What You're Reading the Week of 8 March 2008

Jules Verne Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea I thoroughly enjoyed my excursion with Simon Scarrow's The Generals and will be looking out for the prequel in London next week. Moved on to a very early Tess Gerritsen now called Stolen (originally published as Thief of Hearts). Pleasant enough but she was clearly still finding her style and it's nothing like as good as her more recent books (nor as good as Kelley Armstrong's Stolen either).

It's slow going while I struggle with a kidney stone, but I'm working my way through The Origin of Language.

I'm reading The Monsters of Templeton and MAN it is proving hard for me to get into it... I read great reviews about it and decided to read it, but I'm near page 120 and about to drop the towel on it...

I read Lauren Groff's The Monsters of Templeton last month and wasn't nearly as impressed with it as some of the reviewers had been. I thought the basic premise of it (the girl attempting to figure out her father's identity), was fairly bogus, plus so much of the historical stories felt disjointed and mostly unnecessary to the central plot. I wish it had been a better book.

#2 fleela ~ That doesn't sound like any fun at all. Hope you recover soon.

#3 AleAleta ~ Sounds like you better get over to the Abandoned Books thread and share your pain. :)

It's not 3/8 here yet (L.A., CA), so I won't share what I'm reading, but it may actually be different tomorrow than tonight because I'm not enjoying the book I'm reading very much. If that doesn't change after another few chapters, then I'll be looking around for something new.

>1 GreyHead: Greyhead - Just a note that the graphic you posted says "February 8" - oops!

I'm still reading Chasm City, as well as finally making some real progress in a couple of leisure non-fiction books I've been reading seemingly forever.

I'm 1/3 of the way through War and Peace, it gets better and better. Also, just finished Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat (who just won the National Book Critics Circle award for her memoir, Brother, I'm Dying - yea!)

Now I get to figure out what to pull off of Mount TBR for my next supplement to W and P. Many many many choices!

> 6: philosojerk : oops indeed - must stop doing these at 11:30 at night. Fixed now (though it may take a forced reload to clear the browser cache to see the March version).

Finished Tess Gerritsen's stolen - a Harlequin romance indeed! Barack Obama next - his book only arrived in London this year.

It's the end of the 8th here in New Zealand! Am about 60 pages into Slaughterhouse Five and enjoying it. And I've started The second world war by John Keegan. It's going to take a while.

#5 Storeetllr - I might have to find the abandoned books thread too... for London: the biography from last week's reading.

#7 teelgee - I signed up for Anna Karenina on dailylit and have at least 90 instalments to wade through...W&P has been on my TBR list for years now.

This week's four are the same as last week's:

Turkish book: I'm still working on A Cup of Turkish Coffee, stories by Buket Uzuner in a bilingual edition. I think I may be getting the hang of it, and it's very exciting. The stories themselves (I'm now on the second one) don't do much for me, but the thrill of successfully untangling a long sentence makes it all worthwhile.

Spanish book: still poking along through Poesía completa of Jorge Manrique, who lived in the 15th century. I've made it to the poem that made Manrique famous, a meditation on the occasion of the death his father, and my previously slow progress has slowed down to practically no progress at all, as I do my best to understand every word in every line – because it's worth it.

English book at home: I'm still reading A Brief History of the Spanish Language. Now when I read Manrique, I'm more analytical of the Spanish, and understanding it more.

Book for lunch break at work: I'm still reading Taliesin by Stephen R. Lawhead. It has taken a Christian turn. I'm not a Christian myself, so I'm doing my best to withhold judgment until I see where the story is going.

today I will read Here If You Need Me: a True Story by Braestrup, Kate

( and I hope to watch the film Calender Girls )

then tomorrow I plan to read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

For the week, I will start with gossip of the starlings by Nina de Gramont

and see what happens next

Yep, this post will prove that I am a slow reader since I am STILL reading The Egoist by George Meredith. I am going to blame it on being really busy at work and, therefore, being able to read through only a few pages at a time during lunch and breaks. Also, still supplementing with 1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz and enjoying it.

Got about halfway through The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory while lounging in bed this morning. It's been entertaining so far, but I feel like it's going to take a turn for the worse... somehow I never remember how much Henry VIII annoys the living snot out of me until I am already well into a book that stars him.

Also still listening to Inkspell - it's good, I've just had no time to listen recently. Hopefully I can get a few hours in this weekend, and finish it up on one of my flights this week.

I need to pick out some books to take with me - appropriately spring-break-y reading, but not so fluffy that I'll tear through them in a few hours - my suitcase isn't that big. I'm thinking maybe Outlander, a Jasper Fforde book, and one of the fat fantasy novels that I've got laying around?

#12 sferrando: You're not slow; you're heroic. I couldn't get through The Egoist.

#13 fyrefly98: If you have snot living inside you, then I say Henry VIII is doing you a huge favor.

I recently started The Splendor of Silence and am also slowly reading War and Peace

Going to start Northanger Abbey today.

Started Sarum by Edward Rutherfurdlwhen I couldn't sleep last night - boyfriend and I are both reading it; will visit him this weekend and compare notes! Also started Emma by Jane Austen a couple of days ago and will get back to it next week. And for comic relief - literally - Psmith Journalist by P.G. Wodehouse.
I finished The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins last night - brilliant.

I am thoroughly enjoying Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones.

#3 and 9 Here (I hope) is the link to the abandoned books thread:

http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=29606

Still picking up and putting down a bunch of things, but hoping to focus on The Audacity Hope by Barack Obama and Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson this week.

#11 McKait - I hope you enjoy Here If You Need Me as much as I did. I thought it was a breath of fresh air in the memoir genre which has recently been leaning toward coming of age stories it seems.

Started "Entering Hades" (no touchstone) by John Leake last night. In Cold Blood it is not, but it's interesting enough so far for me to keep reading. It's about a series of murders that took place in Los Angeles and Austria in the early 1990s, the cops who investigated (on both continents), and a writer who was inordinately interested in the case.

I finally finished the abridged Herodotus I was reading last night, and I finished Alastair Reynolds' Chasm City this morning. I'm about to start Vladimir Nabokov's The Eye - I expect I'll finish it today, as well, since it's only ~100 pages.

I managed to finish Ignorance by Milan Kundera and really enjoyed this book. He is just a brilliant writer.

I am about to finish A brave new world and I am ashamed to say this is my first time reading it. Its an interesting read - but I can see how the book is written for shock value. I feel that I am reading a bad goverment propoganda film from the 1950s.

After I finish Brave new world I plan to read Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee.

Continuing my Travels With Charley. A fun read. Love Steinbeck's cantankerous observations.

I'm still reading The Babylonians by Gwendolyn Leick and a relatively new abridgement of Heike monogatari, The Tales of the Heike by Burton Watson. I just started Yakuza Moon and Persian Girls.

#13 fyrefly98 - Outlander is a great idea for beach reading! But you might want to bring the 2nd book in the series of it too Dragonfly in Amber, since as soon as you finish Outlander, you'll want to launch right into the next one. I'm going away to the beach next weekend for a week as well, and am bringing The Eyre Affair with me as well as a lot of other beach-y books too - have fun! The Constant Princess is also on my list too, I'll probably start reading once I get back from my trip.

I finished Vladimir Nabokov's The Eye, and while it's bouncing around in my head, I think I've decided on Foucault's Pendulum for my next read.

> 24 tatleriv,

If you enjoy Travels With Charley,
you might like to check out Blue Highways: A Journey into America by William Least-Heat Moon.

Still not having a huge amount of time to read and am sticking with light and breezy for now... Finished Live Bait by P.J. Tracy and am now reading Trouble Becomes Her by Laura Van Wormer - third in the Sally Harrington series...

>14 LydiaHD: LydiaHD - Bwahaha! Very true! (also: ew, gross!)

>26 ktleyed: ktleyed - Ah, unfortunately, I don't currently own Dragonfly in Amber... Maybe I'll save Outlander for the end of the week, and see if I can pick it up at the airport. :)

I just picked up The Friday Night Knitting Club

I finally finished The Sister by Poppy Adams, or as I affectionately call it, "The Moth Book." I almost gave up on it at the half-way point, but the story moved past the moths and really got interesting. A great book for a patient reader (patience is not one of my fortes though!).

Next, I will be reading People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks.

Today I started The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes. So far it's pretty good. After it I have The Ministry of Special Cases and Clown Girl.

I'm half way through The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic that Shaped Our History. I'm really enjoying it so far...

I'm reading 'The Art Thief', by Noah Charney, a pretty good mystery that is really a brief on art history and the art of thievery.

I picked up Anne Rice's Merrick yesterday, for my take-out reading. It's been quite a while since I last read Rice, who used to be one of my favorite authors, and it's rather comforting reading her style again. I hope I enjoy this book!

I'm about 1/3 of the way through War and Peace; in addition, I started Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks and for a quick afternoon read, a marvelous kid's book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.

I'm working on The Girls by Lori Lansens as well as Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult.

I just finished The Bride by Julie Garwood (in one day) and am about to start A Man In a Kilt by Sandy Blair.

@14 LydiaHD ~ when I told my husband that someone called me "heroic" for trudging through The Egoist, he said, 'You should try precalculus!" He's taking a precalc class at the local university and struggling a bit with it! His text book is "IE Precalc Math Calc-CD 5e" (touchstones not working, but who cares, right?!?), and, surprise, I'm the only person with it in my library!!!

I finally finished Jane Eyre and I enjoyed it very much! I especially thought the middle part was wonderful, the ending was not exactly what I was hoping for though. Without giving away too much, I thought one of the characters had changed too much.

Then I also finished Breakfast at Tiffany's and the three other stories by Capote the book contained. Liked it very much.

Now I'm reading The other side of the sky by Arthur C. Clarke. It's a collection of short stories. Now here's an author who likes a twist at the end! Some actually jolt me, others I can see coming a mile off, but all in all an enjoyable read.

I just started Dave Eggers' What is the What yesterday. This is a "biographical novel" of a Sudanese man, one of the "Lost Boys". It's received considerable critical acclaim so I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to get around to it. But then, that could be said for lots of books I guess!

Finished Remainder by Tom McCarthy and, while I liked it a lot, it's unusual and not a novel I could recommend to everyone.
Now reading my first ever Cormac McCarthy novel - No Country For Old Men - and enjoying the style and the story.

lindsacl, What is the What was one of my favorite novels of 2006, such a great book, and hope you like it as much as I did.

I don't think No Country For Old Men is McCarthy's best work by any stretch, but despite its violence and hard-core nihilism, it's still a most entertaining book.

Wow, I just read the last 150 pages of Richard Price's sizzling new book Lush Life in one big gulp, an absolutely stunning piece of fiction, just compulsively readable all the way through, and an immediate addition to my Favorite books of the year list too.

#38 Kymberk, would be interested in your thoughts on Change of Heart once you finish it. I love Jodi Picoult but this one seems to be getting not as rave reviews as her other books.

I finished the wonderful The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth and the amusing and satiric Serve the People! by Yan Lianke.

I'm not quite a hundred pages into Joseph J. Ellis's His Excellency: George Washington.

I just started Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, which so far I'm enjoying. I'm also re-reading (only in this case I'm listening to the audio book) Special Topics in Calamity Physics

Just started Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips.
looks like the touchstone gods don't like this book!

Still working on Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson (I'm halfway through, and it's excellent) and when I'm finished with that I plan to continue with The Dragon Never Sleeps by Glen Cook (I was reading it before R.G., but I drop everything for an Erikson book). I'm also about to start Fathers and Crows by William T. Vollmann.

Will be starting some time today Summer People by Brian Groh. Just finished The Choice by Nicholas Sparks.

>32 mrstreme:: mrstreme
At page 200, I'm finally drawn into The Sister. I'm surprised -- and encouraged!! :) -- by your and others' comments upon finishing it ... it must really be some wow-something that pulls everything together?

#52 - Detail_Muse - you are at a good place in the story. It comes together at a fast pace now. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Just finished Anna Karenina, which I loved. Really want to read War and Peace soon, but for now am reading something (much!) lighter - Going Postal by Terry Pratchett.

I am struggling to finish The Sister because of all of the "moth stuff". Listening to The Road on my commute. I am also 40 pages into Honeymoon With My Brother for bookclub Friday and not enjoying it at all! It's not the best week for reading!

I've started The Bridge on the Drina and The Horse, The Wheel, and Language by David W. Anthony.

I just finished What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! and enjoyed it very much - a good, quick, light read. I am about to begin Fever 1793. My daughter is reading it for school and, because her teacher told me it is a bit of a difficult read and she may need some help with it, I decided to read it along with her. Both of my boys have read it and said they really enjoyed it.

I'm enjoying Piano Lessons : Music, Love and True Adventures by Noah Adams. I may even move the pile of books off the piano bench when I'm done.

#28 usnmm2 -

Already read Blue Highways a couple years ago. It still haunts me (in the best way).

Less than 100 pages to go in Paul Watkins' The Promise of Light. Don't know if I'll finish it. A slow, self-conscious and pretentious read. I can't fathom how the book garnered all the rave reviews on the jacket.

Spent hours this weekend cleaning and reshelving the books in my library. Thank God that's done!

Next up, for a trip to Jackson Mississippi and my wife's extended family, Beleaguered City by Shelby Foote about the Vicksburg campaign.

I finished Academ's Fury and I've started Cursor's Fury, both by Jim Butcher.

I finished The Black Book by Orhan Pamuk and began The Air We Breathe by Andrea Barrett.

Picked one from my NYRB classics collection. Is anyone else obsessed with these books?

In the middle of What's for Dinner by Jams Schuyler. Not what I expected, but I am captivated.

Reading The Devil You Know by Mike Carey. It is very good.

I just finished A Man in a Kilt which was a really fun read and recommended on LT and am now going to start The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, which was another LT recommendation.

I am having a hard time settling on anything to read this week, but based on what I have due back at the library, here is the agenda: The Brontes Went to Woolworth's by Rachel Ferguson, The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta, Sanctuary by Faye Kellerman, The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, Red Earth and Pouring Rain by Vikram Chandra, Interred with Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell, The Adventure of English by Melvyn Bragg, Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl and Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King.

Just finished Out Stealing Horses and have now moved into Sweden and looking forward to starting John Ajvide Lindqvist's Let the Right One In.

#66 Oh, Alcottacre ~ The Sparrow is one of my all-time favorites! Hope you enjoy it. :)

Finally let myself give up on Belle Ruin by Martha Grimes--very dull and boring and I did not care about the mystery at all. I had been slowly starting The Other Boleyn Girl on the side and will probably just go with that now.

I have just started The Life of Our Holy Father Maximus the Confessor, based on the life by his disciple Anastasius. This is a short biography of a martyred early saint of the Orthodox Church, and there's a little bit of a story behind this one. In a neighborhood close to my house in San Francisco, there is a small book and art store run by the Russian Orthodox Church called Archangel Books. I like to wander in from time to time and have a look around, especially because the iconography is quite beautiful.

Being Jewish, I have never really learned about the Eastern Orthodox churches, and particularly about how their beliefs differ from Catholicism. So I thought that if I selected from one of the biographies of early Orthodox figures, I'd satisfy my curiosity about this and also quite likely read a very interesting history and biography along the way.

I selected this one more or less at random. The biography was translated from the Russian in the early 1980s by Father Christopher Birchall, who I believe resides (or resided) in Massachusetts. It is based, as the title reveals on the origional writings of Saint Anastasius, a disciple of Saint Maximus. The Russian version came from an earlier Greek text.

At any rate, I have just begun Father Birchall's introduction, and I'm already finding the reading quite interesting. The biography itself is only 70 pages, so it should be a quick read, and I love spending time filling in missing pieces of my education in this way.

I finished The other side of the Sky by Arthur C. Clarke last night and enjoyed it.

After my 1001 reads and some science fiction, I decided to go with something a lot lighter. I'm currently reading She who shops by Joanne Skerrett, which is actually better than I'd expected so far.

#60, Smiley: Beleaguered City is superb. The core is from the chapter on Vicksburg in Foote's 3 volume history of the Civil War but it is greatly expanded. I found it fascinating to read it in conjunction with the section in Grant's Personal Memoirs.

Stars in Their Courses is the same idea only with the Gettysburg campaign. It's on my To Be Purchased list.

You can't go wrong with Shelby Foote, either as historian or as novelist. His Jordan County is stunning.

#63 alphaorder:

Picked one from my NYRB classics collection. Is anyone else obsessed with these books?

I am, sort of. I'm almost through reading the third in J.G. Farrell's Empire Trilogy, The Singapore Grip, and while it's not so good as the other two, it's still an excellent book. I've never heard of most of the titles in the NYRB but am intrigued enough to pick a few and get them. One thing for sure: I love the books themselves, a very high class trade paperback.

Reading The Phantom of the Opera now. I loved the musical as a younger man, (17, now 18) but something wasn't right about it. Reading the book I understand what is wrong with it: Andrew Lloyd Webber is a Broadway Necromancer, piecing together an unholy creation from what was once a perfectly good novel that has since been obscured, its beauty a shadow of what it once was because it's associated with a musical more than its own merits. Still, it's a pretty awesome book even so.

#63 alphaorder, #73 Joycepa

I wouldn't call it obsessed, but I've become increasingly fascinated by NYRB books since reading my first ones several years ago (found by browsing in one of my favorite bookstores). I've found some truly wonderful books through NYRB, and have also bought large numbers of other books that sound intriguing but that I haven't read yet.

They are online and were having a "moving sale" of 40-60% off selected titles, but it may be over now. You can get on an e-mail list for announcements of new titles.

#75 rebeccanyc: Thanks for the online link! alphaorder had just recommended an author to me--Stoner--and I was puzzled because I couldn't find it on the list of NYRB in any of my Farrell books. But I think I see the problem after checking--VERY briefly--the online site--the series Farrell is in is called NYRB Classics and Stoner may be in another series.

Is that about right, alphaorder?

I've bookmarked the site and will return to it when I have time.

Edited for addendum: OK, got it, Stoner is the TITLE of a book, not the author. Aaagh--maybe a few more years reading and I'll understand...

Don't bother trying to help the hopeless! :-)

Couldn't agree more on Shelby Foote's The Beleaguered City: The Vicksburg Campaign, probably the most thoughtful explanation of the siege of Vicksburg I've ever read.

Joycepa, John Williams' Stoner is an absolutely terrific book, and Williams has 2 others that are also available in NYRB Classic editions and both are simply exceptional: his 1973 National Book Award winner Augustus, and even more memorably, his pseudo-western Butcher's Crossing, one of my favorites from last year.

I've just finished Going Postal, good but not one of my favourite Discworld novels. Now I'm reading Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell.

I just finnished a disney fairy book.

Just finished The Trial of Henry Kissinger by Christopher Hitchens, a terrifying indictment of the former Secretary of State and have begun Jim Shepard's Love and Hydrogen. Thanks LouisBranning for bringing him to my attention.

#60 Joycepa & #77 LouisBranning:

Thanks for the Foote praise. I have his three volume history in hardback but haven't gotten to it yet. Helpful to know it will be a good read.

i'm reading one of the early reviewers books "the forgery of venus" - so far, so good...!

Almost at the end of (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay) By ((Michael Chabon)). Loved it for the most part - a little long in places.

#77, Louis Branning: If only for the pleasure of buying those beautiful books, I intend to get Stoner and the others based on yours and alphaorder's recommendations.

#81, Smiley: I have two copies of Foote's The Civil War--the first one in paperback which I've read through completely 3 times and just recently purchased the hard back edition as a Christmas present for myself. The description "narrative" I gather means that there are no footnotes or such as one would expect with a formal history but that's ok--it's a terrific work, although I wish he had a bibliography. He brings all his skills as a novelist to the story--there are times when he gets pretty sarcastic, for example. And the maps are the some of the best available in the literature--it is maddening to pick up even specialized histories of particular battles and discover that the maps are inadequate. Foote did a great job.

Not everyone has (or should have, heaven knows) the mania for reading about the American Civil War that I do, but I can say that for those who are interested, there are two must reads: one is Foote's work, which reads easily and is gripping, and the other is James Mcpherson's Battle Cry of Freedom. I can NOT figure out how McPherson managed to cram as much as he did into one book! Bruce Catton was the original popularizer, but he focused too much on the Eastern theater, particularly Virginia. Foote's great contribution was showing that the Western theater was equally as--if not more so--important in the defeat of the South. He really was the first to emphasize the importance of the fall of Vicksburg outside of any scholarly journal.

Both are superb works of history AND of authorship, for want of a better word. Both make history come alive, exciting.

Another great, GREAT general history is Ken Burns' documentary, "The Civil War". It's on 5 discs and is utterly enthralling. I watch it several times a year.

No one has to point out to me that I am somewhat enthusiastic on this topic. :-)

Thank you, Louis and Smiley for giving me the barest excuse to carry on! :-) Good reading, Smiley!

I'm reading Chapter 15 of The Magician's Ward.

#81 & #84: joycepa and smiley,

Have either of you read Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage by Noah Andre Trudeau? It was the first book I read this year, and I found it quite good. I realize Gettysburg may be the most analyzed (or over-analyzed?) battle in American history. Still, I found it extremely valuable to read this well written and comprehensive account.

#45 - I am about 50 pages away from finishing Change of Heart and I love it! There's a really good twist that you don't see coming and I'm really curious to find out how it ends.

#86 rocketjk: No, I for one haven't read it--or even heard of it. And you're right about the amount of attention that battle has received! I'll have to check into it. I have quite a few books on that particular battle but I can always be counted on to fall for yet one more! :-)

My leisure reading is currently Kalimantaan by C. S. Godshalk.

Thanks for clarifying my message about NYRB classics everyone. I have not read the other John Williams books, but I must say Stoner was one of my favorite finds of last year. It got me going on more of these NYRB classics, many I have purchased, but not read yet.

#87: I haven't read Change of Heart yet, but my bookshop is hosting Jodi Picoult on Wednesday night. She sure connects with her fans!

Just started Stephen Marche's Shining At The Bottom of The Sea.

Finished The Origin of Language this evening so now it's time for spring training with Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong.

>5 Storeetllr:
Thanks! I think I'm on the mend.

currently up to my neck in Gravity's Rainbow, wacky, brilliant, disturbing, complex, hilarious, dull, genius, challenging. its a book that you can exaust a thesarus trying to describe

#79 hayleyheiss ~ I like fairy tales too. Which is your favorite?

#84 Joycepa - I bought Battle Cry of Freedom 13 years ago while I was living in the United States. I remember being excited about reading it way back then, too. How bad is that - a TBR from more than a decade ago! So thanks to you I'll bump it up the notional pile now. I think it's been hiding on a bottom shelf...

Next to my light and fluffy read, I decided to read another book for my 1001 challenge on-line. So now I'm also reading A Christmas Carol. I'm definitely not a fan of the Dickens books I've read (Oliver Twist and Hard Times), but so far, this one's okay. And short! ^^

I started Shock Wave by James O. Born back on the 3rd, but wound up accidentally leaving it in a box last Wednesday when we worked a job fair, so I picked up Oyster Blues by Michael McClelland. I've since finished it and gotten back into Shock Wave.

I'm reading Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson for my April bookclub meeting and 888 challenge. It's very dense and at least at the beginning hard to decipher because of all the new words and acronyms. I am enjoying it. I'm reading Envious Casca by Georgette Heyer - one of her mysteries - for "fluff" as Vonini puts it. It reminds me of an Agatha Christie houseparty mystery and I'm enjoying it too.

#95, cmt: Please let us know how you like Battle Cry of Freedom. What's wonderful about the book is that he sets the war in the political and social context of the times as well. Well deserving of the Pulitzer, IMHO (well, maybe not so H).

Snagged an advanced reading copy of Alive and Well in Prague, New York by Daphne Grab...and since the review has a deadline I figured I best get on it right away. So I put aside The Splendor of Silence and started it this morning. I am really loving this book!

Last night I finished Benjamin Black’s (pseudonym for John Banville) excellent second in the series of mysteries involving the Dublin pathologist, Quirke, The Silver Swan. Black’s follow up to Christine Falls was an excellent, fast passed whodunit with (no big surprise) some beautiful prose. My only negative criticism of the plot, and this was very minor, was that some of the relationships were clumsy, and when Black stops the narrative and explains those relationships it took away from the pace. I think the reason for doing this was for the benefit of readers who had not read Christine Falls.

#102 SeanLong: series noted--thanks for the tip!

Still reading Inkheart and I'm about 3/4s of the way through. It is getting more interesting as I go along.

#103 Joycepa, back at ya, for your insight on the Foote Civil War Trilogy! Every year I make a reading goal to tackle that, and every year I fail. Maybe your post will now serve as the impetus to pick up the first volume. I am an unabashed Foote fan, may he rest in peace.

I started Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman yesterday.

Finished Mailer's Castle in the Forest this morning, and I'm still not quite sure what to make of it. It wasn't an enjoyable read by any stretch of the imagination, nor was it particularly edifying. I had hoped that Mailer's use of the demon narrator would be closer to Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita, or even Lewis's Screwtape Letters, but it seems superfluous in this case. Anyone else care to share an opinion?

I'm starting with David Quammen's Monster of God today, as well as the (very obscure) play, Death's Jest-Book by Thomas Lovell Beddoes. I don't know whether it will be any good, but I enjoy his poetry (quite macabre; very lyrical)

#105 SeanLong: Amen, brother, to your sentiments about Shelby Foote, god bless the old rake.

What's your favorite Foote novel? (All opinions encouraged).

#90 - You're so lucky Jodi is coming to your store! I'd love for her to come to my area.

I am reading Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks and really loving it. Her People of the Book is our April book club pick.

#108, Joycepa: I've only read two of Shelby Foote's books, Love in a Dry Season and Follow Me Down, and really can't pick a favorite. I loved both equally.

Stole some reading time behind the high walls of my cube and finished Alive and Well in Prague, New York. This was an awesome book and just makes the idea of reading anything else at the moment seem really dull in comparison. It had a wonderful plot, believable characters and I just couldn't put it down.

I started Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt this morning. I think it might be too stream-of-consciousness to suit my current mood, but I'll keep at it for a little longer.

I've read Foote's Civil War history, of course, but like Sean above, I've only read his novels Love in a Dry Season and Follow Me Down, however you'll find nowhere else where Foote's voice and persona are so strikingly high-lighted as they are in The Correspondence of Shelby Foote & Walker Percy, an exchange of letters between these great friends that begins during their teenage years in the 1940s, and continues unabated until Percy's death in 1990. It is just totally irresistible.

#114 LouisBranning: I have read similar evaluations of the Correspondence and just have not gotten around to buying it. I have enjoyed Walker Percy's work, but nowhere near so much as Foote's.

Thanks for reminding me of the existence of the correspondence.

I've already put in my vote for Jordan County, which is my favorite of all Foote's novels but admit I have not yet read Love in a Dry Season (sitting on my TBR shelf with too many others.).

I just finished The Air We Breathe by Andrea Barrett. Once again, her ability to impart scientific knowledge and weave a good plot with engaging characters has reeled me in. Read it in 24 hours.

I am starting The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.

Reading the short story "The Struggles and Triumph of Isidro" by James Merle Hopper in the anthology Voices of Liberty.

I just finished In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, and I'm now going to start reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It's a bit daunting, but it sounds like a good read.

>118 RedBowlingBallRuth: "Pillars" certainly has its moments, but so have a great amount of shorter, less repetitive works. John Connolly had a few interesting things to say about the "classic" status of the book on his Amazon blog, if you're interested.

mckait....loved Here if You Need Me: A True Story...read it for my book group.

Finishing up (finally!) Out by Natsuo Kirino, which has picked up considerably since the 2/3 mark. In fact, it's gotten hard to put it down now. I hope the end merits my having managed to slog through it.

Edited to correct touchstone.

118 RedBowlingBallRuth

I've read both In Cold Blood and Pillars of the Earth and both were excellent; the thing I liked most about Follett's book was the total immersion in the time period - even when there's not much happening in the narrative, you just get sucked in... Am looking forward to eventually reading the sequel World Without End once I've made some more headway in my TBR pile :)

Still with the light and fluffy reading: Deadly Love by Brenda Joyce...

I just finished Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle... It was my first of his I've read. I reckon I liked it enough to pick up Kafka on the Shore as well... Yes, I enjoyed it...

I'm reading Ha Jin's The Crazed right now. I begain Waiting last week... but I believe I'll read Crazed first.

123> I loved Waiting. The Crazed, not so much. I kept it to get back to because I wasn't interested enough to finish it.

I'm finishing The Great Influenza by John M. Barry. Fascination history. Short fiction this week is Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters and Seymour: an Introduction by J.D. Salinger. Never read these stories before even though it's been on the shelf for a long time, a battered paperback print from the '70s. Forgot how good he is.

LheaJLove.......Kafka on the Shore was one of my favorite reads of 2007. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I just started The War of the End of the World by Mario Vargas Llosa

#123

Go for it on Kafka on the Shore. You won't regret it.

#127 Irisheyz77: The War at the End of the World is one of my all-time favorite books. It takes place in an area of Brasil I know very well and the people are portrayed superbly. It is a remarkable story based on history, and the battle of Canudos is outstanding writing of its type. Vargas Llosa based a good deal of his story on the historical account by Euclides da Cunha, Rebellion in the Backlands (really bad translation of Os Sertoes)who shows up in the novel.

The book captures northeast Brasil even as it exists today in terms of the people who live in that beautiful, harsh, semi-arid area. Tenho saudades--I long for it--even now, as happy as I am here in Panama.

I hope you enjoy it.

I'm re-reading (3rd time) The Dice Man.

A birlliant book that was before my time, but still has great value in todays society.

I finished Waiting for the Barbarians which was a chilling and heartbreaking read.

I am now reading Blonde. This is my first read by Joyce Carol Oates and I am really enjoying her writing style. And this book is interesting and is sucking me in.

@129 joycepa - I'm a little daunted by its length and small print combo and know that my reading won't proceed super quickly in terms of page count. But I'm already engrossed in the story from what I read this morning on the train.

I was debating between starting this book or The Shadow of the Wind I carried both in with me and planed to spend 1/2 my ride in reading on and then switching to the other before making a final choice. However, I never made it to The Shadow of the Wind.

#132 Irisheyz77: For me, the book was and still is searing. But then the first time I read it was after at least my first trip to that area (although in a different state, Paraiba) where I saw children dying of starvation, dead cattle everywhere due to one of the worst droughts in 50 years. But the people who live there are indeed the people who Vargas Llosas portrays--he's caught them. They endure.

Another book about the sertao (which is really what that entire interior area is called) which is about an ordinary couple caught up in a drought in that area is by Graciliano Ramos called Vidas Secas which can be translated either Barren Lives, which is what my English version of it is called or my preference, Drought Lives. It's clearly a play on words in Portuguese. It, too, shows the endurance of the sertanjeiros. It's a beautiful book.

By the way, at least at the time I was there, there was a very strong Irish missionary presence in northeast Brasil and Sao Paulo. I had never met actual Irish-from-Ireland before; I met quite a few there, nuns and priests, and instantly fell in love with the sense of humor--and I mean speed of light responses!--and as well, a certain type of realistic view of the world I hadn't met before. Like just about every missionary I met there, Protestant or Catholic, they were utterly dedicated, hard-working selfless people who spent their lives trying to at a minimum ease where they could the suffering of the people, as well as help through the most basic health education.

keren7, Blonde is one of JCO's best novels, was an NBA nominee as well, and is just immensely entertaining.

Irisheyz77, Shadow of the Wind is one of my favorite books. I'm sure you won't be disappointed when you read it. Now I have to check out The War at the End of the World.

Ditto to momom248! My son-in-law is from Brasil and I want to read more Brasilian literature.

Vargas Llosa is Peruvian but has an uncanny ability to capture the cultures about which he writes. I was especially impressed by The War at the End of the World, because, due to being settled by the Portuguese rather than the Spanish, Brasil is NOT like those Latin American countries I've visited or have lived in. While there are certainly similarities in all Latino cultures, Brasil is indeed different. It's a nation of poets, musicians, and mystics, and I would stress the mystics, at least in the northeast.

I love Jorge Amado's works--they are wonderful, especially, in my opinion, Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon. He wrote beautifully about the state of Bahia, which is also in the northeast--but to put it mildly, it's a very romanticized view. Beautiful writing--but it doesn't exist anymore and probably never really did.

Brasil is huge, and Brasilians will tell you (usually) that even they don't know all their country. I've travelled and stayed extensively in the Amazon region around Manaus and Tefe, and when I visited friends of mine in the northeast, I told them things that they didn't know--not because they're ignorant--far, far from it--but simply because Brasil is so huge and so diverse.

I was traveling once by bus (best way to see Brasil) to visit friends in Alagoas, sitting next to a young man who was visiting the northeast for the first time--he lived in one of the southern--much better off--states. He remarked to me that he was seeing things that he had never seen or knew about before, simply because the principal regions of Brasil are so different. Same with the literature. I prefer the literature of the Northeast because I have so many friends there and spent time working there.

If you want to see what the nordestinos look like, the people from northeast interior, see if you can get hold of a copy of Terra, a book of photographs by Sebastiao Salgado, which has poetry by Chico Barque who is one of Brasil's most famous songwriters. During the dictatorship, Barque wrote a popular song called "La Banda" (the band) which was a resistance song. The verses seemed quite innocent--but everyone knew the REAL meaning behind the words. I was told by friends in the northeast who lived through the dictatorship that if an army patrol walked by a cafe, someone was sure to start singing "La Banda". Somehow the soldiers were never able to find the singer.

Salgado's book is stunning. I know people working in that movement, I've seen the demonstrations--the book is totally authentic, not contrived or distorted. Irisheyz, if you can snag a copy in the library, I think you'll find it an excellent companion to your read. On p. 22, there is a picture of Brother Damiao, who most certainly follows in the footsteps (but more pacifically) of Antonio Conselheiro; I'm not sure if Damiao is still alive. I never saw this aspect of Brasil because I was never in the right place at the right time.

At the risk of turning this into a book: Brasil has a small but outstanding film industry. One of the best films about the northeast is "Central Station", starring Fernanda Montenegro who is one of Brasil's most famous actresses. It starts out in Rio de Janeiro and then is a journey into the interior, I believe, of Bahia. It was filmed during a "normal" season, so it's relatively green. But it's the sertao. It's wonderful.

joyce - thanks for all the info. I'm really looking forward to getting in the meat of this novel now!

The Irish from Ireland are great. I love them. I love the wit of the English as well. I was born in and raised in America but people often tell me that I have the same sort of wit as the native born Irish and English do....not sure if its a good or bad thing though. lol

momom248 - Shadow of the Wind came to me highly recommended by a friend who has many similar tastes to me and has never let me down with a recommendation. Since then many others have also recommended it to me...which is why I finally moved it up in my queue. I'll probably read that one after I finish The War of the End of the Word.

Currently reading The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates. Very interesting book if you are in the right frame of mind to read it. It's mainly a story of a glimpse into a life far removed from your own (at least that is my take on it).

I just got in March by Geraldine Brooks, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon and The Human Stain by Philip Roth. I think I am going to start on March after I finish The Gravedigger's Daughter. It sounded like a great novel.

LheaJLove (#123):

Here's where I get to be a contrarian jerk: Kafka on the Shore is good, but in no way approaches the scope and philosophic force of Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. I felt like Murakami was just trying to recapture the magic of his previous opus.

There are some great bits in Kafka on the Shore, but I find Wind-Up Bird to be much more satisfying and transcendent. I guess I'm trying to lower your expectations so that you enjoy more than I did!

Loved Elephant Vanishes and the non-fiction novel he did about the terrorist attacks on the Japanese subway system (Underground), however.

I've switched to "reality" this week. I'm well into Howard Kurtz's Reailty Show which is about the evening news (and some of the morning shows). Very interesting.

I finished Aristotle and an Aardvark and now have to find another book to listen to. I had been listening to Carl Hiaasen's books, but got a bad copy of Sick Puppy. I don't want to go one until I finish that one. I love Hiaasen

tatleriv- I find it difficult to compare Kafka On The Shore and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. It almost feels as if they are by different authors, a sort of apples and oranges comparison. I think Murakami is a stunningly versatile writer.

skyler 1534- I thought all three of your new novels were wonderful in different ways. What a great selection! Enjoy!

I'm about 60 pages into The Subtle Knife by Phiilip Pullman. Several friends have been after me to read the series 9and no, I've haven't seen the TGC movie. I'm also working my way through Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat? by Peter Walsh, and interesting take on a possible connection betwenn chronic clutterednedd (i.e over-consumption) and obesity.

I'm reading A New Earth, the book touted by Oprah. I'm so sorry I bought it. It's just a rehash of New Age mentality which can be interesting, but this book does not make it so.

I read a funny line by KSH in that person's review of this book on Amazon in which that reviewer states "I am not interested in spending so much time and energy thinking about myself with an end goal of reducing my sense of self to nothing." :D

My feelings exactly. I can't believe I actually spent $$$ to buy this book. :-(

I was going to watch the Oprah webcasts (by request of a friend of mine). I tolerated the first 15 minutes (until the webcast broke down). I think that's it for me. I doubt if I'll be going back for more.

#123: LheaJLove > I too loved Kafka on the Shore! I hope you enjoy it.

#142: hemlokgang > I agree about Murakami being a stunningly versatile writer. I find it difficult to compare his works and I feel that his different works can agree with different tastes.

I just finished Gray Heroes edited by Jane Yolen. Haven't decided what my next lunch break reading will be.

Just finished the long good-bye and am now reading murder must advertise. I've just ordered making money and the eyre affair from amazon.

I finished a book that has been making the rounds of the Irish best seller lists, Martha Long’s memoir, Ma He Sold Me For A Few Cigarettes. When I first saw it I thought, "Screw it, another one of those ubiquotious books that claims to be the pinnacle of the miserable Irish childhood,” but my bullshit detector never came up during this depressing, funny and inspiring memoir. Long solicits no sympathy and tells her story in a completely absorbing and compelling voice.

On the recommendation of Louis Branning, I’m now reading Richard Price’s Lush Life, and although I’m not very far into it yet, Price is throwing just enough tasty morsels out there that I can’t wait to get into the meat of the book. And the dialogue, so far, is just fantastic.

Yesterday I started The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan and Queens of England by Norah Lofts (author touchstones not working). I don't usually do two nonfictions simultaneously, but both of these books are super readable.

Finished A Christmas Carol and also The Pit and the Pendulum for my 1001 challenge. I enjoyed the first and very much enjoyed the second. More Poe for me please ^^

#145 SqueakyChu, I have had A New Earth in my hand several times but keep putting it down for the same reason you listed above. So glad I didn't purchase it. Seems to be like that other book Oprah talked about a while back The Secret, which I purchased, started reading, and then promptly returned to the store.

Vonini: I was always a fan of Poe, myself, but had not read The Pit and the Pendulum until recently. I thought it was very characteristic of Poe and his vividly gothic style of writing that always draws you into the story. Very nice choice.

I really hate to admit what I am reading! You all are into such deep books. However, I am reading and thorughly enjoying Pride and Prescienceby Carrie BebrisIt is thoroughly enjoyable to me.

I finally (finally finally finally) finished listening to Inkspell - and really, really enjoyed it. Got Pride and Prejudice queued up next - figured it's finally time to see what all of the fuss is about. :)

Currently reading Talyn by Holly Lisle - one of my SantaThing books! It's darker than I expected, but really absorbing.

I just started The Knitting Circle today

I finished The Boleyn Inheritance and started Clown Girl last night. I am stuck at the beginning of Volume 3 in War and Peace and can't seem to get back into it.

Today I start Another Hill by Milton Wolff. At age 23, Wolff was the last commander of the Lincoln Brigade, the American volunteers who fought against Franco in the Spanish Civil War. The book is an "autobiographical novel" of his experiences, written many years later. I learned about this book because by chance I came upon Wolff's obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle a few months back. Wolff died at age 92 last year in a Berkeley, CA, nursing home.

I just finished reading The Stones of Florence by Mary McCarthy. I plan to start The Sleepwalkers by Hermann Broch tonight.

I've finished Shock Wave and am now starting on Sucker Bet by James Swain.

#149 Sean: Martha Long?? You're not trying to flog your own dear mother's work are you? Cousin? Wife?

Back to Mudbound by Hillary Jordan for me.

Heh heh, no, honest, no relation at all, Amanda.

I have never been to New York City, but this Richard Price novel, Lush Life, has totally placed me right smack dab in the middle of the Lower East Side. I just cannot put this book down, and I'm sure it will be one of my best read books of the year. The dialogue is just fantastic. What an ear this guy has! This is the first thing I've ever read by Price, and need to explore his work further.

Finally done with the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. Started Shadow of the Wind last night. Don't really know anything about the book or the author.

#163 - Price has written quite a few movies, and since you love his dialog, I CANNOT recommend 'The Color of Money' highly enough. It's as close to perfect as a movie can get. It's Scorsese too, although it's criminally ignored when his 'great' movies are talked about.

Along those same lines, I think 'Mad Dog and Glory' is also one of Price's better films.

Finally, Price's masterpiece (as far as books go) is easily Clockers.

#156 cdyankeefan, I really enjoyed The Knitting Circle. The book was even more touching knowing that it was based on the authors real life. I hope you like as much as I did.

I couldn't put Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow down once I started it. Wonderful! Now I am starting Jon Krakauer's Into The Wild.

#167 hemlokgang: I just finished The Sparrow yesterday and liked it so much I went to the library and checked out its sequel, Children of God.

I finished Cursor's Fury by Jim Butcher and started Alliance Space by C. J. Cherryh.

#163 - Thanks for the Price recommendations. All duly noted, and I think I'll read Clockers next.

#168
I think you will find Children of God a much weaker novel. Obviously an after thought because the Sparrow was so popular. As a matter of fact I think the end of the Sparrow owes something to H.G. Wells' ending in The Time Machine. For all that, Sparrow was excellent.

# 167, 168 and 171 ~ I read both awhile back and, though I generally agree that Children of God does not quite reach the memorability and excellence of the character development and storyline of The Sparrow, I was not disappointed in the sequel and, in fact, upon reflection, thought it was a necessary philosophical (or perhaps I should say theological) follow up to The Sparrow. But that was just me.

Well, heck! I guess I was too impatient. Sorry.

Twice.

have just completed Janet Evanovich and Plum Lucky. This book is not yet listed here and is an interim book from her usual publication. It was not disappointing. This author continues to amaze me with all the comical material she can come up with. It is so strange to me that her writing style is so different in her Romance series and her other writing. I don't care for the Romance novels at all but would not miss the other series. My manly son with much proding took her first One for the Money on his ship. He read it, and now every vessel he visits gets a complete set of all of this series. If you havent read one,

#162 - alphaorder - I heard about Mudbound on NPR yesterday. I'm curious as to how you like it.

I agree that The Sparrow was better than Children of God, In fact it is one of my top three favorite books, but I was glad to read the sequel.. and I did enjoy it. If you visit the authors website, you will see that she wants to try books in all different genre, and next is a western.

It looks like The Sparrow may finally become a movie..

Ms Russel is friendly and has responded cheerfully to emails..
http://www.marydoriarussell.info/ is her site

I just completed The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham. Fluff?

I just completed The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham. Fluff?
I wouldn't say so! :)

This week I'm reading No one belongs here more than you, and I am loving every minute of it! Some of the stories make me laugh out loud and others make me squirm in my seat, but I just adore her voice and the quirkiness of her characters.

I think I want to savor The Sparrow for a while before attempting the sequel, but it is great to hear the variety of opinions out there. Thanks!

>176 RcCarol: re: Mudbound was a great book that was part of LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. Go here to learn more - it's a lot of fun.

I just started The Sparrow after reading all these reccommendations. I had never heard of it before. So far I'm loving it! I'm already making a mental list of people I should send copies.

> 176 I am really enjoying Mudbound. I moved it up on my TBR mount due to LTers endorsement. I will post more after I finish the book.

If anyone is interested, Mary Doria Russell will be visiting one of our bookshops in the Milwaukee area in April to share her new book Dreamers of the Day. For more information visit www.schwartzbooks.com. If you don't live near us, you can order a signed copy via our website.

I will probably finish reading The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates tonight. It is a little longer than I think it needs to be, but on the whole I am impressed by my first read from JCO. Next up: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. I was actually too anxious to read it and have already read the first 60-70 pages. I'm loving it already.

Am currently dipping into Ennui by Maria Edgeworth, a novel from I think the late 1700s, and Caesar's Gallic Wars. Wonderful stuff!

ETA ~ Oops, there's a new thread for this week. I'm going to repost there.