breather, Jonathan Kellerman's Therapy.

I should have time for another (as yet unselected book) before I start reading for my book groups next month - these would be A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, Two Lives by William Trevor, Children of the Alley by Naguib Mahfouz and The Egyptian Book of the Dead. (I'm so glad that online reading groups exist!)

It's been a busy week but I'm currently working through A Wild Sheep Chase, final 80 pages left .. as well as Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat - a very quick read.

This week I've also finished up
- Y: The Last Man - Safeword
- Y: The Last Man - Ring of Truth
- Fables - Animal Farm
- Fables - Storybook Love
- 3 romantica titles (100 page e-books)

Up next, to finish up Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguru and a few in-process books, along with the rest of Y and Fables (they're on the way).

I am currently re-reading Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan and starting Angels Flight by Michael Connelly.

miss_bookworm: Those Y:The Last Man books ... those are the graphic novels in which there's only one man left alive in a world full of women, right? How are they? I've just started getting into graphic novels and was pretty curious about those ... I recently finished The walking dead Vol. 4: The heart's desire, and that was pretty good ... and We3, which was excellent.

I finished yesterday Neue Var Süd by Sven Regener which was very funny. Now I'm reading High Fidelity by Nick Hornby.

I finished up The Summer Isles and am half-way through Many Skies by Arthur Upgren...interesting stuff, what would the sky from Earth look like if we had a twin star, or if Jupiter wasn't there, etc etc. Gets a little technical. I prefer books without formulas and equations, by and large.

miss_bookworm, are you in the pro-Murakami camp? Enjoying A Wild Sheep Chase? He seems to have struck a bunch of nerves here.

Sivani wrote: I'm so glad that online reading groups exist!

I should have realized there must be online reading groups, but didn't. Short of googling, what is the best way to find some good ones?

I just finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak---what a wonderful story! Now I'm flying through Marley and Me by John Grogan---a light book chosen by our book group following a couple of heavy reads.

I am reading Toys Go Out by Emily Jenkins..cute children's book..needed something light this week..this is an easy read and I will pass it along to my 7 year old son.

RebeccaNYC:

There are a whole lot on Yahoo groups. The best place to start is with the LiteratureReadingCircle. This is not a reading group itself, but a Link-and-Announcement group for other reading groups.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LiteratureReadingCircle/

Join, and then check the links - there are more than a hundred groups linked there. Each link has a short description and you can then go and check out the groups themselves whenever one interests you.

My general advice would be: join a group that looks interesting, see how active they are and whether they tend to talk mostly about the books they are reading with a little Off Topic stuff thrown in, or whether they tend to be mostly Off Topic, daily gossip etc, with mostly just a nod to the books. (I can chat with the best of them, but when I join a reading group it is because I want to discuss the books.)

I hope that helps.

I'm reading Agincourt: Henry V and the Battle That Made England by Juliet Barker. It does a great job of creating a context for understanding Henry and the nuts and bolts of campaigning in early 15th century England. I'm anxious to make progress in the book and compare it to Anne Curry's Agincourt: A New History. Both were published in the last twelve months.

KromesTomes

You can download Issue #1 off their site to see whether you'll like it. That's what I did and it caught my interest. I haven't read graphic novels before so was surprised by how much I enjoyed the whole series.

It's gotten me totally hooked on the series that I couldn't wait to get the rest - each weekend, I've bought 2 more :) Will be done with all available volumes by the end of the day - they're arriving soon.

Oh yeah a word of warning, it's intensely addictive. Currently there are 7 volumes (tpb) in all .. with the 8th out sometime in November.

Thanks Sivani.

Just finished Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country. Was a good read. It got disjointed in places, but that is explained by the incredible rush to get this into print before he left the U.S. Naming the son Absolom was a little too obvious, as one then knew from the outset something awful would happen to him (sorry if that's a plot killer for someone). Is well worth reading to understand the legacy of apartheid, if nothing else.

I've finished Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane and started Dark Tort by Diane Mott Davidson.

Thanks, miss_bookworm!

Just finished Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Gambler. Well written description of a decline to ruin.

Just finished American Brutus and am starting Blood on the Moon. Two different views of the Lincoln assassination/conspiracy. Also re-read part of Gettysburg: a Testing of Courage and finished Fresh Air fiend.

My reading is pretty scattered now... bits of lots of different books.

I'm still reading The Copernican Revolution, and the end is now in sight (as long as the 15-page technical appendix isn't so technical that it delays me for a few more weeks).

I also started The Exact Sciences in Antiquity by Otto Neugebauer. Chapters 2 and 5 are assigned reading for a class I'm taking, but I have this problem where I have to start at the beginning and read through the whole book linearly if at all possible.... The same class also requires the first chapter of Episodes in the Early History of Astronomy, for which a touchstone doesn't seem to exist. At least if it's the first chapter I can read just that and then set the book down indefinitely (though always with the intention of finishing it someday).

I'm also reading Herodotus' Histories - again, parts were assigned for class, but I'd like to read through the whole thing in English (translated by David Grene). I don't think that's actually likely to happen, though.

I'm also reading bits of Petronius and Apuleius, if it can be called reading when it still involves a lot of dictionary work.

And for a few minutes of light reading right before bed, I'm re-reading This Can't Be Happening at MacDonald Hall by Gordon Korman. I haven't read any of his books in years (well, maybe one), but I loved them when I was younger and I'm still finding it fun. And just an hour ago I bought Coraline by Neil Gaiman, which I'll read when I'm done with the MacDonald Hall book.

Overall it's a fun, if sort of crazy, week.

I am reading The Minotaur by Ruth Rendell (writing as Barbara Vine) which I picked up when I was on holiday in London.

I also bought Dennis Lehane's new book - Coronado and should start reading that soon.

There's now a thread open for What You're Reading the Week of 16 Sep 2006 

Have you read Jude the Obscure? It is fantastic. I would imagine just about any book from this time would refer to women in ways not politically correct today. The fun part is getting past all that and enjoying a book that was written over 100 years ago, but is still timely today.

I`m reading The Wrong Boy by Willy Russell - very entertaining

I'm reading Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson.
Very interesting.

I first read Cry, the Beloved Country as a young man many years ago and wept as I read although I knew little about the political situation in South Africa. I read it again in the early 90's while living in the Beloved Country during the transition to majority rule and found the story to be just as beliveable and just as powerful as when I first read it. I believe that I must have met each one of Paton's characters because I heard so many wonderful South Africans use the dialog, express the passion and weep just as he describes in this work of fiction. The unfortunate reality is that today the government has changed, but the on-going pain still causes the country to cry.

This week I've been off and have read these: The Hiawatha and Little, both by David Treuer, a youngish (30+) Ojibwe writer; Toys Go Out by Emily Jenkins, and Inventing the Truth: the Art and Craft of Memoir edited by William Zinsser. All are top flight, first class, highly recommended in their different ways. Now I'm looking forward to reading a mystery by Peter Robinson and David Treuer's Handbook of Native American Fiction, and see what he has to say about oine of my favorites, Louise Erdrich. By the way, you can now Google people who are alive and find snippets of interviews, live in audio. But probably everyone knows that.