What are you reading - August

Since we're now doing this thread by the month, I thought I'd get August's started. I'm still working on Henry VIII: the king and his court but it's been somewhat slowed by my reread. I stayed up until 1:30 a.m. to finish New Moon and I'm going to read as much of Eclipse as I can tonight. Tonight is our town's annual Murder Mystery presented by the theatrical society I participate in. I don't do the Mystery, I'm not very good with improv, but it's still fun to go and try to figure out whodunnit. I might try to be fast though and then bring my book....

Have fun, Bib!

I've been rereading Twilight in a leisurely fashion, debating whether I want to try and reread the other two before reading Breaking Dawn. I've also started Sebastian Darke: Prince of Fools, but got sidetracked.

I finished The Time Paradox and put up my review, it was OK but seemed more cluttered with ideas the author was playing with than a single coherent story. Hopefully the next one will be on par with the Lost Colony.

Currently I am reading Dark Fire by C. J. Sansom. a part of a mystery series taking place in Tudor England, fun stuff.

I've given up on The Somnambulist. I really wanted to like it, but I just couldn't get into it.

Up next I'm Reading The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing Traitor to the Nation. 1 The Pox Party. I'm hoping I'll be more into this one, but Foggi didn't like it so I may have to give up on it too.

UK Goblet of Fire, dudes.

I'm supposed to be rereading Eclipse still, but I haven't managed to pick up my book yet today. Too jumpy. I stopped reading around page 400 last night.

I am still reading Fahrenheit 451 for school. It's a short book, but I had more important stuff to read, such as New Moon and Eclipse. I finished Eclipse on Tuesday, perfect timing.

I am reading these threads and catching up since I won't be on until after I'm done reading Breaking Dawn.
I've also been looking at some professional books for my classroom.

I'm reading a French book called La Foret des Captifs from a series called Les Mondes D'Ewilan. The author is called Pierre Bottero

I finished and reviewed my ER book, My Name is Number 4. Now it's back to reading all the things I was reading before it came!

I went ahead and started New Moon, but Mrs. Espy has my copy of Eclipse, and I'm not sure I want to wait until I get it back to read Breaking Dawn. I also need to read Babylonne, my Early Reviewer book.

I finished Octavian Nothing and I have to say I was surprised. Foggi didn't like the book at all, but she recomended it to me because I told her I had nothing to read. I went into the novel thinking I would put it down after a hundred pages (my cutoff point for a book I don't like). But I found that I really enjoyed the book. I can understand why the book wouldn't be for everyone, but I think that it is an intriguing look into social inequality during the revolutionary war period in America. If you enjoyed Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas you should enjoy this book.

Next up I'm moving on the The Wednesday Wars. I also have a stack of six more books here from the library meaning I have no shortage of reading material. My List now includes the following:
The Wednesday Wars
Feed
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
Neuromancer
Epic by Conor Kostick
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
The Looking Glass Wars
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexi
Hatching Magic
Coraline
Bloody Jack

#12 -- Glad you liked Octavian Nothing! I got bogged down in it, but I recommended it to you because I thought it might be more to your taste. Tell me what you think of The Wednesday Wars when you finish it.

I need to read this Wednesday Wars, I think. It keeps popping up.

I hope you like Looking Glass Wars, Espy. I thought it was such a clever adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.

For school I have to read The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and I'm losing interest unfortunately.
Then for enjoyment, I am reading The Golem's Eye by Jonathon Stroud and also Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes.

I will have to agree with lefty. She suggested Looking Glass Wars to me and I loved it.

Well I have finished my second book in 24 hours, which is good since they will all have to be returned to the library.

I thought The Wednesday Wars was very good. I've been reading so much depressing fiction lately it was a nice break to read something as carefree as the book was in many places. There was a lot of conflict, but the overall message of the book was that even when things looked bad things would end up ok. I'd definitely recommend it, Lefty.

Up next is another M.T. Anderson book, Feed.

*waves to Mindy*

To add to the family tangles -- Mindy is my younger sister.

Welcome Mindy!

Have you really never read Coraline, Espy? I thought it was very freaky, but in a good way. I really like Hugo Cabret, too. It will be a quick read for you. Lots of great pictures.

I just finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallowslast night with notes for our discussion. Today, I'm going to read (and finish) the new book . After that before I go back to school and have to read school books, I'm going to read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince becuase of the recent trailer, and some more juvenille/young adult fantasy such as The Hound of Rowan while waiting for my library copy of The Host to arrive.

Lefty, thanks for the review - I wishlisted that ER book too, and will probably pick it up when it's released.

I'm working on The Amulet of Samarkand, and need to get back to The Wednesday Sisters which, unfortunately, hasn't really drawn me in all that effectively.

I'll be reading Breaking Dawn by Tuesday or Wednesday of this week, and will most likely finish it in a day, maybe two. I'm also going to crack open my textbook, Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives so I can get a read on the course, and the professor.

You're welcome, laia! If you wanted to borrow my copy I don't mind, though I would like to get it back at some point because I did like it quite a bit. Let me know if you want me to mail it to you, though.

That's super sweet of you, lefty :) I'm a book hoarder though, and am lucky enough to have a partner who supports my book-buying habit! I've got quite a few books to read at any given time, so waiting for publication won't hurt me a bit. Thanks so much for the offer, though!

At the moment I'm reading Lost in a Good Book (really really funny!), and The Moving Finger which has baffled me, as Agatha Christie's books usually do. ;)

I loved Hugo Cabret. One of my teachers loaned it to me an it was a wonderful book. It looked like it was long, but it didn't take long to read.
Amulet of Samarkand was a good read as well. It was also recommended to me by my sister =

Hopefully, I will finished the second book of the Barimaeus series soon so then I can move on to other books. I made a list awhile ago of books that looked somewhat interesting, so I think I will have to stop by the library soon.

Missy, I forgot to give you your book back by the way. I'll give it back to you the next time I see you.

Laia, I figured that may be the case -- I tend to have the same problem! But I wanted at least to offer! :)

Mindy, I'll get it next time. We can swap it for the clothes!

I got to Borders at 7pm Friday night thanks to some estatic teenage girls, so I picked up one of the store's copies of Eclipse, found where I'd left off rereading, and easily managed to finish the book. I mostly hid away from my family on Saturay and half of Sunday while reading Breaking Dawn.

My TBR pile is out of control (119 books!) so I'm going to try to tackle those for a while. I'm now reading Ellen Wittlinger's Hard Love.

Lefty and mindy, I hadn't known you are sisters! It's so wonderful that you're both here! I love to see family members both LTing. :)

#23 cat:
Who got their hands on the Thursday Next book first? :)

Forgot to say my kid sister's now a reader and is very excited about reading Twilight. She's old enough to join, but I think I'll see if she reads other books as well before suggesting she join a book site. I'm afriad to get my hopes up. ;)

I finished Feed and started Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians. I liked Feed, but I felt Anderson was a little heavy handed with his point by the end. Maybe that's just how he writes.

Alcatraz looks, so far to be an enjoyable book. Although it's weird to think that the writer of this book also wrote Elantris and Mistborn. It just feels so different.

Finished The Heretic's Daughter on Friday and started Breaking Dawn on Saturday.

***It's sooooo good!!!***

I've got 2 chapters left in Breaking Dawn, and I can't wait to get home to finish them. I'm also still reading Scarlet and City of Ashes.

finished Dark Fire last night, it was a fun mystery and you get a decent feel for the 16th century England (Henry VIII).

I think tonight I'll be starting Pushing Ice I bought it off a bargain book shelf, it looked like a silly space opera, we'll see what comes of it...

I finished reading Hard Love and am now going to read Cathy's Key.

I'm still trying to finish Goblet of Fire. I've picked up The Stranger. There are so many things I want to read, and I can't. It's so frustrating!

I finished Alcatraz last night. It was funny and witty. I really enjoyed it, and I'm glad the sequel should be out soon.

I started Neuromancer, so I'm almost to the end of my first book stack!

I finished St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves which was a volume of quite good magical realist short stories but a bit oversold in the cover blurbs.

I am reading my early reviewer copy of The Good Thief which is very good but again oversold in the cover blurbs.

I sort of like discovering a book is good instead of having impressive fellow authors gush about it.

All my other books are still packed from the move which if anyone wondered where I was for a few days that's where I have been.

Glad you're back Mar! How's the new place? Still settling in?

Thanks JP! It will be great. There is still much unpacking to do including all my books. I may have to send new bookshelf photos when I get it all done.

Mostly I keep wondering how I got so much stuff.

The kitties are less stressed now. The first night Froggy would start meowing about every ten minutes or so just as we'd be drifting off to sleep.

I've started to read the Lonely Planet Thailand Travel Guide.

Crap! Crap! Crap! I just stabbed my foot with.... something. grrr!

Anyway, I caved and picked Twilight up again at midnight. I read 100 pages after I vowed to myself that I would not re read until Dec. I have no resolve. What can you say to a junkie to make them stop?

I've got Earth Inc, The Age of Innocence, The Double Helix, Bleak House and Midnight's Children on the go at the moment. I didn't even know the Twilight books existed until all the Breaking Dawn posts. I'm really feeling the lack of a good series read since HP bit the dust - do these fill the gap?

Just finished Lost in a Good Book. Hilarious! Now to finish Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World.

Next up on my list:
Throne of Jade and the others in the Temeraire series
The Well of Lost Plots
Nefer the Silent

But don't hold me to the order.

39: Suge, Ouch! I think in this case we just let the junkie read the book and be done with it.

40: Klarusu, It is a good series, but nothing can fill the gap left by HP. Read Twilight. If you don't like it, don't bother with the rest.

I am 100 pages into Breaking Dawn!

I agree with Compski. I can't fathom why people insist on comparing the two. They are absolutely different. Maybe because they are both found in the YA section? *scratches head*

Anyway, you either love it or you hate it. I call it drug because, if you don't develope an allergy to it, you can never have enough. Stephenie Meyer is drug dealer.

I see now that I touchstoned the wrong book title. I was reading the first book, not the second, so it was Cathy's Book that I was reading, not Cathy's Key. Either way, I finished it yesterday. I'm still not sure what I'll read next.

I read Breaking Dawn -- my review is non-spoilerific and can be seen on my review page here. I'm also reading Sebastian Darke: Prince of Fools, which I'll probably finish today. I have a whole stack of library books, and I'm thinking about hitting the used bookstore today, so I may increase Mt. TBR beyond all sense or reason pretty soon!

Finished with Breaking Dawn.

Finished with City of Ashes.

Don't know where I put Scarlet.

I picked up The Book Thief last night.

#45 foggi:
I can't wait to read your review, foggi! I'll head to it next! I know what you mean by a staggering TBR pile! Mine's out of control. :)

#46 kirby:
I hope you find your missing book!

I just submited my Breaking Dawn review, too. Here are my reviews.

I'm going to read A Break with Charity about the Salem Witch Trials. One of you had recommended it to me after I read a non-fiction book on that topic last year. This one is fiction and a YA book.

Finished Breaking Dawn (reviewed here) and I'm having a hard time with what to read next. I started a YA book called Creepers that I got as an ARC but I might be in Stephanie Meyer withdrawal as I'm having a hard time getting into it.

K, let me know what you think of Break With Charity, I have that one on my shelf at home. And if you like Witch Trials stuff you might like The Heretic's Daughter as well!

Like so many others I started Breaking Dawn which I have been reading off and on all day. I'm really glad I took the time to re-read the last few chapters of Eclipse before starting as I had apparently forgotten everything that had happened.

#48 el:

I'm sorry your book isn't working out for you right now. You could be very right about your reason for that. It happened to me after reading DH last year. I hope you can read more easily soon!

Of course! Thanks for the book recommendation! You have a very good review. :)

I finally finished Sebastian Darke. It was all right, but didn't really hold my attention. Now I've started on Rebecca. I've heard so much about it that I thought I should try it. I really like it so far!

I gave up on Neuromancer. I wanted to enjoy it, but right now I just don't have the time to devote to truly appreciate it. I also returned Epic because it was an impulse grab.

Moving on to the rest of the books in my stack now.

I finished The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and I thought it was a great book. I remember talking about George Meleiu in my Film as Lit class, so it was cool to read a story about him (even if it was fiction).

Next up I'm moving on to The Looking Glass Wars.

I reading Frozen Fire by Tim Bowler.

I just started Drift House by Dale Peck and Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer.

All right -- I finished Rebecca. I really enjoyed it -- not as much as I would have enjoyed it during my gothic novel kick at age 15, but enjoyed it nevertheless. (It was better written than a lot of the gothic novels I was devouring then, too, which helps.) Now I have to go remember which thread in which group inspired me to read it in the first place, so I can comment!

I haven't quite decided what to read next -- must consult the TBR pile. Probably Dedication, which looks sufficiently fun and fluffy.

This will be my last "fun" 'what are you reading (insert month here)' post, since I go to school next week and will be starting to read textbooks (some of which are in my library) {by fun I mean books I read for myself}
I (finally) got my library copy of The Host, so I'll start it tonight. I'm also reading Vampire Hunter D and rereading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. As I've be rereading HBP, I hadn't realized how many Post-it Notes I used for analysis while reading summer 07 before DH.

I suppose it's good for me that I loaned Breaking Dawn to my co-worker's daughter on Thursday and the co-worker is on vacation until next Friday..... somehow that has to be good, right?

I did it because I had to force myself to read something else. I have several ARCs that are stressing me out - I'm internalizing pressure to read/review them before their release dates.

Anyway, I'm reading and enjoying but not loving The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent. I'm also slowly working my way through The Power Makers by Maury Klein a very good but slow read.

Well I finished both The Looking Glass Wars and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Both were excellent reads and I'd recommend either of them.

I loved The Looking Glass Wars. I would also recommend it.

I'm reading Golem's Eye and Beauty. But unfortunately, school is starting school so I'm doing my best to finish all my summer projects and still reading. Most of my reading is late at night though, so I can't read for very long.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is another book I'm reading, but its a summer project book. I still have about 100-150 pages left, and I've unfortunately lost interest. But I've been using sparknotes to help me finish my paper for it.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, Mindylou. how will you ever learn!?

My currently reading pile is kind of crazy right now, I'm reading way too many at once! Currently focusing on The Shamer's War (love this series), Throne of Jade, Curse of the Bane (touchstone not working), and a re-read of Half-Blood Prince.

#58 karenmarie:
Did you get the chance to read it first?

I'm ninety-five pages away from finishing A Break with Charity: A Story about the Salem Witch Trials. The author throws a lot of historical facts into the story. It's very educational but also enjoyable. I would recommend it. This is a YA book, so the main character is fourteen years old.

I'm going to read The Little Prisoner (Early Reviewers) next.

My Early Reviewers copy of Shade just arrived, so that has jumped to the top of my list. I'm off to read! :)

Found my Scarlet book, and have about 8 chapters left.

I'm also still working on The Host, and haven't gotten very far. Anyone else have a hard time reading the first part?

I've also begun The Book Theif.

#65 kirby:
I did have trouble at first, but I also was very busy with work at the time and had little time to read. I found that after I was finally able to sit and read for an uninterrupted hour that I could enjoy it much more. I came to really like the book, even loved it. Good luck with it and I hope your reading of it improves! Also, glad you found your missing book! :)

Fished Scarlet last night.
I also finished Princess Ben night before.

Right now I am reading frameworks and curriculum maps. Ugghh..

Currently battling my way through The Raw Shark Texts.

Really wanting to move on to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ...

I finished A Malady of Magicks and Persuasion, both of which I really liked!

I finished my early reviewer book yesterday. I'll post about it on the right HE thread tomorrow after work. (I'm so happy I can finally say that!)

I'm going to start reading Marked: A House of Night by P.C. Cast tonight.

I finished my Early Reviewer book, too! I'm reading The London Eye Mystery now and will probably finish it tonight -- not sure what I'll read next. Maybe Nobody's Princess.

#71 foggi:
Will you share what you think of Nobody's Princess with us? It sounds interesting!

Reminds me! El is gone, but if anyone besides her would like to hear about A Break with Charity, I wrote about it on my book challenge thread (post #43). I didn't write that much about it yet and still need to write a review for it.

I finished both Hatching Magic and Coraline.

Hatching Magic was one of those books that I really wanted to like, but it took way too long to get into. I probably won't be reading the sequel because it took so long to get into. The writing was also younger than I was expecting which may have had something to do with my lackluster feeling.

Coraline, on the other hand, was great. It felt deep and I really enjoyed it. I'll have to give Gaiman's older stuff another chance. Anyone have any suggestions on where to start? I've been told the American Gods is excellent. However I'm still weeks from that point as can be seen by checking out the TBR pile thread.

Next up on my mad crusade to finish these books is Bloody Jack. And off I go again! (To update my TBR pile thread list that is.)

I'm rereading Magic Steps. for some reason I'm having trouble getting into anything I haven't read before right now.

Finished Nobody's Princess. I'd recommend it! It's an interesting take on Helen of Troy's girlhood, making her much less passive than, say, The Iliad does.

I also read Peeps by Scott Westerfeld. It was all right, but it had way more factual information about parasites than I ever wanted to know. Ewww.

Next up: Keeping Corner by Kashmira Sheth.

I am rereading Tris's Book.

Nothing. Finished The Yiddish Policemen's Union, taking a break. The next one will be some light-hearted fodder.

I'm curretly plodding through The Golem's Eye, which I'm having a much harder time getting into than I had with The Amulet of Samarkand. I'm also starting school and will be reading at least parts of Women's Lives: multicultural perspectives and the norton anthology of literature by women and will read Emma, To the Lighthouse, and Wuthering Heights before the semester's out.

I sure hope I have time for fun reading too, because I have at least a dozen new books that are competing for next up...!

oh, and of course I thought that now would be a brilliant time for beginning a book club - we start Lolita next week.

#78 laia:
I used to have The Norton Anthology of literature by women for a women's lit class! Good luck withyour book club. :)

Between work and the Olympics, I'm finding very little time to read. Still reading Marked.

School started Wednesday so I haven't been able to read.

I am still reading the same books though. I just got a new computer too so I keep changing settings and getting distracted.

Let's see. Tomorrow I will read First Day Jitters, Miss Malarkey Doesn't Live in Room 10, Oh, the Thinks You can Think, and beginning The Case of the Back-To-School Burglar.

Extracts from books about pre-socratic philosophers. Great way to get to sleep. Plus, you learn new things. I never knew that everything in the universe consisted entirely of water. How 'bout that.

After reading some very long and relatively intense books (The Host, Pillars of the Earth, and Breaking Dawn) I am now reading a "comfy" book, Little Men.

I finished Keeping Corner, which I liked (it made me hungry for Indian food, which I then went out and ate with Espy and MrsEspy, so that was nice). Then I read Going Nowhere Faster, which is very funny. Then I finished Deathly Hallows for the group discussion. Then I listened to most of So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish on the drive home from Espy's. Lots of reading this weekend. I'm not really sure what I'll read next -- possibly The Dragon Heir, which I got at the book signing I went to on Saturday.

I finished reading Marked last night (good book). I'm going to read The Tenth City, possibly another book, and then The Warrior Heir.

I read A Multitude of Monsters on Sunday, and yesterday we went to the library, so I finally got (drum roll please)... Breaking Dawn! So now I'm all sleepy from reading it late last night. ;)

I finished Raven Rise and now am eagerly anticipating the last book in the Pendraon series. I was ready to give up the series after the last book, but the series has gotten good again with the penultimate book and I want to see how MacHale wraps everything up.

Right now I am in the middle of Larklight and I've sort of stalled out wile reading it. I like it for the most part, but I think that the Victorian nature of the steampunk is bugging me a little.

I read Ashenden by Maugham and just started Edith Wharton's The Buccaneers which seems promising so far.

Since I just bought my textbooks for the semester, I guess I'll be reading those for awhile. Here are a few titles: Longman Anthology of British Literature, Candide, Journalism: Who, What, When, Where, How, and Why, the AP Stylebook, L'art de Lire, Rhetorical Criticism, and Oral Interpretation just to name a few.

I finished Larklight, so now it's on to Pagan's Crusade.

#90 have fun with your AP Stylebook. I had many eventful evenings of flipping through it while working on copyediting my school paper.

I feel like such a failure when I read this thread. I don't really get to read as much as I like to, so I'm still on the ones I said earlier. Since school has started, I've had a bunch of homework. I'm in precalc and the teacher insists we have mastery on something completely new by tomorrow. I also have to read a history textbook (boring) and a speech textbook (boringg) and an english textbook (could it get worse?). So I probably sound like a complaining teenager, but that is because I am a complaining teenager. The other day I did get to enjoy The Golem's Eye for a bit.

Maybe I should be reading instead of complaining then, eh? I'm not Canadian btw, I've just been saying that lately. I'm not really sure why.

#92 -- Don't feel like a failure! It's hard, being too busy to read "fun stuff," but it doesn't mean you're doing something wrong -- just that you're focusing on priorities. Hang in there, and I hope you get to do some fun reading soon!

Well, this month I've read Flying Inn, Wuthering Heights, For Whom the Bell Toll, Seize the Day, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Manalive.

Currently I'm reading Human Action, City of God and Grapes of Wrath.

I'll try to read also Big Fisherman and maybe The Great Gatsby or The Pickwick Papers.

#92 mindy:
Anyone who can reach precalculus is far from a failure to me! That's amazing. :) School terms can be tough for avid readers. We'll want to read non-textbooks at times so much but either don't have the time or fear we won't pass our classes if we do read for fun. I've tried all sorts of ways to both sneak fun reading in and to avoid it all together during school terms. This is something I liked that worked well for me since I would procrasinate on studying: I used to read any book I'd want for up to a half hour per every so many hours of studying. The coming holiday weekend might help a bit by giving you more time. I hope you get to enjoy more of The Golem's Eye soon!

...

I hate reading more than one book at once, but I'm going to keep The Warrior Heir in my bag to read at work while I'm still reading The Tenth City.

sirparsifal, Manalive is such and interesting book and I have met so few people who've read it.

and mindylou I've never thought of reading as a competition. You are doing a lot there are times when one has more leisure to read.

I finished my Twilight reread. Last night I started Aretemis Fowl and the Time Paradox. Today during S.Q.U.I.R.T. I began Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography.

ETA: Hmmmm.... How come only one of my touchstones will come up at a time? They all show that they're there while I'm editing, but when I submit it changes which one is touchstoned. Weird.

mindylou- I know how you feel. My daughter can finish about 3 books in the time it takes me to read one, but she's naturally a faster reader and hard to distract once her eyes connect with the page. I can't compete with that. I'm a slow reader and usually on the go so much it's hard to finish as many books as I would like, especially if I'm reading something non-fiction (not that I don't enjoy the non-fiction I read, just that it is more of a challenge for my poor sleep deprived and easily distracted brain.)

Read when you can. The books will always be there when you have the time for them.

Thanks guys... you're awesome =)

I've been doing homework for pretty much three hours straight and I decided it was time for a break. So here I am =)
I still have to read for speech... but it shouldn't be too hard hopefully. I'm going to take a shortcut though because my teacher told us what questions were going to be on our quiz... so I'm not going to read all 40 pages or something like that.

I picked up Magyk today though. I thought I might try it because it sounded kind of fun. So hopefully I'll be able to read some of that tonight.
Other than that though I'm still reading The Golem's Eye and Beauty.

Thanks again guys. You made me feel better =)

#97 kirby:
That is weird! Let's test this once more.
Your books: Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox, Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography.

Random books from my TBR pile that I want to read soon: The Wizard Heir, Eragon, Eldest, and Inkspell.

#99 mindy:
We're very glad to make you feel better. :)

kirby: the touchstones are very particular about spelling.

I finished with my jaunt in history and have wrested The Well of Lost Plots from my husband's greedy hands. (Really, he wants me to read it so he has someone to talk with about it.)

I feel like a big old slacker, my August reading has been practically non-existent; I blame the Olympics.

Technically, I'm reading The Charlemagne Pursuit but I keep getting distracted by amazing feats of athletics. *sigh* Oh well, only a few more days.

Oh yeah, and I'm still reading Henry VIII: The King and his Court on my lunches.

Thought I'd jump in to say that if you liked Coraline, I think you'd like The Thief of Always by Clive Barker. It's also a children's book, but has the same creepy sort of feel that makes you stay up late with the lights on.

Till We Have Faces. Enjoying it muchly. Thanks for the recommendation, homies.

#104 -- Glad you like it!

Completely forgot to say what I'm reading!

I read The Last Summer (of You and Me) which was meh -- adult fiction by the author of the Traveling Pants, which were all right for what they were, but I didn't find the characters as compelling in this one. Then I read Brunettes Strike Back, which is fun teenage fluff. Now I'm reading Undine. Still haven't read The Dragon Heir -- I'm debating doing a reread of the series first.

#91 Espy, did you like Larklight? I read that a while ago, but I don't think I was crazy about it. Kind of a take it or leave it. I remember considering not finishing it.

I'm about to reread Eclipse real fast (theoretically) and then get to Breaking Dawn (though probably not until September). I just finished The Dragon Heir and I was rather disappointed in it -- the first two books were much better. :/ Everything else I've been reading is more or less on hold until I read some of the library books that are now piling up.

I've just finished Chasing Darkness. I think I'll give Twilight a chance, so many people can't be wrong.

#108 Donna:
Happy reading! I hope you enjoy it! :)

I forgot to bring a bookmark with me again today. I don't know how I've managed to memorize what page I'm on. I'm trying really hard to not fold the pages. I used to be such a page-folder in place of using a bookmark! I somehow broke the habbit this year.

104 Hmm now I must consider a reread of Till we have faces I have the next book but I haven't started reading it yet, see I caved to peer pressure but not entirely.

I am still reading Wharton's The Buccaneers which is splendid. Better than The Age of Innocence that and guide books for England and Wales!

foggi, I'm glad you enjoyed Rebecca. (I haven't been in this thread in a while.)

I'm reading The Hundred Days (only 2 more Patrick O'Brians left!) and I'm listening to Persuasion. I haven't read Austen in a while and I love her.

I have been reading an Anne Siddon Rivers book named "The House Next Door" It is totally weird!

I am almost done with Little Men and I have just started How Many Miles to Babylon? by Jennifer Johnston. In my college Irish Lit class I read her book Fool's Sanctuary and loved it. I have read it each year since. I discovered this other book through Library Thing. I really like it so far.

I also just checked out Autobiography of a Face and The Lightning Thief from the library.

>#111: LG, does hubby know about you & Jane?

I am reading The Sky Village and Pagan's Crusade and Me, the Missing and the Dead.

I began reading Magyk. So far it seems pretty good. Hopefully it won't go downhill, but I don't know yet.

I also have to start Malcolm X Talks to Young People for school. Yay more projects... not. but it is pretty much just some of his speeches. Oh joy.

I finished The Dragon Heir -- see my review here -- it was good, but not great; I liked it but didn't love it.

I'm not sure what I'll read next. I started Time Stops for No Mouse a while back, and have put it aside a couple of times now -- maybe I'll zip through it before starting something new. I'm kinda thinking I'm in the mood for a comfort reread, though -- just don't know what I'll pick up.

Foggi, I've been feeling that way too, but all of my go-to comfort books are series, and I know I can't dedicate that much time to reading anything that's not for class until the semester's over.

hmph.

i've been reading fluffy romances all summer, i'm ready for some hard core stuff now!

I still love my job, but it turns out that once again I'm too efficient for my own good and mostly have nothing to do. So between projects I'm back to old gutenberg.org; this time I'm reading Wuthering Heights and then I'm thinking I'll move on to some Dickens, between Doctor Who and Fforde I feel like I'm woefully uninformed when it comes to him!

Edited for touchstones.

#114 I think hubby has stopped trying to keep track, but he knows he is my only "3-D boyfriend" and hence he has nothing to fear.

Autobiography of a Face is amazing and sometimes hard to read. You should also check out Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett, which is also about Lucy. It will tear your heart out.

I actually own Truth and Beauty (Ann Patchett was here earlier this month), but someone told me to read Autobiography of a Face first. They said to get Lucy Grealy's story and then read Patchett's take on it. I really like it so far, even though I have trouble with some of the medical descriptions. I am a total wimp and get light headed. I used to faint in hospitals, but I am better now.

Apparently, the Grealy family was not altogether thrilled with Ann Patchett after Truth & Beauty came out. Still, it's another great read and adds a lot to Lucy's story.

Again, both books will rip your heart right out of your chest. Stunning.

eta: I also loved Bel Canto. If you haven't read it, you should check it out.

I heard that her family wasn't that thrilled about Anne Patchett, but I still plan on reading both books. I will probably not read Truth and Beauty for a few months.

Bel Canto is one of my all time favorites! I would recommend it to anyone.

Right now, I'm reading a book called The Pirate's Daughter by Margaret Cezair-Thompson. Good book, sort of romantic, about a sixteen year old who is in love with a movie star and dreams of a life with him in Jamaica (it takes place in the 1950s or so). For my taste, it sort of lacks some action, but it's good!

I've put The Raw Shark Texts to one side for now - it was making my brain hurt a bit.

So I'm now enjoying The resurrectionist, as well as Creating Web Pages for Dummies because I want to learn how. And I'm a dummie.

#116 - I liked Magyk and the next two books. I thought they were a lot of fun. I'm saving the next one, Queste for later when I'm recovering for surgery. I'll be wanting something fun and light to read.

I just finished The Horse and His Boy. I have to say that I like it more than some of the others in the Narnia series. Overall, I don't like the series as much as I thought I would. I haven't ever read the whole thing.

#126 LadyN:
Hush! You are no such thing!

I'm still reading The Warrior Heir. I think now that I'm only reading one book instead of two that I'll be able to read faster.

just finished Til We Have Faces. Really enjoyed it, although it did come over somewhat Lewisesque at the end. Such an appropriate read, as i had just been reading about So-crates and greeklings beforehand. Of course, i love anything relating to mythology, so it was a no-brainer.

What to read next... I'm contemplating starting The Second Book, just to spite MsDonna. ha.

#128 - K,

Bless you, but where computers are concerned, I really am! However, I'm very much enjoying the book. It's written in language I can understand :-)

MrA contemplating reading The Second Book.

The world is truly coming to an end.

129- LOL!

I finished Jane Eyre, which I liked a lot! Right now I'm reading The Well of Lost Plots, Firebirds Rising, and Sense and Sensibility.

Just started The Road by Cormac McCarthy for my September bookclub read. I'm also going to try to sneak in Breaking Dawn.

#129 MrA:
KIK.

#130 LadyN:
I'm glad the book is going well. :)

#132 cat:
All books I like! (Well, three out of four - I know of the other, though.) Did your reading Jane Eyre and reading Sense and Sensibility now have anything to do with the Thursday Next series? :)

I did get interested in Jane Eyre because of The Eyre Affair, but I'm reading Sense and Sensibility just because. :)

That's excellent! I love Austen. Three down, three to go.
The TN books made me really want to read Wuthering Heights. It's been in my TBR pile for some time now. I just haven't gotten to it.

Along with my ER book Shade, I just finished Austenland which was wonderfully light and fun and silly and sappy and pretty much exactly what I needed to start this week!

I dreadfully behind on my review writing at present but I'll hopefully catch up soon!

#132 -- Have you read "In the House of the Seven Librarians" yet? I love that short story!

I am currently reading Otherworldlies.

I'll be reading Wuthering Heights later in the year, bib - class discussion for that one is set for Dec. 4... And let's see what else from everyone else's lists, LOL... Jane Eyre by Sept. 25, and Emma by Sept. 11.
As for current and immediately upcoming reads, I'll start Lolita for my book club once I'm done at the current job (weds) and hope to finish The Golem's Eye tonight so I can hurry up and finish the trilogy.

You must be taking women's lit! I took it at two different colleges and loved it both times. I hope you manage some sleep as well! Nearing 2am. I'm off to bed. Happy reading! :)

I am indeed - the prof's a bit crazy, but I think I'll survive. I'm too stubborn to drop for anything less than a bigot teacher or a class that turns out to be NOTHING like I expected.

If I hadn't slept from about noon to six this evening, I'd be bedward bound, too - being sick will wreak havoc on a sleep schedule!

I love crazy professors! Especially when they grade high. ;o)

I'll never forget Dr. L in high school chemistry. He abused the word "exonerated" the way Vizzini abused "inconceivable." And then there was that time during regents exams when the gym teacher gave him a shoulder massage and Dr. L loudly proclaimed "Oh! That's great! I'm havin' an orgasm here!" (You have to hear this with the nasally NY twang.) He was a character!

Anyway, I finished The Well of Lost Plots and I'm forging ahead with Throne of Jade. I am a pathetically slow reader.

Not to be a grump, but I HATED Wuthering Heights. On my short list of worst books ever. But I liked Emma and Jane Eyre.

jp, we'll see about the grading - something tells me that about half the roster will have dropped before tonight (a couple of them didn't even return from the break last week) so the level of one-on-one scrutiny will be high... hopefully, self-deprecating honesty works for her, because half of my notes for tonight's reading say something only slightly more elaborate than "I don't get it," hahaha... It's primarily poetry, and I'm super prose-minded, so even if I do end up hating Wuthering Heights or any of the other assigned novels, I'll be grateful for the simple fact that it's NOT poetry!

Started The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse just for the title. Not sure if i'm a huge fan of the style, but i'll give it ago.

Just picked up The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson today.

I'm reading The Pirates! in An Adventure with Communists by Gideon Defoe. The Pirates! books are just totally silly and I love them.

I should try Austen again. I didn't like Pride and Prejudice at all, and I'm not sure I can make myself read that again, but I really should read something else by her.

Victory of Eagles has come in for me from the library at last, so I've started it. I'm also reading Birdwing to see if it would be good for junior high book club to read this year. Not sure I like it so far. I'm starting my ER book tonight -- Guilty by Reason of Stupidity. Everything else is on hold for now.

Lefty, If you didn't like Pride and Prejudice, odds are you won't like anything else by Austen. Just a warning.

I picked up Notes from the Midnight Driver this evening -- it's really good so far.

re-reading The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins

Good to know, compski. I won't hurry to pick up an Austen book. ;)

#149/150/153: I don't know about that. I've tried to read P&P several times and haven't been able to get past the first chapter, but I read Sense & Sensibility in a couple days. I'll probably try Persuasion or Emma later, though I don't know that I'll ever be a huge Austen fan.

If you can make it past the first several chapters in P&P, it does get better. Much better.

I've started Emma and am enjoying it so far; not so much that I'm going to read that instead of Ptolemy's Gate out in the backyard before work, but enough that I don't despise the professor for assigning it ;)

I'm reading Blood Lines.

I'm forty-eight pages away from finishing The Warrior Heir and am at a really exciting part in the book. This is a great book! It was so nice to be able to read yesterday for more than the fifteen minutes here and there that I'd been reading lately. I'm really glad it hasn't ruined my reading experience of the book. I want to finish it before I go to work today so I have to disappear now. I'm not sure whether I'll bring book two with me (The Wizard Heir) or if I'll bring book two to the House of Night series (P.C. Cast's Betrayed).

I thought I posted here but its not here so....."Night Watch" by terry Pratchett is what I'm reading now.

You posted it on the bookmark thread. ;)

As it turned out, I didn't get to finish my book before I left for work. I read as much as I could and walked into work with only eight pages left. So upsetting.

I'm now reading P.C. and Kristen Cast's Betrayed.

Hmm, authors don't want to link, but I've linked them before!

Oops! my bad! thanks K!

#160, K, I hate stopping with so few pages left! How frustrating!

As the month closes out, I'm still reading school stuff. I'm rereading To Kill a Mockingbird for my oral interpretation class. I have to prepare an 8-10 minute segment and I think I'm going to do the trial of Tom and how that promotes equality/ justice. Later on this semester, I have to do a poetry reading, and a drama reading, which I'm thinking about using a segment of Equus for.
In my French class, we're working with George Simenon's La Vieille Dame de Bayeux (The Old Lady of Bayeux), and in my English literature class, we're finishing a reread of Beowulf.

#161 polly:
No worries. You're welcome. :)

#162 lefty"
It was extremely frustrating! I spent my break reading the last few pages next to someone who kept trying to chat with me. We have a few readers at work so I'm suprised she doesn't know not to do that. Some of them get scary when their reading is interrupted. I learned fast to not talk to anyone who is reading at work. ;)

#163 wingert:
I'm jealous! I was about to start reading Beowulf in an English lit class a few years ago when the class was suddenly canceled due to low enrollment.

138- Yes! I love that short story!

I finished Jane Eyre and Sense and Sensibility (both of which I really liked), so now the only book I'm reading at the moment is Firebirds Rising.

I'm still working on The Host (actually I've put this down until I'm in the mood) and Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox. I picked up The Ranger's Apprentice The Ruins of Gorlan this morning. We'll see how that goes.

I'm reading Three Cups of Tea and The Scarlet Pimpernel. The Scarlet Pimpernel is a reread, but it was several years ago that I read it. I'm surprised at how easy it is to read, considering that it was written about 1902 and it draws you right in. I know she wrote several books in the series and I think I'm going to have to read them too. The ending, I remember, is different from the TV show, but I love it! Oh, and my daughter pointed out that Chauvelin, the bad guy, is played by Gandalf! I hadn't realized that. I guess he repented in his old age!

I just requested Three Cups of Tea from the library. Let us know how it is.

Gandalf hasn't completely repented. Sir Ian McKellan makes a great Magneto!

I finished Autobiography of a Face yesterday and really liked it, but I need a break and will wait awhile before I read Truth and Beauty. Today I finished The Lightning Thief. I loved the gods with a modern day twist.

Tonight I will start My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger. He wrote one of my all time favorite books, The Last Days of Summer.

Abandoned The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse after about 70 pages. Not something i usually do, but i'm not going to read a silly book if it's not actually funny. I probably should not have simultaneously started The Divine Comedy.

I've switched to Moving Pictures.

I hope you weren't thinking The Divine Comedy is funny, too.

I'm finding it hilarious.

I am reading Midnight Magic right now.

Well I think I'll finish off this thread by saying the I finished The Dragon Heir yesterday, and I enjoyed it. Again, it wasn't one of those books that you read and think "wow;" rather, it was one of those books that you enjoy till the end and just move on.

For all those who are feeling discouraged by the few of us who read way too much (is that even possible?) take heart. We all go through periods where we just don't read much. We don't think any less of you because you probably are not reading as much as us because you have your priorities straight.

#103—I haven't heard of that before, but I'll possibly add it to my list.

#107—Yeah, Larklight was just meh for me too. It was ok, but I have no intention of reading the next book.

I now officially call this thread closed. I don't have that authority, but it's fun to pretend I do.

I'm a great one for flouting authority, Espy... It's still August in California ;)

So I'm reading Emma... And there's this little niggling thought in the back of my mind, but --- no, it can't be... So I shake it off and keep reading... And, yes, there it is again --- but really? REALLY?

... *google-fu enacted* ...

THE MOVIE CLUELESS IS "LOOSELY BASED" ON EMMA!!!

I've never seen any film adaptation of Emma (though I've heard that the one with Gwyneth Paltrow is brilliant), so this is my very first exposure to it. I honestly had no idea. And now, I'm a little disappointed, because I feel like my "intuitive" sense of what *might* happen towards the end of the book was helped along by my subconscious knowledge that the story was so much like one I already know.

Pfffft.

For god's sake, DON'T READ Romeo and Juliet if you've seen West Side Story.

You should probably stay away from New Moon too - the plot summary sounds a tad familiar to me. I'm just sayin'.

lol, you'll take any excuse not to read New Moon, MrA.

:P~

I mailed your book today, lefty. One down, several to go...

:D Thanks!!

Link to September's thread:
http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=44577#