1001 List: What Book are You Reading MARCH '09

Still reading the ones I've been reading for ever: Parade's End and Great Expectations. Hope I can post something else this month. What are YOU reading?

I'm reading and really enjoying Cider House Rules. I'm pretty new to the 1001 Books ....list so am beginning by reading the books that I already own. Will probably pick one of the Dickens' or maybe re-read the Forsyte Saga next

I've been getting inspiration from the 1001 books for a few months now. This month I'm reading The immoralist in the original french. Probably going to finish tomorrow. After that it's going to be the sea.

I'm reading Seize the Day and I am not impressed so far. The writing is promising, but maybe I've had just one too many self-help in novel format type books lately (my last 1001 was Veronika Decides to Die). Maybe it will grow on me.

I started Of human bondage. Not far along so far.

I'm reading Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll at work and about and The March by E.L. Doctorow at home.... But now that I've checked I don't think The March is on the list? hmm anyway it's a good book to read!

That's funny - I also keep getting confused about which book(s) by a certain author are on the list and which are not. I wish there was a pocket-sized edition of the list that I could take with me everywhere - the book is too big and even printing out just the spreadsheet would be almost 50 pages long.

-7 I have this problem too. Now I use my iPhone to look it up and make sure when I am in the used book store.

Struggling very much with Jacob's Room. I keep asking myself what the point is to this book. I continue on because I have faith that I will one day be glad that I read it, but I am currently not glad to be reading it.

I tried downloading the list to my much less elegant Samsung smart phone but couldn't figure out how to do it - I'll have to make time to go to the Verizon store for some customer support because having it on my phone would be the perfect solution and would make me regret having bought this phone at least a little less

As promised in the February thread, I'm reading Germinal I've only just started at this stage 70 pages in. However my Father worked in the Yorkshire coal pits so some resonance already.

Sarasamsara - Jacob's Room is a lot like long distance running or weightlifting. You suffer when you do it, but when you're finished, you feel soooo good.

Listening to The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.

Just finished The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (it took something like 1 hour max...the introduction was longer than the story). Powerful yet haunting novella.

Now reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I love that one of his teachers calls him "3.14".

I'm reading Call of the Wild which was an addition in version 2. The other two Jack London books which are in version 1 were cut in version 2. I'm enjoying it so far. The writing is very good and it is from a dog's perspective.

I'll be reading Little Women and planning to purchase at least one P.G. Wodehouse .

I'm still reading A Fine Balance. I am really liking it so far.

I'm still going on The Leopard - two friends have both independently said "oh, *no one* ever finishes that!" so I am determined to be one person who has. ;) Truth be told, it's not a bad read at all - if rather dense at times - but last month was a busy month and I didn't get much reading time.

And I've been reading Anna Karenina as my bedtime book - far too big to carry with my on public transport (unless I want to use it as a brick in the scrimmage for a seat on the train... hmm...). I am enjoying this one, but am reading it in bits and starts. Hoping to finish it by the end of the month!

Okay, I ACTUALLY finished The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy tonight. Maybe it's a case of anticipointment, but I don't really see what all the fuss was about. It was funny and all, but just not the whiz-bang world-changing book everyone around me seems to think it is.

Next week's spring break, which means Ada, or Ardor and Life of Pi are high on my list!

I've started Brideshead Revisited, which was a February choice for my online book group.

> 4
In what way is Seize the Day a self-help book?

Just reached a minor milestone and started my 150th book from the list, The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood.

I'm also part way through The Wind Up Bird Chronicle.

Reading Little Women for possibly the 143rd time.
Almost finished due to reading at such a fast pace (easy when you know exactly what is about to happen), and then I'm onto Great Expectations as I haven't read this since I was at school and feel rather guilty.
THEN I want to read the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy just to see whether or not it really is a pile of tripe.
That should do me for March surely.

And this site is all brand new for me so hullo all from a very rainy Oxford, UK.

-20 Well, look at the name ;o). Really it isn't just to call it a self-help book, but all the "live in the moment" rambling by his "doctor" friend and the sorry state of the protagonist's life just struck me in that way (as I said, this is probably due to my other recent reading). Of course Bellow doesn't come to any type of conclusion about how the protagonist's life could be less pathetic, which makes it less like a self-help book, but I couldn't know that when I was only half-way through the book.

Although I think I was glad that there was no inspirational message at the end, I still didn't really care for the book. I'm not too fond of complainers, so the protagonist wore on me. Then again I think I was just feeling fed up with modern literature. So I turned to some more "classic" classics.

I just started The Devils (or The Possessed, or The Demons) by Dostoevsky and I am really enjoying it so far.

I read Pale Fire for the group read, and I, too (#21) am part way thru The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Ugh . . . I am finding most of it extremely annoying. I suspect my first and last by this author, unless something or someone can change my mind.

#24 - I read Kafka on the Shore because my friends rave about Murakami and I thought I was missing out. I ended up liking a few sections but overall finding the book disappointing. I put The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle on my TBR list because I wanted to read at least one more before making up my mind. But after reading what you wrote I wonder if I'll feel any differently...

Hi, everyone...

I'm currently reading Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett. I plan to read all four of the Hammett books included on the 2006 list. I am just loving Hammett--he's such a descriptive, language-loving author.

Started reading some short stories/poems by Edgar Allen Poe last night, and *three* of the stories are on the 1001 list! They all seem terribly short though (I've got a second hand copy, and it took a while to find the "these are unabridged" text, so I thought I might have bought a digest version for a while there!). Still, that means I can cross off The Purloined Letter, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Fall of the House of Usher, probably all this week! Woot!

Finished All Quiet on the Western Front yesterday. Brings my total to 69 books read from the list. Long way to go!

I will be picking up A Prayer for Owen Meany after I finish with The Historian of which is not on the list but I like to pace myself and not read just everything off the list.

Well, I finished Great Expectations. Now I just have to finish the last 500 pages of Parade's End. Will be happy to close the cover on that one.

I finished The Turn of the Screw and I have begun listening to King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard.

#30 - The words "just" and "500" aren't usually together. :) Is the book more than one volume?

#32-- I was wondering if anyone would catch that! The book is physically one volume, but it's made up of four books. I don't think you've been able to buy the books separately since they were first published, so I don't know if the divisions still count. I'm sure I've never read a book that I still wasn't into by page 321. But I have to read it for a course I'm taking, so I shall plug on . . .

Still reading Brighton Rock by Graham Greene. I'm enjoying it but had put it aside to read a few others that came in at the library.

I subscribed to DailyLit and got The Yellow Wallpaper and read it last night. Fab spooky stuff, highly recommended. (And only takes a short while to read!)

I'm starting Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd. Has anyone read this one? I haven't seen it mentioned (although I'm still quite new to LT).

Just finished Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett. It was great--a hard-boiled detective story, but Hammett is a wonderful writer. There are three other of his books on the list, and I'm looking forward to all of them!

Finished and loved A Fine Balance. What a book!

Now reading a non 1001, Everything I Knew and some Edgar Allan Poe for the Monthly Author Group - they are on the 1001 list!

I'm reading Excellent Women (off the new list). It is indeed excellent.

Well, I've reread Return of the Soldier twice more in so many days (writing a paper on it). Still think it's a great book, and I'm seeing new things with each reread.

The Heart of Redness by Zakes Mda is a wonderful surprise ~ a gift, really.

Finally finished Jacob's Room. Am I ultimately glad that I read it? Yes, because now I won't be tempted to read it ever again.

I APPRECIATED it, I just didn't feel enthused about reading it at all.

Dear Wookiebender,
Thanks for the tip about DailyLit - there are quite a few of the 1001 Books titles on there; I've marked all of the ones that have been noted on another LT 1001 books thread as being relatively short.

@#42: That's Woolf for ya. She's a great experience, but I'm afraid that, often, the joy of reading her gets lost amongst it. It's totally worth it, though!

Continuing my trek through Ada, or Ardor. I'd really like to be able to kill it before the end of the week.

Finished Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms yesterday. Next up is Rabbit is Rich by John Updike.

Started reading Watchmen by Alan Moore because of the movie, and House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne via DailyLit.
Brighton Rock is still on the go as well.

I just finished A Clockwork Orange. Did anyone else who read that book feel strangely compelled to start using nadsat slang? I can't get it out of my head!

Anyway, on to The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell (off the new list).

I finished Germinal. Loved it.

I think I'll read some non 1001 stuff now. When I return I'll start with The Graduate which looks like an easy read - plenty of white space and not too many words.

Tropic of Cancer.

I am just about to begin reading Pale Fire.

Finished The Purloined Letter from the list. (Only took an hour or so). Now reading another non-1001 by Paulo Coelho.

@#50: Pale Fire is SPECTACULAR. You're in for a treat!

I am psyched! Off to start it right now.

Just finished The Yellow Wallpaper in 8 instalements from Dailylit (they email you the instalements). If you want to read this book (really a short story) or any of the shorter ones, this is a really quick way to do it. Thanks to wookiebender who got me onto it :-)
Now I'll be back onto The wind-up bird chronicles tonight.

Villette by Charlotte Bronte

I've been enjoying The Blind Assassin. Oh, and there's a group read of it that's just about to start in the Highly Rated Book Group.

I'm reading The Blind Assassin as well. Not bad! I like The Handmaid's Tale more. I'm also reading Great Expectations and Treasure Island. I'm not sure how I began reading three at a time.. but I like the variety!

Reading another one on DailyLit. Awakening by the early feminist Kate Chopin. It's another short one, I'm 20% of the way thro' according to the site stats.

> 56

I have The Blind Assassin TBR. Maybe joining The Highly-rated book group will spur me on to get round to reading it !

Finished The sea yesterday, just picked up The Nose and Candide at the local library. Looking forward to reading them!

This month, I also read The pit and the pendulum and The Yellow Wallpaper during lunch time. Yeah for Project Gutemberg!

I'm reading If This is a Man by Primo Levi, which is a horrifying and powerful and beautiful piece of work. This is my second Levi book in about 4 days. I think I'm in love.

I'm envious of all of you reading Pale Fire for the first time. One of the funniest books I've ever read. Fiction with footnotes! Poetry with footnotes, even.

I'm reading If This is a Man by Primo Levi, which is a horrifying and powerful and beautiful piece of work. This is my second Levi book in about 4 days. I think I'm in love.
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Indeed! I actually had nightmares when I read it. As my prof said when I told him that, "yeah, it's pretty intense." Primo Levi was one of my top discoveries last year.

Just finished reading The Nose online. Another short story ticked off the list. It was so short that I'm not sure if this is the full version. Can anyone enlighten me?
The title is a direct link to the online version

Finished Rabbit is Rich today, next up is For Whom the Bell Tolls.

After MANY months (I think I started it in September?) I'm FINALLY through Part One of Ada, or Ardor! 325 pages down, 281 to go!

I'm reading Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima. It is the first of a four novel series, The Sea of Fertility. He was a nobel prize nominee three times, although never a winner. I am prepared for beauty and sadness.

finished Villette, reading the Remains of the Day, which is my first Ishiguro

@#68: Great author, great book! If you like it, you'll most likely want to read all of Ishiguro's work (which it great, since five of his six novels are on the 1001 list)!

(Since my own reading is going so slow, I've decided to go into encouragement mode!)

@64. I just finished the Nose too. Not sure if that's a full version or not. The version I read was fairly short as well.

#55 - maryjanemanolos - How are you liking Vilette? I read it a couple years ago and have a hard time finding many others who have read it, too!

I am about half-way through For Whom the Bell Tolls, which is turning out to be much better than I anticipated after the first five pages. I'm also listening to Austen's Sense and Sensibility, which I have read before.

71- I loved Villette. Bronte has such an amazing grasp on psychology...although after reading that and Jane Eyre I'm starting to think she was surrounded by very grumpy men.

I found Vilette to be rather melancholy. And yes - now that you mention it, both love interests were rather nasty at first!

Reading The Pit and the Pendulum, The Fall of the House of Usher, and The Purloined Letter all by Edgar Allan Poe for an LT Group Read.

I read The New York Trilogy and The Tartar Steppe, and reread Pale Fire.

Just about to start Borges:Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges

71 -
I loved For WHom the Bell Tolls! I read Vilette fairly recently - I thought it was very uneven - part sloggy, part brilliant. Great ending!

After reading a non-1001 book (the sacrilege) I read The Graduate which was a quick and easy read. Its 90% dialog, so you have to invent the character's motivation based on what they say. Next up will be Gabriel's Gift

I'm reading The Blind Assassin with the Highly Rated Book Group as well.

Finished The Wind-up Bird Chronicle and now onto I know why the caged bird sings, this shouldnt take too long, from the reviews, this one is a "cant put down read'.

Still reading Call of the Wild through DailyLit. Had to pause it for a while because I was away. Finished The Book of Illusions dropped from v2. Interesting book and my first one by Auster.

Finished Remains of the Day, on to the Reader

Just read The Yellow Wallpaper. I was planning to read it through DailyLit, but it was so short I just breezed through it in one go. Excellent though!

FINALLY finished Ada, or Ardor! What a MARVELOUS read, though it took a long time to get through it.

Having borrowed both Life of Pi and Naked Lunch from a pair of friends, I'm probably going to read them to get them back quickly.

Finished Candide, loaned The Nose to my significant other and started Timbuktu. Enjoying it so far.

Now reading Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis through DailyLit. Pretty entertaining so far, I must say!

The Kindly Ones is an extraordinary novel, if not for the history then at least because it gets us closer to asking the essential question: how was it possible? how did human beings manage to behave with the morality of insects? Robert Jay Lifton approached this question in The Nazi Doctors although, it seems to me, with an unsatisfactory result. His answer was that such individuals basically developed dissociated, split personalities, in which they could go to work in concentration camps on the one hand, and then return home and bounce their kids on their knees. The Kindly Ones approaches this issue and for this reason is worth reading.

Finally finished The Devils by Dostoevsky. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it yet. There was one short section (out of 700 pages) that was really poignant, and the rest was a bit of a satirical political tract. I'm still ruminating on it.

I read the Demons by Dostoevsky last year, in the magnificent new Pevear translation. Actually it was my second attempt but, like you, I was determined to get all the way through. I thought it was even better than Crime and Punishment and the Brothers K. While the first 100 or so pages were confusing the characterization throughout left me astonished - really astonished. In terms of high farce and a critique of anarchistic groups (viz. Stalin's little club) it is hands down one of the great novels on this theme, right up there with Alexander Solz. I immediately went out and bought the 7 volume bio of Dostoevsky by Joseph Frank.
Stick with the Pevear translations. They are remarkable!
If you haven't read the P-translation of Crime and Punishment you really are in for a treat!

Ive just finished Gabriel's Gift . A nice little page turner but I think I can see why it didn't make the 2nd list. One thing I found odd was a wacky magical ability of Gabriel which I thought must be the "gift" but didn't get developed any further in the novella.

Now I've just started Crime and Punishment which is not the Pevear translation as per >89 kupus: unfortunately.

finished The Reader...which actually bothered me. A lot. It seems like you are supposed to almost sympathize with this war criminal pedophile..but maybe I just didn't "get it". Anyway, on to Pere Goirot

I am about 4/5 of my way through London Fields and still waiting for something to happen. Starting on page one Amis talks about a murder-for-hire scheme, but still nothing. If I were an editor, I could easily cut 200 pages from this book.

Last month I read Humbolt's Gift which is written using a similar style. I was not crazy about HG when reading it, but LF makes it look much better. At least something happened in HG.

I did finish The Leopard the other day, and thought it was rather magnificent, although a very dense read. Not one to knock off quickly. Still reading, and enjoying, Anna Karenina.

#91> I too did not care for The Reader, for pretty much the same reasons as you. Nice to know I'm not the only one out there who didn't like it.

I have just finished listening to Moll Flanders. Bit disappointing and quite different from the movie version. Moll prospers despite living a profligate life, I felt she should have ended up on the gallows.

# 92, joelwal, I totally agree about London fields, it could have been way shorter. But the end is worth reading, at least I think so. So wish you good luck struggling. I managed in January and am happy I did so.

Rumor has it that David Cronenberg has bought the film rights to London Fields.

finished Pere Goriot. Balzac is funny! And sad and tragic and great. So good. Luckily, I'm a receptionist and sit answering the phone all day and can read pretty much for 8 hours, so this is goin pretty fast for me! I start teaching soon, though and that will be the end of the speed reading. Anyway, started Tono Bungay by dailylit.com and will start The Hobbit (how have I lived so long without reading this??)

Fear and Trembling by Amelie Nothomb, finished early this morning, was unexpectedly refreshing and a quick read.

I finally, finally, FINALLY finished The Charterhouse of Parma today, after four months of reading it in tiny bits; bo-ring! The ending was rather disappointing too. Not to say that it was all bad, but I'm very glad to have it over and done with. Next: another French novel - Balzacs Lost illusions. The first pages are promising!

I'm just starting Wurthering Heights. I did "read" this book in high school, which means I did a combination of Cliff notes and skimming to pass the test on it. :)

I've just begun Jane Eyre - only a few chapters in but really enjoying it. I chose it after having just finished Cider House Rules (which I absolutely loved), in which it figures prominently.

After leaving the current read Crime and Punishment at work, I quickly read The Death of Ivan Ilyich. An amazing read, a life not lived well and a tortuous lonely journey to the bitter end.

I'm reading North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell which I am pretty sure is on the list and really enjoying it. A cross beween a Dickens and a George Eliot.

Started Life: A User's Manual, by Georges Perec. Reading it to get me in the mood for my hol to Paris.. in July !

Sidelining Life of Pi and Naked Lunch in favor of assigned reading for classes. But in the next week, there are THREE 1001 books waiting! Rasselas, Joseph Andrews, and Humphry Clinker -- here I come!

decided against The Hobbit and picked up Cannery Row by John Steinbeck only because it's shorter. Also have to quickly read The English Patient because someone bookmooched it from me and I forgot that I haven't actually read it yet!

I started The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis by Jose Saramago, and it is off to a good start. I feel the same way about Saramago as I felt about Ishiguro the first time I read one of his books - how did I not know about this writer and how can I get my hands on everything he wrote?

Reading Heart of Darkness via DailyLit. My first Conrad. The book only made it into version 2.

Just starting Love in the Time of Cholera.

Fianlly started The Stone Diaries.

Finished J M Coetzee's Dusklands. It's only a short read - 125 pages - but it requires concentration. It consists of two novellas. I really liked the first one "The Vietnam Project' as it related to the other book I finished this month The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, another excellent 1001 book.

Just finished 1984. Continuing with On the Eve and Choke.

Finished The English Patient and spent awhile thinking about why I didn't like it...and then I realized that most of the characters are just...selfish. It's like a chronicle of selfish, silly decisions. It seems like everyone wants to wallow in their own bleh. Not all of them, but most of them. I had the same reaction to Wuthering Heights- I hope Ralph Fiennes picks a more likeable character for his next movie ;). Hope I'm not making anyone mad, that was just my reaction. I like characters with...morals? I dunno. Call me old-fashioned, I guess. But Ondaatje does use some of the most beautiful language I've read probably ever.

On to The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John Le Carre.

I was taking a break from the 1001 but then Ishiguro was calling from my shelf, so I started A Pale View of the Hills. Thanks to this thread I am expecting great things.

I'm currently reading Peyton Place, which is not on the 1001 list, but mentioned in "Defining Moments in Books"

Just started The 39 Steps by John Buchan right before bed last night, so only a chapter in. Good setup in the first chapter for the rest of the book.

Just finished Babbitt yesterday by Sinclair Lewis. I had never heard about it, but it was surprisingly good.

From Dailylit: Babbitt is an everyman who has achieved the "American Dream." He has a family and comfortable home, and is respected at his office job in real estate. We read of his daily life in a fictional town somewhere in the Midwest, where American ideals of prosperity and conformity are held in high regard. One would think that Babbitt has it all. And yet, he is not happy. Coming to terms with the emptiness and hypocrisy of the life he has found himself living, Babbitt is challenged to find a way out. Can one man break free of the roaring tides of typical American life? As eye-opening as it was when published in 1922, Lewis's novel is a classic and scathing portrait of the values and lifestyle that many take for granted as the American vision of life at its "best."

-118 Oh, I've always loved Babbitt. I just finished A Pale View of Hills and I can't say I adored it. I also seem to have come to a different conclusion about the ambiguous ending then most other people.

Started Humphry Clinker but taking a break to read Rasselas.

For those interested, the latter's a short and surprisingly interesting read, and available for free on Wikisource!
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_History_of_Rasselas,_Prince_of_Abyssinia

Started Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse today and I'm really liking it a lot! It reminds me of The Alchemist but where I found Coelho's spiritualism to be too simplistic and bland, I'm finding Siddhartha much more profound and enjoyable.

121- I felt the same way about The Alchemist! It was like the Dr. Phil of novels.

Just finished Lady Chatterley's Lover. My opinion is here: http://dagnyfindsfaith.blogspot.com/ if you're interested.

Still reading Around the World in 80 Days and Tono Bungay through Daily Lit. Would like to read something without a lot of adultery in it, after that Lawrence and the English Patient. Think I'm going to go with Long Dark Teatime of the Soul.

# 121 -- I felt the same way about The Alchemist! It was like the Dr. Phil of novels.
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Ha ha ha ha ha. That's too funny.

And that's all I have to say, since I'm still reading the same 1001 book that I was reading at the beginning of this month. :-(

#121 - Siddhartha is one of my all time favorite books...and my daughter's also. Profound and enjoyable, as you say, and peacefully memorable.

Just finished The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. As it's nearly the end of the month and I have ARC's coming out of my ears, I will have to strive to do better in April.

I am planning on finishing Frankenstein and then reading The Poisonwood Bible and hopefully The Old Man and the Sea.

Just starting Great Expectations and hope to read Jack Maggs after it. Jack Maggs is one of the few on the 1001 list that are written by an Australian. I'll be interested to see how it measures up.

#125 Very tempted to read House of the Spirits, I just got a 2nd hand copy. How was it?
Also, I think your in for a treat with The Poisonwood Bible, it's one of my favourite books of all time.
# 124 I'll be looking out for a copy of Siddhartha now :-)

Finished Brighton Rock and loved it. Not sure what will be up next... so many great choices!

This month I've read the three musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, which I thought was great. the awakening by Kate Chopin which was good and the yellow wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, an interesting short piece. Also slowly making my way through northanger abbey by Jane Austen and the golden ass by Apuleius through Daily Lit emails. I started and gave up on cat's cradle by Kurt Vonnegut and the black dahlia by James Ellroy. Couldn't really get into these two.

I'm halfway through The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, yet another mystery on the list which I can't believe I haven't read before.

I will be starting Dracula tomorrow, the annotated version with lots of side notes and illustrations. It looks to be fun. This is my second time around on Dracula. I read it the first time more than 30 years ago. I could only read it in daylight, and on public transportation at that. It will be very interesting to see how it is to read it now, in this version and after all these years.

I just started House of Leaves and I am feeling optimistic about it. It may just be a literary game but I'm feeling willing to play along.

I just finished Little Women . I really loved the language and Alcott's writing style . As a child you tend to miss the things like that .

On the weekend, I finished Anna Karenina. It was a great read with fascinating characters and wonderful interactions, although some sections did make my eyes glaze over somewhat (so... much... farming...). I also polished off my book of Edgar Allan Poe stories, so The Purloined Letter, The Pit and the Pendulum and The Fall of the House of Usher are all crossed off now. (What a weekend!)

Hoping to start The Golden Notebook today on the bus home.

Finally finished Kafka on the Shore this weekend (it took so long because I was busy, not because it wasn't a wonderful book! Although I will see what Wikipedia has to say about it, it is kinda weird...).

Started Tono Bungay through DailyLit, which sounded great but is already a bit of a disappointment in instalment 4... I read The Time Machine a couple of years ago and even though I thought the story was okay, I didn't enjoy Well's writing. I'm having the same trouble here (already, I know!). He keeps losing me in his narrative.

At home, I started The Virgin Suicides. I'm expecting to breeze through this story, which I like, but isn't blowing me away as I had expected it to (yet). So far (about 1/3 in) it reminds me of The Lovely Bones which I just couldn't put down.

I finished The Stone Diaries. It was wonderful.

I am just about to listen to The Garden Party and Other Stories by Katharine Mansfield.

I've read Oroonoko (ok), The Death of Ivan Illich (pretty good) and Fall of the House of Usher (good). Just started a non-1001 book (Case Histories)

Loved The Garden Party and other Stories! I am about to start listening to Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne.

Just finished Rasselas, and Humphry Clinker and Joseph Andrews will be sidelined until I can get some of my more urgent work done.

April is not likely to be a good month for 1001 reading for me, but I'll do what I can!

139- I just finished Around the World in 80 Days and found it un-put-downable! Enjoy! It's a romp!

I'm very happy to report that I finished Parade's End before the beginning of April. I've been working at this one since mid-January, and it was indeed work. If you like long, complex, modernist novels, you may like this one. But I didn't.

Just finished The old man and the sea. Next on my tbr pile is Cry, the beloved country.

Started on A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens.

Just finished Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and it was pure delight to read. I literally could not put it down until I'd finished it.

I've got Oliver Twist in the works, as well as Don Quixote. I've requested a bunch of other 1001 books from my library (I want a steady stream!)