What Are You Reading the Week of 12 May 2012?

The 12th: Leslie Charteris

George Carlin
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

Farley Mowat

The 13th: Daphne du Maurier

Armistead Maupin
I surrendered my youth to the people I feared when I could have been out there loving someone. Don't make that mistake yourself. Life's too damn short.

Roger Zelazny

The 14th: Eoin Colfer

Gillian Bradshaw


John Sherwood

The 15th: L. Frank Baum
Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

Katherine Anne Porter

Clifton Fadiman (Anne's daddy)

The 16th: Debra Dixon

Studs Terkel
I think it's realistic to have hope. One can be a perverse idealist and say the easiest thing: 'I despair. The world's no good.' That's a perverse idealist. It's practical to hope, because the hope is for us to survive as a human species. That's very realistic.

Adrienne Rich

The 17th: Dennis Potter
The trouble with words is that you never know whose mouths they have been in.

Susan Wiggs

F. Paul Wilson

The 18th: Fred Saberhagen

Diane Duane


Janice Tarantino

Wow, first one here. So Studs Terkel thought hope was practical? In today's political climate I don't find it so.

I'm reading:
Nook: Three (Flashpoint Press) by Annemarie Monahan a very feminist science fiction book which talks about the benefits and damage done by faith (among many other things)
Paper: We by Yevgeny Zamyatin also science fiction but written in 1920's Russia when the author was beginning to see the consequences of communist regulation
Audio: The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens a delightful book with orphans, magic, dwarfs, witches, etc. Funny, J. K. Rowling wrote about 2 boys and a girl saving the world, this male author writes about 2 girls and a boy. Strange.

Special posthumous birthday wishes to the sublime Daphne du Maurier. I shall be spending next weekend at the D du Maurier festival in Fowey and I must dig out one of her many wonderful books to read in the meantime. That'll be after I finish wallowing in Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, which I fear is going to break my heart by the time I get to the last page, but the journey is too much of a pleasure to back out now.

Thanks, Richard! And may I add my birthday wishes to Daphne Du Maurier. #3, Booksloth, I envy you for being able to attend the Du Maurier festival!

As for what I'm reading, I've just started The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham. I'm not far in at all, but so far, so good.

Thanks, Richard. Nice touch adding the quotes.

Elizabeth Gaskell's North and south, George Macdonald's Sir Gibbie and M. F. K. Fisher's Gastronomical me And I just finished Laughing gas by P. G. Wodehouse.

I've got The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson going in audio and A Bitter Truth by Charles Todd on my Nook.

Still working on The Bards of Bone Plain by McKillip, The Secrets of Ordinary Farm by Tad Williams, My Favorite Fantasy Story edited by Martin H. Greenberg, and Best Short Novels 2004 edited by Jonathan Strahan.

LOVE the quotes! Thanks!

Still into Finding George Orwell in Burma. My reading has really slowed down as I am packing for a move, but I'm sure enjoying this book.

Continuing on with Caleb's Crossing. Don't quite know how I feel about it 1/3 of the way through although I've enjoyed Brooks' other novels in varying degrees.

Still struggling with The Adolescent and filling in with Add More Ing to Your Life whenever I feel sad or overwhelmed. But there's light at the end of the tunnel. I take my final on the 18th and then I can read!

Love the quotes, Richard. Thanks for digging those up. You made my world a better place today.

I am amidst Yes, Chef and love it and don't want it to end. Just such a positive, inspiring story and a genuinely nice guy.

Also filtering in Mindfulness in Plain English so I can have it read when I go see Bhante Gunaratana at a local temple celebration. It is a GREAT basic introduction if anyone has ever been curious about trying meditation (or has tried it and could use a little guidance).

Still reading Way Station

I have several books going at the same time- i started The Night Circus yesterday and am enjoying it so far ; I started 50 Shades of Grey and Carry one Awayu several weeks ago but with my short attention span these days I cant seem to focus on any of them

Love the addition of the quotes, Richard!

I'm about halfway through Outlander which has been on my shelf for about three years. I'm not totally blown away, but it's interesting.

Also still really enjoying Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake. Quindlen is a joy.

I'm learning about the opening stages of the battle for Guadalcanal reading Guadalcanal Diary by Richard Tegaskis. A quick read, but fascinating.

Three current reads:

The God Who Is There by Francis Schaeffer: really interesting, but a little deep. I'm taking my time and writing notes in the margins...

Exile's Honor by Mercedes Lackey, a reread, and started two days ago. I wanted something I didn't have to concentrate on just before I fall asleep, and this one is perfect! It's one of my most favorite of Ms. Lackey's Valdemar books.

And rereading the book of "Job" in the Bible...why do the righteous suffer is a main theme. Very good stuff.

Oh, and before I neglect to mention, thanks, as always, Richard, for doing the honors! :)

>13 NovaLee: Thanks for letting me know you liked my review, Kim!

And I'm very pleased the quotes are making folks smile, too.

I set forth the causes of my discontent with Case Histories, the first Jackson Brodie mystery novel, in my thread...post #70.

Another fan of the quotes here! Thanks Richard!

I finished rereading The Green Mile Part 6: Coffey on the Mile by Stephen King. There were some important details I had forgot about so it was fun to be surprised all over again.

Now I'm reading Desperation, also by Stephen King. I planned to read it in March with the Stephen King group on here, but it kept getting pushed aside until now. I've only read the first chapter but already it's super spooky!

I finished reading Seabiscuit: An American Legend last night - if anyone out there happens not to have read it already, I highly recommend it!

Still reading Hit Lit, and after I finish it this afternoon I am planning on starting Bitterblue.

I have not read that book on Seabiscuit, but I have read Come On Seabiscuit.

>21 fuzzi: I haven't read anything else about Seabiscuit, so I can't speak to any overlap between the two books. I found that it includes some really amazing details about horse racing and jockeys and things that I hadn't seen in the movie, however. :)

I am very absorbed in my reading of The Last Werewolf - it's original, clever and funny - I can see more of Glen Duncan in my future.

Also Zoo Station by David Downing is delivering the chills and I will be looking for the next one in this series before too long.

Finished Pirate King by Laurie R. King. A swashbuckling Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes installment. Great fun!

I am reading The Mill On The Floss and about to start listening to In The Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and An American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson.

I am about a third of the way through Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem and am enjoying this very unconventional detective story.

Cracking open Crooked letter, Crooked letter tonight.

@bell7, I've read some thoroughbred biographies that had a lot of insider information, as in training the horses, etc.

Last year I read My Guy Barbaro, which I found interesting and informative.

#26, Iudita - Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter was one of my top reads last year. Hope you enjoy!

I finished Insurgent while traveling late last week, and it was good but not great. I'm now reading The Wedding Officer and Words to Eat By, both of which are quite enjoyable, although in different ways.

I've joined the Steinbeckathon and am reading The Grapes of Wrath.

#29 - If you like Steinbeck, try his nonfiction Travels With Charley: In Search of America. It is his recollection of a cross country trip he took with his poodle Charley- very entertaining.

I finished and REVIEWED Anne Fadiman's heartbreaking story The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.

Now I'm reading my ER book that arrived yesterday: Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel.

>30 ellenflorman: Thanks for the tip, Ellen.

Started reading Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality by Christopher Ryan yesterday and am almost into it 100 pgs. Very interesting and highly recommended by my fave, Dan Savage.

My copy of Bring Up the Bodies, the sequel to Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel showed up, so I'm reading that now. I've been waiting and waiting for it!

Well, I finished Exile's Honor, and decided to continue with Arrows of the Queen. It's not quite as good as the previous read, but I still am enjoying it.

Reading This Present Darkness, and a biography of Ben Franklin.

I think I may have read that book by Peretti, Lady, but am not sure. I'll have to go look at my bookshelves and see if it's still there. :)

A couple of my favorite quotes comes from the title of Lewis Grizzard books:

Shoot Low Boys - They're Riding Shetland Ponies

and

Don't Bend Over In the Garden, Granny - You Know Them Taters Got Eyes

If that doesn't put a smile on your face, then I think your smiler must be worn out!

:-)

Finished A Clash Of Kings. Great read. I am starting Billy The Kid The Endless Ride by Michael Wallis.

Just finished Devil's Gate by Clive Cussler. Fast/good read! Next up.. hmmm on the Kindle is Where the Wind Blows an indi book provided by Pixel. Soooo many offerings from them, so little time! :)

I loved Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend and highly recommend it to everyone, especially those who liked The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

Now I'm reading The Terror by Dan Simmons and so far I'm intrigued and absorbed (which I do realise makes me sound a bit like a roll of kitchen paper).

Still with the audio of The Orphan Master's Son (it IS 19 hours long, after all), plus Grace Among Thieves by Julie Hyzy and American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin in print, and The Queen's Vow by C.W. Gortner on my Nook.

I finished Guadalcanal Diary, which was very interesting and well written, and began Under the Blue Flag: My Mission in Kosovo by Phillip Kearny. Kearny was a San Francisco prosecutor who was hired by the U.N. to prosecute war crimes in Kosovo. Coincidentally, he was also a neighbor of mine in San Francisco who I knew well enough to say hello to on the street. The opening pages are about Kearny and how/why he came to want and then accept the job, which is fair enough. I'll be more interested to see how well he describes his experiences with the tribunal.

Oh, and my review of Guadalcanal Diary is to be found on the book's work page and on my 50-Book Challenge thread.

Early Greek Science: Thales to Aristotle by G.E.R. Lloyd (1970)

I'm reading a biography, Edward Burne-Jones, by Penelope Fitzgerald.

#41 Booksloth...I loved The Terror...I remember reading it and shivering through the whole thing!

Just finished Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore which was stupendous...so I thought what a perfect time to re-read Graceling and then Fire.

Just finished The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson which I really enjoyed.
About to start The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye

(38) @ambrithill, I enjoyed reading Lewis Grizzard's columns in the Atlanta Constitution.

The only book of his that I have read was one that mentioned the name of a girl, but I can't recall it...hmm...

...I really enjoyed him, and Catfish.

Hello, I recently read: Star Wars Choices of one by Timothy Zahn, The Vanishing Point by Louise Hawes.

Just started Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell. I loved her other work: Doc, The Sparrow, etc.so I have high hopes for this one as well.

#48, fuzzi, could it be Kathy Sue Loudermilk, I love you? I've never read it, but I remember it from the library.

I just started Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots by Deborah Feldman. Excellent so far and it fits perfectly with my two latest reads: Three (Flashpoint Press) and We. This quote pretty much sums up the attitude of all three books: Zeidy tells me that the rebbe wants us to be more "erlich", more devout, (by forcing the women to shave their heads) than any Jew ever was. He says that if we go to extreme lengths to make God proud of us, he'll never hurt us again, like he did in the war. The one world order communists in We and the female separatists in Three (Flashpoint Press) start out with an idea to help people and end up becoming more and more radical, forcing their followers to sacrifice more and more, all the while labeling their misery as purification that will lead to glory. Isn't it strange how an idea in one book seems to stretch across all the books you happen to be reading?

Finished Hearing secret harmonies, the last waltz in the Dance to the music of time by Anthony Powell. The series grew on me rather slowly and I think the last volume wasn't as good as the previous five, which were about territory that Powell knew well.

I'm just starting A History of Reading by Alberto Manguel.

I'm not far in, yet, but there's already been several passages that have made me mentally shout, "Yes!", in recognition.

I finished Bitterblue and started reading The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan. I've also started my very-belated Early Reviewer (that is, my review is belated, not the book) Super Bowl Monday.

I think after this I'll be ready for a break from fantasy, but I'm not quite sure what I'm in the mood for.

The new Harlan Coben, Stay Close finally came in to the library for me and I spent two happy days reading it. I'm packing to move so reading breaks were my motivator. Good timing! Enjoyed the book. It had some torture going on in the plot, which I don't like reading about and hope he doesn't include that in future books. No graphic descriptions of it, but still....yuck.

(51) @Bjace, the cover doesn't look 'right' to me, but the cover of If Love Were Oil I'd Be A Quart Low does look familiar.

I'd have to open it and reread it, I guess.

#54 If you enjoy this one, try Manguel's The Library at Night.

Last Saturday, my wife and I went to Blackpool to see a musical stage adaptation of Swallows and Amazons. I found it rather enjoyable, so I decided to give the novel another try. I'm now three chapters in and so far, so good (my wife loves the book).

Finished The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes for the reading group. Pure escapism, though my wife finds the stories rather silly.

I'm just starting The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr.

>61 lonecow802: You've joined the site today. You have one book, this one, in your library. You've posted one review.

This isn't a site that has a lot of room for spamming. Please flag this post.

I picked up Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell from my enormous TBR pile. Based on a true story, it is about a community helping hide and protect the Jewish in their community and refugees towards the end of WW2. Russell really makes me feel like I'm involved in these people's lives. Wonderful writing! It is hard to put it down and settle for the night which is why it's after midnight as I post this.

I'm just about to start Hell to Heaven by Kylie Chan. It's the second book in the Journey to Wudang series. First book was superb, so I'm looking forward to this one.

A bout of insomnia last night led me to start reading Day of the Triffids. Starting it at 2 am really heightened the sense of unease presented by the author in the first several pages.

Still reading and enjoying The Terror but I also couldn't resist dipping every now and then into The Portable Dorothy Parker.

I read and enjoyed a stand-alone short story by China Mieville called Covehithe, and reviewed it in my thread...post #142.

And I've finally posted my five-star review of the mythic fiction (NOT FANTASY) novel, Mythago Wood, in my thread...post #143.

#63 Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell is amazing. If you like this book, try some of her other fabulous work The Sparrow ,Children of God and Doc. I didn't think I'd care for a book about Doc Holliday and the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, but Russell is such a talented writer that she just captures your imagination and doesn't let go- Enjoy!

>69 ellenflorman: ellenflorman - I will look at her other books. I have held off on Doc because I don't usually care for books set in the west but Mary Doria Russell really is a gem of a writer. Color me impressed.

#70
I second the recommendations of Mary Doria Russell. Her books Sparrow and Children of God were amazing.

I finished reading When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson and my review of this book will contradict Richard's. I like Kate Atkinson's work. This particular book, the third in the Jackson Brodie series, was the best one yet. The author has a quirky sense of humor and she imbues her characters with this same quality. This makes them fun to read, even while bad things happen to them. In this book all triumph in the end - except for our hero.

I am also attracted to the author's style. She creates lots of separate threads of stories at the beginning and then gradually brings them together. This could be very frustrating for the uninitiated Atkinson reader, but I love it. I start looking for the threads early on and have great fun watching the author bring them all together. As an added bonus - in this book the author has created some really memorable female characters who don't really need Jackson's help, as they manage well on their own. He just cleans things up for them. Strong female characters and an interesting plot. What more can be asked of a book?

I read and reviewed the Great Arabic Novel, Season of Migration to the North, over in my thread...post #160.

Beautiful. I didn't like it much.

>71 benitastrnad: I think the style is what put me personally off, Benita, so it's down to that imponderable *fit* between writer and reader.

#73
You are so right. That "fit" is everything - isn't it. I too have had books that others just loved and I could not like. Hunger Games is a case in point.

On that book we agree. Indeed we do.

Finished listening to the very interesting In The Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and An American Family in Hitler's Berlin. Another story of how people can be influenced by a charismatic leader.

Next up, The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan, and still reading The Mill On The Floss....almost done!

I finished The Serpent's Shadow and have just begun Defending Jacob. I think I'll be settling down with this one for the evening while I have baseball on as background noise.

63, 69, 70, 71. Another Mary Doria Russell fan here. A Thread of Grace remains my favorite but Doc is a close second. Her use of language is just so unbelievably good. She's working on a sequel to Doc as we speak (the name escapes me now but they go on to the gunfight at the OK corral) and her newsletter is terrific and very funny. You can get it through her website www.marydoriarussell.com.

I loved both Doc and Thread of Grace which surprised me since I felt such dislike for The Sparrow Children of God. It made me feel good to know that a good writer is a good writer if she chooses the right subject. Thanks so much, Bonnie for news on the Doc follow up. I can't wait.
I just finished the decidedly unintellectual A Touch of Dead, a compilation of Sookie Stackhouse stories that reminded me why I like her books so much better than the True Blood TV series. Sookie is smart and funny and it has two of my favorite characters, Bubba and Amelia Broadway.
Now I've started the decidedly unfunny Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas. I guess there is a book called Mole People about people who live in tunnels below New York City, which Matthew O'Brien references in his book, but it never occurred to me that people actually live underground in tunnels with, in the desert at least, constant danger of flash floods. So much misery in life, every once and a while I need a little Sookie Stackhouse to bring me up again.

I have just finished The Road Home by Rose Treamain, most enjoyable. Now I am about to begin The 10PM Question by Kate DeGoldi, great praise from a reading friend, so here goes!!

Just finished The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George, which I really enjoyed. After all our time together, I must admit I'll miss Henry's company. I'm contemplating ordering Elizabeth I: a novel to sort of pick up where I left, but I'm not sure because of the mixed reviews it's getting. For me to finish 700+ pages, I really have to be engrossed (who am I kidding: I'll probably will order it, it's just a matter of when :)

Next up I might go back to Rosemary's baby or The Year's Best Science Fiction, nineteenth annual collection, both of which I was reading before my Margaret George book came in. Or I might pick something altogether different. I'm leaning towards some science fiction or a nice Victorian novel.

I am finishing up Yes, Chef which is a solid, interesting, positive memoir. It did fizzle a bit at the end, but overall, a great read ... I am lucky to have had the opportunity to read/review it.

I've written a fill-in review for an old book circle read, Memoirs of a Geisha, over in my Orphaned Reads thread...post #213.

Such lovely writing, I feel a little bit guilty about only giving it three stars.

Have been distracted by lots of fitness/health reading, which is alternately informative and amusing (Physique 57 recommends avoiding the microwave because it "explodes water molecules" - if only that were true, we could harvest the hydrogen for our cars...)

Currently reading Three Bags Full for book club, it's the story of a flock of sheep solving the murder of their shepherd. Their take on humans' is very cute; their take on cemeteries: "they bury dead people in the garden!"

After that, will start reading Finding George Orwell in Burma, which I'm eagerly looking forward to after all the good reviews here. One thing though: the copy at my library is actually titled "Secret Histories: Finding George Orwell in a Burmese Teacup" - not sure if that might help your search, Bookwoman247?

#20 -- I loved Seabiscuit too. I'm reading The Night Circus. I wouldn't have thought it my genre, but I'm enjoying it.

I am now reading Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico.

I'm debating whether or not to read The Lucky One... Any opinions on the book?

I finished and REVIEWED Hilary Mantel's fabulous follow up to Wolf Hall Bring Up the Bodies.

Started The Spies of Warsaw, my first Alan Furst. Or is it my furst Alan First?

#84 Heduanna: Thank you. I've found Finding George Orwell in Burma, and will request it from the library after I finish the next batch I have ordered. After everyone's comments, I'm very much looking forward to it.

May 18: I'm almost done reading The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears. I openly cry commuting on the Light Rail. Not ashamed.

I've reviewed the very bizarre work of bizarro fiction called EDITORIAL over in my thread...post #174.

91 JessicaHeron - Thank you for reminding me how much I love The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears -- I need to put it back in the tbr pile. I get so excited sometimes about new books I've brought home that I forget to reread old friends.

I've just started Skios by Michael Frayn, my new ER book.

93 # Hi Molly, I find that my newest buys are my first to read, which leaves my TBRS' waiting in the wings!

95 # Hi hazeljune -- Isn't that the truth? Yesterday my copy of Home, the new book by Toni Morrison book, arrived. Just a small book -- only 145 pages -- and I almost set aside two other books I've been reading to get to it. It isn't that I'm not enjoying the other books -- one of which is a reread of Kerouac's On the Road -- it's just that the new arrival is so pretty and neat and inviting and I'd heard such nice things about it, and it's by Toni Morrison after all. But I was strong (this time) and set it aside -- still, it's tempting me and I'm thinking maybe I need to hide it from myself so I can't see it sitting there on top of the tbr stack. (When you get as old as I am and your memory starts to go you can actually play little tricks like that on yourself. Of course, if I hide it too well, I'll never be able to find it or I'll forget I have it and order another copy of it. Sigh. )

Last week/weekend I wanted something light, as I'd been working through Francis Schaeffer's The God Who Is There, and wound up with a reread, Arrows of the Queen. I didn't own the second book in the series, Arrows' Flight, so I ordered it through abebooks, and it came today, just in time for the weekend.

I also reread Exile's Honor and started reading Exile's Valor, though I'll probably put that down now that my new book is here. :)

#93 mollygrace: Glad I could help! I wanted to immediately start again once I finished it, but, the only book I've ever re-read is The Giver.
#95 hazeljune: Same here. One page at a time, right?

I'm now reading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

Folks I am reading and so loving a wonderfull novel The 10pm Question by Kate De Goldi, it is full of wonderful humor and lovable characters. It is classed as "Young Adult Fiction", however this very mature adult has fallen in love with it!!
The cover says "Will Break Your Heart and make you wonder, marvel and laugh".
If you are a cat lover you will enjoy reading about "The Fat Controller", oh what a cat!!.
Please track this book down, you will thank me, as I have thanked a reader friend for the recommendation.