What are you reading the week of July 30th, 2011?

New thread for the week.

Alexander Trocchi (30th July 1925) – British novelist. Notable works include the brilliant Young Adam (1957).



Emily Brontë (30th July 1818) - An English novelist and poet. Best remembered for the classic, Wuthering Heights (1847).

J. K. Rowling (31st July 1965) - British author best known as the creator of Harry Potter. She has won numerous awards and her books have sold more than 400 million copies worldwide.

Herman Melville (1st August 1819) - American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. Best known for his novel Moby-Dick.

Isabel Allende (2nd August 1942) - Chilean author. Notable works include The House of the Spirits (La casa de los espíritus) (1982), Paula (1995), Daughter of Fortune (1999) (Hija de la fortuna), Portrait in Sepia (2000) (Retrato en sepia, City of the Beasts (La ciudad de las bestias) (2002), Ines of My Soul (2006) (Inés del alma mía).

P. D. James (3rd August 1920) - An English crime writer famous for her creation detective Adam Dalgliesh. Also notable for her acclaimed novel, The Children of Men (1992).

Dennis Lehane (4th August 1965) – American author. Notable works include A Drink Before the War (1994), Darkness, Take My Hand (1996), Gone, Baby, Gone (1998), Mystic River (2001), Shutter Island (2003); etc.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (4th August 1792) – One of the leading English Romantic poets. His verse works including Ode to the West Wind, To a Skylark, When Soft Voices Die and long visionary poems such as The Revolt of Islam and Adonaïs have influenced generations of authors.

Guy de Maupassant (5th August 1850) - 19th-century French writer. He is most famous for his short stories which were often macabre in nature and had twist endings. Notable works include novels Bel-Ami (1885), Pierre et Jean (1888), short story collections Mademoiselle Fifi (1882), Clair de lune (1884), Contes du jour et de la nuit (1885); etc.

Thanks for another great start, Porua. I didn't know it was Dennis Lehane's birthday this week. We were talking about August authors on another thread. I think it might be time for me to pull out another one of his.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through Amy and Isabelle, another hit for Strout. I'm also about half way through listening to The Likeness, again another author who just keeps producing quality. Evidently unlike Ann-Marie Macdonald, to join the other discussion. I also loved Fall on Your Knees.

I just finished The Caves of Steel by Asimov. After watching and loving the movie, after seeing the TV show Sherlock, after hearing it referenced everywhere, I decided it is time I tackle my Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories. I always hesitated because I want to read a book (work, physical entity) as a whole, and it is quite a big hole... But, I am still home with a crappy back, so if not now, when....
And I am still working away on The New Penguin History of The World. Very interesting, if a bit euro-centric (but the writer admits to this fact in the preface)... Just not something for late night reading, as it is pact with facts and whole civilizations pass by in less than 50 pages...

Slogging through Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion?. So far it's precious, overwritten, and atrociously titled, but I suspect things are going downhill from there.

It's a long time ago and I can't remember a thing about the book but I seem to remember thoroughly enjoying The Way the Crow Flies. Wish I could remember why.

I finished Dracula in Love a little disappointed. It wasn't a bad book, especially considering some of the other execrable attempts that have been made to provide a sequel to Stoker's work (Dacre Stoker, I'm looking at you) but it didn't really work for me and was nowhere near the quality of Essex's Stealing Athena. Moving on to something very different now with The Sheltering Sky though I'm also sticking with the Dracula theme with occasionals forays into Contemporary Gothic. For study purposes I'm also slogging through Milton by William Blake.

Thanks for setting this up, Porua! Great job!

I am loving The Bells. I will be singing this ones praises for awhile. On audio, I started Watership Down, for the Group Read. Surprisingly, I've never read it and it begins superbly.

Just to add - thanks to everyone who has mentioned The Bells. It's winging its way to me right now.

Degrees of Freedom: Louisiana and Cuba after Slavery - Rebecca J. Scott. For English majors, I recommend Maze in Blue.

I've already started Dark Banquet this morning. Thumbs up so far! :)

About half done with Thirteen (aka Black Man) by Richard K. Morgan.

Just started Wired by Douglas E Richard. Fast moving so far.

Today I'll start The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst, which was selected for this year's Booker Prize longlist. I'm also reading The Anatomist: A True Story of Gray's Anatomy by Bill Hayes, and either today or tomorrow I'll start Life A User's Manual by Georges Perec, as I'm leading a group read of it in the 75 Books group starting on Monday.

Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding was a fun steampunker. Now I'm reading a good YA title, Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen.

The slow crawl at which I am reading The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths and Six Months in the Sandwich Islands by Isabella Bird is not at all indicative of how much I am enjoying them both. I wish I had more time to spend with them.

I'm also listening to the audio of Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell and am getting much more out of it than I did when I read the book just a few short weeks ago.

eta: Thanks for the lovely start to the week, Porua!

Slow reading week for me. I'm about halfway through Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, which I really like. The writing is a bit sloppy at times, but the story of trying to find yourself resonates with me. Also reading Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson, which I've been mainly reading during my lunch breaks at work. It's well-written, but a bit of a slow read. Also skimming through I Am America And So Can You, which is a true laugh-out-loud book!

I finished The Gargoyle last week. Now treating myself to a reread of the Harry Potter series, and reading The Incredible Journey aloud.

I always love the starts to this week with all the different birthdays and tidbits of author info! Thanks Porua!

I'm still working at downsizing my currently reading list and so about half-way through Knit Two by Kate Jacobs. It's about the same as The Friday Night Knitting Club but not jumping up and down yet....

Earlier this week I finished The Help which was probably the best book I've read this year. So glad that someone let me borrow their copy. I've since started Summer Rental, but so far haven't been sucked into the sotry like I normally am with Mary Kay Andrews books. Hopefully, it will start to pick up!

I'm starting Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne this afternoon.

Yes, thanks Porua for the great start to the reading week.

I'm still reading The Brothers Gwynedd on Kindle. The slow pace at which I seem to be reading it is not indicative of how good the book is but rather it is my commute book so I can read only about an hour a day of it. I've also started listening to Rebel Angels by Libba Bray, the second in the YA trilogy that began with A Great and Terrible Beauty. There's a lot of teenage angst going on, which is always a bit offputting (to me), but so did the first in the series at the beginning, and I ended up liking that one a lot. Finally, I'm reading a book of short novelettes called Must Love Hellhounds, featuring a story of the same title by Charlaine Harris. It was okay, but I enjoyed the second story about (Guild Hunters) by Nalini Singh more, and I am hoping the last two are at least as good as Harris's offering, though I'm not familiar with their work.

jfetting, I have such warm feeling for Tristram Shandy that it tickles me just to see that someone is setting out to read it. Uncle Toby is one of my favorite people.

I am reading The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen although I won't be finishing it until the end of the year after I have read all six of the major novels in the 75 Books in 2011 Austenathon. I can read the cultural chapters and the material on the four novels I have already read.

Robert

Tristram Shandy starts out promisingly - I've already laughed out loud a couple of times. I've heard this is a hit-or-miss kind of book, and hopefully this means that I'll be in the "likes it" category.

Thanks for a great start to the week, Porua!

I'm reading Tomb of the Golden Bird by Elizabeth Peters...the next-to-last in the Amelia Peabody series. I'm already feeling angst about finishing the series! I've spent two fun summers with Amelia and her family and it will be hard to let them go. But, on the bright side...I can finally start getting to other books that have been clamboring for attention!

Only about 90 pages left of The Post-American World: Release 2.0. Quite a ways more on Mockingjay. Hoping to finish both of those by Monday evening so I can start vacation with a new slew of books!

Thanks Porua for starting the week off. I am reading To Kill A Mockingbird and thoroughly enjoying it. Can you believe I never had to read this book in school?

>26 momom248: mommom248: It's an amazing book, isn't it? I envy you reading it for the first time. I read it when I was a teenager, but I don't think I ever had to read it for school, either. I'm astounded that any English teacher would overlook it. The movie with Gregory Peck is wonderful, too.

I just finished Summer Rental and I am now starting Dead Reckoning. Obviously, I am craving mindless summer reads. :)

I am still reading Wolf Totem and loving it. It is predominantely about Mongolia during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the effects therefrom. But it is also a beautiful reflection on its people, the wolves and the land as told by a Han Chinese man who goes to live amid the nomads and forms a true respect for their way of life.

Bizarrely, my Early Reviewer book just arrived, Tea of Ulaan-Baatar by Christoper R. Howard and it is about "the post-Soviet industrial hell of urban Mongolia." (per the jacket)

Having not previously even read about Mongolia, that I can recall, I now will visit it from many angles.

My hat is definately off to all of you who can read more than one story at a time. I find it hard to keep them seperated in my brain if I do that. You must let me in on the secret to that sometime.

(3)divinenanny, have you checked out Laurie King's Sherlock Holmes series? She has taken a fairly 2 dimensional character by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and added a young female who becomes his partner in solving crimes. They are a great bunch of books, and I highly recommend them. The first one in the series is The Beekeeper's Apprentice.

(17) The Incredible Journey is a joy to read, and savor...forget the movies!

(26 & 27) And I totally agree on To Kill a Mockingbird...I wish we'd read it in school instead of some of the garbage we did read...

I'm getting a huge kick out of Cooking with Fernet Branca. It's as if Bertie Wooster bought a house in Tuscany and has to cook for himself because Jeeves couldn't make the trip.

I was in junior high in 1960 when To Kill a Mockingbird was published. I grew up in a small southern town and I'm not sure any school in our mostly rural county would have taught a book that included such a highly charged account of race relations (black and white students in our district attended separate schools until two years after I graduated) and of course the topics of rape and incest. I knew the book was on the best seller list but did not read it until I was a sophomore in high school. I was the class bookworm and was trying to read more serious books in preparation for college and one of my teachers suggested that I read Harper Lee's book. The teacher loaned me her personal copy since the school library didn't have one and the county library was quite a distance from our home.

Like many girls of that era, I was very sheltered and naive -- I had to look up the word "rape", and then a couple of words in the definition itself. Like many "hidden away" things, it was a subject that as a young woman I believe I did have a deep primal sort of knowledge and fear of but of course no one had ever talked to me about it -- such things weren't discussed. The book -- which my parents knew I was reading but did not comment on -- had a profound impact on me. I eventually bought a paperback copy of the book and read it several more times before leaving high school. The movie came out the year I first read it and several of my friends and I went to see it -- it was the first movie I went back to see a second time.

#30 - Abby_Ford - I equate reading several books at one time as being similar to following several TV series. You watch them every week, spending only a small amount of time with each one, but still follow the storylines. I read different books in different situations. It probably doesn't work for everyone, but....works for me! I only have problems if one of the books is a real drag and yet for some reason I feel I have to HAVE to finish it! :(

#29 Carolyn, you read such interesting books. Wolf Totem sounds like a book that would go well with my recent read of The Tenderness of Wolves in its discussion of the nomadic way of life.

#30 Abby Ford, I am with you, not possible for this reader, sometimes I will read a short story during the reading a novel, that's the closest that I get.

After putting a few books aside!!! I think that I may enjoy the latest All He Ever Wanted by Anita Shreve.

61 hours by Lee Child and Vital Conversations by Alec Grimsley - quite different but both fun.

Currently reading several books at a time, meaning whichever book is near me as I go to sit outside in the shade by the garden, lying in bed before going to sleep, or waiting anywhere :) I finished In Stitches by Anthony Youn M.D.

I am reading Death in a Scarlet Coat (Lord Francis Powerscourt mystery) by David Dickinson. Denise Rogers

# 2 You're welcome, Citizenjoyce! I haven't read any of Dennis Lehane's books but I have heard of them of course.

# 6, 15, 18, 21, 24 & 26 You're welcome guys! :-)

>19 codiebelle78:, I just read a new book The Homecoming of Samuel Lake which you might like since you enjoyed The Help. Southern story with great characters. I really enjoyed it.

I second Fuzzy's rec of the Mary Russell series by Laurie King. Very good Holmes pastiche.

I need something light and funny right about now, so am rereading Northanger Abbey. Oi, do I need something funny.

Keeping the Moon was a good YA title, with Colie learning about belief in herself and not allowing the cruelty of others to distract her from friendship and life's possibilities.

Next is Parnassus on Wheels.

I've finished, to the extent I ever will, my ER book "Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion?" (touchstone takes you to the Norwegian original, and the English translation does not appear among the other touchstone options...on my thread, the title is a link to the correct book). I hated it. My review is in my thread,post #66.

Posted a review of Every Shallow Cut by Tom Piccirilli, here:

http://www.librarything.com/work/10873268/reviews/75555593

;-}

About to start Elizabeth Hay's Alone in the Classroom. I'm also reading through The Backwoods of Canada which is a series of letters written by a woman about her immigration experience to Canada.

Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes is a 2010 novel of the Viet Nam war that is getting excellent comments. As a survivor of that misguided conflict, I have not wanted to re-visit old memories from times perhaps best forgotten. On the other hand, the author, a highly decorated Marine, spent 30 years working on this and it may well turn out to be the single best anti-war statement written in many years. It was an impulse purchase on a recent trip to the bookstore. I'll review it when completed.

I just started Rounding the Mark by Andrea Camilleri. I loved Dibdin's Zen series and I am loving the Montalbano procedurals just as much.

I started reading Remarkable Creatures yesterday and I am loving it! My book club is reading it too.

#46....mldavis2 > I will look forward to your comments on Matterhorn. I found it fascinating, particularly as it seems to highlight the disconnect between the politics of the military and the lives of the men at the front. I hope it does not end up being a painful revisitation for you!

... hemlokgang > I have only just opened the book, but I can see through the first 4 chapters that the author is being honest and open with his narrative. I suspect (though I don't know for sure) that this is a likely pseudo-autobiography. No one with whom I served felt that we had the complete backing of the U.S. citizenry and politicians. As the old drill sergeant line goes "There's four ways to carry out an order, the right way, the wrong way, your way and the Army way. We do things the Army way around here." I'm encouraged by the generally excellent reviews this novel is receiving.

Finished Thirteen (Black Man) by Richard K. Morgan and The Prince of the Pond by Donna Jo Napoli and I've started The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon.

Seitherin, I hope you like The Yiddish Policemen's Union as much as I did, which was enough to give out a couple of copies as Christmas presents - oh, the irony.

I, too, loved The Yiddish Policeman's Union.

It took me several weeks to read A Whole Different Ballgame: The Sport and Business of Baseball, Marvin Miller's account of his years as executive director of the major league players' union. Not because I didn't find the book fascinating, which I did, but only because my reading time has been limited. At any rate, you can find my brief review on the book's work page or on my 50-Book Challenge thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/106335

Finally finished At Dawn We Slept and am celebrating by picking up several others: The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Life As We Knew It, and There Is No Me Without You. So lovely to be out of the 1940s.

This afternoon I started Caught by Harlan Coben. A lot of my customers like Coben so I thought I'd try one.

> #34 Neverwithoutabook: Thanks for the tip. I never really put it in context of watching a tv series but it makes sense. My only problem is that when I find a book that I love I can't put it down.

> #36. hazeljune: When it comes to short stories, I find it easier to read several by the same author. That's about the only way I can keep them from blurring together. Which was my main downfall when it came to my recent English course in short stories.

As far as what I'm reading, though it may seem tweenish, I just got done with Fallen 2 days ago and finished Torment about 15 mins ago, both by Lauren Kate. Like I said tweenish but I was actually surprised. They were recommended by friend and I thought what the heck I'll give it a shot. Tomorrow I'll start the 3rd book in the series cause now that I've started I gotta see it through. Anyone else have that curse when it comes to series?

#57 Abby_Ford - You're welcome! Keeping in mind the media reference, I think a book you can't put down would equate to a movie, or mini-series! I wouldn't stress to much about it, tho. Just enjoy! That's why we read....right? ;)

#58 Neverwithoutabook - I couldn't agree more!

@4 Richard, I requested that one too. I feel fortunate that I didn't get it! I loved the ER I got instead, First Descent.

As for me, I just got back from Diversicon so I now have whole lists of books to add to my wishlist, a bag full of books I bought at the auction, and a subscription to the New York Review of Science Fiction.

@5 And a story for Booksloth! One of the women at the Con went to college with Dacre Stoker, and says she got a shock when she went to donate blood and found he was working at the donation center. LOL!

@33 Molly, I was in high school in the early 80s, and we read Catcher in the Rye, but not To Kill a Mockingbird. I think it was still too "new" then, and perhaps too volatile a subject, although my teachers never seemed to flinch from teaching a controversial book. I remember one saying that she always asked parents who objected to a book to read it, and then discuss it with her. Most often, the parents would read the book and then withdraw their objections.

I'm still reading Madame Bovary and loving it, but clearly someone who isn't found of description wouldn't like this book. It's subtle. He seems to be just describing things, but in the descriptions, we feel Emma's growing discontent and her odd, changing values.

#46 - mldavis2 - I started Matterhorn a few months ago, but had to put it down, partially because my reading kept getting interrupted and I was unable to get back into the flow of the book, but also because my boyfriend is currently serving in the Marines and the descriptions in the book were too painful for me to read...they kept me thinking about what my boyfriend had to endure in Afghanistan. However, I found what I had read to be quite enlightening and emotional and I hope that it won't be too painful for you, given your experiences. I hope to read the book again someday, preferably after my boyfriend's contract is up.

I finished Amy and Isabelle and agree with my friend, it really is better than Olive Kitteridge, a really wonderful book about a very repressed mother and daughter.

Now I start Bossypants which I've been requesting from the library ever since it came out. I wish I could hear it on audio, but print is all they have.

I have started on Accordion Crimes by E. Annie Proulx, she is a mighty fine writer.

Last week I read Blutsünde, a german crime novel, set in Rostock, a town at the baltic sea, and it was really great. I started and finished it in one day, because it kept haunting me as son as I put it down.

Then I read Faceless Killers, which was also good, but not as breathtaking as the above mentioned. I think, Mankell tried a bit to hard, to make the novel and the crime appear realistic, because he describe how the case was not being solved for several month and they were not making any progress.

Yesterday then I finished The Rider on the White Horse. It was okay, but I am not sure yet what to think about it.

>Joyce- Glad to hear you enjoyed Amy and Isabelle. I have a copy in the stacks and I was crazy about Olive. Also enjoy Bossypants. It's a lot of fun.

I finished and loved the Bells. Next up, is Divergent, the 1st in a YA series, that's been getting some good buzz. Still enjoying Watership Down too!

#65 et al. The Bells just arrived this morning (along with The Book of Human Skin, which also looks fun). Thanks to everyone who has recommended it - I can't wait to get going (just have to finish the last 70 pages or so of The Sheltering Sky first).

#61 - @coloradogirl14 - I am about 1/3 of the way through Matterhorn. I'm finding it very well written and a logical outlet for the author's frustrations with military incompetence and the disconnect in the chain of command, as well as a tribute to the people who, nevertheless, make it work on some level. I don't see the author creating dirt and dysfunction from scratch, rather most likely relating what he observed and experienced. I was not a Marine, I was Army and I was not an enlistee. I was drafted and my graduate school work was derailed. I was sent to a war I did not support, so my biases are clear and no doubt get in the way of rational evaluation of the novel. All I will say, so far, is that I've been there and Matterhorn tells it like it was, so far.

I am finishing Faithful Place by Tana French--I think it might be the best of her three detective novels so far. I'm about to start Nat Tate by William Boyd. It's my latest ER book.

>>68 DMO:. Faithful Place is my favorite of her detective novels as well. And I loved them all.

I'm reading The Hanging Tree by Bryan Gruley which is the second in the Starvation Lake series. It is quite good but probably requires at least a like of hockey.

I'm also reading Lies My Teacher Told Me which highlights the ways in which history textbooks are blatantly dishonest and are truly teaching American Creation Mythology rather than actual history. It's early stages in the book, but makes me realize I'll have to supplement my son's history education quite a lot when we get there.

Currently reading the e-book Breakthrough: Elizabeth Hughes, The Discovery of Insulin and the Making of a Medical Miracle which is proving to be quite fascinating - and will be starting The Death of Ivan Ilyich.

>70 lkernagh:,
Glad to hear you are enjoying Breakthrough. I have the hardcover sitting on my shelves and really want to get to it.

I am loving Bossypants. Tina Fey could have been Bernie Madoff if she hadn't turned her powers to good instead of evil.

Started Emperor of Ocean Park yesterday and am looking forward to getting into it. Picked up Loving by Henry Green and Sunset Song by Lewis Gibbon at the library today.

Continuing reading "The Language of Beesby Laurie R. King.

I finished and reviewed Hillary Jordan's new novel When She Woke. It took my breath away.

Next up is To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf.

About halfway through Out Stealing Horses. Worth reading for the prose alone.

Just read the description of When She Woke, brenzi. Sound like my kind of book!

#76,
bmga, Out Stealing Horses is a gem.

#53 (Citizenjoyce) & #65 (rocketjk), I've just barely started the book - The Yiddish Policemen's Union, but I'm really like the voice of the book so far.

Finished Killed at the whim of a Hat, which I really enjoyed. I actually felt that the characters seemed a little too Americanized. But perhaps Hollywood films have spread a lot of Americanisms abroad.

I'm still working on Demolishing the Myth. It's a remarkably well researched history of a particular sector during the Battle of Kursk.

The Kursk book was too heavy to take with me on a business trip, so I picked up a copy of Full Dark, No Stars for the plane. Okay reading, but nothing special.

Just finished Mockingjay. I have about 90 pages left on The Post-American World: Release 2.0 and plan on starting The Help on the morrow.

I finished Bossypants and am more impressed with Tina Fey than ever. Now I start So Much to be Done: Women Settlers on the Mining and Ranching Frontier edited by Ruth Barnes Moynihan. I guess I'll go from a modern woman with unlimited energy to historical ones. I'm tired already just thinking about it.

And at last I've got started on The Bells. Loving it so far.

Currently reading The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove and A Game of Thrones.

>71 DevourerOfBooks: - Finished Breakthrough: Elizabeth Hughes, The Discovery of Insulin, and the Making of a Medical Miracle by Thea Cooper. It continued to keep me fascinated to the end and I can recommend this one for anyone with an interest in medical discoveries in general or diabetes in particular. I have posted a review of sorts on the book page.

Now starting The Death of Ivan Ilyich.

(69) nancyewhite, re: Lies My Teacher Told Me. I've not read it, but I can relate to how the history books distort what is actual history, which is also evident in the quality of education the teachers have received.

I had to supplement what my children were 'taught' in school. By high school, my daughter was correcting the teachers (one teacher insisted that Alexander Hamilton shot Aaron Burr!). My daughter went on to graduate from college with Summa Cum Laude honors and an overall GPA of 3.7!

You can do it, especially if you and your children are readers.

(74) Catgwinn, have you read the previous books in the Mary Russell series?

Finally finished The White Rhino Hotel two days ago. What a great adventure story. I am now reading Alexander McCall Smith's Corduroy Mansions from my local library, also very enjoyable.

3/4 of the way through Bad Men by John Connolly. Next up Ghost Story by Jim Butcher. Might have been my last purchase at Borders.. sad.. very sad. =:(

About 1/3 of the way through One Day by David Nicholls and I'm really not in the camp of the lovers or the haters. Also still limping along with Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. In audio, I've moved from The Psychopath Test to Very Bad Men.

Relaxing in the Dordogne area of France with Martin Walker's Bruno, Chief of Police

Finished The Widow by Carla Neggers and since I've temporarily misplaced my latest ER book, I decided to start the second in this trilogy, The Angel.

>41 rockinrhombus:...thanks for the suggestion... I'm looking for it as an ebook now.

Currently reading A Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin. He's from my hometown and it's awesome how he mentions little things that I can relate to. Fabulous author! I've loved every book he's written.

Finished Eat, Pray, Love, and I loved it. I know there's been controversy over the truth of the story, and how much was fabricated for the sake of having a publishable book, but I was tremendously inspired by the spiritual nature of Gilbert's journey. I had my skeptical moments, but I couldn't help feeling happy and rejuvenated after finishing the story. I know some people aren't attracted to memoir as a genre, but for those of you who are, I highly recommend this one, if only for a positive pick-me-up.

One Sunday recently a woman brought Abigail Adams by Woody Holton to church. I protested that a serious biography should not be written by a Woody. If a Woody wants to do biography he should do entertainment figures. Nevertheless he has good credentials, and on the following Wednesday our book group selected the book for September discussion. I have just made the barest start in it but will probably read straight through it.

Robert

#94 Taking judging a book by its cover to a new degree :) "Author's names: what they may and may not write" I picture Mr Durick as an Edwardian with mutton chops sitting in a winged armchair so you may write Wilkie Collins-esque mysteries. I, on the other hand, may write overblown Highland romances featuring frilly bloused lassies hiding errant princes from dastardly usurpers.

I am currently reading Dissolution by CJ Sansom a mystery set in the court of Henry VIII.

I am reading tea of ulaan-baatar by Christopher R. Howard - it is an Early Reviewer book. It is just ... okay.

Read the children's classic Anne of Green Gables. My review is here,

http://www.librarything.com/review/74281158

Or my 75 Books Challenge thread,

http://www.librarything.com/topic/120427

I finished the audio of Watership Down. I have no idea, why I procrastinated on this one, for 30-plus years. It is a joy to read.
On audio, I started The Reading Promise. I know LTers are big on "Books about Books" and this one could be a little gem. It's read by the author and the lovely introduction, is read by her father.
I'm also enjoying Divergent. A perfect hot summer day read.

I am reading The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen. So far is has kept me rivited. There is something spooky going on that I haven't been able to figure out yet. I guess I will just have to wait and see.

I am also listening to The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell. I loved the Da Vinci code type of action and suspence when I read it for the first time. Now I am listening to it and hope the reader does justice to how I remember it.

Just started Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

I've finished Dark Banquet by Bill Schutt, a book about REAL vampires. Review posted. I found it incredibly interesting, thumbs up from me!

Later this morning I'll be starting The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano

I am taking part in a Gone with the Wind readalong, so to enrich that, I am reading Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind: A Bestseller's Odyssey by Ellen Firsching Brown along side it. At two chapters per week, I should finish right as the Gone with the Wind readalong wraps up. I read the first two chapters last night, and found it fairly difficult not to jump ahead in both books after reading them.

> 100 @amz310783 I thought Thirteen Reasons Why was exceptional. Hope you like it.

Parnassus on Wheels, recommended by a lot of LTers, was a charmer. Wish we had bookmobiles like that now, although even they wouldn't be the same as the wonderful horse-drawn bookstore featured here.

The Last Werewolf was as good as promised by the many positive media reviews it has gotten so far. Is it time for a new Stones' song, "Sympathy for the Werewolf"? Author Glen Duncan certainly takes you inside that perspective.

Next for me is The Country of the Pointed Firs, one I've been intending to read for a long time.

I'm almost finished with Wolf Hall and I must say it has been a long time since I've read a book I admired so much. There's not a wasted word -- and Mantel's device of not following the grammatical rule for antecedents is inspired. It places Thomas Cromwell at the heart of the book in such a powerful way -- you can almost anticipate his feelings. And it makes you pay closer attention -- first of all, because it takes getting used to, but also because you don't want to miss anything Cromwell does or says.

I have been reading slowly, savoring every word -- actually hoping the sequel would be on the shelves by the time I was done, but I guess it's still years away. Ah, well, I can always read Wolf Hall again.

Next up: Yukio Mishima's The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea.

I've posted this before, but this essay inspired me to read Wolf Hall and helped me when I was beginning to read the book and I thought it might encourage others in the same way:

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/10/19/091019crbo_books_acocella

good.

Finished The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon and started Promise Me by Harlan Coben.

I just completed The Map Across Time by C.S. Lakin, a modern fairy tale / fantasy adventure that I recommend, and am now reading the first in a police series set in Sicily, The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri which is excellent.

I don't very often pick up a children's book, but today am glad I did! Being in a used bookstore, sometimes a precious gem passes through my hands and today was a good one! I found the best story ever in Merry Christmas, BIG HUNGRY BEAR! by Don and Audrey Wood. I took a few minutes and read it and could just imagine that special little child or grandchild sitting next to you with eyes big with amazement and excitement on that magical night....Christmas Eve! Hmmm...this one might have to be put aside for my granddaughter! ;)

Half way through The Ingenious Edgar Jones by Elizabeth Garner

I am just finishing up The Goodnight Trail a cowboy-adventure story by Ralph Compton. I am going to start The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell and Why Didn't They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie next.

If you haven't seen this and you're a fan of fantasy and/or sci fi, check out this list from NPR: http://www.npr.org/2011/08/02/138894873/vote-for-top-100-science-fiction-fantasy...

You can vote for up to ten works. It's an interesting list. I see a few I need to read.

Well, shoot. They missed some really good books in favor of those that were made recently into movies (neither of which impressed me).

My favorite Heinlein story was Friday: it didn't make the list.

One of my favorite Cherryh series was the Morgaine saga: it didn't make the list.

I like some of Mercedes Lackey's works, but not as 'best'?

Did I miss the Chronicles of Narnia on that list? At least Lewis' Space Trilogy was there.

Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber was a choice...that's good stuff.

Oh, and Watership Down was included too, one of my all time favorites.

Thanks for the link, DMO!

I agree a few greats were missing*, but the list does include some pretty wonderful stuff. I had a hard time deciding, but I finally managed it, and then I discovered that I had missed seeing Sandman, which definitely would have gotten a vote if I'd seen it. Anyway, thanks for the link, DMO! It was fun, and I printed the list because I saw quite a few on it that I have been meaning to read.

ETA *For example, where was Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea trilogy? And it's hard to believe Harry Potter series didn't make it. Agree with fuzzi about the Morgaine series, and where was the Dancers at the End of Time series by Michael Moorcock? And I could go on and on and on...

@103 I finished Thirteen Reasons Why and thought it was brilliant. It sounds wrong to say I loved it about a book so sad, but I do think every teenager should read and ill certainly be making my children when they are old enough (along with Go Ask Alice)

Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay. Should be finished it today or tomorrow, depending on how babysitting goes. (A 23 month old doesn't allow a lot of sit-down time).

I am about to wrap up tea of ulaan-baatar and all I can really say is that it sure is a trippy little number. I haven't a clue how exactly to review this one. When it isn't going all William Burroughs, it's rather interesting. Repugnant people. Globalization gone horribly awry. Just ... out there, man.

Off to a GREAT used book sale today! If anyone is in the Chicago area, it is in Oak Park. There are two I make sure to get to each year and this is one of them.

Finishing Wired. I agree, I also enjoyed Killed on a Whim of a Cat and Wolf Hall

After seeing a near perfect performance of The Glass Menagerie, I couldn't resist picking it up at the bookstore. That night, I wrote about the play in my blog, www.the-reading-list.com
Suited my half-melancholy, half-manic mood perfectly....

I finished and posted a review for The Solitude of Prime Numbers. I read all 271 pages in about a day and a half, so that says something about it! :)

Tomorrow morning I'll start Fast Food Nation.
(Tags are being ridiculous. Can't link to anything other than the DVD. *Rolls eyes*)

Finishe True History of The Kelly Gang, which I found a bit disappointing. I am still reading The Pale King and I am listenng to Nemesis by Philip Roth.

Finished Promise Me by Harlan Coben and started The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

After a really crummy week, I have finally found something that I am enjoying reading. I hope The Woodcutter by Reginald Hill continues to keep me entertained. I can use the distraction from a series of petty problems and thankless tasks. And that is all the whining I'm going to do -on here, anyway.

I've just started listening to My Antonia and am utterly charmed.

>119 Ape: Ape - Nice review of The Solitude of Prime Numbers. I was really interested in the characters and couldn't put the book down when I read it.

>123 Citizenjoyce: @Citizenjoyce My Antonia is so good!

The new thread is here,

http://www.librarything.com/topic/121730