What Are You Reading the Week of 20 December 2008?

I am about to start The Final Solution: A Story of Detection by Michael Chabon, and I continue listening to Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens.

I'm still reading Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant. I'm reading it slowly because it makes me happy. :)

Still reading my ER book Love's Civil War: Letters and and Diaries: Elizabeth Bowen and Charles Ritchie edited by Victoria Glendinning. I am enjoying this read very much. In fact I will now be looking for Bowen's novels and a reread of Ritchie's diaries- I had read four of them a few years ago.

I started The Tale of Beedle the Bard last night after not being able to resist it at Target.

I just finished All Marketers are Liars by Seth Godin.
Going back to one of my all time favorite authors and reading Circus by Alistair MacLean.

#2 Oh, I want that book, too!

Reading Lolita In Tehran
A Long Way Gone
American Pastoral
Three Minutes On Love
Maskerade

I love snowy weekends!

I just started Fatelessness by Imre Kertesz.

Soon to finish The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism by Megan Marshall (which has been excellent) and will start Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates so that I can finish it before seeing the movie.

About halfway through Treasury of Regrets by Susanne Alleyn, a historical mystery set in the years just after the end of France's "Reign of Terror." It's the second in a series. Good writing and historical setting, not to mention the mystery itself, but I find I am not really caring much about the characters, at least not yet.

I have taken a break from the Christmas themed books I was reading last week and picked up An Appeal to Reason by Nigel Lawson. This small book (140 pages including notes and bibliography) is proving to be a thought-provoking read that I am taking my time with.

I read The Road by Cormac McCarthy last week. Everyone knows this is excellent, I came late to the party.

Now reading Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman - don't know why everyone else loves it, I do not.

Also carrying in my purse for unannounced reading opportunity: How to Love Your Life and Your Job by Dale Carnegie. Hope it works. ;-)

Still listening to The Story of Edgar Sawtelle - beautiful.

I'm still working on both Perdido Street Station and The Magus. And I've got El cocodrilo y otros cuentos and The Book of the Unknown: Tales of the Thirty Six sort of on the backburner.

>11 ireed110: ireed, I am not a fan of The Road so I can honestly say that I don't know it's excellent. I found it average.

The Lightman got a Pearl-Rule 50pp and then went out my door. So not interested in it. Sounds like you're on the same page on that book!

SNOW DAY! No grocery shopping! No post-office-going! No getting the car detailed! Whee! So instead I am picking up God of the Rodeo by Daniel Bergner and finishing up Life on Wheels by Gary Karp. This is such an inspiring book, so practical and so direct in its discussion of spinal cord injuries as they relate to the rest of the world's ideas about the injured.

It's bound to be a good week for reading, as I have to work only on Monday and Tuesday.

Right now...I'm reading:

Memed, My Hawk by Yasar Kemal
On the Dot by the Humez Brothers
Lincoln as Writer by Fred Kaplan
Star Dust by Frank Bidart
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
Boswell in Holland by James Boswell

I must say -- Memed, My Hawk is very good.

And the Little Dorrit experiment (reading serially as it was originally published, aloud) is going better than I thought. I'm tempted to record myself, just to hear what I really sound like.

I should finish The Loveliest Woman in America today. I've really enjoyed the book and its insights into a damaged, although prominent, family. A good friend who happens to be Danish gave me Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson for Christmas so that's next. Mysteries are not my usual fare. It's probably been 10 years since I've read one and that was by a local author I know. Who knows when before that. We'll see how it goes.

Jesus and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings by Marcus Borg and Illuminata: thoughts, prayers and rites of passage by Marianne Williamson, in order to get more into the spiritual side of the season.

I'm halfway through Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and will go back to The Best Year of Their Lives: Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon in 1948 soon.

As soon as I tear myself away from this freakin' Internet, I hope to sit down and rip off a good hunk of Death in Venice. It'll be book number 46 in my 50-book challenge, so I still have a glimmering of hope!

I'm supposed to be reading The Sunne in Splendour but instead I keep reading posts on LT. Curse you all!!! (but only cursing you with higher tbr piles)

I finished A Death in the Family this morning. What a tremendously powerful book. This will be one of my top reads of the year. Wow.

Before reading it I had made it partway through Unbowed. Now I'll try to finish it. It's pretty poorly written, but as the memoir of an amazing person it's a worthwhile read. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

I just started reading The Thirteenth Tale this morning. I needed something a little lighter after finishing Slow Man and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao last week.

I'm still reading The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen. So far, so good. Parts of it are really easy to read, and then every once in awhile I'll have to read the same paragraph 4 or 5 times to figure out what on earth she was trying to say.

I'm still working on The Hour I First Believed, and my LibraryThing early review book, The Returning by Ann Tatlock. Today I was out shopping in the snowstorm here in the northeast, and I couldn't resist buying the new Patricia Cornwell, Scarpetta.

I'm reading Wicked by Gregory Maguire for the third time.

I'm reading the Forest of 1000 Demons---very intriguing characters in this piece.

I got about a third into Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain last night. It's relevant to this thread because I expect to read another big chunk of it tonight. I have laughed out loud, but it is not as tightly wry as I hoped it to be.

Robert

#20, lindsacl: I read A Death in the Family a few years ago. I don't know which version you had -- mine had excerpts from notes and outlines written by James Agee (who died before the book was finished) which brought other perspectives to the story.

#14 Hi, corner ~ I just this afternoon picked up Lincoln as Writer by Fred Kaplan from the library! I snatched it up as soon as I read the first sentence of the front flap: "For Abraham Lincoln, whether he was composing love letters, speeches, or legal arguments, words mattered." Can't wait to get into it! How are you finding it?

>20 lauralkeet: lindsacl

Did you read the expanded version of A Death in the Family or the original? Additional pages of manuscript were found and added in. I've got the original on my TBR pile and you've just pushed it up. Just have to finish Honeymoon in Teheran for ER and The Snowball for book group--it's the l-o-n-g Buffett bio.

>27 AMQS:, 29: I think it was an expanded version, although not exactly as AMQS described. This edition included three sections which were added as a prologue and in between each of the novel's main parts. These sections almost stand on their own and apparently the editors inserted them into the novel in a way that kind of made sense. It was a bit confusing, but these sections added depth to the characters.

I finished the novella, The Final Solution: A Story of Detection by Michael Chabon, and I am about to start reading Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.

I just finished Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and Oxymoronica. Not sure if I'm going to start on Factotum but Bukowski, or look for something else.

I had a glorious Saturday on the couch with my sweetie, listening to music and reading. I was able to start and finish Death in Venice. Not particularly uplifting, but wonderful to read, nevertheless. I read a couple of short stories from different collections, and tonight I'll start Women with Men, a collection of three novellas by Richard Ford. I loved The Sportswriter, which is the only book of Ford's I've read, so I'm hoping to like these three novellas, as well.

I finished Grimspace by Ann Aguirre
a SF book about a navigator (not the pilot as I thought when I started) who has a special gene that allows her to find her way through grimspace, where ships go when they jump for FTL travel. She is looking for beacons that have been left by an older race that was there first, but no longer seems to be around. The beacons are marking points to go into and out of jump, so you arrive where you expect.

There is a quasi military-corporate entity that controls the training of jumpers, and through that all legitimate space flight. The main character runs afoul of them, and rather than let them destroy her she joins the rebels who are trying to break the monopoly on jumping.

The writing was not bad, the characters were good, and the story was OK, if a little too haphazard in terms of setting things up to make one exciting scene after another. Definitely an adventure story with a very predictable stand-offish (I hate you, I want you, go away, come here) romance included.

I am now reading the second book in the series Wanderlust. The characters from the first book are off on a diplomatic mission to an insectoid world, to try to convince them to join the new political entity taking the place of the one brought down in book 1.

I actually just picked up the novel "The Memory of Running".
I'm only 40 or so pages into it, but I really like it so far.
I picked it up for $4.99 off of the bargain section at "Walden's", because if it had been full price I probably wouldn't have bought it, though I am finding that it would have been worth the list price, all the same.

#30, lindsacl: no, that sounds like what I read. I read it several years ago, and my copy was from the library, so I didn't remember exactly. I just remembered something about "unfinished" and "more to it"... Also, others in my book club had not read the expanded version, so we had an interesting discussion about the added content and the difference it made in the story. I'm glad you liked it so much!

I started The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis last night. I read about half of it - more than I intended. The Man Who Fell To Earth is the only other book of his I have read, but Mockingbird has been on my wish list for a while. I'm really enjoying it so far. Not sure what's next, but I'll have to choose something soon.

I just finished Eighth Grade Bites. I look forward to my son opening his gift from his sister, which is the next book in the series Ninth Grade Slays, so I can read it too. LOL
I am reading The Return of the Light: Twelve Tales from Around the World for the Winter Solstice to celebrate the holiday season.

reply message 24
I love the book Wicked too!!!

Making progress on The Summer of 1787 and Seabiscuit.

Just finished Alfred Lansing's Endurance. Didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

With snow still on the ground and freezing, I'm just starting The World of Farley Mowat.

#35 kylegene, hope you like it. I know I did.

I am reading The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway. I'm finding it rather laborious at the moment. Hope it gets better.

I have not had much time for reading lately. I am still reading Tamar and 84, Charing Cross Road -- both great books! No snow here but it is bitterly cold. I am staying in tomorrow.
--BJ

I'm reading American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld this week. It should prove a pretty quick read for me, in spite of the length.

-->#13 richardredus: You're right, I should not presume to declare anything about what "everyone knows." Thank you for setting me straight.

I actually finished Einstein's Dreams last night. Probably wouldn't have in the real world, but I am stuck at a non-reader's house until Monday (freak windshield wiper accident + unending snow) and must either read what I have with me or subject myself to old copies of vitamin catalogs and 1960s Real Estate textbooks. It's happened before, and it is Not Cool.

Later today when I finish How to Enjoy Your Life and Your Job I will trudge out to the car and unearth the emergency book hidden there: Mila 18 by Leon Uris.

-->#35 kylegene: I listened to The Memory of Running in 2007. I greatly enjoyed it, too.

Finally finished Lincoln President-Elect by Harold Holzer. It's difficult to write a boring book about Lincoln, but Holzer somehow managed to do it. The book seriously needed an editor. When a verb ends up inserted between the first and last name of a Senator, then it's a fair assumption that no one actually read this book prior to publication.

I'm returning to Stopped at Stalingrad, which has been sitting by the bed waiting for me to finish it for two months.

#45 What a great idea to have an emergency book hidden in your car! Last Thursday, I was stuck in a parking lot waiting for someone and I could not find anything at all to read. I looked and looked. Finally the dog and I gave a sigh and resigned ourselves to just sitting and waiting. Why didn't I bring a book along with me?
--BJ

Blew through Napoleon's Pyramids, which, to be honest, I expected a bit more from. The math and such behind the pyramid designs/placements was interesting, but there was little payoff, as the book seems to be a long setup for a sequel. Then again, the book can be read as historical fiction, minus all the mystical stuff, so it was informative even outside the plot itself.

Started The Moor's Last Sigh by Rushdie. Figured it was about time I finally read something by him. So far, so good...

Also started Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose. Good stuff so far, although her dismissal of Trollope in the first few pages earned her a few demerits right off the bat. :)

I finished Elizabeth Berg's Joy School yesterday and promptly began A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas. I didn't want the holidays to pass me by without pouring through at least one Christmas-themed read! I'm new to Kleypas -- and the romance genre as a whole -- but I'm really enjoying it so far.

Still reading The Great Santa Search and hoping to get to A Christmas Carol before Christmas comes. Both are re-reads, so it's not that big of a deal. I'm off work all week, so I'm sure I'll be able to read them fairly quickly.

Yesterday i read The Mighty Queens of Freeville and you can read my review by clicking the title....or scanning my Library..or not.
i don't now what i'll start today...too many titles beckon...and some of them are making gnarly faces!

>45 ireed110: ireed, I am sorry if I came across as irritable in my earlier post...I am just a little worn out with the McCarthy cultists. My apologies if I was curt or unpleasant.

"Stuck at a non-reader's house" sounds like Satanic torture to me! However, I hope the chance to delve into Leon Uris's underappreciated Mila-18 will make up for it.

It's raining here today, on top of a two-inch snow last night, and I *must* go out to the local bookery to procure a gift my sainted aunt wants to give a friend for his birthday. Since she's 90, it is up to me. Boo Hoo, Poor Little Me, I have to go book shopping. "Please don't throw me in the bookstore patch!"

>51 jdthloue: jude, The Mighty Queens of Freeville might just supplant Uncommon Fruits Worthy of Attention as the title of my autobiography....

>52 richardderus:...oh richard!!!i am still laughing.....but somehow i think you will come up with something a bit more snarky, no?

Snowing again. Has been, off and on since Friday.

I finished Wanderlust by Ann Aguirre.
Sequel to Grimspace. A light quick SF adventure book. One of those that does a bait and switch. Story says its about a diplomatic mission on the blurb on the back. Actually about the journey to get there. Book ends at arrival. Could be the end of the series, her next book is about another character, though there are hooks for the series to continue also. Same characters with a couple of new ones. Pretty good, Though there is the standard split/reunion of the romantic couple, very cliched.

Not sure what to read next.

I just finished A Pirate of Exquisite Mind and next I'm going to read Flying Changes.

I've just finished Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak which I thoroughly enjoyed, and have now started Pickwick Papers. I read Christmas Carol last Christmas but still fancied reading some Dickens over the holidays.

I am currently reading Fallen Into the Pit by Ellis Peters. I have also been reading Bill Bryson's The Mother Tongue on and off.

#46 Dang, Fred, I am sorry to hear that about Holzer's book on Lincoln. I have it on reserve at the library and was so looking forward to reading it. Is it boring or is only that the bad editing is annoying?

I am reading We Were the Mulavneys by Joyce Carol Oates. It's a bit slow-going....lots of tangents.

*Editing to try to make "touchstones" appear...hmmm....Loading?

#58 Storeetllr, Everyone's taste differs. Perhaps you won't find it nearly so grim a read as I did, and I would be happy to hear a contrary opinion.

I was surprised at my own reaction, because I enjoyed Holzer's Lincoln at Cooper Union. The new book would have been much better at half the length. Holzer seems to want to include every single detail, but doesn't have the writing skills to weave them into a cohesive narrative. Instead you get a dry recitation of events, no matter how trivial, in sequential order. It's a little like someone's laundry list or an undergraduate's lecture notes.

The big failure of the book is Holzer's neglect of the other individuals circling around Lincoln at the time. If you don't know anything about the period, you won't have a clue who most of the other people are. Holzer provides only the briefest of character sketches and little background information on them. As a result, the book is broad, but very shallow.

A much better book could have been written on the subject. The winter of 1860-1861 was pivotal. It's filled with drama. But most of it is happening off stage in this book. I would have liked more information about the activities of Edmund Ruffin or James Buchanan or Jefferson Davis. Instead, the focus is solely on Lincoln, who basically did nothing important and said nothing publicly.

I've moved onto The Three Musketeers there are 67 chapters and if I just read a chapter a day, I'll be happy for a really long time. I just love this time period.

I'm still slowly reading and enjoying The Last Enchantment by Mary Stewart. For some reason I find tales about Arthur fitting for this time of year. But I think I will take a break for The Stupidest Angel as I'm in the mood for something a little lighter tonight. I can't believe Christmas is only a few days away!

I am reading Ibrain by Gary Small, M.D. It's a little repetitive in the first chapter but fascinating. As a teacher of "digital natives", the book is really making me understand the way my students' brains function. It also is explaining some of the changes I've noticed in my own since I've become such an avid computer user.

I just finished Princeps' Fury by Jim Butcher and I've started Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indriðason.

Just started The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

I am working on Elizabeth Noble's The Reading Group. It is taking me a while because I work retail, and well, it is the Holidays. *grin*

>66 charlotteg:, charlotteg: I have The Reading Group waiting patiently in my TBR stack! I'm looking forward to picking it up. And I totally hear you on working retail at the holidays... this is my first Christmas off after five in a row of working in an overcrowded, chaotic store. But the madness will be over soon -- and then there are only returns to look forward to! :)

I just finished Faces of Fear by John Saul and I'm currently reading Devil's Labrynth thats also by John Saul

#59 -- callen610,

I found Mulvaneys to drag, too.

In the end, I'd give it a 3 out of 5. Somewhat interesting, but not great.

I read Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala
A novel about the experience of a child soldier in an unnamed West African nation.

It is written in a child's voice, and in pidgin English. It might as well be in gibberish. On top of that in the middle of the mayhem, the POV goes off telling local myths and legends, so the narrative is practically incoherent.It is probably a coping mechanism for the child, but it makes for boring reading.

The author is an American born here but with relatives and cultural ties to Nigeria, not one of the many reformed survivors who at one time was a child soldier. Nasty, Brutish, and mercifully Short.

Not sure what to read next.

I'm now beginning A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas for the holidays.

Still going with The Time Machine, No Logo and A Suitable boy. I haven't had much reading time lately, but I'm hoping to get more after Christmas.

It doesn't help that everyone here is reading such interesting books. I am adding to my TBR quicker than I am reading them! At least I'll never be stuck for something to do.

I've got almost two weeks off and a bunch of books lined up, but I am in the rare position of not actually being in the middle of any of them at the moment.

Lined up:
Temple of the Golden Pavillion by Yukio Mishima
Foundation by Mercedes Lackey
Bad Habits by Cristy Road
Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell (this is probably the one I'm going to grab first)
Nowtopia by Chris Carlsson

I just finished The Christmas Train by David Baldacci. It was okay. This was the first time I've read a "Christmas book" and I'm sure there are better ones out there.

I'm also currently reading The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde and All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy.

Not new on LT, but just venturing into the talk threads. Really like the system on it. Any guidance on navigating around here, which threads/groups to check out, etc. would be appreciated. It's different from other forum I belong to and v large.

--> 74

Hi chrine,

I think the talk here on LT is really addictive. The best advice I have for you is to choose a few talk threads in which you are interested and "x" out the others. It gets overwhelming if you try to follow too many threads/groups at once.

You may find it fun at this time to join the 999 Challenge group. In it, we are each listing nine categories of nine books to read in 2009. Some people are overlapping books in categories. Others are not. I'd suggest to follow only a few of those threads with categories in which you are particularly interested. It's all rather informal so you can change the rules to suit yourself if you find the challenge itself too difficult.

74> Hi chrine,

You can watch all groups that are not private and you can join almost all groups that are not private on your own initiative. I would suggest clicking on the groups tab, selecting some of the official and quasi-official groups and watching them. Some are fairly general but provide good openings; others help you to be at home on the site.

Book Talk, New Features wherein you don't start any conversations, and Site Talk are good starting points. You can return to them by clicking on Your Groups on the Talk page (on the Talk tab) if you mark them to watch.

You can look over the groups page to see if any of the more popular groups interest you, then select watching or joining them. I once read through the entire list of groups to see what might interest me. That is probably a drearier job now than it was a year or so ago.

Daily, among other things, I click the groups tab to check what new groups have been added that I might be interested in or want to report as spam. Then I look at my starred threads (that can come later for you), then my Your Posts threads, then my Your Groups threads. I watch or belong to perhaps a hundred groups, many of which are not very active.

I have marked some threads to ignore, but I don't want to mark any groups to ignore. I might want to click on All Groups from time to time and see what's happening outside my normal orbit.

Have fun,

Robert

Hola SqueakyChu

I can certainly see how it will get addictive. lol I belong to two online bookclubs and they both are. I figured out how to ignore groups and threads that I wouldn't be interested in so that's weeding the list down.

The 999 Challenge sounds fun. I saw a catagories thread so I'm going to go check that out and look at my TBR list and upcoming book club selections before I pick out my books for it.

Oh my! I was checking out the sign up thread before I checked out the catagories thread. It's 9 catagories and 9 books in each, totally 81 books (I had thought only 9 books from reading the group description)! I've only read 29 books this year so far (working slightly more than part-time, being in school part-time, and being newly married eats up the reading time). No 999 challenge for me. It did sound fun before I realized 81 books. lol I need to find a small challenge.

Hola Robert

Thanks for the information and guidance. I had been wondering if Watched Groups would show up in the Your Groups thread or only Joined Groups. Now I know! I haven't noticed the New Groups section either.

I've been on LT for awhile now. But I have a feeling chatting in the threads is going to teach me more about what's available on the site.

I'm reading The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark at the moment, and finding it to be quite enjoyable.

Back to Barbary Lane: The Final Tales of the City Omnibus because I have been waiting for my break to read it. I love Armistead Maupin !

chrine - if you figure out a good way to navigate Talk, let me know. I follow a few threads, then a few more, than too many, then I get overwhelmed and lose track of them all, then I try to go back to just a few threads (always in including this one :) ) ...and cycle repeats.

I finished The Common Bond, which I think was my favorite Early Reviewer book. I guess it's a book about grief and recovery. It's also about Hawaii, and fishing, and maybe writing. Maybe drugs and alcohol too. Very well done.

I've opened up Europe Between the Oceans: 9000 BC-AD 1000 a geography-based history of Europe, which sounds like a really cool idea in concept. I picked it up from the new release shelf in the library. I'm not sure whether I will actually read it though.

I just finished Monday mourning - good reading and Ruhe der Rastlosen, a collection of testimonies of drop-outs.

--> 78

No 999 challenge for me. It did sound fun before I realized 81 books.

Whoa! Don't opt out so easily of the 999 Challenge!! It *is* fun (I'm still finishing my 888 Challenge of 2008).

If you carefully check the 999 Challenge Rules (which you can feel free to break at any time - as this is merely for fun), you'll learn that this is not about 81 books to read. No! The rules allow you to post the same book in more than one category to fill in 91 spaces. Just choose your categories creatively (i.e. so that they capture more than one book title).

Enjoy ... and I hope you do join the 999 Challenge!

--> 82

The best way to navigate Talk, in my opinion, is to "x" out all thread in which you are not acutely interested. Then the rest become so interesting that you become hopelessly addicted to them. :(

Finished reading A scanner darkly over the weekend. Now I'm reading The left hand of darkness.

--> 84

Hola SqueakyChu

Okay, I'm back in! I'm easily swayed when something is fun and especially if it involves books. LOL

I'm in two book clubs so I figure those can be two categories and I'll get nine books in each of those done. Then I might combine similar genres and make really broad categories. I'm not sure I'll finish it, but I'll try.

Just finished up Agent Zigzag (which I loved) and Holy Hell.

I am reading Mistress of Mellyn and Unaccustomed Earth.

I am currently reading 'I'm not scared' by Niccolo Amannitti and reading a page every day of 'War and Peace' via email courtesy of http://www.dailylit.com/

Check out this site as there are lots of books available for free delivered to your inbox or RSS feed.

I am half way through Air Apparent and I picked up Archbishop in Andalusia at the library which has been on hold forever and then they lost the copy I was supposed to get two weeks ago and then I had two copies on hold ... It better be good - but then Blackie Ryan is always good!

I'm currently reading Dinner to Die For by Susan Dunlap and I think I'm going to re-read Anna Karenina

--> 87

That's the spirit! Best of luck with the 999 Challenge then!!

Reading Shattered by Dick Francis and listening to my first audio book The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Just started Somebody Else's Kids by Torey Hayden.

Just finished The Model Occupation, and read A Christmas Carol yesterday. Still working on Final Harvest ever-so-slowly and listening to Anne's House of Dreams.

I WILL finish American Pastoral tonight. I am armed with tea. I need to finish this, because I have two ARCs to review (another came today), and also while I think the book is extremely well-written and GOOD, I'm not really loving it. Which makes me feel stupid.

Now reading The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb. It is his best book yet. Can't believe it took nine years between books, but maybe that's why this one is so good!

#98 Oh, good, I bought that for my mother for Christmas, and I was hoping it would be a good choice!

I am reading On Beauty by Zadie Smith
It has had very mixed reviews, and I see why. I am about half way through. I think the writing is stiff and awkward, the dialog is not authentic, and the characters are unlikeable, Its not terrible, and while the life of the characters is mildly interesting, it doesn't grab me.

I'm reading The Elegant Universe and The Theatre and its Double, but I'm getting terribly distracted by the upcoming holiday...!

Hi everyone, I have just started Dreamboat Dad by Alan Duff. He is a New Zealand author. So far I have found the writing to be very blunt and very much like his first book Once were warriors which was made into a movie. Keeping an open mind on this one.

I'm currently reading Hocus Pocus by Kurt Vonnegut.

Just finished the Qur'an, goddammit.

Not sure what religion to read next though, like The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, or The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible. Or even, al-Bukhari's Book of Muslim Morals and Manners.

Also reading The Nightwatchman's Occurance Book by V.S. Naipaul.

>102 dianestm: dianestm, I had no idea that Once Were Warriors was a book first! I enjoyed the movie very much and will now hunt up the book.

Drat you!

>104 geoffreymeadows: geoffrey, Just finished the Qur'an, goddammit.
ROFL

Irreverent cuss, ain'cha?

--> 52 richardredus -- NOT AT ALL! You pointed out perfectly the very best thing there is about humans; everyone's different. That's perfect, and I'm glad you called me on it. 8-)

Never made it to the car, so the Uris will wait. Did make it home (without the car) though, so started Lottery by Patricia Wood last night.

#97 ellevee - I had the same impression of American Pastoral - I found it powerful, but unpleasant to read.

I finished After Dark by Haruki Murakami. Richard - I did like it, quite a bit, in fact. I found it both dreamy and gritty. Just like you'd want a nighttime novel to be. It reminded me a little of the Scorsese movie After Hours, but with a bigger heart. I thought the vignettes with the sleeping model were a bit contrived compared to the time spent with the awake characters, but overall I was impressed.

I wrote elsewhere that I need to learn to manage the hype. I avoid things that are hyped out of some perverse desire to be rebellious. Then I love something (such as American Gods) and start to believe the hype. Which leads me to read something like Guernsey. Anyone have hype management advice?

About to begin Lush Life by Richard Price. So far I've read the dust jacket.

> 71 -- ktleyed -- I just finished Lisa Kleypas' A Wallflower Christmas and really enjoyed it! I wanted to get one holiday-themed read in before everything was over. I started Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler last night and like it so far. I've had it sitting on my shelf for a while... figured I should go ahead and break it out.

> 97, 107 -- ellevee & dchaikin -- I really liked American Pastoral, but agree -- it's not a warm read. I frequently had to take breaks from it and return later, though this proved to be a problem -- I took a class devoted to Philip Roth and didn't have much control over my reading timeline!

Just finished Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens and must admit that compared to all else I have read and loved by Dickens, this one was dull. I am now reading Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and listening to Medea by Euripides.

#108
American Gods and Guernsey are really different, Nancy. I think American Gods can turn anyone to fantasy. Had you read the summary for Guernsey before reading it ?
I can resist the hype if it really doesn't sound like something I'd like. I read reviews and I can give in to certain books as often as the next person but some books, no matter how hyped, I simply am not interested in. Da Vinci Code for example (I can't think of another example right now) sounded awful and I never bothered reading it because I knew it really wasn't something I would like. Twilight sounded terrible but I gave in and borrowed the book (thank goodness I didn't buy it which proves that I can resist nonetheless) and it indeed was terrible. No regrets here, now I can finally criticize it without being told that I've never even read it.

Just finished Norwegian Wood and Prodigal Summer and am now onto Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

ahhh I love winter break. All that graduate school was beginning to interfere with my reading time.

I finished Dizzy and Jimmy and was unimpressed. The author "remembers" the 50's as a time when people sang and danced in the streets of New York like they were in a Gene Kelly movie. She also reminds the reader over and over that James Dean found her attractive and talented.
I'm on to The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding because nothing says Christmas like a dead body.

I'm reading Along Came a Spider by James Patterson on recommendation from hubby. It's okay, a light read but it's holding my interest... I guess. I'm almost halfway through it, but already pondering what to read next.

I am reading as much Armistead Maupin as I can. Ye gods, but I love that man's writing!!

finished Air Apparent, now on to Archbishop in Andalusia

just started The Sorrow of Belgium by Hugo Claus. enjoying it, so far.

Just wanted to chime in at the halfway mark of The Moor's Last Sigh and say that HOLY MOLY is Rushdie good. Huh - go figure; sometimes writers are famous for all the RIGHT reasons (besides pissing off Muslims).

I don't know how consistent he is, but Midnight Children just got a big bump on my tbr list...

>105 richardderus: Yeah, you're probably right. Dumb thing to say. My apologies.

I just finished Love's Civil War: Elizabeth Bowen and Charles Ritchie;Letters and Diaries edited by Victoria Glendinning. It is a wonderful book. I have just started Can you Hear the Nightbird Call? by Anita Rau Badami.

> #108 I wrote elsewhere that I need to learn to manage the hype. I avoid things that are hyped out of some perverse desire to be rebellious. Then I love something (such as American Gods) and start to believe the hype. Which leads me to read something like Guernsey. Anyone have hype management advice?

Nancy, I'm so glad you said that. I thought I was the only one! As I've gotten older, I've tried to read a book or watch a movie that's hyped if it looks like something I would want to read or watch anyway, but I have to force myself to do it. I still haven't seen an episode of Star Trek, watched famous movies like Godfather, Gone with the Wind, Star Wars, etc.

The only way I can seem to get in with the "hype" is if I read something or watched it before it became all hyped up. At least now we know there's two of us -- but any more than that and it will start to become a trend, and then we won't like it anymore. ;o)

Started The Godmother by Carrie Adams last night. It's going to be fast and easy -- perfect for this time of year.

>108 nancyewhite:: nancyewhite- I liked your comments on After Dark. I read it a few months ago and loved it. It was only the second Murakami book I had read but he shot to the top of my favorite author list. I also read Lush Life recently and thought it was incredible. Another fantastic writer! Enjoy!

Dumped Dinner to die for because the first 102 pages were enough for me to consider slitting my wrist.

Am now on to something light hearted but guaranteed to be a good read - Murder in Montparnasse by Kerry Greenwood.

I decided that Anna Karenina is best kept for a less joyous holiday reading than over Christmas. So now I'm tossed between Waltzing the Cat by Pam Houston and Mozart's Sister by Rita Charbonnier

Finished The Tales of Beetle the Bard last night, and started reading The Diary of Anne Frank.

We seemed to have slowed down this week. Could it be the holiday? Last night I finished To Siberia. Petterson has such a cool peaceful style. I hope there will be much more coming from him. When I get a chance, I will be on to The Implacable Order of Things.

I read The Tales of Beedle the Bard yesterday and finished Murder on the Orient Express today. It's only the 2nd Agatha Christie book I read, but it struck me as very...odd.

Not sure what to read next.

I finished Archbishop in Andalusia, typical Blackie Ryan.

I picked up Comeback but may not actually do a lot of reading for a day or so - but there may be time between games with the kids (who are in their lat 20s). but we don't see much of them usually so ...

Merry Christmas all in this thread.

I am reading DRAG KING DREAMS by Leslie Feinberg. This book is about being yourself no matter what society thinks. The struggle includes - race, gender,class and nationalism with real people

I finished On Beauty by Zadie Smith
It was an OK read. I was interested in the lives of the characters, but didn't actually care about them. I thought the ending was a fizzle. I thought the writing was awkward and stiff, and the attempt to create American characters and dialog, didn't quite make it. Also the depiction of the inner life of an American college was not what I would consider accurate. Still it was interesting, but I am glad its over, and have no real interest in anything else by Smith.

Not sure what I will read next.

I'm halfway through Hot, Flat and Crowded. Startling, Significant and Depressing!

Yeah, it's definitely the holiday.

For us, it's also because we're reading one book together, aloud. Every year, we start reading The Dark is Rising on Midwinter's Eve and finish it on Christmas Day or thereabouts (though I suppose we should really let it run until Twelfth Night...).

On top of that, it's been snowing like mad here the last couple of weeks -- and there are crows (since we don't have any rooks) in the big locust tree out front, going after the seed pods.

I have had such an unbelievably busy December that I still have not progressed beyond chapter 4 of Mr. Timothy, which, at least through chapter 4, has been good. Although Christmas concerts, Christmas shopping and wrapping, Christmas baking, etc are behind me, I have major tasks to accomplish before 1/15, and I'm starting to have a despairing feeling that I might never read again!

I finished Medea and have now started The Tempest by William Shakespeare.

I am reading Triptych by Karin Slaughter. I will be reading Mr. Timothy by Louis Bayard next for my book group.

#135 - dara85:

I would be curious to learn what your book group thinks of Mr. Timothy. I started The Black Tower today and so far I find Louis Bayard's writing style in The Black Tower to be captivating and entertaining. I would like to know if I should consider adding any of his other works for my TBR pile.

To the group - Happy Holidays!

Finishing off The Pesthouse by Jim Crace, as it has apparently been on my to-read list for a couple years.

I read a short chapbook The Poison in the Blood by Tom Holland
It is supposedly about the death of Paris at Troy, but really is about Hercules. Good, short, light read about the Greek Gods and myths.

I am now reading a non-fiction Justinian's Flea by William Rosen
About the episode of Black Plague in 542 AD, that the author believes killed the remnants of the Roman Empire, and brought about the birth of medieval Europe.

I may not get to them this week but my son got me Salmon of Doubt and Steinbeck Novels 1942-1952. They should both help nicely in my 999 Challenge and in finishing my current 50 Challenge and starting my 100 Challenge for 2009.

I also got a new comfy chair to read them in!

I've finished Silence of the Grave and started Voices (*) both by Arnaldur Indriðason. I really enjoyed the manner in which Silence of the Grave was written. The story alternated between what was going on in the present to solve the mystery and the past to tell what happened.

(*) There doesn't appear to be a touchstone for this book.

I just finished Can You Hear the Nightbird Sing? by Anita Rau Badami. The author incorporates the the sacking of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, assassination of Indira Gandhi the Delhi riots and explosion of Air India Flight 182 into her plot. The last half was more engrossing but I understood her buildup to these events after I finished the book.
I am now reading The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling.

I continue listening to The Tempest. I finished Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. What an amazing novel, on multiple levels! I am about to start Locked Rooms by Laurie R. King.

I finished Miss Charity by Marie-Aude Murail and I'm currently reading The Bread and Butter Stories by Mary Norton.

Started Dark Matter by Philip Kerr....not a Heavy Read by any means but intriguing nonetheless...Sir Isaac Newton takes a turn as Sherlock Holmes...investigating nefarious doings in the Tower Mint, circa 1696????? Alchemy, Counterfeiters,and political chicanery...oh my!

Yesterday I stared Ritual of Proof by Dara Joy which I thought was a fantasy/historical type romance with a gender switch, but turned out to be much more sci-fiish. Not that that's a bad thing, just unexpected.

Finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was gripping, hard to put down, well written and intriguing. I can't quite say it was all pleasant, however. The crimes uncovered were horrendous. Numerous characters were likable but then, of course, the perpetrators were the lowest scum imaginable. Overall I enjoyed it although "enjoy" doesn't seem quite the right word. Now I'm reading The Island in the Center of the World. It's about Dutch Manhattan. It fits my 999 challenge as history related to my genealogy. One branch of my family way back came from Holland in the mid to late 1600's, not to Manhattan but assuredly through Manhattan and on up the Hudson Valley to Kingston, NY.

Almost finished The Impulsive Miss Pymbroke by Norma Lee Clark.

Just finished The Invention of Morel by Adofo Bioy Casares, and started 2666 by Roberto Bolano.

Finished Women with Men, a collection of three novellas by Richard Ford. The stories were well written but a touch glum for my holiday mood. I also finished one of my "between books," A Tale of Pierrot and Other Stories by George Dennison. I had never heard of this writer, but picked the collection off the shelf more or less at random from the San Francisco Library's Friends of the Library used bookstore. These stories were mostly good but not great.

Last night I started The Big Over Easy. Having caught up with all the Thursday Next books, I thought I'd give Fforde's other hero, Jack Spratt, a tumble. I'm surprised to say I'm enjoying this book more than I enjoyed the final (so far) Next book, First Among Sequels.

Just started The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And I hope to "borrow" my sister's copy of The Devil in the White City before she leaves.

Finished Hotel du Lac which I liked and am now reading Unaccustomed Earth which is very good as advertised. And I don't even like short stories.

I finished Flying Changes yesterday and started Disobedience which I am thoroughly enjoying so far. It was a nice book to start on Christmas.

Just finished Along Came a Spider by James Patterson and it was a good, light read. I've only read a few of his books and he certainly knows how to weave a good tale. He's one of hubby's favorites so I wanted to try another one. The Quickie, one that I read awhile back, was good also. Just when you start to drift off, bam!....he hits you with another twist or turn.

Now I will get back into We Need To Talk About Kevin, which I had laid aside a few days ago.

I've finished Voices and begun The Draining Lake, both by Arnaldur Indridason.

Finished The Impulsive Miss Pymbroke by Norma Lee Clark. (2 out of 5 stars)

Started Sharing Jesus Effectively by Jerry Savelle.

#151 jhowell ~ Glad you enjoyed Hotel du Lac! It made my top 10 of the year list this year.

ETA that I'm almost finished with Perfume by Patrick Suskind. I'm fascinated by it, but I'm not sure quite what I think of it yet, if that makes sense.

I'm reading Tales from the Captain's Table and yesterday I went with my loved ones to Borders and purchased Arctic Drift and Tales of Beedle the Bard - one of which went to my son and the other to my daughter (she has to go back to Georgia after the holidays so I let her have Beedle first.

I finished up Ritual of Proof which I thought was very enjoyable and started Gale Force by Rachel Caine.

I started a new thread over here for this week.

Just finished The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling and
The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke.
Adult fairy tales in an altered world.