What You're Reading the Week of 26 May 2007

Alan Hollinghurst The Swimming-pool Library Later: I posted this late last night but had my usual weekly battle with the touchstone for The Swimming Pool Library as LT would only show me an orphan version by Alan Hollinghrst (sic) - so I dived off and recombined books and authors to get the correct touchstone. Last week I finished Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul, I found it a bit tiring later but enjoyed being reminded of the little parts of Istanbul that I know enough to keep me going. I also got to the end of 'American Backlash: the untold story of social change in the United States' that I have been reading in fits and starts for several months. I think that it merits a more focused read than I gave it, there are some excellent insights into social values and structures there. I also fairly romped through Robin Ryde's short book on thinking styles Thought Leadership - moving hearts and minds which has some good ideas but badly needed better editing that it has received. Nothing wrong with it but the writing gets a bit loose and hard to follow at times. I've switched genres now and am more than half-way through Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger it's entertaining but not as good as The Devil Wears Prada, but that may be that this book is a variation on a theme.

I finished Austerlitz - it was very slow in the beginning and at first I couldn't understand why people loved this book so much. Then, at the half way mark the book turned and then I was hooked - heartbreaking and touching and well written.

I am now reading Veronika decides to die by Paulo Coelho

I swore I was going to get Midnight's Children out of my TBR pile, but one look at all those pages filled with teeny tiny print... I decided that in the summer, it's okay if you'd rather read something easier, so I started Terra Incognita by Sara Wheeler instead. I haven't gotten to the good parts yet, but I'm sure her voyage to Antarctica will be fascinating.

I finished Agnes Grey, the last of the Bronte Sister that I hadn't read.
I have started Where Angels Fear to Tread and am continuing Life of Pi and The Book Theif.

I got it! I'm so excited! I'm reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, the newest book by Khaled Hosseini. The librarian wants it back as soon as possible so SHE can read it. :-)

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What do you think of The Book Thief so far, bookworm12? I recently read it and found it just wonderful. It's a great read for all ages. I also think it's a good way of introducing the difficult topic of the Holocaust in a not so threatening manner.

#5 - SqueakyChu - I'll be curious to know what you think of A Thousand Splendid Suns - I am expecting my copy in the mail any day now.

I am about half-way through The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory. I hope to finish up this weekend (it's a fast read so far) and then start on The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

I finished The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon this morning. Teeming with characters, dense with plot, imaginative--I really enjoyed this one.

I'm about halfway through Case Histories by Kate Atkinson, which I'm quite enjoying as well.

(Touchstones not loading.)

Tonight I'll be starting the anthology Prom Nights from Hell which I've been looking forward to.

As of 0000H GMT of May 26, I have completed 47% of the book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.

.

Last night I finished One Good Turn, and this evening I high-tailed it to the library to return it and pick up my next book which is on hold there.

Oh no! I forgot the library closes at 5pm on Fridays! I have been without a book ALL DAY LONG (well OK, so I went to work today but still ... ).

On the plus side I spent a lovely evening outdoors with hubby and a bottle of Chardonnay.

But the library opens in 11 hours. I'll be there. :-)

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I can tell you right now, mrstreme, I'm going to love A Thousand Splendid Suns. I was a big fan of Hosseini's writing from the very beginning when his first book was brand new, and no one had ever heard of this author.

Having started Hosseini's new book, I was just thinking that it reminds me of the writing of Naguib Mahfouz, an Egyptian writer whose works I haven't read for a long time. They both call to mind the traditional heirachy of the esteemed male (father figure) over everyone else in the family.

I have almost finished the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. It's really fun to read in bits and pieces any longer than 30 minutes and I have to put it down.

Next I will read The Road by Cormac McCarthy and if there if there's time The Glass Palace: a memoir by Jeannette Walls. Both books I heard about here at Library Thing - Thanks!

I'm just finishing up The Alibi Man by Tami Hoag. This is second book after Dark Horse. Then I'm onto Cover the Night by Linda Howard.

#10 - lindsacl - oh no, Book Withdrawal! I hate when that happens!! At least you had some chardonnay for the shakes and jitters. =)

#11 - SqueakyChu - if A Thousand Splendid Suns is half as good as The Kite Runner, it will be a wonderful read. I have not heard of Naguib Mahfouz - I'll have to check out his works.

I'm reading Have You Seen Me? by Laura Denham

I'm surprised that it caught my attention as I typically do not read a lot of fiction novels. I'm liking it thusfar.

Have you read it?

Be well, Cora (Corazonart)

http://www.bookmooch.com/inventory/corazonart

Reading This Book Will Save Your Life by A.M. Homes - not into it yet

Sigh. I'm having a hard time finding the next book I want to read. It doesn't help that my TBR pile has dwindled from its usual 10 down to a mere 3. I'm moving back to the US soon though and I'm not letting myself buy more things that will just have to be dragged home in my already over-stuffed suitcases.

After discarding Midnight's Children because I just wasn't in the mood for Serious Works of Literature, I moved onto Terra Incognita, Sara Wheeler's journey through Antarctica. I never imagined that you could make an Antarctic journey boring but I passed my 50-page cut-off without feeling interested. Now I'm going to try out the last work of fiction in my TBR pile - Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow. Here's hoping it goes better.

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Naguib Mahfouz was an Egyptian novelist who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1988. He died last year.

I liked Mahfouz's books because, at least the ones I read, dealt with the modern Arab culture. Their structure was easy to read and an insight into life in the middle east. I'd suggest starting with the first book of The Cairo Trilogy. It's called Palace Walk.

If you do read any books by this author, I'd love to hear what you think of them.

You can find more information about Mahfouz at this Wikipedia article.

keren, I read Austerlitz last month and had a similar experiences. I was hooked a bit earlier than 1/5 through, but the first 40-50 pages were certainly a struggle.

I just finished reading Second Nature by Michael Pollen this morning, and have started The Brief History of the Dead by Keven Brockmeier.

Okay, finally found something absorbing - One Man's Bible by Gao Xingjiang, purchased for my Asian literature reading project. Although it looks promising, at least half of it seems to be written in second person point of view. I can imagine that might get annoying.

I'd really like to try some of the Naguib Mahfouz, but none of it but none of it is available on bookmooch right now.

I recently bought Naguib Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy which includes Palace Walk, Palace of Desire and Sugar Street. I also have his Three Novels of Egypt which include Khufu's Wisdom, Rhadopis of Nubia and Thebes at War. I don't know when I'll read all of these - but I have been fascinated with reading Mahfouz's work ever since I read an article about him and his writing; and then my interest was further piqued when I started hearing all these wonderful things about his books here and in various on line book groups.

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Although it looks promising, at least half of it seems to be written in second person point of view. I can imagine that might get annoying.

Want to read a great book all told in second person? Get yourself a copy of The Case of Doctor Sachs by Martin Winckler. It's the story of a doctor's daily medical practice in the French countryside. It's quite an experience to read a book in which the narrative is done all in second person. It's also a great pleasure to have it done well.

Mahfouz really sounds like a wonderful writer - and he seemed like a wonderful human too. I have added Palace Walk to my PBS list. I will let you know what I think after I read it....Thanks for the recommendation!

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One thing I found interesting about reading Mahfouz in the past was that his books were popular at a time when very little modern Arabic literature was being read for pleasure in the West. I think that is certainly changing these days, but I am always trying to get others to read such books. I think that is why I originally picked up The Kite Runner from my library when it was a newly published book and pretty much unheard of by others.

I think sometimes that novels present a clearer picture of what is happening in the middle east (e.g. exploring the souls of people who live in that part of the world). So much of what we read in newspapers is only a small part of that world. Relatively few people in the West have the opportunity or good fortune as I did to spend an extended time period living in a middle eastern culture - to appreciate its richness as well as understand its challenges.

By the way (and speaking of the middle east), I spent a part of this morning reading Orhan Pamuk's 2006 Nobel acceptance speech. The librarian in my local library recommended yesterday that I do so. I strongly urge all of you to do so as well.

About to start The Space Between Us by Thirty Umrigar today on a long car ride. I jus finished The Man of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld this morning and really enjoyed it, even though nothing super exciting happened in it.

Going back to Roma by Steven Saylor after a brief sojourn into the land of light romance.

#21 Writestuff ~ Thank you, thank you, thank you! for the tip on Mahfouz's Egyptian novels. I know it's a woeful shortcoming, but I much prefer to read about ancient civilizations than the world in which I live. However, once I find an author I like, I'll read (or try to) other things they've written, even if it's not something I'd normally pick up. So, if Khufu's Wisdom, et al. grab me, there's a very good chance I'll go on to read his novels of modern Middle Eastern life.

I finished Case Histories by Kate Atkinson in the wee hours of the morning. I love it when I get so absorbed in a book that I can't bear to put it down and go to bed!

This morning I started Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin.

> 5: SqueakyChu
What I think of the The Book Thief so far...

So far I love it. I still have quite a ways to go, but I think it is such an interesting writing style.
The way there are little bits of trivia sprinkled throughout it very different.
It's a book that I just love to pick up. Unfortunately I've been really busy and have been lugging it around in my purse in the hopes that I'll have a spare minute, it's not a small book.

Reading A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon.

I'm still reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and hope to follow it up with The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, as I've been waiting to read that one for quite a while. However, I'm expecting two books for review any day now, so they may well displace Fforde's book if they arrive before I get to it...

Finished a re-read of LeGuin'sThe Telling and have just started Joseph Finder's Killer Instinct. So far (after two chapters) I don't particularly like the protagonist or his wife.

#26 Storeetllr: You are quite welcome :) If you get to them before I do, I'd love to hear what you think!

Just yesterday I began to read Zeba Crook's Reconceptualising Conversion: Patronage, Loyalty, and Conversion in the Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean.

I usually have bookmarks in five or six books at a time and switch from one to another. Sometimes I start a book that grabs me hard and I'll stick with it and finish it before I return to the others. This week I got hit by The Religion by Tim Willocks. Well, the touchstones didn't pull that one up. It's historical fiction set in the mid 1560s about the seige of Malta and features one of the clashes between East and West and clashes within Christianity. Pretty damn good stuff.

I have finally finished Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter after two major interruptions. Loved it! It begs rereading though!

I couldn't find some of the books (mostly short fiction collections) which are "in process" so I started reading Angelica by Arthur Phillips. I'm hoping to finish it before I start doing reading for classes...

I generally would never consider reading to be a waste of time but I wasted my morning reading Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now by Maya Angelou. This afternoon I started True North by Jill Ker Conway which I'm enjoying and which is making up for the lost time of the morning.

At the moment, however, I am watching a television broadcast of Tom Wolfe delivering the commencement address at Trinity College (Hartford, CT). He is quite entertaining. Maybe tomorrow I'll pull I am Charlotte Simmons off the to-be-read pile.

May 26

501 great thing about being gay
KHRUSHCHEV'S RUSSIA
The Mammoth Book of Space Exploration and Disasters

I finsihed One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich today.

I believe I will be starting Metamorphoses by Ovid tonight.

The Gift of Fear which I'm about 3/4 of the way through and should finish over this holiday weekend.

The Rookie Club which I'll finish tonight.

I'm thinking of starting one of the Piers Anthony Geodyssey books tomorrow.

Boswell on the Grand Tour : Italy, Corsica & France by James Boswell. (This is the 4th or 5th in a series, and I'm hooked -- Boswell is hilarious, outrageous, and so far above any mere navel-gazing diarist that he stands alone... and shines.)

I can't remember that last book I wrote about here. Finished Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - very good. Also Burning Bright by Tracey Chevalier - not very good.
Currently reading Under the Skin by Michel Faber - strange and interesting so far.

I overcame my book withdrawal from Friday evening and am now well into The Translator by Leila Aboulela. It's lovely.

Finished Steve Geng's memoir Thick as Thieves, which I read because it got a great review in the NY Times and because it is also about his sister, Veronica Geng, whose work I loved. I found it mildly interesting, but overall was disappointed -- there's only so much of the activities of a drug-addicted, alcoholic, thief that I can take.

Still working on John Lynch's biography of Simon Bolivar, but I'm coming down the home stretch.

Started The Magic Mountain but, as reported earlier, my 1972 copy began falling apart. I did buy a new copy, but decided to save it for some trips I have to take in June.

So then, thanks to recommendations here on LT, I just started The Secret River by Kate Grenville.

(Touchstones seem to have given up halfway through this post.)

I am rereading the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane. I recently finished So You Want To Be A Wizard, I am currently reading Deep Wizardry (my favorite of the series), and then I'll read High Wizardry. And then the rest of them. Or at least as many as I feel like reading, anyway.

I'm reading Blart: The Boy Who Didn't Want to Save the World by Dominic Barker right now. So far it's been hilarious, and I really want to see what happens in the end. After that I'll probably start on The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, as I've had that book for ages but haven't had the time to read it yet.

Lindsacl: Glad you are enjoying The Translator - I knew you would :)

cckelly: I read The Gift of Fear several years ago and really liked it.

I just finished Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry and have now started Old Filth by Jane Gardam

Just finished Lover Revealed by J.R. Ward and will be starting Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck next. It will probably be my first classic since high school.

May 27-

Super Reading Secrets - Didn't learn anything.
1,037 Ways to Make or Save Up to $100,000 This Year Alone - personally I don't see this 1,037 ways.
Paradise news

After giving up ~ 10 years ago, I started Middlemarch again this weekend. Although I am older and wiser and used to reading more challenging and older books now -- I realize why I put it aside all those years ago. A bit of a snoozer so far (pg 175) - but I am getting into more as I go along.

I also read Death in the Garden by Elizabeth Ironside which was just OK.

I'm currently reading Cane River by Lalita Rademy and Alice Cooper: Golf Monster by none other than (drum roll please) Alice Cooper. Both books are very good!

>46 writestuff:: writestuff, and I think I can predict what you'll think of Old Filth also! *wink *

I gave up on Terra Incognita, the travelogue of Sara Wheeler's year in Antarctica, after it failed to catch my attention by page 50. It's kind of sad when you can't make Antarctica interesting.

Now I'm working on Smilla's Sense of Snow, which I picked up from bookmooch after reading a non-fiction book about Greenland. Smilla is a very interesting character, but I'm not that involved in the mystery, so it's a bit slow going.

Wow! I love hearing everyone talk about Mahfouz. I have been delving into his works a lot recently. I have recently completed Children of the Alley, The Cairo Trilogy, Miramar, and tonight I completed Adrift on the Nile. Anyone interested in Mahfouz should come over to the group on Middle Eastern and North African writers to chat about him. He is an amazingly versatile author.

#35 - avaland - I would love to hear what you think of Angelica - I have been interested in it for some time.

This week I am finishing up Colonial Citizens: Republican Rights, Paternal Privilege, and Gender in French Syria and Lebanon. After that, I will be free of assigned reading! I am hoping to continue making progress on How Language Works, which I read in little bits because of its encyclopedia-like style, and I think I am going to pick up Sanditon and Other Stories to complete my first read through of Jane Austen's works. I want one more really good but kind of light non-fiction work as well. Something along the lines of Fast Food Nation. Any suggestions? Happy holiday to all the American users out there!

May 28 -

Time Machine #03
Class Action: How to Create Accountability,: Innovation, and Excellence in American Schools

#53: fannyprice > I think your looking for literary non-fiction. There are probably a zillion books that could be listed. Mark Kurlansky and Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilema) come to mind. Some other authors similar to Eric Schlosser are maybe John McPhee or Richard Preston (who has a new book out: The Wild Trees)... maybe Jonathan Harr?? ...

I plan to start Black Powder War by Naomi Novik on my morning break, having finished Throne of Jade on the bus ride to work. I'm looking forward to it; while the second book wasn't quite as entertaining as the first, this series still seems to have a lot of potential.

I just finished Thunderstruck by Erik Larson. #53 fannyprice - this might fit your wish for light non-fiction. It's about Marconi as he tries to send wireless messages across the Atlantic. Tied in with this story is a murder mystery where the killer was tracked using wireless and ship to shore radios. Larson has a knack for making non-fiction readable (his The Devil in the White City is also enjoyable), and blending the stories makes the era come alive.

I think I'm going to start on American Gods by Neil Gaiman next. I've heard so much about it here on LT I thought I'd give it a try. I'm also trying to decide which of the many titles on my TBR list will go on vacation with me. I want to make sure I have plenty of books of a nice variety so I can scratch any reading itch.

**touchstones for titles aren't working this morning**

#52, cestovatela As I said in the "Where are you now?" group, I enjoyed the beginning of Smilla's Sense of Snow (touchstone not loading) but not the ending (basically the sense of place and character but not the plot) -- will be interested in what you think.

#53, A light read about food (and NOT from a critical perspective is Bill Buford's Heat - a really fun book (which I didn't expect to like). A more serious, but beautifully written book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman, about cultural misunderstandings and health care.

I'm about half way through Bastard Out of Carolina; the writing is excellent; the story so far is somewhat predictable, but well-told. The characters come alive. Nothing up to this point is giving me any insight into why either mother or daughter acqueisce to the abuse that is central to the plot. I suspect I will review this one more fully once I've finished it. I'm also well into my re-read of The Order of the Phoenix, touchstone of which refuses to load, but you all know what I mean.

Finished Roma by Steven Saylor last night and am back in the land of light romance reading It's In His Kiss by Julia Quinn. After that, I think it's back to ancient Rome with Augustus by Anthony Everitt. But that's for another post. :)

(Touchstones behaving badly again.)

I'm reading some books that weren't added to my library catalog in previous sweeps, as they were out of reach on a shelf at the ceiling.

Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle is a great poetry collection and an old favorite. I also found A Table Near the Band by A.A. Milne (yes, the author of Pooh) -- a collection of light stories from 1950, and The Ballad of Castle Reef a novel by Honor Tracy. I don't remember acquiring either of the latter two books! Both are pretty amusing, and I feel like I've just made a successful purchase from a favorite used book store-- without the driving that entails.

I finished Murder by Magic an anthology with 20 stories involving murder and magic. I had hoped to find new authors to explore, but none of the stories really stood out for me. I may explore a couple of the authors when my TBR pile gets really low.

I also finished Kelley Armstrong's No Humans Involved. I found it a very quick read and quite entertaining. I did have a couple of quibbles, but I'll go into that in another review elsewhere.

Current reading My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding - it is another anthology. I'm already familiar with some of the authors; Jim Butcher & Charlaine Harris are authors that I enjoy. I've finished the first story by L.A. Banks. I wasn't overly enthralled with it.

I've almost finished Once Upon a Country, an autobiography by Sari Nusseibeh, the highly regarded peace activist and university president (Al-Quds University in Jerusalem). His book is an insightful and balanced overview of the situation in Palestine and East Jerusalem since his birth in 1948. After I'm done, I'll probably start A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz, the Israeli novelist and peace activist. Oz, grew up, according to Nusseibeh, "no more than a hundred feet" away from where Oz spent his childhood, yet each was completely unaware of the other.

I'm also reading the novel Reckless Eyeballing by Ishmael Reed.

I finished Veronika decides to die - it was ok - not terrible - not fabulous - obviously has a message it wants to send.

I am now reading Posessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker - so far it is interesting reading.

Having finished my prior reading task, I'm now on Time and Eternity: Exploring God's Relationship to Time by William Lane Craig.

I am currently reading Pandora by Anne Rice and I'm finding it being pretty much the same type of stuff Rice always writes with a lot of historical references.

I think I'm going to take a break from Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow and start on Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight. It arrived in the mail yesterday after a very long wait and it looks very enticing.

Finished reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte last night, so I'll be following it up with The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde today...

Currently reading Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins.

I'm reading The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins and 1215 by Danny Danziger. Not very far into either, so I can't yet comment on them.

I finished The Remains of the Day on Saturday, and am now about five chapters into Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope. I'm slowly, but surely, working through all the books in the Barset series.

For pleasure: the forever war by Joe Haldeman
I'm really enjoying this and it's set me thinking about what would happen now if there was conscription in the UK compared to what happened in WWI and WWII. My guess is that the government wouldn't be able to do it. The population is much more cynical now and 24 hour news means we are under no illusions about what war means.

For my dissertation: out of the cage by Gail Braybon

I'm back to reading The Magic Mountain again. I'm sticking with the "stop every 100 pages and read something else" routine for this one. In between I've read The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory, and Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones. The Phillipa Gregory is not something I would normally have picked up, but it was recommended by an old workmate and I really enjoyed it. Lots of "Weren't the Tudors frightful?" moments.

Mister Pip I polished off in a day, and I enjoyed the setting as it was close to home, and I was feeling a bit homesick (particularly for his descriptions of Wellington). It captured the day-to-day sense of what it is to live in a country (Papua New Guinea) in the midst of civil conflict so well, I thought.

I breezed through The Translator over the weekend, and am now on to A Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela (with a difficult touchstone!)

lindsacl, #74, I found A Long Walk to Freedom fascinating and moving.

paulamartin (#16): A.M. Homes is a great writer, but This book will save your life was my least favorite of her books ... if you're interested in her other stuff, I highly recommend Music for torching.

amandameale (#41): I thought Under the skin was okay, but when I found out what was really going on, it obviously reminded me of (SPOILER ALERT) the sci-fi story about "How to serve man."

I'm now reading

The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

#73 Killeymoon
Pleased to find someone else who has read Mister Pip. I thought it was very good and liked the link to Great Expectations.

Having finished The Occupation of Iraq (see my review) I'm now reading "Keeping it Real" by Justina Robson.

I am currently reading Dragon Seed by Pearl S. Buck.

And currently listening to an audio of Summer by Edith Wharton and an audio of Classical music 101: a complete guide to learning and loving classical music
by Fred Plotkin

Cabe, I too just finished the Chabon Yiddish Policemen's Union and thoroughly enjoyed it too. I did wonder in the beginning if people would be put off by all the Yiddish references, but it soon turned into an absorbing tale.
Some of my favorite bits, without spoiling anything, were the Boundary Maven and the whole Yiddish Noir feeling. I immediately thought Bogart.

I too read both of Kate Atkinson's related books Case Histories: A Novel and One Good Turn: A Novel which is a sequel with some of the same characters. Both really good.

Another recent read: The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay; set in a book store exactly like The Strand in NYC and populated by some very odd characters, as seen through the eyes of a 19-year-old Tasmanian girl. Part of the plot involves a lost ms. by Melville, but it's not a mystery

Antasari--if you love magic and mysteries, try to find any of the Clayton Rawson books featuring The Great Merlini. Not easy to find, but very enjoyable.

Finished Beautiful Lies this past weekend...definitely a quick read, but entertaining and full of twists...Jumped back in time to the beginning of Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte's marriage with Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe...I really enjoy Sandra Gulland's writing, and the story is intriguing.
Next up is Ireland by Frank Delaney in preparation for my trip!

I just finished A widow's walk by Marian Fontana. Ms. Fontana became a widow when her husband, a fire fighter was killed in the collapse of the South tower in the 9/11 attacks. The book is a memoir of her life & that of her 5 year old son during the first year after the attack. She uses flashbacks so that we are aquainted with her husband. Some of these are humorous, but the focus of the book is on the search for the missing men, the funerals that follow one after another & the lives of the widows that are changed forever by a tragedy that will be remembered forever, in many conflicting ways.
After finishing this book (I am a widow of 1 year) I had a problem trying to pick something to read next from my TBR pile. Usually I like to follow fiction with non-fiction. But every fiction title I looked at seemed so -- trivial. I finally picked a non-fiction I had just purched Born fighting, the Scots Irish in America & am now following that with a brother Cadfael midieval mystery Monkshood set in a time when life was expected to be short & violent.

I took part in a workshop last week at the Charleston Festival (Vanessa & Clive Bell's country home and meeting place of the Bloomsbury set) by my friend, Lynn Knight, who very kindly signed my copy of her very excellent biography on Clarice Cliff, and which I'm currently reading. I'm also reading Sarah LeFanu's biography on Rose Macauley.

#5 Squeakychu I just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns myself and I loved it. Probably in my all time top 10 books. This one will stay with me for a while. I loved his other book The Kite Runner as well and just found out it will be a major motion picture released the end of 2007.

Just started Eye Contact by Cammie McGovern So far so good.

Have just started Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami and just know I'll be fine with it.

I've just started The Gates of ivory, the gates of horn by Thomas McGrath.
(Work touchstone removed when not found in the 250 suggestions.)

The back cover blurb reads:
An Orwellian examination of the effects of power on the individual by someone who personally faced the investigators. Highly influenced by McGrath's experiences with the HUAC hearings during the 1950s, the novel is not dated. It is instead filled with an immediacy both frightening and refreshing. It is written as a science fiction tale -- a story of a few dim days in a murky California future.

"McGrath is a major. If you don't know his work, you owe it to yourself to dive into it at the first opportunity." -- San Francisco Review of Books

I finished off Notes From the Underground this morning, (difficult in the beginning, but ultimately worthwhile), so now I've I've started in on The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells as my work e-book.

I am in the middle of "Villette" by Charlotte Bronte

I finished reading Old Filth and started Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult today.

Mallory's Oracle by Carol O'Connell. I think it's the beginning of a wonderful reading experience ~ I just love it when I come across great new authors/series! And, thanks to LT, it happens quite frequently these days!

77> amandameale: Yes, I think reading Mister Pip might have been at your suggestion a few months ago - many thanks! I did like the slight twist towards the end when she finds Great Expectations in the school library (I haven't read it (*shame*), so I didn't see that coming - though I'm not sure that I would have anyway!). I was also thinking about reading Burning Bright which I notice you didn't think was very good. I haven't read Tracy Chevalier before - and it looked like such a good premise for a book! Anything in particular that didn't work?

I'm reading Eat, Pray, Love for a change of pace from The Magic Mountain (again - I'm stuck around page 275...).

#92 Killeymoon Burning Bright was entertaining in its depiction of London life in 1792. Apart from that there wasn't much of a story and the inclusion of William Blake was just a gimmick - there was no real insight into his life and work. I did like Chevalier's first book Girl With a Pearl Earring which was a best-seller. Read that one instead.

Impressed with your persistence with The Magic Mountain. One of my favourite books of all time is Dr Faustus also by Thomas Mann and that was really hard going. I felt like I read a page a day for about six months.

>92 Killeymoon: Killeymoon - If you haven't read Falling Angels I would check that one out. I've read all of Tracy Chevalier's work, except her newest, and it's by far my favorite.
I finished Where Angels Fear to Tread a sad story, but classic E. M. Forster style.
I just started Rebecca. I have seen the Hitchcock movie made from the book and loved it. I usually hate seeing the movie first, but I'm not sure I would have picked this one up if I hadn't.

If you ever thought you had a book in you I have to really reccomend Wannabe A Writer? by Jane Wenham-Jones. It is really funny but also full of great info from bestselling authors and top people in the publishing world. I'm loving it!

Finally "finished" Miss Smilla's Feeling for the Snow, by which I mean I got frustrated and skimmed the last 100 pages. The characters and settings are so well-done but the mystery just dragged forever. Now I'm devoting my full attention to Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, Alexandra Fuller's memoir of childhood in war-time Africa. It is good but thus far not quite as atmospheric as her other book.

I'm a little more than halfway through The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett. I was looking forward to it, given all the hype surrounding his work, but so far I'm not very impressed. It's not a bad book, but it's not a particularly good one either. There are a lot of, "look, something random and funny!" moments, but I don't find that there's really a lot that engages my interest. Oh well. I've heard that this is among the worst of the Discworld novels, so maybe I'll try another one in the future.

I left the book I was reading at home when I came to visit my parents (oh woe!) so I grabbed some random books they had.

I read a couple of the Tek books by William Shatner - just finishing a third one - and The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which my mom just bought for her 5th grade class next year. The Tek books are fairly mindless fun. Hugo Cabret is actually pretty good.

I started The Carpet Makers last night. We ease into the world pretty nicely; he does a good job of showing various aspects of the situation without just telling us about them. My sense is that the initial characters might be throw-aways, showing us the social categories and such. I'll be interested to see which of them survive into the main part of the story, and how the social roles evolve. At this point it seems that women are primarily hair farms.

I just finished Blessings by Anna Quindlen. I am now back to mysteries, I am reading The Third Victim by Lisa Gardner. Touchstone not working on the last title.

I read Windows Vista Plain and Simple by Jerry Joyce and Marianne Moon during lunch today. This book is for people who've heard of computers but have never actually touched one.

Finished Bastard Out of Carolina, which I found worth reading, but less satisfying than I had hoped. I couldn't see the main character in a particularly sympathetic light, in spite of the grim events of her life. I suspect it was a therapeutic effort for the author.
As an antidote, I turned to Clyde Edgerton, who writes about some of the same kind of people, but with sympathy and humor. Hope to finish In Memory of Junior: a novel tonight.

#98 bluesalamanders - I read the Tek novels by William Shatner several years ago. I enjoyed them because they were exactly the way you described them - mindless fun.

#102 laytonwoman3rd, I feel the same way you did about Bastard Out of Carolina. Intellectually, I knew the events I was reading about were really horrible; emotionally, I just didn't feel it. The climatic sing didn't ring true for me either.

I am finishing up The Omnivore's Dilemma (Michael Pollan). If you haven't read this book yet, PLEASE DO! I couldn't recommend it enough!!

After that, I'm thinking of starting either The Thirteenth Tale (Diane Setterfield) or The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Mohsin Hamid) -- does anyone recommend one over the other?

Happy reading!

I finished Angelica by Arthur Phillips and found it very good - unsettling and haunting. It is an unusual Victorian ghost/supernatural story told from 4 viewpoints..the effect, of which, presents a sort of intriguing puzzle as to what really happened. But it's much more than a ghost story as it touches on various topics with regard to the 1880's like: gender roles, madness, science & the medical profession, the attraction of spiritualism and fledgling psychoanalysis. I was drawn to this book from Elizabeth Hand's review in The Washington Post; here are her last lines from the review:
...Phillips is not just trotting out the familiar, gibbering spectacle of "the madwoman in the attic." Instead, his profoundly unsettling achievement is to demonstrate the terrible hold that childhood traumas have not just on their victims but on those who seek to help them: the slippery and dangerous nature of memory, and the futility of believing that we can ever exorcise a demon when the demon's story is our own.

Following this novel, and as I enter more deeply into texts for classes, I am trying to finish up some of the short fiction collections I've had ongoing. So currently I'm finishing Margo Lanagan's Red Spikes.

Just finished The Pesthouse by Jim Crace which was great.

#105 Don't recommend The Thirteenth Tale at all - actually thought it was very average - however, this goes against most other people's advice so bear that in mind.

This week I began Mustn't Grumble by Joe Bennett, which I am enjoying. I love books about Britain and the British people, even though I'm British myself! I always like to know how others view us. (All began with Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island about 12 years ago, felt slightly peeved with Bryson when I read Paul Theroux's earlier and much less complementary/sentimental Kingdom by the Sea years later, looked like Bryson had lifted the idea and the route from Theroux but I might be wrong).

Also started The Bullet Trick by Louise Welsh, only about four pages in so can't make any judgement on it.

Finshed Under the Skin by Michel Faber: disturbing, intriguing and towards the end I couldn't put it down.

Now reading Grace Notes by Bernard MacLaverty - enjoying the writing style.

Just finished rereading Looking for Alaska - it gets better and better with every read. I'm now working my way throug the Ultimate Reading List from www.teenreads.com beginning with The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. I usually don't read SciFi, but this is really intriguing. I'm not sure what to read next, but I'm thinking about Kind of a Funny Story.

Making an attempt on David Levering Lewis`s book on W E B Du Bois. It defeated me once before, but I`m feeling more determined this time !

Avaland (106) - I'm so glad you enjoyed Angelica. The more mediocre books I read this year, the more I realize how good it was. I think it's deserving of a second read, if I ever get around to it.

As for what I'm reading now, I've been lost in manuscript land for the past few weeks, where I haven't come across much that I've liked. Of all the Fall books, the only standout has been Matrimony: A Novel by Joshua Henkin. The book is a little light on plot (boy meets girl in college, boy's friend also likes girl, girl has a moment of weakness, and so on), but his writing makes up for it tenfold.

I'm also about halfway through Emotionally Weird by Kate Atkinson, which I am loving, although I have my doubts as to whether or not it will become coherant in the end. Still, because I am a giant English major dork, I can't help but giggle at all the sly genre references and literary jokes. So far, I haven't found a book of hers that isn't great.

I raced through The Colour of Magic, (mostly just to get it over with), and am now about 50 pages into Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. It's a reread, and a bit of an odd one at that. I first read it seven or eight years ago, and I don't remember much about it other than that I really enjoyed it but never quite managed to get to the sequels. A couple of months ago, though, I started getting wicked bad Robin Hobb cravings, prompted in part by how often LTers mention her work. We'll see how it goes; it's good so far, but I'm not completely absorbed.

I just finished All Over But the Shoutin' by Rick Bragg which I really enjoyed. I have just started I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith which I think I like but am not really that far into yet.

I've finished today Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe by Sandra Gulland and really loved it. I'd start the next one right away, but I prefer to read books in between to stretch out the enjoyment of a really good trilogy/series. To this end, I am just about to start Shaman's Crossing by Robin Hobb. I've heard mixed reviews of the book, but I've loved all three of her trilogies writing as Robin Hobb, and I'm excited to start this one.

>105 calvarez:: calvarez
I really enjoyed The Thirteenth Tale. If you like the gothic style, Rebecca, Jane Eyre, etc. I think you'll enjoy it. So far I've heard people either really enjoy or thought it was completely average. I thought it was great.

105 - calvarez - I loved The Thirteenth Tale!

110 - Alaska Young: I am reading Looking for Alaska right now. It's so enjoyable! Green is quite the writer!

Finished The Inner Circle by T.C. Boyle and started both Next by Crichton and The Emperor of Ocean Park by Carter. Both of them have hooked me good and so I hardly know how I'll divide my time. Am still working on The Boy who Followed Ripley, too.

Oy vey.

May 31

Album of Spaceflight
We Are Not Alone: The Search for Intelligent Life on Other Worlds
The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics

All the books I recently got from PBS in a 3 for 1. :)

Just started Obasan last night - beautiful writing.
Just finished The double bind : a novel night before last. Great ending.
Also reading Called to Question by Joan Chittister and
Powerdown by Richard Heinberg

Just started a short book, The Black Death and the Transformation of the West by David Herlihy (1997). The introduction by Samuel K. Cohn, Jr. is an excellent review of books & articles written in the '80s and '90s about different theories to identify the Plague, how European society changed regarding population, increased their value of family life, and influenced clergymen (at least, in England) to serve their flocks more conscientiously. This historiographical review is worth reading -- not only for it's intriguing information -- but because it sets a foundation for later monographs written in the last 10 years.

I finished Silver on the Tree by Susan Cooper which I liked least of the five in the series. The Light's quest just seemed to drag on and I just wanted it to be over.

I've just started The Thirteenth Tale which I've been looking forward to due to the mostly raves on LT.

#118, Bookmarque: I read Next just a couple of weekends ago. Normally it takes me a week to read an average book but this one I finished over a weekend. I just couldn't put it down. I enjoyed all the bits of info on genes and trying to figure out fact from fiction. I'm glad you're enjoying it just as much!

Now reading The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

>62 Antares1: Murder by Magic in on the top of my wishlist! When I read My Big, Fat, Supernatural Wedding one of the shorts that stuck out for me was a Kit and Olivia story by Susan Krinard. Murder by Magic has the first Kit and Olivia story and am so looking forward to reading it! Since my library doesn't have this particular book I think I'll have to suck it up and order it off of Amazon.com.

Last night I started and finished Tantalize by Cynthia Leitch Smith. It was pretty good, especially towards the end.

Today I'm starting a science fiction novel called Gabriel's Ghost by Linnea Sinclair.

I finally finished the John Lynch biography of Simon Bolivar -- too detailed for me in some ways, but very interesting and informative.

My current reads:

The Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr
An Hour to Kill by Karin Yapalater
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

I finished Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight. It was good but not as resonant as I was expecting. Over lunch I started The Thirteenth Tale based on recommendations here. I haven't read enough yet to offer even a preliminary opinion.

Well, after adoring every second of The Eyre Affair, I followed it in very quick succession with The Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger and Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klaus. I'm off sick so I read both of those just today.

Next up is Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin...

The Secret History. I know I'm about ten years too late with this one, but my god, it's wonderful. It's making me yearn for my college days, all the leafy northeastern foliage and gothic buildings, though I wouldn't be shoving any of my classmates off a cliff (ok, maybe a couple).

June 1 -

Why the Russians are the way they are
Business school for people who like helping people
Practical guide to psychic self-defense and well-being

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It's really interesting but I'd like to be done with it.