What are you reading the week of September 10th, 2011?

New thread for the week.

D. H. Lawrence (11th September 1885) - An English novelist, poet, playwright and essayist. Some of his best known works are Sons and Lovers (1913), The Rainbow (1915), Women in Love (1920) and Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928).

O. Henry (11th September 1862) - O. Henry was the pseudo name of the American author William Sydney Porter. He is known for writing short stories with exceptionally clever twist endings.

Stanisław Lem (12th September 1921) - Polish writer of science fiction, philosophy and satire. He is perhaps best known for writing Solaris (1961).

Michael Ondaatje (12th September 1943) - Canadian novelist and poet. His best known work remains The English Patient (1992). The book became an Academy-Award-winning film directed by Anthony Minghella in 1996.

J. B. Priestley (13th September 1894) - An English novelist and playwright. An Inspector Calls remains one of his most important plays.

Roald Dahl (13th September 1916) - British novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. Dahl is known for writing entertaining but dark stories for children and also for writing even darker themed works for adults. In 2008 The Times gave Dahl sixteenth place on their list of The 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Some of his notable books written for children are James and the Giant Peach (1961), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964), Fantastic Mr Fox (1970), Matilda (1988); etc.



Agatha Christie (15th September 1890) - British author of crime novels, short stories and plays. Her creations the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and lovable yet shrewd spinster Miss Jane Marple remain popular around the world even today. Christie was the first author to receive the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. Some important works include novels such as The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), Murder on the Orient Express (1940), Death on the Nile (1937), And Then There Were None (1939), Endless Night (1967) and plays like The Mousetrap and Witness for the Prosecution.

Thanks Porua - great start!
Don Juan
Byron in Love
The Possession of Mr Cave

Ed for typo

Morning everyone! Thanks for kicking things off, Porua! I'm finishing up Ship Fever. It's an excellent story collection. Next up, is A Cafe on the Nile, the follow-up to the terrific White Rhino Hotel.
On audio, I'm enjoying my 1st Three Pines mystery, Still Life.

I finished The Last Rain by Edeet Ravel and Alone in the Classroom by Elizabeth Hay and liked both of them. I read Wayne Johnston's A World Elsewherebefore that and was very disappointed. The Johnston book made the Giller Prize longlist but the first two did not- hmm

Thanks for the terrific start to the week, Porua! What a variety of genres and writing styles we have this week!

Of course I'm still reading War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, and I'm loving it. I expect that will be my answer for many, many weeks to come!

Thanks, Porua. Yay, Dame Agatha!

Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran features an unusual private investigator mixing it up in a post-Katrina, beaten down New Orleans. Good start to what reportedly will be a series.

I'm nearing the end of Lost in Shangri-La and loving it. New to me is a formatting scheme I hope catches on: photos of the key participants appropriately placed in the text so you're seeing a photo of the person you're reading about.

I'm reading something fairly light but fun....The Reef by Nora Roberts. It's been a busy time, moving my classroom, preparing for school, preparing for my grandson's 2nd birthday, plus a few other family birthdays and celebrations thrown in for good measure. So...light and fun suit me right now!

Read Pembroke a 19th century New England novel and am now finishing Mill on the Floss

I'm currently reading:
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter - compelling, well-crafted story
Half the Sky - well-written, but hard to read
Professor Mommy - just started, seems promising

Thanks Porua! I am currently reading The Affinity Bridge by George Mann, a Victorian setting steampunk mystery which appears to be book one in a so far three book series.

#10 lkernagh...I'd love to know what you think of The Affinity Bridge. It's been on my TBR list for awhile, but I've read mixed reviews of it.

I'm finishing up The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene.

At long last, I have finally cracked open Gone With the Wind. The first chapter alone, all about the Tarleton twins (who appeared briefly in the first scene of the movie) was a fascinating character study and hilarious to boot. I can't tell you all how delighted I am that I have more than 900 pages to go of this delicious writing.

Salem's Lot...one of Stephen King's slower stories, at least in the beginning, but it's a real treat to read it in terms learning about story structure & POV. I'm beginning a novel of my own, and I've found a lot of inspiration with this story.

In the Garden of Beasts - Erik Larson...fascinating and terrifying at the same time, to read about Hitler in his ascent to power.

I'm still reading Time Regained. Still.

I've decided to chip away at the bottom of Mt TBR--when I hit a "what will I read next?", I'll try to pick one that I've owned the longest but it has languished unread. So, I'm reading Gene Stratton-Porter's book Freckles. This copy belonged to my 84 yo mother's older brothers while they were growing up on their farm.

I'm still listening to Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks as my car audiobook and also reading The Money Class by Suze Orman.

coloradogirl--too cool you're writing a book! I hope we'll hear more

Thanks for the nice start Porua! I'm so so so close to being done with both Moneyball and The Odyssey, I just wish I could find the time to finish them! Hopefully that time will come tonight when I'm on duty in the dorm.

(12) NarratorLady, even though I love the movie, the book Gone with the Wind is so much better!

Enjoy. :)

Thanks for starting the new thread, Porua.

Our public library had a 50 cent book sale this morning, so I decided to go. My dh went along with me, even though he's not much of a reader...

I came home with (only) 9 books, one of them being an audio book on learning bird calls. I think he had about 20 books in his bag, mostly audio but some others that I might borrow...he likes history books.

On the advice I received from some of you here, I grabbed Northhanger Abbey and Persuasion both by Jane Austen, one of Lillian Jackson Braun's "The Cat Who.." mysteries (I've read a number of them before), an Ellis Peters' mystery starring Brother Caedfael, a Bevery Cleary book on Ramona (ah, guilty pleasure!), Borden Chantry by Louis L'Amour (one I did not have in my collection), a copy of A Study in Scarlet for a Sherlock Holmes fan friend, and a book on Scandinavian cooking....all added to the TBR stack...

This sale was ONLY paperbacks plus audio books...the hardcover sale is in February. Oh boy, I have more time to save my change... :D

If intent counts for anything, I am now reading Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. I tried to read it a decade or so ago for a group discussion and didn't get through it. I'm reading it now for a discussion in Le Salon.

Robert

I didn't get much reading done last week -- life kept intervening. I kept telling it to call back later, but it was rather insistent, so I didn't get much reading time. I'm making up for it this weekend, though, continuing to read Julian of Norwich: A Contemplative Biography which is quite wonderful -- I imagine I'll finish sometime this evening.

When it arrived a couple of days ago, I couldn't resist opening the new Sebastian Barry novel, On Canaan's Side and of course I read a few pages, so I will probably pick it up next. I'm also hoping to start on Gerard Manley Hopkins: A Life by Paul Mariani.

Woo Hoo! Pure playtime! Cuba Strait by Carsten Stround and I am really enjoying it. Thriller type thingie.

I finished Lost in Shangri-La sooner than I expected. Wonderful. Amazing story well-researched, well-told, and well-presented.

3 torontoc -- I've been dying to get my hands on Elizabeth Hay's Alone in the Classroom. I've enjoyed several of her books and look forward to reading this new one.

I have been reading quite a lot lately but just haven't had the time to post on here. I just started Julie and Julia and am enjoying it so far. It seems like it will be a very quick read which is good since I have about 10 books out from the library right now and quite a few in my stack at home that I want to read soon as well.

I am reading Tiger Hills which is good but a bit of a slow start.

#11 AlaMich - I finished George Mann's The Affinity Bridge this afternoon while enjoying some late summer weather. Short summary: I found this first in a series story to be a fun, enjoyable Victorian murder mystery with the added accoutrements of the steampunk genre such as airships, automatons and more which I won't go into right now. I would recommend this book as a good primer for anyone who enjoys Victorian murder mysteries as a launching pad into the world of steampunk, to find out what all the excitement is about, and to test the waters to see if steampunk is something they might want to delve into further. A more full-some review can be found on the book page here: http://www.librarything.com/work/5895422

Next up is Exit by the French Canadian writer Nelly Arcan. Sorry, no touchstones. Book page can be found here: http://www.librarything.com/work/book/77944674

After finishing Willa Cather's My Antonia, I'm about 60 pages into A Traveller in Italy by H. V. Morton and loving it.

#27,Smiley, I'mglad to hear you like the Morton.I picked up a different title by himon Bookmooch earlier in the year.

I'm still listening to Faithful Place and still so disappointed about the person she chose as her main character. Who's next, Scortcher? You can bet I'll check the subject of her book before I read another one.
I'm about 1/3 of the way through People of the Book. I had no idea that the Sarajevo Haggadah was a real book. I should have known, since Geraldine Brooks is the author. Like Tracy Chevalier she takes historical reality and makes it entertaining.

I finished the wonderful The Buddha in the Attic. It makes a nice companion read to Otsuka's When the Emperor Was Divine.

I just started the new Louise Penny, A Trick of the Light and on audio I'm listening to Ralph Cosham read Watership Down. I read it in the 70s and so it's familiar but I don't remember a lot of it. The reader is charming.

Thanks, Porua for the nice start!
For the first time in month, I had enough time and mood to read through the whole thread (so far it's not long but still...) Life kept me rather busy lately, but it is great to have one sorrow lifted after the other and come back to pleasures one has neglected for a long time. So, I wish you all a great reading week!

Two days ago I picked up Johannes Cabal the Necromancer. I am well into it now and it is light and mostly fun read. I must admit though that the auhtor sometimes is to ironic with conventions (like hell freezing), but the humour rather comes after one has put down the book and then unconsciously you'll find it funny. Interesting...

Finished Neal Asher's The Departure (an ARC) and am now reading Un Lun Dun.

I'm having a wonderful time with The Possession of Mr Cave. I really don't get why Matt Haig isn't better known; I discovered him first with The Last Family in England, which was superb and pretty much the only book that was meant to have been written by a dog that actually pulled it off. His latest book is The Radleys, which has caused a mild stir by being featured in some TV book programme but Mr Cave slipped by a couple of years ago pretty much unnoticed, which is a huge shame because it's a terrific book about a man who, after the sudden deaths of his wife and son, becomes obsessed with the idea of keeping his remaining daughter safe. The slowly creeping obsession reminds me in many ways of John Fowles's The Collector which is probably the best work of fiction ever written on the subject so this is very high praise. I'm about two-thirds of the way through the book at the moment and trying very hard to do housework but it keeps calling me back. There's no way things are going to end well.

#26 lkernagh...Okay, thanks! I guess I will move it up the list. I think I may be in the mood for some steampunk pretty soon...

Thanks for setting up the thread, Porua, and Happy Birthday to Dame Agatha!

Shh - don't tell Agatha but I am reading Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers, the second in the Lord Peter Wimsey series. I am also about to finish China Star, a rollicking adventure by Bartle Bull.

Still working on One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I finshed Rant by Chuck Palahniuk and am considering starting something by Margaret Atwood or Italo Calvino. Maybe Oryx and Crake or Cosmicomics. I haven't decided yet...

I just finished Beloved yesterday and loved it. I'll be starting my ER next Bats Sing, Mice Giggle. In the U.S., Latino Heritage Month starts 9/15 and goes to 10/15. How odd is that? Then I'll be switching over to reading written by Latinos all over the world. I've got my eye on more books than will fit into a month.

Finished Moneyball and started The Palestine Israel Conflict: A Basic Introduction which my students will read later in the year.

I'm reading The Magicians by Lev Grossman which is light relief after I finished My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk.

(35) DeltaQueen, Clouds of Witness should be on my 'read, don't own' list. I recall reading all the Lord Peter Wimsey books after seeing the BBC productions on PBS. It's a good story, but not quite as good as The Nine Taylors, which remains my all time favorite Dorothy Sayers tome.

My weekend has been too full to do much reading, especially frustrating as I have two new library books on the table, waiting TBR, but I still have about 300 pages to go in To Green Angel Tower and I don't want to start another book until it's finished.

I'll try to get back here more, starting tomorrow (I have an hour at lunch to spend online!).

Where Darkness Dwells by Glen Kirsch - a Member Giveaway win

I'm on to the third in the Circle Trilogy by Nora Roberts, The Valley of Silence. This series has definitely not been what I expected, but it's all good!

I finished and reviewed Patrick deWitt's darkly comic Western The Sisters Brothers. Now I'm reading Kate Atkinson's When Will There Be Good News?. And the hits just keep on coming:)

#43 While you are on the Valley theme I can oh soo recommend Valley Of Grace by Marion Halligan itis a gem.

I have been captured by The Dress Lodger , the foggy London of mid 1800s', and all of the dickenson type characters. It reminds me lots of a few of my favourite novels The Resurrectionist , Jack Maggs and Rose.

Thanks hazeljune, I'll keep an eye out for Valley of Grace

.45 hazeljune - Loved The Dress Lodger when I read it! A fascinating historical fiction piece.

I'm reading The Way of Boys by Anthony Rao and Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran and loving them both for very different reasons.

>29 Citizenjoyce: citizenjoyce Faithful Place was a nasty disappointment to me. It wasn't just the ninnyhammer main character; almost every single character was pretty much unlikable. It beggared description that a 'detective' could miss so many glaring clues and be such a twerp about. It would not have been such a bad book to me except that I loved, loved, loved The Likeness and In the Woods. In those books she took people who weren't on the surface sympathetic and made them and made them deeply sympathetic. And they had solid plots and the writing was great.
I'm sorry to rant a bit but it was unexpected - it's usually the second book that stinks.

I'm still ambling through Lady Jane Grey a Tudor Mystery and am also reading Medicus by Ruth Downie just to get a break from the perils of Tudor times. And, boy, were they ever perilous for both the average citizen and the powerful. Not to mention the lack of indoor plumbing and incredibly poor sanitation!

I started The Invisible Bridge and am loving it. Such beautiful prose.

I am reading The Social Animal with my book club. Pretty interesting so far...takes me back to the days of my psychology minor classes.

I spent today reading The Novice the new release by Thich Nhat Hanh, which includes a chapter about his response to the Vietnam War. Perfect for today!

and now it's that wonderful time!.....on to choose again!

I finished Johannes Cabal the Necromancer last night. It was humorous and a light read. the author was playing with conventions and proverbs. the end was not completely unexpected, but it was not the usual 'bad character turns good' kind of thing.
don't know what's up next....

I am about halfway through The Magicians by Lev Grossman, and so far I can't figure out why the people in the bookstore raved about it. While the book is interesting enough so far for me to stick with it, the characters aren't really likeable, and the magic and fantasy are dull instead of the kind of stuff that transports you to another world. I haven't read a really good book in awhile, and I think it's starting to affect my mood.

Just started The Race by Clive Cussler. I really like the Issac Bell series - even though I rebelled when he started writing books without Dirk Pitt. Isn't it funny that we get sooo attached to characters? :) Happy Monday all!

Blood Trail was another good one in the Joe Pickett mystery series, this time set back in his Wyoming jurisdiction and involving a series of murders of hunters.

Next I'm going to try Murder's Long Memory by Roderic Jeffries, an Inspector Alvarez mystery, which I picked up at a book sale.

I'm in the middle of The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka and Practical Jean by Trevor Cole. I'm also just finishing up Ready Player One by Ernest Cline in audio.

I just started Clockwork Angel since it has been on my bedside table for about 6 months. I had to cut back my library requests so that I could actually read the ones that I own. :)

I started The Sea by John Branville yesterday and am enjoying it so far except that at times I have trouble with the going back and forth in time to relate the story

>49 enaid: Diane, it seems we are in the minority. I have 2 Cd's left to listen to of Faithful Place, and I still can't figure out why she wrote it. She does seem enamoured of undercover work and the interplay of lying and sincerity that is at its core, and perhaps she's trying to see just how testosterone filled she could make a book. Her main character has a god given talent for f***ing with people's minds as does his whole family. Unless one is writing about Fox news or conservative talk radio, why would one bother with these people? This could well be the last Tana French for me.

Am reading Color: A Natural History of the Palette Victoria Finlay. Current chapter is "Ochre" and the author is in Austrailia. Which is interesting since I'm also reading an Austrailian mystery The Broken Shore by Peter Temple.

Regarding color, I just read in People of the Book that there was a particular color of yellow produced in India from the urine of cows fed only on mango leaves. It was banned because of the cruelty of the treatment of the cows.

I was out of town for five days. Just before I left I finished Francesca Marciano's Rules of the Wild, which I thought was just OK, despite some nice writing. You can find my review on the book's page or on my 50-Book Challenge thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/106335

While I was away I read the fourth of William G. Tapply's entertaining Brady Coyne mystery series, The Marine Corpse.

Since so many of my customers (I own a used bookstore) are into Lee Child, and because I've read so much good about his books here, I decided to read the first Jack Reacher novel, Killing Floor. On page 140 came the plot development that made me realize I've already read this, years ago. C'est la vie. I'm still enjoying it and I don't remember what happens, so what the heck, ya know?

#60 Citizenjoyce: I too was disappointed in Faithful Place. It was my first Tana French book and will probably be my last. My complaint was that I figured out "whodunnit" early on and it felt like I had to wade through a lot of nasty people (well-written though they were) before the end. I guess I approached it as a mystery more than a novel so I couldn't figure out what the fuss was about.

Just finished Come to the Edge by Christina Haag - the story of her relationship with JFK, Jr. Boring. I don't know what I was thinking. No depth at all. Heck not even any good gossip!

I finished reading End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas and thought it was just average at best. If the inside of the book was as delicious as the outside (cover art was terrific) this book would have been a winner. I was so glad to get done reading it that I started some real literary candy - Devil's Oasis by Bartle Bull. This is the third book in a trilogy set in Africa in the years 1919 to the end of WWII. I just love these books and can't imagine how I managed to miss reading them when they first came out. These are great books. I am so glad to learn that the first one White Rhino Hotel has been done as an audio book. Surely I have somebody on my Christmas list who doesn't know it, but would love to hear this book?

I continue to listen to Inkspell and it is good, if slow to develop. This one and Devil's Oasis are for the September Sequels and Series read along. I also pick-up Undaunted Courage from time-to-time and think that it is a winner.

Still reading The Slum and listening to Can You Forgive Her?

I just finished Julie and Julia by Julie Powell and would give it a meh. Not awful but not great either. I am currently reading The Feast Nearby by Robin Mather which is a collection of essays written after the author lost both her job and her marriage and returned home to rural Michigan. There are recipes in the book as well. This one I am loving!

Re: Faithful Place - I have to admit, I loved that one, although not as much as her other two. But I've always been fascinated with her writing style, and Faithful Place had me hooked. I haven't read it in awhile, so I may need to reread it, but I remember staying up till 1 in the morning to finish it.

I'm reading Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost. I've been slightly obsessed by the topic lately. Reading this book is quite motivating to go down to the basement with a big ol' trash bag and start tossing things in.

Finished By The Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie, just in time for her birthday. Happy Birthday Ms Christie! Thank you for making me happy and comforting me with your wonderful cosy mysteries when I need it the most!

My review is here,

http://www.librarything.com/review/76731576

Or my 75 Books Challenge thread,

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

Finished two of my three books last night (The Buddha in the Attic and Ready Player One). Skating Over the Line by Joelle Charbonneau and The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh have been brought in to replace them.

>71 Porua: What a good review, Porua!

>> Re. Faithful Place. I loved it the most. I think it is largely because I'm interested in stories that revolve around class issues and because she can really, really write.

>30 Copperskye: Oh, coppers! I just finished the audio of Watership Down and also found the reader charming and the story as dazzlingly fresh as when I read it first, probably about the same time as you did. Astonishing, really, to find a tale about bunnies that is charming but not the least bit precious.

Started on The Woman in Black by Susan Hill in print and Turn Coat by Jim Butcher on audio.

Ha, the 2nd to the last CD of Faithful Place is all scratched, especially the "who did it and why" parts. Too funny. I got bits and pieces only. Can't say it makes a great deal of difference to me.

I finished People of the Book, another great read from Geraldine Brooks. I love the way she's able to take a few facts and spin them into plausible stories, though I have to say the new method of torture she mentions was a bit more than I could handle. Now, back to prostitution with The Dress Lodger.

>43 Neverwithoutabook: Neverwithoutabook ~ I've had The Circle Trilogy for a couple of years now but for some reason just didn't have the desire to read it, but since you say it's good, I may have to get Morrigan's Cross off the shelf and give it a whirl.

>49 enaid: enaid ~ I read somewhere once that modern humans would be appalled (not to mention nauseated) if we were suddenly to find outselves in the Middle Ages, in large part because of the dreadful stench of unwashed bodies, filth in the streets, the odors of tanning and other such manufacturing processes, and generally unsanitary conditions. And all that on top of those perils you mentioned. It's fun to read about, but I sure am glad I don't live there!

Just finished Red Wolf by Liza Marklund. When I got the book I thought about sending it off when I read on the cover "#1 NEW YORK TIMES best selling author." I subscribe to the Times and never miss the Sunday Book Review Section. But I read it more for it's reviews than to find a list of Best Sellers. Reading the best seller list books is often like taking antibiotics, harmless unless you indulge too much. But, I am glad I stuck with it. This book has a woman journalist as protagonist, it takes place in Sweden, has terrorists, a serial killer, suspense and realistic portrayal of family life. What's not to like. I found myself caught up in the most mundane activities in the book like making coffee. So, yes, I recommend it.

Now, reading Daniel Stein, Interpreter, a Russian novel by Ludmila Ulitskaya. This innovative and fascinating book uses letters, parts of diaries and post cards, to tell the story of a Jew who lived through the Holocaust, converts to Catholicism, and moves to Israel. It's actually based on the life of Oswald Rufeisen. I can't get enough of it.

#68

I thought much the same about Julie and Julia. This is one case where the movie was much better than the book. However, My Life in France by Julia Child was one of the best autobiographies I have ever read. Not only was Julia Child a great recipe writer, she was a good writer. If you haven't read that one go get it. It is honest and funny and makes you wish you had known Julia and Paul. I think that the combination of Meryl Streep's acting and Julia's wonderful story made the movie blend of the two stories into something better than it was if it had just been the Julie and Julia book.

#79
Red Wolf sounds really good. I might have to add that one to the TBR list.

Not since Little Women have I been so glad to be done with a book. Faithful Place goes on the never-to-be-revisited pile. And she had the audacity to end it on a hopeful note. Sheesh.
Now I start an Audiobook of Bee Season.

#62 Citizenjoyce - thank you for reminding me of the yellow from India. Not sure why I didn't remember that bit from People of the Book, which I enjoyed immensely. Hope you like Bee Season

Thanks, Cacky, but I googled that yellow color and it seems it might be a legend rather than a truth. But such a good story, don't you think?

Storeetllr, I can honestly say that The Circle Trilogy held my attention even tho it's not your usual historical romance, or usual anything really. You do need to read all three books to get the full story and pull it all together. Definitely like being in another place and time.

I finished and enjoyed Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead which is freaky but great.

I picked up The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey which is the second in the Monstrumologist series. I quite liked the first one.

I read two exceptionally beautiful books this week -- Amy Frykholm's biography of Julian of Norwich and Sebastian Barry's novel about another member of the Dunne family -- On Canaan's Side. Now I'm reading Paul Mariani's biography Gerard Manley Hopkins.

Next up: Sylvia Townsend Warner's Lolly Willowes

I just finished (because I realized it was due back and the library and nonrenewable) The Sookie Stackhouse Companion. If anyone is hooked on the Southern Vampire Mysteries or wants to be, it would be a good book to have because it summarizes the plots of all 11 novels and gives brief bios of all the characters. One of my favorite dogs is named for Amelia Broadway a sassy witch character in some of the novels though it doesn't look like she's going to be in the TV series. When you accidentally turn your boyfriend into a cat it can be a humbling experience for all. Now, back to the scheduled reading of The Dress Lodger.

#87 Citizenjoyce > Coincidently, I also have a scheduled reading of The Dress Lodger for this week. Fortunately I finished it last week in time for the discussion group....

#54 @DMO - I too struggled to understand why folks raved about The Magicians, but I stuck with it and by the end I really liked it. I do think it was over-hyped; nevertheless, I'm glad I read it. And given how much the last few chapters changed my opinion of the book, I'm quite interested in reading the sequel, The Magician King. Hope it improves for you!

Last night, I finished Half the Sky, which was a compelling, eye-opening read. Most of the information about oppression of women worldwide I'd read about or heard of via news stories, but having multiple women's stories brought together in a single work caused me to reflect on both the individual and collective offenses in a different light.

I'm still reading Professor Mommy, and will likely pick up another read in the next day or so...not sure what, yet!

Mirror Space by Marianne De Pierres. Book 2 ended really well and I can't wait to find out what happens in book 3!

Just finished The Race now onto Miss Peregrine's HOme For Peculiar Children. :) Good read week - boss out off the office for a couple days! lol.

Thanks, benitastrnad! I have the movie in my Netflix queue to watch soon and will definitely keep my eye out for the book you recommend. When I was reading Julia & Julie, my favorite parts were the ones about Julia and her husband that just seemed to be thrown in there. I was so disappointed when those little bits were over and kept thinking "Could you please just put a bit more of this in here?"

>>86 mollygrace:. I realllly want to read On Canaan's Side. I enjoyed The Secret Scripture and hear this is much better.

>>89 grkmwk:. That is my exact experience of The Magicians, and I too am now interested in reading the sequel. A friend of mine enjoyed it very much.

100 pages left in To Green Angel Tower!

Then I can start the stack that's been sitting on my bedside table...

Just started 2012: The Fifth World by Edward G. Talbot, a sci-fi, action Member Giveaway.

I admire you guys who get involved in series books. One of the frustrating things in requesting Member Giveaways is that so many of them are sequels or series, and while I'd like to dip in and taste a new author from time to time (which is why I offer to review MG books), nevertheless, I don't want to get hung up feeling like I have to either continue the series, or that I jumped in in the middle of a saga with no effective 'prologue' to the story line. It would be nice if authors would clearly designate those books which are effectively 'stand alone.' They would get a lot more requests from readers like me. In the meantime, I usually avoid them.

How wild, NovaLee, I just bought that book Annabel at the Border's close out! Update when you finish!

Mike, no matter what's going on in our lives, we can be grateful we're not poor in England in the 19th century, but my vocabulary is increasing.
Carolyn, and NovaLee, I hope you like Annabel. I loved it, in spite of the occasional physical impossibility.

Reading my ER book. Until The Wrath Be Past by Asa Larsson. Hope to be able to find her other books. Really enjoying this one.

For those of you with the Keith Richardsautobiography Life, still on your wish list, Amazon has the kindle format for $3.99 today. Remember you don't need a kindle but can download it to your pc, android, iPAD, etc. using the free software from Amazon.

I just read 84 Charing Cross Road in nearly one sitting, after finally finding it in a bookshop yesterday after a long time searching. I just love it. Thanks to all here on LT who keep recommending it. It is a gem.

(101) I so agree, divinenanny. It was the recommendations of people here that got me to try that book.

And like you, I didn't put it down until it was finished. :)

101 divinenanny I'm glad you loved 84 Charing Cross Road. It's a gem, isn't it?

After my final binge at two Borders yesterday, I came home and read Sky Burial by Xinran, which I picked up for $.69 at the SPCA shop. I am finding SO MANY great things that I missed out on while I was still working. (I'm retired now.) It's like Christmas everyday!

Truly loved the book and my review is posted.

Now on to one of the Borders books Anne Frank by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colson, one of two graphic biographies I picked up there. I'm liking the art work so far, but I am a newbie at graphics. We'll see. Anyone else read it?

>75 Storeetllr: storeetllr - Oh, I love listening to Watership Down - I keep telling anyone who'll listen! And I loved The Woman in Black. I found it to be very creepy (in a good way) - I hope you're enjoying it.

>101 divinenanny:, 102 and 103 - I loved 84, Charing Cross Road, too. A book I'd not heard of until LT. I found a nice used copy at .50 very recently at the library sale and was thrilled.

Currently reading Waking Hours for review and liking it!

# 73 Thank you! :-)

96-97, I hope you love Annabel, I enjoyed the book very much, especially the setting. I found the teacher grating however.

Just got started on Poor Things by Alasdair Gray. Looks very interesting.

Still poking at Practical Jean by Trevor Cole, and started The True Memoirs of Little K by Adrienne Sharp. Flying through the audio of The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

I finished The Way of Boys by Anthony Rao which I loved.

This morning on my commute, I was torn between beginning Annabel or Alison Wonderland and chose Alison Wonderland. Hopefully it will finish quickly so I can jump on the bandwagon. I love reading things at the same time as other LTers.

Am presently looking for a copy of 84 Charing Cross Road I saw the movie and read a little of it in Reader's Digest Condensed years ago. (I know, it's a shameful thing to admit, but I was very young then and didn't know any better.) Read The Princess and the Goblin aloud yesterday and am now trying to finish R is for Richochet. Not my favorite Kinsey.

Unwind was a very good sci-fi-ish YA title. The abortion dispute is resolved by letting parents or state facilities designate undesired (or, in some cases, "blessed") teenagers to be "unwound". Surgically carved up, 99.94% of their parts are used by others in need so that the teenagers continue to "live" in a divided state. The three main characters are on the lam, trying to avoid the unwinding. Thought-provoking and fast-paced.

Nancy, there aren't too many of us who have read Alison Wonderland. I liked it very much, hope you do too.

>>115 Citizenjoyce:. Joyce, I have it noted in my tags as being a book I discovered through you!

That's quite a system, Nancy. I sometimes have a vague notion where I heard of a book, but not the exact person. I'll have to think about that.

116 Nancywhite That is, indeed, a cool use of tags.

>>117 Citizenjoyce: & 118. After a few years of struggling to remember who recommended a particular book, I decided to tag them. I tag anything I heard about here with 'lt-inspired' and then additional tags with 'member- membername', 'member -membername' etc. etc.

I love knowing exactly where I learned of a particular book...

Tags for those who recommended books...hmm...I just might try doing that!

But I can't recall who recommended 84 Charing Cross Road. Oh well...

But I can't recall who recommended 84 Charing Cross Road. Oh well...

I think it's safe to say that a lot of us have recommended it. You could always tag it "recommended by multiple members".

I heard about the Bartle Bull books here on LT and love reading them. If it hadn't been for folks here these would have gone by the wayside. Thanks.

Sometimes I know about a book but don't think I would like it and then somebody here starts talking about it and I think "hey, you might like that book." So I can go try it. That's a good thing about a community of book lovers.

Yes, that's one of my favorite parts about this site. I have read any number of books that I wouldn't have known about or thought to read without the recommendations and comments of members here.

Mine, too! I have discovered so many wonderful books here, and my reading has grown -- in quantity and quality. Thank you!

I'm currently reading The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig and loving it. Also listening to The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on audio. We finally finished Heidi last night, and haven't chosen our next read aloud yet.

I finished In the Garden of Beasts, just in time to get it back to the library tomorrow for the poor souls who have had the book on hold and who have been waiting for me to return it! It was amazingly interesting and horrific, and a part of me wishes that Erik Larson would write more accounts of World War II, because he would certainly do a bang-up job.

Next up...well, I have no idea. I'm still reading Salem's Lot and I have a few other library books, but I'm attending a massive used book sale tomorrow, so that might uncover some interesting gems.

Reading Buffalo Soldiers by Tom Willard. Starting out very good.

Carolyn and msf - Regarding our conversation last weeks thread about civil rights workers and PTSD - I found the book I mentioned that is about the children of civil rights workers.

Children of the Movement byJohn Blake

Great read for anyone interested in the lives of their children, and mostly about how their rights work effected their family life and family members.

This came up in the course of our conversation about the MLK Hellhounds book.

#92 Bookaholicgirl

I agree, I would have rather watched all of Julia. As I understand it, the movie sugarcoated Julie's story and how she handled Julia's recipes. Julia's autobiography is on my To Read list.

Currently I am reading The Sun Also Rises.

I finished The Dress Lodger, another great book about prostitution. For a while I thought Gustine might be my way to continue loving the Sugar character, but I have to say, as bad a life as Sugar had, Gustine's was much worse. She has Sugar's intelligence but no ability to read, plus she sleeps on straw in a room with about 30 other people her whole life. Nothing like poverty in the 19th century to bring you down if you're feeling giddy. Now I go on to Let the Great World Spin which I hear is very good. I wonder if it will be as depressing.

I have also just finished The Dress Lodger in all a very enjoyable read . Unforgettable characters for me were Pink and The Crown Prince.

My latest in set in foggy London again The Mist In The Mirror by Susan Hill, I think that it will be quite spooky!!

Joyce/Hazeljune - Thanks for another great recommendation (and I may have to start tagging them too) The Dress Lodger sounds just my kind of thing (Joyce, I was so thrilled that you loved The Crimson Petal) - obviously another one for the ever-growing wishlist. Poor Things is keeping me utterly gripped - a modern day Frankenstein by a very talented writer. It has absolutely no similarities at all with the marvellous Geek Love and yet there is something there that keeps reminding me of that book. I suspect it might be that you get the impression while reading that both authors were writing exactly what they wanted with not a care in the world for what anyone else thought.

ETA - Just found a 2nd hand edition for £2.81 including postage ($4.43). Ordered!

I just received a copy of Northwest Corner by John Burnham Schwartz but I must begin Embers by Sandor Marai for next week's discussion group and then dive into The Sleepwalkers by Paul Grossman which is due a review. So many books, so little time ...

Finished Anne Frank the Anne Frank House authorized biography by Sid Jacobson last night and am depressed today - surprise! Depressed by the parallels between what was happening in Germany then and what is happening in the U.S. today. Especially after reading about the FBI using anti-Muslem propaganda for training purposes. It's making me sick. I got to visit the Anne Frank House a couple of years ago so perhaps it is all feeling more real. I was planning to read the Erik Larsen In the Garden of Beasts soon but....those of you who read it, did you see parallels? What was it like reading it?

Finished The Slum by Aluisio Azevedo. Fantastic! I will be starting my RL book club selection, Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman, and will continue listening to Can You forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope as well as A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny.

Am impatient to finish my ER book Bats Sing, Mice Giggle. It might be my first 1 star ER review. The information doesn't go in depth often, and one time when it did it was on plants and clearly spurious.

I can't recall if I mentioned that I'd finished To Green Angel Tower (there doesn't appear to be a search for all the individual posts I have, too bad!), but I did, good stuff!

Anyway, I picked up The Dog Who Knew Too Much by Spencer Quinn last night. I'm about halfway through, and it's a delight as the first three books were.

HazelJune, how could you not love little weasley Pink, and The Eye, what a character. Plus, Booksloth, you'll learn as much about cholera as you might ever want to know (except where it comes from).

ETA for the cause there's a great song in The Book of Mormon the play that graphically describes what the poor folk in 19th century England didn't know.

# 87 citizenjoyce and #88 mldavis2,

I am interested to know how your discussion groups received The Dress Lodger ??

# 137, Oh what a carnival of characters that went with this wonderful novel The Dress Lodger, also the history of the time, the pottery works was really interesting. This author is just sooo clever, the cholera with it's quarantine, imagine the research that went with the writing.

I loved it when the eye predicted the future, for the reader at the end.

I finished and reviewed Kate Atkinson's #3 in the Jackson Brodie crime series, When Will There Be Good News?. Excellent, as usual.

Alas, I had no discussion group for The Dress Lodger, but how I wish I had.

#141 Ditto that. I read it many, many years ago when it first came out and then had no one to discuss it with for a long time.

Just started The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

#138 hazeljune > We had a small group to discuss The Dress Lodger but it was an interesting analysis. I would call it a micro-history novel. I didn't realize the extent to which the author went to research the background time period and she also made a trip to the town of Sunderland, England to look it over first-hand. The cholera epidemic, the frog invasion, prostitution and the medical dilemma of obtaining cadavers were all genuine along with several of the character names used. Other names, places and persons were obviously symbolic. My review is here on LT, although short and devoid of 'spoilers.' I would recommend the book with some caution that it contains some 'adult' themes. It was well written and held my attention with no trouble. The general consensus was quite positive.

#144 mlddavis2> I had not long read into The Dress Lodger when I realised that it had historically picked up from a novel that I had not long read The Resurrectionist which is based on the Burke and Hare murders. If you recall Dr Chiver mentions the two early in the book. Both great books.

I finished The Dog Who Knew Too Much last night, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Okay, now I have the following on my TBR list, and I want your input:

Pirate King by Laurie King
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
The Baker Street Letters by Michael Robertson

Well?

Out of those, I've only read Kim, which I enjoyed very much. I've tried to read Robinson Crusoe, but haven't been able to, so far. It's a bit...ponderous, IMO, which detracts from the advenurous aspect.

I'm sorry I can't help you with the other two.

bookwoman, I appreciate your input. Pirate King just came out so it's unlikely you would have read it.

So many books, so little time (so why am I here instead of in a book?????) :D

The new thread is here, I hope!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/123789

#146 If you're also into being beaten or having various intimate parts of yourself nailed to the door then be my guest with Robinson Crusoe.

Yes, I recall several people on this list saying how much they hated Robinson Crusoe. Small book or not, it appears rather tedious, though I couldn't say from personal experience.