What You're Reading the Week of 18 August 2007

No picture this week - my PC's in intensive care for a few days. I had an enjoyable few days with David Baldacci's The collectors but don't feel greatly inspired to go seek out his other works, then onto Indelible by Karin Slaughter who I might well follow up on. And I've just started into both Vikram Chandra's Sacred Games, which will be my longest read since Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and so far looks a lot more promising; and Strategy Safari by Henry Mintzberg et al as background for an article I have to write - I always enjoy Henry but I am finding it difficult to stay focused for more than one chapter.

I found Sacred Games to be a very frustrating book -- very ambitious, fascinating in many parts but disappointing in others. I'll be interested in what you think.

The Old Devils by Kingsley Amis. I haven't started it yet, but I'm pretty sure I'll like it. I like Kingsley Amis.

Am still into Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman, but am too full of sauvignon blanc to heft that tome, so have begin Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis which is a teeny-tiny little book that should be easy to manage in my somewhat soaked state.

This week I will be mostly reading:
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I'll also be listening to an audio book of Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

I am hoping that I would finish reading Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam. I will be also reading The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt.

I'm still working on Tom Lewis's The Hudson: A History.

#6: Kell, who's narrating your Mansfield Park audiobook?

Right now I'm plowing through More, Now, Again by Elizabeth Wurtzel. I really loved Prozac Nation, and this one is another great read - it goes so fast and her voice is just fabulous.

I just started Uglies by Scott Westerfeld this morning and have Pretties and Specials to follow with. Looking forward to it.

I'm still working on The Historian. I found the first hundred pages slow-going and I almost gave up.
I'm about 1/3 of the way through now, and I'm really starting to enjoy it.

After this, I have quite a choice!

It'll either be The Alienist, The Fall of Hyperion, We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Red Tent or The Gormenghast Trilogy.
How's that for diversity? *lol*

Any suggestions about what my next pick should be?

Well, I was giong to start The Green Ripper by John D. MacDonald but I realized that there was an order to his books, so I bought The Scarlet Ruse and Two Other Great Mysteries, that book contains The Deep Blue Good-By which I'm going to start very soon. Looking forward to read the Travis McGee series, from what my dad tells me, they're really great books.

Still reading Minaret and listening to the audiobook of The Diana Chronicles. I'll also be reading tons of essays on Shakespearean and early modern plays to prepare my course syllabi.

Hi, ladybookworm! I had much the same initial reaction to The Historian but kept at it in the hope that it would get better.

Anyway, both The Alienist & The Red Tent are wonderful reads, well written and interesting both from a social as well as a historical viewpoint, and as you probably figured out are favorites of mine.

I'm about halfway through HP7 (probably the last person left on the planet who intends to read it who hasn't already finished it), and am also listening to The Road by McCarthy.

I'm still reading The Bell Jar. About halfway done. Not sure what's next.

Have started reading A Thousand Splendid Suns but am not sure it will enthrall me like Khaled Hosseini's first book.

I'll be finishing up:
The Civil War: a Narrative, vol III., a reread. The whole set is about 3000 pages, and reads like a fast-paced thriller.
Winfield Scott Hancock: A Soldier's Life
The Marshal Makes His Report by Magdalen Nabb

Slowly making my way through Earth: An Intimate History by Richard Fortey

I am nearly finished with Chocolat by Joanne Harris, which I am enjoying immensely. Very different from the movie but all in good ways.

After that, I will start The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.

#11 ladybookworm - The Historian was OK. Good story in dire need of editing. The Red Tent, The Alienist & We Need to Talk About Kevin are all some of the best books I've read. You can't go wrong with any of them. Enjoy!

Still working on The Guardians by Ana Castillo. I should have it finished by today though and will probably start Table for Five by Susan Wiggs (and something else undecided).

I am still making my way through my copy of The Guardians by Ana Costillo. I am having a difficult time reading this which is very disappointing to me. I can't seem to really work up any emotion whatsoever for any of the characters and don't really seem to care what happens in this book. I am less than halfway through though so maybe it will improve as I go on. Hopefully, I will finish it either today or tomorrow. After that I have two books from the library that I will probably read next - not sure which one though.

Amen to The Red Tent ...great read and the only book I have read by Anita Diamant. I am about halfway through The Butterfly House by Marcia Preston and really enjoying it.

I just finished Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson -- what a beautifully written, emotionally complex bool!

Just started The solitude of self : thinking about Elizabeth Cady Stanton by Vivian Gornick.

I'm still reading Far From the Madding Crowd. I didn't get any reading in this week so it will probably be another week with this book.

Ladybookworm--I'll be starting The Alienist soon for a book club. It looks pretty interesting.

Ladybookworm, I must give you my recommendation for The Red Tent. It's the only one on your list that I've read and I loved it. It's right up there with East of Eden and Memoirs of a Geisha as my all-time favorite books!

I finished The Quickie by James Patterson. I am over half through The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. I am not sure I would have read this had it not been raved about on LT. I am enjoying it.

Ladybookworm and strandbooks, I read The Alienist years ago and really enjoyed it, even though I don't usually care much for detective-type novels. The historical angle made all the difference.

I did finish up the Vietnam memoir Snake Pilot this afternoon (see review) and I'm about two-thirds of the way through Rubicon.

I am reading two books right now or maybe three. I am reading Cesar's Way by Cesar Millan and Voyager by Diana Gabaldon. Oh, and also Contract With an Angel by Andrew M Greeley.

I am reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman for my f2f book group that meets next week. I had hoped to finish it today, but it doesn't look like that will happen. Also, I'm still trying to work my way through A Southern Family by Gail Godwin.

Finished HP7 and started The Maquisarde by Louise Marley, a dystopian novel about a sheltered musician who loses her husband and daughter in a senseless terrorist attack and turns into a resistance fighter bent on revenge. Pretty good reading! Also still listening to The Road and surprisingly am enjoying it.

#11 ladybookworm: We Need to Talk About Kevin This is a book you will never forget!!

I'm reading Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively - good writing and an interesting main character.

I'm halfway through True Notebooks by Mark Salzman. It's a good read about youth inmates in a writing program.

I just started Black and Blue by Ian Rankin.

I can't seem to get the right Touchstone for this book. Sorry.

I finished The Snow Queen and I've started The Summer Queen, both by Joan D. Vinge.

today started The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall

I just started Play Dirty by Sandra Brown.

I'm reading The Blue Knight, by Joseph Wambaugh

I finished The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll and Fanny Hill; I'm still working on Paradise Lost, Wizard's First Rule (Terry Goodkind), and A Good Dog (Jon Katz), and I've just started Candide and The Hound of Death (Agatha Christie).

I was a little disappointed by the Lewis Carroll - his other children's stories aren't as enjoyable as the Alice ones. Fanny Hill was way naughtier than I thought it would be - it was really interesting to get a glimpse of how sexuality was portrayed in 18th century England.

I've finished Swallow the Air by Tara June Winch, Away by Jane Urquhart and The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany - all three - very different - were very good.

And I agree with rebeccanyc, that The Yacoubian Building is better than The Reluctant Fundamentalist

I just returned from the library with three books - Palestine by Joe Sacco, For Her Own Good: 150 Years of Experts' Advice to Women by Barbara Ehrenreich, and Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture by Marvin Harris. All three are books I've been wanting to read for some time. Can't wait to get into it.

I've just finished Anne Fadiman's At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays -- worth every penny of the 3 copies of it I've bought. It's 196 pages of essays, 20 pages of research references, and 4 pages of acknowlegdements, and due to circumstances only partly under my control, it took over 2 months to read it. Anne has actually usurped the author of the next book from his long-held My-Favorite-Author esteem.

I have just started The Runes of Earth by Stephen R. Donaldson. It's the first book (of 4) in The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. The second book Fatal Revenant (no touchstone for it yet) is due out on 9-Oct -- 51 days from today (but who's counting???). Runes.. is 513 pages. Ten pages every day from now until then doesn't seem like a lot -- I've been known to read hundreds of pages in a day (not often, though) -- so it looks like I'm going to be reading SRD books until the end of the year (almost).

* attempting to get 'runes' touchstone to load. It's ~there~, but didn't turn blue...

And now it did!!!

The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde and Unwrapping a Mummy by John H. Taylor

If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern

#43, avaland, I actually haven't read The Reluctant Fundamentalist, but I did thoroughly enjoy The Yacoubian Building.

#45, WholeHouseLibrary, Welcome to the Anne Fadiman fan club! If you haven't yet read Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, RUN, do not walk, to your nearest bookstore to get it. In my opinion, it is even better than At Large and At Small, at least for book-lovers.

I finished The Bell Jar and will start The Attack by Yasmina Khadra tonight.

>48 rebeccanyc:,
I've got ALL of Anne's books (as FE's, no less!) - the latest acquisition is actually her FIRST book, The Spirit Catches You, and then You Fall Down. I found it in a bookstore in Ketichkan, Alaska in June. EX Libris is by far, her best, although I am a better person for having read At Large and At Small.

#35 I loved loved loved Moon Tiger - what a beautifully written book

For myself, I finished The glass bead game and still haven't really formed an opinion - I enjoyed its theme but not the way it was written. I love Herman Hesse and wish I could have had him as a friend - some of his paragraphs were so lovely written.

I am now reading War and Peace and the Handmaid's tale - my war and peace is this huge harcover that belonged to my dad and I wont lug it around - so it will be my home reading and the Atwood book will be my work reading.

Half way through the Penguin Classics edition of Little Dorrit which means I'm on about page 430. Good thing I have a cross country flight at the end of the week.

Truly a Dickens masterpiece but it does suffer from his usual flaws: Sentamentalism, one dimensional female characters and the fact that sometimes he takes a point and hammers it to death. For all that I'll take Dickens with the flaws. He can draw a character with a single sentence. He can build and sustain a long, complex plot and he must have carrried a fantastic map of London in his head. I find him easier to read than Trollope.

I just picked up a second hand copy of Carter Beats the Devil by Glen Gold.

Any opinions?

I finished To Kill a Mockingbird yesterday, a re-read. It's still a fabulous book. Now I've picked up Itsuka by Joy Kogawa, a sequel to Obasan. This one gets more politically indepth about the persecution of Japanese-Canadians during and after WWII.

Finished A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick, and working on The Elder Gods by David and Leigh Eddings and also In Your Dreams by Tom Holt.

>48 rebeccanyc: rebeccanyc, my apologies. I thought I remembered the comment coming from you.

I have started The Indian Bride, a mystery by Norwegian author Karin Fossum. I've not read her others but this sounded interesting. It should be a quick read.

I just finished reading The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman and Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton. I plan on starting The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman and The Reading Group* by Elizabeth Noble next.

*can't get touchstone to work at this time.

I just started Cornelia Otis Skinner's Madame Sarah. I wonder if she were acting today how she would be doing.

#50, It was The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down that got me hooked on Anne Fadiman in the first place!

I am reading "Wraeththu" (no I haven't spelt it wrong) by Storm Constantine. Its a huge book as its 3 books compiled into one volume. Fortunately my edition is in paperback. I do, however, expect to have muscles like a weight lifter when I've finished - not least cos the book travles in my back pack when I head for the train!
The story is amazing and quite challenging. On one level is a satisfying fantasy novel on another I can see the appeal for VR fans particualrly Second Life. The main characters from the title of the trilogy are supernatural mutations of human beings which combine both sexes.
I am half way through the second book and am enjoying it immensely.

#51 keren7: I am love, love, loving Moon Tiger. I think it's fair to say that some of the passages are utterly brilliant.

right now i'm reading Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. after that I'll be diving into Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut.

Currently working on Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson which I'm enjoying a great deal so far, and The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes which is fascinating but a bit of a slower read. But I recently moved, and I now have a three hour round-trip train ride to work in the morning, so now reading time is built into my day!

I have just started The Constant Gardener by John Le Carre first time read of this author and so far so good am enjoying the characters and the story

I finished The Guardians (my early reviewer book) yesterday. Definitely not a favorite. I am now reading The Freedom Writers Diary which is a great book so far. I am really enjoying it.

>62 Librariasaurus: I got about halfway through The Fatal Shore and gave up. While, as you said, it was interesting, after awhile it just got repetitive.

For instance, people got treated badly, so they rebelled. People got treated badly, so they rebelled. People got treated badly, so they rebelled. Rinse, repeat.

I finished Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy, next on the list is Anvil of the World by Kage Baker

I just purchased The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory today and can't wait to start it. I really enjoyed The Other Boleyn Girl, and I hope this one is just as good.

18th: Homeschooling for Success
19th: Never Too Late: My Musical Life Story by John Holt

Never Too Late really moved me; Holt didn't learn a single instrument until his mid-30s, then fell in love with the cello age 40. I'm going to regret having to return it to the library.

I finished The Historian yesterday and I have to say I'm glad it's over.
It seems to me that the story could have been told just as well in half the amount of pages.

The plot itself was great. It was the very in-depth descriptions of...well, EVERYTHING that eventually irritated me.
By the time I was halfway through the book, I was just skimming over the pages and pages of details about places, people, food, etc.
IMO, it was just too over-the-top.

Next up is The Red Tent, chosen because it got the most recommendations. :)

#8 AnnaClaire - I downloaded Mansfield Park free from www.librivox.org, so it's read by various punters, but it's pretty good. I've listened to quite a few from there now and have been pleasantly surprised time and again. :)

#62 I read The Fatal Shore many years ago. Since then, I've longed to visit Australia.

>>#67 The Boleyn Inheritance is my favorite P. Gregory novel; I've read all the Tudor-era ones. I enjoyed the three distinct narrators and think she did a good job of creating separate voice for each of them. Enjoy!

Thursday Next: A First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde and A History of Violence by John Wagner.

so far both are excellent...

I've read some bad reviews of First Among Sequels, but I am really liking it.

The Chemistry of Death by Simon Beckett. So far, it's really good.

Ah, Librivox. I started listening to Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence until my mp3-playing software started acting up. Man, do I need an Ipod.

Read the Fatal Shore more than a few years back and liked it very much. Also gave me an urge to visit Australia, which I haven't done yet.

Have just started Trickster Travels A Sixteenth-Century Muslim Between Worlds by Natalie Zemon Davis. I have changed my reading choices lately- I just needed to read history now.

Three chapters into The Summer Queen by Joan D. Vinge I decided I needed a break from SF/F so I read The Fallen by T. Jefferson Parker. It will be back to The Snow Queen tomorrow.

I just finished Prime Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan, a very good mystery featuring an investigative reporter. Next up is Acts of Nature by Jonathon King, who describes the Everglades better than any other mystery author.

I finished up Rubicon and am just starting Vernor Vinge's "Rainbow's End."

43% through A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. I'm enjoying it & finding it easy to get through (besides the drug addiction/ rehab topic).
Maybe if I keep enjoying it My Friend Leonard will end up on my TBR pile.

LesaHolstine, have you read any of Carl Hiassian's comic mysteries? Most are set in south Florida, lots of Everglades stuff. His characters are hysterical and the books lots of fun.

just starting On Chesil Beach-Ian McEwan

I just finished Embraced by Darkness by Keri Arthur. This series continues to be wonderful. It's an intelligent romance that doesn't turn on how many times the heroine jumps into bed. I really feel sorry for Riley and her all-too-real (even in a paranormal romance) man troubles.

According to the back matter, Keri Arthur is working on a new series. The first book is due out in February. It's about a woman who wakes up on the beach next to a dead man. She has supernatural powers and no idea who she is. The first chapter is pretty good.

Mad Ship by Robin Hobb. I sort of wanted to take a break after I finished the first one in the series, but I'm glad I pushed right on into this one. It's not so much a sequel as the same story continued.

I finished reading The Thirteenth Tale byDiane Setterfield. I am now reading Taking Back My Life by Nancy Ziegenmeyer. Touchstones not working on this title.

# 72 Cariola I'm so glad to hear some good feedback about The Boleyn Inheritance ! I'm about 80% thru The Constant Princess, which was good, but I just didn't get the same passion about that one as I did The other Boleyn Girl. I'm looking forward to digging into another good work!

I think I'm going to give up on The Book of Air and Shadows. :o( I despise the main characters too much to continue. Seriously, some guys drive big trucks to make up for something they lack...Michael Gruber went another route and created 2 male characters who can't even earn the term "scoundrel" or "cad" because they are simply too gross. They ruin what could have been an excellent book. *sigh*

#44, fannyprice - Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture sounds interesting. Please let me know what you think of it.

Right now, I'm working my way through Robert Crais's Elvis Cole mysteries. Crais is one of those authors who grabs you by the throat and then doesn't let go. I literally couldn't put the books down. I've also gotten into Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden novels. What can I say? I like private eye fiction even if the private eye in question is a wizard.

The Alienist by Caleb Carr is excellent. I can't recommend Donaldson's Thomas Covenant series, though. Too depressing. Way, way depressing.

#90 fnrlr1: Really? I absolutely love Donaldson. I'm amazed at and impressed with how he can make me fall in love with his characters even though they're despicable people. Have you read the Gap Cycle books? I like them even better than the Covenant series. But perhaps I'm just the type of person who loves to be depressed...that's actually quite likely...

#77:

What do you think of Trickster Travels?

Am halfway through the Penguin paperback version of Les Miserables. Finally saw a production of the musical and was compelled to read the book. Am enjoying thus far. Though it is not an unabridged edition, it is darn near complete. I can live with that.

#90 Oh, we must be twins separated at birth! ;D I love both Elvis Cole and Harry Dresden and thought The Alienist was wonderful! Have you read Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch mysteries yet? That's another series where I race out to get each new book that comes out.

#75 AnnaClaire, I finally traded in my Creative Zen Micro for an iPod last fall. Couldn't be happier.

#87 I was rather disappointed in The Constant Princess, too, and I've been avoiding The Virgin's Lover, which has been sitting on my shelf for several years now, because of negative feedback from other readers. I hope you enjoy The Boleyn Inheritance as much as I did. If you haven't read it yet, also thought The Queen's Fool was good.

#83 I loved On Chesil Beach--even though I didn't expect to. It has been a long time since a book stayed in my thoughts for weeks the way this one has.

Just finished If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern. Review posted at http://360.yahoo.com/woodbear97

Starting The Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr.

I'm actually in the midst of The Virgin's Lover right now. I read The Other Boleyn Girl not long ago and really enjoyed it. This one hasn't quite caught me the same way. I'm 1/4 of the way through it, so I still have hope.
I'm also reading The life and times of the thunderbolt kid and as always, Bill Bryson is hilarious. I'm listening to it and I keep laughing out loud while I'm driving. So funny.
I'm a serious audio book reader and have been for years. This week I just put my first books on my iPod for an upcoming vacation. I'm nervous it will break and I'll have nothing to listen to, but I'm sure it will be fine.

>>#99 You will LOVE listening to books on your iPod. It was great for flying from DC to London and back, as well as long treks on the tube.

If you are driving and don't already have one, you might want to look into a Griffin Road Trip. It's a little cable that hooks your iPod into your cigarette lighter outlet and lets you listen to books through your car radio. It also recharges your iPod while playing.

I'm about a quarter of the way through London: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd, and I've just started reading The Winners by Julio Cortazar.

#92
I just started Trickster Travels and like the narration by Natalie Zemon Davis The book covers an area that I knew practically nothing about and I am enjoying learning about this time period and area of the world.

Just finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Will start Land of my Heart by Tracie Peterson (novel) and Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills as well. I know I'll be long done with Land of my Heart before I finish Evidence Explained!

What I would call an easy read this week, The Ladies of Missalonghi by Colleen McCullough having been recommended it by a friend.

Pagan's Crusade, Pirates in An Adventure with Scientists, and Small Gods

I just finished Changing Planes by Ursula K. Le Guin yesterday, and The Wood Wife by Terri Windling the other day. Loved both of them!

I just finished Mariana by Monica Dickens and am now beginning The Water's Lovely by Ruth Rendell.

#104 hazelk: I second your friend's recommendation - I read The Ladies of Missalonghi a long long time ago, so long ago that I don't remember much about the plot, but I do remember absolutely loving it. Maybe a reread is in order...

I just finished Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South last night ... rather ho hum actuallly. Part of my problem might have been that I was eager to dive into my next read, Arthur and George.

Smiley (#52)--I read Carter Beats the Devil several years ago and really enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think of it.

I have been on vacation, and having planned my reading badly, was in the middle of We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will be Killed with Our Families when we got on the plane to Disney World. Not a good combination, but I finished it yesterday on the second half of our vacation (a quiet cottage in Maine), and am very glad I read it. Such a shocking, thought-provoking book!

I am now on to A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo, an LT-inspired read.

I have put down all of my other books, to prepare for getting two off the waiting lists from the library -- The Omnivore's Dilemma (I read the first 2/3 before needing to return it to the library last time, so I'm excited to finish it!!) and The Yiddish Policemen's Union, which I've been wanting to read for quite some time!!

#96 The Virgin's Lover is definitely on my to read list. I almost picked that one up instead. I would also like to read the Wildacre trilogy. Any thoughts on that one?

I'm currently reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

So far i'm not sure of it, it is an ok read but doesn't live up to all the hype. I shall judge once i have finished.

I highly recommend The World Without Us by science writer Alan Weisman. In the absence of humans, how long would it take for all vestiges of our presence here on Earth to disappear? Let this author fascinate and horrify you with the possibilities.

An excellent review is available on Salon.com - http://www.worldwithoutus.com/index2.html

A multimedia site about the book is available here: http://www.worldwithoutus.com/index2.html

The author will be interviewed on The Daily Show today http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/index.jhtml

I felt the same way about The Memory Keeper's Daughter. It didn't live up to the hype at all.
I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had never heard of it, because then I wouldn't have had any expectations, good luck.
>100 Cariola: My boyfriend has a Griffin Road Trip and we're taking his car, so I can't wait. I've put Moby Dick and the Whitethorn Woods on my iPod for the trip.

I started The Children's Hospital.

In the middle of The Road So far so good. Has anyone read his other works?

i reead all the pretty horses and a couple of others of his - i didnt like them as much as i did the road- his style does take ahile to get used to

I'm reading Mallory's Oracle, the first by Carol O'Connell.

I have finished The Indian Bride by Karin Fossum and while not brilliant, it is a very good police procedural. I've decided to remain in Norway and start Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson.

vivienbrenda - Message 82 - I've read one of Carl Hiaasen's books. Gorgeous, nice man in person. His books just aren't my cup of tea.

I'm just starting The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter by Mary Ellen Dennis.

Finished Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris over the weekend and have started The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Although I bought this book within the first month of its release, repeated mention of it here on LT moved it to the top of my reading list!

#110, cabegley - We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families remains one of the best books I've ever read. In fact, it launched a research project I completed as part of my master's, and an intense personal interest in the Rwandan genocide, and consequently genocide in the 20th and 21st centuries. If you are interested, my library contains several books on Rwanda and genocide, most of which have only been partially read (as part of the above mentioned research project), but which I intend to go back and read in-depth. As you well know, these books aren't the ones you immediately turn to for relaxing.

#119 Oh, thatbooksmell, how fun! I love the Mallory mysteries!

Just finished Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five. Fascinating book. Poo-tee-weet?

I'm reading A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami for this group, and I just finished The Hollow Kingdom for this group. I'm also currently reading Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielewski and I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak.

I'm reading A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami for this group, and I just finished The Hollow Kingdom for this group. I'm also currently reading Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielewski and I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak.

I just finished reading the Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, and I must say it was one of the best books I have ever read.

I just finished Winter Solitice by Rosamunde Pilcher, it was such a good curl up on the couch and read book, now I am on to The Rose Without a Thorn by Jean Plaidy.

--> I found The Road by far the best book I've read by Cormac McCarthy. I also read All the Pretty Horses and No Country for Old Men.

In a desperate attempt to reduce that ever growing to read pile I've gone through 1984 by George Orwell, The Devil in Amber by Mark Gatiss so far this week and am currently catching up with one of those books I should've read years ago The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.

#120, avaland, I very recently finished Out Stealing Horses and I consider it one of the best books I've read this year.

Started Winter House, a Mallory mystery by Carol O'Connell. Already, first chapter, really good!

#112 karcher70, I haven't read the Wildacre novels yet, although I do have two on my TBR shelf.

I recently finished The Swallows of Kabul. I'm not sure what to think. It is a book that stays with you for awhile.

Finished The Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr last night and have moved onto The Rossetti Letter by Christi Phillips.

Ben Hur just cause I'm bored and can't find anything else to read in a hurry

Finished Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks, now into Peeps by Scott Westerfeld which explains the biological reasons behind vampirism, as opposed to the supernatural. It's a light and fun book (so far, only a couple of chapters into it). Still making the occassional foray into Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman.

August 23-

Garfield Hangs Out (Book, No. 19)
Garfield's Thanksgiving
Garfield Loses His Feet (Garfield (Numbered Paperback))

Hello! I've been off for a while. We moved into an old house that we are renovating and it is chaos. It took me two months to finish Anna Karenina, which I loved until the very end, when, frankly, I was sort of ready for her to end it all and for Levin to get some religion. Anyway, I just picked up As Meat Loves Salt when I took my daughter to buy her school books. So far I love it. Anyone read it?

I bought As Meat Loves Salt in London a few years ago. I only read a few chapters, but I still have it on my TBR shelf. It just wasn't grabbing me at the time.

I am floating down the Nile for the umpteenth time with the beheometh of a novel that is Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George.

JustDev2~If you like Rosamude Pilcher, be sure to read The Shell Seekers. It's an excellent book by her.

I'm dragging myself through Naked Lunch, have been for the last couple weeks. I'll be glad to say I've read it, but it's tough going. When I'm reading it it's fine, but getting myself to keep picking it up is sort of hard. I think next up will be The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper.

#123 - grkmwk - What did you think of Blackberry Wine? I was really disappointed with it. The talking wine bottles gave me a strong yearning to drink vast quantities of wine. Not in a good way.

I'm re-reading The Active-Enzyme Lemon-Freshened Junior High School Witch (no touchstone!) by E.W. Hildick. It was one of my childhood favourites, so I'm seeing if it's as good this time around.

#143 - I second that on The Shell Seekers. I also liked September by Rosamunde Pilcher as well. Her shorter books and short stories are quick reads too - my tag for them is Comfort Lit.

August 24 -

Non Campus Mentis: World History According to College Students

#143/146 Then the The Shell Seekers will be the next Rosamunde Pilcher I read,,thanks for the recommend..Thanks

Just finished Secret of Lost Things which left some loose ends, but was a great dip into Melville, old books, and odd people. One of those books that I was sorry to see end.

Reading Real All Americans by Sally Jenkins after listening to her on CSPAN. Interesting account of Carlisle Indian School and football.

Just finished The Rossetti Letter by Christi Phillips and absolutely loved it. If you like Sarah Dunant or Lauren Willig you'll like Christi's book.

Now reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.

**touchstones don't seem to be working**

Just finished True Evil by Greg Iles. Next up is Blinded by Stephen White.

Finished Winfield Scott Hancock, The Civil War: a Narrative vol 3, and The Marshal Makes His Report. I was a little disappointed in the last-named--IMHO, isn't as good as its immediate predecessors. I found the plot confusing, although it has a really nice twist at the end.

Started Campaigning with Grant by Horace Porter and, continuing with the Marshal Guarnaccia series, Some Bitter Taste by Magdalen Nabb.

>132 rebeccanyc: Rebeccanyc, I am enjoying Out Stealing Horses very much. The translator has done a beautiful job. I have an affinity for the woods myself, so there is much in the book (thus far) that touches that affinity (we'll see how it fares in the third quarter stats!)

I am rushing through Eat, Pray, Love. It's not all I thought it would be but it's pleasant and I do want to finish it.

just started harry potter and the deathly hallows