What are you reading the week of October 30, 2010?

No frills from the MBG, but someone had to step up!
I'm nearly done with Room, it's been very good, and I just started the graphic Asterios Polyp, which many here have raved about!
Happy Halloween everyone!

Thanks msf59! Linking.

I'm reading Margaret Campbell Barnes' The Passionate Brood, which is interesting because she is not only telling the story of Richard I's reign, but of the Robin Hood legend as well.

My current audiobook is The Fall by Guillermo del Toro, sequel to The Strain. Great Halloween listen.

>sholofsky- Your welcome!

>Jen- How was The Strain? Did you listen to it? I never got to it, although I love del Toro's films!

Okay, so we have a decision - it's definitely She's Come Undone.

I am closing in on halfway with The Good Soldiers by David Finkel. There is no doubt it is a very real and well done account of this "mission" into Iraq. However, the fultility is absolutely oppressive. But it sure makes me have a new compassion for anyone, ever, who went over there for the "war" (they are technically on a supposed rebuilding mission, so I'm not even sure if war is the correct word, which is why it is in quotes). Also, it is very graphic on how the men are injured/die, many very cruel injuries. I have cried a few times during this book.

Mark - I liked The Strain, it was very cinematic, but that worked for a zombie-ish vampire book.

Edit: And yes, I did that one in audio as well, although strangely they changed the narrator between books. This narrator might be slightly better, but it is still a bit disconcerting. Luckily it was almost a year ago I listened to The Strain!

Thanks for getting this up and running, Mark.

I liked Pan's Labyrinth, and thought Hellboy was good escapism, but I'm not familiar with his books.

At your recommendation I'm reading Ken Bruen's The Guards and liking it. Sharp dialogue, among other things.

I'm reading Phineas Redux, and hoping that in this book Mr. Finn actually marries the person I want him to marry (fingers crossed). My nonfiction read of the week is Graham Greene: a life in letters by Richard Greene. I've only made it as far as the introduction, so I don't have much to say about it yet.

Carolyn- I have had The Good Soldiers on my list for awhile now! Maybe I'll try the audio!

Jen- I'll check my library and see if they have it!

Joe- I loved Pan's Labyrinth, although it's very dark and disturbing. Hellboy 2 was also very good. Glad you are enjoying The Guards. It's a great start to a great series. And how about all those terrific crime novel references?

Finishing Barbara Tuchman's The March of Folly which I am not liking as much as her other books; also finishing Jackie Robinson's I never had it made and Celia Thaxter's Among the isles of shoals. I got Veeck as in wreck from the library on interlibrary loan, so it looks like a week of baseball reading in honor of the World Series.

I've put The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson on hold for a couple of daysm as difficult as that is to do! I wanted to read something Halloween-ish, even though I've already read 2 great books for Halloween this month. I just couldn't let the day go by. I've settled on my very first non-fiction Halloween read, ever: The Devil in Massachusetts by Marion L. Starkey, about the Salem Witch Trials. So far, so good, although I definitely prefer the fictionalized accounts.

#5, so glad we got you past the title, B! You won't be sorry.

#9, is Richard Greene any relation to Graham?

Still looking over Edward Garnett's shoulder as he reads his Letters from Joseph Conrad 1895 - 1924.

Garnett was Conrad's early editor/reader and the two remained close friends throughout Conrad's writing life. The letters are a lot of fun for a Conrad enthusiast like myself to read through.

#13 nope, according to Amazon he is not. Too bad - although when the letters are pulled together and annotated by a family member, I am a little bit suspicious of what we're not getting to read.

I set aside The Good Earth for a minute or two to read Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress which was part of a challenge to finish before the end of the month. Should be done with it this morning, a quick delightful read. And actually a nice complement to TGE.

#15, thanks, and good point: what doesn't get published by a family member, too often ends up in the fireplace.

I'll be finishing up the short and very good The Woman in Black by Susan Hill. It's perfect for this final weekend in October.

eta: >16 teelgee: Two wonderful reads!

Still reading The Taliban. I hope to finish it soon. Meanwhile, I've also started Why? The challenge of giving explanations for tragic experiences in life.

Edited to try and get the right touchstone. Failed.

I'm in the middle of The Big Over Easy. It's lots of fun, you can never go wrong with Fforde!

In the middle of The Haunting of Hill House, my official scary Halloween read. That Shirley Jackson sure knew how to tell a scary story! And so far not a drop of blood or zombie in sight.

On the back burner is World War Z, which I was enjoying but didn't find at all scary, and am also listening to White Night, so far my favorite Harry Dreseden.

Hoping to finish up The White Family by Maggie Gee and A Week at the Airport by Alain de Botton this weekend. The de Botton is good but The White Family is FANTASTIC!

Storeetllr, the movie is like that too. All creaks and rumbles and shakes.. nothing concrete or gruesome. Love it!

I am reading A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch and Great House by Nicole Krauss. I started both on the same day so I just read whichever one takes my fancy at the moment.

Read Hard Times by Charles Dickens. Liked it well enough notwithstanding all the not so flattering reviews. My review is here,

http://www.librarything.com/review/61232508

Or my 75 Books Challenge thread 2010,

http://www.librarything.com/topic/98949

On audiobook, I'm listening to Life by Keith Richards (touchstone not working). I'm getting into the Halloween spirit by reaching Jack Ketchum's collection of short stories, Peaceable Kingdom.

And school books (like Death and Return of the Author:Criticism and Subjectivity in Barthes, Foucault, and Derrida by Sean Burke), of course, but those are boring and I don't count them :P

I'm reading The Girl with No Shadow which is the sequel to Chocolat. The story starts on Halloween so I thought it would be a nice cap to my October reading.

I am starting the week out with The House At Harcourt by Anita Burgh, a Victorian Romance. I am also starting Charm City by Laura Lippman, the second in her Tess Monaghan series and, I have The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard waiting it's turn as well.

As soon as I get off the computer I'll be starting The Sex Club about bombings at an abortion clinic. My audiobook will be whichever comes in to the library first The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell or Day after Night by Anita Diamant about Holocaust survivors.

Rereading The Picture of Dorian Gray because I'm doing a report on it. Also reading Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Vampire Lestat and Storm Front by Jim Butcher. A friend of mine suggested this series to me, and so far, it's really good.

I just started The Book Thief and so far I really like it.

Reading Kim and listening to Sarah's Key. No reading time last week! I don't like it when that happens!

I am reading The Chamber by John grisham for a school asignment. Law is not my thing, but its getting kind of interesting. Kind of.

After finishing The Dark Side of Love today, I have decided to go for something short, simple and also a favourite, The Witches by Roald Dahl.

>Librarygirl I love The Picture of Dorian Gray. I should reread it too. It's been a long time.

Right now, I'm halfway through Street Children of Cali. It's an old book from the 1980s that discusses the results of a psychological/anthropological study on Columbian boys that had left their familial homes for various reasons. The writing is at times a bit dry, but the information is interesting, especially when you contrast the findings against medieval fantasy novels that depict street children.

I finished andreviewed Helen Dunmore's riveting novel The Siege.

On to Middlemarch next.

I'm still reading The Brothers Karamazov. I continue to find them fascinating, but I'm moving more slowly than I expected because of calls from the rest of life.

Robert

I'm still working on Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart (audio), The Widow Clicquot by Tilar Mazzeo, and Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls (read aloud).

Just finished Dracula- starting War of the Worlds and then I'm not sure. . . So many good books listed above- I'm jealous!!

Visit me on my thread! I just posted my review!

75er thread

I'm reading the philosophy of Simone Weil in a compilation of her notebooks called Gravity and Grace

I've finished my final Halloween read, Fright Time #8, and posted a quick review.

I'll wait until Monday to start Rivers of Gold by Adam Dunn.

Just finished

Everything I listed last week, plus Roald Dahl, The Twits - didn't like this one, which I never read as a child, much - some of the end of the story amused me but I disliked the description of Mrs Twit, and the back page of my copy actually says his aim was to write an anti-beard story.

Today I finished reading:

Deborah Crombie, In a Dark House 10th in series featuring London police duo, Kincaid and James, I'd been away from this series too long. I have a library copy of #11, Water Like a Stone from the library and plan to read it in the next month.

Now reading:

Jeanne Birdsall, The Penderwicks
Lots of 75 in 2010 participants were reading it and other old fashioned children's stories. 4 girls on a summer holiday have various adventures and look after each other through them. Sweet and I've ordered the sequel.

Hilary McKay, Wishing for Tomorrow
Disappointing sequel to A Little Princess - too much recapping and doesn't quite ring true

Jon Blake, The Last Free Cat
A near future dystopian YA story. It has become too expensive for ordinary people to have registered cats and unregistered ones are believed to spread infection. Jade adopts a cat and has to run away. Recommended.

Antonia Fraser, Must You Go?
Her account of her 30 year relationship with the late playwright Harold Pinter, a great read so far

Francis Spufford, The Child That Books Built

George Eliot, Middlemarch
I've previously read The Mill on the Floss and Daniel Deronda and a planned group read spread out over a reasonable length of time seems like a good chance to give it a go.

Joan Aiken, The Faithless Lollybird
A collection of stories I haven't read before by one of my favourite authors for children

I finished the wonderful seasonal read of Dracula and am now juggling two books until one "takes over": Room and The Elephant's Journey.

This week I plan to read Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones which was given to me as a bithday gift in 2008 so I really must read it... it's just that I have a reading block when it comes to NZ writers...maybe this book will change that?

I've just finished Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich and enjoyed this one even more than the first. Going to take a break before starting the third in this series though.

I'm still working on Audition by Barbara Walters as well as The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson and Flourish by Catherine Hart Weber.

I'm also planning to start into my collection of James Patterson starting with When the Wind Blows.

I'm reading four books at the moment. Today I started I Hotel by Karen Tei Yamashita, which is one of the finalists for this year's National Book Award for Fiction. It's a historical novel that consists of 10 novellas, which tell the story of the civil rights movement in San Francisco, including the fight to save the International Hotel in Manilatown that marked the beginning of the Yellow Power Movement in the Bay Area. I'm almost finished with The Words, Jean-Paul Sartre's autobiography, and I'm continuing to read A River Dies of Thirst: Journals, a collection of "poems, meditations, fragments and journal entries" by the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, and Ignatz, a poetry collection by Monica Youn, which is a finalist for this year's National Book Award for Poetry. In case you're wondering, this is the same Ignatz that is the love interest of the cartoon character Krazy Kat. I should finish the last two books by tomorrow, and the Sartre autobiography by Monday.

elkiedee> I love Roald Dahl but don't like The Twits either. It does have it's funny moments, but it really doesn't have a point other than ridiculing the couple. His other books have at least a little something to them besides simple ridicule.

I'll be interested to see what you thing of The Last Free Cat. It sounds almost the same as a YA novel that came out about 5 years ago called The Last Dog on Earth.

I'm in the middle of Tom McCarthy's Remainder. His C was brilliant. Also continuing through The Selected Essays of John Berger and just beginning Death Among the Sunbathers a 1934 mystery by E.R.Punshon which should be a quick read.

Finished and reviewed an Early Reviewer novel, A Call from Jersey. Glad to be done with it, frankly.

On to another Early Reviewer, The Paris Wife. That will hopefully get me all caught up on the ones I need to review!

Mark - thanks for starting this week's thread!

#42 Donna828 - I have The Elephant's Journey waiting in the wings for reading. Curious to learn what you think!

#43 Kiwifowa - I loved Mr. Pip but I am probably biased as I also love Great Expectations which plays a role in this book.

I finished Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg this evening. This is my first read through the book and I now appreciate how extensively Hollywood edited/condensed/revised the story when they made the movie adaptation!

Next up is the short story collection Are You Married to a Psychopath? - which touchstones is having trouble locating - by Nadine Bismuth.

Finished off Guardians of Ga'Hoole: the Rescue by Kathryn Lasky. Still liking the series.

I am still reading both the Personal Narrative of Humboldt and The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry

I am almost finished Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk.

>47 abealy:: abealy- I just received a copy of C but I also have Remainder waiting in the stacks. I need to get to this guy!

Lori- Thanks!

I started The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig.

#43 Please try to give Mr Pip a fair chance, it's a truly wonderful book and was one of my favourites of last year. It does help if you're a Great Expectations fan but I don't think it would make any difference if you'd never read Dickens. I've since been out and bought half a dozen or so of Jones's earlier books, I was so enthralled with this beautiful novel.

I finished The Good Soldiers last night and while I do recommend it, for what it is, it's very tough emotionally.

Now starting Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (which I picked up at Shakespeare & Co. in Paris, and the whole staff raved about it - said definitely give it a chance - best book ever, etc.) and despite all the hoopla, I really think I'm going to like it. So far (just about 20 pages in), I've laughed, nodded with understanding and just I don't know, the guy can write. I hope it maintains ... its a BIG one!

Then, I've really held out, but FINALLY will begin the Swedish "Girl With ... " series. I just am worn down by everyone knowing I read yet am unable to discuss them!

>54 Booksloth: et al Wow, talk about a blast from the past! Prior to my "real" book reading days ( I say real to mean I guess actively interested) I read Great Expectations in High School but I really can't remember much of it- though I do remember liking it. I may have to read this at some point!

Finished Let the Right One In by Ajvide Lindqvist this week. Fifth Swedish book I've read this year and not a bad one in the bunch. If you like or don't like vampires, either way, it's recommended. I picked it up after seeing the Swedish film of the same name. Yes, they're about vampires, but they are also about loneliness, friendship (not the warm and fuzzy kind), social status or lack there of, petty motivations and revenge. Set it in dark Scandinavian winter on the seedier side of Stockholm... good times.

Still picking through The Wordy Shipmates. I really like Sarah Vowel but this one doesn't scream to be finished.

And, just started Martin Chuzzlewit, my yearly Charles Dickens pick. Won't have a prayer of completing my 50 book challenge, but I'll always sacrifice for Dickens.

Finished and loved The Witches by Roald Dahl, (my favourite of his). I have now made a start on The Gunpowder Plot: Terror and Faith in 1605 by Antonia Fraser, meant to read this last year but never got round to it.

Still reading Under the Dome but should finish it in the next couple of days. I would have finished it a few days ago but just have not had much reading time this week. My life is too big lately.

After finishing this, I think I am reading Lord of the Flies. My son just finished reading it in school and asked me to bump it up in my pile because he wanted to discuss it with me and wanted me to get the movie so we could watch it together. How could I say no to a request like that!

#54, #43 - I haven't read Mister Pip but I can recommend Jack Maggs by Peter Carey if you are looking for something modern to accompany Great Expectations.

I'm still reading The Angel's Game.

>boulder_a_t I've only seen the movie of Let the Right One In but your description of it is right on the mark. I'm looking forward to reading the book some day.

Just finished Street Children of Cali and posted a review. I'm going to start Nothing to Lose by Alex Flinn.

Finished and enjoyed Jackie Robinson's I never had it made Robinson was active in so many other things than baseball and his pull-no-punches style was refreshing. Also finished Celia Thaxter's Among the Isles of Shoals which is early regional (Coastal Maine-New Hampshire) writing by a woman author. It's kind of hard to read because there are no chapters and few breaks in the text, but it was lovely naturalistic writing. Started Veeck as in wreck, another baseball book, which is hugely entertaining so far.

Reading In the Shadow of the Red Banner and a couple of technical books that I won't mention.

I loved A Beautiful Blue Death!!

I just finished Murder at Mansfield Park by Lynn Shepherd. It was an Early Review copy. I really enjoyed this book although I am always nervous about Classic ripoffs. Not really a rip off, it has a very nice mystery.

I am just starting The Keepers by Heather Graham too early to tell

Finished the fresh, witty and enjoyable short story collection by Nadine Bismuth, Are You Married to a Psychopath? this evening. Next up is The Elephant's Journey, as I just realized it is due back at the library in three days.

I finished Blackout and am on to All Clear by Connie Willis. I am so glad that the second installment is available so I can immediately continue the story of the intrepid Time-travelling Oxford Historians!

Reading Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler

I finished and reviewed The Sex Club today. Very good book with the worst title ever. I've started Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance by Alexander Zaitchik for a November history challenge and have started listening to The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell. What a treat it is.

I finished The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, which I loved! I can seriously see what all the hype was about! I've already requested The Girl Who Played With Fire from the library!

I'm just starting A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle, in the meantime. I'm sure I'll enjoy it, although I've barely started it. After all, Sherlock Holmes is always fun to read!

I just got started on The Boys From Little Mexico by Steve Wilson, after giving up on Critical Care by Theresa Brown.

I finished Hunger Games which I did not like, and Elijah of Buxton which I did. I learned something in the Curtis book I didn't know about before. It is about the free black settlement of Chatham, Canada, also known as Buxton. Great story with a protagonist who grows emotionally from the beginning to the end. If you are looking for a YA book try this one. Very few authors do historical fiction for young adults as well as Curtis. I hope that school teachers and librarians out there will find many many uses for this book. Well worth the time it took to listen to it.

I started listening to Notes on a Scandal in my car.

Finished and reviewed Rose Tremain's Trespass (touchy touchstone won't load, and I don't care enough to wait) in my thread...post #68.

Just started A Friend of the Family by Lauren Grodstein and so far it is terrific!

I finished Faulkner's Absalom! Absalom! which was as maddening and brilliant as I remembered from the first time I read it, forty years ago. I've been working on writing a family history for my nieces and nephews and though it's nothing as tortured as the saga of the Sutpens, I did identify with all those versions of the truth, the lies, the editing, the efforts to understand the motivation and meaning behind the choices made by people long dead, the various perspectives and "takes" involved in trying to nail down the "real story". What can we know of the past, even -- or perhaps especially -- our own?

I've just begun reading Salvation City by Sigrid Nunez.

75> mollygrace, I remember reading Absalom! Absalom! thirty years ago while on a hunting trip with my father and some friends. Reading Faulkner in the woods by a campfire on a late November night is an event to be remembered. There's something about his writing that resonates with the smell of wood smoke, damp earth and moldering leaves. A!A! is my favorite Faulkner novel, probably because of that week in the wilderness.

I've just finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and am going on to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. . .
medical ethics - the real horror stories!

I just finished a quick read-look of Vagina Warriors which is a monologue by Eve Ensler followed by photographs by Joyce Tenneson of people working on the V-Day project to end violence against women. Now back to Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance by Alexander Zaitchik. I listened to some of The Wordy Shipmates while making breakfast this morning and am still enthralled by Sarah Vowell' wit.

35-brenzi - loved,loved Middlemarch - hope you enjoy it. One of my all-time favorites. I did give up on it the first time I tried, though - it is not a light read - but so worth it.

I just finished Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter -my ER book from September, I think. It was fabulous - the best early reviewer selection I have ever received, hands down. I think truly compelling well-written, emotionlly powerful literary mysterys are like four-leaf clovers. So, here is one if anyone is interested. I hope it does well.

I just started The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb. I liked some of his earlier book I read >10yrs ago when my tastes were more for pop-fiction so we'll see, too soon to tell.

I just finished Middlesex and I think I'm going to start this collection of short novels by H.G. Wells next. The preface specifically says not to start with The Time Machine, but it's the first one in the book so I think I'm going to anyway.

Now reading Rebecca and Juan Moreira.

Finished Girl Meets God last week, and am now reading my two ER books: Flourish and The Paris Wife. I didn't have much reading time over the weekend, and this week isn't looking overly accommodating, but hopefully I'll find some time!

Just finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Hope to read this week:
Zen and the Art of Writing
Juliet

I don't get those "The Girl who something, something" books. What are they about anyway? All I know is the deeds on the author.

I'm finishing Eye of the Red Tsar, but not sure I'll have much to say about it.

Read the first quarter of A Novel Bookstore today. It has really flown by- I am really enjoying it thus far! :)

>84 DragonFreak: I'm sure someone else will have something to add (also keeping in mind I've only read the first in the trilogy) but I liked The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for several reasons: It was a fascinating family saga- interwoven between the trials of a swedish journalist, serial killings, a strong female protagonist, interesting technical tidbits about European industrial history and financial history- romance- You name it. This novel has something for everyone I think. The translation was a bit weird in parts- but if you remember it is a translation- its pretty good.

#84 & #87 - I have read and enjoyed very much The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and am now working on The Girl Who Played With Fire. The first one I found really picked up speed by about Chapter 5 or roughly 200 pages. The second one has had some competition with ER books and some lighter reading. The stories are very well written and I agree with everything leperdbunny said! I enjoyed the first one enough to go see the movie...with subtitles! If you like a good, meaty thriller with a few red herrings thrown in, give these books a try. Just bear in mind that I found the first part more about laying the groundwork so a slow start, but it will reward you if you hang in there. It even kept me up nights wanting to know what would happen next!

Read Rumpole and the Golden Thread today. It was a Rumpole I hadn't read before and was, as always, hugely entertaining.

Bjace> I've probably said this before, but I love Rumpole. Have you heard the audio books? It's narrated by John Mortimer, who is also the actor in the BBC TV adaptations. His voice is very suited to the character.

#76 -- that book holds a special fascination to me; I can open it to any page and begin reading and immediately be back in that place and time. I love what Faulkner says about language: "that meagre and fragile thread by which the little surface corners and edges of men's secret and solitary lives may be joined for an instant now and then before sinking back into the darkness where the spirit cried for the first time and was not heard and will cry for the last time and will not be heard then either."

#76, 91, thanks for reminding me that ABSOLAM, ABSOLAM! is next on my Faulkner TBR list. Your praise reminds of my love for LIGHT IN AUGUST my pick for greatest American novel. I consider Faulkner to be America's one true literary genius--and, thanks, Molly, for that quote that shows why.

What a quote, mollygrace. Thanks.

I finished John Adams. Great Read! Just started DARKNESS AT SETHANON (RIFTWAR SAGA, NO 4).

#79 I hope you enjoy The Hour I First Believed. I was late discovering Lamb and that book was my introduction. I thought (and still do) it was a wonderful read. And we certainly share the same tastes when it comes to Middlemarch - one of my joint 3 favourite books ever: the top ten keeps milling around and the occasional new book enters while the occasional old one drops out but that one always rises to the top - perfect.

I finished A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle, and am now reading Arthur and George by Julian Barnes. So far, so good.

Another vote here for Middlemarch - great book.

Ken Bruen's The Guards lived up to its "Hiberian Noir" reputation and was a good first visit with central character Jack Taylor.

Now I'm a ways into Monsters of Men, the conclusion to Patrick Ness's creative and unsettling YA series.

>66 lkernagh:: Lori, it looks like I'll be reading your comments on The Elephant's Journey before you read mine! I just finished and reviewed Room and it's a bit hard for me to leave Jack's world. Powerful book.

I will be reading the Saramago next and also be spending the month with Middlemarch. Loved MM when I read it a decade ago, but I'm sure I'll glean more from this reread with the group read over on the 75-Book Challenge thread.

For a long time MIDDLEMARCH has been an imposing edifice in my collection. Thank you all for humanizing it. It seems much less forbidding now...and starting a slow but sure climb up Mt. TBR.

Okay, so I found something to say about Eye of the Red Tsar in my thread...post #90.

#99 Sholofsky - It's a perfect book though it does take a bit of getting into the first time around. If you can get your hands on a copy of the Juliet Aubrey/Rufus Sewell DVD it's not just a perfect introduction but a real joy on its own. I have a feeling you'll eventually love it - and I'll be setting a test.

#101, Thanks for the suggestion, B. I'll try to clear a space for it. I know my wife will definitely go for the DVD...and with Christmas coming up...mmm.

Believe me, Shol, Rufus Sewell in breeches is enough to brighten up any girl's Christmas!

Thanks for the information about the DVD of Middlemarch, Booksloth. I'm doing a group read of it right now and this is my first time trying it so I think the DVD will be helpful. Just put it at the top of my Netflix list.

#104 I hope so too. The first time I tried Middlemarch I had real trouble getting into it so when it turned up in weekly instalments on TV I read along at the same time as watching - I've been utterly hooked ever since. I read it about once a year now.

#103 She is a fan of Rufus Sewell. I think you're really making points for me, B! She may even forgive me for that trip to Santa Cruz when I dragged her through my first girlfriend's college. How does Bookcupid sound?

I was away for a week, visiting a friend in New Jersey. Did most of my reading on the plane. I finished Letters from Joseph Conrad 1895-1924 edited by Edward Garnett. Garnett was the publisher's reader who first got Conrad published by his boss, T. Fisher Unwin. Conrad and Garnett stayed friends for life. This book contains Conrad's letters to Garnett. A fascinating collection, all in all. I'll have a more detailed review up soon on my 50-book challenge thread.

I am now about halfway through Philip Roth's new book, Nemesis.

Finished The Photograph (enjoyed it) and started Secret Daughter (too soon to tell).

I finished The Mistress of Abha by William Newton. It was an LT ER book. I enjoyed it, but it was written in an old fashioned way. The narrative keeps you at arm's length, and it is a bit slow. Still I enjoyed it.

Then I read Life by Keith Richards. Unfortunately he often comes across as petty, cranky, and clueless (Brian Jones was bad because he subjected the band to his drug abuse).

Now reading The Commoner by John Burnham Schwartz for a RL book group.

>98 Donna828:: Donna 828 - Room is a great story, for a number of reasons. Donoghue just won the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize for Room, which I was happy to see.

I should be finished The Elephant's Journey by Thursday - fingers crossed! - so will provide some comments then.... I am getting into the flow of the story and look forward to curling up with it tonight.

Just finished "Operation Mincemeat" by Ben Macintyre.Retelling of a book written with the British governments permission,"The Man who Never Was".Lots of details.ger

I just read this: Leonardo DiCaprio will play a real-life 19th Century serial killer in an upcoming adaptation of Erik Larson‘s book, The Devil in the White City.

I just finished the 1995 Penguin edition of Alexander von Humboldt's Personal Narrative of a Journey to the equinoctial regions of the new continent and loved this version, which was abridged (for the better, reading as a non-geologist, biologist or historian).
I am still reading The Templar Legacy which was my side read.

I've started The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris, who is one of the authors I go to when I want to read something I'm pretty certain I'm going to enjoy. Hopefully this one won't disappoint.

I finished and reviewed (on my reading threads and on the book pages) two very different books about two very different contemporary East Asisn countries: Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language by Deborah Fallows and Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick.

I am just starting to really get into Freedom by Jonathan Franzen and wholly, completely enjoying it. I'm trying to stay away from all "buzz' - both good and bad (most of which is about Franzen and not the book) - hole up - and just see where it takes me.

I fell out of the HUGE amount of lovers of The Room ... in fact, so much, I'm looking to give that book away. No one I know in the 3D world has any interest in the subject matter. I also am looking to give Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter away. So if anyone wants to do a "swap" just private message me. Both are hardcover, so I'd send media mail. Not exactly sure what I'd want to receive in return ... really open. Try me.

Just started Waiting for Spring. Enjoying it thus far. Interesting writing style.

Making painfully slow progress through The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers. The narrative is way too full of maritime details for my understanding. Getting bored with it all.

Reading Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire. After reading three of his other books, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Son of a Witch and A Lion Among Men, I thought I should branch out more. I'll probably read Lost next. I'm also reading The Light in the Attic because I miss reading these books. :D

Last night I very reluctantly started Mister Pip (after watching 2 episodes of Castle in procrastination) . I got 30 pages in and I LOVE IT drat work and bills and...

citizenjoyce, I heard about Leo Decaprio on the radio today--now I just went to buy The Devil in the White City so I can read before the movie.

Kiwiflowa--I was at a "bookclub bonanza" sponsored by a local ind. bookstore--they had some publishing co. reps there and they raved about Mr. Pip. Glad you are liking it.

Finished Laurie Lee's As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning whilst languishing in the doctor's surgery on Monday. It must have been good because I raced through it, which isn't like me at all. Later that day I finished Elgar And The Three Cathedral Organists by Relf Clark, the good bits of which certainly provided food for thought.

I'm still working my way through the tales of Algernon Blackwood. This week, it's the turn of The Man Whom The Trees Loved which has improved after a slow start.

Began to read three books, all of which have opened promisingly : The Perfect Nazi by Martin Davidson; From The Dust Returned by the ever-reliable Ray Bradbury; and Beefheart: Through The Eyes Of Magic, a vast tome by John French, the long-suffering drummer with the Captain's Magic Band.

I finished The Post-Office Girl by Stefan Zweig. It was very good. I like this author. I just started Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly. This is a new YA book, that's been getting some incredible buzz. I'm also listening to True Compass and it's been terrific!

I hated, hated, hated How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe. Hated it.

msf59> Let me know what you think of Revolution. I loved Donnelly's A Northern Light

I finished Salvation City -- another good one from Sigrid Nunez. Now I'm reading Wild Nights! by Joyce Carol Oates.

#96 bookwoman247 -- I liked Arthur and George by Julian Barnes. I'll be interested to read what you have to say about it.

I finished The Wordy Shipmates and loved everything about it from Sarah Vowell's quirky little voice to her quirky big view of history. It was a relief from modern politics to read about people who actually believed what they were talking about, too bad sometimes their beliefs lead to banishment or burning people alive. When our forefathers and mothers weren't being inhumane they were crafting the basis for a mghty fine constitution.

Now I've started listening to Day After Night by Anita Diamant about Holocaust survivors.

#124 richard - sometime could you let us know what you thought of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, you've been very non-commital on it so far.

#120 kiwiflower I'm so thrilled you're enjoying the marvellous Mister Pip - it deserves to be loved.

I finally finished Under the Dome last night. While I found the premise and storyline interesting, I thought there was way too much gratuitous violence and found the ending unsatisfying.

I started The Lord of the Flies last night upon request of my 15 year old son. He read it in school and wanted me to read it so we could discuss it and see the movie. I am not that far into it so don't have an opinion as of yet.

>cammykitty- I was grabbed immediately by Donnelly's strong writing! This is going to be good!

>Joyce- Wordy Shipmates will be my next audio. I loved her Assassination Vacation.

I seem to be abandoning Arthur and George by Julian Barnes in favor of Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges, which I picked up from the library yesterday, and which I couldn't wait to dig into! I mean...it has a story titled The LIbrary of Babel, for goodness sakes! There's no resisting that title, is there?

I think this will take me a while to read, though. Not that I'm not enjoying it, because I love it so far, but it is taking a lot of thought and concentration.

I finished reading Kim this morning....absolutely loved this book. Who can resist Kim, a street orphan, chela to holy man, international spy and Sahib? Not to mention his friends, a lama, a Bengali physician/magician/spy, a horse trader, and an entire British regiment. Great read!

I continue listening to Sarah's Key and will begin reading my Early Reviewer edition of Burmese Lessons by Karen Connelly.

#132 I'm so glad you said that about Kim because it's one of the books I have to study later on in my course and I wasn't sure it was going to be my kind of thing but you've piqued my interest now. If only one of those friends had turned out to be a llama instead of a lama I'd be hard put not to grab it and read it right this second.

ETA - I also picked up a copy of this book - http://www.librarything.com/work/146733/book/60925062 - thinking it might be useful. LT reviews are mixed but I thought you might find it interesting if you don't already have it.

LOL.......like the llama concept!

#134 Ah well, if you like a llama as a concept you've gotta love this - http://www.webworksllc.com/Llamasong.cfm (apologies for sliding off topic yet again).

Just finished The Keepers by Heather Graham. A nice paranormal romance/mystery set in New Orleans.

I am starting Tressed to Kill by Lila Dare. A cozy mystery set in the South with a hair dresser as our amateur detective. Should be fun.

>128 Booksloth: Well, Booksloth, I fear I cannot report a positive impression. I would go so far as to say I was unimpressed.

Just finished listening to Sarah's Key...a moving story. I will be starting to listen to the collection of short stories, American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell, and starting to read Burmese Lessons.

I gulped down Philip Roth's latest, Nemesis, for my money his best work in years. More in my 50-Book Challenge thread.

I've just started Follow the Sharks, the third installment in William Tapply's 1980s vintage Brady Coyne mystery series.

msf59> I'll have to read Revolution then!

Having finished The Brothers Karamazov I wanted something a little lighter and briefer before tackling another thick, dense one (also I'm hoping a better thick, dense one surfaces), so I picked up and got a good start on What if the Earth Had Two Moons?. It may be a little too light, but I'll probably finish it unless the right thick, dense one surfaces.

Robert

I've started The Wolves of Andover by Kathleen Kent, which is out Monday, but I can't say that I've been terribly captivated by it as of yet. I think some of the blame belongs to my previous read, A Friend of the Family by Lauren Grodstein, which was fabulous, but I also think that part of it belongs to the book itself.

>135 Booksloth:, Booksloth .. thanks for the llama song! I enjoyed that and shared it with other llama lovers.

>120 kiwiflowa:, I added Mister Pip to my list on amazon.. sounds great!

I am reading Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier and Private Demons: the life of Shirley Jackson by Judy Oppenheimer. I've spent October re-reading everything Shirley Jackson...well most of it.
#129 I loved The Lord of the Flies. I read it the first time in sixth grade. A great book to share with your kid.

I am now reading The Sisters O'Donnell by Lyn Andrews and A Singular Hostage by Thalassa Ali. Have The Kentuckians lined up next for the Reading Through Time Challenge, this month's category is Exploration and Colonization.

I finished Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance, hallelujah. Unfortunately, most of the book is biography but one chapter is devoted to the basis of his paranoid, gender pirating style and his adherence to the skewed historical analysis of Cleon Skousen and Ezra Taft Benson. Aha, it all makes sense now, or at least he thinks so.

Now I'm starting on White Coat Black Hat: Adventures on the Dark Side of Medicine. Looks like I won't be reading about anyone pleasant for a while, but I am so enjoying listening to Anita Diamant's Day After Night. Again, not pleasant, but great characters.

I am still reading Freedom by Jonathan Franzen and loving it.

Has anyone read The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead ... which Franzen considers one of the "all time great" novels? I picked up a copy and am thinking that may be next. Or maybe I should take a brief "family saga" break to come to it fresh.

Carolyn, I'm glad you're loving Freedom. I did too. I've never read The Man Who Loved Children but I'll be interested to see what you think of it when you get to it.

#147 teelgee posted a great picture of Christina Stead for the thread on the week of July 17, her birthdate. Would like to check her out, too. I think she's the next author waiting in the wings to be rediscovered, a la Barbara Pym and Hans Fallada.

Three fourths of the way through AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY which is amazing in so many ways, not the least of which is Chabon's research and all the details he gets right. Turning out to be a masterclass in examining social history.

>Joyce- I enjoyed your review of Common Nonsense. Good job! I am not a fan of him but I might check this one out!

Thanks, I don't have a bullet proof vest. Hope it's unnecessary.

I finished Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart on audio yesterday, and today I started Austen's Emma, also on audio. I actually look forward to my commute now, if not the time of day.

Starting Annabel by Kathleen Winters tonight. I've heard good things about it.

I've read The Man Who Loved Children but could probably do with rereading some time. Dysfunctional isn't the word. Brilliantly written but grim as I recall.

Since I last posted I've finished all the books I was then reading except Middlemarch which I'm aiming to read by the end of December so will be reading for a while yet.

Now reading

Janet Skieslen Charles, Moonlight in Odessa
I first heard a radio adaptation of this but there's so much more in the book (a very good read) that I either missed or which was cut in the abridgement. Daria can't get a job as a graduate engineer, but works for an Israeli company sorting out exports and moonlights for an agency introducing Western men to women in Odessa. Shrewd and funny. The author is American.

Molly Keane, Mad Puppetstown
An Anglo-Irish 20th century writer, Molly Keane wrote about 13 social comedies, most of them as M J Farrell. She stopped writing when her husband died and then was rediscovered by Virago much later in her life who reprinted her first 10 books, and she published another 3 novels before her death. This is probably a reread and I must find time for her others.

Dalia Sofer, The Septembers of Shiraz
About a Jewish family in Iran in the early 80s. The man of the family has been arrested and imprisoned and the book alternates between prison scenes, scenes of his wife and family, and also the story of a son who has gone to America.

Shena Mackay, The Atmospheric Railway: New and Selected Stories
to review for the Bookbag. 13 new stories, some previously published in magazines, and 23 from previous collections. I love Mackay's writing.

Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question

Olivia Manning, The Great Fortune
The first of Manning's Fortunes of War books, part of The Balkan Trilogy - I want to reread all of these (last time was about 20 years ago) - an English couple in Romania in the early days of WWII.

George Eliot, Middlemarch

Studs Terkel, The Good War
American social historian's oral history collection about various American experiences of WWII

#143 My pleasure!

#144 I loved Lord of the Flies too and spent ages discussing it with both my kids when they read it.

#147 The Man Who Loved Children is hovering very near the top of my Mount TBR too. I keep picking it up and putting it down again in favour of something shorter but I've yet to read a bad word about it and I'm really looking forward to getting there in the end. Elkiedee's comment (#154) that it is 'grim' only makes me keener to get round to it.

As for my own reading, despite the execrable title, I loved She's Come Undone though I wasn't sure at first whether Lamb had really captured the female mind-set but I soon fell into the story and the wonderful character. Sholofsky - thank you for making me finally pick it up, I should never have doubted this terrific writer.

And why am I still not reading The Man Who Loved Children or Under This Unbroken Sky? Because Horns (what? no touchstones?) arrived in yesterday's post and I couldn't resist. Looking good so far.

I'm still reading Joyce Carol Oates's collection Haunted: Tales of the Grotesque for my bedtime reading. I've also started Louise Cooper's Keepers of Light for my lunch break reading, but I can't seem to get into it right now.

I've finished Rivers of Gold by Adam Dunn. It was a fantastic idea, but failed in the execution. Very disappointing.

I'll be starting Mr. Apology by Alec Wilkinson later today.

#156 My pleasure, Booksloth! Anything to rescue a poor soul from homework.

Attended a lecture by Elizabeth Strout last night...author of Olive Kitteridge, lawyer, and stand-up comic.......really! She was erudite, humorous, and very passionate about the power of being able to imagine being another person! Excellent!

I'm a little disappointed with myself that I quit reading The Children's Book after investing quite a bit of time in it(9 chapters), but I recovered from my reading doldrums by turning to a reliable mystery writer, Kate Atkinson. I picked When Will There Be Good News from my Kindle sample list and purchased it for $1.99. Hard to beat that! I usually like to read mysteries in between other things to cleanse the palate, so to speak, so this should be a good choice for now.

>hemlokgang- Thanks for sharing your Elizabeth Strout experience. I'm a huge fan of Olive Kitteridge, one of my top reads of last year!

Okay, the scary mean people in "Recommend Site Improvements" are onto something I've wanted for ages of ages...easy ways to identify discussions about specific books without having to hunt and search and generally get annoyed at the prolixity of our beloved Thingamabrarian community.

The thread discussing it is over here and I strongly encourage all and sundry to head over there and make your opinions known!

hemlokgang, can you tell us more about the lecture, or was it too much? I wish that she would talk in my neighborhood.

Robert

Tim O'Brien lecture this morning:

Journal of Daily Life: Tim O'Brien: Author Lecture
hemlokgangjournal.blogspot.com

Elizabeth Strout lecture last night:

Journal of Daily Life: Elizabeth Strout: Author Lecture
hemlokgangjournal.blogspot.com

Thank you.

Robert

#155 elkiedee

Moonlight in Odessa sounded interesting when I read the reviews. The reviews were very positive but I don't recall much talk about it on LT. I'm sad to say I didn't purchase the book or get it from the library so will be interested to hear what you have to say about it when you finish.

My book list on LT took a big jump up in numbers this last week as I finally got around to adding all of the Anne McCaffrey books in the Dragonriders of Pern series. I read these years ago and loved them. While entering them I discovered that there are a few that I didn't read. I went to the library last night and checked them out and will try to get back into the world of Pern.

I am still working away on Mists of Avalon and finding Ataturk: A Biography of Mustafa Kemal by Kinross to be surprising. I thought I would be trudging my way through it but it reads surprisingly well and is very informative. I do have to say that the tone of adulation is sometimes wearying but for being fifty years old is it very good. (It was published in 1965.) I think it is time I learned more about modern Turkey so thought this was a good place to start.

#165, loved the Tim O'Brien information. Thanks.

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson is a fascinating book. I highly recommend it even if you don't read true-crime.

It will especially appeal to readers of historic fiction (although it's non-fiction) and American Studies/History.

"White City" has many threads, all interwoven: Serial murders -- Electric lighting, a marvelous new technology -- The opening of the 1890's World's Fair -- and, most importantly, Chicago, and its "big city" dangers and allure.

Its historical setting reminded me of The Alienist by Caleb Carr. Also highly recommended.

Another "read-alike" for The Devil in the White City and The Alienist is In Sunlight in a Beautiful Garden: a Novel by Kathleen Cambor about the Johnstown Flood.

Although it doesn't center on a crime, like the Larsen and Carr titles, "Sunlight" is also set in the late-19th century US and shares their themes of rural/urban America, technology as a blessing/burden, and poverty/wealth. A memorable read.