What are you reading the week of July 18, 2009?

Author birthdays this week:

July 18 - Margaret Laurence, (1926 - 1987)
July 19 - Jayne Anne Phillips (1952)
July 20 - Cormac McCarthy (1933 - )
July 21 - Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961)
July 21 - John Gardner (1933 - 1982)
July 21 - Tess Gallagher (1943)
July 21 - Buchi Emecheta (1944)
July 22 - Paul Lewis Quarrington (1953 - )
July 23 - Raymond Chandler (1888 - 1959)
July 24 - Alexandre Dumas (1802 - 1870)


Do you know, of the above authors, who this is?
=====================================

I'm nearing the end of Old Filth by Jane Gardam.

I wanted to say Margaret Laurence to be wise guy, but I think it is Cormac McCarthy.

So far on this Saturday of yours I have dipped into Divine Beauty and Art and Physics. I expect yet to read a chunk of Are Men Necessary. I may dip into something else but that's already a chunk of time before bed.

Robert

I just finished Amberes by Roberto Bolaño, which was the first novel he ever wrote. Great writing but really disjointed. I would only recommend for people who find William Burroughs' works to be a little too straightforward.

I'm about done (I think9 with Rant, which has had its ups and downs. It was actually pretty intriguing for a while, but I've sort of hit this point of, Tell me again why anyone would write a biography of this guy? You'd think a guy with a nickname like "Rant" would be pretty interesting, but I'm finding him a bit of a cypher. (And not in a good way.)

I'm evidently on a biography kick (or, in reality, I have a lot of biography review obligations) right now. I just finished American Eve by Paula Uruburu which was quite good, and have started on American Lion by Jon Meacham which I am anticipating being as good or better. I may delve into The Big Steal by Emyl Jenkins while I'm reading American Lion, just to change things up.

Right now I'm reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and A Cure For All Diseases - the latter is the one I'm taking with me when I go out, to read at bus stops and the café and such, and the former is the one I'm reading at home. :) For now.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. The latter is better so far.
Also One Piece by Eiichiro Oda - my favorite shounen. Everyone should read this series.

This morning I'll finish Mercury Under My Tongue by Sylvain Trudel, a bittersweet novel about a 16 yr old French Canadian boy who is dying of bone cancer. I'm also reading The Song of False Lovers by Sylvie Germain, and An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie.

I just finished The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. I should probably finish The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde and not let it languish. I'm still reading a chapter of Confederates in the Attic a day.

Yes, that's a photo of Cormac McCarthy and it's great sharing a birthday month with such amazing talent. Jayne Anne Phillips has quickly become one of my favorite writers. Thanks teelgee!!

Also finished Strawberry Shortcake Murder last night and will start Loitering with Intent today after I go to the library and pick up yet another hold Summer on Blossom Street. All the new titles I ordered since the first came out in March (and one old one that I just wanted to read) came in within three days of each other. I guess it was just where I placed in the order of receiving them.

> Starting Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon.

Emma by Jane Austen for literature class.
And would be starting with Animal Farm by George Orwell for the same!

Started reading Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir. I need to get myself going again and it seems good for that. Still reading Collapse and finding it very interesting.

I'm reading The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - I love it so far. I'm also reading The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro and it, too, is fantastic.

Oh dear, I'm reading Far from the Madding Crowd right now, and I'm just not into it. I loved Tess(...) and Return of the Native, and there's nothing *specific* about this one that I don't enjoy. I think I'm just not in the mood for it right now. Still, oh dear. :(

I'm going to try The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green for something different. Hopefully Hardy will call me back in a few weeks.

#1,teelgee: Jane Gardam's Old Filth is such a terrific novel, and have recommended it many times.

Koalamom I can't help but laugh at the title Strawberry Shortcake Murder. Mags, my youngest, was really big into Strawberry Shortcake, so that title makes me picture the poor little cartoon confection-girl lying dead in her strawberry house. Did they kill Pupcake, Custard and Honey-Pie Pony, as well? Did Huckleberry find her, or did he murder her because she rejected his love and just wanted to be friends? LOL...

I'm about 1/2 way through The Looking Glass Wars and it's okay... Maybe it should be a book that's read straight through? not broken up and other books read at the same time. I'm just getting bored with the Alice + Princey marriage and life stuff. bah.

Also about 1/4 the way through Home Repair by Liz Rosenberg and Fruits Basket, volume 3. I have some library books that I need to get read, too, as I'm out of renewals on them.

This weekend I'm finishing up Epileptic and Giovanni's Room. During the week I hope to read Things Fall Apart and The Blind Assassin. Book Club on Tuesday night for Guernsey Literary.

Speaking of Guernsey, I am halfway through and loving it!

Right this second, Wildcat Moon by local author Babs Horton, because I'm going to a 'do' next week where she is one of the speakers. I've nearly finished that one, though, and then I'm back to my goal of reading and rereading everything by Daphne du Maurier, though I haven't decided which one will be next.

I finished My Life in France by Julia Child and number9dream by David Mitchell. I think that David Mitchell is one of my favourite authors. Julia Child's book was really charming and gave the reader a sense of Paris ( and the state of food history) in the 1950's. Both very satisfying reads for different reasons.

koolaidmom - Strawberry Shortcake Murder is the second in a series. the first Chocolate Chip Murder was the one that got me - being a chocolate chip cookie fan!! the nice thing about this series is that the author includes several recipes that are mentioned in the book - about a cookie shop owner turned sleuth. delicious!

Oh I LOVED Old Filth. We sold well over 100 copies of it in the small indie bookstore i worked in a few summers ago. It became a staff favourite. Hope you liked it.

I'm still slogging through A Scattering of Jades by Alexander C. Irvine. I'm still only about 150 pages into it. The first 100 pages or so were really hard to get through, but the story is finally starting to pick up a bit. I'm think the next 250 pages will be a lot better.

I read The Reliable Wife - loved it. Read Last Night in Montreal - loved it and now reading Little Bee which is just fantastic! I am so impressed with the writing and it's a gripping read.

#25 Little Bee - or, as it is called over here, The Other Hand knocked my socks off. I then ran out to buy Cleave's other book, Incendiary, which did the same (and I'd only just put them back on again). A writer well worth keeping an eye on.

I technically finished this last nite. The Weight of Heaven what a wonderful book. Umrigar is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I also loved her The Space Between Us as well. I highly recommend both books but especially The Weight of Heaven. It will be one of those books that stays with me for a while.

Hello fellow readers! I am still in beach read mode with the current selection being Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster. I am enjoying the little vignettes so far and it does bring me back to my own younger years! :) Enjoy!

Reading has been slow this last week. I'm still in the midst of Little Women, Skeleton Crew, and The Firm. Whenever I finish one of these, I'll be starting on a couple other Stephen King novels: The Gunslinger and Lisey's Story.

#3> Carlos, for the most part, I enjoyed Rant a lot. Oh, well. C'est la vie!

Last night I reread the great Melville short story, "Bartleby the Scrivner," for the first time in quite a while. That piece never ceases to amaze and amuse me.

Tonight I will begin The Fourth Bear, which will catch me up with all of Jasper Fforde's works to date, I believe. I always love his stuff.

I haven't posted in a while.

I finished the Fake Dune book Hunters of Dune by those who aren't Frank. I was surprised their writing has improved since the House portion of their exploitation {cough} I mean expansion of the the series. Still don't explain things, and the characters are incredibly simple-minded, but the writing is better. What is rather putrid is the theme of the book. It should have come out in the 70s-80s if Frank had lived and it would have been timely. But the war of the sexes, at least fought in this manner, is horribly dated, and offensive. A whole group of women are referred to as the 'whores'.

This is supposed to be the final book of the original 6 book series, but of course Tor split it into 2 so there is another book to read to get a conclusion.

The second book is Sandworms of Dune. I started it because I couldn't face trying to read it years down the road, and I had momentum from book 1. Alas, I have stalled and picked up another book.

I read Anarchy and old Dogs by Colin Cotterill. 4th book in the Dr. Siri series. He is the national coroner and shaman in 1970s communist Laos. Loved it. Funny, interesting and warm.

I have now started Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis for a RL book group. So far not thrilled. The writing is scattered and wordy, and the character Zorba is a lazy, lying, family abandoning louse.

#31 You have to read it in Greece, really ;-)

Finished A Gull on the Roof by Derek Tangye and have started Footprints in the Sand by Sarah Challis. Also I am still reading Autumn Bridge by Takashi Matsuoka.

This week reading The Brothers Karamazov and Team of Rivals. Unfortunately reading speed has been affected by both The Open the the 2nd Test :-)

>8 kiwiflowa: kiwiflowa: I see you already finished The Forgotten Garden (how do people read so fast??) and are moving on to something else. I'm only in the first fifty pages and already can tell that it is completely different from The House at Riverton, which was far more dense with detail, and is more of a gothic tale. But maybe I'm not givng it a fair shake. What is your opinion of Garden? I hope I'm not wasting my time/money.

Finishing Way of the Wolf by LT author and hottie E.E. Knight. Grim world, well executed (and I use the term advisedly).

Burn This Book swan into my possession today via a houseguest. Lovely hostess gift!

Well, I just couldn't keep hacking away at The Gone Away World ... I kept truly struggling to pick it up. The author is talented, the sarcasm and wit quite funny, but the characters just icky and I found I did not care much one way or another ... about anything in this book. It's too bad, because it's kind of interesting/different in a weird way. So after 126 pages, time to move on to something else.

I am starting Do They Hear You When You Cry by Fauziya Kassindjya, which is a memoir of a woman who escapes tribal genital mutilation and seeks asylum in the U.S. ... it has gotten amazing review and it's in my TBR pile/library.

I finished my reread of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince this morning, so I am ready to go see the movie tonight! Now I'm reading Fear Nothing by Dean Koontz. I can't go through summer without a Koontz book.

finished The Devil's Labyrinth by John Saul.. aack!

started The Blue Notebook by James Levine

on deck is The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

I finished Are Men Necessary? It was not a waste of time, but it was scattered enough and insubstantial enough that it is better as a lectio divina than as a text book. I then turned for a few minutes to Olive Kitteridge; I'm three stories into it and so far am glad that it won the Pulitzer Prize.

Robert

I'm re-reading Gene Wolfe's Urth of the New Sun, after several years, for a group discussion on another board. I'm noticing frequently how much more poetic Severian's voice is than in the original BotNS, and how assured Wolfe's style is. This is just a wonderfully well written book. I can almost "see" the author enjoying himself as I read.

I find it amazing that so many of you can read more than one book at a time. Sometimes as many as three or four, and I wonder how you do it. I would get terribly confused if I attempted such a feat. But then I can't chew gum etc...

Just finished Middlesex, it was undoubtedly one of the finest reads of the year so far, for me. What beautiful writing by Jeffrey Eugenides. There are so many paragraphs and sentences that I will hold on to, and a difficult subject became a revelation, and again emphasized that we are all one, we have our different makeups, but each one of us is a treasure to behold...

#21 torontoc

I like David Mitchell. His book Cloud Atlas was one of my favorites several years ago. If you haven't read that one I highly recommend it.

I haven't read number9dream but have it on my TBR list.

> 42 Glad you enjoyed Middlesex! That book and author has stuck with me.

morfam, well said!!! Middlesex is one of my alltime favorite reads.

> 35: jbleil I literally spent from lunch time to midnight reading yesterday as it was blowing a gale outside and I didn't feel like doing anything else! That's how I read the book so quickly :)

I'm reading The House at Riverton now but I've only just started so I can't compare them yet. At the beginning of TFG it does focus a lot on the Aussie side of the story but it does move it's focus on to the mystery: who was Nell's parents, how did she get on that ship? So the Edwardian parts do increase as the story goes along. I loved the short fairy tales that are in the book (you may not have got to one yet) it was a really nice addition to the book.

Overall I would rate the book 3 and a half stars. I would say it's great for a weekend read. It had the elements to become a Barbara Taylor Bradford type story but didn't.

About half-way through "Water Like A Stone" by Deborah Crombie.

#39 (curlysue)..I really liked "The Lace Reader" when I read it earlier this summer...hope you like it :)

teelgee, what a nice idea posting authors birthdays.
thekoolaidmom, I like your idea for a Strawberry Shortcake murder. My daughter who will soon turn 32 was a big Shortcake fan about 26-27 years ago. How time flies ;-)

#42 and 44 - I read in a trade paper last weeek that HBO has optioned Middlesex to do a series.

Oh yes, and I also love the authors' birthday list!

#30 - I wouldn't say I'm not enjoying it. It just seems like Rant is one of the less interesting aspects of his own biography. I think some aspects of him or so outsized, that whatever personality he has gets drowned out.

I just finished The Reliable Wife and LOVED it -- once I got into the story I could not put it down. I saw someone mentioned that one.

Right now I'm really enjoying Eiffel's Tower by Jill Jonnes. One one those non-fiction books that reads like a novel.

Middelsex is one of my all time favorites, but I can't imagine how it will play out in a TV series. Screenplays never seem do a great book justice. Middelsex will be a tough one I imagine

>42 morfam:..morfam

i loved Middlesex....and shudder to think how "they" would try to turn it into "must see TV"...if you love Eugenides...please..please...please...read The Virgin Suicides....you won't regret a single moment spent...trust me

;-}

It would be hard to do Middlesex justice for sure. I don't think I could bear to watch it. Re: Virgin Suicides -- I didn't care much for that one. Hope he has another fiction published soon!

I didn't care for Virgin Suicides -- I just could not get into it or care about the characters all that much. Wasn't that made into a movie as well? I think Sophia Coppola directed it.

Just finished and reviewed the book I "snagged" on the Reader Reviews...I loved the book. The Sweetgum Ladies Knit for Love by Beth Pattillo

Starting the book: By a Spider's Thread by Laura Lippman

Still working on Mad Ship and also started Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett today. I have a feeling Equal Rites will end up winning out this week.

I am on Beauty for ashes by Joyce Meyers and The eagle and the Rose by Rosemary Altea who I am going to see at Lily Dale this coming Aug. should be good.

Started a hardback copy of The Landmark Herodotus for home. The Folger Library paperback of Measure for Measure for work and travel. The Landmark is simply too big to lug around.

#18 libraryrobin: I enjoyed Things Fall Apart as a read, despite what happens in the novel. I hope you find it worth your time.

#31 Ficusfan: I fear you judge Zorba the Greek too harshly. Their is much to dislike about the character but he is Nikos Kazantzakis' embodiment of freedom, in contrast to the aimless narrator. I always read the book as a quest for freedom not freedom itself. Reading it from a conventional standpoint misses what the author is trying to impart.

I will grant you that I don't think Kazantzakis' work translates well into English, they have too much philosophy in them for that and I think his whole starting point is a bit alien to most urbanites of the 21st century. I find The Greek Passion his best novel, but Zorba is a logical place to start.

i just finished The Road Home by Rose Tremain. It has a very melancholy beginning but a (* spoiler*) nice upbeat ending.

This week's schedule:
1. Shadow of the Hegemon (done by tuesday)
2. The Omnivore's Dilemma (done by friday)
3. Shadow Puppets (done by sunday)

Still muddling through Carlos Ruiz Zafón's The Shadow of the Wind (in French).

Still going with war and peace and Fred Hollows autobiography. Enjoying both.

# 34 BookMarkMe, I guess you are enjoying the test more than those of us on this side of the world.

I think I'm going to have to bump Middlesex up, someone in my book club raved about it this week, too.

Finished Old Filth today (you're right Louis, it's a great book) and now into The Blood of Flowers, historical fiction, Persia ca 17th century.

Currently reading The Spanish Bow, which I won in a contest a couple years ago, and only now got around to reading. Good so far.

Another fan of Old Filth here, as well.

#62

I'm going to smile while I can as it doesn't happen very often :-)

To all those who love Middlesex then read The Virgin Suicides. Just don't expect the same kind of book at all.

I didn't like Suicides but I think I'm in the minority.

I've still got a bookmark in the middle of John Adams and am about 1/4 the way through a re-read of Pride and Prejudice. I was re-reading it to gain perspective on my May book ER The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy but wrote the review prior to completing the re-read. I was going to re-read P&P this year any way, so am slowly meandering my way through it.

I've abandoned Mistress of the Art of Death. I started off liking it, then disliked it, then liked it, then disliked it for about 50 pages or so and have given up. Irritating book. For some strange reason I kept thinking of how Dorothy Sayers would have written it, and poor Ms. Franklin was definitely the loser in that comparison.

I picked up A Test of Wills by Charles Todd - the first Inspector Rutledge mystery. So far so good.

#37 Oh-oh! Do They Hear You When You Cry? is an amazing book - and a real wake up call for anyone who thinks these things only happen in third world countries.

#58 Ditto to every word re Zorba

and #66 Mistress of the Art of Death must have been abandoned by more people than has any other book I have ever read - me included. Is there anyone out there who actually liked the damn thing?

#39 kara

Please tell us ( me ) your thoughts on Lace Reader.
I loved it madly!

Middlesex tore my heart out, and thus I hated it.

Well so far this week I've already got through the first part of The Pillars of the Earth for the group read so I'm gonna have a go at something different for a few days. I've still got Jamaica Inn and the Jeremy Clarkson book waiting to be read/finished and they're due back at the library this week so they may have to take priority.
I picked The Handmaid's Tale out of my cupboard earlier so i may see if i can get through that today as it's definitely different to what i've been reading all last week.

Middlesex was easily one of the best books I read last year. Great story-telling. McKait- Did they get your heart back in okay? That's a tough procedure!
I finished Olive Kitteridge and it was absolutely amazing! I know opinion has been divided but it struck a major chord with me. Head still spinning!
I will be starting The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill. This is an LT fave and it looks to be a good "in between" book, as I make my way through the "Pillars" group read.

I'm flipping between two books today, the paranormal romance, Prince of Shadows by Susan Krinard and a re-read of Traitor's Moon by Lynn Flewelling. I'm doing a guest blog on Lynn Flewelling and picked up the book to refresh my memory, only to have it refuse to be put back down.

heart went back Mark, but the book was sent away. :)
never to be read by me again!

I've been nursing my husband who suffered a brown recluse spider bite (nasty little creatures) which has cut into my reading quite a bit. I'm working my way through Pillars of the Earth for the group read and enjoying it immensely. I hope to finish Part I today.

I'm also still working on Shadow of the Wind and liking that as well.

Middlesex is working its way up my TBR mountain.

Hope everyone has a good week!

And I loved the birthdays! Thanks for posting them.

#73 You have some great books there!

OK, the author birthdays seems to be a hit. I'll try to keep it up, though I may miss a week or two in August! Glad you like it.

Since last posting, I've finished Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien and The Thing around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

The Plague of Doves is what I picked up for today :)

Just read Loitering With Intent, enjoyed it; wasn't sure that Woods wasn't going to throw one more curveball at the end - he still surprises!

Next I'll read a bit more of The World's Wisdom, which is my read a few pages and go on to something else, last book of my 999 challenge.

I will also pick up Summer on Blossom Street, the last of the books that I had on hold at the library and got 4 at once. (I actually have others on hold, but they haven't been published yet.

mckait

haven't started The Lace Reader yet :(

last night I finished The Blue Notebook which is not a book that you say "I enjoyed that" when your done ...
guess I'am just healing my brain from the images that Levin created~ But I don't regret reading it

Got to clean my house so I'll crack the Lace Reader open this afternoon.. :) let you know what I think

#32 Booksloth and # 58 Smiley

Nothing can be said to make Zorba the book or the character better. Zorba's idea of freedom is to act like a child while living in the body of a grown man.

I actually prefer the narrator, who is civilized (so far), but the writing is just too florid and lacking in focus.

They just escaped the mine collapse, and if they hadn't the book would be over. I am sad that the author didn't take the opportunity to put everyone out of their misery..

>78 mckait: You'll have to let me know how Plague of Doves goes, sounds interesting!

Beginning The Lost City of Z by David Grann, due in great part to all the positive LT notice.

#67 ~ Wow, yes, you are so right. It's a great book so far. I'm an attorney and I don't practice that kind of law, but it's certainly gotten me thinking of helping asylum seekers in need.

>69 RLMCartwright: LadyViolet:

LOVED The Handmaid's Tale. Hope you enjoy it as well.

I'm still working on Bobos in Paradise and The Book Thief, which I will hopefully finish before I pick up Walter Kirn's Lost in the Meritocracy tomorrow. I was lucky enough to hear Walter Kirn read a selection from the book a few months ago and I've been wanting to read it since.

So, Mckait

I still can't figure out if you liked Middlesex.
The 'heart' comment is totally confusing, and when you voice the view that you won't ever read the book again, huh?

Do you recommend Middlesex or not?...

#78. I hope you enjoy Plague of Doves. It is one of my favorite reads so far this year. I loved the characters and their struggles and odd stories.

#83. I was not as big a fan as some on LT of The Lost City of Z, but I did like the book. Hope you do too!

Great way to start a thread!
I've just finished rereading the Potter books (delicious, feels like home) and I've just read Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity and the Women Who Made America Modern by Joshua Zeitz. It was a wonderful read. His prose is crystal clear and the subject matter is super interesting. I learnt tons of things and want to read and watch tons more, which is what the best books invite you to do, in my opinion. Really great book, I strongly recommend it.
I am now starting Angels in America by Tony Kushner. I have high expectations - the miniseries is one of my favourites.

I have just finished (and enjoyed) Leviathan or, The Whale and have just made a start on Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson. I am also still making my way through Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino.

#86 It looks as though an awful lot of us (me included) do recommend it very heartily indeed. It's an outstanding book.

After putting it aside for several months, I picked up Little Women again this week, and I'm really getting into it. I find it hard to believe I hadn't read it until now.

I'm also reading The Tory Widow, and though I've only just started, so far I'm enjoying it.

I just got done this morning reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and really liked it,,now onto reading Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie,,

This week I read Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters and just finished Brazzaville Beach, by William Boyd. I loved them both, though they could not have been more different. Velvet being an erotic lesbian novel set in late 19th century London and Beach, a contemporary novel about a tough-minded ecologist set in Africa and England.

I'm about to start a Plague of Doves.

BTW, how do I highlight the titles of books?

kateBreuning - use square brackets to highlight titles and authors. One set around a book title, two sets for an author.

Thanks so much, Trialia!

Just read Growing up at War - which is actually a kid's book on WWII but it passed through my hands on its way to the shop shelves and I really enjoyed it! I also just finished Jools Oliver's Minus Nine to One: The Diary of an Honest Mum, which ALSO fell into my hands at the shop and turned out to be a rather lovely read which had me dreaming about babies every night!

Now it's Pompeii: The Living City by Alex Butterworth... and I have yet to find another book to read alongside it when I'm too tired for ancient history!

I just finished The Cellist of Sarajevo last Saturday, which I received as an Early Reviewers book from LT. Good book, thoughtful and informative about living in a city under siege long-term. I'd recommend it.

I'm about 1/3 of the way though Forbidden Bread. A memoir about marrying her love, a Slovenian poet, and moving to Slovenia. So-so beginning but it's gotten a bit better. Also an Early Reviewers book from LT.

#78, 87, & 93 I loved Plague of Doves, one of my favorite reads of last year. For some reason, I had a mental block against Erdrich until I read Love Medicine for class a couple of years ago. Why did no one tell me Erdrich could be so funny?

I am currently reading Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann, a novel (very) loosely centered around Phillipe Petit's tightrope walk between the World Trade Center Towers in the 1970's. The book opened so strongly with the first two stories, about a monk living amongst prostitutes and a society matron whose son has been killed in Vietnam, but the subsequent stories have failed to live up to the book's promising start. Still, McCann writes so well that I'm hopeful that the second half will return to form. Like it enough, anyway, to want to read more McCann.

Finished Ship Fever by Andrea Barrett. Short stores I will go back to, especially the first and last.

Just finished Dead Until Dark, first in the Sookie Stackhouse series. Vampires in tiny Louisiana town. Fun premise. Quick read. But one of the very few books I've read where the TV show based on it is better. The first book is the same story as the first season of True Blood minus Tara, her mother and the exorcist. I'll probably pick up the next but stop after that.

Now starting Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard. Time for some nonfiction on a subject I know nothing about. Wasn't on my bedside stack a week ago but I moved it to the top when I brought it home. We'll see.

I finished Go Down Together by Jeff Guin yesterday--it's a fantastic history of Bonnie and Clyde.

Today I started Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan--another novel that begs for comparison to The Group. I'm liking it so far, but I preferred A Fortunate Age, another recent novel that's a lot like The Group.

Just stumbled upon LT today, and this is my first post, so hello all. Seems like a really cool site.

I'd certainly have more books under my belt this summer if I'd just read one at a time. Right now it's East of Eden, I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist, and some others. Flipped open Return of the King this morning too, and now it's taken center stage.

> Welcome #101 coreybmccullough!

I just finished Revenge of the Cheerleaders by Janette Rallison during midnight today.

Now I just started In the Cards Love by Mariah Fredericks

Finished Revolutionary Road which I really liked -- although if someone had described to me what it was about I would not have read it -- seems like it would be Oprah-esque and melodramatic -- but instead it was quite a compelling pain-fest of a read. Honosetly, I think the 1950's setting is what made it so good. Although the themes are universal - I think I would have been bored if it were about a present day couple.

Now I am reading Time and Again by Jack Finney -- can't remember why or who remommended this to me, LT person, maybe? It is slow-moving but interesting time-travel novel.

ireally enjoyed the blood of flowers

Author Frank McCourt has passed away today.from cancer. He was 78 years old.
Finished Grave Goods by Arianna Franklin was good but liked A Mistress of the art of Death Better. I have no idea what to read next.

>98 angstrat: Erdrich is one of my very favorite authors (although Plague of Doves wasn't high on my list - I loved it till the last 50 pages or so). She always has at least one scene in her novels that is absolutely roll on the floor laughable. Try her book Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse. One of my favorites of hers. I may have to re-read all her books at some point.

bettyjo - I am liking Blood of Flowers, though it's a bit predictable if one has read any historical fiction of this type.

Dearest Frank, RIP

Angela's Ashes will be turning in their urn.

What a great author...

Finished Oolong Dead this morning, not sure what I'll pick up next. Hungry Woman in Paris is at the top of the pile as well as Queen of Broken Hearts and To Kill a Mockingbird. Hmmmmmmm - not sure yet.

Loved it - laughed and laughed and laughed at Old Filth

Happy Birthday Cormac McCarthy! It's also my b-day and one of my kritters. Nice to share it with Mr. McCarthy.
Lots of Old Filth fans here which is wonderful - has anyone read The People of Priviledge Hill? It's more Filth in a collection of stories.

#104, jhowell, Glad you liked Revolutionary Road; I thought it was a great book and was horrified about the casting for the movie (Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslett). You are right that it is a very 50s setting (when Yates wrote it, of course), and I don't think the issues confronting the couple would be the same now, although as you point out bad marriages and the pressure to conform will always be with us -- they would manifest themselves in different ways.

I am all messed up.....I generally have two books going at a time and that is about all I can handle. Well........major upheaval for moi........I stopped reading Adam Bede in the middle to read my book club selection, The Sailor From Gibraltar, then I left that book behind after a weekend at Lake Placid with friends and have to wait for that to be mailed back to me, and now I cannot find Adam Bede. Do I start another or not? I am also listening to Bones by Jonathan Kellerman, and I am concerned about reading four at a time, although I know there are some LTers who juggle much more than four. Slightly overwhelmed in the reading department!

Just started A Most Wanted Man by John Le Carrè , because , the last two books I read, were non fiction ones, so I wanted some page- turner to plunge into it. Also if most of the times Le Carrè spy stories are not that straight to follow, at least for me, but I've got some hope on this one.

Another Old Filth fan.
Reading Semaphore by G.W.Hawkes, sent to my by a US friend. The main character sees the future in the same way as we see memories - a regular part of his life. Sounds trite but it's very good so far.

Part way through In the Woods by Tana French and nearly through The Himmler Brothers by Katrin Himmler. It is very interesting to read a family members history in which she often shares how it feels to learn these terrible things about her grandparents and great uncles/aunts. It is also fascinating to learn the lies the families told themselves to be able to live with their pasts. It is easier to read knowing that Katrin Himmler is married to a Jewish man and hoping that information is broadcast to them while they rot in Hell.

>113 hemlokgang: hemlokgang: what a dilemma! What about some short stories in the interim?

#101. Welcome to the group! The people are super friendly here, and their recommendations are outstanding. Hope you enjoy the website!

It's a bit overwhelming to to open this thread and see 116 posts already; and then read about so many interesting books.

Last week I (temporarily?) set aside The Well and the Mine after stalling on it. Instead I started Flight of the Hawk by G. R. Grove, the second in a trilogy on post-King Arthur Wales/England/Scotland. Grove is a self-published author and LT member who has been offering her books in e-book form in return for reviews. I can recommend taking her up on the offer. So far her series has been a pleasure.

Somewhat boringly, the books I'm reading this week are the same as last week: Pillars of the Earth for the group read, and Gunpowder.

I've finished up the Codex Alera series (so far) with Princeps' Fury, finished today. I also bought and read Fruits Basket Volume 23 on Saturday. I'm somewhat sad to see that series end.

Now I'm (still) working on David Copperfield and On the Art of Reading. When I finish the latter, I think I'll start Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen.

Finished up Olive Kitteridge yesterday, so can start the week fresh.
Hoping to start and finish both:
Pride and Prejudice and Commencement.

Finished Angels in America. Wow.
Starting The Brontes Went to Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson.

I'm almost done reading The Pirate Queen, and just to make sure that doesn't happen today, I broght along The Age of Homespun as my next book.

#118 - Excellent suggestion, teelgee! Thanks!

after a 6-month hiatus I'm back in the reading groove...

reading this week

Dies the Fire a reread
Summer Knight by Jim Butcher, #4 in the Harry Dresden series
On The Beach by Nevil Shute, it's unforgiveable that I've never read this story

Just finished April 16th: Virginia Tech Remembers and started Julie and Julia. Big jump from somber and heart-rending to laugh-out-loud entertainment.

I just finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I'm not sure there's much I could add to the heaps of praise this book has already received except to say that it is well deserved. The book is a treat from start to finish. It's a crying shame that the world is deprived of more books from Mary Ann Shaffer.

For a complete change of pace, I am now going to dig into When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris and, grammar geek that I am, Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: the Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences.

>>#93 kateBreuning

I looked up Tipping the Velvet on Amazon and it certainly sounded interesting. I put it on my TBR list. Thanks to LT the list is nearly 50 books long but I do get to them, in time.

I started The Migraine Brain last night, having read about it on LT. Too soon to tell if it's actually going to be helpful, but the beginning is promising.

I started Stealing Athena by Karen Essex yesterday and it looks promising.

I just finished "Testimony" by Anita Shreve. Loved it.. read it in one day.
Right now I'm reading How I became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely.. very funny and clever.

I've really been slacking off in terms of my posting lately, but certainly not my reading. :)

I just finished Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. The man is a literary god, plain and simiple. There's not much else to say, other than it's nice to be very forcefully reminded every now and then just WHY you read.

And I finally got fed up with the half-finished Fallingwater Rising staring at me for several years from my tbr pile and I've picked that up. It really is a fantastic book (well, I have my quibbles, but...), and now that I've actually *visited* Fallingwater, it has added weight to it.

I went on vacation. I now have to write reviews for A Man of His Word by Kathleen Fuller, The Other by David Guterson, and Labor Day by Joyce Maynard. I am on page 86 of Love's Pursuit by Siri Mitchell. April and Oliver by Tess Callahan showed up in the mail late this morning. I am swamped!

#86

I did not like it. I would not recommend it, or would I try to discourage
anyone from reading it. When it came out I was doing book reviews for a social site. There was a bit of a bruhaha when I wrote a thumbs down on that book.. only with one woman, but you she, she knew everything that there was to know about everything and so clearly I was wrong.

#87 Plague of Doves = very good

Just finished and took back to the library Summer on Blossom Street. I had over a week and half left on the loan, but I hate to keep a book when I know others want to tread it and I am done with it. Why have it sit on my table for two weeks?? This should be the last on hold book I get until the first week in August. Maybe I can get a couple more off my personal shelves!

I believe I am going to read The Raven....

Forgot to mention above, I am now continuing with The World's Wisdom and I am going to start Silver and gold by a new author who also happens to be married to my niece. I have read his earlier works (see my library or under his name) and I have enjoyed them immensely.

Kmom, Do you have it listed in your own library? Only one copy listed here....
Silver and Gold that is. It looks like a really good read!

Yes, in my own library under David Sakmyster or you can check out his author page.

July 18 - Revenge of the Cheerleaders by Janette Rallison

July 19 - In the Cards: Love by Mariah Fredericks

July 20 - Fly on the Wall by Emily Lockhart(going to start reading today)

July 21-finished Fly on the Wall during midnight
I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader by
Kieran Scott starting
today

I found Adam Bede by George Eliot and finished it today. I will continue listening to Bones by Jonathan Kellerman and I am about to start reading Shantytown Kid by Azouz Begag.

Have I mentioned my recent excitement for Sarah Vowell? Which might just match the excitement I felt over Geraldine Brooks (even though they write very different books).

I listened to The Wordy Shipmates and am now reading Assassination Vacation. I even Youtubed her to see her video talking about her books on the Daily Show and rented the Incredibles just to hear her in the role of Violet.

Still have The Thin Man going on audio, but only two hours left. Not sure what I'll listen to next.

Shannon -- love Sarah Vowell. I had an audio of Assassination Vac and even though her voice is borderline irritating, I loved hearing her read that. If only I'd had a history teacher with that kind of humor and imagination. The only thing I didn't like was the voice overs for some of the characters. I have Wordy Shipmates (non-audio) on my TBR shelf, looking forward to it. Also loved The Partly Cloudy Patriot.

#78, 87, 93 & 98 I loved Plague of Doves. It was a 5 star read for me.

I'm reading The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville and loving it. Quirky characters in the Australian bush country.

#144 and 145 -- I too love Sarah Vowell, especially the audio version of The Partly Cloudy Patriot.

>123 BaileysAndBooks:: BaileysAndBooks- What did you think of "Olive"? I thought it was incredible!
>134 mikeepatrick:- mike- "it's nice to be very forcefully reminded every now and then just WHY you read." I could not have put it better!

Another vote for author birthdays.

I did not particularly enjoy Love Medicine, and cannot recall finding any part of it amusing. OTOH, I did read it some fifteen years ago. Perhaps I don't remember it clearly.

Laughing my way through Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris.

Totally forgot: I finished Watchdog: A Melanie Travis Mystery Saturday night. Took some time for me to get into it, but eventually I enjoyed it.

Started Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams Sunday night, but can't get on with it. Keep falling asleep. I shall persist.

Haven't picked up The Portable Jung for a couple of days, but will get back to it this week.

Think I may need a light, fluffy read in there somewhere, but don't know what.

ARG! Touchstones worked on my prev post...

I just finished reading Trickster's Queen by Tamora Pierce and I'm still reading Nest in the Wind and Eragon

#138 mckait:

I picked up a good paperback used copy of The Raven a couple of weeks ago. Far down my to read list, but I will be interested in your opinion. It might move up.

I have been busy enjoying the summer weather and found my reading sliding in the process! I finished Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie and The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey in the past few days. Burnt Shadows, well an overall good book, it started to lose the momentum for me in the last quarter of the book. The Wilderness was captivating in line with the theme of Still Alice.

For a change of pace, next up is In Other Rooms Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin.

I have GOT to get a copy of Old Filth! It has been on my wishlist for an age and it seems that everyone is recommending it!

Mistress of the Art of Death I did feel a bit luke warm about it. A reasonable story, not a great story.

Read Purple Hibiscus and couldn't put it down 'till I'd finished. Now reading Bel Canto, so far so good.

I finished Zorba the Greek, and ended up enjoying it. The last time I posted I was going to stop, but somehow it got its hooks into me and I couldn't put it down.

Didn't think much of the peasants, though Zorba kind of grew on me. Liked the narrator and the beautiful descriptions of Crete and life (when the peasants weren't in it).

Still have to finish Sandworms of Dune.

I'm into Murder Most Confederate. I started it before all the holds came in from the library so I thought I'd finish this before I get to Silver and Gold.

I've taken the plunge and started the mammoth Joseph and His Brothers by Thomas Mann and am continuing with Revolution in Mind by George Makari. The Mann will take me a long time to complete, but I'll probably be mixing it up with shorter, lighter works.

Finished John Updike's third in the quartet of Rabbit novels, Rabbit is Rich. Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom might not be an endearing character, nor one that I dislike, in fact, I don't have any real feeling for him at all, but one thing is for sure, I damn well want to know what he's going to do next. Now on to Rabbit at Rest.

Just started The Physick book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Dane. It's a mystery that goes back and forth between the Salem witch trials and the early 90's. It sounds interesting but I'm not sure if I'm going to get through it as It's feeling a bit predecible already and I'm just a few chapters in. I'm eager to start Twilight of Avalon so if this book doesn't grab me soon I'm moving on.

> Started Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman last night. I am really thoroughly enjoying it! I don't think I've ever read anything by this author before. It almost has a fairytale or dreamlike quality to it. It was nice to read since I wasn't feeling well last night.

Practical Magic is such a great book! And so much better than the movie.

Loved Practical Magic!

I read it ages ago.. I should do a reread.

I read Practical Magic this summer, and I fell in love with it! Can't wait to read more by Hoffman!

Hoffman is one of my favorite authors, and Practical Magic is a treat.

I just finished Collapse by Jared Diamond. I thought it was a thorough, well thought out, and well presented book. The world's problems seem daunting to say the least. I certainly hope that his cautious optimism is warranted. To my cynical mind it seems deluded but necessary for any chance. It's on to another world entirely. I may have read it long ago but I can't remember it if I did. I'm going to read Vanity Fair next.

Well, I finished On the Art of Reading and Along for the Ride.

I'm now beginning The Time Traveler's Wife, which I've been meaning to read for a long time and finally picked up because the movie's coming out and I have to read the book first.

Hello there!
reading both, Great Expectations (Charles Dickens of course) and Breaking Dawn (you know by who)...I know...weird mix...

#158 rebeccanyc--I just purchased Joseph and His Brothers, but don't know when I will start it. It is a bit intimidating, and I look forward to your progress reports. (Mann is one of my favorite writers).

I finished Dan Chaon's new book Await Your Reply which I received as an ER book--very good.

I am currently reading Pillars of the Earth for the group read and Tears of Autumn by Charles McCarry, a spy novel in which the spy believes he has discovered the truth behind the JFK assassination.

Reading The Lost Daughter by Diane Chamberlain, and am really enjoying it!

Will you write a review when you're done? There's nothing here on it.

hi! I put a moratorium on The Winner Stands Alone and I'm still trying to catch with all you speed readers on The Pillars of the Earth

p.s. have you noticed the site no longer says beta and there are subtle changes on the header?
uuuuh what does that mean...?

Yes there have been changes/tweaks.

Thread here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/69370

Last night I finished Olive Kitteridge. It is marvelous. I am 64 years old, and I am wondering whether a younger person would get it.

When I finished it I picked up Art and Physics. I think I'll dig out another novel to throw into the mix.

Robert

Hello there
Reading The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

leperdbunny, Hope you're feeling better.

Hello. While away on vacation to see family, I began Silver's Edge by Anne Kelleher. I read reviews saying this book was a difficult book, however I am enjoying so far.

I just started Les Liasions Dangereuses, and love love love it. I want to be friends with the Marquise and Valmont - they are two of the most entertaining characters I've encountered in awhile.

#153 I am sorry to say that I was very disappointed in The Raven.
The writing style was disjointed and peculiar. The story dragged on and on in places. To be honest, I found it absolutely painful to read. The story itself would have been much better served by more direct writing.

The story idea was a good one, intriguing even. But the telling spoiled it for me.

Alice Hoffman is one of my favourite writers. Although I haven't read one of hers lately, I have read most of her books and there always seems to be that element of magic which sweeps you up and carries you off into her world and it's just lovely escapism.

I am reading "Alexandria" by Lindsey Davis. Another great M. Didius Falco book. "Silver Pigs" is the first in the series. If you like historical mysteries, this is a great one. Roman Empire 70's AD

I just finished reading Annie's Ghosts which I received as an Early Reviewer book. I enjoyed it although found parts of it a bit frustrating. And, to be honest, I am sometimes a bit leary of memoirs and find myself wondering as to the truthfulness of them. It was a good read though.

I have just started reading Mistress of the Art of Death and am now a bit nervous about it after reading the negative reviews in this thread. So far, it is pretty good though so we shall see.

#169 arubabookwoman:

Read Tears of Autumn a few months ago. Disappointed. I was expecting more after all the hype. JFK books do sell. Rated it average for a spy thriller. Some creaky plot devices but the stuff on Vietnamese society was interesting.

#179 mckait:

Too bad. Always a waste to read a bad book. I guess it stays near the bottom. Thanks for the warning.

>276 Catreona Thank you! Doing much much better today. Still enjoying Practical Magic Too. :D

#183--Smiley

Thanks for the tip--I've read 2 chapters and haven't been thrilled with it so far.

#182 Don't worry, bookaholicgirl ~ not everyone panned Mistress of the Art of Death. I for one thought it was wonderful, but then historical mysteries are one of my great reading pleasures.

This week I am catching up on all the comics and manga that have gathered in my apartment over the past few months. I have about 20 unread/unfinished comics volumes (Don't even ask me about the singles I have piled up. Sheesh.) On the chopping block:

Astro Boy Volumes 1 & 2
Avengers Next
Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite
Witchblade, volume 1
District X, vol 1: Mr. M
Casanova, vol 1: Luxuria
Fell, vol. 1: Feral City
Catwoman, vol. 3: Relentless
Captain America: Nomad
Captain America: Madbomb
Captain America: The Swine
Captain America: Operation Rebirth
Captain America: Homeland
Honour Among Punks
Madame Xanadu, vol. 1: Disenchanted
Omega the Unknown
To The Heart of the Storm
Hel: L'Éveil de la Bête

In addition to Pillars of the Earth for the group read, I just finished Ruth Reichl's Not Becoming My Mother which was very touching.

#182 bookaholicgirl - I loved both Annie's Ghosts and The Mistress of the Art of Death but my educational background, and my personal hobby of genealogy may have contributed to my appreciation for Annie's Ghosts. In all, I loved the book.

As for the the Mistress of the Art of Death, I second Storeetllr above at #186 - I love historical mysteries and fiction, they are the type of books that I will gravitate to.

Never feel inhibited in having a personal opinion.... that is the beauty of LT, you are free to voice your opinion about books and that is what makes LT such a great site!

I just started reading Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman. It's pretty interesting so far, I think I'm going to really enjoy this trilogy. :)

Starting several books by Francis Scott Fitzgerald and I will probably reread The Great Gatsby at some point too.

I finished up Murder Most Confederate and I am halfway through The World's Wisdom and plan on starting Silver and Gold after going out to see Harry Potter 6.

I just started The Physick of Deliverance Dane - I like it so far.... I seem to be following a pattern - finished The Heretic's Daughter not long ago and loved it!

>188 Copperskye:: Love Ruth Reichl! I read Tender at the Bone a few years ago.

Reichl reminds me of Nora Ephron. Feisty women memoir-writers, I guess.

I'm reading Guardian of Lies by Steve Martini. I won it on Library Thing!!
Really good so far.

Finished my reread of HBP, and was again entranced in JK's world. Gearing up for rereading Deathly Hallows but in the meantime am reading The Seance which is good, gothic fun. So far. Touchstone wonky.

streetllr and lkernagh: Thanks for letting me know that you both liked the book. I was beginning to worry that I had picked a dud! So far it is going well. I find the writing style a bit choppy or something but I have gotten used to it so it doesn't bother me now.

finished Dies the Fire and Summer Knight; picked up Go-Go girls of the Apocalypse by Victor Gischler last night.

#193 if you liked the The Heretic's Daughter and The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane then I would definitely suggest you check out Susannah Morrow by Megan Chance.

I am halfway through and enjoying Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog. You should see the diagrams of some of Henry James' sentences... and George W. Bush's - lol!

Message 199: Matsar
Thanks for the suggestion! I will take a look and add it to my TBR list.
:)

#182, #189 -- Given that Luxenberg didn't know of his Aunt, and then did massive research and interviewing to uncover this mystery of why she was hidden from the family, I don't think Annie's Ghosts is a memoir in the regular sense of that genre. BTW, Steven Luxenberg is in the Author Chat right now on this book, so you have instant access to ask questions.

Finished since July 5, roughly from worst to best
The ten thousand
Zoe's tale
Excession
The sirens of Titan
Ender's game
Elantris

Now reading
Principles of angels

Still reading
Doubt: a history. Finished reading the first eight chapters and it's still amazingly dense. Can't read this for more than an hour or so without needing a break to process it all. :o

Also picked up the collected stories of Arthur C. Clarke again which I hadn't read in in months. So far (p350 / August 1951) it's not very impressive and I much prefer Asimov.

I am reading Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind and I am absolutely LOVING it! I am so happy that there are several more books in the Sword of Truth series so I can continue to enjoy this author's work.

finished The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry yesterday...Stunning! Now added to my fav. list

Started A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
liking it so far..

Also reading That Went Well: Adventures In Caring For My Sister by Terrell Dougan for my quarterly newspaper where I work.. First time, we'll see how it goes

I'm still reading Mayflower and Tipping Point, but got sidetracked with A Wrinkle in Time which I finished last night!

147: msf59 - I thought Olive was such a wonderful read, and was beautifully written.

I know that I loved Olive Kitteridge when I read it a month or so ago, and it has stayed with me. I think that, especially for those of us who are middle-aged and older, there is a little bit of Olive in each of us. I thought the Pulitzer Prize was well deserved.

Okay, so I finally gave up on Pompeii: The Living City by Alex Butterworth and Ray Laurence - I've been struggling through it in less-tired moments for weeks and it's just too dry right now. I have a flat that looks like a book bomb has exploded in it, and a whole bookshop waiting for me so this library book is going back! I got a better picture of how Pompeii looked and operated from the part I DID read, and I skipped through to read about the big earthquake of 62 AD, and of course, the eruption of 79 AD. I found that last part much easier to read and profoundly poignant, so I did get something from the book! Having visited Pompeii I expected to be more gripped - perhaps a book on the excavation of the city would be more up my street...

I've been toying with a few ideas of what to read next, but I think I'll go for one I pilfered from the shop - a nice light read, Housewife Down by Alison Penton Harper. Quite a relief!

Well I finished The Handmaid's Tale on monday morning and last night i started reading Generation Dead for something different and I will hopefully finish that tonight. Then I've got the next section of Pillars to read and heck only knows when i'm going to fit in reading those library books that are due back saturday :S

> 210 LadyViolet "and heck only knows when i'm going to fit in reading those library books that are due back saturday"

I have the same problem! Library books if nothing else has made me stricter with my reading and not so quick read whatever I have just bought at the expense of those I have been meaning to read prior.

>171 jennieg: - Jennieg - will do (if it's me you were asking). Also listening to The Inheritance of Wilberforce by Paul Torday although I've also got the paperback. I'm really enjoying it.

Yes, I was asking you, Fluffyblue. Excitement evidently made me incoherent, not for the first time. But better than incontinent.

whymaggiemay: That is true and I did think of that while I was reading the book which is the reason I think I was less skeptical of this book than I generally am of typical memoirs.

>213 jennieg: JennieG - it's known as The Secret Life of Cee Cee Wilkes in the US, and that touchstone has some reviews on it. I think The Lost Daughter is what it's called in the UK.

Thanks, Fluffyblue. Multiple titles are so confusing.

I found Cee Cee to be a bit of a disappointment..

I finished Rite by Tad Williams and I've started The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie.

Finished Alison Uttley's A Traveller in Time and Reginald Hill's A Cure For All Diseases, along with Miss Marple's Final Cases. Now I'm onto Gideon's Power by John Creasey and The Clocks by Agatha Christie.

I am taking a break from review books so I can get caught up on typing up my reviews. Right now I am reading a local work of historical fiction called An Unexpected Love. It is by both Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller and together they make delicious concoctions of books. The front covers feature girls in exquisite gowns that speak Victorian romance. It also does not hurt that they mention places like the Thousand Islands and Rochester that are familiar to me. This book is like putting on a favorite shirt or sweater. I am only on page 25 and already I feel myself falling for this pretty Victorian world.

I have recently discovered two new authors that I enjoy. One has had her books out from quite a while ago - I just finished Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher the book was quite long 700 plus pages but really enjoyed.

The other is Lisa Wingate I fnished Tending Roses and am now reading Good Hope Road

Also came back from a trip to Chicago and a friend told me about Powells bookstore down by Chicago University - what a great find!!!!

I reviewed A Mad Desire to Dance in my "75-Books Challenge" thread. It's a doozie.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/68941

Just finished The Mammy this morning and started Missing May tonight

Just finished PUBLIC ENEMIES - BRYAN BURROUGH - I
loved this book. Was totally taken back on how interesting the author wrote a non-fiction book like fiction.
Now I am reading what I call - Just for fun books -
SAIL BY JAMES PATTERSON.

Just starting What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt.

136 Mckait - I just left a social-type review site for the same reason. I'd been writing book reviews for them - a few pennies a time, might help someone make a decision on the book, end of - but they have a system in place where they encourage people to constantly (and often pointlessly) rate and comment on other reviews for more pennies. It was like being at school again - some of them practically had their red pens at the ready! It was such a negative atmosphere that I have grabbed my meagre earnings and run back to the safety and nice readers of LT!

Just finished Shantytown Kid by Azouz Begag, and I am about to start People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, which is the August selection for my book club. I continue listening to Bones by Jonathan Kellerman.

Just finished The Karamazov Brothers that I thoroughly enjoyed. Having read War and Peace before that I've decided to have a break from the long Russian novel.

After some ruminating and scanning my TBR pile I've decided....Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie.......a change of continent should refresh me :-)

I'm currently engrossed in The Unlikely Disciple: A sinner's semester at Americas holiest university by Kevin Roose What happens when a college student from Brown goes 'undercover' at the religious Liberty University in Virginia? I'm enjoying it so much that I'm hating to see the end nearing.

Stayed up way too late last night reading Pete Hamill's North River. The descriptive writing in this book is simply breathtaking. I've read everything by Hamill, fiction and non-fiction, and this book IMOHO is his masterpiece.

Finished up In the Woods by Tana French and then read The Adoration of Jenna Fox in a couple of hours. Now I'm about to begin Easter Everywhere by Darcey Steinke. I just can't stay away from those memoirs...

>221 investory: Investory: Powell's is amazing! Did you pick anything up at the free book box outside? Did you head over to O'Gara and Wilson, 57th Street Books, and the Sem Co-Op as well?

Reading Lost in the Meritocracy at a page a minute, which means I'll finish it tonight and promptly hand it off to my father. It's my kind of book-- it's about low self-esteem, drugs, AND education! I also found myself laughing out loud at totally inappropriate places, like bus stops and the like.

>221 investory: & 232: If it's the same Powells as in Powells City of Books in Portland, Oregon--way cool! I discovered it in 1998 while there for a conference and have been trying to dream up a reason to travel there ever since. It's a bookstore that 'just grew.' It houses new and used books of the same title right next to each other, which for some reason really tickled me. So if it was a book that was going to the beach with me I selected the $1.50 mass market paperback, but if it was one I just knew I would cherish forever I picked the lovely, well-worn hardback with the loving inscription inside, or the spanking new one with squeaky clean dust jacket. I almost had to ship my books home because my luggage was so crammed and heavy. They have a great website, too.

I've finished The Shadow of the Wind. Drama, drama, drama, but I fall into the camp who liked the book. I'm going to wait a little while before reading The Angel's Game.

I'm reading Pillars of the Earth for the group read, and I am loving it. Also, the group read thread is being moderated very well: good pace, good comments, etc.

I started The Girl who Played with Fire. So far, so good, but it's a long one.

Up next is Dangerous Liaisons for a group read as well! Should be fun.

>233 jbleil: This is the Chicago Powell's, not the Portland one, but I hear many great things about the Portland one. Almost went to college out there... sigh...

Question for all of you reading Pillars of the Earth-- one of my good friends read it last summer and loved it, but it just looks very LONG to me. How fast of a read is it for you?

FINALLY managed to finish a book for the first time in what seems like weeks: Skeleton Crew, one of my favorite Stephen King short story collections. Still working on the same books as last week.

FINALLY managed to finish a book for the first time in what seems like weeks: Skeleton Crew, one of my favorite Stephen King short story collections. Still working on the same books as last week.

I am just about to finish I Claudius by Robert Graves.
Also reading From the edge of the couch Raj Persaud
and Mr Tompkins in paper back by George Gamow.

aww ellie.. so sorry that happened.. people sure know how to be mean!
I just pretty much told the woman .. well never mind..
So how goes the shop ellie?

Nancywhite.. why are we not working out a plan to meet?
are we lazy or what?

:P

*admits to being lazy*

Listened to and LOVED Growing up Cuban in Decatur Georgia by Carmen Agra Deedy!! It's a 45 minute CD of some amazing storytelling about adjusting to life in Georgia. There is a great story about how her mother lost her wedding ring as they were fleeing Cuba, so her father went out and got her mom another one. Then they argue whether he bought it on credit, or with debt. He returns the ring and then makes her one out of steel (he's a welder). She then has a line about how even steel bends to love. I saw her a few years ago at the St. Louis Storytelling Festival (one of my favorite and but sadly underpublicized events in St. Louis!!). She is a storyteller, she has books in print, but I greatly prefer her on audio. (and since I just finished reading Assassination Vacation yesterday I think I can say I prefer Sarah Vowell on audio as well).

Gave up on The Physicks Book of Deliverance Dane (just could work up any feelings about the characters and storyline) and started Twilight of Avalon and also am going to start In the Valley of the Kings: Howard Carter and the Mystery of King Tutankhamun's Tomb.

>235 aliay:: aliay- "Pillars" is a fast read, imho! If you would like to jump aboard, we only just started Part 2, (about 300 pages in) and these next two sections are pretty short. We would love to have you!

I just finished Fine Just the Way it Is. Loved it, except for three of the fantastical sort of stories. And I'm reading Home Safe now and Tongues of Flames. I'm very happy to have found Elizabeth Berg. Why the heck did her husband withdraw $850,000 from their savings before he died?

Finished up The House at Rivertonby Kate Morton last night. It was an Edwardian/gothic story which while it wasn't bad it didn't impress me either. I felt like I had read similar books before. But I know some people here have read it and loved it - not for me I guess.

Today I read The Earth, My Butt and Other Round Things a YA book by Carolyn Mackler. I thought it was a great book about image and empowerment and would I recommend it as a great teen read.

I'm not sure what I'm going to read next... Maybe An assembly such as this by Pamela Aidan another Pride and Prejudice re-write.

I'm reading, along with Pillars, A Short History of Women by Kate Walbert, an LTER book. Some times I really like it and some times, not so much.

Finished Practical Magic. Really beautifully written, and very emotional for me, not sure why.

Wanting to start Night's Edge By Maggie Shayne/Charlaine Harris/ and Barbara Hambly. I saw it at the bookstore and it CALLED MY NAME. LOL. Anyways, got it home, and was flipping through the book, one of the pages was bent all funny, and is larger than the pages around it. Ugh. I'm really OCD about new books I read, so that will be exchanged tomorrow for a better copy at the bookstore.

I'm taking a wee rest from the group read of Pillars of the Earth because it's not exactly making me click my heels while laughing giddily.

Decided to pick up a book I got at the local liberry booksale: Flying to Nowhere by John Fuller. It's set in the same time period, more or less, and so I don't feel I'm abandoning ship entirely; it's also only 96pp! W00t!

239 mckait - Yeah, the worst of it was that the worst culprit for putting everyone down was a 15 year-old know-it-all who spent every waking minute on the site and wrote great long rambling 'reviews' of chocolate bars and yoghurts... well, they were dire, let's just leave it at that.

The shop's okay, though rather like a morgue this morning (no life anywhere!) thanks to the sudden heavy rain that's swept in again. Still, we managed to go buy yummy food from the nearby bakeries/farm shops first, so I'm thinking an afternoon with my feet up in the back ordering books and reading! I changed my profile pic to one of the shop so you can see what it looks like... :-D

Reading Housewife Down now - a very fluffy light read which is quite enjoyable despite a few glaring editorial mistakes - and raring to finish and see what I can read next!

Last night i finished reading City of Glass since i felt like like some YA fantasy and I have to admit that i really rather enjoyed it. The writing seems to be quite improved in quality compared to the first two- by that i mean i wasn't noticing as many similes and florid eye colour descriptions as i did with the second. It may have wrapped up rather conveniently at the end but i still liked it.
I'm starting Enna Burning today because i absolutely adore Shannon Hale's writing and The Goose Girl was simply brilliant so I want to continue reading her books of Bayern series.

I finished The Time Traveler's Wife and then read A Kiss in Time yesterday.

Now I'm reading The Sorceress: Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, the third book in the series by Michael Scott.

>248 elliepotten:: What a cozy little bookstore you have, Ellie. I love the name you chose. If I get back to England, I'll be sure to put your inviting place on my itinerary!

My current read is The Help. Loving it so far.

ETA: the book I am reading. :-)

Finished Missing May yesterday and started Magyk last night

I finished book two in the Broadmoor Legacy series last night and am now on book three A Surrendered Heart by both Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller. It is so nice to see Clayton, Rochester and the Thousand Islands mentioned. The description of the Victorian dresses is a pleasure to picture and of course there is the evil uncle who is spending the entire Broadmoor Legacy as fast as he can right behind his nieces and daughter's backs.

#248-elliepotten,

Based on the single picture on your profile page, you have an inviting book store. I also like the layout of your profile page with the current reading information.

I would be interested in a bookseller's opinion of the "electronic books", Kindle, etc.

Send some of your rain my way, Seattle, we're drying out so bad my gills are closing up.

You know this site has blown your chance for an 84 Charring Cross from the other side of the counter.

> 254 We have your rain (NH) and boy would we like to send it back. It has rained almost every day here this summer (ha, ha).

Love the set up of your shop Ellie. You and your mum have done a fine job. It looks very inviting. (If it were just heeeeeeere)
hugs,
belva

Just started on The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale. An engaging, quick read so far. I've always been fascinated by true crime stories, and Victorian England is a mild obsession of mine. I can easily see myself finishing this one within next few days.

Oh, I forgot to post what I am reading. Silly belva!~!
Of course there is "Pillars" and "Anna" for the group reads. Loving both of them for very different reasons of course. Am midway through Carrington: A Life, which I am putting down to get a grip on my 999 challenge. But it is a marvelous biography about the life and times of artist Dora Carrington.
I am also midway through Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men which is a re-read for me from 45 or so years ago. Each time I pick up one of his books I am again amazed at the smoothness and fluidity of his prose, and the freshness of each story. He knew no formulas. Each story is new. I love that about an author.
belva

Something missing by Matthew Dicks (LT author http://www.librarything.com/profile/MatthewDicks).

Highly recommended :-)

@248 That little place looks very inviting - and you're in Derbyshire you say? Where!? *G* I may come pay a visit at some point... Always love finding new bookshops.

Ellie, I could read only a few of the titles in the picture. You'll have to post more.

I finished The Crying of Lot 49 last night. I may read Mason and Dixon someday, but I'm in no rush, and I may actually be done with Pynchon no matter that I loved his writing fiercely when I was an undergraduate.

I then picked up Peyton Place. I suspect everybody has an opinion about that regardless of whether they have read it.

I have not been reading enough non-fiction, but it was just a few days ago that I told myself I have not been reading enough fiction.

Robert

I just finished Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich. Normally I love her stuff, but I didn't think this one was nearly as good as the last. Did anyone else have that feeling?

I finished Hercules Text by Jack McDevitt yesterday. It was his first novel--very good. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants thoughtful sci fi. If you liked Contact by Carl Sagan you'll probably like this.

Right now I'm about a third of the way through Winter Study by Nevada Barr. Good, thoughtful Barr as usual!

> 262 DMO

I love Stephanie Plum. Just read 14 because it just went into paper. I have seen poor reviews for 15. But it will be another year before I read it (when it goes into paperback), so by that time I will be desperate for Plum, and will probably love it anyway.

I know people are pissed because she doesn't pick Joe or Ranger, but I am fine with it. Its like reading comfort food, I don't want change, just fluffy humor.

I am off to Kansas and on vacation starting tomorrow. Taking with me three books I checked out of the library. Appaloosa and Brimstone by Robert B. Parker and Wanderlust: A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit. I am also taking with me Blue Highways. Does that sound like a wide enough variety for vacation reading? I should finish up my current reading book Trail of Crumbs (this one is for my book club) tonight and Pillars of the Earth for the group read sometime in the next couple of days. I and want to start the vacation with fresh material.

Oh! and I forgot to mention that I had loaned my recorded book copies of Mistress of the Art of Death and Serpant's Tale to a friend. He travels with his job and he loved them. Even asked me if there were any more of them by that same author. I thought they were good, but he thought they were great. Just goes to show that we don't all like the same things in books. Guess that is a good thing.

I pointed out to him that I thought it was annoying to have a different narrator for the two books, but he said that the thing that annoyed him the most was that there was no signal that he had reached the end of the CD. He would listen to several minutes of the track 1 before he would realize that he had already heard that part. To-tell-the truth, I had noticed that as well, but it didn't bother me as much as it did him. It is the simple things that annoy us but you would think that good sound editing would have caught that kind of error.

I don't have Grave Goods and neither does the library so guess we will have to wait a little to listen to that one.

Since he also liked Pillars of the Earth and seems to like the Medieval period I recommended the Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters. These are easy to find at most libraries and I thought he couldn't go wrong for on-the-road listening with these.

This week I finished Ignore Everybody, The Thing Around Your Neck, and Best African American Fiction 2009

Needless to say, this was a good week...

Finished "Water Like A Stone".
Started and finished "Where Memories Lie"
(both by Deborah Crombie)

Now reading "Find Me" by Carol O'Connell

#89..Recently watched the film adaptation of "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day"...delightful movie!!!

#167 & #250..I've been seeing previews for "The Time Traveller's Wife" movie which opens Aug. 4. Sounds like a film I want to see.

#221...I loved "Coming Home" when I read it several years ago. I've read & liked several others by Rosamude Pilcher as well.

#265 benitastrnad - I agree. If you friend enjoyed the recorded books of Mistress of the Art of Death and Serpent's Tale, he might enjoy the Ellis Peters series. I thoroughly enjoyed both Franklin and Peters' Medieval mysteries I have read (I haven't listened to the audio books), and they do have a similar 'feel' / 'ambiance' to them.

Be the first on your block to post to the new weekly thread!

I finished Fear Nothing tonight and was a little disappointed because I usually enjoy Dean Koontz books much more. I pulled Animal Farm off my bookshelf to finally read because of all the Amazon/Kindle brew ha ha.

Finished Little Bee today. Difficult subject matter but deftly handled. Cleave is an impressive writer and I highly recommend it.

And I started The Thirteenth Tale today.

And we started a new thread yesterday!

"A Splendid Exchange, How Trade Shaped the World" by William J. Bernstein

Great book so far. Interesting info about the Muslim roots in trade.