What You're Reading the Week of 5 May 2007

Michael Palin The Pythons I just finished David Allen's classic Getting things done : the art of stress-free productivity {broken touchstone again}, it took me a couple of months which may say something about my attitude to being organised in that way (still great material for other folks though); and earlier I read On Writing, my first ever Stephen King as far as I recall, I enjoyed the autobiographical bits, was intrigued by the writing coaching, but shan't be running out to read more King (I think I overdosed on Denis Wheatley”and a few eothers as a teenager).

I am reading Penny Vincenzi - Absolute Scandal so far it is good. It is 750 pages long so I will still be reading it next week.
My next one is The Woods - Harlan Coben.

Language and Symbolic Power by Pierre Bourdieu

I am going to make an attempt at reading Tom Stoppard's Rosencranz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Princess Bride, Caleb Carr's The Alienist, or Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London.

Hopefully I will put aside enough time to read at least two of these.

I'm about fifty pages into The Memory Keeper's Daughter. I like it so far, and am interested to see if the secret ever comes out.

After I'm finished with that, I'll get back into reading Lie Down in Darkness by William Styron. I live in Newport News, VA, so it's interesting reading about this "shipbuilding town" called Port Warwick. :)

#4 meghquinn - Rosencranz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a lot of fun! I haven't read it in years... I should seek out a copy for my personal library.

I'm about halfway through Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. It's a lot of fun so far.

Finished Victoria Finlay's Color: A Natural History of the Palette on the way home from work today. Picked up Washington's Crossing though. May read that next.

edit: I did indeed start Washington's Crossing today.

#1 - I'm glad you liked On Writing! I'm an avid Stephen King fan, but that book is definitely one of my favorites, even compared to some of his fiction.

I've (practically just this moment) finished Virgin: The Untouched History by Hanne Blank, which was fascinating. Having eagerly polished off Dead Witch Walking, The Good, the Bad and the Undead, and Every Which Way But Dead, I'm a bit bogged down in Fistful of Charms -- not that it isn't good, but I think I may have overreached in trying to read all four of the Kim Harrison books in a row. I have a couple of friends who insist that a series worth reading is worth reading straight through like that, but I don't seem to be able to do it regardless of how enjoyable the books are. I need a palate cleanser!

Hey! I recently read David Allen's GTD too! But that was last month. Yesterday I finished John Grisham's The Last Juror. It was ok. I was enjoying the story, but, as with many Grisham's, it came to a quick and abrupt end. Not super impressed, but it was a nice easy read while spending the weekend on Lake Powell.

I'm plugging away on Cloud Atlas. It's not that it's bad, it's just that I feel disoriented because the jacket copy is all about how brilliant David Mitchell is and says nothing about what I might expect from the book (other than literary brilliance). This book has been recommended so highly by so many people, both here and in real life, so I want to have faith. I just hope that my expectations haven't been built up so high that they can't be met.

I am finishing up Life of Pi by Yann Martel this weekend, and I think I'll start Suite Francoise by Irene Nemirovsky.

Message 1 - GreyHead: I also read Stephen King's On Writing and enjoyed it tremendously. Hope you will too!

Just finished reading Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky so now over to non-fiction. Misquoting Jesus by Bart D. Ehrman

http://blueidol-notesofabookdreamer.blogspot.com/

Finished Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and rather than forge ahead with that series, I'm going to be taking breaks between as an attempt to tackle my staggering TBR pile. Hence, I have started Ann Patchett's Bel Canto, which is simply marvelous thus far! I am also slowly enjoying Anne Lamott's Grace (Eventually) as my evening reading.

I just finished Gone with the Wind this week for about the fourth time in my life, and am reading Religious literacy: what every American needs to know.

Still reading Cryptonomicon. I just might actually finish it this week.

I am reading The Wild Trees: a Story of Passion and Daring by Richard Preston. As a lover of trees and forests, I am enjoying this book about some people who learned how to climb to the top of the tallest redwoods and who found an entire ecosystem in the treetops.

I finished Patternmaster this afternoon. This was my favorite of the Patternist quartet - probably because it has a "happy" ending. However, it feels a little unfinished, so I need to see if there's another volume out there that wasn't collected in this anthology. I was planning to read something else on my TBR pile, but Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone jumped off my shelf for a re-read. I do want to get thru the series before the new volume comes out, so guess I'll start that now.

I'm just starting a book I picked up this week at City Lights in San Francisco, I'jaam: An Iraqi Rhapsody by Sinan Antoon, which is a fictionalized manuscript written by an Iraqi college student imprisoned during Saddam's regime. I've also started Ralph Ellison: A Biography by Arnold Rampersad.

As of 0000H GMT of May 5, 2007, I have completed about 66% of the book The World is Flat by Thomas Freidman.

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I'll be starting The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell this week, as it's the reading circle choice for May on the Book Club Forum.

Continuing to read Pfanz's Gettysburg: The First Day. Just finished Southwesterly Wind, the third in the Inspector Espinoza series. I can't remember who, months ago, recommended this series but it is excellent--off-beat, each one different.

I'm reading Inkspell by Cornelia Funke. I got tired of waiting for the book to be in when I was at the library (yeah, yeah, I could have reserved it, but then I would have had to go to the library at a specific time - I prefer to go when I feel like it. Yes, I know I make it hard on myself ;) so I just bought it. Also, the book I really wanted to get when I was at the bookstore wasn't available (in fact, is no longer published, so I get to get an author signature on a trade paperback...that feels rather gauche, I admit, though at least most of the other books are hardback).

Just began Death's Acre byDr Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson. I am to page 135 and am becoming excited. I am reading this book on how this Forensic Lab was created. My first book on the topic, but certainly not my last.

Am still reading the Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.. I hope to read the whole series this year and just finished book 8, Alice in Lace this morning.
I also read The Higher Power of Lucky the Newbery Award winner for this year over the weekend. I haven't been impressed with the Newbery Award winners for the past two years The Higher Power of Lucky and Criss-Cross last year.
With Lucky, the controversy over the word "scrotum" being used in a text for 4-8th graders intrigued me and I wanted to see if it really was a big deal. It wasn't. It was a minor part of the story where Lucky (who eavesdrops on AA meetings) hears a story about how a man hit rock bottom when he was too drunk to save his dog from getting bit in the scrotum by a rattlesnake.
The Higher Power of Lucky is about a town rallying around a girl who doesn't have a mother, but a guardian. (Her mother died when she was a young child.)The girl (Lucky) is afraid her guardian will leave her and the guardian and the whole town rally around her to show her that she is loved.
Unsure as to what we will read at storytime this week, Corduroy, Wild About Books, Laura Numeroff's Ten Steps for Living with Your Monster (The touchtone isn't loading right) perhaps A Pocket for Corduroy, and Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

I'm in the middle of Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult right now ... I'm hooked! =) I'm going to add another book to the mix within a day or two, but there's so much I want to read that I just can't decide at the moment. ;)

Reading both A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore and Divisadero by Micheal Ondaatje

Almost done with Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters. Next is Sorcerer by James Byron Huggins

That's great to hear that Plain Truth is so good, it's on my TBR pile--thanks solitude1984! Right now I am reading the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon.

I am still finishing The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax - it is very good but I am just a little slow in my reading right now. I haven't had time for the last few days and I also noticed that I am about 3 weeks behind in the newspaper. Unfortunately, I am one of those compulsive types who just cannot throw away the papers without reading them. I hope to make a bit of a dent in them today and then possibly finish the book either tonight or tomorrow. I am not sure what I am reading next - I believe it will be Blackberry Wine but I cannot guarantee that. I have some many in by TBR bookcases - yes bookcases - that I just may choose something else.

hi all- just started the road by cormac mccarthy- this is really good- i had some misgivings because i wasnt all that thrilled with the others i read but this is good

#30 - Retrogirl Hi! How are you enjoying Curious Incident? I listened to it on audio and just loved it ~ so much so that Haddon is now one of my favorite authors. I recently read his latest ~ A Spot of Bother ~ which was similarly excellent!

Anyway, I'm in the middle of two non-fiction books: Augustus by Everitt and A Perfect Mess by Abrahamson. Both are well-written and interesting. Started You Suck by Chris Moore, an excellent writer (author of Lamb, one of my all-time favorites) whom I saw at the L.A. Times Book Faire last week on a panel on Dark Humor. I also heard a conversation between Harlan Coben and Robert Crais. I've read all of Crais' mysteries, both his Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series and his standalones and simply love his writing. Coben I haven't read before but am definitely going to start now.

have finished The Eighth Dwarf by Ross Thomas - tighter plotted or more fluidly written post WW2 espionage fiction you could not ask for. Absolutely great.

Have begun The Inner Circle by T.C. Boyle. Off to an interesting start, but I wonder where he can take this strange premise of a fictional character in the real life of Professor Kinsey.

Finished Joyce Carol Oates' Black Girl White Girl this morning. A very good book about two young women, one white and one black, who are college roommates in the mid-1970s. As Oates said in an interview I came across on the Harper Collins website:

Yes, Black Girl/White Girl might be described as a "coming-of-age" novel, at least for the survivor Genna. It is also intended as a comment on race relations in America more generally: we are "roommates" with one another, but how well do we know one another?

And the good news is that my misplaced copy of Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus has arrived from Maine and I will be continuing with that tonight.

I just finished Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, (which was fantastic! I can't wait for the rest of the trilogy), and am prepared to start Lord of Emperors by Guy Gavriel Kay.

I am reading The Girls by Lori Lansens.

I just finished The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Really enjoyed the book.

I'm about to start The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs.

This morning I finished The End of Faith and then read Letter to a Christian Nation, both by Sam Harris. I have now started Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit - Essays on Native American Life Today by Leslie Marmon Silko.

I finished The Darling, by Russell Banks, tonight. I suspect I would have liked this better if I hadn't read Half of a Yellow Sun so recently. While they both have at the heart bloody wars in African countries, The Darling just have the immediacy or the emotional wallop of Adichie's book. It was well written (with very occasional winces), but it left me a bit cold.

Later tonight, I'll be starting Hard Times, by Charles Dickens. I read Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South last week, and as they were both written in the same year about the industrial North of England, I'd like to compare the two.

Just finished two books by Boris Akunin
Murder on the Leviathan and The Death of Achilles Both were lots of fun- Russian detective in the 1880's- adventure and some history. Now reading Consolation by Michael Redhill I don't like it as much as his first novel which I could not put down- Martin Sloane

Finished The Testament of Yves Gundron by Emily Barton -- fascinating, beautifully written, very imaginative, and at times very moving. I enjoyed it more than her more-reviewed Brookland, which I read last year.

Started Things Fall Apart by Chinua Abeche (Nigeria) which was listed in the back of Half of a Yellow Sun.

I'm halfway into On Beauty by Zadie Smith. (I don't know why the book is not being picked up as a touchstone.) I'm enjoying it very much so far. Smith subtly and intelligently touches on race and class issues, as well as intellectualism, marriage and family dynamics.

I just started On Beauty as well. I'm six or seven chapters in. I was very hesitant about reading this as I saw several bad reviews; however, it's not all that bad actually.

Started The Sun Over Breda by arturo perez-reverte, one of my all-time favorite authors. This is the third in his Captain Alatriste series about 17th century Spain. Excellent so far.

#44-45:
I read On Beauty a little over a year ago and really enjoyed it. It does get pretty beat up LT, not sure why. I thought the book structure was very creative, I think that is what made the book stick with me... on the other hand, the story itself really didn't do that much for me.

About halfway through Cultural Selection by Gary Taylor ... in which he tries to adapt a natural selection kind of worldview to what bits and pieces of culture are remembered ahead of others ...

I finished reading Gabriel's gift by Hanif Kureishi and was not impressed with this book. How often do fifteen year olds get to manipulate movie directors and famous pop stars - I would not recommed this book.

Next up is The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble. I'm only a few pages and am already loving the way it is written.

After something rising, light & swift which I found disappointing, my non-fiction next-in-the-pile was Mary Pipher's Another country At first it seemed like another of those "getting old but gallantly coping" type of tomes, but Dr. Pipher goes on to explore the diference between the "young-old" & the "old-old." The former are those RV drivers with bumper stickers saying"we're spending our childrens' inheritance." The old old, however are those whose aging has brought real problems - loss of signifcant others, friends, neighborhoods & most important, health. She explores the world of being dependent & does a good job. I finished it last night & this AM began a fiction -- Masha Hamilton's The distance between us a novel about war correspondents in the Mid-East. Not for the faint of heart. But I'll have to finish it before I go to sleep tonight.

I just started Inside the Postal Bus. It is about the goings-on inside the US Postal Cycling Team bus (Lance Armstrong's team). It is pretty good so far.

I just finished The Bright Forever by Lee Martin - powerful book and a bit disturbing, but a compelling book I couldn't put down.

My current read is The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean which I am really enjoying. It is beautifully written and very touching.

#44, 45, 47. I was one of the ones who didn't line Zadie Smith's On Beauty: A Novel. I thought the characters were poorly developed and that there was a lot of very self-indulgent writing, including subplots and characters who only seemed to be there so Smith could make some topical points. But maybe I would have liked it better if it hadn't been designed as an homage to Howards End, a book I truly loved.

Recently I read (The Line of Beauty)by ((Alan Hollinghurst))I absolutely loved it. I loved the unfolding plot, the characters, the story of the outsider trying to be accepted by the wealthy British family,The Feddens. On another level, it's a wonderful satire. The main character is a gay man. But it isn't necessarily a book for gay men.The characters are so well-drawn. I didn't want to finish the book.
I also loved (The Time Traveller's Wife) very well written and although it's science fiction it's very Romantic and credible.I love a well-written romance as opposed to Chic-Lit.
I don't normally read Chic-lit but I enjoyed (Is Anyone out There) by ((Marion Keyes))

#54 Rokram I think you were trying to use touchstones. You need to use square brackets to have them work (not parentheses), but you are correct in using single for titles and double for authors.

I'm about 1/3rd of the way through Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. I'm enjoying it so far. It's funny that you can draw so many parallels between a fictional society in a fantasy setting and society in today's world. I'm not sure if this was intentional or if I'm just "reading" too much into it.

#42 rebeccanyc - you're the only other person I know who's read The Testament of Yves Gundron. I read it a few years back and found it quite good. I released it via BookCrossing and was quite sad when no one ever posted that they'd found and read it.

>43 amandameale:: amandameale, I just ordered Things Fall Apart from Paperbackswap today, because I'd heard so much about it in the "Yellow Sun discussions" here on LT.

I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of it.

Reading Say When by Elizabeth Berg. Her books are very easy to read and go very fast.

I'm waiting for something, anything, to happen in On Beauty. I'll give it a few more chapters, then it gets the old heave-ho.

>4 meghquinn:: meghquinn
I hope you love Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and The Princess Bride, as much as I did. They are both wonderfully funny.

I'm reading Motherless Brooklyn, an LT recommendation. I finished American Pastoral which had some great description in it, but wasn't an immediate favorite of mine. Still reading Papa Hemingway too.
I just started Something Wicked This Way Comes. I really enjoy Ray Bradbury, so hopefully I will like it.

I reread The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood Saturday. I am now reading Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson and Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin.

>62 GeorgiaDawn: You notice how your book's titles are all sort of related?

The HandMAID's Tale
MistBORN
Rosemary's BABY

Don't mind me...

Currently reading:

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore
In the Hand of Dante by Nick Tosches

Gah! I read Obsession by Karen Robards this weekend on the recommendation of a co-worker - ugh!!! I kept reading b/c the premise was kind of interesting (a woman is attacked in her home and wakes up not recognizing herself in the mirror, though several people whom she knows confirm that she is who she is), and I wanted it to get better. It never did. Totally confusing and unbelievable. Oh well.

Next up is The Castle in the Forest by Norman Mailer, I've never read anything by him, so I hope I like it. Heck, anything would be better than Obsession.

Also, just started Dead Lines by Greg Bear on audio after finishing Harry Potter and the Half blood Prince this morning.

I just finished Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers. I do like the Vane/Wimsey novels but does Wimsey have any real flaws?

Just starting Rereading Fredrick Jackson Turner with commentary by John Mack Faragher. A collection of Western historian Turner's essays.

Just finished The Crossley Baby - wasn't that impressed, but I didn't give it my full attention, either. Also finished The Great Unraveling - a lot of fun if you're into economics.

Currently reading Complications: a surgeon's notes on an imperfect science and The Working Poor (I thought maybe someone had written a book about me...I was wrong. But it's really good, anyway).

I'm working my way through The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, after finishing The Accidental by Ali Smith last week. I liked The Accidental, but only in parts - the middle section seemed to me the most interesting. Unfortunately I just couldn't seem to rustle up much empathy for some of the characters, but I suspect that may have been the point. The Magic Mountain I'm finding really slow going - interesting, but it requires all your attention, and I find myself gazing out the window frequently. I may have to take a break every 100 pages or so, and read something lighter!

I just finished The Blind Assassin this afternoon and loved it. Am about to start Ishmael. I think. I don't know how I came to own it - it has been on my bookshelf forever, but I'm just really looking at the cover. It's not another Celestine Prophecy, is it?

#66 - Of course he doesn't. That's why women love him. They do realize he is fictional though. :)

I'm a 100 pages in to Half of a Yellow sun which it appears many of you have read. Many Years ago I read Things Fall Apart and was struck by how well written it was, conveying the experience of colonialism so vividly and in such an undoctrinaire way.

I'm two-thirds of the way through Yugoslavia and Its Historians, which is a fairly good collection of essays if you've done a bit of background reading.

I have just finished (The Book of Loss) by ((Julith Jedamus)) and really enjoyed it evethough it didn't really conclude. I am still reading (The Zahir) by ((Paulo Coelho)) and am thinking of starting (The Embers of Heaven). My problem is I have too many books on the go!!

I am currently reading a e-book version of Anthony Trollope's The American Senator.

A friend recently loaned me The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis which I had never read before. What a wonderful experience. I found myself reacting as a mother to Lucy's initial exploration in Narnia, afraid she would get lost, thinking it's not such a good idea to go off with a fawn. But of course I was way wrong.

Last night, I started The Bookseller of Kabul. Not far along yet, but it's quite interesting.

#57 xicanti, I bought The Testament of Yves Gundron after I read Emily Barton's Brookland last year, which I read because of a very good review in The New Yorker; I found it fascinating, but felt it didn't quite work. Although I didn't get around to reading Yves Gundron until now, I ended up liking it better.

#68 Killeymoon, I am planning to try The Magic. Mountain again later this spring or summer; I say again because I tried two or three times in my 20s and 30s and couldn't get through it, but I think I might enjoy it now that I'm older.

#73, NJO, it appears you are trying to use touchstones. They require square brackets, not parentheses, but you are right in using single ones for titles and double ones for authors.

I just finished On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan. I've always found that Ian McEwan is one of those writers I think I should enjoy reading more than I actually do, but I have to say that I found myself really liking this novella. Maybe I like him better in small doses.

Last night I started Misfortune: A Novel by Wesley Stace and am really enjoying it so far. It made today's horrible commute slightly less horrible.

I'm reading Pug hill by Alison Pace. It was a bit of a jokey present for my birthday, 23/04- normally I'm not keen on "chick-lit" but on the other hand I love pugs!

I just started A Brief History of the Dead by Peter M. Senge which I'm reading for a book group. I'm not sure what I think of it yet.

I've finished both Helen of Troy and another book, The Serpent Bride by Sara Douglass. I really loved both and highly recommend them. I'm now re-reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for a break since I'm writing two essays at the moment, interspersed with short stories from George R. R. Martin's Dreamsongs.

Touchstones not great ...

Space psychology and psychiatry by N. Kanas

Just about finished listening to The Three Musketeers now, so I'll be starting the audio book of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley tomorrow. Am also currently reading The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell.

Isn't wonderful to be among people who read?! I can't help but think that when reading all these posts:-)

#83 (Avaland) - YES! It is wonderful :)

I just finished The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean - loved it (I rated it a 4.5/5). A stunning book full of vibrant details, just beautifully written.

I just started Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood today.

I am still plowing my way through The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax not because I don't enjoy it but because I am swamped with other things. I really hate when I am too busy to read as much as I want because it makes it seem like it takes forever to finish a book. I was going to start Blackberry Wine after this but grabbed a copy of The Road by Cormac McCarthy at the library yesterday. It is only a two week loan so I will probably start that next. I have heard good reviews on LT about it so thought I would give it a try - although I believe it is an Oprah selection and I don't always like those but I am willing to give it a try.

this is long overdue, but i'm just starting to read The Secret History by Donna Tartt. i just finished Train Man by Hitori Nakano.

Just re-reading Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire by way of going through the series again before No. 7 appears. I am also reading, as time and concentration allows, Yiddish Civilisation which is absolutely fascinating, and Justice for All: Earl Warren and the Nation He Made, which will take approximately forever. It's historically very interesting, but the good stuff is buried in details that really could have been left out. (I swear the author researched what Mr. Justice Warren had for dinner whenever possible.)

#76 rebeccanyc, I've decided to put The Magic Mountain down for a bit, read something else, and then go back to it. It's taken a week to get through 100 pages which is incredibly slow going for me!

The "something else" I've picked up is The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw, which has piqued my interest straight away.

I finished Cloud Atlas at 3 o'clock this morning. In a way it's a relief because I really struggled with the first half - I couldn't see how the stories fit together and some of the dialogue was really difficult to work through. I'm so glad I persevered though.

I've got a couple books going now - The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima (looks to be quite disturbing) and Anchee Min's Red Azalea, her memoir of childhood during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. It's disturbing too, but the beauty and vividness of her writing style makes it bareable.

#84 avaland- it is just wonderful to know that reading is not a lost art and there are people out there who appreciate a good and sometimes not so good book

#58 lindsacl
You will definitely like Things Fall Apart. The setting is different to Half of a Yellow Sun. The former is about tribal culture just before the missionaries arrived.

Turns out The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea took less than a day to read. Now I'm on to Big Fish.

Finished Daughter of Time last night...I kept getting confused and am not sure that I even know why they reached the conclusion that they did about the murder of the Princes in the Tower, but it was still a good introduction to the whole mystery.

Am just starting Dissolution by C.J. Sansom...The murder mystery is interesting enough so far, and the main character- a hunchback working for Henry VIII's Lord Cromwell- is certainly unique!

I just finished a book called Knitting Circle by Anne Hood. I loved it. It was a heartwrenching story that was a real page turner for me. I know this one will stay w/ me for a while. Highly recommended.

Inspired by a recent trip to Los Angeles, I'm reading The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler and enjoying it. I haven't read a detective story in a long time.

#86 Would love to know what you think of The Secret History when you finish.

Just finished Suite Francais by Irene Nemirovsky and found it was wonderful, though not sure if most of this opinion came from the writing itself, or the story behind the book being published.... Should point out however, that even though the reader is warned in advaince regarding the lack of a proper ending, the book's finishing point does arrive rather abruptly and it's hard not to feel unsatisfied and a bit robbed...

>92 cestovatela: let me know what you think of Big Fish; I read Daniel Wallaces The Watermelon King not so long ago and I have a reader's copy of his forthcoming novel. He slides a bit of social commentary into a Southern tall tale in The Water melon King...a fun read. I also have his Ray in Reverse but haven't read it yet.

#26 for an interesting interview with Susan Patron the author of The Higher Power of Lucky go to thebookreport.net and you can listen to the past interviews of many great authors. I work at the bookshop owned by the ladies who created this great talk radio show. I am starting The Unnatural History of Cypress Parish by Elise Blackwell tonight.

I'm about to start Burning Bright by Tracey Chevalier for a light read. I despised her last novel so much that I won't even give its name, lest someone accidentally remembers it and buys it.

#43 Grkmwk
Thanks for reminding of Ann Patchett's Bel Canto. I absolutely loved it. Was given it by my mother and I procrastinated reading it (thinking it might be sappy), then needed something for a international biz trip...Couldn't put the book down from take off to landing non-stop. Savor it.
#86 Loved the secret history. Totally warped me for awhile.
Am reading Tai-pan from James Clavell. Finished Shogun a month ago and still crave historical fiction. Plus live and travel in Asia and find it fascinating to read about places while you're in them.

#101, I too put off reading Bel Canto because I thought it might be sappy, and I too loved it. And then went on to read everything else by Ann Patchett.

#101 & #102, I am thoroughly enjoying Bel Canto and fortunately (maybe unfortunately?) my life is forcing me to move through it somewhat slowly, so I am able to savor it. I was actually at the bookstore yesterday evening trying to decide on another work by Ann Patchett - any recommendations?

#101: Mentioning these James Clavell's brings back college memories for me. I read these two books something like 12 years ago, over my college summer breaks ...I miss those... I've forgotten most of the books, but I remember finding Shogun to be a really nice crafty book with great characters, one of my favorites at that time. I found Taipan to be only so-so, good for a light read. I'm not sure how I would find them now.

Bel Canto is still fresh... I loved it as well!

I finished The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax last night. It was a very easy, entertaining read and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

This morning I started The Road - definitely not an easy read. I am only on page 25 but I think I like it. I am having a hard time with the writing style though but feel that I can continue to plow through it to the end.

#105- I know whay you mean bookaholicgirl- the style definitely takes awhile to get used to and i do like this one better than some of the other ones of his that i've read

#106 - The thing I find the hardest is that there are a lot of incomplete sentences followed by total run-on sentences. I am so used to proofreading essays, etc. for my kids that I find myself trying to correct the book in my mind:) I do find the concept interesting and am curious to find out exactly what is going on and what happened to put them in this situation and where everyone else is exactly. I don't think this will be a quick read, though.

#103, I liked The Patron Saint of Liars better than The Magician's Assistant, but Bel Canto is definitely better than both. I haven't read Truth & Beauty: A Friendship (touchstone not loading) because I read an excerpt in a magazine and it annoyed me.

Just finished reading oops thanks 111Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and now started the Britain Yearly Meeting Swarthmore Lecture, Ground and Spring by Beth Allen

So I finished Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult yesterday, and now I'm reading Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn, The Giver by Lois Lowry, and Rage by Stephen King. An interesting combination. ;)

--> 109

Perhaps you mean Neverwhere? :-)

I'm reading The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls.

oops yes I did mean neverwhere

I just finished Bel Canto and wrote my first review on Revish.com. Now I'm listening to A Dirty Job (Christopher Moore just makes me laugh). I aslo picked up a $1.99 book at Borders over the weekend, Been There, Done That by Carol Snow; sometimes you need an easy read.

I am in the process of reading:

Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain (About 25% through)
The Best of Hal Clement by, er, Hal Clement (About 20% through)
Words of Science by Isaac Asimov (About 35% through)

I am also listening to audiobooks of the complete Foundation series while at work. I just finished the first book and am going to begin listening to Foundation and Empire tonight.

I most recently finished The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon and Deus Irae by Philip K. Dick and Roger Zelazny.

For some reason the last five touchstones REALLY don't want to load, so I'll just let them lie.

#103 I agree with #108
Also, I tried to read Taft but it was nothing like the others and I didn't finish it.

I'm almost finished with Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas. I was able to fly through this book after reading Elantris. I guess my reading speed does increase depending on the complexity of storyline. It took me almost a week to finish Elantris, which is a long time for me to read one book.

hi all- i just finished the road on my way to work this morning-normally i take a nap but this was so good i had to finish it today- next to be read is harry potter and the chamber of secrets

Victory... I finally finished Cryptonomicon. Sorry, I had to share, it took me over three weeks. I enjoyed it. I'm just a slow reader and 900 pages takes me some time. I find that if you strip away the math, code-breaking and perl scripts etc., this is basically a thriller, with lots of gore and silly romance. And, if you are looking for a 900 page thriller, I coudn't recommend a better book. But, it's the break down of the computer logic that makes Neal Stephenson's stuff fullfilling to read.

I haven't read The Road yet. I think it will be a harrowing read. I did read No Country for Old Men also by Cormac Mc Carthy. I thought it was v well written but I wasn't so sure about the "tough guy" characters and themes.

I finished Motherless Brooklyn, which was great as an audiobook because the main character has Tourette's Syndrome.
I started Agnes Grey, by the only Bronte sister I haven't read.
I'm also finsihing up Something Wicked This Way Comes.
It's been a good reading week.

#119-Hi rokram- the road was indeed harrowing and dark and disturbing yet also hopeful

Motherless Brooklyn was excellent as an audio - I think it was one of Frank Muller's last performances before he wrecked himself.

I'm new to LibraryThing, and wanted to begin with a discussion about a book I just started reading, The Wild Trees. I hope I'm entering this discussion correctly?

I just started this book by Richard Preston. It starts out very suspenseful, especially for a wannabe tree climber like me. I do have a question however, Preston says the book is factual, and in the beginning two College students free hand climb a 300 ft. redwood tree (using no ropes). Is this really possible?

I find this hard to believe. Is anyone aware of the possibility or impossibility of climbing such a large tree free-handily?

123: landmime

The is a new thread every week for the current one go to

http://www.librarything.com/topic/73895