August!

Starting The Art of Fielding today, although I'm not a fan of baseball, but I do know 'Casey at the Bat'.

I'm still reading my way through the Europe Endless challenge. Right now in Monaco with Anything considered by Peter Mayle. It sounds familiar, I may have read it before, or do Mayle's stories all sound a bit alike?

After that come Belarus: The Russian album by Michael Ignatieff, Denmark: The Keeper of lost causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen, Belgium; The Sojourn by Alan Cumyn, and the Channel Islands: The Sirens sang of murder by Sarah Caudwell.

I'm about to start The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty by Sebastian Barry

Too hot right now to read anything difficult! Just finished The Sins of the Father by Jeffrey Archer.

I recently finished Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, and it will definitely make my top 5 list for the year.

I love Wharton! I'm reading much more accessible fiction: I finished The Paris Wife which I found very informative and a real pleasure to read and now The Last Summer (of you and me) which is ridiculously complicated for a silly and predictable love story.

Today I finished the most excellent Cross-Country, by Hugh MacLennan, and More About Paddington in audio, read impeccably by Stephen Fry. The Paddington audio is part of a three-book collection that also includes A Bear Called Paddington and Paddington Here and Now.

I'm reading Switch: How to Change Things when Change is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

I just read an interesting historical novel, told from the perspective of the non-Allied side in WWII. Patient Number 7 by Kurt Palka

I'm reading Game Makers by Philip E. Orbanes, which is a history of Parker Brothers, "from Tiddledy Winks to Trivial Pursuit".

I just finished a great suspense thriller La Cellule de Zarkane which is a big hit in France (just back from my vacation). I have started Les vacances d'un serial killer which promises some good laughs.

The Art of Fielding was very satisfying, a great read. I'm about to start Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter.

I'm reading The Aspern Papers, by Henry James. For some reason I really enjoy reading James in the summer, so I read one by him when it rolls around each year.

loosha, Beautiful Ruins is one of the best books I've read all year (and I'm on my 81st book). I hope you enjoy it!

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was wonderful.

Don't know where I got this book recommendation from, but I really didn't like it all: A Charitable Body by Robert Barnard

I'm reading a fabulous thriller starring Henry James and his siblings, trying to solve the Jack the Ripper mystery in What Alice Knew - love it!

The Damage Done by Hilary Davidson.

I forgot to mention that I finished Light Behind the Darkness by Ottawa authors Raouf Omar and Claude Weil who recount their experiences in the Middle East where Omar (Palestinian) was born and Weil (Jewish) lived.

Ottawans will want to visit Omar's restaurant in the Glebe where they can sample his food, see his art and buy his book. I have to thank my husband for this find!

http://www2.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/artslife/story.html?id=04b638ac-5960-4...

On Borrowed Time by David Rosenfelt

I really, really enjoyed The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry so much when I borrowed it from my library that I went and bought a copy so I could read it again. I have done this with other books I have loved but have them on my Kobo (and ipad). They include Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie society. I have also tried to buy copies of classic mysteries by Marjorie Allingham and Josephine Tey. Unfortunately none of these are Canadian writers but I also enjoy Louise Penny's books and am waitng for her new one -The beautiful Mystery.

I'm still struggling with an Early Reviewer book Broken Vessels by Lucie Ulrich. I didn't know it was possible to gather so many platitudes in one book. *sigh*

I am in the middle of Bachelor Brothers Bed and Breakfast which is wonderful and very near the beginning of Middlemarch.

Just read Kingdom of Strangers by Zoe Ferraris. Will now look out for the earlier 2 books in this series!

Another one in the Inspector Sejer series, which I really like. Black Seconds by Karin Fossum

I've finished Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig and wow! Very powerful book.

I'm nearly finished Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne, which is a history of the Plains Indians in the U.S.

I'm reading Nellie McClung by Charlotte Gray and it's making me want to read all the others in this series of Great Canadians.

Also, just finished Death at la Fenice, the first in the series by Donna Leon about Inspector Brunetti, and I loved it. I've read later books in this series, but had been unable to acquire this one. It made Venice come alive as the setting for this series.

aracona, I've read a few of the Great Canadians: Nellie McClung, Rene Levesque and Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont. It is a good series that makes history more accessible to general readers.

I'm reading The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano

Just finished Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

#29. Did you like the ending to Gone Girl? Not sure I did but can't think of what else would have satisfied me.

I just loved Rules of Civility by Amor Towles, a complex tale of love and ambition. I'm starting Un oiseau de mauvais augure (The Gallows bird in English), a thriller by Camilla Läckberg

I am so behind! I've read Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga which I really enjoyed!

I just finished The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce, which I reviewed on the main page. I loved it!

@32: I studied Nervous Conditions for a World Literature course in university. Glad you liked it. (I recall liking it as well -- a good discussion book.)

It's been a very productive reading weekend for me. On Friday I started and finished Crooked House, by Agatha Christie, and on Saturday I finished off The Gun, by C.S. Forester, and my Paddington audiobook collection (containing A Bear Called Paddington, More About Paddington, and Paddington Here and Now), which is narrated by Stephen Fry.

Today I'll probably read a bit more of An Autobiography, by Agatha Christie, which I started last night.

I just finished The Sojourn by Canadian author Alan Cumyn. It was my choice for Belgium in the Europe Endless challenge. Although a fair portion takes place at Ypres, the middle of the story is set in London while Canadian Private Ramsay Crome is on leave. Flanders remains central to the story as the author conveys the contrast between the horror of Ypres and the very civilized stay in London. That the main character Ramsay Crome comes from Vancouver Island, a place I know well, makes the story feel almost personal.

This talented author has not only drawn an accurate picture of Ypres, but of civilian incomprehension at that time. At the beginning I thought the graphic war zone account was going to be too horrific to get through, but this was a terrific read: accurate, very well-written, thought-provoking and sensitive. I had no hesitation in giving this one five stars.

I'm just starting Border Songs by Jim Lynch, which is set on the Canada-US border (Washington-BC), not far from where I live.

I just finished (it's a very quick read, sadly...) Home by Toni Morrison. A really lovely book.

#30. No I didn't like the ending, but, like you, couldn't figure out how else she could have ended it, as it would have been too simplistic for Amy to have been arrested, etc.

I just read The End of The Wasp Season by Denise Mina.

@36 I've got The End of the Wasp Season - how did you like it? It's in my TBR pile. I've got to get to Home one day!

@33 I really enjoyed Nervous Conditions! I had a bit of an " African July", I also read Half of A Yellow Sun, Purple Hibiscus, and a wonderful new piece of Canadian lit titled Daughters Who Walk this Path byYejide Kilanko . The last one was by a now Canadian , who was born in Nigeria. Really a fascinating story about contemporary Nigeria.

Currently I have just started a new book, one from the Booker Longlist for 2012 The Lighthouse by Alison Moore.

I'm reading Gaff Topsails by Patrick Kavanagh.

This weekend I finished the beautiful Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter as well as Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, a thriller with unusual twists and (#30, #37) a strange ending.
eta...on to Mark Haddon's The Red House.

I"m waiting for The Red House to come out in paperback. Let me know how you like it, loosha.

I loved Beautiful Ruins -- one of the best books I've read this year.

@39 The End of the Wasp Season was good reading-I enjoyed it more than I had the other Denise Nina novel I'd read earlier this year-the 1st one in the Alex Murrow series. It was just such a stark contrast to the book I'd just finished previously. It was gritty, dour, Glaswegian and fairly gory, compared to the lyrical and uplifting writing in Home. I'll have to pay more attention to how I combine books read within a short time span!

I just read Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal. A tad disappointing; I wasn't expecting it to be quite so light and "cozy" reading.

CBC books posts top ten nominations for Reader's Choice...
http://www.cbc.ca/books/scotiabankgillerprize/readers-choice-top-10-public-vote....

the Girl in the Box is the only one I've read, so far.

Well, I haven't read any of them!

Today I finished a non-fiction book-unusual for me. Mrs. Kennedy and Me by Clint Hill.
I found it very moving-his description of that fateful day in Dallas had me in tears, nearly 50 years after the event. In 1963, I was a child in elementary school, puzzled by the fact that our teacher was crying when she told the class the American president had died. I must admit to holding a certain fascination with stories about the Kennedy family; goes along with being an avid monarchist, I guess. This is definitely not a gossipy, tattle tale account though; Mr. Clint, a Secret Service agent attached to Jackie Kennedy, obviously loved the Kennedy family very much. His longstanding guilt at not being able to prevent JFK's death is still evident in his book.

@45 - Thanks for the link!! I've read a couple of them. Daughters Who Walk This Path by Yejide Kilanko was a fabulous book about two sisters in contemporary Nigeria. A fascinating and beautiful but sad read - I really recommend it - very readable too!

I also read The Beggar’s Opera by Peggy Blair. My first " visit " to Cuba. It's a gentle and intriguing mystery as well as telling us a lot about life in Havana and Cuba. It has some humour too. It's the first in a series that I hope will continue.

Thanks for your opinion on Mr. Churchill's Secretary. I've looked at it, but now I think I can safely put off reading it.. Thanks @44! :)

I'm in a "page-turning mystery" mood right now. This morning on the bus I finished Full Dark House, by Christopher Fowler, and on the afternoon bus ride I started the third Flavia de Luce book, A Red Herring Without Mustard. Both are quite enjoyable.

My reading blitz comes to an end today; back to full time work tomorrow! Today I read The Water's Edge by Karin Fossum.
@49. I requested Full Dark House from the library today. It sounds like I would enjoy it, but have a sneaking suspicion I may already have read it...plot synopsis sounds vaguely familiar. Glad I belong to Library Thing now and can record what I've read.

@34. I've just requested The Sojourn from our local library. I'm looking for a Canadian author's book to send to my Scottish cousin (also an avid reader) as a gift, along when I return some books that she lent me when I was in the UK months ago. We both have an interest in history, esp. WWI, probably because our grandfather served in the British Army as a cavalry officer. I wanted to send her something written from a Canadian perspective perhaps, as she's read a lot from the British side of things. So, I'll see if The Sojourn fits the bill. If not, perhaps Three Day Road?

@50: If you haven't read it, I hope you like it! After two chapters I was hooked on the whole series.

@51
Your cousin might enjoy The Danger Tree by Canadian author David Macfarlane. A riveting history of WW1, Newfoundland and his mother's family the Goodyear's. Two-thirds of the Newfoundlander volunteers in WW1 were killed or wounded which greatly affected Newfoundland - the Goodyears more than most.

I believe you mean The Sojourn written by Canadian author Alan Cumyn. The book you referenced is written by Andrew Krivak, who is not Canadian :-)

Oooops. I fixed the touchstone in my posting #33 for Alan Cumyn's The Sojourn.

I'm reading Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris because I absolutely loved The Unnamed.

Ohh! I love Karin Fossum too. I think I've read all of her books in the series.

Just finished a review of a Booker Long listed book, The Lighthouse by Alison Moore. Intriguing tale!

And now I have started a wonderful Scandinavian crime book - The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen. Ah , fabulous so far!

I've finished an Early Reviewer thriller about child prostitution in Thailand and Burma; the cloak and dagger stuff was a bit thick but the moral is well balanced in The Lotus Keeper by KR Dial.

Next on my list is a topic dear to my heart - languages. In Honni est qui mal y soit, Henriette Walters explores all the similarities in French and English and how the languages have been cross-pollinating throughout the centuries. It even includes a dictionary of perfectly interchangeable word in French and English.

>56 vancouverdeb: The Keeper of Lost Causes which is also by Jussi Adler-Olsen was one of the most thrilling mysteries in recent memory. I'll be looking for more by the same author.

I just got back from camping and dabbled in various books. I actually completed The Buddha's Diamonds which was a very nice little children's book set in Vietnam and due to my kids new obsession with Star Wars I red Star Wars: The Wrath of Darth Maul which was nothing special. I am in the middle of In Our Time a short story collection by Ernest Hemingway and need to pick up Middlemarch again before it gets lots!

@57 - Great review - thumb up from me!

@58 - Yes, I read The Keeper of Lost Causes and loved it! I think that perhaps The Absent One might be even better! I think he has a third book coming out in English in early 2013.

@57: Ooh, the Henriette Walter book sounds really interesting! Added to the TBR :)

It's my and the BF's anniversary tomorrow, so today we celebrated by going for a picnic in the park and reading. (Him reading is the best anniversary gift I could receive :P) He's reading Discarded Science, which he found while cleaning up the home office and didn't remember receiving, and I'm reading Agatha Christie's An Autobiography.

At home I am also reading Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, by Susan Cain, which is excellent so far. Have to finish it by Friday because it's an Express Read from the library.

@53
Thanks for the recommendation for The Danger Tree. I'll look into that one.

I recently read The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison. I really, really wanted to like this book, especially as it is set in Britain during WWII (one of my favourite literary time periods), but it was rather disappointing. I didn't find any of the characters very realistic or engaging, and the latter part of the book seemed to be a race to wind the whole thing up as quickly as possible.

I am halfway through Alligator by Moore and liking it so far. I also have Golden Mean by Lyon waiting in the wings.

#61 I'll try to come in right after you and grab it!! I just finished watching Cain's TED talk and have to read her book now!

I'm reading a creepy but addictive tale by Lars Kepler (apparently a pseudonym for a Swedish couple, The Hypnotist.

Finished the Memoirs of the Duchess of Devonshire which was quite interesting in parts. I particularly enjoyed the appendices at the back with her impressions of JFK's inauguration and his funeral, both of which she was invited to. There is certainly a class system in Britain which divides the country into "haves" and "havenots". This was a look at the culture of the "haves".

#64: I hated The Golden Mean! Hope you enjoy it more than I did -- which shouldn't be difficult.

I'm reading Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell which people tend to love or hate. I'm not far enough into it yet to declare which side I'll end up on.

Today, I read Before I go to Sleep by S.J. Watson, and I really liked it. Very suspenseful, which is why I hardly got anything on my "to do" list done today!

68 - I loved it until the end and then I was a little disappointed. I guess it just seemed a little odd. But the rest was really good.

67 - I started Golden Mean before and hated it. I was hoping that since it won awards that perhaps I gave up too soon. But maybe not!

@65: I finished it on the bus home and plan to drop it off at the library after supper ;) If only we could both go in and say to the librarian, "Here, check this book in and give it right back so that Cecilturtle can borrow it."

Right now my only "active" book is He Knew He Was Right, by Anthony Trollope. I tried and failed to read a library copy before watching the David Tennant TV adaptation -- this is a book I had to buy in order to read (another example: Bleak House).

@65 - Cecil Turtle, is The Hypnotist well worth the read? I keep seeing it in the bookstore and then I can't decide. Maybe I should try the library? ;)

@70 LOL! Wouldn't that be fun if we could into the library and say - this is Rabbit Princess, please hang onto this book until Cecilturtle can take it out? Imagine the looks we'd get with our names? :)

@71: Haha! Yes, the LT usernames might get some odd looks! But really, it's no different than a 1920s novel, where all the upper-class characters have nicknames like Muffy, Pongo, Bundle, etc. ;)

Update to post 70: my branch had a Large Print edition of Quiet in the Express Reads when I went over. It was a great book and I'm definitely going to have to get my own copy.

I think I'm going to focus on A Writer's Diary by Virginia Woolf. I've had this going for many months and I'm just over half way through it. Although I've loved her novels, short stories and essays, I am not loving this. At all. I'm blaming it on Leonard (her husband who edited it after she died). I've given myself permission to skim. I do want to read the end though.

#71 I'm coming to the end. There are parts I love (dreamlike imagery that I like) others are stretched. Right now I'm in a confused bit - there are a lot of characters and two parallel plots - I'm thinking they'll weave in at some point (it is 500 pages long). For me, it's more of a library book; the copy I have is a loaner from a friend, but I'm not very attached to my books.

I finished Malarky by Vancouver author Anakana Schofield and it's definitely worth a read, darkly funny, madly sad. Now on to The Red House.

Just finished an Icelandic mystery, My Soul to Take. It's a good story and captures the feel of Iceland, but the writing is a bit hackneyed. This is the second in this series, and I don't think I'll bother reading her first, Last Rituals.