What You Are Reading the Week of 27 Decembeer 2008

And welcome 2009 before this thread dies!!

I'm slowly and reluctantly making headway into Manservant and Maidservant by Ivy Compton-Burnett, or as I call her without a shred of affection, Icky Crumpet-Burnoose. It's for my RL book circle.

I hate it.

I'm still reading The Death of the Heart, but it is a bit of a slog. I'm just not inspired to pick it back up. I've also started Invitation to a Beheading by Nabokov, which is much more interesting. In the introduction, Nabokov insists that he had not read Kafka's The Trial, and that he was in no way influenced by it, but they are an awful lot alike.

I finished The Black Tower by Louis Bayard last night and thought it was a great mystery read! I have now picked up The Seamstress of Hollywood Boulevard by Erin McGraw. I am 80 pages in and so far find the plot to move along at a nice pace.

#1
Her books are very peculiar, aren't they ? I haven't read Manservant and Maidservant but I read A House and Its Head earlier this year (in October). It was my first book by her but it won't be my last.

I agree that it's strange and the whole thing made me feel uncomfortable (for more uncomfortable stuff, with a gentle setting yet bizarre characters and writing I strongly recommend Molly Keane, but I digress).It sure wasn't a comfort read and I absolutely didn't expect that but I thought it very interesting and challenging, a nice change for once.

>4 Sibylle.Night: Sibylle, I hear a lot about the challenging nature of Icky Crumpet-Burnoose. What is so challenging about the book? Her writing isn't challenging, or at least not to me; linear stuff complete with punctuation. So? What am I missing here? Subject matter issues? Unhappy families run by tyrants are not challenging things to read about from my point of view.

I think this woman's reputation is wholly unmerited. It's dull stuff, uninterestingly written. She has nothing to offer me that I want to receive as of yet. It's been a dreary slog and it promises to get no better.

Little Chapel on the River: A Pub, a Town and the Search for What Matters Most by Gwendolyn Bounds for me. I am about to begin it... but I saw richardearie's name and had to pop in and join the discussion.

Sorry about Crumpet Burnoose rd, hard to read a book you hate . ick.

On a different note, I'm still working on The Summer of 1787 and have found what I've read of it so far to be reasonably interesting.

I finished Diary of a Young Girl last night, and am now reading The Maltese Falcon.

I'm about half way through At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill and loving it. It's a lengthy read. Then I need to dive into Oscar and Lucinda for my face to face book group. Looking forward to that. A nice way to wrap up 2008.

I am still reading Justinian's Flea by William Rosen
Not too happy. Its not badly written and it is interesting, but at 129 pages has yet to touch on the topic of the Black Plague in 542 AD.

The book is only 324 pages, and the plague doesn't make an entrance until page 169 ! I looked ahead. Until then he is writing a short history of the Imperial portion of the Roman Empire, a history of the barbarians' migrations, a history of Justinian, a history of Hagia Sophia, and just now a history of Roman Law.

His premise is that the plague killed off the sickly Roman Empire, and birthed Medieval Europe. Unfortunately the book I have talks about the plague on the cover (Justinian's Flea: The first Great Plague and the end of the Roman Empire), which interests me more than the birth of Europe.

I feel this is a bait and switch. Perhaps he was only using the 'Plague' for something exciting to get people to buy the book, or there wasn't enough material just about the plague, or he got carried away with providing context, who knows ? In any case I am not a happy reader in terms of this book.

I also re-read Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
I was watching the movie made from the book, on DVD, and realized I had forgotten a lot of the story line. I didn't remember so much of the Tooth Fairy business. Turns out there was more of it in the movie, than the book, but the movie was actually very close to the book. And who doesn't just love DEATH ? Anyway it was a wonderful read, and I enjoyed it very much.

>10 teelgee: I was very proud of myself in finishing At Swim, Two Boys. The dialect was hard for me to follow so I'd say it was probably the most difficult read I had in 2008. I think it was worth it though!

Currently reading Gale Force from The Weather Warden series.

#5
Well, it challenged me because I couldn't understand anybody at all in the book and the writing did everything it could to prevent me from understanding what was going on. I managed to go past it I think after a while, though.
I'm sorry you don't like the book at all - I can't say I liked it but it certainly was interesting.
Perhaps you're used to that sort of writing that says everything through dialog with absolutely no character development (again, I haven't read Manservant so I can't say for sure she used the same technique in this as she did for House). I wasn't, it was new to me and yet I managed to understand what she was trying to say, which I think is quite interesting (again, that word) for a upper-class woman in 1935.

Agree Jenson re: the dialect, the allusions (I feel like I'm missing a lot!). It took me 50+ pages to get into a groove with it. Imagining an Irish brogue helps. I love the story and characters though, so it's not terribly offputting.

I'm finally getting into We Need To Talk About Kevin and I'm finding it quite good. It's written from the point of view of the mother of a teenager who has been tried and convicted of murdering several classmates and a teacher at his high school, and is now in prison. Eva, the mom, is writing letters to her estranged husband,reminiscing about when they first married, when she got pregnant with Kevin, and then bounces forward to the present..... and that's how the story is unfolding, going back and forth from the beginning to the present day. It's a dark read, yet exceptionally well written. It's turning out better and deeper than expected. I'm not quite to the halfway point.

I'm reading Europe Between the Oceans: 9000 BC-AD 1000 on how geography influenced the history of Europe. It's slow and I almost put it down...but it has caught my imagination and now I really enjoying it (and it has wonderful maps, photos, etc.).

I reading Shinsei/Shinsei Volume one of star Trek the manga. and Case Closed Vol.1 by Gosho Aoyama also a manga. My kids are getting me into them. Not bad and a fun quick read.

I'm picking up House of the Spirits again and giving it another shot. I barely got past page 20 last time. I feel like I'm more in the mood to read it now and feel like I'll be able to do it justice this time.

I finished reading The Left Hand of Darkness last week, and finished The Road this morning. Haven't decided what to read next. I won't get most of my Christmas books until later in the week when I visit my parents.

In the meantime, I'll likely continue to read some short stories from The Savage Humanists. I'm also part way through Blindness.

Finishing Beijing Confidential by Jan Wong. Still reading Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell.

I am still reading The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde and enjoying it. It's book 49 on my 50 Book Challenge list.

Still reading The Pickwick Papers and enjoying it immensely. I think my husband is getting fed up of me reading out passages which I find intensely amusing! I am just loving everything about it and it was a great choice to read for my last book of 2008.

I'm reading A Wedding in December and really liking it so far! I'm about 75 pages in.

>22 Fluffyblue:
I was planning on reading The Pickwick Papers for the 100 book challenge next year but now I think I'll end the year with it.

I'm reading the Zombie Survival Guide. Since it raining ice outside, and when the power goes out the zombies get restless, I figure it's best to have zombie-fighting and proper survival techniques fresh in my mind.

>24 LA12Hernandez:
It's definitely well worth it - I can't recommend it enough! I'm going to try and read all of Dickens' books next year, in the order they were published - or at least make a start. So many books, so little time...!

I just finished Tales of Beedle the Bard. I bought it Friday afternoon - both my kids got to it before me and at 4:00 pm today I finished it as well. It went to my husband and then to the bookcase with the other Rowling books.

I am still reading Tales from the Captain's Table.

Beedle makes 30 on my second 50 or 80 since July 1, 2008. Thus I have already set up a 100 challenge to start after I finish this 50, plus the 999. Should keep me busy for a while.

Started reading a couple of my gift books

The Greco-Persian Wars by Peter Green
The Complete Roman Army by Adrian Goldsworthy
Libraries by Candida Hofer

And, we're still reading (and will be for another 18 months) Little Dorrit.

Looking forward to the arrival of the two-volume Loeb edition of Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers.

I am thoroughly enjoying Locked Rooms by Laurie R. King, and I am just about to start listening to Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott.

I finally finished Doctor Faustus and it was well worth the time it took to read. The most difficult parts are in the first half of the book, so it became harder to put down as I read further.

I am probably going to start Dreams from My Father by our soon-to-be president, which we finally retrieved from the person we had lent it to.

I finished The Magus yesterday and found it sort of a letdown. This week, I'm reading Perdido Street Station and am hoping to be finished before the end of the year.

Just about to finish Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. Don't know what I will start next.

#31 - I am sad to hear you say that about The Magus - I just got it from the used book store and it is looking like quite a doorstopper sitting on my shelf, but I thought because I loved The French Lieutenant's Woman so much that it would be a pleasure to read despite its legnth.

After finishing Unaccustomed Earth and loving it, I am now settling into some fluffy Tudor court historical fiction with Alison Weir's first novel, Innocent Traitor -- fair to middling so far.

jhowell, it's too bad I haven't read The French Lieutenant's Woman so I can't say how The Magus compares. I did think Fowles' writing was quite striking, but I lost emotional connection with the plot after one too many twists. It wasn't an unpleasant reading experience, but wasn't really as engaging as I was hoping it would be.

> 32: theaelizabet- What are your thoughts on Revolutionary Road? I'm about 2/3rds of the way through it and feel it's outstanding! Hope you feel the same way!

I am currently reading The Lace Reader for my RL book club. So far, I am really enjoying it and am glad that I will have some time tonight and tomorrow to really get into it.

#34 - Oh, thats not too disheartening then - I like plot twists. I guess you won't be too inspired to read The French Lieutenant's Woman now, but for what its worth - I thought it outstanding.

I'm still working on iBrain, but I also got the craving for a western so I went to B&N where I picked up The Pumpkin Rollers. Isn't it weird how you can crave different genres or authors of books just like you can food?

I just finished Buried Treasure: Travels Through the Jewel Box by Victoria Finlay, and absolutely loved it, even though I had no prior interest in gemology - I barely even wear jewelry. Still, I thought it was completely fascinating. If anyone's got any recommendations for similar non-fiction, I'd love to hear them.

I'll probably re-read The Subtle Knife next, and then maybe pick up The Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay, or else dive into one of my Christmas books, or one of several ARCs that need to get read in January.

I haven't made any progress listening to All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, but I've only got about an hour and a half left, so I should easily polish that off during my drive home this week.

I'm reading Rosewater and Soda bread by Marsha Mehran which is a nice gentle post Christmas book. Must start Outliers next, which is my local book club book.

I am reading Granta 74: Confessions of a Middle-Aged Ecstasy Eater This magazine has a number of articles and short stories.

>13 Sibylle.Night: Sibylle, chacun a son gout...but Virginia Woolf was an upper-class Englishwoman whose formally experimental novels were contemporary to ol' Icky's, and I was wowed by them.

Anywho...mckait, all...this is the last you'll hear of this ghastly woman from me. I promise to grit my teeth, put my head down, and bull through the last 15pp without further moaning.

Right now I'm reading Deadly Harvest by Heather Graham & One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

Finished Locked Rooms by Laurie R. King, and I am about to start Matters of Honor by Louis Begley.

I finished The Thirteenth Tale and also squeezed in Karnak Cafe and The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop. I finally made it to the library and picked up a couple of Steinbeck's novels, so I think I'll start with Of Mice and Men tonight.

#37 - I'd have to say at this point I'm noncomittal about further Fowles, which considering my TBR pile means it'll probably be a while until I read anything else by him. I have to admit, I am picky about plot twists. I think they can be quite good; I think the best ones feel both surprising and inevitable. But too many of them leave a story feeling artificial to me. The Magus sort of crossed that line for me.

Glad I didn't discourage you too much, hope you get more out of it than I did.

I just finished Heart of Darkness and am now going to finish up the year with something light, The Great Train Robbery. This leaves only 4 more Crichton books left to read.

Last night I finished The Implacable Order of Things. The story was okay, but the pseudo-philosophizing drove me nuts. Stuff like "a sun inside a sun inside a sun...." (Perhaps if I still smoked pot I would have liked it more.) Today I finally got to A Mercy. I really did like this one even though it took a while to figure out who was talking in each chapter. Toni Morrison definitely deserves all the acclaim she has received.

>1 richardderus: richardredus and
>36 bookaholicgirl: bookaholicgirl
Pray tell, what is an "RL" bookclub/cirlce?

I'm still reading Lottery by Patricia Wood. I keep wanting to step in and warn the protagonist.

My mp3 player is with my disabled vehicle at another location so I'm making no progress at all on Edgar Sawtelle but really missing it.

I'm partway through Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell and Beijing Confidential by Jan Wong. Both are extremely interesting and it's been hard to put them down.

I don't know what's next. I've got so many things to read. Though I am leading towards Temple of the Golden Pavillion by Yukio Mishima since it is a library book and all (except that I work at this library and can renew it all I want as long as no one else wants it.)

I'm currently reading The Time Traveler's Wife and Rainbow Six. I'm finishing up The Pirate Loop as well.

I think Monday I'll run by the library and grab World War Z, but I don't know.

My 1001 Books to Read Before you Die will arrive sometime over the next week or so.

reading Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard by Kiran Desai.. liking it so far, just not quite sure where its going :)

Should finish Tears of Autumn by Charles McCarry before 2009 hits. Interesting hook for a spy novel. The parts of the book about Christopher's personal life are by far the weakest of the book and had me wanting to chuck it @ page 50. Glad I kept on.

Made a drastic decision about my growing pile of unreads: Starting with Christmas 2008 for each book added to the pile a different one goes to the bookseller. I got eight books for Christmas, so far. Won't banish the condemned until after New Years when my Christmas will be over. At least the pile to read will come down and that's the point isn't it?

Am about 100 pgs into Helen Fielding's Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination. It's good so far, though not as entertaining as her others.

>49 ireed110:,
I am neither richardderus or bookaholicgirl, but I can answer: RL usually means "real life."
---

I'm still reading American Wife, but I'm also working my way through Lost in Austen. I'm excited to try out all the different paths. My best friend bought this for me for Christmas.

Still working on All the Pretty Horses. Not as much reading going on because of the holidays. I do hope to get it finished before it's due back to the library this time.

i'm more than halfway through The Sorrow of Belgium by Hugo Claus. very engaging coming-of-age story set during the German occupation of Belgium in the early 1940s.

The monster of Florence, a non-fiction book by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi, about a serial killer who killed 14 people between 1968 and 1985.

The restless supermarket. Ivan Vladislavic Boring... but I'm so intrigued I go on!

>51 redcard:: redcard- I recommend grabbing World War Z with both hands. This was one of my favorite surprises of the year! Great stuff!

>49 ireed110: ireed, what shootingstarr said is exactly right..."Real Life" as opposed to online.

I began Manhunt by James L. Swanson last night. Gripping, even though I know how it ends.

I am currently reading The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky... Up to page 201 so far. I have been reading it for a couple of weeks now (I am not very quick in between working and other things). I am enjoying it although am now wondering if I will ever read another book again or if I will indeed remain trapped with The Idiot !!!

I've been reading Susan Higginbotham's The Traitor's Wife for most of the past week. I haven't had a ton of time with doing family stuff, but it seems to be going a bit slowly, although I like it.

Finishing up a short read, Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal followed by another short read, William Gaddis's last, Agape Agape.

Also starting Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia.

An exciting handful of books to finish up the year!

I've just finished The Bread and Butter Stories by Mary Norton which was boring as hell. So tedious it took me five days to finish even though it's only 200 pages long and I'm on holiday.
Now I'm anxiously waiting for 2009 to begin so I can start Sabriel by Garth Nix.

Odd Hours liking it.

>61 richardderus:: richard- I read Manhunt and found it to be an incredible story. It read like a fast-paced thriller and was superbly researched. I heard HBO is going to make a mini-series out of it. If they take their time, like they did with the "John Adams" series, it'll be something to be excited about.

#35 msf59--I'm about 40 pages from finishing Revolutionary Road and am taking a break so I can prepare myself for the ending. You're right. It's outstanding.

I finished reading Stopped at Stalingrad this morning. I haven't selected my next book yet. I'll probably nibble at a few this evening to see what makes my mouth water.

I couldn't resist and switched the Psychic Power Nanaki manga out of my Paranormal 999 Challenge so I could read it today :-) I've finished the first two and am totally enjoying it!

After Volume 3 of PPN I plan to start Princess Nevermore which will probably be my last book of 2008.

I am about halfway through Mr. Timothy by Louis Bayard (it turns out I WILL read again!), and I am completely hooked. However, I have so much to do I have to strictly ration my reading time -- how I long to close the door and not come out 'til I'm done! After Mr. Timothy I will read Mayflower: a Story of Community, Courage and War by Nathaniel Philbrick for book club.

I am currently reading Unaccustomed Earth and Mistress of Mellyn. I hope to finish one of the books today.

I'm about halfway through Disobedience by Jane Hamilton.

I too, am reading Mr. Timothy byLouis Bayard for a library discussion. I am not fond of classics, so it is a stuggle. I am about a third of the way through.

>67 msf59: msf, oooooooooo! What good news! I have reached the part where Booth and Conger are discussing the bullet situation...towards the end of chapter 9, which is titled "Useless, Useless"...and I am very touched and impressed that such a heart-felt interchange was included in this thriller-cum-history. Shows the author has a real story-teller's eye.

I'm reading The Three Musketeers. And as of Monday I'll be reading The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, my first from dailylit.com. I think both of those will be finished sometimes in the New Year. I usually dislike reading more than one book at at time.

I finished Tales From the Captain's Table and picked up Death in Lovers' Lane for my next read.

I just finished The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason and started The Final Solution by Michael Chabon.

Just started Queen of the May by Denee Cody.

#79 - What did you think of The Final Solution?

#79 - What did you think of The Final Solution?

I started reading the 2006 ed. of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. I don't think that looking at the list will change my reading choices much, if at all, but when it comes right down to it I'm a sucker for lists of books. If nothing else, I wanted to see how many I'd read (not many so far).

Also, I'm reading Lost in a Good Book and still slowly but surely making my way through Final Harvest. (If you can't tell by how long I've been mentioning it, I find it very hard to read poetry fast...)

I am still moving along on Justinian's Flea. Now up to the part about the plague.

I also wanted something fun to read so I read The Nymphos of Rocky Flats by Mario Acevedo. It struck me as the male version of all the recent urban fantasy that has paranormal romance in it (female POV). Also a bit like the dinosaur-among-the-humans book I just read.

The main character is a PI, and he is a vampire. Before that he was a soldier in the war in Iraq where he was turned into a blood sucker. The case takes him to the nuclear facility at Rocky Flats to investigate an out-break of nymphomania among the government workers there. Besides this mystery there are vampire hunters, rogue government agents, and aliens.

The book has funny moments and a few crude ones. The writing is good and the characters are OK. He doesn't do anything really new with the vampire, though they aren't beautiful. He has short, pot-bellied vamps, so that is a bit of a relief. It is the start of the Felix Gomez series and I will read the next one XRated Bloodsuckers .

I'm just about to start Eclipse - third in the Twilight series. I'm too tired for anything serious right now.

Edited to say I changed my mind and ended up picking up The Book Thief instead.

I started reading Dirty Job by Christopher Moore last night. I LOVE his books and read over 50 pages before goin to bed!!

Thanks to biblioholic13, I'm now reading the quite weird, but fun, book of short stories The Girl on the Fridge by Etgar Keret. It's wild and wonderful so far!

Enjoying American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld...best I have read in a good while.

Still reading Lush Life by Richard Price. I'm a little further than the dust jacket this week, but not much.

>89 nancyewhite: nancy, is it time constraint or simply want of interest that's holdin' up the parade here? Sounds to me like this book isn't a good aetheric "fit" just now...what about a real jolt, something out of your usual mold that's got some *oomph* to it? I have a suggestion...we're group-reading The Coffee Trader by David Liss (our fellow Thingamabrarian) over the next month or so over here.

>90 richardderus:, Oh, I didn't know about that group read. If I can get it with one of my gift cards once I get home, I'm going to join in as well.

Started An Irish Country Doctor last night and I'm really enjoying the story and characters. Apart from the main character that is. Not sure how that works out, but it does. All I can say is, 85 pages in, I get annoyed any time he has a piece of dialogue. Love Dr. O'Reilly, though!

Just started Darkmans last night. It's a bit hard to follow at times, and the font it's printed in is a mite hard to focus on (curse you, sans serif!), but it is an enjoyable read nonetheless.

I finished Innocent Traitor: a novel of Lady Jane Grey - pretty good if you go in for that rather sensational Tudor dynnasty sort of intrigue - reminicent of Phillipa Gregory.

I am now reading The Book of Air and Shadows after hearing it praised by so many LTers. It has sucked me in so far.

I started Born to Kvetch over the weekend- it's quite good and humorous at times

I finished Christmas is Murder and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd this weekend and started My Revolutions which is great. I am also still reading Annotated Christmas Carol and Our Game. Plus a studyguide for the Microsoft Office Specialist test I need to take in the next six months.

Finished The Maltese Falcon this morning, and started reading The Talented Mr. Ripley.

>>90 richardderus:. It is partially that it isn't a good 'fit'. Given the insanity of the holidays, I'm going to give it one more day.

I have Coffee Trader on my hold list at the library so I'll definitely be doing that read with you!

About to start The Mercy Papers

I managed to finish The Wednesday Letters by Jason Wright, Mozart's Sister by Rita Charbonnier and Murder in Montparnasse by Kerry Greenwood over the Christmas holidays .... I was sorry not to have brought another book with me because I didn't have anything to read on the ferry from Long Island to New London, CT.... so I snoozed instead. :-)

I'm starting The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer this evening, and I received 2 volumes of the manga Full Metal Panic by Shouji Gatou and Fate Stay Night by that I'm eager to start reading.

cameling, I interested in your opinion of The Book of Fate. I have had it on my TBR pile for awhile and just haven't got around to reading it.

cal8769, I'm hoping this will be as good a read as I've been led to believe from reviews I've read and also from a friend's recommendation.

I finished Disobedience this morning which was o.k. Then I started A Wedding in December which I just got yesterday for $4 at Borders.

I finished Death in Lovers' Lane and decided to read something trivial The Mummy based on the movie with Brandon Fraiser. I seem to be doing a book every 24 hours and I doubt this will be any different - that is unless my life takes a dramatic turn and gets very busy.

I finished Lottery yesterday. It's about what I expected from a book about a mentally challenged man winning the lottery.

Started The Worst Hard Time last night. So far so good. I'm amazed that I never heard about this part of America's history until this book was published and I read accounts of it here.

Finished The Best Year of their Lives: Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon in 1948 (blah blah...) by Lance Morrow. Pretty good, but he did go off on lots of tangents...

Am about to start The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean.

LOVED The Madonnas of Leningrad...hope you do also. If so then read The Seige by Helen Dunmore

I am currently reading Silent Boy by Torey Hayden - very interesting so far

I have just finished (The Wild Palms) by ((Faulkner)). Majestic! Then my daughter supplied me with two volumes ((Marcel Proust)) for Christmas. So now I have entered into (A la recherche du temps perdu). I am reading it in Norwegian, and I'm not sure of the english title.

I do believe I'm binge reading in preparation for grad school resuming on the 12th and taking over my life... I'm averaging a book every 18 hours or so over the last week.

Started Harry, A History last night and went to bed at 12:30 after reading 176 pages. I'll probably finish by noon. It's engrossing to be reading a sort of history of a decade of my own life experiences, to a point.

I finished Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict two nights ago, and I'm now in the middle of Saralee Rosenberg's Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead. It's hilarious, touching and a really great read so far . . . about 100 pages in. Can't wait to get back to it after work!

Gave up on Lush Life. I see why everyone loved the dialogue, but in the end it was just too hard-edged for my current mood.

I started The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett on the trolley to work this morning. I'll probably finish it on the way home. It is charming.

Just started The Coffee Trader last night for the book club here - and am sporadically reading The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer for Toddlers - trying to "fine tune" a few things with my wee one :-)

Reading Tortilla Flat by Steinbeck before jumping into one of the many great book group reads here on LT.

Well That Went Well is next up. It arrived this morning from vine. I hope to finish it and review it by evening. ( Its pretty short.. )

I started The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman this morning and, so far I'm enjoying it very much. I have several others I am ready to begin, but I'm debating over which one to start. It will probably be Ending an Ending by Danny Birt or Night Shift by Stephen King since they are both group reads here on LT.

#108 -- Littlewish,

I recently read Somebody Else's Kids by Torey Hayden, & enjoyed the read. Pretty frustrating situations, tho. It would break my heart.

I've now added Silent Boy to my Wishlist. =)

Finished Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and will now read The Notebook.

#107 Bettyjo, am about 90 pages in and had trouble putting it down last night. My grandmother had Alzheimer's so it's bringing back some awful memories. If it stays this good, I'll be lending it to lots of friends!

Stealing God's Thunder by Philip Dray

I got it as a Christmas present from my future Mother-In-Law, she saw it while she was in Philadelphia and thought I would enjoy it since I'm a Biologist.

#1 and subsequent - richard - do you always finish every book you start? Wait! No. I seem to remember something about somebody's 50 page rule that you use. Did that book work until after page 51 or do you read all books for bookclubs? Inquiring minds, etc.

I'm sooooo glad that I'm almost done with 2008's self-imposed finish-everything-you-started rule - I only fudged 3 times, but the stress was constant and I read some real stinkers. Most years I can get by without saying I've read any stinkers simply because I don't finish them.

I just finished my ER book The American Journey of Barack Obama by The Editors of LIFE and loved it.

I'm reading a thriller for some brain candy, although it's got some great historical details to it - Napoleon's Pyramids by William Dietrich.

I will probably start Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart by Gordon Livingston next, which will be my first book of 2009 and my January Bookclub book.

>121 karenmarie: karenmarie, the Pearl Rule is invoked with GREAT regularity, but I seldom mention it because if I Pearl-Rule something, I ain't ratin' it no 3 stars which is the minimum for mention and retention.

Speaking of which...bye-bye, Space Vulture! Shudder-inducingly awful stuff. Ever so religious, which should not be a surprise since the co-author is a Catholic archbishop! Had I known that in advance, as in paid a little more attention, I would have hurled the book from me with great force.

agentash - do let me know what you think of Stealing God's Thunder when you're done with it. I saw it at the bookstore and it looked interesting. I'm trying to list the books I should get with my Xmas B&N gift cards.

I started What Angels Fear this morning and it turned out to be quite a gripping mystery ... so I ignored the giant dust bunnies cavorting under the bed and around the corners of the house, stepped over piles of papers and magazines on the floor, curled up in a sunny spot on the daybed and just lost myself among the pages. My poor husband was made to wait until I finished the book before i would agree to go out for lunch .. a late one as it turned out.

I'm just starting The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve

>117 iwillrejoice:: iwillrejoice
Twilight children was the first book i ever read by Torey Hayden and one of my favourites. Somebody Else's kids is on my wishlist, it is the last one of her books of these types i have left to read.
I am less than half my way through Silent Boy now, and if you enjoyed any other books of Torey's then you would definitely like Silent Boy :D

>116 GeorgiaDawn:, Georgia I hope you enjoy the Graveyard Book! I thought it was really cute.

#125 dancingstarfish - I actually had the opportunity to finish The Graveyard Book today! I did enjoy the book very much; fun characters.

I'm currently reading Geraldine Brooks' People of the Book, which is wonderful so far. (And a delightful gift from a LT Secret Santa!) Once I'm done, I'll be starting The Coffee Traders for the group read.

ETA: The touchstone for The Coffee Traders isn't working anymore. :(

This afternoon I finished The Big Over Easy, which I enjoyed immensely. Next up will be a pulp novel from the 30s: Call Her Savage by Tiffany Thayer. The Thayer book will be the 50th of my 50 Book Challenge. Can I finish it by tomorrow night?

I've had a crazy December (new job and moving house), so I've only finished one book for the month, almost unheard of for me! It was Daylight by Elizabeth Knox. She has a beautiful writing style, and because I read it in such a disjointed way, I don't think I appreciated it as much as it deserved. I love The Vintner's Luck (also by Knox) and I intend to try others by her also.

I decided to pull something out of Mount TBR, so I'm reading Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz.

I started The Notebook this afternoon and have already finished it (@9 pm). I've been reading a book a day but this makes two in one day. I guess I am going to finish the year with a bang.

I picked up Millennium Falcon for my next read and it's possible - what with things getting busy tomorrow - that this one ay actually not get finished until Thursday and thus will qualify for my first addition to my 999 Challenge.

I am reading A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire.

Interested to know what you think of A Lion Among Men, torontoc.

I decided to finish up the year with a couple of light readings. Finished off The Scarecrow and his Servant by Philip Pullman yesterday and hope to have The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer done before the year ends. The former was all right. Having a blast with the second.

#81 (hemlokgang) - What did I think of The Final Solution - which I finished yesterday? It was a very quick, light read which I think is geared more toward younger readers than serious Sherlock Holmes fans. Once I decided it was a juvenile, I enjoyed it as such.

I've started Stardust by Neil Gaiman. Apparently this is a reread 'cause I seem to have read the book nine years ago even though I have no memory of having done so and nothing in the story so far is ringing any bells with me.

Castle: A Novel by J. Robert Lennon... no t-stone

intriguing

Another year (almost)...another group to join. I've been lurking for awhile so thought I might as well join in. I finished off my 2008 reading with Emma which fulfills my intention to read all of the Austen works that I missed as a youth.

The book that will carry over to be my first of 2009 is So Brave, Young, and Handsome. So far I am enjoying this meandering quest set in the waning days of the Wild West.

I started The Friday Night Knitting Club this morning.

Donna-Welcome!

I tried to get interested in The Fabric of Reality last night but it is simply not happening for me today either.

It's perfect reading weather, too! Cloudy, rainy, nothing to take me outside...oh well, the mood will pass. I add my welcomes to you, Donna828, and hope 2009 proves you were wise to join in the fun.

Welcome Donna.

I am still working on The story of Edgar Sawtelle and will be into 2009. I think up next is my ER review book Etta.

Welcome, Donna. Glad you're here.

Have temporarily set aside Tortilla Flat (which I was enjoying, though I had barely begun it), to read To Dream of the Dead, which came from Amazon today. It's the perfect mystery book for a snowy day. Now if can just finish up chores so that I can read...

I am currently reading Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult. After this I only have 3 more of her books to read.

i tried to post here before...but the Site went dead while i typed!!!

anyway, i finished Dark Matter by Philip Kerr....an odd book wherein Sir Isaac Newton, as Warden of the Mint in the Tower of London...does a turn as sherlock Holmes....uncovering Counterfeiters....scurvy politicians...pretentious academics...and alchemy lurking in the wings..oh my!

started Black Girl White Girl by Joyce Carol Oates....claustrophobic atmosphere and seriously neurotic characters...vintage JCO!!!

131 and 132 - I red Lion among Men a couple of months ago and loved it - good part of the Wicked series.

I'm totally absorbed in We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. Wow! I didn't want to turn out the light last night in bed, I cannot put this down. Deep, dark and disturbing, fascinating, with excellent writing. I highly recommend! I am about 3/4's through it.

I ended the year with a bang: I finished Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. A stunning novel. I cannot recommend it higher. I started A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss. He's an author who's been popping up on these threads a lot lately and I've been sitting on this one for awhile. Based on the 1st 60 pages, it's going to be a lot of fun!
Happy New Year everyone!

Happy New Year everyone! I'm starting off the year with Mishima's Sword by Christopher Ross, which promises to be very detailed into the way of the Samurai and insight into feudal Japan.

I'm contemplating if I should continue to soldier on with The Weight of Water or if I should ditch it.

>146 cameling: cameling, drop it like it's hot. To use a 90s catchphrase. Not worth your limited time resources, please to believing me.

In case anyone browsing here in the next 2 hours (until noon Pacific time), our very own rocketjk has a jazz show on Internet radio over here! It's really cool so far!!

Thanks richard - am listening to you at breakfast time in New Zealand rocketjk!

I finished The Madonnas of Leningrad - very moving and highly recommended, especially if you have a loved one who's had Alzheimer's.

Now I'm reading The Untouchable by John Banville. It's so good that I'm going to turn the computer off very soon!

cmt, have you read John Bayley's Elegy for Iris? I thought I would cry forever. The creator of The Sea, the Sea and The Bell simply...disappearing...with the passing days. Oh my God, Alzheimer's is cruel to the bystanders.

> richard, have you seen the movie Iris which is based on this memoir? i watched it 3x and never failed to be moved each time. Kate Winslet (as the young Iris) and Judi Dench (the mature Iris) were simply marvelous.

I'm reading Influencer by Kerry Patterson and the rest of the Crucial Conversations gang. I got about halfway and the holidays came. I'd like to finish this weekend. I have started A Thousand Splendid Suns, which I've owned since right after it was published. I'm looking forward to dedicating some time to it.

>150 deebee1: deebee, oh yes...I thought Dench's performance was heart-wrenching. "When are we going? Are we going now?" as she dogs John Bayley's every footstep until he snaps at her, and then the contrite "Sorry...sorry...are we going now?"

I can't bear to watch it again.

I finished House of the Spirits which I'm glad I read, though I don't think it was as fabulous a book as many others have thought, but still, it was pretty good and memorable with it's quirky strange stories of the Treuba women.

Well, yesterday I finished Perdido Street Station, which was quite good. I'm hoping to finish El cocodrilo y otros cuentos today and get started with Confessions of a Thug by Philip Meadows Taylor.

I'm reading Gay Travels in the Muslim World for my book club. It meets on Monday and I've barely started - I need to get crackin'!

#149 Richard and #150 Deebee1, I haven't read Elegy for Iris or seen the movie. I want to read some of her novels first (ducking for cover!). I've only read one other book about Alzheimer's, Moral Hazard by Kate Jennings. It was quite good too, and very sad, but I found some of the story about her New York job was pretty irritating.

i kicked off the year with a non-fiction, Empires of the Monsoon by Richard Hall, a fascinating account of the history of the Indian Ocean and its invaders.

I finished Patricia A. McKillip's Solstice Wood early this week, and am currently into Graham Joyce's Smoking Poppy for my holiday break reading. Enjoyed the former very much and am enjoying the latter too.

richard, I did have to give up on The Weight of Water and I've put it aside for another day in the year 2015 when perhaps I will have gained the necessary maturity or boredom to read it again ... who knows, maybe i'll like it better then since I may be somewhat senile by then too.
Come to think of it, what books would a person enjoy reading if they were senile? Their mental processes would be altered and perhaps they would appreciate short books that they had no patience for before their change. hmm...

I'm still reading Mishima's Sword and it's providing me with a lot of great detail in Japanese samurai history and sword making. That in itself makes the book riveting, but it's also somewhat gory because it goes into some of the battles the sword was used in and describes the ritual behind hara-kiri.

I think I'll need something lighter for sleepy-time reading

Cruised through An Uncommon Reader on New Years Eve and began The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo on New Years Day. I am really enjoying it thus far.

Finished Millennium Falcon and it'll go to my 999 challenge.

Next I'll read The March by E. L. Doctorow.

>160 cameling: cameling, urgh...Mishima's Sword sounds very depressing to me. It's gray and cloudy here and I can't see reading a book that would so closely mirror the sky's mood. It would make me into a pancake.

I tried again with The Fabric of Reality, and had no better luck than before. I am simply not there right now.

The Greek Way by Edith Hamilton was fascinating and also orderly, as histories tend to be, which somehow exactly suited my mood.

I think the capacity to read meaningfully disappears fairly early in Alzheimer's, since the capacity to form connected memories (the basis of reading) is imipaired from the get. I wonder if kids' books would entertain the earlier-stages patient. Never thought of that....

Happy New Year!! I started The Road to Wellville by TC Boyle yesterday and am enjoying it so far

# 148> cmt, Thanks! Wow, New Zealand!

Thanks to Richard for speading the word about my show, thanks to everyone who tuned in, and apologies to anyone trying to tune in who couldn't connect with the signal. The station was having some technical difficulties that made it intermitantly impossible for folks to connect. I'll do it again in two weeks!

I also posted this on the 2009 reading thread since we seem to have 2 going at once.

I finished The Undead Kama Sutra by Mario Acevedo.

It was not as loopy as the first, and tighter than the second. So while the whimsy is gone, it is meatier, and yet tightly organized, so better than the first 2.

The aliens are back and abducting earth women, and the government is in cahoots. Didn't finish the plot, so obviously it will crop up again.

I am now reading Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell for my mystery book group. So far seems good.

nancyewhite -

Have you managed to put down The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? Although unpleasant in spots, I did find it riveting. I read it in record time for me.

Finished The Three Musketeers. It didn't take me nearly as long as I thought it would. Started reading Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. Don't know what to think quite yet.

I had put Seventy-Seven Clocks down for a spell and I've just picked it up again ... it's proving to be the perfect light and silly foil to the pendantic Mishima's Sword which, while interesting, is pretty heavy going.

I finished Faceless Killers the first book in the Kurt Wallander series. It is a mystery set in Sweden in Ystad, and Kurt is a police officer.

The story is about an elderly couple killed on a remote farm. Very messy murder, and their one neighbor, another farm family, didn't see or hear anything in the night. There are tensions in the country about immigrants and some suspect the killers are foreigners so there are hate crimes popping up too. The book is set in 1990 I think, around the time that a lot of Eastern Europeans were fleeing their poor countries.

It was very good and I enjoyed it. The book was translated from Swedish. At some point I will continue with the rest, but don't have them now.

I am reading the last of the Rex books about dinosaurs who live among us in latex suits. The book is Hot and Sweaty Rex by Eric Garcia. The main character Vincent Rubio is a Raptor and a PI. The first 2 books he was in LA, this book he is in Miami, and involved with the dinosaur Mafia. Not sure what the mystery is yet.

Just finished To Dream of the Dead by Phil Rickman and will now go back to Tortilla Flat by Steinbeck before beginning Pere Goriot for one of the group reads and, perhaps The Coffee Trader for another group read, if I can manage to make it to a bookstore today.

FicusFan and Snash--I keep hearing good things about both Faceless Killers and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. May have to try them soon.

I finished Final Harvest (my last book of 2008) and Lost in a Good Book (1st book of 2009). I'm now reading The Shack and enjoying it pretty well so far.

Still going through 1001 Books to Read Before You Die, though it's slow going because like the OCD reader I am I have to make note of which books I have already read. Though I'm not planning on trying to read all 1001 books, I'm still making note of which books I have and haven't read, and which books I want to read. Just can't say no to lists of books, I guess...

I'm now beginning Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb.

Christmas break is productive for reading. I've just finished reading The Time Traveller's Wife and The Lord of the Flies. I'm now making my way through The Ghost Brigades.

I finished Graham Joyce's Smoking Poppy in the wee hours of the morning, I couldn't put it down!