Ellen reads 75+ in '13 - Gray November

Orcas in Puget Sound this week Photo from The Seattle Times

The Orcas have been very active this week. A large group of them escorted a ferry bearing Native artifacts from Seattle back to Bainbridge Island, from where they (the artifacts) originated. Hard not to believe in some kind of connection there.....

COMPLETED IN JANUARY

1. Howl by Allen Ginsberg
2. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
3. The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
4. The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz
5. Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman
6. How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less by Sarah Glidden
7. 420 Characters by Lou Beach
8. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
9. The Line by Olga Grushin

COMPLETED IN FEBRUARY

10. Stay Awake by Dan Chaon
11. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
12. A Grain of Truth by Zygmunt Miloszewski
13. The Hill Bachelors by William Trevor
14. Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
15. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

COMPLETED IN MARCH

16. The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor
17. Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin
18. Ethel & Ernest by Raymond Briggs
19. Swimming Home by Deborah Levy
20. Pow! by Mo Yan
21. The Door by Magda Szabo
22. Brothers and Keepers by John Edgar Wideman
23. This Way to the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen by Tadeusz Borowski
24. The Snack Thief by Andrea Camilleri

COMPLETED IN APRIL

25. Dog On It by Spencer Quinn
26. Old Filth by Jane Gardam
27. The Lighthouse by Alison Moore
28. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
29. Desert of the Heart by Jane Rule
30. Raj, the Bookstore Tiger by Kathleen T. Pelley
31. Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995 by Joe Sacco
32. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

COMPLETED IN MAY

33. Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
34. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
35. Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
36. Marbles by Ellen Forney
37. Slow River by Nicola Griffith
38. Calling Dr. Laura by Nicole J. Georges
39. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

COMPLETED IN JUNE

40. The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison
41. Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver
42. The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker
43. The Likeness by Tana French
44. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
45. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
46. Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camilleri
47. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
48. The Waitress Was New by Dominique Fabre
49. Escape to Gold Mountain by David H.T. Wong
50. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin
51. That Mad Ache (also La Chamade) by Francoise Sagan

COMPLETED IN JULY

52. Cop Hater by Ed McBain
53. The Three-Arched Bridge by Ismail Kadare
54. The Mugger by Ed McBain
55. The Bat by Jo Nesbo
56. Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin
57. Pusher by Ed McBain
58. Night Soldiers by Alan Furst
59. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
60. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

COMPLETED IN AUGUST

61. Hide & Seek by Ian Rankin
62. Among Others by Jo Walton
63. The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín
64. Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates
65. My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf
66. The Carter Family: Don't Forget this Song by Frank M. Young & David Lasky
67. Light in August by William Faulkner
68. The Empty Family by Colm Tóibín
69. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

COMPLETED IN SEPTEMBER

70. Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris
71. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith (writing as Claire Morgan)
72. The Road Home by Rose Tremain (gift from Paul)
73. The Foreign Correspondent by Alan Furst
74. The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger
75. The Dark Horse by Craig Johnson
76. Harvest by Jim Crace
77. Children of the Jacaranda Tree by Sahar Delijani
78. Raven Girl by Audrey Niffenegger

COMPLETED IN OCTOBER

79. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
80. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
81. Ammonite by Nicola Griffith
82. Strengths Based Leadership by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie
83. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
84. In the Convent of Little Flowers by Indu Sundaresan
85. Housekeeping vs. the Dirt by Nick Hornby

COMPLETED IN NOVEMBER

86. The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
87. Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama by Alison Bechdel
88. We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
89. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
90. TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
91. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
92. The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro
93. Last Night at the Lobster by Steward O'Nan
94. The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

COMPLETED IN DECEMBER

95. Felicia's Journey by William Trevor

I am done done done with tracking the books I acquire. I buy a lot of them, dear friends give them to me, and I collect them through other unrecognizable paths. Enough said. :-)

Currently reading:

Hello November whales!

Fabulous photo, Ellen!

Happy new thread, Ellen! I know what you mean about tracking new books. I have stopped listing them. I am lucky if I comment on a book I finish.

The photograph above is wonderful. Not very frequently that we can see those. I hope people understand that the efforts to clean up Puget Sound will have a great deal of good to give our resident Orca whales (Killer Whales).

I am picking away at Good Omens but I am pretty sure I'll not finish it before Monday. And I was with Mary yesterday and she, too, was not making good progress. Maybe we'll spend most of Monday evening talking about what we'll read in 2014.

That gave me goosebumps! - the Orcas accompanying the ship with artifacts. Wow.

Richard, Darryl, Karen, and Lucy, I may steal a page out of Caroline's book and just keep this photo as my thread topper for absolutely ever.
Thanks for stopping by.

Karen, I'm still in the queue for the Gaiman -- there's clearly no way I'll get it before Monday. But I'll still be there with bells on! (no birthday hats - ha!)

Hi Ellen - Happy new thread. I love the picture!

What Lucy said.

Happy new thread, Ellen who is done tracking books acquired! That cracked me up!

Just passing through...waving to everyone, including the Orcas. November...meh. Until Thanksgiving; that I love.

Love the photo atop your thread. I just finished reading Katie Gale about a 19th century Native American woman who lived along the Puget Sound. The author tried to claim that the Puget Sound had been renamed the Salish Sea in 2009 by the USGS Board of Geographic Names, but when I went to their database I discovered that Salish Sea is just a broader term and that the Puget Sound is just part of it.

I love the name "Salish Sea" and yes in includes quite a few water ways in this region.

Love the photos of the orcas, Ellen. We saw a bunch of them on a boat trip when we vacationed in the San Juan Islands a few years ago.

I am done done done with tracking the books I acquire. I buy a lot of them, dear friends give them to me, and I collect them through other unrecognizable paths. Enough said. :-)

I had to laugh when I read this. I started out the year with all good intentions to track my new books but once the list got dangerously longer than the books I've read, it was too depressing to keep it up. I came to the conclusion that I love to acquire books maybe even more than I love to read them and that's OK.

Oh, Ellen, what an amazing pic of those majestic Orcas. Orcas following the Native artifacts, pretty cool. The Seattle skyline's pretty amazing too!
I look forward to your thoughts on we need new names. I've been thinking of finding time to read that one.

>19 phebj:: I'm with you Pat. I don't need to make a list of acquired books. I'm religious about keeping my library up to date, so it's pretty easy to answer the question, "how many books have I acquired this year?". That is, if I WANT to answer that question. I usually take stock of things at year end, and surprise surprise, I have usually acquired more books than I've read. Ah well, life's too short. Amirite?

Gorgeous picture to open your thread, Ellie and a round of applause for deciding to be done with tracking the new books. I just quietly enter my new books to my TBR list and don't worry about numbers anymore.

Wonderful photo on top, Ellen. I'm afraid I'm still tracking my acquisitions--but since I got 4 this week, it's not helping! At least I HAVE read more than I've acquired.

I track too, it's supposed to help me s-l-o-w down - it has a little, actually. But I agree with you Pat - there is something about acquiring books that is so so satisfying!

I also track - just for fun. I have absolutely no intention of slowing down. I'm completely shameless. And happy.

Ellen, I love the picture and the story that goes along with it. The whale just might be your totem animal! How does this sound to you?

The whale symbolizes emotional creativity, well-being, nurturing as well as emotional depth. Whale people are super-perceptive about the feelings of those around them. Whales are masters of communication, effectively expressing emotional experiences.

I keep track of new-to-me books in my handy book notebook as I don't record unread books in my LT library. I have been good about releasing as many or more books as I being into the house. No more secret book stashes for me!

I am so excellent with the acquiring part, but not so good with the releasing part.

Hi Ellen... I've been away from your thread for too long but I'm caught up now.

The Bechdel from your previous thread sounds fascinating... I've never read any of her (hanging head in shame).

I love your new thread topper picture! The orcas are gorgeous!

Hi Ellen! Since you started a new thread, I thought I would pop in and say hi and not feel (too) guilty about not keeping up on your last one!

I couldn't come close to affording the 300+ books I read a year. HAH!

Orcas are so beautiful and shiny! I cant actually see the one you have posted in the top, but I can imagine. Which is still pretty good :)

I see you are going on with the Booker nominees for your reading. I have abandoned the list now, although I might grab one from the library one day as the shortlist is still on my Library WL.

How weird is that. Your picture was there for several days. I really liked it. Now: Nope. So sad.

Hi Ellen- Congrats on the November thread! Love the topper! I am so glad I have to use my imagination on that one. It really gave it a workout.

This *is* weird, I can see the photo fine, and some others can't...why is that, I wonder.

Happy weekend, Ellen, much good reading and lots of happy time.

Hmmm...I can't see it now but I have seen it before. I wonder if it's a home vs. work computer thing. I don't recall whether I've seen it here at home before or not. *cue eerie music*

I can't see it now, either, and I am on the same computer that I was using before. So strange.

I saw it last night and can still see it this morning. Same computer.

I can't see the photo on my iPad or my Windows based laptop. I did see it earlier this week, though.

It has disappeared from mine too.....

Just fine on mine -- what a gorgeous photo - and how cool that they are an honor escort.

ETA If I hit refresh on the thread, it disappears. If I leave and come back, it's there. Maybe it's cached on my computer because I did take a peak at it a few days ago from work where I couldn't comment on it.

We really thought our short whale watching was spectacular.

Do any of the Booktopia locations look good to you this year?

Happy new thread, Ellen! I'm hoping you haven't fallen through a crack in the Earth - there's a football game tomorrow and all. I think our offensive line will be made up of five 12-year olds that they picked up at a pee-wee game down the street. Should be fun.

#7 - I picked this up as a Kindle Daily Deal a few weeks ago. I'm anxious to know your thoughts.

Orcas - saw them, now don't see them.

Orcas had appeared and now disappeared for me, too.

Hope you're off enjoying the weekend, Ellen.

copyrights? belonging to The Seattle Times? could that be the problem

Such a nice picture, I'd love to see it back.

Hmmm.. Hi folks. I copied the picture from a friend's FB page to my own FB page, and then copied it from there to here. I can still see it, but I will see if I can get it more directly from the Times to see if that helps. I hope I can make it show up more consistently.

I will never get to responding to each and every visitor since so many folks have been visiting in my absence! Since most of the conversation has been oohs and aahs about the photo, then sad faces when it disappears, I'll just say "hello!!" to Beth, Mamie, Linda, Lori, Karen, Pat, Joe, Lynda, Laura, Judy, Roni, Lucy, Mamie, Donna, Mamie, Tina, Lisa, Morphy, Megan, Karen, Mark, Richard, Linda, Mamie, Laura, Darryl, Lucy, streamsong, Kerri, Joe, Karen ------

And now I'm off to see if I can actually do anything about the Orca picture showing up.

88. We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
3.5 stars

This novel told from the POV of a child growing up in Zimbabwe and immigrating to the US as a teenager is worth reading despite its inconsistency. At times engaging, at times frustrating, Bulawayo's novel explores the process of assimilating to another culture. She effectively captures the love-hate relationship of a young person with her new country and her new culture, but she fails to make the reader care as much as I wanted to do. She provides insight into the ambivalence, the excitement, the disappointment, and the determination of a young person moving to the idealized wealthy America. Our narrator, whose voice shifts as her language acquisition shifts, is shocked and amused by things we (assuming an American reader) take for granted; she is also a "typical" teenager in so many ways and this feels true. There are brief lapses in the narrative arc and inconsistent use of metaphor, but I give Bulawayo credit for approaching a subject fraught with danger for a novelist. How do you honestly explore this subject without rancor? How do you engage a privileged audience -- the very readers whose liberal guilt (mixed with genuine caring, but without any real understanding of this child's experience) you want to expose? Carefully, methinks. NoViolet Bulawayo almost succeeds.

Okay, I copied the image address more directly from the Seattle Times. I hope it works!

Currently reading:



A colleague knew I have been feeling "completely overwhelmed" and stressed out at work this past week. She came to my office yesterday and offered to loan me this book. She says she was laughing out loud so much as she read it that she worried that colleagues or clients walking by her office would be concerned. Perhaps it is just what I need.

I did go for a 36-minute run this morning and raked some leaves. This evening I have to work the Huskies' football game against Colorado. Let's hope the weather stays nice (upper 40s and not raining).

Now I see the Orcas! I'm glad you had a chance to run Ellen. Stay warm and dry!

^Thanks, Roberta!

#26: Donna, I do tend to think of the whale as my totem creature. I see Humpback whales by the dozens whenever I go to Kauai, I've seen Orcas many times in the Puget Sound. The simple sight of them brings tears to my eyes. I think they are amazingly intelligent, social creatures and it breaks my heart to know that we are endangering their existence. Thank you for the description of their meaning as a symbol. I humbly aim to live up to their remarkable presence.

#41: Kerri, I will be interested to hear your thoughts about We Need New Names when you get to it. I know others liked it much less than I did. I was initially irritated by the child's voice (I do get tired of novels written in the first person from the pov of a pre-teen) but her voice develops.

Rest assured that I will be in front of the television during tomorrow's Seahawks game. I'm worried. "...our offensive line will be made up of five 12-year olds that they picked up at a pee-wee game down the street." Yep, and I think the team's luck may be running out. They've pulled so many rabbits out of the hat and I think they could run out of bunnies.

Judy, Roni, Lucy, Mamie, and others -- I thought tracking my acquisitions would slow me down, but I think it had the opposite effect. Something about tracking them made me buy them at an even more reckless than I would otherwise be. The stacks of TBRs in the corner of my bedroom have definitely gotten out of control this year.

Richard, I know you were waiting patiently for my review of We Need New Names. I'm almost afraid to hear what you have to say. Perhaps I should just go to your review (assuming you posted it) and get it over with. :-)

I was...unimpressed. I left you a link in my thread.

89. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
3.5 stars

It feels weird to be giving this little graphic novel (memoir? essay?) the same rating as We Need New Names. They could not be more different and could not be aiming to be more different. Hyperbole and a Half made me laugh out loud more than once and chuckle out loud several times. Like the other novel I finished this weekend, it is inconsistent. Some chapters are better than others. The chapter in which she describes her depressive episode is decidedly not funny, which is probably as it should be. It's poignant, which seems right. The chapter in which she tries to explain to her dogs why they are not allowed to make decisions was quite funny. In fact, the best chapters tended to be the ones in which the dogs were major characters. I liked it. I'm glad I read it. I actually think others would like it, too.

I think I may join Mark (and others) in the American Authors challenge for 2014. Here are authors and, in some cases, the novels I'm thinking I'd put in my list (no commitments yet):

Willa Cather
Joyce Carol Oates - Blonde
William Faulkner - Absalom! Absalom!
Philip Roth - The Human Stain and/or American Pastoral
John Updike
Eudora Welty
Edith Wharton
Kurt Vonnegut
Ralph Ellison - Invisible Man
Richard Wright - Native Son
Nora Zeale Hurston (since I still haven't read Their Eyes Were Watching God)
Sinclair Lewis - Elmer Gantry

Currently reading:

Picture is back! Yay! I like totem animals. I like to think the spider might be my totem… making connections. See you on Monday, and we might compare lists for both the groups 2014 choices, and our choices in the Am Authors challenge….

#55 - Oh, I just responded to your message on my thread about this - so it does include the depression one - I liked that.

#56 - I plan to listen to Native Son at some point soon. I read it a while back, but recently checked out the audio from the library. I'd like to read Blonde as well - I've not read her yet.
On the other hand, I may go my whole life without ever reading Updike or Roth. Just a hunch.

58: Karen, I love that spiders might be your totem animal. Making connections, resilient, carefully wrapping up prey before devouring it.... all good things. :-)

59: Kerri, On the other hand, I may go my whole life without ever reading Updike or Roth. Just a hunch. I can totally see you going your whole life without reading either of these authors. I doubt they will become mainstays of my library, but I feel the odd compulsion to read something by each of them. My friend who is reading The Human Stain usually serves as a pretty good touchstone for me; and we have some different identities which I believe leads to different experiences with literature. So, we'll see.

Hyperbole and a Half sounds cute! if only it wasn't a comic book.

Totem animals. I took a great interest in native Indian animal medicine cards for a few years. I should look up what whales are described as there, but all good things of course. Will let you know if you're interested.

I still have every intention of reading Native Son, and in fact it's still by my bedside, but I've decided to try and finish this year's reading suggestions, so looks like I'll get to it in 2014 as well. In the meantime, I just picked up the other book you chose for me, Year of Wonders. Am about a quarter of the way in and loving it, so thanks for that.

Hi Ellen - Good luck with the football. We've now won two games. Yay! I'm hoping to read We Need New Names this year. Nice review.

You have some good choices for reading next year: I highly recommend the Wright, Ellison and Hurston books. I am not an Updike fan, but I do like the Roth books I've read. I haven't read The Human Stain, so I might be up for that.

I'll be interested in what you think of TransAtlantic. Have a great Sunday.

>56 EBT1002:: Ellen, I love Mark's challenge idea too. I was blown away by Invisible Man when I read it for the first time this year. I think it may be my only full 5-star read thus far although I have a plethora that come close. I liked both books you listed for Philip Roth; I may read The Plot Against America for my choice. It will be so much fun to compare notes when we actually get started next year.

I love that you are substituting some authors on Mark challenge Ellen. As Frank Sinatra said "I did it my way."

I am not to happy about it...scampers away.

Now, I see those gorgeous Orcas.

A few additional authors I'm thinking of for the American Authors challenge:

John Irving
Dorothy Allison
Maya Angelou

#65: Roberta, I didn't even realize I was going out on a limb. I just figure I get to choose my own dozen authors. :-)

#64: Donna, I think we will have fun with the challenge. It seems that we'll all be reading various novels but there will be some overlap and lots of good comparisons of notes!

#63: Beth, Mark's challenge fits nicely with my own goal to read some authors-of-note whose works I have yet neglected. I hope to fill in some of the gaps. And read additional works by authors with whom I've been good friends (such as John Irving).

#62: Ilana!! I'm so glad you are liking Year of Wonders. It's been a long time since I read it and I still remember a couple of the scenes vividly. Perhaps we can be part of a group reading (not necessarily a Group Read) Native Son in 2014. I really want to read it and this American Author challenge will be just the opportunity.

#61: Richard, I encourage you to take a deep breath and check out Hyperbole and a Half. I think it would crack you up.

#66: Mark, uh oh. I hate to upset you, buddy. So, you thought we'd all agree on the same dozen authors? Really?
How about if I join you for some months and go off on a tangent during other months? (the gift of compromise)

Glad you can see the Orcas. They are stunning creatures!

Okay, if I'm going to be mostly companionable, it looks like this:

January: Willa Cather - My Antonia
February: Cormac McCarthy Richard Wright - Native Son
March: William Faulkner - Absalom! Absalom!
April: Toni Morrison - undecided
May: Eudora Welty - undecided
June: Kurt Vonnegut - no idea
July: Mark Twain somebody else - maybe Pudd'nhead Wilson
August: Philip Roth - The Human Stain and/or American Pastoral
September: James Baldwin - Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone
October: Edith Wharton - undecided
November: John Updike - Rabbit Run (sigh)
December: Larry Watson probably somebody else

I know this is still not very well fleshed out, but I'm watching football and it's only November. :-)

I'm definitely open to suggestions for works by Morrison (I've read Beloved, Song of Solomon, and Jazz -- maybe The Bluest Eye?), Welty, Vonnegut, Wharton (I've read Ethan Frome)....

Okay, maybe I'll read Pudd'nhead Wilson in July. P says it's good and I've never read it.

But I really want to read the Wright, Ellison, and Hurst books, whether for this challenge or not.

Hi Ellen - You are ambitious. I guess you've forgotten about Faulkner February?? :)

See, what a little pouting will get you? Yes, I am beaming a little, although I did start my second beer of the afternoon.
Actually, I admire your iconoclastic spirit! I have absolutely no problem with you reading Native Son in February, since it is one of my favorite books of all time.
May I suggest the Bluest Eye and the Age of Innocence? I am reading Welty's story collection, which is where I heard her real strengths lie.

BTW- I did get to see many orcas, on our Alaska cruise. Amazing creatures.

#71: Beth, well, as folks who know me will tell you, I didn't forget Faulkner February except I sort of forgot in which month we were going to do it. :-|
This may be one of my adjustments to Mark's challenge. I will read Absalom! Absalom! in February (first commitments first) and Native Son in March.
I predict that this list will change more than once.....

#72: Hi Mark, and welcome to your second beer of Sunday (and I know you don't have to work tomorrow!). I appreciate your recommendations and will probably add them to the list.

Here is what my 2014 American Author challenge is starting to look like:

January: Willa Cather - My Antonia
February: William Faulkner - Absalom! Absalom!
March: Richard Wright - Native Son
April: Toni Morrison - The Bluest Eye
May: Eudora Welty - undecided
June: Kurt Vonnegut - no idea
July: Mark Twain - maybe Pudd'nhead Wilson
August: Philip Roth - The Human Stain and/or American Pastoral
September: James Baldwin - Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone
October: Edith Wharton - The Age of Innocence
November: John Updike - Rabbit Run (sigh)
December: Larry Watson maybe Zora Neale Hurston - Their Eyes Were Watching God (although I'm not sure I want to wait that long)

Nice list, Ellen. I'd ditch Updike. Life is too short. What about a couple of months with younger American writers -- Tim O'Brien, Meg Wolitzer, Michael Chabon, for example....

Just being challenging. :)

For Vonnegut I'm planning on picking up Cat's Cradle and do a re-read. I think I probably read it in the early 1970s. Pretty sure I've forgotten lots but I do know I loved it. Great use of language. Join me?

You guys are such great planners!! I've decided I'll try to participate in Mark's challenge, but I haven't even begun to think which books I'll read!! :)

Hi Ellen,

Looks like a fun challenge you guys are doing! For Vonnegut, I'd recommend either Slaughterhouse-5 or Mother Night.

Ellen Vonnegut has book about his personal correspondence. That may appeal more than his novels. Kurt Vonnegut: Letters

I will read Their Eyes were watching God with you. It is sitting staring at me. Let's not wait. Jan-March would work for me.

Ellen, reading about your American authors challenge choices has me thinking I may want to join in too. Several of the books you've chosen are already on my tbr and I'd gladly pick them up as they've been sitting there too long (I'd actually make sure to read only books I already have so I can work through that endless pile!).

I've been meaning to get to Willa Cather for quite a while, and do have My Ántonia, but am thinking I should read O Pioneers! first since it's the first book in her Prairie trilogy, though somehow I doubt they need to be read in order. Maybe someone else can comment on that? For Faulkner, I don't have Absalom, Absalom!, but DO have The Sound and the Fury and a gorgeous illustrated edition of As I Lay Dying. Am totally with you on Native Son of course. The Bluest Eye is a great choice. Fiercely harsh, but also so beautiful. I listened to Morrison read it and it was chilling. Really great. The only other book by her currently on my tbr is Sula. Would you recommend it? Otherwise I might be tempted to cheat and download an audiobook from the library. She narrates all her books and is a great reader. I also had Eudora Welty's short stories on audio, but it didn't work for me. There was a whole lineup of great narrators, but nope, I think she really needs to be read in print. Not sure what I'll do there. No Kurt Vonnegut at all on the tbr, though I've read Slaughterhouse-Five and liked it. Could be tempted to get Mark Twain's Autobiography from the library, though I'm also making payments on an illustrated 1930's collector's edition of Huckleberry Finn and wouldn't mind a reread. I've got the same two Philip Roth books you've listed, as yet unread, though I'd recommend starting with American Pastoral as it's the first in a trilogy too. I've got James Baldwin's Going to Meet the Man story collection, which might be a good introduction for me. I LOVE Edith Wharton, and The Age of Innocence is a great place to start. My introduction to her was with The House of Mirth, which I might actually prefer, though there is nothing mirthful about it AT ALL. I have quite a few choices of other titles by her to chose from on my tbr. John Updike? Not on my tbr. Do I really want to read him? Do you?? Would love to join you on Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, which has been on my shelves for too many years.

Too late tonight, but I guess I owe Mark a visit after all that!

Yes, Ellen our friend Mark has got us all with our American author thinking caps on.

Of the twelve selections, I don't have anything on the shelves by Larry Watson but I can put that right in time for the reads.

There are so many American writers to go at that it would seem that 12 spots is not nearly enough!

Interesting AAC choices, Ellen. This already is a fun one, just reading everyone's picks.

I like your idea of substituting for one author with another American one. I may do that, too.

Vonnegut, it's hard to go wrong with Slaughter-House Five, if you've never read him, seems to me.

The Bluest Eye is written more from an adolescent point of view, and from what you said about We Need New Names, that may not be your thing. Beloved is probably her most famous, and I think best, although The Bluest Eye is my second favorite. I love Mark Twain's short stories, much more than his teen novels. Have you thought about trying some of those? The Diary of Adam and Eve is hysterical.

yup- your list has given me some tips too. I want to read at least half the authors Mark had listed, so I am in clover.

Love the orca picture that I can see now :0 How amazing they just cruise on by such a big city scape. It is nice to see.

Yikes! So many visitors to my thread while I was (again) away! I do love this group.

#75 - Hi Beth! You know, I may well ditch the Updike part of the challenge. I don't know much about him but readers whom I trust (you, among others) have suggested that I might better use my time elsewhere. I like your idea of substituting a couple of younger American authors. I like that Mark is trying to read some of the classics or standards, but we all know that the definers of "classic" and "standard" have not always represented the whole.

#76 - Karen, Cat's Cradle could definitely be my Vonnegut. Since I have never read anything by him (I know, this is practically as astonishing as the fact that I've not read The Wind in the Willows), I'm a blank slate.

#77 - Tina, you have exactly 48 days to get your list in order for Mark's American Authors challenge. (Kidding!!! --- You know that most of us will change our lists up as the year unfolds anyway, right?)

#78 - Hi Joanne, I have wondered about Slaughterhouse 5. I don't know anything about Mother Night. I may read more than one Vonnegut so I'll keep those two, along with Cat's Cradle on my list.

#79 - Roberta, maybe we could plan to read Their Eyes Were Watching God this year! It is sitting there staring at me, as well. So, I could go for January or I'd be happy to commit to reading it in December. Do you have a preference?

#80 - Ilana! So good to see you. As you'll see above, I think I'll read Their Eyes Were Watching God sooner than December of '14 -- join us!
Okay, so you've noted several first-in-trilogy items and, although it may be the case that one can read them out of order (e.g., Willa Cather's trilogy), I tend not to want to do that. I will have to do some research. I have read Death Comes for the Archbishop and adored it. So, I may read both O Pioneers! and My Antonia. Cather is an author whose complete oeuvre I'd like to read.

#81 - Hi Paul! There are so many American writers to go at that it would seem that 12 spots is not nearly enough!
This is clearly true. I'm actually surprised at how much I'm enjoying messing around with my American Authors list. I feel like, thanks to LT, I have explored international authors much more in the past couple of years and I have been enjoying that and wanting to do it even more. The Global Reading group has introduced me to so many authors, even though I'm a relatively low-level participator. Anyway, I always reserve the right to change my mind month-to-month with regard to my reading, so these lists are just lists. But, oh the fun! :-)

#82 - Joe, yes, Mark has got many of us going kind of list-crazy, doesn't he? Like that's unusual around here. Ha.
You're the second person to suggest Slaughterhouse Five as a good Vonnegut to go with. I think I'll plan for that as well as Cat's Cradle to read with Karen.

#83 - Hi Lisa! You may have just saved me with recommending a short story collection by Twain. I will put The Diary of Adam and Eve on my list based on your recommendation.
Regarding Toni Morrison, I have read (and loved) Beloved twice so I want to read something else by her. The Bluest Eye is one I've never read. You're right that I get tired of adolescent narrators in novels, but I have been meaning to read this one for years. Perhaps 2014 will be the year I finally get to it. I also read Song of Solomon in 1981 (I remember this because I read it during the 3 months I was in Poland) so it's been long enough that another read might be in order. :-)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Okay, time to go earn Abby's Science Diet! And my wine. :-)

Ellen - Shall we start in December and carry into January. It will work better for me. I have two group reads in December and I want to squeeze in Martin Beck 3 before the year is out. Plus, there is my monthly Spenser to read. You know how it is. Typical LT overcommitment. I can definitely start Their Eyes Were Watching God in December but as to finishing, it will depend on whether my Aunt decides she is coming to visit or not. Oh the joys of holidays.

#84 - Megan! I almost missed you. I'm glad you're another one digging the AAC (I agree with Joe that it's time to abbreviate this puppy). And I'm glad you can see the Orcas. We did get on a ferry on Monday -- went over to Bainbridge Island for lunch -- but saw no Orcas. Oh well. It was a lovely day for a ferry ride in any case.

>86 EBT1002: I'll be re-reading Cat's Cradle, so I can share that one with you and Karen, Ellen.

That will be fun, I'll bet!

Hi Ellen - I was just thinking that I should reread Song of Solomon, but The Bluest Eye is wonderful.

Keeping an eye on your thread - Hyperbole and a Half was a blog awhile back - the one I loved was dogs having a heck of time about moving. Someone clued me into it when we were moving, whenever that was, getting to be four years ago.

Impossible to choose authors for these lists! I admire you for even trying!

Hi Ellen! I hope the week is treating you well.

Like you, I'm not the biggest fan of child/teen narrators, but The Bluest Eye is excellent. I don't remember being bothered by it at all. It's been years since I read it though, and it's possible I was less cranky and particular back then. Ha!

I think Slaughterhouse Five is a great choice too. Vonnegut isn't my cup of tea, but even I have to admit that that's a great one.

90. TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
5 stars

I just completed reading TransAtlantic and it left me breathless. An exquisite blend of tragedy and optimism, McCann's newest novel weaves together several story lines and lives. Starting with the gut-dropping story of Jack Alcock and Arthur Brown flying an old war plane from Newfoundland to Ireland in 1919, moving through the insightful exploration of Frederick Douglass' visit to Ireland in the mid-1840s, and then to Senator George Mitchell's diplomatic efforts to secure peace in Ireland near the end of the 20th century, McCann uses the green and gray backdrop of Ireland's history to guide his reader through sweet moments of grace, terrible moments of loss, and ultimately to a sense of redemption and hope and connection. The writing is deceptively straightforward, eschewing unnecessary complete sentences to provide momentum and pause. McCann's choice of words in any given sentence is perfect.

It was odd to Emily how life could be so very expansive and still return to the elements of childhood. Lottie in the corridors of the Cochrane Hotel. Walking down along Paton Street on her first day at Prince of Wales. The day Lottie first discovered a camera, the bellowed Graflex. How, at Wimbledon, just four months ago, they sat together at center court, mother and daughter, watching the quarter final, and Lottie turned to tell her what she already knew. The lover's fine sense of crisis. The circumference of Lottie's world had shifted. She would stay now. She had fallen in love. Emily nursed a moment of joy that turned to jealousy and then returned once more to a fascination with the swerve of the world. What was a life anyway? An accumulation of small shelves of incident. Stacked at odd angles to each other.

"...the swerve of the world." Indeed.

This is the best novel I've read this year. I'm astounded that it didn't make the shortlist for the Booker Prize. I've read four of the six shortlisted novels and they are all good in their own ways (I've not yet read The Luminaries or A Tale for the Time Being), but TransAtlantic belonged on that list.

Next up:



Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

#89, 90 - Joe and Karen, I look forward to a shared read of Cat's Cradle.

#91 - Beth, from a distance of more than two decades, I can highly recommend Song of Solomon. But I think I will plan to read The Bluest Eye.

#92 - Hi Lucy! Hyperbole and a Half is still a blog and the author was recently interviewed on NPR's Fresh Air. The story about moving across the country (well, partway across the country) with the dogs is included in the book collection and it's one that made me laugh out loud.

#93 - Hi Kerri! Since getting past the Tuesday morning presentation, my week has not been too bad. I'm using a couple of hours of vacation leave this morning - slept in (until 6:45), finished TransAtlantic, etc. I'm heading to work in a bit and this evening P and I are going to another Volleyball match. The #3-ranked Huskies are playing the #4-ranked USC team. It should be a good match.

Your recommendation cements my decision to read The Bluest Eye next year. I used to own a copy but never got around to reading it. I will probably count on the library for it this try. And I appreciate your recommendation for Slaughterhouse Five. It seems that one "should" read it, even if it's the only Vonnegut with which one bothers. :-)

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Okay, time to get dressed and walk to the bus. I'll put in a short day at work and then it's the weekend! Hooray!!

So glad you enjoyed Transatlantic! I thought the first George Mitchell segment dragged and I was a little worried but I loved the way the women's stories emerged as the book progressed and really enjoyed reading it.

>96 EBT1002: I heard that Fresh Air segment (of much of it, anyway), and I made a note to check out that blog.

I remember thinking The Bluest Eye was excellent, but it's been quite a while since I read it. I think I will do either Song of Solomon or Sula next year, as I believe I have both of those on the shelves.

#87 *jumps up and waves* ;-)

Stopping in to catch up here and to wish you a weekend full of fabulous, Ellen. I liked your review of Transatlantic even though that one is not calling to me.

Hi Ellen - I think I'll try to reread Song of Solomon next year. I'm glad you liked TransAtlantic. I liked it -- just not as much as you did. I thought it was more a collection of related novellas than a novel.

#94 - You gave something 5 stars?!?!?! (What have you done with the real Ellen?)
:-)

That being said, that darn book is still not calling my name. Oh well.

Have a lovely Saturday!

Ellen, it sounds like you were transported with TransAtlantic! I loved it as well but only gave it 4.5 stars for some reason. Housekeeping used to be my favorite Marilynne Robinson book. It did take her 24 years before she wrote her next fiction book, Gilead. I still have several copies of Housekeeping around here. I used to buy it whenever I saw a good used copy so I could give it to friends. I hope you like it as much as I did.

5 stars! Must be one of those books I need to read. Looking forward to reading what you have to say about Housekeeping.

I am very interested in your response to Housekeeping, also. It definitely was one of my more memorable books this year, so far.

Hope your weekend is sweet!

Morning Ellen- I am so glad you loved TransAtlantic. Opinion seems to be divided on that one but I sure loved it as well. I hope you enjoy HK, as much as I did. I am also really enjoying Castle Rock. She is an awesome writer.

91. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
4.5 stars

Marilynne Robinson's first novel explores the boundaries of family, loss, connection, transience, meaning, and memory. What? All that in just over 200 pages? Well, yes, and she does so beautifully. Ruthie and Lucille are sisters who grow up in an isolated town in the far west (late in the book, we decide they are in Idaho), the last descendants in a family storied by suicide and other dramatic forms of death. Orphaned, they are raised first by their grandmother, then by two comic maiden aunts, and finally by their own aunt, Sylvie, who leaves her independent life on the rails to take up housekeeping with them. That transient life is not so easily left behind, though; Ruth and Lucille each respond to Sylvie's rootlessness in her own way, providing the narrative arc for Robinson's exquisite novel. In the end, Ruth tells us that Sylvie "...cast about constantly for ways to conform our lives to the expectations of others, or to what she guessed their expectations might be, and she was full of purpose, which sometimes seemed like hope." Her success, of course, is less than complete.

Robinson's novel is also about the experience of being on the outside looking in (she repeatedly uses the image of a person looking into or out of a window from the lit side, noting how one only sees one's reflection from that perspective, and is left to imagine what is on the other side), and the assumptions we make about those who live solitary lives outside the apparent security of family, town, and society. Truly, our projection of loneliness and discomfort may bely our own fear of loss and disconnection; our compassionate or pitying provision of staples a way to buffer ourselves from terror. "Why should they all feel judgment in the fact that these nameless souls looked into their lighted windows without envy and took the best of suppers as no more than their meager due?" And, of course, there is the notion that all our lives are transient, regardless of how rooted we believe them to be. "That most moments were substantially the same did not detract at all from the possibility that the next moment might be utterly different. And so the ordinary demanded unblinking attention. Any tedious hour might be the last of its kind."

This novel is poetry in prose form. And, as is true (for me) with most poetry, I know I missed much of it. Still, I savored and got completely lost in the language and the story. Housekeeping falls just barely short enough of perfect to miss the full five stars of my rating scheme.

^Give me a day or two; this one may move up to 5 stars. I'm just having a hard time believing I could have read two 5-star novels in a row. I might start wondering the same thing as Kerri -- what did I do with the real Ellen? :-)
Regardless, it's a joy to read two such lovely novels back to back!

#97 - Hi Laura, you know, that segment with George Mitchell was indeed a bit slow. Hmm, now I'm rethinking my 5 star rating.....

#98 - Linda, oh, I had forgotten about Sula. I've not read that one yet, either.

#99 - Roberta! I missed you! Sorry about that.
Okay, so we'll do Their Eyes Were Watching God in January 2014, is that what you're proposing? If so, I'm in!!

I think I need to start keeping a more elaborate list of the various reads to which I'm making commitments.....

#100 - Hi Mamie! Thanks for the weekend wishes. Yesterday was a good Saturday. A 37-minute run, brunch at the Cheeky Cafe, some time on the couch with Housekeeping, and a movie! P and I so rarely go to movies, though we both enjoy them, and it was great to go to the Harvard Exit (a lovely old art theater) to see "Dallas Buyers Club" and then out for a fish sandwich and a beer. "Dallas Buyers Club" was wonderful. Painful, but excellent.

I'm curious (and I'm going to ask the same question of Kerri as I get to her post), what about TransAtlantic is not calling to you? I mean, I get that it's hard to describe why something doesn't appeal. It's probably easier to say why something does call to one. But I am curious.

#101 - Hi Beth! I see your point about TransAtlantic being a sort of collection of somewhat connected novellas. Having just read and adored Housekeeping, I'm worrying more about more about my rating scheme. I think I'm really inconsistent and very affected by the last quarter or so of a novel. This makes it hard for an author to get five stars from me and makes my ratings susceptible to my own mood when I read their work. I keep toying with the idea of eschewing ratings altogether and just writing my comments or reviews, but it's hard to let go of them.

I love your review of Housekeeping, Ellen. Thumb for you if you posted it. And you have me adding that one to me WL - good work!

#102 - Hi Kerri! So, as I asked Mamie above, I wonder what about TransAtlantic is not calling to you? I don't have a clear sense of whether you'd enjoy it or not, so I can't support your decision or make much an effort to change your mind. I loved the writing itself as much as the story.

I had a lovely Saturday and now I'm settling in for a good Sunday. I will, of course, be watching the Seahawks at 1:30. P has to go take her father to some event, so I'll be on my own to cheer the guys on to victory.

#103 - Donna, I read Gilead back when it won the Pulitzer, and I recall only thinking it was so-so. Of course, reading is so much about what we bring to the work in terms of our own mood and experience; now that I've read and loved Housekeeping, I have every intention of rereading Gilead, probably fairly soon. I know that if a novel depends too much on biblical allusions, it will lose me because I was provided only the most minimal of education in that regard (and I haven't done anything to alter that gap). Twenty-four years is a long time. I'm curious to see what she created in that time period.

#104 - Benita, I do recommend TransAtlantic and, as you can see, I loved Housekeeping as well!

We posted at the same time, Ellen, so I am just now seeing your question. I guess mainly the author didn't appeal to me, and it sounded like it was written in a similar format to Let the Great World Spin. I started and abandoned Let the Great World Spin several years ago, and I still have it sitting on my shelves. That was prior to my joining LT, and I am curious if I would feel the same way now - I think I will give it another go in 2014.

#105 - Karen, you can see my reaction to Housekeeping. I am already reconsidering my mere 4.5 stars for it.....

#106 - Hi Mark! As you can see, I loved Housekeeping and I will be rereading Gilead soon since I remember being underwhelmed by it when I read it (a loooooong time ago).
I picked up The View from Castle Rock from the library yesterday, so I can start digging into the stories later today.

#110 - Mamie! I love cross-posting. :-)
Never one to turn down a thumb, I have now posted my review of Housekeeping. I hope you enjoy it as much (or nearly as much!) as I did.

#112- Ah, well, that makes sense to me, Mamie. I loved Let the Great World Spin, also having read it before discovering LT. If McCann's work doesn't suit you, there is no reason to think this one will land differently. Still, I appreciate and resonate with your decision to give something another try post-LT. As we've all said around here over and over, LT has expanded my experience of reading so much; I'm much more thoughtful about my reactions to novels and I think I'm both more critical and more open.
Happy Sunday to you, my friend!

Colum McCann's work just doesn't appeal to me. I think it is the subject matter. I'm not much interested in the World Trade Center thing, just as I am not much interested in Dallas in 1963. I recognize that is not the norm and so it is just me. However, the subject matter of Transatlantic does get a little more of my attention, but still not enough to get me to go to the library and check out the book.

I had much the same reaction to Housekeeping as you did. I think it does much to try to explain why some people are transient than are others. Is it something that is bred-in-the-bone, or something we learn. It seemed to me that even the grandmother in this book was transient. She was there but she wasn't that into being a mother or wife. These girls pretty much raised themselves and as a result the kind of people they wanted to be was their own choice and responsibility. Which reminded me of a discussion I had with my cousin who lives in Everett. She has run a social welfare organization for years and we had a discussion about homelessness one day last year when I was there. We both said that the lifestyle of homelessness is sometimes a choice that suits some people. It isn't always the result of a calamity and so shouldn't be treated as such in every case. In any case, Robinson did a great job of putting a spotlight on the whole issue.

Freedom - ain't it wonderful. So full of dichotomies.

^Benita, that makes sense to me. We all have content about which we just don't feel interest.
Interesting thoughts about homelessness and transience. As is so often the case, things are more complicated than just "this is too bad." So, yes, dichotomies and paradoxes!

"Robinson's novel is also about the experience of being on the outside looking in (she repeatedly uses the image of a person looking into or out of a window from the lit side, noting how one only sees one's reflection from that perspective, and is left to imagine what is on the other side), and the assumptions we make about those who live solitary lives outside the apparent security of family, town, and society." wonderful.

okay, so why don't i put these kinds of thing together in my head as *i'm* reading? i try, so help me, i try, but it doesn't happen so clearly. surely one could learn to do this. or not?

wonderful review. i read Housekeeping about 300 years ago--well, when i could still read print, anyway, and the later listened to it. a great favorite. have thumbled.

give you joy of your Seahawks' season thus far. hope Kap et al can clip their wings when they meet the niners again.

Currently reading (and loving so far):

#118 - Ellie, oh my. Thank you for those very kind words. I definitely struggle with any kind of confidence that what I write about the books I read has any depth or insight, but I'm learning to trust myself. I do try to notice things more as I read (thank you, LT, for that) and I definitely use page markers to remind myself of passages I liked. Anyway, from my perspective, what matters most is that one enjoy what one reads. It's the whole point.

It was fun to watch the Seahawks play so well today (sorry Beth). I know the 49ers lost in OT. The game between the two teams on 49ers turf will be a tough one!

So, I have the evening to myself while P takes her father to some event (there was no chance I was going to join them for this). Of course, I had figured to while away a couple of hours on LT but it was down tonight (nobody's fault, I know -- I'm not complaining, just noting the irony). I suppose it worked out alright because I started reading The View from Castle Rock and I'm enjoying it a great deal.

There are so many great books out there. I keep thinking, "no, it's not possible, you can't be enjoying another book, Ellen," but there it is. I am enjoying. How is it that there are so many wonderful novels (and short story collections) to read??

It's after 10pm, I'm not caught up (but better than when I started this evening project), and it's time for bed.
Happy new week, everyone!

It's my turn for insomnia tonight/this morning Ellen. Three wonderful books in a row is cause for rejoicing.

Yes I will read There Eyes Were Watching God with you in January.

^Oh good. January it is.

So sorry to hear about the insomnia! Grrr. I hate insomnia. I hope you're able to just do a bit of reading, Roberta, and that tomorrow goes alright despite your lack of sleep.

#111 - I wonder what about TransAtlantic is not calling to you? Well...it describes like a big mess (doesn't it?) and I'm usually not a fan of the epic and sprawling novel. That being said, perhaps I should give it a try anyway. Perhaps. At a time far in the future. :-)

Don't work too hard this week!

Good morning, Ellen. I love that the Seahawks are having such a great year. It has been too long since Seattle has had a major team with a major winning streak! So cool.

I was struck by your writing this: "I definitely struggle with any kind of confidence that what I write about the books I read has any depth or insight, but I'm learning to trust myself. I do try to notice things more as I read (thank you, LT, for that) and I definitely use page markers to remind myself of passages I liked. Anyway, from my perspective, what matters most is that one enjoy what one reads. It's the whole point."

I feel so much the same way. I am struck by the fact that I seldom pick up a book that I throw away as "trash" any more. Back before LT I would go to the grocery store book shelves, or a bookstore, and browse and try to find a quality story but I did not always judge well. LT makes it so much easier to pick out quality early on and to avoid having to trash some books.

Now I have a whole new problem - a huge collection of books I intend to read (in this lifetime, hopefully) and a tendency to pick new books to acquire in greater numbers than the books I finish reading. Sigh. Even with Kindle and Nook, I still have many RL volumes, especially heavy historical books which I buy in "dead tree" versions because I love the photographs, maps, and such which histories usually include.

I am painfully aware as I pack up box after box of books.

Hope your week is swell and the run up to the holidays is not too stressful for your staff and clients.

Happy Monday, Ellen! A whole new week of joy and rapture!

I am behind, terribly far behind and I find that skimming here is dangerous.... so I will go with ony a greeting, and a wish for a good week for you :)

Sigh. I have a hard time setting books aside to read later -- if I set it aside, it's usually for good. So I persisted with Housekeeping. Your review (now thumbed) tells me I should have read it when I was more willing to concentrate and take it slowly.

#125 - Yeah, that makes sense but I don't think TransAtlantic really turned into a sprawling epic. But it is a bit all over the place. I'm sort of surprised that I followed it as well as I did!

#126 - Karen, I am loving that the Seahawks are doing so well! 10-1 -- woo hoo! Their schedule is pretty tough for the rest of the road, so we'll see how it all ends up.

And I'm laughing out loud at your description if the trade we made of one "problem" for another. I am finding SO many quality reads and of course there is not time for all of them. Whenever P and I start thinking about moving (downsizing to a condo on the Hill...), I think about the packing and it's one thing that gives me pause.

Thanks for the good wishes. This week promises to be stressful (just because of the time of year) but Thanksgiving is coming....

#127 - Yes, Richard dear. Joy and rapture. I'm all over it. :-)

#128 - Kath, a greeting and a wish for a good week is very welcome! Sometimes that is all we have time for and it's always appreciated. I hope your week is smooth sailing.

#129 - Laura, so nice to see you. I can appreciate your comments about Housekeeping. Just before halfway through, I had my doubts. But I hung in there, adjusted my approach, and was glad in the end that I did so. And thank you for the thumb.

Monday Monday. Here we go. This promises to be a stressful week (perhaps I will be pleasantly surprised) but I will try to stop in and visit threads now and then.

Meanwhile, I have to say that The View from Castle Rock is lovely.

Hi Ellen!
Beautiful topper! (yeah, I'm a bit behind) What a contrast of wild nature and flourishing city. I'll get there someday. Btw, is there a great book about Seattle I should read?

I've been rating so many of my books in the 4-5 range this year. I've begun to wonder if I'm stuck in a mode of not being able to distinguish a really good book from a so-so book. Or... is LT so great that I've found a treasure trove of fantastic reading to choose from in everyone's recs? I choose B.
I also find my frame of mind (mood) and focus while reading (alertness) can make a big difference to me to how much I like the book.
To think, I used to go to the bookstore and wander around wondering what to read - sometimes leaving empty-handed!

I've been meaning to tell you - I bought the Peaceful Slumber tea by Allegro to help with my bout of insomnia. It is a mild tea so I actually like it. And... drum roll please... it really seemed to help! Can't really figure out why, but thanks so much for suggesting it. Can't get it anywhere around here. Of course, good ol' Ammy had it ;-)

Keep reading those great books and letting us know ;-)

Liked that review of Housekeeping, Ellen. I think that book is going to stick with me and keeping going around inside my head even more than Gilead. You raise some good points about the view from outside looking in. The importance of a strong, guiding parent (or the lack thereof) also struck me, going back to the grandparents, as Benita said.

Happy New Week, Ellen! It'll be a stressful one for me as well.

Ellen, I hope the run of great books continues for you. I like it when that happens but the pessimist in me keeps whispering that this too will end. But why? With so many good books out there, I think we could keep the good book trend rolling along...

Next up for me as a companion to The View from Castle Rock is The Daughters of Mars. Looks like another winner. ;-)

Hi Ellen - Your comments are always thoughtful, and one of the fun things about reading, and even teaching literature, is that no two people react the same way to a work. I know TransAtlantic and The Signature of All Things got great reviews here on LT, and I wonder part of my reaction was disappointment. For me, they didn't live up to the hype.

I'm with you about ratings. I could change them after thinking about a work for a while. But, in the end, the comments are what matter -- at least from my perspective. And if I was honest and thoughtful, I don't worry too much about the rating.

I thought the first half of the game was competitive... My daughter and I now wish only to lose with dignity. Maybe next year.

So exciting when you get on a reading roll, isn't it? I enjoy most of the books I've read but there are quite a few I enjoy thinking about more after I'm all done reading, sometimes almost more than when I'm actually reading them!

You write extremely well about your reading - I love the LT review style (if you can call it that!) which tends toward personal response, quirky observations and to the point comments about basic readability. Anyhow you do all of those things in your reviews, so they are immediate and fresh.

I'm always saying this, but it never ceases to fascinate me how differently we all respond to books. As well, the timing of when a book is being read in one's own life, really does matter.

Well said, Lucy!

I love the "analysis" of what works in LT for book recommendations, and reviews. Sigh. I am back into work, work, working to get ready for the move, and to deal with being the Chair of the HOA in the new neighborhood. No reading time in my immediate future, I'm afraid. I've even misplaced The End of Your Life Book Club. Dang.

Hi Ellen! I agree with your assessment of Transatlantic. I too was blown away by the fact the it didn't make the short list.

I'll be playing along with Mark's challenge as well. But I'll post my choices in January. I'd like to follow the list as there are a few author's I've never read ie Welty and Baldwin, then again, I don't want to read Updike again so I may drop him. Ohhhhh, decisions decisions!

Updike is maddening isn't he!!!!! His essays aren't bad - or does it have to be fiction???

I didn't know there was a companion book to Castle Rock! I am shocked and completely happy, all at once. Thanks, Donna!

Ellen- I should wrap up the Munro today. It really does not feel like a story collection, which should appeal to the folks who have issues with that format. She is a first-rate writer!

I plan on starting the Circle for the LT G.R. since I have an advanced copy. I know opinion is strongly mixed on this one. We shall see!

Hi

#132 - Hi Cee!
is there a great book about Seattle I should read?
Do you mean fiction or nonfiction?

I used to go to the bookstore and wander around wondering what to read - sometimes leaving empty-handed! Ha! I don't know how often I left empty-handed (not often, though) but I certainly did the same thing - wandering around wondering what to read and choosing based on the cover. LT has changed all that!

I'm glad the tea worked. I don't know why it works, either, but even if it's essentially a placebo, I'll take it.
I guess if it reduces insomnia, it is by definition not a placebo, right?

#133 - Hi Joe. I'm glad you liked my review. I agree that it feels like a book that will stick with me for a while. Since I don't even remember Gilead, I guess I need to re-read it.

#134 - Roni, maybe we will both get surprised by having a less stressful week than we anticipate! heh.

#135 - Donna, I have the same sort of pessimism, but then I remember that saying "so many books, so little time" and I remember that there really are lots of wonderful writers and therefore lots of good books. I'm definitely enjoying this current rash (and rush) of 4-5 star reads!

#136 - Beth, I know you're right. You know, when I was a senior in college, I took a winter mini-mester course on the (modern?) American novel. We read several novels in four weeks. I don't remember what they all were but I know we read The World According to Garp and The Left Hand of Darkness and now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure we read something by Faulkner..... Anyway, near the end of the class, the professor asked my why I was not an English major. She wanted to know if it was because of my father (who was the chair of said English department). Of course, I said no and simply said that I liked Psychology. That was and is true, but I figured out later that it really was because of my dad that I didn't major in English. I was terrified that I would not live up to his expectations. As a Psych major, I could avoid taking any classes from him. SO - I forget why I started this story, but I think it had to do with trusting one's reactions to a written work as valid, writing as honestly as one can about those reactions, and accepting that each of us reacts differently. I so agree with Donna, too, that mood and focus have a lot to do with how I feel about a novel or stories.

Sorry about those Vikings. I agree that the game started out competitive and I thought AP was going to give us a really tough time, but the Seahawks are so good at home.

#137 - Lucy, thank you for those very kind words! I think one of my favorite things about LT is that it has given me a place to just write about my reactions to books. I would never attempt "real" reviews for publication and the truth is that whenever I've tried to start a journal about my reading, I don't keep it up. I think because I consider LT to be like a journal but with some community added in, it really works for me. And I totally agree about timing making a huge and legitimate impact on how we react to what we read. I want to go back and re-read Gilead because I remember being disappointed when I read it (and this may be partly that other thing to which Beth refers - the disappointment factor when one reads something that is getting tons of hype) but I might react differently now.

#138 - :-)

#139 - Karen!! No!! I hope you can find your copy of The End of Your Life Book Club. And thank you for the reminder. I must dig out my copy and read it before that second Monday in December. :-)

#140 - Hi Lynda! I'm glad you resonated with my reactions to TransAtlantic.
It will be interesting to see what we all end up doing for Mark's challenge. Like you, I plan to "play along," but I reserve the right to do more than one in any given month and to completely skip other months. I'm leaning toward giving myself full permission to just skip anything by John Updike. Too many people (especially woemn) whose opinions I trust are suggesting that I might well live to 100+ without ever reading his works and survive. Well, not survive at that point, but you know what I mean.
:-)

#141 - Lucy, I don't think Mark specified fiction or nonfiction.

#142 - Mark, I didn't know there was a companion book to Castle Rock, either. I am absolutely loving it and I agree that it doesn't feel like stories. Each story feels like a chapter and they clearly build upon one another although I can see that each could stand on its own. Her voice is wonderful. The chapter/story called "Illinois" is one of the best I have read in a very long time.

So, Mark, re: Lucy's question. Is non-fiction allowed for your American Author challenge?

#143 - Richard. Hi? That is all you have to say? Hmmmm....... Well, hi back then. :-)

Today is better but I gotta say that yesterday it took everything I had in me not to call in sick and stay in bed reading all day. It was dreary. Sometimes I hate being a grown up. :-|

AND a week from tomorrow P and I get on a plane bound for family in Tennessee. Turkey day, football, hanging out..... I'm already enjoying the pre-trip process of thinking about what books I will take with me. Love that.

Still loving The View from Castle Rock and definitely planning to read many more by Alice Munro.

Heck, you don't need me to pile on with the Updike warnings. So, keep it light and social! Hi there! Smoochings!

Hi Ellen, you are really experiencing a nice run of excellent books, enjoy. As I travel around LT and read more about Mark's ACC next year, I am getting more and more interested in participating. I am in for sure for October (Edith Wharton) and December (Larry Watson) and now I am thinking of including April (Toni Morrison) as well.

I sort of use LT as a book journal as well. My yearly challenge thread is where I keep track of all the old stuff I read that comes from off my shelves. At the end of the year I print that out and put it in an expandable file folder that stays on my book shelf. This serves as my book/reading "journal" for the year. It doesn't include everything I read, but a great deal of it.

I also don't think that I would ever want to publish my reviews. They really aren't reviews. They are more reactions and as such I don't think that they would be publishable or should be published. I do like to have these discussions about books and bookie kinds of things, so LT is a perfect place to do that.

Hi Ellen, I find the great reads often come along in a row, so enjoy it while it lasts. As I travel around LT and read about Mark's ACC next year, I am getting more and more interested. I am definitely in for October and December

Oh la la! I love your review of TransAtlantic. I was astounded too that it did not make the shortlist for the Booker. That is all I can say right now as I am off to look for somewhere to put a thumb.

Hi Ellen- I just finished Castle Rock and I was floored. What a gorgeous book. Her observations on human behavior and her surroundings is awe-inspiring.
I hope you are feeling the same.

And, to answer Lucy's question: Of course, nonfiction can be included. I am considering reading Twain's essays.

#149 - Richard, okay, keeping it social and light is okay. But if you think I would like or appreciate Updike's work, you could say that. Of if you think I would just end up throwing him across the room.... You know that I don't love Dickens, right? I can make my own decisions. ;-)
In any case, I do appreciate you saying hi!

#150 - Judy, I'm glad you'll join us for some of Mark's challenge. Wharton adn Watson are two authors I want to read. I admit that before the conversation (yay Mark!), I didn't have Watson on my radar, but now I do and I'd like to read something by him.

#151 - Hi Benita, I think it's great that LT ends up serving all manner of needs for tracking books, learning about books, writing about books..... we all need something and we make it work for our own needs. So cool.

#152 - Judy!! Ha ha -- careful, you'll end up joining us for all twelve months! I'm still iffy on a couple of them, but I can get swept up in the collective enthusiasm.

#153 - Megan, I hope I actually posted that review of TransAtlantic so I can get a thumb. Thank you. :-)

#154 - Mark, I'm glad to hear that The View from Castle Rock holds up all the way through. Is this the first Munro you've read? I'm certainly turning into a convert.

Oh good, nonfiction is welcome for Mark's challenge. Yay!!

I was hoping to get around to some other threads but I just got a text that P is almost here. We're going out for Pho and then to watch the Huskies women lose (I predict) their basketball game.

Too Much Happiness: Stories was my first Munro and I loved it. That was more conventional short stories but beautifully written.

#107 - I think I forgot to mention what a lovely review of Housekeeping this is! I think this may already be on my wishlist, but, if not, I'll add it. I actually think Gilead is on my wishlist, but this sounds better.

I'm looking forward to your thoughts on The View from Castle Rock. I'm loving the Munro collection I'm currently reading - she has such a way of describing the little, fascinating, important things (in terms of human interactions) that are rarely articulated.

*delurking*

I seem to find time to lurk 'round the threads, but yeee gads…. I'm in a pile of work. Pack, pack, pack + new volunteer duty as "chairman" of the Board of Directors for the HOA down in Bothell (where I'm moving, by Feb. 1). Too much…. no reading…. oh, dang.

Hope your holidays and trip is very relaxing and nourishing! I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving Day, myself.

Go Huskies! Go Seahawks! (Seattle Storm season is approaching….)

142, 147: Mark and Ellen, sorry for the confusion. The Daughters of Mars is a companion to Castle Rock only because I am reading the former in the daytime and the latter for my bedtime book. I am making slow progress in both because I've been under the weather and find it difficult to focus on reading. Blah!

Another trip... sometimes I wonder that you ( and Caro) don't meet yourselves coming and going!
Fun and safe to you you!

^ sometimes I wonder that you ( and Caro) don't meet yourselves coming and going!
Yes, it seems that this should happen on one of these trips!

Ellen, you would need to run a fair few miles to take off the calories from a meet-up meal with Caro. You'd have a whale (not literally of course) I could guarantee though.

Struggling manfully to keep up with my reading and catch up with buddies after a weekend with no internet. xx

#157 - Mark! I will certainly be reading more Munro. I have The Progress of Love and Dear Life on the TBR shelves. I know I'd like to read Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You as Kerri is currently reading it and says she is loving it.

#158 - Kerri, thank you for liking my review of Housekeeping. I think you would like it (I always hesitate to say things like that...). I looked at Gilead at the bookstore today and didn't buy it (I did buy a couple of other things, but more about that in a minute). I have Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You on my mental wishlist, thanks to you. xo

#159 - Karen, I don't know about this chair of the HOA thing you've signed up for.... And I know the packing and moving is hell, but I also know that it will be good once it's done. P and I were talking at dinner this evening, and I noted that if I land a job at another institution (headhunter has come calling, but I don't know that I could ever leave the PNW), they would pay for the move. P tilted her head and said "but, really, if we moved within the city, wouldn't we pay someone to help us move?" Well, maybe.

#160 - Donna, thank you for the clarification. I guess "companion" has many meanings.
:-)
I still admire folks who can read more than one thing at a time. I have done it a little bit, but in general I find myself being a one-book-at-a-time sort of person.

#161 - Kath, see #162. :-)

#163 - Paul!! I'm always so pleased to see you here.
My running has been taking a bit of a hit lately. The short days make it hard for me to get out there. I love running by myself in the dark, and I really don't mind the cold or the rain (although I do hate wind), but the safety factor is problematic. Makes me mad, but it is what it is.
I would love to share a meal with Caro despite the fact that her adventurousness would put me to absolute shame.

Hang in there. I hate it when I have no internet. :-|

So, this weekend we're going to the coast for a quick pre-Thanksgiving visit with FIL and his wife. It will be fine. I hope beyond hope that I have internet access and I certainly plan to take books. A walk on the beach will happen, too.

I purchased two nonfiction books today:

How to Teach Physics to Your Dog by Chad Orzel
and
A Life Worth Living: Albert Camus and the Quest for Meaning by Robert Zaretsky

I also chatted with Nick, the University Bookstore acquisitions guy, about a book he's reading (for review) that will be released by Europa this December(?), the name of which I can't recall, but it's about a journalist in Europe in about 1938.... It looked wonderful and he said it was wonderful (as he convinced me to buy the short biography of Camus).

#166 - I wish I could read during holidays at my in-laws! How do you get away with that? I'm curious.

Yep, our mission: Spreading Munro Love! I have Runaway & Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories on shelf, the latter on audio. And yes, I will be adding more.

Ellen! I am still alive. HOA meetings are done for a bit, I don't think I have another until after Hawaii!! Whoopee. I confess: I am a sucker for that kind of stuff. I have always, at least since high school, been fascinated by how groups of people solve problems, get along, and create community. It is not easy, truth be told, but it is very human.

The packing continues. I have hired people to help but I am kind of a control freak (I'm sure you haven't noticed that at the book group) and I hate it when "helpers" do things like pack my coffee beans. Really? They are going to sit in a box for more than 6 weeks, and then…. what…. stale coffee beans.

Well, we carry on, don't we.

Have a great weekend, and trip, and Thanksgiving feast!

Hi Ellen, I saw you mention how beautiful the weather has been the last couple of days. I was out for a walk along the beach this morning, cold, clear and frosty but the gorgeous sunshine made it a wonderful walk. Fingers crossed that this weather hold for your weekend away.

#168 - Kerri, I am insistent. The truth is that I can't get much reading done, but I try to read and pay some attention to the conversation. It's that or throw things at them (okay, not really).

#169 - Mark, Munro is getting a lot of love these days! Katie and I looked at her section on the shelf at Elliott Bay Books last evening and they wasted no time getting in lots of stock and most of it with the "Nobel Prize Winner" stamp on the cover. Neither of us purchased but each of us was tempted. I'll let Katie tell you about the cover of The View from Castle Rock. Suffice it to say that she took a pass.

#170 - Karen, I keep feeling tempted to offer to help with the packing and then I look at my schedule and it just won't happen. I swear I would not pack your coffee beans! :-|
So, this weekend is just a quick jaunt over to the coast for two nights with P's father and his wife, as well as P's brother and SIL. It will be fine. I'm taking my laptop - the hotel reportedly has a "spa" and pool, so surely they have wi-fi. Then it's back to work for two days, and then the big Thanksgiving trip. I'll have less access to wi-fi there as none of my Tennessee relatives are connected. Oh well. I'll make up for it with the eating of too much turkey.

#171 - Judy, it's been very cold and crystal clear here in Seattle. I love this kind of weather! The mountains are absolutely gorgeous when it's like this. I'm glad Katie and her hubs have been able to see the city in its glory. I'm hoping for nice weather at the coast as I certainly want to get in a walk or two.

More to come.....

This is what the Olympics look like this time of year (when we're having this amazing cold and sunny weather):

And I bought three new books at Elliott Bay Books last evening:

HHhH by Laurent Binet (recommended by Lisa)
I Will Have Vengeance by Maurizio De Giovanni (lovely Europa Edition)
Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan (recommended by Katie)

Katie and hubs (aka The Wayne) browsed around the bookstore for a while, then we went to Quinn's (warning to any and all who come to Seattle for a meet-up, Quinn's is becoming the default go-to for dinner). Katie and I had fish & chips, The Wayne tried and approved of the Wild Boar Sloppy Joe. We consumed beer and wine and engaged in really delightful conversation. The Wayne had to take a few photos with Katie's phone to get one of which we both (barely) approved; I hope she will post it when she gets back home.

Happy weekend, Meetup Lady!

Hi Richard! And many thanks. I think I'm still relatively low on the meet-up counter, but I do enjoy them.

Ellen! I just signed up for the Booktopia in Boulder, Colorado in May! I am so excited. But I will be pinching pennies to afford it. But when I "feel" my 69 years old I realize I need to do this now! I'm excited. Or did I mention that already?

Cool Beans! Have a great weekend.

Hi Ellen - It sounds like you had a great time. Seattle is the happening place for book lovers. I'll be looking for the photos.

#177 - Karen! That is so cool. I'm glad you got into the Boulder Booktopia! That will be a lovely town in which to spend a few book-absorbed days! Congratulations!

#178 - Hi Beth. Seattle is the happening place for book lovers. Yes, and we do try to stay humble about it.
:-)

Well, it turns out that P is home with a killer cold, so I guess our trip to the coast is called off. Call me less than fully broken-hearted. It means I can spend the weekend taking care of her, reading, watching football, reading, doing laundry, reading, going for a run, reading......
Yippeeeee!!!!

eta: I am sorry she feels lousy.

I feel compelled to try to post another photo of this lovely city and its lovely Olympic mountains.

If you don't quit that, Ellen, people are going to think that the rumors about rainy, dreary, dank and damp winters are only rumors. Really, people, this is just a photoshopped postcard published by a hungry bunch of civic boosters, you know, Chamber of Commerce sorts.

Ellen, those pictures are awesome. I must get back to Seattle sometime soon. My husband travels there fairly frequently but I'm such a homebody that I prefer to stay home. He works long days (so he tells me) when he is out of town which is not much fun for me. Enjoy your quiet week end at home. Make P some soup and read lots.

>177 maggie1944:: Karen, I look forward to meeting you in Boulder. I registered today as well. It sounds like a real Rocky Mountain High is in store for us!

>180 EBT1002: aaaw, that is sweet. And great fun to have a home weekend, involving a lot of reading :)

Lovely late autumnal colours over here Ellen. I was thinking of reading HHhH this next month and it would be great if you could fit it in with me and see why the heck he picked a stupid title.

Have a lovely weekend.

Another successful Meetup! Yah! I wish I could have met up with Katie when I visited D.C. last June. She was in town for business, I believe.

>182 maggie1944: - The secret is out, Karen! We lucked into absolutely gorgeous weather for our three days. Sure, it was cold but so clear and sunny. We are already planning our move ;-)

Ellen, I'm glad you posted the photos of the mountains. I tried to get a good one yesterday when we were down by the water for lunch but I couldn't get a clear one. So I stopped trying and just enjoyed the view. I'm sorry P. isn't feeling well, but I do love when I am surprised with the gift of time. Enjoy!

>186 msf59: - Mark, I told Ellen I wanted to make a special trip to Chicago just to meet you and Kerri, and of course, she sung your praises. We love Chicago so I'm hopeful about getting up there sometime in the near(ish) future.

92. The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro
4 stars

This is my first collection of stories by Nobel winner Munro and it will not be my last. The first chapter is a bit weirdly filled with details but the totality is a truly pleasurable read. Built with the frame of a family history, the stories build upon one another until suddenly they don't, and then they wrap back around again. Written as if autobiographical, although Munro insists "these are stories" in her forward, they bring insight and poignancy to the generations and branches of an extended family, starting with their emigration from Scotland, escorting us through their settlement and moving around Canada, and evolving through the near-current day which lands us firmly in Ontario. Munro is a master of the moment: the brief verbal or nonverbal exchange between two people, the grief associated with loss and transition as it is captured by a piece of furniture or a landscape, the quiet thoughts of a character in between scenes. Definitely recommended.

Hi Ellen - I hope you're having a nice weekend and P is better. Nice review of The View from Castle Rock. It's been awhile since I've read any Munro, but I'll get back to her next year.

Munro is a master of the moment

I like that, Ellen.

93. Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan
3.5 stars

This was a sweet little novel recommended by Katie during our meet-up last week. It chronicles the last night of operation at a Red Lobster in some New England town, during a ferocious snow storm, four nights before Christmas. Manny is the manager of the restaurant that is scheduled to be shut down for lack of adequate receipts. The small drama(s) of their last day of operation, his doomed love for one of the servers, and his ambivalence about settling down with his pregnant girlfriend, all provide the framework for this snapshot of the search for meaning, purpose, love, hope, and disappointment. O'Nan gives life to the working class dreams and resignation of Manny and his compatriots. For one who spent her youth working in chain restaurants, the details of day-to-day behind-the-scenes operation were both sentimental and funny. Thanks, Katie for the recommendation!

#190 - Beth, I'm glad you liked my review. I guess the Nobel prize is serving a purpose in that it's getting folks like me to "get around to" reading Munro! Yesterday was a good day full of laundry and football; I didn't get out of my pajamas until almost noon! I also put up some fresh holiday lights to help us cope with the short days of this time of year. Today I am determined to spend some time on LT visiting friends' threads.

#191 - Thanks, Paul! :-)

Currently reading:



Recommended by Richard and, so far, a fun read (despite the anachronism of a remote control in the narrator's 1964 living room).

What anachronism? We had a remote in 1964. It was a "clicker"...made a cliCLUNK sound to change the channel up and a cliCLINK sound to change it down. I still call the darn thing "the clicker."

I remember "clickers". My memory is not totally shot, yet.

Ellen, we are having an abundance of beautiful days. I knew there was a reason that I love fall in Seattle. Gorgeous.

I continue to be too tired in the evening to even pick up a book, and I keep packing books away, and wondering when will I get back to them. I do know where The End of Your Life Book Club is and so I will find it and probably read it on the plane to Hawaii. As I am leaving on the 30th and not returning until the 12th, I guess that means I'll miss the discussion on Dec. 9th. I'll try to send some comments here on line.

I hope you are having an absolutely beautiful Sunday, full of blue skies and sun shine!

Nice reviews! I have The View From Castle Rock on the WL, but I am adding Last Night at the Lobster - sounds like something I would enjoy. And I can't wait to see what you think of Ask Not, as I also put that one on the list after Richard's review.

Sorry that P is under the weather but glad that you got to stay home and take it easy. Happy Sunday to you, dear!

#188 - Katie - I'm looking forward to your Chicago visit!! Yay!

#189 - Hi Ellen - I'm glad you enjoyed this! I'm loving the Munro collection I'm reading. I rate the stories individually and, so far, they've all received 4.5 or 5 stars, which is pretty unusual.

My head nearly exploded this morning when I learned about the Walter Thurmond suspension. It's a really bad time to lose a corner.

I was so pleased to find out that Max Allan Collins liked my review of Ask Not! He linked to it from his blog.

#195 - Really??!! I'll have to take your word for it, Richard. My memory is that one had to get up and walk across the room to change the channel well into the 1970s...... In any case, the story is unfolding at a terrific gallop and I'm enjoying it.

#196 - Karen, you remember clickers that early, too, huh? I mean, I call it a clicker, too, but I guess I never knew from whence that term came.

This stretch of weather has been remarkable! I worry that the mountains aren't getting enough snow, but I'm loving the cold, sunny days. I went for a nice 32-minute run around noon today and it was so pleasurable to be running south and have the sun in my eyes.

Oh dear, that book again. This is the second time you've reminded me. I can imagine it's hard for you to keep your eyes open these days. Moving is not. fun. :-|

I can't imagine book club without you. I know you'll have a wonderful time in Hawaii, but I will definitely miss you at TPB.

#197 - Hi Mamie! Hey, PM me your address and I'll send Last Night at the Lobster along to you. It's a very slim volume and I do indeed think you would like it.

#198 - Hi Kerri! If Katie comes to Chicago to meet up with you and Mark, I might just have to see if I can finagle a way to be there, too. Three of my favorite people, hands down.

Katie and I looked at the Munro collection you're reading and I think both of us were tempted by it. Sounds like temptation that would have been well to give in to. I'll certainly be working my way through as many of her works as I can, although with no timeline.

I didn't hear about Thurmond's suspension. Rats. We would need him in New Orleans for a MNF game!

#199 - Richard!! How cool is that! I will go check out his blog. Ask Not is a perfect weekend read.

The View from Castle Rock is in transit from the library.

^ Hooray! I think you'll love it, Roberta.

Okay, wait. It's 3:48pm and the sun is dipping behind Beacon Hill. Damn the days are short this time of year. I don't want my weekend to be over yet!

Enough whining. I think the best solution is to go refill my beer glass and return my attention to the fun mystery novel I'm reading. P is still under the weather so I have had lots of solitude today (this is not a complaint). Dinner will probably be take-out Thai since she doesn't feel like cooking tonight and I never do.

"I think the best solution is to go refill my beer glass and return my attention to the fun mystery novel I'm reading". Now, that's my girl! Go Ellen!

Good review of Castle Rock. I like it when a couple of us are praising a book at one time, it seems to cause more ripples. I've had the O'Nan book on my WL forever.

I used to read a lot of Collins, back during my crime reading days, in the 80s and early 90s. Always liked him.

ETA- I might be able to crack Troubles tomorrow!

I'm glad you liked Last Night at the Lobster. I love its bittersweet tone and how O'Nan picks out everyday details to add to the story.

#204 - Mark, I think LT shared reads have an exponential positive effect on readership. I'm glad my library copy came in around the same time you were reading Castle Rock. I'm even going to join you and some others in next November's read of The Witches of Eastwick. Hopefully I will hate it less than I hated diagramming sentences in 7th grade.

#205 - Katie, it was a great recommendation! "O'Nan picks out everyday details to add to the story" and this is one of the things I also loved about the book. I felt like I lived that day with Manny. It was great.

hope weekend going swimmingly. awash in liquid references due to housekeeping revisitation. your review thereof may just have been a life-changer, if i do my part. pmed you. :-)

saving eyes for Manning/Brady game later and wrists for, oh, eating, swabbing decks and suchlike so not caught up on yr thread or visiting elsewhere.

ciao!

Oh good, another victim participant for the Updike read! Welcome to our shared insanity!! I think we are going to need a thread for that one so that shenanigans can be had. And thanks so much for that offer of Last Night at the Lobster - as you know, I have already taken you up on it!

#207 - Ellie! That will be a first if my review of Housekeeping is a life-changer, but it makes me happy to think of it so.
Manning the elder is having his way with the hapless Patriots, much to my satisfaction. I'm not watching the game, after all, being all caught up in this Max Allan Collins I got at the library. Not great literature, but definitely great fun!
Take care, and I hope the RA eases up!

#208 - Oh yes, Mamie, there must be shenanigans when we are all reading Updike. We probably need to find some way to give Mark his due..... Or we'll all have to figure out how to share our libations as well as our reading. Or something.

FYI- I might be able to crack Troubles tomorrow! My First-time Author Challenge has truly been a joy.

^ Oh, Mark, I hope you do read it soon and I hope you like it!

I don't know how many hours I've killed on LT today but I'm still not caught up!

Oh well, it's time to make tomorrow's coffee, gather my book and reading glasses, and head to bed.

Happy Monday, everyone!

>195 richardderus: really? In 1964?
I thought we had the first ever remote control, it must have been near 1980- there was a wire that went from it to the TV. It had exactly two buttons on it. Labelled "1" and "2" . Lucky we had exactly 2 TV channels then. That's right, TV1 and TV2.
Haha, how things have changed!

I get the sneaky feeling I am going to love Alice Munroe- I love reading about "the moment".

#209 I see a Witches of Eastwick drinking game in our future.

We call the remote the "pushy-pushy" because, you know, you push the buttons.

"Where's the pushy-pushy?"

I am wicked behind... and there is no way to catch up, sorry. I will wish you a happy Thanksgiving, and good reading :)

#213 - Megan, clearly you and I were living in the same electronics reality back then. I think we had three channels: ABC, NBC, and CBS. I don't think we ever had a remote, wired and clunky or otherwise, until I had one when I was in graduate school, which means 1983 or later.
I hope you enjoy Munro. I was looking at one of hers that I have sitting on my bedside TBR stack, The Progress of Love and thinking I might read that soon.

#214 - I think a Witches of Eastwick drinking game may be just the ticket, Roberta!! We can find beers and wines with witch-related names. Fun!

#215 - Morphy, okay, that is one I have not heard before. Pass me the pushy-pushy. Indeed.

#216 - Kath, I know the feeling. Thank you for the wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving and good reading. I have both on my agenda, that is for sure!

I couldn't resist, with all this remote control talk...I had to check it out. Here's the skinny on its history, according to the Wiki wizard: "The first remote intended to control a television was developed by Zenith Radio Corporation in 1950. The remote, called "Lazy Bones", was connected to the television by a wire. A wireless remote control, the "Flashmatic", was developed in 1955 by Eugene Polley. It worked by shining a beam of light onto a photoelectric cell, but the cell did not distinguish between light from the remote and light from other sources. The Flashmatic also had to be pointed very precisely at the receiver in order to work. In 1956, Eugene Polley developed "Zenith Space Command", a wireless remote. It was mechanical and used ultrasound to change the channel and volume. When the user pushed a button on the remote control, it clicked and struck a bar, hence the term 'clicker'. "

I did resist the urge to edit the Wikipedia article to include the "pushy-pushy" nomenclature.

Another vote in favor of a Witches of Eastwick drinking game, Ellen. This could turn into one of the best reading experiences ever, despite the author.

I can't believe the Patriots won that game. They looked like they might lose their uniforms and most of Foxboro in that first half.

Good info from Linda. I'm calling our remote "Zenith Space Command" from now on. It makes flipping channels seem much more impressive.

>218 laytonwoman3rd: Yep! That was the one. We had a 26-inch color TV in a HUGE wooden cabinet, with a record player at one end and a radio at the tother. So fun to remember the big booming bass from the built-in speakers vibrating me as a toddler!

Hey there Ellen... a quick catch up wave! I do think I can get my thoughts in order for Mark's challenge for a few months. I have The Road and Beloved on my shelves. All other months are up for suggestion! :) Oh, except Updike... I read Witches of Eastwick and slugged through; I won't participate in his month.

So, I'm taking suggestions for Willa Cather. I've never read anything, so anyone have suggestions for a total Cather newbie?

Death Comes for the Archbishop is an excellent introduction to Cather, Tina. Really atmospheric, beautifully described, characters whose purposes and actions are so natural as to be invisible.

Hi there Ellen, it's about time I made a showing here. I don't know what it is about Updike but I have never been compelled to read one of his books and I don't think I ever will. I have nothing to base this aversion on, I just have no interest. And that's enough I guess because there are plenty of other authors whose books I do want to read.

Nice review of The View from Castle Rock which I will be cracking soon.

#218 - Linda!!!! I love that you looked it up and I am standing here having had my world completely rocked by this new reality. I feel like I owe Max Allan Collins a personal apology! LOL --- not really, he doesn't know that one of my earliest reactions to his book was "really??? where is your editor??"
I wonder if they had these conversations - you know, Max and his editorial staff - and he won the argument. Ha!

#219 - Joe, I'm going to spend some time over the Thanksgiving break thinking of possible rules for a "Withces of Eastwick" drinking game. It might be that someone who has actually read the novel would be better for this task, but I'm willing to give it the old college try.

Yep, we're going to be calling it "Zenith Space Command" at our house, too. P doesn't know this yet. I'll report back on what kind of reaction I get the first time I say "where's the Zenith Space Command? I want to mute this freaking commercial."

#220 - I remember the HUGE faux wooden cabinet. Richard.

Interestingly, given the date and given that I'm reading Ask Not, which is all about the context of the JFK assassination and possible conspiracy around said assassination, my very earliest memory - I mean, my very first memory in my whole life - is of that television (a Zenith, mind you) being on and my mother in near hysterics. I was 3 years and 3 months old and I had no idea what was happening but it was something terrible. Indeed.

ETA: But I don't remember any Zenith Space Command.

#221 - Hi Tina!! I'm glad you will be joining us for at least some months of Mark's AAC (I love that we're calling it that now). You know I'm only reading Updike because we're making it into a drinking game, right?

I agree with Richard that Death Comes for the Archbishop is a great Cather novel. It's perhaps a masterpiece. I haven't read enough of her to give relative recommendations, but I can say that you can't go wrong with that one.

#222 - Yep.

#223 - Bonnie!! So nice to see you here. I'm cracking up at your comments about Updike. He seems to have this nasty reputation but I haven't actually (yet)heard anyone say why they don't like him. P said his work is dreary. Okay. That's a start. I've heard someone else (Katie, I believe) describe him as "a miserable human being." Data point number two. But, I mean, we're having to create a drinking game to make reading him bearable, or even thinkable for so many of us. This is one of the more intriuing author landscapes to which I have been exposed. I'm kind of enjoying it.

I hope you enjoy The View from Castle Rock. I have perhaps been slightly less ebullient in my endorsement of it than Mark has been, but I'm enthusiastic nonetheless!

Updike: Flat, flat, flat. Boring. Dreary as saggy pantyhose on a long wet walk. Stupefyingly self-absorbed men, cringing whingeing dripping-wet women. The Anti-Pym.

^ Oh. Well. Finally someone has stepped forward with something other than "ugh" or "ick." Thank you, Richard.

Okay, so it's all set:
Updike drinking game in November! Everyone be sure to spend the first ten months of 2014 in training for this big event. We'll make t-shirts. We'll need aid stations. Definitely aid stations.

Hi Ellen - I'll be interested to see how an Updike drinking game could be fun... Nice comments on the O'Nan book - I'll have to try it out one of these days...

By the way, it doesn't sound too gray your way these days...

^ Beth, well, trust that we talk a good game around here but we're probably actually pretty tame. Still, I like the challenge of thinking of something clever (and I may need some help on that).

It hasn't been gray at all!!!! I'm loving these sunny, cold days. I assume the rain will return eventually, though.

We've been watching the PBS series "The Paradise", based on Zola's novel The Ladies' Paradise, which I have never read. Has anyone else been watching that? It's been quite enjoyable!

Darn, girl, your challenge in 227 might make me give ole John a try. It'd be downright churlish to refuse an aid station.

Janet, yep, aid stations are not to be dissed. I'll keep you posted if I can think of any rules. I think I have to get Roberta to do some brainstorming with me, as it was originally her idea. We'll come up with something, including aid stations!

>218 laytonwoman3rd: I did resist the urge to edit the Wikipedia article to include the "pushy-pushy" nomenclature.

That made me laugh out loud.

***

I don't drink so can't join in on the Witches of Eastwick drinking game. Unless... what about chocolate? I have to eat a piece of chocolate... oooooh...

Yes Morphy, substitute drink with anything indulgent that makes Updike more palatable. Chocolate sounds like the ticket!

>224 EBT1002: Too funny, Ellen, re the Zenith Space Command! I look forward to hearing P's reaction. I'm ready at our place to give the historical explanation, but I'm sure I'll get that "are you out of your mind" reaction I'm so familiar with.

I think we're all moved by your willingness to work on the drinking game rules for The Witches of Eastwick. You're a true team player. Roberta, too. Since hardly anyone apparently likes to read Updike, we're unlikely to get any help from anyone who has actually read it. I remember as a lad making up a drinking game with some buddies called "A Heckuva Lot of Waldo Imbibby". I know, we were a sorry lot. It involved spinning quarters, so it probably wouldn't be any help here.

As to non-imbibers, getting sugar-crazed (Morphy's idea) should definitely help the reading experience.

Aid stations - bless you.

>218 laytonwoman3rd: I did resist the urge to edit the Wikipedia article to include the "pushy-pushy" nomenclature.
LOL (just like Morphy did)

Updike drinking game, sounds interesting. Who am I kidding- Im in!

>232 Morphidae:, 235 I'm so glad to stimulate a chuckle here and there...laughing keeps us sane.

Hi Ellen!

If there's a way to join the drinking game without actually having to read Updike, I'm in! That may be too much to hope for though, right?

Have a lovely trip to Tennessee and a magical Thanksgiving!

Wishing you a wonderful trip and a warm and sweet Thanksgiving holiday.

I am thinking where can I start an AA meeting along side of the Updike Drinking Game….. I am sure we'll find a way to survive, clean and sober, even with Updike's books on our plates. Oh, my, a new year… I am looking forwar to the American Authors! (AA)

Ellen - Happy travels. It sounds like the weather may be iffy. I hope you get where you want to go in one piece. Happy Thanksgiving.

Adding my voice to the Cather crowd - Death Comes For the Archbishop is my favorite of her books.

And Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, Ellen, to you and yours.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and P, Ellen.

Happy Thanksgiving, Ellen and P and sis!

Happy Turkey Day!
(Just want you to know... I am thankful for you ;-))

Wishing you a Thanksgiving full of fabulous, Ellen!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and P., Ellen!

Happy Thanksgiving, Ellen!

Happy T-day Ellen! Hope your having a delicious and relaxing day!

welcome to Tinnissee, Ellen. hope y'uns have a lovely holiday.

i heart Mamie's >245 Crazymamie: doobies. how great are they!

Happy Thanksgiving Ellen!

Hi Ellen! Hope you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving in Tennessee!

Reasons to be thankful:

LT is a place where like minded people come together to set the world to rights and occasionally books intrude. This is irrespective of origin, race, creed, colour, religion, sexuality, politics. It is a great support structure, it makes me laugh and occasionally occasions a tear, it makes me care. It has introduced a small army of people counted as dear friends even though our eyes have often not met or our hands ever touched.

To one of the best; have a happy thanksgiving weekend, Ellen.

OH, Paul has put it just right! I'm swinging through as I have time…. soon to be flying off…..

hope your trip is sweet!

Beautifully said by Mr. Paul. Have a great time in TN, Ellen.

Back-up corner Jeremy Lane speaks on Twitter:



And to think I've been worried all this time! #relief

I hope you had a lovely holiday with the Tennessee folks!

Hi Ellen, just stopping by to wish you a wonderful holiday weekend in Tennessee. Based on your comments about Housekeeping I am going to renew my search for my copy. My LT records say I own it but so far I can't seem to locate it. :-( I need to get my books better organized before we move next year!

94. The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe
3.5 stars

This memoir of the last months of Will's mother's life is really quite sweet. I ended up with a list of books I want to read (big surprise, right?) and appreciated some of the wisdom he shared with regard to supporting and being in the moment with someone who is dying - and yet living! His mother sounds like a remarkable woman and their relationship quite special. This story is a testament to the power of books to enhance human connection. Given that I read it while visiting family in Tennessee, and during a time when I am consciously exploring my own connection (and sometimes lack of connection) with people who matter to me, this was touching and thought-provoking. Schwalbe is a competent writer and clearly a thoughtful reader.

Hey, everyone. Thanks for stopping by and leaving messages - and continuing the conversation on my thread! Thanksgiving was lovely despite my coming down with a cold the evening before we flew east. I've still managed to eat, drink, and be merry. The time with family has been special. I won't be on LT much until after I'm back home, but had a few minutes to log onto my aunt's computer and wanted to update my books. I had about 30 pages to go in Ask Not so I decided to leave that heavy library book home and brought others with me. Next up for me is Felicia's Journey.

Hi Ellen - It sounds like your Thanksgiving holiday is something to be thankful for. I, too, liked the Schwalbe book. The two things I remember the most is to ask someone if they want to talk about how they feel -- seems like common sense, right? The second thing that really has stuck with me is the fact that though we miss the person who died, the missed possibilities are the hardest to bear -- the missed weddings, graduations, etc.

I hope your cold is better and that you have a safe trip back home.

Glad you're having a good holiday, Ellen! I liked Felicia's Journey when I read it a couple of years ago. The Schwalbe book not so much. I think I ranted about it on my thread earlier this year, but I'm definitely in the minority on that one.

Safe travels home!

Glad to hear that you had a good time, and hope that your cold is gone by the time you get home !

Waving at you from rainy Kaua'i. Ha ha ha

Hi Ellen! It sounds like you're having a most delightful holiday with the family! I hope the cold is gone.

#257 and #260 - I must say, I enjoyed Katie's rant on this one. Of course, I haven't read it myself and have no real opinion.

You've read quite a few William Trevors this year, haven't you? I have one of his short story collections up next (after the Munro) - A Bit on the Side. It's a loan, so I feel a need to get to it sooner, rather than later.

I haven't read The End of your Life Book Club but Katie's rant review was epic! Right up there with Richard's Gone Girl review. ;-)

Hmph to colds.
Yay to reading in bed?

eta: off to read Katie's rant review :)

#264
I just had to read Katie's rant about End of Your Life Book Club and now I want to read what Richard had to say about Gone Girl but it has over 500 reviews. Did he do it on LT or on his blog? Can you point me to it?

Benita - Let me find it for you and I'll come back and edit this post with the link.

ETA: If you go to the reviews and highlight the votes instead of date then Richard's review will pop up first because it got 31 thumbs up!

ETA: Looking back I think he ranted more on his thread than the actual review.

I'm enjoying seeing my rant get a second showing :-)

I went back to reread Katie's review as well. Sounds like she had a similar reaction to that book as I had to Tolstoy and the Purple Chair which I suppose is on a similar theme. I'm still intending to read The End of Your Life Book Club though.

What a marvelous rant!!!! I enjoyed it and you closed it perfectly!

I loved that rant, too - ah, memories!

Just caught up with your thread...whew! You've had some great books going lately.
About the AAC, I read The Witches of Eastwick eons ago and quite enjoyed it. I chose to view it as a comedy...also read Couples in my extreme youth and found it fascinating: it was about a town very close to my hometown, and back in the day I was shocked, *shocked* to find out the weird/odd/crazy private shenanigans that were going on. It might be a bit of a bore for me now, though.

Thank you for the inspiration to find Katie's review of The End of Your Life Book Club, Ellen. Loved it. I lost my mom to cancer, too, and had thought about reading it, but no more, no thanks. Great review.

I like Gail's perspective of viewing The Witches of Eastwick as a comedy. That's what I intend to do when the time comes.

I read Katie's review and, wow, I didn't get any of that from The End of Your Life Book Club. I feel like I must have read a different book! I gave it 8 out of 10 stars. My micro-review: "Thankfully, this wasn't as sappy and sad as I thought it would be. While there is a lot of lovely discussion about books, this is mostly about the lives of the mother and son - both successful in their own rights, both passionate about their causes and beliefs."

All this just goes to show that different books strike different people differently.

I have had End of Your Life Book Club on my shelves for some time and so far it hasn't screamed at me to read it - but I may have to at least give it a try and see what I think. If I don't like it - there is always the Pearl rule.

Different strokes, Morphy! Makes the world go round...

Maybe I should have looked at Witches of Eastwick as a comedy and that might have helped; certainly drinking couldn't have HURT my experience any at all... But since I don't drink now, maybe if we add a chocolate component to the Updike game, I'll try again. Bribery can work.

Good news folks -- I purchased Death Comes for the Archbishop so that's the one I'll be reading for Cather month! Thanks for the recommendations!

Based on everyone's thoughts on Faulkner, I'll not be buying any by him. What is the absolute best I could do for him? He seems like the other author everyone is dreading. I've no experience with him to guide me at all...

Okay, so I had to go read Katie's rant about The End of Your Life Book Club, too, now that I'm home from visiting family and all. You know, I gave it a generous 3.5 stars and said it was sweet and that I kind of liked it, but I have to say that Katie's rant also resonates for me. I agree that Schwalbe is not much of a writer (I described him as "competent" which was my reach for something positive to say about his talent as a writer -- I don't know why I felt compelled to say something positive about his writing talent but there you have it) and I agree that he eulogizes her with excessive enthusiasm. He also completely ignores the tremendous privilege he and his family have -- his mother appears to have had some inkling that their lives are pretty privileged, but Will gives not even a nod to the incredible money they must have to do the traveling they do, for example. Anyway, I won't go on other than to say that my 3.5 stars were generous. I did like a couple of the things he shared that he learned -- I agree with Lucy that the notion of asking someone who is sick whether they want to talk about how they feel rather than asking them how they feel is a brilliant idea that I would never have generated. It wasn't Will's idea, either. He gives credit where credit is due, though, and now that piece of wisdom is out there.

Like I said, I think the book resonated with me because I read it while I was visiting my aunt and cousins. It's a long story, but my connection to them is incredibly special and it comes after two decades of complete disconnection. I think the theme of connection and precious time just resonated for me at the time I read Schwabe's book.

Okay, time to start a new thread.

Ha. I just downgraded The End of Your Life Book Club to 2.5 stars.
I realized that I was about to give Felicia's Journey 3.5 stars and that just would have been sick and wrong.

95. Felicia's Journey by William Trevor
3.5 stars

This is a deliciously creepy little novel about an Irish woman, pregnant, leaving her home in Ireland to seek the father of her baby in England. She meets an older man who befriends her and purports to assist her. This couldn't be farther from the truth. The narrative dragged a bit at times but the characters are memorable and the story takes a couple of interesting turns.

Not my favorite William Trevor but worth reading nonetheless.

Hi, Ellen. I am thinking of you this morning as a spend some time in the threads. I am so glad to have almost finished my move before coming to Hawaii so I feel free to pick up my life. Today I'm going on a photographers' tour of Kaua'i. I hope I get some great shots of the Kaua'i I love.

Interesting discussion about End of Life Book Club. I'll see if I can't spend a few more minutes with it before Monday. It is hard to take the Kindle out to the pool tho; ha ha ha

Have a great week!

Hello Doctor Ellen, ma'am, just offering my hearty agreement at your new rating of Schwalbe's book. *thwap* Seal of Approval

This is what happens when I am away from LT for too long and unable to keep up with my favorite threads .... I lose some of them. Arrghh....

I'm going to have to start anew with your thread, Ellen. Picking up over 200 posts is just a tad overwhelming. But... I've re-starred your thread so I shouldn't lose you again so easily.

That was one of the few positive things I took away from the book - asking a person if they want to talk about how they feel. I used the approach on a good friend whose father was dying of brain cancer this fall and sometimes she would talk and sometimes she just said, no thanks, which was totally fine, too.

But I still hate the book ;-)

280: It is hard to take the Kindle out to the pool tho...
Rubbing it in, that's our Karen!
I'm glad you're having fun and hoping the photographer tour was wonderful (it sounds wonderful!).