Talbin's 2009 Reading

Tracy's 2009 Reads

1. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, 368 pages. 4.5/5. Review. Finished 1/2/2009.
2. Captain Alatriste by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, 253 pages. 3.5/5. Review. Finished 1/10/2009.
3. Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow by Elizabeth Lesser, 300 pages. 3.5/5. Review. Finished 1/13/2009.
4. What Should I Do with My Life by Po Bronson, 365 pages. 3/5. Review. Finished 1/16/2009.
5. The Man Who Cast Two Shadows by Carol O'Connell, 308 pages. 4/5. Review. Finished 1/23/2009.
6. Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Armin, 205 pages. 4/5. Review. Finished 1/24/2009.
7. The American Woodland Garden: Capturing the Spirit of the Deciduous Forest by Rick Darke, 353 pages. 4.5/5. Review. Finished 2/9/2009.
8. The Cook and the Gardener: A Year of Recipes and Writings from the French Countryside by Amanda Hesser, 605 pages. 4/5. Review. Finished 2/15/2009.
9. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather, 297 pages. 5/5. Review. Finished 2/19/2009.
10. The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman, 936 pages. 4.5/5. Review. Finished 3/5/2009.
11. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, 120 pages. 4/5. Review. Finished 3/6/2009.
12. Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson, 196 pages. 3.5/5. Review. Finished 3/8/2009.
13. The Plot Against America by Philip Roth, 391 pages. 3/5. Review. Finished 3/13/2009.
14. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk, 293 pages. 3/5. Review. Finished 3/19/2009.
15. Protect and Defend by Vince Flynn, 403 pages. 3.5/5. Review. Finished 3/21/2009.
16. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, 384 pages. 4/5. Review. Finished 3/23/2009.
17. Mosquito by Roma Tearne, 296 pages. 4.5/5. Review. Finished 3/25/2009.
18. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin, 381 pages. 4/5. Review. Finished 3/29/2009.
19. Early Spring: An Ecologist and Her Children Wake to a Warming World by Amy Seidl, 172 pages. 3.5/5. Review. Finished 4/4/2009.
20. Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters, 472 pages. 3.5/5. Review. Finished 4/7/2009.
21. Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva, 433 pages. 4/5. Review. Finished 4/11/2009.
22. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, 315 pages. 3/5. Review. Finished 4/14/2009.
23. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling, 652 pages. 4.5/5. Review. Finished 4/21/2009.
24. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling, 759 pages. 4.5/5. Review. Finished 4/22/2009.

Hi. My name is Tracy, and after lurking for a few weeks, I've decided to make the leap from the 75 Book Challenge group to Club Read 2009. I've come to the realization that right now I'm just not up to lists, challenges or anything else that feels like homework. I've read most of the threads in this group, and I'm both intrigued and a bit intimidated. There are lots of learned people here, and I know I'll be soaking up as much insight as I can!

One of my goals for 2009 is to read without goals. This is why I'm looking forward to participating in this group. I want to read a 1,000 page book without worrying about how it might affect my yearly book count. I want to move from the classics to a trashy thriller to literary fiction to regency romance, wherever my fancy takes me. I love the idea of talking about the latest New Yorker article I just finished.

Here's a bit of personal information: I live in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I'm 44, one husband, no kids. As of the January 1, I am unemployed. Strangely enough, I'm finding it hard to read for pleasure while I have so much newly-acquired free time - I keep feeling like I should be doing something "useful", and my mind keeps telling me that reading is done in leisure time. I'm sure I'll get over this soon. I love to garden - both vegetables and flowers - even though I am plagued by deer, shade and the winters of Zone 4a. I play the piano, do some cross stitch and like to spend time at the dog park with our 2-year-old mutt, Brix.

Here are the short synopses I wrote before moving over to the Club Read group. If you'd like, you can click on the "Review" link to see the full-length review.

1. People of the Book by Geraldine Broooks, 368 pages. 4.5/5. Review. Finished 1/2/2009.

What a wonderful book, most definitely recommended.

2. Captain Alatriste by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, 253 pages. 3.5/5. Review. Finished 1/10/2009.

A fun adventure story, the beginning of a series featuring Captain Alatriste, a 17th century swordsman-for-hire in Madrid. The writing was a bit annoying at times (or perhaps it was the translation, it's hard to know), but I think it will be a pretty good series.

3. Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow by Elizabeth Lesser, 300 pages. 3.5/5. Review. Finished 1/13/2009.

A spirituality-type book, not normally my cup of tea, but I'm going through a big life change and bought it on impulse. Pretty good for its type, although it's important to note that it's really not a how-to or self-help book in any way - if you're looking for specific instructions about how to go through a difficult change, this is not the book. Mostly, Lesser presents stories of people who have gone through a change or transition and have come out on the other side with a new perspective. The reader can take whatever lessons s/he wants from the stories.

4. What Should I Do with My Life by Po Bronson, 365 pages. 3/5. Review. Finished 1/16/2009.

This is not a great book, but it's a good book for people in transition. It's a book of stories, the stories of people who are addressing what comes next for them in life. I would say that at least 70% of the stories are not about people who have found their calling, but are about people who are on the journey. Bronson focuses on people who are looking for work that is fulfilling and meaningful, not what makes the most money or has the most prestige. It's not a particularly deep book, but it got me thinking about some things I hadn't thought about for awhile.

(Full disclosure: In December, I found myself in the same boat as many others - I'm no longer employed. While I would prefer not to be in this situation, I need to make the most of the cards I've been dealt. I'm surprisingly okay with leaving the job and industry I was in, and find myself considering some trajectory changes I had considered five years ago but wasn't intrepid enough to go after then. We'll see how it all plays out. There may be a few more "career" books on my list, but now I think it's time for me to read a few novels.)

5. The Man Who Cast Two Shadows by Carol O'Connell, 308 pages. 4/5. Review. Finished 1/23/2009.

The second in O'Connell's Kathy Mallory series. Mallory is probably one of the most unique NYC cops you'll find in literature. The Man Who Cast Two Shadows is better than the first in the series, Mallory's Oracle, mainly because O'Connell has introduced all the characters and can now focus a bit more on the story itself. In Two Shadows, Mallory investigates a murder that starts out as being reported as her own. Along the way we learn some important truths about Mallory's childhood, and some of the secondary characters - especially Charles Butler and Riker - are fleshed out a bit more. If you enjoy police mysteries, you're sure to enjoy this book.

6. Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Armin, 205 pages. 4/5. Review. Finished 1/24/2009.

A very light and breezy semi-autobiographical novel (see the link to my review for more detail). I absolutely loved the parts where von Armin talks about her garden, and she is generally witty throughout. However, it's a bit dated - definitely one of those ironic feminist type novels from the late 1800s, couched in satire and "soft words" to hide the feminism. It was also a bit hard to tell if von Armin was also being tongue-in-cheek about her views of the serving class (and Russions and Poles in particular).

7. The American Woodland Garden: Capturing the Spirit of the Deciduous Forest by Rick Darke, 353 pages. 4.5/5. Review. Finished 2/9/2009.

A beautifully photographed and very nicely written book about creating a home woodland garden based on ideas found in nature. Very specific to the Eastern deciduous forest of North America (between the Atlantic and the Mississippi, primarily). Lots of good ideas for someone like me who has a lot of trees but doesn't want to just plant a lot of hostas.

i've enjoyed the alatriste series a good deal (with the exception of the 3rd which was a bit too centered on battle scenes). But i've also enjoyed Perez-Reverte's other books - esp. the flanders panel and the queen of the south.

Bob - Thanks for stopping by so soon!

I read The Club Dumas last year and really enjoyed it which is how I got to Captain Alatriste. I have both The Flanders Panel and The Queen of the South on my wishlist.

Hi, Tracy! Found you!

I love Perez-Reverte--one of my favorite authors. His most recent (in translation) in The Painter of Battles and it's not for the faint-hearted. Perez-
Reverte was a war correspondent, and the book's protagnoist is a war photographer. It's grim, but it is a remarkable book.

Oh, and I should say that I sympathize with your switch. I'm a fast reader, but this year I've chosen to read an awful lot of really big books--500 pages and more--so I'm giving up the idea of reaching any set number of books.

Tell me about it!
I am still reading Drood, which I started a while ago, a doorstopper of a book (771 pages, currently on page 617). I like it very much, both plot and style, but it is taking quite a while to finish. Also, alas, I am a painfuly slow reader.....:-(

So glad not to have lost track of you. This looks like an intriguing group. I hope all goes well with you and problems are resolved soon.

Hi, Joyce! I've been following you over at the 75 Book Challenge, always making sure to set aside a block of time to read through the many, many posts on your thread. (I'm just teasing you a bit, I love reading your thread. I'm not all that into the Civil War, but it's been fascinating to read your reviews - so well-written and knowledgeable.)

Paola: Thanks for stopping by! I have Drood on my wishlist . . . .

I have lots of door stoppers on my TBR pile right here at home, too: Lonesome Dove, The Sunne in Splendour, The First Man in Rome, Katherine, The Quincunx. Plus, I started War and Peace last year and would like to get back to it one day. I think each of these comes in at close to 1,000 pages.

>8 Matke: Hi, Gail! I've got your 75 Book thread starred so I'll be returning to see what you're up to. Your plan for 2009 looks so interesting so I want to make sure to keep up.

Yes, well, I am taking advantage of having some time off. The books were starting to pile up, so I went out and bought two new shelves. I'm in the midst of rearranging all the books. As I'm going, I'm also entering books into LT that for whatever reason I didn't enter the first time around. I'm also trying to get things categorized so I'm ready for collections, whenever they may come out. Also on my to-do list: getting my seeds started, painting the downstairs hallway, cleaning out and reorganizing a very large storage closet in the basement, finishing a bunch of needlework (well, the needlework is done but the framing, making of pillows, etc. is not). Oh, and looking for a job.

First Man in Rome is well over 800 pages for sure--but let me warn you--there's no stopping if you start that series!! It's absolutely the most gripping historical series I know of outside of the military history ones like patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturein series and Cornwell's Richard Sharpe series. It is terrific. McCullough's research is immaculate; she is definitely a recognized late Republic scholar and writes like a dream. She takes liberties--and then tells you what they are and why she did it.

I think Lonesome Dove is lot shorter. I have it but haven't read it yet.

I have been hovering over Quincunx now for about a year, wondering whether or not to buy it. Awaiting your opinion eagerly on that one (as well as the others--like Sunne in Splendor)

Joyce: I had First Man in Rome safely on my wishlist (i.e., not in the house!), then a few weeks ago my very nice father-in-law sent his copy to me. He was reading it last summer and remembered that I mentioned I wanted to read it, so into the mail it went, from Phoenix to Minneapolis. He'll be back in June, so I figure I need to read it by then so that I don't seem ungrateful. :-) I'm just a bit worried about getting drawn into ancient Rome for the rest of the year!

My paperback copy of Lonesome Dove is 960 pages of pretty dense text - definitely denser than the typical paperback spy novel. Last year when I was contemplating reading it, several LTer's recommended it over The Sunne in Splendour, stating that Lonesome Dove was one of their favorite books of all time. So. I just need to get into a Western mood. Lately, though, I've been feeling more like The Sunne in Splendour might be my next really big book. We'll see.

I read The First Man in Rome, The Quincunx, The Sunne in Splendour, and War and Peace. I liked them all, in different ways.

Joyce, I have to partially disagree with you. I think that the first three books in the Rome series are fine, actually quite good, but once I got to the fourth, I gave up. I have the feeling she did not write if not the first three books, but I might be wrong. At any rate, I was not 'captured' by the plot as much as at the beginning of the series.

The Quincunx is one of my favourite books, and I warmly recommend it. So, Joyce, GO GET A COPY!!!!!!!

The Sunne in Splendour was a very enjoyable reading, and I literally breezed through it.

No comments are necessary re War and Peace, I think. A masterpiece, and worth every and any minute spent on it even though, undoubtedly, more laborious reading than the previously mentioned books.

Enjoy!
:-))

You're absolutely right about Lonesome Dove--I just looked at my copy and sure enough....

So OK, OK--both go on the book order about to take place in a few days. I know when to obey orders as well as the next trooper! :-) * she says, coming out from under a bout of reading about Jeb Stuart's ride*

Thanks, Paola, for your recommendations. Last year I read about 250 pages of War and Peace, so I think I've gotten through the hard part - learning the cast of characters and all those Russian names! I even took Russian in college, but it doesn't help much when each character has between 2-5 names.

Paola:

I'm not certain I understand you--are you saying that McCullogh didn't write some of the Masters of Rome series?

The 4th book is Caesar's Women, which I found utterly fascinating, because so often women get the short stick in the history of that period. I loved and just ate up the 5th, Caesar, but then remember I'm into military history. I didn't think the 6th, October Horse, was quite so good but that was because I really didn't want Caesar to die! However, her portrait of the young Octavian is worth reading the book. I have Antony and Cleopatra but have not read it yet because I'll do what I always do--reread the series from beginning to end.

Yes, Joyce, I had the distinct feeling that, from #4 on, she used a 'ghost writer'. That, however, is only my impression and I might be wrong.

Hmm, that's very interesting, Paola. I didn't get the impression that there was any stylistic change or any other indication of another writer. I'l keep that in mind and be alert when I reread the series soon.

>9 Talbin:&ff: I've had The Quincunx on my shelf for a few months now, after really, really enjoying The Unburied. So I shall watch out for you reading it...

FlossieT, The Quincunx is AT LEAST ten thousand times better than The Unburied. So, you are in for a real treat.

Ten thousand times? Wow, I had heard The Quincunx was good, but I had no idea! ;-)

ETA a wink.

Okay, somebody has to intervene in this Qunicunx lovefest, so I guess I'll be the one. I read this book back in the mists of antiquity when it first came out and back in the day when I finished books even if I hated them. And I hated this book. When it first came out, critics likened it to Dickens and praised the accuracy with which he caught Victorian phrasing and linguistic style. It did not. It was a clunky attempt. I threw the book against the wall several hundred time while reading it. I had to replaster that section of wall. Read Dickens young women. Read Dickens.

Ah, dissent! Actually, I thought long and hard before buying this book. The reviews here on LT are very split - either people love it or hate it.

And Mary, I almost hate to say this, but I quite honestly hope The Quincunx is not like Dickens, because I honestly do not like Dickens. And yes, after reading five of his novels over various parts of my life, I feel as if I've given him a fair shake. I just cannot stand the over-everythingness of Dickens: overwrought prose, overwhelmingly pitiful children, overbearingly mean adults, etc. etc.

Ah, we'll see. If I can't stand it, I'll turn to something else, although it's extremely unlikely that something else will be Dickens. ;-)

Edited to close HTML.

Well, it definitely is Victorian, but much gloomier and more realistic than Dickens. Drood is in the same category.
Sorry, Mary, but I have to dissent although, I must say, I am a big fan of Dickens.

Joycepa and aluvalibri--I was reading The First Man in Rome series and loving it until Caesar's Women, which I abandoned half way through. I'd like to give it another try, but I'm afraid I'd have to go all the way back to the beginning to keep track of the characters.

I'll add my name to fans of The Quincunx. I have Palliser's The Unburiedon my shelf for reading when the fancy strikes. I'm sorry to hear that it's a thousand times less good than Quincunx, alualibri. Is it still worth reading?

All you lovers of The Quincunx, read The Thirteenth Tale or The Meaning of Night. The Thirteenth Tale is fabulous, wonderful, and meaty. The Meaning of Night - eh okay. You might also try Sleep, Pale Sister, an early Joanne Harris book reprinted last year or the year before perhaps.

#25 arubabookwoman: I really hate to say this, but I think that that would be necessary. I never had trouble keeping track of the characters in War and Peace after about the first 50 pages, but I had such a terrible time with this series that at one point I started making out a genealogy list. I had to abandon it because it got so long so fast! fortunately, a lot of these characters recur often enough that you at least get a feel for which family they more or less belonged to.

As I've mentioned, I intend to read the series form the beginning before starting Antony and Cleopatra. Which should be soon.

>26 urania1: I have The Thirteenth Tale on my wishlist, and Sleep, Pale Sister sounds quite intruiging. Thanks for the suggestions.

Reading various garden catalogs, and recommendations for Onward and Upward in the Garden and Two Gardeners: A Friendship in Letters.

This being-out-of-work-thing is wreaking havoc on my reading.

My Upper Midwest work ethic tells me that during the day I should be doing something "worthwhile," and in my mind, reading - while worthwhile - is a "leisure activity," to be done once the "real work" is done. But then, when evening comes and I have time for "leisure," I am somewhat down and really only want to watch TV or old movies. Hmmmm.

But I am doing some reading: I'm somewhat belatedly immersed in the world of garden catalogs. By now I really should have most of my seeds ordered, but because of the upheaval of January, I have only just started putting together my vegetable garden plans for the year. I don't need much, actually, because I have a lot of seed left over from last year. My main problem will be resisting the temptation of buying too much.

I'm not going to review any garden catalogs myself. However, if there are any gardeners out there, I am going to make a hardy recommendation for a book I first read two years ago: Onward and Upward in the Garden by Katharine S. White. White was a fiction editor at The New Yorker for 34 years (and also wife to E. B. White and mother to Roger Angell, a current New Yorker writer). After retiring from her editorial position in the late 50's, White began to write a yearly column for the magazine in which she read and reviewed garden catalogs in much the same fashion as she did fiction.

Onward and Upward in the Garden is a collection of these 12 columns. Obviously, many of the catalogs White discusses are no longer in existence. But her take on the way the catalogs were written, along with her always-insightful comments on plants and flowers, make this a pretty delightful read. I must admit, there were some things I skimmed, particularly the writing about flower arranging. I take it that flower arranging must have been a popular "woman's activity" in the late 50s and early 60s, because it seems as if there were a lot of big flower shows to write about. But overall the book is quite good.

And if you enjoy White and her understated, sometimes acerbic take on the world of gardening, then one more recommendation would be to take a look at Two Gardeners: A Friendship in Letters, a compilation of the letters between Katharine White and Elizabeth Lawrence, an accomplished Southern garden writer. This book is not only interesting for the garden talk, but is also a bit of a peek into the publishing world.

Edited to fix touchstones.

I've had The Thirteenth Tale sitting on my shelf since the middle of last year. Every time I think, "maybe I'll try this now," I read a review of someone who wasn't wild about it and put it off. Then, a series of positive reviews comes along and it slowly inches its way back up the pile. One of these days I'll either just read it or permanently take it off the pile so I don't have to look at it. ;-)

Hi, Tracy. Glad you posted a link on the 75 Books Challenge. Like you, I'm finding it overwhelming. I notice that fannyprice has also dropped out in favor of this group. I just can't keep up over there.

>22 urania1: Haven't read The Quincunx, but I had the same reaction to The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl. And anything by Carolly Erickson provokes the same response. Glad to know I'm not the only book thrower around here!

I'm not a big fan of mysteries, which may be why I was underwhelmed by both The Meaning of Night and The Thirteenth Tale.

Right now I'm reading two novels that I'm really enjoying, Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese and Blindspot by Kamensky and Lapore (touchstone is wrong).

I'm beginning to wonder if I should do the same. I'm not worried about keeping up but I'm beginning not to like my own attitude toward reading. Probably not too many people have a weakness for statistics and numbers the way I do, but I do, and I'm finding I'm paying far too much attention to the numbers of books I'm chalking up. I'll read them anyway and I read fast, but somehow the numbers are taking over my mind, and I'm not thrilled.

Oh, I can just ignore the numbers thing. I believe I'm numbring my books here, too, but just for my own interest--no goal or challenge. Life keeps getting in the way of my reading time. Like Tracy, I don't want to tie myself down with anything like the 999 challenge, where I not only have to count but I feel compelled to read a certain number of a certain type of book. My reading time, outside of work-related reading, is precious, and I just want to go with whatever takes my mood at the moment.

#33: Re the numbers thing: that's because you're normal and I've already indicated that I'm not! LOL

I haven't done any of the other challenges except the Pulitzer one which I really like--I wouldn't have read any of the earliest winners if it hadn't been for that challenge and I'm glad I did. With the exception of Arrowsmith which, to my taste, is one of the worst books I've read in a very long time. I really hate it. But am determined to finish it, something I almost never do.

Joyce, don't worry, I completely understand the numbers thing. Ever since leaving graduate school (almost 20 years ago now!) I have a very strange relationship with books. There was something about being a graduate student of literature that almost killed my love of reading. After about three years of always reading "with a purpose" - to teach, to write, to analyze - I lost my ability to just read for pleasure. Over the years, I've regained that ability, but I am still incredibly competitive. Over at the 75 Book group I found myself getting p.o.'ed that people counted children's books toward their totals, or distraught because I "only" read X number of books in January while someone else had read Y. It was ridiculous, and it was sending me back to a place vis-a-vis reading I didn't want to be.

I'm like Deborah - I just want to read what strikes my fancy, and I don't need my own internal competitive engine to go into high gear every time I see someone else is somehow meeting a challenge "better" than I am.

And Joyce, if you do decide to move over here, just don't tell all your devoted followers otherwise there could be a mass exodus! ;-) I swear, at least half the 75er's read and post on your thread.

Well said, Tracy! Perfectly put about an internal competitive drive. I long ago lost any incentive to compete with other people, but I do with myself entirely too much. At one point in my life I had to give up bird identification for that very reason. It was easily 20 years before I could allow myself to do that again and enjoy it instead of having it be a source of incredible anxiety.

One of the worst things I did with the 75 book challenge is to put up a page ticker. I noticed, at some point, that I was reading on the average of 450 pages per book. I swear it influenced my next two choice of books just so I could keep up that average! I would have read them anyway, but maybe not so soon and at the expense of some others at this moment.

Thanks for the understanding and for phrasing it so well.

As for the exodus: You're confusing me with Stasia! We're very easy to tell apart--her name begins with S and mine with J. :-)

>31 Cariola: Deborah - Now I liked The Dante Club, but then I like mysteries.

I think the last time I wanted to throw a book against the wall was with Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth. I know that most people really love that book, but I just could not stand Lily Bart. At least she got what she deserved. And then there was Baudolino by Umberto Eco, which was the only book I had for a plane trip from Amsterdam to Minneapolis. I ended up watching the on-board movies and leaving the book in the seat pocket. (It probably would have been bad form to throw it against the airplane wall . . . . )

>37 Joycepa: Joyce - You'll notice I don't have any tickers here, for that very reason. I'm put my page ticker on my profile, but it's "safe" there because I don't look at it all the time.

#39: Good idea. Will copy.

I've never read Baudolino, although I'm a huge fan of Eco's and have loved every book of his that I have read.

>40 Joycepa: I loved The Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum, but I found Baudolino to be extraordinarily boring. But that's just me - it seems to have several good reviews here on LT.

>35 Talbin:, "There was something about being a graduate student of literature that almost killed my love of reading. After about three years of always reading "with a purpose" - to teach, to write, to analyze - I lost my ability to just read for pleasure."

I often wish that I had taken more literature classes in college and grad school, but this sentiment seems to be so strong amongst English majors, et al that I am often glad that I didn't. On the other hand, I have found that I have a special relationship with books I've studied in some depth. The best lit criticism increases one's appreciation for books, I think. I hated Wuthering Heights until I read a little bit about it & thought more carefully about its narrative structure - after that I was able to appreciate the book for its stylistic qualities, although I still don't care for the plot or characters one whit.

>42 fannyprice: Kris - It's strange, because being a literature major in college had no effect on my ability to read for pleasure. I think in graduate school the ante was upped because grad school is so much more competitive. Because you have a specific literary focus, you tend to have classes with many of the same people. All these people are in grad school because they were good at literature, so at least for me, I needed to always make sure I was on top of my game so that I seemed "smart enough" (that darn competitive streak of mine again). Then, of course, you're always thinking about your next big paper - and the ultimate paper, the dissertation - so everything is read through those lenses, so to speak.

I'm extremely grateful for my literary training, because like you said, you gain a much deeper appreciation for a work by understanding the internal workings (plot, structure, etc.) and the external forces (culture, historical events, other works of art, etc.)

Ironically, now that I'm old I wish I had focused on environmental studies or geology when I was in college.

#35: oh boy, did that resonate here. That's precisely why I left the 75 challenge. I just don't want to go to that place again. I want to read because I love to read. Period.

#31: I could not enjoy The Dante Club either. I love Dante. I love mysteries. But I found that book a complete grind.

Grad school does do terrible things to us, doesn't it? I had to decide whether I wanted to pursue a Creative Writing MFA or a PhD in Language and Literature. I went with the latter since, as a divorced mom not getting much child support, I needed to shoot for the more secure income. I enjoy teaching literature, but it makes me sad that I was a very promising and semi-successful poet, and I haven't written a poem since I started grad school. The kind of writing one needs to do in classes and for publication in scholarly journals just puts one's mind in a very different place.

The only pressure I feel from numbers is the number of TBRs piling up all over my house. There are so many boxes, bags, shelves, drawers, and stacks of books in my spare bedroom that when my daughter came for Thanksgiving, she took one look and decided to sleep on the couch. She added, "I guess you won't be needing any books for Christmas, huh?" It's getting a little embarassing, and I'd like to do some weeding out. But for me, that involves reading at least the first 50 pages or so. Otherwise I can't bring myself to give up an unread book.

>44 tiffin: I found The Dante Club to be very poorly written. I kept reading all these reviews that marvelled at the fact that it was written by a 20-year old. Didn't surprise me; it read like a pretentious sophomore's work.

>38 Talbin: I liked The House of Mirth--but I didn't feel sorry for Lily Bart.

I could not finish The Dante Club either, but I loved The Meaning of Night, The Quincunx (as I have already said ad nauseam), and quite enjoyed Drood, which I FINALLY finished last night.

I just downloaded the audiobook of Drood. Also T. C. Boyle's The Women (for which there is no touchstone yet). I have a fascination with Frank Lloyd Wright; Loving Frank was pretty bad, so I have higher hopes for this one.

When I was in college (not majoring in English/Literature) I took all the Literature courses I could fit in, so that my homework was reading. When I went to Law School it was harder to fit in pleasure reading. The hardest time of all for me to read was when my kids were little--I was always so exhausted at night and too busy during the day.

8. The Cook and the Gardener: A Year of Recipes and Writings from the French Countryside by Amanda Hesser, 605 pages. 4/5. Review. Finished 2/15/2009.

This is one part memoir, half-part gardening observations from a non-gardener, and two-and-a-half parts French country cookbook. Hesser is a good writer, and I enjoyed her descriptions of working with Monsieur Milbert, the older gardener at the French chateau where Hesser worked as a chef. See the link above for my full review.

I read about this book a number of years ago, when it first came out, and almost bought it. Liked your review--and the chicken recipes you mention sound terrific. Chicken is the main "meat" here, the staple of ordinary Panamanians, so it's available everywhere and cheap. I need some good, different recipes to go with the traditional ones from here.

>49 Talbin: Another good book structured around the seasons is Twelve Months of Monastery Soups. The pea soup is to die for. Ditto for the Artichoke and Potato Soup.

#51: that one just hit the wishlist with a thump, Cariola. I can make a meal of a good bowl of soup with a crusty whole grain baguette.

>51 Cariola: Mmmmm - I just added it to the wishlist.

One of my favorite cookbooks is Seppo Ed Farrey's Three Bowls: Vegetarian Recipes from an American Zen Buddhist Monastery. You can read portions of it on Google Books here. A lot of the recipes come through.

9. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather, 297 pages. 5/5. Review. Finished 2/19/2009.

This is my favorite novel by Willa Cather, at least of the five I've read. The writing is superb and the story quietly elegant. I'm always surprised that people who have read several Cather books have not read this one. Please do - it's wonderful!

Tracy, it's my favorite of Cather's books. I just recently re-acquired it but have not re-read it yet. I love it.

As usual, I'm simply amazed at how our tastes overlap! :-)

>56 Joycepa: Joyce - Good, another Father Latour fan! This is just such a wonderfully written, spare book - and it seems open and airy to me, like the Southwestern landscape.

Yep, you have good taste! ;-)

Hola Talbin

While reading your review of Death Comes for the Archbishop (good review btw), I was comparing the elements of the book (which I haven't read) you were talking about to Gilead (which I haven't finished - it's one I've been reading it starts and spurts). Religion, collections of memories out of order chronologically, upcoming death, the time and location playing a part in the book. I'm not sure if the books are even comparable. But it made me think about it.

Tracy, I will now get hot on the trail of that Willa Cather. What an excellent endorsement. I haven't read it yet.

>58 chrine: chrine - I'm not familiar with Gilead, so I'm not quite sure how to compare them. I find Death Comes for the Archbishop to be a very peaceful, calming book - reflections on a life well-lived.

>59 tiffin: Tui - You're in for a treat. I think you'll really like it.

Talbin

Let me try one more time. This is a message quickly written to say I'm following your thread and you are reading some very interesting books.

A belated welcome to the 75 book challenge for 2009. As you can see, we are a lively, well read and chatty bunch.

Linda

Congratulations, Talbin, on your "Hot Review."

Death Comes for the Archbishop is not only my favorite Cather novel, it is in my top favorites list of all time, place, and genre! Your review captured so beautifully the effect the novel has on me and why. You said it much better than I could--you made me feel it again as I read the review. 5 stars for the review!

Now it's time for me to do another reread of the novel! :-)

>62 Whisper1: Linda - Welcome, and thanks for following my thread!

>63 MusicMom41: MusicMom - Wow! Until you mentioned it, I had no idea my review was there. Honestly, it's sort of cool (*she says, blushing*). It's only happened once before, and the once before was for How to Find Morels; it must have been a very, very slow day for a review about a book about mushrooms to make the Hot Reviews. ;-)

But really, isn't Death Comes for the Archbishop a wonderful, wonderful book?

Update: 238 pages into The Sunne In Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman. Also almost completely done entering the last of our books into LT. Reorganization of the office/library goes well, but I'm still wondering why adding two tall, 5-shelf bookcases hasn't left me with nearly as much new shelf space as I thought. I guess I really had no idea how many books were piled on the bedroom table and around the office.

Anyway . . . The Sunne in Splendour is a well-written fictional account of England's Richard III. Right now, Edward IV is in exile in France with Richard, while Warwick has reinstated mad king Henry VI and is essentially ruling as regent. Penman is a very good writer, and the book is well-plotted. Once I pick up the book, it's hard to put it down again.

Because my knowledge of English history has been almost exclusively gleaned from either literature or the 5 page "era descriptions" in traditional Norton Anthologies, my knowledge of this particular English political era was pretty much limited to Shakespeare's Richard III. (And ironically, I haven't even read Richard III, I only saw a movie adaptation once, many years ago. This situation will need to be rectified.) So, most of the plot of The Sunne in Splendour is new to me, too, which is good.

Tracy, I hate say this, but how old did you say you were, that you really thought that adding two bookcases was going to make that much difference? It NEVER does what you think it's going to do!

>66 Joycepa: Joyce, I know. I think I was just too embarrassed to actually count how many TBR books I had piled around. But still, one would think that adding more than 20 feet of shelf space wouldn't leave me wondering where the Greek literature and travel books were going to go!

Although I must admit I'm trying to leave some wiggle room on each shelf so that I can add some books over the next year or two. Maybe there won't be any wiggle room in the end.

Update: 667 pages into The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman.

Edward IV just died and Richard is about to ascend to the throne.

I'm trying to decide how much Shakespeare I'll be ready for once I'm done with this. Do I read all three of his Henry VI plays plus Richard III? The library has the BBC productions of the Henry VI plays - maybe I just watch them, then devote reading time plus watching time to Richard III? I'm not sure yet - all I know is that this will be the perfect time to read them since the characters and events will be fresh in my mind. We'll see.

Duplicate post. Not quite sure how that happened.

Well, the problem with Shakespeare is that in Richard III, he followed reconstructionist history to suit the Tudors, not the real thing. I imagine that, since it's Penman, she follows the line that Richard was slandered.

Joyce - Oh, I know. This is just an excuse to familiarize myself with the Henry VI plays and to read (and re-see) Richard III. Shakespeare followed reconstructionist history in just about all his histories - some to a greater extent than others - mostly greater, actually. But I don't read Shakespeare for the history. ;-) Richard III is a brilliant exploration of the meaning and uses of evil, and secondarily, of language, and language as a means to an end. The key is to forget about what really happened and to become immersed in Shakespeare's world.

I just finished ordering all the BBC versions (on DVD) from the library. I think I'll be watching the three Henry plays, then reading and watching Richard III. My understanding is that the BBC version isn't the best, but it barely cuts anything, and my previous experience with the BBC Shakespeare series is that they are very serviceable, especially as an introduction to the play.

Ah, I love Shakespeare, and have ever since I saw Olivier's King Lear as a freshman in college. There were three daughters in my family, just like Lear's, and I couldn't imagine that any daughter would betray her father. It made me cry, it was so wonderfully sad.

I'd go with your second option: watch the Henry VI plays and then read Richard III. I teach Shakespeare; take it from me, the Henrys aren't exactly top notch.

I don't know anything at all about the Henry VI plays--the only "Henry" I've seen is V.

>72 Cariola: Yep, that's the plan. I figure I'll never have an incentive to read OR watch the Henry VI plays again, so I might as well do it now. I'll read and watch Richard III, which I've only seen once before, so I'm excited about that.

>73 Joycepa: Ah, Joyce, you've misssed some good ones. The histories tend the be the least seen of his works, but there are a few gems there. The entire Henry IV cycle is good (Richard II, Henry IV Parts 1&2 and Henry V). Of those, I personally like Richard II the best, then Henry IV Part II, then Henry V.

For me, this reading/watching of the Henry VI cycle will get me all the histories but King John.

Oh, King John is excellent!! I'm thinking about teaching it next semester as it has been years since I've read it.

And King Lear is definitely my favorite of the tragedies. I'm considering this one as well; I'm getting pretty tired of Othello. I wish more students responded as you did; most of them just see it as a play about a senile old guy, and it doesn't move them--not even the Olivier version.

I guess I can believe that students don't respond to the play, but isn't it too bad? I don't remember the exact scene, but the part when Lear thinks that Cordelia has betrayed him like her sister - well, I thought Olivier did a masterful job of it.

For me, Shakespeare is like other drama - it needs to be seen to be fully appreciated. When I read it, it's like reading epic poetry, which is wonderful in its own way. But when I watch it on stage or in a well-done movie, well, then it comes to life for me.

I'm betting it's the scene in the tent when Lear awakes after raging in the wilderness and being rescued by Cordelia's men. It always chokes me up in the Olivier film.

CORDELIA
O, look upon me, sir,
And hold your hands in benediction o'er me:
No, sir, you must not kneel.

KING LEAR
Pray, do not mock me:
I am a very foolish fond old man,
Fourscore and upward, not an hour more nor less;
And, to deal plainly,
I fear I am not in my perfect mind.
Methinks I should know you, and know this man;
Yet I am doubtful for I am mainly ignorant
What place this is; and all the skill I have
Remembers not these garments; nor I know not
Where I did lodge last night. Do not laugh at me;
For, as I am a man, I think this lady
To be my child Cordelia.

CORDELIA
And so I am, I am.

KING LEAR
Be your tears wet? yes, 'faith. I pray, weep not:
If you have poison for me, I will drink it.
I know you do not love me; for your sisters
Have, as I do remember, done me wrong:
You have some cause, they have not.

CORDELIA
No cause, no cause.

King Lear was one of my favorite Shakespeares in HS and college. I found it totally compelling. I wonder what I'd think of it now (ten years later).

I am also of a three daughter family, Talbin.

I do hope you are Cordelia, chrine! :-)

Indeed. All three are loyal daughters, but I am probably the most nurturing and patient. Bob, my dad, is no King Lear. He would divide his kingdom evenly. He has two son-in-laws now (and another nearly certain to be), which he enjoys, having had no sons.

I just read in another thread here that they don't read Shakespeare in HS anymore! I had Shakespeare in three out of three HS's. There was some Hamlet overlap.

Another favorite there. I'll round it out with A Midsummer's Night's Dream.

#79: chrine, nearly five decades after first encountering Lear, and several viewings and readings, I still love it.

In PA, high school students still read Shakespeare--but not much. It may be true that students in the tech programs get even less.

A student in my Shakespeare class last semester wrote on the course evaluation that she didn't think that she needed the Shakespeare requirement "because I'm just going to teach high school English and they only teach modern American literature." Scary prospect. Thankfully, she is wrong.

Nevertheless, I do find that a lot of the incoming university students have been exposed to little else. Their teachers--like the prospective teacher above--teach what they personally like or find easiest to teach, thus perpetuating the cycle.

>78 Cariola: Deborah, yes, I'm pretty sure that was the scene. And who can resist? I remember so vividly watching that on my parent's tiny 1960s b/w TV and just crying, feeling so bad for Lear and Cordelia.

Ah, the joys of YouTube - Here's the scene! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX73xFfC1vg&feature=related

Of course, it has so much more impact after knowing the treacheries of Regan and Goneril, and that Cordelia has been steadfast.

>79 chrine:/82 Chrine - I agree with Tui, you will definitely still enjoy Lear. Actually, this is definitely one play that gets better as you get older because so much of it is about just that - growing older. Strangely, I was thinking about Romeo and Juliet last night and how - while I still enjoy it - I've probably gotten to the age where it has diminishing impact on me.

>80 MusicMom41: MusicMom - I bet all of us from a three-daughter family are pretty sure we're the Cordelia's! ;-)

>81 chrine:/83 Shakespeare's relevance today - I think I'm going to post a separate topic for all of Group Read on this. I find it a fascinating subject.

I will say, though, that for me, Shakespeare is probably the only dramatist where I would be willing to see multiple productions of the same play. There is so much "there" there in Shakespeare, so much to pull from. And I really do think you have to see the play on stage to get the complete Shakespeare experience.

Talbin

When you start that thread, please post a link to it for those of us who love Shakespeare and are "lurkers" on Club Read--following friends who deserted 75 Challenge. :-)

King Lear is one of my favorite plays (although it would be hard to list them in order because I love so many of them!). I've seen three productions of it in my life and read it at least twice--but never had the chance to study it in a school situation. The first time I read it, though, I read it with my Dad and we discussed it--that might have been better than school. :-) I was an only child so I had to be Cordelia--maybe that's why he chose that play! Of course, we read several others together, also.

MusicMom - Here you go: http://www.librarything.com/topic/59002

How wonderful to read and discuss Shakespeare with your dad! My dad isn't a reader, so I've never had that opportunity.

I'm not sure which Shakespeare play is my favorite. King Lear is up there, as is Richard II and Othello. I also like a lot of the comedies, but then who doesn't?

And I think seeing the play is so important to understanding it.

Talbin

Thanks for the link--I'm going over to to star it now.

I was lucky to have two parents who were readers and I was an only child. From Dad I learned about William Shakespeare, Homer, and historical novels (among other things) and from Mom I learned about Anne of Green Gables (all of Montgomery, actually), Louisa May Alcott, Polyanna, and from both of them I was exposed to reams of poetry of all genre! By the time I went to high school I was pretty well versed in literature so I loved my classes--and my teachers loved me! :-)

# 67: Edward IV just died and Richard is about to ascend to the throne.
----------

Uhm, shouldn't you have put a spoiler alert on this comment? I have this book on my TBR stack, and now I'm not sure I want to read it. Maybe I'll try the Henry VIII book instead.

#76 - And King Lear is definitely my favorite of the tragedies. I'm considering this one as well; I'm getting pretty tired of Othello. I wish more students responded as you did; most of them just see it as a play about a senile old guy, and it doesn't move them--not even the Olivier version.
----------
Oh Deborah, give it a try. I did King Lear last year and it went over very well, from what I can tell. Everyone seemed engaged from where I sat. It's was definitely one of my favourites. (Maybe because we followed it with Measure for Measure, which was really difficult, and then Winter's Tale,which is problematic. By comparison, Lear was chocolate fudge brownie.)

>89 Nickelini: Nickelini - I'm sorry . . . I think? I'm honestly not sure if you're joking or not. I guess I assumed that everyone knew that eventually one king dies and another takes over? With Penman, she may be writing historical fiction, but she only writes about events that actually happen.

I'm really not trying to be flip or sarcastic, but I also figured that history didn't need spoiler alerts.

ETA: Also, please don't let this put off your reading of The Sunne in Splendour. It's a great book, and certainly me telling you something that happens about 2/3 of the way through an almost 1,000 page book won't spoil it for you. There's still a lot of stuff that happens.

No, I'm sorry . . . written communication can be so tricky. I figured it was an obvious joke, seeing it happened 600 years ago. I guess I really do need to put in "ha ha ha" or :-), or maybe just not make lame jokes :-) (and yes, The Sunne of Splendour is high on my TBR--I've only heard good things about it. Sorry to confuse you!

edited to add . . . I'm also not one of those people that gets twisted about spoilers, anyway! So it was kinda joke on that too, which of course you wouldn't know. I think so much of the pleasure in reading is the journey itself, and points of plot are secondary.

>92 Nickelini: Whew!!!!! I was having one heck of an internal conversation with myself about this! I really try to be careful about spoilers, but I think (and it sounds like you think so, too) that some people on LT go way too far. I completely agree with you that points of plot are secondary - unless, of course, you're reading a murder mystery!

For Richard III, everyone must see the following film version:

Richard III directed by RICHARD LONCRAINE

Richard Loncraine's powerfully compelling WW2-styled film adaptation of the stage production.

Written by: William Shakespeare
With: Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, Robert Downey Jr.

It is fabulous.

The English Theatre Company also did the entire War of the Roses Cycle sometime back. It used to be pretty pricey (only available to educators) and is much better than the BBC series. For the greatest Shakespeare film site in the world check out Bard Central. You need to check formatting on the DVDS. Some are formatted only for UK or USA regions. This internet store is AWESOME.

>94 urania1: urania1 - Ah, that I could blithely go forth and purchase. But as our income status has been recently reduced by one (mine), I am currently limited to the library for DVDs. However, after your glowing recommendation, I found the Loncraine version of Richard III available at the University of Minnesota, where my husband so conveniently works. Now I just need to find out if it's check-out-able or if it must needs stay in the AV lab, where several copies are currently housed. Oh, and I have to convince said husband to pick it up, which is a good 2+ mile hike for him. I will have to work on this.

#94: I'll second the recommendation for the film Richard III: Ian McKellan does an absolutely bang-up job. I have it--haven't seen it in a while--might be a god time to do so!

we love Sir Ian in almost everything he does (on and off screen) but I really thought his acting verged on ham in his RichardIII. It seemed like he came awfully close to waggling his eyebrows ala Groucho Marx in his opening soliloquy. Part, i think, was that he was bringing stage acting techniques to screen, just to see how they would work.

10. The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman, 936 pages. 4.5/5. Review. Finished 3/5/2009.

An excellent book. Penman tells the story of the end of the War of the Roses in England, basically starting with Edward IV's assumption of the throne and ending with Richard III's death in battle at the hands of Harry Tudor's (Henry VII's) army.

Two main points about the book stand out for me right now. One is that Penman does two things masterfully well - plotting and characterization. The plotting, to some extent, takes care of itself (it's history, after all). However, Penman chooses which events to highlight and does a really good job of moving the reader through some of the more uneventful years. Where Penman excels, though, is in bringing the characters to life. This, of course, is almost all conjecture on her part, and this is where her artistry lies.

The second point is that for me, at least, the last part of the book read almost like a Greek tragedy. Once Richard takes the throne, I found that the events that unfolded has a feeling of inevitability. I'm not quite sure if this is because I already knew what was going to happen, or if it was something intrinsic in the way Penman wrote the book, or perhaps it's because Richard's life as king was truly the stuff of tragedy.

In any case, I highly recommend this book.

>97 bobmcconnaughey: Bob - It's interesting, because the two (visible-without-clicking-for-more) Amazon reviews had the same two viewpoints expressed here - one thinks McKellan's performance is brilliant, the other thinks it goes over the edge.

I was chatting w/ Patty on our way to work and she reminded me that she liked it a lot more than i did. But Sir Ian could read Winnie the Pooh and she'd likely swoon.

I'm on the fence with this one. Interesting interpretation, but I don't think it works as well as, say, Taymor's version of Titus.

While I do use films in my classes, one downfall is that the students tend to think that the movie IS the play. I keep reminding them that this is one director's conception. They tend to refer to things in the movie when writing essays, forgetting that costuming, gestures, line delivery, added visuals, etc., are not in Shakespeare's text.

I stopped showing updated adaptations that change the language entirely. This was after showing a few excerpts from O, a teen version of Othello with Josh Hartnett and Mykeel Williams. Even though I showed clips from the McKellan and Olivier versions, students kept referring to the main characters as O and Desi. It was making me cringe.

Oh, and I wanted to say that every semester I try to arrange a trip to DC (about 1.5 hours away) to see a Shakespearean production. I had to cancel the last time because not enough students were interested (and it was a production of Macbeth with Penn of Penn & Teller). The previous time, I almost ended up personally responsible for about $250 in tickets because students who had verbally committed backed out. I understand the financial woes of students, but $26 for what is for most of them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity seems pretty reasonable. The students who have gone with me in the past had no idea what it would be like, and they inevitably come back saying it was an experience they will always remember.

>Bob - I'm with Patty - Ian McKellan is pretty swoon-inducing. ;-)

>All - I'm not sure if I'll be able to convince Bill to get the McKellan Richard III from the University library for me. When I mentioned it, his first reaction was, "That's a 20 minute one-way walk from my office!" Either I wait until May (when the weather is much nicer) or I keep bugging him until he finds a reason to go to that part of campus.

>Deborah - I've personally never liked the "hip" versions of Shakespeare that change the language, and I really can't imaging having students call Othello and Desdemona "O" and "Desi" - that would drive me crazy. I'll respond more on the official Shakespeare thread, but I also think seeing a production is so crucial to understanding Shakespeare, too. After all, they're plays first. I'll post more over on the other thread.

11. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, 120 pages. 4/5. Review. Finished 3/6/2009.

A charming novella that asks the question, "What if Queen Elizabeth became a pleasure reader?" I thought the revelation at the very end was a bit jarring and not quite in keeping with the tone of the story, but otherwise I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Amusing, gentle, with a few lessons about how reading changes one's life sprinkled on top.

I don't know a lot about The Uncommon Reader, and it sounds intriguing, but every time I hear about it, I ask "do we know that Queen Elizabeth doesn't read for pleasure?" In other words, I don't quite get the premise of this book.

The Uncommon Reader is utterly charming and it doesn't matter to the "plot" whether of not the "real" QEII reads for pleasure or not. Just take it at face value. Hell, according to a thread on the SFFans board, ummm i guess it could be called "Alternate History" and..get folded into Science Fiction (totally false premises, but do take that last sentence as a silly joke). Just assume she doesn't...yet.

Really, esp. if your a bit tired/have a cold/ just want something cheering and short and amusing. Though Bennett's attitude towards New Zealanders may be..dubious.

>105 Nickelini:/106 Yep, Bob has it down. This is the perfect book to save for when you're sick or a bit down. It only takes about an hour or (at most) two to read, it's amusing, doesn't task the brain too much and nothing bad or unpleasant happens. It's a gentle book.

As for the premise, if you just suspend disbelief and assume the Queen doesn't read much, then you can go from there.

105/106/107 Agreed, it's a lovely little read. I finisihed it in about an hour and a half while waiting on car repairs. It's not the kind of book I'd normally pickup, but I am glad that I did. It made me smile.

Hola Talbin

Saw you finished The Sunne in Splendour. Nice review.

>109 chrine: Chrine - Thanks - I also posted on your thread. It's an excellent book, highly readable and quite well done.

Aagh. Trying to catch up. Deborah, loved Taymor Titus--ye gods, what a production! Can't remember what other film of hers I've seen but glory, she is good--oh yes, Frida, pretty sure.

I didn't think McKellan's performance was over the top--just a very energetic, shall we say, interpretation of Richard--and for me it worked beautifully! But it's just one interpretation, and not the only one.

12. Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson, 196 pages. 3.5/5. Review. Finished 3/8/2009.

A quick history - maybe overview is a better word - of Shakepeare's life and times. Not much is actually known about Shakespeare the man, so Bryson writes primarily about the times in which Shakespeare lived. A good overview, a quick read.

I want to put in a plug for Al Pacino's Richard III movie: Looking for Richard. It's a kind of deconstruction of the play, in which Al acts, directs and comments. it includes interviews from ordinary New Yorkers who can quote from the play(s), testament to the fact that the bard is alive and well, and still kicking ass in lower Manhattan.

I also adore, adore and adore again Baz Lurhman's movie of Romeo and Juliet with Clare Danes and the boy wonder leonardo di caprio. It more than any other production i have seen, catches the youth and energy and verve of the play, the teenage aspect of it. The language is preserved, invigorated and complemented by the baroque visuals, and the soundtrack is magnificent.

Am I alone in my admiration for this version?

Possibly yes.

I liked the Luhrman film too. But then I can't resist bright, shiny, glittery things. Like a magpie.

#113: I found Looking for Richard interesting but as a one-time thing. It's not something I'd want, for example, to have in my DVD library so that I could watch it again. Whereas I do watch Ian McKellan's Richard III from time to time.

>113 QuentinTom:: beg to differ with 114 - you are definitely not alone. In particular, it's one of the few versions I've ever seen that could make me 'forget' the end and be desperately hoping that Juliet would wake up in time - that scene in particular stands out for me. I thought it was fantastic, and proof that you can 'update' Shakespeare without just stealing the plot and throwing away the words.

edit: typo

Yes, good FlossieT, point well made.

Okay, I must admit that Romeo and Juliet is not one of my favorites, and so I have not seen Lurman's movie version. It looks like I should rectify that situation.

(And I must be getting old, because I find myself gravitating toward the tragedies and histories. But on the other hand, one of my very favorite movies of all time is Shakespeare in Love, so there must still be a little romance left in me.)

And FlossieT - I saw a production of Othello here at the Guthrie Theater that was like that - absolutely transcendent, like seeing the play for the first time. They didn't do much to change it, just added some ancient Greek elements, but wow - what a production.

Okay - I'm going to start a thread for film versions of Shakespeare so that we can all find new things to watch.

Remember to post a link!!

Here you go - the link to the thread on film versions of Shakespeare: http://www.librarything.com/topic/59722

we, too, found "looking for Richard" fascinating. It's rather interesting that Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino and Clint Eastwood have become increasingly more interesting as they've gotten older whilst Jack Nicholson has long become a parody of himself.

Absolutely! JN just relies on his eyebrows.

Ah, Clint. We just re-watched Unforgiven this past week. I think it's one of the best movies ever made - or at least, it's really, really good.

My only complaint with Al Pacino is that whenever I see him in a movie it takes me awhile to get past thinking of him in Scent of a Woman - I really despised his "who-haw" character.

Update: A few hundred pages into The Plot Against America by Philip Roth.

I found this book difficult to get into at first and almost abandoned it, even though my husband thought it was very good. One thing I had a difficult time with was Roth's prose style. He uses lot of very long sentences all in a row, which to me reads a bit like droning on and on. Combine that with the fact that it's an alternate history and Roth spends the first 30-50 pages or so setting the scene, and, well, it started out very slowly.

I've never read any Roth before, so maybe someone can tell me if the consecutive long sentence thing is part of his general style, or if he employed it specifically for this book?

If he employed it only for this book, then I have a few theories as to why he might have done it. If it's part of his general style, I may not be so eager to pick up another one of his books. We'll see how The Plot Against America plays out, though, before I come to any final decisions.

(BTW - It's moving along much more quickly now. Today I was even able to read for an hour at a Ford dealership's waiting area with the TV blaring.)

Today I was even able to read for an hour at a Ford dealership's waiting area with the TV blaring

Tracy--perhaps it wasn't so much the book's literary merit as it was sheer desperation? As in--anything is better than an auto dealership's waiting area?

Survival tip: always carry earplugs and a book. Kleenex will do in a pinch but it looks odd.

#127: Kleenex! Who would have thought! I'm far more likely to have access to Kleenex than ear plugs. What a great idea--thanks, tiffin!

just tuck the ends in

Tracy,

I have tried time and again to read Philip Roth because he is so highly acclaimed, but the only Roth book I have ever finished was The Plot Against America. Frankly, I don't know why I did. I really have never been able to tolerate his writing style, and I did l not even like the story. Perhaps others who like Roth can encourage you.

I read Portnoy's Complaint in high school (who hasn't, phrawmph) but was not impressed by it enough to ever read anything else by him. Bellow's the man for me.

>126 Joycepa:-129 Actually, I can be easily distracted when I'm reading, so that fact that I was able to read The Plot Against America while in a waiting room says more about the book than about the surroundings. If I hadn't been able to get absorbed in the book, I would have been reading the newspaper and magazines. Earplugs are a great idea, though, for the next time - thanks, Tui!

>130 LisaCurcio:-131 Okay, maybe it's Roth's style. I'm now enjoying The Plot Against America (I'll finish today or tomorrow), but it took a good 100 pages before I started getting into the story - those endless, needlessly long sentences really got in the way. You'll be able to read all my fascinating insights when I write my review. ;-)

I am a big Philip Roth fan, although I don't like all of his books. I particularly didn't like The Plot Against America which I found much too formulaic and didactic. For those who haven't read a lot of Roth, or only one or two books that they didn't like, I suggest trying American Pastoral, his masterpiece in my opinion. The touchstones are messed up, but it is here.

13. The Plot Against America by Philip Roth, 391 pages. 3/5. Review. Finished 3/13/2009.

In this alternate history, Charles Lindbergh wins the 1940 US Presidential election based on an anti-war platform. He signs non-aggression pacts with Germany and Japan, while at home he institutes programs designed to "Americanize" the Jews. Roth describes both the alternate history and the affect it has on the fictional Roth family. Overall, I thought The Plot Against America had an intriguing premise but was unevenly executed.

>133 rebeccanyc: Rebecca: I will have to read some more Roth - The Plot Against America was my first. Like you, I wasn't terribly impressed, but obviously Roth is not considered one of America's greatest living writers for nothing.

Courtesy of my husband, I have Ghost Writer and The Counterlife on the shelves - would you recommend either one of those?

I read them both a long time ago, and did like them -- they're both part of Roth's Nathan Zuckerman series (Zuckerman is kind of an alter ego for Roth). I believe The Ghost Writer is the first in the series, so you might want to read that first. But I really can't recommend American Pastoral highly enough.

No, tomcatmurr, you are not alone.

I think you're right about the fact that it catches the teenage aspect of the play. This is important for today's teenagers to be able to relate to Shakespeare.

Certainly, when the play was written the teenage years were simply considered the time before becoming the age of majority. I think that Baz Luhrmann's production was brilliant...for it's time...and we'll see if it stands the test of time.

When my 9 year old daughter saw parts of it, a couple of years ago, she wasn't interested in it at all. But, now she's 12 and she recognizes Claire Danes as an actress, so maybe she'll enjoy it.

14. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk, 293 pages. 3/5. Review. Finished 3/19/2009.

I found this to be a mixed bag. I really enjoyed Palahniuk's writing style, and there were some great moments in the book. However, the heavy focus on describing the main character's sexual adventures (he's a sex addict), along with a a plot twist that has the main character literally full of sh%t (which grossed me out), really put me off the story as a whole. I don't think this book was written for a woman in her mid-forties.

chuckling at that last line and thinking that a woman in her 60s might like it even less - but I probably wouldn't have liked it, from the sound of it, in my twenties. Were you being generous with the 3/5?
ETA: see what you mean about the mixed bag - the reviews reflect that. Wonder what kiwi thought of it?...off to check...

Doesn't sound real thrilling for a woman in her early 70s, either. I think this one is a "pass" for me.

>139 tiffin: Tui - Actually, I thought a lot about my rating. The thing with this book is that it really tries to explore a few "big ideas" and Palahniuk does it pretty well. Plus, I really like his style - it's quick, breezy, intelligent. But the subject matter ended up bothering me. It was supposed to be funny and hip, I think, but I found it gross and sort of sad. So - definitely a mixed bag.

>140 Joycepa: Joyce - No, I don't think this would be up your alley. ;-)

>138 Talbin: That image made me think of Time's Arrow, when everything goes backwards (including what's in the toilet). Ew.

#138 Talbin

Thanks for the review of Choke. there was a lot of buzz about the book on LT last year and I sort of had it on my "virtual" TBR. However, it definitely sounds like I would no enjoy this book so one less to worry about! :-)

MusicMom - I wouldn't feel too bad if it falls off the TBR pile. ;-)

15. Protect and Defend by Vince Flynn, 403 pages. 3./5. Review. Finished 3/21/2009.

Pure escapism. A drugstore spy book - you know, the kind on the spinning racks near the magazines. Probably Flynn's best so far, which means it was just above average (3.5 stars).

It's Saturday and DH is out of town, so I think I'll do a little more escapist reading this weekend. Maybe Anansi Boys, just to see what all the Neil Gaiman fuss is about.

Catching up with your thread, Talbin.

Regarding Roth, I read a lot of him, beginning with Portnoy's Complaint in the 70s, then dropped him for a long, long, time and recently read Human Stain which I enjoyed very much, even to the point of seeing the movie of it. Then I read two of his autobiographical works, Patrimony and another, the name of which escapes me, and was bored. At some point I think I will read American Pastoral which is highly praised, but I am not rushing to it, and there are probably 300 books ahead of it in the pile :-)

Regarding Palahniuk, he is someone who enjoys grossing people out, with sex, violence, the more graphic the better. I think he said at a reading that if by the end of it no one has vomited or fainted, he will have failed. So, definitely NOT for everyone. I would guess that 99% of his fans are male.

I have not read Palahniuk, and am not tempted to do so: I do not enjoy being grossed out. having said that, I think Fight Club is one of the best films I have seen in the last 10 years. Has anyone read the book? Is this a case of the film being much better than the book?

>147 QuentinTom: tomcat - I haven't read Fight Club, but I also enjoyed the movie quite a bit.

16. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, 384 pages. 4/5. Review. Finished 3/23/2009.

This was a fun read. Gaiman interweaves the West African/Caribbean myth of Anansi, the trickster spider who tells the tales that make up the world into the present-day story of Fat Charlie Nancy, a native Floridian living in London who discovers his father is a god (Anansi) and that he has a brother, Spider. If you enjoy magical realism mixed in with some humor, this is the book for you.

ETA: Touchstone not working so book title is a link to the book page.

17. Mosquito by Roma Tearne, 296 pages. 4.5/5. Review. Finished 3/25/2009.

A Sri Lankan author returns to his homeland after his wife dies. He meets a young girl who is a gifted painter and slowly falls in love. However, they both become victims in the civil war and are torn apart. This was a love story, but also much more - it was a book about love, loss, memory, friendship, art and the horrors of war.
A great first novel that I highly recommended.

Hi, Talbin -- so glad to find another fan of Mosquito. I read it as soon as it was published and I've been trying to spread the word about this gem of a book ever since.

Yes, I bought Mosquito. It is about ten down in the TBR pile, which could mean being read next week, or next year. But it continues to sound good, thanks, Talbin.

Oh, I quite enjoyed Mosquito. Just wonderful!

>151 Nickelini:/153 I'm glad to see a few more people who enjoyed Mosquito. My copy was a quite-generous gift from Christina (cristiguc), so it must seem that the book has at least gotten a little traction over on the Virago thread.

152: Andrew - I hope you enjoy it when you decide to read it. I found it quite lovely.

>138 Talbin:: I've only read two things by Palahniuk: Lullaby, which I found slightly hysterical in tone and definitely underwhelming, and a short story, Guts, which was just revolting and like one of those bad urban myths that used to get passed around in the early adolescent years of school (apparently people fainted at the readings he gave when he was promoting the collection). I'm not really moved to pick up any more, I have to say.

(I've never read Portnoy's Complaint, but I've never read any Philip Roth at all either.)

Talbin I'm concerned that you and I have been lumped together by Urania as cheaters-of-game-rules.

What do you think could have caused her to have that impression, I wonder?

>155 FlossieT: Flossie - Thanks for your view on Palahniuk. I may try Fight Club at some time, mainly because I liked the movie and have heard the book is good, but I'm not rushing out to buy any new Palahniuk books anytime soon.

>156 QuentinTom: - My friend Murr - I have no idea why Urania would think such things! Well, you are quite high-spirited and can pounce at any time (which of course is part of your charm :-) ), but me? Little ole me? *bats eyes innocently*

18. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin, 381 pages. 4/5. Review. Finished 3/29/2009.

A cracking good read. A female "mistress of the art of death" (a medieval medical examiner) is sent to Cambridge, England to investigate the deaths of four children. If you enjoy historical fiction, and especially if you enjoy a good mystery, this is a must-read. The plot moves along at a good pace, the author includes lots of historical subplots without bogging down the reading, and the characters are well-drawn. A perfect book to read on a rainy weekend day.

Thank you for the review, Tracy. I read Mistress of the Art of Death last year and enjoyed it as well. Somehow I haven't gotten around to reading the later ones in the series. Now you've reminded me a meant to do that! (And reminded me while I have an alibris coupon burning a hole in my pocket). :)

>160 christiguc: Christina - I just put A Serpent's Tale on my wishlist. I'm trying (trying so hard!) to be good and not purchase any new books for awhile. I really need to get through a portion of my TBR pile. Of course, this weekend I had a 40% off coupon from Borders that just had to be used, so I bought Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters, which I think I'll read next. But then it's back to the TBR shelves -really!

#160, #161: A Serpent's Tale is not quite as good, IMO, but still a great read. Well worth it.

>162 Joycepa: Joyce - That's what I gathered, but I'm still looking forward to it. I also read that #3 - Grave Goods - is supposed to be pretty good.

Grave Goods is on its way here. :-) I'll read anything Franklin writes, at this point. And her historical research is so outstanding--that alone is worth the read.

Ooh - I look forward to reading your review!

Should be here within the week! Exciting, huh? :-)

#161: Tracy, I am trying too. My TBR pile now exceeds 200 books, which is just plain ridiculous. I used to think I was awful when I had about 20. So I'm wishlisting too, so I won't forget about them, but it's hard, isn't it. Especially with the powerful influences around here.

#167: Tui, I'm almost afraid to ask this question--but is your TBR pile composed of books you already have on hand? As opposed to a wish list of those you intend to get?

>167 tiffin:/168 - I have used the tag TBR 86 times in my LT library. However, I only started using that tag about a year ago - for new books purchased but not read. There are many more in the house that I haven't read yet. These mostly came with DH when we got married, but that doesn't make them any less worthy. ;-) For example, one that I plan to read in April for a group read is Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. Even though I recently reorganized all the books in the house, I was too scared to actually tag all the "other" TBR books I have - I think I would have serious heart palpitations if I knew the real number!

(And my wishlist is at 126, although I'll be culling some out when/if LT introduces collections and I move my list over here.)

#169: Oh, wish lists--they don't count! Hey, no one can hold you responsible for your fantasy life, after all.

I think I have about 70-80 books here in the house that I haven't read yet.

#168: Joyce, on hand. Sitting on their own bookshelf. Awful, isn't it. Wishlist is only around 40 and is a tag here in LT.

My "tbr" tag is at 127 right now, and these are generally books I own. Plus any currently checked out of the library which will be read in short order. So, mostly books I own sitting on shelves. I had no idea. But I'd say about 70-75 of those are my Virago Modern Classics collection. I fully intend to read them but as a collection it feels more virtuous than the "oooh, I'd like to read that someday" find in a used bookshop.

I dunno. I can rationalize anything.

#172 - I can rationalize anything.
-------------

Oh, I can relate to that. One of my mottos is "I can justify anything".

I think it's just as well I don't tag the books that come in as TBR--I'm not sure I really want to know the number! That way, I can go on thinking "Oh, it's just 70 or so" and feel quite serene.

So is Ariana Franklin someone I should read? You know how partial I am to a good rolicking historical fiction. How does she compare with Dorothy Dunnett?

>175 QuentinTom: - Unfortunately, I have yet to read any Dunnett (she's on that vaunted wishlist, though). Actually, I'm a bit nervous making a recommendation to the local Dostoevsky/Auden expert! I would say Franklin is not quite as good a writer as Sharon Kay Penman, but she's pretty good. The Mistress of the Art of Death is equal parts mystery and historical novel. The historical portions are well-researched and quite interesting, but there's no doubt this is a mystery, too. If you like mysteries and historical fiction, then this is a slam-dunk. If you're neutral on mysteries, then I would still recommend it - this one is well-done. But if you don't like mysteries - and I know many people don't - then you probably wouldn't like this book. How's that for covering all my bases? ;-)

Excellent summary of Franklin and her probable appeal. As a writer, however, I'd rate her up there with Penman, simply because Penman is somewhat of a formula writer, at least in the Henry II series. Plus Penman has the advantage of not having to make up a plot!

Both do a terrific job with characterizations. Franklin has more leeway, can be pretty funny at times.

Haven't read Dunnett.

>177 Joycepa: I probably should be clearer. This tic I have in talking about an author's "writing" goes back to grad school and analyzing many facets of an author's work. When I talk about an author's "writing," I'm specifically referring to his/her sentence construction, word choice, considerations of form (more relevant in poetry), etc. In my mind, this is separate from plot and characterization. Of course, all of these distinctions are in my mind, and no one else's, so I should be clearer in stating exactly what I mean!

Based on my unspoken definition of "writing", though, I still believe Penman's writing is better than Franklin's. However, I completely agree that it seems that Franklin does better than Penman with plot, and both do extremely well with characterization.

#178: Hmmm--I tend to think of that more as style. As such, I find Penman's impact on me as a reader to be a bit flatter than Franklin. Since I have Dragon's Brood already and will soon have Grave Goods, I'll be really looking out for what you talk about as I read.

>177 Joycepa: - Joyce - BTW - Dunnett - From everything I've read, I think you would like Dorothy Dunnett. Her most popular books are part of the Lymond Chronicles series (6 books), the first book of which is The Game of Kings. Set in 16th century Scotland - good historical research - also a bit of romance I guess. The Game of Kings was first published in 1961, so I'm guessing the "romance" part won't be all-consuming nor will it be graphic (which is good in my estimation). Anyway, I've heard all good things - heck, The Game of Kings has a 4.44 average star rating here on LT, and that's with over 200 ratings.

Okay, now why haven't I bought this yet? Oh, that's right, I'm trying to tamp down the book buying until I get another job, and a 6-volume series won't help with that resolution!

>179 Joycepa: - Yes, "style" is probably a better and more accurate word. But what goes on in my head isn't always better and more accurate. :-)

Thanks for the Dunnett description, Tracy. I'll look into it.

And as for the convergence or otherwise of what goes on in one's head and what comes out of one's mouth or keyboard--all I can say is welcome to the club! :-)

19. Early Spring: An Ecologist and Her Children Wake to a Warming World by Amy Seidl, 172 pages. 3.5/5. Review. Finished 4/4/2009.

This is a book I received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. This is a good introduction to climate change and the effects it has on a specific ecosystem. Seidl uses both scientific and personal examples to show how warming is effecting the North American woodland environment. Seidl specifically writes about her home in Vermont, but the science can be directly applied to pretty much the entire eastern half of the continent and probably to a good bit of Europe, and I think the general ideas would apply anywhere. I found Seidl's writing style to be somewhat uneven - the scientific parts were pretty science-y and didn't always transition well to her personal observations - but overall it was a good first book.

Personally, I found that the book was a bit introductory for me. Through the years, I've read quite a bit about ecology, the environment and climate change (and the books in my library are probably why the ER algorithm matched me with this book). Additionally, as a bird watcher and long-time organic gardener, I've been aware of what has been happening with the specific ecosystem in which I live. However, I think this would make a very good introduction for someone who has recently become more interested in climate change and how it affects their daily life.

Some great reading here, Talbin. Just stopping by to catch up!

Obviously I am really behind. Portnoy's Complaint was my first and only Roth experience. I wanted to smack Portnoy, he so "noyed" me.

>159 Talbin:: I'd put Mistress of the Art of Death on my list already (possibly joycepa originally?) but hadn't twigged it was set in Cambridge. Hurrah, historical fiction, mystery and parochial local interest in one highly-praised package :) I'll have to acquire that pronto (once April is over) as it sounds like the perfect book to keep on standby for curing IRF (Intractable Reading Funk).

>184 avaland: Hi, Lois!

>185 urania1: Mary - rebeccanyc has said she thinks American Pastoral is Roth's best, so I've started looking for it as I haunt used book stores. I think I'll hold out on Roth until I find it.

>186 FlossieT: FlossieT - Joyce was who I first heard mention Mistress of the Art of Death. Your plan sounds perfect - it would be the perfect book to cure IRF!

I must say, Tracy, I'm fairly well tickled with the earnest way you've given me credit! But then I'm sure you didn't want to risk me having another snit on your thread. LOL

By the way all, just received Grave Goods today; I most likely won't start it until tomorrow, since I want to finish one of two other books first. But this restraint is hard, hard....

Joyce - I just want to make sure to give credit where it's due!

And I know I would be having a difficult time restraining myself if I had Grave Goods sitting on the shelf! I'll be looking forward to your review.

20. Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters, 472 pages. 3.5/5. Review. Finished 4/7/2009.

A coming of age story and a romance, focusing on the tom (lesbian) society of Victorian London. Quite good for a debut novel, although not as finely done as Fingersmith.

#187, Yes I have and yes I do (think that American Pastoral is Roth's masterpiece). One thing about Roth, urania (185) is that he has written books that vary widely in style, subject matter, and yes, quality (although, Roth being Roth, there's always sex). I read Portnoy's Complaint for the "good parts" back when it came out and haven't revisited it as an adult.

Okay, Rebecca of SUNY Brook Farm. I give. American Pastoral is on Kindle, so I just purchased it. At least it won't take up space on the bookshelf

#191 - i wonder how many of the older people here (i'm 59 - wrong, i'm 58, will be 59 in july..) read their parents' copy of Portnoy's Complaint in HS w/ that exact motivation? Certainly true in the case of me any my sibs. Of course Ian Fleming/James Bond seemed sexy back then and trying to reread an "Ian Fleming original" Bond book a couple of years ago was a disaster.

#192, Hope you enjoy it -- it's been probably 10 years since I read it, but I truly loved it. But, I'm not in love with the name R of SUNY Brook Farm; makes me think of Stony Brook out on Long Island, instead of NYC. But I might just be humor-impaired today.

193> My parents didn't have a copy, but I remember reading one at a house where I was babysitting.

#193, There were some very educational scenes in The Godfather too. The book, that is.

#194,

I won't call you that name again. I always think of one of my childhood favorites Rebecca of Sunny Brook farm. I was trying to make a play on SUNY and sunny. My bad.

Oh yes, does anyone here remember reading (gasp) Harold Robbins, a truly awful writer after A Stone for Danny Fisher simply for the fast breathing he could create---partly caused by the unfamiliar material and partly caused by the fear that one's mother or someone in authority would suddenly appear at one's shoulder, saying, "And just what is this that you're reading, dear?"

How about Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls? My parents would have had heart failure had they known at the time that I was reading that!

Or The Group by Mary McCarthy? (Another one I read while babysitting--for the minister!)

Ahhh - look at all of you, nicely chatting about books with good sex while I've been away! I remember Wifey by Judy Blume being a big deal with us 15-year-olds when it came out. I think it was Blume's first book for adults? I do know a copy circulated with dog ears on all the best pages.

If the pages are really good, the book just opens there -- no dog ears required!

#202: ok, THAT got a belly laugh. Remembering Lady Chatterley's Lover going around a circle of 13 year old friends, how true that was.

21. Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva, 433 pages. 4/5. Review. Finished 4/11/2009.

A little escapist reading. Silva's Gabriel Allon series is one of the better espionage series published today. If you like that sort of thing, then give this series a try.

Good review. This goes on this month's order.

22. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, 315 pages. 3/5. Review. Finished 4/14/2009.

A LibraryThing Early Reviewers book.

What was a very interesting tale of two sisters, born and raised in Shanghai, sold into marriage and forced to America when the Japanese invade China, was ruined (I thought) by a poorly done ending. If it weren't for the end, I would have given it a solid 4 stars, but the ending - literally the last 2-3 pages - jarred this reader so badly that an entire star got knocked off the rating.

If anyone else reads it and has a different opinion of the ending, please let me know - I'd certainly be interested.

23. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling, 652 pages. 4.5/5. Review. Finished 4/21/2009.

I was in the mood for the familiar, and really in the mood for a world that isn't like the one I already inhabit. So, I just finished the second-to-last book in the Harry Potter series, and am about to start the last. Both are re-reads, but that's what I'm looking for right now.

I normally don't read young adult books, but I really do appreciate the Harry Potter series. I think Rowling has done a phenomenal job of creating a series that; 1. grows with the intended reader (young adult) and becomes more complex as that reader ages; 2. combines magic with the everyday - and creates a complete world that includes both; and 3. deals with good and evil without sugarcoating the one or glamorizing the other.

And besides, I really wanted to be magic when I was growing up and sometimes I like reliving that fantasy. So there.

I LOVE the Harry Potter series!! While I'm not going to say that J.K. is the greatest author alive, she does a fantastic job of telling a story and her prose is far more than just adequate to do the job--especially after she gave up her predilection of using adverbs in every sentence! She has more imagination in her little finger than 95% of the fantasy authors living today who can only do knock-offs of Lord of the Rings.

I loved all the books. I thought she did an absolutely terrific job in the last one, dealing with death realistically. There are a couple of passages at the end where, if you aren't crying, you're a stone, and granite at that. And I'm one of the 50% who loved the Epilogue. I'm happy it turned out the way it did. Our age is depressing enough; I'm glad she chose to end it on the note she did.

i have never understood many of her critics. I think a good percentage really couldn't take that the most financially successful fantasy author and one of the richest women in the UK was exactly that--a woman.

I say, You go, girl!

And as soon as the movie of The Half Blood Prince comes out, I'll reread the series AGAIN--I don't know how many times I've read the first book--because they're always good and always magical.

#207 - jeez..only 4.5 stars? We started at the beginning - and then Patty started ordering the series from Amazon.uk because the British covers were more attractive. All 3 in our household (counting our son, in Minneapolis) have read and reread (usually before each movie) the whole series. I, too, liked the epilogue.

I'll never forget The Half Blood Prince. We were living here in Panamá. The book got here about 10 days after release--I had pre-ordered it from Amazon, and it arrived at our mail service on the release date. 10 days later, I had it in my hands, because I had alerted Cynthia in David to call me when a package from Amazon came in. We raced back home and I started to read it.

We have power outages all the time here, thanks to strong winds and electrical storms. Most last about 45 seconds to 2 minutes. A really long one is a half hour, which happens occasionally. That night, as I was about half way through, the power went out. For five hours. I read by flashlight until it came back on at some gawdawful time in the wee hours, and just kept on.

Great story, Joyce!

I should add that it was the only time, either before or since, that our power was out that long. AND of course, that the batteries were weak in the flashlight--I could see maybe three words at a time.

I was going to make some stupid remark like when the going gets tough the tough get going but decided not to.

>208 Joycepa: Thanks, Joyce! Every once in a great while, I feel just a bit defensive about my "lowbrow" reading - hence my "so there" comment. But after a few seconds I realize I'm secure in knowing I'm a pretty smart gal and that only insecure people worry about whether they're reading the "right" thing or not. At this moment, I need a little Harry Potter in my day. Life is short - read what you like!

>209 bobmcconnaughey: Bob - Okay, here's a confession. I'm pretty sure that was my 4th reading of The Half Blood Prince. I've read the earlier books even more often because each time a new book came out, I reread the entire series.

>210 Joycepa:-212 Joyce - great story! I'll admit, I called in sick so I could finish Deathly Hollows.

213 - I called in sick too!! My sister had pre-ordered it for me for my birthday so I got it a few days after it came out. My justification was that no one would realize that was the reason (because 5 days is so sly and whatnot).

I joyfully and whole-heartedly threw myself into the pre-publication hype over Deathly Hallows. I checked into the Leaky Cauldron Web site every day, I surfed for info on other sites (Leaky was my favorite, though), I practically lived on JK's Web site. I was outraged with the NY Times' early review of Hallows, and wrote my one and only letter to their editor damning and blasting them for ruining it for other people, especially kids. I canceled my subscription to their special on-line service, I was so indignant. Again, I pre-ordered Deathly Hallows--but there was that rotten little 7-10 day wait. I thought I had nerves of steel. I was a Big Girl, and I Could Handle It.

Wrong!!!! I'm happy to say, we now own TWO copies of Deathly Hallows, because at the last minute, mary couldnt' stand it and got a copy from the only bookstore in hundreds of miles that carried English-language books. The owner a Panamanian woman, threw a Harry Potter party the night before for the local kids, and had copies in English. mary made a special trip over to the next valley to get the book. We took turns reading it--she'd read a chapter, then I'd read a chapter. But I have one advantage--she needs more sleep than I do, and when she finally tottered off to bed, I pulled another all-nighter and finished it.

A week later, my copy showed up.

And low-brow? As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing "low-brow" about Harry Potter, a book that seduced how many millions of kids to read? If high brow means no one except critics and the cognoscenti get to read it and like it, then I fall back on my Italian peasant background and happily re-read the Harry Potter books, lose myself in the movies, and leave the high brows to themselves, all four of them.

Joyce, you and my teenage daughter would get on famously. She's so fired up about this summer's movie release that, like you with Deathly Hallows, is spending lots of time on Leaky Cauldron, showing us the latest trailers, etc. She'd like to attend a midnight movie showing, too! My husband is mildly embarrassed by her HP obsession, thinking it overly geeky. I'm trying to help him work through his feelings ;-)

Laura, I haven't dared even start on the whole trailers thing--I'll have to wait a little bit because then, like Tracy, I'll reread the entire series again.

Fortunately, movies are released here in Panamá simultaneously with release in the US. There are two movie complexes in David, one in the town itself and the other in a shopping mall on the outskirts. In the past, both have run the Harry Potter films with at least two copies at each complex: one with the original voice soundtrack with Spanish subtitles and one with voiceover in Spanish. I think it was Order of the Phoenix that had 4 copies running at the downtown theater for at least two weeks, two with Spanish subtitles for the relatively large gringo community here. Mary and I go to the matinees, simply because release is usually during the rainy season and neither one of us likes to drive at night with the utterly insane Panamanian drivers in David and elsewhere when the sky has opened up and we're having a local re-enactment of Noah's flood rains. We do stand out, given that it's usually just Panamanians and overwhelmingly kids and their parents at such times! We do get big Latino smiles from the young Panamanian couples we see there. The kids have cutout books and other ancillary stuff with them many times.

I adored the last one, saw it three times and of course pre-ordered the DVD, and have seen it at least twice on DVD; the fly-in to London at the beginning, is breathtaking.

Butt he first is my favorite, I think, when all three kids are so young and Emma Watson is just the cheekiest little thing!

I also feel totally vindicated about Dan Radcliffe, another victim of sneers by the aforementioned "highbrows," after his success in Equus. I don't think Dan is the world's finest actor, but in reality, I think he's better than either Watson or Grint. The latter for some reason got taken up by the critics who gushed all over him. I love him in Harry Potter but I think Grint plays himself very well. And Emma has been taken over by Hermione, admits it, and last I read is busy being a brilliant university student, which is great.

For how many times I've seen all the movies--and I'll watch them all again before seeing Half Blood Prince--there was only one time in one scene, in the very first movie, that Radcliffe was awkward and artificial. One time. I think he's grown as an actor and has nothing to be ashamed of.

There's that old tired saying, Them that can't do, teach. Well, substitute the appropriate vocabulary for music, film, and book reviewers (I pay no attention to art critics) and I feel you have 99% of them. Seattle has one of the top opera companies in the US, doing Wagner better than the Met, and drawing people from all over the world for certain productions. I stopped reading one music critic for one of the then two Seattle papers (both mediocre and the better of the two has stopped print publication as of this month) after too many times reading his reviews of opening night and wondering if he and I had seen the same opera, never mind production.

Another rant. Oh, well. Tracy, surely you'll forgive me on Brix's account.

Joyce, your mention of Equus reminded me of just one more thing. My HP-mad daughter Kate, age 16, has a friend whose older sister attends New York University. We are only a couple hours from NYC and the friend visits her sister often. They convinced the friend's mom to take them to see Equus. This was with our consent -- there is, after all, nudity involved -- but Kate made the point, "I've seen it on YouTube already mom". Sheesh. Anyway, I think seeing Dan in the buff was the high point of her teenage existence. And apparently he does a fine job of acting as well ;-)

Tracy, would you like your thread back now?!

Why thanks, Laura, I think I'll borrow it back for a bit. ;-)

24. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling, 759 pages. 4.5/5. Review. Finished 4/22/2009.

Yep. I like Harry Potter.

Even though I knew what was coming, I was crying through the last four chapters or so. For me, it starts with Harry seeing the memories of Severus Snape - from that point on, I'm a goner.

Talbin - No need to feel defensive about light reading! We all need a break from thinking deep thoughts every now and then. Hell, just look at all the shlock I read!

Loving the HP talk here :) We have three copies of Deathly Hallows - one for me, one for my eldest, and one that my mother-in-law left here after she cracked and bought it because she couldn't wait for my sister-in-law to finish and pass on her copy. I think it's literally the only book I have, through choice, re-read immediately on finishing it. You have to hand it to Rowling - she really can spin a plot.

The trailer for Half-Blood Prince looks fantastic - although it amused me greatly that while watching it with my son last night, when the first wide shots of London popped up, he sat up suddenly and exclaimed in outrage, "That wasn't in the book!" (I must be doing something right).

I'm starting a new thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/63727

Come join me!