May 2011 - Reading this month...

I always have mixed impressions about Jodi Picoult's books, but I keep coming back to them, because they are so immensely readable. Right now, I'm delving into House Rules about an autistic teen.

Finished South Riding just in time for tonight's Masterpiece Classic adaptation! Now I am about to start the Extraordinary Canadians biography of L.M. Montgomery by Jane Urquhart.

I'm reading a non-Canadian book--Bone China, by Roma Tearne. This is my third book by this wonderful author.

I'm just about finished Mennonites Don't Dance - I don't have her name at hand, and touchstones don't work. What a deeply affecting book about grace, forgiveness, anger, patriarchal systems, heartbreak -I have felt so many emotions while reading this book. I think it helps to have some sort of Mennonite background - or some knowledge of what the religion is -but I think that the short stories transcend those who are Mennonite. This is more a story of humanity and the forces and emotions that affect us all. The author is very gifted - she is not sentimental - she just tells the story and leaves us to judge or think for ourselves. I think is going to a favourite for me -and a 5 star read. Just one more short story to read. Highly recommended! The book was shortlisted for the Commonwealth prize of 2011.

Basing my purchasing decision on a review in past Saturday's Globe Book Review, I'm just starting We, The Drowned by Carsten Jensen. Zsu Zsi Gartner's review was largely positive, and a quick online check of other reviews indicated she wasn't alone in her views. Those reviews and the deadly ease of downloading the book onto my Kindle meant that I was able to start the book on Saturday. So far, which isn't very far, so good.

I started the month with One Red Paperclip by Kyle MacDonald which tells the true story of how this Canadian made 14 trades on the internet, starting with a red paperclip and ending up with a house in Saskatchewan.

I'm now reading Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Well, I finished Mennonites Don't Dance and gave it 4.5 stars. It was a deeply affecting book, as I have written above. Really a fabulous book about Mennonites both living on a farm and in the city. I think knowing a bit about the Mennonite culture - beliefs would be helpful in reading the book - but I really it's a book for anybody.

Anyway - I've just begun 84 Charing Cross by Helene Hanff. What a charming book so far! - and then it's off to Murder and Mayhem in my 75 books thread - there is a challenge on for reading Murder and Mayhem.

Vancouverdeb - I loved 84 Charing Cross. It was a small story which reminded me in some ways of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society. If you liked both those, try The Uncommon Reader, a novella about Queen Elizabeth and the bookmobile. Those were three of my favourite little reads.

I also loved 84 Charing Cross Road, as well as the sequel The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, both charming.

I'm loving 84 Charring Cross too! So charming ! I'm thinking of giving a copy to my mom for Mother's Day.

@8 Ha! My library did not have An Uncommon Reader - so I've ordered it from amazon ca - and I've also ordered Bird Eat Bird - and touchstone do not work for it. But it's by a Canadian author , a book of short stories that won the Regional 2011 Commonwealth Prize. I was so impressed by Mennonite's Don't Dance by Darcie Friesen Hossack - which I wrote a bit a review about , that I decided that I * needed* Bird Eat Bird, as it the 2011 Regional Commonwealth Winner for Canada and Jamaica - or whatever area we are in. Once again, my local library did not have it. I'm going to have to offer them my services as buyer! Sigh!!!:) At least I sent a request for purchase to my library.

Just finished Lost in the Barrens, a young adult classic by Farley Mowat. Mowat always tells a good tale and this was no exception. The attitudes are a bit dated, after all it was written in the 50s, and it is a bit idealistic, but it was a very enjoyable read.
I read Flesh House while I was away for a few days - excellent characters but rather a gory plot. I do enjoy MacBride's Logan MacRae and am working my way through this series. I'm also finishing up The Best of James Herriot before tackling Maus, a graphic novel for the "What is Stephen Harper Reading" challenge.

I'm currently reading 3 books, and am about 100 pages or less from finishing them all. 2 of the books are by Canadian authors!

Best Laid Plans Terry Fallis - Which I'm forcing my self to read. Kind of hope some characters are hit by a bus, so we no longer have to deal with them. I don't really find the book funny either.

Evening Class Maeve Binchy - Which I am enjoying, slow to start, but it is a lovely story.

A Thousand Words for Stranger- Julie Czerneda - Also enjoying the book. It has an interesting story.

I've been wanting to reading both the Uncommon Reading and 84 Charming Road, just always get pushed back on the TBR list. Are they worth bumping up?

Definitely worth bumping up. As well, they're both very short so you hardly have to postpone reading anything else.

I'm about to start The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha.

@12 - 84 Charring Cross is soothing balm of a book, and as arcona says - very short , so you would hardly notice it. Best Laid Plans is in my TBR pile - you just pushed further back! ;) No problem with that! ;)

I will unfortunately be obliged to read The Best Laid Plans this month, as I have a June 1 deadline for a piece on how the CBC is slowly killing Canadian writing. I read one paragraph at random last month and put the book down. The CBC is doing Canadian readers a serious disservice by foisting such a badly written book on them.

Right now, I'm reading Russell Smith's Muriella Pent, which I'm told is his best novel.

I hate to see The Best Laid Plans dismissed so easily. Perhaps it's not ''literature" but I thoroughly enjoyed it after I stopped judging it. Besides its humour, I think the value is in the ideas it puts forward, and I found myself thinking of it often during the election last week. I think a lot of Angus MacClintocks got elected, and maybe that's what's needed in our government. I also liked the idea of reading a chapter from one person's point of view, followed by a diary entry of the same event from another person's perspective.

I just finished reading Room and am thinking about Mennonites don't dance. My grandparents were German Mennonites living in the Russian Crimea after WW 1. They were rounded up and imprisoned until sponsored by some Manitoba Mennonites who brought them to Canada. I read and enjoyed both A Complicated Kindness Miriam Toews and The Russlander Sandra Birdsell so maybe this will add to my current of understanding of my Mennonite heritage. Touchstones aren't working:(

Scrat -- I rather enjoy discussing Canadian Mennonite history, so if you have any questions or discussion points, let me know.

edited to say: although I thought A Complicated Kindness and the Russlander were excellent, the best Mennonite book I've ever read is My Harp Has Turned to Mourning by Al Riemer ( http://www.amazon.com/My-Harp-Turned-Mourning-Reimer/dp/0920534368). Also worth reading is Rudy Wiebe's Peace Shall Destroy Many, which my parent's generation finds highly controversial, but has my siblings and me saying "what for?"

I'm well into Lisa Moore's Alligator. I loved February and wanted to read some of her other work. Not enjoying this one nearly as much, but I do admire her writing -- she is so crisp, so clear.

Well, I've picked up a library book, Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M. Malliet. I'm only 30 pages in, but it looks to be quite fun. I usually prefer my mysteries/thrillers to be dark -but this one is more of a satirical take on cozy/ Agatha Christie mysteries. I've laughed out loud a couple of times already. It's part of my read Murder and Mayhem challenge for my 75 books for 2011.

I was glad to hear that The Best Laid Plans was a winner this year. I haven't read it, but my hubby did and he loved it. I usually hate the kind of books that get awards, especially in the Canada Reads series, so I'm glad the contest has opened up to the more "popular" stories, especially if they will open people's eyes up to the mechanics of politics.

Okay, Death of Cozy Writer looks okay -but I'm more drawn to The Water's Edge by Karin Fossum - so that's what I'm reading instead. She is another Scandananvian writer , and writes psychological suspense novels. I'm really enjoying the book so far! So, I've dropped on for the other.

Started Long Song this evening. Good story!

I'm reading Extrêmement fort incroyablement près (Extremely Loud Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. I still haven't made up my mind about it; something tells me the translation isn't up to par which doesn't help; hopefully it will pick up.

I'm reading The Legend of the Barefoot Mailman by John Henry Fleming.

So far it has been a slow reading month for me. I started the month with the historical fiction The Daughter's Walk by Jane Kirkpatrick. Interesting story that starts off with a mother-daughter walking 3,500 miles from Spokane Washington to New York City in 1896 to win $10,000 to save the family farm from foreclosure. It was a solid historical research piece with unfortunately, what I found to be weak character development.

I just finished reading Irma Voth by Miriam Toews. Overall I found the story to be her previous book, A Complicated Kindness, taken to the next level. Good characters and Toews' usual quirky offbeat style made this just an 'okay' read for me.

Reviews posted for both books on their respective book pages.

Next up is the debut novel Into That Darkness by Steven Price. The novel is set in Victoria BC after a massive earthquake has hit the entire west coast with devastating results. I will be starting that it this afternoon.

I'm reading a book called Best Castles (of England, Scotland and Wales) by Plantagenet Somerset Fry which has short write-ups of various castles and the times they are open for viewing, as well as a short history of the building of castles. I'm finding it very interesting. It is the closest I'll ever get to those places and it's really nice to see pictures of them and be able to imagine such buildings when I read stories that take place in castles.

Finished the L.M. Montgomery bio yesterday and today I finished off Tragedy at Law, by Cyril Hare. It started out amusingly enough but about halfway through I lost interest. Probably wasn't the best choice for a bus book. The LMM bio was good, and it's made me want to pick up something else by her soon... whether that is the next installment in the Anne series or something else has yet to be decided.

In the meantime I'm cueing up my next bus book: Ratking, by Michael Dibdin. It's the first book in the Aurelio Zen series but it'll be my third Zen -- I've already read Vendetta and Cabal in preparation for the series starring Rufus Sewell, which PBS is airing in July. I read the books in broadcast order instead of series order for whatever reason. Anyway this series has proven to be a real treat and I'm looking forward to this book.

Finished Water's Edge by Karin Fossum. Really an excellent book - I wrote a bit about the book in my 75 books in 2011 thread. I've just begun Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna. It takes place in Sierra Leone and so far is a non - linear read. I think it is shortlisted for the Orange Prize for 2011.

Nickolini-- Thanks for the suggestions....I will check them out!
Since my last post, I read A Long Way Gone which was a fascinating but very difficult read.
I have been trying to get into The Cluttered Corpse but I guess I am just too tired to keep track of all the characters.

My husband and I are reading Dissolution by C. J. Sansom on our daily commute. I've just started The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud. Both are for book clubs, otherwise I probably wouldn't be reading them.

Getting caught up here. I recently finished Into That Darkness by Steven Price. I don't usually gravitate to apocalyptic novels but this one was a fascinating page-turner for me. Review of the book can be found on the book page here: http://www.librarything.com/work/11256027/reviews/73096024

My current book is the entertaining Aiding and Abetting by Muriel Sparks. So far, this is proving to be a fun romp.

I just joined this group. I'm Canadian but living South of the Border. In any case, I love reconnecting with some sanity. I'm currently reading an early review of Valclav and Lena, which I am really enjoying. The pages keep turning......

Welcome here, jpower! So glad you have connected with sanity!;) This is a great group of welcoming people!

It is a great group! I just checked out the WHO ARE YOU thread.... It is great to get to know the people behind those blue names. I just finished The Cluttered Corpse. It was good. Maffini tells a good and complicated mystery.

I'm reading a thriller by Jonathan Katzenbach L'Analyste about a psychoanalyst who gets caught in a web of intrigue... somewhat artificial but good suspense.

Just finished Ian Rankin's Dead Souls and found it was one of his better mysteries. Now I start the graphic novel Maus for my Stephen Harper challenge.

Just started The Promise of Rain. Only a few pages in, but I'm impreseed. New author for me.

I have just started reading Spies by Michael Frayn. It is a delicious read so far -- full of imagery.

Started reading Irma Voth, will have to try it again later, am now reading Cruellest month by Louise Penny, will now be caught up on the series.

I just finished reading House of Silence by Linda Gillard, which though I enjoyed, I didn't think was as good has her previous offerings (although I am willing to conceed that this may have been partly because I was reading it as an e-book on my laptop & that definitely detracted from the enjoyment factor).

Have now started The Whole Truth by David Baldacci

I just finished reading Don't Look Now, a collection of short stories by Daphne du Maurier. Du Maurier's writing style is so fluid that it was nearly impossible for me to put the book down before I finished an entire story. She's truly was the mistress of suspense. I don't think any writer has ever equalled her in that genre. Even the most seamingly mundane events are made to feel suspenseful in her skilled hands.

On a lighter note, I just started reading The Hippopotamus by Stephen Fry. I don't know why I haven't read any of his books before now. I love enjoy his sense of humour but somehow never got around to them. Serious oversight rectified: I'm only 2 chapters in and I'm hooked.

I've finished Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna. Fabulous! 4.75 stars. I've just begun Grace Williams Says It Loud, another contender for the 2011 Orange Prize. I was planning to read some escapist lit, but Grace was calling to be read...Wrote a bit of a review for The Memory of Love

My February Early Reviewers book showed up just as I'd given up hope of receiving it. I'm about 1/4 through Falling Sideways by Thomas E. Kennedy. Still getting introduced to the many characters, but seems promising....

I just finished Spies. It is a well crafted novel but not my cup of tea. At times I felt frustrated and let around by the nose. Now I am looking for something new. I had wanted to get My Harp Has Turned to Mourning by Al Reimer but was unable to find a copy. I will be heading to the library today....

My bus book is a re-read: The Quiet American, by Graham Greene. I read it in high school but have absolutely no recollection of what happened, and I was thinking of seeing the movie with Michael Caine so I decided to read the book again first. I have a library copy and apparently a previous reader was doing an essay on this book, because there are underlines and annotations in the margin (fortunately, in pencil).

My at-home book is the rather morbid-sounding The Great Mortality, by John Kelly, which is about the Black Death. It's actually quite fascinating so far. It's been on my list for a while but I was prompted to pick it up last week after reading about the Black Death in London, by Edward Rutherfurd,which, yes, I am STILL working on. This book will likely come with me on my road trip this weekend (four-day weekend for me, woo hoo!).

Ohh finished off Grace Says it Loud by Emma Henderson. I put some comments about it in my 75 books for 2011 -but let's just say I think it's a must read. I've read 3 out of 6 of this years shortlisted Orange Prize books so far. I don't think Grace Says it Loud will win the Orange but the subject matter is really eye opening .I think I'm going to escape into a mystery... maybe I'll fit in Room before the Orange Prize is announced. It's in my TBR pile....

Just started Love You More by Lisa Gardner. It's murder mystery that I had on hold at the library. The perfect escapist book for the long weekend! ;) It's also part of the 75 books in 2011 May Challenge - Murder and Mayhem.

I'm reading Partie de pêche au Yémen by British author Paul Torday (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen) - it's an interesting mix of humour, politics, religion and science revolving around introducing Atlantic salmon in the Haraz mountains in Yemen. I recommend it if just to discover the unknown (to me anyway) geography of Yemen.

I currently have two books on the go: the non-fiction Brunelleschi's Dome : How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross King and for fiction, The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander. Both are proving to be quite good so far.

... exits making a mental note to track down a copy of Grace Says it Loud ......

Finished up my murder mystery escapist read... Love You More by Lisa Gardner. At last I plan to read Room which has been in my TBR pile for eons. I was concerned that Room might be too similiar to a psychogical thriller that I read by Chevy Stevens, Still Missing. Sure enough, several people have recommend Still Missing for those that enjoyed Room. But - I'd like to read it -and then I will have read 4 out of the 6 Orange prize contenders.

Looks like touchstone troubles today! sigh! :)

It's this a different Love You More than touchstones show -but I'm to lazy to force it! :)

I'll be starting The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. It was our February pick for the book club - oops! I'm looking forward to it, however: I love fiction mixed with real facts, in this case the Kahlo-Rivera passion with some Trotsky added to the mix!

I've finished Labrador Fiasco by Margaret Atwood and am getting into The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

Wow a holiday kept me from reading much or spending lots of time at Librarything. What have they done to the touchstones! Sure they did not work well before but I had figured out how to fix those problems and now I cannot get them to find the books!... AnyhowI did slowly make my way through Raymond Khoury's The Sign and then greatly enjoyed The Mysterious Benedict Society (note this last touchstone is close but not quite right!).

I'm enjoying Funny Boy by Canadian-Sri Lankan author Shyam Selvadurai.

I've added Trust in Advertising by Victoria Michaels which I received as an Early Reviewer e-book - a nice fun chick-lit book, and Nice Girl Does Noir by Libby Fischer Hellmann, a series of short stories with a detective bent to them.

This month I've read Room, A Discovery of Witches, and Enclave, plus a couple of mass market paperbacks not worth mentioning. I am still trying to decide what to pick up next. Maybe a mystery....

I just finished The Silence of the Rain, my first Inspector Espinosa mystery. Not bad but not as good as I hoped. Now I'm reading Deloume Road, an early reader copy my daughter lent me. Seems good so far.

Finished up Room - my comments are in my review.. here - http://www.librarything.com/profile_reviews.php?view=vancouverdeb

I think next up for me is The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane just for a spooky change of pace! ;)

I just finished up Annabel by Kathleen Winter. Currently reading Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, Xingu and Other Stories by Edith Wharton. And about to start either Midwife of Venice or Quatrain.

Room is a book I want to read, but at the same time, I'm unsure about it. Both because of what the book is about (creepy) and that the hype around it may be a letdown later.

I am reading The Regiment by Farley Mowat. I have never read a war book like this before and would normally not pick it but in an attempt to work through Farley's books it was up next. My school war history is all Australian so it gives me a new perspective.

I picked up Annabel yesterday from our library. Hehe! Been waiting on that one for a while and am excited!

Oh I'll be interested to hear what you think of it!! I enjoyed it very much! At times it seem a slow slog -but overall a good read!! I think I gave it 4 stars. My money is still on Memory of Love to take the Orange Prize -but then again, I've not read two of the books that are up for the Orange Prize....Enjoy Annabel and let me know what you think!

Thanks, Deb. You bet I will!

Junk food reads: Prince Charming Doesn't Live Here and Legacies by Mercedes Lackey. Healthy meal: 36 Arguments for the Existence of God. Snack: Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words by Bill Bryson. My reading diet for the next week or so.

@67: I love how you describe your reading diet! :) That's a great way to look at it, especially having "snack" books.

As for me, I'm planning to finish off The Great Mortality today, and yesterday I started Hypothermia, by Arnaldur Indridason. I'm literally only two or three pages in but it looks good so far. After I finish Great Mortality I'll likely start Echoes from the Dead, by Johan Theorin. And if I'm REALLY ambitious I may get another chapter of The Defence of the Realm in before bed... poor thing's been sitting neglected on my bedside table for at least a month.

I've just finished a charming novel, Salut, la Neige! by Évelyne Rozenberg, a new Belgian-born Canadian author. It's moving love story told with precision and emotion but without ever being mushy. I recommend.

I laid aside Barry Hannah's Geronimo Rex, which I was reading on my flight down to Edmonton, to do my duty and read The Best Laid Plans before savaging the decline of CBC books coverage in print (deadline, June 1). Previously, I had only skimmed it. Now, I am about five chapters in, and it is simply awful. If this book, as published, were to cross my desk as a manuscript I'd reject it on the basis of the first page, and it doesn't get better.

The writing is clumsy and inept, the story is padded with filler, and worst of all, the book is not funny.

I am not a complete book snob. I loved Donald Jack's Bandy series, two of which won the Leacock. Similarly, anything by the very funny British writer Michael Green, especially The Art of Coarse Sailing; no matter how many times Green recycled his schtick, it was funny. But Michael Green and Donald Jack know the art of delivering a joke. It lies in surprise and brevity. It is a matter of timing. Fallis hasn't got it.

Many "light" reads are worth enjoying. This isn't one of them.

@68: Ha! I read The Great Mortality on my honeymoon.

I just finished Gemma Files' Book of Tongues. About as weird a weird western as you can get. And them some. Loved it, but I'm off that way.

Finished Bleak House (5 stars) today and will finish Mansfield Park tomorrow. Up next: Annabel (print) and The Stone Diaries (audiobook).

@71: How romantic! ;) And did you periodically read interesting excerpts aloud as well? I kept doing that, or at least to explain to my boyfriend why I was laughing out loud at a book about plague. "They were flinging plague-ridden corpses over the wall to infect the city! What a bizarre image."

Also, I just may have to add Book of Tongues to the TBR what with my Westerns kick lately. A weird Western is even better. My cousin gave me The Sisters Brothers for my birthday and I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm reading Larry's Kidney by Daniel Asa Rose.

Hound of Baskerville.

@74 Larry's Kidney sounds interesting! Let me know what you think about it once you finished, Lynn.