*** What are you reading now? (Part 2)

What busy readers we are. Over 200 posts in just one month! I wish I could join the party but I have not been reading. When I do though I'll go back to Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath which I was really enjoying until I had to put it down for schedule reasons.

I'm reading two very different books; All the Birds, Singing by Australian author Evie Wyld, which is about an anti-social sheep shearer on the run from something, and A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell, which takes place in Italy, during the second half of WWII.

I do want to start Robert Galbraith's The Silkworm, which I have been saving, but it keeps jumping out at me whenever I walk by it.

>2 RidgewayGirl: Kay, I've just started The Silkworm. I'm only a few chapters in, so no comments yet, but I heard a lot of good things about it last year.

I'm also reading my new (as of last year) edition of Pride and Prejudice: An Annotated Edition. This is a beautiful, but large, hardcover book that can only be read at home since it is not at all portable.

I'm reading I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai. I am deeply impressed by both Malala and her father, and am learning lots about just how deeply ignorant I am about Pakistan.

>4 bragan: That one has been on my list for a while too. I've seen her interviewed on the Daily Show and was so incredibly impressed.

Right now I'm reading Jon Stewart: Beyond the Moments of Zen.

How is it already February? What happened to January? Oh well...

A flurry of finishing of books here:
On the Kindle - A Murder of Clones and Bound by Flames - both exactly what you would expect from their long series. Lumping them together does not make much sense because they are so different... it just happened so.

On the comics/GN front, needed a rest from Moore, so a very quick Scenes from an Impending Marriage which was light and funny and exactly what I needed. And very very short.

And on the paper side, finished Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic which had been occupying most of my attention in the last 2 weeks - which is thought provoking and very good.

Which in effect means that except for my audio book that is slowly going, I have no book started at the moment. Which is weird. No idea what I am reading next... I suspect that I will end up staring at my shelves for a bit and just grabbing the first book I see.

Reviews for all of those in the works and in my thread...

I'm reading Tinkers by Paul Harding. It's very good so far. It jumps around quite a bit between being about a dying man and his epileptic father. I assume that the father parts are hallucinations or at least memories, but I'll have to keep reading to decide for sure.

So after 10 minutes in front of the shelves wondering what next, I decided it is time to read something from the classics that had been waiting for a while - The Thirty-Nine Steps. Halfway through and it is exactly what I needed - it is old-fashioned and sweet :)

I've decided to keep reading Mr Peanut for the time being (I'm almost halfway through and though I don't like it very much I like the fact that it's an easy read).
I haven't made much progress on La barbe ! la politique sur le fil du rasoir thought the last pages I've read seemed less annoying.

And I've added a third book to my in-progress list: Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World. I'll try to commit to the meditation process but I have a hard time finding a slot in my schedule where I can fit 20 to 30 minutes. I intended to do it on mornings before going to work but the book specifies that the place should be warm enough to be comfortable, and since I tune the heating down during the night my flat is very much not comfortable in the morning...

Annie, is that the novel that inspired the Hitchcock film? I didn't realize that it was a novel first.

>10 fuzzy_patters: The same :) And inspired is the correct verb - it is loosely based on the novel (the novel lacks any female spies/whatever for example).

My understanding is that Hitch took great liberties with all of his source novels. That sounds like him.

I appear to be reading a never ending forward to The Castle of Otranto. First there was the forward, then the forward bu Sir Walter Scott, then the preface to the first edition and that's followed by the preface to the second edition.
One day I may actually get as far as reading the story!

>13 Helenliz:

I usually read the novel before I read the endless forwards - this way noone can sneak in a spoiler... :)

I'm still working my way through Catastrophe 1914: Europe Goes to War, which is dragging for me. I'm less interested in knowing the details of where every element of every army was during the initial battles of the war and hoping for a bit more analytic content. Two books have just become available at the digital library - The Mapping of Love and Death in the Maisie Dobbs mysteries series and Kate Morton's The Distant Hours. I don't know anything about the latter, but I loved The House at Riverton when I read it years ago, so I'm hoping it's in a similar vein.

>14 AnnieMod:
When I read the Penguin Classics edition of Great Expectations I was very happy to see that right under the Introduction header it explicitly stated not to read the introduction if you weren't familiar with the story so as to avoid spoilers. I think that's really great. But like you, I either don't read introductions or prefaces until I've read the story itself, or I read paragraph by paragraph till I feel like they might start introducing spoilers.

Meanwhile on the kindle: Angélica Gorodischer's Trafalgar. Pretty good so far.

>16 lilisin: I don't even presume anymore - if it is a classical novel (or a popular one) and/or if it is a known name that does the introduction, it gets read at the end. They may help understand some of what is happening (if done properly) but they almost always contain spoilers or at least the kind of details that you do not want to read before you figure them out on your own...

I am just about to start The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng, it's a book club choice and I chose it so I really hope I am going to like it.

You're going to like The Garden of Evening Mists.

I had only a few minutes after I read some articles in the latest New York Review of Books before it was time to turn out the light last night. I managed ten pages of Leo Strauss, Man of Peace; I think I am reading it.

Robert

Starting Brass In Pocket today, the first in a detective series. We'll see how it goes.

>216 Thanks, bas, I may need it! Fun so far, but also a struggle.

>13 Helenliz: Oh dear, all those intros in your edition seem to be a very long argument for reading the text--which is quite silly and short and kind of fun. Just toss the intros aside and read the text, would be my approach.

I've decided to let my hair down, so to speak, and try reading a few books at the same time. So I've got Ulysses, Ulysses and Us: The Art of Everyday Living, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, Pack of Cards, and The Authenticity Hoax all going at the same time. If it's not one extreme, it's another with me. I'm usually a one-book-at-a-time reader.

>24 ipsoivan: Wow, that is the way to jump in with both feet! I was just saying on my thread that I keep adding books because my fiction-to-nonfiction ratio got out of whack and I'm trying to compensate for it. I've also got 5 books going, but one of them is not Ulysses. ;)

You'll all be very pleased to hear I have made it to the end of the intros (60 odd pages of them!) and have finished chapter one. >:-)

>24 ipsoivan: really? That sounds like a lot at once. I usually have 2 on the go, occasionally 3, but can only cope with that if they are somewhat different. Too similar and I get confused ('tis easily done).

in the middle of History of the Rain

I just finished The Death of Bees (LOVED IT!!!) and have started Me Talk Pretty One Day.

>15 fannyprice: For a more analytical book you might like 1914: The Year the World Ended. It's more about the run-up to things, and while it covers the battles in 1914 it does that briefly without a lot of detail. I was really impressed by it.

Lost track of this thread for a bit! I've started Empire of Cotton by Sven Beckert which is excellent so far. I also finally got a better start on Chicago by Alaa Al Aswany. The characters are largely unlikeable, and it's not something I'm loving, but I find I do want to keep reading it and had a hard time stopping this morning. I'm nearly halfway through now (after reading two chapters initially and then ignoring it for almost a month).

I am 100 pages into The Garden of Evening Mist and I am not bowled over yet, but I am giving those large rocks in my front garden a more than cursory glance and I am wondering if they are in the right place.

Last night, I finished the wonderful historical novel Passion: A Novel of the Romantic Poets by Jude Morgan. A story of Byron, Shelley, and Keats told through the eyes of the women they loved.

My next book is Cotillion by Georgette Heyer. A discussion on another thread made me think it was time to pick up one of her books, and this is one that I haven't read.

My next audiobook, is Still Midnight by Denise Mina, Narrated by Jane MacFarlane. Rebecca and a few others in this group have shown a lot of love for Denise Mina. I picked this one because it is the first book in her Alex Morrow series, and Audible didn't have the first book in any of her other series at the time I purchased.

>30 baswood: "but I am giving those large rocks in my front garden a more than cursory glance and I am wondering if they are in the right place." - : )

I have moved from the November to the December issue of Poetry Magazine and I read The Song of Songs yesterday and today (NRSV). I haven't gone past those 20 pages in HHhH, but still think it's next.

Still listening to Augustus : The Life of Romes First Emperor, and learning how cold and crafty he was...and patient. I always thought Mark Anthony was a fool in history, but Everitt brings out a mixed respect for the flawed figure.

I am struggling with Leo Strauss, Man of Peace, so last night after ten or fifteen pages of it I turned to the first fifty something pages of The Last Valley by A.B. Guthrie, Jr..

Robert

Finished The Thirty-Nine Steps yesterday and I suspect I am reading more Buchan this year.
And today finished the wonderful Trafalgar by Angélica Gorodischer

Reviews in the works and in my thread.

Started Martian Sands by Lavie Tidhar on paper (which so far is interesting) and on the Kindle, next is Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear.

I am just about to finish The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick's Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption.

I'm finally getting into All the Light We Cannot See, which was slow for me at first.

>36 Cariola: I was so completely bored for the first third of that, but then it picked up.

Finding my "D" author in my alphabet of authors in translation somewhat challenging, so it is taking a while to get through The Last Song of Manuel Sendero by Ariel Dorfman and I fear I am being sidetracked by other more direct writing.

I am reading A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell because I think that maybe things get much worse for the Jews who have come to Italy to escape the Nazis.

I'm also reading Laura Lippman's newest crime novel, After I'm Gone.

I finished The Lost Dogs and am now reading Douglas Adams' So Long and Thanks for All The Fish. It might take a while; I keep reading the same funny passages over and over. :)

removed

Finished Empire of Cotton, which was very good. Feeling a bit burnt out though, so I've started a re-read of Murder Must Advertise, a favorite Dorothy L. Sayers book.

Just finished Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, by James McPherson. Great book about a turning point in American history. I'll read The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, by Robert Middlekauff, because history doesn't stop. I post a brief review of the former book in my thread.

>43 MarcusBastos: marcus - where is your thread? I'd like to read your review, but couldn't find it.

>25 ursula:, >26 Helenliz: Oh, I know! Crazy. It's actually even worse than I said above, as once I started adding more books to my current reading, yet more came along. I'm about 1/2 way through Orlando (very enjoyable) and something called Make It Stick about learning strategies that I'm reading for work.

I'm doing ok, though--still ducking back to read bits of Ulysses and Ulysses and Us, my main targets for right now. I think that I may have lost track a bit of Ebenezer Le Page, so I'll try to pick it up again over the weekend. How many balls can I juggle at once?

>33 Mr.Durick: Oh, our favourite bookstore in the town I lived in as a child (The Chinook Bookstore, Colo. Spgs., Colo.) had a wonderful quotation from Guthrie on their bookmarks, something about a wide sweep of mountains, that ended, "chinook, the promise of spring". I've never read Guthrie, but probably should to reconnect with that passage.

>43 MarcusBastos: I began McPherson's book some months ago, but as it was a library loan, I had to return it. I thoroughly enjoyed his perspective, and your comments have made me want to finish it.

I'm reading KR Meera's The Hangwoman (fiction, translated from Malayalam), and Jawaharlal Nehru's The Discovery of India (non fiction, part history, part memoir).

I am currently reading The Brothers Karamazov and as break from it, a little at a time, I am also reading Darwin's Armada by Iain McCalman. On audio, I'm trying What Maisie Knew by Henry James -- hopefully it's not a flowery as his longer, more established works.

I am still enjoying Edith Pealman's stories in Honeydew and also starting Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen.

I have just started Brideshead Revisited and am half way through listening to Fingersmith. The first has already hooked me, the second is making me wonder how she's going to stretch this to another 10 CDs...

I am reading RUR & War with Newts by Karel Capek.

Good question. I don't know where is my thread or even if I have one. I just put the review in my profile and suppose that anyone can read it. I'll check that.

You will enjoy it!

>53 MarcusBastos: You can start a thread by going to the Club Read group page and clicking on the "Post a new topic" link at the beginning of the list of Talk threads. Put your name in the thread title so we know it's yours, and you're good to go. You'll find that we love to discuss other people's reviews. You can also post your reviews on the book page, so people who are interested in the book can see what you said about it.

I finally got around to reviewing Can You Forgive Her?, the first in Trollope's Palliser series, a novel with a complex and engaging plot that examines some of the strictures placed upon women in the mid to late 19th century.

Thanks for the information Rebecca. I'll do it.

>53 MarcusBastos: ok, found them. As Rebeccanyc said in >55 rebeccanyc:, most of us create a thread within this particular group, Club Read 2015. Not everyone does. But if that interests you, follow her instructions. There are no rules and no standards or whatnot on what you do with such a thread if you create one. But it's likely to get read.

ETA - oops, just saw >57 MarcusBastos:

Finished Martian Sands today - and it was actually better than the first 50 pages were leading me to believe (it sounded decent enough but ended up a lot better than that).

Next on paper: The Macdermots of Ballycloran - the first Trollope novel. Which also probably means that I am reading some comics in the meantime.

I just finished The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith, aka J.K. Rowling. Now I'm starting Sarah Waters's newest book, The Paying Guests. I'm also rereading The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James.

On audio, I've recently finished The Hound of the Baskervilles and have started the podcast Serial. I know that's not a book, but it seems applicable to talk about here.

I finished An Unnecessary Woman, which I really did not like at all. It reminded me too much of another book I detested, The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

I have finished Tinkers by Paul Harding and have begun The Business of Naming Things by Michael Coffey.

Oh, I detested The Elegance of the Hedgehog too; I didn't get past the first 25 pages!

I've started Gone Girl for my bookclub, which I'm not excited about. So far I'm depressed about how misogynistic all the characters seem to be.

>63 rebeccanyc: Better skip this one then--pretentious and boring.

The Decameron of Boccaccio is occupying all my free time just now. I got the Penguin Classics Kindle version and did not realize at first how big a chunk I had bitten off until I found out it is over 1000 pages! The introduction alone was 140 pages! I thought I would never get to Boccaccio himself! Anyway, I am now about halfway through the hundred stories.

I'm reading Gone Girl for my book club, halfway through now and not particularly impressed. I think I would have given it up already, but a different book gave all the spoilers and I want to see how it gets to that resolution.

Also just started On the Brink: The Inside Story of Fukushima Daiichi, which seems like it will be excellent.

Finished Brass In Pocket Drake 1 and purchased and started Worse Than Dead Drake 2 thinking this may be an interesting series.

Just finished the listening of Will Durant, Our Oriental Heritage, first volume of History of Civilization. Wonderful book. Next in the listening list: The Renaissance: A Very Short Introduction, by Jerry Brotton. Posted a brief review of the former in my thread.

Just finished The Evolutionary Void on audio and the only thing I will say is that I will miss the series - I loved where it went, I really liked how it went there and I am not entirely sure I can even my voice my thoughts on it coherently :) Review and so on as usual.

So... next on audio will be Invisible Cities - ELiz_M mentioned something about it in my thread and I got curious. Plus it is narrated by John Lee again and I would listen if he reads a phone book...

>70 AnnieMod: I started Invisible Cities a couple of days ago!

>71 ursula: It seems to be happening a lot around here - a lot more often than the number of people will account for :)

I tried to make Mary Doria Russell's A Thread of Grace last, but I sped through the last, devastating chapters.

Now I'm beginning The Silkworm by "Robert Galbraith" and I'm also reading Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill, which is another book slated to compete in The Morning News Tournament of Books.

I finished Oranges are Not the Only Fruit last week, and am now in the middle of On the Road. Thus far I can say that I get it, but I'm not sure I'm getting into it, if you know what I mean.

>73 RidgewayGirl: Glad you liked the MDR!

I needed a new book to start when heading for bed the other night, and I couldn't decide, so I decided to read a chapter in each of 4 books and then decide. Sadly, it didn't work because all four are interesting, so I have continued reading from each four.

The Room by Jonas Karlsson (2009, translation 2015, no touchstone yet, Swedish, comedic novel around corporate culture)
Spirit; or The Princess of Bois Dormant by Gwyneth Jones (2008, SF redo of the Count of Monte Cristo, UK)
When the Doves Disappeared by Sofi Oksanen (2012, translation 2015, Finnish-Estonian, WWII story set in Estonia)
Sweetland by Michael Crummey (2014, US edition 2015, Canadian. Tale set on a small island off the coast of Newfoundland)

I've read most of Crummey's books, and a few of Jones's, but the other two authors are new to me (although Oksanen's first novel was reviewed in Belletrista).

I finished Orlando today, but I will hold off writing notes for now. I loved it and intend to reread it soon; I finished it in a bit of a distracted state, as I was invigilating an exam right at the culmination, so at least I need to reread the end.

I think I'll try to finish up some of the many books that I now have lying around half-finished. During the exam, I started in again on Gorky's My Childhood--unremittingly grim, which was why I laid it aside in the first place. I'm still enjoying Ulysses, although I have to be in the right frame of mind to read it. I've got a bunch of others started as well, but I think these will be what I focus on for now.

Orlando, Decameron, On the Road, Invisible Cities, Ulysses all posted within a day or so...such a smart group you all are...

I finished HHhH by Laurent Binet, which was an easy and enjoyable read. Binet looks at the assassination of Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich by the Czechoslovakian resistance, but also a looks at the impossibility of recapturing history. I started Child of God by Cormac McCarthy - his third novel.

I'm reading Diana Mosley by Anne de Courcy. The Mitfords from a different angle and an interesting dip into the confusion of British political allegiances in the 1930s.

>76 ipsoivan: I just started Orlando yesterday. Viriginia Woolf is the February author for the Monthly Author Reads group. We would love to have you share your thoughts on Orlando (especially me since I think I am one of the only people reading Orlando right now). The thread is here.

It appears from Touchstones that Diana Mosley may have had a rather racier title for its US release.

I'd like to read When the Doves Disappeared - let us know what you think. I wasn't even sure it was translated yet. I read Purge last year.

I've just started Minotaur by Benjamin Tammuz.

I've started Behind the Beautiful Forevers and Mussolini: His Part in my Downfall, one of Spike Milligan's war memoirs.

I'm also flying through On The Brink: The Inside Story of Fukushima Daiichi, which is done so well and extremely compelling. Really recommended.

I just started Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. Very interesting so far. Still working on All the Light We Cannot See, which isn't exactly grabbing me (I'm almost halfway through it).

Next week I will be starting a reread of Cold Mountain, along with my students (for whom it will be new).

I have officially added Infinite Jest to the pile of current reads. My husband and I are reading it concurrently, with a plan to finish it before we leave, which breaks down to about 14 pages a day.

I most recently finished You Can Date Boys When You're Forty by the always-funny Dave Barry. I'm now reading A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean. Which is a romance novel, one of the few genres I'm generally not at all interested in, but I was sort of challenged to expand my horizons in that direction, so... OK. I'm not finding it a disagreeable read, actually, but it's not inspiring me to go out and buy more romance novels, either.

Next up, I think, is Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. I figured I ought to read at least one of the books on this year's Tournament of Books list before it starts, and I've been looking forward to reading that one, anyway.

Finished Karen Memory on the kindle (and it was such a fun book to read). Bear had always been one of my favorites and that book shows her talent pretty well.

Next on the kindle - Kellerman's Motive

I found Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill to be gorgeously written. It's written in beautiful paragraphs, just vignettes about a woman's life, from an early determination to be an "art monster," devoted to writing, through marriage and parenthood and all the compromises and richness of that life. There's no plot and the woman is sometimes angry and uncertain. I loved it.

Still reading The Silkworm, the next in J.K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith's series about PI Cormoran Strike. It's perfect escapist reading, being just a well-done crime novel that adheres to all the sensibilities of the genre.

And I've started Adam by Ariel Schrag, which is reminding me that YA is not really written with me in mind. While the subject matter is interesting, I'm tired of the explanations and repetitions.

TH White's The Goshawk wasn't on my list for this month, but I picked it up this morning and got completely sucked in. Such perfect prose! So that's what I'm reading now.

I finished Me Talk Pretty One Day yesterday and will begin my latest ER win today, Of Things Gone Astray.

I hesitate a little to post because I am not convinced that I am reading what I am reading. I said that I thought I was reading Leo Strauss, Man of Peace in 20. Then I admitted difficulty with it in 33. A little after that, having found it unreadable, I didn't just set it aside to get back to it sometime; I tossed it aside done with trying.

In the meantime I've fairly happily read a novel.

Now I have started American Nietzsche which seems considerably more readable. It combines a couple of interests, Nietzche and Emerson. I have found that I cannot live as an existentialist, but the notion can still fascinate me, and I have respect for the idea. Still I wonder how far I will go in the book.

Robert

I am finally finishing The Invisible Bridge- I started it about 2 years ago - put it down after reading two thirds of the book and picking it up last year- got to 150 pages near the end( the book is 758 pages in length) and now- should be finished this weekend- why pick it up again? I don't know- I was intrigued by the comment of a member of my book club- she found the book difficult because the story was similar to that of her in-laws during World War Two.
The story is compelling but too long.

Why you disliked Leo Strauss, Man of Peace? I'm considering reading it.

Robert Howse was gratuitously obscure.

Robert

Just finished listening Renaissance A Very Short Introduction, by Jerry Brotton. I liked it a lot! I posted a brief review. Begining to listen W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of The Black Folk.

Finished Child of God. I think McCarthy was having fun trying to disturb our sensibilities, and yet i emjoyed reading it.

Not sure what's next. Might start Isaiah.

>94 Mr.Durick: Oh dear. I'm having second thoughts about that book, now. Do you plan on going back to it?

No. If you are accustomed to plodding through the kind of writing that the search for tenure seems to generate in certain departments you might still want to read it. But irrational paragraphing, sentences long just for the sake of length, complexity to about four levels of subordination all drove me away from it despite that he seemed to be chasing down some serious changes in Strauss's thinking and some serious relations to German thinking between the wars.

Robert

I've put HHhH by Laurent Binet to the side for a stretch while I gleefully tackle a stack of recent acquisitions. First up was a sure-thing with Margaret Atwood and The Year of the Flood. Before I finish off the trilogy with MaddAddam, I've picked up Lexicon by Max Barry. I'm only on page 10, so no opinion yet, but I enjoyed Jennifer Government and Company, and have read good things about this one, so fingers crossed.

>79 Tara1Reads: Thanks for the thread to Orlando. I should really write up in more detail what I loved. I'll try to get to it later today. I hope you are as drawn in as I was.

>84 Cariola: I've had Cold Mountain on the shelf for quite a few years. I'm looking forward to it, but somehow have just not pushed it to the top.

>85 ursula: Do you share a copy? I can't imagine having to do that!

I just finished My Childhood by Gorki. Wow, just wow. Ok, I realize that's not very helpful. I've added a longer response to my thread here.

I finished the book while commuting home. There was a long delay because of an accident ahead, so I was glad to be reading on my ereader; after I finished, I decided to switch over to something light, so Carry on Jeeves was the perfect choice.

>99 ljbwell: I'm maybe just annoyingly curious, apologies, but wondering what happened with HHhH.

>102 ipsoivan: Nope, we've each got our own behemoth. We sit down every afternoon, side by side, and read our assigned section. :)

>101 ipsoivan: It's an excellent book. My students always enjoy it, but the women always wish it had a happier ending.

Almost finish with A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Thanks to LT members who recommended it. It's funny and sad and great.

>104 dchaikin: Not at all, and understood! I absolutely plan to come back to it, and was actually getting into the idea and flow of how he had written it.

There are two main reasons for punting it for the time being, though. First, when I started, I'd just returned from France, so French was coming more easily to me. Being surrounded by Swedish again means that, to give the book a real chance, I need to give it more dedicated concentration which just isn't happening right now. Second, I had ordered a stack of books. The delivery showed up and it was like seeing something shiny on the sidewalk - I simply got distracted and wanted to start working through the new ones.

>107 nrmay: I had avoided it, thinking it would just be fluff about a gruff old man, but ended up getting pulled into it. Part it-takes-a-village, part take time to learn about people before judging them.

Oh, and the film should be coming out at the end of the year.

>109 ljbwell:

When I started A Man Called Ove I thought this crotchety old fellow is just too rude; do I really want to read about him?
I was soon swept up in the how and why, and touched by his reluctant heart of gold. And oh yes, I'm always enthralled by quirky characters and this book is full of them. Finished the book this afternoon.

Thanks for the tip about the movie!

>108 ljbwell: I was curious if it was something in the book itself, and what that might. That doesn't seem to be the case

On a separate note, I'm starting three books. Lila by Marilynne Robinson is so far a nice corrective for Child of God, in many ways. Second, I've decided to start the Book of Isaiah, and have read some intro material. Third, for an audiobook I've started the 2014 season of the podcast Serial, which I'm calling a book, although it's not one.

>111 dchaikin: I'll be interested to hear what you think of Serial. I just listened to it last week over a matter of days. I was considering adding it to my thread as a book, but I never got around to it. There is a lot to discuss around it though, particularly the ethics of the whole project.

>112 japaul22: i'm not familiar with the ethical concerns. Interesting. I'll finish it first, then look them up. I've only completed parts 1 & 2.

For some reason Trollope seems to be annoying me just now so The Macdermots of Ballycloran goes on hold for a bit.

So started Kittyhawk Down on paper at the moment - caught my eye in the library today. So far - good.

>100 ipsoivan: I have been enjoying Orlando. I was surprised to find Woolf has a sense of humor in her writing. This is my first book by Virginia Woolf. I am struggling with whether or not I should finish it now or just wait and read it in April for the 2015 Category Challenge group read. :-/

Still ploughing through Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty, have recently started the fascinating White Ghosts, Yellow Peril : China and New Zealand, 1790-1950 by Stevan Eldred-Grigg and Zeng Dazheng, and my current poetry collection on the go is Furniture is Disappearing by Gemma White.

I finished and reviewed the utterly delightful The Manuscript Found in Saragossa, which I read because of a review last year by Steven here in Club Read. It is basically a series of nested stories, and I found it engrossing, if a tad confusing.

There are a few books I am concurrently dipping into and can't quite figure out which one I'm reading: My Age of Anxiety; Mostly Harmless; and American on Purpose.

I liked American on Purpose even though I haven't watched his television program.

Robert

The Decameron absorbed way too much of my time — most enjoyably to be sure — but I am now finished with it at last. Dan (dchaikin) has roped me into reading Ecclesiastes, so I am dropping everything to do that. Then it's on with a couple of dialogues of Plato. I need to find a good novel to dive into! There are quite a few on my list. Let's see . . .

After finishing Kittyhawk down last night, picked up Boxers by Gene Luen Yang which ended up being very good. So was Saints - its companion volume which may not work as an individual book but is perfect as a companion for Boxers.

Not quite sure what I am reading next yet...

>120 Poquette: Goodness, didn't realize i had conjured a rope out of my posts. : ) Enjoy Eccliastes.

ETA silly typo fixes. Can't type on the iPhone... :p

I guess it is "finish books" weekend again. Finished Invisible Cities and I still do not like post modernism but I kinda liked that one. Not sure what I am listening to next.

>122 dchaikin: What I meant was "lured"! ;-)

I finished Adam by Ariel Schrag, which was interesting and problematic. I'm really not a YA reader anymore.

I'm beginning Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, which is another book slated for competition in the Tournament of Books beginning in a few weeks. Beyond that, I know nothing about the book, although the first chapter was very good.

>88 RidgewayGirl: Glad to see another person who enjoyed Dept. Of Speculation. I loved how all of these disparate things begin to come together and create something so intimate. It also may have been the most accurate portrayal of new motherhood I've read. She really conveyed the ridiculous love, absolute exhaustion and mind-numbing tedium of those early days.

I've just finished The Paying Guests, Sarah Waters's newest novel which I found kind of boring compared to her other books.

I'm still slowing rereading The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James.

I think I'll also stop talking about it and actually start Annals of the Former World by John McPhee. I'm planning to read one part at a time which makes the whole project sound much more manageable.

127> I had difficulty getting involved with The Paying Guest, too, and stopped reading about halfway through.

Well, I couldn't resist any longer and bought a copy of The Paying Guests last weekend. Where were you guys when I needed the self-control? Hopefully, I'll disagree with both of you.

I've also started Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes, which is set in a very gritty Detroit.

>128 Cariola: I almost quit. The second half was definitely picked up the pace which was good, but it still never grabbed me.

>129 RidgewayGirl: I've seen some really positive reviews around here (one that stands out was from laurelkeet who I usually agree with about books) so maybe you'll love it!

I finished Fingersmith today. Lazy writing. Despite liking The Little stranger enough to give it 4 stars, I'm not risking reading something that bad again. I probably won't be picking up another of hers - well not unless driven to it.

Still being seduced at the rate of a chapter a night by Brideshead Revisited

Finished On the Road last week, just barely before it finished me. Too tedious by half. Devoured The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society to restore my faith in non-pretentious writing (which it did). Now in the middle of The Woman in White which has me totally gripped.

I finished Cotillion by Georgette Heyer, which was a fun romp through 1816 society.

I am going from delightfully silly to dark and intense as I start The Red Riding Quartet by David Peace.

I'm looking for some advice here. My next book club selection is Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I'm considering not reading it because I hated Shadow of the Wind, and now I see that Prisoner is book 3 of a trilogy. What do you think? Should I give it a chance? How similar are the two books? Will the third book make sense without reading the second (and not really remembering the first all that well)? I try not to skip book club reading, but I also hate getting bogged down with books I dislike.

>134 Nickelini: Can you ask the person who chose or recommended Prisoner of Heaven about it? Presumably they've read the other two or have some information about whether it can stand alone. I suggested the fifth or sixth book in a series for my bookclub, but that's early enough that it can stand alone very well (and the author tries to ensure they can mostly be read independently).

>134 Nickelini: From a book description: "Full of intrigue and emotion, The Prisoner of Heaven is a majestic novel in which the threads of The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game converge under the spell of literature and bring us toward the enigma of the mystery hidden at the heart of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books" (emphasis added).

I haven't read these, but the description above sounds like book three isn't stand-alone.

>134 Nickelini: Well, I am sorry you hated The Shadow of the Wind. But that being the case, my inclination would be to skip Prisoner of Heaven. Why waste time on books you don't want to read?

>134 Nickelini: I try not to skip book club reading, but I also hate getting bogged down with books I dislike.
That's an all too common problem here too. I suspect it comes down to how well you usually connect with the group whether or not you should "take one for the team". Luckily because of the drive to the location, I can often justifiably plead bad roads in those situations and stay home. There are some who go to my group without having read a particular book, or having stopped midway through. Maybe you could go if only to have some input on the next book!
This doesn't really sound like your kind of book.

I wouldn't read it. Just be honest--tell them you didn't care for the first book, and that you understand it won't make a lot of sense if you haven't read the second one. From the description 136 above, I expect there will be members who will be worse off than you, not having read the first two in the series.

Read History of the Rain instead. (Just kidding--but I'm going to bug you until you read it. Cyrel loved it, too!)

>134 Nickelini: Too many books, too little time. I say skip it.

As someone who adored Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game, I'd say skip it. Third in a series and you've read another book by that author and disliked it? Grounds for not wasting your time, especially since it's not a short book.

Go read History of the Rain instead. At least if you hate it, too, you'll be crossing another author off your list.

Funny that this bookclub discussion is happening now, as I just had a similiar one on FB last week. I was a bookseller for 20 years from '89-'09 and have never been in a bookclub, then or since. A former colleague mentioned that she would love to be in a bookclub with me. I told her that I have never been because I want to read what I want when I want. Bookclub seems too much like homework. Someone else commented that they like bookclub because they have read books they otherwise wouldn't and have great discussions. I mentioned that I still do both those things - both at my new job and here on LT.

So no surprise, Joyce, I say SKIP THE BOOK.

BTW - as I typed this, I heard the word "bookclub' on a commercial.

Thanks everyone for your votes on whether or not I should read Prisoner of Heaven for my book club. The finally tally:

Skip it: 8
Read it: 0

#135 Mabith Can you ask the person who chose or recommended Prisoner of Heaven about it? Presumably they've read the other two or have some information about whether it can stand alone. and #138 Sassy Maybe you could go if only to have some input on the next book!

My book club uses an unusual but effective way of picking books. At our first meeting in September, everyone arrives with book proposals and they make a little presentation on why they think a certain book would be good for our group. Then each member has 9 votes (one for each month we meet). We can distribute our 9 votes anyway we want--including all 9 on one book. The top-voted books win. In this way everyone has a say. Also, during the presentation, if anyone has a concern or extra information, they can speak up, and we often chuck books without them going to vote ("I already read that and it really, really sucked!" "I tried to read that three times and couldn't make any sense of the language" "You realize that book is 800 pages long and we struggle monthly with 200 pg books" "I hear there's a long scene where the main character axe murders her dog and her children," etc.)

It was clear at that meeting that the person who suggested Prisoner of Heaven didn't realize it was part of a trilogy, and realistically, this is the sort of thing that I'd be the only person to notice.

#137 Poquette Why waste time on books you don't want to read? and #141 Ridgeway Third in a series and you've read another book by that author and disliked it? Grounds for not wasting your time, especially since it's not a short book.

I know, I know. I just don't want to be THAT person. By which I mean that person who says "I read one book by JM Coetzee/Ian McEwan/Kazuo Ishaguro/Margaret Atwood and I just hated it and will never read that author again." When Prisoner of Heaven came up, I was willing to give him another chance. But then I stopped in my tracks when I realized it was a Book 3.

#138 Sassy That's an all too common problem here too. I suspect it comes down to how well you usually connect with the group whether or not you should "take one for the team".

Over the years I've taken lots for the team--sometimes I discover gems I'd never have read otherwise (Atonement, Eleanor Rigby) and other times I hate books I know I'm going to hate (Water for Elephants). And I already skipped the January book Ripper by Isabel Allende because it earned atrocious reviews and I have other unread books by her in my TBR pile, so I feel a little guilty about skipping the March book too. But I'll just make myself busy by reading other fabulous books!

#142 AlphaOrder A former colleague mentioned that she would love to be in a bookclub with me. Nancy, I want to be in a book club with you too!

#141 Ridgeway & # 139 Cariola: Off to add History of the Rain to my wishlist, although I'll be surprised if it isn't there already.

Thanks everyone!

ETA: this same book club read The Shadow of the Wind already.

>143 Nickelini: I know what you mean about feeling bad about skipping too many in a book club. I read Gone Girl for my bookclub largely because I skipped January's book (though we have a theme for each month, so I read something else that fit the theme) and I'll be skipping another in a few months.

#144 -- oh, I like the idea of a monthly theme. I think my club would be up for that. I have to think about it a bit and propose something next September. Good idea!

It means we hit a nice variety of books through the year. We all suggest themes and then vote on them if there are more than 12.

Joyce, I'm that person who will give up on an author after one book. There are caveats, of course. If the author is important in some way, then I give them three chances no matter how much I dislike their books (Phillip Roth, I'm looking at you. You know why.) And sometimes the author writes a much better book later on that someone here loved and I try again (it worked the case of Station Eleven). But I'm happy to give up on an author if a book is bad enough.

>147 RidgewayGirl: I'm that person who will give up on an author after one book.   I have never understood the compulsion some people have to read every book an author wrote. Not everything one person writes is necessarily going to be appealing. Full disclosure, I have been known to do that myself — don't get me wrong — but just saying.

The great thing about book groups is that you get to share the reading experience with other people and get their perspectives. The bad thing is that the pressure to conform is huge. It is wonderful when a group of people can agree on what to read, but sad to say, it may be unrealistic to expect it a hundred percent of the time.

Maybe the solution is to just skim the book and not have much to say during discussions, or ask questions so the others don't notice you didn't read the book thoroughly!

#147 & #148 - I might have meant exactly what you said. That is, I do try to give an author a fair chance, especially when they have an esteemed reputation (thus the examples I gave). I wouldn't think much of not reading more from a lesser known or regarded author. I put Ruiz Zafon somewhere in the middle--certainly many readers with respectable taste have raved about his books.

Suzanne - if I come across a cheap or free copy, I may just do what you say and skim it!

>143 Nickelini: I just don't want to be THAT person. By which I mean that person who says "I read one book by JM Coetzee/Ian McEwan/Kazuo Ishaguro/Margaret Atwood and I just hated it and will never read that author again."

Sigh! I guess I AM that person, although if I really hate a book I have learned not to finish it. But I just feel there are so many books I really want to read, why take a chance with an author I was disappointed with? Although I have been know to give authors second chances, and once was really surprised to find I liked another of her works.

I've been on a mini-break this week, and read a couple of mysteries. One quite good, The Cuckoo's Calling by J.K. Rowling, and one not-so-good,What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris. While it's been fun to indulge, I really found the second a waste of reading time. I'm back to my plodding, but very enjoyable, reading of Ulysses, interspersed with The Book of Ebenezer Le Page.

Finished Motive (nothing like a plane trip to catch up on some reading) - it's Kellerman. If you like him, you will like it. If you did not like the previous books, you probably won't like this one either.

Started The Yard on paper and Ancillary Justice on the kindle (last year when everyone was reading it, I was reading other things - really not big fan of reading books when they are read by everyone else...)

>134 Nickelini: Life is too short. If you did not like another book of his and you have second thoughts about that one - skip it. I am usually giving authors at least two chances but I start reconsidering this rule lately...

I've got They do it with Mirrors on audio in the car.
Finished Brideshead Revisited but not yet decided what I'm picking up next. Probably ought to read this month's book club selection, Bertie's guide to life and mothers. Can't make the meeting, so it's not essential...

Reading about this bookclub discussion makes me like my bookclub even more! With only one book among three to read everybody is sure to find something to their taste.

I'm super super excited that one of the three books for our next meeting is Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk! I've been wanting to read this for ages and never gotten to it. I've started it yesterday and so far I like it a lot but maybe not as much as I expected. I'm also surprised by how vividly the movie scenes keep popping in my head.

I drove home to New Jersey from extremely snowy Massachusetts yesterday and finished listening to Still Midnight by Denise Mina. My first book by Mina will definitely not be my last. I really enjoyed the dark gritty feel of this detective novel.

My next audiobook is We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. This was recommended to me a couple of years ago, after I finished Defending Jacob.

Finished W E B Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk, audiobook. Great book! I posted a brief review. Next to listen/read: The U S Supreme Court: A Very Short Introduction, by Linda Greenhouse.

Finished The Yard yesterday and really liked it. It has its problems but I am usually making some allowances for first novels and at the end of the day it was an enjoyable book. Not sure what is next on paper - just now concentrating on my Kindle book - Ancillary Justice

>155 NanaCC:: I loved We Need to Talk About Kevin. It's extremely unsettling, but fantastically well written. Interested to hear what you think of it when you finish the audiobook - it's very thought provoking.

Having finished (and enjoyed) The Woman in White, I'm now in the final furlong of To the Lighthouse.

I've added The Italians to the reading - it's non-fiction about exactly what it says. I'm guessing it will at least make for interesting conversations with my new neighbors.

Meanwhile, the Infinite Jest reading continues on schedule; we're currently on page 135. Finally starting to look like we're making a dent in it.

Finished Charlie Baxter's new collection, There's Something I Want You to Do. Always like his stories.

Then read Kent Haruf's forthcoming (May) Our Souls at Night. Highly recommend. Eventhough this takes place in Holt County like some of his other books, you do not need to have read those to enjoy this novel.

Thinking about starting H is for Hawk.

I usually have 2 books going (one paper one Kindle) but now I've added an audio book, want to get them all finished!

41 A Portrait of My Father by George W. Bush.....love the beginning: "You can find other books that might be more subjective about my father. This is not one of those books. This is a love story.

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter one of those free Kindle books, but it is a pretty good mystery, so far.

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson This is a slow read, so much history and so much going on. This is a true story, but written as a novel.

>158 AlisonY: - Woman in White is fun, isn't it? A great read for dark, dreary winter nights.

I've just finished Max Barry's entertaining thriller about the power of words, Lexicon and decided to jump right into the third of Atwood's trilogy, MaddAddam while The Year of the Flood is still relatively fresh in my memory.

I'm reading Lauren Beukes's newest novel, Broken Monsters, which is good so far -- mainly I'm enjoying the descriptions of Detroit.

I'm also reading Us by David Nicholls. It was long listed for the Booker, which led me to think it was more of a literary novel than it currently seems to be. But I liked One Day and have no objection to the light stuff so I'll give this story about a fifty-something guy whose wife wants a divorce a try.

I'm still reading Russian Short Stories from Pushkin to Buida and The Three Leaps of Wang Lun -- both long. Hope to finish both in the next week or so, so I can start new books for a trip I'm going on in early March.

I've recently read a couple of short things: Doctor Who: The TARDIS Handbook by Steve Tribe, a moderately entertaining diversion but not a must-have for Who fans, and Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko, a solidly decent kids' novel. Now I'm almost finished with Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought by Douglas Hofstadter, et al., which may be a little too deeply nerdy even for me.

Next up is When Mystical Creatures Attack! by by Kathleen Founds. I'm not even sure what that's about yet, but it looks like fun.

I keep taking little mini-breaks from Ulysses; today's is Winter: Five Windows on the Season by Adam Gopnik. It's really quite wonderful.

I finished reading the Gorgias of Plato. Now I am well into Peter Turchi's Maps of the Imagination and The Charterhouse of Parma. Looking forward to this break from heavy duty reading. I plan to spend the whole of March reading nothing but novels, novels, novels!

Finished Ancillary Justice in Monday (and it was good but had its issues...a bit more than I expected really) and now reading Range of Ghosts.

Finished To the Lighthouse (amazing) and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (hilarious). Now on to a somewhat neglected classic author - Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple.

I read The World Beneath by Australian Cate Kennedy for the Australia/New Zealand Challenge. Mixed feelings, but overall quite good. I'm going to quickly read Season of the Jew by Maurice Shadbolt to even out the month with a NZ author.

I've just started reading The Marauders by Tom Cooper after finishing the rather unusual Of Things Gone Astray by Janina Matthewson for ER.

I've finished Fight Club - thoughts to come on my thread, and I've started Consider Phlebas by Ian M. Banks, the first novel in the Culture series. So far I'm not thrilled.

I have just finished John Stenbeck's novella Of mice and men it is published in the penguin classics edition which also contains Cannery Row which I will read next.

>172 chlorine: Banks takes a long time to set the stage but then it pays off. At least I liked it anyway.

>173 baswood: I'm looking forward to your thoughts about the Steinbeck(s)!

I started I, Robot by Isaac Asimov today while at work - then got annoyed because I had to go back to work. Very impressed so far. It's a little amusing to read a story set in the future with talking robots, etc., etc., and realize that the future Asimov was writing about is now.

I have finished The Brothers Karamazov! Now that I am done with my winter long-depressive-Russian-novel the weather can warm up anytime.

I've finished a reread of Portrait of a Lady by Henry James which didn't stand up very well to my memory of it the first time around.

Now I'm reading Old Filth by Jane Gardam. I've been very busy and haven't had much time to read at all in February. Hoping March is a little easier, but not very optimistic.

Finished The Problems of Philosophy, by Bertrand Russell. Short book, valuable reading. Review in my thread. I'm going to Presocratic Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction, by Catherine Osborne.

I'm midway through Us by David Nicholls, which involves three people who are all difficult to like, who love each other, but are terrible at communicating. The book is turning out to be more interesting than I had thought it would be.

I've also started The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters and I'm enjoying it tremendously so far. I'm glad it's sizable.

>174 AnnieMod: Yes, I remember Consider Phlebas getting terribly exciting by the end. Well, mainly my memory of it is of picking it up half-finished while sipping my morning coffee in bed and then finding it utterly impossible to put it down, get up, and get on with my day until I'd finished it,

Myself, I've just finished The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Alas, I'm kind of wishing I'd stopped with The Shadow of the Wind, because the other two books just don't remotely measure up to it.

And I'm now reading Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time by Mark Adams, mainly because my sister is planning on taking her honeymoon in Peru this summer and visiting Machu Picchu, so I thought I'd join her vicariously.

I have 2 on the go. A history of the world in twelve maps is interesting, but it's going to take a while to get through.
And I'm listening to Footsteps in the Dark which is by Georgette Heyer, It's a mystery set (I think) between the wars and is not at all what I expected when I reserved it from the library

I finished and have just reviewed two books. Russian Short Stories from Pushkin to Buida is an all-around treat for readers interested in Russian literature or just short story lovers, and The Three Leaps of Wang Lun is a complex book that immerses the reader in 18th century China.

During my week of vacation I didn't complete a single book or do much reading at all. Now that I'm home I want something really enveloping while I work on some big projects, so I'm starting Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. I loved her Behind the Scenes at the Museum and I've been saving Life After Life until I really needed it.

>183 mabith: I loved Life After Life! It's the only book of hers I read .... so far.

>184 avidmom: It's one that my mom actually encouraged me to read, which she rarely does (I'm the book evangelist in the family, pestering people to read things). I haven't been let down by her yet.

>183 mabith:. I loved Life After Life. I think you are in for a treat.

I just finished the four books in The Red Riding Quartet by David Peace. They are filled with depravity, but are compelling page turners. Not for anyone with a weak stomach.

I need to get my head out of the gutter, so I am going to start Dorothy Sayers' Peter Wimsey novels. Up first is Whose Body?.

Finished Lila and i'm finding myself reading How Does a Poem Mean? by John Ciardi and Miller Williams. I'm entertained and i reached and old bookmark (not sure from when). But it seems to be essentially a textbook.

Finished Range of Ghosts earlier this week and started War Dogs by Greg Bear on the Kindle and The Clockwork Dagger by Beth Cato on paper.

Colleen, did you read them all in a row? I think they are gripping and very good, but I need a break between each so as to not lose complete faith in humanity. There's no breathing room in those books.

I've started Longbourn by Jo Baker, which is set at the Bennet's house in Pride and Prejudice, but follows the stories of the servants. I'm loving it so far. It's such a familiar story, and it's fun to see it from another angle.

I just began The Jail Notebook and Other Writings - Bhagat Singh's memoirs.

I am reading Emblems of Desire Selections from the délie of Maurice Scève. I am reading an English translation but also have the original Renaissance French to refer to.

Really enjoyed Someone at a Distance. Now on to Disgrace.

I've put aside Margaret Atwood's Lady Oracle for now and am instead reading Longbourn.

Finished War Dogs by the other Bear (Greg Bear) and it left me a bit ambivalent - a great half novel and a second half that either will connect with a sequel (or two) and make a very good continuous story or remain a convoluted mess of a story that is too convoluted for its own good. Next on the Kindle is The Race by Nina Allan.

I've finished Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam (I'll probably get around to the writeup during the weekend) and have decided to go in a different direction from recent reads: non-fiction. The book is The Arsenic Century, and is about arsenic use (and poisoning) in Victorian Britain. So far, it is wonderfully readable and entertaining, though not for the easily paranoid or hypochondriac. I've found myself smiling, wincing, even laughing aloud as I read it.

>195 ljbwell: The Arsenic Century sounds most interesting!

I finished I, Robot this morning and will probably start re-reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and am hoping to get my hands on a copy of The Martian by Andy Weir on my next trip to the library.

I've just finished Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Promise. Because I am not remotely ashamed to admit that I've recently fallen in love with a TV show supposedly aimed at seven-year-olds and am thrilled to be reading comics based on it. :)

I've now started an ER book, How Gone We Got by Dina Guidubaldi. So far I've read three of the stories in it, and one of them grabbed me a lot more effectively than the other two, but I'm decidedly impressed with the writing in all of them.

>197 bragan: Why would anyone be ashamed of falling in love with a well done children show (or well written one). Now... if you had admitted a never dying love to Sponge Bob, I would be worried but... :)

Just finished Life After Life (loved it!), and Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety.

Just started The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates. It's pretty short, so I might well finish it today.

>198 AnnieMod: The amazing thing about Avatar is that it's much better-written than most adult shows I could name.

And I tried watching Spongebob when my nephew was little, and never for the life of me was able to understand the appeal.

I have finished Peter Turchi's Maps of the Imagination and Stendhal's The Charterhouse of Parma. Next up will be Hilary Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety, Claude Simon's The Flanders Road, and Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.

>200 bragan: Agree. On both counts.

Finished Brown v Board of Education, by James T Patterson. Next in the audible list: The U. S. Supreme Court A Very Short Introduction, by Linda Greenhouse. Non fiction rocks!

I'm moving ... Finished The U S Supreme Court - A Very Short Introduction. Review in my thread. Next: The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, by Jeffrey Toobin.

I finally finished the massive & magisterial Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty and, because my library reserve finally came due, am moving straight on to This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate by Naomi Klein. It's very good - and much more of a page-turner than the Piketty, well worth reading though that is - but I won't be averse to reading something short & snappy when I'm through with the Klein.