What Are You Reading the week of 1 October 2011?

October 1:

Tim O'Brien

October 2:

Graham Greene

Vernor Vinge

October 3: James Herriot

Thomas Wolfe

October 4: Anne Rice

Edward Stratemeyer -- creator of "The Hardy Boys" and "Tom Swift" among others!

October 5:

Clive Barker

Peter Ackroyd

October 6: Caroline Gordon

October 7: Sherman Alexie

Helen MacInness

Thanks, Richard. I'm still slogging through Birdsong, which is getting better as it goes along, and have picked up H. R. F. Keating's Murder of the maharajah for some comic relief.

Oh dear, Sebastian Faulks...oh dear, oh dear. Birdsong did drag on a bit, didn't it?

Thanks for starting the thread Richard! Right now I am about halfway through Helen Humphreys' The Reinvention of Love which is a historical fiction piece portraying French literary critic Charles Sainte-Beuve's affair with Victor Hugo's wife Adele. So far quite interesting.

That's a great title, The Reinvention of Love, I mean. I am reading The Red Queen by Phillipa Gregory (how do you hyperlink it?) I have read almost all her books. I thought, at first, that this wasn't grabbing me and the characters were too one-dimensional, but it's getting better.

I started reading Fire Engine That Disappeared by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo. This is an older Scandinavian detective series (1970's) that I first heard about when there was all that hubbub about the Steig Larsson books. These police procedurals were a ten part series that supposedly inspired Larsson and a whole host of other Scandinavian authors. Our library only had one of the novels and this one is the fifth in the series. I am about halfway through the book and I really like it. It is full of humor and in fact has had several laugh out loud moments, but the overall subject matter is very serious. So far I think this mystery has aged very well and is turning out to be an unexpected good read.

The other book two books I am actively reading this week is Stettin Station a spy novel on my Nook and Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. Both of these books are very good as well. Only one of them is going to get a book that has been long on my shelves off of them and that is Undaunted Courage. I have had it around forever. Thankfully my book discussion group provided the motivation to read it as it is our December read. It has been quite good.

Last week was Banned Books Week so I have been reading Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov for the last few days. It's very well written.

Thanks, Richard. The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers was a good read. Now I'm caught up in The Affair by Lee Child and Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

It's a great week that begins with Tim O'Brien, Graham Greene, and Sherman Alexie. Thanks, Richard.

I'll finish D-Day: June 6, 1944 today, and then move on to finish Caleb's Crossing. I think The Memory of Love will be next.

I checked out The Other Wes Moore from the library today. I've meant to get it for a year now, but let me tell you it's hard to find on the shelf! More often than not it's checked out, so I hit it lucky and grabbed it today.

What? No one mentions Clive Barker in the list of literary greats? ;-P

Thanks for starting this week's thread, Richard, Clive Barker's inclusion notwithstanding. :) Have to say I've never read anything of his, so I'm not sure whether he belongs on the list or not.

Also, thank you so much for recommending (awhile back) the Chet and Bernie series (anyway, I think it was you who mentioned it). I started it last week with Dog On It and absolutely loved it! It's one of my 5-star rated books for this year, and I've got the next two on order from the library. Not high literature, by any means, but well-written and so much fun.

Anyway, just started listening to The Lies of Locke Lamora and am enjoying it, more or less (though I think I have to go back a little ways and relisten to the last half hour or so because I seem to have lost the thread of the story).

Edited to correct grammar.

Thanks for starting the week, Richard. My daughter is a big fan of Clive Barker, though I haven't read him. He doesn't look creepy at all, does he?
I'm about 2/3 of the way through The Wisdom of Whores and finding out lots of interesting stuff about the business of AIDS and prostitution and that HIV is so prominent in Africa because Africans like to have a lot of sex with a lot of different people, simple as that. Hmm. I'm also about half way through listening to The Age of Innocence and am enjoying it greatly. I don't know why I'm liking it so much better than The House of Mirth, maybe because I know how Lilly Bart ends up, and I don't yet know what's going to happen to the Innocent characters.

Oh! Chet and Bernie! I do so enjoy a dog narrator. It's the only reason I read that rain-racing book. Pretty cheesy stuff, but I am a complete sucker for the pooch as narrator.

Clive Barker's a good storyteller. He doesn't use a lot of pyrotechnics, but he gets his story told; if you like that story, he's an effective bringer of entertainment. I think that's a heckuva gift to have, myownself. Maybe try Coldheart Canyon sometime.

ETA title...dimwitted error

Chet and Bernie may not be 'high literature', but do we all need to consume 'high literature' all the time?

I like some light stuff for dessert.

Starting A Sound Among the Trees an ARC by Susan Meissner

Oh, Clive definitely belongs in the literary greats for October. He's a very October creepy sick making author! Love the photo. I'm sure he was trying to have an evil glint in his eye, with a casual down home Deliverance appeal.

I just finished reading The House of Ulloa, which is a 19th century Spanish classic. My review is here: http://www.librarything.com/work/1283055/reviews/78469511 It was fantastic, with a hint of gothic.

Now I'm on to reading Mario Acevedo's The Nymphos of Rocky Flats and it's a bit of a shock. Like going from chocolate mousse to salt-water taffy. It should be good entertainment though.

Too many books!
In print:
Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman
S is for Silence by Sue Grafton
Jane Austen Made Me Do It by Laurel Ann Nattress (ed)

On my Nook:
The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea

In audio:
A First-Rate Madness by Nassir Ghaemi

I'm a little disappointed in Jane Austen Made Me Do It, I don't think these novelists are able to translate their skills very well into short stories. I'm also unsure about The Hummingbird's Daughter. The first 15 pages blew my socks off, but the next 30 just seemed to jump around too much. I'm hoping it will settle down soon.

5, sblerner, the hyperlinks that you ask about are Touchstones with a little more functionality than hyperlinks alone. They also put an entry in the listing at the top right of the thread and an entry in the work's listing, the use of which I'll leave to your explorations. They are activated by putting a single opening square bracket before a title and a single closing square bracket after a title or by putting two opening square brackets before an author's name and two closing square brackets after an author's name. See to the right of the 'Add a message' box under the heading Touchstones for a couple of examples.

I continue on in Amazing Disgrace, the sequel to Cooking With Fernet Branca. It is written in the same manner but is not by any means as funny. That was to be expected from the many comments about it on LibraryThing. It is entertaining enough reading that I will continue in it and, later, on into the third volume.

Robert

I'm still reading A Perfect Spy by John le Carre. It is very different from the Smiley books - much more of a father-son story, and a making-of-a-spy story, than a straight up spy novel. It's really good.

I'm also reading The Complete Poems of Emily Jane Bronte, which are all very dramatic and fun to read (not happy fun, but it is fun to see how they fit into the overall Gondal narrative). And I'm also reading The Stories of John Cheever in between all that.

I have started The Woman in White today, since it's a whopper of a book I will probably be reading this one through the whole of October!

I also am just beginning Chinaberry Sidewalks, Rodney Crowell's self-penned bio. I am a big fan and he writes such wonderful songs, I have great confidence that this will be a well-written book.

Thanks for starting us off in a great way, Ridchard!

I'm still reading War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. This may end up being my favorite book of all-time! I am in love with Tolstoy's work! He's brought Napolean completely to life, made me feel right at home in a 19th Century Russian hunting lodge, made me hungry for the food there, introduced me to so such a wonderful array of characters...on and on. What an amazing writer!

War and Peace. Now that is a commitment. I have the book but have never read it because of it's size. I did make it through Gone with the Wind though and after I had already seen the movie. I will move War and Peace up in my 'to be read' pile.

Currently, I am reading Agatha Christie - Evil Under the Sun and, of course, enjoying it. Haven't read an Agatha Christie yet that I didn't thoroughly enjoy!

I finished Home: The Short History of an Idea by Witold Rybczynski and I should finish Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler tonight or early tomorrow. I've enjoyed both.

Next up: The Girl in the Polka-Dot Dress by Beryl Bainbridge

Last week I finished The Hound of the Baskervilles on audio. Last night I read The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma. I was disappointed.

Now reading The Journey Home by Olaf Olafsson, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, and listening to I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. Still reading The Graveyard Book aloud.

I'm reading The Last Werewolf which is a lot of fun.

22, seawerth, you should look up the 1980's film of Evil under the sun. I saw it in a theater after about a week of rain and it was like sitting in the sunshine for 2 hours. (It's set in Majorca.)

I have finally started One Day and I am about 1/3 of the way into it and must say that I am really enjoying it. :) As soon as I have this one finished then Still Alice is next.

Still reading The Night Circus. But I start work again tomorrow, plus I'll be home alone again, so I will be finishing it soon now that I will have reading time again.

I have finished reading Case Histories by Kate Atkinson and I have ordered Behind The Scenes at the Museum from my local library, in the meantime I am reading Flannery O'Connor's short stories A Good Man Is hard to Find.

Currently in the middle of The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher- appropriate for October. I'm also reading The Aquariums of Pyongyang, a harrowing look at North Korea's gulags, and am also working my way through Miriam Toews's new book, Irma Voth. I always want to like Toews's books better than I do. I always finds them difficult to get through. Maybe someday I'll take the hint and not try and read them.

Richard- Thanks for setting up the New Thread. Good choice of photos.

Nancy- I'm glad you are enjoying The Last Werewolf. It is fun, isn't it?

Divinenanny- Are you enjoying The Night Circus? I'm planning to host a Group Read of it, the middle of next month. Looks like a worthy choice.

I finished Perdido Street Station, which seemed to be very long but I enjoyed it. Now, I'm starting another behemoth A Dance With Dragons. I've had it since mid-July. The time is right.
I started Stiff on audio. Boy, I love Mary Roach.
My graphic choice is Locke and Key: Head Games, the 2nd in a wonderful series.

Nice start to the week Richard:)

I'm reading Iron Council by China Miéville - I read both Perdido Street Station and the Scar last month and decided to finish the trilogy. Good stuff:)

At the moment I've only got one book on the go, I still need to pick up a nonfiction (after seeing it mentioned here The Suspicions of Mr Whicher is a strong possibility) and a short story collection - probably something suitably spooky for October - I'll have to see what I've got.

I am reading Washington Square and I'm really enjoying it. This is my first read of Henry James.

I'm also listening to the 2nd Flavia Deluce Mystery by Alan Bradley. Flavia is a favorite new character of mine. I love her wit.

Oh, and I finished City of Thieves last week. It was highly recommended here on LT, and I LOVED it. 5 stars

I am loving The Night Circus, but I can't give it enough attention right now, and this is one of those books that deserves to be read in one (or two) long afternoons.

The Affair was an excellent addition to the Jack Reacher series.

>>32 msf59:. It is fun, Mark. And well written which is a nice combination. I also have Locke and Key: Head Games. I'm tempted to pick it up and read it straight through before finishing The Last Werewolf. We'll see.

Thanks, Richard. Still Reading The Troubled Man by Henning Mankell. It's the last Kurt Wallander novel.

Read Salt Water by Charles Simmons this morning and started Netherland by Joseph O'Neill (both picked up at my library's recent book sale). However, I'm taking a 3 hour break to watch the In Depth interview with Michael Moore on BookTV - and, if I get off the laptop, I WILL clean the room as I'm watching so I can return to the book post-interview.

I finished and reviewed the unfortunately forgotten but very enjoyable The Company of Players by Victor Chapin. Written in 1959, this is a novel about a touring theater company. Very, entertaining and quite interesting as well. You'll find a more in-depth review on the book's page and/or on my 50-Book Challenge thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/106335#2959750. Mr. Derus, I think you'd be interested.

I've now started And Wait for the Night, an American Civil War novel, also mostly forgotten (3 LT members including me have this book), by John William Corrington.

Having a rough time with The Lies of Locke Lamora. It's okay while I'm listening to it, but then after I've stopped I don't want to restart it again. Probably it's just my mood. I may try something else first and then go back to it. To be honest, I've been jonesing for the second (and third) in the Chet and Bernie series ever since I finished the first. I put a hold on them at the library, but they haven't shown up yet, so I'm going there tomorrow at lunchtime to see if I can find the second one on the shelves.

I wasn't feeling well yesterday afternoon, so I read the first four books from Elfquest. Ah, such a delight!

I finished The Wisdom of Whores and found it very interesting. So much good, and so much irrelevant thus ineffective, work is being done in the area AIDS prevention and cure. Bureaucracies are being thwarted to some degree, though, ach, to work for one would be more than I could bear.

Now I start a book I first heard about here, Unwind.

H. R. F. Keating's Murder of the Maharajah

I finished the hauntingly beautiful Obasan by Joy Kogawa. Now I'm reading my third book about the internment of the Japanese during WWII, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford.

I have not read a Stephen King book since The Stand(intriguing but sooo long) back in 1984 and before that Carrie when it came out. Carrie really scared me. I couldn't believe how mean those kids were! Poor Carrie!
Anyway, I was poking around on Huffington Post and there was a small mention of Stephen King reading a short excerpt from a sequel to The Shining that he is working on. I thought right then, by golly, I am going to read The Shining AND the sequel when it comes out. So, much to my own surprise, I am reading and enjoying The Shining!
King is a darn good writer. I guess I've been a bit dismissive only because he is so prolific. Even though I have seen Stanley Kubrick's movie version of The Shining multiple times(and it is a good movie, if you haven't seen it) the book itself is really filling in the details and I'm getting my own versions of the characters. It is a great way to spend a beautiful autumn weekend.

@46-- :O King is working on a sequel to The Shining?? That's so awesome, I'm actually re-reading that book for the umpteenth time right now. One of the only books I've ever read that legitimately gave me the creeps. I'm so excited now, haha, thanks for the news!

So obviously, what I'm reading now is The Shining. Trying to psych myself up for the massive Bismarck: A Life.

I've just begun:
On audio: The Paris Wife
and
In print: Essential Dykes to Watch Out For

The last because of the many LTers who have enjoyed it and now I get it.

I'm reading about nine or ten books right now, but the one that's most for pleasure at the moment is Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah by Richard Francis Burton. What fun it is!

#47 Yes he is - he read part of it to a group - it sounded good and creepy! That is a great segue - from Jack Torrance to Bismarck!

Here is the link to the article(which is disappointingly short):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/27/shining-sequel-_n_983682.html

#49 jbf etc, interesting that you are reading ten books right now!! What is your system?? , how does it work for you???

Finished and reviewed The reinvention of Love by Helen Humphreys. The take away: interesting historical fiction of the star-crossed love affair between French literary critic Charles Sainte-Beuve and Victor's Hugo's wife, Adèle but with a deeper examination of what is love.

Next up is a mixed selection of books: Secrets of an Old Typewriter by Susie Duncan Sexton, To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf and The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters.

Just finished and reviewed 40 Ways to Get Closer to God by Jerry MacGregor and Keri Wyatt Kent. Takeaway: Practical, conversational, and I loved the 40-day challenge. Not at all overwhelming, this challenge, but one you're inspired to tackle.

I finished and loved, loved, loved The Night Circus. I am at work now so no time yet for a review, and I am also wondering on how I am going to write one without spoiling the magic (ha!) of the book. This is a book that just gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. I wish I could experience it for the first time again... And such a lovely edition the hardcover is too....

ETA: Oh, nearly forgot, my next book for my way home is Forever War. Which I think is not quite as warm and fuzzy...

Read Tehanu, the fourth Earthsea bbok.

I finished a local history book, The Parry's of Philadelphia and New Hope and am reading The Memory of Love which is totally engrossing.

snash ~ I loved The Memory of Love - one of my favorite novels/reads this year.

I finished Joy for Beginners and it ended up being pretty good. Sometimes you just need something light and this was that. That said, it was maybe a bit more serious/something more than the average chick lit.

I am now reading To Kill a Mockingbird.

I'm having a quick fix of Vampires, I'm currently reading part 3 of the Vampire Diaries, The Fury.

Last night I started the third story in the The Great Book of Amber: The Complete Amber Chronicles, and I have to say that I'm just not into this series--and I LOVE fantasy. I'm unwilling to give up on it completely, so I think I might set it aside for now. Someone recently recommended to me The Last Days of Disco, so I might try that, or I might pick up The Art of Fielding. I'm still reading Raceball for work and really, really liking that.

I just finished Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby and I'm about to start Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris by David King. I need to compile a creepy reading list for the second half of the month in honor of Halloween!

In the same session I'm reporting the starting and finishing of a book. Last night I read the first two thirds of Rancid Pansies, the third volume in the Cooking With Fernet Branca series. I finished it before I got up this morning. It was fun to read with plenty of clever word play and references and a few laugh out loud minutes.

Robert

Confessions of Catherine de Medici by CW Gortner

I just finished She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. What a great book. I was sad it had to end. This is my 1st Lamb book and won't be my last. The fact that he can write 1st person as a woman is amazing. One of my best in the last year.

Finished The Museum of the Missing last night and tomorrow I'll be starting The Son of Neptune!

>63 momom248: Maureen, don't let She's Come Undone fool you. He completely lost his ability to self edit after that book, and I won't be reading any more of him until he can reclaim it.

Who was it who recommended Unwind? Thank you, thank you. What a great YA book. I finished and reviewed it and am so glad to have found this little gem. Now on to a big hulking diamond The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins. I've wanted to read it since last October when folk were talking about it.

I finished The Girl in the Polka-Dot Dress by Beryl Bainbridge

Now I'm reading Lytton Strachey's Eminent Victorians

#61 Mr. Durick: Good to hear that Rancid Pansies is worth reading. I was wondering if the author could keep the story and humor going through the third installment. I'm saving it for sometime in the dark days of winter when I can use a good laugh.

I thought it was easier to find the entertainment in Rancid Pansies than in Amazing Disgrace. The best of the lot, however, was Cooking With Fernet Branca. I think that they all bear reading, but James Hamilton-Paterson, keeping his affection for words, may have grown older during the development of the series.

Robert

I am still reading The Brontes by Juliet Barker. I did not have a lot of reading time last week so I am only page 200 or so. I am hoping to get much more time to read this week or else I will be lugging this thing around for months!

I am reading three books right now which is a lot for me. They are Locke and Key: Head Games by Joe Hill, Pig Island by Mo Hayder and Love Wins by Rob Bell.

I am really enamored of the Locke and Key book, but I have to read it under a strong light to see the art well enough. Otherwise, it'd be the only book I was reading.

I just finished Ready Player One and really enjoyed the ride.

Next is Things Fall Apart.

I have The Winter Sea in my backpack to start at lunch today. Listening to Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer on my MP3 player for the ride to and from work. Love Grisham!

>71 jnwelch:, jnwelch, Question about Ready Player One: Is it enjoyable for someone who did not live through the eighties? (Well, I lived through it, but my time is the later nineties).

>73 divinenanny: divinenanny I was just thinking about this. To me, the answer is yes. I generally knew some of the references (e.g. Star Wars) and not really others (e.g. the Canadian band Rush), and it really didn't matter. He's good at laying it out so you understand the clues regardless. To me knowing all the cultural references was not only not necessary, but unlikely.

>74 jnwelch:, Thanks, I'll keep it in mind to pick up sometime :D

I finally, finally finished Shelters of Stone last night and am beginning Literary Brooklyn when I get home while watching the Yankees come back from the brink of elimination

I'm very much enjoying The Woman in White and think that Sarah Waters must have also before she wrote Fingersmith.

Finished and reviewed 38. Kidnapping the Lorax, an environmentalist thriler, in my thread...post #50.

I am halfway into On Second Thought: Outsmarting Your Mind's Hard-Wired Habits by Wray Herbert. It seems to be an interesting subject partly explained by a dull writer. I supported the selection of this book for our group's discussion in November. I am, by now, looking for ways to avoid eating crow -- emphasize the interesting writer and deemphasize the dull writing.

But he, so far, hasn't mentioned some very important concomitants to his thesis. I think this book may be worse than it looks.

Robert

#79
Mr. Durick - That is a great line, "I think this book may be worse than it looks.".

Citizenjoyce, ugh sorry to hear that about Wally Lamb. I will probably still read his others at some point.

Just starting The King's Daughter. Hopefully its not too romancey!

I'll be joining the group read for The Woman in White too, but I'm waiting for a copy from the library. If anyone wants to join us, the group read is in the 11 in 11 challenge group.

I finished reading The Nymphos of Rocky Flats. Campy.

I'm reading I, Rigoberta Menchu. I know she's been accused of some "inaccuracies," but we're not talking Million Little Pieces here. Allegedly, some of the things she claimed happened to her family happened to people she knew instead. As far as I'm concerned, that doesn't vitiate the autobiography. After all, the point of the book is to let people know what life for the Quiche people is. Whether or not it happened to her brother or her neighbor's brother doesn't make a huge difference to me.

Just getting into The Immortal Prince. So glad to hear that divinenanny loved Night Circus. It has caught my attention and is near the top of my "to be read" pile.

I am rereading Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver, it is really wonderful.

Just finished The Forever War, and started A Visit from the Goon Squad next.

I'm juggling three books, Mrs Dalloway, Larry Watson's latest, American Boy, and finally, the one I reach for most often, Lester Higata's 20th Century.

And I'm almost to the end of the audio of Watership Down. I will miss it when it's done.

What to do?? I have just received by mail The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O'Connor and Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner, (both nice slim volumes), and I have started on Prodigal Summer, I am sure that I can put aside Prodigal Summer as it is is a reread!!

#87 For some reason I only registered the first three words of that Flannery O'Connor title and had already started adding it to my wish list before I realised my mistake (not that I wouldn't be happy to add the corrrect title but 'The Violent Bear' really appealed to me).

Couldn't sleep last night and got three-quarters of the way through A Month in the Country by J L Carr - what a lovely little book, it's been on Mount TBR for far too long and I'm glad I finally got round to picking it up.

#88 I have just ordered A Month In The Country following your comments, plus a look at my research site GOOD READS, great reviews!!

I picked up last noght a book called The Cruisers by Walter Dean Myers. I wanted an easy read before tackling something more substantial.

#89 I hope you won't be disappointed! I've finished it now and loved it. Very low-key and the kind of thing I could read dozens of times still finding some additional nuance each time. Very short too.

That looks good, Booksloth. I'm glad you posted about it.

>86 Copperskye: Oh my goodness Joanne! Is your head exploding from all the wonderful writing you're reading?! Mrs Dalloway reamins my favorite novel, Lester Higata's 20th Century was a delight, and Larry Watson is an amazing writer...White Crosses and Montana 1948 alone guarantee him a place in my personal pantheon of extraordinary talents. I haven't read American Boy yet, please be sure to let me know when you review it, please please pretty please?

I've had a great reading week. Finished Fire Monks by Colleen Morton Busch and am still thinking about it. Would like to write a review but have to do some processing first. It's about five monks who chose to stay and defend their monastery in the middle of a forest fire in California after the various fire services suggested they evacuate. Interesting read about fires, and Buddhist thought and the politics of fire fighting agencies, etc.

Started A Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr after someone mentioned him on LT. I have only read about 2-3 books fiction or non, about pre-WWII Berlin and am becoming more interested. This little mystery was intriguing me, but then the mail deliverer brought Sointula: Island Utopia by Paula Wild which I was very excited to receive. So now I'm about halfway through that and enjoying it. It's about the settlement of Malcolm Island, off the tip of Vancouver Island, off the coast of British Columbia. Interesting.

Altho this thread is What Are You Reading, I'm wondering because my reading seems different from lots of others, if I should be posting on a more specific page, e.g. the Mystery Group, the Buddhist Group, the non-fiction group, or is this for all subjects. Do you double post? List here and talk about on the more specific lists?

Yes, double or multiple post. The variety on this one is part of the fun, but posting in more specifically-oriented groups would be good for them and you'd likely enjoy the feedback. Some groups are more active than others, though - the Buddhist group is pretty tranquil. :-)

Thanks jn. I do enjoy the variety here and like others, have expanded my interests because of it, e.g. the Berlin stuff.

and LOL at tranquil group!

By the way PaperbackPirate - You asked awhile ago if I liked The Social Animal. Yes I did, altho I didn't finish it. I liked it a lot and thought it was a great idea, a great way to present applied research ideas. Didn't finish it just because I used to teach a lot of that stuff and am on to other things now that I've retired. I noticed one reviewer, can't remember if it was here or Amazon, criticized it because of the lack of research and said no professional person would take it seriously. I used to teach psych and went back when I read that and did a double check on the research. I thought it was good research from good sources so I don't know what that reviewer was talking about. The only problem I had with that part of it was the author would just use one piece of research about an idea that has perhaps had multiple and different results. Then I'd just like to see that recognized, e.g. "Altho some researchers have found otherwise, ......found......". One example would be the author's mention of the U-shaped curve of happiness experienced in marriage, meaning happy at first, not so much when raising kids, then back to happy again over time. That's controversial and people are still arguing about it because some of the methodology came into question. But then, aren't we pretty much arguing about most stuff?! Anyway - I thought it was a great book and glad to hear you enjoyed it.

Have finally managed to post a review for It's Only a Movie: Alfred Hitchcock by Charlotte Chandler. Reading the book was a very enjoyable experience for me.

My review is here,

http://www.librarything.com/review/76733411

Or my 75 Books Challenge thread,

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

Just haven't felt like listening to The Lies of Locke Lamora so started Fredericka, another delightful Heyer romance. If I still don't feel like Lamora after finishing Fredericka, I think I'll start Goliath by Scott Westerfeld, the conclusion to the Leviathan trilogy.

Still reading The Woman in White, finding it's unfolding much more rapidly now, and really enjoying it.

Finished Fatelessness by Imre Keresz, a powerful story told in a straight forward, unsentimental way. Highly recommend this one.

Looking for something lighter and have picked up Unwind by Neal Shusterman. I noticed that CitizenJoyce enjoyed this book earlier this week.

Another huge Larry Watson fan here. I did not know he had a new one! Oh joy.

I am still savoring To Kill a Mockingbird. I was kind of thinking it would feel overrated. I have not read since high school. Well, it's not. It's as wonderful as I remember and I can see why it is said to be the American novel of the century. Almost as fascinating is Harper Lee herself.

For my fiction writing class I am reading Sula and parts of They Things They Carried. I've read them both before, but it's really cool to read them and focus on the wonder of the writing/craft.

>101 CarolynSchroeder: Some high-level writing you're reading for that class, Carolyn! Wonderful books both.

I've just reviewed In Winter's Shadow, a reissue of the classic YA novel of Arthurian Britain as told by Guinevere, in my thread...post #58.

Steve Jobs has died.

Wow, talk about working up until the end.

Carolyn- I agree with Richard, you are reading some "choice" books there. Enjoy!

I finished and loved Stiff by the incomparable Mary Roach. This is my 3rd book by her and I am crazy for this author.
I started a few days ago, A Dance With Dragons. Since it clocks in at a dainty 1,000 pages, this will be my October read. Martin might set a deliberate pace but there is no question he is a heck of a storyteller.

The Books on the Nightstand podcast, just announced it's Book Retreats for next year. Anyone interested, please stop by Right Here
I attended one this past April and it was fantastic.

Started Books do furnish a room the 10th volume in the Dance to the Music of Time.

I finished reading Fire Engine That Disappeared by the team of Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. For being a mystery that was written in 1970 it has weathered well. Since I was reading Scandinavian and a friend just loaned me her copy of Snowman by Jo Nesbo I started that one instead of trying to finish Dr. Zhivago.

#46 enaid > I haven't read any King yet because I am a major scaredy-cat. (The movies of Pet Sematary and It gave me nightmares...) I think I will give The Stand a try eventually. I wonder what the sequel of The Shining will be like! I watched a show where they actually explore the hotel where his book was based on. Creepy history.

Still on The Eye of the World.

I just finished the audio version of Watership Down by Richard Adams and read by Ralph Cosham. I read it as a teen in the 70s (everyone was reading it). I loved it then and appreciated it even more now. A marvelous story.

I've finally posted my unfavorable review of my July ER book, 40. Love at Absolute Zero, in my thread...post #70.

Not, not, not recommended. Not. At. All.

I missed last week's discussion somehow...anyway, I'm almost finished with Over the Edge by Jonathan Kellerman. It's very intricate and interesting, but this one is more complicated than the other Kellerman novels I've read - almost unnecessarily so. It's enjoyable, but it seems a bit too tangled at times.

Last week, I tried reading In the Dark of the Night by John Saul, and I found it hopelessly unsophisticated and melodramatic and gave it back to the library. It was awful.

However, I also discovered a horror novel called The Dead Path which has been a delightful treat! Fascinating characters, a creepy backstory, and a delightfully spooky atmosphere. I can't wait to read more!

Finished A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner which was good. I'm now completing The Town by Mobashar Quershi. I'll be struggling with a review of this one, trying to come up with some constructive criticism.

Next up is The Caldarian Conflict by Mike Kalmbach which is a YA sci-fi. I'm not much of an 'expert' on YA novels, but I'll try to give it a fair shake. I'm one or two years past my YA period.

97mkboylan

Good to know you took the time to double check some of the research in The Social Animal.
I thought it was very interesting and entertaining.

I had a small problem with it too...I noticed a few times he compared 2 unrelated pieces of data to prove a point. I didn't mark the pages where it happened so I'll make up an example to describe what I'm talking about: 40% of boys whose parents divorce before they're 12 go to jail, whereas only 10% of girls whose parents divorce before they're 12 drop out of high school. (And I just want to reiterate that I made that all up).

If you're trying to prove the point that something affects boys more than girls, then why not give the same statistics about girls too? I had to question why he would compare apples and oranges.

Anyway, I always enjoy learning about how our minds work.

Last night our book discussion group decided to discuss The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson in December. When I finished the disappointing On Second Thought last night I picked up The Finkler Question and got a shallow start on it.

Robert

I'm at the tail end of Absolute Power by David Baldacci and have several on deck to choose from. Not sure which to pick first. Choices are his next, Total Control, I Dared to Call Him Father by Bilquis Sheikh, Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, Is It Just Me? Or is it nuts out there? by Whoopi Goldberg, and that's just he tip of my iceberg! LOL Still waiting on ER books to arrive, as well.

(115) Neverwithoutabook, I can personally recommend Who Moved My Cheese?. It was highly entertaining, and enlightening.

Finished The Blood Books, Volume 1 by Tanya Huff and I've started The White Lioness by Henning Mankell.

115 I just loved Water For Elephants.

Thanks fuzzi and hazeljune! I'll take a look at both of those. Who Moved My Cheese? isn't a very thick book, so might be a quick read as well.

I second Water for Elephants.

Started reading Saving for Retirement Without Living Like a Pauper or Winning the Lottery by Gail MarksJarvis and must say it is eye-opening. It would have been really great to have when I was 25 or 36 or even 45 rather than 3 years from retirement, but better late than never, right?

#101 - My son is reading The Things They Carried for his high school AP Writing class and loves it.

> 122 The Things They Carried is a great book.

>111 coloradogirl14: coloradogirl14 Have you read anything by Stephen White? He and Kellerman are amazingly similar in some ways. Both are psychologists (even were college classmates). Both have protagonists who are psychologists with cop best friends (how else would a psychologist get into the police files?). White himself and his protagonist's wife both have MS--I have a friend with MS so it's interesting to get a bit of insight although the stories don't revolve around that point (usually). I've yet to read one of White's with a graphically twisted sex killing like Kellerman loves.

I'm reading Matilda by Raold Dahl with my eight-year-old son.

>111 coloradogirl14: and 124 Stephen White is one of my favorites. I enjoy hearing how the wife character learns to deal with the frustrations of having MS, pacing herself, etc. I also love reading Abigail Padgett and hearing her deal with bi-polar disorder. Great example of how to live a full life.

I started and finished Who Moved My Cheese?, which I found thought-provoking, last night, and then started Water For Elephants. So far I'm enjoying it. Thanks to those who voted for both these books!

#127- Water for Elephants is a wonderful book- enjoy!

Thanks cdyankeefan!

#124 - streamsong - I'll definitely have to check it out! I love really intelligent murder mysteries.

Also re: The Things They Carried - One of my favorite books. I read it on my own first, and then I read it for a college course on memoir - it's technically fiction, but the issues of story truth vs. happening truth tied in really well with the class. I recommend it to everyone I know.

I am reading the ebook You're as Stupid as You are Fat; How to Talk to Women. It is a self help parody which I am enjoying very much. The author, Zach Behr has created a persona that is fun to dislike.

I am currently reading 1916 by morgan llywelyn. If you love irish history this is a great fiction novel that brings the battles of irish rebellion to life thur ned hallorans eyes.Great book!

Welcome!!!

I set aside I, Rigoberta Menchu so I could keep up with The Woman in White group read. I'm loving it, but I think I've been reading too many 19th century novels lately. The opening didn't strike me as "florid" because everything I've been reading lately is florid. Stop me if my posts start sounding Victorian.

I finished Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig. Fabulous! He was so adept at capturing the minutiae of the human psyche while spinning a wonderful story! Great read!

I continue listening to Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope, and I am about to begin reading Salmon Fishing in Yemen by Paul Torday.

Forgot mention that I also read the collection of poetry and essays about breast cancer, Pink-On-Pink by Teresa Schreiber Werth. She nails breast cancer! Excellent!

# 134 Cammykitty: Now and then I binge on Victorian novels, too. I get it! Aren't they wonderful, though?

I've just reviewed the extraordinarily beautiful and quite moving book Hurricane Story in my thread...post #85.

@136 I totally love them!!!

I will finish reading Lytton Strachey's Eminent Victorians tonight.

Next up: The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt

#139 mollygrace, please let us know if any of these books that you have read are special, as I look forward to your recommendations.

I am still with Lolly Willows , next for me will be Behind The Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson.

I am going for some lighter reading this week and have started Unwind by Neal Shusterman, a YA sci-fi and I have also started the delightful The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett.

I hope you enjoy Unwind, DQ50. I thought that was a good one.

#141: The Uncommon Reader is a little gem, isn't it?