What Are You Reading the Week of 25 October 2014?

From Wikipedia in its entirety:
"Nikos Kazantzakis (18 February 1883 – 26 October 1957) was a Greek writer and philosopher, celebrated for his novel Zorba the Greek, considered his magnum opus. He became known globally after the 1964 release of the Michael Cacoyannis film Zorba the Greek, based on the novel. He gained renewed fame with the 1988 Martin Scorsese adaptation of his book The Last Temptation of Christ.

Biography
Nikos KazantzakisWhen Kazantzakis was born in 1883 in Heraklion, Crete had not yet joined the modern Greek state, (which had been established in 1832) and was still under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. From 1902 Kazantzakis studied law at the University of Athens, then went to Paris in 1907 to study philosophy. Here he fell under the influence of Henri Bergson. His 1909 dissertation was titled "Friedrich Nietzsche on the Philosophy of Right and the State." Upon his return to Greece, he began translating works of philosophy. In 1914 he met Angelos Sikelianos. Together they travelled for two years in places where Greek Orthodox Christian culture flourished, largely influenced by the enthusiastic nationalism of Sikelianos.

Kazantzakis married Galatea Alexiou in 1911; they divorced in 1926. He married Eleni Samiou in 1945. Between 1922 and his death in 1957, he sojourned in Paris and Berlin (from 1922 to 1924), Italy, Russia (in 1925), Spain (in 1932), and then later in Cyprus, Aegina, Egypt, Mount Sinai, Czechoslovakia, Nice (he later bought a villa in nearby Antibes, in the Old Town section near the famed seawall), China, and Japan. While in Berlin, where the political situation was explosive, Kazantzakis discovered communism and became an admirer of Vladimir Lenin. He never became a consistent communist, but visited the Soviet Union and stayed with the Left Opposition politician and writer Victor Serge. He witnessed the rise of Joseph Stalin, and became disillusioned with Soviet-style communism. Around this time, his earlier nationalist beliefs were gradually replaced by a more universal ideology.

Epitaph on the grave of Kazantzakis in Heraklion. It reads "I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free."In 1945, he became the leader of a small party on the non-communist left, and entered the Greek government as Minister without Portfolio. He resigned this post the following year. In 1946, The Society of Greek Writers recommended that Kazantzakis and Angelos Sikelianos be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. In 1957, he lost the Prize to Albert Camus by one vote. Camus later said that Kazantzakis deserved the honour "a hundred times more" than himselfcitation needed. Late in 1957, even though suffering from leukemia, he set out on one last trip to China and Japan. Falling ill on his return flight, he was transferred to Freiburg, Germany, where he died. He is buried on the wall surrounding the city of Heraklion near the Chania Gate, because the Orthodox Church ruled out his being buried in a cemetery. His epitaph reads "I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free."

The 50th anniversary of the death of Nikos Kazantzakis was selected as main motif for a high value euro collectors' coins; the €10 Greek Nikos Kazantzakis commemorative coin, minted in 2007. His image is shown in the obverse of the coin, while on the reverse the National Emblem of Greece with his signature is depicted.

Literary work
His first work was the 1906 narrative Serpent and Lily , which he signed with the pen name Karma Nirvami. In 1909, Kazantzakis wrote a one-act play titled Comedy, which remarkably resonates existential themes that become prevalent much later in Post-World War II Europe by writers like Sartre and Camus. In 1910, after his studies in Paris, he wrote a tragedy "The Master Builder" (Ο Πρωτομάστορας), based on a popular Greek folkloric myth. Kazantzakis considered his huge epic poem (33,333 verses long) The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel to be his most important work. Begun in 1924, he rewrote it seven times before publishing it in 1938. According to another Greek author, Pantelis Prevelakis, "it has been a superhuman effort to record his immense spiritual experience." Following the structure of Homer's Odyssey, it is divided into 24 rhapsodies.


His most famous novels include Zorba the Greek (1946, in Greek Βίος και Πολιτεία του Αλέξη Ζορμπά); Christ Recrucified (1948, UK title Christ Recrucified, in Greek Ο Χριστός Ξανασταυρώνεται); Captain Michalis (1950, UK title Freedom and Death, ; The Last Temptation of Christ ; and Saint Francis (1956, UK title God's Pauper: St. Francis of Assisi). Report to Greco (1961) , containing both autobiographical and fictional elements, summed up his philosophy as the "Cretan Glance."

Starting in his youth, Kazantzakis was spiritually restless. Tortured by metaphysical and existential concerns, he sought relief in knowledge and travel, contact with a diverse set of people, in every kind of experience. The influence of Friedrich Nietzsche on his work is evident, especially Nietzsche's atheism and sympathy for the superman concept. However, he was also haunted by spiritual concerns. To attain a union with God, Kazantzakis entered a monastery for six months. In 1927 Kazantzakis published in Greek his "Spiritual Exercises" , which he had composed in Berlin in 1923. The book was translated into English and published in 1960 with the title The Saviors of God.

The figure of Jesus was ever-present in his thoughts, from his youth to his last years. The Christ of The Last Temptation of Christ shares Katzantzakis' anguished metaphysical and existential concerns, seeking answers to haunting questions and often torn between his sense of duty and mission, on one side, and his own human needs to enjoy life, to love and to be loved, and to have a family. A tragic figure who at the end sacrifices his own human hopes for a wider cause, Kazantzakis' Christ is not an infallible, passionless deity but rather a passionate and emotional human being who has been assigned a mission, with a meaning that he is struggling to understand and that often requires him to face his conscience and his emotions, and ultimately to sacrifice his own life for its fulfilment. He is subject to doubts, fears and even guilt. In the end he is the Son of Man, a man whose internal struggle represents that of humanity.


The Church of Greece condemned Kazantzakis' work. His reply was: "You gave me a curse, Holy fathers, I give you a blessing: may your conscience be as clear as mine and may you be as moral and religious as I" before the Greek Orthodox Church anathematized him in 1955. Many cinemas banned the Martin Scorsese film, which was released in 1988 and based on this novel.

In Kazantzakis' day, the international market for material published in modern Greek was quite small. Kazantzakis also wrote in colloquial Demotic Greek, with traces of Cretan dialect, which made his writings all the more controversial in conservative literary circles at home. Translations of his books into other European languages did not appear until his old age. Hence he found it difficult to earn a living by writing, which led him to write a great deal, including a large number of translations from French, German, and English, and curiosities such as French fiction and Greek primary school texts, mainly because he needed the money. Some of this "popular" writing was nevertheless distinguished, such as his books based on his extensive travels, which appeared in the series "Travelling" which he founded. These books on Greece, Italy, Egypt, Sinai, Cyprus, Spain, Russia, Japan, China, and England were masterpieces of Greek travel literature.

Travel books
Spain, translated by Amy Mims, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1963.
Japan, China, translated by George C. Pappageotes, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1963; published in the United Kingdom as Travels in China & Japan, Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1964; London: Faber and Faber, 1964.
England, translated by Amy Mims, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1965; Oxford, Bruno Cassirer, 1965.
Journey to Morea, translated by F. A. Reed, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1965; published in the United Kingdom as Travels in Greece, Journey to Morea, Oxford, Bruno Cassirer, 1966.
Journeying: Travels in Italy, Egypt, Sinai, Jerusalem and Cyprus, translated by Themi Vasils and Theodora Vasils, Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown and Company, 1975; San Francisco: Creative Arts Books Co., 1984.
Russia, translated by A. Maskaleris and M. Antonakis, Creative Arts Books Co, 1989.
Novels
Zorba the Greek, translated by Carl Wildman, London, John Lehmann, 1952; New York, Simon and Schuster, 1953; Oxford, Bruno Cassirer, 1959; London & Boston: Faber and Faber, 1961 and New York: Ballantine Books, 1964.
The Greek Passion, translated by Jonathan Griffin, New York, Simon and Schuster, 1954; New York, Ballantine Books, 1965; published in the United Kingdom as Christ Recrucified, Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1954; London: Faber and Faber, 1954.
Freedom or Death, translated by Jonathan Griffin, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1954; New York: Ballantine, 1965; published in the United Kingdom as Freedom and Death, Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1956; London: Faber and Faber, 1956.
The Last Temptation, translated by Peter A. Bien, New York, Simon and Schuster, 1960; New York, Bantam Books, 1961; Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1961; London: Faber and Faber, 1975.
Saint Francis, translated by Peter A. Bien, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1962; published in the United Kingdom as God's Pauper: Saint Francis of Assisi, Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1962, 1975; London: Faber and Faber, 1975.
The Rock Garden, translated from French (in which it was originally written) by Richard Howard, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1963.
The Fratricides, translated by Athena Gianakas Dallas, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1964; Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1964.
Toda Raba, translated from French (in which it was originally written) by Amy Mims, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1964.
Report to Greco — see under 'Memoirs, essays and letters'
Alexander the Great. A Novel for children, translated by Theodora Vasils, Athens (Ohio): Ohio University Press, 1982.
At the Palaces of Knossos. A Novel for children, translated by Themi and Theodora Vasilis, edited by Theodora Vasilis, London: Owen, 1988. Adapted from the draft typewritten manuscript.
Father Yanaros from the novel The Fratricides, translated by Theodore Sampson, in Modern Greek Short Stories, Vol. 1, edited by Kyr. Delopoulos, Athens: Kathimerini Publications, 1980.
Serpent and Lily, translated by Theodora Vasils, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980.
Plays
Julian the Apostate: First staged in Paris, 1948.
Three Plays: Melissa, Kouros, Christopher Columbus, translated by Athena Gianakas-Dallas, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1969.
Christopher Columbus, translated by Athena Gianakas-Dallas, Kentfield (CA): Allen Press, 1972. Edition limited to 140 copies.
From Odysseus, A Drama, partial translation by M. Byron Raizis, "The Literary Review" 16, No. 3 (Spring 1973), p. 352.
Comedy: A Tragedy in One Act, translated by Kimon Friar, "The Literary Review" 18, No. 4 (Summer 1975), pp. 417–454 {61}.
Sodom and Gomorrah, A Play, translated by Kimon Friar, "The Literary Review" 19, No. 2 (Winter 1976), pp. 122–256 (62).
Two plays: Sodom and Gomorrah and Comedy: A Tragedy in One Act, translated by Kimon Friar, Minneapolis: North Central Publishing Co., 1982.
Buddha, translated by Kimon Friar and Athena Dallas-Damis, San Diego (CA): Avant Books, 1983.
Memoirs, essays and letters
The Saviors of God: Spiritual Exercises, translated by Kimon Friar, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960.
Report to Greco, translated by Peter A. Bien, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1965; Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1965; London: Faber and Faber, 1965; New York: Bantan Books, 1971.
Symposium, translated by Theodora Vasils e Themi Vasils, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1974; New York: Minerva Press, 1974.
Friedrich Nietzsche on the Philosophy of Right and the State, translated by O. Makridis, New York: State University of NY Press, 2007.
From The Saviors of God: Spiritual Exercises, translated by Kimon Friar, "The Charioteer", No. 1 (Summer 1960), pp. 40–51; reprinted in "The Charioteer" 22 and 23 (1980/1981), pp. 116–129 {57}.
The Suffering God: Selected Letters to Galatea and to Papastephanou, translated by Philip Ramp and Katerina Anghelaki Rooke, New Rochelle (NY): Caratzas Brothers, 1979.
The Angels of Cyprus, translated by Amy Mims, in Cyprus '74: Aphrodite's Other Face, edited by Emmanuel C. Casdaglis, Athens: National Bank of Greece, 1976.
Burn Me to Ashes: An Excerpt, translated by Kimon Friar, "Greek Heritage" 1, No. 2 (Spring 1964), pp. 61–64.
Christ (poetry), translated by Kimon Friar, "Journal of Hellenic Diaspora" (JHD) 10, No. 4 (Winter 1983), pp. 47–51 (60).
Drama and Contemporary Man, An Essay, translated by Peter Bien, "The Literary Review" 19, No. 2 (Winter 1976), pp. 15–121 {62}.
"He Wants to Be Free – Kill Him!" A Story, translated by Athena G. Dallas, "Greek Heritage" 1, No. 1 (Winter 1963), pp. 78–82.
The Homeric G.B.S., "The Shaw Review" 18, No. 3 (Sept. 1975), pp. 91–92. Greek original written for a 1946 Greek language radio broadcast by BBC Overseas Service, on the occasion of George Bernard Shaw's 90th birthday.
Hymn (Allegorical), translated by M. Byron Raizis, "Spirit" 37, No. 3 (Fall 1970), pp. 16–17.
Two Dreams, translated by Peter Mackridge, "Omphalos" 1, No. 2 (Summer 1972), p. 3.
Nikos Kazantzakis Pages at the Historical Museum of Crete
Peter Bien (ed. and tr.), The Selected Letters of Nikos Kazantzakis (Princeton, PUP, 2011) (Princeton Modern Greek Studies).

Anthologies
A Tiny Anthology of Kazantzakis. Remarks on the Drama, 1910–1957, compiled by Peter Bien, "The Literary Review" 18, No. 4 (Summer 1975), pp. 455–459 =."

Has anyone read his travel writings? I am thinking I should check them out.

What are you reading this week?

I am listening to To the Lighthouse and starting the newest Jodi Picoult book called Leaving Time for book club.

I am reading Redemption in Romans by John C. Brunt. Part of my ongoing Bible study on the book of Romans.

>1 MDGentleReader: Thanks for the info. Always interesting to find out about someone new.

Yesterday I finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in audio and this morning I've already listened to A Terribly Strange Bed by Wilkie Collins (but as it was only about 45 minutes long - I'd barely finished breakfast and it was over!). I then finished Captivate by Carrie Jones in paperback.

So now I'm listening to The Small Hand by Susan Hill in audio while doing chores around the house and I'm hoping to make it through Avengers: Hawkeye Earth's Mightiest Marksman by Chuck Dixon and others.

I am reading The Time Regulation Institute and listening to Winter Journal.

Just finished listening to The Painted Girls, a piece of interesting historical fiction about the young women in the Degas ballet paintings.

It's not as satisfying as I would have hoped, but it has removed the bad taste left by his Sarum. I'm talking about Paris: The Novel by Edward Rutherford.

So much better is my other book is Euphoria by Lily King. Fabulous story of the love triangle based on Margaret Meade's life and the men who were her second and third husbands. Set in New Guinea and meticulously researched, it's atmospheric, spellbinding, and totally engrossing.

Finished My Antonia--liked it, but not as well as O Pioneers or The Professor's House Right now I've got half a dozen books in some semblance of started, but none of them is holding my attention much.

I think I will start History of the Rain based on strong LT recs. Am also reading Sand County Almanac, Almost Famous Women and Best American Infographics 2014.

I've just abandoned Atkinson's Life After Life, with an explanation here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/163765#4894512

And now I've begun Labyrinth, by Kate Mosse. Not feeling too sure about that one.

I have started on Utz by Bruce Chatwin, it is so different to On The Black Hill.

>10 hazeljune: Utz is quite different, but stick with it. I think it's a special kind of treasure.

I haven't had much time to read lately, so I'm not far into Gould's Book of Fish, but I hope to do better this week.

Finished reading Sleep Tight, a crime novel by Rachel Abbott which I found just okay. Looking forward to my next book Cotillion by Georgette Heyer which I think I read in my teens, some 40+ years ago.

I finished The Best American Essays 2014 edited by John Jeremiah Sullivan and wow, what a mixed bag - from the truly horrible to the unforgettable. Overall, very, very introspective and memoir-ish. I gather not all years are like that. But the essay "The Old Man at Burning Man" by Wells Tower might have been worth the price of admission. It is an essay about the author going to Burning Man with his Dad (a cancer survivor and not all that well physically), a cousin and a professor friend of his Dad's. I laughed, cried and nodded ... so that is a great moment in reading.

Now on to find another "Best American" volume! Kind of excited ... just trying all different kinds of reading this year. I will go back to some essays I think. It was a rocky beginning (just not into winging "all about me" essays), but I liked the genre enough to ferret out ones on interesting subject matter.

#9
I read Labyrinth soon after it came out and really enjoyed it, but the sequel Sepulchre was not nearly as engrossing. However, both novels together have managed to bring the Languedoc region to live for me and make me think that I would like to visit that area of France someday. Since travel there is impossible at this point these books have allowed me to travel there via the stories in them. The books are full of fascinating history and geography.

I just noticed that the third book in the Languedoc trilogy by Kate Mosse was just released. (October 7, 2014) It is titled Citadel and like the other two books is set in the city of Carcassonne. The Kindle version of this title is on sale right now for $1.99. Hum - maybe I need to add another book to my TBR list?

I've heard good things about Citadel but I haven't read the other two. Would it work as a stand-alone?

#15
I think that all three of the books could be stand-alones. None of them have the same characters in them. The thread that ties them together is the region and the setting. There are some of the suspense thriller aspects that carry over from book to book, but they could be easily overlooked when reading the books.

>16 benitastrnad: That's a very good tip. Thank you. I'm bothered by a certain self-conscious preciousness of style in Labyrinth, having already been put off by the presence of four exclamation points in two pages of acknowledgments (two in the same paragraph). But I've done a fair bit of research into that period and place myself, and the Cathars in particular, so I'm interested to see how Mosse represents them fictionally. For now, I'm carrying on with it.

The fact that there are no continuing characters over the series makes a difference. I've just recklessly hazarded my $1.99 on Citadel, knowing it stands on its own.

Last night I finished the strange and quirky The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope which started out mysterious and inviting and got more tedious as it went on. Had it gotten tedious before the halfway mark, I would've quit it.

I am now several chapters into Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. This one has a gushing blurb from John Green so I have high expectations!

>16 benitastrnad: - Thanks.

>18 framboise: - I've read some good reviews so I'm taking the leap, too. I usually shop at B&N, and as it turns out, it's only $1.99 there, too.

#9 & 14> I haven't read the Mosse books, but my wife and I traveled in Languedoc a few years back and had a marvelous time. Toulouse is a nice, smaller-sized city, and the Cathar history and, especially, the castles ruins (although they are mostly actually the ruins of the castles that were built on the ruins of the Cathar castles, as I understand it, but anyway . . . ) are fascinating. The countryside is beautiful, too.

Today, I've started All Things Bright and Beautiful. I'm probably the last person in the English speaking world (of readers) who has not read these books, but the first was entertaining so I thought it time to read the second.

>20 rocketjk: "I'm probably the last person in the English speaking world (of readers)"

Next-to-last.

I am reading The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2014 and it is awesome.

I'm reading Watching You by Michael Robotham. New creepy thriller. Got good reviews.

Orphan Train Christina Baker Kline
Gone Girl Gillian Flynn
Taran Wanderer - Lloyd Alexander

Emilie & the hollow world. I really enjoyed this. I am not a regular reader of fantasy/steampunk books, but every once in a while one is so highly recommended here on LT, I read it. I look forward to reading more about Emilie. Recommended for folks who enjoy the Finishing School series by Gail Carringer. Emilie & the hollow world is more straight adventure and I didn't feel that the steampunk element was quite as strong. Grand adventure with a believeable heroine and an interesting world.

Apparently the second book is not out yet, so I took Kindle's recommendation for another read and was not disappointed. Steerswoman reminds me a little more of Shannon Hale than Gail Carringer. I am into the second one in the series already, The Outskirter's Secret. Interesting world and cultures, characters I cared about and believed in. This is for an older age group than Emilie & the hollow world.

For the moment, I seem to have my reading mojo back. Whew.

I'm still reading Joyland by Stephen King. Excellent choice for Halloween week!

The King's Curse by Philippa Gregory
Library copy

I started Winter of the World by Ken Follett and Mile 81 by Stephen King and am very close to finishing Mr Bones by Paul Theroux

>9 Meredy: Ah, I just posted to last week's thread - late, I know! - encouraging you to stick with Life After Life a bit longer. I found it captivating! To each our own... :)

I am nearly finished with Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and am blown away. Haunting, beautiful, and thought-provoking.

I'm still struggling with Labyrinth. There are two principal characters and two main timelines, with several narrative threads in each and too many secondary and minor characters to keep track of, without enough reminders at each shift of time and place. The author seems to think that keeping a reader disoriented arouses curiosity and suspense, whereas I simply find it annoying.

Meanwhile, I just finished A Spy Among Friends, about Cold War master spy Kim Philby, which was a thumping good read and will probably send me off after other work by Ben Macintyre. I've never been a reader of espionage novels, but I am interested in the themes of truth and identity that come up in fact-based spy literature.

>26 PaperbackPirate: I can hardly believe King did the amusement park thing, especially at this late date. Chase scenes and stalking scenes set in amusement parks are such a cliche in suspense thrillers, especially on film, that they make me want to say "bah" and walk away. Did King do something special with it?

I have been reading (sporadically) Manuel Puig's Kiss of the Spider Woman, but I'm having trouble settling down to read this week - the wind outside and the leaves blowing around make me restless. Now there is the additional "trouble" of having two brand-new Jussi Adler-Olsen novels to read, and I think when I get the time I will start the earlier of the two, A Conspiracy of Faith, and leave Manuel Puig for another time.

>29 grkmwk: Too late for Life After Life, but you got me with a BB for Station Eleven.

I snuck in Mad Mouse, 2nd in the Ceepak police procedural series set on the Jersey Shore. I wasn't ready to dive into Cotillion yet and still might knock off another light read from my TBR pile before heading into the Regency era.

Reading and enjoying Eleanor & Park. It is a fast read, simple and interesting, just what I need now.

Hello,

I'm finishing Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. About 30 more pages and I'm done. After seeing so much written about this novel, my curiosity got the best of me and I checked it out from my library. I'm 500 pages in and it never grabbed me like a good book should.
Since I rarely give up on a novel, I'm forcing my way to the ending. I don't want to post too much about the novel as to spoil it for future readers.

I'm pushing through Life After Life now. :)
Been curious about Station Eleven is it living up to the hype? I may have to get a copy.

Still working on The Princess Bride by William Goldman and Armageddon by Leon Uris.

I finished Catherine the Great by Robert Massie. It was terrific. It was highly recommended here when it came it out and y'all were right. I never could get into his Peter the Great but Catherine the Great is a captivating read.

Still working on Devil's Candy and The Iliad.

Reading and enjoying How to be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman. Apparently she has done programs on British TV, explaining what life was like at other times. My British sister-in-law recommend it and it's kind of fascinating if you like social history.

Finished and absolutely LOVED Eleanor & Park. Although it is a YA novel, it is suitable for anyone who remembers being a teenager and first love. I hope Rainbow Rowell writes a sequel one day. She is definitely on my list of authors to watch.

>40 framboise:

I also loved Eleanor & Park.
Just finished Attachments, an ingenious adult novel by Rainbow Rowell. It was terrific!

#41 nrmay: I read some of Rainbow Rowell's interviews and she said she is interested in a sequel, revisiting Eleanor and Park in their 30s. I'm hoping that gets published one day! I am looking forward to all of her books.

Just found out that movie rights to Eleanor & Park were sold. I have high hopes for the movie, provided they cast it right, because Rainbow Rowell is writing the screenplay.

Hi! I'm still reading Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad. Conrad is so good at unveiling the dishonorable, egocentric side of humanity. This one reminds me of Heart of Darkness for that reason. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

I started White Fire by Preston & Child this morning. :) so far so good. I love their books but I admit it was the cover that grabbed me. For someone that is so not ready for snow -book covers with snow pull me right in.

>32 Meredy: & >36 KimberlyDA: Highly, highly recommend Station Eleven. Magnificent!

Having finished the aforementioned novel, I've now started A Wizard of Earthsea for a new fantasy book club started by my friends. None of us have read much fantasy, but have always enjoyed what we've read, so we're forming a group with the goal of reading more!

I just finished the 7th book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Lover Avenged by J.R. Ward and it certainly didn't disappoint. I absolutely loved the first couple of books, but they just seem to get better and better.

>45 grkmwk: It's been decades since I read the Earthsea trilogy, but I remember it warmly. Your group can hardly lay a better foundation than Le Guin.

>37 seitherin: I downloaded what I thought was The Princess Bride when my Kindle was new, took a look at it, and thought I must have been conned. (E-books are a little squirrelly compared with "real" books, and I'm never quite sure what I've got, especially without covers and dates.) It began with a seemingly unrelated and phony-sounding premise in a completely obnoxious style. After digging around a little bit online, I tentatively concluded that that was really the book. I couldn't make myself go back to it. I noticed that you said "working on" (as if it were a chore) and wondered what you think at this point.

I'm taking a break from the very entertaining Montalbano series to read an ER book, The High Divide by Lin Enger.

I'm enjoying The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, which has lots of book talk, and I'm going to start Loose Balls, a history of the old American Basketball Association.

I finished listening to Crossed by Ally Condie last night. This is the second in the Matched trilogy. I have all three of the books on CD and now have spent so much time with the series that I am invested. That said, I find the novels rather insipid. Not anything outstanding, but will listen to the third book simply because I already own it.

I am reading Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel and am enjoying it.

>47 Meredy: Thanks, Meredy!

>47 Meredy: Yep, it's become a chore. I'm about 70-something% done with it and I think I can say I'd rather watch the movie. It is much more boggy with the author interrupting the narrative to explain why he isn't going to continue the narrative but skip to some other spot in the story and the fun things kind of get trampled on by the boggy stuff. It was really cheap, I'd never read it, so I thought, "What the heck?" I'll finish reading it because it isn't bad enough to make me quit and go on to something else, but it just isn't as fun as I thought it might be.

>45 grkmwk: Ooooh, I read Le Guin's Earthsea books when I was, what, 13-ish? I've been wanting to read them again, but the library where I moved wants crazy things like letters with my name printed on them, so I haven't bothered to get a card yet. (Yeah, I'm from a small town where we don't bother with that; I'd have to go in disguise not to be recognized.) I really hope you enjoy the Earthsea books!

I read the Earthsea trilogy while I was in grad school and then read Tehanu, which is a fourth book in the series, written years after the first three. I wish I could un-read it. It wasn't that bad, but it was different in voice and spirit than the earlier books.

#53
Our library here wants letters and other proof of address as well - and I think it stinks. I am from a small town (150 people) and even after 20 years I can't get used to the fact that in this city nobody knows me. Seems so strange.

>55 benitastrnad: Next up: retina scan! :-p I can't get used to it either. So the library keeps its books and I choose things off my shelf that have been begging to be read for years.

>55 benitastrnad: >56 Coffeehag: And it doesn't bother me at all. I grew up in a city of 90 thousand and now live in one that's ten times the size. I am as staunch an advocate of privacy as anyone and hate to give away any kind of personal information to any system or organization. But I've also tried to borrow library books that were simply unavailable to me because someone took them out and never returned them. If establishing ID before they freely borrow community property makes people a little more accountable, that seems fair enough to me.

I also know that many libraries these days are practically social service centers for all kinds of populations, and they have to do a lot on scant funding. Hanging onto their inventory is one practice that helps conserve resources.

> Oh, I think everyone realizes that libraries need to verify the identity of their clientele. The fact that I don't have a library card yet is only indicative of my workload and not a protest. It's easier to read what I have on the shelf than to identify myself to strangers for the privilege. Still, for those of us accustomed to small town life, the incessant ID-ing (not only from libraries) is a cultural adjustment.

I finished reading Leo Africanus. it's historical fiction full of adventure, giving a vivid picture of the Mediterranean from Granada to Constantinople to Rome from 1488 to 1528. Very engaging and enjoyable.

I just finished A Quick Journey from being single to somebody's world. It's for people who want to start or save a relationship and going to read I am malala

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry was charming, albeit with a weepy moment or two. I've started Station Eleven and Loose Balls. The latter is a history of the maverick American Basketball Association.

>53 Coffeehag: Thanks! I'm excited about them so far.

>54 Bjace: We are slated to read the four, but I appreciate knowing in advance that the voice and spirit will be different. Given how much later it was written, it isn't surprising, although disappointing.

>61 jnwelch: Hope you enjoy Station Eleven!

30 Meredy

Joyland turned out to be more of a coming-of-age murder mystery even though it is highly tagged as horror and thriller on here. I liked it but I had the ending all figured out.

So, I read three books last week. I usually manage to read about one or two each week, but I usually finish about one and a half books. I started reading At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks on Friday, October 25th and actually finished the book a day later on Saturday, October 25th! It's a sequel, but in my opinion this book can be read as a standalone. ;)

On Monday, October 27th, I started reading Best Friends by Martha Moody and finished the book two days later on Wednesday, October 29th! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and already have another of Ms. Moody's books to read sitting on my bookshelf. She seems to be a really excellent writer.

I started reading Gallows Lane by Brian McGilloway on Thursday, October 30th and finished the book on Friday, October 31st. I really enjoyed this book and must say that I immediately liked the character of Inspector Benedict Devlin; he seemed like such a nice person.