Book Roots! How we come to have the books we read!

Look at the last five books you have read. Where did you learn about these books? A review in a newspaper? a friend? a LT group or user? a prize list? the bestseller list? It jumped off the display at the bookstore? I thought it would be interesting to see how we come to have the books we read.

Here's mine:

Mosquito by Roma Tearne : sent to me by an LT friend who thought I would like it.
Children of the New World by Assia Djebar : read author's other books
The Birth House by Ami McKay : saw on the Impac Dublic prize library nomination list (nominated by multiple Canadian libraries)
Socialism is Great! by Lijia Zhang : heard an interview with the author on a local NPR program
The Abandoned Baobab by Ken Bugel : Not sure, it might have been one of those 'people who looked at that book, looked also at this book' thing on Amazon.

This is a thought provoking little game since my TBR pile is so massive I had to think about it.

Animals of the Ocean: In Particular the Giant Squid I picked this one up because of a review I read during one of those massive Xmas book review/gift buying recommendations.
The Hours I had seen the movie and found this at at a Friends of the Library sale for 50 cents.
Riding the Hulahula to the Arctic I was an Early Reviewer
My Losing Season Found at a Friends of the Library sale. I'm not a basketball fan, but I've met Mr. Conroy so bought it and loved it. My best book of 2008 so far.
March I bought this because of a review. A Big disappointment. See my review

Edited to try and capture the correct touchstones.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick - first heard of this when it was announced as the Caldecott winner; gift from my aunt

Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer - summer book study selection for church

Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz - June book club selection

Sacred Stacks by Nancy Kalikow Maxwell - picked up at a professional conference

The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne - loan from my mom

Fun thread idea!

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett: Recommended to me by my best friend from high school. We've kept in touch these several years and regularly trade book recommendations.

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters: Recommended by the same friend, actually.

The Unfortunates by B.S. Johnson: I found out about this book a few years back, in a book discussion on Amazon. It was recently re-published, so I bought a copy.

Fifth Business by Robertson Davies. Once again, a recommendation from my friend. Around the same time, several folks on LT read it and gave it a thumbs up.

Gospel by Wilton Barnhardt. I solicited recommendations from an LT author (CliffBurns), who had given the thumbs up to another book I read recently and loved (Towing Jehovah).

LT has definitely started to affect my reading. I chose to read three of the last five books because of some influence from LT.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton: I initially read this in college, but just finished reading it as part of the LT Group Reads group. An absolutely wonderful book

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett: I probably would have read this eventually because Borders has featured it so prominently, but because of the rave reviews here on LT I decided I definitely needed to read it right away. (Unfortunately, I didn't seem to like it as well as a lot of LTer's - IMHO a solid read, but nothing great.)

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen: Purchased as an impulse buy at Borders right after it came out in paperback. Very good.

Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog by Ted Kerasote: Purchased on impulse at Costco. Good, although his primary idea about raising dogs is impractical for about 95% of the population since it involves allowing them to roam free.

A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin: 100% influenced by LT. This is #4 in the series A Song of Ice and Fire, and I would have never started the series if I hadn't read a very strong recommendation from philosojerk in one of the What Are You Reading This Week thread. I normally never read fantasy so would have never thought to pick up this series in the bookstore. And I was not disappointed - this series is absolutely fabulous.

Pagan's Vows and Pagan's Scribe by Catherine Jinks - I started the series because the first book was recommended here on LT, and I wanted to finish the whole of it

April 4, 1968 by Michael Eric Dyson - picked up at the library because it looked interesting

The Chameleon's Shadow by Minette Walters - another LT recommendation

Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell - I had read The Sparrow and Children of God by the same author, so decided to give this one a try as well

This is fun ...

Ines of my Soul by Isabel Allende: heard a review on NPR when it was first released, although it took me months to get around to reading it
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie: reading Booker winners
We wish to Inform you that Tomorrow we will be Killed with our Families by Philip Gourevitch: heard quite a lot about it on LT at some point, again took a while to reach top of TBR
Small Island by Andrea Levy: reading Orange winners, but this one received high priority due to LT discussions in The Prizes and Girlybooks
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri: heard about it before release ... probably on LT ... loved her previous books. Reached top of TBR as soon as it was available!

The Demon under the Microscope-saw it on a shelf at Half Priced books and it grabbed my attention; when I saw it as an audiobook on audible, I downloaded it.
Geek Chic-saw it on the new book shelf in my library and snatched it up
Black Belt Librarians-we get MARC records every month to look over and saw this one a while back-the title intrigued me
Your Attention Please-saw it on the shelf at Half Priced Books, sounded useful for work
Perfume: The story of a murder-It was on the list for most disturbing books, so the idea of it stuck with me, then my boyfriend had mentioned it in a conversation, so I checked it out and read it

The Negotiator - saw it ages ago on a second-hand bookstall and picked it up because I enjoyed some of Forsyth's other novels.
The Children of Men - hoped it might inspire me to get a move on with the dystopian novel I'm trying to write.
Troy: Fall of Kings - finishing the trilogy, which I started because the first book came on special offer with Anansi Boys which my boyfriend was desperate to read, so we split the cost and got one each.
The Full Cupboard of Life - I love Alexander McCall Smith's books and I'm slowly working my way through all of them.
Sandworms of Dune - finally get to find out how the saga ends (and boy was it a disappointment...)

Ex Mex: From Migration to Immigration - saw Jorge G. Castaneda at the LA Times Book Festival and he was so fascinating I noted down the book. Then I read the book below which drove me to pick Ex Mex from the library.

Enrique's Journey - this book was given to me by a fellow bookcrosser and I chose to read it for the Immigration Group Read.

The Cellist of Sarajevo - Having read the book below, when I saw this in the store I was intrigued. Later that week it was recommended by a fellow LTer, so I bought it and read it immediately.

Pretty Birds - this was my choice for the Former Yugoslavia Group Read.

My Bridges of Hope - having read her first book about her time in Auschwitz, I wanted to find out how she and her family did after the war.

Some touchstones aren't responding.

Pope Joan by Donna Cross which was a book club read and it was great. Very much a page turner.

Snow by Orhan Pamuk book club read--hated it--very very boring and hard to read

Cuba Diaries by Isadora Tattlin another book club read--good but not great.

Love Marriage an Early Reviewer book which I really enjoyed more than I thought

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein--so far so good--am enjoying this one very much.

Specific books? or in general? Here's the last 7 I have in my reading list --

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau -- because the movie looked good and I wanted to read the book first

The Battle of the Labyrinth -- because it's in the Percy Jackson series. I put away the books in the series many times while I was working as a page in my local library, and the first hardcover edition of The Lightning Thief called to me (it's silver, with a jagged lightning bolt out of which come the three-headed dog and other elements from the story)

Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire -- because I read the first book in the series, which I read because one of my co-workers used it in her school visits before summer reading and it had a great cover

13 Little Blue Envelopes -- I don't remember why I chose this one in particular, but I wanted to read a book by Maureen Johnson because I'd heard good things about the author

The Best Game Ever by Mark Bowden -- because I read the review (I read the nonfiction reviews for work) and I need to read more nonfiction, and my family is all huge Giants fans

Bone: Eyes of the Storm by Jeff Smith -- I picked up the first in the series because a friend said they were good, and kept reading 'cause they are

xxxHolic Volume 4 -- because I liked Tsubasa, which a teen I just happened to meet at a local library recommended when I told her I wanted to read more manga.

In conclusion, I would say the way I choose my reading material is serendipitous and convoluted.

The last 5 books I finished were:
1. Admit One: A Journey Into Film by Emmett James
2. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
3. Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
4. My Father's Paradise by Ariel Sabar
5. Victor Kugler: The Man Who Saved Anne Frank by Rick Kardonne

I read these because:
1. I got it from Connecting Books with the Online World for review.
2. I basically stole it from my parents' house (they aren't big readers anyway) because it looked interesting and I think I'd seen some reviews on book blogs.
3. LT recommendations, received it from BookMooch
4. My May ER book
5. An April ER book that another LT member was kind enough to let me borrow. It looked interesting when on the ER list and even more so after reading her review.

bell7, The City of Ember was recommended to me by a 10 year old boy I was assisting while working at the bookstore. He was so articulate and excited about it, that I bought the book immediately(and eventually, The People of Sparks also). I read SF occasionally anyway, although I don't normally shop in the juvenile section. It was a great book, as also was the second one.

whymaggiemay, I have Pretty Birds in my huge TBR pile. I picked it up from knowing about Scott Simon on NPR. Curiosity, figures in there also.

What a fun exercise!

Living in a Foreign Language by Michael Tucker I enjoyed watching him on LA Law and went to hear him read from his book and was charmed by it.

The Tree or the Panzaic Plea by R.A. Brown is a University of Washington Professor and an excellent speaker. I heard him speak at our local Science on Tap series and bought his book.

Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish I just was wandering around my favorite bookstore and liked the name of the book.

Lucky You by Carl Hiaasen just because I like every book that I have read so far by Carl Hiaasen but I think this one might be my favorite. A friend originally suggested that I read his books.

Don't Make Me Choose Between You and My Shoes by Dixie Cash What can I say, the title spoke to me...and woowee the red cowboy boots on the cover!

This is an interesting little project.

The most recent book I finished was Sabriel by Garth Nix. I picked it up off of BookMooch because I think it popped up on on Amazon.com recommendations quite a long time ago. I've had it for a while and finally read it because it was "assigned" to me on the Go Review That Book! group.

Friday/Saturday I re-read volumes 4-7 of Fake which is a manga series. At the time I didn't feel like reading Sabriel or anything else and I simply love those books. Every few weeks or so the storyline will pop into my head and I'll have to do a whole or partial re-read of the series. I think I got my first volume of the series from BookMooch and then I picked up the others at Borders and Barnes & Noble.

Before that I read Strangers by Taichi Yamada. I requested this story from the library because I heard about it here on LT. I think I was checking out the Japanese Lit group and thought it sounded good. Or it may have been off of someone elses new acquisitions on my Connections News. Can't remember for sure which.

The book before this was Feast of Fools which is the fourth of the Morganville Vampire series and was just recently released. I read the first book of the series, Glass Houses, because it was a monthly read on a Myspace group I was participating in at the time and have read each of the books as they've been released since then.

My fifth most recent story, was a non-fiction book called Other Lives The Story of Reincarnation that I had picked up at a library sale because it looked interesting and it was a "bag" sale. It sat in my tbr pile until it was picked for me on the Go Review That Book! group.

Most of my last five seem to be spoils of a secondhand bookshop crawl a couple of weeks ago:

Miss Wyoming - found secondhand, picked up because I moderately enjoyed another of his books, also moderately enjoyed

No fond return of love - picked up from the shelf for a re-read, because re-reading Barbara Pym doesn't need any excuse.

Die Fahrzeuge der Berliner U-Bahn Typ B - found secondhand, bought because I have a thing about Berlin public transport, well worth the money.

Arthur and George - picked up in a secondhand shop because I like Julian Barnes and hadn't read it yet - turned out to be agreeable but nothing special.

In the company of the courtesan - picked up in a secondhand shop; I liked her other book, and I think one should encourage people who work for Radio 3.

The Firemaster's Mistress, Christie Dickason - This is my only impulse buy on the list that I hadn't heard anything about - only cost me £1, bought with 11 other books in a discount bookstore.

The White Mary, Kira Salak - Received from a Shelf Awareness ad, and I found Shelf Awareness through LT.

John Adams, David McCullough - I heard some good things about this book in school and I was missing history, so I got it at BJ's.

Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks - LT recommendation, for cheap in a used bookstore, also sounded very interesting, and was very good.

Kushiel's Mercy, Jacqueline Carey - number six in the Kushiel's Legacy series, which I adore. I picked up the first, Kushiel's Dart, when it was the only one out based on the fact that it referenced Gone with the Wind. I don't see much to compare beyond the strong female who makes everyone fall in love with her, but brilliant choice on my part.

Currently reading Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out by Mo Yan because I saw it in my favorite bookstore, it looked interesting, and I was buying another book by a Chinese author.

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim -- Bought a year or two ago because it looked interesting and I'm partial to NYRB books even if I know nothing about them, and read at this time because of some very positive comments on LT.

The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich -- bought because I read a lot of Louise Erdrich back in the 80s, because I've enjoyed some of her recent stories in the New Yorker (which turn out to have been adapted from chapters in this book), and because it got good reviews.

Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong -- bought because I'm fascinated by wolves and remote areas, but it was disappointing.

Netherland by Joseph O'Neill -- bought because it got great reviews and sounded like something that would interest me, particularly because it's a New York story.

Middlemarch -- reread for an LT book group.

Looking at the list, I see it is unusual for me in that all are fiction, and three of them are very recently published titles. A mini-trend?

ETA Obviously, I can't count. This is six books, and four are recent.

The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton - I'm a huge Crichton fan, and this was one of his novels that I hadn't already read.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury - I had to read this for one of my high school English classes and I had just read another one of his novels, which I enjoyed, so I decided to give it a second chance. I'm glad I did.

The Loch by Steve Alten - My mom found this on the New Arrivals shelf at the library and figured I'd like it, simply because the cover featured a dark castle on the banks of Loch Ness, an overturned boat with a bloody hand print, and the back of a sea serpent. I finished it in less than two days.

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer - The Twilight series was a recommendation from my friend.

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris - I had already read Silence of the Lambs, and I wanted to read the other books in the Hannibal series.

Oooh, fun thread idea.

My last five books:
-Never Let Me Go: this is a book I would have read no matter what (due to recommendations from everyone ever), but LT and the 1001 list played huge roles in my reading it.
-The Alcestiad: my ownership of this is a lot more... interesting. I got it from a friend whose grandfather had rescued quite a few Franklin edition books from being tossed out. Most of the appeal of this book is that it's an old-fashioned looking hardcover book, and I don't think I'd ever intended to read it until I was asked to review it on Go Review That Book!
-Unaccustomed Earth: most of my friends that have read Lahiri have loved her, and so this was something of an impulse buy. I wanted to read a book before everyone else I know. And I really enjoyed it.
-Voyager: This I read because it was the next in the Outlander series after Dragonfly in Amber. Excellent book that read much faster than it's thousand pages would have suggested.
-The End of the Affair: This is another book purchase that was influenced almost entirely by the 1001 books list. I bought it because I was familiar with the title, mostly because of the movie. It turned out to be a pretty interesting read, though.

Hmmm...

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea by Yukio Mishima -- an LT recommendation that I found in a discount book store. I didn't particularly care for Mishima's Spring Snow but felt this deserved consideration based on comments. An enjoyable, solid read.

America, America by Ethan Canin -- an ER book which I highly recommend.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. The "former Yugoslavia" group read pushed this to the top of the TBR pile.

Shopgirl by Steve Martin -- I chanced upon this novella in a discount book store and it called to me. A fine read: melancholy, sweet, and a satisfying ending.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan -- A TBR book considered when the New York Times cited it and pushed to a book group read when LTers kept recommending it.

Thank you all, for the recommendations and keeping my reading lively.

Novel about my Wife by Emily Perkins - found it in the bookstore without having heard of it before, bought it because I liked the cover, then found a very good review in the next days paper.

The Story of a Marriage by Andrew Sean Greer - Library Thing Early Reviewer Book won in May 2008.

Helpless by Barbary Gowdy - found in Waterstones without having heard of it before but it sounded fairly good, and it was, but had a weak ending.

Black Cocktail by Jonathan Carroll - heard of this on his website, like his other books and this one sounded very odd but very good. Had to track it down second-hand on the internet as it is unavailable to buy or order in my usual book-buying places. Worth the effort though.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult - bought half price in supermarket but then languished slightly on a TBR pile. Started to read it because I was too lazy to go upstairs and fetch the book I was in the middle of.

Currently Reading - The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters by Charlotte Mosley - had seen good reviews, like reading about the Mitfords and justified the expense by using Waterstones Loyalty Points to get it. Also reading Angel by Cliff McNish - have never seen a review, is an older teen book that caught my eye when I needed a third book for the 3 for 2 offer and wandered around Waterstones searching for something. Is about a young girl being stalked by an angel.

The Wednesday Sisters - my first Early Reviewers book. Sounded like a very interesting story by the description and something I would read and be able to share with my close friends. Reminded me a lot of my relationship with them.

Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife - I had never read a Harlequin romance before and dailylit.com was offering to for free for their anniversary. Figured why not succumb to a little dirty romance novel for a day.

The Age of Innocence - I have seen the movie but never read the book and since it was on the 1,001 Books to Read list I loved the movie I knew there was no reason why I would not enjoy the book. Most of my classic reading has been done via dailylit.com so that I can save money and not have to actually purchase the book for the time being.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - once again read on dailylit.com after also reading Through the Looking Glass. It seemed like one of those books that one should read before they have children since it is a classic children's story. Also on the 1,001 Books to Read list.

The Wishing Year - My second ER book. Also found very interesting and something that I might relate to or be able to pass along information to friends. Have actually often found myself referencing this book the past week as I have been reading it.

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi - I was attracted to the pictures plus I know virtually nothing about Iran.

City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende - My son was going to read this and wanted me to read it at the same time.

Personal Days by Ed Park - I love workplace fiction.

Twenty Chickens for a Saddle by Robyn Scott - I saw it at borders and liked the title.

Poisoned Tarts by G.A. McKevett - Part of the Savannah Reid mystery series. I've read all the others and thought why not keep going.

The Conquering Family by Thomas B. Costain and
The Three Edwards by the same author were found on my Recommendations list. I love reading about the Middle Ages, so I found these at my downtown library and brought them home. I knew they would be awesome and they are.

Tapping In by Laurel Parnell PH D. caught my eye in the Barnes & Noble store. It takes the process of bilateral stimulation a step further than where I'm at with it. It looked like an easy read with simple application.

The Wishing Year: An Experiment in Desire by Noelle Oxenhandler was sent to me for the Early Review group. It's a book about making wishes....can't pass that up. I enjoyed this book and left it feeling quite happy for a few days.

Stategies: A Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & Fibromyalgia Journey by Tami Brady was sent for the Early Review group. My sister thinks she has this, so I wanted to find more information on it for her.

This is a good idea....very interesting page.

Going from oldest to newest read:
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket: This is a reread-- I can't remember exactly how I found out about A Series of Unfortunate Events, but it was probably from staring at a shelf at a bookstore and trying to find something new to read.

Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves: Learned about it on NG's blog and finally picked it up when it came out in paperback.

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson: Was looking through a Bookmooch member's list of moochable books and thought it looked interesting. :D And it was!

Miles From Nowhere by Barbara Savage: Found at a library book sale, um...probably at least a year ago. I like picking through the travel books and grabbing whatever looks interesting.

Gun, With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem: Was on my LT recommended books page! Got it from Bookmooch.

And the book I'm currently reading: The Ruby Raven by Michael Dahl: Found it while browsing the mystery shelf at a local used bookstore and couldn't resist-- the main character's name is Finnegan Zwake!

This is a fun thread. :D

The last five books I've finished were:

Walking Tractor and Other Tales of Old Anderson Valley by Bruce Patterson - This is a book of stories about a part of California where my wife and I bought a house, written by an area local. I bought the book at a local store to help me learn about the place. Very fun book.
The Fox in the Attic by Richard Hughes - This one "jumped off the shelf" at me in a San Francisco bookstore. I'd never heard of it.
Plain Speaking: an Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman by Merle Miller - This had been on my shelf forever. I felt like reading a good history about an era I didn't know much about. I've read a lot about the World War II years, but not much about the post-war years. This caught my eye when I was searching around my office for an interesting history.
No Man's Land by Kevin Major - This is a novel about the Newfoundland brigade of the British Army in World War I. It had been on my shelf, and on my short TBR list, since I bought it on vacation in Newfoundland a year ago.
The Twelfth of April by Roy Doliner - a fun espionage thriller, because they can't all be classics. I picked it more or less at random off the shelf of a San Francisco Goodwill Store.

The Great Man, Kate Christensen - Heard the author interviewed on NPR because she won the PEN/Faulkner. Didn't like. Well written but horny eighty year-olds are not my thing. Hmmm..... Maybe I'll change my mind when I attain that age. Then again, maybe not.

The Story of Forgetting, Stefan Merrill Block- A complete LT inspired book from discussions here and the ER program. Good stuff.

The Hakawati, Rabih Alameddine - A serendipitous find. I had never heard of the book or author before I picked it up. I am fond of A Thousand and One Nights so it appealed. It is intertwined with a modern Middle East family's story. Enjoyed it.

The Art of Racing in the Rain, Garth Stein - I kept seeing it pop up on Amazon's top 100 and in their Movers and Shakers lists. I resisted. I hate talking dogs. When I saw a copy in real life I opened it to confirm it wasn't for me. First thing in there is a quote from Aryton Senna. Uh-oh. I love Formula 1 racing and throughly admired Senna. Now I'm conflicted. How can I not like a dog that is a fan of Aryton's. So I take it home still not expecting to like it. Wonder of wonders. Thank the heavens above. The dog doesn't talk. He can't talk. He's the narrator but he can't talk out loud. I read the book and fall in love with Enzo the dog. Besides, who can really prove what goes on in a dog's head.

Armageddon in Retrospect, Kurt Vonnegut - C'mon, it's Kurt!

Monarchy by David Starkey I was at Chapters. First I saw Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII by Starkey but this book was cheaper and I decided that I had better read an overview of history and see if I liked his style before reading a book by him about a specific few people.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman This was a re-read. The first Gaiman I bought was Neverwhere and since then I have been buying everything else by him.

Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe this was a used book store find. The price was right.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke another re-read. I bought it in the first place because of the buzz in LJ communities about it.

Flight of Dragons by Peter Dickinson the movie Flight of Dragons was a favourite of mine in childhood so when I found this at a used book store I had ti buy it.

Great idea, avaland!

The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney was purely an LT find. I mooched it because several LTers whose opinions I trust raved, and boy, were they right. As usual, it sat on my shelf for awhile before I finally picked it up.

Which brings me to Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day, which has been sitting on my shelf for over 10 years. I started it precisely because it has been sitting unread for so long.

I picked up They Call Me Naughty Lola: Personal Ads from the London Review of Books while I was reading The Remains of the Day. It had come recently from BookMooch after being on my wishlist for about a year, and I wanted something diverting for short down times. I had heard about it on LT.

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte was a library sale purchase. I have had The Tenant of Wildfell Hall for many years, and this for only a year or so, but I decided to read her first novel first. I pulled it off the shelf this weekend because I hadn't read a classic in a while.

The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean was another LT recommendation. (I see a pattern.) I mooched it, and it came about a week ago.

Cool topic!

I'm currently reading Hide by Lisa Gardner, which I picked up at a Wal-Mart in Bedford, VA, after unexpectedly prolonging a trip to the area and running out of reading material. It was the most palatable-looking thing at the only source of books that was less than an hour away.

I read Neon Rain by James Lee Burke for my local library mystery reading group.

I read The Wave in the Mind by Ursula K. Leguin because I heard it existed and I will read anything by this wonderful author.

I read Old Man's War by John Scalzi based on recommendations on LT. I have been reading less SF lately and was looking for something well written, which this was.

I read The Satanic Nurses by J. B. Miller because I found it on the library shelf while looking for the LeGuin book.

Just finishing up You Said What?: Lies and Propaganda Throughout History by Bill Fawcett for my Dewey Decimal Challenge (001).

I read The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee for Dewey (002).

Dewey again (001) - Exploring the Unexplained by Time Magazine

Dewey again! (002) - The Book on the Bookshelf by Henry Petroski

Also, I read all the Deweys back-to-back because they are/were due at the library.

Lastly, I read Rocket Ship Galileo by Robert Heinlein because I'm going to slowly read all his books in published order and that is the first.

definately a cool topic.

I am currently reading Skeleton Crew by Stephen King. I've been slowly nursing this one for about three or four months, as it is short stories and can be picked up and put down without worry of continuity and momentum. A couple weeks ago I put it on my BookMooch inventory so I could get a book on my wishlist, thinking there were plenty available and it wouldn't get mooched for awhile. I was wrong! On Friday or Saturday, it was mooched up, so now I've got to hurry and finish the last 1/3 of the book! lessoned learned

Yesterday I finished The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. I had found out about it in the "Where to find other ARCs" thread, and was goaded to read it next by a fellow LTer... For which I am very greatful because it was one of the best books I've read.

Next in regression was Understanding the Borderline Mother by Christine Ann Lawson. This book had sat on my shelf for at least five years, possibly longer. I grabbed it to list on BookMooch, but when I was looking through it to check it's condition, I decided I wanted to read it first.

Before that, I read Lisey's Story by Stephen King. SK is one of my favorite authors, and I kept seeing the audio book for Lisey at the library while I was stalking the section for Duma Key. I decided to pick up the book and the audio to read and listen together. I am an audio-visual learner, so things stick better that way.

Finally, five books ago, I read Songs for the Missing, by Stewart O'Nan, for the Barnes & Noble First Look Club. I found out about it, again, through the "Where to go to find other ARCs" thread.

Alias Grace -- this one has been on my TBR list for ages, I bought a copy a few months ago and thought it looked more interesting that most other books. I was right.

The Cottagers -- read a review at Powells.com that sounded intriguing, so it went on my TBR list; found a copy when I was browsing at Munro's Books in Victoria one day and bought it because it's set just outside of Victoria.

The Heat of the Day -- read this one for the Woman and War challenge; learned about Elizabeth Bowen when I was studying Virginia Woolf. How are those two statements connected? Hmmm. This is my second Bowen novel and I'm trying to develop a taste for her writing. (??)

Marley and Me -- my sister-in-law, who has good taste in books, told me I had to read this. I wasn't the least interested in it, but I've had it for 2 years or so, so it's time to return it to her. It was better than I expected it to be.

Anne of Green Gables -- I found this boring when I tried to read it at 11 yrs old. I've always felt guilty about that, and thought I should give it another try. I read it out loud to my 8 year old and we both loved it.

Just to add my most recent reads:

Taylor Five by Ann Halam aka Gwyneth Jones - I have read some of her adult books and have been curious about her YA novels.

Voices by Arnuldur Indridason. - His third mystery set in Iceland. I think I saw his first book recommended in a Gardners catalog (they are a UK wholesale book distributor). I was doing the UK orders for the bookstore at the time (two for them, one for me, two for them, one for me).

Good question!

Middlemarch - my mum has long been trying to persuade me to read this - it's her favourite book - and so when I saw the LT group read I thought it would be the perfect opportunity. I had read George Eliot (Silas Marner) at school but nothing since then.

The End Of Mr Y - had seen in bookshops and been intrigued by the cover, but not enough to buy it. Then I got an ERC copy from LT...

Thirteen - a review in the Guardian (and got it from Bookmooch)

The Moon Opera - not sure. I recently had a look through the Telegram Books catalogue and I might just have picked it out of that because it looked interesting. Got it from Bookmooch.

The Belly Of The Atlantic. Recommended on LT, and possibly I also read a review. I bought it because I found a really nice independent bookshop and I wanted to buy something...

These are the last five books I read from oldest to latest:

Blasphemy - I think I heard about this one on LT.

Dreamers of the Day - this was an ER book.

The Book of Snobs - I saw this in an Edward R. Hamilton catalog.

The Golden Lotus - this was in the same catalog (Touchstone is not correct).

America's Hidden History - I believe this one was mentioned on LT.

It has turned out to be a challenge to remember the last 5 books I read but remembering why I read them has proved much easier:

The Mistress' Daughter by A. M. Homes - saw this on 3 for 2 in my local bookshop and thought it looked fascinating, as I have read a number of her works of fiction.

The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee - this attracted my attention when I bought Confessions of a literary hedonist by Anne Fadiman on Amazon - it turned up in the "other things people who bought this bought" section and it looked interesting.

Jane Austen: A Life by Claire Tomalin - I have been keen to read this since it came out and, having always enjoyed Austen's novels, I wanted to know more about her life.

The Mitford Girls by Mary S Lovell - I picked this up randomly in Foyles while on a "food for the soul" foray - I've always been fascinated by the socialites of the twenties and thirties so thought I'd give it a whirl.

Families and how to survive them - I bought this because I have been struggling with some personal issues and love the clarity and humour which Skynner and Cleese gave to their work, having previously read Life and how to survive it. It's one of the only books I've actively searched for over the last couple of years rather than happening upon it while browsing and recalling that I had wanted to read it.

Faith of the Fallen - I'm working my way through the Sword of Truth series as my audiobook 'reads' while I knit/cross stitch/sew. How I came to read the series is sort of an embarrassing story. I usually head to the local library to pick out audiobooks, and I found one that sounded good, checked it out, took it home, started listening to it, and thought, "huh, this guy doesn't really spend enough time introducing his characters, and I'm not really sure what's going on..." Nevertheless, I finished the book, only to find out from my friend (to whom I described how strange the book was) that it's the EIGHTH book is a series! Sheesh. So, I started at the beginning, and I'm nearly back to book 8! LOL!

Mr. Popper's Penguins, The Mousewife, The Bears on Hemlock Mountain - these are all books for the nursery, which come from a list of award-winning children's books. I hadn't read any of them before and I can't wait to read them to Charlie when he gets here.

The Pillars of Creation - another in the Sword of Truth series.

The Lords of Vaumartin - bought on amazon because I just love anything by Cecelia Holland

Dog by Michelle Herman - Bought at a Borders in Boston. Just could not get past the puppy on the cover

The Diamond by Julie Baumgold - bought from a 3rd party on amazon back in January - don't remember why, but enjoyed it a lot.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton - bought this in order to read it for the Literature group read on LT

Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey - bought at B & N because I'd always meant to read it and because I was feeling nostalgic about "Westerns" in general.

Fun idea! I've never really thought about why I pick books up.

1. Gentlemen and Players- currently reading, and enjoying immensely. My mother gave me this book for my birthday and I've previously enjoyed books by this author

2. I Capture the Castle- recommended by my mother so my fledgling book club decided to give it a go

3. Making Money- bought at the National Book Festival where Pratchett spoke and signed books, finally got around to reading it

4. Peeps- given to me by a friend for my birthday. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it because I'm not usually one for vampire fiction

5. Persepolis- saw the movie adaptation and loved it and my school book club read it for our last meeting of the year

edit: having trouble with touchstones!

1. Development as Freedom - I got interested in this book after Globalization and its Discontents. I think it may have been an Amazon "People who bought this book also..." I saw it in a used book store for less than $10 a couple weeks ago and picked it up.

2. David Golder, The Ball, Snow in Autumn, The Courilof Affair - My aunt has been on a big Nemirovsky kick and recommended this book. Checked out from the library.

3. America (the book) - Same book store as Development as Freedom. The Daily Show consistently cracks me up, so I couldn't resist.

4. Waking Nightmares - I'd been meaning to read more Ramsey Campbell. It was on a Friends of the Library $1 cart. Call it fate or luck.

5. La Fascinacion de las Palabras - Had my parents pick this one up when they were in Argentina. I had read two Borges´biographies and felt I should round things with something on Julio Cortazar.

The last 5 books I read were books 9-13 in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. I got them from the library. People have been recommending this series to me for years but I mostly stick with sci fi and historical fiction & mystery. Modern day New Jersey is so far out of my genre preference I've never even looked at them until 2 weeks ago. I wanted some fun light reading & they were sitting there on the Summer Read Recommendation shelves in the library. I'm glad I did. They are freaking hilarious!

The Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanigan had been on my TBR list for a while. I picked up a copy in Borders a while ago, and just got around to reading it.

Giving Our Hearts Away by Thom White Wolf Fassett was lent to me by my boss as background reading for my job.

My Latest Grievance by Elinor Lipman was a birthday present off of my TBR list.

Enemies, A Love Story by Isaac Bashevis Singer was a blind buy at the used bookstore by my college.

American Indians: Answers To Today's Questions by Jack Utter was a birthday present.

>45 Shortride: ah, but how did the Flangan end up in your TBR pile?

I'm glad I set this up for people to work off their five most recent reads because I wouldn't want to explain why I chose each of the books in the two shopping bags full of books I got this weekend from the library sale...

#46: the two shopping bags full of books I got this weekend from the library sale

*drool* :)

Have we introduced you to booksalefinder.com yet, medellia12?

Have we introduced you to booksalefinder.com yet
----------------

I just learned about that site today when I went to the book sale at my daughters' school! I was going to come post it here, but evidently it's old news. ;-)

It's always new news to someone! I have one more on the calendar for the season.

Have we introduced you to booksalefinder.com yet, medellia12?

Oh my gosh, no! That is fantastic--thanks so much!

There's booksalefinder.com? I didn't know that! Why didn't anyone tell me?!

we just did:-)

My last few books I bought:

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. I bought it because it was featured in the most recent issue of World Literature Today.
Remember Me by Trezza Azzopardi. It was marked $3. It was a terrific book and I can give this copy to friends.
Anne Stevenson : Selected Poems. Found it by browsing on the shelf.
Incredible Good Fortune by Ursula Le Guin. Because it's by Ursula le Guin, someone I have read for years.
Deerbrook by Harriet Martineau. Friends here on LT who collect Virago Modern Classics have me watching for these now (I curse you all! It's so distracting in a used bookstore. Oh look! there's one now! a green Virago!). Most of the time I pass them along, but this one I've decided to keep.

I can't thank you enough! I'm going to have to check it out. I may even place it on my Favorites folder;-) I love reading books. Can you give me a copy of Remember Me, by any chance? ;-0

Oooooh. The World Without Us! I'm on the lookout for that one. Let us know what you think about it when you read it.

I just found this topic. This is a fun thread to read.

Letters from Alf by Gladden Schrock - recommended by LT author Janny Wurts about a year ago. It was on my 2008 TBR short list. Nominated for the Pulitzer around 1974, it was interesting, but largely beyond me.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad - Another on my 2008 TBR short list. I'd been meaning to read this for awhile, partially inspired by the movie Apocalypse Now. I bought it about two years ago.

Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson - I picked this up at the library based on awards (national book award) and a NY Times review.

Over the Mountains by Michael Collier - Came up in Connection News with a 5-star rating by another geologist on LT. It's a "coffee table" book of aerial photographs with a geology theme, very nice. Another from the library.

King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild - An LT recommendation (from avaland especially, but others too) because I had read Heart of Darkness. A great recommendation, I'm reading this now. This also came from the library.

I've just started Stardust, which I'm reading because I'm making my way through Gaiman's bibliography.

Thanks for starting this thread avaland!

I, the Divine: A Novel in First Chapters by Rabih Alameddine - this was a Christmas present from my partner. He read about it on the Skylight Books website (a great bookshop in Los Feliz, LA. We visited in April last year and it holds a special place in our hearts!). I'm over half way through and absolutely loving it.

Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler - this was a Librarything recommendation but I can't remember if it came from the Feminist Science Fiction group, the Science Fiction group or Girlybooks. Whoever mentioned it, thank you very much.

Mother Clap's Molly House: the gay subculture in England 1700-1830 by Rictor Norton (don't think the touchstones are working) - I picked this up when visiting the Museum of London. Interesting subject, but disappointing writing style and bad editing.

The Echomaker by Richard Powers - July book group choice. I'm not sure what I think about this book yet. The characters feel one-dimensional and I was very detached from the story, but this might be deliberately set up by the author as the story focuses on people feeling detached from life.

Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds - a recommendation from the Sci-Fi group. I really enjoyed it.

I don't know why I'm just now discovering this thread, but good idea, avaland!

Currently I'm reading all Orange Prize listed books for my Orange July, but discounting those, the last five I read in June were:

Arms and the Women by Reginald Hill - bought because it was by Reginald Hill.

The Old Man and Me by Elaine Dundy - considered because it was a VMC and bought because it looked interesting from the back blurb.

Day by A. L. Kennedy - bought for the LT group Girlybooks June theme read of women and war. Book picked because of the theme; author picked because a non-online friend of mine is a huge fan of hers.

West with the Night by Beryl Markham - sent to me by an LT friend.

The Pursuit of Love; and Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford - recommended to me by an LT friend.

OK, here goes:

An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro - I've had this on my bookshelf for ages, bought it on a complete whim when wandering around Borders for no other reason than it looked appealing and I have a thing about Japan. Was pushed to read it now because I was aiming for 8 books for Japan in my 888 Challenge
The Body Artist by Don DeLillo - I Mooched this specifically because it was on the 1001 Books list and I've only read one DeLillo book over a decade ago and didn't like it and now I thought I'd give him another chance .... glad I did.
Middlemarch by George Eliot - Totally LT! It was a Group Reads - Literature book and I loved it.
The Virus Hunters by Joseph McCormick - I was returning books to the university library and this was sitting next to the counter with my name on it (in a non-literal sense). Just the ticket to procrastinate from thesis writing, after all, it's science so that's like writing my thesis!
Autobiography of a Geisha by Sayo Masuda - this was because it was picked for me by someone in the Go Review That Book Group.

Since I've read 5 more since my last post:

The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman by Angela Carter: I discovered Carter's The Bloody Chamber on LT. Read it, then bought an omnibus with three of Carter's novels, this one included.
After the Quake by Haruki Murakami: I left the apartment without a book (oh no!), and my husband decided he wanted to hang outside for a while after we ate. So I went down the street and bought After the Quake, which was one of two Murakami books I hadn't read.
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin: One of those "classics" of science fiction that I hadn't read.
The Famished Road by Ben Okri. I can't remember where I found this on LT, but I know I found out about it here. Great read.
I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. This had been hanging out on my massive wishlist since I read The Book Thief. I was reminded of it when I saw it in another user's 50 book challenge thread, and it looked like a good, fairly lightweight read for my vacation this weekend.

Since my last post I have read

Angel by Cliff McNish - discussed in my previous post, found in the bookstore and the cover looked interesting.

The Collector by John Fowles - recommended on LT by Booksloth and I loved it, was disappointed to finish it.

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen - found in the bookstore and liked the glittery cover (I know) but was worth it. Have since seen nothing but good reviews about it and excitement about her next book.

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville - recommended all over the place by everybody as a great new teen fiction story, interested by the cover and the review in The Times Books suppliment one Saturday.

Imagine Me and You by Billy Mernit - LT early reviewer book not available in the UK. Tracked it down on the internet because it sounded similar to the Alexi Sayle short story in a BBC competition and I was hoping it would be as good - it wasn't.

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips - found in the bookstore and thought it sounded similar in style to Tom Holt. Liked the description on the back.

The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters edited by Charlotte Mosley - again, from last post, saw good reviews and like reading about the Mitfords anyway, justified the price by using Waterstones points.

The Boy Who Kicked Pigs by Tom Baker - found by accident while browsing Waterstones on-line. Kept it on my wishlist more as a reminder that it existed than a desire to buy it anytime soon. Husband bought it for me as a surprise gift.

I am now reading A good and happy child by Justin Evans because I found it in the bookstore and liked the simple description "George Davies has a new friend that only he can see. But the friend isn't imaginary and he won't go away." Despite that, the book starts when George is an adult and is unable to hold or even stay in the same room as his newborn son and seeks therapy. I've not read much but so far it is great.

Since my last post I've read quite a lot.

Between Here and April - another Early Reviewer book

The Time Machine - it's on the 1,001 Books to Read list and not very long so I figured I would tackle it quickly.

Cavedweller - I saw the movie and when I was reading up on it, saw that it was based on a book. Since I enjoyed the film, I figured the book must be better and bought it.

Loverboy - Also saw the film and since there seemed to be some controversy surrounding the topic of the movie/book, I wanted to read the book as well to understand better, as movies don't always give you everything.

Suzanne's Diary For Nicholas - I love James Patterson, especially after reading heavy material, he's always a quick read, and I've been collecting all his books and stacking them up trying to get to them as I can.

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning - One I found on my shelf at home, not sure why I have it, probably a gift, but I've heard they are interesting books (have not seen the movie yet) and so I wanted to check it out.

The Pocket Muse: Endless Inspiration - a gift from my best friend. I wanted to read it in hopes that it would inspire me to start writing again.

On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God - second in the Georgia Nicolson series. I can't start a series and not finish. It bugs me.

Until next time. I'm currently reading The Jane Austen Book Club and The Mysteries of Udolpho.

I've just read:

Gone with the Wind by Margeret Mitchell

The Uncommon Reader: A Novella by Alan Bennett

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

I am now reading:

The Mitfords edited by Charlotte Mosley

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

This is an interesting thread. I would think some book marketers would be interested in this.

Lush Life by Richard Price and Tree of Smoke} by Dennis Johnson came from reviews in The New York Times.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret caught my eye at a local bookstore (Left Bank Books in St. Louis) after seeing an article on the artist in the Times.

White Mule/In the Money by William Carlos Williams came from an introduction to another book that cited this as a little-read 20th century masterpiece. I happened upon it at a used bookshop soon after while traveling.

My son's school principal recommended The Classical Age as a great way to fill in the gaps in Greek and Roman history.

The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster was just issued in a beautifully designed and illustrated edition by The Folio Society, so I re-read it with pleasure.

I also re-read The Stranger by Albert Camus trying to figure out why an aide would recommend that particular novel to George Bush to read (except that it's short).

Ooh, I like this thread. Here are my five most recent reads:

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield was recommended by a friend whose taste in books in virtually perfect. She also turned me on to The Shadow of the Wind, for which I'll be forever grateful.

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson came to my store as an ARC. I was a bit reticent at first, but it turned out to be simply amazing. One of the best of the year.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid--I have an ongoing love affair with Bill Bryson and picked this one up to fan the flames. A Walk in the Woods is still my favorite, but this was great as well.

I read Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer because I had to--I'm responsible for promoting the release of her upcoming book, planning a release party, and facilitating a teen book group for it. I wouldn't have read these on my own, and I'll be glad to have the last one behind me soon.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society also came as an ARC, and I couldn't wait to read it because I'd heard wonderful things. Happily, they were all true! It was fantastic.

I have reviews of The Gargoyle, Thunderbolt Kid, Eclipse, and The Guernsey...on my blog at http://readerville.wordpress.com

Oooohh, this is a fun question! Let's see, these are my five last reads:

Ergens mag ik je wel, a Dutch book about the hidden meaning of language. I ordered this through Bol.com, probably because I saw a recommendation somewhere...

Jonathan Livingston Seagull came to me through Bookmooch. I wanted it because of things I read about it here on LT.

Life of Pi. I ordered it through Marktplaats.nl because it's on the 1001 list and because my friend raved about it and she has good taste in books.

I bought The Godfather at a used book store, also because of the 1001 list.

Finally, Pink Slip I bought at a book outlet sale, just because it appealed to me.

This is the first time I've dared post anything, but the chance to explain the last five books I've slogged through to people who read, just couldn't be passed by.
I'm going to a writers conference this summer and am trying to read at least one book by everyone I'll meet there. This is what I've managed so far.

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan- which I've actually been wanting to read for a while.

Consider This Home by Greg Bills - I could only recommend this to people who don't mind heavy doses of Mormon religion.

Fly Away Jill by Max Byrd - the first in a detective series that I may read more of.

Friends of the Family by Lynn Freed - I'm not sure I like it, but I couldn't put it down. A bit like reading a train wreck.

I'm starting Gone for Good by Mark Childress today, so I don't really have an opinion yet. Then on to the next on the list.

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin: I really liked the movie, so when I found this book for a quarter at the local Goodwill, I snapped it up.

News from the Edge: Monsters of Minnesota by Mark Sumner. This is one of a series of three (well, I THINK its only three). I picked up the first two when I worked at Dollar Tree, basically because I was bored on my lunch break. That was three years ago, and I could never find this last piece to my collection...until I discovered Book Mooch!

Lean, Mean, Thirteen by Janet Evanovich. This was my second Stephanie Plum novel. The first one was "borrowed" from my mom. She had bought Plum Lovin' and hated it, preferring more gore and drama. I read it and thought it was hilarious, so I picked up this one because it was the only Plum novel KMart currently had.

Everything's Eventual by Stephen King. I'm a huge fan of Stephen King short stories. This book contained the short story for 1408 so I HAD to have it.

Hangman's Curse by Frank Peretti. Was cruising Wal-Mart late one night and found this book, and the second in its series. I had bought the movie Hangman's Curse several years ago at Big Lots for $2, so I was curious if the book was just as good. It was, but since it was Christian lit (which suprised me) it was a little too preachy for me.

The Big Blowdown - I wanted another book to take on holiday with me so I borrowed this from my OH.

Glyph by Percival Everett - I picked this up in a charity shop because I had enjoyed one of his other novels Erasure so thought I'd give this one a go. I did't enjoy it as much as Erasure as the literary criticism stuff went over my head

The Naming of the Dead by Ian Rankin - I've read all of the others in the Rebus series except the final one and this. I enjoyed and am hoping to read Exit Music soon.

The Uncommon Reader - this is the book we are discussing in July in an online book group I have joined

Russian Debutante's Handbook - someone I'm friends with had listed this as one of their favourite book on their Facebook profile. I hadn't heard of it but as I like similar music and films to them, I thought I would give it a go and it was pretty good.

1. Germ by Robert Liparulo: This is one that jumped off the shelf—I wish it had had more to do with the plot synopsis on the back, but oh well.

2. A Spell For Chameleon by Piers Anthony: I think one of my old teachers was giving away copies of books that she had no intention of reading or using in the classroom, and this was the only one that struck my fancy. It's been on my TBR bookshelf for five years.

3. Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde: I think this was another one that I got from school, and it's also been on my TBR bookshelf for a really long time.

4. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien: This is my favorite book out of the Lord of the Rings series, hands down. I think I first got it when I was on a huge LotR kick and got every book I could find.

5. Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi: I think this has the same story as #3. (Did anyone else have the Reading Is Fundamental program? That's where these two books came from.)

I've had a crazy thing happening lately where themes and details from one book are popping up in other seemingly unrelated books, and it's made me start thinking about the ways in which one book leads to another. I blogged about it today and would love to hear about other people's experiences with this phenomenon. http://readerville.wordpress.com

Teehee - I've also read more books since my last post...

The Heat Of The Day by Elizabeth Bowen - I read this because it fitted with the Girlybooks discussion on women & war; but I mooched it because I read The Last September a few months ago and it blew me away. (While I was reading it I kept wondering why I read anything else which wasn't as good!) I read The Last September because Elizabeth Bowen was highly recommended in some discussion on LT...

Let The Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida. Mooched this because Vida's other book, And Now You Can Go, was recommended (can't remember whether this was on LT or I read a review) - and this one was available on Bookmooch first. It was pretty disappointing.

Christine Falls by Benjamin Black - I hadn't realised, but this is a similar thing - I read a review of the next book that Black wrote, and was inspired to wishlist all his books on BM - and this one came up first.

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley - a bookcrossing bookring which I had to read and send on! I think I joined the bookring because I had recently read and enjoyed Smiley's The Greenlanders.

You Can't Catch Death by Ianthe Brautigan - which has the best story of all: it was an angel mooch (ie I was mooching it for someone in the US, from someone who would only send within the UK) and I was intrigued by it, so I read it quickly before sending it on!

While reading this thread, it occurred to me that an awful lot of posters have an awful lot of time to browse bookstores, second-hand book shops and must spend an awful lot of time at the library.
I read books now like I have never been able to read them in the past, due to the fact that I am now retired and able to stay up later, because I don't have to get up early the next day. However, I recently bought a business, and even tho' my hours are flexible, I just do not have enough time to bookshop.
(This seems to be taking forever to get to the point), but my method of choosing books comes mainly from the best-seller lists , which I peruse every week, usually on-line. And, of course, now that I've joined LT, reading your recommendations. For the most part, when I see a book I really want to read, I reserve it at my local library, and let time take care of itself.
I used to buy books, and browse 'old' bookshops, but, lordy!, how fast time goes by, especially as one gets closer to the top of the tree. I must treasure every spare moment I have now to run to the bedroom, shut the door with a hearty bang, causing my family downstairs to cry out, 'dad's reading again, leave him be!'

>75 morfam: morfam, I know what you mean. I usually hit the library on the way home from work to drop off books and dvds that I'm done with, and then spend about a half hour browsing or chatting with the librarians for recommendations to take home with me. About once or twice a week, my husband and I will pop into a bookstore after dinner (it's our form of a romantic walk) and hole up there browsing for sometimes 2 hours before sheepishly meeting up at the checkout with our individual piles. That's not to mention the odd moments I spend on Amazon.com and other online book stores.

My last 5 are:
Dragonwell Dead by Laura Childs - Was in the library. The cover was cute, and I was lured by the tea recipes

My Father's Secret War by Lucinda Franks - couldn't resist picking this up after reading the synopsis. Found it at bn

Uniform Justice by Donna Leon - A friend loaned this to me, because she knew I enjoyed reading about Commissario Brunetti

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston - It literally flew off the shelf and hit me when someone in the aisle behind bumped into the bookcase. I had to take that as a sign. It turned out to be a fascinating book.

The 351 Books of Irma Acuri by David Bajo - I had read good reviews about it, and picked it up at a local bookstore.

Last 5 are -

Empress orchid - One of those that jumped of the shelf at me.
The beauty myth - This has been recommended to be in about every relevant discussion of feminism I've ever been involved in so I though I'd better read it. The Jungle Book - I think I picked this up at a school jumble sale back when I was still young enough to attend school jumble sales.
The planet dweller - Something I found in oxfam a few years back before oxfam decided it wanted to be trendy. Bought it because it's woman's press.
Death by Fire: Sati, Dowry Death, and Female Infanticide in Modern India - Picked it up in my local alternative bookshop. I wanted some feminist reading, went in to look for the beauty myth and came out with this.

Here are a few in my current reading pile:

Eld och rörelse – Got it from the author who is a friend of mine.

Bring the Noise – Got a free prerelease copy which seemed interesting and it is.

River of Gods – Was the topic of a book club meeting, though I didn't manage to read it before hand.

A Good Old-Fashioned Future – Got it as a gift for some reason.

Mrs Dalloway – Saw _The Hours_ and loved it, so I felt I should read this. (And should probably read The Hours too.)

My latest five (although one of them is three short books in one big book).

And now you can go by Vendela Vida - Had read her other book, Let The Northern Lights Erase Your Name, and was very keen to read more by her, ordered it on-line in a 3 for 2 offer. Really loved it.

Someone at a distance by Dorothy Whipple - Spotted it in the bookstore and wanted it right away but was a bit put off by the price. Ordered it on-line in the same 3 for 2 offer. Again, really loved it.

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett - spotted it in the supermarket and thought it sounded funny. Was a nice, light read.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes - Have wanted this for years but been put off by knowing it would all end badly for the mouse. Glad I read it at last, got it in the 3 for 2 offer on-line. Liked it but it was sad.

The Bromeliad by Terry Pratchett - wanted this for awhile but been put off by the price. Is three books in one and is very funny, ideal to now pass on to my nephew. Ordered on-line.

ETA - #78 bkhl - do read The Hours, it is very good.

Haven't visited here in a while. Here are my last five:

Voices of the Valley, Volume III (An Oral History of Anderson Valley, California): This is part of a project done by local high school students. The idea was for them to learn about the history of their region by interviewing local elders. I read this as part of my own ongoing project to learn more about this rural California valley where my wife and I bought a "second home" two years ago.

Amulet by Roberto Bolano. I had heard a bit about this author and decided to see what all the talk was about, but decided to start with something relatively brief. I will probably explore his writing in more depth.

Frank Frisch: The Fordham Flash by Frankie Frisch. Every once in a while it just becomes time to pull something down off the baseball shelf.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon. My wife read this and loved it. Being Jewish, the subject matter appealed to me. But when I heard there was going to be a movie, I knew I had to get going and read this so I'd have it read before the movie came out.

John Paul Jones: Father of the American Navy by Valentine Thomson. An anniversary gift from my lovely wife, who knows I love old biographies.

Every time I have seen this thread, I have read Black roots.. and momentarily thought it was a thread about hair coloring...

What's packed in my carryon luggage:

The Hunting Gun by Yasushi Inoue - picked up a couple of years ago when I was on an Asian literature jag.
The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter - I cannot resist anything Angela. Even multiple times around.
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood - same as Carter above, the Atwoodians group is reading this for our summer group read, so I'm rereading it.
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. I'm a Mainer and it's set in Maine.
Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Orange Prize past nominee, picked it up for OP reading.
Buxton Spice by Oonya Kempadoo same reason as above.
Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell. Picked it up at a library sale after having it recommended to me repeatedly over the years.
Snakes and Earrings by Hitomi Kanehara. arc from my bookstore days. See past Asian lit binge/jag above.
Final Solution by Michael Chabon. My husband requested it.
Great Classic Stories - BBC audio (on the ipod). It's the best I could find on short notice at B&N.

Here's the last few I've read:

The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult -- because I really liked My Sister's Keeper and this so happened to be the audiobook available at the time.

Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C.S. Forester -- I chose it as my "adventure" book as part of my (self-imposed) reading plan to try new genres

Breaking Dawn -- I read Twilight because I figured as a librarian I should know what the series was about. I kept reading 'cause I enjoyed them.

Chessie the Railroad Kitten by Thomas Dixon -- I met someone a few weeks ago who told me a story about picking up a brass trivet at an auction cheap, because no one knew it was Chessie the Railroad Cat. I had no idea what they were talking about, so I did some poking around and found this book about a 1930s advertising campaign of the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad.

Victory of Eagles -- I think I started this series because a co-worker recommended it, but like Breaking Dawn I kept reading the series 'cause I enjoyed it.

Time for another installment. Last five read:

*Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work by Jason Brown. Saw starred review in Publishers Weekly (I go to the library and skim through the PW reviews every month or so)
*Cry Wolf by Aileen La Tourette. I pick up books published by Virago for some friends on LT who are rabid about all things Virago (and Virago Modern Classics). Sometimes one of the them intrigues me, as this one did.
*The Journey Home by Olaf Olafsson. Not sure. Its acquisition dates back to my bookstore days; could've been a freebie from the publisher. But it had to have intrigued me for me to bring it home.
*the four books previous to these are all another book by a favorite author: Margaret Atwood, Angela Carter, Karen Joy Fowler, and Helen Dunmore (2 new, 2 uses; 2 were rereads)

1. The Seagull - had to read it for class. I'm going to go see it on Broadway in a few weeks as well, so I would have preferred to not have read it first (I like to see how plays stand on their own without my personal impressions of it coloring my opinion of the show)
2. Jane Eyre - reread
3. The Castle of Otranto - from Penguin Classic's "100 Books You Must Read Before You Die". I'm trying to work my way through the list, mostly because the school library that I have access to is mainly stocked with 'literary' classic novels.
4. Wide Sargasso Sea - from Library Thing, recommended when I reviewed Jane Eyre.
5. The Petty Bourgeois - for class

I now keep track of what I've read by entering the date that I finished the book on the LibraryThing record. Is there a way that I can sort my catalog according to these dates? As of now, I don't know how to retrieve titles of the last 5 books that I read. Thanks to anyone who can help.

Luciana

Hi Luciana, what I did was edit one of my library styles (you'll see A,B,C,D,E when you're on your library page) to include "Date Read" on one of the columns. Then in your library if you click "Date read" once, and your last read books should show up on top.

Last 5 read including current reading.

The Cave Painters: Probing the Mysteries of the World's First Artists by Gregory Curtis -- bought after reading an article in The New Yorker that mentioned it.
Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson -- interested in this since I read reviews when it first came out, but waited for paperback.
The Girl from Foreign by Sadia Shepherd -- on display in favorite bookstore and looked intriguing
Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do and What It Says about Us by Tom Vanderbilt -- I've been interested in traffic ever since I had a job that was peripherally related to it.
Blood-Dark Track by Joseph O'Neill -- I was so impressed by Netherland that I'm on a mission to read everything O'Neill has written.

Edited to see if touchstones would work.

Thanks, bell7. I tried to find it that way and didn't succeed, but now that I know it's possible, I'll try harder!

How does it know what you last "read" books are? Is that something I've entered at some point because the first few books in the list are in order when I read them in 2007. But what about the books I read in 2008?

>90 lilisin: When you bring up a book in your library (the book's page, not the list) and click on 'edit' at the bottom, it allows you to edit your book's information, like add a review. Down at the bottom of the form there is a place to put the date you started and finished the book. I've been doing this this year as I've added comments, but I also usually have 10 or so of my most recent reads posted up on my profile page and I have a book log on the 75 Book Challenge group (even though I'm not doing a challenge).

I just started adding the books I've read to my profile page, with the most recently completed books at the top.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, bought while attracted by the title, reading now (finally) for the group read on LT.

They came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie because my mum bought it and leant it to me.

A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson because I'm interested in the topic and really like his way of writing.

De kleine Johannes by Frederik van Eeden, because it's and old Dutch book and I think I should know more about those books (and bought the book cheap).

Beatriz en de hemellichamen by Lucia Etxebarria because it was part of a series that I expected to be good (and it is).

No Man’s Land A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene
Actually these two mentioned above are re-reads, beacuse G. Greene is one of my favourite authors
and now that I can man master a little of English from time to time I pick one of his books up

Levanter by Eric Ambler because when I am in doubt about what read next I fall back on him and never he let me
down

The Catastrophist set in Congo just before the troubles late 50’s, because time ago I read another
novel from Ronan Bennet Zugwang and I liked his style and his historical set up

At the moment I’m reading The Siege of Krishnapur , I came across it lurking in some newsgroup or
forum relate to book-discussions , I don’t remember esactly which one. Since I read Burmese Days by George Orwell I
am fond of books about British Empire and his colonies or ex ones, as The Long Day Wanes a Malayan Trilogy by Anthony Burgess for
instance

masgar

forgot to touchstones:
The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell

masgar, If you enjoy The Siege of Krishnapur, be sure to read Troubles, the first book in J. G. Farrell's empire trilogy -- I liked it much better. (The last book, The Singapore Grip, is not up to the standards of the other two, in my opinion.)

Yes, an update. Fine idea. My last five:

The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract by Bill James: Because I'm a baseball junkie. What can I say?

My Dreams Out in the Street by Kim Addonizio: Kim is an old friend of mine. Took me too long to get to her latest, which is superb.

Pravda by Edward Docx: Random book store selection. Just looked good and, mostly, was.

California Historical Society Quarterly - June 1955: I like to collect periodicals of all kinds from the month/day I was born, July 4, 1955. Because the CHSQ is a quarterly, June was as close as I could come to July. OK, so collecting them is one thing. Every once in a while I actually pull one down from the shelf and read it. Read some interesting essays on obscure topics.

Selected Tales by Nikolai Leskov. This one was a random selection from my own bookshelves. I've got around 1,700 books waiting to be read in my house. Sometimes you have to just choose one. Wonderful stories from a 19th Century Russian writer who should be better known in the U.S.

>97 rocketjk: Obviously, you couldn't appreciate these periodicals at the time!:-)

The Mercenary by Jerry Pournelle, found this by reading about hugo nominees and this one caught my attenton from 1973. I enjoyed it so much it led to the next two books King David's Spaceship and West of Honor both by Jerry Pournelle
The Bedford Incident by Mark Rascovich; was talkng about the movie with Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier with some peaple at work. I got to wondering if it had been based on on book. So went looking for it, glad I did excellent book.
The Rift by Walter J. Williams just caught my interest in B&N one day. Not a bad book keeps you interested for 900+ pages.(a little slow for the first 180 pages)
la Curee by Emile Zola. I'd gotten into a rut and reading alot of fluff so I decided to get back to some classic literature. I came upon Emile Zolas 20 book cycle known collectively as Les Rougon-Macquart books.( La Curee is the second book of the series.)

thanks rebeccanyc I'll put Troubles on my wish-list

masgar