What Are You Reading the Week of 26 January 2013?

I forgot! Lots I needed to do. Well, next week.

I am reading Torch, by Cheryl Strayed. Sentimental without being overly maudlin....good book.

I'm finally reading The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt. I hate to say that I'm enjoying it when killing seems to be so casual in it. But I am.

Thanks for the new thread Richard.

I'm still reading Greenmantle by John Buchan It's great, great fun!

I just finished The Wicked Wives: A Novel Based on a True Story by Gus Pelagatti last night and then started reading A Ruling Passion by Judith Michael.

I am listening to the audio version of Dear Life by Alice Munro.

Almost finished Beautiful Ruins which started out well but has turned into a bit of a slog.

Finished and reviewed Never Had It So Good by Dominic Sandbrook and am really looking forward to the follow-up, White Heat.

Still reading, and enjoying The City of Gold and Lead, the latest 'read-aloud' with my wife. All those books that I never read as a child... Still, better late than never.

Thanks, Richard. I just finished my ER book The Afrikan Reich. An interesting premise, what happens to African colonies if Britain makes peace with Germany after the debacle at Dunkirk. But, though I liked much of the book, there was way too much violence. Now reading The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling. Her character analysis is great, the setting, an English Village is right on. But, the plot rambles onward. Since this is her first novel since Harry Potter, I think perhaps she may have learned to shorten her next book to get it more cleanly focused. I sure will give her another try. Overall I appreciate her writing style. Just received Hilary Mandle's Bring Up the Bodies. I enoyed Wolf Hall and hope this follows suit. I am also eagerly anticipating The Beggar's Opera a mystery set in Cuba and my next ER book that just arrived.

Still working on Dying to Get Published by Judy Fitzwater and The Silmarillion by Tolkien.

My latest is Life Studies by Susan Vreeland, I have followed up on this author after just enjoying Girl in Hyacinth Blue.

About two thirds of the way through the compelling and amazing, if dark, The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon.

Just finished Wallace, The Underdog Who Conquered a Sport, Saved a Marriage, and Championed Pit Bulls One Flying Disc at a Time by Jim Gorant and loved it! I will put up a 5-star review when I get a chance.

Now on to Sole Sisters: Stories of Women and Running by Jennifer Lin to kick start my moral into high gear for this week's long run (for marathon training), despite cold, snow, rain, freezing rain, wind and yeah, all that stuff that goes with Winter running in Northern IL!

Working on Cordelia Underwood, which is whimsical and sweet.

Busy weekend so far, but I got 3 CDs into The Enemy, a Jack Reacher mystery, while driving a good distance to run some errands today. At home, I'm still working on Wives and Daughters and am almost finished with Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and for my commute, am about 3/4 through with The Duke and I.

Last night I finished (surprisingly, in two sittings) my November Early Reviewer book, The Beggar's Opera by Peggy Blair, featuring Inspector Ramirez, a detective in the Havana police's Major Crimes Unit. For being Ms. Blair's first published mystery, it is very good.

A Dangerous Inheritance by Alison Weir

Finished: both by Stephanie Barron
Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron
Jane and the Canterbury Tale
I didn't realize she'd written 2 more Jane mystery novels. It had been some time!

I am currently reading the devil in silver by Victor LaValle which is an earlier reviewer book I received some months ago. I am nearly halfway through and enjoying it very much.

Finished the marvelous Last Man in Tower, and now going to listen to Murder in the Marais by Cara Black. I continue reading Silent House by Orhan Pamuk.

I'm reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. It's not bad but I don't like it as much as the first 2 in the series.

OK, I finished The Lazarus Project, which I reviewed on the book's work page and on my 50-Book Challenge thread. Amazingly good.

I am currently reading Arcadia by Lauren Groff and it is weirdly good and sort of addictive.

I am about half-way through It's Fine By Me by Per Petterson. It is a melancholy story so far, but the writing is superb.

I am nearly finished Call the Midwife and it is brilliant - will be a 5 star from me I think.

This afternoon I started my first history of the year, The Abolitionists: The Growth of a Dissenting Minority by Merton L. Dillon.

I am reading Josey Wales and liking it, very much.

Thanks Richard!

I just finished Flight Over Water by Ken Follett. It was a good fast read, good characters, nicely old fashioned, with interesting details and a good adventure. And quite a bit going on in those little bunks!

I'm reading 419 by Will Ferguson. I've just started and the characters seem sad and hopeless. I am detemined to give it a really good try, even so. I am trying to train myself to sit still and really concentrate on reading instead of jumping up to do something every 5 minutes.

I finished Silent House by Orhan Pamuk. It was interesting to read one of his earliest works after reading his masterful later ones. He definitely improved over time.

I am going to start reading Tropical Fish: Stories Out of Entebbe by Doreen Baingana, a collection of connected short stories.

Finished Heads in Beds yesterday and am now a few pages into Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo.

Am realizing that I've got about 10 books on the go right now. Might explain why I'm feeling so scatterbrained! Primarily reading The Emotional Life of Your Brain and The Nature of Things. Picked up Down the Rabbit Hole from the library this afternoon and am already halfway through (can't help comparing it to I'm not Scared). And while I was there, Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai leapt into my arms as I innocently walked by a display rack, so will shortly be adding that into the mix as well.

OMG! Murder in the Marais had absolutely the worst narration I have heard to date! I did not make it ten minutes into the story before stopping! So, will start listening to Beautiful Ruins instead!

#30 So..the books leap into your arms too lol. I have a bit of an issue with that as well.
Try as I might I cannot leave the library without SOMETHING.
My Mum often asks me how I choose what to read when I'm in the library and I always say "the books just leap out at me" and they do, for some reason I know just which ones to pick up!
(Actually I have the same problem with spelling and punctuation errors, they leap out at me too)

mmm maybe I need some help with my affliction, a good book might do the trick!!

I am rereading, and loving Year of Wonder by Geraldine Brooks.

Tonight I read two short books: Weekday Vegetarian and A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows. I have several books loaded on my Kindle I could start, as well as the free books I've picked up at my conference, but despite (because of?) options, I can't decide what to start next.

Yesterday I finished A Drop of the Hard Stuff by Lawrence Block. I love the way he writes dialogue.

On a whim I downloaded the The Martian by Andy Weir on Amazon. I'm enjoying it more than I'd expected to. Next in line: The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty.

I finished the novel North and South which refers to the north and south of England. It is both a romance and an investigation of the conflicts between industrialist and labor brought on by the Industrial Revolution. Despite the bit of a pollyanna nature to its resolution, its characters engendered empathy and made the book entertaining to read.

Next up, a novel by an old college friend of mine, The Quadrant: At the Mother of Waters

I'm just starting Bliss by O. Z. Livaneli (Odd. The title comes up in touchstones, but I can't find the one with the correct author.)

I'm having a lot of trouble trying to add it to my library. Every attempt creates a false duplicate of my most recently added books rather than adding the new title. (I know, because I tried deleting what looked to be a duplicate, and it disappeared from my library.)

I just finished Greenmantle by John Buchan, which was a great, rollicking, fun WWI-era espionage thriller. I loved it!

I hope that the problem trying to add new titles isn't just my dinosaur computer! It's been acting twitchy lately.

>3 lamplight: I loved The Sisters Brothers! What a fun book.

>7 NarratorLady: I also enjoyed Beautiful Ruins, but I didn't quite get all the hype about it.

>15 Storeetllr: How are you liking Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children? I enjoyed that one quite a bit.

I just finished If Walls Could Talk, and I'm starting this week with Seraphina, a YA fantasy novel about dragons. Not quite sure where I'll go after this one.

38: ditto for me re: Beautiful Ruins sarahbird. The beginning was promising but I'm limping to the end. A bit weary of reading about all the drunken, dissolute characters.

#21
I had read reviews of The Lazarus Project some time ago and thought it sounded interesting but neve put the book on a wish list or anything. After reading your reviews I will have to add it to my growing list.

I finished reading Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls a couple of days ago. I was impressed by the writing, but unimpressed with the story. I am not a big fan of memoirs and this book is one reason why. I know that people love this type of book, but I think it is a kind of fairy tale. I have now started reading Life of Pi because I like to read books before I see the movie. I have hopes that I will still be able to see the movie in a theater before it goes to DVD, but that is looking more and more unlikely.

I have started listening to Neil Gaiman's Audio Collection. This is a selection of wonderful fable- like children's stories, narrated by Gaiman himself. The stories are so good and Gaiman has done an incredible job narrating them. This collection is so enjoyable to listen to. I'm loving it.

I have finished Call the Midwife and yes definitely 5 stars. Jennifer Worth writes so well, it is informative, entertaining and leaves you wanting more. I will be looking for one of her other titles.

Just started a NF Underworld London; Crime and Punishment in the Capital City. Gruesome!

Beautiful Ruins......ugh. Enough said. Moving on to The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe.

>42 FionaWh: FionaWh, I listened to Call the Midwife on audio after watching the first season on PBS. I'm waiting for my library to get the next book in - such interesting stories!

>43 hemlokgang: hemlokgang, The End of Your Life Book Club won't disappoint - enjoy!

I'm still reading The Paris Wife along with When We Were the Kennedys, a memoir by Monica Wood.

I stayed up late, past my bedtime, with Josey Wales. It's a keeper!

I am still reading Arcadia, interesting and sort of like the proverbial car wreck that one cannot look away from. However, I feel it takes more than a few things from Drop City - which I read a few years ago ... same topic and hippie commune/idealism's fall from grace. But Groff's language/writing is less bitter/cruel than Boyle's (and at times, more poetic and beautiful in its own right) ... but still ... feel I've been here before.

I finished Marilynne Robinson's books of essays, When I Was A Child I Read Books, which I enjoyed. The essays are thought-provoking and timely and I'm a huge fan of her prose. No one writes sentences like Robinson.

I also finished Astray by Emma Donoghue -- stories about "emigrants, immigrants, adventurers, and runaways." Each story is followed by a note from the author telling about the real person or event on which the story is based. Most of the stories are from the 19th century though there are some earlier and one from as late as 1967. The author also discusses the stories and her fascination with people moving, escaping, trying to make a life for themselves in a new place -- reinventing themselves, starting over, accepting the hand they've been dealt and making the best of it. I really liked this book -- so many wonderful characters to think about, so much history.

Next up: All We Know: Three Lives by Lisa Cohen

I finished the devil in silver and cannot say that I loved it. I didn't hate it but didn't love it either.

I just started The Midwife of Hope River which seems to be much better so far.

(Technically the week of January 26 is over, but people are still posting here, so I'll give it a go)

I sold out and started reading George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones, which I bought two summers ago and never actually finished. Normally I don't like big sweeping epic fantasies with 1,000 + characters to keep track of, but I seemed to have developed an unhealthy obsession with this one.

I also started Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, which is an odd companion to the GoT, but oh well...

I started Most Talkative by Andy Cohen which seems to be fun so far and The Fault In Our Stars by John Green which has been wonderful

#49 - The weeks in these threads start on Saturday so this is the current one.

Just started Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker. :) Seem to be in a reading slump (oh! no!), everything I pick up fails to grab me... sigh...

#44 coppers, aren't they interesting, I had to keep reminding myself this was the 1950s!! It felt more like Victorian England at times.

#52 sebago, I like the sound of Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker, have added it to my long TBR list. Hoping to see the movie Lincoln when it comes out here.
I hope this book does the trick to improve your reading ailment :o)

Finished Dying to Get Published by Judy Fitzwater and started The Dark Monk by Oliver Pötzsch. And making slow but steady progress on The Silmarillion by Tolkien.

Ah... thanks for the clarification.

# sebago.. I know the feeling, the only good thing about it is that it thins out the TBRS', at the moment I have fallen back on a reread Year of Wonder and I am enjoying it, I just by chance picked a nice slim novel yesterday when filling in time while out and about, Divisadero by Michael Ondaatjie, it has really grabbed and maybe saved my sanity!!! it is very hard to put down.

FonaWH - The movie Lincoln was fantastic!!! Loved it! Hoping that Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker has the same effect on me :).
Hazeljune! I have heard good things about Years of Wonder will have to add that to my TBR pile. Just went out and read the blurb on Divisadero! Will search that one out this weekend. Thanks for the suggestions!

I've been super hectic this past couple of weeks or confined by bad weather like today (-26C but feeling like -37C) or (-15F feeling like -35F) which is the same as Nunavut in the far north. Have been keeping mostly to cozy books and currently reading The Fudge Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke.

Life events keeping me from reading at all, to my annoyed sorrow. I'm missing Bruno, Chief of Police, the most of them all.

I read Our kind of traitor by John Le Carré and Märchen aus Litauen edited by Jochen Range

I'm still reading Trollope---Barchester Towers this time. I'm enjoying it immensely.

>Neverwithoutabook - you're a fellow Albertan! I'm down in Calgary - and wow, yeah, this would have been a good day to have looked at the thermometer before heading out.

So, this would be a great time for reading, but I've fallen into a bit of a rut: probably an overdose of 'goal reading' (feels like I'm reading to get to the end, rather than for the fun of it, even on my not-goal books). Looking forward to sunnier days, inside & out!

#61, brenzi, Barchester towers is on my TBR list, once I finished 2 or 3 books I've started.

Finally finished Cordelia Underwood, which was fun. Need to go back and work on The loved one, by Evelyn Waugh and complete a re-read of George Macdonald's Lilith

I am about to wrap up Arcadia by Lauren Groff and have to say, it has just been a really rich, enmeshing reading experience. It is not perfect, by any means, but it has been a long time since I got so wrapped up in a fictional world/characters.

Next up is a YA selection for my Winter library reading program. A few of my favorite YA selections were The Fault in our Stars, Wonder and Revolution ... so any suggestions? What was the one about the gorillas someone mentioned recently?

I finished reading A Ruling Passion by Judith Michael on Monday. I thought is was very, very good however I now really need to find Volume 2 of this book to find out how the rest of the story works out! :) My book was a Large Print copy, and at 567 pages only featured Volume 1.

Anyway, last night I started reading Temporary Sanity by Rose Connors. She's a new author for me, but seems to be a very good writer.

I am reading The End of Your Life Book Club and Sacred Hearts. I don't have enough time to read--these are so good I just want to read and not much else!

Hi Heduanna! *Waves* This weather has been crazy this winter, hasn't it! Today isn't much better than yesterday...still cold, but I'll be inside so that's ok. I hope you're able to find your way out of your rut soon! Sending thoughts for sunnier days and warmer weather out to the universe! ;)

Finished the lovely, poignant The End of Your Life Book Club and am starting to listen to 22 Britannia Road.

@Heduanna, read something just for fun, like an old favorite or comfort read. That has helped me get out of reading ruts in the past.

Haven't been in so much of a reading mood this week. I have 2 nonfictions going on my kindle: Stuff by Randy O. Frost about hoarders and Behind the Beautiful Forevers which I'm only into a few pages.

I finished Arcadia by Lauren Groff and liked it a lot.

Now going back to some incredibly good non fiction in Flagrant Conduct by Dale Carpenter.

Heduanna ~ I am with you that "goal reading" (much like marathon training/running) can sometimes suck the joy out of things. I find if I just look at the goal end result as a wonderful possibility, and enjoy the journey, I do better. The funny thing is, then I exceed the goal anyway! With my marathon training, I just set my watch to my training distance (which I sorta have to do to not keel on race day), don't worry about my time, any of that, just go, enjoy nature, weather, the feel of my body, etc. With reading, I just pick whatever moves me, and when. Some I finish, some I don't. One year, I had a goal of 60, I think, and I was always aware of what number book I was on. I ended up going way over 60, but I just did not enjoy it as much as usual. I just don't do that anymore with books. I do like topic-based explorations though (sorta like reading one short story volume a month, like we are doing here), which gets me reading stuff I want to anyway!

But "book funks" stink. I find YA Fiction always snaps me out of it. There is so much great YA fiction out there these days!

I just finished Consent to Kill and will be starting Gone Girl tonight at the gym.

Incognito: The Classified Edition by Ed Brubaker - An excellent twist on "superheroes" and the choices we make as people.

I've just finished Bliss by O. Z. Livaneli. (The correct title touchstone does not seem to be available.) I highly recommend this novel for anyone who has even a passing interest in Turkey. Even though it is fiction, I felt that it was full of insight about the nation of Turkey, politically, religously, and historically. The book is a tapestry of class, gender, and the disparate cultures of Turkey, which, IMO, were all addressed beautifully and intelligently.

Now, I will attempt to get back into A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea by Dina Nayeri, the November ER book I was reading as my reading mojo was fading. (It seems to be back for now!)

I will also be starting Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now by Maya Angelou tomorrow for Black History Month.

A February Short Stories thread is up! Come and make suggestions, announce intentions, or browse for ideas of short story collections to sample this month. As always, reviews or links to them are most appreciated.

#77, NovaLee, I'll be curious to hear how you like In the lake of the woods I picked it up after I read O'Brien's Northern lights, but I haven't read it yet.

Just started Sweetness at the bottom of the pie by Alan Bradley--the first of the Flavia deLuce's that I've read.

NovaLee, Heduanna & Neverwithoutabook :o) gosh I almost feel guilty being so warm at 29C, and planning to sit by the pool and read this weekend (after those annoying things like housework, groceries and lawns are done).

-38C I just couldn't imagine it, it isn't even that cold at the Antarctic at this time of year. In my part of the country 10C is a really cold day in winter. I wouldn't even have the right clothes to survive through your winters!

I reckon all the more reason to enjoy a good book :o)

Just posted my 12th !!!!!!!!! book on my 50 Book Challenge thread, which is amazing for me. I know the summer holidays have helped me along there, but I'm just basking in the glory at the moment.
Hop on over and keep me company through the year - and I have to say - with my husband being so unwell at the moment, LT and all the cool people here are a huge support. Just between you and me (whisper) this is my favourite group :o)

Just finished the very good collection of short stories, Tropical Fish: Stories Out of Entebbe by Doreen Baingana. Now on to Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure by Michael Chabon.

I liked In the Lake of the Woods quite a bit. I just think O'Brien is a phenomenal writer though, even if I feel uncomfortable most of the time whilst reading his books.

#58 & 73: I cannot even imagine such brutally cold weather. We here in NY thought last week was cold (20s F)! Cold enough for our first snow.

#80: Sorry to hear about your husband. Hope he feels better soon. Congrats on your 12th (!) book. I thought I was doing good at 6 :)

I received and read an Early Reviewer book today: Who's On First? by Bud Abbott and John Martz. I had a blast reading it. :)

I just finished reading The Bone Tiki which is a great YA adventure that takes us across real and mythic New Zealand with a boy, a clown, a dog, and a half-naked zombie warrior. What's not to like?

Next up is a group read of Zoo City, which is a crime-science fiction novel from South African writer Lauren Beukes. Please join is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/148951

I've just startedThe Life and Death of Mahatma Gandhi by Robert Payne. o far I've only read the introduction and already I'm very curious. Looks very interesting.

I'm 100 pages into The Round House and I am really enjoying it. I can't wait to see how it ends.

I just finished a very charming memoir - When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir from Mexico, Maine by Monica Wood, and I could not recommend it more highly. It's one of those books I think everyone would love.

I finally wrote my review of the charming first mystery Bruno, Chief of Police, over in my Crime, Thriller, and Mystery thread...post #20.

Thanks Framboise :o)

I have finished the audio book Knots and Crosses, and am almost done with Underworld London; Crime and Punishment in the Capital City, which is easier to read than I thought it would be, even with lots of dates and stats.

Reading The Gravedigger's Daughter (at last! This has been on Mount TBR way too long) and The Wisdom of Psychopaths.

Although slightly repetitive in content, Flagrant Conduct: the story of Lawrence v. Texas is turning into an amazing non-fiction read (I am about half-way in). How bizzare and frightening that the facts of the case that made it all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court bore little or no resemblance to what actually happened. Everyone had an agenda and ran with it, except the poor guys who were charged with the "crime" that set the entire thing in motion. Anyway, really, really interesting, educational and sort of jaw dropping what went on underneath this famous case ... and this from a lawyer/prosecutor (who says every day "I think NOW I have seen it all."). If you have any interest in civil rights (specifically as towards gay men/women), a must read.

Got several going at the moment, primarily The Lathe of Heaven, a re-read for the GD group read, and Proud Shoes for my meetup group, along with the occasional piece from Living with Jazz or 27 Views of Durham.

>92 CarolynSchroeder: Requested from my liberry system, and can't wait to see what happened behind the scenes.

Like many others I am starting Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. I'm only a little way into it, but it is already really compelling.

I read now Die Drachen der Tinkerfarm by Tad Williams and Das Haus an der Küste by James L. Rubart

I finished reading Temporary Sanity last night. A gripping contemporary mystery by a new author for me! :) Now I'm reading As Max Saw It, which I started reading last night. I'm on page 85 - about halfway through - and so far it's alright, but not really 'wowing' me that much.

I've finished A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea by Dina Nayeri,which had an interesting, dream-like quality that I enjoyed.

Now, I'm reading Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now by Dr. Maya Angelou for Black History Month. It is a small book, but I am getting so much out of it! I even am even highlighting some passages. It's just wonderful!

Haven't quite finished Underworld London, but will be starting Great Expectations on audio book on tomorrow mornings walk.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/149315

NEW THREAD!