July 2011 - What are you reading?

Happy Canada Day, folks! What are you reading? My Canadian choice today is Shattered City, a book about the Halifax Explosion, which I've wanted to know more about ever since reading the very excellent Barometer Rising.

Happy Canada Day! Currently reading Bride of New France, a Historical Fiction by Suzanne Desrochers - which i am really enjoying so far! - and Small Island by Andrea Levy.

Glad to hear you're enjoying Bride of New France! My boyfriend's mum is reading it for her book club this coming year so I may borrow it when she's done with it.

Although I am 100 pages in I have made almost no dent on Shantaram but I am enjoying it which is helpful as it might be with me for a while.

I'm slowly but enjoying my read through Case Histories by Kate Atkinson. @1 and @2 - I read Bride of New France several months ago and I loved it! I'm so glad it's become popular.

Just finished Frontier Spirit: The Brave Women of the Klondike. It had its moments but wasn't consistently great. I've read other Klondike books I liked better, and now I think I know enough about the gold rush.
Next up is Red Badge of Courage, another classic everyone else seems to have read but somehow escaped my attention. Picked it up while visiting Gettysberg. I'm also starting The Island Means Minago by Milton Acorn for the Yann Martel challenge.

Just finished Out, by Natsuo Kirino. I have the feeling this one's going to stick with me for a while. Distinctly unsettling -- the end of it actually left me feeling physically ill. But that just goes to show what an excellent writer Kirino is (and how good her translator is too!).

So I think I'm due for something a bit lighter next. This will be my first time reading Anne of Windy Poplars, by L.M. Montgomery, but the familiar setting and characters will be a comfort.

I was first attracted to the cover of 22 Britannia Road --however the story of a young Polish couple in post-war England was equally intriquing.

I'm celebrating Canada Day with Alice Munro's collection, Too Much Happiness

I just finished State of Wonder by Ann Patchett; loved, loved it. Next is The Paris Wife.

I'm about half way through Shanghai Girls by Lisa See and I am loving it so far :D

I'm reading my ER book, Indigo: in Search of the Color that Seduced the World by Catherine E. McKinley

I am reading The Little Prince.

>10 loosha: - loosha, I just received a notification from the library that State of Wonder is ready for pickup. I am sooooo looking forward to this one and glad to see that your loved it!

Getting caught up with postings. I finished, and Loved Bride of New France, gave it 4 Stars for a solid historical fiction set in the late 1600's of Paris, France and what is now known as Quebec. I also finished Small Island which I found to be a thought provoking theme-laden historical journey that I am glad I read. I am currently reading Perdido Street Station and Lullabies for Little Criminals as another Orange July read - Small Island was the first one - and as my commute to work book.

Finished Thirteen Reasons Why but it was pretty depressing. Went on to read February by Lisa Moore and Box 21 by Roslund and Helstrom -- both were very good. I think my next read will be something a bit lighter -- my daughter just picked up the latest Sookie Stackhouse, Dead Reckoning so maybe I'll give that a read. My touchstones still aren't working -- urgh!

I am now reading Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

Just finished up Case Histories which was for the Orange July Challenge. Loved the book so much that I'm now reading One Good Turn by the same author. I also finished up a book of short stories Bird Eat Bird. Overall, I enjoyed the book of short stories -but I preferred the other two books of short stories I've read this year Mennonites Don't Dance and Beggar's Garden.

I've just finished Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel - the end made me feel like I was kicked in the stomach - what a creepy, haunting story! Martel certainly did a great job at choosing various styles to communicate horror, distance and alienation. Powerful stuff.

I'm still in strange stories with Perturbations atmosphériques by Canadian-born Rivka Galchen, where nothing is what it seems.

I'm reading Dirty Little Angels by Chris Tusa. I know he has been offering e-books as part of the member give-away program, but I bought the actual book. I'm about to start Chapter 3, and so far, so good.

I really liked Dirty Little Angels.

Now, I've decided to read what everyone else seems to be reading WHILE they are still reading it. I'm famous for being "late to the party" so to speak, having read Nineteen Eighty-Four for the first time in 1985; and Gone With the Wind in 2004. I thought Rhett and Scarlette ended up together 'til then!

So, all that to say I'm reading One Day by David Nicholls

Captain Hornblower, the collection by C. S. Forester.

Just finished Bride of New France. I gave it 3/5 - reads a bit like a master's thesis written in a creative writing class.

I'm reading One Hundred Years of Solitude, which reminds me a lot of Midnight's Children; however, I think the later book is funnier.

23: I read One Hundred Years of Solitude earlier this year and really enjoyed it. I have yet to read any Salman Rushdie but should really add it to my list.

Even after 600 pages Shantaram is enjoyable. As long as that keeps up for another 350 pages I might give it a huge recommendation.

My daughter got Sarah, Plain and Tall from the library and I read that making dinner last night and I thought it was wonderful.

The Paris Wife is about Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley, and their life in, of course, Paris. Wished I was there.
Then, as a camping book, I enjoyed the mystery An Uncertain Place by Fred Vargas, who's a woman...who knew? I usually abandon any book at the first mention of vampires, but as I said, we were camping, so anything goes, and the mention didn't happen until very late in the book.

6: You will have to let me know how you like The Island Means Minago. I found some parts of the book quite funny :)

For Canadian literature right now I am reading Corked: A Memoir which is a book by a Canadian author about her wine travels in France with her father.

I also received Westsiders, Stories from Old Corner Brook, Newfoundland through the early reviewers program, so I will be reading that next.

# 25 - you didn't like Fred Vargas? She's one of my favourite detective novelists (huge in France, but not well-known in Canada). She has a background in medieval anthropology and includes lots of myths in her books. I find it extremely creative and compelling.

I have started Le Petit livre des couleurs - I love it: a historical look at colours from a cultural, social and religious perspective. It is extremely unpretentious (a mere 100 pages) and absolutely fascinating.

I just finished The Island Means Minago for the "What is Stephen Harper Reading" challenge and loved it. Of course, it helps that I live on PEI and understand the history and context of his work, but I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. Glad I read it.

Nearly finished Outrage by Arnaldur Indridason, another great Icelandic mystery. This time Erlander is not in it, but it's still every bit as good as Elinborg solves this story. Also reading The Little Prince for the SH Challenge.

# 28
How great it must be to live on PEI, I have long admired PEI through my reading of Lucy M. Montgomery's works. From a Southerner ( North Carolina), I am so jealous of your being able to see PEI everyday!

#29
It is wonderful to live here and I never take it for granted. However, you live in a fantastic area too - I love to go "down south" where the music is great, there is so much history, and the food and accents are incredible.

#27 Cecilturtle, I did, I did enjoy the Fred Vargas. Sorry to give the opposite impression. The vampire 'myth' was handled very well, no blood sucking, thankfully. Detective novels are becoming a favourite escape for me, and I will seek out her earlier works.

Just started Benevolence and enjoying it very much.

Finished The Little Prince for the Stephen Harper Challenge. If anyone finds this a strange little book, read the autobiography of Saint-Exupery and it will make perfect sense.

Starting The Alienist by Caleb Carr which was recommended to me by Vespasia who has a library similar to mine. The title sounded strange till I found out that was the name for people who believed in and practiced psychology in the late 19th century, and it's really just an historical mystery.

@ 32 - The Alienist sounds fascinating. I finished up One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson and I loved it! I'm now reading Lullibies for Little Criminals and finding it intriguing.

I'm reading The Mighty Walzer received through the Early Reviewer Program - so far I love the energy of the writing and highly colourful expressions. Who knew a story about ping-pong could be so fraught with emotion and drama!

Still on a "read what everyone else is reading" kick and enjoying When God was a Rabbit very much!

I finished Shantaram yesterday and it is the best book I have read in a long time. I overheard a staff member at Russell's books in Victoria saying that they encourage everyone to pick up the book and read the first paragraph as it is hard to put it down after that even though it is a whopping 936 pages. I encourage you all to give that first paragraph a try. The reviews are somewhat variable which I understand because the central character/ author is (as we would say in Australia) "up himself". I think this is part of what makes the book really interesting as his views on his life choices, current physical condition, moral values and intellectual ponderings all have a hint of his odd sense of self. The cast of characters and life in India was wonderful to read about. I gave it five stars.

I have moved onto The apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz for my cross Canada challenge (http://www.librarything.com/topic/98797#2201008) which will finally be a new province.

>36 fmgee: fmgee - Your post has sold me on Shantaram. I usually steer clear of the big tomes - to big to lug around in my purse! - but between you and the staff at Russell's books, I trust this to be something I should make an exception for so I have joined the holds in place at my local library.

After a busy week of too many reading interruptions, I finished Lullabies for Little Criminals last night. A great story that takes the reader into the world of a troubled adolescent and I am happy that Joyce (Nickelini) nudged me to move it to the top of my TBR pile for Orange July!

I am almost finished Perdido Street Station and unless the ending falls completely flat, I can see why Mieville's novel is hyped as much as it is here on LT. This is my first Mieville and I am really impressed with the amazing world and characters he has created! Yes, the plot is also good.

Continuing my Orange July reading I am now 60 pages into Bel Canto and can see this on becoming a fascinating page-turner for me.

I have started La révolte des accents by Érik Orsenna, a charming fictional account explaining the role accents play in French and other languages. I'm actually learning quite a bit on their origin (diacritical markers from the Greek "to distinguish") and counterparts in other languages such as the koliko (č) in Slavic languages.

After a busy week of too many reading interruptions, I finished Lullabies for Little Criminals last night. A great story that takes the reader into the world of a troubled adolescent and I am happy that Joyce (Nickelini) nudged me to move it to the top of my TBR pile for Orange July!

And I'm happy that you liked it too!

Just finished The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys. Very interesting, and lovely prose.

#40 - I really enjoyed The Frozen Thames too.

I just finished Four Fish by Paul Greenberg (which was excellent) and am about to pick up Stalingrad by Antony Beevor (for which I have high hopes, after enjoying his Battle for Spain).

I just read Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens.

I'm reading Christianity by Diarmaid MacCulloch for a book club in September. At over 1,000 pages, I thought I should get started.

I have moved on to Admiral Hornblower, the next chronological collection of novels.

As is my wont, plowing through several books at once:

- On the bus: Generation A, by Douglas Coupland. Really enjoying it and will have to get my own copy (borrowed this one from the library).
- At home: Go Down Together, by Jeff Guinn, which is about Bonnie and Clyde. I saw the movie with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway and wanted to know more about the titular couple.
- On audio: Our place had a power outage last night so I decided to fire up the iPod and start listening to my podcast of Player One: What is to Become of Us, the 2010 CBC Massey Lecture by Douglas Coupland. But apparently the free version (which I downloaded) is slightly abridged, so I'm either going to have to buy the full version from CBC or get my own copy of the book. I do like hearing Coupland read it, so I may splurge on the audio.

And yesterday I finished The Ivory Grin, by Ross Macdonald, which was sadly my least favourite of the Archer novels I've read so far. I think I didn't give it enough sustained attention... fragmented reading of shorter books is not really a good idea in my experience.

37: lkernagh: Great! I was also intimidated by the size of the book but I have found myself missing it the last two days and wishing it were a little longer! I hope you enjoy it.

Starting A Fine Balance which is promising - I'm only a few pages in. Listening to Mrs Dalloway - Juliet Stevenson is a fabulous reader.

48 - A Fine Balance is a fantastic read - enjoy (or, well, enjoy it as much as it can be enjoyed).

I am reading Jane Austen by Shields.

@38 - that accents book sounds really interesting! Adding it to the list.

Went to the library today to beat the heat (I don't have AC here at home, and the temp as of 5 p.m. EDT was 31 degrees Celsius, humidex 40) and borrowed Kraken, by China Miéville, primarily because the cover is a lovely cool deep blue, like the ocean. I also nabbed Crime Machine, by Giles Blunt, from the Express Reads collection -- haven't read it yet and it's set during winter. I have a feeling I'll be digging out a lot of these "cold" reads over the next couple of weeks. Tomorrow in particular is supposed to be a high of 36 Celsius with a humidex of 47. :-/

I'm also reading The Devotion of Suspect X on a friend's recommendation. It's pretty good but I think I might be reading it too soon after Out, which is also set in Japan and has a similar sort of premise.

>40 ted74ca: ted74ca - I was captivated by The Frozen Thames when I read it last year. Glad to see you enjoyed it.

>49 Yells: bucketyell - Danielle, I never knew Shields wrote a biography of Jane Austen. That is interesting.

>50 rabbitprincess: rabbitprincess - I am new to Miéville's works so I will be curious to see what you think of Kraken. I feel for you and the heat wave you are going through - out here on the west coast we are still waiting for summer to settle in but I will take cold weather over a heat wave any day!

I finished Perdido Street Station and am now another devoted follower of Miéville's works - what an amazing story master he is! Currently reading Bel Canto and should be finished this evening. Unfortunately, my lovefest with Bel Canto has started to wane.... not a good sign. Will see if my thoughts shift further as I finish it.

Maybe I should add The Frozen Thames to my list of cold titles. Closest I get to frozen rivers these days is the ice cream aisle at the grocery store.

@51 lkernagh: Miéville does have really amazing story ideas! They all sound so great, it was hard to choose one to start with. Guess the cover did it for me.

Yes, at least with cold weather one can put on a sweater; hot weather is a bit difficult to control for. On the plus side I have been getting lots of use out of all the pretty summer dresses I've been buying. Trying to stay positive! But yes please think cool thoughts for us, and if you want some of our heat, or if dry areas want some of our humidity, I'll send a few boxes out tomorrow morning :P

I've gotten behind posting here! Like LKernagh - I just loved Lullabies for Criminals and it was a 5 star read for me! Thanks, Nickelini for nudging me towards that book. I was so taken by Case Histories by Kate Atkinson, I've gone on to read two more of her books -One Good Turn and When Will There Be Good News. All three were wonderful reads! Now I plan to read Where White Horses Gallop by Beatrice MacNeil as recommended by Lit Chick. It's written by a Cape Bretoner and is a story concerning WW2 - but I've yet to start it.

@43 - I was lucky enough to grab Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens off the library shelf! After White Horses that will be next. I loved her first book, the title of which escapes me! ;)

I finished Jane Austen (and quite liked it Lori!) and I am now on to Late Nights on Air by Hay. I am trying to finish off my 'homegrown' category for the 11/11/11 challenge by reading books from provinces I haven't yet read (I need Saskatchewan, Alberta, PEI & Nunavut).

53 - Lullabies for Criminals was an awesome book. I haven't read any Atkinson yet but I have 4 in my TBR pile. Not sure why I have so many and haven't read them yet so perhaps I need to bump them up the pile a little.

If you're still looking for something from Alberta, you could try Aritha Van Herk's Judith.

I just finished the Nesting Dolls, a totally satisfying mystery by Gail Bowen, an author new to me.

@54 I've also really enjoyed the Kate Atkinson books. I hope you find the new Chevy Stevens as good as her first; I'm in line to read that one, too.

I've just finished Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson - what a delightful read! The storyline is funny, light, beautifully cheeky (especially for 1938 when it was written) and the illustrations are charming. It's a perfect romantic book without being sappy - loved it!

I have Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day on my TBR pile.... glad to see you enjoyed it Cecilturtle!

I finished Bel Canto and while the prose is beautiful and the characters wonderful, my magic of the story started to wear off for me in the last third of the book. Overall, still a good story.

I am now reading the fun adventure Steampunk novel Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding.

I am half way through Where White Horses Gallop by Beatrice MacNeil - a Canadian writer from Cape Breton. It's a wonderful written story of three young men who from Cape Breton who decide to go to WW11 and the interdynamics of their families and how they feel about being in WW11. Really a fascinating story , one which Lit Chick recommended to me -and one which I recommend as well.

I have finished Clandestin by Éliette Abécassis: a young migrant is found trapped on a train by police; will the woman who recognizes him, help him? It's a very intimate account of a complicated situation: borders, wars, policies, laws, looked at through two people who, coming from opposites sides, don't know if they can trust each other. There are some digressions, but the ending is almost too much to bear...

Finished Mrs Dalloway - I appreciate Woolf but am not a fan of stream of consciousness; I much preferred Night and Day. Still reading A Fine Balance and have an audiobook lined up for Conrad's Heart of Darkness - a re-run from uni many years ago.

56 - Thanks, I will look into that one! Apparently I am blind and don't need that province for my challenge (d'oh) but I am always on the lookout for new-to-me Canadian authors. At this point, I just need Saskatchewan to finish that category but I think I will try Good to a Fault by Endicott.

I just finished one for PEI called The Betrayer by Hennessey which was quite interesting. It's a fictionalised story based on the last execution in PEI in 1941.

Finished up Where White Horses Gallop and it was a wonderful 5 star read! I wrote a big of a review here - http://www.librarything.com/work/4522048/reviews/71044915 . I really recommend it highly.

I'm now reading my next Kate Atkinson Started Early, Took My Dog

Just finished The Alienist by Caleb Carr which read like an historical "Criminal Minds". A special team headed by Teddy Roosevelt build a profile of who is killing young male prostitutes in New York City. Although long at nearly 500 pages, the action never became draggy. (Alienest is the term for 19th century practioners of the new concept of psychology.) Thanks Vespasia for the recommendation.

Now starting Martha Inc. which I picked up at a used book sale. Seems promising so far.

I have the finished The Beautiful and Damned by Fitzgerald - it was my bus read, so it took me a while to get through it. I couldn't but it down yesterday; past book 3, it was just impossible... what an unnerving ending!

I also finished Unnatural Causes by PD James - not my favourite; I found there were a lot of forced situations; I know it was the style back then, but there were just too many unrealistic elements including a full confession on tape snatched by Dagliesh before the murderer plummets to his(her) death...

I've started Tristam Shandy for a group read, but I'm not sure I'll be able to tough it out - it's really not my type of read - anyone read it? did they like it or was it part of a mandatory curriculum?

I've read Reflections on the Alaska Native Experience, having just returned from Anchorage. Also read my ER book, Monoculture by F.S. Michaels and have started Netherland by Joseph O'Neill

I seem to be in the middle of a bunch of books. I did read the kids book Skylark second in the series to Sarah, Plain and Tall and really enjoyed it. Otherwise I am in the middle of To the Lighthouse and Lullabies for little criminals. The first is not entirely my cup of tea (too much bergamot oil if you ask me) but still totally readable and I am interested to see where it takes me. The second is great but totally heart breaking to think of what the main character is missing out on in life.

I'm going camping with Motorcycles and Sweetgrass (what!!!!...no touchstone?) and The Next Queen of Heaven.

The August thread is up.... come join the conversation here!