What are you reading the week of April 23rd 2011?

New thread for the week.

J. P. Donleavy (23rd April 1926) - American author. His first novel, The Ginger Man, remains his best known work. The Ginger Man is one of the Modern Library 100 best novels.

Halldór Laxness (23rd April 1902) - Icelandic writer. Best known for books like Independent People (Sjálfstætt folk, 1934), The Atom Station (Atómstöðin, 1948), Iceland's Bell (Íslandsklukkan, 1943), The Fish Can Sing (Brekkukotsannáll, 1957). He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955.

Ngaio Marsh (23rd April 1895) – A New Zealand crime writer. Famous for her books featuring the detective Roderick Alleyn.



William Shakespeare (Birth Date Unknown , Baptized on 26th April 1564) - William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He wrote about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays remain highly popular even today and are regularly performed all around the world. Some of his important works are Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, As You Like It, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew; etc.

Robert Penn Warren (24th April 1905) - An American poet, novelist, and literary critic. He received the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for All the King's Men (1946) and the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1958 and 1979. He is the only person to have won Pulitzer Prizes for both fiction and poetry.

Anthony Trollope (24th April 1815) - Anthony Trollope was one of the most successful and prolific English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-known works are collectively known as The Chronicles of Barsetshire.

Alistair MacLean (21st April 1922) - A Scottish novelist . MacLean wrote thrillers the best known among them are The Guns of Navarone and Where Eagles Dare.

Harper Lee (born April 28, 1926) - American author who is best known for her only novel To Kill a Mockingbird (1960). She won a Pulitzer Prize for it.

Still reading and loving First among sequels.

My latest in "Bird Song" by Sebastain Faulkes, once again I will be in the trenches on WW1.

I found a copy of "The Turn of the Screw" today at a garage sale, it caught my eye especially as it has a few mentions in past postings.

I'm coming to the end of Bleed For Me. Next up will be The Trout Opera - I'm in the mood for a big, fat doorstep to read in the garden in this wonderful sunshine.

Thanks for starting us off with such an interesting beginning, Porua. What a great group of suspects this week!

Asd for me, this week, I'm happily reading The Oracle of Stamboul by Michael David Lukas, a great story about a super-intelligent, precocious Jewish girl in the Ottoman Empire. I'm enjoyng the adventure and intrigue, as well as the main character.

I'm also happily still reading Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. I love it, even though it's very slow going, so I've decided to stick with it, even if I don't finish it until 2012, but I've also decided not to stick with it exclusively, because I'm just to impatient to read other books!

And, last, but not least, I'm just beginning to nibble at Mrs. Woolf and the Servants: An intimate History of Domestic Life in Bloomsbury by Alison Light. This seems like it will be the perfect accompaniment to the sequel to Upstairs Downstairs which is currently airing here in the states.

Whew! I don't normally read more than one book at a time. I'm getting tired just posting about them all!

Porua- Nice job setting up this week's thread! I finished the incredible A Handmaid's Tale. What a great introduction into Atwood. Next up, is Swamplandia, last book before May: Murder & Mayhem begins. Also working on the audio of The Blade Itself, which as been very enjoyable.

Nice new thread, Porua. Houseguests and a family birthday party are keeping me from reading. I love them, but I'm about to go nuts.

#5, bookwoman247 - I've never heard of The Oracle of Stamboul but have added it to my TBR list!

#7, Bjace - Hang in there! I can sympathize.

While home this past week with a bronchial infection, I started The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. Exquisite book! I am intentionally trying to read it slowly so I can enjoy it longer; nevertheless, I'm already nearly halfway through.

I'm also still enjoying Bill Bryson's At Home: A Short History of Private Life. Rather glad that I finished the bathroom chapter last night and will be moving out of sewers and sludge!

I am still reading Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada and really enjoying it. It's a bit of a slow read, I think because of so many characters and a rather involved plot amongst them (kind of have to remember who knows who, why, and what their affiliations are). It really is mind-blowing this book was written in 24 days - so I am very understanding re: no editing. It is a very good, real and chilling look at what happens in times of war, in this instance, amongst the citizens of Germany, during WWII, under the pressure and paranoia of the Gestapo.

Thanks for getting this going, Porua. Great month for author/playwright birthdays.

>6 msf59: Glad you liked The Handmaid's Tale, Mark!

I just finished another book involving WWI: To Serve Them All My Days by R.F. Delderfield, involving a boys school in rural England, which begins during WWI and ends during WWII. It was a good as I hoped, a hard to put down old-fashioned read with great storytelling and memorable characters, particularly David Powlett-Jones at the center of it all.

I'm reading You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon. Still on the first story but I like her writing style so far.

Currently reading The Bounty. I haven't made much progress, but I've enjoyed what I read so far.

I'm now a ways into The Informationist.

I am looking forward to some fun reading this weekend. Currently reading A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley with The Peach Keeper by Sarah Allen Addison on deck. After that, it will probably be Mr. Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt.

Looking forward to hearing what you think of The Peach Keeper, lkernagh. That's the only one of hers I haven't read.

Oops - I forgot to mention I'm also reading Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World by Clare Herman. So far it's quite scholarly.

# 5,6,7 & 10 Thanks guys! :-)

I'm on my way to the porch to read The Year of Pleasures for the ReadaThing theme of First Anniversary. I started it last night and it's good so far.

Thanks for your usual excellent start to the week, Porua. I'm reading, and loving, The Tiger's Wife and listening to Charmed Life.
Mrs. Woolf and the Servants: An intimate History of Domestic Life in Bloomsbury looks great and is wishlisted.

I'm working my way through The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt and The Habit of Being, Flannery O'Connor's letters. I'm enjoying them both, but they are so long, I am anxious to finish and pick up something a bit shorter, like The Peach Keeper. Every Man Dies Alone sounds great.

#6: Mark, so glad you liked The Handmaid's Tale. It was my first and favorite Atwood too.

Thanks Porua for starting the thread. I am reading Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger, the first in his mystery series set in northern Minnesota. He obviously has a deep love for that part of the country and the setting is a major part of the story.

I am also reading Mudbound by Hillary Jordan. Another book where setting, this time the Mississippi Delta, is a huge part of the story. A dark and brooding story full of family and secrets, I don't know yet where this book is taking me, but I am enjoying the trip.

What a great start for the thread - thanks Porua!

I'm reading Three Cups of Tea. Yeah yeah yeah, I know there's a bunch of controversy about it right now, but it's been in the TBR pile for a while and I almost picked it up a couple weeks ago before all the hullabaloo.

It's been on my tbr pile for awhile now too, but I want to read it because of the hullabaloo!

I continue to read in several books. The Oxford Handbook of Systematic Theology and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre had my attention last night. I still have at hand The Perennial Philosophy and 2666 with a substantial start in each. I expect to dive into Destiny Disrupted soon for a church book group discussion in early May.

Robert

I am currently reading Cranford which I find a bit on the slow side. I am sure it is me, though, as I seem to have this opinion of many works from this period in time.

I'm still reading Battle Cry of Freedom - Lee is about to make the biggest mistake of his career - and Varieties of Exile by Mavis Gallant. Also, since I've been tearing through the whole trilogy in the past couple weeks - Mockingjay. I think I like Peeta better than Gale, and I think Katniss should too. But I haven't finished the book yet, and don't know if she is going to agree with me. Or survive, even.

Finished and loved, loved, loved First among sequels. Will start A short history of tractors in Ukrainian tomorrow morning.

Started The Scholar Adventurers by Richard Altick. The book was on the Random House list of the best nonfiction, in English, of the 20th century a few years ago. It's addictive reading.

I'm about halfway through Old Masters, New World: America's Raid on Europe's Great Pictures by Cynthia Saltzman. It's been slow going for me. I'm reading it for book club, and for the first time in a long time, I hadn't finished the book before the meeting. We held our meeting yesterday at the Denver Art Museum (one of our members is a docent), where we saw the exhibit "Cities of Splendor: A Journey through Renaissance Italy." Perfect.

This week I'm going to read Lifeguard and try to get Wolves of the Calla finshed.

I'm reading Michael Crummey's Galore, Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion, and Chasing Aphrodite by Jason Felch.

I finished The Tiger's Wife and am so impressed by the talent of this young writer. I think I'd be willing to read anything she writes. Next up, I think, is
Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism by Roy Richard Grinker, but not tonight. The read-a-thon has wrung me dry.

I'm still working my way through
Elizabeth I: A Novel by Margaret George, but have also started
The Thomas Berryman Number by James Patterson and
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

Of these three, The Alchemist has really grabbed my attention! I don't think it will last long as it's such a thin book but caught my attention in the first couple of pages.

I have two books going at the moment: The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna, one of the six books shortlisted for this year's Orange Prize for Fiction, which is set in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, after the civil war; and The Three Christs of Ypsilanti by Milton Rokeach, a book newly reissued by New York Review Books Classics originally published in 1964, in which the author, a social psychologist, brings together three paranoid schizophrenics who each believes that he is Christ in a psychiatric hospital in Ypsilanti, Michigan from 1959 to 1961.

# 18, 21 & 22 Welcome! :-)

Having finished and thoroughly enjoyed Parnassus on Wheels, I'm looking forward to beginning its sequel The Haunted Bookshop.

Yesterday I finished Amusing ourselves to death which was exemplary, 10 stars. However, reading that and having a bad work week, has made me turn to some fluff. So next time I start reading, it will be Barbara Vine's House of Stairs. I love Rendell's Vine mysteries.

PokPok

I'm nearly finished Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones on the ereader. I think I'm going to read Archer's Goon on it next.

Also, still reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Next up in hardcopy is So Much Pretty.

Reading More tales of the City by Armistead Maupin. So far I am hooked on this series. Just keep the books spaced so that I will not grow tired of the characters.

Still reading my ER book The Girl who would Speak for the Dead. It's a quick read, but taking me forever because 1. I have a cold 2. I'm not getting into it. Its based on the Fox sisters, so it should be cool. It's too something to be YA, but not complex enough to be adult. None of the main characters seem to have much at stake. I would've dropped it by now if it weren't an ER book. I don't have much patience for books that I don't get into.

@21 - So funny you mentioned Iron Lake because I just picked up a copy this week. I read it a few years ago and loved the setting and characters and was looking for more but couldn't remember the author or titles. I'm so glad to find it again. Waiting to hear if you like it. I just like BEING there for awhile, know what I mean? beautiful place.

I have been traveling with lousy internet connection so haven't kept up in a couple of weeks - had to go back and see what yall have been reading. I've missed hearing about it.

I've been able to read like crazy so am just giving a short list of what I can remember!

Two Randy White The Heat Islands and Everglades mysteries by author who was recommended on LT when I asked for something similar to John D. McDonald. I enjoyed them both and am looking for more.

I read Nathan McCall's Them and LOVED it - couldn't put it down - if you enjoyed The Help (wrong touchstone) find this one! It is an AfAm perspective of what happens when EuroAmericans move into AfAm neighborhood, conflicts that ensue despite good intentions, etc. VERY informative. I could not put it down. I learned so much - wish I had read it while I was still teaching - would have used it for class. Can't recommend it enough!

Another couple of mysteries - Deadlines a novel by Paul McHugh an interesting read by a reporter from San Francisco Chronicle which addresses some intricacies of the newspaper industry - as well as a mentoring relationship.

and The Hollywood Cafe (REALLY weird touchstone!) by Richard Dokey a mystery that takes place in a small town along Highway 99 in California - slow but interesting - maybe 3 stars unless you know the area - then more.

Going through Listening to Nature a couple of pages at a time Joseph Cornell since I have the pleasure and luxury of being in the desert and hiking daily for a couple of weeks.

Just finished Sonia Johnson's Wildfire Igniting the She/Volution which I enjoyed - radical feminism a tad too anti-male for me, but interesting ideas nonetheless. Fed my current obsession with trying to live as if the "system" has no power over me.

Am now reading Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill a slow moving mystery that takes place in Laos, so again, it's just fun to BE there for awhile and learn about different ways of thinking.
Arizona had a zillion great used bookstores so I have been visiting and enjoying them all as well leaving money there! Yesterday went to the Phoenix Friends of the Library warehouse booksale - holy moly! It is larger than our whole city library in Folsom, CA, and all categorized AND alphabetized - like being in a library - hardbacks $2 and paper $1. I left with a very conservative 26 new books. I understand they have this sale 3 times a year so if you are within driving distance - rather fun. The info is on www.booksalefinder.com You can sign up for their email info about sales near you.

That's it for now - I'll be reading but not posting much - back to no internet except the local Starbucks in Oro Valley AZ.

Happy Reading!

oh wait wait! Picked up Caught Holding the Bag by Peter McGinn in a campground - it is a mystery with the main character just coming out of surgery - ileostomy, and learning to deal with the paraphernalia that goes with that and still living a life, finding a lover, etc. Not a great book but a great premise I thought and worth checking out. I like mysteries where a character has some kind of challenge like that, as with Stephen White's mysteries (bad touchstone) with his wife struggling with MS, and like Abigail Padgett's mysteries about a social worker who is bi-polar, and how she deals with that.

Today I finished Kidnapped by Robert Lewis Stevenson. I very much enjoyed this "boy's tale" about young David Balfour surviving the dangers of the 18th century Scottish Highlands. Lots of fun. I'm not quite sure what's next. Something off my short TBR stack, I'm thinking.

I've been really busy this week, but I'm still working on Berlin 1961 by Frederick Kempe.

I began reading Atonement by Ian McEwan this afternoon. The first few chapters were a bit confusing but now the storyline is beginning to make sense...

Done with The Girl Who would Speak for the Dead now, and will be starting my even more morbid ER book tomorrow, The Infamous Burke and Hare.

# 41 - mkboylan - i finished Iron Lake and I am totally hooked on this series. The author really gives you a strong sense of place with his descriptive writing. They mystery was good, and the characters well-developed. I'm looking forward to the next one.

I recently finished A Lonely Death, another solid entry in Charles Todd's Ian Rutledge series. I'm currently reading Rebecca Hunt's Mr Chartwell. Interesting concept.

47 delta yay! Now we have to go there to read the rest of them!

I finished reading White Rhino Hotel and loved it. If you haven't read this series by Bartle Bull go out and find a copy. I highly recommend it. That guy can write an adventure story with characters you care about as well as tension filled scenes that make you want to turn the page just to find out what happens. And he teaches lots of history while he is doing it. My library doesn't have the sequel so I will have to ILL it, so in the meantime I started Redbreast and am loving that one as well. I'm also listening to Cathedral of the Sea and like it as well. This is an excellent translation of a book from Spain and the reader is very good. I am on a roll with the good books right now. Good thing after a couple of clunkers.

I finished Galore by Michael Crummey last night. I'm now reading Chasing Aphrodite by Jason Felch and Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion.

I'm currently reading Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway. I"m liking it more than I had expected to.

I've also ordered Game of Thrones, Raceball, and The Sun Also Rises. Interesting mix!

Oops, I was moving too fast and put this in the wrong thread:

The Informationist was a good thriller with a widely-skilled heroine. The first-time author has an unusual background: http://www.taylorstevensbooks.com/author.php

I'm working my way through the scholarly Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World, and am about to start Edmund Crispin's Holy Disorders.

@21,41,47. I also loved Iron Lake and have started collecting Krueger's books. I was surprised he isn't more widely read by LTers.

I'm reading Christine Falls which I got because of mentions here. Very different style and Quirke is a bit hard to like or understand yet, but I really like it. The mystery is keeping me guessing.

I'm reading You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon a book of linked short stories about soldiers wives. I've finished the first and liked it a lot. It was (as one would expect) melancholy.

47,.49, 54 and then there were three!

Finished Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King. Very entertaining. 4stars.

Will start Crash by J.G. Ballard

#50 - Benitastrnad - I saw you and Mark discussing The White Rhino Hotel and since I have all three of the books on my TBR, I have started it. Wow, it immediately draws you into quite a story. Looks like a great way to close out the month.

I also have started Driftnet by Lin Anderson, another first in a series, this one set in Glasgow and featuring forensic scientist, Rhona Macleod. Haven't heard much about this series, but it's looking promising.

I have spent an enjoyable weekend with good books, food and long walks (to burn off the calories from the food!). I finished A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley - loved it as much as the previous Flavia de Luce books in the series; The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen - a good story but not quite the lighthearted, comfort read I have found her previous novels to be; and Mr. Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt - a unique story from this debut novelist.

Next up is Mr. Shakespeare's Bastard by Richard B. Wright.

Ghastly as it is, I'm enjoying The Infamous Burke and Hare. It's amazing how messed up the legal system was. Taking a body out of a grave wasn't really a crime. You'd be charged with trespassing. If you took the deceased's clothes though, that was a felony. ??? So one of the big tip-offs that a body was a murder victim rather than a grave-robbing victim? Murder victims had their clothes still.

I am reading and loving Dandelion Soup by Babs Horton, full of really colourful and weird characters, plus lots of lols'. It is set in a small Irish village.

I have had a not-so-fantastic week and am reading Janet Malcolm's Iphigenia in Forest Hills. It's pretty sad and not necessarily the best thing for this moment. I told a friend of mine that once I'm done with this book I'm going to the library and check out every funny, cozy and non-serious book I can find.
Although, that said, Janet Malcolm is still the pithy, intelligent and slightly snarky writer she has always been. Maybe a tad snarkier than usual.
The touchstone is behaving oddly.

Access All Areas: Selected Writings 1990-2010 by Sara Wheeler - to review, probably for www.curiousbookfans.co.uk - collection by a writer of travel books

22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson - to review for www.curiousbookfans.co.uk - a Polish family try to start a new life in postwar England, but they have some difficult stuff to deal with - this is excellent, so far

The Free World by David Bezmozgis - to review for www.curiousbookfans.co.uk - a Latvian Jewish family in Rome, hoping they are en route to the US

Queens Noir by Robert Knightly (ed) - Akashic crime short story anthology

The Lying Days by Nadine Gordimer - Virago Modern Classics edition of her first novel

Family Roundabout by Richmal Crompton - Persephone reprint

Telling Times: Writing and Living, 1950-2008 by Nadine Gordimer - publisher's giveaway - intend to review, probably for www.curiousbookfans.co.uk

Read the engaging Mrs. Miniver by Jan Struther. My review is here,

http://www.librarything.com/review/68451726

Or my 75 Books Challenge thread,

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

I finished A short history of tractors in Ukranian and The Catcher in the Rye, and will start The name of the wind this afternoon.

I finished You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon. It was good with a lot of potential. Here is my review

I've begun Salvation City by Sigrid Nunez which is a post-pandemic dystopia. I like it a lot and cannot yet tell if it is YA or just simply written to make the horror even worse.

I've finished and enjoyed the Oracle of Stamboul, by Michael David Lukasalthough I did think the author took the easy way out at end.

Now, I'm delving more into Mrs. Woolf and the Servants: An Intimate History of Domestic Life in Bloomsbury by Alison Light. So far, it seems a very good biography of Virginia Woolf. There is some emphasis on her life where it intersected with that of the servants, but I was rather expecting something more from the servants' perspective. Still it is a very good portrait of Virginia Woolf.

Over the lovely sunny long weekend I finished Inkheart. Was slightly annoyed to discover it's the first of a trilogy. Caught again!

This morning I began Paris 1919 by Margaret MacMillan.

#51, did you enjoy Galore? I has easily become one of my favourite books and would be interested in what you thought of it. I'm also a little biased however, being a Newfoundlander and a huge fan of Michael Crummey in general.

As for me, I'm currently reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Great book! Bleak and depressing, yet somehow beautiful in its description of post-apocalyptic America. I actually saw the movie before reading the book, both are good but as is usually the case the book is just that much better.

I started Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus Teutsch on Good Friday. Compared to it's length I am not for into the book, but it is somewhat funny and critical towards the contemporary behavior.

Also still reading Lord of the Rings. since I am more interested in finishing my reading list for university and start revising, it is very likely that I wll stay with this one for quite a few weeks. :)

>69 JonHutchings: JonHutchings
I really liked Galore quite a lot. I reviewed it on my blog yesterday, and today I'm actually hosting an online book club-type discussion, if you want to come and add your two cents, all are welcome!

Finished listening to the enjoyable The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley. Flavia de Luce makes for a nice, fun, change of pace read. I continue reading Lodgings, Herzog, and now The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis. I will be attending a lecture by Lydia Davis next week, so I thought I'd best do some reading!

I just finished The Year of Pleasures which I really enjoyed. It made me feel hopeful.

Next I'm going to read The Horse Boy. Not realizing it was a book, I've already watched the documentary on PBS which was really interesting. Since April is Autism Awareness Month I thought this would be a good time to read it.

> 72 Hemlokgang: My next book up is The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley. I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it. I really enjoyed the first Flavia de Luce.

>69 JonHutchings: JonHutchings: I finished The Road a few days ago. I agree with your thoughts about the book. I just picked up the DVD, and going to watch it while I exercise.

Currently reading Doomsday Book and its good.

I am reading Dissolution by C.J. Sansom. This is a mystery set in Tudor England. I love historical fiction and almost never read mysteries so merging these two genres is a good way for me to read a mystery. I'm enjoying it so far.

Just this minute finished Room by Emma Donoghue. Slow start for me; I was tempted to dismiss it after reading more than 50 pages, but it really took off after 100 pages. I read the last two-thirds of it today.

divinenanny, how did you like A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian? It's in my tbr pile as we speak.

I finished both La Bella Lingua and Last Sacrifice (guilty pleasure read) over the weekend. In continuation of my "read as much on Italy as I can before our trip" mode, I've moved on to The Glassblower of Murano and The Lives of the Artists. The latter is far less dry than I would have assumed. Enjoying both.

jhedlund, everybody, the reviewers here and the blurbs said it was such a funny and hilarious book. I just found it so tragic. It was a nice read, and I liked it, but I took something a whole lot different from it than everybody else.

Reading Nemesis by Jo Nesbo. Heard good things about this author.

The Chaos Crystal by Jennifer Fallon. Book 4 and the final one of the Tide Lords Quartet. The third one had a good cliff hanger. Very excited to read this one!!

Finished Lodgings, a collection of poetry by Andrzej Sosnowski, translated from the original Polish edition.

Listening to The Diviner's Tale - very good so far. =:)

I finished and finally reviewed Vera Brittain's memorable autobiography Testament of Youth.

Now I'm reading James Lasdun's short fiction collection It's Beginning to Hurt.

After a chapter in The Oxford Handbook of Systematic Theology, which I failed to absorb, last night I got a one hundred page start in Destiny Disrupted. I am about to see the arrival of the Sufis.

Robert

Almost done with Bill Bryson's At Home and I started the young adult A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly.

BBleil,hope you enjoy A Northern Light as much as I did.

Yesterday read Children of Belfast by Tom Kumpf, actually a photography book but good text also. Beautiful photos, touching story, author says it gave him hope. It made me hopeless.

Also reading Susan Sontag The Making of an Icon by Rollyson and paddock but 86 pages in and wondering why I chose to read it. Any ideas? A lot of it just seems like such bull. Any Sontag fans out there? Tell me why I should keep reading!

I'm just starting The Informationist.

Well, I seem to be on an obscure book kick this year. I've just started The Pope and Me at Yankee Stadium: My Life as the Beer Man & Stand-Up Comic by Steve Lazarus. This is a self-published memoir by a fellow who for years was a vendor at Yankee Stadium and in the meantime worked as a stand up comic. Not a surprise that it's self-published, but still looks like it's going to be fun. This was a gift from a friend.

I finished The Name of the Wind yesterday and was blown away (ha ha) by it, what a marvelous book. I am already plotting how I am going to get me hands on The Wise Man's Fear.
I started The Finkler question this morning, and for now (100 pages in), I am mostly annoyed by Treslove...

Just finished The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett. Quite liked it. I think its good to escape to fantasy worlds once in a while.

Next up is Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres. I'm going through the The BBC Big Read list slowly but steadily.

I just finished Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada yesterday and it was amazing. I will put up a review if I get time today.

I am now reading a teensy, contemporary novel The City Is A Rising Tide by Rebecca Lee that was in Mount TBR. I was just looking for something short, modern (needed a break from history, I think) and sort of escapist. This is fitting the bill - so far, it's really good!

Ressurrection by Leo Tolstoy - I don't know how I missed it all these years.

Reading nineteen-eighty-four by George Orwell and Socialnomics by Erik Qualman.
In a strange way they fit togehter very well! :-)

>92 mausergem: mausergem I thought Captain Corelli's Mandolin was terrific. Hope you like it.

I just finished Salvation City by Sigrid Nunez this morning. It was a very good post-pandemic dystopia with a great main character and where the details of the worldwide flu and recovery felt chillingly possible.

I began Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua on the trolley this morning. It is nothing like it was hyped to be. Her snarky self-deprecation at her efforts are evident from the earliest pages. I think there is value in her idea that western parents come at parenting as if their children are weak and fragile therefore creating weak and fragile people. I think it might be worth approaching expectations from an assumption of strength, capability and resilience. I look forward to reading more about how her efforts at chinese mothering worked for her eldest daughter and did not work for her younger.

Just added Bachelors and Bunnies by Carrie Pitzulo to my pile. I might move it to the top.

#96 Ditto. One of the best ever.

Happy 85th birthday to Harper Lee, author of my absolutely favorite novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.

I just started Doc by Mary Doria Russell at lunch and I was already in love with it by the end of the first paragraph.

Just re-read Rennie's Way by Verna Stone. A great novel about life in Appalachians in the 1920's. Great insight & accuracy.

Finished The Turn of the Screw for the reading group. Our next book is A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. I've only got as far as the tag lines, but hope to begin the book properly tomorrow.

On the non-fiction front, I began to read Borrowed Time, Roy Hattersley's account of life in Britain between the world wars; and Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson by Peter Ames Carlin. My interest in the Beach Boys has never extended much beyond the obligatory Greatest Hits album, but the first two chapters of the book have been quite absorbing.

103 please tell us more about beach boys when you finish.

#103 - Please let me know how you like A Fine Balance it has been on my TBR list for quite some time.

We read A Fine Balance for my RL book club a few years ago. It's an excellent book but pretty doggone overwhelming. You'll need some lovely light novel to perk you up when you're done.

Finished and liked The Finklerquestion. Next up is The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, and after that Possession.

ETA, No touchstones this morning, they must still be asleep.

#107 Possession has been on my TBR list for ages. I'd planned to read it next, but then I was given that hefty tome A Fine Balance. One day soon, perhaps.

Reading and very much enjoying Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden for next week's book discussion at my local library.

>106 Citizenjoyce: Well said, Citizenjoyce. A Fine Balance is a beautifully written book, but you'll want to have something light on hand to read after it.

I started Water for Elephants last night and am enjoying it immensely so far

I had two days off from work due to the tornado in town and used the time to read. I finished Redbreast by Jo Nesbo. What a great book. I normally don't read a 500 page novel that fast and I practically raced through this one. I gave it a 4 1/2 star rating. What a month! Two great books - Redbreast and White Rhino Hotel. What's up with that?

I just finished The City is a Rising Tide by Rebecca Lee and overall it was so so. It started more interesting than it ended up being.

I am now reading Leaving Van Gogh for Early Reviewers and probably am prejudiced (LOVE LOVE Van Gogh), but so far, it is great.

The new thread is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/115275