What are you reading the week of April 9th, 2011?

No new thread this week yet (what gives?). So here it is.



Samuel Beckett (13th April 1906) - Irish playwright and poet. His works offer a bleak outlook on the human society. Some of his important works include, Malone Dies (1951), Waiting for Godot (1953), Endgame (1957), Krapp's Last Tape (1958), Happy Days (1960); etc. Beckett received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969.

Edited to fix touchstones.

Thanks, Porua. I loved Waiting for Godot and have a copy on Mt. TBR to re-read. Maybe I'll try to get to it this week.

Currently reading A Red Herring Without Mustard, the continuation of the Flavia de Luce mysteries (love that kid!) and Roosevelt's Secret War about how FDR embraced and dealt with espionage before and during WWII.

Finished Storm track by Margaret Maron.

I'm reading Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell's account of his experiences fighting with a workers' party against the Fascists during the Spanish Civil War, and On Elegance While Sleeping by Lascano Tegui, one of the novels on this year's Best Translated Book Award for Fiction shortlist.

# 2 You're welcome! :-)

Reading Nobody's Home and listening to Tree of Smoke.

Still reading Het A.P. Beerta-Instituut and as a light weekend read Squirrel seeks Chipmunk by Sedaris.

Finished Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen today. It was a fascinating fast read about remembrance and oblivion, coming home and homeland. It is about dementia and apples and family and taking care of mothers and bury children. It is great. The style is okay, some passages do not really fit and maybe the chracter is not that loveable (she's a bit comlicated with her man), but she is telling a great story and it touched me deeply.

Thanks, Porua!

I recently finished Twenty Boy Summer, a YA novel by Sarah Ockler. Now I'm reading The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan, Old Masters, New World: America's Raid on Europe's Great Pictures by Cynthia Saltzman, and listening to the wonderful Still Life by Louise Penny on audio.

I'm reading My Ántonia by Willa Cather with my book club. Still at the beginning but so far I have no complaints.

I finished Plague by Edward Marriott yesterday and posted a review this morning. I'm now on to Where the Sky Ends by M. G. Stephens.

I am about half way into West of Here by Jonathan Evison ... it is fun, like a pioneer and modern day soap opera, intertwined, in which, the State of Washington is a character! Easy to read.

Beginning Never Let Me Go which has been on the shelf for ages.

I continue very slowly reading The Perennial Philosophy but am open to being attracted to something else in the stack by my bed.

Robert

I am reading Heart-Shaped box by Joe Hill. I have not read Horns yet. That could be next.

Daniel Amory
Minor Snobs

I'm about halfway through The Hanging of Lucky Bill, which might qualify for the Ironic Title of the Month award. Anyway, this is an interesting history of an infamous occurrence that took place in 1858 in Nevada's Carson Valley, just to the east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and close to the Nevada-California border.

Thanks Porua!

I finished Gilead by Marilynne Robinson this morning for a theme read over on the Reading Through Time group. In a word, I thought this was a beautiful story. Loved it! Very thought provoking but with a smooth, melodious flow to it. I am now happily reading Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld.

Thanks, Porua! Was wondering when we'd get to Becket.

I loved Gilead it remains one of my favorites.

I finished reading two books this week. Both very different. Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick is a fictionalized account of the life of William Marshal. Many years ago I read Warren's biography of Henry II and was introduced to William Marshal. Since then he has shown up in many of my romance/historical novels. This treatment of his story is very well done. It is not a romance novel in that there is no bodice ripping, but there is plenty of romance. It is well done enough that I want to try to read the sequel.

I also finished reading The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer. This was also a good book. It was not a James Bond spy type novel, but it was good. The plot was rather predictable, and I am not sure that I can reconcile the thought of a family man as globe trotting spy/killer, but the writing was good. if you like spy novels this would be a good choice.

I have now started Spies of Warsaw in book form since it was removed from the list of free NookBooks and I was only half way through it. Went to my public library and got the book so that I can finish it. I am also happily buried in The Devotion of Suspect X. This one is a murder mystery for a murder mystery group read event. Mark's Murder and Mayhem in May if anybody is interested.

Thanks, Porua, we were a bit slow getting here today, weren't we?

I'm still reading Fingersmith for my RL reading group Friday and loving it so much. I just heard one of the participants has finished already and absolutely hates it. I think I know why, but what a pity. It's the best book I've read since Mama Day.

I'm also a little more than 1/2 through listening to Enchanted Glass. I'll bet DWJ had plans on making this a series, too bad, it would have been a good one.
>16 rocketjk: rocketjk, I've heard jokes in which the punchline is that the unfortunate dog or pirate is named Lucky, sounds like your guy would fit right in.

I've been gone for a while and missed you guys!

AMQS - How did you like Twenty Boy Summer? I know it's on lots of banned books list.

I'm reading La Bella Lingua in anticipation of a summer trip to Italy. So far it's delightful.

For guilty pleasure (on my Kindle iPad app for late night reading) I'm on Book 5 of the Vampire Academy Series.

And my kids and I have just finished three books in the delightful Time Warp Trio series by Jon Scieszka. It's kind of like Magic Tree House only FUNNY! We've read See You Later, Gladiator, Da Wild, Da Crazy, Da Vinci (see above about Italy trip) and Knights of the Kitchen Table. Highly recommended!

Thanks, Porua!

The Girl Who Chased the Moon was another very enjoyable book by Sarah Addison Allen. What an imagination she has! I'm sorry she's only got one more so far I haven't read, The Peach Keeper.

Back to reading Matched, which is good so far.

Well I think I'm going to try The Weird Sisters.Not sure how this is going to go because it is not the type of thing I usually read, but I like to try something different now and then.

Hi jhedlund! I hadn't realized that Twenty Boy Summer was on banned book lists, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I attended the Colorado Teen Literature Conference last week, and I had to read and review a book by one of the featured authors. I enjoyed it. It was recommended to me by a middle school librarian I sat with at the conference. She told me her MS girls loved the book. I'm trying to come to terms with the fact that "middle school" actually now means my daughter, 12. Eek! She'll soon be moving into a whole new realm of literature. There are definitely sexual issues in the book (the narrator accompanies her best friend's family on a beach vacation, where they plan to meet 20 boys in the hopes of having a summer fling), but the book really is a portrait of a family working through unimaginable grief. There are weighty issues mixed in with glittery make-up and bikinis, and I thought they were handled with sensitivity .

#20: Citizenjoyce: I find that when people disagree on a book it makes for a much more interesting book club meeting. (Everyone saying "I loved this part the best" doesn't make for stimulating discussion, does it?) But I thought Fingersmith was a true gem and I'm sure you'll have fun defending your enjoyment of it.

Off to a good start with Allegra Goodman's Kaaterskill Falls and just finished her enjoyable short story collection/novel Family Markowitz

I should also report that Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier, mentioned here a few weeks ago, was a disappointment.

"Lackluster" would have been a much better title for this novel...

#4-kidzdoc,

Homage to Catalonia is one of my favorites of Orwell's. I much prefer his nonfiction. Another is The Road to Wigan Pier.

Just started Van Reid's Cordelia Underwood, the first of the Moosepath League trilogy. Marvelous so far.

I found The Tiger's Wife enchanting . . . the only disappointment was that it had to end.

Next up: A Friend of the Family by Lauren Grodstein

I left Brighton Rock with much the same feelings as I began it - ho-humm. I just can't get on with Greene and I'm sure it's not his fault. I could certainly see why others like it but it wasn't my cup of tea. I also finished God Is Not Great, which I started ages ago then put down for something shiny - so at least it's another two books off the 'Off the Shelf' challenge. Today I need something I can read sitting in the sun so it' The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag easy-going, fun, perfect Sunday-in-the-garden reading.

I'm finishing up Blindness by Jose Saramago - it is good, but I don't think it is anywhere near as good as his other books (the ones I've read, anyway) - and still working through The Sunne in Splendour. That book is fantastic; I wish I had more time to read so that I could finish it faster. After that, it is bandwagon-jumping time: The Hunger Games and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

Plus, since PBS around here has been playing Ken Burns's The Civil War nonstop, I picked up Battle Cry of Freedom from the library to read too.

I'm still slowly reading Bill Bryson's At Home: A Short History of Private Life. Despite my slow pace, which is dictated by lack of reading time not lack of engagement, I'm enjoying this book.

Finished Nobody's Home by Dubravka Ugresic.....absolutely fascinating collection of essays about what home means to someone who defines herself as a "nobody", an exile from the former Yugoslavia. I am starting to read The Tiger's Wife and continue listening to Tree of Smoke.

Finished The Name of the Wind this week, and think I will start The Birth of Venus as the prologue grabbed me last night.

ETA: and The Name of the Wind was great! I am pacing myself with this series.

Still listening to At Home and I've started a quick read called Seeing Me Naked. It's been awhile since I read any chick-lit.

#26 infogal - could not agree more about Burning Bright.

Read my ER book, Field Grey, the latest Bernie Gunther novel from Philip Kerr. If you're in to the horrors of Nazi Germany, then it's terrific read which is spoiled by a weak ending.

Lately, I've been reading Publishing for Profit by Thomas Woll. It's an interesting look into the mechanics of what it takes to publish a book and run a publishing company. It's a dry read, but if you've ever wondered what would be required to start your own small press, then this is where you should start. I say this with all of the authority gained from reading this one book. I'm ready to be a consultant! ;-)

I'm still reading Blind Man's Alley and Wolves of the Calla.

# 9, 17, 18, 20 & 22 You’re welcome, guys!

Just started City of Fallen Angels. I like it so far. It is funny, I seem to be on a run of YA books and I am really enjoying them! Hope all have a good week. =:)

I'm reading Good Psychologist, by Noam Shpancer. It's very good. It has some interesting insights.

Finally started The Imperfectionists and I'm really enjoying it. I still am hoping to start H.M.S. Surprise.

>41 weejane: I loved The Imperfectionists!

I recently finished Kate Atkinson's Started Early, Took My Dog and the audio of Bill Bryson's At Home. Both were excellent! Currently I'm enjoying Christopher Morley's Parnassus On Wheels. I don't know what I was expecting but it it so much better than I thought it would be.

I am reading The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer, and although I am only on Chapter 10, I think this is going to be one of those really unforgetable reads. I am also reading The Way of the Traitor by Laura Joh Rowland, this is the 3rd book in her historical mystery series set in feudal Japan.

Today was my most productive reading day of the year, as I finished three superb books: Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, an account of his experiences fighting alongside a Socialist army against the Fascists (and sometimes the Communists) in the Spanish Civil War; Dubliners by James Joyce, a collection of short stories set in Dublin in the late 19th and early 20th century; and A Murder of Crows by Larry D. Thomas, a collection of poems about birds(!).

Finished In A Far Country by John Taliaferro. Great Book. Just started A Game Of Thrones.

I'm currently reading Evening Class by Maeve Binchy and A Thousand Words for Stranger by Julie Czerneda.

finished since Saturday

Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley - Orange Prize shortlist, set in 1950s Sudan
Paula McLain, The Paris Wife - Amazon Vine, set in 1920s Europe, novel about Ernest Hemingway's first marriage told from his wife's viewpoint

Currently reading:

Anne Peile, Repeat It Today with Tears - Twitter giveaway from publisher, to celebrate it getting onto Orange longlist - set in London, 1972, teenager finds her absent father, doesn't reveal her identity but starts a sexual relationship with him

Hilary Spurling, Burying the Bones: Pearl Buck in China - Bookbag review book

Allison Pearson, I Think I Love You 1970s Wales and then 25 years later - the main characters are a teenage David Cassidy fan and a journalist working for the fanclub and official magazine

Paul Wilson, The Visiting Angel - review copy from publisher, set in Manchester
Aminatta Forna, The Memory of Love - Orange longlist, set in Sierra Leone
Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady - set in London and Italy
Nadine Gordimer, Telling Tales - Twitter giveway from publisher - South African writer's articles, reviews, etc over 60 years of her career

A belated thank you, Porua!

I'm still reading Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. I love it, although I haven't made much progress since I've had a busier-than-usual week, and have also been more tired than usual. Every time I went to open the book, I found myself drifting off to sleep! That is absolutely no reflection on the book, though!

I'm still reading Crimes Against Humanity (I estimate another two weeks to finish it). To lighten my life, I'm also reading Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

I finished The Hanging of Lucky Bill, an interesting, non-fiction account of a notorious occurrence in 1850s western Nevada.

Last night I started Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. Time for a good old-fashioned adventure story.

Now reading The Good Soldier. I have heard so many great things about this book I hoped it might take my mind off the one I'm studying - Specimens of Bushman Folklore which is practically unreadable and full of typos.

I'm reading Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye and Little Women, but I took a break from both to start The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz, which is fab.

I finished reading Spies of Warsaw last night. This one was supposed to be a free read on my Nook while drinking coffee at the B&N. About half way through the book B&N pulled the plug on the Furst books for some reason that the store staff can't explain to me, so I went to the public library and got a copy.

This is my second Furst book and I like them. They are nice and short with a compact well edited story. The dust jacket covers are also catchy and set the stage for the noir style stories inside. I like his characters, but also think that they are little on the rakish side of life. However, that bit of a rake atmosphere is probably enough to satisfy those readers who desire a little of the James Bond style.

I picked up White Rhino Hotel on my way out the door this morning as my replacement for Spies of Warsaw and am looking forward to starting this novel.

I finished and reviewed Julia Spencer-Fleming's excellent murder mystery In the Bleak Midwinter.

Next up is Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth.

I just finished up West of Here and did a review. It was good, didn't blow my mind or anything, but entertaining.

Not sure what is up next ... gonna see if my ARC arrived, then if not, peruse the Nook and/or local library inventories.

I've finished and posted a review for Where the Sky Ends.

Tomorrow I plan on starting What I Was by Meg Rossoff.

I finished Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, Het A.P. Beerta-instituut and Oeroeg (staying home sick is good for something). My next book is Perdido Street Station

I'm halfway through The Twisted Thread by Charlotte Bacon. I'm really liking it so far.

#13 Narratorlady, I am sure you will enjoy Never Let Me go . Currently I'm Reading another of his novels When We Were Orphans.

I'm still reading Fingersmith, a little more than half way through. I can't believe it lost the Booker Prize to The Life of Pi, which I didn't much care for. I also started a little book of poetry, Fifty Years and Other Poems which was written to commemorate the 50 years since the signing of the emancipation proclamation. Had I not read The Given Day first I wouldn't have understand Johnson's emphasis that African Americans are Americans and were important to the growth of the country. Before Lehane I never would have known that some groups of people thought differently. I knew there was prejudice, but I hadn't known there was actual denial of citizenship.

I'm still reading The Pillars of the Earth.

# 48 You're welcome!

Read a wonderful compilation of detective short stories by Philip Pullman called Detective Stories. My review is here,

http://www.librarything.com/review/71390685

Or my 75 Books Challenge thread,

http://www.librarything.com/topic/106099

I am starting Song of Slaves in the Desert by Alan Cheuse (not sure if either of those touchstones worked), which I happened along in the "new fiction" stacks at the library. Grabbed me right away.

In addition to continuing in The Perennial Philosophy I have dipped into The Oxford Handbook of Systematic Theology and The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen and read a small chunk of What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew. What floats to the top remains to be seen.

Robert

Finished The Deluge over the weekend, an old but still readable account of life in Britain during World War One by Arthur Marwick; and earlier today came to the end of The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories. I now understand why my wife loves Angela Carter so much.

I've now turned my attention to Jung Chang's Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China. It's good, but I've been reading it for ages and really want to finish the book before I make a start on anything else. A mere 200 pages to go.

I could not finish Away for a book club read. The writing style was just awful. I was so confused. So I threw the book away...(well not really). I'm interested to see what other book club members thought of it. It got a bunch of rave reviews. Next up..The Uncoupling or True Memoirs of Little K...

elkiedee--how can you read so many books at one time and keep them straight? I have a hard enough time with one :-)

I finished Art and Madness by Anne Roiphe She describes a world of writers, artists, and actors emulating Hemingway in their alcohol, women and living full tilt. The people, famous and not, were intriguing but I most appreciated her close observation and ability to portray the scene. I was particularly impressed with her thoughts as she pulled herself out of the spell and chose to be a writer herself. My only complaint was that I found it hard to become emotionally attached to the author.

I recently finished Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. I can highly recommend this Young Adult/Teen book as a great introduction for anyone looking to take a peek at the steampunk genre. The illustrations are quite amazing and complement the story beautifully.

I quickly read the novella A Comedy in a Minor Key by Hans Keilson, originally published in 1947 and only recently translated into English, and have posted my review on the book page.

Next up is the LTER book In the Company of Angels by Thomas E. Kennedy, a re-publication I am looking forward to reading.

I've got a bunch on the burners. You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon, One Hit Wonder by Charlie Carillo and the one that I keep actually picking up The Good, the Bad and the Undead by Kim Harrison.

After a long long time finished Parzival Band 1. It is quite funny and entertaining but also provides great view into the middle ages.

Just finishing TARZAN OF THE APES something I should gotten around to in my adolescence but never managed to. It's one of Burrough's best adventures. Still plugging away at WAS AND PEACE mean time (dig this crazy touchstone).

#29 I also didn't care for BRIGHTON ROCK--in fact most of Greene's "entertainments" leave me cold--they're well-written but say nothing. His serious novels, on the other hand--HEART OF THE MATTER, END OF THE AFFAIR, THE QUIET AMERICAN--are entertaining and have a great deal to say.

I've just finished a wonderful novel The Old Romantic by Louise Dean. If you like Graham Swift, do yourself a favor and read this. It is funnier than Swift but the characters are very real like Swift. I wasn't even paying much attention when I started it and, now, I'd have to say it's one of the best books I've read in 2011.
This seems like it could be one of those books that flies under the radar and that would be a shame.
It's allergy season here in NC - I sneezed three times while typing this short post!

I finished When We Were Orphans. I liked it but I liked Never Let Me Go better. Both the books had a very similar style of narration. Obviously as both are from the same author but sometimes you want the author to rediscover himself and not to stick to a pattern. Here's my review

http://www.librarything.com/work/7357/book/71913044

I will start Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King Next.

I am almost finished with The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton and also listening to The Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

I am almost finished with The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton and also listening to The Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

#60 Citizenjoyce

I found an unexpected reference to the Boston events as depicted in Lehane's Given Day last night when I was watching the PBS series American Experience. The episode was on the Great Famine in Russia in 1921. The U. S. provided hundreds of volunteer organizers and thousands of tons of food and seed wheat to Bolsheviks. The program pointed out what a great political feat it had been to get Congress to approve the funds for the relief effort due to the "Red Scare" events in the U. S. in the years preceding the famine. The program specifically named the events in Boston, Chicago, and Montreal. I was pleasantly pleased with myself because due to Given Day I knew what they were talking about. Strange how "fiction" can be so historically relevant and how much history can be learned from fiction.

by-the-way, the episode on PBS was very graphic but, as always, was an excellent production.

This week I was reading Rachel's Tears by Beth Nimmo and Darrell Scott! Amazing! It is more of a religous view of her life!

I cannot recommend Christopher Morley's Parnassus on Wheels more. It's an utterly charming book, especially for book lovers!

>76 benitastrnad: It's strange that Lehane is best known for his gritty urban mysteries, yet his historical research is so good. Aren't we glad we read this non typical book of his?

**#78 coppers: I know! Isn't Parnassus on Wheels a delight? I just wanted to step into that world and travel along. I read the one after this Haunted Bookshop and it was lovely but something about the bookshop on wheels as a caravan has stayed with me. Amazon is a lovely thing but what we've also missed out on!

>80 enaid: enaid - Absolutely! And me too - the idea of traveling around with the horse, the dog, and all those books on the quiet country roads has a lot of appeal.

#79 & 80--And someone you love, too, especially since Helen was such a good cook. Isn't it a charming book?

> 78, 80, 81, 82: I just have to chime in on the Parnassus on Wheels love! What a special, sweet little book!

ETA:
Now I'm utterly in the mood to read {Parnassus on Wheels again!

I also want to recommend that anyone who loves Parnassus should read 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff , another charming, book-centered read.

All those very high opinions of Parnassus on Wheels made me at it to my BM-wishlist.

started Parzival Band 2 today.

I just ordered Parnassus On Wheels. Enablers, that's what you lot are - you should be ashamed!

I have a duplicate copy someone can have.

> 85: Bwahahaha! I'll bet you didn't need much enabling, if you're anything like me!

Yes enablers is right. What am I doing but sitting and watching as my hands click on the order button, incapable of preventing it from happening. Let's see special, sweet, charming don't know which of those words clamped down on my hand as the order was completed. Gah! You people are unbelievable!

Finished The House of Mirth last night and really enjoyed this book and it is in the class of a re-read in years to come. Now its on to David Copperfield.

Finished The House of Mirth last night and really enjoyed this book and it is in the class of a re-read in years to come. Now its on to David Copperfield.

I could not hang with Song of the Slaves in the Dessert. It was just so-so and I found every excuse not to pick it back up. Odd book, had the disquieting feeling that I had read everything, somewhere before. It all felt very manufactured.

So, whoa, but gotta do it ... picked up some chick lit that was on the TBR shelves: Good Harbor by Anita Diamont ~ I am enjoying it. I love stories of friendships, so this has that. It's kind of nice to read something less intense than I normally choose.

I've finished and reviewed the extraordinarily good "Eromenos" (no working touchstone), an historical novel told in the voice of Emperor Hadrian's beloved Antinous's voice, in my thread...post #101.

I finished Lauren Grodstein's A Friend of the Family which was really quite good. Now I'm reading Night Soldiers -- another terrific book by Alan Furst.

Next up: Kate Atkinson's new book, Started Early, Took My Dog.

Just finished The Tragedy of Arthur by Arthur Phillips. An LT Early Reviewers Book and an absolutely amazing read. Will write and post review tomorrow. Then, onto my next Earlv Reviewers Book, Two for Sorrow by Nicola Upson. Waiting for the biography of Bismark already ordered.

Finished The Invisible Bridge, a great read and have now started on a YA Zombie thriller by Charlie Higson, The Enemy, filled with lots of biting, riping and slashing - just what I am in the mood for!

I am also about to start Sarah: Women of Genesis by Orson Scott Card for the Reading Through Time Challenge.

I have finished reading Annie Dunne by Sebastian Barry and just loved it, it really pulled at my heart strings with its beautiful simplicity.

I am now reading a another of Sebastian Barry's The Secret Scripture , so far it looks good.

#97 - hazeljune - Oh, I'm so glad you liked Annie Dunne --
as you say, "beautiful simplicity". I love the passage about the dairy, about Annie and Sarah working together to make butter -- "we are like two dancers, two doors opening and closing on perfect hinges . . . when you find me in the dairy, an old rook of a woman in a blue and white apron, the room immaculate, the sun excluded but honouring the gap of the door with coming light, you will find only the picture of happiness."

Later she says the two of them are "pensive as daffodils."

Enjoy The Secret Scripture, hazeljune.

Still reading People of the Book and really enjoying it. Almost done. It's overdue at the library.....I wish I could read like #44: Posted about 3 books in one day! (that's a month of reading for me!)

I'm sad to say that I finished Fingersmith. It feels like I've lost an old friend, can't think of getting into anything else today. What a great book.

I'm sad to say that I finished Fingersmith. It feels like I've lost an old friend, can't think of getting into anything else today. What a great book.

Just started on Primal Fear, spurred on somewhat by the one reviewer who says it scared him/her to death - I'm really in the mood for a good scare right now!

Well I tried The Weird Sisters but I just couldn't make it past pg. 100. It's really not my thing. So I started Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay and I'm back in my comfort zone.

I just finished The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell, and this is the first of her work that I have read. Her essays featured lots of history and commentary on the national politics of 1999 and 2000. I lived in DC during this time, which brought back memories. I really liked it and I'm adding more of her books to my wishlist.

Also, I can't remember where I got my copy of this book as I use various used book websites, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it was a signed copy!

Next is Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey.

Started Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin. Really enjoying it.

I finished Faithful Place and it was another solid read by French. I'm starting Ape House. I have not seen this one mentioned much around here. I'm hoping it's decent. Nearly finished with the audio of The Paris Wife. It's been very good.

Just finished The Tiger's Wife. Absolutely marvelous! I continue listening to Tree of Smoke and I will start reading The Private Lives of Trees by Alejandro Zambra.

>>106 msf59:. Mark, I really liked Faithful Place. I've enjoyed the whole series, but that one is my favorite.

I'm glad to hear a positive take on The Paris Wife. I'm interested in it, but the reviews have been kind of wishy washy.

Currently reading Perfection, and I've checked out Death in the Afternoon and the Sun Also Rises (I need to brush up on my Hemingway for a class I'll be teaching.)

I'm looking forward to getting The Tiger's Wife from the library tomorrow. There are mixed reviews, I hope I'll like it as much as you, hemlokgang.

I finished Enchanted Glass by DWJ, and now will start listening to the first of a series, Charmed Life. I also finished Fifty Years and Other Poems and was quite taken with some of them.

I'll now continue reading Woman on the Edge of Time for a very slow to start group read.

I've finished and posted a review for What I Was Meg Rosoff, which was both wonderful and disappointing at the same time.

Tomorrow I plan on starting I Am Zoe Handke by Eric Larsen...or I might change my mind. Not sure.

I am half way through Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon and it is an intense roller coaster ride of a book!

Finished The Private Lives of Trees by Alejandro Zambra, an absolutely brilliant novella. I am about to start The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, and continue, somewhat reluctantly, listening to Tree of Smoke.

I finished Good Harbor by Anita Diamant and well, it was predictable and chick-lit-ish, but kinda what I needed.

So now on to Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada which is mind-blowingly awesome. I can't put it down and if it's true he wrote this in 24 days ... well, wow, words escape me.

I am reading Treachery in Death by J.D. Robb. Love this series and this author! Trust me, you will get hooked! God Bless! :o)

Matched was a good YA novel that looks to have at least one sequel coming.

Now I'm a fair ways into To Serve Them All My Days with "Pow-wow", and really enjoying it.

I am deep into reading White Rhino Hotel and this book is really good. It has such a wild wild west feel to it. I am also enjoying Devotion of Suspect X. Thanks to Mark for putting me on to these two books. They are just what I needed - two more books to read when I already have lots to choose from.

Did anyone else notice that today, 4/15, is both the anniversary of Corrie Ten Boom's birth and death?

Maggiemay... wow I didn't know that..isn't that wierd to be born and then die on the same date...

This week I read Allegra Goodman's Kaaterskill Falls set in an Orthodox Jewish summer community in upstate New York.

It is an novel about faith and family within a specific ethnic and religious culture but its theme of belonging v. independence is universal and will appeal to many readers.

With the exception of weak sub-plot concerning the village's year-round non-Jewish residents, this novel is well-written and highly recommended.

The new thread is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/114328