What are you reading the week of 14 May 2011?

May 15:
Katherine Anne Porter (1890-1980), Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, and political activist.

Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940), Russian writer and playwright, author of The Master and Margarita and The White Guard.
Xavier Herbert (1901-1984), Australian writer best known for his Miles Franklin Award-winning novel Poor Fellow My Country.

May 16:
Studs Terkel (1912-2008), Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster, known for his oral histories of ordinary people captured in books such as Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression, Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, and Race: What Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession.
Juan Rulfo (1917-1986), Mexican author and photographer, best known for his novels Pedro Paramo and El Llano en llamas.

May 18:
Pope John Paul II (1920-2005), the second longest serving Pope, who was also a prolific author of works of meditation and philosophy, poetry and plays before his papacy.

May 19:

Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965), African American playwright and author of political speeches, letters, and essays. Her best known work, A Raisin in the Sun, was inspired by her family's legal battle against racially segregated housing laws in the Washington Park Subdivision of the South Side of Chicago during her childhood. It became the first Broadway play written by a black woman, and the first one with a black director (Lloyd Richards).
Jim Lehrer (1934-), American journalist and the long time news anchor for the award winning PBS NewsHour weeknight broadcast, who has authored numerous novels, several plays, and two memoirs.

May 20:
Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), French novelist and playwright, author of La Comédie humaine (The Human Comedy).
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), British philosopher and civil servant, who was an influential contributor to social theory, political theory, and political economy, author of On Liberty and Utilitarianism.

Early this morning I finished Visitation, the superb novel by German author Jenny Erpenbeck, which is set in a forest in the state of Brandenberg, outside of Berlin, and describes the tragic lives of several generations of Germans who live in one small house alongside a lake adjacent to the forest.

I'm now reading Open City by Teju Cole and To Siberia by Per Petterson, along with Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone by Nadine Cohodas.

Am working on Tommy and Grizel, but am getting distracted by Joan Hess' Martians in Maggody

Started Zoo City by Lauren Beukes, continuing Holy Disorders, started A Brief History of Montmaray, about 1/2 way through One Crazy Summer, and near the end of Hicksville.

I've finished and reviewed Killed at the Whim of a Hat, first in a new series by the inventive Colin Cotterill, in my thread...post #209.

Reading The Crimson Petal and the White for now. Really like it, even though I have only read two chapters so far.

I'm in the middle of the very enjoyable When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson. I love this series.

You did a great job of starting us off, kidzdoc. Thanks! What a great variety of authors have birthdays this week!

I'm still reading The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. It's a book for older children, approx. ages 10 -12, or for kids at heart!

I'm enjoying it. It's full of adventure and humor, etc.. The writing is somewhat of a hybrid between Roald Dahl and Lemony Snickett, yet the author retains his own voice.

I have to admit it's taking me longer than it should, but that's because I've had to spend much of my time going through and straightening out my mother's files...a gargantuan task, I assure you! I've been at it all week!

I've got my hands on a copy of The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester and am finding it a quick and enjoyable read!

Thinking of finally cracking open The Grapes of Wrath.

Reading The Power Broker. What a book!

Don't think about it, NarratorLady, do it. The Grapes of Wrath is fantastic, and it's sad how things in the fields haven't changed much since the 30s.

Kidzdoc, great beginning to our week. Thanks.

Hoping to finish The Long Goodbye by Meghan O'Rourke today. My carry book is still The Piano Shop on the Left Bank, very entertaining and, for me, educational.

Darryl - Great start!

I'm still working on both George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I and Sing You Home. I'm trying to not read too much of the latter because I have to finish the former for class.

I'm starting my fourth annual 50 book challenge, and now that I've graduated college, I should have a little more time for reading! I think I hit 56 books for this last year. Anyway, I just started The Hungry Moon by Ramsey Campbell, and I'm a little disappointed so far - the writing is a little sloppy and boring, which is a shame, after all the praise I've heard about Campbell. Also on my to-read list: The Poisonwood Bible, Matterhorn, and Olive Kitteridge. I'm trying to expand my literary repertoire beyond my usual horror & thriller novels.

Of the many books I have been reading 2666 seems to be getting the most continuous attention these past few days, and I will probably read on until done.

Robert

About to sit down with a book I'm currently 50 pages into, the exemplary Abortion: the clash of the absolutes by Laurence Tribe.

PokPok

Almost finished with Mark Nykanen's The Bone Parade. A good, but disturbing book. But I think that's a sign of a very talented author when they can disturb you. And in the middle of Crazy Lady! A cute book so far, but it's hard to like Maxine!

Right now I'm reading The Convert by Deborah Baker and Wicked Bugs by Amy Stewart, and listening to Faith by Jennifer Haigh, which is amazing.

Thanks Daryll for the great threadstarter.

I'm reading the Man Booker prize winning The Gathering by Irish author Anne Enright. It is about a broken sad family in Dublin over several generations and reminds me of The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toibin. Also reading the very sweet A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson. It's set in Kenya but the love interest is from Morningside in Edinburgh same as my Mum.

Finally got the library copy of The Help so that is now sitting in the TBR pile.

I'm starting Within a Budding Grove, the second volume of Proust's In Search of Lost Time.

#7 I love Kate Atkinson. I'm reading Human Croquet. I just started, but I love it already.

Listening to my first audio book. Blood,Bones & Butter. Really enjoying it.

#21 I just finished When Will There Be Good News and absolutely adored it. I've begun Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout a graphic biography by Lauren Redniss. So far it is odd and gorgeous.

I just finished Dean Koontz's fourth book in the Frankenstein series called Lost Souls. I am getting ready to start reading John Saul's Faces of Fear.

I just started Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos. Very weird so far, but good to read something completely different from my usual.

I just finished Resurrection Code and enjoyed it. Quite daring, but the earlier books in the series were longer, richer reads... although not as daring.

Now I'm reading about the Taino people in Cave of the Jagua.

I finished The Cruelest Month -- the third of Louise Penny's Three Pines series. I did a mixture of audio and real book, and was delighted to have narrator Ralph Cosham's voice in my head when reading. Today I started Stoner by John Williams, and I love it already.

#6 divinenanny: I loved Crimson Petal and the White. I think it's it is one of the best books I've read. At least in the top 20, if not the top 10. Faber has such an interesting mind!

#23 nancywhite: I've just started When Will There Be Good News. It already has me tensing up, in a good way. I keep waiting for Atkinson to drop the ball and start deteriorating but she hasn't disappointed me yet.

I zipped through Nora Ephron's quite funny I Feel Bad About My Neck this afternoon. Even though we are not at all in the same income bracket, we certainly have some of the same foibles. I thought her chapter on purses was true and really funny.

I finished To Siberia by Per Petterson late last night, which was a mediocre read. I'm now reading The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta by Mario Vargas Llosa, which is very good so far.

I'm enjoying The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint. Poor kid can't catch a break! On Friday I will meet my book club at The Fry Bread House to discuss it, although so far Edgar hasn't consumed any fry bread.

I'm really having a good time reading Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger. On audio, I'm listening to The Empty Family by Colm Toibin where I'm enjoying some stories more than others.

17, briannad84: Definitely, The Bone Parade was one of the more disturbing books I think I've ever read.

I'm currently reading Riddled with Life and loving it. I didn't even plan to start it yesterday, but I sat down with it intending to just browse the prologue or the chapter listing or whatever, and wound up reading 50 pages.

I finished The Alchemist by Paul Coelho and I liked it quite a bit. For such an old book that so many people have read (and I gather either loved or hated), it came at the right time in my life. It was soothing, a bit inspiring and easy to read. I do feel some of it, spiritually, was "done before" - but that could be because it was published in 1993/US and I just now got 'round to it.

I am now reading The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave on a recommendation of a friend (whose ideas about things now kind of scare me). It is terrible, so terrible, I cannot really put it down yet. The protagonist actually makes my skin crawl though, so that is quite a literary feat. And he is a good poster boy for everything that I absolutely must avoid in men (fresh from a break up, I am). So maybe this is a good book to read to ferret out those clues that are oft hidden in the beginning. This book also makes me want to take a shower and make an OB/GYN appointment stat.

PS ~ AWESOME week kick off Kidzdoc! Thank you for putting that beautiful post up, and taking the time.

I ended up picking up Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker yesterday. Can't say I'm enjoying it, exactly, what with the horrifying subject matter, but it is a very powerful book and Alice Walker is a brilliant writer. I could hardly put it down. She can make the most horrific actions seem so commonplace and matter-of-fact, which makes them even more appalling.

Mixed bag week.

Finally finished the most recent Julia Spencer-Fleming, One Was a Soldier. An early reviewer pick. I've read the whole series and really enjoyed it until this one. I'll post my review.

Also finished up The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale. Liked it, but was not nearly as excited about it as when I first posted. By the end there were no surprises and imposing a lot of modern psycho-jargon on a story set in 1933 really pulled me out of it. I didn't mind that it borrowed so heavily from To Kill a Mockingbird. Picture Jem and Scout Finch tracking a serial killer. Some really creepy storytelling, but it completely fell apart in the last third.

I love short stories and haven't read any in a long time, so pulled some terrific ones out of Best American Mystery Stories 2007, Best American Mystery Stories 2010, Best American Short Stories 2007, and the original collection Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock.

And... in preparation for a trip to Iceland, started Independent People by Halldór Laxness, 1955 Nobel Prize winner and source of Icelandic pride. Very dense, but it pulls you in. This one will take a while.

>19 kirsty: kirsty Glad you're liking A Guide to the Birds of East Africa. I really enjoyed it. It was a hit at my sister's book club, too.

One Crazy Summer was a good YA set in the time of the Black Panthers, with three memorable young girls visiting their artistic, estranged mother.

Finished A Murderous Procession by Ariana Franklin. More romance than mystery and just not to my taste. The only thing competent the woman does in the book without men to tell her what is going on and men to protect her from herself is autopsy a sheep in order to prevent vendetta.

Next up is Fool by Christopher Moore.

Domesday Book by Connie Willis. Fantastic book already.

Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)

This week I'm still reading Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris and the ARC I received The Wreckage.

@39 Doomsday book by Connie Willis is on my Mount TBR too. Let me know what you think.

I just finished Resurrection Code and liked it a lot. I've started Cave of the Jagua now, which has a bit too much about Levi-Strauss and not enough about the Tainos so far. Sigh.

Juggling several books right now...

I'm about eight chapters into We the Living which is the first time I've read Ayn Rand. I'm not a fan of her philosophy, nor do I expect to become one, but I figured I should read a couple of her books--partially to feel better informed should I ever choose to talk about her, and partially morbid curiosity.

I'm finishing up the audiobook to Lolita, which I've found very interesting. Humbert Humbert is not exactly what I expected, neither as monstrous or as endearing as I had thought he would be, though definitely somewhat humorous and pathetic.

I've also got a couple of short story collections to lighten things up. One is the third volume of Clive Barker's Books of Blood, a series which has only had a couple of misses so far. The other is De casas y misterios, a book I picked up in a used bookstore in Buenos Aires, and which has a sort of Gothic aesthetic I'm enjoying.

#14 coloradogirl, I like Ramsey Campbell, but I think The Hungry Moon is far from his best work. It's the only novel of his that I've read, so I don't know if perhaps he's one of those horror authors whose just best in the short form.

Absolutely could not stomach The Death of Bunny Munro any longer. Dumped it at page 75. Egads, what rubbish. Need to take a LONG hot shower after that one, preferably with anti-bacterial soap.

So I will start French Leave by Anna Galvada next, since my good friend gave it to me.

I also am reading a (rare for me) self help book Getting Past Your Breakup, How to Turn a Devastating Loss Into The Best Thing That Ever Happened To You by Susan J. Elliott and I am really loving it. Hits the spot.

#43 - Carlos McRey

I'm just getting into Ramsey Campbell, so I've yet to determine what his other writing is like. (Maybe Hungry Moon is the equivalent of someone reading Stephen King for the first time and choosing Insomnia...) I do own another one of Campbell's books (Creatures of the Pool) and I started reading that one, but the sentence structure was so confusing that I had to put it down after five pages.

I am, however, getting a nice little dose of old-fashioned 90's kids horror...I picked up a couple Goosebumps books from the library for a little trip down memory lane. :)

Into the first few chapters of A Single Thread by Marie Bostwick, a novel about a woman who is starting over after a divorce. This life changing event prompts the main character to fulfill her long-held dream of owning a quilt shop. So far, the novel has a Debbie Macomber Blossom Street vibe.

I enjoyed most of last week's novel Good Harbor by Anita Diamant but was disappointed with the concluding chapters which felt rushed -- as if the author had hit her page limit and had to finish the story lines as quickly as possible.

I finished A Game Of Thrones by Martin. Great Book. I am now starting "The Pirate Hunter: The True Story Of Captain Kid".

Repeating and heavily underlining what has already been said about The Crimson Petal and The Grapes of Wrath - two books that sit permanently in my top five all-time reads.

Madeleine (by Kate McCann, no touchstones) broke my heart (of course - what was I expecting?) At least the person who took this poor child no doubt had their own reasons, however twisted, but I will never understand the numerous people who think it is their business to draw out and prolong the agony of this brave family with their spiteful, vindictive, unhelpful and uncalled for remarks in the press and on the internet. I know that if I were in the position of the McCanns I would never be able to summon up the pity and understanding Kate is able to find for these sick and loathsome characters. I frequently read mean-spirited comments along the lines of 'Why should they get all the attention when there are lots of children missing all over the world?' Well, here's why: because this is a family that is prepared to go to any lengths at all to secure the safe return of their daughter. Many people would have given up by now or at least scaled down their search in the face of such vilification but the courage shown by the McCanns and their friends and family is unflagging. It's a book that makes extremely uncomfortable reading but deserves all the sales it can get. All profits, of course, go to Madeleine's Fund.

It's hard to get back into fiction after that one but I'm giving it a try with my ER book The Devil's Mask which looks promising so far.

#46 ~ I recently read Good Harbor and felt the same way! Good characterization of it. I did, however, rather like it overall as well.

I'm now on Storm of Swords, book 3 in the Game of Thrones series. I'm also reading National Identity and Global Sports Events. How's that for an odd combination? :-)

I finished The Book of Lost Things last night. If you love the traditional children's stories and fairytales, then you have to read this adult novel that spins them in a far darker way. This is a good read. 4 stars

I will be doing a re-read of The Help for book club this coming Sunday.

I'm listening to The Good Earth on audio and I'm really liking that as well.

Hi Group - I've been on vacation (is that possible when you are retired?) with lousy internet access so haven't posted much. I did a lot of reading and want to comment on some of the books, get caught up somewhat. I have been reading your posts tho, just not posting.

B.Bleil - I read all of Pearl Buck's books when I was 21 and in Colon, Panama for a year with a new baby. I LOVED her stuff. Wonder if I still would.

For BBleil and all who liked The Help you might LOVE Them by Nathan McCall one of my vacation reads. It tell the story of a gentrified urban neighborhood and the relationships between blacks and whites - wow did I learn a LOT. Subtle things that I just would have not thought about - really excellent - 89 stars! HIGHLY recommended. Anyone else read it?

I read Caught Holding the Bag, a mystery that wasn't great as far as the mystery part went, but main character was adjusting to an ostomy bag so I found that very interesting and recommend it for that reason.

Read A Brain Wider than the Sky about migraines of all things and couldn't put it down. I don't even GET migraines - bought it for a friend and wanted to make sure it was good. It is not about treating migraines so much as a VERY short history of them and more about living with them, the was it is isolating, effects relationships, etc. 5 stars.

Read Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill a mystery that takes place in Laos - thought that would be interesting - i will read more of them. Interesting part to me was prologue with info about literacy vs illiteracy, or more oral vs written history, and Hmong history held in music. I REALLY am taken with that whole idea. Again - recommended.

More later .....

I've been driving across country to attend my parent's 60th anniversary party. So I've been burning through audio books like crazy. So far, I've listened to Eye of the Red Tsar, Girl Missing, and I working my way through The Knowland Retribution.

Benitastrnad - was glad for your comments in March for The Big Short by Michael Lewis because it encouraged me to go ahead and read it and I really loved it. I didn't understand all of it, but just thought if I kept reading it it would make more and more sense and it did. i almost stopped a couple of times and am so glad I didn't but went ahead and finished it. VERY important book. but as soon as I say that I ask myself why? Nobody in jail yet! My friend is selling her house and just got a phone call from Countrywide saying they have no record of the $60,000 she put down on it. This book helped a lot with my understanding of the mortgage crisis, as did Matt Damon's movie about it.

Also just finished my ER The Rough Guide to Psychology by Christian Jarrett and liked it also. I taught psych a few times and get cranky about pop psych. This book is NOT pop psych, but presents research on every topic it covers - very succint work if you have any interest in psych, why we do the things we do, and want to know HOW psychs know what they claim to know. Posted my review.

Ending at page 248 The Hotel New Hampshire,I'm currently reading 4 books.The Phoenix Odyssey by Richard Hendrick;Grand Canyon by Gary McCarthy;Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers and The Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez-Reverte are my reading choices.Whenever I've read 50-60 pages my mind wanders so I reach for another book.

Drove several hundred miles over the past four days, so I listened to Dancer by Colum McCann. A really good book! Still reading Collected Stories of Lydia Davis and Herzog.

I'm really happy to report that I finished The Rest is Noise and found it a totally worthwhile read. I'm still making note of books to read and music to listen to as a result...

I'm currently reading:
Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham (slowly but surely)
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde (a reread)
and The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma (much less about reading and much more about her relationship with her father, but still good)

Edited to fix touchstone

I finished reading Christine Falls by Benjamin Black and enjoyed it. I have started reading Silver Swan the second in the Quirke series by Black and it seems to be very much the same as Christine Falls. Christine Falls reminded me of a movie that I saw about the Irish laundry's being run as homes for wayward girls. Black's writing is very good and very lyrical for a mystery. I was surprised because I absolutely hated The Sea by the same author. I know it won a Booker prize but even experts make mistakes and The Sea was so bad I quit reading it. Christine Falls is not at all the same. It is much much better. Well worth the time to read it.

#54

glad you liked The Big Short as much as I learned about the finacial crisis I felt that I still don't have enough knowledge about what happpened so have just started reading House of Cards. I hope that one answers some of the reamining questions that I have regarding this astounding failure of our government to protect its citizens from these gamblers who called themselves bankers.

I have just finished reading Sunset Lavaflies by Scott Niven - Received as member giveaway. 3 short sci-fi stories, great for a quick fix. Now reading The Crescent Dunes by Steven Barclay also a member giveaway.

I have been very lucky recently winning several books all of which have enjoyed, I must be in a receptive reading zone at present. BIG thanks to LT.

Also listening to The Beachcomber by Josephine Cox - I'm new to this author, seems ok so far.

#58 benitastrnd

Oh- thank you. I thought I was the only person who couldn't bear The Sea. I too quit reading because it seemed so terribly overwrought and, to be honest, terribly impressed with itself. It was completely overpraised, I felt.
I've stayed away from Christine Falls because of The Sea. I'll give it another look.

#58
I've had Christine Falls on my "to read" pile for a while. Maybe I'll move it to the top of the list.

I'm reading Human Croquet. Kate Atkinson is a genius. I love this book. I'm also continuing with the Flannery O'Connor letters. Letter writing is a lost art. These letters really give me a great sense of O'Connor as a person. Her comments on her writing are fascinating, too.

I am still reading my ER copy of The American Heiress by Daily Goodwin, and I have started both Blind Eye by Stuart MacBride and the nonfiction Murder in Mayberry by Mary Kinney.

Wow, am I late getting here. Great start to the week, Darryl.

I finished 69129140::Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and was pretty disappointed with the ending. This book, like The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is another one that could have been saved by leaving it on the bus before listening to the last CD. I don't enjoy being proselytized.

I also read The Night Bookmobile and thought it was a strange and beautiful book, which I will not give to my librarian sister because I don't think she'd appreciate the ending any more than I did the ending of Unbroken, which of course she loved. We have a family of various political and religious views.

I finally got the last 2 CDs if Whose Body so I'll be finishing it this week.

Finished Olive Kitteridge tonight, and by the end of it, I was having a really hard time putting the book down. I can't remember where I heard of it or why I decided to read it, but I found it to be a spectacularly written, character-driven novel.

I think I'm going to read Matterhorn next, although I'm a little nervous about jumping feet first into a war novel of that length. I should be okay with the military terminology, as my boyfriend has been in the Marines for a year & a half now and I've been able to pick up on some of the Marine-speak, but I'm wondering what other people's reactions have been to Matterhorn.

I finished In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. My review is posted on the book's work page, and on my 50-Book Challenge thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/106335

Overall I thought it good but not great, although I'm happy to say that the book's final third is its strongest component.

# 65 colaradogirl, I also loved Olive Kitteridge, have you read Elizabeth Strout's Amy and Isabelle? also a great read, I have also read and enjoyed her other novel Abide with Me.

Currently reading In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd. This is the book that formed the basis for the movie "A Christmas Story". That story is just one chapter in this book. So far, I am enjoying it.

Listening to Peach Keeper Love Sara Addison Allen books! Reading Dead Reckoning by Charlene Harris - guilty pleasure.. :) Next up The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon Really not having luck with the touchstones today!

A couple of random thoughts on We the Living...

Kira, who's clearly a stand-in for Rand, describes her favorite childhood story, in which a Viking hacks-and-slashes his way to some form of rulership over all he surveys. Sounds like a story that could have been written by Robert E. Howard, which makes me wonder if the aims of Objectivism were best laid out by the (former) Governator himself:

To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.

Howard believed that civilization was inherently corrupt and would eventually be supplanted by the barbaric, which was more robust and noble. Replace "civilization" with "collectivism" and "barbaric" with "selfish," and you may have a pretty close analogue of Objectivism.

On another note, I'm finding the love triangle in We the Living quite interesting. Rand sure likes her haughty, beautiful men. Methinks she would have been a fan of the Twilight series. The obvious question then is, Team Leo or Team Andrei? (Did you think I was going to say Team Edward or Team Jacob? Ha!, this one isn't even a competition. As if Rand would ever fall for a hirsute collectivist like Jacob!)

#68> You are talking about one of the most important books of my adolescence and teen years (not that In God We Trust is at all a kids' book; it isn't).

Shepherd also had a nightly radio show in New York during which he told stories about his childhood, his time in the army and other parts of his life, and also mused on the foibles of humankind in general. Shep was a bit of a misanthrope, but he was definitely a satiric master.

Anyway, enjoy the book!

#67 - hazeljune - I haven't read anything else by Elizabeth Strout, but Olive Kitteridge definitely sparked my interest. I'll have to add those to Mt. TBR.

#68 - bookaholicgirl - In God We Trust is a great book, and part of the fun for me was finding the stories that ended up in A Christmas Story. I think you'll like it!

I'm just starting Four Spirits: A Novel by Sena Jeter Naslund for the second time. I find the subject, The Civil Rights Movement and the four little girls who were killed when a church was bombed very compelling, and Naslund's writing strong and beautiful but I also find her writing as dense as molasses.

This book should definitely be worth more than one attempt.

I am reading the slim little novel (newly translated) French Leave (no touchstone) by Anna Galvada (who wrote Hunting and Gathering which is one of my favorite novels of all times). It is a refreshingly honest but loving story about a group of four siblings who escape a family wedding and reminisce about their childhood (which was good) and where they have come. I'm just sad it's so short.

Finished The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester this weekend, and almost done The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. Not sure where I'll go after that!

Currently reading The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. It's quite a beast.

I finished the excellent When Will There Be Good News last night. I'm still working it all out in my mind. What a marvelous writer Atkinson is.
I started Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh and besides a dated unpleasant word(the n one), it is very funny and kooky. I noticed that he died when he was a mere 63. So young!
I promised a friend that I'd try to watch a few good movies but I'm already making excuses to keep reading - tunneling my way through Mtn. TBR. Although it is more like a full scale mountain range at this point.

I just finished and reviewed The Essential Dykes to Watch out for by Alison Bechdel and I miss that group of friends already. What a great book, Bechdel condensed 21 years of her comic strips into one very hefty volume. Probably not a book fans of Unbroken would like, but it got 5 stars from me. Next up is Digging to America for my RL book club.

#78 Citizenjoyce
Have you read Fun Home a Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel? I thought it was unforgettable. It was an important turning point for me in accepting graphic novels(although I mean that as the generic term for both non-fiction and fiction) as a valid writerly art form and not The Archie comics redux, if you know what I mean?
Bechdel is so smart, funny and I hope she turns out to be very prolific.

I did read Fun Home and agree it is wonderful. I went to a talk of hers and she mentions just how obsessive she is about her drawings. Each book takes so much out of her, but I hope she'll write many more. She said she was working on a book about her mother. I don't know when it will be out, but I'm sure I'll read it.

Finished an engrossing psychological thriller, The Ninth Life of Louis Drax by Liz Jensen. My review is here,

http://www.librarything.com/review/71091881

Or on my 75 Books Challenge thread,

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

Half way thru A Start In Life by Anita Brookner, and loving it.

I am currently reading Eyes Wide Open by Andrew Gross along with a few others.

I finished two books yesterday, which were both very good. I'll provide brief summaries below, and write proper reviews soon.

The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta by Mario Vargas Llosa: A brilliant historical and political novel in which a famous writer chooses to write a book about Alejandro Mayta, a former schoolmate and Trotskyite and who participated in a leftist insurrection in Peru in 1962, which also served as a sharp critique of different political factions and governments within the country and the devastating effect it had on the poor in Lima and elsewhere. Highly recommended (4-1/2 stars)

Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott (recommended by alcottacre): A short novel based on Alcott's experiences as a volunteer nurse during the early days of the American Civil War, which described her humorous and moderately hellish journey from Massachusetts to Washington in order to care for Union soldiers seriously wounded in battle. Alcott does a fabulous job in portraying the nobility of these wounded men, and the tireless efforts of the nurses, in the spirit of the old folk saying "to cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always." I liked this better than I thought I would, and it's somewhere between a 4 and a 4-1/2 star read.

Today I'll read The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan by Yasmin Khan, a book longlisted for the 2008 Orwell Prize, and the poetry collection Americus, Book I by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. I'll start The Prospector by J.M.G. Le Clézio today or later in the week.

Thanks for your compliments about Message 1!

Citizenjoyce and Enaid ~ Thanks for your thoughts on The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel. I cannot wait to go get it this morning! I have a Border's gift card and have been mostly library/Nook-ing it, so that is a perfect book to spend it on. I paint/draw/write and dream of doing something along those lines. That may be the inspiration I need! I LOVE anything decent with "alternative lifestyles" too ... so what a joy to discover this day. I think the graphic novel is going to keep growing and developing in interesting ways.

Has anyone read Mr. Mendoza's Paintbrush by Luis Alberto Urrea? That is another one I want to seek out.

These threads really are amazing. I would not know about half of these wonderful works if not for this site and my kindred reader spirits.

I just finished French Leave (no touchstone) by Anna Gavalda and loved it. I just wish she wrote a bit longer novel. I always miss her characters when I'm done with reading her writing.

Just finished ER book Joy for Beginners by Erica Bauermeister (no touchstone). Loved this book!!
Short review here:
http://www.librarything.com/work/10742539/reviews/73474250

On to Blood Code by a local author Rick Simonds http://bloodcode.us/

Have a great week everyone. =:)

#77 I just finished Human Croquet. Kate Atkinson is inspired with her narration. I like her Jackson Brodie books, but Human Croquet is even better.
I just started The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht.

I've been reading The Stand by Stephen King.

I also got a Nook for Mother's day, and although I've been torn over whether or not I would enjoy one since I really love the feel of a book (and ok, I admit it, I love having a little library in the spare bedroom to just go in and look at sometimes) I'm really excited that I can get a ton of classics for free. I already downloaded about 15 books to that bad boy, but haven't started any yet since The Stand is taking me about 14 years to finish. Oh well, something to look forward to, at least.

Carolyn- I read Mr. Mendoza's Paintbrush. It's beautifully illustrated, just WAY to short!

#88 - ohdani - Let me know how you like The Stand! I need to reread it, but I remember liking it a lot...hopefully it's worth the effort for you.

I've finished and posted a review for Riddled with Life. Loved it! It was wonderful, and I'm hoping the same is true for my next book. I'll be starting The Wild Trees tomorrow.

I finished The Crimson Petal and the White, which I really liked, but that ending... Too abrupt for me. Luckily my library also has The Apple. My next book is The book about Blanche and Marie.

I've finished and reviewed Snow Country, which is my RL book circle's read-to-discuss for this evening, in my thread...post #87.

Last night I read the first quarter of Mansfield Park. Despite that it is supposed to be heavy going among Austen's books, I am finding it as readable as Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice.

Robert

I finished and reviewed Mary Doria Russell's fabulous new book Doc: A Novel. It was an ER book and I'm really glad I won it.

Now I'm on to the second book in the Julia Spencer-Fleming series, A Fountain Filled With Blood.

65> I thought Matterhorn was excellent!

Darryl, I'm also reading Hospital Sketches and, much as I hated Little Women, I can't help but hear Katherine Hepburn speaking the words. I find that quite a plus and am also enjoying this book.

Carolyn, the only problem with Essential Dykes is that it's a little too heavy (physically heavy) for comfortable reading. Size wise this would be perfect for Nook, but alas, one couldn't enjoy the artwork, so just plan on some position changes to make yourself comfortable.

#90- I'm at about page 800 or so now and I really have enjoyed it. But it just seems like it's the book that never ends! I have so much I want to read that I'm getting antsy because it's taking so long. But most of the time with longer and more involved books like this I wind up liking the first time but LOVING the second time. We'll see, I'll post when I'm done!

Just finished Hamlet, Revenge by Michael Innes. Next up are two books I got on interlibrary loan: Love lies bleeding by Edmund Crispin and Days of Mr. McGraw Joseph Durso. It has been raining and gloomy here, so I hope the second one makes me think of sunshine at the ball park.

#98 - ohdani - I feel that way with a lot of Stephen King's longer books. (It, however, is an exception - I was hooked from page 1.) Overall, I love his style and his stories are fantastic, but I find that a lot of his longest novels tend to drag...Insomnia & The Tommyknockers, for example. But The Stand is good, even if you have to plow through the last couple hundred pages. If I'm remembering correctly, the ending moves pretty quickly.

In terms of my reading, I decided to take on Matterhorn, and I'm reading a chapter a night to keep from getting too overwhelmed. So far, I'm finding it a much faster read than I anticipated, although I'm not expecting the pace to hold for the entire novel. But I'm glad I decided to start reading. I'm also rereading Jurassic Park for about the 20th time. It's one of my comfort reads, and as I'm planning on reading The Poisonwood Bible soon, I wanted something to break up the seriousness of all this literary fiction.

I finished T. C. Boyle's The Women which I really enjoyed.
I've been interested in Frank Lloyd Wright's work and life since I was in college, so I was familiar with most of the story, but the saga still intrigues me.

Next up: Jennifer Johnston's The Railway Station Man

# 101 mollygrace,
I am a Jennifer Johnston fan, I just love her novels. This one The Railway Station Man I have not as yet read.
Have you read Christmas Tree and Captains and Kings also by Jennifer?.

I finished Whose Body and found it psychologically and sociologically insightful and well as entertaining, so I've started on the second LPW mystery Clouds of Witness.

I'm about 1/2 way through Digging to America and remember why I liked it so well the first time. It seems Anne Tyler can be very superficial in some of her books, but this has much to say about people and relationships and adapting to new cultures. It was a good choice for our book club.

I just finished The Age of Absurdity - grown-up philosophy for grown-up people. The theory that our current infantalised society, obsession with materialism and never taking responsibility for our own actions doesn't make us happy isn't a new one but it makes riveting reading in this book.

Now continuing with my ER book The Devil's Mask

# 102 hazeljune, I bought The Railway Station Man and The Christmas Tree because of your recommendation of Johnston's books. I'm enjoying The Railway Station Man, by the way -- not very far into it, but I like the way it begins. Thank you for telling me about this author.

I picked up and am reading the collection of comic strips The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel. I am loving it. It's a very different reading experience for me, but it's kind of exciting, being such a voracious reader, and happening along something so fresh/new (to me - the strips date back to 1987!). My only complaint is that the title kind of makes it sounds a little trite, or edgy, or whatever, which is going to turn away some readers I think. That is too bad, it's about a group of friends that I think anyone could relate to ... no matter the lifestyle.

Citizenjoyce ~ It is definitely awkward to hold, a cross between a coffee table book and novel, but it's couch/bedtime reading (not on the go), so I just prop it up on my knees. I think the artwork just wouldn't shine as much on an electronic device, but then who knows (maybe the big Kindle, like my Dad has?). Thanks again for the recommendation!

#101 Mollygrace

I also really enjoyed The Women by T.C. Boyle. Frank Lloyed Wright is quite the character. Have you read Loving Frank? That was even better than T.C Boyle's book. You should try it.

#107 BBleil

I have read Loving Frank and enjoyed it very much. I liked Boyle's book, too, for revealing more about the other women in Wright's life. He had quite a time, didn't he? A person like that -- a "force of nature", as one of his women called him -- had much to offer, but the price of being with him could be very high indeed.

Glad you're liking the Lord Peter books, Citizenjoyce. It's a great series.

Zoo City was an interesting "mystery" set in a transformed Johannesburg, with a finder of lost things searching for a missing pop singer and getting into a lot of trouble along the way.

I'm now a ways into The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party, the latest Precious Ramotswe, and Dear Enemy by Jean Webster, the sequel to Daddy Long Legs.

The Death and Life of Great American Cities, which I just finished reading, was an excellent clearly presented analysis of what makes cities work and what doesn't along with practical suggestions to help problem neighborhoods. I don't keep abreast of what is presently being done in city planning but I get the impression that not enough has changed since it was written 50 years ago.

Just started reading Electric Michelangelo by Sarah Hall. Beautiful prose.

Joe, let us know what you think of Dear Enemy. I loved Daddy Long Legs and can't understand why I haven't gone on to the sequel yet.

Carolyn, I'm ambivalent about the title. I think it's a great book for anyone who want to follow a group of friends through turbulent times, but it's pretty explicit. As we were saying on another thread, people are able to read about sex easily these days, even lesbian sex, but seeing pictures might be too disconcerting for some. No one in my family would have made it through the introduction. So, I like the warning. That way she didn't feel that she needed to hold back on what she was creating for fear of alienating the reader. Anyone willing to get past the title should be the sort of person who could embrace the group. (and even miss them when they're gone). I'm glad you're enjoying it.

#107 & 108

I have a copy of The Women by T. C. Boyle somewhere in the Mount TBR. Maybe it is time to get it out and read it? A friend of mine read Loving Frank and thought it was so good she then read a biography of Frank Lloyd Wright. She found him a fascinating character and thought that the fictionalized version of his life was very well done. It must have been if it inspired the reading of a non-fiction work.

I am about finished listening to Deception of the Emerald Ring and have enjoyed it immensely. The History of the Pink Carnation series is just so much fun.

Okay, Booksloth, I've added The Age of Absurdity to my wishlist to go with The Happiness Project and a book I thought by Barbara Ehrenreich the title of which now eludes me.

Thanks,

Robert

I finished Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh. It was superb - from start to finish I knew I was in the hands of a master. Totally different from Brideshead Revisted, this novel was very funny and had a touch of the absurd about it. I enjoyed it very much.
Now, for something completely different, I'm reading Naomi's Room by Jonathan Aycliffe because sometimes I want to scare myself. Well, I hope I'm happy now because it really is giving me the chills. It means I'll be scared to be downstairs by myself after everyone is in bed! How will the dishwasher get started?

I've finished The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs and am almost (within 20 pages) finished The Thomas Berryman Number by James Patterson. I plan to finish The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette next and for lighter reading am moving on to Knit Two also by Kate Jacobs and second in the Friday Night Knitting Club series.

I finished my reread of Digging to America and ended up not liking it nearly so much as I did the first time. Prima donna's, even when we know their innermost anxieties, are still a pain in the neck.

I think I'll finish Hospital Sketches tomorrow then start on The Female Man in honor of Joanna Russ and for a kind of group read.

Wow, just perusing this thread has added several books to my WL! What a treat.

I'm reading The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. It's a Pulitzer Prize winner, the story of the 20th Century migration of African Americans from the south (under Jim Crow) to northern and western cities. Still early in reading it, but so far it is truly wonderful, painful, insightful, and engaging. The individuals whose stories she uses to tell the larger story are "coming alive" on the page. Nice.

It is, however, far too heavy (literally) for carrying on the bus. I like whymaggiemay's idea of a "carry book." I don't usually have more than one book going at a time, but it may be time to stretch in that regard. I'll have to look at mount TBR to see what I want to carry.....

I finished and loved, The book about Blanche and Marie, a book different in style from all I have read before. Now for something light hearted, a The Da Vinci Code copy, Strindbergs Ster. It's got nazi's, super natural relics, secret societies... weekend reading!

#114 Could it be Bait and Switch: the Futile Pursuit of the American Dream? I just checked out a list of her books and that looks quite likely. She's not an author I've read before but she looks interesting - thanks for the 'heads-up'.

ETA - I just can't get gripped by The Devil's Mask though I'll be doing my best to finish it for an ER review. I'm taking some time away from it with The Circus Fire, which I've heard great things about. Thanks to a number of LT-ers, I've become a big fan of Stewart O'Nan so this is very promising.

Finished The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss and Fool by Christopher Moore. Started The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley.

Citizenjoyce ~ Point well taken about the Essential Dykes to Watch Out For ... I think I lose perspective sometimes. My life, and the people in it, are uh, very colorful!

#118: I did not know The Warmth of Other Suns won the Pulizter. I have it on my Nook (which sounds like a good way to go!) and will check that out soon.

Reading Postcards from No man's Land by Aidan Chambers. This is a YA book which I am enjoying.

Finished Strindbergs Ster, and Black Swan Green is next.

Just started "The Story of Beautiful Girl" (touch stones not working) - when I bought it I did not realize that this is the same author Riding the Bus with My Sister Rachel Simon. Good read so far, will be interesting to read other peoples thoughts on this book. :)

Just finished ER book, Killed at the Whim of a Hat, a hilarious and surprising page turner mystery, set in Southern Thailand. Will write review. Just started Man's Fate, a French classic novel by Andre Malraux.

I finished listening to Cathedral of the Sea which is the equal of Pillars of the Earth. It is an epic historical novel set in 14th Century Barcelona and is about the building of the cathedral of Santa Maria de la Mar. This book does something that Pillars doesn't - it is full of technical information about how the cathedral was actually built. It is also full of details of the beginnings of the banking and money lending industry. It was interesting to me to see how much of the rudimentary banking industry is still around today. This book is just full of luscious details, but it also is too full of everything and as a result loses its focus. It is also chocked full of stock characters. perhaps its biggest asset is the reader. This guy was excellent. The translation was also very well done. No awkward moments or dialogue. The publisher spent some time and effort on this translation and production and it shows. I will be recommending this to people who like historical epics as there is lots to glean from its pages or, in this case, the listening. Even so, I rated it as slightly above average.

My husband gave me a Kindle yesterday(15 years as a nonsmoker) and I'm not hating it the way I thought I would. I purchased Redbreast by Jo Nesbo. In 'real life' that is a big fat hardcover but on a Kindle it weighs nothing!
I think I'm kind of digging the Kindle. I won't be ditching real books in a hurry but this is pretty cool. Plus, the kids in the carpool are now dead impressed with me now that they've seen the Kindle. Who knew?
So, I'm currently reading Redbreast by Jo Nesbo.

Sad but funny story - I set my Kindle down, a throw pillow fell on it and I accidentally kneed the Kindle while reaching back over the couch. I heard one of those quiet, but ominous, crunches and at first thought I had crushed my reading glasses(which really would've been awful). Unfortunately, it was the Kindle. Less than 24 hours of ownership and I've broken it. It's as though this technology just isn't for me. Books don't crack if you put your knee on them; they're really quite durable.
Until I can figure out how to read the Redbreast on my laptop, I've picked up a book recommended here on LT Among Others. I'm liking it so far.

I finally finished Herzog, an intense and absorbing read. I continue with The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis and I am beginning The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson. I have also started listening to The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi.

129 - Oh enaid! That is too sad! I'm so sorry!

I'm about half way through The Book of Lost Things. It is a unique and interesting story. I have a real appreciation for childhood fairy tales and I love what the author has done with them in this story.

Enaid, check to see what coverage you have on your Kindle. You may be able to get it replaced. I'll cross my fingers.

#129 That has to be the god of reading telling you something. I'm genuinely sorry you had that disaster with your new toy but you have got me wondering about Kindles and big fat books. While I can see a Kindle would be a huge advantage to stop you having to carry a massive chunkster around with you I can't help wondering whether you also lose some of the pleasure of picking out a big fat book to read. Many's the time I've been schlepping around Waterstones looking for the 3rd book in a 3 for 2 offer and picked something out just because it's deliciously huge. I've discovered some real goodies that way and I'm not sure I'd have the same desire for those books if they were in electronic form. It's probably just me.

New thread is up over here!

#134 Booksloth
Funny- that is just what my daughter and husband said when I was getting so upset with myself. They both pointed out that while the Kindle seemed like a good idea they hadn't thought about how really fragile the toy was, especially compared with a book. My daughter actually smacked a book just to show me: 'See? It's fine!". And it really did seem like the God/s of reading were telling me something. Also(I would never tell my family this) but I hadn't really wanted a kindle. Just more technology to try to get a handle on.
One of my best chunkster books ever was Deptford Trilogy by Roberston Davies. Yes, that was a good day.

#136 Oh god, mine too - I just love that book. That was definitely one I knew nothing about until it drew me it in by its size

#129 & following...
I have a Sony eReader and hadn't yet thought about a problem like that! I'm sorry to hear about your loss, but that also makes me think of another problem and that is that with your Kindle broken, what happens to all the books you had on it? Are they now lost as well? That would be sooo sad! Definitely if something happens to a physical book, it doesn't affect all your other books. Something to think about with that fragile piece of technology. I now have over 50 books on my eReader that I haven't read.... Something to think about.

The books are still in your account on line and you can read them on phone or computer, at least that's the way it is with Nook. I love my Nook especially for chunksters and have absolutely no feeling of loss over the lack of "heft." But again, enaid, check and see if you can't get a free replacement. I bought the extended warranty on my Nook and can get it repaired or replaced even if I do stupid things to it.

I also have a Kindle and within the first 3 weeks it froze up on me and couldnt be fixed. I had a few books on there and when I was given a new Kindle in place seeing that it was under 30 days of purchase I was able to transfer all my books to the new kindle. I also boutht the extended warranty because I didnt want to take the chance if something else happen and I lost all my books.

@ #139 & 140 - Good to know! I'm not sure if my Sony eReader is the same. I've had it over a year and it was a gift. I doubt very much that the purchaser thought about extended warranty. I guess I'll just have to be vewy carefow! ;)