What Are You Reading the Week of 7 February 2009?

I am thoroughly enjoying The Flame Trees of Thika and also I am enjoying Divine Justice by David Baldacci. I still love the Camel Club folks!

Argh! I can't decide what to read. I'm surrounded by unruly books, who are clamoring for attention like a roomful of first graders who have had too many sweets.

Okay...for the moment I'm going with Novel 11, Book 18 by Dag Solstad, which received the Norwegian Critics' Prize for Literature.

Hmm...two What Are You Reading posts for this week. Since today is Feb 7, I'll post to this one.

I'm reading a fun mystery about musicians in 1840's Germany- Murder in Amajor by Morley Torgov- disclaimer , I know the author. The title really is Murder in A-Major but the touchstone only works with the above.

This week I am reading Chariots of Fire by W. J. Weatherby

Good lord. I can't get the date right! Hemlok can. so this is the thread. *sigh* Time for stronger bifocals.

I'm about halfway through reading The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke, and less than two hours from the end of listening to Shadowbridge by Gregory Frost - I should finish one or both of them today, and am thoroughly enjoying them.

I'm also slowly picking my way through Guy Gavriel Kay's book of poetry, Beyond This Dark House.

I was planning to start Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet last night, but after a long week with zero time to read I needed some good historical fiction to get me back in the game, so I started Murder Most Royal instead. Hotel will have to be next.

As a breather between more complicated books, I'm reading The Secret Pilgrim by John Le Carre.

Starting My Antonia by Willa Cather.

Up next I have The Diving Pool and Beet. I am trying to clear out my library books - and not reserve more, if people would just stop recommending them - so that I can get on to reading books that I actually own. Weird idea? Maybe.

Still working on Middlesex which so far has been wonderful. Eugenides' descriptions are so bright and vivid, and I'm having a hard time trying to think of an author who compares.

I'm bulling through Old Goriot.

I'm half way through Dark Fire by C J Sansom. I'm really into it, which surprised me because I was pretty indifferent to Dissolution and Sovereign.

I am still reading The Glass of Time. I am 380 pages in, over the half-way mark, and really enjoying it! It is categorized as a mystery but I think it is more of a historical fiction with elements of mystery.

I'm halfway through The Autobiography of Henry VIII which I'm enjoying. It's a long book (over 900 pages) so I'll probably read something alongside it, but having said that it's not heavy going at all.

I'll either start Death: the high cost of living or Gold by Dan Rhodes (which I can't get the touchstone working for) today.

I picked up Cat Playing Cupid at the library this morning, but I first had to finish the first book in a volume of three called Echoes and Refractions. It's a Star Trek volume of three stories that take a "What If" theme around certain characters in the Star Trek World, The first is called "The Chimes at Midnight" which has as its theme - "What if Spock had died at age 7?" It takes the Genesis Experiment to new and destructive places. It was very well written. I will wait until I have read all novels to count the book as none of these stories has been published on their own. Volumes where the books had been published separately prior to the volume's publication are not counted. In that case I count each book separately.

I am about a third of the way through Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner. This one I am savoring.

I'm finishing up The Soviet General Staff at War this afternoon. What a strange book. If you're fond of operational history, it's a terrific read. Shtemenko was the Director of Operations for the General Staff at the end of the war, having worked his way up through the command staff during the course of the war. He provides a detailed discussion of the planning of several major operations. The best of which are those where he was an integral participant, particularly at Kursk and Operation Bagration. The Vistula-Oder campaign and the Berlin Operation are much sketchier.

The middle three quarters of the book are an excellent recounting of the war from the Soviet perspective. However, to reach that point you first have to traverse the opening chapters which recount history as seen through a heavy reality distortion field. For instance, after Hitler invades Poland, the Soviet Army rushes in to liberate western Byelorussia and the western Ukraine to protect them from Hitler. You remember those regions don't you. No? Well they were commonly referred to as eastern Poland. No mention is made of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and he glosses over the Finnish-Soviet "Winter" War launched by Stalin.

The end also suffers from heavy handed propaganda. Since the book was written in 1970, the book takes every opportunity to present Americans as incompetent barbarians who resorted to the atomic bomb against Japan because they didn't know how to properly use tank armies. Of course he doesn't mention how you defeat a navy with tanks, or how you get a massive tank army onto some place like Iwo Jima. It's a clever bit of misdirection which almost certainly made his Soviet readers nod in agreement. He ignores the issue of how you would launch the sort of massive amphibious operation it would take to defeat Japan. This is almost funny when you consider how their only experiences with amphibious assaults were mostly bungled affairs.

Next up is The Black Swan.

Just finished (and reviewed) Firmin by Sam Savage - odd, sweet, literary, well worth a read. It's also pretty deep and melancholy, so I've decided to skip over some of the great and worthy TBRs on my pile and head back to the Twilight saga for a couple of days, and get me a bit of excitement and romance. Eclipse it is!

Like Hemlokgang above I was reading The Flame Trees Of Thika which I really enjoyed. Now I am bouncing back and forth between a thriller A Line In The Sand and a historical, Dancing With The Golden Bear. Both are good.

Just finished Drood by Dan Simmons, which is released on Monday and will come highly recommended by me. Great, lengthy, suspenseful historical fiction about Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. Since that one was so, so long, I'm now taking a break with Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn and will then move on to American Rust by Philipp Meyer.

I've been slowly making my way through Galeano's Memoria del Fuego: Los Nacimientos and Dinesen's Seven Gothic Tales. I've been enjoying both of them, but I'm also considering starting Black Magic to have some fluffier fallback reading.

#18 - I absolutely loved Angle of Repose -- definately to be savored.

I am on a Civil War kick. Finished the Shaara trilogy with The Last Full Measure which was moving and quite gripping at times.

Now I am on to Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor and I am very impressed with the writing even early on. It is quite a doorstopper though but I think will be worth it. Any comments from the Civil War buffs out there?

I went to start The Leopard last night, but it failed to emerge from the pile I supposed it to be in. I hope I don't have to buy a second copy.

Anyway, I read on in the third book (second Chicago volume) of the Mahabharata. I'll read the last short section and scan the notes tonight. Last night I ordered the sixth book; I already have the intervening books.

Robert

#24 jhowell ~ I've got Andersonville on my TBR list for this year after having read Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels and falling in love with it! I heard Andersonville is similarly excellent. Let me know.

I've just started The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard, set in ca. 1830 at West Point Academy. Good so far.

I'm currently reading both Canvey Island and Sula.

Wow, some awesome books being read this week by LTers!

I was planning to start The Leopard for the Group Reads book but got sidetracked by Cold Comfort Farm, which I am absolutely loving. I think I'll zip through it pretty quickly. Lots of good reading ahead for me - also will read The Book Thief this month for my F to F group read.

I'm reading my ER book The Perfect Scent. It describes the development of two perfumes, Hermes' Jardin sur le Nil and SJP's Lovely. The part about the Hermes scent is fascinating - how the perfumer developed the idea, which chemicals combine to make which scents, natural vs. synthetic compounds, etc (yay science!). The SJP part is all about how awesome she is. I skim, here.

The Perfect Scent is a quick read, so my concurrent fiction book is Jane Eyre, which is a re-read. I'm in need of a comfort read.

it is hard to type when hands are in a thick coat of wax.

still reading Team of Rivals, and mulling over what to read with~

*mull...mull*

#18 - AMQS- Savor is the right word for Angle of Repose. We read it in book club a few years ago, and it was my first Wallace Stegner read. He is a remarkable writer!

Thanks, hemlokgang and jhowell. Can you recommend other Wallace Stegner works?

I have also read Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner and thought it was achingly lovely.

>AMQS- I read Angle of Repose a few years ago and also thought it was amazing. I've had Crossing to Safety in my tbr for quite sometime (what's new, right?) and that is supposed to be incredible.
>jhowell- Also loved the Shaara trilogy, but agree the old man kicked it off with the best one, The Killer Angels.
>Storeetllr- I have The Pale Blue Eye also lurking in my tbr (what isn't in that confounded pile), so let me know how it is!

I have settled on Second Sight to read ~ Chapter 3, and so far good.

Yesterday I finished Micronations: the Lonely Planet Guide to Self-Proclaimed Nations. As the name suggests, this is a Lonely Planet Guide and it is done the same way as the other LP guides: a brief overview of the nations, things to do there, places to stay etc. LP guides usually have a good sense of humour, and this one more than ever as the subject matter is generally funny.

When I was younger, my family & I went to visit Hutt River Province, an Australian Micronation. My sister & I were confused by the idea of a country within a country. Every Aussie kid knows that other countries are Overseas, and you need to go in a plane or boat to get there. You do not drive. We kept saying to our parents in disbelieving voices "but don't they know they are still in Australia?". I guess I needed this guide!

I'm reading The Stand for a group read in the King's Constant Readers group. I'm also reading Confessions of a Pagan Nun by Kate Horsley. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris is calling my name. I went to the bookstore today and picked it up. I'm sure I'll begin it in the next day or so.

I read Pagan Nun. I liked it.. how are you liking it??

mckait - I've just started, but so far I do like it.

(Wow!, seems like everyone's pushing all my buttons at once)

littlebookworm: So glad to see your warm reaction to Dan Simmons' Drood. I'm well past halfway , and despite a plot turn or two that seemed decidedly far-fetched, I'm firmly in Simmons' pocket now, and can't wait to see how he wraps this book-nerd extravaganza up.

AMQS: I love Angle of Repose, have read it twice, and still own my original reviewer's copy of it from 1971. Just in the past year I've read the wonderful Crossing to Safety, and also Stegner's most personal novel The Big Rock Candy Mountain, from 1943, which I can't recommend any higher. I must also recommend Phil Fradkin's Wallace Stegner and the American West, a sterling biography/social history, and of course his NBA winner for 1977 The Spectator Bird, strictly for more mature readers of any age.

jhowell: MacKinlay Kantor's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Andersonville remains a totally serious masterpiece. Forget Gone With the Wind. This grimly fascinating work of art is the real deal, and worth every minute of your time.

I'm still trudging my way through The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Although, it isn't because it isn't a good read. We've finally been forced (by ourselves) to finish moving. A process that has taken us over a month. I just haven't had the time to sit down and enjoy my normal evening excitement of "other worlds". Luckily, everything has been moved and put, given or thrown away and I can get back to my extremely large TBR pile...

#26, 40 - I am totally loving Andersonville -- read it all day long curled on the couch despite it being 65 degrees and sunny out.

I'm reading The Perfect Scent, The Third Policeman by Flann O Brien and I've thrown in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die just for fun.

I finished Ann Brashares's Forever In Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood last night and just started Lisa Kleypas's It Happened One Autumn. I've been reading a lot of series lately, which is very unlike me -- but I like it!

Okay... now adding all above Stegner books to my wishlist, as well as the biography. And Andersonville. Thank you for the recommendations.

I just finished Rat* by Polish author Andrzej Zaniewski. Talk about weird! It's the story of a rat's life - from the rat's point of view. There's more. The story is told in first and second person - sometimes in the same paragraph. The story captured me, though. I was fascinated by it through to the end.

I just started The Girls by Lori Lansens and am really liking the book so far. Thank you, mrstreme for introducing me to it.

*wrong Touchstone

Reading Shooter: The Autobiography of the Top-Ranked Marine Sniper by Jack Coughlin. Will start another Michael Chabon later in the week.

I thought I'd try Sarah Vowell's Take the Cannoli. So far so good. I loved Assassination Vacation but was disappointed by The Wordy Shipmates

For all who are waxing eloquent about Wallace Stegner's Angle of Repose, Crossing to Safety and Big Rock Candy Mountain, I am in total agreement. These are phenomenal books. Oddly enough, Crossing to Safety has a passing reference to an author who always interested me -- Floyd Dell (although Stegner's fairly dismissive, I was thrilled to see Dell mentioned by anyone!)

In the meantime, I finished Lark and Termite. Five stars -- this is a great book, one that still will be read a generation or two from now. Still working my through Sashenka, which is another excellent book.

>40 LouisBranning:: Thanks, LouisB, for the push to read The Big Rock Candy Mountain by one of my favorite authors. I feel bad because I had searched book sales and used bookstores for a copy of this for years. Well, I found one last year, and it is still languishing in one of my TBR stacks.

I am finishing up 2666 and have two Willa Cather books from the library to read --and then on to Wallace Stegner.

I've put aside The Mammoth Book of Sorcerers' Tales edited by Mike Ashley. I thought it would be a fairly light entertaining read but it's turned out to be a bog I just got tired of slogging through. Of the stories I did manage to read, I can't remember a one.

I've started reading Chalice by Robin McKinley instead. Only six pages in and I'm already a much happier reader.

Finally finished Stories from the Greek Tragedians. I think I'll start Three Men in a Boat, to say nothing of the Dog and then The Pluto Files. It's so sad. Jon Stewart says "Buy this book," and I do.

Just finished Beloved by Toni Morrison and I'm sorry to say that I didn't like it. Everyone seems to love it but I found it confusing and I feel like I "missed" something. I finished, but boy was it a struggle.

Now I'm off to read The Time Machine by H. G. Wells, which I started a while back but had to abandon due to too many library books. I was enjoying it then, so I'm looking forward to it.

I'm enjoying Bonk right now.

> 53 bookgirl, H.G. Wells always is a good choice! I liked The time machine, but the best book I read by him is The island of Doctor Moreau.

Yesterday started in Kafka on the shore and it fulfills the expectations I had of Murakami. It's a real page turner, although it's hard to tell why...

I finished Tristram Shandy this morning, which was great but required bit of mental stamina, so today I picked up Very Good, Jeeves, by P G Wodehouse for a bit of brain candy.

>46 SqueakyChu: SqueakyChu - try Sam Savage's Firmin for something along similar lines. My review's on the product page - it was odd, sweet, heartbreaking, intelligent, all at once, and though I was a bit sceptical at first I ended up loving it!

Everybody's reading something different. How will we all ever read then all?

Finished up Half of A Yellow Sun. It was really great, and I recommend it. Last night I started Sputnik Sweetheart and even though I'm just a few pages in, I can tell I'll love it. Something about the dreamy, lush quality of his writing.

I got the last in the Burke series by Andrew Vachss from the library yesterday. This series of books has seen me through some really dark times and offered both vicarious vengeance and the legitimization of a chosen family of freaks and outcasts. It will be bittersweet to read the finale, and I'm hoping to really savor it this week.

Besides a small raft of metadata articles,...

The Coffee Trader by David Liss
Boswell on the Grand Tour: Germany and Switzerland by James Boswell
The Tain translated by Ciaran Carson
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

And I'm contemplating another run through Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels.

#46...I read The Girl's by Lori Lansens a few years back I think. I paid top dollar for it at a writer's club. You will have to tell me what you think after you read it.

#56...Got to love Jeeves. I just finished The Code of the Woosters by P. G. Wodehouse. Can't help but enjoy his books.

#58...The more books I see the more I want to read. Life if way too short. There should be at least time to read all the books on our wish list, don't you agree?

Last night, I finished Chariots of Fire by W. J. Weatherby. I couldn't put it down. It was a fine read. Glad after all these years I finally read it.

Started Butterfly by V. C. Andrews. Years and years ago I was a big huge fan. I picked up four of her books not too long ago for pennies. Hoping I will enjoy it like I did all the other books of days past.

I am about half-way through Drood by Dan Simmons, and delighting in it's creepiness. I am really glad that I read The Mystery of Edwin Drood immediately before. (Finished that one Thursday night and picked up Drood from the library Friday.)

I must confess that if I ever meet Dan Simmons I will fall down and worship him, so there was really no question that I would enjoy Drood. I requested it from the library in October, for crying out loud, so that I would be the FIRST person to read it!

Once I finish Drood I will start My Antonia for the Monthly Author Reads group.

Finished Wild Swans last night. It was an amazing saga of perseverance, love and courage against a backdrop of monumental human cruelty. An excellent book. I've now started Searching for Memory which promises to be interesting. In writing my memoir over the past several years I have been fascinated to discover that very clear pictures in my memory do not jive with my parent's or sister's. This book promises to delve into how such inconsistencies occur.

#53- I agree with you about Beloved- it was a struggle for me to get through it too

koalamom--we just have to keep adding to the TBR until it totally takes over our homes :)

#61......I read The Girls awhile back and found it quite good.

#63.....the memory book sounds really interesting. I wish I had one. (Memory, that is) :) My 78 year old mother and I compare notes on our fading memories. I'm 53. Surprisingly, we are both about equal in our memory loss. But we both have fibromyalgia, so that's not especially unusual, as "brain fog" is a common symptom.

I liked the looks of some of the other books on memory that I saw when I clicked on the touchstone.....might have to pick up one or two of those. If I can remember to.... :)

66 Ditto me re the memory book. The only way I manage to remember all the books I want to read (or pretty much anything) is to put them on a list. Then I only have to remember to go look at the list, assuming I remember where I put it (the list).

I'm halfway through Canvey Island. It's good, not great, but fast.

I just finished Joanne Harris' Chocolat yesterday (which I loved - a perfect February read!) and have started the sequel The Girl with No Shadow. So far, I'm not liking it as much.

I finished The Glass of Time by Michael Cox yesterday which I found to be a fantastic book.

Last night I started and finished the thin volume The Book of Murder by Guillermo Martinez. An excellent book with an intriguing plot but what I felt was an incomplete ending.

As I continue this trend of reading mysteries I have started The Messenger Boy Murders by Perihan Magden.

>63 snash:: snash, I loved Wild Swans and after that I found another book The Soong Dynasty by Sterling Seagrave which was just as compelling a read and gave me such a wonderful perspective of Shanghai's history that when I went there on business a few years ago, I sought out and appreciated the buildings in the historical Russian and French quarters more than I think I would have, had I not read this book.

I'm just starting People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks while I'm at the airport waiting for my flight back home.

Started Tim Cahill's Lost in my Own Backyard. A little cranky but I love Yellowstone so the book is good, and short.

Have to add my praise for Wallace Stegner and the books Angle of Repose and Big Rock Candy Mountain in particular. Add one of my own favorites, Beyond the Hundredth Meridian.

I finished my Early Reviewer The Barfighter by Ivan G. Goldman yesterday. Today I started reading The White Giraffe for the Reading Globally group. This month is Africa. The book really takes me there!

>71 cameling:: cameling. The Soong Dynasty looks interesting. I'll put it on my TBR list. Thanks. I hope you get out of San Francisco. I would think the city would be a nice place to be but not the airport. An airport is an airport -- dreadful.

Of course I agree, callmejacx and I am also realistic - I'll, unfortunately never get to read them all! But I'll have fun trying!

So much looks so good!

>69 callen610: callen610, I'd be interested to see what you think of the sequel (published here as The Lollipop Shoes) - I loved Chocolat (and the movie!) but I haven't gotten round to reading the second book yet. I'll read them both together when I need a really scrumptious, delicious break from reality!

I am reading The Grass Crown by Colleen McCullough. It's the second book in her Rome series. Seriously detailed, and seriously addictive.

#77 - great series! I have just one more to go, Antony and Cleopatra. I have read them all over the last year or so.

Continuing to love Andersonville - I am enjoying my Civil War foray so much that I went out and bought Shelby Foote's Civil War trilogy. From the size of it though, I hope I didn't bite off more than I can chew.

# 64, Glad I'm not the only one. Everyone else seems to adore the book.

#66... another fellow fibromyalgia friend. Most of the time I can remember if I liked the book or not but don't ask me what it is about.

#75...I have promised myself not to buy any books this year. It is easy as long as I stay indoors. I have an abundance here and need to get rid of them, but not before I read them of course.

I've read Chocolat and I have to say, while I enjoyed reading it, I was a little disappointed. I guess I just expected something akin to Perfume: the story of a murderer, and it was far from that. I don't know if I'll be picking up The Lollipop Shoes.

I'm currently reading Year of Wonders. I've had a really good month for reading so far, so this is the first book that I'm not dropping everything to finish. I like Geraldine Brooks, but I'm not keen on the era that this book was written in (witch trials, the Plague), so I'm finding it hard to read more than a few pages at once. I'm still liking the story, but I already know I will like People of the Book more than Year of Wonders.

#46 SqueakyChu I read The Girls for my Orange January. It was my first book of the year. A great way to start. I loved it.

mckait - I'm also still working my way through Team of Rivals. Tons of facts but still very readable.
rocketjk - Believe it or not, I'm also reading Bonk, I'm finding it very funny.

And if that's not enough I'm listening to The Given Day in the car.

77 and 78 - I love that series by Colleen McCullough. I had bought all but the last one and that one I borrowed from the library, for some reason not connecting it to the rest. I have since bought a copy of it, so my series is complete. Will she go on from there with Augustus? My husband keeps saying he would like to get into it so I wanted make sure I had all the books.

Just finished The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood by Elspeth Huxley, and having wiped away the tears, I am about to start The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa for an LT Group Read - Literature. Looking forward to it! Still listening to Divine Justice by David Baldacci

Funnily enough; as I notice 'The Flame Trees of Thika' I happen to have Flame Tree Seed Pods on my desk (they are long and incredibly difficult to break into). Perhaps this is a sign that I need to look out for a copy! As it is I am reading (at page turner speed) 'The unbearable Lightness Of Being' by Milan Kundera. I know some people have found this a difficult read in that it annoys or strikes them as ridiculous but I have found the reading mesmerizing and thought provoking; I enjoy the narrator style and the Authors reference to the characters as imaginary to the point where he describes the point at which they were 'born'. I cannot wait to this evening when I get to read the next twenty or thirty pages!

OK, I am so confused I posted my last entry in the January 31st thread.

I finished Nightrunners of Bengal by John Masters
Historical Fiction about the Indian Mutiny as seen through the eyes of the Raj. The pace picked up and I ended up enjoying it, but it was slow at the start.

Masters spends most of the book laying the groundwork for the lives of the British in military enclave they live in . You get to see them before the violence and the killing. He also has this book's Savage (each book is about a different male member of the Savage family) talk about how stiff and restricted their lives are in the Victorian era. He blames Albert, and reflects on the easier life at the time of his father and grandfather. I think the writing tries to reflect the same period feeling. Perhaps Masters is too successful for this is probably the only Savage I don't really like all that much.

There is a good bit of reflection on the situation of the English forcing themselves on the Indians, and the good and the evil of the situation. The follies of the East India Company (who governed at this time) and their profit driven actions that caused problems and rifts between the British officers and the Sepoys are also explored. He brings out the different attitudes on both sides.

The actual mutiny doesn't start until 2/3 of the way in the book. The book ends when they know they will not be overcome or driven from India, but doesn't deal with the aftermath much at all.

I am now reading Murder is Binding by Lorna Barrett for a RL book group. Its fictional town of Stoneham, NH is based on the nearby town of Milford, NH. It is the start of the Booktown Mystery series.

--> 82

I didn't know an Orange January selection could be so good. ;)

I was reading Murder is Binding by Lorna Barrett, the first in the Booktown Mystery series.

It is set in the fictional town of Stoneham, NH, which is based on the nearby Milford, NH. It is for a RL book group.

It is a cozy mystery, and I started out not too happy. I am not a fan of Cozys, they seem too perfect and plastic, sort of like a lot of Romance books. Everything is set for the mystery (a recipe: 2 cups of character, a 1/4 cup of plot...), and you never feel these people have lives off the stage, nothing seems gritty, ragged or left over. Despite my disdain this book managed to worm its way into my heart.

I really liked the supporting characters, and the way the main character had such a problem with her sister and how their relationship developed over the course of the book.

The premise of the series is that all these small bookstores have been lured to this small NH town to revive it. In this book the owner of the Cookbook store is killed and the main character, a Mystery bookstore owner is the main suspect. She of course has to investigate to prove her innocence. I will probably continue with the series.

Not sure what I will read next.

By all means, BeesleSR, read The flame Trees of Thika. Wonderful!

Just picked up Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer. Have been trying to pick this since long now.

I am starting Duplicate Effort by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, it is book 7 in the Retrieval Artist series. Very cool mystery type SF series dealing with the legal difficulties of interactions between aliens and humans.

I finished The Bar Stories: A Novel After All by Nisa Donnelly last night, and last Saturday read The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen in one sitting. I totally loved the latter, a beautifully told tale!

I finished Disgrace on Saturday and really enjoyed it which I find surprising since I really didn't like the characters too much. This is the second book that I have read this year that I enjoyed but didn't like the characters - interesting.

I started Lark and Termite. I find the writing style rather different than what I am used to but I am enjoying it.

For the person reading Andersonville - I read this last year and found it very interesting. I really liked it but it took me quite a while to read. I loved how the author wove the stories of the individual characters together throughout the book. A great novel!

Such an interesting variety of books on the thread this week.

Last week I finished The Omnivore's Dilemma : A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan. I posted some comments here (see message #54). Now I'm reading Returning to Earth by Jim Harrison. I'm about halfway through. I seem to be enjoying reading it but I can't quite figure out how I feel about it.

Orange January category?

#93 - I felt that way about Disgrace as well. But then some books are about redemption or at least finding some kind of balance in life after bottoming out, and that doesn't work as well for cheery, well-adjusted characters. :)

I too am reading Drood by Dan Simmons. I'm only about halfway through, but I must admit to being a little surprised (not negatively so) at Dickens really serving as a supporting character thus far. This book is very much Wilkie Collins's book. That still has time to change, but I don't think it will. Anyway, I'm really consumed by the book, and Simmons just gets better and better. I mean, it takes somebody with balls the size of churchbells to take on a subject like this, and Simmons makes it look easy. When you look at his recent output, not to mention the fact that the guy writes in and respected in multiple genres, it's nothing short of amazing, really.

Gad, I'm half way through The Black Swan and it's as bad as Fooled by Randomness was good. At this point, finishing it is going to be like removing a band-aid. Do I read as fast as possible, pulling it off in one painful motion, or do I pick at it nervously for the next few days drawing out the agony?

I'm reading Team of Rivals -- and will continue to be reading it for some time to come, judging by the size. At home I'm reading The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe*, which is (thankfully) a much shorter book.

* Touchstone didn't load.

I'm reading Land of Marvels, plus a few books for classes, and Politics of Knowledge for a presentation/book review.

Busy busy!

>80 callmejacx: - I wouldn't even be able to resist then - when my agoraphobia was at it's worst there was still Amazon, and now I'm out more there are charity shops everywhere round here!

>81 shewhowearsred: I loved Year of Wonders - it made me cry both times and wonder at how people's spirits were so resilient to the crushing weight of death all around them. I live near Eyam so I stuck a postcard of the plague cottages into the book - it makes it so real, living so close by and knowing how closely the novel mirrors the truth of what the villagers experienced. People of the Book is now on my pile of library books waiting for me!

Speaking of depressing (hi, ellie) i started readingTherese Raquin last evening..for a group read on Shelfari.....i have never read the book but remember the Masterpiece Theater (PBS) presentation of many years ago...frightening, bleak, ....i loved it!!!
now..to The Book!!!

Yeah, cheers for that - am I that bad?! ;-)

# 30.. I'm thinking I need to read something co-currently with Team of Rivals.
I'm thinking The Battle of the Labyrinth, book 4 in the Percy Jackson series since there's a line of people waiting for it after me. I've become very obsessed with this series lately.

# 44.. but there's a new not quite a Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants book where the "sisters" make an appearance, 3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows. I can't wait for my library to get a copy. It hasn't even been processed enough for me to put it on my hold list.

I'm on the second of three stories in Echoes and Refractions called "A Gutted World" - this one's about how different things would be if Bajor was never liberated.

When I finish that I plan on starting Anna Karenina as several people here have recommended or are currently reading it. Thought I'd give it another try. I may actually go straight through it or I may read the third novel in E&R at the same time.

I'm also thinking of borrowing the 9th and 10th volume of Series of Unfortunate Events (not the listed here) from the university library. My neighborhood library's copies are out. I stopped reading them at #8 which came out while I was still working for the publisher. When I left there, I lost interest but would now like to finish the series.

Started and finished The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford last night. What an excellent read! Very good and recommended highly.

>103 elliepotten:...Ellie
no, you're not That Bad...

i was trying to be ironic...;-)

I'm reading The Brothers Karamazov and The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing. Both are very good so far, but I don't expect to be finishing them soon.

To those of you have read or are reading Drood, would you recommend that I read The Mystery of Edwin Drood before starting it? Or can I follow it well enough without?

Well, I passed the 1500 mark in my library and I figured out how to find and catalog all those Star Trek novels that I have read over the years.

I'm in the mood for something light so I'm reading Life With My Sister Madonna. So far I'm not impressed. Christopher Ciccone is coming across as bitter, jealous and catty.

> 93: bookaholicgirl- Keep me posted on Lark and Termite! I plan on starting it in a couple of days!

Thanks to the long flight delay at the airport followed by a 6 hour flight home, I managed to finish reading People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks and it was really enjoyable. I think I liked Year of Wonders more though. This was a nice read, but at times, some of the stories about the journey made by the ancient book seemed a little disjointed. I'm not sure I enjoyed her jumping back and forth in time the way she did.

Will have to get started on The Garhole Bar by A. Hardy Roper soon for my book club read, but I think i'm going to read this month's issue of National Geographic first.

I am now reading a book a freind brought back to me from her trip to Equator.
She knows that I really want to go to the Galapagos Islands. MY FATHER'S ISLAND by Johanna Angermeyer is a true story of a young girl whose father and his 3 brothers sailed to the islands fleeing Nazi Germany. However Johanna and her brother, sister and mother left the islands and lived in the USA. Will find out why, etc. as I read on. I really love this book and it is a dream for me that came true for someone else and their families.

Just finished Moloka'i by Alan Brennert. Loved this book and recommend it as a great read.

The Unbearable Lightness Of Being
by
Milan Kundera

If you are what you eat and you live in a consumer society then you’re anchored in materialism, commercialism, fast foods perhaps? Because of this ones emotional and spiritual experience may just be eddies in a Western harbor, but what if you wake one day and look into the mirror and begin to question life? What if you pause long enough to hear the silence around you? What if you then settle into your body and look for a deeper meaning? Milan Kundera explores being here on this planet with an exploration of the lives of three main characters who appear to be born in moments of authorial reflection; Milan Kundera frankly depicts the thoughts he has that led him to these characters but they are so real that I am going to believe them to be real. I understand that these people are lost emotionally, none of them have a solid family relationship (take that to mean what ever you wish, their families did not hear them and they left family alone). So here are people with little emotional weight to hold them firmly down to any metaphorical earth you care to imagine; they are in search for the idyll, Eden, love, and place of belonging. And adding degrees of poignancy that make it unbearable they exist in a Czechoslovakia that is invaded and occupied by the Russians, they lose the patriotic parent, they lose their country, their orientation is further confounded even to the point of street signs replaced with new names, Russian names. External uncertainty finally brings them to discover what is certain and true between themselves, they do find a place in which they are together. Milan Kundera does all this without ‘Kitsch’ (the denial that shit exists) but I cannot say more without telling you something that would fundamentally change you’re experience of the book.

I finished Dan Simmons' Drood last night and while I enjoyed so many of the details of the Victorian literary life of both Dickens and Wilkie Collins, I found the whole thing bloated beyond tolerance with clumsily-manufactured suspense, scene after scene of faux-Victorian claptrap that, in the end, you realize was little more than just pretentious nonsense, and made Drood mostly a disappointing and unsatisfying experience. Proceed at your own speed.

I'm about three quarters of the way through Lionel Shiver's 'We need to talk about Kevin' - my reading group's book for the month. I started off really disliking it. I found it a big effort to read more than a few pages, and each of those seemed boring. Then I had a bad night and read solidly for 3 hours and it feels different. I couldn't say I'm 'enjoying' it, but it's a lot more interesting. I shall wait until I get to the end, though, before I give a verdict on it.

#116 - Louis - Just curious, have you read Edwin Drood? I haven't, and I'm wondering how much (if at all) the two tie together (I think someone has indicated that they do a bit).

I'm enjoying Drood (a little over halfway through), but it is very much reminding me of another recent-ish one-trick-pony book I nonetheless enjoyed, that I'll elaborate on when I finish...

I'm reading The Terror, by Dan Simmons. I've found it engrossing, and a perfect book to read in the dead of winter. Makes me think it's not so cold after all. I really admire his writing, and I think I will be reading more of his novels.

Mike, it's been many years since I read The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which I remember very little of, but I don't think the Drood character in Simmons' book really bears much resemblance to Dickens' Drood. Dickens had become fascinated with Edgar Allen Poe's work, and Drood was to be his attempt to write a mystery in the same vein as Poe.

MaryakaPiglug, and as dissatisfied as I was with Drood, Simmons' novel The Terror was as fine a piece of suspense/horror fiction as I've read in the last ten years.

I'm currently reading Tales from the Marquette Hardwood a history of my beloved alma mater's basketball team the Marquette Warriors

I finished Canvey Island yesterday - here is my review. I've just started The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry.

I am thoroughly engrossed in The Book Thief, and I have also started Sentimental Journey, both dealing in different ways with events surrounding WWII.

>119 Mary6508: I remember reading The Terror in July the summer before last. That's one way to beat the heat!

>120 LouisBranning: I am really enjoying Drood, although I would agree that The Terror is better. I finished The Mystery of Edwin Drood the night before I started Drood, and you are correct that the Drood character in Simmon's book is entirely different from Dicken's Drood. I'm glad I read Edwin Drood first, but I wouldn't say it is essential.

>118 mikeepatrick: I am looking forward to your divulging the identity of the other "recent-ish one-trick-pony book" you mentioned above!!

I'm reading Fool: A Novel by Christopher Moore which just came out today. I'm so excited! I love Christopher Moore and am thrilled he's taking on one of Shakespeare's tragedies. It's King Lear as only Moore could tell it.

DeltaQueen, I hope you're enjoying The Book Thief! It's honestly one of my favorites. It's one of the most beautifully told stories I've ever read.

I am reading Granta 100, The Famished Road by Ben Okri, and Adam Gopnik's Through the Children's Gate.

Hi everyone!

Well, I finished Wally Lamb's The Hour I First Believed and the memoir My Lobotomy, which was interesting. I just started Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and I really LOVE it so far! It's going to be a lengthy read, but it's so far very entertaining. Hope everyone is having a good February so far. We're expecting more rain here in So. Cal., so that's some good reading weather!

Jessica

I finished Dennis Lehane's The Given Day, and it is quite simply some of the best historical storytelling you'll ever read. Not one insipid page or moment in the book. I can't remember when I moved through a story consisting of 700 pages so fast. Highly recommended.

Last November I went to a book signing and reading by Lehane, and I was literally the last one in line. Although he was only obligated to sign for an hour, he waited until everyone in line had their book signed. We even had a nice little chat for about five minutes when I told him that my grandparents were from the same townland in Ireland as his parents. A very charming, patient and humble man.

>128 SeanLong:: Sean- So glad to hear your enthusiastic comments on The Given Day. The opinions, by others on LT, have been a mixed bag. I've got to find me a copy!
I've been reading What's the Matter with Kansas by Thomas Frank. He's an excellent writer and it seems to be incredibly well-researched. It's just overwhelmingly sad!!
Will start Lark and Termite in 2 days!!

Finished Echoes and Refractions and have Anna Karenina on my table, but I do plan to pickup #'s 9 and 10 of the Series of Unfortunate Events at the University of Scranton library - I hope. As I noticed a 5-day loan limit on them, I may have to read then fast - not really a problem, but it will put AK off a couple of more days. Oh, well, my grandmother got the book in 1956, so what's a few more days!

>43 mstrust:: How are you liking The Third Policeman? It's in my 999, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

>60 cornerhouse:: The Aubrey/Maturin novels are a constant temptation to me. I keep thinking about dropping my Shakespeare category in my 999 (pssht, Shakespeare, it's not like I'm planning a thesis on him) and replacing it with Napoleonic war novels.

Currently, I'm about twelve pages into Dombey and Son and looking forward to it, am stalled 150 pages into Mists of Avalon, and just stayed up way too late finishing The Martian Chronicles, which I loved.

I have to start on The Garhole Bar by A. Hardy Roper today so that I'll be done with it and have my list of questions and comments ready before our club meeting next Friday.

I also started Team of Rivals last night but this is such a large tome that I suspect I'll be with this for quite some time.

I'm enjoying Jon Katz's Izzy and Lenore: Two Dogs, an Unexpected Journey, and Me. The author's hospice work with his dogs is inspiring to me as I do similar, albeit much easier, hospital pet therapy work.

I finished The Messenger Boy Murders by Perihan Magden last night. I am still musing over what I think of the book... right now I am leaning towards quirky and offbeat. I am going to have to think about that some more....

Next up is Disquiet by Julia Leigh, one of the books I have picked up based on a LT recommendation.

I started reading "College Girl" by Patricia Weitz...I feel like I'm reading my life story (almost)

I finished Chalice by Robin McKinley and I've started The Bell at Sealey Head by Patricia A. McKillip.

I just finished a short (thankfully) book by Walter Mosley called Diablerie.....what a piece of trash. I must say I have never read such mindless garbage in my life. You guys think chick lit is bad!! LOL If you read my review you will see that I think this author has either been smoking crack or has some mental health issues. OMG! Just an outrageous waste of paper, ink and my time! Blech!

NOW......time for something GOOD. I'll have to dig through some of my cupboards for something really excellent to reward myself for wasting a few hours of my life on that piece of junk.

msf59 - I am enjoying Lark and Termite but it is a difficult read sometimes. I find Leavitt's sections particular difficult for some reason and haven't quite figured out the connection between his section (set in 1950) and the rest of the book which is set in 1959. I do recommend it though and am interested in hearing your opinion on it.

Yesterday, i picked up Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers...for yet another Shelfari Group Read. at least this one is more light-hearted than the Zola....

bookaholicgirl, once you get near midway in Lark & Termite, you'll begin to see the parallels between Leavitt's circumstances in the tunnel, and Lark and Termite's in 1959, but it takes a few pages to develop; by the end the characters in both parts are a near mirror.

I'm on page 8 hundred and something of The Stand by Stephen King, and it's driving me nuts! Though it's a pretty good story it's just way too long and I really really want it to end...

#141 jbeast...I remembering feeling the same way when I read that book years ago. Hang in there, alot of others have.

Lucky for me I am reading a thin book. I just finished Butterfly by V.C. Andrews, also a thin book and have started the next in the series Crystal by V.C. Andrews.

Although the last book and this one are thin it seems to be taking me forever to read them. Just dont' get a chance to sit down and read. It's a sad situation

#142 callmejacx. Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'm glad I'm not the only one - The Stand seems to be one of those books that nobody has a bad word to say about. I don't think I could give up, when I'm 2/3 of the way through.
Still, I wonder if Stephen King is just not for me.
I know what you mean, about not having time to sit down and read. Very annoying when life gets in the way.

I've just posted two more reviews in my 75-Books Challenge thread. It's over here for anyone interested.

I hope a lot of people who AREN'T disabled in any way will be inspired to read Life on Wheels by Gary Karp. I know I was inspired after reading it, and I consider that quite a feat.

If you, like me, have little religious feeling and yet feel that there is more to the world than meets the eye (or the measuring instrument), I strongly recommend reading Maimonides: The Exceptional Mind by Israel Drazin. It's a text book, not a browser's book. It's well worth your time, especially if you've never heard of Maimonides or The Guide of the Perplexed (which now goes on my wishlist!). It's a clear and simple introduction to the rationalist's mystic and the mystic's rationalist.

edited/typo

Richard, you just lost me.

I'm really just not into mysticism, but I love books about ancient Egyptians, especially Mummy Dearest!

Come on, it wasn't that bad...

Payback / by Margaret Atwood.

I'm now reading Down Came The Rain, a memoir by Brooke Shields about her post-partum depression.

#131- I'm not even a third of the way through, as I'm also reading two other books at the same time, but The Third Policeman is such an original book full of Irish black humor. I'm glad I already have a second book by O' Brien waiting on my TBR pile.

Just started Feast of Love and already enjoying the way baxter writes. beautiful!

#125 - Mabrown - yes indeed I am enjoying The Book Thief. It's wonderful when you read as many books as I do and then you find that special book that just hits all the right notes. The Book Thief is really one of those books that come along every once and awhile. And to think I might never have found it except for these threads on Library Thing!

morfam...really...humor? Was that it? Oh! Ha! Ha!

*mumble*My cold's gonna last another week I just know it*/mumble*

>148 porchsitter55:...Porchy

i told you before...i read Down Came the Rain a while ago and it is a wonderfully written memoir..and i have never had a child....savor it, y'hear

I'm reading The Girl With No Shadow (the sequel to Chocolat) by Joanne Harris, and A Year in High Heels, and enjoying both thoroughly!

To DeltaQueen50: The Book Thief is wonderful! Also loved Sarah's Key which also deals with WWII and related events, but from a different viewpoint.

Decided to put Lemony Snicket on hold for now and wait till my library has them. Maybe now I can read down my bookshelves. so for now I'll stick to Anna Karenina and I actually read three pages today before I left the house for the day.

And a beautiful day it was - I even got to see my sidewalks and driveway again!

DeltaQueen50 and melissas09 - There have been some very good Europe during WWII storyline novels published in the last few years and The Book Thief is one of my all-time favorite books. I'm jealous of anyone reading it for the first time. I'd also recommend City of Theives by David Benioff.

#150 dancingstarfish, Charles Baxter's The Feast of Love is a terrific book, and hope you like it as much as I did.

It's been a rough couple of weeks at work so after finishing Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood I moved on to another light read. Talk of the town. It was a little slow to start, but now that I've broken through the first 60 pages, I can't put it down.

>143 jbeast:: jbeast- Are you reading the expanded version of The Stand? If so, that one didn't work for me either. It was the original, I fell in love with.
>dancingstarfish- As usual Louis has excellent taste, I second his opinion, The Feast of Love is incredible!

143...jbeast...I know one thing for sure. You will be so relieved once you have read The Stand and knew you didn't give up on it.

I should have complained sooner about not having time to sit and read. My son was nice enough to fix my messed up computer while I laid on the sofa with a blankee and my book. Got it finished. Boy, that was a good feeling.

Yet to open the next in the series Brooke by V.C. Andrews. I am pumped. Let me at it. I feel I will be able to read this one in record time....as long as the world stands still for a good hour or two.

Still working on The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson and The Big Book of Canadian Ghost Stories by my dearest friend John Robert Colombo.

#155 melissa09: I've also read The Book Thief}. I'm glad to hear you have read and liked Sara's Keys}. Would like to see if the library has it.

On the recommendation of my boyfriend, I picked up Freedom's Landing and was quickly caught up by it. While at times I find McCaffrey's writing annoying, I find the story compelling. I'm almost halfway through, and I've already mooched the other four books in the series.

LOL... it's funny, actually, because I got him into Twilight and we finished Breaking Dawn the same night, almost the same hour. Now it's my turn to be addicted to one of his favorite series of books. I've also got Dragonflight, also by Anne McCaffrey, on Mt. TBR.

>163 thekoolaidmom:

belatedly but true...welcome back, you

jude

I'm reading BOOKENDS by Liz Curtis Higgs, which I consider a light romance. The intrigue enters when there is a conflict over a certain piece of land. Emilie is in search of an archaeological treasure and Jonas is in the process of building a golf course. Who wins? I'm only half way through so I can't tell secrets.

I've finally read Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann. Love her more and more with each read. She's an exceptional writer, her use of free indirect speech is superbly evocative, her world rich and her depictions read like poetry. I love her characters, there's such an eagerness about them.

I'm now starting White Boots by Noel Streatfeild.

I just started The Rum Diary - Hunter S. Thompson tonight. I'm about 50 pages in, and I'm loving it. If only I didn't have to go to sleep now, I would very much like to keep reading.

#160 msf59 yes, it is the big fat uncut version. I'm now on page 1007. Only 313 to go! I do kind of wish I had read the original shorter one though, because I find a lot of it doesn't need to be said and slows the pace of the story. Having said that I am getting more into it now.

#161 callmejacx. You're so right - definitely I won't give up. This is the longest book I've ever read. The second longest was Bleak House and that took me 6 months.

Wow, I like the sound of your son. Just what you needed...

I just finished Duplicate Effort by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

The POV, Mikes Flint, is a Retrieval Artist, he locates the Disappeared when it is safe for them to return to society. People Disappear when they run afoul of alien law. In this book he and his recently discovered clone daughter, Talia, are under threat by a plan Miles put in motion, before he knew he had a daughter (still living).

A reporter who is doing an expose on the most powerful law firm in the domed city of Armstrong, on the Moon, is murdered. Miles was providing her with information from confidential files. He wanted the firm brought to justice for killing his mentor, Paloma. Now he and his daughter may be next on the killer's list.

Can't wait for the next book.

I think I will read The Story of the Cannibal Woman by Maryse Conde next. It is for a RL book group.

I finished Second Sight yesterday ( enjoyed it immensely) and promptly began A Trip to the Stars which I am also liking. Keeping in mind that rdear did not like Doomsday, I am withholding comment on whether he will like this one, at least for a while.

Rdear, please ask the magical, mystical love it hate it button( mmlihib)
for more input for the time being. I will be sending it your way next week most likely :)

I noticed Sarah's Key mentioned.. that is a good one. I have Cannibal Woman on my soon to read shelf, so keep us posted ok?

167> Eddie: If only I didn't have to go to sleep now, I would very much like to keep reading.

The cry of book-lovers everywhere! Especially since my bedtime reading is currently The Tale of Genji. Which, incidentally, everyone should read. It's a millenium old but doesn't feel like that's possible!

166> I used to *love* Noel Streatfield when I was younger. I might have to dig some out and re-read it. Enjoy!

I've also just started Get a Life, by Nadine Gordimer. I realise this is not her most famous work, but a) it was cheap and b) it's about a guy undergoing iodine therapy for thyroid cancer, which is something people like me administer. His radioactive state is the setup for the novel. It's eminently readable, but I'm not enthralled as yet.

I've just picked up The Love of Her Life by Harriet Evans I got this purely because i liked the cover (how shallow am i ?) but what a treat it has turned out to be. I'll definately be reading more of hers

I just started Riven Rock by TC Boyle

I polished off The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 3 by Neil Gaiman et al. this week, and last night I started an ARC of The Glister by John Burnside. Thus far, it's really good, although the mood is a lot more suited to Halloween than Valentine's Day.

I just started Tweak: Growing up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff

Just finished: Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud.

Next up: Regeneration by Pat Barker, and while I'm on the World War I dilemma kick, I'll probably also line up Harp Song for a Radical and throw in some Madness and Civilization for good measure. I usually feel the need to read some non-fiction while I'm reading my fiction--especially when they're related.

I'm in the middle of three books right now. The Tsarina's Daughter by Carolly Erickson is my audiobook from the library and is livening up my commute, The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford which is great, and Old Man's War by John Scalzi because Hotel didn't make it with me to work and Old Man's War was in my desk as an emergency book. Of course, it is so good that it is now requiring equal reading time.

>171 frithuswith: Liz!!!!!!! The best book EVER!! The Tale of Genji is proof that beauty knows no culture. I have given it to so many people over the years, praying they could connect with our fine and glossy Prince, and seldom have I or they been disappointed. It bears saying that the "Tale" is six shorter novels, and can be read in stages without losing anything vital.

mckait, I will love (certainty: very high) A Trip to the Stars. I tested it with The Bestiary, which it predicted I would love (certainty: very low). After a long struggle with my greed demon, I decided to pack Maimonides: The Exceptional Mind off to you as well as Life on Wheels. Realistically, when will I have time to reread a work on a philosopher whose tenets I still need to read? And I think you, like I, need to hear what this man had to say, since it reminds me of our conversations.

Ficus, I will now (grumblingly, grudgingly) add Kristine Kathryn Rusch to my list of writers to watch for. Drat you! *smooch*

I continue reading The Leopard and I am listening to Dracula by Bram Stoker.

I'm going to start Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris if for no other reason than it is the 30th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution.

Don't waste your time on the last book I read, Lost in my Backyard: A Walk in Yellowstone National Park by Tim Cahill. Cahill probably thinks he is at least droll but mostly he is just annoying with a tediously self-rightous grin on his face. Worse, I love Yellowstone and have been there many times but he didn't give me any insight or make me think about the park differently. There are rooms full of better books on the park and by more engaging, less self absorbed writers.

Finished Octavia E. Butler's Bloodchild and Other Stories the other day---interesting and deft---if very slim---little collection IMO, esp. the title story. All around very "Butler" but I am thinking I still prefer her talents applied to the long form. After that I began The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. Have about the last third to go but so far it is blwoing my mind how marvelous it all is. I especially enjoyed having to wait some length of the book to find out what the title was in reference/alluded to---I had a sort of heightened suspense about what it meant and then it came to fruition and I was amused and content. Honestly, I feel like "I" live in that 5-floor building because Barbery has created such an exceptionally atmospheric tableau.

I just finished Part One of Anna Karenina - so far , so good, but I think I'll take a day and read The Little Princess before I start Part Two.

The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich. I was almost ready to give up after the first 50 pages but I kept going and now I don't want to put it down.

sisaruus, That is exactly how I reacted to The Plague of Doves and ended up really liking it! Enjoy!

I have read 13 books this week actually, and am currently reading a book o the Daughters of the Moon series. I am reading Number 9, The Choice.

#185...bgonzales135...you read 13 books this week? I would be thrilled to read that in a month (maybe).

Just finished Brooke by V.C. Andrews. It was far fetched I think but somewhat enjoyed the quick read. Going to pick up the fourth and I think last in the series Raven by V.C. Andrews.

I am getting rather tired of this series and maybe should go on to something else, but I am so close to finishing the series I can't let it go.

I finished a new book by Chris Cleave called Little Bee, and thought the first half of it was quite compelling, but in the latter half it seemed to lose both its focus and some of its credibility, rendering it only mildly entertaining in the end. Interestingly enough, Little Bee shares several key story elements with Lloyd Jones's Booker-nominee Mister Pip from 2 years ago, but I found Mister Pip much more affecting and a finer novel as well.

T. Coraghessan Boyle is perhaps my favorite contemporary American writer, have read all his novels and every short story he's published, and right now I'm a hundred pages into The Women and at times have to force myself to put it down, just wonderful so far.

I haven't picked up A Suitable Boy, which I started in August 2008, so far this year. Pretty silly, since I'm only about 150 pages from the end and have devoted so much time to it.

Also struggling with The Wind Up Bird Chronicle for a Book Group. I love everything I've read by him, but this isn't doing it for me so far. Just not in the right mood, I guess.

My audiobook is Engleby by Sebastian Faulks.

Started Jon Ronson's Out of the Ordinary: True Tales of Everyday Craziness this morning, and raced through a Maigret novel The Bar on the Seine, earlier in the week.

Also read a couple of Scott Fitzgerald short stories, The Popular Girl and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, last weekend.

Basically, I just don't seem to be able to settle on anything at the moment.

callmejacx - I've done that with series that I came into late and had many to catch up on (with?), but then when you do you feel sad because now you had no more to read - until the new one came out and then you are competing with everybody for it!

grammath - I remember Suitable Boy being hard to get through but worth the effort. And thanks for reminding me that I had read this book - love it when this happens!

#189 koalamom...So often I pick a book that is part of a series and tend not to get the other part of it and the book ends up just sitting here in my library. I was lucky to find all four at a goodwill. I see now that there is a fifth but my library has it so that will be the route I take.

Then I hope to be done with V.C. Andrews for a while.

>187 LouisBranning:: LouisBranning- Drop City was easily one of the best books I've read in the past decade but I've sadly neglected this powerful writer. I've had the Inner Circle sitting in my tbr for ever! Should this be the one I read next or should I tackle something else?

I read Gold by Dan Rhodes last night. I absolutely loved it until the end, which was fairly ambiguous and wasn't looking happy. I'm not keen on ambiguous or unhappy endings so that kind of spoiled it for me.

Now reading The Sword in the Stone. Not far in but I'm not sure what to make of it so far.

msf59, at the time it came out Boyle's The Inner Circle got some very unkind reviews, but I enjoyed it as much as anything he's written, and it's an extremely funny book. I also really liked The Road to Wellville too.

LouisBranning, the book club I am in just chose Tortilla Curtain as its next pick. What did you think of that one? I look forward to reading it. Also have you read Loving Frank about Frank Lloyd Wright? If so, how would you compare it to The Women--I had that one in my hand at Borders and put it back.

I was quite vocal in my absolute detestation of Tortilla Curtain around these parts a while back. Boyle should buy all the copies back and burn them. I VERY much hope your mileage varies...

I've started Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips. As promised, it flows like a thing of beauty. Also finishing What's the Matter With Kansas?, also outstanding, in a completely different way!

>195 mikeepatrick: mike, amen brother-man. I give a witness to that.

>196 msf59: msf, so you're pleased so far...I want to know if this is so extraordinary that I should go spend my hard-unearned money on it after you're all done. 'Kay?

Oh my goodness - I finished Andersonville - my highest recommendation for those not faint of heart. Unbelievably good.

I have also caved to the hype and spent hard-earned money on Lark and Termite - not quite ready to start though. hopefully it lives up to its growing reputation. (Y'all made me buy the horrid The Lace Reader and I still haven't recovered from that!)

Think I may start Slaughterhouse Five which I have never read before, as soon as I can recover from the brutality of Andersonville.

I finished Izzy and Lenore: Two Dogs an Unexpected Journey and Me by Jon Katz and would wholehardly recommend it, especially for dog lovers. Katz is an honest, warm and thoughtful writer. I just picked up The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet from the library and am looking forward to starting it.

I finished The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing (Volume 1) today. Slow starting, but definitely worth it in the end. Now I just have to get my hands on the second one...

Still reading The Brothers Karamazov and Krakatoa.

Finished A Little Princess this afternoon. What a delightful book. I am discovering children's literature now in my "old age" though I did get this book out of my daughter's bedroom (she's in Georgia and will never know - well, she does, I mentioned that I had done it!).

I am not sure why I missed this when I was growing up or even when Sarah was but I am glad I found it finally. I do have to mention that I was familiar with the story as I had seen the movie with Shirley Temple and, I believe, Caesar Romaro?

Tasha Tudor's illustrations were wonderful as well.

Now it's back to Anna Karenina and I'll add John the Baptist and Jesus and The Magic Cup to my table as well.

#198 jhowell - Slaughterhouse-5 is one of my all time favorites. I hope you enjoy it!

Just finished The Shack. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who's ready for some soul searching or in need of uplifting.

momom248, I've read The Tortilla Curtain twice, one of TCB's best I think (sorry, mikepatrick), and FYI it's been required reading in California high schools for several years now, so Tom Boyle's made 2 mints from that one alone.

Jayne Anne Phillips' Lark & Termite is hands-down my favorite book of this new year, and I think it's quite amazing that so many are reading this awesomely wonderful book.

Wow, jhowell, so great to hear from someone who loved Andersonville as much as I did. I've recommended this one for years, re-read it 4 years ago, and it just killed me all over again, a Civil War classic with no peer.

My problem with The Tortilla Curtain was that it seemed like an amazingly unimanginitve, sterotypical look at the illegal immigration issue - like 'TV Movie of the Week' type stuff. I'll also readily admit that it was my first exposure to Boyle, whose reputation very much preceded him, and it just struck me as a work that could have easily been produced by a much, much less revered writer. And if you really think about it, after the first 50 pages, you know *exactly* what the remaining 250 are going to give you, so what's the point, really? Required reading for high school kids and Republicans? Sure. Everyone else? Eh, maybe not so much...

Louis==I just bought Lark and Termite myself and cannot wait to read it. Of course Tortilla Curtain is next.

This week,I am reading "the count of monte cristo". I am at 300 of 1095! Yay

#205 - I agree with you Mike re: The Tortilla Curtain; unimpressive.

It's time for our Valentine's Day thread! Come n get your V-Day wishes! (Oh, it's also the thread for the week of the 14th.)

>201 koalamom: Had to just chip in one last time to say I LOVED A Little Princess - there's nothing like a good, heartfelt, moving morality tale to inspire a bookish little girl to be a better person. Lovely.

I'm reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer but i found a dog earred copy of breakfast at tiffanys so i guess i'll start reading that

Here I thought I was done with the orphan series by V.C. Andrews when I was reading Raven. At the end of the story it tells me to look for the next in the series. I couldn't believe it. I now have read four in the series and was disappointed that I now had to go looking for the fifth. While searching my local library, I looked over at one of my bookcases I have here in my tiny little office and between other books I read Runaways. Right away I picked it up and there it was, right before my eyes. The fifth book of the series. I had no idea that I had it. How is one to explain these things. So now I am reading the fifth, maybe the last, in the orphan series, called Runaway and enjoying it very much.

>201 koalamom: koalamom - A Little Princess was my absolute favorite book growing up... I read my copy so many times that the spine fell apart in two places. (I still have all three pieces, though.) I'm glad you got the chance to fall in love with it as well.