Becky Reads

Hoping to fulfill my reading resolution to share the reading experience as much as possible, I join this group.

Be gentle, fellow groupers.

33. State of Wonder, Ann Patchett
32. Patient Zero, Jonathan Maberry
31. Beautiful Lies, Lisa Unger
30. Ice Princess, Camilla Lackberg
29. Death of an Old Goat, Robert Barnard
28. The Borrower, Rebecca Makkai
27. The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes, Marcus Sakey
26. The Summer of Katya, Trevanian
25. Guilt, John Lescroart
24. The Night Season, Chelsea Cain
23. Death du Jour, Kathy Reichs
22. Swamplandia!, Karen Russell
21. The Uncoupling, Meg Wolitzer
20. Dream House, krichrochelle::Rochelle Krich
19. The Main, tTrevanian
18. Devil's Food Cake Murder, Joanne Fluke
17. Heads You Lose, Lisa Lutz
16. Journal of a UFO Investigator, David Halperin
15. The Sunday Philosophy Club, Alexander McCall Smith
14. The Loo Sanction, Trevanian
13. The Passion of Molly T., Lawrence Sanders
12.The Eiger Sanction, Trevanian
11. The Three Weissmanns of Westport, Cathleen Schine
10. The Unnamed, Joshua Ferris
9. Red Wolf, Liza Marklund
8. Just Kids, Patti Smith
7. The Weird Sisters, browneleanor::Eleanor Brown
6. The Devotion of Suspect X, Keigo Higashino
5. Shibumi, Trevanian
4. Absurdistan, Gary Shteyngart
3. Left Neglected, Lisa Genova
2. The Radleys, Matt Haig
1. L.A. Requiem, Robert Crais

Welcome to the group, Becky! Looks like you have some great reading goals for the year.

We have an introductions thread, http://www.librarything.com/topic/104688, if you want to head over and meet your fellow group members.

Thanks, Stasia! I've checked out my fellow challengers and introduced myself on the thread you linked. Now I'm going to star your thread so I can follow you, new reading friend.

a career bookseller? I nearly avoided your thread out of sheer petulant jealousy.
:P

Welcome to the 75ers!

Welcome!

Hi there! I am new to this group, too. Looks like we have some overlap in our libraries - think I'll star your thread to get some recommendations as the year progresses!

Welcome, Becky! I like your resolutions. Non-fiction is a stretch for me, too, but LTers have a knack for inspiring me to try harder! Since LT started letting us post our reviews to Facebook, I've been writing a 1- or 2-line review for each book in order to share a little bit with my friends.

Ringing in the new year with book number one (started in the old year, but well after Christmas, so I'm going to count it ;-)

Robert Crais' L.A. Requiem is both dark and funny...but mostly dark. Elvis Cole and Joe Pike are a wonderful opposites that attracted kind of partnership, and their relationship shines in this, their 8th outing together. I've reviewed it here.

#3: Becky, I do not have a thread for 2011 started yet. Look for it next Sunday though :)

Aha! That's why I couldn't find it. Hard to search among them, especially when not everybody puts their "handle" in the title.

I'll be looking.

Ah, but you no longer need to search by thread title! See the Threadbook for all those people you've been missing. Stasia, of course, doesn't show up yet since she's waiting until next week to make an appearance. You know how she likes to make an entrance! :)

http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/Groups:75booksin2011#The_Threadbook

Brilliant! Thank you for the info.

Finished The Radleys by Matt Haig, a story of suburban vampires trying to live right. Nicely written, subtle twist on the fairly stale vampire thing. Reviewed it here.

She became a vegetarian to try to convince animals to like her. Classic!

Book sounds brilliant.

photodermatitism? I'd hate to have that malady!

#13: I already have that one in the BlackHole. Unfortunately, my local library still does not have it yet. Nice review, Becky!

Great review and it sounds like a good read!

My weekly reading roundup is kind of a summary of my reading week.

#17: I do the same thing - a weekly report of sorts. I just post mine here on LT since I am not at all familiar with the blogging world.

Left Neglected by Lisa Genova, reviewed here, at times walks the edge between good, solid fiction and movie of the week melodrama (woman who has it all is laid low by traumatic brain injury must learn to live in an entirely different way while reconciling with her mother). It is, however, pulled back from the edge by the quality of Genova's writing and the insights she provides. Recommended as an easy, satisfying read.

#19: I loved Genova's Still Alice, so I may give that one a try some time. Thanks for the mention, Becky.

Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart, reviewed here. Literary love child of Ignatius Reilly and Tyrone Slothrop, Misha Vainberg is a 325 pound rapping Russian Jew, who loves all things American and wants nothing more than to get out of Russia and return to his beloved America. Nothing between him and that goal but a gangster father, a revoked visa, and, oh, a war-for-oil...

#21: I tried Shteyngart's Super Sad Love Story and came to the conclusion that he and I do not have the same sense of humor. I think I will give that one a pass.

Shibumi by Trevanian. Elegant spy story, at times fast-paced, at times meandering, always a cut above the genre. Reviewed here.

#21 & 22. I've never been interested in Absurdistan and I hated Ignatius Reilly, but for some reason Super Sad Love Story intrigues me...

I'm interested in Super Sad True Love Story too, despite its being an epistolary novel (quite possibly my least favorite type of narrative). I'm interested in the dystopian aspect of it. May pick it up down the road a piece.

And yeah, I pretty much hated Ignatius Reilly, too (though I love Slothrop).

edited to fix typo

Nice review of Shibumi, a title I have on my shelves. Years ago, I picked up a copy of a Trevanian discarded in a business or at work. I thought I would sample it and toss it to someone else, but I ended up really liking his noirish voice (It was more of a detective novel), and I've been collecting up any Trevanian I see every since.

Shibumi was my first...now I've just got to find the others. Unfortunately, he's not really in the mainstream anymore, so he's kind of hard to find. It's nice to have a book quest, though.

Read and reviewed The Devotion of Suspect X, an elegantly constructed mystery, with a retro feel.

I just reviewed The Devotion of Suspect X also. Surprising book, huh?

On Trevanian, I also have Hot Night in the City, Incident at Twenty-Nine Mile, and The Main. The last in the list is the one that got me going on him.

I saw your review after I posted mine last night, Mac. It was a very pleasant surprise.

I've got my radar tuned to Trevanian in my book travels, but so far all I ever see is Shibumi. But they'll start turning up, I know they will...

Reading Roundup. My week in books encapsulated. Are you a blogger? Visit and link up your best post of the week.

Finished The Weird Sisters by browneleanor::Eleanor Brown. Charming and quirky, kind of chick littish, but kind of smart, too. Reviewed here.

#32: Nice review, Becky!

All right! Finished my first nonfiction of the year (and my first nonfiction in a long, long time...). Just Kids by Patti Smith, a lovely and sweetly nostalgic look at her time in NY with Robert Mapplethorpe Review here.

Nicely done. I'd like to read that.

Oh, you should. Since I never replaced my Patti Smith vinyl with CDs, I iTuned my two favorite Patti Smith songs as soon as I started reading the book.

I reserved the only copy in L.A. county of Trevanian's The Eiger Sanction through inter-library loan. With any luck I'll be getting it in a few days. Unbelievably, the (I thought) majestic Los Angeles Public Library didn't have a single copy, so I had to go to the County Library system. But I shouldn't complain--at least we have two large libraries, and I have a branch of each nearby.

That one was made into a movie, starring Clint Eastwood. Pretty good for its time. Hope you like the book.

I thought the title sounded familiar, movie-wise. And I also thought I'd seen every dang Clint Eastwood movie made. Netflix, queue me up. Thanks for that blackdog!

So, I finally finished Red Wolf by Liza Marklund. It was quite good--better, I think, than Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. And though she's been published here in the States before, I hope this time ol' Stieg has paved the way to bestsellerdom for her, because she deserves it. Review here.

Started The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris. 100 something pages in it is an incredibly compelling tale of a man with, well, a bizarre compulsion. To walk. Not in a happy, walk 10 miles to the pub British thing, or a healthy walk to the library instead of driving thing, but a frightening, gotta walk till you drop kind of thing. I loved his first novel, Then We Came to the End, and am finding this to be just as good.

Afraid I am not a Joshua Ferris fan, but the Liza Marklund book sounds good. I will have to see if my local library has a copy. Thanks for the recommendation, Becky!

I know The Unnamed was not for everyone, but I thought it was almost unspeakably beautiful and moving. The love and loyalty that Ferris was able to evoke despite--because of--his protagonist's bizarre affliction was, to me, perfect. Here's my review.

And now I'm reading The Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine (who doesn't produce enough, darn her). So far so great.

Finished The Three Weissmanns of Westport. Found it to be charming, funny, smart--just a great read and a wonderful book. Reviewed it here.

Am almost finished with The Eiger Sanction, which is wonderful in a completely different sort of a way. It's a hilarious, action-packed spoof of Bond-type espionage thrillers.

Nice reviews, Becky! I already have the Cathleen Schine book in the BlackHole. Hopefully I can get my hands on it one of these days!

Hi There

I'm compiling a list of birthdays of our group members. If you haven't done so already, would you mind stopping by this thread and posting yours.

Thanks.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/105833

Don't let my review of Trevanian's truly awesome action/adventure/spy spoof The Eiger Sanction dissuade you from reading it. I couldn't do the book justice, but it is terrific in every sense of the word!

Now reading Manhattan Nocture by Colin Harrison and The Passion of Molly T. by Lawrence Sanders and just picked up The Loo Sanction from the library. Yeah, I'm spreading myself too thin reading-wise again.

So many books, so little time.

Nice review of The Eiger Sanction, Becky!

Thank you. I really don't feel I did it justice...the book is so sly, so funny, so well-constructed...ah well.

Great review of The Eiger Sanction....thumb. Hope you like Manhattan Nocturne. Harrison is one I collect and enjoy.

I'm liking Manhattan Nocturne a lot. I read a more recent title of his a couple of years ago, and liked it; I remember that one as being a bit more conventional (not a criticism, just an observation) than this one. He's very good at evoking mood and atmosphere.

BTW, thanks for the thumb!

Finished and The Passion of Molly T. by Lawrence Sanders. Though dated in many ways, and kind of clunky in others, this is still a fast-paced and ultimately chilling look at politics and the political animal. Definitely worth a read.

Now half-way through The Loo Sanction, which really is turning out to be more over-the-top than The Eiger Sanction. YEAH!

#53: My local library has The Loo Sanction, but not The Eiger Sanction. That does not even make sense to me!

I'm just lucky L.A. has two library systems--county had Eiger and city had Loo. Go figure.

#55: Sounds like here - quite often, Sherman will have the first book in a series, but Denison will have the second.

Noticed The Eiger Sanction movie with Clint was on Encore last night. Did you get to watch it yet. Sounds like the movie departs a bit from the book, but still a fun watch.

Thanks!! I'll have to check the Encore schedule. Psyched!

Here I've reviewed The Loo Sanction, which I liked nearly as well as The Eiger Sanction.

I'm almost finished with Alexander McCall Smith's first Isabel Dalhousie mystery, The Sunday Philosophy Club, which is an interesting contrast to what I've just been reading. He is so kind and gentle, and the action consists of lots of looking at paintings, thinking about ethical living, and drinking coffee and tea (and maybe a wee bit of Isabel's lusting in her middle-aged heart for her twenty-something friend Jamie). Very sweet.

Next up, a first novel, just out, called Journal of a UFO Investigator.

Touchstones being touchy again.

#59: I am definitely going to have to find the Trevanian books. Great review again, Becky!

My review of The Sunday Philosophy Club. Slight, but lovely.

#61: Nice review, Becky. I may have to give that one a try despite not being a fan of Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books.

I haven't read the No. 1 Ladies' books, but...most of the reviews I read compared this series unfavorably to that one. So I don't know what that means if you don't like the other series. I can definitely say that this one isn't for everyone. You must be a fan of cozies and you mustn't mind circular navel gazing and endless "what-ifs." I'll read the next one that comes my way, though I won't seek it out (if you know what I mean ;-).

Yeah, I know what you mean, Becky!

Starting to catch up on reviewing. Here's my review of The Main, Trevanian's gorgeous third novel. And, in a completely, utterly, couldn't be more different vein, Devil's Food Cake Murder, Joanne Fluke's coziest of cozies. Perfectly acceptable for what it is; here's the review.

I still owe reviews for Lisa Lutz's kind of hilarious novelty novel, Heads You Lose, and Rochelle Krich's Dream House.

Soon...

Not really catching up on the reviews, as now I am five behind. But, here's my review of Swamplandia!. I desperately wanted to read this book, having read rave reviews from a number of well-respected sources, and I wasn't disappointed. It was as magical and quirky and clever as all the reviews had led me to believe. It was also gritty and dark, and a wee bit of a downer. Well worth a read, and I look forward to all of Karen Russell's novels to come.

Nice review, Becky. I bought my copy of Swamplandia! almost as soon as I heard about it and am really looking forward to reading it.

Let me know--it was so different from what I was expecting, but still so good.

Okay, starting to catch up. Here's my review of Chelsea Cain's latest serial killer thriller, The Night Season...be sure to wear your slicker when you read this one, 'cause it never stops raining.

One more. My review of Heads You Lose, by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward. Goofy and kind of precious, but still really funny.

Moving along in my quest (which will be all too brief, I fear) to read all of Trevanian, I presentmy review of The Summer of Katya. A surprising turn, I felt, from his previous work, it was an old school psychological thriller which brought to mind the works of the (also great) Margaret Millar.

Nice review.....making Trevanian look good.