What You're Reading the Week of 2 June 2007

Thomas Hardy Under the Greenwood Tree A Pair of Blue Eyes Ooops . . . it's past midnight here and no picture and no message. It will have to wait until morning. G'night all.

Later: I finished Lauren Weisberger's Everyone worth Knowing - it has a nice twist or two at the end; then moved on to The Silent and the Damned by Robert Wilson - the first of his that I've read, a crime story set in Seville and very enjoyable after a slow start (but could use a little Spanish glossary). Now reading both Pete Masterson's excellent Book Design And Production: A Guide for Authors And Publishers and for bed-time John Le Carré's The Mission Song is off to a good start.

Oh good, that'll give me a chance to finish something and start something new! ;o)

I am reading Finn by Jon Clinch. It is a novel about Huckleberry Finn's evil dad. I am only about 40 pages in and I am really enjoying it. The first pages were very intense and I am finding myself holding my breath now and then. I am glad I read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn first - good perspective. I'll keep you updated as I go along.

As of 00:00H GMT of June 2, I have so far completed 19% of the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain .

.

I finished The Religion by Tim Willocks and just feel beat up. The last book that exhausted me so was The Cold Six Thousand by James Ellroy. The religion is about the seige of Malta in 1565 and the battle between Christianity and Islam. Willocks captures the grit, gore, madness, ichor and cruelity of war. Along with that he also passes along the glory, comradeship, euphoria and pride of warfare. When it was over I almost felt like I'd been there which is pretty good writing. There is also a love story in there which isn't bad.

I'm also still working on The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb which is taking a while to get through because I have to keep stopping to think. About now, I'm trying to find something light to read so I just started Measuring the World by Daniel Kehlmann which features the end of the 18th century science and mathematics with Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Friedrich Gauss. Kehlmann has a wicked subdued sense of humor so it's what I needed.

I'm reading H.P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories, sure Lovecraft was a racist who couldn't get a job in New York, so he blamed it on the migrants, but that would miss the point of his work. This New England redneck could write a Horror story like nobody else, and it's possible that he used racial stereotypes in some of his works because that was what scared people back in the 1930's. I don't condone such stereotypes, however his work has a certain quality to it that transcends Pulp fiction's usual trash. I'm also reading DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore by Alan Moore because it has some highly influential takes on Superman and Batman in the included stories. Alan Moore made the Joker more than just an "evil clown", when you read the Joker story in this book you start to realize that the poor sap had a rough life, however he took it worse than Batman did, and went insane.

I'm reading both as research for a book I'm writing about Supervillains, however the Lovecraft book is relevant because an immortal version of him appears in my current work. Both books are highly recommended, whether you typically go for the genres they are in or not.

Just started The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper. I remember reading Silver on the Tree when I was younger but I don't think I got around to reading the earlier books in the series. I also have The Blue Sword and The Dead Zone. Hopefully I can pick up Looking for Alaska tomorrow too.

Last week I started reading The Road and as a result didn't read at all for 4 days. It's not the writing but the content that is troubling me. It's really depressing me and I'm finding other things to do than read.

So I bought and read Meridon the last book of a trilogy by Philippa Gregory. I would have read this ages ago but the book store didn't have it for a while.

I'm now stuck on what to do; keep The Road as my book or pick up something that I will actually read like The Glass Palace: a memoir by Jeanette Wall

#8 Kiwiflowa: Whenever I get stuck on a book, I usually relegate it to bedtime reading. That way it doesn't bother me if I only get through a chapter a night. Of course, if The Road is really disturbing, it might not make for the best bedtime reading.

I'm working my way through The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. It's not bad, but if I had seen the word "gothic" in the jacket copy, I probably wouldn't have bought it. I find the atmosphere more oppressive than absorbing.

I'm reading Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin and so far it's looking like the film adaptation was extremely faithful (meaning that it's really excellent!).

I'm still reading Nelson Mandela's autobiography, A Long Walk to Freedom. I am not quite halfway through it, and am pleasantly surprised how hooked I am on this book. It's an amazing story of country boy turned freedom fighter and my admiration for him goes up with every page.

Having a hard time dividing my time between Carter's The Emperor of Ocean Park and Crichton's Next. Although they are polar opposites in style and substance, I've found both very compelling. Am also in the middle of The Boy who Followed Ripley which is the 4th in the Highsmith series. It's kind of flat though and I'm not as drawn to it as I am to the other two books I have going.

I'm reading David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, which will probably take me forever to get through.

I'm also reading New British Poetry and The Butterfly Revolution.

I finished the magical Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin, which was beautiful and messy and absorbing. I'm still trying to figure out what it all meant.

Yesterday I read When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka, an LT-inspired read. It was quiet and heartbreaking.

Now I'm starting Silas Marner by George Eliot.

I finished The Secret River and am still under its spell, so am not sure what I'll be starting next.

Currently reading Gabriel's Ghost by Linnea Sinclair. I'm about halfway through and it has been really good so far.

I'm finally reading The Handmaid's Tale, which I have wanted to do for a long time. Also still working my way, slowly, through How Language Works - it is written in short, encyclopedic entries, so it is easy to read a chapter or two at a time here and there.

I am reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen this weekend, and later this week, I hope to start The Black Flower by Howard Bahr.

Enjoy your week!

I'm moving onto Disgrace by J M Coetzee next. I'm new to this author, but from the blurb on the back of the book, it sounds pretty interesting, so I thought I'd give it a shot...

I finished Killer On The Road by James Ellroy which was really a lot of pulpy trash. Im now reading The Human Stain by Phillip Roth, which I find to be a very important novel.

I am currently in the middle of Anne Fadiman's Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader.

Also in the works is Cosmopolitanism: Ethics In A World of Strangers by Kwame Anthony Appiah.

And I just finished reading David Hare's play Stuff Happens about the build of to war in Iraq.

June 2 -

Life on other worlds and how to find it
Black holes and warped spacetime
Breakout into space

--> 18

Enjoy Water for Elephants! I absolutely loved it!

I was going to start The Thirteenth Tale (Diane Setterfield) last night, but just was in the mood for something a little more sassy, so I picked up Boomsday (Christopher Buckley) - hilarious!

I'm working on No Angel by Penny Vincenzi, and will probably move onto the other two books in the trilogy when I finish this one.

#24 Manogirl
I love that trilogy and re-read those books at least once a year!

I am currently between books, but I finished writing an essay about Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. Two really excellent books, I'd have to say, and they have more in common than you would think.

I think everybody knows about Fahrenheit 451, so I'll tell you a bit about The Phantom Tollbooth. It's about a boy who finds a mini tollbooth in his room, drives through it in his toy car, and ends up in the Lands Beyond, where he must rescue Rhyme and Reason and return them to the Kingdom of Wisdom before he and his friend Tock (don't ask) are swallowed up in the Mountains of Ignorance.

You have to read it to understand my enthusiasm. It's probably the best book in the world, other than Harry Potter and Eragon and The Book Thief and all my other favorite books, which are too many to list.

I've just started Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb. I was planning to take a bit of a break between this one and Assassin's Apprentice, which I finished earlier today, but I dont think there would be much point. I'd rather just forge on with the series.

#9 cestovatela, I picked up The Thirteenth Tale as well this week and I'm really enjoying it. After the first couple of chapters I wasn't expecting to like it too much but I've found that it has sucked me in without me realizing it. I don't remember reading any gothic novels before; I'm liking the isolation of the setting/characters and I'm finding the whole thing great to read, curled up in bed, into the wee hours of the night. The oppressiveness is adding to the atmosphere. I hope it gets better for you! :o)

Writers' Houses - a big, beautiful book with color photographs and text. Some of the authors: Karen Blixen, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Alberto Moravia, Virginia Woolf.

Also a memoir by Colette Rossant - Return to Paris. Wonderful so far and has recipes. Now can't wait to read her Memories of a Lost Egypt.

#19 - Kell: I'm new to J.M. Coetzee as well - only I'm reading Slow Man. I'm not far enough in yet to decide how I like it.

I finished Keeping Faith late last night - great book - I recommend it!

I'm about 1/4 of the way through Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy - it's very good thus far, exciting and humourous. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin is next on the list.

#21 Oh how I loved ex libris: confessions of a common reader by anne fadiman. It's one of those books that I wish I could read for the first time again. I devoured it in a single setting and was sad when it was over. Enjoy!

Currently reading Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles. Maybe after that I will read Atonement by Ian McEwan.

A friend recommended Tracy Chevalier's first novel, The Virgin Blue but I should be surprised if it's anything as good as The Girl with the Pearl Earring. Anyway, just starting it.

(How on earth did touchstones find David Eddings???)

#30 writestuff You've chosen a slightly difficult Coetzee novel to start you off. If you find the book odd, just read a different one. I love Coetzee.

#26 missmaddie The Phantom Tollbooth was one of my favourite books as a child.

#35 amandameale: So far I'm okay with Slow Man. It is a little depressing (okay, a LOT depressing), but the writing is good, so I'm hanging in there :) I'm about 65 pages into it.

I just bought Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje. I'm excited about it - he is one of my favorite authors.

#26 missmaddie, The Phantom Tollbooth was one of my very favorite books when I read it (multiple times) as a child (many years ago) -- and the illustrations are fun too. You have inspired me to look for it and reread it.

#21, 32 I too loved Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader and urge you to read other work by Anne Fadiman, especially The Spiirt Catches You and You Fall Down, which has nothing to do with books but is (of course) beautifully written -- it is about cultural misunderstandings.

I've just started The Hudson: A History by Tom Lewis and a collection of Chekhov's short novels, The Complete Short Novels.

After the Ecstasy, the Laundry : How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path by Jack Kornfield - my morning meditation book. Kornfield is so amazing, makes meditation and Buddhist principles so accessible.

Also still reading Obasan, Called to Question, and Powerdown. Multi-tasking.

Just finished All Together Dead and don't have any idea how I'm going to last until the next one comes out. What do they take, a year?

Next up is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and/or Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffrey.

Just finished A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore, which was great fun--like a cross between Neil Gaiman and Kurt Vonnegut. Right now I'm about fifty pages into Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which I've never read. So far, it's not bad, but it's not what I expected.

Finished all nine of the Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher last month. Now starting on Brasyl.

I rarely to never read two books at once, but this week I picked up both Including Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and The Complete Peanuts 1950 to 1952 by Charles M. Schultz. I finished Alice this morning and should finish Peanuts by this afternoon.

I finished Middlemarch today -- I absolutely loved it. I concede it is not for everyone -- but it was delightfully long full of marriages, livings, scandals, gossip, inheritences, illnessses, flirtations -- quintessential 19th century English literature. An instant desert island favorite.

I just started The Secret History by Donna Tartt -- I have been looking forward to it.

If there's anything I enjoy more than reading books, it's reading about books. I second all the Anne Fadiman love above. It's nice to find someone else with even more obsessive shelving tendencies than myself.

My current reading is all about India. I am about 50 pages from the end of In Spite of the Gods, a nonfiction book by Edward Luce about modern India and its many contradictions. This book has filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge about India today, its religious and political history, and its relations with the rest of the world. I'm also about a third of the way through The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai.

I'm reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I've been reading it for awhile now. It's very good though. I reccomend it.

New to the group. Glad to be here. :)

Welcome, bunagsbooks! You'll love it here!

Tonight I'm starting An Abundance of Katherines.

46> bunagsbooks: Welcome to the group! I just finished Eat, Pray, Love in the weekend, and loved it. I kept folding over the corners of the pages every time she mentioned great places to eat in Italy!

I read another 100 or so pages of The Magic Mountain in the weekend (now up to page 402 of 716). As a "reward" (and a complete change) I've just started reading Special Topics in Calamity Physics.

Finished Mona Lisa Awakening, a fantastic paranormal romance by Sunny, this morning, then started Dark Moon Defender, a fantasy novel of the Twelve Kingdoms, by Sharon Shinn. Am also listening to George and Arthur by Julian Barnes on audio.

Ghost Sea by Ferenc Mate mystery/sailing adventure/anthropological thriller that takes place on the west coast of Vancouver Island in the 1920's. 70 pages in and so far a good sailing adventure. Some wonderful illustrations.

>49 Killeymoon: Killeymoon I enjoyed Special Topics in Calamity Physics. It's a great read that builds in interest and excitement. You've also pushed me to scratch my itch on classics and must get my hands on The Magic Mountain for at least a browse--for now. What is it that calls to you with that book?

I've just finished Shadow Baby and loved it. I'm digging in to The God of Smalll Things.

MissMaddie--You brought back good memories. I read The Phantom Tollbooth so many times. I must have been in the 5th or 6th grade I think. I'd love to reread it again

Jhowell--I completly agree with you about Middlemarch. I also loved Silas Marner.

Right now I'm reading The Light in August by William Faulkner. I'm really enjoying it.

Now reading Still holding by Bruce Wagner.

I finished The Thirteenth Tale this morning. I did find the end very satisfying but haven't formed an overall opinion of the book.

After that, I flirted with The Liars' Club for a little while, but The Purple Hibiscus is ultimately what grabbed my attention. So far I'm finding it really absorbing.

I finally finished Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan (my very expensive import from Australia). It was one of several short fiction collections I was nursing along in between novels. Lanagan is a wonderful fabulist; her stories are unusual, thought-provoking; some certainly haunting. She is marketed as YA because her main characters are teens but she is equally readable for adults.

Since finishing Red Spikes, I've continued with Africans:the History of a Continent by John Iliffe - which is a required text and done readings from Experiences in Visual Thinking by R. H. McKim. And because I couldn't help myself, I also started reading some of Angela Carter's nonfiction in Shaking a Leg: Collected Writings (the piece she wrote about the Booker Prize the year she was a judge is wonderful!).

Finished My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding and John Moore's Bad Prince Charlie. I'm currently reading Rita Mae Brown's Sour Puss.

>45 angstrat:; I'd be interested in your opinion re The Inheritance of Loss. Having finished it I still can't make my mind up. It certainly pressed all the right buttons for the judges here for the Booker Prize.

hi- i finished heart shaped box this weekend and started harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban

I am currently reading I Capture the Castle and am really enjoying it much more than I thought I would when I first started it. For some reason, I had a completely different idea as to what it was. It is fairly different from what I usually read but I like it. Of course, it was a recommendation from LT. I should finish it today and am not sure what I will start next, possibly Looking for Alaska but possibly The Handmaid's Tale or Forrest Gump.

Randomly from my TBR poetry shelf:
Voices from beyond the wall (Dacotah Territory chapbook) by Thomas McGrath.

Hi from a newbie......

I'm just starting Pig Island by Mo Hayder but have just read the first few pages. I have previously read Birdman by the same author and really liked it.

I finished A spot of bother by Mark Haddon. Despite dark undertones it's a pleasant, funny, light read with a "Four-Weddings and a Funeral" flow of sorts; and it's absolutely nothing like his earlier book A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Haddon has a sense of human psychology that is quite interesting. But, while I would highly recommend Curious Incident to anyone, I would not recommend this one. It's too light, and I suspect, quickly forgotten.

Next I'm delaying the TBR to read up on Montessori education methods... The kids are about to start a Montessori school.

#62 welcome scarymary!!

I finished reading Veronika decides to die - the book was ok - nothing special. I then started and finished The English Patient - at some point I was totally sucked into this book - much better than the movie. I am now reading On Beauty - only a few pages in.

For all those reading Slow Man - especially if its your first Coetzee novel - you should know that Elizabeth Costello is a character from another one of Coetzee books - the books called Elizabeth Costello - I think it might help you figure the book out better. I like Coetzee but find him challenging to read.

I just finished Emotionally Weird by Kate Atkinson. I'm still not sure what to make of it as a whole, but I do know that I enjoyed reading it. I giggled enough on the subway that my fellow passengers probably thought I was an escaped outpatient of some sort.

Since I was in the rare mood for a thriller, I started Heartstopper yesterday, and I'm already 3/4 of the way through it. It's entertaining so far.

I just finished Life of Pi which I thought was good, but it's not a favorite. I also finished The Book Thief which I loved with a passion. It's one of the most beautiful books I've read in a long time.
I'm also reading Rebecca, which I am really enjoying. I've just started Burning Bright, so no judgment yet.
> 26 missmaddie I read The Phantom Tollbooth for the first time when I was in elementary school. I love that book!!!

Finished I Capture the Castle earlier this afternoon. I have now started Crazy in Alabama by Mark Childress - very entertaining so far and I can't wait to find out what happens.

I'm reading My First Seven Years (Plus a Few More) by the Nobel laureate Dario Fo, his so-far hilarious story of growing up in northern Italy between the world wars. I will start the novel Petals of Blood by Ngugi wa Thiong'o tonight, and maybe start the massive Sacred Games: A Novel by Vikram Chandra later this week (916 pages!).

the newbery winner YA novel, Rules, by Cynthia Lord. it's nice and very refreshing. just what i need after finishing the 700+-page Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl.

Has anyone read The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid? I started it this evening, and so far, I'm not enthralled with it. Does anyone have any opinions on it?

I am currently reading Truman Capote's In Cold Blood to see what the fuss is all about and must say I'm enjoying it. I am also reading the Minister's Daughter by Julie Hearn for a lighter read; this book is about a young woman in colonial New England during the 1600's who is learning midwifery from her grandmother among other things and is not liked by the village.

See the movie "Capote" after you read the book if you want to find out more about Truman. He exploited the perps of the killings he wrote about just to get book material, pretending he cared about them to gain their trust. But also he was friends with Harper Lee, who wrote To Kill A Mockingbird. Lee had a lot more ethics than Truman did, but from what I know about the matter, she remained friends with him.

I just finished up "The Rise of the Eastern Powers" by H.M. Scott and will continue with "Bloody Kansas" by Nicole Etcheson and Naomi Novik's Black Powder War.

52> CEP: I actually had my interest piqued in The Magic Mountain from reading Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. One of the characters in Norwegian Wood is reading The Magic Mountain when he goes up to visit his friend in a kind of Japanese version of the sanatorium in The Magic Mountain, and he gets chastised for it at one point. Plus it was in 1001 Books to Read Before you Die, I'd seen other people recommend books by Thomas Mann, and I found it secondhand for £3!

>75 Killeymoon: Thanks Killeymoon. You've now given me a starting point for Murakami with Norwegian Wood. I haven't read anything by him yet.

>76 CEP: You might also be interested in this short snippet from Scott Pack who, towards the bottom of the post, recommends different titles for men or women if you're a first time Murakami reader.

I'm currently reading Forest Mage by Robin Hobb and finding it much more immediately attractive than Shaman's Crossing, though I did enjoy that. I'm also reading Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, and trying not to expect it to be the same as Austen's other novels, since I've read so often that it isn't like them.

>77 Killeymoon: Most interesting! It's almost counter-intuitive to read an author out-of-order to get to know him and to bypass popular/notable works to prepare for their impact. I really enjoyed Pack's piece. It's time to give Philip Roth another shot as I shrugged at Portnoy's Complaint many years ago.

I finished Silas Marner this morning. After struggling at the beginning, I was completely won over by the story. I did find her prose difficult, and I can't imagine the book being taken to warmly as a school reading assignment.

I'm planning to start Trollope's The Way We Live Now today.

hi all-i finished heart shaped box by joe hill and started harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban

Finished Grace Notes by Bernard MacLaverty -an excellent novel, IMO. Now reading Engleby by Sebastian Faulks.

I'm almost finished with My Wicked, Wicked Ways by Errol Flynn and am about halfway through The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Retrogirl85 (#83): that Flynn book was something else ... he certainly lived an interesting life.

I just started The world is flat by Thomas L. Friedman.

Just started Villa Air-Bel by Rosemary Sullivan The book tells the story of artists and intellectuals who were targeted by the Gestapo and how they found shelter in a villa outside Marseille, France in 1940. The story is about their rescuers and how they kept Max Ernst, Andre Breton, Marc Chagall and many others alive.

Finished Sour Puss by Rita Mae Brown. I'm moving on to Rachel Caine's Devil's Bargain.

I just finished A Mighty Heart by Mariane Pearl and it was quite interesting. Very well written. Last night, I began The Mermaids Singing by Lisa Carey and it looks to be a good, complicated story with good, complicated characters.

Just finished Hana's Suitcase which is about a suitcase belonging to a Czech girl named Hana that found its way to the Toyko Holocaust Museum and the curator who wanted to find out as much as she could about this girl, Hana who owned the suitcase. The story alternates between Hana and her family's story and the adventures of the curator as she learns more about the Holocaust through the eyes of a child.

I finished Heartstopper, which ultimately reminded why I don't read thrillers very often. It was a quick read, but a little flimsy.

Now I think I'll start The History of Love, which I somehow missed several years ago. The first fifteen pages have certainly impressed me.

>78 littlebookworm:, littlebookworm, I hope you enjoy Mansfield Park - you can see by my username that I'm a big fan. I find it to be totally unlike the novels that drew me into Austen Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, but very, very intriguing.

I have completed The Handmaid's Tale, which I enjoyed and found very thought-provoking. I am now moving on to The War of the Worlds. I am particularly excited about the version I purchased, as it is the one with illustrations by Edward Gorey, whom I love! I find that his artwork complements the creepy story so well. I am also continuing to read How Language Works and Jane Austen's Sanditon and Other Stories in bits and pieces.

79, CEP--Which Philip Roth are you going to read? Over the past two years I've tried Portnoy's Complaint and The Plot Against America and really didn't like either. I'm wary to try another.

80, cabegly--I loved Silas Marner, but I felt the same way you did. My dad listened to it on tape and called me a few times saying he couldn't believe I'd recommend this. I told him to stick with it and in the end he was glad he did. I read Middlemarch this year and thoroughly enjoyed it. It makes me want to read everything by George Elliot.

#79, 91 I am a big Philip Roth fan, but I didn't like The Plot Against America and it is many, many years since I read Portnoy's Complaint. His work can be uneven, but I consider American Pastoral his masterpiece.

lstrand (#91) -- totally agree with you about Middlemarch -- loved it.

#79; 91; 92 -- I have only read two Philip Roth's American Pastoral and The Human Stain. I enjoyed them both with the caveat being they are hard to get into, but are worth it in the end.

I am ~100 pages into The Secret History by Donna Tartt which is great escapist reading so far.

After countless recommendations on LT I am now reading A Confederacy of Dunces, what a character!

Indeed, this is a great but slightly upsetting book. I think it is the Nobel author at the peak of his powers!

#78 littlebookworm - I read Mansfield Park earlier this year and found it very worthwhile. It's an interesting look at a changing society.

For my part, I'm about fifty pages into Kidnapped. Not much has happened yet, but I already like it better than Treasure Island.

#58 Hazelk: I read Inheritance of Loss this year and liked it quite a bit (rated it a 4.25 on a scale of 5). I thought it was a difficult novel to read, but the writing was sheer beauty; and ultimately, after reading it and letting the underlying message marinate, I came to really appreciate the story.

#65 - Keren7 - I just finished reading Slow Man - my first book by this author. I didn't know about his novel Elizabeth Costello but I did figure out (I think!) what was going on. I rather interesting book which is being discussed in one of my Yahoo groups and getting a lot of attention there :)

I've just begunA Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth This is a book I plan to read over the course of the summer. We'll see how that goes since I don't normally read more than one book at a time! The other book I plan to start reading today is Lucky by Alice Sebold.

In the past week, I started reading Basilica by R.A. Scotti. So far, it's very enjoyable and not too ploddy. I've not read anything of hers before, and the recommendation came from an email newsletter of Budget Travel magazine. Before this, I ravenously consumed Archangel by Robert Harris. Wow! Good stuff and certainly not your typical American thriller writing. I'm a big fan of Vince Flynn and Brad Thor, but this was altogether another level.

Began The Only Wise God: The Compatibility of Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom by William Lane Craig yesterday.

Writestuff-- A Suitable Boy was my big book for the winter. It is wonderful, but there is so much to the story that sometimes I felt exhausted just from reading it! I also recommend A Fine Balance if you haven't read that one.

Ugh- I wish I could say I'm on a new book, but I'm reading the same thing as last week because we've been packing and moving. Much fun!!! We've gotten settled again and I was actually able to pick up my book again today so I should finish it tonight.. although I have yet to decide what is going to be read next.

>91 strandbooks: lstrand
Given rebeccanyc's comment in >92 rebeccanyc: and comments in Killeymoon's recommended blog in >77 Killeymoon: it will be American Pastoral. Another book to buy, another book to read. Yippee!

June 6-

The Man-ual: The Guy's Guide to Being a Man's Man - funny stuff
Arthur C. Clarke's July 20, 2019 : life in the 21st century

I'm about to start reading The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood and also to start listening to an audio book of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Looking forward to both of them!

Hello. New member here and I thought I'd jump in, if you all don't mind.

I keep meaning to pick up some books by Margaret Atwood. Have you read The Robber Bride before?

Right now, I'm reading Words and Rules by Steven Pinker. I read it a while ago but I'm planning to start How the Mind Works soon and figured this would be a good refresher.

For something lighter, I'm reading Prisoner's Base by Rex Stout. Of the limited number of Wolfe books I've read, this is undoubtedly my favorite.

welcome demiguise and enjoy!!!!

#94, bookworm12, I tried reading A Confederacy of Dunces when it first came out (and was highly touted) and I must confess I disliked it so much I never came close to finishing it.

#99, writestuff, I loved A Suitable Boy -- it was one of those books that I started reading more slowly as I got near the end because I didn't want to leave the characters and the story.

#107, Demiguise, I think I read most if not all of the Rex Stout Nero Wolfe stories about 20 years ago and I really enjoyed them. And welcome to LT!

Now that school is over I am finally starting to catch up on the reading I wanted to do throughout the year..
I recently finished reading Rushdie's The moor's last sigh, which was an absolutely stunning book, but it definitely deserves an adequate amount of time to not lose anything of the story.
Ines of my soul by Isabel Allende was a much quicker read, but very entertaining
The blue flowers by queneau is a very surreal story, also very entertaining, and Calvino (I read it in italian) did a very good job of keeping the tone that the book supposedly has, but I wish I could have read it in french, as it definitely loses in translation, no matter how good.
The next book I'm starting is Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

I finished Purple Hibiscus: A Novel this evening. In the end, I wasn't really impressed. I thought most of the book read like a YA novel, so the seriousness and gloom of the end seemed out of place. That problem was compounded by the fact that the ending was one of those random "okay, the book needs to end now" conclusions and it didn't seem to tie in with the earlier character development.

I've had The Liars' Club by Mary Karr going on in the background for awhile now. Not sure if I'll start focusing exclusively on it or if I'll pick up some more fiction from my reading pile.

Finishing up with The Periodic Table by Primo Levi - wonderful and required to be read at a slow to moderate pace.

Started North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell - prompted by the 2004 BBC production on the telly which I really enjoyed.

Also dipping into nonfiction Bird Brains - the intelligence of crows, ravens, magpies and jays by Candace Savage which is a pictorially delightful book and good to read with Mind of the Raven by Bernd Heinrich which I have just opened, too.

karenwardill -- Bird Brains sounds fascinating. I'm intrigued by crows, I've seen some remarkable behaviors and read a couple of articles about their community life. I'll be interested to see what you think of it.

I finished Ross King's The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade that Gave the World Impressionism yesterday, and started Dava Sobel's The Planets today over lunch.

hazelk (#34) -- I read The Virgin Blue a while ago (though I can't compare it to Girl With a Pearl Earring, which I haven't read). I thought it was much better than The Lady and the Unicorn, the other Tracy Chevalier book I have read.

I am reading two books: Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes and the latest by Richard North Patterson, Exile. I always have two books going at once, a fiction and a non-fiction, with the latter on my nightstand.

I've been meaning to read Angela's Ashes for some time and finally got around to it. I found it a little difficult to get into, perhaps because of McCourt's unusual style of not using quotation marks. As I became accustomed to it, however, I am enjoying the narrative.

Patterson is one of my favorite writers. His books always are well-researched, often on controversial current topics, and his characters are well-developed. I'm only a few dozen pages into Exile, but it looks like it will live up to Patterson's high standards.

I'm about 150 pages into Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb. I'm really glad I decided to give her work another try; I've really enjoyed this entire series, and will definitely be snatching up everything else she's written.

I'm 2/3 of the way finished with Adverbs, Daniel Handler's newest for grown-ups, and Pale Fire by Nabokov.

Of course the latter is brilliant, and I'm immensely enjoying Adverbs as well. Handler gave a reading locally a few weeks ago, and he's a delightful speaker as well -- one of those intelligent authors to watch.

June 6

Journey between worlds
Rich dad's prophecy

Now beginning Knocking on Heaven's Door: A New Testament Theology of Petitionary Prayer by David Crump.

Finally started The Kite Runner this week and LOVE it...

bettyjo #120: Yes, Kite Runner is stellar, isn't it? I'm really looking forward to his new book, A Thousand Splendid Suns; have it on hold at the library and had to restrain myself from buying it the other day. Although, I can think of many worse ways to spend my money!

Slogging through The Doublet Affair, second in a series by Fiona Buckley about a young widow playing investigator in Queen Elizabeth's court...I keep getting confused, which is kind of sad...will soldier on though.

Finished Devil's Bargain by Rachel Caine. Next up Smoke and Mirrors by Tanya Huff.

#120 & 121--I loved Kite Runner as well and just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns and it was amazing. I liked it better than Kite Runner if that is possible. Enjoy it when you get to read it.

I gave up on reading The Reluctant Fundamentalist. When I heard the author interviewed on NPR, I was sold on reading it...but after about 30 pages, I am finding that the way in which the book is narrated bothers me a bit. So, reluctantly, I've put it down, and picked up I Know This Much Is True.

Hi,
I'm a new member -- I've just finished Cathleen Schine's The New Yorkers. It's a delightful read -- witty, fun, but touching too, about a neighborhood in NYC & the dogs & people who live there. Caught myself laughing at loud at some of it -- just wanted to recommend it!
-Megan

welcome aboard megan!!- carmela

Finished Finn: a novel - good book - very dark characters - wow - sometimes I found myself holding my breath dealing with his behavior.

Now I am reading The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall - it is very strange. I still am not sure what's going on but I am compelled to continue.

edited to fix touchstone...

Currently reading A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.
Up next will be Confessions of a common Reader by Anne Fadiman and then maybe The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson

I finished The Liars' Club by Mary Karr today. It was interesting and I enjoyed her writing style, but I think The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a better memoir dealing with similar themes.

Next up is The Places in Between, the non-fiction account of Rory Stewart's walk across Afghanistan.

I've been working on it since January, but I've finally finished The Illustrated Herb Encyclopedia. A lovely book, but rather large and somewhat sleep inducing. I love to garden though, and it is amazing to read about some of the health properties of the weeds I've been ruthlessly pulling up. Purslane anyone?

Today I finished God is not Great and started Ian McEwan's Amsterdam.

#111 cestovatela - I read Purple Hibiscus a little while ago and I agree with you - it DOES read more like a YA novel and not a brilliant one either. It has it's moments, but I though it lacks impact overall.

My book for the Book Club Forum reading circle for June has arrived, so I'll be starting that today - The Thief of Always by Clive Barker, which is most definitely a children's book (I had no idea prior to this that he wrote any kids' books!). I've never read anything by Clive Barker before, so this should be interesting...

#102 strandbooks: Thanks for the recommendation. I'm only 100 pages into A Suitable Boy - still a long way to go!

#109 rebeccanyc: Glad to hear you liked A Suitable Boy - I love the weight of it :)

I just finished Crazy in Alabama and absolutely loved it. It is one of my favorite books this year. I am going to start Looking for Alaska now which should be a fast read.

I'm reading two books at the moment and I wanted to hear your thoughts:

1) RESTLESS by William Boyd
Boyd is such a master and I have read all his books over the years; a true multi-talented man and great story-teller. THE NEW CONFESSIONS is simply brilliant. But I can't quite make my mind up on his new book RESTLESS, a spy-thriller. Any thoughts?

2) THE PORNOGRAPHER OF VIENNA by Lewis Crofts
I just picked this up the other day, a debut work by another British author. It is about decadent artists in turn-of-the-century Vienna (Klimt and Schiele). It is breath-taking, really captures the passion of the time and has some amazing linguistic trickery. Has anyone else heard of this guy?

I finished listening to How to Be Good by Nick Hornby yesterday. I'm not sure why I bothered to finish it--it wasn't terribly good.

Today I started listening to The Secret River by Kate Grenville, an LT-inspired "read." I'm still reading Trollope's The Way We Live Now.

I'm reading; The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien.

I blew through a YA novel written by one of my favorite adult authors: T.W.O.C. by Graham Joyce. I found the teenage male protagonist not particularly charming (and royally screwed up) but the back story unfolds in a clever way, there are a few surprises along the way, and, suffice it to say, lessons are learned by all.

I'm reading The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood currently.

>138 cabegley:: cabegley, I agree with your assessment of How to be Good. I thoroughly enjoyed About a Boy and High Fidelity, so was disappointed with How to be Good.

#136 bookaholicgirl- are you traveling through all the states alphabetically??!! ;o)

Dancing with Dragons: Invoking their ageless wisdom
The Complete book of Magical names (reread)

I just finished Persepolis and Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi. Satrapi writes about her life as a young woman in Iran during the Iranian revolution. These graphic novels are a great quick interesting read.