AlcottAcre's 2009 Reads

Since everything until December 31 is going in my 2008 challenge list, right now I am just going to set out goals for the next year.

My first goal is to reach at least 150 nonfiction books read in 2009. I want to read more about the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement over the course of the next year because my knowledge of the '60s is spotty at best.

In 2008, I read quite a few young adult books and would like to continue exploring that area in 2009, but I would also like to expand my reading in the science fiction and fantasy genres, so I will be concentrating quite a bit on that.

The ticker below is so that I can watch myself fall flat on my face, lol.




Lunacat has inspired me, so this is in honor of her:




Everyone can ignore the books listed below. They are just me thinking out loud about books I definitely want to read over the course of the next year.

2009 To Be Read:
Vietnam: A History
The Best Year of Their Lives
Parting the Waters, Pillar of Fire and At Canaan's Edge
The Search for Modern China
A River Running West
The Adventure of English
Moonheart
Rediscovering America: John Muir in His Time and Ours
The Proud Tower
When Titans Clashed
The 900 Days
Neverwhere (a substitution)
Sin in the Second City
Fatal Justice
Modern Times
Noah’s Choice: The Future of Endangered Species
The Fortress of Solitude
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
Coming out of the Ice
Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Arms of Nemesis
The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft
Excellent Women
A Game of Thrones
Black Swan Green
Bard
In the Shadows of War
Penmarric
Clockers
Arctic Explorations
The Heaven Tree Trilogy - Parts 2 and 3
Doctor Thorne
Inkspell
I Should Be Extremely Happy in Your Company
Shadow of the Silk Road
Galileo’s Daughter
The Namesake
My Faraway Home
Christine Falls
Intimate Kill
Job, a Comedy of Justice
Keeper of the Light
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation
Cultural Literacy
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Speak, Memory
A Prayer for Owen Meany
A Separate Peace
Cryptonomicon
And the Dead Shall Rise
Move Your Shadow
Shutter Island
Dog Man
The March

Let me be the first to recommend you a book. The Long Shadow of Little Rock by Daisy Bates is very good.

And the second to recommend, Vietnam: A History. SgtBigG just started reading this for his second run through. It would be daunting to read for a lot of people simply because of its length. But not you!!! It really is a great history of the war.

#2 & 3: Thanks for the recommendations for starting out the new year right. I already had Vietnam: A History on Continent TBR, because of sgt's recommendation, but I appreciate the additional input. I will add The Long Shadow of Little Rock to Continent TBR as well.

Thanks to both of you!

Stasia

>1 alcottacre: Pretty ticker Stasia - I can just see you flitting from book to book searching for the goodies from each one!

- TT

#5 TT: Thanks. Took me a while to get the hang of how to do it, but I thought it turned out nice. Now, hopefully, I will be able to figure out how to update it when I need to!

>6 alcottacre: Stasia, the easiest way I have found is to just click on it and enter password, amend and then click the back button about four or five times - it should then be updated.

- TT

That is a lovely ticker! And you're probably going to surprise yourself completely ... of course, nobody else will be surprised :)

Okay. Now I'm going to have to figure out how to do a ticker on my own thread.

#9: Linda, if you ask TT nicely, I am sure he will give you the idiot's guide instructions like he did the rest of us who did not know how to do it either :)

After about a dozen tries (thrown off by that whole "pregnancy calculator" thing) I finally did it! Whew! (I never thought I would have to learn basic HTML to navigate LT. Eh, but its good for me.)

Congratulations!

Hm, did you want fiction for the Vietnam War as well? No doubt you've already read this one, but The Things They Carried blew me away...

Also by Tim O'Brien is Going After Cacciato which I read several years ago and really loved. Caveat: You have to enjoy ambiguous stories with something like "magical realism' and no tidy ending, though.

#13 Severn: I have The Things They Carried home from the library right now, so I will be reading it after the beginning of the year. Thanks for the recommendation!

Hi Stasia,

I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of Doctor Thorne and Excellent Women :)

#16: I actually had Doctor Thorne home from the library twice this year and never managed to read it. It is definitely getting read in 2009!

For VietNam reading - have you read the great David Halbertstam's The Best and the Brightest? It was written over 30 years ago and is quite a tome but is a definitive study of the factors and individuals who led us into the war there. Halberstam was a war correspondent actually experiencing the war first hand and came home to write this very excellent book. It is, in many ways, as relevant and forceful today as when he wrote it, IMHO.

#18: Emily, I will add that one to the list. I do not think I have put it on there yet. Thanks for the recommendation!

I think I'll keep an eye on your list of books there. Cryptonomicon is one I've heard good things about but not read yet, so be good to hear what you think when you get to it.

#20: It's a ways down the list, Imp, so it may be a while. In the meantime, you are certainly welcome to take a look at all the other stuff I have read in place of that rather large tome.

Wow, Stasia, look at your 2009 list! You've almost got two weeks of reading picked out! ;)

#19, For nonfiction on the Vietnam war, I also recommend Fire in the Lake by Frances Fitzgerald (I recommended this on another thread recently too). I haven't read it since it came out, contemporaneously with the war, but it is excellent and, as orangeena said in #18 about the Halberstam book (which I also read at the time), probably also just as relevant and forceful today.

#23: Rebecca, I have Fire in the Lake home from the library right now. I picked it up on your initial recommendation. Thanks for mentioning it again because I have not yet had a chance to read it and definitely need to before it is due back!

Sorry, Stasia, a little memory lapse there -- with so many threads and so many wonderful readers here on LT it's hard for me to remember who I recommended what to!

No problem, I completely understand. I have started trying to mark in my book journal who recommends what, but still get lost and forget half the time!

Wow, I've just now caught up to your thread (I'm having terrible computer problems). I'm blown away by your two week list! :-) Normally, I'd know at least a quarter of the books, but only just one or two here. well, well--grist for the mill!

May I second the recommendation (or third it) on The Best and the Brightest? It was Halberstam's second book on the vietman War. If you want to read about his first-hand experiences as a journalist there, before he was persona non grata, you might try The Making of a Quagmire.

Hey Stasia,

You know I'm a Gaiman fan, so I'm glad to see American Gods on your list, plus the Stephenson—I think it and The Diamond Age are well worth reading by him.

I've read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and listened to it on audio book. Interestingly, I think the audio version is more fun...Barbara and her family are good readers and there was quite a bit of color to it.

Just a caveat on A Game of Thrones. First fact: this series is not finished: he's only got four of the (planned) seven books done so far even though it's been 12 years since he started. He admits to having some difficulties getting the books out (hence the multi-year delay we're in with the 5th book right now). Second fact: this series has a cast of thousands. The sum of these two facts is that (unless you have an eidetic memory), when a new volume comes out, you end up having to reread everything to remember who done what to whom. If I had nothing else to read, that would be fine. However, given my overflowing TBR list, I've switched tactics. I buy them when they remainder; once he gets down to the final book, I'll reread the first three a final time and then finish the story. Just my two cents.

#28: I love the song of Fire and Ice series--have the 5th, a Dance of Dragons, on pre-order. It was supposed to come out the end of September, then postponed until early November, and is still not out.

i personally think they're high class fantasy soap opera, and I love them. i started to reread the series in preparation for #5, but found I could not get through the third book a second time--not sure why.

>29 Joycepa:: Yes, a couple of friends are very upset about yet another delay on DoD. It was originally supposed to be released within months of A Feast for Crows but he had problems with revisions and some editing and it looks like it's going to be almost 2¾ years behind.

>1 alcottacre: Stasia, I have only read one on your two day list above!Dr Thorne. Have you read the other books in the Barchester series. They are all good, two are very very good. Barchester Towers and The last Chronicle of Barset

I have only one on my 2009 list: A Prayer for Owen Meany I have read such good things about this on the 75 thread that I am looking forward to reading it in 2009.

- TT

#31; A Prayer for owen meany is one of those books that sticks with you--not in detail so much as in overall thought or impact or whatever you call it--for decades. i read that when it first came out, and have never forgotten it, even though the book itself wandered out of my library at some point. gotta call it back, no question.

Just for clarification purposes: The list is books in message 1 is to read over the course of 2009, not just in the first 2 weeks.

Whew! *wipes feverish brow with a cool cloth*

I feel much less inadequate now that's clarified.

May I also recommend A Bright Shining Lie to your list of Viet Nam books. My husband said it was excellent.

#35: Thanks for the input bohemima!

#34: Glad I could help clarify so that you no longer feel inadequate :) I would not wish that on anyone!

I posted this list on the Best of 2008 thread, but thought I would post it here as well.

These are my most memorable reads from this past year, in the order in which I read them:

Fiction
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Saturday by Ian McEwan
The Last Six Million Seconds by John Burdett
The Terror by Dan Simmons
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Forever by Pete Hamill
The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor
The Geographer's Library by Jon Fasman
Old Man's War and The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean
No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod
Something Wicked this Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
The Real Life of Sebastian Knight by Vladimir Nabakov
The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric
The Stories of Anton Chekov
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
World War Z by Max Brooks

Nonfiction
How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster
An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina
The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert
Boone by Robert Morgan
The River of Doubt by Candice Millard
Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King
1491 by Charles C. Mann
Charlatan by Pope Brock
With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge
Eden's Outcasts by John Matteson
The Arctic Grail by Pierre Berton
Two in the Far North by Margaret Murie
Escape from the Deep by Alex Kershaw
The Travels of a T Shirt in the Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli
Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
April 1865: The Month That Saved America by Jay Winik
Patriotic Gore by Edmund Wilson

Young Adult/Juvenile
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
Kit's Wilderness by David Almond
The Wonderful O by James Thurber

How did you like Thomas C. Foster's How to read literature like a professor? I saw it on the shelf the other day in a visit to the bookstore, but didn't actually look at it.

Alcottacre - This is a great list! Several of these - Bel Canto, The Shadow of the Wind - are favorites of mine, and many of the rest of them are going on my TBR list. Thanks for the wonderful summary of your 2008 highlights.

Stasia

Thanks for putting the list on this thread so we can refer to it throughout the year--when we need suggestions!

From your recommendations these are already on my 999 list The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, April 1865, and The Shadow of the Wind. I think the latter will fit either into Books about Books or into Mysteries. You certainly have helped broaden my reading this past year--I look forward to more suggestions as you read this year!

Carolyn

Oh, Alcottacre, I loved Shadow of the Wind. Bel Canto is right on the edge of excellence. I liked Water for Elephants, but not quite on that level.

Please let me know your opinion of The Things They Carried. My husband didn't like it at all.

On your 2009 list, I can highly recommend The Proud Tower, Snowflower and the Secret Fan, and A Prayer for Owen Meany. I'm also hoping to read Dr. Thorne this year, as it has been sitting on the shelf, whining, "Read me. Read meeeeeeeee!' for some little time now.

The Proud Tower is excellent but so are all her books. I'm assuming you've read The Guns of August? And don't miss A Distant Mirror.

Why do I feel like I've already had this conversation? I mean I know I'm getting up there, but I shouldn't be that bad yet!

Great lists!

I read Parting the Waters last year and will try to read the next volume this year too. (Hmmm... I *would* like to get to 75 though and PTW took me ages!) I thought it was fantastic and learnt so much from it. It's so heavy though - not a bed book! I'm looking forward to seeing how long it takes you to get through...

I've just finished The Best Years of Their Lives and enjoyed it. It meandered a little too much for the mood I was in but gave me lots of ideas for more reading.

THe Proud Tower is a great book, it can be a bit weighty at times, but it is interesting...I commend you for reading such a heavy history...good luck.

mamachunk

A Prayer for Owen Meany is my favorite Irving novel, it made me laugh and cry and the ending comes together so beautifully, such a worthwhile read! I read it so long ago, I almost feel like reading it again! (But, I won't there are so many books out there I still want to read for the first time!)

I can't remember if I still own A Prayer for Owen Meany. I know I did at one point but never got round to reading it so it may have been lost in a cull. Now I'm hoping that it is still waiting patiently on my shelf. If it is, I might possibly get round to reading it this year (along with the hundreds and hundreds of others I'm supposed to be reading *sigh*).

I loved Owen Meany, although everyone else I knew who read it didn't, mainly because they found Owen infuriating. I thought he was kind of charming in his own special tyrannical way. And I adored the CAPITAL LETTERS.

Also interested in your thoughts on How to Read Literature Like a Professor (apologies if you already posted them on your 2008 thread - I'll pop off there shortly and check - when I've finished catching up on the last couple of days' worth of messages! You guys have been very chatty over New Year.)

#39 & 48: I thought How to Read Literature Like a Professor written in a manner for people like me who never graduated college, but would still like to be able to read 'literature'. He goes into detail about determining things like symbolism and what it means, reading between the lines in poetry, things like that. It is all written at a down-to-earth, very readable level, not so high-brow that no one can understand it.

He also has another book out that I need to find called How to Read Novels Like a Professor, in case you are interested. I have not yet had a chance to read it.

#43 joycepa: I have read both The Guns of August and A Distant Mirror. I really like Tuchman's style of writing and hopefully, will be able to read her entire oeuvre before I am done. She has written one called Bible and Sword that I would really like to get to, but have not had a chance to read yet - I have to get my hands on a copy first!

*50--I think--but will not swear to--that that was her first book. It's extremely interesting but it is nowhere near as good as her others, IMO. Her worst book, again IMO, was her last, The March of Folly, which was written shortly before she died. thanks to the comments here, I want to reread Proud Tower yet again--it's a really fine book.

#51 joycepa: I checked Wikipedia just out of curiosity, and Bible and Sword was not Tuchman's first book. However, it was written prior to her better-known works and probably suffers in comparison. I want to read it just because I find the subject matter interesting.

I'll have to check out which one was, because I thought I had all her books.

I like Bible and Sword a lot, but have always felt it didn't have quite the same depth as her others. I hope you can latch on to a copy soon, because I'll be interested to read what you think.

It shows my generation, I think, that it doesn't automatically occur to me to check Wikipedia!

Come to think of it, it probably just shows me! (imagine smileyface since I'm dealing with a radically different keyboard).

OK, just checked out the article and there are three I don't have, only one of which interests me, the first one. I also didn't realize that The First Salute was the very last one she published, the year before she died--which (to me) is intriguing because I thought that a better book than the March of Folly--I always put the latter down to the fact that she was not at her best at that time. But maybe it was just the book she wanted to write, and that was it, period.

Wikipedia did not have all of her works listed, but Bible and Sword was dated 1956; I forget the first one they had listed, but it carried a date of 1938.

My local libraries do not have a copy of Bible and Sword, so I am going to have to find a copy some other way. Maybe I can find it on ILL . . .

Since you were so kind enough to leave a welcome message on my thread, I thought I would check out yours - and you and I have many favorites! Here comes the star to your thread! Happy Reading!

Thanks for dropping by mrstreme!

I'm definitely going to look for The Proud Tower, since it's a period that interests me. I have no idea how I've missed it so far, since I've enjoyed other work by Barbara Tuchman, especially The Guns of August.

>38 alcottacre: Stasia I didn't know that To Kill a Mockingbird was classified as Young Adult/Juvenile. The theme doesn't seem particularly young to me. Is it because it contains two young children?

- TT

#58 TT - I'll chime in here on To Kill a Mockingbird (my 14 year old son is reading it right now for school). I consider it basically a coming of age story for Scout - and Jem. A good way for young teens to study and relate to the unfairness of racism that existed back then. I've been thinking a lot about it lately since my son's reading it and discussing it with him.

To Kill A Mockingbird=YA. I don't think it's strictly marketed as a YA book, but I do know that our local middle school (8th grade, I think) uses it as part of the curriculum. Makes sense, I suppose. I remember reading it (on my own, not for school) when I was in 7th grade. And my 12 year-old daughter and I listened to an audiobook version (wonderfully read by Sissy Spacek) this past fall. She loved it. Teared up at the end.

#58 TT: I do not think personally that I would have classified To Kill a Mockingbird as YA, however, that is what my local library classified it as, so I went with their designation.

This gets me to thinking of other things we read in the middle school curriculum. A Midsummer Night's Dream was on that list, but I think ol' William might have objected to a YA classification ;o)

Great list - alcottacre.

I see you have William Trevor on your list, who is one of my all time favourite writers. I have also just learnt that he is releasing two more novels this year which is wonderful news!

RE: the discussion of To Kill a Mockingbird, I would enthusiastically recommend it to "young adult" readers, but I don't think it was written for that reading audience. I would also quibble with classifying Cry, the Beloved Country as juvenile/young adult. Is that your library's designation as well?

#64 LW3: Yes, it was. Again, this is probably not where I would classify it if I had it in my personal library. I think both books are more far-reaching than the YA tag implies.

#63 kiwi: I agree, it is good news. I had not read any of Trevor's books until last year. I read both The Story of Lucy Gault and Felicia's Journey. I will be hunting for more of his this year, you can be sure.

You do have to wonder who makes the judgment calls. Years ago in a video store, I had to tell a clerk that the film version of Tobacco Road was not a children's story!

I think the books mentioned as YA above are more based on current reading styles than anything else. It is curious that Tom Sawyer and much of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells are classified as high school reading, when they are really great adventures for younger readers.

>67 Prop2gether:: Yikes! Tom Sawyer as high school reading? I wonder if educators honestly think it belongs there or if it's a lowering of standards in recognition of literacy rates?

Some reviews list the Harry Potter books as "Grade 6-9." I expect that might come as a surprise to many older teens and adults!

I had to read Huck Finn for a college American Literature class in the mid-80's. I read Tom Sawyer when I was in elementary school for fun, not for a class.

The YA tags disturb me a little, because I think they deter a lot of people from reading them, and I think they keep young people away from other books that would be awesome for them. I remember reading an interview with Markus Zusak about The Book Thief where he said the decision to release the book as YA in the US was made by publishers or some other such nonsense. I guess things have to be classified one way or another, but there ought to be a better way. This from the mother of a son who read Hamlet (with Cliff Notes) and a version of the Siegfried story from the Ring of the Nibelung when he was in 4th grade. His choice. Never any book limits in my house!
(end of tirade)

#71: You know, Zusak's comment about publisher's making the choice for classification reminds me of lots of other, similar decisions, based strictly on marketing. I remember reading a J.K. Rowling interview in which her publisher practically made the decision for her to use her initials rather than her real name because in the targeted age group--pre-adolescents--the boys wouldn't read fantasy written by a woman. I can't remember the details, but I know that Peter Jackson had a real battle with the movie rankers over The Return of the King because he was afraid that they would limit the audience.

I never had any restrictions on books for my kids, either. Which had one amusing (to me) result. One day, I came upon my 3 reading surreptitiously from an anatomy book I had. I took all the fun out of it by sitting down with them and explaining the various reproductive pages and diagrams in which they were interested! Bored them solid.

I wonder if classification of Cry, the Beloved Country and To Kill a Mocking Bird as YA is more a reflection of how much writing and reading have changed in the last 50 years. When I first read Cry, the Beloved Country I was a pre-teen reading in family friends' large library filled, primarily, with Book of the Month Club selections. I am sure the Paton book was advertised as adult, not necessarily only adult, reading. In those days there were Childrens' books and Adults' books, no such thing as YA books. Being a "teenager" was just barely becoming accepted; junior high schools were a new invention. Alice in Wonderland, Tom Sawyer, and Rudyard Kipling books were often read aloud to children so they contain elements which entertained children but also adults could appreciate some of the sophisticated commentary included, between the lines, so to speak.

Interesting to ruminate about the changes in literary tastes.

ETA: wishinmaggie is a pseudonym for maggie1944

message 31 and 32
A Prayer for Owen Meany is one of my three all-time favorite books. I laughed; I cried. None other by Irving is as good as this one!

#73, Wishinmaggie, That's a very interesting point. I too read Cry, the Beloved Country as a pre- or young teen, some 40+ years ago, but they were definitely considered adult books, in that they were marketed to adults. I went straight from children's books to adult books.

I think a valid point has been made - for a lot of us, there was no designation of 'young adult' when we were growing up - we just went straight from kid's books to adult books - there was nothing in between.

I get the feeling that sometimes nowadays, that if all else fails, the book gets stuck in the young adult category.

#74 Whisper: Linda, I just brought A Prayer for Owen Meany home from the library this past week. I hope I enjoy it as much as you obviously do!

"Owen Meany" is my all-time favorite. Read it when it first came out; reread it in 2008 - it held it's position for me, and then some.

Man, I can't believe how far behind on threads I am. How can there already be some many posts to 2009?

#78: Linda, I am beginning to worry about my thread already. It is only January 3rd and already 78 posts? I might not make it through the entire year. Last year, I had over 500 on my thread, and at least 1 person complained about how long it took to load. And I do not even do fancy covers or numbers, lol.

everybody--

I have never read a John Irving book. Do I have to go out and get A Prayer for Own Meany? My younger grandson's name is Owen--it that a sign? Where can I fit it into my 999 challenge--can it be considered a classic? Arrrrgh! It's only 3 days into the new year--and I'm having a meltdown! And I haven't even finished a book yet! TadAD has already read 5! Help! Somebody throw me a lifesaver! I'm drowning! And I'm still on vacation!

Thanks for listening--I feel better now. Good night.

edited for spelling--of course!

#80: Carolyn, I hope you get some good rest! It is too early in the year to be that stressed out.

#79: On one thread last year in the 50 Book Challenge, I read a couple of people talking about the Thread Police--that the moment you go over 200 (I think) they're on you to start a continuation. I did see that, actually, in one thread.

500!! Ye gods, that's a lot. I'm hoping things slow down as everyone else (I'm "retired"--now there's a joke) returns to work after the holidays or the snow.

>79 alcottacre:: You can sort of understand it for people who don't have high-speed internet;—you can't look at anything until the whole thing loads. I let mine get to 367 last year but I was already considering starting a second with with links back and forth in the beginning and ending posts.

Books read since 1/1/09:

1. After Dark by Haruki Murakami - I discovered Murakami last year and have not read anything of his yet that has disappointed. I really liked this book - each chapter is almost like a short story of its own, although the entire book deals primarily with 2 sisters, each getting an alternating chapter

2. Plainsong by Kent Haruf - What can I say? A truly lovely book

3. Bound for the Promised Land by Kate Clifford Larson - my first nonfiction of the year and a great start. An excellent biography of a truly fascinating lady, both before and after the Civil War. There is some speculation involved with the writing of Harriet's life due to necessity, but the author always labelled it as such

4. A Hero of Our Own by Sheila Isenberg - nonfiction; this biography of one of the Righteous from WWII was excellent, although I do have a couple of minor quibbles with it: sometimes too much details was given (why do I need to know when he put on a clean shirt?) and the captions on the pictures in the middle of the book revealed fates of some of those pictured - I would have much preferred that kind of information at the end of the book

5. Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea by Steven Callahan - nonfiction; a true life adventure tale told by the man who lived it; very good reading although it does get a tad repetetive at times

6. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne - reread for me; one of my favorite books of all time!

ETA: I have no idea how other people are counting their pages, but for me, I am counting pages I have actually read, not the total for the book. I read quite a bit of nonfiction that includes prefaces, epilogues, bibliographies, indexes, afterwords, etc. so if I actually read the preface, I would count those pages toward the total for the book, but I am not flipping to the end of the book, finding out that it ends on page xxx and then counting that as the number of pages read. Make sense?

#83: I hadn't considered that because I only have 256 kb myself--Internet costs a fortune here and the prices have actually gone down in the past 3 months to $45/month for that. I really can't afford to upgrade to 512 and anything else is out of the question--DSL is available but we don't have a land telephone line and never will--not available--and so..

It does take time for downloads but many times it has nothing to do with the nominal speed and far more to do with limited bandwidth into the country and stability of the system.

>82 Joycepa: Joyce, reading Stasia's thread is like reading a novel! We should get credit! How would I review it though?!! As excellent, of course! And a lot of fun.

- TT

Since the thread is already at 85, I will in all probability have to split it over the course of the year. Yikes!

#86: Hey, TT, how do I apply for credit, as part of my Continuing Education course? Tad, you need to send me an application form! :-)

And i do agree about the fun. I'm finding that true of all the threads I'm following, new ones and old favorites.

>84 alcottacre:: Plainsong sounds very interesting; I'll add that to the list. I'm not sure about After Dark—the description on Amazon sounds a little too "art for art's sake" for me...maybe I'll read a bit in the library first to see what it's actually like.

Pages? I don't bother to count them. When you consider that there can be a 100% difference in the word count between a paperback and a hardback, what does a "page" mean? :-)

#89 Tad: Do give it a try at the library. Perhaps it makes a difference if you are someone like me who is up all night long and so follow the flow of the night like the book does. I have never been one for 'artsy' type books either, but I did not feel that After Dark was like that.

You have a valid point about page counts. I think before all is said and done, it is going to be too much of a hassle and I will probably drop it. I do not know at this point, it is just too early to tell, but I do not think any page count for anybody can be too reliable just because there are so many variables per individual.

re pagecounts, how would this be counted for audiobooks? I considered counting pages too until I realized I'd have some trouble in the audiobook category.

I have not done page counts until this year, so I cannot tell you. Maybe find a hard copy of the book, or look on Amazon for the page count and just add that number of pages to your count just as if you read it instead of listened to it?

I've been really interested in reading After Dark too, but was hesitant to buy it because I've never read any Murakami before. Maybe I should try to read it in the library! That's a great idea.

Tad - Definitely add Plainsong to your TBR pile - it's wonderful.

I'm doing page counts this year. I know they're not 100% reliable, but they're much more reliable than book counts. I read lots of really long books last year (800 pages plus), so if I just counted the books - 52 - it didn't seem like much, but counting the pages makes a lot more sense. That way I can compare my reading from year to year on a little more of a reliable basis than just the number of books. (Last year I read 52 books with 22,000 pages, which is an average of 423 pages per book. I definitely could have read 75 books last year if I read books with an average of 293 pages.)

And Stasia, I'm with you - I only count the pages I actually read. Indexes and bibliographies don't count!

I'm counting pages for exactly the same reason that Talbin is. I tend to read longer rather than shorter books and wanted to give myself an idea of the volume of paper read rather than just the number of titles.

I am also counting to not allow myself to just choose short books so that I reach 75. What can I say, I hate failure and it doesn't matter how hard I try, the number is still in my head!!! lol

Message 35, Bohemima
Thanks for the recommendation re. A Bright Shining Lie. Having been married, and divorced to a Viet Nam veteran who was emotionally impacted by this war, I do slowly venture to read books on this subject. I find them interesting and VERY, very sad. I've added this to my list.

Message 86, TT
Speaking of novels, so much of the content in your comments/posts is incredibly visual and well written...
So, friend, I anxiously await the advance copy of your bookl.

If you want some kind of consistent number, count typed pages.

In the typewriter days—now have I dated myself?—this was the basis for payment. A page was defined as 40 lines of 12 words each, each word being 5 letters long (including spaces).

This alleviates any difference in page size for paperbacks, large type books, etc. A quick count of a line length and line count on a single page would give a good idea. It wouldn't be entirely accurate in this day of proportional fonts, but it would probably go a long way toward "equalizing" books.

For example, the paperback I'm reading right now:

roughly 55 characters per line = 11 words
36 lines per page
282 actual pages

11 * 36 * 282 / 480 = 233 typed pages

Ok, I sometimes overthink things...

#98

sounds way too complicated for my brain. But then I never was any good at maths.........or logical thinking.........or any kind of thinking.......

Tad: I think the "typed pages" idea is definitely further than I plan to go! :-) I still think counting pages is many steps more accurate than counting books, so I'm going to stick with it. Obviously, even if one was counting typed pages, there are still differences - reading a Nancy Drew mystery is a lot different than reading Ulysses or Macbeth.

And I'm with lunacat - I wanted to prove to myself that I'm not a reading slouch just because I may or may not get to 75 in a year. ;)

Hehe, I don't expect anyone to do it. These things just rattle around in my brain...

lunacat - Do you have a thread somewhere? I wanted to ask you about what you're currently reading.

Hi Stasia, I am currently reading The Scarlet Letter (amongst others) and found it quite captivating till now. I plan to read a bit of Haruki Murakami this year, any suggestions on that one?

Hi Stasia. :)

Plainsong is absolutely now on my wish list. Groan 5 days into January, and its already started....the March of the Wish List...

And I'm on the the lookout for Haruki Murakami, too.

I take a day off and find *32* unread posts on your thread. phew. I'm expecting a veritable Star-Wars-saga of threads to your name by the end of the year...

Stasia

I'm glad you liked After Dark by Murakami! I read that last year--it was my first experience with him and I only read it because my former book group was reading it and I try to read their selections. I ended up loving it! From what I've learned about Murakami in reading about him since then is that he doesn't seem to stick with a 'style" but continually tries different ways to tell his stories. That reminds me a little of Virginia Woolf, who was always experimenting. (taking a brief "reading break!" :-) )

TadAD

I did get the feeling that it 'Artsy.' It follows one girl on all the things she does through the night while her sister lies critical ill. You find out a lot about both girls and there is a touch of "magical realism" to some parts of it. If you like to read about relationships you might like this book. If you want a plot and resolution at the end then you probably won't like it. imo

#103 Piyush: I actually started off reading Murakami's nonfiction book, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running before I read any of his fiction. I have read since then Kafka on the Shore and After Dark and will have to stop for a bit because that is the extent of my library's Murakami holdings. I do not recommend starting with Kafka on the Shore - I think it is a bit much for reading his work for the first time - I had to stop several times and reread passages for clarity's sake, although I did like the book. So, if I were you, I would start with his nonfiction and then move to After Dark and on from there. As Carolyn says in message 106, he changes styles from book to book, and I think those 2 are a good introduction to his work, but I am certainly no expert on it!

#105: I fear, Rachael, that you are going to be correct. It is still January 4 and I am now over 100 messages. Double Yikes!!

#104 Severn: Well, look on the bright side - at least it is a terrific book!:) The downside, of course, is that this is only one thread among many :( On the other hand, if you only add one book a day to your TBR mountain that is not too bad:) But, then again, there are 365 days in a year x 1 book a day = 365 more books on mount TBR :(

I am done now with trying to cheer you up, lol.

@Stasia

I already have two of his books, Kafka on the Shore and Dance Dance on my shelf, but now I guess will have to put off reading Kafka on the Shore for a some time, while I get acquainted with his other works.

#110 Piyush: I have not read Dance Dance yet and really do not know anything about it, so I cannot comment on it. The only reason I suggested reading more of his work before Kafka is that Kafka is not just a "pick it up and read it" type of book to me. Maybe check out the reviews of it here on LT and Amazon to get a better idea, I know I am not explaining it very well.

I think I get the idea, may it is one of those books you read on a long holiday with nothing else on mind? That is what I did with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and maybe Kafka on the Shore falls in that category, but I am only guessing...

#112 Piyush: I think that is pretty much the point I am trying to get across. Don't get me wrong, I think the book is very good and highly readable, but it is a book that takes effort on the part of the reader, not just a book that can be 'got through'.

On the 1960s, I have 1968: The Year that Rocked the World by Mark Kurlansky to read this year, which might interest you too.

#114: Thanks for the mention, sanddancer. I read two of Kurlansky's books last year and liked them, so he is definitely an author I look for.

sanddancer
I haven't heard of this book. I'll be sure to read it in 2009. What did you like about 1968: The Year that Rocked the World? Personally, I have such mixed feelings about the 60-s and the 70's as it is the generation that seemed to bring in the "me" generation. I deal with the children of these parents each day in my field of work as publications adviser at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. Some, but now all, are very self serving, rude and not other directed at all.

Whisper1 - I haven't read it yet. I just have it on my pile. I'll probably read it next month and will review it when I'm finished.

I'm glad you liked Plainsong, Stasia - it was one of my best surprises of 2007. I read the sequel, Eventide, last year but it just didn't live up to it, for me at least.

#118 rachbxl: I have Eventide home from the library now. We shall see how it compares . . .

Holy Goddesses of Eyestrain! What an ambitious list!!!

Yeah, I have no idea how she does it.

aa -- I am so glad to see Inkspell on your list of possibilities. I got the third in the trilogy, Inkdeath, for Christmas and I think I am going to reread the other two before I take on the third, so that I can immerse myself in that delightful world completely. Like with Jasper Fforde's books (Thursday Next series), the Ink series is total wish-fulfillment in one neat package -- what I wouldn't give to be able to jump in and out of the pages of a book. Even with the trouble that seems inevitably (at least in fiction) to follow. :)

Came over to see what all the excitement is about on this very active thread. You are already to 122, alcottacre!

Very impressed with your reading so far - eclectic and a great list. Good to see the non-fiction reading, too. Keep it up!!

#122: Thanks for dropping by, kiwidoc. I try to make it to at least 100 nonfiction books every year, and my goal this year is to make 150. I read a lot of history and biography, so the majority of the nonfiction reading will be in those categories.

Wow! You DO have a very active thread :)

I've added A Prayer for Owen Meany and How to Read Literature Like Professor to my wishlist! thank you!!

kiwidoc

You will find that Stasia is our resident book Guru.

I bow humbly before her reading lists in awe and admiration....

Seriously, she not only is a well read person, but a kind and wonderful soul as well.

>125 Whisper1: Linda, Saint Stasia has a nice ring to it, don't you think? The patron Saint of Book Lovers!

- TT

#126 TT: Since I tend to think of myself as very unread, especially when I look at the books other people are reading that I still have not, I think I will bypass the 'Saint Stasia' and 'patron Saint of Book Lovers' pseudonyms, although I certainly appreciate the thought.

Oh no you don't, St. Stasia--nice try, but won't fly. I'm all for this, folks--I have already recommended that the icon be a book surrounded by a halo.

Can't we have a beatification ceremony followed by full investiture?

absolutely a great idea.

holy water to be included!

I would like to point out that I am a Baptist, and as far as I know we have no canonization procedure, therefore I decline.

*giggles like a silly person at previous statement*

Seeing as how I am her daughter... I will say she can be saintly sometimes but she is not a saint.

And also she can fight her own battles (silly as they maybe) and so I conclude my defense of my mom.

Lol!

Patron Saint of Book Lovers Jr

That's the problem with any non-ecumenical procedure--you lose out on all the other traditions. hey, I'm open. all suggestions eagerly sought.

What's the general feeling on a sort of Kwan Yin as a basis?

And fantasia 655? We could include, if you like, a provision for inheritance--kinda pass the torch along sort of thing.

I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, and it's beginning to show big time.

I think even a Baptist person could accept the title of "Patroness of Book Lovers" without a blush or a whiff of blasphemy...and goodness knows that you're a reader of such catholic (in the original sense) sensibility that the title is appropriate.

All hail AlcottAcre, our Patroness of Book Lovers!

*sweeping bow*

Oh...and one other thing I forgot...American Gods is a book I would suggest giving a miss to, unless you're a passionate Gaimaniac. It's a cool idea and it's a lot of fun to read. For 150pp. The last 5,873 pages are a slog and nothing, repeat NOTHING, changes.

All problems resolved--but I still put in for the inheritance thing.

#134: Thanks for the input on American Gods, Richard. I had no idea it was 6000 pages long - somehow, I do not remember it being that long when I got it from the library previously. Is there another of Gaiman's books that would be a better substitute?

Joycepa, I have no earthly idea what Kwan Yin is, but it sounds kinda cool. I still refuse, however, to be sainted for the love of books - everyone on the thread would need to be sainted, too!

>136 alcottacre:: I think you have an extra zero in there...it's nowhere near 6000 pages long.

I think Neverwhere is his best; Stardust gets a thumbs up, also.

Joyce: I put in for the inheritance thing too.

So Sorry Mom, guess you are now officially a Patron(ess) Saint of Book Lovers

#138: I was adding Richard's 150 + 5873 he referenced in his message. I did not think it was really that long, though, Tad. Thanks for the input on Gaiman - I think I will pass by American Gods, no matter how long it is, and try and find Neverwhere.

>140 alcottacre: Oh, sorry. I didn't read his post post in its entirety...I saw some more the chitchat and my eyes just skipped to the next message. Since the paperback is very close to 600 pages, it made sense that you had just typed an extra zero.

>140 alcottacre: O Patroness, did I add a zero? Goodness, what boredom and extreme fatigue will do to a man's memory. Gosh. Silly me.

Neverwhere gets my vote for a Gaiman read. It was another really, really good idea, and as a story, a lot more fun to read than American Gods.

>139 fantasia655: fantasia, I guess we call you the Supporterette? What comes before Patroness?

OK, I have ordered Neverwhere and taken American Gods off the list for this year. Thanks to you both!

I'd also add Good Omens as a fantastic Neil Gaiman book (co-written by Terry Pratchett) as I'm currently reading it and it is hilarious!!

Richard: I haven't a clue what goes before Patroness. But Supporterette sounds good.

I think I am going to read Stardust soon.. It sounds good I've only seen the movie but it has been a while since I've seen it.. So who knows. I still bet the book is better than the film.

#144 lunacat: I read Good Omens last year. It was my introduction to the work of both Gaiman and Pratchett.

#146 lol, I'd know that if I paid more attention!! You should definitely read more Pratchett then, he's brilliant :)

#147: I am hoping to start the Discworld series some time this year. TadAD was nice enough to give me the information on how to approach the series and where to start.

Okay, Stasia, I'm finally weighing in, and you are only up to 145 messages. Fortunately I read the first 60 while in Kansas; otherwise might never have dared dive in. For the Gaiman books, I agree that American Gods is probably my least favorite. I adore Good Omens and I think Anansi Boys is excellent as well--it is one of those books I got more out of and liked even better on the second read-through.

ETA of course by the time I finished posting, you were up to 148! I'd say start with Mort or Guards! Guards!, myself, but beware--they are contagious! And such fun.

I guess I'm boring and conventional in that I would always approach a series in chronological written order!!! Thats how I read Terry Pratchett

I think the first Pratchett I read was Soul Music... followed by Going Postal. From then on in, I was hooked... haven't yet tried reading them in order, but instead am reading them by character groupings. As far as I can tell (and just going on what my husband says, as he's read them all), they don't need to be read in chronological order - just in the order that each book was written about each character. But you all probably know that already. Lol.

It's the first time I've ever read something out of chronological order, and it took awhile to convince me that it was OKAY. Hah.

#149: Well, roni, I am now up to 152 (if you include this one) and from the looks of it, I will be starting a new thread every week to get through this year!

Thanks for your input though on both Gaiman and Pratchett. We shall see how the year progresses because I have a lot on the list above and they are definitely priorities for me. The other books will be just slipping in here and there, lol.

>150 lunacat:: The problem with reading Pratchett in chronological order is that the first few are really the weakest. I started The Colour of Magic three times over the years and dropped it as inferior (I still consider it pretty weak). In contrast, once Death became the main character, and the the Guard, I couldn't put the books down.

I've yet to start the Discworld books for this very reason. I can wrench myself away from the need for chronological order, but only if I have some confident guidance in the series, and there doesn't seem to be a right way to eat this reese's...

See, I can never understand people saying that The Colour of Magic is among the weakest because it remains one of my absolute favourites, and one I have read time and time again. Admittedly, The Light Fantastic isn't up there with the best of them but I can't agree with The Colour of Magic being 'weak', its brilliant!

I guess we just have to disagree then, lunacat.

I regularly reread the Death books, the Witches books and the Guards books; I've reread the Tiffany Aching series twice. I'll never pick up anything with Rincewind in it again—I found them just silly, whereas the others are sometimes silly on the surface, but not underneath...Granny Weatherwax, Death, Sam Vimes all have something to say to the reader beyond the jokes.

Of course, this is all just my opinion and I never expect everyone to agree with me. Disagreement is good, it makes for lively discussion.

I guess we will have to disagree then, cos I have to say I disliked Granny Weatherwax as a character and have never succeeded in rereading the Witches books, have only got through them all the way through the once. I find my attention wanders, I get bored and I don't relate to/or have any interest in those characters. Death and Sam Vimes I will agree with though :)

alcottacre and fantasia655---how nice to find another mother/daughter combo here on LT! My daughter (lycomayflower) and I have a jousting match here from time to time. Joyce can bear witness to that.

Gosh, I turn away for a minute and here you all are talking about some of my favorite authors without me! :)

aa -- if you haven't read the Tiffany Aching series, which I think is the best Pratchett of any I've read, than throw that on the list! They are YA, quick reads, and just great. The first one, The Wee Free Men, made me laugh so loud at three o'clock in the morning (I could not put it down) that I woke up the dog. (She was quite concerned.) A Hat Full of Sky is also great, and Wintersmith, though not as hilarious, is just a wonderful story.

I also second the rec of the Witches books of Pratchett's, and the Death books, if that helps.

I was sad to see you take American Gods off the list -- you know I love it -- but it is definitely heavy, long, and the most dense of Gaiman's work, so I understand not wanting to get involved with it. Anansi Boys, its sort-of sequel, is a lot lighter, though, so you might think about that one. I am reading Neverwhere right now (I think its the only Gaiman book, aside from some of his graphic novels, that I have not read before) and thoroughly enjoying it. It has a healthy bit of creepiness, of course, but it also has more gross moments than I expected. I'll post a blurb on it when I'm done -- we can compare notes!

#159: Cool beans, beserene! I just ordered my copy of Neverwhere today, so I imagine it will be a couple of weeks before I even get it to read.

I picked up books at the library Tuesday and paper clipped to one of the inside pages was a note: The following book you requested is temporarily missing: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly.

How ironic is that?

:D too funny ~

>161 alcottacre: Stasia, that comment by itself definately qualifies you for the title of Patroness, I agree that Sainthood is a bit too much! I thought of Wicked Witch of the Word but that may be going too far in the other direction! :)

- TT

Thanks for the laugh, TT!

May I suggest Seeress of Texas?

#161, that's hysterical!

#165: Only if fantasia655 gets to be Seeress Jr.

#161 That's too funny. I could mail you a copy of The Book of Lost Things, Stasia, if you'd like. Of course, it might go astray in the mail...

Allow me to weigh in on the Gaiman conversation: My vote is for the collected Sandman as his best work. Simply wonderful.

Stasia, at least three people over in the Hogwarts Express group have misplaced their Book of Lost Things - it's an epidemic! *eying my copy and considering locking it in the cabinet until it's time to go home...*

I'm going to weigh in with #159 here and say that I _loved_ American Gods, so I'm sorry you've decided to give it a miss, although I can see why - it's certainly a bit of a tome. I'm a bit of a Gaiman fanatic though, so... ...but Neverwhere was a good suggestion as an alternative - those two are my joint favourites - hope you enjoy it!

#159 beserene, if you've enjoyed the rest of Neil Gaiman's stuff, I'd definitely recommend giving the Sandman a go - I was very wary before I read them, never having been much of a comic person, but I thought they were mostly fantastic (I enjoyed some volumes more than others).

Re Terry Prattchet, if you think about it, it's quite amazing that he's got such a large body of work, that we all seem to have different favourite series (within Discworld)! I've read the lot and I have to say that my favourites are mostly one offs: Pyramids (discworld, but not part of a series), Dark Side of the Sun (a stand alone), Nation (last years and his best for _ages_ and, of course, Good Omens (which was, in fact, the book that introduced me to Neil Gaiman in the first place). Loved the Death and Tiffany Aching aching books too though...

stasia, i know that you've set up a thread on War and Peace, with some people already joining. would u still care to join in a Don Q read fest simultaneously? i was thinking of setting it up in time for a January start, but with an open-ended finish date.

do sound me out on what u think.

STASIA! HELP!

I can't figure out, from their awful directions, how to update my ticker! Helping me, please?

I love Neverwhere, and it was my first introduction to Neil Gaiman, but I have to chime in with some American Gods love. I actually really want to reread it this year. I'm a huge fan of Norse mythology and world religions, so it was endlessly fascinating for me.

Speaking of Gaiman, I just picked up The Graveyard Book from the library.
-Marcia

Oh my gosh, The Graveyard Book was great. It's all about the atmosphere -- I really enjoyed it.

#171: flissp, I have the collected Sandman on disc somewhere (a gift from a computer nerd friend of mine, bless him) but I haven't yet read it. I know I'm going to love it, but that's part of the problem -- once I open it up, I'll be in there for HOURS. :)

Stasia, I had to think of you when I saw this card on my nephew's tree over the holidays!



(I'm following Tad's directions--hope it works!)

ETA took me a couple of tries--I had to reduce the picture--it was HUGE, and I left out " the first time through, but here it is!

ronincats...congrats on figuring this out.....The image is great!

#176: All I can say to that is Woo Hoo!!

#173: I posted a comment for you on your profile page. I hope it helps!

Stasia - having seen all the adoration on this thread, I must say it is a pleasure to meet you. It seems that you are a very popular stop on the 75 C!!

#180 kiwidoc: I think I am going to have to start a new thread for the second week of January, I have been adored so much, lol.

I have a great time here on LT and truly appreciate the opportunity to meet book lovers from all around the world. I am looking forward to a tremendous year here on the 75 C, as you call it. I hope you enjoy yourself as well. Thanks for stopping by!

Stasia,

I don't see a new thread, so I am adding to this one with recommendations for biographies related to the civil rights movement.

Two on Thurgood Marshall:

A Defiant Life: Thurgood Marshall and the Persistence of Racism in America by Howard Ball
Dream Makers; Dream Breakers: The World of Justice Thurgood Marshall by Carl Thomas Rowan

and Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thurgood Marshall was not particularly well thought of by many of his colleagues on the Supreme Court, but his work and life before the Court were amazing.

And I vote with many others on Gaiman--Neverwhere was best.

#182: Thank you very much! I wll try and locate as many of those as possible.

you know it occurs to me I'm not reading my book because I'm trying to keep up with the threads.

tough choice.

alcottacre - was just looking at the books you may be planning to read this year, and noticed Shutter Island. Def think you should, I really enjoyed that one. It's SO clever.

Also earlier in your thread (was quite a lot to wade through), I noticed some commentary on Murakami. I too got into him last year, and have read quite a few of them. Think my favourite was Norwegian Wood - one of my only 5 star books last year - which was more like a classic love story with a Japanese angle. Like you I liked After Dark and it was my first. I would agree that Kafka on the Shore is not a good place to start. Also enjoyed his short stories in after the quake, aswell as Sputnik Sweetheart which was a bit like Norwegian Wood but slightly more surreal. I found The Wind Up Bird Chronicle quite gruesome and dragged a bit, and quite disliked Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

So that's my opinion on Murakami - unsolicited I grant you. Am sure others would have differing opinions.

Thanks for your input, jbeast. Unfortunately, the 3 books I have read by Murakami were the extent of my local library's holdings, and I cannot order any at present. I definitely want to read both Norwegian Wood and The Wind Up Bird Chronicle.

It doesn't seem you need any more recommendations anyway. But Norwegian Wood is stunningly good.

I'm worryingly becoming addicted to both LT and 75 book challenge, and I should be working. Which is far less fun!

I agree - working is far less fun - that's where I am, too! I sit with LT up on one of my tabs all night long.

Me too. I think everyone must think LT IS my work, ha ha. It must be about 3am where you are.

It is 4:21am right now - I am on Central time here in the US.

Ah, OK, I only have a sketchy knowledge of which is which. I went to TX last year, to San Antonio, and then went straight up to Chicago on the train, and I guess they must have been in the same time zone.

Anyway, back to books...

ok thats it. All of this book talk has just got to stop!

I have added 3 books just in the last 10 posts. It is a very dangerous thing
to come here and read posts.

So, let me get this straight - on a site called Library Thing, you want us not to talk about books? I think I have found the source of your difficulty - delusion.

#192: I'd say your risk probability is really high on THIS thread! :-)

but but but.. there is danger here...

*narrowly avoids a falling stack of books...*

LOL joy... I agree

* types Martin Luther King into Amazon FIND*

#195 - Your books are in stacks - I still have books in boxes . . . One of these days I will actually have shelves on which to store them.

the boxes are on a table in the basement...
... upstairs

I have 65 boxes of books in my garage, where they will probably reside forever, sigh :(

The good news is that I got them out of the storage unit where I paid for them to be for 3 stinking years.

Stasia:

I can send you The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles if you would like it, if you could send it back once you were done? Wouldn't matter when it came back, I've got so much else to read!!

you win! yep...

Thanks for the offer, lunacat, and I gladly accept. I will put my mailing info on your profile page. I live in the States, though, will that matter to you? I know you are in the UK . . .

nope, thats absolutely fine for me to send to the States :)

I posted my address on your profile page. Thanks again!

>199 alcottacre: Stasia, I stored my whole book collection in a friend's garage in South Africa, including many rare and old books. The insects ate them and the damp rotted them. Lost the lot! Boo hoo!

22.7 posts per day! That's just on your thread!!!

- TT

#205: I have a set of Bulwer Lytton's books that look to be unsalvagable due to mold. They were over 100 years old. I could cry or scream or both.

Yes, I know the thread is long already, and I have only posted 1 weeks reads. I am not sure what I am going to due about this problem.

#206: Oh, no!!!!!!! What a disaster! I'm referrring to the Bulwer-Lytton books, of course. The thread is great! and I'm sure you will figure out a way around the problem at 2;26 am or some time like that. :-)

Well, I certainly do not want to start a thread a week! 52 threads in a year is a little much. Maybe once a month, or when they get to 500 messages, whichever comes first :)

Just stay here Stasia. Works for us :)

Re. Murakami: what would you guys recommend as a good one to start with? I've never actually read any myself; my friend Bridget has forcibly lent me Kafka on the Shore, but I keep reading it's not the best one to start with.

> 210 i've read several of his works and i agree with the comments that Kafka may not be the best one to start with. i recommend one of his short story collections After The Quake, instead.

#210 I would agree with that - after the quake would be a good intro because there's a range of different kinds of stories.

That said, After Dark inspired me, because it's short and a bit surreal but not overwhelming like some of them.

If you want straight fiction to give you an idea of his writing style, I'd go with Norwegian Wood which is one of the best books ever.

re Murakami

I started with After Dark in January lat year and later read What I Talk about When I Talk About Running which is sort of a memoir. I loved After Dark and enjoyed the memoir to find out a little more about him.

I think I will try to get Norwegian Wood because it sounds like something I would like. I plan to read several more but this year is already crammed and i will have to wait for a while. I wonder if Murakami isn't a little like Virginia Woolf--one who experiments with style so that each book is somewhat unique. Maybe someone who has read a lot of his works could comment on this.

Stasia--thank you for providing a a "Book Club" thread for those of us who don't have an RL Group! I just sip my tea while I'm waiting for it to load--I'm patient! It doesn't take as long as it would to drive to a group and it's available everyday. :-)

#213: You are quite welcome.

I am going to try and track down a copy of Norwegian Wood so I can get it read some time this year, too.

This week's reads:

7. Crazy Horse, the strange man of the Oglalas by Mari Sandoz - nonfiction, recommended by Fourpawz; this was a great biography - I can just picture Native Americans sitting around a fire telling this story - the way the biography is narrated, you can hear the 'voices' just come through; highly recommended

8. Quiet as a Nun by Antonia Fraser - not a bad mystery, but not terribly great either, and it is a bit dated

9. The Forger's Spell by Edward Dolnick - nonfiction; I enjoyed this book quite a bit, although for someone unlike myself who knows little of art, the descriptive and explanatory passages may go on too long; I do wish the book had the pictures (especially of Vermeer's art) in color - the copy I had did not, and I think it would certainly have helped when Dolnick is going into such detail on the pictures

10. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis - I loved this book

11. A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe - once I got passed the archaic speech, I very much enjoyed this book; I wish the book had a map of 17th century London, though, due to the many references to the various parts of the city

12. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury - another great book that I truly enjoyed; one of the sections I particularly enjoyed was about Grandpa and his new grass; it was interesting reading about how the boys thought the Colonel (I can so picture C. Aubrey Smith here) being living history - the section about Ching Ling Soo hit a particular note since I just read a biography of him last year; absolutely beautiful prose throughout the book

13. Christietown by Susan Kandel - the last entry in the Cece Caruso mystery series; good, lighthearted fun

14. The Incredible Voyage by Tristan Jones - nonfiction; I very much enjoyed this book, probably more for the parts of the book that happened on dry land: confrontation of apartheid in South Africa, 'pickpockets' in Columbia, bugs on the Amazon, a truly remarkable adventure

15. Curse of the Blue Tattoo by Louis A. Meyer - YA; the second book in the Bloody Jack series, and still good fun; I will be moving on to the third book in the series, because I cannot wait to see what Jacky does next

ETA - For some reason, I overlooked one of the books I read this week:

16. Symposium by Muriel Spark - this one was a recommendation from Prop2gether and I enjoyed it quite a bit - the underlying (and sometimes not underlying) biting humor and sarcasm was to my taste, although I had problems keeping characters straight at the beginning of the book

Absolutely amazing output, Stasia! Mari Sandoz is a writer I've long wanted to read--I've read excellent things about her work. I read Dandelion Wine so long ago I don't remember it at all except that it must have been good, because I've always loved Bradbury's work. The others are unknown to me, intriguing, and noted.

#216: Joyce, having read Sandoz' work on Crazy Horse, I am definitely going to be on the look out for more books by her. She has a way of capturing the voice of the people so well, I just have a picture of an old Native American shaman sitting around a fire telling the story to the dozens of children at his feet. Not implying that the story is simple, mind you, just that is the way the narration flowed for me.

I too, loved Doomsday Book and Dandelion Wine is a long time favorite.

Now I am off to add Crazy Horse to my wish list. :-/

#218: Then my work is complete, Kath . . .ennabling yet another reader!

Thanks to all who posted about Murakami. I have What I Talk About When I Talk About Running on my book list to purchase. But I think I'll add and start with Norweigan Wood.

looks like I might have to get hold of Doomsday Book myself

You are so right about the voice in Crazy Horse, Stasia. It's perfect. I bought A Journal of the Plague Year last fall and have been wanting very badly to read it. Maybe I'll make it my next fiction read but one.

Crazy Horse, Dandelion Wine and A Journal of the Plague Year go onto my tbr/wishlist. The Daniel Defoe sounds especially my kind of thing!! *sighs at mountain of books waiting for her*

And I too absolutely loved Doomsday Book and I'm glad you did as well.

With all of the recommendations for The Doomsday Book I will have to move it to the top of the pile. And now I have to find a copy of The Incredible Voyage, although I think I will like more because of the sailing parts of the adventure.

Now I really want to reread The Doomsday Book. I read it when I was quite young and I liked it, but I think it was too much for my teenage self to handle. Crazy Horse sounds really good!

alcottacre:

I've finally found a book I really wanted to recommend to you, given your wanting to read more books about the Vietnam War etc. I'm hoping you haven't read it yet but if you have, at least I'll know I was spot on with the recommendation!!

Its a YA book called The War Orphan by Rachel Anderson about an orphaned boy called Ha and a boy called Simon, and the nightmares Ha brings with him from the war. The details haven't stayed with me (I read it many many years ago) but the memory of it, and the shock of the details and the events has. For this reason, I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in this kind of book.

Stasia, have you read The Road Home by Ellen Emerson White? It's amazing YA fiction about an army nurse in the Vietnam War and her problems adjusting to life after she returns home. One of the best books, YA or not, I've ever read. In fact, talking about it, I want to go read it again...

I've had The Doomsday Book on my TBR list forever - I'm determined to read it this year, it's a back up for my TBR Challenge. I think I'm going to have to move it up on the list. It's been sitting in my TBR stack in my bedroom for over a year now!

I just finished Doomsday Book and it's very absorbing, a great read. There's several threads in this group about it and no bad reviews, everyone loves it.

The Girls was recommended by a number of LT'ers who gave it rave reviews. I agree!

#230: I already checked and my local library has a copy. I am hoping to pick it up this next week.

#226 lunacat: Thanks for the recommendation. I will see if I can get hold of it. Currently I am reading Vietnam: A History by Stanley Karnow, which is really the first book I have ever read on the subject, I think. I thought it would be best to get a good general history of the subject under my belt first.

#227: I have not read that one yet, either, and it does not look like my local library has it. The book sounds very good, so I will go further afield in tracking down a copy. . .

A propos Doomsday Book: I now provide the dissenting vote. A certain Thingamabrarian (*cough*mckait*cough*) whose memory must be reviled throughout known spacetime for the offense MADE ME read 75pp of the %(!*^%^ thing.

It was the longest eight years of my life.

Precious. Pursey-lipped. Smirking, like Bush at a press conference. These are the nicest things I can say about the writing I found in this interminable yawn-fest. I skipped around after the 75pp to see how it ended, and so I missed nothing really, since I thought the idea was really, really good and the execution execrable. Wish someone else had written it...like Jo Walton or Ian R. MacLeod.

> But, Richard, what do you really think?

A propos richardderus' comments on Doomsday Book: I haven't actually read it (although I have read Willis' To Say Nothing of the Dog), but I saw that one review here on LT said that it's just really poorly written. I was surprised since I didn't think the writing in To Say... was at all bad, but it seems that richardderus shares the view of that disappointed reviewer.

>235 suslyn:, 236: Danger, Will Robinson, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!

#237: But robot richard, if they do not read it how are they going to know whether they like it or not? They are entitled to their opinions, too, are they not?

#161: BTW - I wanted to let everyone know that my local library found The Book of Lost Things today, so I was finally able to check it out.

I just hope I do not lose it before I have a chance to read it!

Stasia

When I went to get Dauntless Saturday I noticed right next to it was The Book of Lost Things--(yes Campbell and Connolly were together--and both were in adult fiction. It's a wonder we can find anything in our library!). Is this one I should be getting?

#240: Carolyn, the reason I picked it up was because it was getting so many rave reviews here on LT. I have not started on it yet - if you want to grab it and read it together, I am with you. I do not know that it fits into the science fiction or fantasy genres, though (I also do not know that it does not). Up to you.

I'm going to the library Wednesday--I'll see if I can still get it and I'll look it over. We could put Sweet Silver Blues off til the next weekend since we both own that. Or possibly they could both be read in one weekend? I know you could do it. I think I will have quite a bit of time to read this weekend--although not as much as I had hoped. My son was supposed to be gone from Thursday to Sunday but I think that fell through so he may be here except for Saturday. He really doesn't live with us! But he spends a lot of his free time with us when he doesn't have something going with his friends. Unfortunately his friends all live in Fresno which is about 40 miles away which means they have to plan things--you don't just drop by!

#242: However you want to do it is fine with me. We can play it by ear until we see what the weekend brings for you, if you like. Since we both own copies of the one book, you are correct - we could do the other first.

Good grief, Alcottacre - it looks like you are reading two books a day!! Do you live alone? Maybe you need no sleep? I am very impressed indeed.

It won't be long before the TBR Continent becomes a TBR planet ;)

#245: I was thinking of skipping 'Planet' entirely and just going straight to Universe TBR.

#244 kiwidoc: No, I do not live alone - 1 husband, 2 kids, 2 dogs. Homeschooling mom, works full time, gets no sleep.

>238 alcottacre: Stasia, some things are simply too awful, too wrenchingly agonizing, to allow others to pass through without adequate warning. What they do in the end, well, I control very little in this life and have reached my peace with that.

A propos the Universe TBR, Doctor Who's current BBC America episodes are about the Library of the Universe, the repository of all book-like things ever written or created, being eaten. Once gone, they cannot be replaced.

I get the vapors even thinking about it!

#248 richard: You and I can get the vapors together! My biggest fear in life is that I will run out of accessible reading material.

Stasia -- I suggest not moving to Romania.

#250: I would just personally accompany all my books over when I move next door to you.

In that case, come on! Actually we have 6 bedrooms and 4 baths (crazy company-provided rental), so you could just move in :) LOL

...but you must be very clean ;)

...well, I'm going to have to give The Doomsday Book a go at some point this year to see who I agree with!

#248 -- In Doctor Who, (Silence in the Library) it's actually the people that are being eaten by the Vashta Narada (piranha of the air). The books are safe. (Whew!) They were printed on paper from the trees where the VN lived. That's how the VN got into the library -- in the books. Sorry -- off topic.

>253 flissp: Why Fliss, there's no question. You go with the girls! :)

>254 VioletBramble: Violet, oh. Well then, who cares? People we can replace. I type corrected.

>255 suslyn:, now suslyn. Mustn't be sexist! Men can be right about books too! ;-)

>256 richardderus: richard

we mustn't be sexist? Who agreed on that??????????

>257 lunacat: lunacat, no one unfortunately...there is such appalling sexism at work in everything I see in mass culture that I despair of humanity ever learning its lessons re: differences being opportunities for respeact instead of exploitatiton.

STASIA! I have learned my ticker lesson!! I chose the wrong *category* for my ticker and it was counting days automatically! No wonder I didn't get prompted for a PIN.

Richard, I think you better give in, for in this place, we are highly outnumbered and anyways whatever be the real life possibilities, in a continent called "75 Books Challenge for 2009" in a world popularly known as "LT", women do seem to be the better readers.

...if it makes you any happier, I promise to be open minded when I read the book... Honest!

suslyn, you did make me cackle!

>259 PiyushC: Piyush, "better" readers?! Hmmmmmmmmmmm. I don't think I will concede that point.

>260 flissp: fliss, I too strove for an open mind on that book. I wish you a speedy recovery from the narcolepsy you will most likely endure.

Alcottacre - we have duplicate lives, right down to the homeschooling. (except I have only one dog and two cats). I am now quite despondent with my inferior reading output!!?? Good for you.

#262 kiwidoc: Look on the bright side - you probably get far more sleep!

I've noticed quite a lot of discussion on Haruki Murakami and thought I would add my 2 cents worth....

When I moved here to Japan, 9 years ago, I read Murakami extensively. I loved them all, except perhaps Norwegian Wood, which I could never really get into (but, to be fair, I think I was suffering from Murakami burnout at that stage).

Anyone contemplating Murakami, would do well to read up a little on his themes and ideas. Internet sites abound on this author with plenty of in-depth analyses.

Personally, I'd like to recommend his "Trilogy of the Rat" series*:

Hear the Wind Sing (1979),
Pinball 1973 (1980), and
A Wild Sheep Chase (1982).

These were his first three novels, and as such they really capture the growth of Murakami as an author, and introduced many of the recurrent thematic elements that would be found in later works such as Kafka on the Shore.

While Murakami feels the first novels were his weakest, I feel they are the most fascinating, and are mandatory reading for anyone with a genuine interest in his work.

* Dance, Dance, Dance (1988) is a sequel to A Wild Sheep Chase, but is not officially part of the trilogy.

As a post script to the above post....

If you have trouble locating Pinball, 1973, you can download the PDF from the following site,

http://www.exorcising-ghosts.co.uk/

This excellent site, dedicated to the work of Haruki Murakami, has a wealth of resources and is one of the best of its kind.

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with this website, blah, blah, blah...

Thanks, Peter! I purchased Hear the Wind Sing from eBay, and downloaded Pinball 1973 from the site you mentioned. I may re-read A Wild Sheep Chase after reading the two earlier books.

richardhoneydearluv

nothing sounds like Bush at a press conference~

methinks you are being an author/book snob. It was a really really good book and so there~

~ gives richardhoneydearluve a smooth on top the head while holding my three cats and three of the neighbors cats~ ( and feeling like a cat tree)

Just for anyone who may happen to wonder why I am not around today - Catey's 18th birthday is today, January 14th. She and I will both be out of pocket most of the day.

Happy Birthday, Catey!! (even if I still think you are 6)

My best friend from childhood shares her birthday :) Enjoy!

Oh fun! I hope you both get to eat lots of cake :D

happy birthday celebrations to all!

*911 arrives to take poor, innocent richard to the hospital after the unprovoked homicidal attack of cat spit poisoning*

Habby birfday Catey, he manages to wheeze

*slumps* okay *guilt sets in *
*brews a hot cuppa for richard*
*sprinkles anti kitty magical confetti*

*watches to see if Richardhoneydearlove is still being dramatic*

* runs quickly back to work before getting caught online*

Happy Birthday, Catey!! I hope mommy Stasia buys you a really expensive present!

- TT

Funnily enough, I read this as I was drinking my hot cuppa! Of course, I mean cuppa joe, and my one-cup-a-day orders from the dietary bullies are only supportable because my cup is 48oz. (8 normal saucer-havin' coffee cups.)

Milord, if Catey is anything like her mother, a large gift certificate from Half Price Books or B&N or Amazon would be the large gift of choice, I bet. Well, when I was 18, my large gift of choice was an antique encyclopedia (1911 Britannica).

>275 richardderus: Rich, I left my 30 volume Britannica behind in South Africa - I think the insects ate it!

- TT

>276 TheTortoise: Milord, them is some cultured bugs there in South Africa...all those books, makes you wonder if they are trying to acquire the means to kill us all as we sleep a la Day of the Triffids.

>277 richardderus: Rich, Mrs T complained of having being bitten in the night. She said: "Who bit me!" "Did you bite me".

Can you imagine a vampire Tortoise?!

- TT

My imagination is, I fear, up to the task...I picture a staid tortoise, simply tortoising along during the day and sleeping at night, coronet on his tortoisely noggin. THEN, come the full moon, said tortoise becomes lean and sleek and his tortoisely beak develops a sharp point, like an old-fashioned church-key or bottle opener, and his shell develops a sweeping tortoiseshell opera cape....

*chuckle*

>279 richardderus: I take it back: You can imagine a Vampire Tortoise!

- Chuckling Tortoise

I like the ticker. I figured out how to create one, but how do I link it to my LT page?

Go to "Edit profile" and copy the html code from the ticker site onto your profile page. Or copy it to your challenge thread if that's where you want it.

Hey, Stasia, just saw a current post--that means you're back! How did the birthday go?

The birthday went just fine - thank you everyone for your good thoughts on the day.

She only got 12 books (not counting the ones she ordered for herself). She ought to be out of trouble for a while!

I just found this in The Duenna:

Lopez - Truly, sir, I think that a little sleep once a week or so.

Ferdinand - Peace, fool, don't mention sleep to me.

I must mention that I am firmly on Ferdinand's side!

>284 alcottacre:

Haha, I like that you said she 'only' got 12 books. Happy belated birthday to Catey!

I seem to have too much time on my mind, so I stopped by to snoop. I am of the lowly 50 Book Challenge, otherwise known as the SROTW (Slow Readers Of The World), and I was curious to find out what the smart people read and talk about.

After reading 265 messages, though, I have a pounding headache in my frontal lobe. I believe I will take a nerve pill, lay down for awhile, and sneak back in at a later time.

Charlie

#287: Feel free to sneak back any time you like, Charlie Brain. I only update my reading list once a week (very early Sunday mornings), if that helps you out any.

From the looks of it, come February 1st, I will be starting a new thread.

Hey Stasia! I'm taking a few minutes to catch up on a few threads! I'm still working on what is only my second book of the year. Not even halfway through it.

Hey Stasia. I see your at it again. Your description of How to read literature like a professor makes me want to go pick it up. It sounds like a very interesting book. I must have missed it on your thread last year.

#290: Trish - I read it very early last year. I think it was in the first weekly post that I did. Try it - I think you will like it.

291 MESSAGES......ARE YOU KIDDIN' ME!!!!!

Ok, I feel better now.

Msg#84, I am so glad you tried Haruf. I really liked the sequel to Plainsong which is called Eventide though I think Rachbxl did not like as much as I did. TadAD, you should definitely read it......Haruf has a wonderful voice.

#215, I also see you got through Dandelion Wine and had he same reaction I did....what a wonderful book!!

blackdogbooks

Welcome back! We missed your comments, reommendations and especially your reviews :)

#292 BDB: Hello, Mac. Thanks for visiting me again! I wouldlike to point out that the 291 messages are not all my fault. I will be starting a new thread February 1st, I fear.

#294

It IS your fault. As is the 149 books on my tbr pile (that is actually books OWNED). And the fact I never got any college work done cos I kept reading posts on LT and books you recommended.

Therefore, it is all your fault.

#295: DO NOT read my thread tonight lunacat - I will be updating my weekly reads and I refuse to contribute to the delinquency of a college student any further, lol. You have been warned!!

#296

Its ok, I finished my college course last week (I am/was a horse care student and am qualified now and with a nice new high paying job that I start in two weeks!) so I can be as deliquent as I want :)

#297: Congratulations on the new job! So, you have 2 full weeks in which you can do nothing but read - cool beans! Now, I can contribute to your delinquency . . .

#298

I wish, I working at my old job for 2 weeks to earn some money for my car repairs (which were £450!!) before I start the new one. I just had my last day off until Jan 30th. And then I am working every single day in Feb from Feb 2nd. *sigh*

But continue to contribute to my delinquency as much as you like, however, its still ALL your fault.

And its also your fault that I wanted to do the 300th post so I'm posting again ;)

#299: Well, look on the bright side, February is a short month! And the money you earn will go, I am sure, for more books.

#300: I am just hoping we do not get to 400 before the month is up, lol.

May I just declare now that I will do everything within my power to make sure you get to 400 by Feb 1st :)

Thanks, luna. If I reach 400 by February 1st I will definitely have to start a new thread and then I will probably never find this one again.

>299 lunacat:: luna, I'll see you and raise you - our car repairs in December (happy Christmas) came to very nearly £1k............

(sorry to add to your post count, Stasia - this is already taking a little while to load for me! Are you sure you can hold out til Feb??)

>303 alcottacre:: Put a link back to this one in the first post of your new thread. Put a link to your new thread in the last post of this thread. That way, no one loses either one.

Congrats Lunacat for the new "high paying job", hope you have enough horses to carry around all the books you buy with that money :)
I will also do my best to help you achieve the target of 400 posts here

Flossie

I plead guilty, with my 10 MBPS connection, this thread or any thread for that matter loads almost instantantaneously :D

Just wanted to make my contribution toward the 400-post thread :)

*waves, giggles, then runs out the door*

Stasia
I've been away for ten days and see that your thread is still VERY popular.
You continue to be an inspiration to all.

I'll post more tomorrow. It will take a week just to catch up on all threads.
For now, Lunacat, congrats on your new job.

Hello to all!

#308: Hey! Look who's back!! How was Florida?

This week's reads (no, I did not read 50 books while you were gone, Linda):

17. Zarafa by Michael Allin - nonfiction; thanks Whisper for the book, I thoroughly enjoyed the read

18. Tethered by Amy MacKinnon - this book is shelved at my library in the mystery section, and although there is a mystery in the book, I do not think the category fits it at all well because there is so much more to the book than that; this is one of those books that made my stomach hurt I got so emotionally involved in reading it; highly recommended

19. Children of Green Knowe by L. M. Boston - the first book in the Green Knowe series for children and very good; I have already gotten the second book from the library

20. Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury - a very disappointing read for me, especially having just read Bradbury's Dandelion Wine just the week before; I could not recommend this book to anyone, although I do think several of the stories are worth the read, there is just not enough there

21. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn - Catey came up to me when I was reading this and asked me "Which day?" and I told her that it did not matter, his days were pretty much the same, and I think that is the entire point of the book - that and that Ivan never gives up hope

22. Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez - this book was just flat out fun; zombies, werewolves, vampires, wicked witchy teenagers

23. The Plays and Poems of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Volume 1 edited by R. Crompton Rhodes - this volume contained 4 of Sheridan's plays (The Rivals, St. Patrick's Day, The Duenna, and A Trip to Scarborough (which has one of the best named characters in literature IMHO - Sir Tunbelly Clumsey). I was laughing out loud at Mrs. Malaprop ('the pineapple of politeness'); the only one of the plays I did not really care for was The Duenna, but I thought the other 3 very worth the read

24. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn - after laughing myself silly at Mrs. Malaprop, et al, in Sheridan, I then proceeded to laugh myself silly at this book as well, getting strange looks from my children (well, stranger than normal looks anyway)

25. The Lost Fleet: Dauntless by Jack Campbell - the first book in the Lost Fleet series, reminds me of Star Trek: Voyager somewhat; enjoyable enough to make me want to read more

26. The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry - not bad, but not all that wonderful either, especially considering how much I loved The Giver; one of the things that really irritated me, given that the book is for children is that fact that Lowry provides a further reading list and then promptly tells the reader what happens in the book (ie, the monkey dies) - now if I am a kid and I now up front that the monkey dies, no way am I reading the book now

27. Why They Kill by Richard Rhodes - nonfiction; an interesting book by the same man who wrote Arsenals of Folly; recommended, especially to those interested in the psychology of criminals

28. Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child - thriller set in the New York Museum of Natural History, which seems to be inhabited by a brain-sucking creature; first book in the Pendergast series

A little bit of everything this week, just the way I like it! I have also started both Don Quixote and War and Peace and figure it will be December before I have them recorded here, lol.

Campbells series looks like it would be right up my alley! Thanks for the good reviews :)

#311: Susan, the 4 books in the series (in order) thus far are Dauntless, Fearless,Courageous, and Valiant. Book 5, Relentless, is due out in April.

msg 310> book 18> Thanks for your description of Tethered. Any book that makes your stomach hurt is worth the read.

#313: If you get a chance to read it, I would like to see your thoughts on it, glassreader.

You are concurrently reading Don Quixote and War and Peace? Wow. Your reading impressed me before but this takes it to a whole new level. It took me three months to read Quixote (I took a couple breaks). Haven't tried that particular Tolstoy yet - it intimidates me, not so much because of its length, but I was once told that is have an staggering number of characters to keep track of. Best of luck!

#315: The translation of War and Peace I am reading has a handy chart of all the principal characters at the front. Certainly makes it easier to know who is who!

So I have to ask: have you left your computer AT ALL since 12:57am? ;)

No - well, I did brew some tea and use the facilities, but other than that, no.

That's amazing. I'm beginning to suspect you might be a cyborg.

Ummm, no, I do not think so. I am not really clear on what a cyborg is though - borg to me is one of those half human, half machine things in Star Trek.

You have amazing machine-like qualities, such as not needing much sleeping and reading at an incredible rate. With all seriousness, did you take a speed-reading course; or perhaps teach one?

No, neither. I tried reading one of those books on speed reading once, but I never could get past the hand sweeping across the page thing. Too distracting for me.

Martinez' The Automatic Detective was a lot of fun, also.

#323: Cool beans! I will have to look for that one, too.

What a varied week, I wish I was that scopey in my reading!!

A. Lee Martinez has gone on the 'get if you see any of the books' list, and Tethered and The Lost Fleet: Dauntless have gone on the wishlist. I have Ella Minnow Pea as a late christmas present and can't wait to get to it!!

Stasia
The only way I can cut down on my ever increasing, out of control TBR pile is simply not to read your posts...but, given the fact that I tremendously enjoy the communications your comments elicit, that is not an option.

Therefore, two new ones have been added today:
Why They Kill by Richard Rhodes. I'm adding this one because like you, I read Arsenals of Folly and enjoyed his writing style.

and, Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn sounds delightful and laughter may just be the medicine I need.

Message 309
Hi to you and thanks for the welcome back. Florida was fine and I had a lovely time with my family..The cruise to Grand Cayman and Cozumel was nice. Overall there was much laughter, love and fun. But, after ten days I longed to be home.

Even the best of families have their petty scwables and heated political/religious discussions..topics that they should avoid long before the consumption of the third or fourth glass of alcohol.

#327:ROFL (thanks, Tad). LOVED your comment about when political/religious discussions should or should not take place! Of course, I should say that in my Italian family, such discussions took place before, during, and after the first 3-4 glasses of red table wine after dinner. Something genetic, I think. I do miss them.

Great list! I'm glad you liked Gil's All-Fright Diner. It's one of my faves. And Tethered just went on the ol' TBR pile.

Joycepa
In my family, when opinions fly around the room, the noise decibel reaches an un Godly level. Comments are flung across the table as readily as the Parchessi markers on the game board.

The commotional zingers soar through the air landing squarely on the intended target with the end result of a non understandable contrived division between the
college educated and the non college educated,
the democrats and the republications
mothers and their sons and the God forsaken daughter in laws.

I can always tell when feelings are about to get hurt because these snippy comments come into play regarding
stupid intellectuals vs those who have to "work" for a living....
the greedy republicans vs the socialist democrats

ah, it does get weary to hear the same old record over and over.
I simply smile and leave the room, looking for a corner to hide and read a book.
I've given up the role of mediator long ago.

At the end of a long, loud conversation, someone may leave the room but usually they simply agree to disagree, but have a good ole time bantering back and forth while reaching for yet another glass of chardonnay or beer. The more wine, the more the individuals all feel smart and intelligent.

And, by the way, I love the Italian culture. As a child I lived near Roseto PA, a tiny hamlet which at the time (1950's) consisted of 99.999% Italian.

Wow, Stasia, another great (and huge) week's worth of reads! I'm adding several to my wishlist. I started War and Peace but don't think I could handle Don Quixote at the same time. I can't wait til summer when we get to Bleak House!

Hi Stasia...so glad you liked Ella Minnow Pea! One of my lifetime most-loveds, that book. Now, he said with a portentous rumble, you must read Ibid: A Life, Mark Dunn's latest. It's a complete laugh riot!!

*smirks smugly*

Now I have, at last, added something to HER pile of TBRs.

Welcome back! I can see I'm going to have to add Tethered to my list... You also made me want to go and see if I can find what happened to all our old Green Knowe books - my sister and I were addicted at one point, so we've got pretty much all of them, but I've no idea where!

#330: Wow, what a fervent and articulate description of the situation!! Raally impressive.

About forgetting the idea of being the mediator and heading for a book--yep, I learned that long ago with my kids.

In my family, y uncle, his son and son-in-law were Republicans, while my father and most of the long-time family friends who spent the holidays with us (from New York) had been Socialists in Italy, and dyed-in-the-wool, vote-straight Democratic ticket in the US. In the South, my father would have been called a Yellow Dog Democrat.

No serious discussion was ever allowed at the dinner table for the holidays. It came afterwards, with the fruit and wine, when the men had had enough to eat and were settling back in their chairs for a good fight and the women were cleaning up. The discussion would get louder and louder, with a great deal of hand-waving, red faces and calling on God to witness the other person's intransigent ignorance and folly--all in a very odd mixture of Italian and English (as the discussion and wine consumption wore on, more Italian less English). My father, a dedicated atheist, of course never stooped so low as to call on any deity, but you could tell that he felt somewhat at a disadvantage at such times.

This went on until my aunt (we always celebrated the Christmas holidays at their house) had had enough and would snap at her husband and my father (her younger brother) to get outside and go for a walk until they were sober. There then appeared a not-very-steady line of Italian men, locked arm-in-arm, sort of weaving up and down the sidewalks of Pittston Avenue, singing at the top of their lungs in at least 2 languages, sometimes three, and often at the same time. In their shirtsleeves. No one ever caught cold, not with that much antifreeze to keep them warm.

I used to grab my coat and sneak along in back of them for a little ways, enjoying the near-total cacophony. The neighbors quite looked forward to the annual event, considering it a normal and natural part of the Christmas festivities. I loved every second of it. On Christmas Eve, everyone was pretty much sobered up for Midnight Mass, although my father of course never attended. The only time I ever saw him at Mass was for my wedding.

I learned several really important lessons from this:

1) It was ok to be tipsy but you never, ever lost control. To be drunk was a cultural no-no. Happy, yes, singing, yes, foolish, yes, but passed out? Are you joking? That was held to be utterly unmanly.

2) It was not only encouraged but expected that you held opinions passionately and argued for them just as passionately. Nothing was held back. You didn't just say you were a Socialist and sneer--you had darned well better have some real reasons behind it or you would be ignored. I never saw the latter because of course everyone had their reasons--and voiced them, loudly.

3) The most important lesson I learned is that you could disagree even violently with those you at lest respected and many times loved and at the end of the evening go out arm-in-arm, singing. I have never understood or have been comfortable with mainstream angerphobic American culture where the pressure to be nicey-nicey is almost too much for a sane person to bear. Which of course is why I'm here.

4) I also learned that the role of women was to tolerate the boys' fun and games until it got to be too much and was disturbing the women's conversations, at which point the women threw the men out of the house to get their acts back together.

There are lots of things wrong with Italian culture, believe me--I used to hate the phony Cher movies--, but these lessons have stuck with me for as long as I can remember.

I love,love, love your story and description. I can visualize sitting at that table while the lively hand gestures were as busy as the words. I couldn't agree with you more about the nicey-nicey angerphobic culture....

Thanks ever so much.
Stasia, thanks for letting us use your thread for a trip down family lane....

>334 Joycepa:, Great description, Joycepa! You should write a memoir.

#335: Hey, no problem. My thread is your thread (and everyone else's it appears!)

>333 flissp:: flissp, just in case you didn't know: Green Knowe is based on the Manor at Hemingford Grey, so spitting distance from us - tours by arrangement. I still haven't got round to it but I'm itching to go - have been trying to get my 9YO to read the books as somehow I feel I would appear a bit less geekily obsessed if there were *two* of us visiting... I'm not examining my logic too closely there.

Stasia, I'm really pleased you enjoyed it too, and hope the others are also friends of yours; personally I still think the first is the best.

I think you should call your next thread.'Stasia's Kitchen..Oh and her reads'

>330 Whisper1:: Whisper1
I've given up the role of mediator long ago.
I did the same, not that long ago, and after that I gave up on some too annoying family members.

Fam
I'm laughing right out loud at the sheer wisdom of your comment. I think the beauty of mid life is that I no longer have to be "nice" to everyone, especially those who are not so kind to me or to others I love.

The circle gets smaller, but stronger as well.

#341 The circle gets smaller, but stronger as well.

You're not bad in the wisdom department, either, W1.

Charlie

339 cal: I will take that under advisement.

You know... I think I just might give Relic a try. The Codex wasn't half bad, and if Relic was entertaining, I'd be up for another ridiculous but entertaining novel from him!

Dk -- that's not a bad idea. I enjoyed Codex... hmmm wonder if Relic was in that shipment... Just checked. Nope :(

#344: Relic drags a bit in the middle (I think it could have been about 50 pages shorter), but I thought the last section of the book more than made up for it.

Hey Stasia! How are things going? Its 11:25pm here - I'm winding down for bed. You got a pot of tea brewin'?

I am actually on my second cup of Vanilla tea. I love the stuff. I think the next cup is going to be Spiced Green, though. Are you a tea fan?

I enjoy tea, but am not much of a conneisuer (sp). Mostly, I do Red Rose with Splenda and splashes of milk and half-n-half. I will say, a great cup of tea is easily recognizable when it finds me, but is difficult to find when sought out.

I have not heard of Red Rose. Is that the brand name or the tea name?

I order a lot of my teas online at www.adagio.com. I love their selections and try out new samples all the time.

It's the brand. Available in most supermarkets. Really, nothing fancy. It's your typical black pekoe, or whatever its called. A friend of mine from high school (oh so many years ago) who was raised in England started me on it. I'll have to check out adagio.com. It is very fun trying new tea. We've got a great little tea shop in downtown Anchorage (that I've never actually been to) that apparently has some great stuff. I also have friends up here who are prodigious tea-drinkers who would be more than willing to steer me in the way I should go. Tea is my fall-back when its inappropriate to either drink coffee (first thing in the morning) or have a cocktail (no parameters here whatsoever). I do enjoy sipping SOMETHING while reading all those books.

I do not drink coffee at all - cannot stand the taste - and do not do alcoholic drinks of any variety, so I guess tea will continue to be my vice of choice, aside from books, of course.

Adagio is great because they have 2 ounce samples of their teas that you can order and then if you do not like the tea, it is not a huge cost. I have found teas I really like, and only 1 I truly detested.

>310 alcottacre: Stasia, I just wanted to thank you for prompting me to read War & Peace. I have read 60 odd pages of The Trial and 30 odd pages of W&P and I know which one I prefer. Whatever induced me to want to read Kafka, I must be off my trolley! I have ten books by Kafka which I have projected to read in 2009. The only problem is, Kafka makes you want to slit your wrists, he is so depressing!

>330 Whisper1: Linda, you should write a book yourself: A Trip Down Family Lane sounds like a good title to me!

- TT

#353: I am happy to help with the reading of W&P. This is the first time I have ever read it, so I am looking forward to reading comments as they come in.

As far as Kafka goes, this excerpt from Wikipedia may help you understand why his writing is so depressing: "It is generally agreed that Kafka suffered from clinical depression and social anxiety throughout his entire life. He also suffered from migraines, insomnia, constipation, boils, and other ailments, all usually brought on by excessive stresses and strains."

I, personally, do not think I will be reading Kafka any time soon, let alone 10 of them in a year!

I don't think I could get through W&P I would probably fall asleep in front of it.

#355: If you like historical fiction, the book is actually a fast read, given its length. It's quite exciting. there are a few slow spots, but not many and they're not long. The epilogue is a different story, but it's not the main part of the book itselfwhich rips right along.

Believe me, I'm not bragging, but just to give you an idea--over the past 20-30 years, I've read W&P 3 times, the latest time being last year, when a bunch of us decided to read it. Give me another 3-5 years, and I'll probably read it again. I never get tire of or bored with it. It deserves its place in literature as a masterpiece--it is. The writing is exquisite.

#334 Joycepa - what a wonderful description - your family sounds great fun! (...and actually not unlike mine in some respects - I think that when my sister's husband first met my family, he found it a all a bit much - his family actually wait considerately while each person finishes what they were saying...)

#338 FlossieT - I didn't know that! I shall have to work out where it is - do you think it'd be a nice cycle ride?

#353 TT - I'm currently about the same distance through The Trial and struggling a little, although I'm determined to finish it - it's encouraging to see that someone else is having similar troubles... Ten books by Kafka though?!

#354 alcottacre - my word, no wonder he was depressed with all those ailments! The back of my old orange Penguin edition also says that he had a difficult relationship with his father too...

#334 Joycepa - what a wonderful description - your family sounds great fun! (...and actually not unlike mine in some respects - I think that when my sister's husband first met my family, he found it a all a bit much - his family actually wait considerately while each person finishes what they were saying...)

#338 FlossieT - I didn't know that! I shall have to work out where it is - do you think it'd be a nice cycle ride?

#353 TT - I'm currently about the same distance through The Trial and struggling a little, although I'm determined to finish it - it's encouraging to see that someone else is having similar troubles... Ten books by Kafka though?!

#354 alcottacre - my word, no wonder he was depressed with all those ailments! The back of my old orange Penguin edition also says that he had a difficult relationship with his father too...

W&P is also on my list for this year, but I think I need to begin it when I'm not in the middle of several others!

#356, I have to second Joyce's comments about W&P. It's a page turner (although it is helpful to have an edition that lists all the characters since, at least at the beginning, it's hard to keep track of them. I too have read it 3 times. The first time, as a teenager, I skipped a lot of the war parts. What a mistake! When I read it again in my 40s, I loved the war parts; completely brilliant. And then I read it again in my 50s when the new Pevear/Volokhonsky translation came out. Like Joyce, I could read it again and again, except that there are so many other books to read . . .

#359, I Googled "war and peace characters" and a couple of character lists came right up, for those who may not have an edition with a character list. :o)

On the reading front, those of you who have expressed interest in Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's writing.......if you like Non-Fiction or True Crime, Preston's The Monster of Florence is a great read. I think Preston's writing shone through a little more and I was impresses with his ability more than when I read Relic

>354 alcottacre: Stasia, thank you for this brilliant quote from Wickipedia: "It is generally agreed that Kafka suffered from clinical depression and social anxiety throughout his entire life. He also suffered from migraines, insomnia, constipation, boils, and other ailments, all usually brought on by excessive stresses and strains."

This is definately a wake up call to ditch the whole of Kafka and switch to the entire output of P.G. Wodehouse!

You have saved me from a fate worse than death! :)

ETA >358 flissp: fliss, I have an omnibus edition with ten of his works including his diary - I dread to think what his diary must be like after that catalogue of woes from Wickipedia!

- TT

>362 TheTortoise: Milord, I would add a caution to your chorus of nay nay nay: The Castle and The Trial are works that should be in the mental furniture of all erudite people. Sprightly, frothy reads? Nuh-uh. Sleek, sophisticated entertainments? Nope. Beautifully crafted, thematically fascinating works that resonate down the Halls of Culture? Sadly, yes. They're also deeply influential in modern culture, and worth a little extra padding on the wrists and a warning to Milady to monitor you for signs of impending self-immolation.

Hi Stasia! How goes it? (It's rude to ignore your hostess.)

Stasia, you have the most interesting and varied thread I've ever seen anywhere. Congratulations1

>341 Whisper1:--Whisper, you are a wonder. I'm adopting "The circle gets smaller but stronger as well" as my personal watchword (watch sentence?). We've suffered some of nautre's attrition over the years in our family, but some folks have just been...uh...left by the wayside.

#360 missy: I put a link out on the Group Reads War and Peace page to help people keep the characters straight. Several people have commented on having problems with it. Hopefully, it will help them out. Thanks for your efforts.

#361 BDB: Thanks, Mac, for the recommendation. The only reason I have not read Monsters yet is because the way I understand it, there was no resolution to the crime. I hate that! I want the bad guys done away with, locked up, dead or something equally horrible in the end :)

#363: Richard, it goes just fine. Thanks for asking! Hope you are doing well, too.

#364 bohemima: Thanks (I think)!

#365: happy to help!

TT & Flissp

The Trial was one of my top 10 reads last year, its a great feeling once you finish it, I must warn you though - the book doesn't get better as you move on! I agree with Stasia that 10 Kafkas a year is a bit too much! Personally, I thought The Metamorphosis was darker and I always try to keep my depression prone friends away from reading any Kafka book. I plan to read The Castle this year and maybe one more.

Stasia

Glad to find another avid tea drinker here. I normally drink 4-6 cups a day, most of them at night. I too don't drink coffee unless I go out with my friends to a good coffee chain and ever since I quit drinking (very elite social drinker now), tea is almost the only beverage for me May I suggest you Masala tea and Chocolate tea, two favourites of mine :)

#371: Piyush, I have a very nice Masala that I indulge in every now and again, but cannot go for anything with 'Chocolate' in the name - I am allergic and on top of that, just plain do not like it! lol

I guess I could try and read W&P Joyce but I don't know if I like historical fiction. I've never read any at least I don't think I have but I will try and read it.

#373: I'd try something lighter before W&P, then. It's a great work of fiction, but the characters and their behavior are only understandable in the context of the era and the Napoleonic War. And its length is daunting if you're not sure you like the genre to begin with.

The problem is, W&P is such a masterpiece that it's unique--I'm not sure what I'd recommend that comes anywhere near it. I can think of plenty of historical fiction, even of that era, but nothing remotely like Tolstoy. But perhaps others have more imagination or experience than I have. Could be that there will be plenty of suggestions for you. For the life of me, I can't think of one even remotely similar., but it's early in the morning, and I have had less than a quarter cup of coffee! :-)

#373 & 374: A few historical fictions come to my mind as I type this while eating grapefruit this morning. James A. Michener for one. If you've ever seen the movie South Pacific it was based on his book Tales of the South Pacific. Centennial is another good one of his. He's also written Hawaii and Alaska. You get sweeping overview of history mixed with memorial fictional characters. Of course, real historical figures are brought into fill in their place in history.
In the same vain as Michener, Edward Rutherford has written some wonderfull historical fiction. I especially enjoyed Russia. But Sarum and Caribbean and extraordinary too.
Lastly, I could suggest Philipa Gregory. Great historical romance set in England's Elizabethan age.
Happy reading!

#375: What excellent suggestions,especially the Michener, which I had quite forgotten. I really loved Hawaii.

>374 Joycepa: Joyce if you want something lighter than W & P try The Trial as recommmended by my dear friend Richard, it's only 115 pages compared to W&P at 1,500 pages, so it is much lighter! Blame Richard if you feel like slashing your wrists though!

- TT

#377, TT: No, thanks, TT! I read The Cockroach decades ago and decided that Kafka was not really my thing.

I personally don't think that W&P is a heavy read, just a long one! But then I'm a big fan of historical fiction and really like the Napoleonic Wars era.

Hey mom, just came to say Hi and can I borrow W&P when your finished with the chapters?

Catey

(now you have to read something on your thread)

BTW - for those who do not know jade605 (message 355) is my daughter Beth and fantasia655 (message 379) is my daughter Catey.

-378: Joyce, you shouldn't really give up on Kafka because of Metamorphosis. If you don't wanna waste time (and I do know we all need more time to read) at least try one of his short stories - my personal favorite is "In the Penal Colony". Apparently a lot of people loved it but were disappointed with its ending so Kafka rewrote it many times. It's still lovely though. I know he's not the jolliest of authors but he sometimes quite suddenly and spectacularly offers great insight into the "human psyche", however cliché that sounds. You can find an English translation of the short story I mentioned here in case you're interested.

#376, hmmm, maybe I'll get around to reading Hawaii this year -- I picked it up used at the library last year. I loved Chesapeake and also enjoyed Alaska.

#366, That's one of the things I loved about the book......it was so much more real to not have the resolution, which is what I deal with on a day to day basis. And it gives you a chance to decide for yourself who you think is the most likely to be the bad guy, as it offers many possibilities. Ahhhhh, there is a lid for every jar.

#374: Maybe I'll try something in that era of W&P but I hope its shorter than W&P lol. I love coffee and I want some.

#381: The short story idea doesn't sound bad at all. I'm normally not a fan of short stories, so I tend not to think of them, but this sounds like a relatively painless way to read Kafka. I really don't mind, gloom, doom, and depression--fits right in with my upbeat view of human nature! :-) It was more his writing style that I didn't care for. But I will look into the Penal Colony. Thanks for the suggestion and the link!

Woo, got through the 175 unread messages finally. I'm going back to my own thread, jumping down to the bottom and adding #6 (yes, I'm sadly, only on 6) Stasia's 2009 Reads Thread. This thread (series?) is going to threaten W&P for word count by the end of the year.

As for W&P, I have a copy and will read it eventually. My major problem is holding it up. It's just so HEAVY! I need a copy that's split into convenient bite sized portions that won't make my wrists (which will already hurt from Kafka evidently) cry and shout.

As someone with The Castle on my reading list this year, I am glad I read Stasia's mention of Kafka's ailments and Richard's description of the proper way (and a good reason) to read Kafka. I feel like now I'll be able to properly fortify myself prior to starting it.

As for your ACTUAL reading list ;) I have Mr. Denisovich on my TBR Planet currently, but am slightly afraid of him. Your comment made me slightly less afraid, so thank you very much!

Also, I must agree with you about Martian Chronicles. SO disappointing after some of his other works. Although in general I'm not as impressed by him as I was led to believe I would be.

And of course I added another 10 books to my TBR queue. I keep mine on my BookMooch site, where currently the total is...535 books. That's in addition to all of the ones I already own but haven't read yet and the ones I don't want to own and will rent from the library.

Whew. Sorry about the long post, but that was a lot to respond to! Going to make myself a cuppa (tea of course, I don't drink the nasty coffee)!

#386: Ambrosia, sorry, I do not know what I can do about the 175 unread posts! Maybe stop reading books - wait, no that would not work because then people would start posting wondering if I dropped off the planet since I am not reading. Oh, well, I will try and think of something :)

I think part of the dread of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is that you know before you read the book that it is not going to be a happy, joyful type of book. I was really not sure if the book was going to be overwhelmingly depressing, but I found that it was not. More just an acceptance of 'this is the way things are' and as I said in my comment to Catey, pretty much every day of his life in Siberia was exactly like the day before. One thing I really liked about the book is that you never got the idea that Ivan ever gave up hope. I believe that is the key that keeps the book from being totally depressing. The situation he is in is depressing, but he never is, if that makes sense.

Only added 10 books to your queue? I shall have to work harder! read faster! sleep less!

Do not worry about the long post. I really enjoy reading what people are thinking.

Tea Drinkers of the World Unite!! (as I sip my raspberry green)

Yikes Stasia
386 posts on your thread.. You are quite popular and certainly deservedly so.

I took the book quiz that Erin (Wunderkind) mentioned on her thread and TA DA:

You're Catch-22!

by Joseph Heller

Incredibly witty and funny, you have a taste for irony in all that you
see. It seems that life has put you in perpetually untenable situations, and your sense
of humor is all that gets you through them. These experiences have also made you an
ardent pacifist, though you present your message with tongue sewn into cheek. You
could coin a phrase that replaces the word "paradox" for millions of
people.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Yes you do seem to be very popular alcottacre!

Stasia

I think you will reach 400 before morning at this rate. Sorry I can't stay awake for the celebration!

"The situation he is in is depressing, but he never is, if that makes sense."

I think that was Sholzhenitsyn's "point"--and why it has become a classic! I loved that book!

Stasia
What a neat quiz.

As the previous message indicates, according to the quiz, I'm The Guns of August!
by Barbara Tuchman

Though you're interested in war, what you really want to know is what causes war. You're out to expose imperialism, militarism, and nationalism for what they really are. Nevertheless, you're always living in the past and have a hard time dealing with what's going on today. You're also far more focused on Europe than anywhere else in the world. A fitting motto for you might be "Guns do kill, but so can diplomats."

Cool beans! We can thank Erin for the quiz. Maybe one day I should actually read Catch-22, lol.

I read the book a long time ago as a required assignment in college. I will read it again some day.
Do you think the description fits you?

I am not sure that I am an 'ardent pacifist' or that I am 'incredibly witty and funny', but the tongue-in-cheek humor and sense of humor comments are right on target.

What about you? Is The Guns of August (which I have read) the real Linda?

Just checking in. Er...I don't think I can the read 290 unread posts, but it's safe to say that One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is going on my wishlist. :) Just my kind of gloomy cup of tea heh.

You're The Mists of Avalon!

by Marion Zimmer Bradley

You're obsessed with Camelot in all its forms, from Arthurian legend
to the Kennedy administration. Your favorite movie from childhood was "The Sword in
the Stone". But more than tales of wizardry and Cuban missiles, you've focused on
women. You know that they truly hold all the power. You always wished you could meet
Jackie Kennedy.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Actually, I did meet Mrs. Kennedy when I worked at Doubleday.

Stasia

Catch-22 has been sitting in my TBR list for quite some time now, I guess this year I should relieve it of that burden.

Cheers to tea drinkers!

You're Love in the Time of Cholera!

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Like Odysseus in a work of Homer, you demonstrate undying loyalty by
sleeping with as many people as you possibly can. But in your heart you never give
consent! This creates a strange quandary of what love really means to you. On the
one hand, you've loved the same person your whole life, but on the other, your actions
barely speak to this fact. Whatever you do, stick to bottled water. The other stuff
could get you killed.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

So I guess this means I "get around"?! I should at least let my husband know :)

LOL

glassreader

ROTFL
This is really bad! You should stop showing your "undying loyalty" :P

I can't help it... the book makes me do it!

#403: I'll have no hussies posting on my thread, glassreader! Get you gone :)

I thought the quiz was pretty fun, but I am not really sure how accurate it is, lol. My daughter Catey took it at least 3 times, and got a different answer each time.

One of the items I specifically wanted for the library in our new home was a copy of the Scientific American from 1911 showing a split view of the New York City Library (I got the idea from one of Nicholas Basbanes books). Anyway, if I did this right - and I am not at all sure that I did - here it is:

very cool!

wow that is awesome Stasia. I could look at that for hours. I went to the New York Public Library a few years ago and whilst I was interested, I think I wasn't quite old enough to appreciate it. I would love to go back there now. In fact, I would love to live in any city with a fantastic library, I think it would make me use it. I just hate my local library (very bad negative connotations) so never go there.

That's incredible!

Stasia, how completely COOL is that!!

Cool picture! As for message 404... I'm completely innocent! :)

Whoa that is really cool. You are going to love reading Lethal Legacy cause it centers around old documents, maps, etc.

#406 ff: Thanks for the kind responses. For a magazine that is almost 100 years old, it is in pretty good shape, too. It took about a year to track a copy down, but I am so glad to have found it!

It looks very old, but very Awesome! Really neat alcottacre

very much like the picture! ...and actually, i have been there, despite only being in new york for 4 nights at the time...

>412 alcottacre:: My goodness, it's almost 100 years old? It's in excellent condition!!! That's fantastic, do you have "the perfect frame" picked out??? I'd probably put it in a floating frame, but something antique-style would look super...

So I tried the bookquiz too, thanks Erin for mentioning and Stasia for letting us hijack her thread LOL




You're Watership Down!

by Richard Adams

Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you're
actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their
assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they
build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'd
be recognized as such if you weren't always talking about talking rabbits.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

A book quiz? That sounds interesting.

A book quiz? That sounds interesting.

#415: dk, the date of the magazine is May 1911, so yes, it is almost 100 years old. Other than 1 small tear on the back cover, the magazine is in wonderful condition. It was interesting reading through it!

Stasia.
You have created many monsters. We all are interested in the Book Quiz. Thanks for posting this on your site.

#421: Linda, blame it on Erin (wunderkind). I found it on her thread!

You know, I have never read Watership Down. I have it , have had for years but it is like a JCO book to me. I simply cannot make myself open the covers.

:O mckait , you MUST!!!

Watership Down is such a great book. Kath, you have to bump it up to the top of Mount TBR.

>423 mckait: I'm not among the 'oh this is sooo wonderful' crowd. But it is creative.

I'm with you suslyn...I think it is creative, but it was a struggle for me to plod through it. I read it years ago though, so maybe I should give it another try.

I usually find it difficult to get into "talking animal" books, which is a bit odd, considering my love of animals... so I've never managed to read Watership Down either.

I'm with Susan and Linda--I read it when it was first published and all the rage. It is very creative--but I really had to work to get through some sections of it.

I read Watership Down a couple of years after it was published. My funny memory about it was I started it one evening before I went to bed and about 1:00 AM my husband got up , grabbed the book out of my hand (I was lying on the couch reading avidly--didn't hear him!) and hid it so I had to go to bed. I was furious! But he gave me back the book the next day and I finished it. I did love the book and about a quarter of the way into it I forgot about the fact that they were rabbits!

I was young then--I wonder what I would think of it now? At the time I read it its wasn't considered YA--at least I don't think so.

In 1972, my sister the Good Witch was a newly minted bookseller at a local neighborhood book-tique (specialists in cookbooks and novels for the bored and wealthy stay-at-home mom/grandma). She brought my mother, a working mom for the first time in her 52 years, a copy of Watership Down which her ladies-who-lunch had been carrying on about. Mama, a no-nonsense kinda gal, was unimpressed, and without comment passed it on to me. Two days later it was on the coffee table, and I hadn't said "boo" about it. Mama asked if I liked it. I said that talking animals belong in cartoons and if they aren't funny, so what? My mother's response? "Mmm-hmm."

No higher validation can a young (well, teenaged) man receive from his laconic mother.

Oh, wow! You have been busy. 28 books already? Keep it going. You'll hit 100 in no time. :)Gil's All Fright Diner sounds like fun. I should look for a copy of that one at my bookstore. And I can't help myself--I've got to take that book quiz . . . .

You're The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!

by C.S. Lewis

You were just looking for some decent clothes when everything changed
quite dramatically. For the better or for the worse, it is still hard to tell. Now it
seems like winter will never end and you feel cursed. Soon there will be an epic
struggle between two forces in your life and you are very concerned about a betrayal
that could turn the balance. If this makes it sound like you're re-enacting Christian
theological events, that may or may not be coincidence. When in doubt, put your trust
in zoo animals.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Yep, I have to agree--"when in doubt, put your trust in zoo animals." It's worked for me so far. ;) And speaking of animals, I really should read Watership Down now that everyone's mentioning it. I loved the movie, but never got around to reading my copy of it.

#432: Thanks for visiting, Sara. And let's face it - book quiz taking is a compulsion for book lovers!

Ok, so you have WAY to many messages for me to read right now but I was right off the bat wanting to recommend Snow Flower and the Secret Fan until I saw it on your list.

Have you gotten to it yet? If not, I think you'll love it! I cried through half of it but I couldn't put it down and just kept reading through watery eyes and a runny nose. It's such a moving book and I'm so glad my professor chose it for my Women's Lit class.

Good luck with your list and it seems by your counter you've made quite a dent!

TOM

#434 TOM: I have not gotten to it yet, but intend to before the year is out. The list at the top of the thread is books I will definitely be reading this year and I am already working on a couple of them.

Thanks for dropping by!

MAJOR FRUSTRATION this week: trying to get a copy of Nam by Mark Baker. My local library is connected to 2 other libraries as well, and supposedly all 3 had copies of the book. I had put it on hold, went in to get some other holds and was told that the book could not be found at that library, would I like to try and get it from one of the others. While I was there picking up the other books, the librarian (Susan) checked the local college library and the book was missing from there as well, so she tried the third library - where it was just slightly overdue, having been checked out in 1996! Made me wonder when the book is actually considered to be 'missing'.

So, diligent little me decided to order it online. I placed an order through ABEBooks that same day. Two days later, I get an e-mail from the bookstore - we are doing inventory and did not realize that the book we had listed online was no longer available. I have since ordered another copy and am praying that I may finally get my hands on the book, and once I have read it, I may have it bronzed!

Okay. That's just WEIRD, Stasia. This book is running away from you. Are you certain it's a good idea to read it? I'm not being facetious, dear lady. Maybe this is a hint.

Richard, I am not sure it is a good idea to read it at all, at least for me, but the reason I want to read it is because I am trying to study the Vietnam War and the book was written by people who were actually there, not just some historian trying to put the war into context or whatever. I think it is important for me to read it, but I know it will not be what I would call a 'comfortable' read.

That story is pretty amusing although, sad in a way. I think the universe is trying to tell you something.

Well, here it is, 4:45 am EST, and what do my wondering eyes NOT see? Why, the 31 books that Stasia has read this past week! Really Stasia--you're a bit behind, I'd say. Here we all are, waiting with bated breath--and-nothing! Nothing!

Good grief,folks--you don't think she's actually sleeping, do you? No, couldn't be--shame on me for starting ugly rumors like that!

No, I am not sleeping - I currently have my eyes in 2 different books - The Diamond Age and Queste, and one eye on LT. Yes, I am watching you Joyce.

#441: Darn! And here I thought I was sort of sneaking around, skulking in the bushes, darting out for a raid on unsuspecting threads, vanishing back into the undergrowth...

#442: Somehow, I wish I could do wicked laughter over the Internet, lol.

I will be posting this week's reads about 7am my time, just like I do every week, Joyce, don't you worry. I did not, however, read 31 books this past week. I wish I could read that much in a week, sigh.

This week's reads:

28. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery - it had been a long time since I read this and someone on the thread mentioned it, so I decided a re-read was in order; I still like it

29. The Clothes They Stood Up In by Alan Bennett - I did not enjoy this book nearly as much as I did The Uncommon Reader, although there were parts of it I greatly enjoyed

30. Death on Demand by Carolyn G. Hart - the first book in one of Hart's series; not bad, but not wonderful, I will probably at least try book 2 in the series

31. Sweet Silver Blues by Glen Cook - recommended by TadAD, this is kind of a fantasy tribute to the Nero Wolfe series by Rex Stout; I enjoyed it (I have already purchased the next 2 books in the series) and thought the concept of the 'Dead Man' was interesting

32. Pearl Harbor Ghosts by Thurston Clarke - nonfiction; interesting book juxtaposing the Pearl Harbor of today with the Pearl Harbor of 1941

33. Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata - young adult; I thought this book was very good, although in being written for the 11-14 age group, I could have done without the 'son-of-a-***** comment that occurs in the book

34. A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz - nonfiction; I admit that I was disappointed in this book having read several of his other books; this book just did not seem to have the same flair that his other books had and I thought it could have been cut by at least 50 pages

35. Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews - OK, but I probably would never re-read it and am not sure that I will read the rest of the series

36. Samurai Executioner, Vol. 1 by Kazuo Koike - this series of graphic novels is just not for me - the violence is overwhelming (including rape and the rape-murder of a child); I definitely will not be continuing it

37. Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix - young adult; again, a first book in a series; I thought the premise was interesting and cared about the characters which I thought were well-drawn

38. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman - I liked this book a good deal; I read Haldeman's The Accidental Time Machine last year, but this book was not anything like that one; it seemed to be more of a condemnation of war, albeit set in the future

39. Roosevelt and Churchill: Men of Secrets by David Stafford - nonfiction; this book had a hard time holding my interest, not because of the writing style per se (although I think this book could have benefitted from some tighter editing), but because there was really nothing new in it for me

40. The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge - This book purports to be for the young adult crowd, but I do not think so - I am thinking more like 8-12 year olds; the writing is nothing special, but I do think kids will identify with (and want to be) a 15 year old alien hunter; this book was a disappointing read for me because I generally like Patterson's work and have read his Maximum Ride series which is for young adults

41. Queste by Angie Sage - young adult; the latest book in the Septimus Heap series and still enjoyable

Yes, I will be starting a new thread for February . . .

Pearl harbor ghosts looks interesting...

Stasia, I've only read one Nam book (that I remember atm) which also happens to be a favorite of mine which I highly recommend: Scars and Stripes by Capt Red McDaniels. Oh no I've read more... oh, his name escapes me, another POW story. Have you seen the film The Hanoi Hilton? I'd consider it a must for your study topic.

I will look for the Scars and Stripes book. Thanks for the recommendation. As far as the film goes, no I have not seen it. I watch very few movies.

The movie had a very low rating on IMdB and I was surprised. Then I found this (forceful) review which cleared things up a bit: "Hanoi Hilton is an excellent movie that captures the horror and the pain that American POWs had to face during the Vietnam War. It is NOT a political movie as some naive liberals would write in the comments section--nor is it right-wing grandstanding. The fact is that the Vietnamese people were downright horrible and tortured our men on a regular basis is historical fact. The fact that Jane Fonda, and other Hollywood idiot who would NEVER ever serve this great country (yet expect all the benefits American soldiers have given them)went to Nam and insulted the prisoners is an absolute fact. Those who write that this is a political movie are part of the problems with America--those who have never served, those who are too cowardly to serve, and those who spit on and insult the American soldier. Not one of them would have had the courage to withstand the torture and mayhem these brave men had to face each and every day. You should be saluting these men and not insulting them. These men are part of the reason you have MTV, HBO, NFL, freedom, the right to vote, etc--why America is free."

I do recall now, after reading this, that the reason my friend and I went to see it was because of all the flack... It was a powerful film.

I find I'm not surprised you don't watch a lot of film -- how could you with all the books you read?

#448: As strange as it may seem, I can read books about wars, but I could not make it through Hanoi Hilton the film, I fear. My husband and I tried watching Platoon together once about 20 years ago, and I could not watch.

I understand... it is different. I think my friend and I went as a kind of reverse protest, but it was not a comfortable film to see.

#436, I once went through three different ABE booksellers that claimed to have or have sent the book before I finally got a copy. Happily, the one I ended up buying was less expensive than several of the others that never arrived. Good luck with this one!

#451: In the many years (at least 5) that I have been ordering through ABE I have had a problem that could not be resolved only once, and have really had only 2 other problems that spring to mind at all, both of which were resolved to everyone's satisfaction. I really like ABE and am very happy that there is someone representing (for the most part) independent booksellers around the world. I am sorry to hear that you have had so many difficulties with them.

I am very happy with them too; I just had (very) bad luck that one time. ABE was great about the whole thing, but one of the three booksellers I had trouble with was definitely a little on the shady side and I reported the details to ABE because I didn't think they'd want to be associated with such a company.

I read Nam a long time ago, it is worth the troubles you are going to to get it. If you still don't get it let me know and I'll see if I still have my copy in a box somewhere.

Baker also wrote Cops which is written in the same style but (obviously) about police and not Vietnam.

I started Pearl Harbor Ghosts last year but put it down and haven't gotten back to it yet. Too many books, too few free hours in the day.

Stasia

Little Prince is a delightful read, this book boasts of being the only one in my collection, I have two copies of...one of which now I intend to give to one of my younger cousins. This book is also very close to tempting me to write a review and given my laid back attitude, that is no mean achievement!

Ah, you've begun the Shadow Children series! I've read the first 4, and really enjoyed them. I keep waiting for the final few to pop up in the Scholastic book orders, but I think I may have to just go to the library and get them... but it's been a few years, so maybe I'll just read them all again. I like Haddix's writing style, and this series definitely got me to pick up a number of other books she's written!

#456: When I picked up Among the Hidden, I did not realize it was a series. Based on reading that one, I am definitely going to be finishing up that series.

Did anyone else see the article about a woman being arrested for failing to return a library book? You can check it out here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090124/ap_on_fe_st/odd_library_book_theft

I love your links! You share the most interesting things.

Thanks! Glad you think so.

Stasia, I couldn't watch Platoon either...or The Deerhunter...or Apocalpse Now. I don't have the same problem with WWII movies, even the most disturbing ones, but something about Vietnam hits way too close to home.

OH, BTW, you can laugh wickedly over the internet...it goes like this... Mwwahhhh ha ha ha!

>458 alcottacre:: Yes, my husband saw that and used it against me!!! LOL. I'm so bad at returning library books... now I have a reason to try harder to return them on time, hahahaha.

#461: I do not have trouble with WWII movies, either. I have no idea why the movies about Vietnam affect me so and had no idea that it was the same for anyone else.

#461-#463: WWII an be made out to be necessary and heroic, Saving the World. Vietnam was a disaster, totally unnecessary, soldiers dying for nothing. Unnecessary death tends to be a problem.

Yet no one learns. I thought after Vietnam the US had learned. Lord, what a total fool was.

We don't have movies about Iraq yet, and in some ways I don't think they can be quite so bad. Vietnam took place in a jungle, and that's always more mysterious and ominous. Desert fighting isn't the same, although one wonders how the urban fighting will be depicted.

quickly chiming in re. VietNam, my ex husband was a VietNam veteran. I can say that I personally experienced the damage done to the soul of a small town 19 year old young man shipped to VietNam the day that the Tiet offensive broke loose. That was his introduction to the war...Two days later, luckily, he survived to walk the streets to witness dead bodies stacked high and blood running in the streets.

I also worked in a shelter for the homeless here in my hometown and I can attest to the fact that most of the residents were not, as Bill O'Rielly said on one of his shows, bums, alcoholics and sleazy near do wells. The vast majority of those I tried to help in the shelter were in fact veterans. If there was a drug or drinking problem, perhaps it was directly related to the carnage and horror witnessed in VietNam. I'm not excusing the behavior
and I'm not saying that ALL vets had this problem or reacted this way.

But, as many of us know, these vets were not given the hero status of WWI and/or WWII vets. My ex husband was literally spat upon -- by the very liberals who protested the war, when he re-entered the US!

I'm currently reading The things They Carried....It is powerfully written and I highly recommend reading this book.

The treatment of Vietnam vets was an utter disgrace--as is the treatment of the current vets. I totally disagreed with both wars, but have the smarts, I would like to think, to be able to distinguish between the policy makers and old men who sent young men (and now women) off to fight their egotistical little wars and the ones who answered the call of duty.

The polarization of the country during the Vietnam conflict has yet to be equaled in my opinion.

No one had really ever heard of PTSD before Vietnam--it was more or less talked about as shell-shock. The description of the condition was, as a matter of fact, developed because of that conflict. But in the meantime, thousands had to suffer because of ignorance. What else is new?

A very fine book that really brings home what the average soldier in that war went through is, oddly enough,written by someone who never went to war--Laurie King, in her novel Keeping Watch.

I think my aversion to Vietnam war movies is more personal---I can't help thinking how terribly different my life might have been had my husband not found a way to avoid being sent to it. (He had a very low number in the draft lottery, and managed to join the Coast Guard in the nick of time. He spent his service saving lives as part of a Search and Rescue helicopter unit on the Gulf Coast, rather than taking lives or losing his own.)

I've added Keeping Watch to my list. I'll never catch up on all the reading from books I've added to the list, but usually I read as much written by one author, or as much on one subject until I've exhausted my interest. Therefore, Keeping Watch will be at the top of the pile.

Thanks for mentioning this one.

I found The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now to be incredibly powerful movies--much more so than any WWII movie I'd ever seen until last year, when we saw Letters from Iwo Jima.

I think that underneath the surface for an entire generation is the subconscious knowledge of what happened in Vietnam. It affected people in various ways, but it affected them in ways that Korea and WWII did not.

Whisper1: I think you will be profoundly moved by the Vietnam section of that book, given the personal history you share with your husband. Do let me know what you think of it. King is one of my all-time favorite writers

I have read a lot of King's books, but do not think I have read that one. I will add it to Continent TBR. Thanks for the mention, Joyce.

Joyce
Sadly, unfortunately, ten years ago, the marriage ended after 20 years of commitment. Thanks again for your recommendation of Keeping Watch. It has taken me a long time to read books about Viet Nam

#471: Linda, I do apologize for making the assumption, something I'm usually more careful about. I slipped.

#468-#470: Stasia and Linda, if you have not already done so, reading Folly before Keeping Watch is a good idea, since the protagonist in the latter book refers to a character in the former. Both books are stand alone, but you will understand the references better if you read Folly first.

Which is not exactly a chore, since it is second IMO only to A Darker Place, which is my favorite of King's books; both books are superb, but A Darker Place is, I think, better. But Folly is right up there.

#472: I have read both Folly and A Darker Place, although it has been a while. I'm not sure how I managed to miss Keeping Watch.

> 464 - Joycepa

"We don't have movies about Iraq yet..."

Here are 4 films on Iraq that I have seen recently, and there are many more. I am trying to see them all. They have all been relative box-office flops, although some have met with critical acclaim - Tommy Lee Jones was nominated for an Academy Award (Best Actor) for his role in "In the Valley of Elah".

These movies are disturbing as they often run counter to the the popular image. It may be part of the reason these films are being so poorly recieved.

Battle for Haditha - directed by Nick Broomfield
Redacted - written and directed by Brian De Palma
Stop-Loss - directed by Kimberly Peirce
In the Valley of Elah - written and directed by Paul Haggis

#474: I have limited funds with which to buy these and bring them here--which one would you recommend?

> 476 Joyce, i just discovered this website which offers free downloadable documentaries about some burning international social and political issues, including the Iraq war. it's a very interesting site i would recommend to everyone interested in an analysis of current events.

http://freedocumentaries.org/

Thx Dee. I am on a different continent than Joyce but have the same problem.

#476: Thanks, Dee! I'll check it out. But my original statement was in relation to commercial films, such as, for example, The Deer Hunter. The discussion was around impact of such films. However, I'm always interested in more info, and as soon as Freddie the iMac gets here, with his 24" screen and NAFAL speed.......

> 475 - Joycepa,

I honestly think each one brings something different to the table and am hesitant to recommend just one. Personally, I thought "Battle for Haditha" and "In the Valley of Elah" the better of the group.

>478 Joycepa: I have friends in France who can download commercial films, but those sites (where you can buy them) are closed to Romanian web address buyers. (Piracy is rampant here.)

#479: Thanks for the recommendation--I understand the difficulty!

I may think about downloading commercial films now that I have a 24" monitor screen in my future. Maybe.

Message 472 and 473.. Two more books to add to the pile: Folly and A Darker Place. Thanks for the recommendations.

Joyce...no need to apologize. In many ways I still care about him deeply. Reading books about Viet Nam brings back memories.

I may have missed it, but does anyone have recommendation for books about the Iraq war? I know several people who are over there and I'd really like to understand more about the situation that what they tell us on the news.

>483 jasmyn9:. I've only read one, but I'll recommend it anyway. Joker One by Donovan Campbell, he does a good job of documenting his time in Iraq. I've also heard good things about Fiasco by Thomas Ricks but I haven't taken it off the shelf yet.

Someone else had a couple of other recommendations but I can't recall who it was.

I agree with SgtBigg about Nam by Mark Baker (touchstone not working) being worth the troubles.....just a note, the book isn't written by those who were there but is written by a journalist whose brother went. The journalist, who did not go, wanted to do something and decided to interview vets. So, he writes their stories and they are moving and difficult!

I would also be willing to loan you my copy if you don't get your copy.

Pearl Harbor Ghosts sounds great! I visited PH several years ago and was very moved by the sights. I do not have a continent, yet!, but I will add it to my village. Keep 'em coming.

Is there some sort of magic classification system for TBRs that I am missing - the thing is I am not sure how big a continent, country, city or village of TBRs is?

So I will say I have a few TBRs - this being approximately all that can be squeezed, piled or precariously stacked into a medium sized room. I feel quite TBR 'poor' around you - Alcottacre.

#486 BDB: Thank you so much for the offer, Mac, but I finally got in a copy today!

#488: Kiwi, mine actually started out as Mount TBR and then quickly became Continent TBR (3000+), largely thanks to LT. I am now on my way to Universe TBR . . .

I am so glad that I can help you feel TBR 'poor' :)

My TBR is about 100 books at the moment. I can't even begin to imagine where I would put over 3000 books that I still needed to read.

#491: Jasmyn - I do not have room for them either - my Continent is a combination of books here to read and a running list of books I want to read.

Well Alcottacre - checking that you don't have 3000 books in your LT library I am assuming that some of the TBRs are wish-lists as well.

I have read about half of my LT library - so I have no excuse to EVER buy a book again. I keep thinking that when I retire I will be poor and need to have available reading material on my shelves. It is, however, making me poor right now instead!!

......and of course there are such things as *The Library* which I do frequent - this source could sustain me through a long retirement, whenever that might happen - which will probably not be for decades......

#493 I rationalize my buying binges the same way as you do, kiwi. Maybe I won't have the available funds to buy when I retire or the kindle will put an end to print books altogether. I know, it's a frightening scenerio so we NEED to have a stockpile in the event. Carry on kiwi, and remember it's good for the economy!

#493 ff: Yes, I have come to the conclusion that hoarding books is a good thing. It helps me cope with the deep-seated fear of never having any reading material near. I also have a lot of audiobooks because I have had terrible eyesight since age 11 and the fear that I will never be able to read print books haunts me, too, lol.

I use the public library quite a bit. I will read books from there and then decide "Will I ever re-read it?" If the answer is yes, then I will (eventually) purchase a copy of my own. If the answer is no, then I do not need to bother with it again.

>488 kiwidoc: Really, it's time someone had the nerve to ask this question. Mine is more like an archipelago fo TBR islands. Here an outcropping, there an outcropping. I have no idea the actual number. Newly acquired books usually get a "not yet read" tag when I enter them into LT. By that method I come up with 221 TBR books in my house. I confess that seems rather low to me. Of course there are many books in my catalog that I never will read, because they weren't for my consumption in the first place. (I generously allow my husband's books to share catalog space with my own---he doesn't LT himself.)

I have no idea how many books I have here at my house that remain unread. I suspect there are quite a lot. I am working this year on squeezing them in between library books.

My owned yet not read getting tagged as unread and they have their own bookcase so they are easy to browse when I want something new

I have exactly 1 bookshelf to call my own and it is pretty well packed, lol. One of these days, I may actually get all the rest of my books in from the garage, and hopefully by then I will actually have shelves on which to put them!

>500 alcottacre:: Stasia, I find it peculiarly satisfying that you should get to be the one to take your thread to 500 messages :)

#501: I did not even notice, Rachael! I just knew it was a long thread - but not that long.

Way to go mom! So what is everybody reading nowadays? I'm reading The Chimney Sweeper's Boy it is so far a very good book

I noticed you saying to another 75'er that you are going to start a new thread. You are going to have to announce it so that we don't miss it!

I agree with blackdogbooks that you're going to have to start a new thread soon--this one seems to take a long time to load.

Aren't you glad it's only one more day to a new month, Stasia?

#506: Empathically YES!!

I have decided to give into fate and go ahead and start the new thread. For those interested, it can be found here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/56421&newpost=1#lastmsg

Cool a new thread!