What Are You Reading the Week of 3 January 2015?

　
Excerpts from Wikipedia:
"Gerald "Gerry" Malcolm Durrell, OBE (7 January 1925 – 30 January 1995) was an English naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist, author and television presenter. He founded what is now called the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Jersey Zoo (now Durrell Wildlife Park) on the Channel Island of Jersey in 1958, but is perhaps best remembered for writing a number of books based on his life as an animal collector and enthusiast. He was the youngest brother of the novelist Lawrence Durrell.

Durrell was born in Jamshedpur, India on 7 January 1925. He was the fourth surviving and final child of Louisa Florence Dixie and Lawrence Samuel Durrell, both of whom were born in India of English and Irish descent. Durrell's father was a British engineer and as was commonplace and befitting family status, the infant Durrell spent most of his time in the company of an ayah (nursemaid). Durrell reportedly recalled his first visit to a zoo in India and attributed his lifelong love of animals to that encounter.

London and Whipsnade Zoo

The family moved to England after the death of his father in 1928 and settled in the Upper Norwood - Crystal Palace area of South London. After the war, he became a student keeper at the Zoological Society of London’s Whipsnade Park to gain experience with a wider variety of animals.

Durrell was enrolled in Wickwood School, but frequently stayed at home feigning illness.

Corfu

Mrs Durrell moved with her three younger children (Leslie, Margaret, nicknamed Margo, and Gerald) to the Greek island of Corfu in 1935, following her oldest son Lawrence who had already moved there. It was on Corfu where Durrell began to collect and keep the local fauna as his pets. The family lived on Corfu until 1939. This interval was later the basis of the book My Family and Other Animals and its successors, Birds, Beasts, and Relatives and The Garden of the Gods, plus a few short stories like "My Donkey Sally". Durrell was home-schooled during this time by various family friends and private tutors, mostly friends of his eldest brother Lawrence (later a famous novelist). One of Durrell's tutor's friends, the Greek doctor, scientist, poet and philosopher Theodore Stephanides, became Durrell's greatest friend and mentor, and his ideas left a lasting impression on the young naturalist. Together, they examined Corfu fauna, which Durrell housed in everything from test tubes to bathtubs. Another major influence during these formative years, according to Durrell, was the writing of French naturalist Jean Henri Fabre.

Early animal expeditions

Durrell left Whipsnade Zoo in May 1946 in order to join wildlife collecting expeditions of the time, but was denied a place in the voyages due to his lack of experience. Durrell's wildlife expeditions began with a 1947 trip to the British Cameroons (now Cameroon) with ornithologist John Yealland, financed by a £3,000 inheritance from his father on the occasion of his turning 21. The animals he brought back were sold to London Zoo, Chester Zoo, Paignton Zoo, Bristol Zoo and Belle Vue Zoo (Manchester). He continued such excursions for many decades, during which time he became famous for his work for wildlife conservation.

He followed this successful expedition with two others, accompanied by fellow Whipsnade zookeeper Ken Smith: a repeat trip to the British Cameroon, and to British Guiana (now Guyana) in 1949 and 1950 respectively. On the first of these trips, he met and befriended the shrewd and colourful Fon of Bafut Achirimbi II, an autocratic West African chieftain, who would help him organise future missions.

Because of his dedication, Durrell housed and fed his captives with the best supplies obtainable, never over-collecting specimens, never trapping animals having merely "show value", or those which would fetch high prices from collectors. These practices differed from those of other animal-collecting expeditions of the time and, as a result, Durrell was broke by the end of his third expedition. Further, due to a falling-out with George Cansdale, superintendent of the London Zoo, Durrell was blackballed by the British zoo community and could not secure a job in most zoos, ultimately securing a job at the aquarium at Belle Vue Zoo in Manchester where he remained for some time.

On 26 February 1951, after an extended courtship, Durrell married Manchester resident Jacqueline ('Jacquie') Sonia Wolfenden — they eloped, because of opposition from her father. The couple initially lived in a small bedsitter in Durrell's sister Margaret's Bournemouth boarding house. Jacquie accompanied Durrell on most of his following animal expeditions, and helped found and manage the Jersey Zoo. She also authored two humorous, best-selling memoirs on the lines of Durrell's books, to raise money for conservation efforts.

With encouragement and assistance from Jacquie, and advice from elder brother Lawrence, Gerald Durrell started writing humorous autobiographical accounts to raise money, initially because he and Jacquie were broke after their wedding and Durrell didn't have a source of income, and then later to fund his expeditions and conservation efforts. His first book — The Overloaded Ark — was a huge success, causing Durrell to follow up with other such accounts. While Durrell only made £50 from British rights (Faber and Faber), he obtained £500 from the United States rights (Viking Press) for the book, and thus managed to raise money for a fourth expedition to South America in 1954. This, however, was undertaken during a political coup d'etat in Paraguay and was unsuccessful.

The publication of My Family and Other Animals in 1956 made Durrell a notable author, in addition, bringing him public recognition as a naturalist. Royalties from this book, which made best-seller lists in the United Kingdom, helped fund Durrell's next expedition.

Foundations for the Jersey Zoo

Durrell's growing disillusionment with the way zoos of the time were run, and his belief that they should primarily act as reserves and regenerators of endangered species, made him contemplate founding his own zoo. His 1957 trip to Cameroon for the third and last time was primarily to collect animals which would form the core collection of his own zoo. This expedition was also filmed, Durrell's first experiment with making a cinematographic record of his work with animals. The success of the film To Bafut with Beagles, together with his popular and autobiographical radio programme Encounters with Animals, made Durrell a regular with the BBC Natural History unit for decades to come, as well as generating much-needed funds for his conservation projects.

On his return from Bafut, Durrell and wife Jacquie stayed with his sister Margaret at her boarding house in the seaside resort of Bournemouth. His animals were housed in her gardens and garage on a temporary basis, while Durrell sought prospective sites for a zoo. To his dismay, both Bournemouth and Poole municipalities turned down his suggestion for a zoo. This experience provided material for his book A Zoo in My Luggage

Books

Durrell's books, both fiction and non-fiction, have a wry, loose style that poked fun at himself as well as those around him. Perhaps his best-known work is My Family and Other Animals (1956), which tells of his idyllic, if oddball, childhood on Corfu. Later made into a TV series, it is delightfully deprecating about the whole family, especially elder brother Lawrence, who became a famous novelist. Despite Durrell's jokes at the expense of "brother Larry", the two were close friends all their lives.

However, he shows a surprising diversity and dexterity in a wide variety of writing, including:

Durrell was also a regular contributor to magazines on both sides of the Atlantic like Harper's, Atlantic Monthly, and the Sunday Times Supplement. He was also a regular book reviewer for the New York Times. A number of excerpts and stories from his books were used by Octopus Books and Reader's Digest Publishing, including in the Reader's Digest Condensed Books.

Durrell's works have been translated into 31 languages, and made into TV serials, and feature films. He has a large followings in Northern and Eastern Europe, Russia, Israel and in various Commonwealth countries, including India.

The British Library houses a collection of Durrell's books, presented by him to Alan G. Thomas, as part of the Lawrence Durrell Collection."

My personal favorite is Rosy is My Relative.

What are you reading this week?

Am thinking about reading My family and other animals as part of my 2015 challenge. Right now I'm working on The magnificent century by Thomas Costain, The faraway bride by Stella Benson and Three men on the bummell by Jerome K. Jerome.

My family and other animals is his best known. Eccentric characters and lots of observations on the flora and fauna of Corfu.

The magnificent century is one I want to read. Well, almost anything by by Thomas B. Costain is. Didn't read much history or historical fiction last year. Too much stress, was looking for comfort reads. Looking forward to the new year.

Thanks, MDG. I need to read some Gerald Durrell at some point.

Currently I'm reading Being Mortal, which is living up to the buzz.

I definitely need to read Being Mortal, but I read about 1/2 dozen books about the end of life in 2013 and 2014 and need a break. It is an important subject for all of us mortals and those who care about other mortals to get a grip on. The Checklist Manifesto is also a really important book on medical issues that is on Mt TBR. It is praised by medical professionals and that is what it is geared towards, but I think that applies to many occupations,

I'd never heard of Gerald Durrell. Looks like I need to check him out.
I just finished Thirty Girls a double story about Ugandan girls captured by Kony's Lord's Resistance Army and the author who goes to Africa to write about them. At first I thought there was way too much about the author and her love life and not enough about the girls, but it rounds out nicely. Very well done. Not an explanation of why horrible things happen, just a statement that they do.
I'm also reading Euphoria a great historical fiction novel about Margaret Mead which leaves me pretty much wanting to wring the neck of her second husband. I feel kind of bad that I had to Google Mead to see how much of the story was true, so now I know how it ends, but the journey is fantastic.
In the car I'm listening to Nora Webster set in Ireland about a recently widowed woman and her four children. Good, but pales in comparison to the rest of my reads.
On e book I'm reading Gay Pride and Prejudice which is a hoot. Supercilious Mr. Bennet only married the beautiful and annoying Mrs. Bennet because he's gay and needed a beard for social purposes. He wants to get his favorite daughter Lizzie married because he thinks her deep friendship with Charlotte Lucas has become romantic and he doesn't want her to suffer the consequences. I'd thought that we'd also find that Darcy and Bingley had a thing going, but Bingley is all about the women. Probably it will turn out that Darcy had some kind of romantic fiasco with the charming Wickham which is the basis of his dislike.

Just before year's end I took up Gould's Book of Fish as my bedtime read. I'm about 40% of the way through it now and still not sure whether I like it or not, but I'm continuing.

I'm also about to begin an ER work called WordPlay, by Glenn Bassett. That's ground well plowed by others, so I'm interested to see how this author may have added to it.

I'm a fan of his work at the Durrell Wildlife Park - a great place to visit, but I confess to not having read much of his writing - My Family and Other Animals many many years ago and possibly A Zoo in my Luggage. Thanks to this thread I remembered picking up The Fantastic Dinosaur Adventure a couple of years ago when I saw a rather decrepit copy available, it's in a very sorry condition which is probably why I've never listed it here, but this thread prompted me to go and find it and I've both entered it into my library and started reading it! I'm only a chapter in, but for a children's book written in the late eighties it's okay so far, although the name of one character (Mrs Dollybutt) made me snicker a little.

Apart from that I'm still reading Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith - I will finish it... eventually! I'm also reading Parsifal's Page the fourth in Gerald Morris's Squire's Tale series about the knights of the Round Table written for children. In audio I've got Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in the house and Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson in the car.

Reading Don't Give Up, Don't Give In by Louis Zamperini. Each chapter is a lesson in life by the extraordinary Zamperini.

I just started reading The Book of Strange New Things and it reminds me of The Sparrow so far.

While I've been cooking for a big family dinner tomorrow I've managed to get about halfway through
Everything I Never Told You which is about a half Chinese American girl who goes missing. It covers the racism experienced by her Chinese-American father, siblings and self and the dashed scientific hopes of her Caucasian mother who grew up in the 1950s US and wanted to be a doctor but got her Mrs. degree instead, to her great regret.

>1 MDGentleReader: An excellent biography of Gerald Durrell, thank you! He is one of my favourite writers, and has brought me much joy over the years. If you have not read his excellent biography - with great photos! - by Douglas Botting, I recommend it heartily. My personal favourites (I realize no one asked, but I'll tell you anyway!) are My Family and Other Animals and Three Singles to Adventure.

I have engaged in a decision to read Les Miserables by Victor Hugo this year. I'm reading a couple of chapters a day, and am already enthralled by the writing and the character of Monsieur Bienvenu.

I'm looking on my TBR shelves for something that will interest me outside of Les Mis. I may pick up Outlander or The Crow Road, and The Corrections is also a possibility.

>6 Citizenjoyce: Oh, I want to read the Gay Pride and Prejudice!!!! Sounds like a hoot!

>12 ahef1963: The premise explains lots of things that are lost on modern readers. Ol' Jane Austen didn't know how ahead of the times she was.

I'm reading The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, which is fascinating so far.

I'm listening to The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides but I'm struggling with it. I loved Middlesex but am having a hard time connecting with any of the characters in this one.

>MDGentleReader...thank you...,Rosy Is My Relative is a novel which sat on my parents' bookshelves from home to home when I was a child. When I finally read it as a young adult, I loved it!

Just finished The Mad and The Bad. An violent absurdist tale in which the insane asylum patient is the only sane character.

Currently listening to All The Light We Cannot See and about to start reading an Early Reviewer short story collection which I thought I had lost, but unexppectedly found in Mt. TBR, This Is Paradise by Kristiana Kahkauwila.

14 -

I read Mists of Avalon when I was in middle school or so and was captivated. I'm always surprised more people don't read it, especially those who love fantasy and or Arthurian books.

Now that it's a new year and I have time on my hands... time to finish a bunch of things I've been picking up and putting down for a while.

Last night was jumping between Winterkill by C.J. Box and A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami. Have more from each of them waiting in the nightstand. Got The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey for Christmas and am a few pages in even though I should finish other things first.

Short fiction-wise I've been reaching for The best American mystery stories 2014 and The best American noir of the century. Also Sherlock Holmes : the complete novels and stories, Volume I and Volume II. All terrific. The Best American Mystery series can be hit or miss. The 2014 is a big hit. Been reading lots of crime in the past year so I'm sure I'll have more comments on these and others.

I've finished the first book of the year, begun on Christmas night: The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan. Started Mendel in the Kitchen by Nina Federoff last week, but haven't made much progress what with holidays and a nuisance cold. Started Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges last night after seeing The Imitation Game.

I read and enjoyed The Tropic of Serpents! The 3rd novel of the series will be out in March.

Persuasion, Captain Wentworth, and Cracklin' Cornbread by Mary Jane Hathaway
"Jane Austen Takes the South" #3

I'm reading The Shell Collector by Hugh Howey. I loved his SILO saga, so have been reading his other shorter works.

The library has given me a New Year's present by informing me that Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life is waiting there for me, so I'm finishing up The Bookshop today in preparation. Very exciting since it's going to snow/rain tonight and tomorrow....perfect reading weather!

(Not that I pay all that much attention to the weather when I'm into a good book.)

One thing my wife and I like to do this time of the year is to read a book aloud together. Right now, we're in the middle of Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill.

>1 MDGentleReader: Thanks for this intro, I love Gerald Durrell and I have most of his books which I've read at least twice each. He and James Herriot have given me so much enjoyment over the years.

>18 qebo: Wasn't "Imitation Game" great? Though it does leave one in a fury about the British government.
I just finished Everything I Never Told You and can see why it was on some of the lists for best of 2014. Every time I hear about people being prejudiced against Asians I'm amazed. That just wasn't one of the blatant racisms of my childhood. Next up is Lila. I'd forgotten what Giliad and Home were about, but thanks to Wikipedia I'm up to speed and ready to enjoy the third point of view.

>24 Citizenjoyce: The Imitation Game is apparently rather loose with the facts, which is among the reasons I'm reading the book. Though it will not exonerate the British government.

Still working on The Devil's Novice and The Glassblower.

>1 MDGentleReader: I'm going to add some of Durrell's books to my wishlist. I've never heard of him but his books sound right up my alley.

My first completed book of the new year is Laura Pritchett's Stars Go Blue. I rarely tear up at the end of books but this one got me.

My current read is Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. It's not what I was expecting but I'm enjoying it.

Fascinating, MDG - thank you!

I am reading A Brave Man Seven Storeys Tall and really loving it. Kind of a weirdly fascinating look at art, water polo, dreams and reality. The entire year of 2014 had me struggling with novels (with a few exceptions), so I am hopefully 2015 will be different.

I found out about this one on something called like Buzzfeed best of 2014. Many interesting titles I had not even heard of.

>28 CarolynSchroeder: Thanks for that list, I've added it to my list of lists of the best books of 2014:

Afterellen http://www.afterellen.com/books/406409-2014-year-lesbianbi-books
Buzzfeed best fiction: http://www.buzzfeed.com/isaacfitzgerald/books-we-loved-in-2014#.cwVDw7Oa0
Reading Room http://blog.thereadingroom.com/2014/12/2014-best-books-in-fiction.html
MS Magazine http://msmagazine.com/blog/2014/12/26/must-read-feminist-books-of-2014/
Brain Pickings http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/12/22/best-books-2014/
iTunes Best of 2014 (You'll have to look that one up)
Overdrive http://blogs.overdrive.com/front-page-library-news/2014/11/07/team-overdrives-be...
or OverDrive ALL THE BOOKS WE LOVED IN 2014
Book Riot http://bookriot.com/2014/12/02/riot-round-best-books-2014/
Mother Jones http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2014/12/best-food-books-2014-part-1
BookBub http://media.bookbub.com/blog/2014/12/16/best-nonfiction-books-2014/
NPR http://apps.npr.org/best-books-2014/
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/issue/best-of-2014/section/fiction/?page=1
Slate http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2014/12/best_books_of_2014_slate_book_r...
Wall Street Journal http://graphics.wsj.com/best-books-2014/
LargeHearted Boy http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2014/12/favorite_novels_7.html
NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/books/review/100-notable-books-of-2014.html?pa...
Book Bub Ultimate List http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/23/best-books-2014_n_6358040.html?ir=Women...
Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/02/best-books-2014_n_6248016.html
River City Reading http://rivercityreading.com/2014/12/2014s-best-books-might-missed.html
Publisher's Weekly http://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2014/top-10#book/book-1
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-books-2014
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_426357402_1?ie=UTF8&docId...
Barnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/feature/the-best-books-of-2014/?adbid=1015283...
Library Journal http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2014/10/best-of/library-journals-best-books-of...
Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-top-50-fiction-books-for-2...
Washington Post Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/50-notable-works-of-nonfiction...
Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-top-50-fiction-books-for-2...

I am continuing my own tradition of six years standing of beginning my reading in each calendar year with a rereading of one of Joseph Conrad's novels. I skipped the first two, Almayer's Folly and An Outcast of the Islands, because I remember not caring for them all that much when I first read them for a grad school course. But I've been reading (actually, re-reading) the rest of Conrad's major works in chronological order: The Nigger of the Narcissus, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, Nostromo and The Secret Agent. That brings me, this year, to Under Western Eyes. First published in 1911, Under Western Eyes is Conrad's second "political" novel, coming immediately after The Secret Agent. Under Western Eyes is not considered one of Conrad's highest achievements, at least nowadays, although it apparently had something of a coming out during the 1950s, due to its subject matter: Russian internal tyranny. The book was not on the syllabus of the aforementioned Conrad seminar, but I read it some years after finishing grad school out of curiosity, and enjoyed it. So it did make the cut for my Conrad re-read project.

I was struck by the following Conrad quote, from an essay of his, provided in the introduction of my New Directions Paperback edition from 1958 by the introduction's author, Morton Dauwen Zabel:

"Books have their fate," wrote Conrad. "They share with us the great incertitude of ignominy or glory--of severe justice and senseless persecution--of calumny and misunderstanding--the shame of undeserved success."

OHH, thank you Citizenjoyce!!!

>29 Citizenjoyce: Oh my, Citizenjoyce, you have fed my weakness for Best Books lists. Wow. I'll be busy checking out all these links for a while!

I picked up another mystery called The Bedlam Detective. It's a great antidote to the endless war of the Iliad and the sad dysfunction of What Maisie Knew.

I'm reading When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro for my book club. This is my second by him and again I spent the first quarter of the book struggling to get into it.

29 Citizenjoyce

I have one more Best Books of 2014 list, created by our own LT friends: http://www.librarything.com/topic/184987

Be sure to stop by and add your list everyone!

Finished The Glassblower by Petra Durst-Benning. I surprised myself by actually liking the book. I'm generally not a fan of what I would class as a romance which is where I would put this one. Maybe I'm softening up in my old age.

Started The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin.

>34 PaperbackPirate: Thanks for the link. I'll add it to my list.
>30 rocketjk: I confess never to have read a Joseph Conrad in spite of seeing movies made of his books. My biggest exposure to him came in JCO's novel The Accursed. He doesn't come off well, but he is fascinating.

#36> Yikes! What movies? The only decent movie adaptation of a Conrad novel I know of is Apocalypse Now, which is based on Heart of Darkness and does convey the atmosphere and dread of Conrad's work pretty well. The movie version of Lord Jim with Peter O'Toole and James Mason is an abomination. I hope you're not basing any impressions of the book or of Conrad as a writer on that! There is a TV version of The Secret Agent with Bob Hoskins in the title role that I've never seen but which might well be worthwhile. It was a BBC production, I think. I haven't read The Accursed, so I don't know what you're referring to. I've read a couple of biographies of Conrad, though, plus a collection of his letters, and he seems like quite an interesting personality, although certainly far from warm and cuddly.

Now you will think I'm an ignoramus. I was confusing Joseph Conrad with Jack London. Youch. I did see Apocalypse Now and was exposed to The Secret Sharer in some way, but I don't think I read it.

#38> Ignoramus? No! Believe it or not, I once made a mistake, too. I'm just relieved you weren't referring to that horrid Lord Jim movie.

>14 carebear10712: I thoroughly enjoyed The Mists of Avalon when I read it a few years ago. I also - for entirely different reasons - thoroughly enjoyed The Marriage Plot. That said, of those I know who've read The Marriage Plot, I am in the minority who rated it highly. To me, it has one of the most perfect endings ever written.

I'm reading 10:04, Binocular Vision, Small Victories, and Women in Clothes.

>41 jnwelch: Being Mortal was terrific, and my review is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/185625#4988140

Now I'm reading A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and other Stories by Carson McCullers.

I've been pouring over Around the World in 92 Seconds by Chris Hadfield and Sister and I in Alaska and Sister and I from Vancouver to London by Emily Carr. They are wonderful books of pictures and descriptions.

#41> Oh, my goodness, I love me some Carson McCullers. Hope you like Ballad of the Sad Cafe as much as I have.

I am reading The Peach Keeper. My first book bullet from LT. It's such an easy, light read. It's cheesy and predictable at times but still a page-turner and soooo good!

>43 rocketjk: A whole bunch of people are reading her for the American Author Challenge: http://www.librarything.com/topic/185195

I finished Euphoria, which is on more than one best of 2014 list, and must read more by Lily King. She makes her characters so believable and enthralling. I also now have to read more by and about Margaret Mead. Next up from another best list, Dept. of Speculation

I just finished The Word Exchange, which was very strong on ideas but less so on characterization, and am starting The Invention of Wings.

I've got Dept of Speculation on my list too. I'm #18 at the library for it. At least I'll get it before All the Light We Cannot See, for which I'm #132.

#45> And I hope they have a great time. I'm not one for group reads. Nothing against 'em for others. Just not my thing. Cheers!

I finished A Girl is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride. I'm not sure I did it justice -- sometimes I was able to lose myself in its poetry/prose and that could be a harrowing thing as well as profoundly moving; sometimes I was not able to do that. I'm not sure what made the difference. I am very glad I stayed with it, though.

Now I'm reading Redeployment, stories by Phil Klay.

>40 grkmwk: grkmwk I'm not going to give up on The Marriage Plot, so you've given me hope that the ending will make it all worthwhile.

I finished my first book of 2015, The Storied Life of A.J Fikry. I found it an easy pleasure to read, schmaltzy, quirky, with a dash of insight. Perhaps its message is the immortality of books and their capability to impact human life.

>50 carebear10712: Good to hear! I should note, though, that the ending is perfect for the particular story. It wouldn't necessarily stand alone as an elegant/beautiful/poignant ending absent of context. Which, to me, is what makes it perfect, after all!

Finished Jennings Goes To School, well done, will look for the others, but most likely not to own
Mom Can't See Me
Drina Dances in Italy - like this series. This was book 4. I own 2-4 I hope to get 1 and 5-11.
Touch Not the Cat read this when I couldn't sleep and wanted a story that would suck me in. It did the trick.

Currently reading Thinking Fast and Slow I seem to be enjoying it and getting more out of it than many other reviewers, but I am only about 27% through it. Sometimes I think that I must be more resistant to boredom and more tolerant of author's agendas compared to the average reviewer.

I finished Lila and didn't like it as much as I thought I would. Lila's story itself drew me right in, but it seemed fully half of the book was about religion. If I'd wanted to read about religion this would be the one I'd want to spend time with - inclusive, supportive and joyful, not what one would think of Calvanism, more Universalism. But I didn't want to read about religion, so it did not have the intended uplifting effect. I did recommend it to my evbangelical sister though. She'll like both parts of the book.
I'm about halfway through Dept. of Speculation which again I seem to be liking half way.
Now I'm about to start on Redeployment. Here's hoping for a more whole-hearted experience.

>8 Peace2: I owned briefly and gave away The Battle for Castle Cockatrice or The Talking Parcel, I felt I was in the wromg age group for it.

>12 ahef1963: That particular biography has been on TBR since 15 December 2011, really should get to it one of these days.

>15 hemlokgang: I love the book, too, I am glad to find another fan, I don't think that it is very well known and is very different from his other books. I do encourage those who are thinking about reading Rosy is My Relative to not read any reviews or book blurbs before reading it. It is much much fun to learn about Rosy the first time through Adrian's eyes. Grin.

>23 nhlsecord: Gerald Durrell was a much more popular pick than I expected. If I had more shelf space, I'd probably own all the travel/animal books.

>27 Copperskye: The set up in the beginning of Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour bookstore led me to expect something different than it turned out to be. It was, however, a book I could recommend to my Sweetie, which made me happy. Our reading tastes are not very similar. He characterises the books I like to read as cavorting bunny books, whereas he like urban dystopian books.

Gerald Durrell's are usually pretty cheaply and easily come by in the right sort of used bookstore. I have seen many printings of My Family and Other Animals.

>28 CarolynSchroeder: You are quite welcome.

>29 Citizenjoyce: - Thanks! I think. My To read collection currently has 2,958 books listed. Not sure I need more sources of books to read....

>51 snash:

I read and reviewed The Storied Life of AJ Fikry last year. One of my favorite books of the year. Glad you enjoyed it as well.

http://marion-hill.com/book-review-53-the-storied-life-of-aj-fikry-by-gabrielle-...

I am reading The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry this week. I immediately felt for both Harold and his wife, as the descriptions of their typical day were so lonely and ordinary. It's touching how he grows emotionally on his journey. A lovely read, makes me feel good about humanity.

Finally finished Mama's Bank Account. Charming, I am glad that I own it and will be able to easily re-read it.

I am almost done with A Brave Man Seven Storeys Tall and while imperfect and quote-less dialog drives me absolutely bonkers (because I have to keep going back over the conversation to figure out who said what first), I overall have enjoyed the unique, daring, weird adventure of this ambitious first novel. I'd say there will be great things from Will Chancellor in the years to come. He's truly an interesting author. He kind of made fiction exciting again, so I'll give him that, I was in a novel rut of epic proportions.

I finished Dept. of Speculation and was not charmed overall. People are starving and dying and being terrorized in the real world, and this character just whines about her poor, unfortunate middle class white life. I know troubles come to all, and the world is not about a competition of sorrows, but it just seems this woman needs some direction so that she can feel the joy inherent in her life.
Then I finished Pen and Ink Tattoos and loved it. I don't have any tattoos but my daughter does and loves them. Tattoos of famous and regular people are drawn along with the stories of what they mean and the circumstances under which they were inked.
Now I'm about 2/3 done with Redeployment which is terrific. It's the stories of many different men at war in Iraq - what they did, what they felt, and how they reacted when they were home.
And this morning I'm reading and enjoying a little more of Gay Pride and Prejudice.

Currently reading The Maze Runner.

Finished Saga Volume 4 in this excellent graphic novel series. Now I'm going to start Rose Gold, the latest Easy Rawlins mystery.

I am having a bout with Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel. I know that everyone loves this book, and much of it I do enjoy. But holy Mercy, I am having trouble keeping everyone straight, and sorting through (you've heard this before) who the devil "he" refers to at any given point. I have thrown it down twice, but have always picked it up. Still in my hands for now.

I've finished both Parsifal's Page by Gerald Morris and Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie today, the former in paperback and the latter in audio. I'm also listening to Major Pettigrew's Last Stand which regularly brings a smile to my face - the Major is quite a character and oh the villagers around him!

Still slowly making my way through Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith (for the life of me I can't work out why this is taking me so long, but I just keep allowing myself to be drawn away) and starting The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole which is a re-read from about 20 years ago and when the mood takes, I'm tiptoeing through Gerald Durrell's The Fantastic Dinosaur Adventure.

>63 rongeigle: "He" is almost always Cromwell -- if there's a doubt about it, assume it's Cromwell. It takes getting used to, but the effect is a kind of intimacy - a kind of depth of understanding of that character - that is stunning, unlike any other experience I'd had reading. Stay with it; to me, it honors the reader's intelligence, the reader's willingness to become a partner in the experience. In the next book in the series, the author helps you with it a little, and I felt a bit insulted by that. I'd worked hard to learn what she was doing in Wolf Hall and I had looked forward to having that experience again.

Joan Acocella discusses the "he" issue somewhere in the middle of this excellent review of the book -- perhaps this can help:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/10/19/tudor-tales

I am reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Where the Lilies Bloom by Vera and Bill Cleaver, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling. I just finished Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, and Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke.

Fnished The Devil's Novice and started Dead Man's Ransom.

>63 rongeigle: Not everyone.

I am reading nine books right now but really only have two that I am actively reading. I am in the middle of, and enjoying it very much, the first Joe Leaphorn book by Tony Hillerman, The Blessing Way. It has made me wonder how they did police work before the advent of the cell phone. I always read a biography at the beginning of the year and this year I choose Empress of Fashion. This is a short biography of Diana Vreeland and so far I am liking this one. I am also listening to The Widow Clicquot in the car on the way to work and this biography has surprised me. It is very well done.

I am about half way through A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel and I decided to give it a rest for a time. Since this is historical fiction I know how the story is going to end and I am not sure I want to start out the year knowing all the heroes of the novel are going to die.

>63 rongeigle: rongeigle....we are now even....do you think you will pick it up a third time? I have been pondering the prospect for over a year!

>63 rongeigle: I too, when being overly frustrated by the "who is he" question was told that he is usually Thomas Cromwell. I do think it's worth getting through the book, there's so much information presented in a fascinating manner. Perhaps being overly sensitive to the complaints of confusion, whenMantel wrote Bring Up the Bodies she went overboard in clarifying dialogue. I, for one, was amused rather than insulted by the change. I'll be reading her The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher later this month. We'll see how that goes.
I've finished and reviewed my first 5 star read of the year, Redeployment by Phil Klay great stories about men who fought in the Iraq war.
Now to go in a completely different direction, I've started Astonish Me about ballet.

I finished Phil Klay's Redeployment -- an excellent story collection. Now I'm reading All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews.

Just finished listening to All The Light We Cannot See. Nice.

Next up to listen to is Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

>71 Citizenjoyce:, >72 mollygrace: I thought Redeployment was terrific.

>74 jnwelch:....as did I!!

>75 hemlokgang: :-)

#66, harleyqgrayson02, you have some favorites of mine there, especially Where the lilies bloom. Don't miss the sequel Trial Valley

Just finished The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - which I dearly loved, and am starting Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, which right from the start is pretty engaging.

Just got The Rosie Effect, the newly published sequel to the fantastic The Rosie Project. This is going to be a fast read although I'll want to savor it.

Finished Gould's Book of Fish and began Euphoria; both are LT book bullets. Abandoned WordPlay and posted comments that explained why.

Finished The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin and started Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey.

Starting the New Year off with the thoroughly enjoyable Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. Hoping to read some better quality books this year.

>82 Zumbanista: Great choice then!

I felt a need to get back to a favorite series so I'm reading The Scent of the Night by Andrea Camilleri

I have fallen in some children themed book trap and finished both the fourteenth goldfish and Wonder in the last couple of days and Im reading now Absolutely almost

I did also read Lucky us right befor I started reading these children books and loved it a lot. So next Im going to read something else by Amy Bloom

I started The Andy Cohen Diaries by Andy Cohen and I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusack and still working on The Rosie Effect by Greg Simonsin

55> I do have all of Durrell's books, almost anyway I think. I've been carting them around and packing and unpacking them for at least 30 years - well maybe I should check the dates, but it seems like it. He and Herriott and so many other happy-making writers.

>69 benitastrnad: I have all of Tony Hillerman's books too. I couldn't possibly choose one favourite writer (can anybody) but he'll and several other writers will be with me even if my only furniture is made from boxes of books. And when I think of how small senior's residences are, that might just be the case!

I'm still reading The Spirit Gate and enjoying it, as well as Comstock Lode by Louis L'Amour, and A View From the Sidelines by Michael Shea which is interesting.

Since I am also entranced by a computer game called The Talos Principle and I'm still expected to act like I have a life, I don't quite know which way to turn. It's a good problem to have.

I finished A Brave Man Seven Storeys Tall by newcomer Will Chancellor and boy, it was inconsistent, but still, I thought a good effort. It was interesting in spots, funny, weird and lots of art and pop theory to mull over. It suffered greatly from the quote-less dialog which at times was pages and pages long and just exhausting. I'm not sure why he chose that method for a dialog-heavy book. But oh well. Also, the characters really weren't that likable and it was hard to relate to their plights of wandering and searching. They didn't strike me as all that real. Overall, it would be a 3-star outing. But I'm glad I read it.

Finished Women in Clothes, one of the quirkiest, most honest books I've read. It's an odd mix of survey responses, short essays, poetry, images, interviews, and lists. It certainly wouldn't be enjoyed by just anyone who picked it up, but for the place where I was/am when I read it (it was a slow read - I started in September), it was lovely.

Have now started Unruly Places as my nonfiction read.

#88
I have been intrigued with the idea, title, and premise of Women in Clothes for a long time. I may have to put it on my wish list.

I finished reading Blessing Way and enjoyed it. This is the first really nice and tightly edited novel that I have read for a long time. It was a Goldielocks kind of book - neither too long (bloated) or to short (lacking in detail). I loved it and will definitely read the next one in this series for the mystery challenge here on LT. The Widow Clicquot is also very good. However, since it is cold I am not spending much time in my car and this is my commute book. I am also reading Empress of Fashion a biography of Diana Vreeland, and am finding it to be a good biography. For the last two years I have started the year with a biography of a fashionista and decided not to change that trend for this year. So far I am glad that I have not as this book is good and full of information I did not know.

Currently reading Tin House: Winter Reading, Volume 16, Number 2 for a nice interlude full of new short fiction/poetry while I await my ER book and as a nice break from yoga/spiritual reading and anatomy!

I finished and gave 5 stars to the wonderful Astonish Me which builds slowly to talk about the pursuit of perfection in both ballet and life. What a surprisingly wonderful book.
Next up are two books for two different book clubs next week, Frankenstein and The End of Wasp Season, and on the side a little foray into My Year of Meats. I loved Ruth Ozeki's A Tale For the Time Being but was worried this might be something about working in a butcher shop for a year, which did not appeal to this vegetarian. Fortunately, I was very wrong. It's about a Japanese-American advertising venture, a TV show entitled "My American Wife" sponsored by a beef company. So far it's mostly culture clash and misogyny.

A little over a third of the way through The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters, and wondering if the budding romance will ever, ever be more than budding; it's been budding for so long that I really no longer care.

The first quarter or so of the book interested me with its look at post WW1 society in England - specifically in London (south of the river), but with over 300 pages to go I've decided that I probably won't learn much more about it (that I don't already know). I could well be wrong about this of course but am not prepared to stick with the remainder of the book to find out.
It's just not my cup of tea (too many leaves).

Just started on Possession by A. S. Byatt.

Finished reading the very interesting short story collection abut Hawaii, This Is Paradise: Stories.

Next up is Proud Beggars by Albert Cossery.

This week, I finished reading Letters to a Young Scientist by Edward O. Wilson andThe Sixth Extinction: Patterns of Life and the Future of Humankind by Richard Leakey and Roger Lewin and listening to The Golem of Hollywood by Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman.

I continued Thriller 2: Stories You Just Can't Put Down edited by Clive Cussler and started Strawberry Fields: A Novel by Marina Lewycka and The Sixth Extinction: Journeys Among the Lost and Left Behind by Terry Glavin and just barely, Blue Horses Rush In: Poems and Stories by Luci Tapahonso

Just gave up on Understories by Tim Horvath. I'm rather disappointed with myself about this, as I almost never quit on a book without finishing it. Based on all the positive reviews, I was left wondering if I was just too dense and missing something profound. Occasionally I've had someone rave about a book and then when I read it, I couldn't figure out what it was they liked so much. It also happens the other way at times, when I recommend an absolutely favorite book to someone who just doesn't like it. Thank goodness there are plenty of books out there to speak to someone!

I started Station 11 last night and so far it seems pretty good.

>97 lynetterl: Based on all the positive reviews, I was left wondering if I was just too dense and missing something profound. Occasionally I've had someone rave about a book and then when I read it, I couldn't figure out what it was they liked so much. It also happens the other way at times, when I recommend an absolutely favorite book to someone who just doesn't like it
That always amazes me. Ancient as I am, and as often as it happens, I still am surprised to find that everyone doesn't share my taste, which is supberb.

I'm playing major catch-up with my reading again, which it seems I'm doing quite a bit of, lately. :) Anyway, after I started reading The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty on Thursday, January 1st, I actually finished it two days later on Saturday, January 3rd! I always enjoy books that deal with mother/daughter/troubled family dynamics, and this book was no exception for me. Laura Moriarty seems to be a really great writer, at least in my opinion.

Up next for me was The Piano Teacher: The True Story of a Psychotic Killer by Robert K. Tanenbaum and Peter S. Greenberg. I started reading this book on Saturday afternoon, January 3rd, and it only took me three days to read. I finished the book on Tuesday, January 6th! This book was about a serial killer - Charles W. Yukl - who murdered a young lady in 1966, went to prison but was released due to a technicality, and then lured another young woman to her death in 1974. This book was good, but it was just infuriating to me that this man was able to get out and kill again because of a legal flub.

On Tuesday afternoon, January 6th, I started reading Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult. At 429 pages, this book definitely took a little longer than usual for me to read.