What Are You Reading the week of 17 March 2012?

The 17th: William Gibson

Penelope Lively

The 18th: Richard Condon

John Updike

The 19th: Sir Richard Burton

Irving Wallace

Philip Roth

The 20th: Lois Lowry

Henrik Ibsen

The 21st: Michael Dibdin

Frank Hardy

The 22nd: Louis L'Amour

William Shatner

James Patterson

The 23rd: H. Beam Piper

Kim Stanley Robinson

Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

I cannot believe how many books about teenaged boys I've read this week. I didn't like teenaged boys when I was one, and I don't like them any better now. Suicide Notes was worth it. It's Kind of a Funny Story was very much NOT. And then, and then...oh my heck...one of the most beautiful books I've read this decade, and yes it's about teenaged boys...The Song of Achilles.

Dear Gussie. Great balls of fire. This book...well, run, do not walk, to the bookery of your choice and procure yourself a hardcover copy of this beautiful, poetic, moving book.

Have put The Song of Achilles on my list.

I am about 65% of the way through Advise and Consent now!!! Woo hoo!!!

I'm really enjoying this extremely well-written book. It's just long, and I haven't had enough reading time over the past few weeks. It's smashing my 50-Book Challenge goal all to smithereens, though, and the worst thing along those lines is that it's the first of a 5-part series which I will eventually work my way though also.

Thanks Richard!

I have put Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman aside so I could read my book club book, Little Bee by Chris Cleave. I flew through it and only have about 30 pages left. It's a very interesting story so I'm sure we will have plenty to talk about on Friday.

Thanks for putting up the new thread, Richard! Lots of interesting names, as usual.

I'm still reading Astrid and Veronika by Linda Olsson. It's a novel about a friendship between two women, one who is older, and the two women sharing the details of their lives. It's good enough to keep at it, but not outstanding in any way. I would have to say it's a typical, run-of-the-mill women's novel.

ETA: Not that there's anything wrong with women's fiction. Heck, I love women's fiction ... if it's good. This one is just rather mediocre.

Thanks for starting the thread! I have a couple of chunksters I'm working on right now - Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese for my book group this month and When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman. I'm a few chapters into WCAHSS and I love it so far; I think it'll end up being just as good as The Sunne in Splendour. I can't wait to get to the Henry II and Eleanor of Acquitaine parts, but that'll be awhile.

I'm also reading Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, which is a short little book but there is a lot to it. The first half is a lot like Survival in Auschwitz or Night.

Thanks for the start, Richard!

Since it's Michael Dibdin's birthday this week, I may as well take this opportunity to start Cosi Fan Tutti, which I borrowed from the library.

I also (finally) finished Monsieur La Souris, by Georges Simenon, this morning. It takes me longer to read books in French, even without stopping to look up words.

@8

I watched the PBS series Zen and had no idea it was book-based. I loved the character and the setting. Do you think I'd be safe to pick up actually reading the series with Dead Lagoon, or should I go back to the beginning and read the first three books?

Thanks, Richard. Reading The Lola Quartet, a good read. But not great as of yet.

I finished and REVIEWED Elizabeth Taylor's lovely novel A View of the Harbour. Now I'm reading the fifth book in the Clare Fergusson/Russ Alstyne series, All Mortal Flesh. A hundred pages in and it's riveting, as usual.

Thanks for the new thread, Richard.

I am starting off the week with a fun western by Louis L'Amour, Down the Long Hills. I am also reading a historical mystery, Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn, so far it seems more historical romance, but still enjoyable.

Thanks for the kick-off RD! I've been hearing some strong buzz on the song of Achilles, so I'm glad you are loving it.

I finished the excellent The Orphan Master's Son. Expect plenty of raving on this one. It's a big bold read, with incredible ambition. Find it! Read it!
I just started, on audio, The Wise Man's Fear. It's a mammoth-sized fantasy tale, the 2nd in a series.
I'm also loving Behind the Beautiful Forevers. My books have been treating me veddy veddy good!

Finished The Skylark of Space by E. E. "Doc" Smith night before last. Reading Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, Beauties of Iran by S. Mahmudi Aznavah, and The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, and Joanna's Husband and David's Wife by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey. By Monday, I will have gathered a copy of every book written by Steve Berry and will start reading them as well.

I've now started The Blue Nile by Alan Moorehead. Good stuff, so far, but I'm not far in yet.

In the middle of Jacqueline Winspear's new Maisie Dobbs novel- Elegy for Eddie. It's good as usual.

@9: I started with the first three books in the order that the TV series aired them (Vendetta is #2, Cabal #3 & Ratking #1) & was fine with the chronology. My friend read the whole series in chronological order and preferred that approach. Personally I wouldn't start with Dead Lagoon; I found it slow to get going. So yes, I'd suggest starting with the adapted books. I hope you enjoy them!

And I liked the series too. Rufus Sewell was very easy on the eyes ;)

I have just started and so far enjoying Ben, in the World by Doris Lessing, it is the sequel to The Fifth Child, this I read only a few weeks ago.

In the meantime I have cast aside lots of books that have not captured me!! I now know why I collect so many books, I need them for selecting, the one!!

There is a wonderful article in The Washington Post, going back to 2009, if time is taken to read I am sure you will find it amusing, just google in - edge: closing the book on a bad read- every so often reread this 3 page article and I do not feel so guilty about my discards...

I've put two books on hold at the library since starting to catch up on these threads... you people are dangerous! But in a very good way. Richard, thanks for starting us off this week, but I'm putting off looking into Achilles until I finish The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland. Also reading The Price of a Dream & have started Lifeblood (which I only bought to make up the minimum order for free shipping on Amazon, but it's looking like a pleasant surprise).

I started on the second book in the tea-shop mystery series, Gunpowder Green, because I had fond memories of the first one from years ago, but I'm only fifty pages in and it's more of an eye-roller than a page-turner. Will have to try these Brother Cadfael mysteries instead - thanks for the recommendation, all!

Also, on a lark, picked up X-treme Latin - not really paying attention to the Latin, but the English translations are a hoot.

Just ordered Child of the Jungle thanks to Bookwoman - sounds fascinating.

I said I was going to read Strap Hangers this week, but my library request for Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick came in so I started that yesterday. I'm half way through and VERY much enjoying it. I've wanted to know about North Korea and am learning lots of its history in a hard to put down book. Thanks again to this list, where I kept hearing about it.

Am making my way slowly through Independent people by Halldor Laxness

Just started my recent ER win The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen. Seems promising; got a rave review from Emma Donaghue, author of Room which I enjoyed.

I've finally written my review of The Song of Achilles and posted it in my thread...post #143.

I started your review, Richard, then had to stop because I hate knowing too much about a book before I start it. The fact that you're swooning is enough for me to put it on my wish list.
Right now I have 3 books going:
Nook: The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women by Jessica Valenti - excellent and timely. She starts right off by asking why is a girl though to be moral only if she abstains from sex. Why isn't she thought to be moral because she's moral?
Audio: Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon - kind of a Damon Runyonesque sort of horse racing story with more sex. It's timely in light of the cancellation of the TV series Luck due to the death of 3 horses during filming. It was recently long listed for the Orange Prize, and I can't figure out why. To me it's just OK.
Paper: Friendly Fallout 1953 by Ann Ronald - a combination factual account of above ground atomic bomb testing in Nevada and the consequences that ensued plus fictional stories of people involved in the tests. The facts are very thorough, the characters pretty stereotypical.

Hmmm, mixed feelings about Gaudy Night. I assume earlier comments on the ending referred to the personal strand of the story but what upset me the most was the way fr 300 pages or more I was quite convinced I wasn't going to figure out who dunnit, then it suddenly became so blindingly obvious that the book could usefully have been cut by 200 pages. Ah well, that's whodunnits for you, I guess. On the whole I enjoyed the book.

I've now moved on to an ER book from last month, A Brief Madness, which, I must say, is quite intriguing so far and which I think I'm going to enjoy rather a lot.

Last night I finished The Third Child by Marge Piercy and now I'm reading Free Will by Sam Harris.

Still listening to The Marriage Plot and reading 2666.

I've finished Astrid and Veronika by Linda Olsson, and have now started The Blue Nile by Alan Moorehead, which seems right up my alley. I bought it a Friends of the Library Bookstore for $!, and discovered that it is a first edition - with the dustjacket. It's in excellent shape, too. Not that I would expect it to be worth probably more than $5 or $10, but it's fun to feel like you've discovered treasure.

#20: I hope you like Child of the Jungle. I look forward to reading your thoughts when you finish it.

@17--thanks rabbitprincess. I'll shall start at the beginning. And yes, he is very easy on the eyes:)

>hemlokgang- I also have the Marriage Plot saved on audio. How is it in this format? And good luck with 2666. I've had that one sitting on my shelf forever.

I am reading Skippy Dies by Paul Murray, very good so far. Love the way he uses language.

>24 Citizenjoyce: I am right there with you, Joyce, on the "don't tell me! don't tell me!" front. I really hope you'll find as much to love in the book as I did.

Almost done with The Lola Quartet, a book not entirely to my liking. Yet, some of the writing, particularly characterization seems to hit the mark. What's next? I am leaning towards The Paris Correspondent by Alan S Cowell.
#23 Richard I though your review of The Song of Achilles powerful enough to get any reader eager to try the book.

>33 Travis1259: Thank you, David! Now go read the book!

I've read and reviewed a Kindle original mystery novella, Accomplished in Detection, in my thread...post #163.

It's quite charming, a Victorian woman forced into amateur detective-hood by a dastardly attempt to pin a crime on the man she's only recently rejected as a suitor. Well worth the hour or so it takes to read it.

Oh Richard I was on the fence about Song of Achilles but now I am def. going to read it! Thank you for posting a review.

Love the article! I t was a great motivation for my getting back into reading mode!

Just about to start on The Shadow of the Wind- Carlos Ruiz Zafon after a friend recommended it to me and it jumped off the shelf at me during a recent Opp. shop hunt. I also picked up Boy in the Moon by Kate O'Riordan we shall see which one takes my fancy.

I had to give up trying to read American Gods -- maybe later. After reading The Night Circus I think I was in need of something more grounded in reality. I've had trouble reading the last few months and I keep starting books and setting them down and trying to come up with reasons to pick them up again. So I'm reading a Brunetti mystery -- A Question of Belief -- I always enjoy those and I'm hoping to stay with it long enough to finish.

I finished and reviewed the excellent The Purity Myth by Jessica Valenti, next on Nook is The Beauty Bias: The Injustice of Appearance in Life and Law by Deborah L. Rhode.

I have just finished reading The Lorax by Dr. Seuss . Next I will probably start reading the Hunger Games in preparation for next week's showing of the movie version.

I finished listening to Why Read Moby-Dick? by Nathaniel Philbrick. His enthusiasm for the classic is positively infectuous. Sure, why not.

I have about 100 pages to go in C.J. Box's Force of Nature. It's good but very violent and needs more Joe.

Another thanks to richardderus for your review of an Orange Long Lister, particularly Song of Achilles ... that just came into my library loan system and I've had my eye on it.

I am reading Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg off the 2012 Orange Long List and so far, really enjoying it (only 51 pages in).

citizenjoyce - Boy, I am sorta (selfishly I suppose) glad I'm not the only soul who didn't dig American Gods. I stopped very soon in. I think it's just not my cup of tea. I thought the writing was just terrible too ... I dunno, different strokes!

*timidly raises hand* I didn't like American Gods at all. I wasn't too chuffed about the writing, but it wasn't as awful to me as the complete, total, utter absence of character development in Shadow, the protagonist. He goes through these adventures, and he never, ever, ever changes! ::facepalm::

Carolyn, I surely hope you'll be deeply immersed in The Song of Achilles soon. I hope it wins!

I borrowed a copy of One More Night With the Frogs by Hugh Pyle, and am really enjoying it!

Started reading The Taker by Alma Katsu this morning. Planned to read for about an hour but here it is 2:17 and I just finished it. Amazing book.

Still reading A Partial History of Lost Causes by Jennifer DuBois, but I've also started City of Scoundrels by Gary Krist, which is fascinating so far.

Started Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games) by Suzanne Collins.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers was harrowing and excellent. Now I'm with Dr. Siri as he sorts through odd events in Disco for the Departed.

booktechie I loved Shadow of the Wind its in my top 10 fav. books. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Finished the excellent Nothing to Envy and started Brave New World (can't believe I've never read it before) and the Magician's Elephant.

I'm juggling two books--Agent to the Stars and Kiln People and I'm eyeballing a third....

I enjoyed both Shadow of the Wind and Brave New World.

Carolyn, it was Mollygrace who didn't like American Gods, not I. I have it on my Nook. It doesn't look like I'll get to it any time soon judging from recent comments.

whymaggiemay - Finished Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick last night. It's one of my favorite reads ever. I keep thinking about it. I loved the way it slowed things way down so you could see the processes e.g. industries shutting down, dealing with starvation - the ingenuity inspired by hunger was amazing, as sickening as it was to read about. I've ordered her next book, about Sarajevo.

So many issues were touhed upon by the author - so much to think about.

Having trouble settling down to another book. Nothing is grabbing me because I want a quick light read for a break, but nothing is as interesting to what I just finisheed. Wish the new Grafton would come into the library for me.

Maggie & mkboylan- I read Nothing to Envy a few weeks ago. It was an excellent read. One of my top reads of the year. I just finished and loved the Orphan Master's Son, which is thriller/drama that is set in North Korea.

Thanks msf! I'm on it! ok well, I'm #60 on my library's list. They also have it as an ebook tho, so I'm going to check that out. It will be so interesting to read the novel AFTER the non-fiction about N. Korea!

ETA: #8 on the electronic copy list!

I just finished Lord of Misrule and wasn't much impressed. Interesting if you like horse racing or find female masochism appealing. My next audiobook is Feminism and Future of Women(14 Lectures on 7 Compact Discs (The Modern Scholar) by Professor Estelle B. Freedman. I loved the last Modern Scholar series I listened to about Chinese economics, I hope this will be as good, though I see it gets only 3 stars on LT.

I'm up too late reading a wonderful little novel Coral Glynn by Peter Cameron. It reminds me a little of Rebecca. I read The Vanishers by Heidi Julavits over the weekend and thought it was odd and different but her intelligence gleams on almost every page. So, while it wasn't a straightforwardly excellent read it was still very good(I'm still pondering over it). I also read Song of Achilles and liked it very, very much.

Well, back to Coral Glynn!

I officially give up on Matthew Pearl's books. He speaks to many people, but not to me. I've reviewed his latest, The Technologists, in my thread...post #176.

This week, I'm getting around to an Early Reviewer book--Susan Weissman's Feeding Eden. It's about the trials and tribulations of a family within compound food allergy issues. It makes me grateful I don't have to worry about that kind of thing.

citizenjoyce ~ Sorry! Thank for the input on Lord of Misrule ... I was wondering about that one.

I thought American Gods was wonderfully written.....that's why I love LT...differing viewpoints are good for the reader's soul!

I'm basically going into the second half of A Time To Kill.

Thus far, the rapers raped the 10 year old girl, the father killed the rapers on their way out of a bail hearing, some hoopla with change of lawyers occurred because of money and his mind being messed up, and the hearing for the change of venue occurred. Trial is in 4 weeks. I guess this is the week where I find out what happens at the trial.

Also recorded the movie late Sunday night. Plan to watch it once I finish the book. Anybody both read the book and see the movie? Anybody know if the movie follows the book of if it's one of those godawful movies that misses the storyline completely, like Troy did?

#63: Don't forget that the rapists were white and the little girl was black ... this in rural Mississpi.

I really don't mean to disparage American Gods -- I'm just not in the right place for such a book right now. I read almost 80 pages and agree that it is very well-written -- but it was headed in a direction I simply wasn't in the right frame of mind for. I felt as though I was about to be taught a lesson, that Gaiman was out to demonstrate how brilliant he is. After having read The Night Circus, I wasn't in the mood for another magic show. I wanted to be told a good story with characters I could relate to.

I know I'm underestimating Gaiman. I loved the beginning of the book and perhaps if I'd stuck with it, he would have won me over somewhere along the way -- but I needed something simpler, something not so grand -- a good old Brunetti mystery, for instance, which I'm enjoying and should finish today.

I agree that this is the best place of ever, because we can disagree about books (which is sort of wonderful and even makes me look at them a different way sometimes) without getting into snits. I have never seen anything weird here, which is why I enjoy it so much.

I also think it is wild how sometimes it's a matter of when we are reading a certain selected book, what is going on in our lives, minds, etc. I have come back later to things and loved them when I did not first go 'round. So maybe it just wasn't my time for Neil Gaiman and I will try another time. I am certainly open to it.

Currently reading Mozart by Richard Baker - it's great to have a glimpse into the life of a genius, and to read about the challenges of his time in the 18th century. For example, he would face quite a hardship just travelling from point a to point b across Europe - but in our current generation, the music stars travel by first class in an airplane, all this was not available to the child prodigy more than 200 years ago.

#54 and #55: As said, I felt Nothing to Envy was excellent. I read it in 3 days because I couldn't stand to put it down. I, too, thought Demick did a wonderful job of showing how the political situation affected so much in the country that one wouldn't necessarily think of -- like the decimation of the forests for wood to burn to keep warm and loss of the frog population in the country for food. Sometime back I read Please Look After Mom, which is a fiction book about a family in crisis in South Korea. It, too, was excellent.

I finished and reviewed Friendly Fallout 1953. The things that have been done, and covered up, in the name of patriotism. Now I believe I'm in need of a little fiction from one of my favorite authors, Marge Piercy, so I'll start Sex Wars: A Novel of Gilded Age New York. Here's hoping she lives up to the trust I have in her ability to keep me mesmerized and informed at the same time.

68 - Thanks! Just reserved my library's ecopy! I think it will be good to read it now with this all fresh in my mind.

69 Citizen - could you recommend a good starting book for Piercy? I've read nothing of hers.

Finished The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland - thank you to all who recommended it, very glad you did!

Moving on to The Solitude of Prime Numbers for RL book club. Not really enthused about it yet, but maybe I'm still just getting over the mistake of starting it over dinner.

Caved and added The Song of Achilles to my hold list at the library, and it's already in, along with Child of the Jungle and Thinking, Fast and Slow, more LT recommendations. Very dangerous crowd, but in a good way.

I've written a review of a first mystery, featuring an out gay LAPD homicide detective (!), called The DVD Murders, It's in my thread...post #191.

I'll hold off advocating for it until I read some more in the series. At least I'm game to do that, which is more than most books I pick up!

I am about to start A Passage to India with some reservations. We'll see how it goes. As for Nothing to Envy...I am glad to hear so much great feedback about it. It has been sitting in my TBR pile for awhile now and I think I am going to move it up way closer to the top of the pile. Thanks to everyone for their helpful comments.

>57 Citizenjoyce: Joyce, not only was Lord of Misrule long listed for the Orange Prize but it won the National Book Award in 2010! It didn't appeal to me at all.

Add me to the list of people who really loved Nothing to Envy. It made my Top Reads list last year.

I finished All Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer-Fleming and have to say that this series just gets better and better. This was the fifth book in the series and I don't know how long I will be able to put off reading #6. Now I'm reading Unbroken (finally) by Laura Hillenbrand.

Don't know how my star fell off this thread but I'm caught up now.

Half way through Every Last One and am quite enjoying it, didn't know much about the book before I started (or at least had forgotten anyway) so just had a bit of a shock as it took a turn I didn't expect, but am still enjoying it.

#75 Iudita - dump those reservations, Passage to India is one of the best books you will ever read!

#72 Oh boy, am I jealous! There is (almost) nothing better in the world than discovering a wonderful author and knowing you have that whole back catalogue still to read (15 novels and dozens of short stories). In the case of du Maurier, that goes way beyond any normal treat because pretty much everything she ever touched turned to gold. May I recommend next Frenchman's Creek, My Cousin Rachel, The House on the Strand and the blissfully creepy novella Don't Look Now but you will eventually want to work your way through the entire collection (and there's even a 'new' collection out now of stories that were only discovered around a year ago - "The Doll and Other Stories"). And if (as with so many of us) Rebecca becomes an obsession there are even a couple of pretty good sequels written by other authors. Many people rate Mrs de Winter by Susan Hill very highly but my own preference is for Rebecca's Tale by Sally Beauman, which stands up to the original much better than any sequel has a right to do. Although I rarely recommend sequels that are not written by the original author I would say both of these are well worth a read. I'll be thinking of you and drooling slightly.

I finished the ER book A Brief Madness and reviewed it and have now moved on to The Somnambulist by Essie Fox. I think I have guessed one of the major 'secrets' by the end of the first chapter but I'm clinging to the hope that the author is too clever for me and things won't really be that obvious by the end. So far it's an enjoyable piece of fluff.

I put down Island of Wings (From the Orange Long List 2012) at about 80 or so pages ... it may just be the space I am in, but all of the obliteration of the mountains of birds (especially Puffins) was just, really horrible to read about. I realize the folks' existence was based on all the slaughter, but still, I'll find something else to read. I also had the don't-care-about-any-of-these-characters-itis which made it a chore for me to keep picking back up that book.

But it's been an absolutely awesome year thus far in the non fiction realm and just finished two back to back 5-star books, Awakening the Buddha Within and Early Reviewer book The Man Who Planted Trees by Jim Robbins. Kind of off the general path of this thread too, but I also loved this book on watercolors Paint With The Watercolor Masters by Jonathan Stephenson.

So I think I'll stick with non fiction for a while and go get Nothing to Envy out of the library. Thanks for the suggestion on that one!

I'm just now starting Chameleon Days: An American Boyhood in Ethiopia by Tim Bascomb. It's far too soon to know if I'm going to like this, but I suspect that I will.

I finished Disco for the Departed, another fun one in Colin Cotterill's Dr. Siri series set in Laos. Next up I think are Death Comes to Pemberley and David Copperfield.

Just finished The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen, an ER title. Definitely a page-turner, but I'm left feeling unsure about the whole thing. I've yet to write my review.

>71 mkboylan: mkboylan, the first book I ever read by Marge Piercy was He, She and It which I term feminist science fiction but it could be called societal science fiction concentrating more on the way society functions than on gadgets. Though there is science and there are gadgets. The "It" in the title is a created rather than a born man. The book most people start with, or the only one they may have read, is Woman on the Edge of Time a contemporary fiction about a poor Latina woman with elements of either time travel or psychotic hallucinations depending on how you want to take it. Peircy gives much to think about and tells a good tale while doing it.

Finished One More Night With the Frogs last night, loved it!

I also picked up The Virginian again, and became so involved in the story, I read almost until midnight...then I forced myself to put it down.

Finished 2666....a massive masterpiece of a novel, but will someone tell me what the heck the title means?

I will be starting to read The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean which is both a RL book selection and the "2012 If All Rochester Reads....." selection. I will be hearing the author speak later in the month. I continue listening to The Marriage Plot.

84 Joyce - thanks - I just ordered Woman on the Edge. It will be only the second sci-fi I've read. I'm too tired to think of the first one! But it was about gender also and I loved it.

I am reading Left Hand of Darkness and there are gender issues, or the lack of them, it this book. It was written a long time ago and is considered one of the classics of sci/fi. It is for my book discussion group and I like it but am having trouble getting into it. I think that is because I have A Murderous Procession sitting there staring at me and I want to be reading it instead of Left Hand. Fortunately for me Left Hand is a rather short book.

I am reading One Under by Graham Hurley, this is the seventh in his DI Joe Faraday series set in Portsmouth, England. I am also reading The Night Following by Morag Joss, she is a new to me author, but after reading a third of the book, I have ordered two more by her.

I am reading Nothing To Envy based on the reviews here and it is excellent so far. I'm always amazing at what I don't know in this world. Demick is a great writer - really portrays the lives in North Korea with skill, sensitivity, grace and understanding.

I am also reading Radical Acceptance in furtherance of my Buddhism studies/work on self and it is very good.

90 - Radical Acceptance - another of my favorites. Funny - that one and Awakening the Buddha Within are two of only about 5 books I have on tape. Occasionally I put them on endless loop in my car.

Purchased a Kindle Fire... There are SO many Indy writers out there! Just finished August Gale (hard cover) which I loved! I have now started Veiled Eyes on the Kindle. :) Happy reading all!

Wow - mkboylan - I heard that Tara Brach's voice is incredible and well suited for her thoughts. I will have to check around for that at the libraries. The funny thing for both Awakening the Buddha Within and Radical Acceptance are that both had been recommended to me for years by many people and I always just kinda went, meh, not for me. And now they are saving me life. Powerful stuff in there.

93 - Since I read those two books, I rarely worry about anything anymore. I think it hurts some people's feelings. Like my kids call and say I know you were worried so I wanted to let you know - and I'm all like (:)) - not really! My mom called yesterday and asked if I was worried (she'd been in the ER twice this month) and I decided I'd lie a little and say yeah, just a little! Perhaps this would be better in a private message!

I am listening to Girl in Translation and wondering why this novel isn't classed as YA? I am about to finish it and so far the heroine isn't even out of high school. The subject matter isn't even adult. All of this has made me spend too much time thinking about why and how a book gets published as YA or adult and why would it matter to publishers?

The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch is an overall disappointment. The marine science and resultant wonder are the best parts of this over hyped first novel.

This is supposed to be told in the voice of an awkward 13 year old boy. The author crowds to the front on nearly every page. For example, in one set piece the narrator and friends call a 900 number to ask some basic sex questions, then 25 pages later the same narrator describes a retreating tide as a slow striptease. (?). End paper maps of the area discussed in the novel would have been helpful.

After lots of discards I am now enjoying Fraud by Anita Brookner.

I finished Chameleon Days: An American Boyhood in Ethiopia by Tim Bascomb which I very much enjoyed.

Now after a false start, I think I'll be settling on Cuba Diaries: An American Housewife in Havana by Isadora Tattlin.

>Carolyn- I'm glad you are enjoying nothing to Envy. It's a great read! Easily one of my top books of the year.

@98 -- I'll be joining you in Cuba with Tom Gjelten's Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba. I hope it's interesting...

Saw Abraham Verghese speak this evening as part of the Arts & Lecture series in Rochester, NY. Charismatic, thought-provoking......great event!

#97> I read Fraud several years ago and thought it was very good, indeed.

In print I'm reading Henny on the Couch by Rebecca Land Soodak and in audio I'm listening to Glow by Jessica Maria Tuccelli. I'm also about to start an early egalley of Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness, the sequel to A Discovery of Witches.

Finished The Marriage Plot which I found disappointing. Probably doesn't help that I thought Middlesex was wonderful, so I went into this novel with high expectations. I will be starting to listen to Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy by Jacqueline Kennedy, the April selection for my RL book club.

Finished The Virginian last night, and am sorry it took over 50 years for me to find it! It is definitely not a 'Western', in the pulp fiction sense, but a true classic.

Last night I wanted a 'comfort read' (nothing too stimulating before sleep!) so I picked up Jeremy Poldark for a reread. :)

>95 benitastrnad: I liked Girl in Translation a lot, Benita. I have to admit it never crossed my mind to think of it as a YA title. You're right, the age matches that in much of the book, but for me it wasn't written in what I think of as simpler YA form. For me it was an adult looking back, not a YA.

#101 -- the important question for Abraham Verghese is -- when is his next book coming out. I've read everything he's written (in the public venue) and am hoping for more soon.

I finished an LTER Winnie and Gurley this afternoon. It is essentially the memoir of a family, the couple of the title being the author's grandparents. It presents Winnie as the author knew her from his childhood and the slow revealing of the family secret over the next 40 or 50 years. After a concentrated effort of putting all the pieces together, the book then presents the lives of Winnie and Gurley beginning to end. I was a little disappointed that the second half did not reveal much additional information, just more straightforwardly presented. I enjoyed the book for its exploration of ancestors as real people from their perspective as much as possible. So often ancestors are only seen as known by their children which is necessarily colored and lacking.

I'm reading Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann as part of my bid to read more modern Irish authors seeing as I live here. He is a really excellent writer, last year I enjoyed his book Dancer based on the life of Nuryev.

#109 - Let The Great World Spin was amazing. One of the best books I read last year. Enjoy!

#102, if you are able to obtain a copy of Brookner's A Start in Life AKA The Debut in US, I am sure that you would enjoy, it is her first novel, written in 1981.

After 200 pages of The Somnambulist the author finally revealed what I'd figured out by the end of the first chapter but it's still a light and fun read. My only real peeve is the author's habit of starting pretty much every chapter at the end of the day then 'flashing back' to what happened in the morning. That might have been effective once or twice but after the first 30 chapters or so it gets tediously repetitive. It's not a terrible book, quite a nice little read, in fact, if you're not looking for anything particularly stimulating, but I don't understand what all the fuss is about (here in the UK, at least) because nothing has happened yet that hasn't happened in a million similar novels.

I just finished American Gods last week, and I will agree that it wasn't my favorite Neil Gaiman. I thought the ending was sort of anti-climactic, and then I started wondering if that had been his intention, and I just couldn't figure out why. I was sort of intrigued by the premise of the book, though. But for those who were reading their first NG, don't give up on him. The Graveyard Book was wonderful, despite being a children's book, and so was Neverwhere, one of my favorite reads of the last few years.

For a total change of pace, I am reading my first Michael Connelly novel, The Black Echo, from his Harry Bosch series, and am finding it strangely compelling.