What You're Reading the Week of 9 August 2008

Yet more summer reading: The Shakespeare Secret by J.L. Carrell The Bard meets Da Vinci, a good read with a few nice twists; a David Baldacci double book - The Winner and The Simple Truth, I kept on saying 'just one more chapter' and lost more hours sleep that I wanted to. Now I'm half way through The Glass Books of Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist which is proving to be an excellent baroque crime thriller.

I finished reading Twilight last night, and I am hooked. I can understand what a lot of people find annoying about the book, though. My review is In the Shadow of Mt. TBR

I picked up When We Were Romans, and it doesn't look like it'll take that long to finish. Written from a 9-year-old boy's perspective and 230 pages long, I should zip through it.

I'm also still working on Caesar's The Conquest of Gaul, which I've got to hurry up on. I think I'm psyching myself out on this one, so I need to just dig my heels in and read.

I'm working on A Monarchy Transformed. I won't make as much progress as I usually would though: I'll be busily knitting a tam and beret for the Ravelympics, a sideshow to the Olympics run by the knit-and-crochet site Ravelry.

I'm still reading American Savior A Novel of Divine Politics by Roland Merullo. I am finding it very entertaining.. too much so, I have stuff to do and its hard to not sit down and open it. WORK first!!!!!

I have several very tempting ones on my TBR stack , pile, okay mountain.

I have two books going right now, Into This World We're Thrown by Mark Kendrick (it seems like I've been reading this one for a while) and Prophecy of the Flame by Lynn Hardy.

#2 thekoolaidmom: When you've gotten to the point in Caesar's Conquest of Gaul where he talks about how the Druids use giant twig statues in their sacrifices, you should rent The Wicker Man (the original, not the remake) - sounds weird, but it's a cool movie and it's got a giant wicker statue in it - it's relevant, I swear!

I've finished In Hazard and I'm about half way through Red Storm on the Reich. I've been a little too distracted to do much reading the past couple of days. In the great scheme of things, my problems haven't been that major. But when you're driving down the road and your car radiator explodes, it tends to unnerve you.

http://sketchesamongtheruins.blogspot.com/2008/08/no-lemonade.html

I'm still on a short fiction kick. Last night I started The Penguin Book of Summer Stories.

Started Mr. China yesterday. Though I'm only a few pages in, it's holding my interest. Unlike Rhett Butler's People which is considerably better than Scarlett (a totally excrable book), but is just not doing it for me. I think I'll return it to the library today and pick up something else--don't know what yet.

Bleak House, still, very slowly. I'm also halfway through Clea by Lawrence Durrell, and then I'll have finished The Alexandria Quartet. I highly recommend it - all four books are wonderful!

After that, I'll have much more time to devote to Bleak House.

I'm on Chapter 13 of Romance of the Rose by Julie Beard & Chapter 5 of Love and Mayhem by Nicole Cody.

I'm finishing up March by Geraldine Brooks today. Wonderful read. Not sure what's next. I love that I can just go to my bookshelves and choose something great to read!

#6 scaifea: Actually, I've seen the original "Wicker Man" back in the 80's. :-D Didn't the put the... um, "sacrifices" inside the wicker man to burn? It's been awhile since I watched it.

I've read ten whole pages in the book today. I'm trying to finish Book One today, but It's sloggy for sure. Tiny print, dry info... lots of unprnounceable names... and my inability to picture the geography he's so fond of including (thank goodness for the maps in the back!)... I'm already starting to skim. I gave up on one of the tribal king's name and just called him "Catman". It's like reading Chronicles in the Bible!

#1 Hi, GreyHead ~ I'm so glad to hear you are enjoying The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters! It's in my pile of books to be read next.

I'm almost finished with The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin, the second medieval mystery starring Adelia Aguilar, the female "doctor to the dead" set in Henry II's England. Not quite as wonderful as Mistress of the Art of Death, it is still an excellent read.

Still reading Tomato Red but should finish it soon. I may try to find (in my house) the next book by Kjell Eriksson, The Cruel Stars of the Night or maybe something modern and Japanese. Have to think about it.

#13 the koolaidmom: Hang in there - it gets better once he starts into his ethnography of the Gauls (that's where the druids and such come in). And yeah, the "sacrifices" go inside the wicker man (both in the movie and in Caesar's commentary).

Reread Cherise the Niece by J. K. Benton, two more times, and my review is In the Shadow of Mt. TBR. I loved it! It's hilarious (and morbid).

Yesterday and today I read The Old Man and the Sea, which I can't believe I never read in school. Next up is A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers (touchstone not loading).

I'm about two thirds of the way through We by Yevgeny Zamiatin. It's an early Russian sci fi novel about a totalitarian state, very much, clearly, a predecessor to Brave New World and 1984. Needless to say, it didn't go over very well with the Soviet authorities at the time.

I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Hallucinatory, descriptive writing. Not much on plot, but very strong on atmosphere. I enjoying it quite a bit.

I'm currently reading Be Careful What You Wish For
and so far i'm really enjoying it. About half way through them looking forward to moving on to another Penny Vincenzi one.

I'm about a quarter of the way in to The Lace Reader. I had to put Shadow of the Wind on hold for now and will finish when I'm on vacation in 10 days, since I have a few library books that I want to read first before I go away.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through Case Histories ~ I'm really liking it! Thanks to all who recommended it. :o)

I finished Assisted Loving: True Tales of Double Dating with my Dad and enjoyed it more than I expected to. My full review is in Readerville

Still finishing The Handmaid's Tale...it's been a stressful couple of days.

Besides "Monster Bugs" by Lucille Penner which I'm reading with the children, I'm reading sections of "Sparta" which is a collection of previously published articles. Edited by Michael Whitby

(touchstones... touchy)

I started the audiobook of The Lace Reader this afternoon. So far, I'm enjoying it.

Still working on Midnight's Children, Excellent Women, North and South (again--a reread), and The Hindi-Bindi Club.

Aargh. Can't read a thing, packing, taking a few imuntes to wave a lonely little *hello* to all, and especially to sundry over there!

gives richardear a hug and a push back to his chore. Sooner done, sooner you can read and chat and etc.

miss ya!

Read about 200 pages of Strange Piece of Paradise then put it down. Not sure if I'll pick it up again or not.

Now reading Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House by Valerie Plame Wilson and Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

Still trying desperately to finish Great Expectations by this Wednesday, but a one-volume edition of the entire The Dark is Rising series keeps getting in the way.

Finished Water for Elephants and loved it, until the last chapter, which I liked but think was a bit, ummmm.... neat. (I'm trying to avoid spoilers!)

I'm just starting John Keegan's The Second World War, and am still reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

Now that I've finished March I can concentrate fully on Dear American Airlines. It's a wonderful read - funny and sad and witty.

Now reading The Margarets. I felt like a bit of sci fi or fantasy, so hope this will hit the spot.

Snow Flower & The Secret Fan is a good book but I stayed depressed for a whole day because of it. Depressing and painful.

I've been reading Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and Marked by P. C. Cast. Neverwhere is great so far, I've only ever read Gaiman's children's and YA books. I'm still not 100% sure if I like Marked yet. I just finished with the Stephenie Meyer books (again) and am in the mood for some more vampires, but this one is just so-so right now. We'll see, maybe it will get better.

I am reading a mystery / thriller; Nine Lords of the Night by E.C. Gibson. It is a real page turner, difficult to put down. The plot is multilayered and satisfyingly complex. The reader pulls aways layers of understanding much as in the way that archaeologists excavate sites. The author is a Harvard-trained archaeologist with a vast knowledge of the ancient Maya and modern shamanism. I highly recommend it.

Last night I finished Deer Hunting With Jesus: Dispatches From America's Class War by Joe Bageant and started Rapture by Susan Minot.

I'm reading A short history of nearly everything. I already liked Bill Bryson after reading The life and times of the thunderbolt kid, I like him even more now.
Furthermore I'm reading a Ducth book: Arend, as I liked De engelenmaker. Also just started Het grote baggerboek, bought at the train station while I had to wait 15 minutes.

#35 I have added Nine Lords of the Night to my cart.. and will buy it for myself next week... Thank you! It looks wonderful.

9#: I'm reading Scarlett right now and I'm finding it much better than I expected it to be. I just need to know how things between Scarlett and Rhett turns out! Sure it isn't a great piece of literature, but it fits the (read: my) bill. =) Oh, and I can't wait to read Rhett Butler's People, too!

#37 - just for the impact it had on me and my interests, I've got to say that the Bryson is one of the most important things I've ever read.

Still reading Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton and will be for a while. It's good though, so far...

I am enjoying Stella Tillyard's A Royal Affair George III and his Troublesome Siblings.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi and I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would (science fiction isn't one of my favorite genres). I'm hoping I can finish it (or nearly finish) it today.

#10, jfetting, You are inspiring me to reread The Alexandria Quartet, which I read some 30+ years ago and loved.

I am close to the end of Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts, which I'm reading because it was highly recommended by people whose opinions I value on LT, particularly after I read Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra. However, I have mixed feelings about it: it's a page turner, story-wise, and has some great characters, but I find it very self-indulgent and longer than it needs to be.

Okay, so I added another book. I was supposed to work in the nursery at church this morning but no kids showed up. I was a bit worried, because I knew I had left Zoe's Tale at home. Luckily, though, I found American Savior in my purse. The beginning is a little off-putting, but I think I'll love it.

#43 - Isn't all art self-indulgent? :) But seriously, self-indulging is an easily forgivable sin, but it all depends on who's doing the indulging...

#28 I, too, gave up on Strange Piece of Paradise, at about page 250. I found that when Jentz was talking about the attack and its aftermath, it was an interesting book. But all the extraneous material and investigation she added wasn't interesting and most of it not relevant.

#39 I returned Rhett Butler's People to the library yesterday, because I just wasn't interested in it. However, I definitely did think it was a far better book than Scarlett and would recommend it to those who have an interest in how the saga continued.

I finished Tomato Red by Daniel Woodrell. It was a quick read, with good turns of phrase, but some incomprehensible slang/dialect (Ozarks?). He calls his style Country Noir.

Its rather sad because the characters (poor white trash), end up exactly as you expect they will - mostly dead or in jail.

I thought I would go for the Swedish mystery or a modern Japanese book Grotesque or Sayonara Bar next, but I went for a non-fiction King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild.

I am preparing (hopefully) for a book I ordered set in the Congo in the 1950s, and I wanted to have some background before it arrived. I saw the book about Leopold listed on LT a while ago, and picked it up.

I ordered the other book from Alibris in the UK. I am in NH, for some unknown reason they insist on shipping it from London to their warehouse in Nevada (Alibris USA) and then back to me in NH, all via snail mail. None of which was explained under their International Shipping blurb.

I have spent a week trying to explain why I am upset to find the my order is still listed as pending when I ordered on July 30th, and that I am not pleased the book is touring the provinces before it gets here. The latest they tell me is that they will upgrade the shipping to me once it arrives in Nevada, but who knows where it is now.

I will also add Nine Lords of the Night to my wishlist, and look for it the next time I have money to spend on books. I have 2 books that I ordered at Borders which I can't ransom until Friday.

I am readingTipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters and Sorcerer's Stone A Beginner's Guide to Alchemy by Dennis William Hauck. I'm half finished with Tipping the Velvet and am enjoying the tender love story.

I am reading Breaking Dawn and I also started Whistling in the Dark last evening. I am enjoying both of these books.

Still working my way through The Shadow of the Wind; it's slow going, but I'm enjoying it, and I'm starting to make some real progress on it. I'm also reading Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott for something a little lighter.

I finished the Russian science fiction classic, We, by Yevgeny Zamiatin yesterday. Overall, I enjoyed it. And realizing the time and place it was written (Soviet Russian in the mid-20s) makes the work even more interesting.

Today I'll be reading the story "Gods in Exile" by Heinrich Heine from the Modern Library collection Great German Short Novels and Stories.

I just finished The Lace Reader which I read in a day, it was hard to put down. A very thoughtful story, really makes you think - I must admit, I feel really stupid now since I have to rethink everything I've just read! It was a good story, much more intricate that one would believe at first - great job to this author!

Well, I've had some great, breezy deck time today, so I read the story "Gods in Exile" by Heine, which I enjoyed, in fairly short order.

So now I've moved on to the novella "The Enchanted Wanderer" by Nikolai Leskov, from the collection Selected Tales by Nikolia Lesov.

Between the Zamiatin, Heine and Leskov, I just realized how much time I was spending in Russia and Germany lately. Funny how you can get into certain grooves without even realizing it.

I finished Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman this weekend. I am becoming addicted to her writing after this and The Sunne in Splendor. What a (LT inspired) find she has been for me! I am sad the novel is over, but have ordered the next two in the triology.

Off to the TBR pile . . .

>40 mikeepatrick::mikepatrick

I too am still working on Pandora's Star. I'm up to about p.250. I find that I can't have any distractions around when I read... the narrative requires my full attention or else I feel that I'm missing important details.

And we need an acronym list... ISC, CSR, IR, PL, ... sheesh.

#54 jhowell - glad you liked Here Be Dragons I loved the story between Llewelyn and Joanna - my favorite of the trilogy - though they're all good - and a great history lesson!

Just finished The Flame Trees of Thika on an airplane. I've now read both of Elspeth Huxley's Kenya memoirs on airplanes this summer, which is a weird but pleasing symmetry.

Finished Rapture by Susan Minot and in honor of my birthday today, I started On Women Turning 60: Embracing the Age of Fulfillment by Cathleen Rountree. I won't be 60 for another 4 years but I thought I'd get a headstart on fulfillment.

Today I read American Savior: A Novel of Divine Politics and The Music Teacher.

I enjoyed both very much.

I will review Teacher tomorrow... have already reviewed Savior.

I will choose something else tomorrow.. I am done reading for today.

I've never read any Sharon Kay Penman. I don't think I'll get to her this year but I'm probably going to pencil her in for next year. Does the Welsh Trilogy need to be read in a particular order? TIA

I finished The Handmaid's Tale last night and was blown away...review coming this week.

I'm now 50 pages into Matrimony by Joshua Henkin, which I'm reading to review in anticipation of the paperback release later this month. So far, it's good but not great...but I have high hopes.

Has anyone here read it?

#60 Yes, you'll want to read them in this order:

Here Be Dragons
Falls the Shadow
The Reckoning

It follows the history of Wales beginning with Prince Llewelyn until Wales is eventually vanquished for good by the British - a heartbreaking culmination of events of which I knew nothing about before reading this series, but it does answer the question of why the heir to the English throne is called the Prince of Wales.

#50--Shadow of the Wind was really slow going for me, too. When I finally finished I was almost sorry I had put in so much time on it. Thought it was okay, but maybe not worth the effort. And, it was sorely disappointing because I'd been WANTING to read it since it was first published. Maybe my expectations were too high?

Tonight I finished The Catcher in the Rye so I could take advantage of John Green's "lectures" on it (he is doing it for the Nerdfighters' book club). It certainly didn't impress me as much as it did when I first read it, probably in 1965! Although it's an important work--surely the first young adult novel--it doesn't hold a candle to what's being written for teens now.

Next it's back to Un Lun Dun which I set aside a while ago. The Historian is next on my TBR list. Hope it doesn't fall prey to the Shadow of the Wind phenomenon.

Actually I haven't been reading as much as I feel I should. And it's all the internet's fault! Spending far too much time playing games on Facebook, and to a lesser extent exploring and making friends on PMOG!! Sigh...

Hmm well I was reading Congo but found myself trying to push through it and gave up, so now I'm reading Son of A Witch which is coming along very nicely. My thought is so many books so little time:)Other books I have read this summer are...Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, Memoirs of a Geisha which was a really good read, The Stranger, Of Mice and Men, The Awakening and The Ruins in...so far:)

I finished Dear American Airlines tonight - just a great read. Witty, sad, laugh out loud funny, much more intense than I imagined.

Now back to Persepolis and also started The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

I am reading Oryx and Crake for the Atwoodians group read. About 40-pages in & really enjoying it so far.
Also reading Pornified, a book about how pornography effects people. It's really pissing me off in a good way.

STILL reading To the Lighthouse, I'm determined to finish it. I made some excellent progress this weekend so the end is finally coming closer. Planning to finish it this week.

Also, I just finished More than Human yesterday, which was an excellent read.

Now I've moved on to I, Robot by Asimov which is excellent.

#66,

I thought Pornified was a fascinating book. Be prepared to find out that somepeople (especially men) can have some very strong opinions on porn and the book.

#47: FicusFan - I recently read King Leopold's Ghost as a compliment to Heart of Darkness and got a lot out of it. Hope you enjoy. Note, however, that the main history stops roughly with the death of King Leopold II, decades before the 1950's.

I finished The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw about an attempt to halt a dirty little damn in Belize. If your interest goes that way, it's a great nonfiction book.

Now I'm about 40 pages into Sweetsmoke by David Fuller, an Early Reviewer book. It's very good so far, it seems like the best writing of the early reviewer books I read.

Continue to delve deeper into Everything is Cinema by Richard Brody, a very good biography of Jean-Luc Godard. As the chapters are organized by film, I run to the video store and rent whichever film is featured. Fun stuff!

Also reading Kingsley Amis' The Anti-Death League

I'm now halfway through Matrimony and am really enjoying it.

I loved The Shadow of the Wind and The Historian, but I think you really have to appreciate the slowly building plot and the qualities of the gothic novel to enjoy them.

I'm almost done with Jack and Jill and Orlando. I'm planning on starting Turn of the Screw and Gulliver's Travels through Daily Lit.

I have a lot in my TBR pile, so after that it's hard choosing what to read.

I just started Schooled, an Early Reviewers book

Reading and enjoying A High Wind in Jamaica, which I've had in my TBR pile for a very long time.

I just started The Story of Edgar Sawtelle; every now and then I just give in to the hype and read a best seller along with everyone else. We'll see how it goes.

# 74 rebeccanyc - I just read A High Wind in Jamaica a few weeks ago and I loved it. Such an interesting way of looking at how the kids respond to crisis.

Also, having just finished Clea, I think The Alexandria Quartet is well worth a revisit!

I just started American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld last night/really early this morning and have only read about five pages so I cannot really say what I think yet. I read Prep by Sittenfeld and really hated it, so I hope this one is better!

I've got two books lined up for this week.

I've already started An Autumn Penitent by Morley Callaghan. I picked this up from the to-be-shelved truck where I work. It's a pair of novellas set in and written about mid-1920s Ontario.

Just picked up a copy of Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro from the library too. I've been meaning to read something by him for a while, so we'll see how this goes.

On the agenda for this week: The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev, The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean, Wild America by Roger Tory Peterson, Dawn of Modern Science by Thomas Goldstein, and Stanley, the Making of an African Explorer by Frank McLynn.

Started Girl in Hyacinth Blue and Autobiography of a Geisha yesterday. Both quite good and each different than I expected.

I'm reading Dark Angels by Koen. I enjoy books that have a little bit of historical background. I looked up some of the characters in the book to see how closely there were written from history. That time period is always interesting. I can't imagine though having to jostling for position of power all the time. I'm sure I will read the other books that are in the series.

For jhowell: I'm over 2/3rds done with The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. It's a very good read, somewhat long-winded at times but it contains some outstanding prose! Enjoy!

I finished The Hard to Catch Mercy and I really enjoyed it. Great southern storytelling. Not sure what I'll choose next... nice to have a great big pile in front of me!

I've decided to dump The Penguin Book of Summer Stories. The editor's tastes just don't jive with me own. Instead, I've picked up Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint, which is much more to my liking. I can't say it's blowing me out of the water, but I am enjoying it quite a bit.

#82 I really enjoyed that series. Like you, I started with the last written novel--which is the first, chronologically, in terms of the continuing story. Through a Glass Darkly was just as good as Dark Angels. I haven't gotten around yet to Now Face to Face (but will soon).

I'm still reading Lord Jim. It's really dragging on but for some reason I'm not ready to give up on it. And I bought 6 books and still have 40-ish on my bookshelves, so I'm thinking of starting an Agatha Christie book or maybe Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

I just read Lord Jim. It has a well written ending that makes the sluggish parts worthwhile.

I just finished When We Were Romans. I really liked it and thought it was extremely well written. My review is In the Shadow of Mt. TBR.

I'm still working on Caesar's Conquest of Gaul, though got over the Book One hump... actually, I think I finished Book Two, also. Can't remember. He just sent the Belgae armies running and he's just a hop-skip-and-a-jump from Britain.

I don't know what ARC to read next... I should read one I've had for a while, but I fear an arc-alanche. I have a sneaking suspicion I'll be back with Edward and Bella though, reading New Moon when I should be reading an ARC.

I just finished Case Histories....excellent read! I loved the way the author layered each occurance within the chapters, and how each character was so distinctive. The ending was outstanding! I will be looking for more of this author's books!

Going on now to The Rest of Her Life by Laura Moriarty. I've not read anything by this author before so I'm going in blind. Jodi Picoult and Anita Shreve both gave thumbs up for this one, so it should be pretty good.

I picked up Confessions of a Contractor last night after shutting down, and I'm absolutely hooked! The prologue is hilarious. Murphy wrote that there should be a section at Home Depot between electrical and plumbing for "don't sleep with your contractor" manned by a woman who'd made that mistake.

It's a fun read... but it came off the top and not the bottom. I was going to pick Zoe's Tale on the emphatic reco from DevourerofBooks (she was right about Gargoyle after all), but Contractor just seemed like more fun. I'll read Zoe next. :-D

I am about half-way through We Need to Talk About Kevin and I am finding it very powerful and disturbing. I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone who is thinking about having kids or who is pregnant!

Just finished a very satisfying read A Royal Affair George III and His Troublesome Siblings by Stella Tillyard. Going on to Troll a love story by Johanna Sinisalo.

I finished Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates and this prompted me to read more about Marilyn Monroe. I like to read biography and the book I'm currently reading Marilyn Monroe: The Biography by Donald Spoto is holding my interest.

#90 porchsitter - I liked Case Histories too. For a mystery fan, it is always nice to find something so original.

I am reading (very slowly) Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie and White Nights by Ann Cleeves which I started last night. It is my LT Early Review book and is set in the Shetland Islands which I think will be a really interesting locale to "visit".

This weekend, I read Victory of Eagles, the newest book in the Temeraire series. A co-worker of mine was good enough to lend me her copy, so I didn't have to wait any longer for the book to come in on interlibrary loan.

I finished Mr. Midshipman Hornblower this morning. It was a funny, light read but I was not particularly blown away by the writing.

I'm still making my way slowly through The Solitary Envoy, and have reached CD 9 out of 11 in The Tenth Circle. I started reading Chessie the Railroad Kitten and hope to make a quick read today so I can return it to the library when I work tonight.

I'm almost finished with Matrimony and am now loving it, for a variety of wonderful reasons.

My review of The Handmaid's Tale, which I read earlier this week is in Readerville

My boyfriend is practically bursting to discuss The Watchmen with me so I'm reading that then starting my ER book The Charlemagne Pursuit.

I am still reading The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch....I have to admit that I am struggling! I am almost considering giving up but I hate doing that so will persevere!

http://www.completelynovel.com

#99 CompletelyNovel...don't give up on Iris Murdoch...her books can be a bit of work..but i loved The Sea,The Sea....

#94 Whisper1..i thought Blonde was so great...but i love Joyce Carol Oates...her take on the Marilyn Monroe Myth was so compelling..so...not of the typical Hollywood Star Worship..if that makes any sense..i am trying to find a copy of this book Used..and that ain't easy

I couldn't take it any longer. I just had to go back to Edward and Bella! So I'm reading New Moon now, too. I just passed the birthday party. eeek! gotta go back now!

I started Creepers at lunch time. I must admit, I'm pretty intrigued to see where the story will go in the second 1/2 of the book.

I am about 2/3 of the way through Bonk - I had no idea sex could be so funny.

Message #100 Hi jdthloue
I agree with you regarding Joyce Carol Oates and her novel re. Marilyn Monroe. While reading the book, I kept in mind that it was a novel based on some research. Still, it is such an incredible accounting. I now want to see what is fact/what is fiction..

Toward the end of the book JFK really was portrayed as a sleezy, creepy user!

emaestra: I read Bonk recently and really enjoyed it as well. My review is under "Book Reviews" in Readerville .

I have about 50 pages left in Matrimony. Still very good!

I finished short novel "The Enchanted Wanderer" by Nikolai Leskov pretty quickly. It was a fun picaresque story very much in the Russian style of the 1850s but describing, in a relatively humorous way, the social position of the Russian serf at that time. Almost like a Russian Mark Twain.

Next I'm going to read the first chapter, about George Washington, in Elizabeth Jewell's U.S. Presidents Handbook. This book was given to me recently as a birthday present.

After that, after having spent quite a bit of time with shorter works from collections/anthologies, I will probably choose a new full-length history or novel to settle in with for a while.

Finished The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster and have started An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears...

I finished A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif two days ago, which was quite good. It dealt with the events leading up to the mysterious plane crash of the former Pakistani president General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. The narrator is an officer in the Pakistani Air Force, but the story is told from the viewpoints of several other figures, including Zia and his wife. Several portions of the book are absolutely hilarious, especially the paranoiac rants of Zia.

I'm about 1/3 through The Lost Dog by Michelle De Kretser, another book that is on the 2008 Booker Prize longlist, which is also quite good. I'm also reading The Uncertain Art:Thoughts on a Life in Medicine by Sherwin B. Nuland.

I just started Odd Hours by Dean Koontz. The forth book in the "Odd Thomas" series.

I'm now starting Lush Life by Richard Price.

Finished The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett two minutes ago.

Starting Choke by Chuck Palahniuk.

Also dipping into The Bottom of the Harbor by Joseph Mitchell. Essays, so it's OK to lollygag.

I've finished my takeout reading, Carmilla and 12 Other Classic Tales of Mystery by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (edited by Leonard Wolf), and started a new one, Shadow Dance by Angela Carter.

Well right now im working on reading way more books then i need to be.

Breaking Dawn (#4 in the Twilight series)
Frankenstien
War of the Worlds
Voyager
and The Host

i think im going to focus on Breaking Dawn though. i really want to get it read. my sister has read teh series so far and she came across an article that gave away the book.

Frankenstien is taking forever to read. i'm almost done with it tho.

Anyways those are what im reading right now..

I'm enjoying The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York which I'll be reading for a few weeks (1200+ pages). I'm interspersing it with House of Blues, a murder mystery set in New Orleans, nice find via NPR interview with author Julie Smith.

I finished A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers over the weekend and am now reading Rose Tremain's Restoration. I finally had some time last night to read more than just a few pages, and I am enjoying the story.

Finished Cindie: A Chronicle of the Canefields (1949) by Jean Devanny - very enjoyable.
Now reading Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout and I'm appreciating her lovely prose style.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society arrived yesterday, and I made the mistake of opening it up and reading the first couple pages. Now, the books that I was reading (an ER book, a library book that is due next week, and Bleak House) are just going to have to wait.

I read Ellen Foster yesterday and started Fire Storm today

I finished Scarlett last night, and am now reading Inés of my Soul by Isabel Allende.

I finished The Witch of Cologne by Tobsha Learner on Monday, zipped through Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon yesterday, and I'm currently half finished with The Dark Half by Stephen King. Hoping to get at least one more book in this week. I usually finish a book a day, but The Witch of Cologne slowed me down (took me 3 days). I think it had a lot to do with being written in present tense, it took me quite a while to get used to.

I finished Matrimony by Joshua Henkin, and my review is in Readerville.

Just started Possible Side Effects by Augusten Burroughs. So far, so good.

What, no touchstone for Burroughs? Come on.

Wow. Busy reading time. I have not been able to focus too much on that, but my brother has a copy of Earth Abides by George R. Stewart which is a post-apocalyptic novel written in 1949, set then, and positing a world in which mankind vanishes because the earth threw itself a population-control plague. The narrator, one of the very few survivors, goes off on a road trip to siew the damage and gauge the chances for mankind to restore itself to preeminence. He's trained as a scientist, you see, and has a degree of objectivity that seems to allow him to overcome the natural fears and reservations that would beset a person not so trained.

It makes me think, this book does, and that's quite an achievement for a sci-fi novel almost 60 years old. Connie Willis (NB, mckait!) provided an extremely laudatory Introduction to this edition of the book. I almost put it down when I saw that. (No, mckait, not kidding. ;->)

It's a wonderful read. I'm surprised to be this fascinated because I thought this was a re-read for me, one I'd read in my teen years. Turns out it is not, and I am sorry for my younger self that it wasn't part of my mental furniture before now.

I started The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson. I loved her first book, Crow Lake, so I really look forward to this one.

Hi Syllis,

What did you think of The Witch of Cologne? I was thinking of taking it with me to read over my holidays....

I am going to also bring Wicked (I am going to see the musical when I return home), and The Lace Reader (I bought it yesterday because so many people from Library Thing give it great reviews).

>122 richardderus: AMQS, oh great. Another book on the 'zon. I begin to see the hazards of this place....

I'm about halfway through The Rest Of Her Life by Laura Moriarty ~ it's really good. Fast reading, page turner, great story!

Hi twoods9 =)

It was an ok book after I got past the awkwardness of reading in present tense. It slowed to almost a crawl in a couple of places, but eventually the pace picked back up. It took until almost the end for me to actually develop an affinity for the main characters. I had a hard time concentrating on the story, but it might strike a better chord with someone else.

Just purchased and started A Tale of Pierrot and Other Stories by George Dennison. As usual, I went into a bookstore (or in this case the Friends of the San Francisco Library Book Bay) with a few books in mind but came out with one I'd never even heard of. Anyone know this author? The stories were evidently originally published in magazines from 1963 through 1984 or so. The first pages of the first story, "On Being a Son," are excellent.

I think I'll read Ruby by Francesca Lia Block and Carmen Staton next, but I'm not 100% set on it yet. I torn between a desire for something I can whip through and something I can really sink my teeth into.

Plague Makers and Blood Trails and China Cambodia Vietnam Triangle.

#125 Richard, just doing my part!

AMQS - Other Side was a great book. A lot to think about and discuss, our book group had a great discussion for this one. Unlike you, I've yet to read Crow Lake but have it here and moved it up the pile after Other side.

xmaystarx -- I'm glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for the endorsement. So far I'm really liking it. I hope you enjoy Crow Lake as much as I did.

>129 xicanti: xicanti, being in the mood for toothsome reading fare myownself, I'd vote for the real sinker-intoer.

>131 AMQS: AMQS, *razzberry*

2 chapters tonight of Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism with Maggie for bedtime reading, and my sides and throat are hurting from laughing so hard and the dramatic reading.

I'm telling you, this book is good enough to be read by childless adults, as well! It's gotta be on my top 5 this quarter, and atleast top 10 this year!

We have decided, Maggie and I, that we like Molly Moon more than Junie B., and are desperately dying for the Molly Moon movie!

The movie is just in the beginning stages... Fox owns the rights, the producer of the Harry Potters, I Am Legend, and the TV series Threshhold (One of my favorite TV shows) is producing MM. That means it'll be at least 2 years before it hits the box office! Alright... where's the time machine I wanna see it NOW!!!

I'm reading Pressure is a Privilege by Billie Jean King (ER book) and The Brothers K by David James Duncan. I have had the latter book on my shelf for a while, and so far, it is even better than expected.

Corelli's Mandolin--I know very little about this story. I tried watching part of the film once, but it was at someone else's house and I couldn't hear it. I only recall some rather pretty cinematography. I saw the book on the 1001 book list and thought I'd give it a shot.

finished Newton's Wake by Ken MacLeod, the first new (to me) hard sci-fi I've read in years. When I could follow it I enjoyed it, though I lost the plot for several pages more than once - but that may have been my failing and not the author's.

next up: Dearly Devoted Dexter

Next to I, Robot I'm now reading an on-line version of Nana by Zola, which is very enjoyable. It's my first Zola, so I didn't know what to expect, but I like it.

Finished A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes -- a great book!

#141, you beat me. I have about 25 pages to go. I'm trying to come up with word for the mood of the book but haven't come up with the right one. It did deserve its spot on Modern Library's Hundred Best Novels of the 20th century.

Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman I couldn't sleep last night so started to read this very creative and interesting book.

I changed my mind and started It can't happen here. It should be fun. And by fun, I mean really scary. :)

I finished Chessie the Railroad Kitten. I also (finally!) finished The Solitary Envoy after trudging through it for over a month. That was partly because it was my book rather than a library book and partly because I didn't really care for it.

Two days ago, I started The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne and The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett (only my second Discworld novel), but haven't read far in either. Last night, I read the first 2 volumes in Ouran High School Host Club, both of which were really funny.

Still working on the ER Sweetsmoke. Finished The Sister by Poppy Adams. It was good but not spectacular. After Sweetsmoke, I'm thinking either Lace Reader or The Gargoyle.

I'm reading The Gargoyle and recommend it highly!!

#138: Oklahoma,

I found Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres to be a wonderful read, in the beginning. Great characters and outstanding sense of place, but I would have to say the last quarter of the book is serious labor. By all means enjoy the novel but be warned it will make you want to visit a Greek isle.

#141, 142> I read Hughes' The Fox in the Attic earlier this year and liked it, although it's a flawed novel in many ways. That was my first Hughes. I may have to put A High Wind in Jamaica on my short list now.

I started The Character Factory by Michael Rosenthal last night, and it's been a good read so far.

Just finished A Voyage Long and Strange, which was a quick, informative tale.

One of my current projects is to read that huge stack of books that I never get around to because something new catches my eye. My latest accomplishment is Goodnight Irene by Jan Burke. I wasn't disappointed. The story really held my interest.

I just finished Phantom and am now starting Confessor, the last in the Sword of Truth series. Both of these are on audiobook for me - I've been listening to the series while I knit.

Yesterday I finished The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and then finished Persepolis: Story of a Childhood. And started on The Madonnas of Leningrad, which so far is underwhelming.

Currently, I am reading Secrets of the Sistine, Prince Bandar, Aramaic Light on Genesis, Balkan Ghosts.
The wandering eye of the book fanatic that is me
collects dust on unread books and wistful looks at
stacks that were once the apple of that same eye.
That must be why I read 3 or more together. Does
that make me a serial reader or menage a livres!

I'm reading Stalking Ivory by Suzanne Arruda. Anyone who loves Tarzan will love her books. A bit more realistic but wonderful depiction of British Occupied East Africa.

Twoods9

Wicked is an awesome but can be laborious read, lots of plot and subplot. The musical is wonderful but not at all like the book. The book covers too much to get it all into a musical.

>154 jazzeduniverse: jazzeduniverse, menage a livres ROFL how wonderful! In an older thread, can't go find it just now, called "Literary ADD" we bandied a few terms around for people like us: "Schizobibliomania" was one, "polybibliovorous" another.

JazzedUniverse,
Thank you for such an enjoyable piece of prose. Oh, and how it speaks to the reader in me!

I'm almost finished with Possible Side Effects and will be reviewing it in the next couple days. Since there were, apparently, some trademark issues with the name Readerville (of which I was previously unaware), I'll be reviewing from here on at my new home, The Book Lady's Blog .

Come visit!

I started Bitter Sweets-Roopa Farooki this morning. I am also 330 pages into Breaking Dawn.

160: I have an ARC of Bitter Sweets waiting at home...let us know how you like it.

Last night I finished We Need to Talk About Kevin and I have started The Lace Reader, which I am enjoying so far.

I finished Bloodheir by Brian Ruckley and started The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin.

I'm working my way thru M C Beaton's Hamish MacBeth series and finished #4 Death of a Perfect Wife, #5 Death of a Hussy and #6 Death of a Snob. Just picked up Alexander McCall Smith's The Full Cupboard of Life

>159 bnbooklady: booklady, did you hear that wet, thudding smlurpch sound just now? It was the knife you drove into my back at your blog:

...I was completely obsessed with Mary Lou Retton (who won her gold medal when I was 2 years old in 1984 so that makes you YOUNGER than either of my kids) and Nadia Comaneci (whose fifteen minutes of fame happened before I was even born) and when I was 17.

Oh ouch. The agony of age-ism.

Just kidding, no worries, but it is instructive that the booklady whose taste I so enjoy is so absurdly young. Note to self: Give up age-related prejudices!

Blog on, booklady!

Today I'll be reading the essay "The Land without Brussels Sprouts" from Julian Barnes' collection Something to Declare: Essays on France and French Culture.

Thanks, Richard! I'm smack in the middle of this thing they're now calling "quarterlife," and I think it's going OK....

>167 bnbooklady: booklady, "quarterlife"?

WTF? (And for your delicate youthful sensibility, the "F" stands for "Fruitstand" not that vulgar Anglo-Saxonism so prevalent in the cyberworld.)

Richardderus, I'll make you feel better. I was 11 in 1984. :-D

eleven.

*soft moan*

Am I the oldest living Thingamabrarian??

>170 richardderus: Richard: I was 21 in 1984 (and married that year), does that make you feel better?

>170 richardderus: I'm blanking on the name (E-something), but she's in her 80's. Esta1923?

I was 31 in 1984. Feeling better yet?

ah Richardear... you know that you are not the oldest one here... Esta is indeed in her eighties and I am 55...now buck up!

Did you say what you are reading now? Did you buy anything today at Amazon?

No, everyone, just feelin' decrepit. Decrepit as all get-out. Purely on a physical plane, though, since it's so all-fired hot and nasty here that I can't do more than a minute or two of work on packing miscellany before I have to come inside. So ignore me as I whine.

Besides, returning to the subject, I really LIKE the fact that so many people like booklady and koolaid are so much younger than I am, and there are several zillion in my age bracket as well. We're not separated by age gulfs but united by our biblioholism/bookjunky-ness! Oh, and not to forget that we all like to read.

mckait, moi? I go to this Amazon place of which you speak? I do not know this Amazon.

And, if anyone's counting, the total now stands at twenty-five books going to New York. I'm refusing to read any more of my brother's books since I have a strong desire to steal Earth Abides from him. It was wonderful. So instead I sit in front of the computer. And order books. Permaybehaps I should pick something light and frothy up...oh say War and Peace....

hey you! get yourself something tall and cool to drink and settle back and chat. I for one have missed you madly. 25 eh? I don't think I have ever had that many ordered at once.

I might have to step it up...

I went on a comic book tangent after I read the books I mentioned above.
Read: Angel: After the Fall, Avengers Disassembled and Sandman: Doll's House (Vol.2)
Currently re-reading The Watchmen by Moore & Gibbons
Going to re-read Batman: The Killing Joke after those because seeing the Dark Night really made me want to read it.

I just wrapped up The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Unfortunately, I have mixed feelings. I so wanted to love it. The 1st third is stunning, the prose just beautiful and then the rest of the novel really bogs down, with sprinkles of excellence, here and there, finishing on an unsatisfying note. If the book had been 200 pages shorter, it would have been perfect. I was wondering if anyone else felt this way?

>176 mckait: mcait

I ordered 50 books last weekend and got them by mail on tuesday...
The 50 Karl May pockets I sold 3 years ago, but I missed them and bought them again when I saw them at an on-line second hand bookstore :-)

I'm re-reading Cutter and Bone by Newton Thornburg. This book and author made quite an impression the first time I read it, over 25 years ago and I still feel the same now. A very strong novel! Any other fans out there of Thornburg?

I was 23 in 1984--oh to be 25 again-life was relatively easy then--single, temporarily living at home, and no kids!

>178 msf59: msf59, I know exactly that annoyance! I wanted to adore The Historian and then, in the last third of the book, it just blew apart in my face. The ending still irks me.

Sorry for your feeling about the book, though having heard that critique several times now, I won't be reading it.

>181 momom248: momom, my kid was 3 that year. Start early, move on quickly! (As if!)

Take it back please richard? I have yet to read the Historian,,,, It keeps glaring at me when I choose another book.

I am reading The Night Listener and it has wowed me so far!

I'm almost finished with The Rest of Her Life by Laura Moriarty....it's been a very, very good read. I flew through this one in record time (for me, anyway). I would recommend it to all of the gals. My hubby would probably not enjoy it, so I am dubbing this one "a girl book". I will pass it on to my mama, who then will return it to me, and then I, in turn, will put it on the Mooch. I'll probably do a review shortly.

I was 29 in 1984. :o)

I mooched Nickel and Dimed On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich,it arrived today,I had to read it and I did. Excellent account of the plight of low wage earners and their lives.

mckait: I, for one, enjoyed The Historian, so at least give it a chance.

185: Barbara Ehrenreich is pretty wonderful in general...glad you liked it.

I just finished Rose Tremain's Restoration, which I enjoyed quite a bit. I mostly stopped by to chime in and say I was 22 in 1984, and married (my 25th wedding anniversary is coming up on Wednesday). So that means I was the same age as Nadia -- 14 -- during the 1976 Olympics. Yes, I was mesmerized.

I love LT for the way we can bridge age gaps -- in "real life" our paths would not be as likely to cross.

178: Glad to hear a review of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. I read a synopsis of the book. Maybe a Library checkout.
182: I could not get through 2 chapters of the Historian Glad I only spent 50 cents at a library book sale.

Well I am not ancient, but my heart belongs to Olga Korbut, the one before Nadia Comaneci !

#69 dchaikin
I recently read King Leopold's Ghost as a compliment to Heart of Darkness and got a lot out of it. Hope you enjoy. Note, however, that the main history stops roughly with the death of King Leopold II, decades before the 1950's.

Thanks for the recommendation, and the note. I know it ends before the 50s, but I think the early regime set the pattern that followed. In any event I was looking for the start of it all.

By the way, in one of these threads there was a book listed Nine Lords of The Night about archeology and the Maya. I was looking to get it locally and Borders (stores) doesn't have it listed, and B&N has it listed as out of stock. It turns out it is a print on demand book, and it looks like Amazon is the only way to get it, unless an Indy store near you has it.

I finished reading New Moon and posted my review In the Shadow of Mt. TBR.

I liked it... I did... and I'm addicted to the books, particularly to EDWARD... but wasn't as fond of this one as the first. Maybe I didn't like it as much because Edward broke up with and left Bella, so I had to suffer through most of the book listening to her whine... and almost die... again... without the wonder and beauty ... and romance... of Edward.

Seriously, Bella is starting to get on my nerves.

BTW! Those of who who might be Twilight fans, Meyers is writing another Twilight book called Midnight Sun and it's told from Edward's perspective. :-D

I joined a group who meet once a month to discuss books. I'm reading The Wednesday Letters by Jason Wright -- the book for September'. Thus far it is slow and uncaptivating, but I'll plod along in the hope that it gets better.

FicusFan I think you are right...Nine Lords of the Night must be a print on demand, although my Barnes and Noble store says they can have it in 10 days. I have ordered it today from Amazon (5 days). Of course, if I had a Kindle device I could already be reading it. I may just get myself one for Christmas. The reviews I have read thus far about the book have me very intrigued. We must re-visit it again after we read it.

Digging a little deeper it looks like the publisher Embella, is a small press that probably does not have the clout or resources to do big production runs, and deal with the big distributors and book chains (and all that goes with that).

The fact that it is only available either from Kindle or via print on demand is kind of cool in a way. The publisher and author are certainly delivering it in the most environmentally-friendly way possible. In this case the necessities of the publishing world make for an ecological virtue perhaps?

#178 msf59, I agree with your conclusions about The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, although for different reasons. I thought he created a beautiful sense of place and mood, but I was turned off as soon as the supernatural entered and I felt the whole idea of grafting the story onto Hamlet was a bad idea. I also was disappointed in the ending which I felt was melodramatic and left the reader (well, this reader) with many questions unanswered, especially about character and motivation.

I am reading Symptoms of Withdrawal and Incantation. Couldn't decide so I started both. That is bad. Very bad.

Thanks bnbooklady, I am sure I will at some point. It just has not been the one calling out to me so far~

#190 thekoolaidmom

I've always been a Team Jacob kind of girl, but I agree with you on the fact that Bella is extremely irritating in New Moon. I never saw her as brave or sincere or pure...I see her as a whiny martyr whose "selfless" actions are driven by her own self interests. And the fact that she accepts her own half formed assumptions as truth really bugs me...like when she believed that she and Edward were going to be leaving Forks in the beginning of the novel.

#192 Sabor Nine Lords of the Night

I too have ordered it today from Amazon. And of course you can't just order one book. :)

I also have my outstanding order from Alibris UK (which the US branch stepped into), 17 days and counting. They have estimated the arrival date as September 1st (Labor Day - of course).

mckait, I also enjoyed The Historian. I say give it a shot. You won't find it to be earth-shaking literature, but it's a quick, intriguing read.

Richard, I hope you did get Crow Lake or The Other Side of the Bridge from Amazon. I am about halfway through The Other Side of the Bridge and I really enjoy it (my kids are young and busy, so I don't have as much time to read as I would like). I have that wonderfully comforting feeling of being in the hands of an author I would follow just about anywhere.

I was enthralled with The Historian, I loved her style and the intricate plot. I remember that I read it every night after work, and on a business trip back east, but as the book got thinner and the plot more complex, I found myself wondering if she could pull it all together at the end... In my opinion, the ending was a disappointment, but not so much that I regretted reading the book. I guess I was expecting a more unexpected climax, and it just did not deliver it after all of the build up. Still, I really liked it and the way it shifted one's perspectives on the Dracula legends. And there is no question that Kostova is gifted writer.

Well- I liked both The Historian and The Story of Edgar Sawtelle - though I think that the criticisms are legit, I felt the good far outweighed the bad in both novels. Empiracally, you can pick them both apart -- but the entertainment value for both was superb! Having just closed Edgar Sawtelle, I do feel a bit emotionally hijacked at the moment, though.

Hey guys! No more posts in this thread because we're over here now.