AlcottAcre's 2009 Reads, Take 2

Since the January thread was lengthy, I decided I had better start anew, although I think I will just leave the tickers over there and update them rather than having to move them repeatedly. For those interested in reading a thread the word-wise equivalent of something like War and Peace, my former thread can be found here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/51105

My memorable reads for 2009 thus far are:

Nonfiction
Bound for the Promised Land by Kate Clifford Larson
Crazy Horse by Mari Sandoz
The Plays and Poems of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Volume 1

Fiction
Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Tethered by Amy MacKinnon
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Maus by Art Spiegelman

In looking at the list for thus far in the year, I am struck by the fact that the nonfiction list is not longer and that I have no Young Adult books on it so far . . .Hmmm . . .

My Must Read List for 2009:

Vietnam: A History - currently reading
The Best Year of Their Lives
Parting the Waters, Pillar of Fire and At Canaan's Edge
The Search for Modern China
A River Running West
The Adventure of English
Moonheart
Rediscovering America: John Muir in His Time and Ours
The Proud Tower
When Titans Clashed
The 900 Days
Neverwhere - Read 2/16/09
Sin in the Second City
Fatal Justice
Modern Times
Noah’s Choice: The Future of Endangered Species
The Fortress of Solitude
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
Coming out of the Ice
Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Arms of Nemesis
The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft
Excellent Women
A Game of Thrones
Black Swan Green
Bard
In the Shadows of War
Penmarric
Clockers
The Heaven Tree Trilogy - Parts 2 and 3
Doctor Thorne - slated to read in February
Inkspell - slated to read in February
I Should Be Extremely Happy in Your Company
Shadow of the Silk Road
Galileo’s Daughter
The Namesake
My Faraway Home
Christine Falls
Intimate Kill
Job, a Comedy of Justice
Keeper of the Light
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation - Read 02/10/09
Cultural Literacy
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Speak, Memory
A Prayer for Owen Meany - slated to read in February
A Separate Peace
Cryptonomicon
And the Dead Shall Rise
Move Your Shadow
Shutter Island
Dog Man
The March - I promised Joyce not to read this one!
Peace Like a River
Tree of Smoke - Read 02/21/09

And in honor of Richard (because I was just going to leave the tickers where they were):




And again, for lunacat:




I keep trying to get my stupid Touchstones to work correctly, but I am not having much success at it, so ignore them for the most part.

Oh thank goodness! Now you just need to import the ticker, and all will be well.

haha, stopping by to star your thread -- maybe I can keep up this time. :)

Found you! :)

Got the new one starred. Good thing February is a short month, huh?

#5: Yes!

BTW - Thanks to everyone for stopping by the new place.

Love the new digs -- also starring this one!

*waves*
I'm enjoying lurking in your thread(s)!

I followed you too! hehe enjoying your reviews!

Good to see us all here, we will make this one too 500 posts long in no time :)

I couldn't remember who it was that had been reading Crazy Horse, but it must have been you! I found that one used, and added it to my pile. I don't usually read more than one book at a time, but I am considering picking up both
Team of Rivals or at least having a look at it, and I have to read Skeletons at the Feast to review it .. so maybe.....

Or maybe neither.. I will mull .....

Hi! I'm here too. I would be completely lost around LT without you and whisper and a couple of others.
So, I'm starring your new thread to keep you close at hand.

#12: Glad I can be of service. You'll be an old hand in no time!

*starring thread and wishing you that the talks + the books are as great on this thread as they were on the previous one!*

OK, it's like this: I posted the books I read this past week and my thoughts on them about 6:30 this morning and as soon as I hit the 'submit' button, Library Thing decided to go down. I am not a happy camper. It is 8:30am CT, I just got home from work, and I am going to sleep for a little bit and then do nothing but bask in the Super Bowl goings on all day long. I will re-post everything some time before Monday morning - maybe.

What! I woke up this morning thinking, "Stasia is going to post her books today - can't wait to see what she has been reading!" and now I have to wait a whole other day!! I don't know if I can make it..... LOL

*taps feet impatiently*

Found your second thread and swiftly starred, Alcottacre. Super bowl vs LT?? What an easy choice.

Lol, naughty LT is conspiring against you!! It wants to slow down your reading lol

mckait @ #11....
yes, yes, yes do read Team of Rivals!
An amazing book - so many people, the complicated times and yet Goodwin tells a story in such a way it is hard to put it down. As you can probaly tell, she is one of my favorite writers; it has been wonderful to see this book brought back to prominence as well as Ms. G. herself featured on so many media outlets this presidential season. She is brilliant and accomplished and yet one feels you could sit down and easily talk with her - although I'd probably mumble and sputter and sound like an idiot!

#19 I can not wait any longer! I am ordering this book TODAY, no not today, right NOW! I've got to have it.

#15. Stasia, I can feel your pain, as well as your anger, at losing all your work. It used to happen to me frequently when Blogger was a lot less stable, so I devised two safety valves (both for my temper and writing):

1. Write in Microsoft Word or whatever you use and copy and paste it into this box. If LT goes down, you still have your original. Microsoft's HTML is "special", though, and italics and bold won't carry over--you will have to do it in this box.

2. If you're using this box exclusively, highlight your work frequently and copy it to your clipboard. When LT crashes, all you'll lose is the latest work since you last copied.

LT is not very stable, especially when the online count is over 300. And LT could benefit from a decent editor with a save function so losing your work wouldn't happen.

I empathize.

It is an easy read. I am enjoying it :)

#21: CharlieBrain, I appreciate your help, but unfortunately in this case neither option would work for me. When I realized that LT was going down, I copied the post, but I was at work when I posted it, and home when LT finally came back up, sigh.

#21: LT could benefit from a number of improvements--it's not a terribly user-friendly site.

#24 Joycepa

That's probably it's still in Beta form. They've made a lot of improvements just since I joined a little over a year ago (and some changes that I'm not so fond of!). And they do have a place for you to make suggestions for improvement--but I don't have time to hunt for it right now. It might be on the Groups page.

#25: MusicMom--I agree about the changes--I've been a member for nearly 2 years now, and I've seen some good things and some why bother things. I really like the Home Page, but there are a whole lot of other aspects that are very poor. It's about the only major Web site that I know of--with over 300,000 subscribers yet--that forces you to use HTML so often. I can, but it's a royal pain in the rear. There still are some things you can't edit and a good deal of the help is buried in bizarre places. Now--this may seem weird--but I do like statistics (so long as I don't have to do them myself). At this point, I wonder why LT even bother with the Zeitgeist page, because for major sections, they don't update the statistics. For months. Last time had to be three -four months ago.

I've done the suggestions. Oh well.

#23. I'm sorry that you were in two different places at two different times so my suggestions didn't work.

I love LT and the people I've met here, but I think LT spends more time on useless bells and whistles, which tax the system, than on things like a good editor--which Joyce is talking about in #26.

I'm thrilled with LT. Been using shelfari.com for my TBR/wishlist and it just doesn't do what I want it to do, even for these little lists :) (I'm not Stasia with 3000!)

#27: always good to have someone tell me what I'm talking about, Charlie! :-) Though seriously, all I know is what I can't do. I think that there are a lot of useless bells and whistles. I look at some of the things that I can "do" and wonder why anyone in the world outside of staff at LT would want to do them.

orangeena - I have also 'pawed' Team of Rivals a few times but never checked it out or bought it - perhaps because it looks so dense and I am not hugely interested in American Politics/history. Do you think I would like it or is it too full of names and dates and requiring a good basic US history first??

Joycepa

Maybe the reason I'm not as frustrated as you is because I not very "techie" as you've probably figured out. I can't do html unless there is something to click that will then do it for me--unless the thingie for italics is html? If so, I can do bold and italics. I can also now create a link to a thread thanks to someone who told me how and I have the directions right beside me. Unfortunately I can't make the thingie to put in the message I want to link to so I have to just give them the message number. After the threads get so long, there is no point--so I don't make links, either.

I would be very happy if someone could make these things easier. I would also like a spell check. On my computer I use foxfire which has one so it's not a problem except when I have to use someone else's computer, like my husband's, which use explorer. So when you see lots of misspelled words I'm on a guest computer!

So I do agree, I wish some things were easier for those of us--I don't think I'm the only one!--who don't know how to do much more that type and search on a computer. :-) I'd also like the touchstones and the thingies to work in the comment areas on the profile page--if anybody's "listening!" :-)

edited to end the italics--I forgot when I made the symbol you wouldn't see that, you'd get italics. maybe there is no help for me!

MusicMom--actually, that's my complaint--I'm not techie myself! That's why I'd like to see the site more user-friendly.

#30:kiwidoc: No, Team of Rivals is not too full of names and dates and does not require an in-depth knowledge of US history. For the average American (who more or less knows that Lincoln was one of the US Presidents and not much more) i would be sufficient, I think. BUT you would have to have an interest either in Lincoln or the era or the war or something around that, if you're not from the US, to enjoy it. I'm not sure how many people who are not from the US would find the US Civil War and Lincoln's handling of it to be all that interesting. I enjoy reading about the history of other nations--I'm particularly fond of British history--but to be utterly honest with you, I'm not sure if I'd pick up an equivalent book on, say, Canadian history (although you folks have been smart enough to stay away from Civil Wars).

It's a brilliantly written book and it has deep resonances or any of us who were raised in the US (even though some of us may have rejected it to live in other countries). I think there is such a thing as deep unconscious roots and knowledge if you will, a knowingness that simply comes from having lived in a country and culture so that you know all the signals and clues. For example, even though I will apply for Panamanian citizenship this year, I will NEVER be a real Panamanian because I have not grown up here with the culture. I flat out know that I won't be as interested in some aspects of the history of the country because it won't have the same emotional meaning.

so--it's an absolutely brilliant book--a page turner --BUT BUT only if you have a real interest in Lincoln and the single most defining event in US history after the Revolutionary War and drafting of the Constitution--the US Civil War. The US was a collection of states before the Civil War--afterwards, it was one nation.

kiwidoc -

I bow to joycepa's conclusions about Team of Rivals - well expressed and worth noting when contemplating reading.

Only one addition: Goodwin's thesis - that Lincoln was particularly brilliant to bring his closest political rivals into his circle of government and the doing so strengthened his presidency and the story of how each of those rivals, groomed, deserving, and seemingly poised for the presidency themselves, came to honor and deeply respect Lincoln as their leader is unique. That slant makes the book more than just another rendition of the greatness of Lincoln in the nation's darkest hour - which has been told and retold in many books.

This week's reads redux:

42. A Dog's Life by Peter Mayle - I have read all of Mayle's Provence books, but this one disappointed me

43. The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen by M.T. Anderson - a kid's mystery featuring 3 friends, 6 quintuplets, an old time cowboy and his cartoon horse, told with great humor and fun, who could resist?; this book is the second in the series, so I have already procurred the first one Whales on Stilts; recommended

44. Spoken Here by Mark Abley - nonfiction; a big 'thank you' to TadAD for the recommendation of this one; a journalist's tales of travelling around the world investigating disappearing languages and the people who are trying to keep them alive; recommended, especially for those with an interest in languages and linguistics

45. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien - this book was shelved at my library in the young adult section, where in my mind it clearly does not belong - this is a book for everyone young adult age and older to read, it is already on my list of memorable reads for this year; highly recommended

46. A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell - none of Russell's books measures up to the impossibly high standard she set for herself with her first book The Sparrow IMHO; after what was a rough start for me, though, this book really picked up steam and held its own; recommended

47. Maus by Art Spiegelman - don't let the fact that this is a graphic novel fool you, the subject matter is very adult: it is the biography of Spiegelman's father, a Jew, who survived concentration camps during WWII; this has also made my memorable reads of the year; highly recommended

48. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney - after 3 war stories in a row, I needed a break and this definitely fit the bill; my girls had been urging me to read it because it was so funny, and they were right; recommended

49. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood - this was the first Atwood book I ever read, but I do not think it will be the last; I really enjoyed this book and its similarity to Robinson Crusoe (even down to footprints in the sand); recommended

50. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan - the second book in the Percy Jackson series, and I preferred this one to the first, perhaps just because of the familiarity with the characters; recommended

51. The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson - I still do not know whether I like this book or not, there was just so much to absorb; I did not love it, I did not hate it, but I think it would bear re-reading just to get everything straight in my mind

52. Plays and Poems of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Volume 2 - I was disappointed in this volume since I liked the first volume so much, but although I really enjoyed The School for Scandal, I liked The Critic less, and by the last 2 plays, The Camp (I am not even sure that is called a play, it was kind of wonky) and The Forty Thieves, I just wanted the book to end

53. Motherhood is Murder by Mary Daheim et al - my first February read, a cozy mystery anthology and a disappointment; it suffers from what a lot of anthologies suffer from - unevenness of the entries; I really liked the first story of the anthology, but could not stand the 4th one, which on top of everything else, had really sloppy editing

January wrap up: 52 books read, 12 of which were nonfiction, so I am on target for my 150 nonfiction reads this year. I have also started both Don Quixote and War and Peace for my group reads, and Vietnam: A History toward my personal reading goal for the year.

Way to go! I am going to read Sparrow this summer and based on your mini review, its a must.

Catey

The Sparrow is a must read, although parts of it are emotionally difficult. Russell hit a home run out of the ballpark with that book. I love it.

I've added The Sparrow to my wish list.

Wow, found the thread to beat all threads :)

I have been following your reading with interest, and have managed to add a couple of books to the list already. I can heartily endorse Atwood. I recently read Alias Grace which was just wonderful, and have read a few others. I agree with your comments on Oryx and Crake, and I am interested in the Percy Jackson books so I will try harder to keep up with all your reading this year!

#38: Thanks for dropping by judylou. I have added several books from your thread, so I am glad to be able to repay the favor.

I have Alias Grace on my Continent already because I think the subject matter would be one of interest for me, so I am hoping to be able to get a copy soon.

Hi Stasia
I can't believe that is the first Atwood novel you have read, but you have a real treat in store! She has written some fantastic fiction including The Blind Assassin and The Handmaid's Tale.
Ceri

#40: I will add those to my Continent, too. Thanks for the recommendations.

Joyce.. I am only about 175 pages into it, but I have to say that from now on, whenever I see Obama stand to speak, I will see Lincoln standing behind him nodding approval. It is a wonderful and easy reading biography of some intriguing men in history and their families. Loving it, and agree that if you are not interested in the Civil War etc, it may bot be for you.

#33: I agree with you--in fact, that is Goodwin's central thesis, and she does a great job!

Now--why would a Canadian or New Zealander or Brit would want to read a book that is advertised to tell you all about how Lincoln handled Salmon Chase, William Seward, Edward Bates (that well-known household figure), Stanton, Blair and the rest--for nearly 800 pages? and in a US civil war that happened nearly 150 years ago? I might read an article about Tony Blair's relationships with his cabinet, for example, but that's because I lived through the era and Blair's actions directly affected me. I'm even sure I'd read about Neville Chamberlain. But 750 pages worth? I don't think so.

That's why I think it's best to say that the book has appeal for the reasons I listed above, because only then does someone from another country have even a faint chance, especially if they're not into US politics and history, of enjoying the book. Much as those of us from the US may revere Lincoln (and he is one of the two heroes I have left), frankly he was NOT a world leader or a world figure. As a matter of fact, Palmerston and the rest of the British government of the time were far more sympathetic to the South. These topics are of primary interest to us.

I consider Team of Rivals to be one of the best books I've ever read--but it's not a book that I would automatically recommend to someone from another country unless he/she were interested in the era or Lincoln himself. Then, yes, because Goodwin's book is more than just about his Cabinet. Remember, he was great to us, not necessarily to the rest of the world, although I'm sure most respect him for what he did and regard him as one of our greatest Presidents, probably second to FDR as far as impact on the world is concerned.

Stasia, I am so glad you enjoyed Maus - my best friend received the second volume for her birthday, so I am borrowing it as soon as she is finished with it. Thanks for the review of The Things They Carried. I read about it on someone else's thread (Whisper's I think), and plan to read it too. Oryx and Crake goes on the TBR list as well!

Thanks for updating your reading :)

Cait - I have volume 2 of Maus already, I just have not gotten to it yet. I am hoping to get to it some time this week - the Vietnam War keeps getting in the way of WWII for me, lol.

I too enjoyed Spoken Here so am glad to find others who have read it. And I second everything you say about The Things They Carried and Maus.

>34 alcottacre:: Stasia, I had the same reaction to A Dog's Life...I've come to expect a lot of simple fun from Mayle, but that book disappointed.

Glad you enjoyed Spoken Here and sorry A Diamond Age wasn't more to your (immediate) liking. I enjoy cyberpunk—it sits on the border of that genre—so I felt at home in it. Since you're not sure, I would ignore recommendations (including those I've made) for things like Neuromancer, which go more heavily in that direction.

Stasia, may I interject a small Atwood note? I know you've added The Handmaid's Tale to your TBRland, but I really think a little heads-up is in order about the subject matter's bias...Atwood is NOT a writer whose opinions are subtle and carefully masked.

Enter in with every expectation of encountering great writing and storytelling, and also a strongly anti-religion argument. At the time it came out, it was seen as a warning that religious conservatives were out to return women's conditions of life to the Middle Ages. I see that clearly in the book's tendentious social sections.

I don't suggest avoiding it for those reasons, simply that a well-informed reader is often a happier reader. FWIW, I know you read past mere prejudices with an eye to understanding what the fools are talking about; but no one likes to start a read expecting one thing and getting another.

Richard: Yes, Atwood definitely wears her heart (and her opinions) on her sleeve. Interestingly, though, having read The Handmaid's Tale several times over the years, I always get different things out of it. When the book first came out in the 1980s, the American religious conservative movement was really gaining ground and was in many ways an unknown entity. Twenty years later, we have all seen that movement grow and change so that it seems a bit more like just another thread in our political fabric.

However, reading The Handmaids Tale now, in the 2000s, I find that one can either read about the "religious takeover" and think about places like Afghanistan, where at least part of Atwood's story is already true; or one can read it a bit more metaphorically - it's more about the dangers of "too much."

And with our recent financial troubles, the way that women are made powerless at the beginning of The Handmaid's Tale will seem awfully prescient to anyone who reads it now.

Joyce and orangeena - thanks for the comments on the Team of Rivals. Truthfully Canadian history is the most boring history in the entire world, but that might be because I was brought up in England on Kings and Queens. Even New Zealand history is more engaging than Canadian.

alcott - I really appreciated Maus last year. Your reading list is amazing. Looks like about one book per day!?

I third/fourth/fifth the recommendation for Margaret Atwood, especially The Handmaid's Tale and Alias, Grace. The Handmaid's Tale is certainly a different and challenging read but one that is very worth the read. Don't expect happiness but do expect it to make you think.

I would like to recommend to those who esteem The Handmaid's Tale the book Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin. Published a year before Atwood's book, it is set in a similar society but evolves in quite a different direction. If nothing else, it is fascinating to compare and contrast the two books for their similar visions given the societal changes of the early 80's, but Elgin is also a linguist and poses some fascinating what if's in her story. Also quite well written. And then if you want to complete the set, try Sheri Tepper's Gibbon's Decline and Fall, published 12 years later. With more of a feminist agenda and not as high a level of writing, although still better than average, it also explores women's place in a modern religious right society. Warning: it took me two days after finishing it to be able to speak civilly to my husband again, but I did have a lot of fun with it.

>52 ronincats: Thanks, ronincats. I've added both to my wishlist.

Thanks for the recommendations, have gone onto the wishlist, given how much I liked The Handmaid's Tale. It was one of only about 3 books I read as school assignment that I actually enjoyed!!

Ronincats--thanks for the recommendations for Native Tongue and Gibbons Decline and Fall. I am going to add those to my pile.

I too highly recommend The Handmaid's Tale. I see it as a cautionary novel of a dystopian world that resulted from extremism and hypocrisy. In that way, I think that its theme is somewhat similar to Oryx and Crake, although the two books are completely different.

>49 Talbin: Talbin points well taken, and the overarching theme of the "dangers of 'too much'" is a very apt redaction. It speaks to all of us all of the time.

Point of interest: And with our recent financial troubles, the way that women are made powerless at the beginning of The Handmaid's Tale will seem awfully prescient to anyone who reads it now...do you mean to say that you find the current economic crisis is already, or will in future, cause/ing women's economic gains (such as they've been) to erode or vanish? Do you foresee a return to the 1930s-forward social mantra of wife/mother best, "career girl" distant second? Chilling vision, if so, and may you be as wrong as anyone can possibly be!

>52 ronincats: ronincats *choo* sorry but typing the c-word makes me sneeze, Suzette Haden Elgin wrote the Ozark Trilogy, which I adored! When Native Tongue was published, I thought the idea of a "wrist computer" was far-fetched...now I own one, calling it my cellphone. She is an underappreciated author of high talent and superb storytelling skill. Her clarity of vision can really only be appreciated now. She deserves a rennaissance.

>56 richardderus: richardderus - The financial thing - No, I'm not quite saying that, although I have personally lost my job and am now at home. But, you bring up an excellent point. If the economic crisis lasts too long old animosities could potentially be rekindled - people who believe they "deserve" jobs more than others - i.e., based on gender, race, immigration status (especially this), etc. But, I am also one of those people who have gained an awful lot of hope for the future from the election of our new president, and will assume this type of thing would not be allowed to run rampant.

But, back to The Handmaid's Tale! At the very beginning of the book, the authorities initially gain control of women by taking over their financial instruments (bank accounts, savings, etc.). Because it's all computerized, it happens chillingly quickly and it is a very effective way of keeping women dependent on men until the powers that be can make all their changes. Even back in the mid-80's when I first read it, for me this little tidbit was one of the most realistic and frightening aspects of the book. It would be so very easy for a corrupt banking and/or political system to wreak havoc in this way.

>56 richardderus: Richard, dear, I loved everything about the Ozark Trilogy except the ending. I loved the society she created. And so those checking out Native Tongue know, there are two sequels, but the first is the best and completely intact in story on its own. the others were written later, I think after the first had such an impact.

>57 Talbin: Talbin, boo hiss on the job loss, though thee and me are hardly alone in this predicament. I see what you're saying, and with the "failure" *snort* of so many banks here lately, I wonder if we're not seeing the thin edge of Atwood's Wedge here. I know my bank collected my gender data when I opened my account in 1983, which verschmeckled me at the time...how many girls do you know named "Richard"?...but takes on Orwellian overtones when viewed this way....

> 58 ronin*choo*, I never knew about the sequels! I shall investigate forthwith, and thanks for the tip.

RE: 57

I think the financial institution idea is a solid one. I remember when my parents divorced in the 80s, my mother was very upset that she could not get a credit card in her name only, but my father could. The really interesting thing was that she made more money than my father. Things like this could have directly effected Atwood's ideas on money and women. Essentially freeing up money and property so that women were allowed to own and inherit it is what allowed women control of their lives and the right to vote. Take money and property away, no more freedom. I can easily see something like The Handmaid's Tale happening. All you need is a small splinter group and bad times to get the ball rolling. Look at Hitler!

>59 richardderus: For your ease in looking, the titles are The Judas Rose and Earthsong.

>61 ronincats: I have located and added to wishlist and curse you for reminding me the book exists! :-P

>60 jmaloney17: jmaloney, DON'T SAY THAT OUT LOUD!!!! It's all too possible, and I shiver at the potential for horrifying consequences if some malign Force decides to listen in on us! (I'm only half kidding.)

I also want to recommend The Handmaid's Tale, which was one of several novels I read for a government and politics class in college -- very interesting to read it in that context.

I'm intrigued by Spoken Here and will be adding it to the wishlist! I wonder, did it mention the island of Ocracoke off of North Carolina here in the US? I know there used to be a group that spoke a mixture of Elizabethan English and Native American languages. The island is isolated and only accessible by boat, but the fisherman who spoke the aforementioned melange of languages (and their industry) were dying off ten years ago when I was last there.

Random note about Oryx and Crake -- the intelligent parrot, "Alex," mentioned in the novel was indeed real and I "met" him while working at MIT.

#48: Richard dear, thanks for the heads up regarding The Handmaid's Tale. I know that you know that I am religious conservative, but I would never under any circumstances recommend going back to the Middle Ages, for either men or women.

#49: Talbin, I will bear your comments in mind when I read The Handmaid's Tale. Thanks!

Oh, and I am sorry to hear about your job loss as well. I hope you find something to your liking soon.

#64: Missy, I do not remember him mentioning the island of Ocracoke, unless he did it in passing and I just missed it. Sounds like a fascinating place.

#50: Thanks for the compliment, kiwidoc!

Stasia,

Love the discussions on your thread and your comments on the interesting books you have read.

After lurking here for a while, I thought I'd finally shed my cloak of invisibility to add my thanks to Ronincats for the recommendations for fans of The Handmaid's Tale, which sound fascinating. After loving it at school (like lunacat) I feel like I should go and re-read it now, to see if it is as good as I remember. But I'm scared that I won't enjoy it as much when I do.

I always associate The Gate to Women's Country with The Handmaid's Tale, for some reason. I suppose that's because I categorise both as dystopias in which gender dictates roles and opportunities. The first, however, is fashioned predominantly by women, the second by men.

I also have Oryx and Crake on my TBR list, and the positive comments have encouraged me to move it closer to the top.

#69: Thanks for dropping by and coming out of lurkdom, seekingflight!

Let me know what you think of Oryx and Crake once you have a chance to read it. It seems to be one of those you either hate it or love it type of books.

A very interesting exploration on gender and roles is Ursula LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness. It's "sci-fi" but LeGuin is a master at using sci-fi and fantasy as media for exploring social issues. This was written decades ago, but it a beautiful book. I reread it every few years but carefully--I have an autographed copy and it will have to last.

#71: I think the only book I have ever read by LeGuin was the first book in the Earthsea series. I will look for The Left Hand of Darkness as well.

Would you like a reading copy? I could send you one and then you would not have to read the one you are so carefully preserving.

#34: Thanks for jarring my memory about Maus by Art Spiegelman and Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. They're quite popular at my work, and I've been meaning to give them a try. Nice reviews of them. :)

#73: Glad I could help!

As an Aussie/Kiwi hybrid, I thought I'd let you know that I will also be adding Team of Rivals to Mount TBR. (Thanks Joyce and Orangeena for your comments and reviews.)

I wonder if there is a broader, cross-national appeal to the story of Lincoln's leadership and the way he was able to meld his rivals and potential enemies into a dedicated team who honoured and respected him (to paraphrase Orangeena in #33).

I read Gallipoli a while ago - a history very relevant to our own Aussie and NZ sense of identity and national mythology, but with potentially narrower appeal for a general audience. I was surprised to find that what I enjoyed the most was not the historical details, but the portrayal of the politicians and generals who played a major part in the history that unfolded, the interactions between them, their individual strengths and flaws, and the way in which these might have interacted to affect the course of events.

This sounds like another potentially interesting book with perhaps similar drawcards, despite the dissimilarity of the subject matter, although I suppose it remains to be seen how far through those 800 or so pages I get ...

#75: Team of Rivals is definitely worth the read, but Joyce (at least I think it was Joyce) is correct that the appeal of the book is primarily to Americans. Still, I'd like to see your input on it once you have had a chance to read it. I personally think it is a terrific book!

I will take a look at Gallipoli, too. I think it may already be residing on the Continent somewhere, but rather than waste time looking, I will just add it again :)

#75: When I try to get past my personal prejudices in favor of the book, I find it difficult to evaluate the appeal to others. I think it would have some, to those who are interested in the history of other countries. Lincoln has become a mythic figure whose appeal crosses national boundaries. I think that Team of Rivals might appeal to people looking for an outstanding read on Lincoln BUT really felt compelled to warn about the potential for a much narrower appeal, particularly in the many pages Goodwin devotes to the others. I ate those pages up like a starving person who finds herself at a banquet, but then I am who I am--someone from the US, no matter where I now live, and an American Civl War fanatic as well.

I always have these terribly mixed feelings in such cases; the book is brilliantly written no matter who reads it, but.

Ok, enough of my public agonizing.

>77 Joycepa:: Perhaps you're stressing yourself too much. Team of Rivals is still on my TBR pile, but I've read other Goodwin books and heard her speak a few times. She's wonderful at making history come alive.

The mythology of Lincoln is perhaps peculiarly American, but I think she can probably make anyone interested in something she addresses.

Reading this thread I am reminded of how ignorant I am when it comes to literature and things literary! wow. I have my bachelors and have almost all the coursework toward my masters, but I am, it appears, woefully uneducated in this sphere. bother.

Announcing here as it is most-read thread that I have given up, as of today, my goal of reading all the threads in this group. If it had stayed the size of last years' I could have, but... The bummer is that I know I'm going to miss good stuff! Happy reading folks.

#79: I hope you drop by on occasion!

Oh I haven't given up reading threads... just given up trying to read them all :)

Sorry to be misleading

seekingflight - well done on deciding re. Team of Rivals. I am probably going to give it a go too - I have read glowing reviews on the book. She is obviously a literary phenomenon. A good writer is always worth reading.

This is a dangerous thread, really dangerous - it builds up the TBR pile to dizzying heights.

I'll be very interested to read what you two think about Team of Rivals. I think Goodwin is every bit as good a historical writer as Shelby Foote, and I can have no higher praise.

#78: I really don't think that Lincoln's mythology is just US--my father was from Italy, and knew about and respected Lincoln from what he learned in school--not all of it necessarily accurate! But then that's what myths are about.

>69 seekingflight: re: seekingflight's mention of The Gate to Women's Country as an opposite vision to The Handmaid's Tale--this is also by Sheri Tepper, the author of one of the books I recommended in message 52. I agree that it is a picture of a dystopia where women hold the power, and provides a sharp contrast to the male-dominated societies pictured in the books I mentioned.

I believe a number of people have mentioned they LIKE dystopias, and for an excellent example which is not, however, gender-driven, try Ursula LeGuin's THe Dispossessed. Joyce, re: your recommendation of leGuin's Left Hand of Darkness in message 71, you probably read it as I did, shortly after it was originally published. Like you, I continue to recommend it, but FWIW, in discussions of the book in other venues, people coming to it for the first time now seem to have quite a different reaction to it. In our time, it was ground-breaking not only culturally but in the science fiction community as well--really the first time gender had been the focus of examination. Modern readers, perhaps more used to the androgynous "metro' culture, seem to say "What's the big deal?" Given its ground-breaking status and the quality of LeGuin's writing, I still recommend it, but am now aware that people are quite literally reading a different book than the one I first read.

#84: Gotcha. I keep forgetting about the time lag. It was indeed ground-breaking at the time it came out, as was The Dispossessed.

I still love the book (LHOD)for it's magnificent journey across the ice, and have from the day I read it, taken LeGuin's definitions of joy as opposed to happiness for my own.

Excellent points.

Hey, Joyce! If the time lag were the ONLY thing I kept forgetting about, I would be SO happy!

Honestly, so many books come up here that I read 20 or 30 years ago--I could keep busy the whole year just rereading them to see if I still felt the same way about them now! Life is too short!

I think I need to go back and read The Left Hand of Darkness again. Somehow I didn't get much out of it!! The Dispossessed is on my tbr pile and I'll certainly keep a look out for some of the other things mentioned here.

*quoting from her precious book autographed on December 12, 1982*

"I am not trying to say that I was happy, during those weeks of hauling a sledge across an ice sheet in the dead of winter. I was hungry, overstrained, and often anxious, and it all got worse the longer it went on. I certainly wasn't happy. Happiness has to do with reason, and only reason earns it. What I was given was the thing you can't earn, and can't keep, and often don't even recognize at the time; I mean joy."

>88 Joycepa: Joyce, oh wow. I love being reminded of why I fell for Dr. LeGuin in the first place. Thanks. I can't imagine a more fun hour or so than browsing around her website, so head over and read some of her tendentious and trenchant commentary on the world as we find it:

http://www.ursulakleguin.com/

She is a national treasure, and about to turn 80 on 21 October 2009. In a well-run society, she would be a great deal more famous and influential than she has been in this sad little world.

#89, Richard: She is one feisty lady, found that out at the panel discussion at which I found myself sitting in front of her, clutching my copy of LHOD, and with fear and trembling, asked her to autograph it for me. She was very gracious when she did. And on the panel discussion, hysterically funny while displaying a rapier wit, as they say.

Thanks for the link!

Whew! It didn't take long for your new thread to reach almost 100 posts! Btw, I've read War and Peace, and I think your thread is a much easier (and fun) read. I wanted to comment on some of the books you were planning to read, but I've forgotten them with all the interesting talk. :-) I will try to keep pace with you, but won't be posting much as I don't want to add to anyone's eyestrain.

#92: I have a feeling at this rate I am going to have a new thread for every month of the year, but I am really enjoying all the discussions going on - after all, that's what LT is for, isn't it?

Thanks for stopping by!

#89 richard

Thanks for the link--I've tagged it so I can go to it anytime now.

Le Guin is the sister of one of my favorite professors at college (a long time ago!) and the daughter of the UC Berlkey professor who did the work with the "last California Indian", Ishi--his wife wrote Ishi in Two Worlds. I am just now getting around to reading her works and she certainly fits in that rarefied (at least to me!) atmosphere she was born to. I have Left hand of Darkness slated to read for my 999 fantasy category and I also own The Dispossessed and The Wizard of Earthsea which I may have to add to that challenge after all these comments. I loved reading all your comments about them--it makes me anxious to get them started!

#93: I'd forgotten whose daughter LeGuin was. I did read Ishi in Two Worlds eons ago. I recall it as an interesting book. Thanks for the reminder, MM.

Re: #75 Perhaps when the old eyeballs are tired from moving left to right and just want to stare straight ahead at a tv screen I would recommend watching the movie Gallipoli. It must have been made about 25 or 30 years ago with a young Mel Gibson. Outstanding story, outstanding movie.

I saw the movie, one of Peter Weir's early ones, wasn't it? Terrific movie.

>34 alcottacre:: wow, I can't believe that was your first Atwood! What a lot of fun you have ahead of you. My personal favourite order is probably Cat's Eye, The Blind Assassin, Alias Grace, The Handmaid's Tale, but the gaps between are very small... She has a new one out this year too, doesn't she?

Also completely fascinating discussion of the gender politics/dystopia side of Handmaid. Am going to have to come back here when I'm less pushed for time and note down some titles.

>93 MusicMom41:, 94: Mme. LeGuin, nee Kroeber, was the daughter of Alfred Kroeber whose wiki article is the link...Ishi might be the thing he's now remembered for, but I think other contributions will end up outweighing that one.

Once learning of Dr. Kroeber, and reading up on him, I found a whole new dimension in UKL's fiction. Seemed more like a daughter coming to terms with her father's immense shadow, but lest that be seen as a put-down, I hasten to add that much (if not all) great art is a response to that which has come before, a staking-out of position that's necessitated by contact artists have with preceding generations.

Oh dear. Soapbox. Climbing down now.

#97: Rachael, yes it was my first Atwood book, and from the looks of it, I am going to have to read them all! I have had numerous recommendations from people about which ones I should read, so I have just decided I will start with the earliest book my local library has and work my way from there.

>99 alcottacre:: personally, I feel she definitely got better over time (although I haven't enjoyed her most recent books as much) - the politics get a bit less screechy and a bit more nuanced and interestingly played out. But she is a great writer, and you have lots to look forward to!

I have been sick a good deal of this week, so between that and the fact that we are changing computer systems at work, I did not get as many books read this week as I normally do.

This week's reads:

54. Vietnam Witness by Bernard Fell - nonfiction; this was an interesting book in that the author made several trips to Vietnam while the war was going on and so reports from an 'inside' view, although I must admit that the 'I told you so' tone of the introduction was a bit hard to take

55. Six Easy Pieces by Richard P. Feynman - nonfiction; this book was a good introduction to physics; I especially liked chapter 3 where Feynman discusses the relationship of physics to the other sciences; the book is done in a very readable manner; recommended

56. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer - I finally finished book 3 in the Artemis Fowl series! Catey will be so proud. I actually liked this one better than the prior 2

57. Sorcery and Cecilia by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer - young adult; I had a good time with this novel told in letter form; recommended

58. House of Stone by Christina Lamb - nonfiction; Lamb wrote this book by sneaking into Zimbabwe; it is the story of wars and controversies on several levels: blacks vs whites, women vs men; people vs government, government vs itself; the story is well-told, alternating points of view between Aqui, an African woman, and Nigel, a white farmer; recommended, but be prepared to be moved emotionally

59. The Swallow and the Tom Cat by Jorge Amado - I really needed something light to read after House of Stone, and this fable that was recommended by Prop2gether really fit the bill, by turns being funny and heart-tugging; recommended

60. Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie - I loved this book, the first book by Rushdie I had ever read; highly recommended

61. The Iliad by Homer, translation by Richard Lattimore - I admit I had never read The Iliad before and had some preconceptions that were pretty well run rough shod over; I found it very readable, but did not get all that emotionally engaged in the story until Book 17 and from there to the end, I really liked it, although I got really mad that Hector died, even though I knew it was coming; recommended

62. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly - I don't know what to say about this book - I liked it, but not nearly as much as I thought I would and I am not sure why; the book is well written, with fractured fairy tales throughout and likeable characters who grow and adapt, especially the main character, David - so why didn't I like it more?

>101 alcottacre:: If you liked Six Easy Pieces, you might want to try "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman": Adventures of A Curious Character at some point. It has the same style, a bit more humor. I enjoyed it a lot.

#102: I will give it a try. Thanks, Tad!

My son wandered off with my copy of The Book of Lost Things. He hasn't wandered back in with it. That happens a lot~but I honestly don't mind. They will come home eventually, and meantime he has to find the shelf space. :P
Heaven knows I have enough here to keep me busy.

ets

I forgot to ask if you are feeling better? Hope so~

>101 alcottacre: I also hope you are feeling better. (My husband just gave me his cold, so I woke up with a scratchy throat, cough, and stuffed head, she said parenthetically.) Sorcery and Cecilia is lots of fun, although not my favorite by Patricia Wrede. It was first published in 1988 and came about as one of those writing games that authors sometimes play with each other, with each taking a character and writing a letter, alternating letters. I have an original printing, but what happened is it went out of print pretty quickly, but through word of mouth became a very desired but rare item in the used book circuit.

Evidently publishers became aware of this, because 5 years ago, a sequel was published, and another two years later. So, if you are interested, the first is The Grand Tour or The Purloined Coronation Regalia, and the second is The Mislaid Magician or Ten Years After.

ETA touchstones.

Stasia - I had the same reaction to The Book of Lost Things - it seemed, somehow, to lack heart - if that doesn't sound too trite. I cannot put my finger on it otherwise.

I too have had a difficult time with The Book of Lost Things--and attempting to describe it in a review. I enjoyed it--especially the hilarious chapter that would give Walt Disney multiple heart attacks--but there is something a little "off" about the book.

I've been meaning to track down a copy of Sorcery and Cecilia because I keep seeing the sequel on the shelf at Chapters (can't remember what it's called though) and wanting to read it... but I need the first one first!

#105: Roni, which of Patricia Wrede's other books do you recommend? I would be interested in reading more of her work since I enjoyed Sorcery and Cecilia so much.

#106 & 107: I am glad to know that I am not the only one having trouble with The Book of Lost Things. I decided that maybe it was just too 'dark' for me.

Whew! I finally found your new thread & caught up, Stasia.

In reply to all the Margaret Atwood chatter, I'll chime in with my enthusiasm for her! My personal favorites are The Robber Bride and The Blind Assassin. Also, I see that you just read The Iliad; are you planning on reading / have read The Odyssey, too? If so, I'll recommend Atwood's The Penelopiad, which I read last year and loved. It's a short, nifty little book retelling The Odyssey from the POV of Odysseus' wife, Penelope, and her maids.

>109 alcottacre:, I don't know about Roni, but my favorite Wrede books are The Enchanted Forest Chronicles: Dealing With Dragons, Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, and Talking to Dragons; and the Mairelon books: Mairelon the Magician and Magician's Ward.

#111: I have already got The Penelopiad on my TBR list, but unfortunately my local library does not have that one, so I am going to have to wait a bit on it. I am planning on reading The Odyssey some time this year, but I have a lot of books on my 'must read' list already, and I want to get some of them cleared off first.

Thanks for the recommendations on the Wrede books. I will look to see how many of those I can get hold of at my local library.

Glad you found me!

Glad I found you, too! As far as The Penelopiad goes, I think you'll be ok with the wait and will probably appreciate it a lot more after you've read The Odyssey anyway.

Hey Mom, just thought I'd tell you that I am proud of you for reading the Artemis Fowl series and I am glad that you like it! :)

And I came to tell you that if I don't go to bed soon, I will collapse.

LUM, good night.

Catey

I promise to start book 4 some time in the near future, but I think I will take a break from Artemis for a couple of weeks.

Good night sweetie. Love you mostest mostest.

I am probably getting in all kinds of copyrighting trouble, but I thought you might be interested in this true story about Ellen Klages that I found in Firebirds Rising:

"When I was about 8, I discovered that Heidi had a library-card pocket inside the cover. Overdue library books were a capital crime in my family, and this one bad been checked out in 1933, when my mother would have been 8 herself. I asked her about it, and to my surprise, she looked very embarrassed and said, in a determined but apologetic voice, 'I am going to return it.'

She'd checked it out of the Bristow, Oklahoma, library and her family had moved out of the state 2 weeks later. It had gotten packed by mistake. She'd been carting it around, from house to house, to college, into her marriage, feeling guilty about it for 30 years.

. . . So that summer, my mother marched up the steps of the Bristow Public Library, plunked Heidi down on the circulation desk, and said, 'This is overdue.' An understatement. It was more than forty years overdue.

The librarian looked at the book, looked at my mother.

'I'll pay the fine, whatever it is.' Mom pulled out her checkbook.

'That won't be necessary,' the librarian said. Then she got her DISCARD stamp, whacked Heidi, and handed the book back.

It's sitting on my desk as I type this."

(I posted this on the Kitchen thread, too, so you can ignore it if you have already read it!)

Librarians are some of my very favorite people.

Mine, too!

good story! :)

>109 alcottacre:/111: Yes yes yes! The Enchanted Forest Chronicles are hilarious and a lot of fun :)

#120: Glad to hear it. I am heading to the library tomorrow to pick up the first one in the series.

I wonder how much the fine would have been.

Our library caps the fine at the price of replacing the book.

#122: If you just did a nickel a day for everyday over forty years, the fine would be $730. Yikes!

Hi Stasia...cold, feel rotten, have meeting to go to tonight that I can't skip, stopped in to thank you for your note. It was a lovely, unexpected pleasure.

We have a fancy new check-out system at our library - you just place the pile of books on a pad, press checkout and it is done. Books duly recorded and demagnatized.

I don't even see the librarian any more!!! (I hope this does not date me?)

Hi, Stasia!
I just read your January and February threads and wanted to say "Hello!" I especially enjoyed the discussion of the Terry Pratchett Discworld books, as my daughter has been encouraging me to read them.

By the way, when I read the library story above on the kitchen thread, I thought that is was your mother who had checked out that book, I don't think I was quite awake then.

Have a great day!
--BJ

Good grief, Stasia! I go away to nurse my cold for an evening and get back to find 20 messages on your thread!

I love the Enchanted Forest Chronicles like Marcia and dk_phoenix. My favorites are in her more traditional fantasy, in the Lyra series. You have to read Shadow Magic, Daughter of Witches, and The Harp of Imach Thyssel, slightly revised and bundled into the omnibus Shadows Over Lyra, to get the background to appreciate some of the political interplay, but perhaps my favorite is The Raven Ring. Caught in Crystal has the same world setting, but The Seven Towers is a stand alone. Basically, Patricia Wrede is one of those authors of whom I buy and keep everything she has written simply because I enjoy her story telling so much.

Roni,

I hope you are feeling much better! I know how miserable the colds can be at this time of the year especially.

I am going to get the first of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles tomorrow night at the library. I am like you in that once I find an author I really like, I will read everything by them. I hope Patricia Wrede turns out to be one of those for me!

Hi Stasia
Simply dropping in to say hello and tell you that I followed your recommendation regarding Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I saw this on Catey's thread as well and thus read it in one sitting yesterday. You both are right about this book. I laughed out loud so many times.

I am currently reading Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie and agree with your assessment of this book as well. It is the first of Rusdie's that I read and, like you, I appreciate his style.

Thanks for these two recommendations!

Linda, I am glad you are enjoying Haroun. I hope you like it as much as I did. I look forward to reading your review.

Hi Stasia, finally caught up with your thread! I enjoyed the library story. Thanks!

I have Christina Lamb's House of Stone on my tbr. Glad to hear you enjoyed it!

Hey akeela, thanks for stopping by! Let me know how you like Lamb's book once you have had a chance to read it.

Stasia, I've been away and tied up with family things; glad to see/read the new thread.

Two more recs: A Piece of My Heart and Street Without Joy, both for your Viet Nam study. Like you I have trouble watching some movies about it...my husband finally wound up taking my daughter with him to see Platoon, as I just couldn't do it.

Atwood is now on my list for as soon as possible; thanks!

#134: Thank you for mentioning the books! I will see if my local library has them.

I found this note in a copy of The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins that I bought recently:

"C. Dixon -

In 1924 while in the 7th grade jr. high I started reading this book - I never to finish it and often wondered just 'Who Done It'. I'm now (Feb. 1995) going to get to finish the book" CD

"Finished reading the book on 8 March 1995" CD

I thought that was a great note to find in one of my books!

(I am posting this on the Kitchen thread, too, so you can ignore it there if you read it here or ignore it all together for that matter, lol)

I love that story. :)
--BJ

I love it when that happens :)
Are you planning on reading it soon? It was a mystery I quite enjoyed (though I wasn't so pleased when it was revealed who in fact did do it).

#138: I have read it previously. I just bought it so I would have my own copy. Catey has it at the moment so that she can read it.

I have been trying to decide about The Moonstone ever since I read Woman in White. I haven't picked it up because of the conflicting opinions on the book. Sadly, I will now have to add it to the pile.
*weep*

Stasia

I posted this on Rachbxl's thread (message 28)

---------------------------------------------
There once was a lady named Alcottacre
Who couldn't stop reading if ya tried to make her

Adding them at the speed of light, she zoomed in a hurry
While us slow pokes added all her recommendations to our TBR piles and were buried.

Addicted to her were the members of Library Thing
We checked her thread every day for the knowledge she could bring

Stasia, we cried, give us the titles of Dahl, O'Brien, Hawthorne, Dickins and Poe
Tomorrow you'll add Rushdie, Chekhov, Emerson and Thoreu.

Under the weight of your books is simply astounding
The piles grow heavy and ever mounding

While we groan, sigh and smile each day
She tells us, oh, my, I've only added a hundred today

More remarkably known is the fact
Tell her you like a book; she will send it and not want it back

Here's an ode to you my dear friend who is so wonderfully kind
Tell us more of your stories because none of us mind

-----------------------------------------------

What Whipser said.

Good job, Whisper!

>141 Whisper1: *wild applause, loud cheering*

Thats lovely Whisper, and so true :)

Go Whisper! That was wonderful and amazing. I cannot wait til mom sees it or has she seen it already? Oh well it was still very cool!

I was going to say something enthusiastically like, "What a great epitaph!" until I realized that thank heaven no, not I hope for many decades! But it's still
What Whisper said.

What a wonderful poem (and tribute), Whisper!

Stasia, you sure are popular around here :)

#141: Wow - I mean, what more can I say to that? 'Thank you' seems so pale a phrase to use. 'I cannot possibly live up to that' is more in line with what I am thinking!

>141 Whisper1:: Whisper1
well done Linda!

>149 alcottacre:: alcottacre
Yes you can Stasia, I do recognise you in Linda's poetic description ;-)

Anita

Hi, Alcottacre: I started reading your thread simply because of 'Alcott' in your name. However, I realized you are a huge, huge resource of great reads. I'll check back often. I see you are slated to read A Prayer for Owen Meany in February. One of my all-time favorites. I'll be anxious to hear your review.

#151: Thank you for stopping by, jbleil. If you are interested, my old thread can be found here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/51105

....jumping up and down on a soap box....
....crying out in the desert wilderness...
....making a public speech in Boston Commons

I simply want as many as possible to read the wonderful book A Prayer for Owen Meany..

whew, now I'm tired, so I'll get down from the perch.

#153: Feel free to climb up on your perch on my thread as often as you like!

Simply had to come over to the party and see what was going on - great poem to a prolific reader and very kind LTer!! Well done, Whisper.

A fitting tribute to a very deserving alcottacre. Thanks for all the inspiration and encouragement you give.

Whisper, thank you for expressing all our feelings so beautifully--and cleverly! :-)

Wonderful, just wonderful :)

Give me one of those signs, Linda---I'll campaign for a world-wide read of Owen Meany too. Loved that book. (Have I mentioned that I heard Irving read from it at Radio City Music Hall a couple years ago? Loved that, too.)

>153 Whisper1:, Linda, I will definately move A Prayer for Owen Meany up the TBR pile. We have such talented people on this thread. Our very own poetess!

- TT

alcottacre, I'll be very interested in your thought about A Prayer for Owen Meany. It really is a very good book, one of my all time favorites. I bet you'll love it too.

#160: Lorie, I will be getting to it some time this month. So many people have told me that it is one of their favorites I am almost afraid to read it. I mean, what if I hate it? Do I get kicked off LT or something? Dum de dum dum . . .

Stasia

Not a chance that you would be "kicked off" LT. Your large following will hunt you down.

#161: LOL. Naw, you're safe here. But I know what you mean. I've had books (and movies) recommended to me, and I just didn't really like them. Kinda made me feel guilty, but people like what they like. It's never the end of the world if your opinion differs.

Whew! Now there's a load off my mind. I have to have the book read before 2/27, so it will definitely be read before the end of the month (it's a library book and they want it back!), but in the meantime, it's back to the 6 others I am reading right now.

Yeah, that's one reason why I don't check that many books out from work--due dates always creep up on ya. All you have to do is make friends with the library staff and hopefully they'll waive your fines. :) Six others?? Jeez, girl. I couldn't keep that many straight.

#165: I have been lucky - I have not missed a due date yet, so no fines to waive.

As far as the books I am reading at the moment, there are actually 7, not 6. I normally have from 5-7 books going at any given time, although in January at one point, I had 8 going. I have done this for so long that it is no longer a problem, it is just habit.

#161 - I quite enjoy it when people have different opinions about the books they read. It really makes the discussions more lively - and I certainly don't expect everyone to like my choices - they can be seriously weird!! Viva la difference!!!!!

I for one thought A Prayer for Owen Meany was a dreary waste of time. THE CHARACTER WHOSE VOICE IS RENDERED ALL IN CAPS JUST GOT ON MY LAST NERVE IN CLEATS ABOUT TWO SENTENCES INTO HIS SPEAKING.

There's one in every crowd!

Just weighing in on the largely uneven A Prayer for Owen Meany debate: I think John Irving is a good writer, but I think his plots are way too contrived and that he works too hard to manipulate his audience's emotions, rather than let people come up with their own conclusions and reactions. I'm not saying his books are bad, I'm just saying that I've not exactly been a happy customer after having read A Prayer for Owen Meany, The Cider House Rules, and The 158-Pound Marriage, although I was fairly glued to the pages while reading all three.

ETA: I'm still going to give The World According to Garp a try, but after that I'm done.

I'm enjoying all these conversations and posts regarding John Irving. It is so refreshing to share an honest, open exchange of opinions! Thanks to all!

I'm with you, Linda! I haven't read any of Irving's work before, so I'm enjoying reading all the various thoughts about his work. It's enough to make me want to pick up A Prayer for Owen Meany just so I can weigh in on the discussions!

I'm kinda glad to hear that there are those who aren't completely agog with A Prayer for Owen Meany. I'm struggling to finish it (about halfway through and I've been at it for a few weeks now).

#168 - o.k. that decides matters for me - I hate it when writers have to get all cutesy like that - all caps! Aaaargh! Not going to touch APfOM.

For my 2½¢ worth, I agree with #168 and #174. I have not read APfOM, and I do not intend to, but it must be one heck of a book to beat The World According to Garp--and forget the Robin Williams movie of it.

> 175 BF I tried to read The World According to Garp many years ago. It sounded like it would be really good and for me, it wasn't. I gave up on it. I have been seduced by the raving of my LT freinds to try a Prayer for Owen Meany. I have a horrible feeling that it will go the way of Garp!

-TT

TT...

You never know, you just might find yourself liking it. I'll be very interested in learning your impressions.

I also read The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules and did not like either, but I loved A Prayer for Owen Meany. It's anything but cutesy! :o)

I hated Garp. And Irving has written a couple other books I simply could not read (Son of the Circus leaps instantly to mind.) But Owen Meany and The Cider House Rules are two of my favorites.

#179: Ditto for me with Owen Meany and Cider House Rules. Can't remember the Garp book--I either never read it or it was eminently forgettable.

I've been waffling on Owen Meany for a couple of months. I will await the verdicts of AA and TT to decide. If they disagree, I'll just explode. At least that will end my worries! ;-)

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I did not get this posted early this morning as I usually do.

Here are this week's reads:

63. Fire in the Lake by Frances Fitzgerald - nonfiction; I read this book for my quest this year to learn more about the Vietnam War, and while I enjoyed the perspective of the book, it was dense and read more like a textbook than I would have preferred; recommended for serious students of the Vietnam era

64. The Lost Fleet: Fearless by Jack Campbell - the second book in Campbell's Lost Fleet series and just as enjoyable as the first; recommended for military science fiction fans

65. Firebirds Rising by various authors - this was a fantasy/science fiction anthology I picked up in order to add some other authors to my list of reads to try this year; as with most anthologies, I preferred some stories to others - my favorite in the book was one by Ellen Klages called 'In the House of the 7 Librarians'; I also liked Goodman's 'The Real Thing', Shinn's 'Wintermoon Wish', Jones' 'I'll Give You My Word' and Blue's 'What Used to be Good Still Is'; somewhat surprisingly to me, the biggest disappointment in the anthology was the story by Charles de Lint

66. Night of the Soul Stealer by Joseph Delaney - young adult; this was the third book in the series and the best one to date IMO

67. So Brave, Young and Handsome by Leif Enger - I really liked this book and I appreciate the recommendation from porch_reader; I am slated to read Peace Like a River by Enger this year and based on how much I enjoyed this book, I have a lot to look forward to in Peace; highly recommended

68. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig - a fun, historical romp

69. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney - the continuing saga of the Wimpy Kid and just as funny as the first

70. The Clairvoyant Countess by Dorothy Gilman - I am a big fan of Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax series, and thought I had read this book but once I got into it, realized I never had; I am glad I finally got to it, because I enjoyed it a great deal - thanks Roni for the recommendation

71. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte - this book must have been very daring for its time with its tale of a woman who leaves her drunken philandering husband for the good of her young son; thanks Tortoise for the recommendation on this one - I highly recommend it as well

72. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson - I am leery of books which generate a lot of buzz as this one has, but I am glad I gave this one a try; the main character, who remains unnamed throughout the entire book, is in his own words 'a coke-addicted pornographer' and not a very likeable person, but through a tragic accident meets a woman who turns his life inside out; I very much enjoyed the storytelling parts of the book more than the contemporary parts of the book, but I think both parts of the book work well together; recommended

73. Drood by Dan Simmons - at over 700 pages this book is long, perhaps overly so, because while rich in historical detail, it is perhaps overly detailed - sometimes I was just going 'OK, would you get on with the story now'; I honestly thought the last 30 pages or so of the book could have been completely done away with, and the book could have benefitted from some tighter editing; that being said, would I read it again - 'Yes' - and would I recommend it - 'Yes' - but do not expect traditional historical fiction from it, the book reads more as psychological horror

74. Pied Piper by Nevil Shute - I am a big fan of Nevil Shute's work: he tells stories and he does it well AND he never forgets the humanity involved in his stories; I really enjoyed this story of an elderly man trying to escape the Nazis with children in tow; highly recommended

All in all, not a bad reading week.

Looks like you had a really good week!

Pied Piper is one of my favorite books--one I like to return to and reread. I read Clairvoyant Countess several years ago when i was on a Dorothy Gilman "kick"--I remember enjoying all of hers. I need to reread that one and some of the early Pollifax books--they are such fun. Tenant of Wildfell Hall in on my list to read this year--maybe sooner rather than later.

Adding to my TBR: The Gargoyle--when it was all the rage last year it just didn;t appeal to me, but now that I've been reading so much fantasy I've decided I might actually like this now. Drood--this one is so big and probably not a fast read, so I will have to buy it, but reading some of the comments I think I need to try it--I love both Dickens and Collins and I'm intrigued to see how they are used as characters. I read Dickens Mystery of Edwin Drood several years ago--unfortunately I gave my copy away because i should also probably read that again when I read this book. So Brave, Young, and Handsome sound likt it would be really good. I have a few westerns on my TBR list--probably for next year--and will add this one. I'm also adding the one TadAD read this week--Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith.

One thing about having you for a friend--I will never run out of things to read! ;-)

#183: The Gargoyle is not fantasy by any stretch of the imagination. It is a more contemporary story with historical storytelling thrown into the mix. I think you would like it, though, if you give it a try.

Drood is definitely not a fast read. I bought it rather than checking it out of the library. I would be interested in seeing your comments on it once you have a chance to read it.

One thing about having you for a friend--I will never run out of things to read! ;-) I am at my best being a book ennabler, lol.

Well, I am giving up on The Girl with No Shadow. I read Chocolat last year and really enjoyed it, but I am at the 50-page point in Girl and it just is not doing anything for me. It does not have the magical quality to it that I so enjoyed in Chocolat. I will have another go at it some time - maybe now is just not the time - but for now, I am moving on to something else.

I was just thinking about The Gargolye this morning and how much I enjoyed it. I plan on talking about it to a friend of mine on our way to New Orleans. The girl with no shadow starts out slow but it's worth the read. I still liked it even though Chocolate was better.

I enjoy Dan Simmons but think the same way you do, I'll read Drood since I'm a fan, but it's way down the list. I'm waiting to see what you think of Shutter Island - loved that book.

#186: As I said, beeg, I will probably give it another shot - I always give books at least 2 tries before permanently pushing them aside - but it will wait for a while, I think. I have too many other ones on my plate at present.

I have The Given Day by Dennis Lehane home from the library right now, and when I am done with it, plan to get Shutter Island.

I just couldn't get into Lehane's books. I had three of them.. Mystic River and two others... I tried all three but couldn't get into them.. and gave them away. I wanted to like them because I lived in that area for a while. Maybe his writing is too raw for me? Not sure.

Kath, to date the only books of his I have read have been in his Kenzie/Gennaro series, so I cannot comment on Mystic River, but I have really enjoyed the mysteries.

#188: Lehane is one of the darkest of the noir mystery writers. I loved Mystic River, think that the Kenzie/Gennaro series is one of the finest around, and very much liked Shutter Island, although IMO it's not as good as Mystic River I have The Given Day and will get around to it soon. I'm saving it as a reward in case I need a real break from whatever I'm reading at the time.

Stasia
You read some very interesting books last week.
I'm adding the following to my tbr pile

1) I'm particularly interesting in the tenant of Wildfell Hall. I love the Bronte sisters. And, TT's recommendation seconded by you means this is going to the top

2) I added The Gargoyle to be tbr pile last year and didn't read it as yet, but now am reminded to move it up on the pile

3) thanks to Catey I learned about The Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I laughed so hard when I read one of these books recently.

4) Pied Piper sounds like a difficult subject matter, but I'm going to read this one based on your high recommendation.

Now then, your have done it again, caused me to add your wonderful books to my ever growing mound.

Thanks! Keep reading these great books and sooner or later I'll be able to read all of them.

Stasia - I have The Gargoyle on my TBR pile but keep putting off after someone told me there was a large amount of gratuitous violence in the first part. Did you find it so??

Ah, Stasia, you are no help to those of us trying to reduce the TBR monster. Well, I read Fire in the Lake it now seems like a hundred years ago; I thought it was excellent but, yes, rather scholarly.

I'm looking forward in the future to The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and that new number, Gargoyle. Thanks for being such a great enabler.

I've got Mystic River tucked into a traveling bag for my next trip, probably late in the spring.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall! Good heavens! Trust Milord du Tortoise to come up with this type of rescue-from-history's-dustbin novel. It's unjustly underknown.

Stasia, I refuse to read your threads anymore. The Amazon people called me and told me I need to trim my wish list or buy them a server, and I can't do either...nor can I read your threads and not add things to the wish list...so farewell, and Godspeed.

>182 alcottacre:: so you hit 75 next week then :) Definitely in the frame for 500 this year, I'd say!!

Glad you enjoyed The Gargoyle, Stasia! It was my first book of 2009 and I loved it.

You got me interested in Drood so it's going on my list. Unlike you though, it will take me a month or so to read. You have such diverse reading tastes, I can always find something intriguing here.

>194 richardderus: LOL Richard dear -- you are too funny. Stasia -- I enjoyed the poem you inspired :) Good job Whisper and thanks for sharing.

message 194...Richard, like Suslyn, you made me laugh right out loud.

message 198 and all ...thanks for the affirmation of Stasia. She is such a joy! I will never be able to read as prolifically as she, but can bask in the sunshine generated from her, the books she reads and the exchange of ideas and comments generatedby her thread (s)....

#192: Kiwi, I did not think that there was a lot of gratuitous violence in the book. There are, however, a lot of descriptions of the burn treatments that the protagonist undergoes.

#191: Linda, I honestly thought it was an 'off' reading week for me! Shows what I know.

BTW - Pied Piper deals with a difficult time period, but the book itself is not a difficult read. Please try it. I really think you would like it.

#193 bohemima: I admit to being a book enabler *sob* (not really, though)

#194: Well, Richard, it's been nice knowing you. See you around some time!

#197: Thank you very much for the compliment, abw.

#195: Rachael, I hit 76 this morning with Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, which I really liked.

Whisper1

I, too, highly recommend Pied Piper--I think you would like it. Nevil Shulte is an under rated writer IMO. His work wouldn't be considered Great Literature, but he tells good stories with characters you care about.

#206: His work wouldn't be considered Great Literature, but he tells good stories with characters you care about.

That's exactly the point I was trying to make with my comments on the book. Thanks Carolyn - and I completely agree with you about him being underrated. His On the Beach is one of the best end-of-the-world books and let's not forget A Town Like Alice.

Actually A Town Like Alice may someday be considered a classic. I love that book!

I have never read On the Beach nor have I seen the movie. (Hangs head in shame). Should I try to slip that is the Classics category? I'm pretty sure I still have my copy, because I collect his works whenever I can find them.

Stasia - I'm so glad that you liked So Brave, Young, and Handsome. I hope that you'll like Peace Like a River too. Both are favorites of mine.

As always my TBR list grows when I visit your thread. I''m definitely adding Pied Piper to my list. I've seem to be reading several WWII-related books lately. I just finished A Thread of Grace and am in the middle of The Zookeeper's Wife. I've found both fascinating, but both focus on only a small slice of the Nazi impact during WWII. I'm anxious to read more.

Stasia and Porch reader

In an attempt to understand what two very dear uncles went through in WWII, my husband's primary reading is regarding books of this historical period. I'm always happy to get titles of more that I can recommend to him or buy as gifts for him. He reads WWII books as JoycePA reads Civil War genre.

Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Linda - Does your husband like fiction or non-fiction (or both)? So far, I am very much enjoying The Zookeeper's Wife. It is a non-fiction book about a zookeeper and his wife in Warsaw who hide Jews from the Nazis at their zoo. I should finish it in a few days, and I'll let you know if the end is as good as the beginning.

Amy, thanks for recommending The Zookeeper's Wife. I'm anxious to learn your final comments and will watch your thread (as always) for your review.

My husband reads both fiction and non-fiction but most of the ones he seems to talk about the most are the non-fiction accounts.

He raves about Len Deighton's books and I think his favorite is Bomber.

Stasia - thanks for the comment on The Gargoyle - there is so much chat on your thread I almost missed your kind reply!! I, unlike Richard, will not be ditching your thread - it is a great place to hang out. I really wonder at the chances of anyone trying to stay away?

Linda,

I read The Zookeeper's Wife last year, and A Thread of Grace this year and can recommend both of those with no hesitation. As mentioned previously Pied Piper is a good read, but there is no in-depth treatment of the war, so I am not sure that is what you are looking for in books for your hubby.

I can probably recommend more nonfiction than fiction on the subject of WWII. Here are some of the books I have read in recent years in no particular order: 1942: The Year that Tried Men's Souls, Guadalcanal Diary, Into the Valley, Ghost Soldiers, Empire of the Sun, The Long Walk, Lost, any of Martin Gilbert's books on WWII (although he is more concerned with the Holocaust than the war itself), Days of Anguish, Days of Hope, Flyboys, and With the Old Breed.

I hope that is enough to get you started.

ETA: I cannot find the correct Touchstone for Lost. The book I am referring to is one by Hans-Ulrich Treichel and is fiction - the war is more tangential in this book.

#208: Carolyn, I am surprised you have not read On the Beach! Oh, you must read it!

Message 214

Thanks!

> 205
wow Stasia, I did not think I would congratulate you so early on reaching book *75* !!!!
Anita

Hmmm. I missed it. Congrats!

P.S. Since you're the first, wanna set up the "I finished" thread?

Yes, congrats! My goodness, Stasia, you are fast!

#218: Actually, doc, I was not the first. Mrs Bond has that honor.

#217 & 219: Thank you.

Oh my. I missed another one!

>220 alcottacre:: yes, but she's read a LOT of picture books :) Congratulations! Looking forward to your thoughts on Neverwhere in your weekly round-up.

#223: Thanks, Rachael.

As for Neverwhere, I really liked it and will be re-reading it some time in the future.

Hi, found you and read the thread through. Won't comment on The Handmaid's Tale (although one of my favorites). Really glad you enjoyed Shute's Pied Piper--it's always been a favorite, but I adore the film version with Monty Woolley! Now, I can try to keep up with your lists!

Glad you liked Neverwhere, alcottacre. It's one of my faves. If I had more time, I'd probably reread it too. :)

I guess Lehane is just not for me.. I hesitate to say that I did not like Handmaids Tale... and actually *whispers* put it aside.

I have to say that it is amazing, that you read so quickly Stasia,,, and you work too right? I suspect ( after seeing the time stamps on some of your posts) that you don't sleep, which gives you a bit of an advantage...

:P

I suspect ... that you don't sleep, which gives you a bit of an advantage...

LOL. If only I never had to sleep, I could get so much done. Unfortunately, it's one of my favorite pastimes. :D

#227: Despite your not caring for Dennis Lehane, you can still post on my thread any time, Kath :o)

And yes, I do work, and no, I do not sleep all that much.

Congrats Alcot. I think you finished even earlier than last year.

On another note, I think I remember that you are a fan of the J.D Robb series. I have a copy of Innocent in death that is brand new. I accidently bought it without realizing that I already owned a copy. So if you have not already read it, I would gladly pass it on. Book space is limited in my house and I would rather pass it on to someone else who will enjoy it.

#230: Thanks Trish. Yes, I did finish earlier this year than last and have absolutely no explanation as to why.

I already have all of J.D. Robb's books or I would take the extra copy of Innocent in Death off your hands. Perhaps post it on the 'Just for 75ers' thread? I am sure that someone here would like to have it! I certainly appreciate the offer, though.

Wow... impressive!!! And congratulations, of course :D Maybe someone's asked this already (but I don't see it anywhere...) , but what was your total count for last year? At this rate, you'll reach 500 this year...!

#232: Faith, my total count for last year was 490. Considering that we were house-hunting and moving part of last year, I did not think it was too bad. I am (kind-of, but not too seriously) trying to hit 500 this year. That being said, however, if I start concentrating on the numbers instead of on the books, the numbers are going out the window.

500? No problem.
I think we should start a pool and bet on what date Stasia will hit that number.

Sheesh, at the rate you are going, I wouldn't be surprised if you hit 500 by summer :)

#234/235: I think you guys are silly :o)

message 234....
count me in on the pool.

Nope! Sucker bet here with Stasia's count. I do understand about the starting to count and then slowing down.

I'll wager a buck or so and then use my winnings to pay rachbxl to translate some of the books she is reading in other languages!

#227: Despite your not caring for Dennis Lehane, you can still post on my thread any time, Kath :o)

Thanks Stasia :)

I used to need only 5-6 hours sleep a night. Or at least, I got only that much.
These days I feel much better with 7-8 hours. I have never made any attempt to count how many books I read a year. I am interested to see how far I get this year.

I will never hold a candle to you though!

#240: Kath, I am hoping that it is true that you need less sleep as you get older. Maybe I can cut down to an hour a day, lol.

Hi Stasia,
Congratulations on getting to 75 already! I hope you reach your 500 goal.

Thanks for those WW2 references. I have Martin Gilbert's The Boys downstairs and will grab it tomorrow and try to get to it soon(ish). Have you read it?

#242: I think I have read all of Gilbert's work at this point, including The Boys. His book The Holocaust is essential, IMO, for an understanding of the Jewish experience during WWII, and another of his books, Letters to Auntie Fori is a very good introduction to the history of Judaism, not just the Holocaust.

I will be interested in your views on the book once you have had a chance to read it.

Oh, and thanks, BTW, for the congratulations.

I am currently 100+ pages into Wizard of the Crow and loving it. Has anyone else read it, and if so, what did you think of it?

Wow - Stasia - you must be the most prolific reader on LT. Your pace is astounding.

I have Wizard of the Crow waiting for me - can you recommend it!

I am also a great admirer of Martin Gilbert. He is such a prolific writer of WW2 and the Jewish experience.

OK, The Boys is going to topple something then.

#245: kiwi, thus far, unless something changes, I can heartily recommend Wizard of the Crow. It will probably be a week or so until I finish it though.

>243 alcottacre:
Gilbert's The Boys: Triumph over Adversity is going in the Wishnotebook. I looked up some other works by Gilbert and have discovered a new author to watch for.

#244, 247, Stasia, I loved Wizard of the Crow too. It was one of my favorite books last year (or maybe it was the year before that I read it). For people who haven't started it yet, you may find that it can take a little time to get into it, because Ngugi sets up all the characters and situations, but eventually they all start coming together and it is wonderfully satiric.

How in the world do you manage to read as quickly as you do?? You're leaving us mere mortals bewildered in your wake! :)

Her secret is, that she has two eyes, so she can read two books, one in each hand for each eye. I bet it's kind of scary looking to see though. ;o)

she can read two books, one in each hand for each eye.

LOL! Nice image, lorie. A little creepy, but it explains a lot. :)

#252 Actually, Alcottacre gave me that idea herself on my thread when that's what she suggested that I do when I wanted to read two books simultaneously, and MusicMom figured that's how she reads so many books. The secret is out.

The secret to Stasia is that she is such a wonderful, kind person that God rewarded her with the ability to read at a rapid rate.

And, that's the truth!

#254: I don't know - I kind of liked the picture of me with each eye in its own book. And let's not forget the ones in the back of my head!

Hi Stasia,
A mini review for A Wild Duck- Henrik Ibsen added on my thread, I guess you were interested in the book...

Seeing the posts above on Stasia's speed in reading, reminds me that Oscar Wilde was able to read two pages of a novel simultaneously according to Thomas Wright as recorded in Oscar's Books. He must have a had a photographic memory because he could read a novel in minutes rather than hours. Also, his recall was perfect.

Is this Stasia's secret?

- TT

No

#258

lol, short but sweet eh?

I personally think its daft to comment on how fast people read. I could speed read and never take in a book, or read really slow and get bored. Its each individual's comfort zone, much like their typing speed or memory.

I agree, lunacat. I'm a pretty slow reader, but then I'm also easily distracted. I have a coworker who I thought was a super-fast reader until I found out she skips entire pages because it's too verbose or for whatever other reason. Kind of ruins the whole point of reading, imo. It would be like fast-forwarding through an entire movie. Does anyone else skip pages, etc.?

I have not skipped pages since I was in school and had to write book reports. I hated book reports.

What is the point of reading a book if you are skipping entire pages? You probably have missed a vital plot point or something in those pages. Makes absolutely no sense to me - it's like reading an abridged copy of the book. I hate abridgements.

#261: LOL! Yeah, I can see for school. I think there were several books I never read even though they were assigned reading. I was never any good at book reports either (especially the worst kind: oral book reports--bleh!).

#262: You probably have missed a vital plot point or something in those pages. That's exactly what I said to her. She just shrugged and said she filled in the gaps herself. :D I just don't see it being the same, but whatever. And I totally agree--abridged copies should just be banned (not literally, of course, but I'm sure you get what I mean). Cliff notes are great, though, for school, so I'm all for those. :)

#263: I completely agree with you about banning abridgements - I will not even listen to audiobooks in abridged form. It's like saying that what the author slaved over so laboriously to write is not important. If that is true, then why bother with the book at all?

I do like Cliff notes especially for people like me who never finished college and have lots of gaps in their education that need to be made up for, so no banning of those!

For the first time, I am combining a couple of short reads this week. So without further ado, this week's reads:

75. David Golder by Irene Nemirovsky - I read Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise last year and really enjoyed it, so when my local library got in a copy of David Golder, I was wondering if I would feel the same. The volume that I got had 4 novellas in it: David Golder, The Ball, Snow in Autumn, and the Courilof Affair. I almost wish I had read this before Suite because it was an interesting exercise in tracing Nemirovsky's development as a writer. The novella I most enjoyed was Snow in Autumn, but I do not think you can say any of them were very bad. The worst thing I can say about them is that more character development in some cases would have been nice. The lady had (unfortunately short-lived) talent. Highly recommended

76. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken - young adult; highly enjoyable children's tale of good (plucky kids) vs evil (criminalistic adults); I already have the 2nd book in the series home from the library

77. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman - I really liked this book, the first Gaiman book I have read outside of Good Omens his collaborative effort with Terry Pratchett; highly recommended

78a. Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello - play; I enjoyed reading this play; I loved the quote "if we have no other reality beyond the illusion, you must not count overmuch on your reality"

78b. Lost Laysen by Margaret Mitchell - a big 'thank you' for the recommendation from DFED on this one, although I must say I enjoyed the introductory material in the beginning of the book more than the story itself

79. The Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan - young adult; another volume in the Ranger's Apprentice series which I am enjoying more with each succeeding book

80. Amber Room: The Fate of the World's Greatest Lost Treasure by Catherine Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy - nonfiction; boy, did this book drag for me - I kept at it because 1)the subject matter is of interest to me and 2) I wanted to find out what the author's conclusions were. The theft of art from all over Europe by the Nazis in WWII, and in the case of this book, the famous Amber Room in Russia, is an interesting subject, but I swear the author's of this book made it seem dull. I do not know, maybe it was just me . . . One thing I do know that irked me a lot: there is one existing picture of the Amber Room and rather than duplicate that color photograph in color in the book, the publisher's did it in black and white. Ludicrous!

81. Quicksand by Iris Johansen - another book in the Eve Duncan series, which I greatly enjoy

82. The Camel Club by David Baldacci - typical Baldacci and a fun read (especially on a night where I just could not stand to read anything heavier)

83. Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson - I read this book towards my Vietnam reading for the year - it won the National Book award a couple of years ago, but honestly, I do not know what to think of the book; there were flat characters, plot lines that did not seem to resolve - and I am not sure if that is not what Johnson intended - war is not a book with a 'happy' or 'resolved' ending; one thing I do know for sure is that the book did a great job of showing how none of the people involved had any innocence in any sense of the word left after the war

84a. Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons by Bill Watterson - I admit I borrowed this one from Catey because I love Calvin & Hobbes

84b. Maus II by Art Spiegelman - as with Maus, highly recommended

85. Farewell Summer by Ray Bradbury - I did not like this 'sequel' to Dandelion Wine nearly as much as I did the first book

Great quote from The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather, which I am currently reading:

"If he (Doctor Archie) did not play whist or pool in the evening, he read. It had become a habit with him to lose himself."

I love losing myself in a book!

Great list for this week. I too, enjoy Johansen's Duncan series...
I so so love Dandelion Wine, but have never read Farewell Summer. I don't care what they naysayers think, Bradbury always does it for me. I love his work.
As for Gaiman, I may give that one a try. I did like Good Omens, but never read another of his works. I am pretty sure that it is in a box in my attic, as my son read all the Pratchett and Gaiman he could find. I keep telling myself to go through his books and see what Gaimans are there. I do not like Pratchett. I read a couple but... nah, not for me. So there are three from your list that will go on my pile....

yikes!

Only 3? I am obviously not reading enough for you. Shucks.

LOL, maybe next week?

Interesting books this week, as always Stasia! I really need to get my hands on a copy of Lost Laysen.

Chiming in on the horrors of abridged books, I was browsing the audiobook section at a local bookstore the other day, and found a copy of Pride and Prejudice for only $15. I thought "score", I am SO buying this. Luckily, I noticed in time that it was abridged. Abridged?! Jane Austen?! Pride and Prejudice?! What were they thinking?! This is one of the most perfect books in the world (IMHO), and the publishers, in their esteemed wisdom, decide to CUT PARTS OUT! Are they mad?! Needless to say, I did not buy it.

#270: Cait, I am a fan of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, and when whomever in their infinite wisdom decided to abridge her books for the audio versions, I blanched. I have the unabridged audios from Recorded Books - the shortest one is 23 hours long. All of the abridgements are 6 hours long! Why even bother? - you have lost at least 17 hours of the book.

#269: Note to self - read more books for Kath this week.

#271: Stasia, what did they even leave in? 23 hours down to 6 - that's insane - it isn't even the same book. If I was the author, I would be insulted; you spend months, years maybe, on writing a novel, and the audiobook people cut it down to a quarter of the original - crazy.

#273: I have never listened to the abridgements, so I have no idea what they left in. Twenty-three hours is the shortest one, I believe the longest book is like 41 hours of narration - did not matter, they were all cut down to 6 hours. As you say, crazy.

Aww, thanks Stasia... what a pal! I too loved the Outlander series. My sister and I owned them all between us. She loaned them out and, yes.. never got them back. I found them on ebay and bought them again.

Abridgements. I could not agree more.

I am also not one to listen to books. I find that my mind wanders. Sitting down with the book my imagination flows, and I see the characters.. and "watch" them in my mind as I read. for some reason when I listen, I am also planning dinner, wanting to do this or that. Even when I have tried listening in my car~ even when I am interested in the story~

#275: One of the reasons I hope they never make movies of the Outlander series is because I feel like I know the characters so well, even their appearances. I think a movie version would just ruin the books for me.

As far as the audiobooks go, I first discovered Outlander that way - I checked it out of the library, looking for something different. Needless to say, I was hooked from that point forward. I work nights, so it is nice to have the audiobooks in the background to listen to. I do not do it nearly as much as I used to, though.

I feel the same way about audiobooks, if they are books that are new to me. The only ones I can listen to are old favourites that I have read more than once. That way, if my mind drifts for a while, I can jump back in without feeling lost.

I so agree about a movie...

Did you see the movie Mists of Avalon? TRAVESTY!
The Sparrow was optioned for a film, but nothing came of it. Even Mary Russell was somewhat relieved, she said. ( She is a lovely woman, who is a very interesting and down to earth correspondent) I am sure the money would have been welcome, but ?

I was fortunate to discover Outlander on an end cap when it came out in paper all those many years ago... sigh. I have read the first three books multiple times, and will someday read them all again.

Have you read/seen Inkspell? How did that one translate, I wonder? Wonderful book!

The only way that I can listen to an audiobook is in my car. I used to commute an hour to work, so that was how I got my audiobooks in.

I have only read the Outlander books - 23 hours on an audiobook --Yikes! How was the narration?

I too am a big fan of Outlander's unabridged audiobooks, I listen to them contantly in my car commuting back and forth in one huge loop. Davina Porter is Claire. I'm so used to her voice that I fear a movie will ruin it for me too - though from what I hear a full feature movie is still in the works. Supposedly, it's a good team developing it, so we'll see...

About the unabridged versions of the books, DG explained the background on them at her blog Voyages of the Artemis and how they came about. I feel sorry for all the people that bought them, having no idea of what they were missing!

They did fairly well with the movie version of Inkheart I think. There were a few bits missed and some parts in the wrong order (though not so they'd affect the story) which I expected because it's quite a long book. They did change the end a bit, which was irritating and if they do make a movie of Inkspell they're going to have to fiddle with it to make it follow on. Having said that the casting was good (Brendan Fraser, Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent and Andy Serkis were excellent, and Paul Bettany was exactly how I imagined Dustfinger) and they definitely captured the spirit of the book.

#265 I really like the Neil Gaiman books I've read so far, particularly Neverwhere and American Gods.

That is good to know moomin

My niece and I were talking about it yesterday. She and I both read the books, and were thinking about the movie :) I am so bad at movie going though, no doubt I will just wait til I can see it on video..

I didn't even know Outlander was being considered for a movie, or if I had heard, I had forgotten. I think it would be a better tv series than movie..

Back to skipping pages...I've done that a few times, but ONLY when I decided to give up on a book! Instead of dropping it totally, I sometimes 'scan' the rest of the book to get the basic idea of what happens, so the book is not a perpetual cliff hanger in my mind!
Skipping pages when you are really enjoying the book seems like a crime!

Audiobooks - I have tried a few - but it is just not the same as reading for me. I have to have the print passing before my eyes.

Skipping - I agree with >283 BookAngel_a: amwms: If I find myself skimming, I have lost interest.

Abridements - Only biographies/diaries/letters can be profitably abridged - although I always want to read the bits that have been cut out!

Speedreading - I have tried speed reading courses and although theoretically interesting, in practice, I just read at whatever speed the text dictates. Some non-fiction reads very quickly and some fiction reads very slowly. The only use of speedreading is for textbooks when you want to glean the meaning fairly quickly. I like a nice leisurely novel which I can read and savour. Although, I can read a novel in a couple of days, if it enthralls me.

- TT

>265 alcottacre:: I never finished the Aiken books. I read the first three (The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Black Hearts in Battersea and Nightbirds on Nantucket), then missed a bunch, then read Dido and Pa, Is Underground and Cold Shoulder Road years later. I should go back and fill in the whole middle at some point.

Her The Cockatrice Boys...not in the Wolves series...was also quite fun.

Skipping pages when you are really enjoying the book seems like a crime!

Yep, or at least like cheating on a test. Granted, when I'm book shopping, I sometimes thumb through a book and read the beginning and ending pages, but that's usually to gauge if I like the writing style. Usually by the time I start reading it, I've forgotten the bits I've read.

#265: I see a few of my faves(!)--The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (let us know if you like the others in the series; I have them, but I just haven't read them yet); Neverwhere of course; and Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons (who could live without Calvin & Hobbes?). Nice list. :)

#284: Ditto on the audiobooks, Tortoise. I have coworkers who're just in love with them, but I don't find their appeal. I used to enjoy them as a kid, though.

Seeing The Wolves of Willoughby Chase on your list brought back fond memories of my childhood reading. I have no recollection of what it was about (after all, I probably read it about 45 years ago!), but I remember loving it!

As for Tree of Smoke, I also didn't quite know what to make of it (and I was sure I missed a lot of the allusions), but it was one of my favorite books of last year. I agree with you that the plot lines don't resolve, but I think that is intentional, in that I think Denis Johnson was trying to mirror real life, in which things don't always resolve and things are often not what they seem. I thought it was beautifully, even poetically, written and in places quite powerful and profound.

I'm so excited you read and liked The Wolves of Willoughby Chase! The next one, Black Hearts in Battersea is probably my favorite in the whole series--- although Nightbirds on Nantucket is fabulous and Is Underground is unforgettable. But yes, Black Hearts... I hope you love it, too! It introduces Dido Twite, who is one of my favorite characters EVER!

In re. to skipping pages, I admit I have a bad tendency, especially with mystery novels, to read the end first, and then go back and read the middle. I'm a lot better than I used to be (it started with Nancy Drew books when I was wee) but I still do it on occasion. And then if I've read the ending and don't like the middle or the author's style in particular, pages may get skipped.

Now you know my secret shame!

I don't intend to skim or skip through books. But sometimes when I get caught up in what's going on or excited about what's next I do without realizing. Once finished a Jordon WOT book (2 or 3) and plunged into the next only to find out I'd missed a major battle at the end of the previous volume! How in the world did that happen? Since then I've tried to be more careful LOL

So maybe this has been discussed on this thread before (I'm new here), but how about another alternate way of reading--the Kindle? I am sorely tempted.

I like the idea of an e-book reader for certain situations - I travel a lot for work so it would be great to be able to pack something so light rather than either take a few books or not taking enough to entertain me. For that reason it would also be useful for holidays. At the moment I have quite a few e-books on my iphone from Project Gutenberg and that's been great for when I unexpectedly have time to kill.

I don't know how many commercial e-books I'd buy, probably ones that I don't imagine becoming all-time favourites, because for those the experience of curling up with the book is a huge part of my enjoyment. I definitely think they have their use though.

The Kindle isn't available in the UK but there are several models that are and I am tempted.

kindle~not a book. Doesn't have the right feel, I would think.
If someone tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Hi there, here is a kindle II for you". I would take it, but I am pretty sure I would rarely use it for anything other than newspapers and that sort of thing. There is something about the feel of a book in my hands..

#293: I agree, and I also like to have the physical book on my shelf to look at and to lend. However, if I travelled a lot, I think I would like the convenience of it being light weight and the ability to download new books instantly. I doubt I'll give in anytime soon.

#276 > I read some where, maybe The Outlandish Companion or her website, that Gabaldon said she would never make Outlander into a movie because everyone has there own view of Claire and Jamie, that to cast actors would ruin it.

For example, in Inkheart, I did not picture Meggie's father looking like Brendan Frasier. I pictured someone older, professor-like. I have not seen the movie yet, so I do not know how it will affect my interpretation of the book.

I don't know if I could watch an Outlander movie. It would mess up the book and I love the book.

Stasia
I didn't check your thread in one day and came back to 30 plus messages. The books you read simply inspire so many comments. No wonder you are popular and will soon need to start thread #3!

I've added The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. I'm on a mission to read as many YA books as possible in 2009!

Travel and kindle? that might indeed make a difference to me.. but since I am a homebody, I doubt that will ever be an issue . To each his own.. some love the kindle. The new one reads to you, and has large text available.. so it would be useful for those with vision issues. That is wonderful and will give reading back to some who lost it..

#299: Kath, like you I am a homebody and do not travel, but I think if my vision ever got too bad, I might try a Kindle. That is probably the only circumstance under which I would get one though. I like the feel of 'real' books too much!

Stasia, I don't think your feelings after finishing Tree of Smoke are at all unusual. Johnson used concrete descriptions and scenes in the book. Very few pages are so metaphorical as to be lost in the clouds. The writing is vivid, disturbing,and graphic but not tricky or obtuse. When the book is finished it all dissipates into a tree of smoke. From concreteness to smoke. I'm not even sure a close reading would reveal how he pulled that off.

#279: Jayde, As far as the narration goes, Davina Porter has no peer in doing the Outlander books. Even Gabaldon has said in The Outlandish Companion that to her, Porter is Claire.

The only quibble I have with Porter's narration, and it is a minor one, is that she does not seem to me to have the American of Bree's voice quite right.

#301 VG: I thought the title was in reference to something he said in the book (which, I have taken back to the library already and so eludes me), but also from what Rebecca said back in #288 about how Johnson did not want everything resolved - which I agree with - but rather like life, which is short and dissipates quickly. I appreciate your take on it. I had not thought of it like that.

#303- The title does refer to the Vietnam War. And the efforts put forth to explain it rationally. Adding the layer of writing style to 'fit' the book title was just sublime. A perfect title. Reading the reviews of Tree of Smoke show a very diverse opinion of the book. I thought is was brilliant. But many didn't. Johnson has a 'western' coming this spring. I am curious to see how that turns out.

Help!! Here was I thinking I only had 36 posts on your thread to catch up on, and I discover there's a whole new thread with 304 more!!

Very belated congratulations on already reaching 75!

All this Margaret Atwood talk reminds me that I still haven't got around to reading my copy of Orxy and Crake - must add that to my list for the year - although you're all making me want to re-read Handmaid's Tale instead (ronincats, thanks for the similar theme recommendations)...

So glad that you loved Neverwhere - if I was capable of making a list of top 10 books, it'd probably be there...

Interesting what you said about The Gargoyle and The Book of Lost Things too - the former, I quite liked, but completely agree that the best bits were the stories rather than the contemporary stuff - the Viking story in particular was a real highlight for me. Re the latter, I had a very similar reaction - I actually did enjoy it quite a bit, but it's exactly the kind of thing I expected to fall in love with, but somehow didn't and I don't quite know why.

Re Joseph Delaney, I completely agree - the series is getting better as it goes along - really looking forward to the 6th coming out...

#290 suslyn - I think Robert Jordan's WoT series is one of the few occasions where I very nearly do skip bits (although I haven't quite done this yet) - I find his writing style extremely annoying (oh my does he need editing - who cares what everyone's wearing?), but really need to find out what happens in the end - it's very frustrating - they all take so long to get through!

alcottacre, you read some really interesting books - I keep coming across things I must read!

Ok, Mom, I have a question for you, since you just watched
LOTR I was wondering if you were going to read them anytime soon.

Because I think you should....

What do you think?

Well, Catey, by the way Gimli and Legolas are unlimbering their weapons above, I think she should definitely consider it!!

Lol, exactly, Roni!

okay -- time for another viewing of the extended version on our big screen. Anybody wanna come over -- we can do sleeping bags and popcorn? :)

#305 flissp: alcottacre, you read some really interesting books - I keep coming across things I must read!

Uhm, I'm sorry? (but not really, lol)

#309: I'm there Susan, as soon as I raise the funds for a flight from Texas to Romania . . .

Me, too! As soon as you send the tickets...

Stasia

How could you have NOT read LOTR!!! It is the biggest mortal sin (greater than any of the 7 cardinal sins), better get your copy soon!

#313: Piyush, I must protest! I have read Lord of the Rings - several times and own the Centenary edition in hardcover in the slipcase, as a matter of fact. Catey should have said 'I wonder if you are going to reread them any time soon.'

Am I forgiven now?

LOTR

not a fan~

#315: That's OK, Kath. You can still post on my thread any day, lol.

I like the books and the movie versions.

Thanks, Stasia :)

Stasia

Phew! You have no idea, how much does this piece of information relieves me! I must ask Catey to be careful about her choice of words, jumping off my chair isn't going to help my (nearly healed) hip injury.

Piyush
Do not jump off a chair unless you are lading on a very soft pile of pillows!

Or a very big pile of snow.

ETA: But why would there be snow indoors? Unless the chair is outdoors. And the computer...Never mind.

Whoops, my bad, I guess I should have said *read again*... lol, I guess I really need to work on that.

ETA: Sorry for the misunderstanding, I was not paying attention.

Well, to stir the pot a bit....I have never read LOTR (much to my father's suprise). I don't think I've ever even laid hands on the books.

same here (would it help you not to hate me for it if I said I'm only 20?) :P

I've never read it either. I didn't manage to finish The Hobbit until I was 20 despite starting it several times, and I was a good reader as a kid so it wasn't that it was too hard. Even as an adult I found it hard going and it's kind of put me off LOTR. I should read it one day though.

(Edited to remove a rogue e that had attached itself to a word it didn't belong to for no good reason).

Neither have I. Come to think of it, I'm not sure whether I made it to the end of The Hobbit or not - although I do remember not liking it.

Well, just to join this confession party of LOTR, I never read them either. :( I never even read The Hobbit.

I read them all, but I was very young and didn't understand everything I was reading.

Last year hubby and I watched the LOTR trilogy on DVD - the extended scenes version. They were LOOONG!

I could definitely use a re-read of them since I know I missed a lot the first time. Now that I've seen the movies, perhaps it will be easier for me to visualize.

I had the same experience of not particularly liking The Hobbit and therefore not bothering to read LoTR. Maybe someday....

I loved The Hobbit - but thought LOTR was just an extended and boring version of The Hobbit!

Quickly hides in shell from LOTR lovers!

- TT

I have never like The Hobbit nearly as well as I like LOTR. Of course, I read LOTR first, as a high school senior, the first year it was available in the US as a paperback.

ronincats

I guess you must have found The Hobbit dull after read Lord Of The Rings and may be that is why you didn't enjoy it.

@All the don't like LOTR people

I got my confirmation, the world is indeed coming to an end.

I think you are right, Piyush, in that having read the richer, more complex book first, and not reading it as a child, I found The Hobbit much more of a children's book and simpler--even though there is definite complexity to the plot, the degree to which we get into character's heads is much less.

I am staying firmly out of the LOTR fray!

On another note, when Catey and I were busily cataloging books today, we came across THE BOOK THAT STARTED IT ALL:



The spine is taped, there are pages bulging out, but I would not trade it for the world!

girlunderglass.. 20 and you haven't read LOTR ?

good grief!

I have read the books twice, once in junior high and once a few years ago. I liked the Hobbit...maybe if you start there, if you are ever moved to read it..All of my kids read it sometime during high school, and two of them have read it multiple times.. :P

I am finished with it :P

333

For me it was Joan d'Arc

:( sadly it was lost many years ago during a move...

I started with Golden Books at about 4.. went on to a book of "Stories" and then found Joan when I was about 6...I read and reread it for years..

re Lord of the Rings & Hobbit

Tolkien wrote The Hobbit as a children's story. When it became popular his publishers asked for a sequel--which was to be another children's story. As JRR pondered how to make a sequel he decided to use the magic ring Bilbo found as the tie in between the two books. As he wrote the story, though, he started letting things from the "mythology" that he was working on for England (after the war--to rival the Norse mythologies, except his would be made up not coming from the past) creep into the story and suddenly this story morphed into becomming part of his main life's work. He was so obsessed with making everything consistent it was many years before LOTR was published. If you notice, The Fellowship of the Ring starts out like a story for older children--the ones who would have loved The Hobbit and want more-- but as it goes along it becomes more dark and more adult. The story of the writing of LOTR is almost as fascinating as the trilogy itself. The Silmarillion gives background material for some of the characters in LOTR--especially Galadriel. It concerns the elven history of First Age of Middle Earth. LOTR tells of the end of the Third Age of Middle Earth. (This is a very simplified version of the background of the novels--I'm sure some of you know much more than I do and can explain it much better!)

I am one of those who loves LOTR--just in case that's not apparent. :-)

mckait, yes I'm very ashamed of myself :P ... the only book by Tolkien I've read is The Silmarillion, and I didn't like it one bit, didn't even finish it. Of course, now I'm learning from musicmom that it's just "background material" so, who knows - I might try LOTR someday...

Stasia, your edition of Charlotte's Web looks lovely!! The book that started it all, huh? I don't know which one can claim that title for me. I remember reading lots of books with collected fairy tales when I was a kid, and I remember reading and rereading Lassie Come-Home and Fram the Polar Bear, which is a children's book by a Romanian author called Cezar Petrescu and was one of the first books I truly loved.

#337: Eliza, I say this is the book that started it all for me because this is the very first book I bought myself at a Scholastic Bookmobile when I was 8-9 years old.

I started reading at age 3, so I imagine that there were a lot of favorite books when I was young, but Charlotte's Web was the starting point of my personal collection.

>338 alcottacre:: wow, I'm not sure I can remember which was the first book I ever bought myself, really and truly.... my parents were horribly indulgent when it came to buying me books (setting me off in the pattern to rule my life), plus we spent a lot of time at the library. I have a nasty feeling it may have been a Sweet Valley High book, because I can remember how much they cost and also that my mum HATED them (so probably wouldn't have agreed to buy them!!).

Trying to remember now if you read Proust and the Squid last year or not...

#339: No, I did not read Proust and the Squid last year, but it is on the Continent. I just have to get my hands on a copy yet.

#333, Stasia, my copy of Charlotte's Web is equally a treasure for me -- also taped and bulging. It has a plain gray cover, but the pictures of baby Wilbur can still reduce me to tears. It probably dates back to the late 50s.

ETA I checked my copy; it's from 1952, which was before (but not much before) I was born.

#341: Rebecca, I still cry when - SPOILER - Charlotte dies. It gets me every time. What a couple of sentimental fools we are! :)

#333 What a treasure! I still have the book that started it all for me, To Kill a Mockingbird which I read for the first time when I was about 10 years old. It's a first edition, but all beat up and missing the dust jacket, so it doesn't have any monetary value, but I value it highly nevertheless.

LOL #337

I didn't likek Silmarillion either. :P
I read it a long time ago and have wastd not a single brain cell on remembering anything about it ..

#333: Loved Charlotte's Web as well as a kid. I read it so often, I made tallies on my bookmark of how many times I had read it. :)

Btw, have you thought of starting a new thread? I might be the only one, but I'm having some trouble with the page loading.

I didn't read The Hobbit and the LOTR series until I was in my mid-20s and I'm glad I waited. I don't think I would have truly appreciated the linguistics, mythology and symbolism if I had read the latter earlier. I also had the pleasure of reading The Hobbit on a trip to the UK and the setting was just perfect.

And #333, I still have my well-worn copy of Charlotte's Web too!

#345: Sorry for the problem Sara. I had hoped to be able to wait until February 28 to start another new thread, but I guess not.

At Sara's request, I have started yet another new thread. It can be found at http://www.librarything.com/topic/58749.

Everyone, come on over!

Mom banned the re-reading of Charlotte's Web becuase of my state after finishing it. Sniff!

Okay, read and loved The Hobbit and then tried The Simarillion because I am one of those people who have to read things completely and found it yawningly boring. Haven't read LOTR. (Ducks as Piyush tries to pummel him!) But it is on the lists and I will get to it some day soon. Sigh!!

I have to confess that I did not read Charlotte's Web until about ten years ago or so. And I was outraged that Charlotte was the spider. For some reason - gross stupidity, I guess- I'd always thought that Charlotte would have to be something a lot cuter -like the pig. I should have known that she would be smarter instead of cuter.

>338 alcottacre:: A bookmobile!!! I haven't thought about those for.... oh wow... years... I remember when the bookmobile used to come around in our little town... those were the best days. I even entered a contest held through the bookmobile and got my poem published in their newsletter, and won a t-shirt. I think I was 6 or 7 years old, but I still have the t-shirt... *wistful sigh*

Edit: moved post to Stasia's new thread.