August Reads 2009

So... What've you been reading this month? ^-^ I've finished reading The Women of Nell Gwynne's by Kage Baker yesterday.

I'm currently watching the tv adaptation of The Colour of Magic, so not reading anything. In a few days, though, I shall be reading The Vintner's Luck because it's high time I reread it. ^-^

Happiness is finding a Black Widowers book in the library yesterday. Finished Puzzles of the Black Widowers by Isaac Asimov this morning!

I just started a non-fic called Simplexity .

Shanra - I was so excited to see The Colour of Magic on DVD! We bought that one and have loved it!

I just finished Heart of Darkness today and read another 70 pages of Don Quixote. I'm just about tired of that book. I think honestly most of it is the format. If it looked more like modern books - shorter paragraphs, quotation marks where they ought to be - it would be much easier for me to read.

Really enjoying Desolation Road

I just finished Stone's Fall, which was pretty good, but I'm still casting around for my next read. I'll let you all know where I land.

Just finished Halting State, which I enjoyed very much. Not had time to write a review yet but will add one in 6 to 8 hours or so.

Hoping to finish Framing the Early Middle Ages this week :D. Then I have to think about what next. I've narrowed it down to five: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/divinenanny/readingnextmax5

I seem to have settled in on Phineas Redux. Oh, the scandals! :-0

I started Fast Ships, Black Sails, ed. by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, yesterday morning. I do love me some pirates. I'm about halfway through, and so far there've only been two stories that didn't really work for m.

I'm reading and enjoying Kushiel's Dart, I'm now wondering why it sat on my TBR pile for 4 years.

I'm reading American Gods. I was in the middle of Diane Gabaldon's Outlander saga then realised the publication date for the next book wasn't until next year in the U.K>

edit- touchstones

I'm having a bit of a book block. Still reading two of my books from July and I started Taliesin by Stephen R. Lawhead to see if it could jumpstart my reading enthusiasm again. I like it so far, but still don't really want to pick up a book.

I am reading several books but am almost finished with Looking at Indian ARt of the Northwest Coast and loving it.

In the Name of the Rose is my latest. I know I like it - I liked it last time I read it - but sometimes I think he should use fewer commas and more full stops.

I'm reading East of Eden for school and liking it so far.

I read The Warlock in Spite of Himself today and enjoyed it. Also finished Heart of Darkness and started Cry, the Beloved Country.

I just decided to start The talking Ape: How Language Evolved. Depending on how I feel for it I'll have to start something else as well. Another Stross, maybe? I really liked Halting State. Have to visit the bookshop, if so ;-)

I've got too many books started.

John Adams by David McCullough - halfway through

Pride and Prejudice - re-read - about 50 pages in

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe - started yesterday for September bookclub meeting

Last Bus to Woodstock by Colin Dexter started yesterday too because everything else seems so heavy duty, even my much adored P&P.

#19 karenmarie: I'm about halfway through John Adams too (and really enjoying it so far) and I just recently read Uncle Tom's Cabin for the first time too.

Great minds, eh scaifea?

lol!

Thank you, thank you thank you #1 for letting me know that there are more/new Kage Baker books available - boy I love her.

As for reading, I am reading Tempting Fate by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and enjoing it very much and am alternating that with Libyrinth a new YA sci-fi novel that combines fantasy with dystopia quite well. All in all a good month so far.

What is the Colour of Magic?

The Colour of Magic is an early Discworld book by Terry Pratchett. IMO if you want to read Discworld skip the first two, they have a different feel to the later books.

#12, calm, I think that An Echo in the Bone the next book in the Outlander series is coming out on September 22 in North America, you could just order it from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com, maybe the shipping wouldn't be totally outrageous. I know I did that with a British book I was too impatient to wait for the North American publication date.

I finished reading Excellent Women by Barbara Pym, another gem and am now re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Next up will be A False Mirror by Charles Todd, summer seems such a perfect time for murder mysteries.

#23 The Colour of Magic is also the title of a DVD adaptation of the book Calm mentioned. (That's not strictly true. The adaptation covers two books: The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, its sequel.)

I'm still very, very new to Kage Baker, Anastasia. (As in, this is the second book of hers I've read.) Which would you recommend I start with/look up first? (And I also received Libyrinth in the post today and look forward to picking that up in the near future!)

I'm reading Olive Kitteridge, just my kind of story.

Oh, I saw some Robin Hobb books at the bookstore and almost bought one, but couldn't decide which one to get. (Instead I got Some Danger Involved and False Colours.) What's a good place to start?

Shanra #26 - the Kage Baker novels of The Company are excellent. The series begins with In the Garden of Iden and moves on to Sky Coyote and The Graveyard Game. Amazon has listmania lists that list the entire series including the collections of short stories (not to be missed) in the series. This is an amazing combination of science fiction, time travel and romance - truly a fun series. I would love to see the Sci-Fi Channel make a series of this as there are enough short arcs with the time travel and medium and long arcs with the entire series to make it a truly complex multi-year sci-fi epic - but I fear that wishes may have to be horses with that one.

28 - Assassin's Apprentice is the first one. You can start with Ship of Magic without spoiling the first trilogy, and you get pirates, but it's chronologically in the middle.

Just finished Looking for Alaska last night, for a book about death it's pretty funny at parts, but it portrays the heartwrenching "nothing ever ends/Watchmen ending" angle of the tragedy of death really well. It doesn't just finish with the death of a character, it progresses further along as the unfinished business is dealt with.

Also reading the Azumanga Daioh Omnibus, it's been described as Peanuts on LSD, and TV Tropes isn't wrong in saying that. It's also really really funny, if you can find a copy anywhere I recommend you try it.

#18, Busifer, How is The Talking Ape? I always wanted to read a book about the evolution of languages (as I can see many links between different languages), maybe this is a good one...

31 - Looking for Alaska looks very interesting. It's another on my wishlist. I wonder if the library has it. Ooh, it does!

#32 - Well, since I decided to read it I've been swamped in work so it's too early to tell. I'll try to remember to let you know!

Shanra - Mendoza in Hollywood isd third in the company series - I forgot to mention it above. I love the first four novels of this series and the short stories - some of the more esoteric time travel and quantum stuff in the later novels bogged me down, but one man's meat..... Anyway, it really is a fun series - and I just bought the Empress of mars and the Nell Gwynne book to keep me Bakerrrrifffic.

33: Finally somebody in the Green Dragon is going to read a book I have actually read... I feel... so very moved...

36 - Hehe. I don't know if I can claim that one. It seems like it's my sort of thing. YA, angsty, emotional, etc. Most people here have read so many books I'm often surprised to find that people haven't read the books I'm just getting to.

Am reading The Catcher in the Rye at the moment, it's not Junichiro Tanizaki bleak, but it's very, very... shall we say, not Kafka alienating, but Holden Caulfield is probably quite lacking in having role models for him and people to talk to.

I never studied this book at school, but I'm reading it again knowing just what the whole "where do the ducks go when the pond freezes over" metaphor means. Sheesh.

I'm recommending I Thought It Was Just Me: Women Reclaiming Power and Courage in a Culture of Shame to every woman I know. I'm finding it very moving and powerful.

Just finished Ghost Story by Straub and just started Seven Up by Evanovich.

I've got a good start on my ER book Sworn to Silence, it started off good but the main cop, seems to have a lot of emotional baggage that keeps getting in the way, more than I would expect we'll see how it ends up.

Anastasia, you know the Nell Gwynne one is a kind of companion novella to the Company books, yes? (I use the term loosely, but... same world. Different era and different characters.) She did a terrific job giving everyone a personality. I'm definitely going to look into the other Company books (and am hopeful that the one bookstore that has a copy of one of her short stories in the 'verse still has it). I hope you'll enjoy both the books!

I've since finished Libyrinth, also, and loved every minute of it.

I finished The Picture of Dorian Gray yesterday. Hmmm. Very cool story, but I'm not a fan of Wilde's style, I think.

I'm reading June Foray's autobiography Did You Grow Up With Me, Too? - The Autobiography of June Foray with help from Groo co-writer Mark Evanier and animation writer Earl Kress.

Fun read, what a fascinating person! I mentioned this elsewhere, June is in her '90's but seems eternally young. She's best known as the voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel from the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons and Granny from Sylvester & Tweety cartoons. She's pretty much the female Mel Blanc, although Stan Freberg says that Mel Blanc was the male June Foray.

Checkout her body of work at IMDB, you'll be impressed!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004931/

BTW, she was born in the same home town as our lovely Jewels!

I have been suffering from the start a book...get distracted ...start another book...get distracted pattern and as such have a pile of half read books I've finally decided to work my way through. Finally finished A pirate of exquisite mind by Diana Preston (which was interrupted and set aside when house had a fire) as well as Queen Emma and the Vikings by Harriet O'Brien (that just got read in short bursts) I am now working on the rest of my half read piles which include:
Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb
The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller
Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

I keep getting distracted by new books (Rooftops is a new one not a finishing one) I go through periods where I'll read multiple books in spats as my mood suits me - sometimes even certain books for certain rooms in the house and that is what i read when there (or one for the gym etc).

I just finished Jane Boleyn by Julia Fox, which I found quite interesting but somewhat problematic in its focus. I'm pretty sure I'll be reading The Secret History by Donna Tartt next; a blogging friend recommended it, and it sounds like exactly what I feel like right now.

I am in a serious reading funk. Life has been just not very good lately so I am plowing through the Sword of Truth series because it takes up a lot of time and I don't have to think very much. A couple of weeks ago I had a 5hr bus ride where I read The Hero and the Crown on the way there and The Blue Sword on the way back and both were delightful. Once this funk has passed I plan to start A Confederacy of Dunces.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who goes through ...ugh reading funks.... I had quite a bad case earlier this year which seems to be shaking itself off finally.

I just finished Shadow and Claw, and since I have no desire to read the second omnibus so quickly after, I am about to start Lavinia instead. I am feeling a little guilty about ignoring my non-fiction pile though.

I finished Framing the Early Middle Ages and to prevent a reading funk I am staying away from the heavy scientific non-fiction for a little while. I started and finished The Time Traveler's Wife in one evening and one morning, and am now reading Your Inner Fish, which is more popular science and thus easier to read.

I just finished The Last Lincolns. A fascinating read about the president and his descendants. About half of the book is about Mary Todd Lincoln and her only surviving son. Tragedy after tragedy. The last half concerns the two remaining generations in the direct bloodline. Such humdrum, sadly inept people to come from such an illustrious line.

I had a personal interest in this story as I am a descendant of the Lincoln family - from a cousin of the president. Gramma was a Lincoln.

#49 , I read Your Inner Fish and enjoyed it . But it was not an easy read , after the first few chapters Shubin gets alot more scientific .

Finished reading the Mexican cookbook, I'm going to skim Augustine, I don't really have the patience to read through another person's introspection and philosophical wonderings right now, but I do enjoy reading something by a fellow which was written so long ago, but is struggling over many of the same things we struggle with now.

Anyway, I'm trying to lighten my reading to hopefully get me in the reading mood again, so I'm going to begin Something Rotten by Fforde. I love, love, love Hamlet, so think I will enjoy this. Now that I've written that last sentence, it makes me laugh, considering what I wrote about poor Augustine.

I finished reading Welcome to the NHK last night, it's really moving but also really sad how desperate the lifestyle of the hikikomori is. The main character invents a conspiracy to blame his problems on, just so he can feel motivated to go on with his life which is so bleak and madness induced in its melancholy. The anime version of this is a lot more innocent.

Finished BOUND FOR CANAAN: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America by Fergus M. Bordewich. Normally I don't recommend a work of history to anyone except those who are into that kind of thing. But this one made me stop and think a lot. Everything I've ever learned about 19th century US history has been put into a whole new perspective. If you're willing to give it a try, it's quite accessible for the average non-history reader. I'm now ordering BOUND FOR THE PROMISED LAND: Harriet Tubman: Portrait of an American Heroby Kate Clifford Larson thanks to this.

Currently reading THE LIBRARY AT NIGHT by Alberto Manguel. A true joy for any bibliophile.

#41 - Shanra, yes, I realized that the two new Kage Baker books were companion rather than full on Company novels, but that is all right. I too am loving Libyrinth.

#54 - What a bizarre coincidence or piece of synchronicity! I just got Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America from the library as part of research for a YA time travel novel I am attempting to write. This isn't an area of history that I have a lot of knowledge about and the entire thing convinced me that ideas come trhough us rather than to us because of that. This said, it really is a great book and I am learning a lot. I love library thing; I am so glad in the age of twittering and texting that there are still so many bibliophiles in the world.

Add me to the list of those who have reading funks; I recently had one but Libyrinth and Tempting Fate got me out of it. Speaking of chelsea Quinn Yarbro, has anybody else read the St. Germain novels? And does it seem to you that she uses the vampire as a device to write historical novels through the ages?

#54 - Hmmm, I'll have to put BOUND FOR CANAAN on my list!

Finished up Your inner fish in bed this morning, and am now starting on Genghis Khan bij John Man.

I commiserate with those of you going through reading funks. It's awful!! I just came out of one and it was incredibly frustrating, couldn't concentrate on just about any book I tried to read. It lasted about 3 months and I had so many lovely books beckoning to me on Mt TBR. Glad it's over.

#50, that's very cool MerryMary, I've always been interested in Lincoln and his family, such a sad story, neat that you're related. I'm going to have to look up The Last Lincolns.

I've finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I read it just as quickly the second time around as I did the first! I decided to go with historical fiction instead of mystery and so have started Conceit by Mary Novik, so far I'm enjoying it.

Yesterday I finished Falling Up (it's headed for Charlie's bookshelves). I think this is the only Silverstein that I'd never read before and it's just as wonderful as his other collections.

I had a little reading marathon and finished up Lynn Flewelling's Tamir Trilogy with The Oracle's Queen yesterday. I really find her writing very addictive!

I finished The Secret History last night, and I'm still reeling. It's the best new-to-me book I've read in more than a year.

I started The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon this morning, but it's too early to say what I think of it yet.

Finished fugitive prince as a re-read in pbook, it works well enough without re-reading the preceding three, and Grand conspiracy in ebook, which is even better. Just started peril's gate also ebook, where life is getting even harder, and the starting point was pretty tough to begin with.

Hopefully HarperCollins will have got the ebook of traitors knot sorted sometime this week so I can carry on the series!

I finished Cry, the Beloved Country and The Reluctant Widow this weekend, which means I only have 3 books left on my 999 challenge. I am so excited. I got one of them at the library today.

I finished Rant last night. It was reallllly good.

60 - Addicting. That's a good word for it. I liked that trilogy a lot.

I'm comfort reading Club Dead and Pagan's Crusade. I have too much work to read something new or complex. Familiar and relaxing is the go at the moment.

I am now reading Haunted America by Michael Norman. Nice little short stories alphabetical by state. I already had Haunted Heartland from the same series.

Since I can't read these at bedtime (I have an over-active imagination), I'm reading Edith Hamilton's Mythology at night. I've read this wonderful book many times before, so it is a calm and comforting bedtime read.

just started Sovereign by C. J. Sansom a mystery series that takes place during Tudor England.

I am reading The Little Prince and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo among other books. Just purchased City Farm for my Kindle as I read a little on a sample and I think it is going to be an amusing as well as informative read. Still chipping away at Flotsametrics. Oh, where has all my time gone?

Finished THE LIBRARY AT NIGHT by Alberto Manguel.

Now into FOOL'S ERRAND by Robin Hobb. Something about the character Fitz that just reminds me of myself. Trying to find peace and healing after many years in the service of others.

#69 Wishing you peace, Sarge. I'm sure you know that old Fitz wouldn't be in another series if he gets any of same. Enjoy!

Earlier today I finished Uncle John's Unstoppable Bathroom Reader. No need, really, to discuss where or when I read this.

Finished Lavinia earlier, and then Glass Houses, because I needed something a little less contemplative. #66, the Haunted series looks interesting. Is it one story per state?

yep.

I just finished Sundays at Tiffany's. It was fun, but not life changing.

#61 - I remember reading The Secret History when it first came out, when I was college age myself and I will never forget what a great read it was and how wonderful her prose was. I think the success of that book stymied her though and gave her sophmoritis with a vengeance, which is too bad as she is a lovely writer.

As for me, I am still with St. Germain in the twenties and on the Underground RR in the nineteenth century.

It's a productive reading week so far. I finished Genghis Khan by John Man. I liked it, but the historical errors and liberties did annoy me. Still thinking if I'll read the other two (Kublai Kahn and Attila the Hun) he wrote.
After that I read The Drunkard's Walk by Leonard Mlodinow. I found it a bit hard to follow at times, and sometimes just had to believe him on his word, as his explanations were a bit short. I would love to have this book taught to me as a class, so I could ask someone.
After all that non-fiction I went back to some science fiction with Walter M. Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz. I am only on page 113, but I am loving it so far...

I've been reading Basho: The Complete Haiku which is one of the most relaxing books I've had available to read for a long time. Dude makes poetic observations of nature! The Beat Generation completely ripped him off!

# 77, I should reread my mini-collection of haiku sometime. ^-^

I've just finished three books today.

Fables: Animal Farm, The Hedge Knight 2: Sword Sword and The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker.

Suffice to say I quite enjoy the way my day got spent. ^-^

And today I finished Mouse Guard: Fall 1152. I am most delighted. ^-^

I am reading The Last Vampire Collector's Edition Volume 1 which I am enjoying.

#76 - A Canticle for Liebowitz is in my TBR pile. I started it and made it through the first section which I enjoyed, but put it down so as not to finish it too quickly. I love this site - so manygood books, so many smart recommendations - so little time.

Just picked up Jackdaws by Ken Follett, a WWII novel, and am near the end of The Last Kashmiri by Barbara Cleverly, a pretty good start to a mystery series.

I finished The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay this evening and promptly expanded my Top 9 list to a Top 10. It's easily one of the best books I've ever read.

I plan to read Libyrinth by Pearl North next. It comes highly recommended, (hi Shanra!), so I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm just getting into 2666. I was left breathless by a 5-page long sentence. The reviews on this one are all over the place, some loved it, many didn't. I'm not sure, I'll give it another day or so.

I wonder, what is the significance of the title?

#80 - I hope you love The Last Vampire series! I LOVE it. I first read it when I was 11, and still loved it when I reread it in college.

Looks like I really need to pick up a copy of Libyrinth! Hopefully things can get settled here soon (we just moved this week), and I can make it to the library or something.

I'm still working on The Fires of Heaven, the 5th book in the Wheel of Time series, since I haven't had much time to read lately.

I'm rereading The Order of the Phoenix and rereading Looking for China. This is why my tbr pile never gets any smaller :op

Somehow I've ended up listening to 3 audio books. I started out with A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb, which is good, but I sensed some heartache coming up and needed something lighter last night so started listening to The Worthing Saga by Orson Scott Card (another reread!). And we've been on a road trip and are listening to The Lightning Thief in the car, which myself, my OH and my 8yo are enjoying but my 5yo is happy to sleep through.

Finished Phineas Redux and loved it. Switched gears to The Magicians, which is pretty derivative so far, but fun nonetheless.

I plan to start Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan next. I was going to go with The Iliad, but I just can't resist that pretty blue cover.

Finished A Canticle for Leibowitz. I didn't like parts 2 and 3 as much as I did the first part, but I do like the fact that there is a bigger idea behind it. Knowing more about the author and when and why he wrote it also helps to make it a better book. I highly recommend it to everyone, as it isn't really hard core science fiction, it's just a description of the future after a nuclear war and how humanity goes on.

I now started in The suspicions of Mr. Whicher, a story about the first 'real' detective. Not my preferred period of history, but I have seen the book in so many bookstores that I just had to get it!

Finished FOOL'S ERRAND and THE GOLDEN FOOL by Robin Hobb.

Now into FOOL'S FATE.

I've come to identify with the character of Fitz so much lately. No superman, just a flawed oh too human man, pushed into circumstances beyond his control.

I started Enchantment by Orson Scott Card at lunch today. It is a bit different than I expected but interesting considering I only made it to page 11.

89 - I totally agree. Sometimes it worries me how much I identify with Fitz. He makes the decisions that look best at the time, when he has no other choice, but it always seems to do him harm. I love the end of Fool's Fate. I hope it gives some solace, because it always makes me feel great.

Will-

I hope so. This old soldier sees way to much of himself in Fitz and just wants the same thing. To retire within the year and a life of peace and quiet to pursue my own interests and answer to no one.

Well, Legend of the Seeker just started here, I took the chance to read the book Wizard's first rule concurrently with the first two episodes as an attempt to eliminate the first one wins effect. I think I've done good, the book seems too long winded and the series can be a little corny at times but they can both be quite dramatic. On to Stone of Tears now

Polished off Midnight Never Come this evening. I figure I'll start Julie and Julia next, since I'm trying this new thing where I strike books off la TBR as soon as possible after they enter my home.

Well, Mr. Whicher is done and gone, and now I started on Consider Phlebas to keep in tune with my resolution to read more SF because it turns out, I like SF! (Help, I am turning into my father! ;))

What did you think of Mr. Whicher divinenanny?

Well, it wasn't quite my favorite historical period and that knocks one star of it for me, but the writing was really good. What I liked was that it was described chronologically. I also liked that it was a description of the case of the Road Hill House Murder, but that the author also took time out to relate the events to other things, mostly the status of the detective in that time, and the start of detective-fever (the first detective novels, the terminology, forensic science, etc.). I really recommend it, it is an entertaining and educating read.

I got a copy of Mr Whicher a couple of days ago; family recommendation! Then it was everywhere here so it seemed like a good sign!
On the ever expanding TBR pile!

Still reading Unicorn Variations and loving it more with each story I read ; also nearly finished Under Sea, Over Stone but RL- no time for reading!

calm - I just gave Under Sea, Over Stone to a friend. It's nice to see it get more attention recently.

Have started Red Mars, and Learning mySQL in a nod to the greater demands of my own TBR pile.

#97, that sounds like it would fit the bill for me, I like books that entertain and educate at the same time! It's been on my wish list for awhile, hopefully I'll be able to get it soon. Thanks divinenanny :-)

Under high pressure at work so have put The Talking Ape aside, temporarily, and picked The Chanur Saga as vehicle of escape. Only a couple of pages left until I follow that with Chanur's Endgame. Sometimes only rereads do.

Then I'll pick the language book up again - it's highly interesting but demanded too much brainpower, atm ;-)

Finished Taliesin by Stephen R. Lawhead, liked it a lot, still working on the Fforde book, am reading a book which was loaned to me which is a sort of devotional thoughts book Smarter than Einstein, written by a local man. I couldn't help myself, I went to see the movie Julie and Julia, and now I have to read My Life in France by Julia Child.

I'm still reading Enchantment but took a quick break and read "The Warrior", a short story by Jim Butcher in the Mean Streets anthology. The book caught my eye as I was walking through the library yesterday and I am determined to read anything Dresden related. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with any of the other series included in the book.

I read The Color Purple and really liked it. I'm giving it one of my uncommon 9 out of 10 ratings.

Just finished Bonk which was ok. It wasn't my choice in the bookstore, but it was still a quick informative read. Now I will spend my weekend with the lovely illustrated version of What on Earth Happened. :D

As predicted I've finished the first Chanur omnibus, moving on to the next.
No matter how many times I read it I always get a pain in my heart when I read through the ending of The Kif Strikes Back and the through most of Chanur's Homecoming. But it's distracting me from work pains, which I need, at the moment. A. ;-)

Glad to hear it's working as a distraction, Busifer!

I'm nearly done reading Moonheart and after that it'll be course-book reading again. (At least it means I get my half-yearly dose of non-fantasy books and get to say I'm well-read. ^-~)

I'm reading The Big Necessity. It's about poop.

Just finished The Magicians. I really, really enjoyed it. Highly recommended to Green Dragoners. Well, ok, to most GDers. It might have a bit too much sex, drugs and existential angst for some tastes, but I loved it.

No idea what to read next.

Finished In search of Kazakhstan (aka 'Apples are from Kazakhstan') by Christopher Robbins last night. Now I want to go there and see wild apple, pear and apricot trees, and their dozens of wild species of tulips ...

ETA: On the other hand, it sounds like the place was hell on earth until a few years ago, and parts of the country probably still are.

Finished FOOL'S FATE. As much as I have come to identify with the character Fitz, I doubt I will be able to get the chance he did to go back and pick up the pieces.

Now reading HOW TO READ LITERATURE LIKE A PROFESSOR: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster.

I'm now reading Un Lun Dun.

#112 me too! How d'ya like it?

My sister just read that and she loved it. I want to read it, but I haven't been able to find it.

#113 I like it fine so far. Reminds me of The Phantom Tollbooth. You?

Haven't read Phantom Tollbooth, but love Un Lun Dun. It reminds me more than a little of living at Kew in the early '80s -- with a grin.

I've just finished Moonheart. Next up is A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. So far the first page isn't looking as scary as the snippets I've read of Joyce's other works. Not that those are many, but it's a relief to know.

I whipped through M is for Magic in the last couple of days. Neil Gaiman has an interestingly unique style in his short stories.

Now I'm reading Devices and Desires (KJ Parker, not PD James).

Finished Beggars in Spain; the best thing you can ever say about a book is that it is thought-provoking. I finished this a week ago and I'm still thinking about some of the issues raised.

Midway through Death of a Cozy Writer which so far appears to be both well-executed and delightfully humorous.

Tomorrow is first real day of my vacation; I'm so going to enjoy laying in bed and reading for two hours in the am.

I finished Enchantment earlier today and started Awakening by K. Lippi. It is a quick read and I'm already about halfway through.

110: Wow, I always thought Christopher Robin never left the 100 Acre Wood, but gee, he must have some interesting travel stories!

I finished reading A Drifting Life last night, it's a really powerful expression of the creative spirit in what is essentially a commercial medium/business. Publishing rivalries back in the 1950s rival The Godfather in their grudge-bearing...

I decided to leave What on earth happened at home during my commute, due to its size, instead I am taking The Fire by Katherine Neville. It is the sequel to The Eight, which I read a couple of years ago. I didn't want to read that one again (but I did forget just about everything about it, except that it was about chess pieces) but it seems that it isn't necessary, there are enough flashbacks to get the important ideas from The Eight again...

121: I also did a double take when I saw the author's name. But I can thoroughly recomend the book as a fascinating piece of writing by someone who clearly fell in love with the country.

I've been picking away at Joust by Mercedes Lackey. It's not doing much for me yet; the first hundred pages were mostly infodumps and needles repetition. Here's hoping the book will hit its stride soon.

Last night I started Robin Hobb's The Dragon Keeper & was hooked within the first paragraph - no surprise there tho :)

I think its gonna be a bit of a shock to my system after the last 10 books I've read which have been kids/very young adult books...

I can't believe I haven't made it into this thread yet. It's been a crazy Summer for me, but I did manage to finish off two books so far this month. The first one was The Omnivore's Dilemma which I just adored, and the second one was French Women Don't Get Fat which was interesting, but didn't hold much new information for me. I am halfway through my latest ER book A Supremely Bad Idea which is very amusing.

Back to my old habit of reading two books at once.

THE JOY OF READING: A Passionate Guide to 189 of the World's Best Authors and Their Works by Charles Van Doren.

I'll be working my way through this for a few months.

I started Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon yesterday evening, and I've got a good feeling about it.

Just finished The Fire by Katherine Neville. It was a gripping story, but some of it... I don't know... Too far fetched or too abstract, I am not sure...

I'm on the third Percy Jackson/Olympians book, The Titan's Curse, and still listening to The Worthing Saga. I read that last years ago and it's as good as I remember. Even better because I don't remember any of the details.

The AV Club discussion of Little, Big made me yearn for John Crowley, so I downloaded Four Freedoms. And I'm immediately sucked in. Oh, such lovely prose.

I finished Why New Orleans Matters yesterday and picked up AD: New Orleans After the Deluge (a graphic novel) at it's launch party yesterday and got halfway through on the ride home. This morning I pulled Elemental Magic out of my anniversary gift pile for the train - 4 romantic fantasy stories sounded nice and relaxing for the mid-week blues.

I'm trying something new with my reading. I just got a Kindle and it's SOOO much easier to schlep on my commute. So, I'm reading one book on the Kindle (currently Pretties), one at the office (Haunting Bombay), and one at home (The Charlemagne Pursuit). I used to read multiple books as a kid, but haven't much since I got grown. We'll see if I can keep everything straight!

I'm still waiting Traitor's Knot as an ebook, so I've read a bunch of other things:

The Little Prince charming.
Little Brother - no relation! YA near future SF and the perils of a surveilance society. Doesn't have any answers though

I've just finished hammerfall and (want, click, have ) started the sequel forge of heaven. Ereaders are scary that way.

At the moment, I'm reading The Winding Ways Quilt. A lovely examination of the lives of several women in a quilting group/school. I'm not very far into it, but I am enjoying the personalities and the quilting descriptions too!

I just started in Player of Games

I'm currently reading Inferno by Dante, for one of my classes (and trying to convince myself to go back to James Joyce).

In between I've been reading Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder and Real World by Natsuo Kirino.

So far this month I've read the following:

The Chicago Way by Michael Harvey
Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia
The Fifth Floor by Michael Harvey
Day of the Damned by David Gunn
The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane by Robert Howard
Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey
Leather Maiden by Joe R. Lansdale
The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley
Thunder Bay by William Kent Kruger
Sharpe's Rifles by Bernard Cornwell
Big City, Bad Blood by Sean Chercover
The Right Madness by James Crumley
The Soul of a Dog by Jon Katz
Vixen by Ken Bruen
Blitz by Ken Bruen
The Scepter's Return by Harry Turtledove

I'm currently in the middle of The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson and The Etched City by K.J. Bishop.

#138 - Holy sheep dip! That's a lot of reading...

Well, I spend three hours on a train four days a week.....

#140, your travelling schedule sounds eerily like mine. Well, like mine sounds when uni is in swing, really.

I'm finishing The Yellow House and about to start Throne of Jade. I didn't realize until now I have a color theme going.

>140 Librariasaurus: bibliophool, with that many books read, you probably hit favorites of more than one LTer.

You certainly hit two of mine: The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley, a wonderful modern noir (I also liked his The Right Madness on your list), and Sharpe's Rifles by Bernard Cornwell, a good starting place in that terrific series set during the Napoleonic Wars. (Chronologically you could start elsewhere with his exploits in India,, but this is the one in which Sharpe and Harper first meet up).

#141 The only good thing about the train is the reading time it affords me. I'm not so fond of the 6am departures.

#143 I really enjoyed the Crumley novels. Looking forward to the rest of the series. I also enjoyed the Cornwell; I'd been meaning to start the series for a while, but just hadn't gotten around to it until now.

I'm enjoying both the books I'm reading right now. Something Rotten is delightful, Hamlet is such a dear! Julia Child's memoir is very amusing and interesting, at least to me. The best thing about that movie is it inspired me to buy and read My Life in France. :) I've decided not to do any "required" reading from my TBR shelves for awhile, just books I really have a desire to read. I'm in a bit of a reading drought and need to find my joy again.

#144, ah, yes... The one thing I definitely don't miss from my very first few weeks at uni it's the 5am trains to get there on time. I hope that's a three hour commute there and back, not a total of six hours a day. That'd be absolute murder.

I just finished Wonder Boys, which was rather meh. Chabon's prose is great, but the story did nothing for me. I plan to rad The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde next; I figure it's time for something a little less erudite.

Devices and Desires is interesting me. The intrigue is complex and compelling. I hope it goes somewhere.

#148 - What? I adored that book. Maybe you just aren't old enough to relate to Grady. LOL Read it again in 25 years. :oD

#150 I loved that book, too.

clam, I think you would like the new John Crowley.

#151 - Uh oh. I don't even know who that is.
*hangs head*

Okay, I sneaked a peek. The guy who wrote Little, Big, which I have yet to read. What's the name of his latest?

He wrote Little, Big and the Aegypt books, among others. The new one is not fantasy, however, but historical. Set in WWII, it tells the story of people of the homefront building a big bomber. It's called Four Freedoms.

Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for it. Maybe ILL it, even. :o)

Wait, clam, you've never read Little, Big?!! I thought you had.

I finished The Player of Games and What on Earth Happened? last night, and read Coraline this morning. I will now start in Watchmen, my first graphic novel...

Goodness. Watchmen is an ambitious first graphic novel!

#134 - I remember someone who didn't buy books on line because... you know ;-)

I will not finish any more books this August beyond what I've already listed here. But I have high hopes for September... :-)

#156 - For a totally different style I'd recommend Corto Maltese. Watchmen is not everyone's cup of tea (and to be frank Alan Moore do nothing for me).

#157 - Watchman was my first graphic novel as well, then I read some in The Sandman series. Oh, and Maus I. So far, so good. :)

#155 - Nope.

#160 - Maus I liked. I even got the CD companion, now useless on any OS I own/run ;-)

I'm at Chapter 4 now, and so far I am loving it. I have had Maus in my hands in the book store many times, and The Sandman series sounds very interesting too... I might have found a new genre to love :D

All else has just been put on hold for THE SWORD OF THE LADY by S.M. Stirling.

I was just about to attempt THE ILIAD translation by Robert Fagles, but knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate with the latest Change novel in my TBR pile.

#148 & 151 - I tried so hard to love Wonder Boys, but it just didn't happen. It killed me, too, because The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay went straight onto my Top 10 list. I've heard that a few of Chabon's books are hit-or-miss with some readers, though, so I'll persevere.

As I've mentioned in the past, I've always been sad and bothered that neither of my daughters turned out to be readers. Then my eldest dated a reader and so she became one because of his influence (bless him!!). The romance faded, but the love of reading has grown and grown :-).

Lately my youngest discovered the Twilight series and has become, well, I guess the only word for it is smitten. She was truly smitten and went through the whole series in no time at all. This from a girl who grumbled and complained over every single book she had to read in school. Since reading the Twilight books three times over, she's gone on to reading any other books in similar genres (I've been searching recommendations on LT for her like crazy!). And she tells me she can't stand watching TV now, she'd much rather read. "TV's boring." !!!!!

*Picture huge grin on katylit's face*

Consequently, I am now reading Twilight to see what on earth could have converted my daughter in such a miraculous way. Hurray for Stephenie Meyer!!

edited to add, I still think of "my girls" as girls, but they really are young women, the youngest is now 22, soon to be 23, so it is absolutely wonderful that she is now reading with such enthusiasm. I look at all my books that soon I'll be able to share with her, once she gets out of the vampire genre. *taps fingers impatiently*

A busy week. I finished The Winding Ways Quilt, and loved it. I've also read Treasure Mountain for the umpteenth time (looking for a comfort read at night - not sleeping), and I'm nearly finished with Escape by Carolyn Jessop.

I cannot read the Jessop book at night. It is well-written and engrossing, but it makes me so sick, and so angry I can't read it at or before bedtime. Carolyn was a polygamous wife in the Warren Jeffs branch of the FLDS. She escaped with her children before the latest big blowup. I think anybody who reads Carolyn's book will better understand the behavior of the women and children in that debacle.

ETA: I forgot. I also finished How To Read Literature Like a Professor and Don't Kiss Them Good-Bye. I forgot, because I mostly read them earlier - just finished them this week.

167 - Katylit. Try the Southern Vampire series, starting with Dead Until Dark and perhaps the Dresden Files, starting with Storm Front. They're not the best, literature-wise, but they're very engrossing.

#167/168 - I too was thinking about suggesting the Dresden Files. Reads too much like a Hollywood TV series to me but a lot of people with brains likes it.

#170 - So I suppose it's not the best gift for a zombie? ;)

Weeell, that depends, doesn't it? ;-)

Finished THE SWORD OF THE LADY, now back to the ILIAD.

Thanks Will and Busifer. I've already recommended the Dead Until Dark series to her, I like Harris's Harper Connelly series. But I hadn't thought about the Dresden Files, excellent! I'll pick up the first one for her :-)

Finished Watchmen last night. I loved it, but the ending kept me thinking. It wasn't quite the traditional ending... I am now reading The lovely bones, which came recommended to me because I liked The Time Traveller's Wife...

Katylit, if it's not the vampires in the genre that has your daughter so engrossed, you could always suggest she branch out into other paranormal/urban fantasy romance series like Wicked Lovely or Tithe or the like. (My knowledge on them is, sadly, limited.)

As for me, earlier today I finished Inferno by Dante and I've just finished The Devil's Arithmetic. A fast but very heavy read.

I've begun Death at the Medical Board by Josephine Bell. Wish I could remember who recommended this to me, I really like it. Also will start at work tonight (or probably tomorrow since tonight is the last day of the month and there is a lot to do), Spymistress: the Life of Vera Atkins, the Greatest Female Secret Agent of World War II by William Stevenson. How's that for a title?

Thanks to MrsLee and others I read The Graveyard Book over the weekend and loved it.
:o)

I also read Letter to a Christian Nation and I have started The Help.

Today I finished two books, The Mexican Tree Duck by James Crumley and Trigger City by Sean Chercover. Both worthwhile reads.

Finished All the King's Men. Started Shadowmarch by Tad Williams, The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, Rising Tide by John Barry, and The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. I can't figure out what I want to read in case you can't tell :).

Read Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment) and The Wicked Day. Currently working on The Road to Avalon and The King's Shadow. Starting on The Outlaws of Sherwood and The Princess and the Goblin.