What Are You Reading the Week of September 12, 2009?

Author birthdays this week:

Sept 12:
H. L. Mencken, (1880; d.1956)
Stanislaw Lem (1921; d.2006)
Kristin Eggleston Hunter (1931)
Michael Ondaatje (1942)

Sept 13:

Roald Dahl (1916; d.1990)
Sherwood Anderson (1876; d.1941)
Alain Locke (1886; d.1954)
J B Priestley (1894; d.1984)
John Malcolm Brinnin (1916; d.1999)
Else Holmelund Minarik (1920)
Adrienne Kennedy (1931)
Else Holmelund Minarik (1920)
Mildred D. Taylor (1943)
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916)
Tõnu Õnnepalu (1962)

Sept 14:
Hamlin Garland (1860; d.1940)
Edith Hurd aka 'Posey' (1910; d.1997)
Ivan Klíma (1931)
Kate Millett (1934)
Bernard MacLaverty (1942)
John Steptoe (1950; d.1989)

Sept 15:
François, 6th duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613; d.1680)
James Fenimore Cooper (1789; d.1851)
Robert Benchley (1889; d.1945)
Claude McKay (1890; d.1948)
Dame Agatha Christie (1890; d.1976)
Fawn Brodie (1915; d.1981)
Tomie DePaola (1934)
Robert McCloskey (1914—2003)
Gunnar Ekelöf (1907-1968)

Sept 16:
Francis Parkman (1823; d.1893)
Alfred Noyes (1880; d.1958)
Frans Sillanpaa (1888; d.1964)
John Knowles (1926; d.2001)
James Alan McPherson (1943)
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (1950)

Sept 17:
Abilio Manuel de Guerra Junqueiro (1850; d.1923)
John Creasey (1908; d.1973)
William Carlos Williams (1883; d.1963)
Ken Kesey (1935; d.2001)
Elizabeth Enright (1909-1968)

Sept 18:
Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709; d.1784)
Noel Perrin (1927; d.2004)

Trivia question: Which of these authors was a leading exponent of realism, which s/he called veritism?

Hamlin Garland!

Thanks for starting the new thread Terri. I'm reading the Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason and enjoying it - found it at last weekend's bookfair, and bought it because of recommendations from the Crime Mysteries & Thrillers group on here.

And I'm 3 chapters into The Greatest Show on Earth: the Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins, and I'm loving it. He writes really well and I'm not usually a big science reader.

Wow! Excellent, cmt! You got it.

I haven't had much time to read the last few days, so I'm still barely into Women of the Silk. I like what I've read so far.

I'm halfway through Infidel an autobiography by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.. it's absolutely fascinating.

Next up is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Goodness! I had no idea I shared a birthday with Hamlin Garland. I had no idea there *was* someone named Hamlin Garland to share a birthday with. But hey, beats Kate Millet all hollow.

um, I confess... the power of google and most of you asleep! never heard of him till tonight.

Still reading the fascinating Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs, which is turning out to be simultaneously funny, tragic, revolting, inspiring, quirky, and a whole lot of other conflicting things. Plus The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, which has kinda been pushed onto the back burner a bit by the brilliance of Burroughs...

Hamlin Garland . . . I haven't heard that name in many, many years. Seeing it takes me back to a long-ago small town schoolroom . . . late afternoon . . . we had been assigned to memorize a poem and now we were reciting them. We were down to the last students, the ones who had hoped the bell would ring before they had to recite, the ones who stumbled, forgot, mispronounced. Everyone else was asleep or writing notes or daydreaming -- I believe even the teacher had tuned out.

Then one of the boys stood up to recite. He was gawky, nervous, his face red. The poem he had chosen was Garland's "A Wish".

The boy was a farm kid, didn't give a fig about poetry, but something about that poem had captured his imagination -- maybe it was the image of horse and rider, something that would have been a part of his everyday world.

A pure, heartfelt quality in his recitation caught my attention. Something noble, almost. I looked around and realized no one else was paying attention -- I had a sudden urge to tell them all to listen -- that something special was happening -- but I wasn't the kind to do such a thing and besides, I know now that it would have embarrassed him, broken the spell.

I listened -- truly listened to him. A couple of the lines stayed with me . . .

" . . . a longing came to me
that I might keep the sunset road"

and, at the end,

"There would I be forever boy,
lit by the sky's unfailing grace."

I later copied the poem on a piece of notebook paper and put it in a box I kept of such things. I remember wishing I could keep that boy's voice, too, and something of the feeling he brought to the poem.

Anyway, I thank you for reminding me of "A Wish", that boy, and Hamlin Garland. I suppose that poem is the only thing I ever read of his. Oh, dear, now I'm going to have to add him to one of my lists, aren't I? Ah, well, thanks for that, too, I suppose.

(I found the poem at bartleby.com, by the way)

I'm currently reading The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke.

mollygrace - What a beautiful memory! I love it when something captures you and takes you right back like that - a poem, a certain scent on the breeze, childhood sweeties you haven't seen for years...

That was beautiful, mollygrace. Thanks for sharing that with us.

I finished Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and Coloured Lights, a collection of short stories by Leila Aboulela, yesterday. This weekend I'll start The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt, another Booker Prize shortlisted book, Journey to Portugal by José Saramago for the Reading Globally monthly theme read on Portugal, and My Men by Malika Mokeddem.

I am reading The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. It is my RL book club selection. I am listening to The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson, which is engaging from the start.

I'm about halfway through Elizabeth Kostova's new book, The Swan Thieves and really enjoying it.

The book I picked up to give me a break from Sex and the Eighteenth Century Man was Olive Kitteridge. I've only just begun but finding it engaging so far. Great memory, mollygrace. Without a stimulus, the only poems I remember from high school were by John Dunne. I think our teacher loved them and put extra oomph to reading and critiquing them.

I just started The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, and I'm working my way through some of the old Star Trek novelizations thanks to my new obsession with the series (they're like brain candy!). And since I didn't seem to get my fill of Russian writers with Anna Karenina from last month, I've started The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky. And some Chekhov, of course, because who can resist Chekhov?

I'm down to the last 100 pages of Titus Groan, have just started The Best Short Stories of Ruben Dario and am still listening to The Last Templar on audiobook.

>#8 - mollygrace -

Thank you. I was touched by your post about the classmate, the sense of place and time, the regard you held for your fellow student and the experience you had whilst listening to his recitation of "A Wish" by Hamlin Garland.

Also, thanks for the link to bartleby.com so that I may go to their site and read the poem in it's entirety.

Last night I re-engaged with Murder With Peacocks. It is like reading a script for a clever sitcom that I can't wait to return to later today. First, in a series of mystery books by Donna Andrews, featuring a blacksmith/iron artist, cum amateur detective, (Meg Langslow). Great characters and dialogue are found within this paperback copy.

Waiting in the wings, a second go at The Elegance of the Hedgehog which I am determined to complete this time out. I am drawn to anything French. No convincing me otherwise about that beautiful country and the people who live there. They both hold a special place in my heart. And, no, I haven't been. Thank goodness for good books and good writers.

Have good times and good health to all of us this weekend. (You know of whom I speak).

WH/Ruth

>#8 mollygrace

What a beautiful post to start the day with. That was lovely.

My disciplined reading of the summer has flown out the window. I was no longer able to resist the pile by my bed and put aside my book club book, my book for my 1000 novels, my book that I bought on our trip to Dawson City, and dove into The Private Patient. James is my favorite mystery author and one of my favorite authors just in general. I am headed out to a conference next week and will be visiting relatives. I want to give the book to the aunt who originally introduced my to James so many years ago so I am indulging myself.

Have you ever been hungry, but didn't like anything you saw in the fridge? That's the way this week has gone. I've picked up and read a page or two from a half dozen or more books, yet my fancy remains unstruck. Grumble, grumble.

I'm reading Het diner by Herman Koch. It's about a diner between two brothers and their wifes and the have to discuss something about their childeren.

This book is very popular in the Netherlands, and after reading 50 pages I can fully understand it. It's funny and exciting, so I will finish it soon, I guess.

#8 mollygrace - Thank you for sharing such a beautiful memory!

#13 DevourerOfBooks - Good to learn that Kostova has another book coming out... I will be keeping my eye out for The Swan Thieves when it becomes available.

Still reading and really enjoying Black Water Rising by Attica Locke....it is a fast paced story and a fast read so I may be finished tonight. After that, I plan to pick up Selcuk Altun's Songs My Mother Never Taught Me.

I finished Behind the Curtain which is the second installment in the Echo Falls mystery series by Peter Abrahams. Enjoyable and, like the first one, very much like a modern Nancy Drew. I am now reading My Lobotomy by Howard Dully a memoir by a man whose step-mom convinced a psychiatrist to give him a lobotomy when he was 12. The writing is just ok but the story is interesting. I have just gotten to the part where his stepmom takes him to this psychiatrist for the first time.

Stayed up late last night reading The Informers by Juan Gabriel Vasquez. Excellent novel of Colombia during the eighties, a very different read for me.

Had to still rise early cos' there was soccer from Blighty to watch with my son, followed by U.S. Open tennis. Then a quick change of uniform so's I can get into college football for the rest of my busy day.

Took a quick peek to see how my LTers were doing and then, was hit over the head by Mollygrace's posting, and I stopped to smell the flowers, and gave thanks for being able to share in such a beautiful and warm memory.

Thank you, Molly. Funny how sport doesn't seem so important when compared to a moment from the past, that can suddenly be brought into being by a word, a sign, a comment by another, or even a birthday. It's moments like these that make being a fellow Lter such a wonderful privilege...

Hmm, posted this on the other thread but then realized I started this book yesterday which means I have to post on this thread!

Anyway, I'm about halfway through The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. And I believe the following words sum up my feelings quite precisely, "Never have I read such tosh.... Of course, genius may blaze out on page 652 but I have my doubts." This is what Virginia Woolf wrote to Lytton Strachey in 1922, after reading the first six chapters of James Joyce's Ulysses. And this is exactly how I feel right now, while trying very hard not to just give it up and go to sleep

Yes, sorry Porua, I just went over to the old thread and made a link to this one. At least Ficus didn't beat me to it this time. ;o)

Thanks for that sweet interlude mollygrace! Really beautiful moment in your life and probably in his if he sensed at least someone was really listening. I wonder what he's doing now.

I'm still reading From Dream to Dream, a fantasy by Arlene Golds, which is taking me a very long time to get through. Part of this is because I haven't felt well but also the writing is very dense and descriptive. The book looks deceptively short but is really wordy, not really my usual type of fantasy/writing at all since I'm more of an action fan myself. It kind of reminds me of some of Robin McKinley's writing.

By sheer coincidence I am reading Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination, a chick lit story which takes place post 9-11, and many 9-11 references. Olivia can't decide if this guy she meets is part of al qaeda or if she's just being racist.

I'm reading it to fulfill the "book with a 'medical condition' in its title" portion of my What's In a Name Challenge.

Mollygrace I loved your comments made me wonder what happened to the boy.

Porua--My feelings exactly on the Time Travelers Wife I had to read it for a discussion and was forever flipping back and forth, how old are they now. They just couldn't be the same age apart always! I felt sorry for my discussion group as most of them were reading it on tape.

I am still reading Sticks and Scones by Diane Mott Davidson for my TBR challenge. Not one of her best.

I am also reading The Pact by Jodi Picoult. I would love to just drop the book above and read this, but I only have about 100 pages to go and I said I would read it.

I'm reading Loving Frank by Nancy Horan.

I am reading Forever Amber. I just started on Part III. I am on page 374, so about 40 pages into Part III. Has anyone read this thick tome? Right now, Amber has tired of acting and is courting Samuel Dangerfield who is straight-laced. It is amazing how she keeps having adventures just living her life. I hope she wins Dangerfield over so she can settle down and maybe find true happiness, but there is so much book left, 598 pages worth left.

Just now finished Brooklyn by Colm Toibin (really lovely) and am returning to The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov for a group read. Tonight I think I'll start The Glass Room by Simon Mawer, which has been shortlisted for the Booker prize.

#30: scarpettajunkie, I read Forever Amber about two years ago. Expect plenty more drama. An entertaining read overall, though I remember being a tad dissatisfied with the ending. It was almost like Winsor ran out of fantastic situations to put Amber in and just wrapped things up as succinctly as possible.

Message 32 kabrahamson: They do say all good things must come to an end. As long as the ending does not leave me hanging I'll keep plugging away. I have a lot invested at this point, to just chuck it. It would be something to invest all that time and effort only to be left hanging on key issues wouldn't it?

#29 - sisaruus, my RL book club had a raging (which is always fun!) debate over Loving Frank. A couple of folks strongly dislike it when an author imagines and expresses those imaginings of the inner world of a person who truly existed, with no way to know the truth of their thoughts. What do you think?

Started The Classical World by Robin Lane Fox. Don't know yet. He can tell a story but wanders off in the academic grove too. The book isn't to my 50 page limit for a decision yet and I might give Fox a few extra pages on the strength of his being the weekly"gardening correspondent" for the Financial Times since 1970.

#9-Teresa40,
How is The Ladies of Grace Adieu?

#31-Theaelizabet,

How is Brooklyn? I'm thinking of giving the book @ Christmas to someone that only reads fiction.

Porua - I haven't read The Time Traveler's Wife yet so I couldn't comment - but I definitely agree with Virginia Woolf on the Ulysses thing. I read about 100 pages or so for uni before I gave up. I had no idea what was happening, except that Molly Bloom cooked kidneys, and Stephen Dedalus was wandering on a beach with an eggplant. Not bad for several weeks' reading... It's the only book I've ever come across that I would happily burn rather than inflicting it on someone else. That said, the girl across the hall from me was on her second reading and said it was one of her favourite books! Hmmm... *end of violent outburst*

#35-Smiley, Brooklyn was 4 stars for me. Lovely, spare, quiet book that is deceptively simple.

Hemlokgang

Whether it be Frank Lloyd Wright or Billy The Kid, don't all writers put themselves inside the actual person? Methinks it would be hard to avoid a certain amount of guesswork, when trying to imagine what the particular person was feeling inside at any given moment.

Liberties have to be taken, else how could you possibly write of a famous figure. How many studies have there been of Shakespeare or Aristotle? Look at the myriad of war figures and political statespeople, or kings and queens. To me, the far more important aspect of such a book is to make the person believable.

Just my point of view...

Still working on Feminism and Suffrage.

Read a bit more of A Study in Scarlet today as it's my current "handbag book" being tiny like it is it fits nicely into my bag.
I think i finished Fade last night (i'm so tired right now i don't even know) i quite like the two books so far in this series although the writing style is somewhat odd at times (to me at least).
It's doubtful i'll read anything else tonight as after spending several hours outside in the cold, curling up in bed is the only sensible thing to do

I knew I should have looked for this sooner! I am almost finished with The Butlerian Jihad and will start Have a Little Faith after that.

I just finished A Concise History of Germany by Mary Fulbrook and started A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway.

37 "Lovely, spare, quiet book that is deceptively simple."
For me, there can be no higher praise than that -- sounds heavenly. I'll have to move Brooklyn up a few notches in the TBR stack.

Thanks to all of you who commented on my memory of the farm boy reciting the poem -- you're all very dear. It is amazing how something as simple as seeing someone's name can transport you back to such a specific moment. Someone asked what happened to the boy. Our class graduated from high school back in the 60s. I went off to college and never really returned to that community except for family gatherings. Through class newsletters, I've learned that Richard worked to help run the family farm, taking it over when his dad died. He married a girl he met in church and they had several children. He was elected to a couple of terms on the local school board, served as a deacon in his church, and is still a farmer. A few years ago a young friend of mine -- a single mom in her late thirties --fell in love with a man she met on a vacation. They eventually married. He had the same last name as Richard -- an unusual name, so I asked if he knew him. His dad. No, I didn't tell the son the story about the poem because I didn't recall it then -- not until today when I saw the name Hamlin Garland.

Now, to get back to what I was going to do this morning when I took that detour down memory lane: I'm still reading Chasing the Devil's Tail and enjoying it, but reading slowly for some reason. Too much to do -- don't you hate it when life's little necessities like housework and dental appointments take you away the reason you exist at all -- reading? I finished one of my night table books -- Dava Sobel's The Planets and started on Claudia Roth Pierpont's Passionate Minds: Women Rewriting the World. The first essay is about Olive Schreiner . . . I need to add her book, The Story of an African Farm to my wish list. So many books . . .

I just finished the last book of Sandra Gulland's Josephine Bonaparte trilogy, The Last Great Dance on Earth. OK, but made me want more meatier historical fiction about Napoleonic times - all I can find when I search is that huge Patrick O'Brien series that I don't think I want to tackle. Any suggestions?

Now I am taking a mystery break for awhile - starting with The Silver Swan, the second in the Benjamin Black (aka John Banville) series about an Irish forensic pathologist in the 1950's. So far alot of well-written atmosphere, not a lot of action - much like the first book, Christine Falls

White Teeth.

Finished E.L. Doctorow's Homer and Langley this afternoon, a wonderful fantasy on the life of the infamous Collyer brothers.

Moving on to The Anthologist by Nicholson Baker.

I finished The Butlerian Jihad and I have put the next two books in this trilogy into my To Read collection.

Now I have that ER to read by Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith.

>43 mollygrace:: Let's hope Richard still enjoys poetry as he is doing all the chores a farm requires. Thank you for that update on a story that touched many hearts today.

I am just getting into Three Cups of Tea for a face-to-face book group. I may be the only one on LT who hasn't read this one!

Not the only one Donna828.

Just finished this morning The Thief who Couldn't Sleep - the first of the Lawrence Block Tanner series. Have read pretty much everything of Block over the years except Tanner, which are a bit hard to get hold of, but have managed to get my hands on the first 3.

Left me wondering in the end... not a bad thing, when there are more books to come.

I'm not quite half way through Blood of Elves and enjoying it a lot. I like Sapkowski's writing style.

Hamlin Garland is one of my favorite authors. I am always on the lookout for his books. Almost finished with Gods and Generals by Jeff Sahaara. Learning a lot about the Civil War which I never learned in school.

James Grippando, Intent to Kill is my current and overdue library book. So far, it has passed my 100 page rule and I am enjoying the plot.

#30 & 32: I read Forever Amber back in the 60s when I was in high school and was thrilled by how racy it was. I seem to remember that it was a paperback and I had to cover it with my high school's paper bookcover because of Amber's 'heaving bosom.' I was afraid one of my teachers or my sainted Irish mother would take it away from me. I don't remember where I got it or how I got the nerve to acquire it. I reread it a couple of years ago and appreciated the historical detail much more than I did way back then.

#25 teelgee, I was out today having lunch with a local LTer, and then book shopping, so I missed the whole thing. But thanks for the link, I followed it here. :)

I finished Lost on Planet China by J. Maarten Troost, and enjoyed it. I am now starting The House at Riverton by Kate Morton. It is also for a RL book group. I am enjoying it so far.

I finally finished Forbidden Bread by Erica Johnson Debeljak on Friday. This was an ER book I got in April. I hadn't been able to stick with it for long periods. But now it's done and I'm relieved. It got 3.5 stars (good).

I plan on started The Pearl by Steinbeck or Methland by Nick Reding. Methland was my May ER book. For some reason, I felt compelled to finished Forbidden Bread before starting it.

Finished East of Eden. A GREAT novel.
I'm planning to read a biography about the Norwegian author Jens Bjørneboe. Volume one was just published. Volume two (the last) will be published next year.
And I'm reading Rudolf Steiner (anthroposophy): Frihetens filosofi (The Philosophy of Freedom. Interesting.

I have a copy of East of Eden and hope to get to it soon. I've come to really like Steinbeck since I joined LT and my "patron" got me to read things out of my comfort zone. Still balk at Faulkner but I have read two of his and Sound and the Fury starts making sense when you let you subconscious work on it.

Just finished Running with Scissors - wow, that book is a mixed bag of bizarre emotions and situations - and am skipping merrily on to The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier. Plus I still have Mme Ramotswe ticking alongside in the The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency - maybe I'll devote an hour to her tonight to stop her feeling neglected!

I am on the home stretch with The Hummingbird's Daughter and it's been quite impressive. Also finishing up The Big Con, a political book that's been truly enlightening.

I'm not sure if you've read anything else by Augusten Burroughs but all of his work is pretty much brilliant! I would HIGHLY recommend Dry which is the follow up to RWS.

Thanks Hunterin - I hadn't read anything else of his but I'll look out for Dry having enjoyed Running with Scissors so much!

#38 - morfam, I am pleased to say that yours is exactly the position I took in the debate!

I finished The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet, and it was a very good read. I look forward to the discussion at my book club meeting. I am starting The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster. I continue with The Girl Who Played With Fire by tieg Larsson.

Still reading A Mad World, My Masters by John Simpson and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Both are living up to expectations but just getting frustrated that I can't read for longer. Customers keep interrupting my shop read by wanting to buy books (can you believe it?!) and my husband wants to sleep when I want the light on to read. Might have to resort to a friend's solution - her husband bought her one of those torch-type lights that straps to your head so that she could read without disturbing him. Who says romance is dead!

You think you got it bad! One family this morning was causing absolute chaos! The dad was asking questions every two minutes, the little boy was quietly pilfering all the sweets from the counter, the girl was playing with the BREAKABLE camper van bookends, the toy camel from the children's section 'wandered off' to the crime thriller section (which was totally age-inappropriate)... and there were so many people thronging the shop that there was no way of setting everything straight again!

#63 Are you reading Wuthering Heights for the first time? If you are, then I envy you. I read it for the first time when I was 16 and I absolutely loved it. Recently I recommended it to one of my younger family members (before Stephenie Meyer did!) and she absolutely loved it too. Incidentally, she had never read anything beside the Harry Potter books and some Agatha Christie and isn't much of a book person. But I think I'm getting her more interested in books by suggesting a book or two that might suit her taste and not burden her that much.

I am actually *gasp* reading a book (run, get the smelling salts!)....actually i picked this up after quite a hiatus...The Night Battles by M F Bloxam (herself an LT Author),,,so far so good...slow...veddy atmospheric..love the prickly protagonist....hope my interest does not wane.......

Jude- You go girl!! Keep it up, this could lead to something...more reading perhaps?

Will finally start with Eclipse.

Porua - good for you, recommending the golden oldies! Mum (the goosegirl of #63!) gave me Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights when I was little and they remain favourites of mine now. Each time I read them I get more out of the experience and uncover more meaning and personal relevance than I did the time before.

Incidentally, I read that lots of bookshops, particularly in America, are stocking Stephenie Meyer and Wuthering Heights side by side due to the massive increase in interest thanks to Bella reading it in the books. Literally thousands of girls are picking it up thanks to Twilight. It's been good Bronte weather in the shop - first a girl came in and bought a slightly more expensive little old slipcased edition because of the Meyer link, then ITV showed a new adaptation and now everyone wants it again!

Well, I finished The Private Patient last night and picked up Klondike. Imagine my surprise when I had read not more that two pages and discovered that Hamlin Garland, who had been the subject of the beginning of this thread was a part of the Klondike gold rush. He was one of the folks who attempted an all-Canada route to reach the gold fields. I love it when serendipity happens.

Pride and Prejudice and zombies

Planning to start with The girl who played with fire. I'm afraid I won't sleep enough the coming week...

I'm finally reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It's hard to put down.

>#8 & 43:
mollygrace;
What a beautiful remembrance. I love it when something in our present brings back something so very, very special from our past. I doesn't happen nearly often enough. I am glad you have that wonderful memory in your heart.

>#19:
fredbacon;
"Have you ever been hungry, but didn't like anything you saw in the fridge? That's the way this week has gone. I've picked up and read a page or two from a half dozen or more books, yet my fancy remains unstruck."
I have had just that very feeling way more than once. When I get it I generally go for a reread of something very familiar, easy and soothing. It's kind of like a bad toothache, huh?.?
Sure hope it passes quickly for you.

>#'s 24 & 28:
porua & dara 85;
I am so sorry you didn't enjoy The Time Traveler's Wife. I must admit that I loved it and hated for it to end. Have been looking for something similar ever since. Well, at least there is always another read right around the corner. Hope the next one is better for you.

>#30:
scarpettajunkie;
I read Forever Amber eons ago and absolutely loved it as well. I loved the conversation, the entire look, (in my mind), of the book. I hope you are enjoying it.

Having just finished The Eyre Affair I am currently reading Out of Love by Victoria Clayton and laughing my way through this comfy, cozy read. Parts of it are hysterically funny. Just what I needed at the moment.
Happy reading all,
belva

I'm halfway through Jane Austen and the Unpleasantness at Scargrove Manor and I'm starting The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

I'm reading 2 short story collections: Born with a Tooth by Joseph Boyden and The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor. Boydon, one of my favourite authors, doesn't disappoint with this earlier work and Flannery is...well...Flannery.

mollygrace - let me too add my thanks for sharing that story. My father went to a one-room schoolhouse in a rural farm community, and I always loved hearing stories like that.

#58 elliepotten - I'll be interested to learn what you think of The Virgin Blue. I read it earlier this summer and really enjoyed it, despite being disappointed by nearly every one of Chevelier's books since Girl with a Pearl Earring. TVB is one of those books that will definitely stay with me.

I'm halfway through High Tide in Tucson. I love Kingsolver's writing, but I have decided that I enjoy her fiction more than her nonfiction/essays. It's been interesting though, since these were written in the mid-nineties. It's giving me better perspective on her other books. Looking forward to her new release this fall!

About half way through the Albright book, The Mighty and The Almighty, I heard Victorian England in the form of Anne Perry's Half Moon Street call out to me. As always with Perry- a focused insight into the dark corners of Victorian society. Whenever I read one of her books, I realize how well done the TV series Upstairs, Downstairs really was. Finished the book straight away and now looking into Hamlin Garland plus, heaven help me, once again Forever Amber. I think, after all these years, I will be comparing its raciness to smoking in the bathroom at 17 and blowing the smoke out the window....

I'm about to start In the Wake of the Plague by Norman Cantor. It looks interesting and I'm eager to start it...but...I get the Browns/Vikings football game on my local channels, and how can I miss Favre's debut? I keep telling myself the book will still be there after the game is finished...but I can't possibly concentrate on reading while the game is on. Oh, how I love/hate football season!

#77 jhedlund - Honestly, I'm hoping it improves! I'm only a few pages in but so far it's pretty disjointed and a bit clunky, so I'm hoping that it draws me in somehow and proves me wrong...

Just finished reading Specials it improved towards the end when Tally became less self-centered and shallow but I don't think i'll be reading the fourth book Extras
Not sure what I'll pick up next - I still haven't finished my Nick Hornby book or The Company of Liars so maybe one of them...

edit: touchstones are failing on all counts *grr*

I'm re-reading Crime and Punishment, but the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation this time around. It's one of my favorite books, and I think this translation is great so far.

#80 elliepotten - several years ago, I started it and put it down somewhere in the first chapter for the same reason. The only reason I picked it up again was for a RL book group. After I made it past the first few chapters, I was into it, and I was glad I read it. Hopefully you'll have the same experience. If not, life's too short - pick up something else. :-)

I'm almost finishing Robin McKinley's Sunshine, and already missing it.

I finished Handling Sin this week and have started The Thirteenth Tale. So far I like it a lot.

Finished Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom last night. A simplistic, easy to read book. It was sent for Early Review (which has been posted) and this is the first time the book arrived before I was notified. Nice surprise. But the timing was perfect. It was waiting for me the night I got home from my husband being admitted to the hospital for the 4th time this summer. No such thing as coincidence....I need to have a little faith!

87 - sometimes things like Have a Little Faith arrive just when we need them most - other coincidences like that happen too - the Lord works in mysterious ways

I crocheted a rosary for a dear friend because I had just heard her husband had had a heart attack and I though she could use the rosary. He's fine, but it turned out that a friend of hers had just been admitted to the hospital and needed prayers when my rosary arrived. To make it even more mysterious, the my friend's friend was from Scranton - my neck of the woods. My friend lives outside of Rochester, NY, where I am from originally.

I am also reading this book as I write this and will be reviewing it as an ER - probably tomorrow.

Happily, the weekend without distractions and the internet allowed me to finish The Shadow of the Wind - one of the most mesmerizing books I've read in a long while, sa well as Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, a book that tore at my heartstrings and finally Snobbery with Violence by Marion Chesney, a delightfully lighthearted murder mystery.

I'm starting Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem today and I hope to finish it tomorrow so that I can pick up a fresh new book for Tuesday when I have to go on a long transatlantic flight.

>cameling- So glad you enjoyed The Shadow of the Wind! It's one of my favorite reads of the year. Funny, I was visiting a used book store the other day and picked up Motherless Brooklyn but decided to go with Fortress of Solitude instead. Please let me know what you think!

Finished The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo / Men Who Hate Women and loved it. Can't wait to start the next book, all three are already published in Portugal, on the other hand they are 20 euros each and they aren´t even hardcovers... oh well

So I decided to start first with Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant, I'm really looking forward to it. The Birth of Venus was awesome, but In the Company of the Courtesan did tell a great story with great renaissance themes, however the main character didn't make me want to know her more or empathise with her struggles.

richard--Happy Birthday a day early!! Wanted to wish you now in case I don't get online tomorrow. Enjoy your day!!

Today I finished my ER Have a Little Faith, an inspirational book in more ways than one. Check my review on the book's page.

I will now turn to something different Two Little Girls in Blue and I will also be tackling The Bible According to Mark Twain.

I finally read - and finished - Scottsboro, my May ER book. A very engrossing read about a terrible time in the US (1930s). I think Killing Critics, Carol O'Connell's third Kathleen Mallory mystery, will be up next.

Abandoned The Classical World by Robin Lane Fox. He needed a better editor.

Started Geraldine Brooks' People of the Book.

cameling and msf59 - I was so happy to find a copy of Shadow of the Wind at the library book sale on Friday. I keep hearing such good things about it!

I am continuing to enjoy Sarah Waters' The Night Watch and also started This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper.

And since I can't read while driving, I'm listening to Olive Kitteridge. I read it about a year ago and I love revisiting it. What a great book!

>92 momom248: momom, thanks! I can just about sit upright after Saturday's party.

I finished The House at Riverton by Kate Morton. It is historical fiction set in Edwardian England. It looks at life in a big house of both the owners and their servants. There are family interconnections and mysteries. I read a few pages last night and then had to sleep. I read the rest of it today. Couldn't put it down. Really loved it. It is for a RL book group.

I am now starting my last RL book group read for the month, The Demon of Dakar by Kjell Eriksson, a Swedish mystery.

#95 Oh no, Smiley, don't say that about the Classical world ! I have it waiting for me here. And his bio of Alexander the Great too.... Ancient history books are my biggest weakness on the spectrum of unnecessary book-buying!

I just started a light read: The Romanov Prophesy by Steve Berry. It is in the style of The Da Vinci Code, but even more outrageous, and therefore more enjoyable. At least I don't think Steve Berry believes what he writes.... (The last one I read by him was about a coalition of middle Asian countries threatening the world with a virus that could only be cured by an elixir found in the grave of Alexander the Great)....

I finished Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies. If you're interested in an overview of those outfits that're out to get us, you could do worse than this neat little reference.

Then I pawed about the book piles next to and on my bed and came up, finally, with Reading the OED. It is not as well written as I would like, but the writing is generally competent; the lists of words are what is engaging about the book. None of the words, however, has stuck overnight.

Robert

Finished, The Time Traveler's Wife last night. The less said about that experience the better. If you want to you can read my review here,

http://www.librarything.com/work/3067

or if you want to read my full rant you can go to my 50 books challenge page,

http://www.librarything.com/topic/72408

After the second book in my quest to read books written in this millennium I began to have doubts about whether I really want to continue with my aforementioned quest. But I've decided to give it one more try. This time I'll read something from my own wishlist It has been in it for sometime. I'll read The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. Let's hope that this one turns out to be better than the last one. I'm hopeful though as Dracula is one of my all time favorite books.

Still reading Dogs of God. It's only 300 odd pages but this is all new history to me so I'm reading slow.

> 24 : Porua, I'm happy to come accross someone who has the same feeling regarding The Time Traveler's Wife. Thank God I got this book from the library, and didn't spend good money for it - I rolled my eyes so much while reading it, I got an headache.
And that's from someone who is fairly familiar with time travel issues, having read more than my fair share of sci-fi when I was a (geeky) teenager.

Anyway, I'm reading the last pages of Out of Africa by Karen Blixen. Although it's rather slow-going, I liked it a lot : the fact that it's not a novel, but rather a sum of snippets makes it pleasantly readable. I checked out the film at the library, too, to watch afterwards (mmmh, Robert Redford ...)

Otherwise I have a short story collection by Alice Munro and a thriller by Joe Landsale ready at hand, and a long trip this week-end to read them ! Railroad travel is a blessing.

# 104 Out of Africa, was the first movie I ever saw in a movie theater. It was during the late 80’s, I was about two-three years old and the movie was re-running at the theatre. What's more the movie theater in question was in the Philippines! My dad was there for two years as a young student doing some research work. He took me and mom along with him. I don't remember much but all I remember are some horses (which seemed huge to me!) and eating some fries from a blue packet! I watched the movie again some years ago and liked it. Hope you like it too.

Finally got back here...

Just finished "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence" for our schools bookclub. Thought provoking but way too heavy (man) for most of us. In fact none of us finished it, don't too sure why.

This month our bookclub book in called "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. Kind of reminds me of an Ayn Rand book (Atlas Shrugged??).

Avaland, a fellow LTer, has begun an online review of world-wide womens' writing called "Belletrista." It's got interviews of women from all over the world and reviews of books you might never hear of in any other review venue, to your lasting cost. It's written by many contributors whose names might be familiar from LT, and is worth a few hours of your time! (Which is what you'll end up spending, watch out.)

http://www.belletrista.com/

I was captivated in particular by a review by Tui Menzies, a wonderful review of Yoko Ogawa's book The Housekeeper and the Professor. It's a lovely sounding book and is now on my wishlist ("thanks," Tui). a brief quote from the interview: "When the thunder roils, the rains lash down and a Shinto temple is blasted by lightning, Yoko Ogawa shows us that certain loves are dangerous wild forces capable of great destruction. She handles this with great delicacy, avoiding with skill what might otherwise have been a cliché."

And that's just *one* of the good reviews. This is a promising new site, folks. Visit soon!

Flew through Barefoot Gen, Volume Two: The Day After by Keiji Nakazawa. This is part of the 10-volume Graphic Novel/Manga fictionalized account of Nakazawa's experiences in Hiroshima just before and after the atomic bomb was dropped. I can't recommend this highly enough, it's by far the most powerful thing I've read this year.

Currently reading Your Inner Fish : A Journey into the 3.5-billion-year History of the Human Body by Neil Shubin. I just started it last night, it's entertaining so far.

#107 - Echoing Richard's recommendation to visit www.belletrista.com - Wow!

#99-cmt,

If it helps any I'm feeling guilty about it. Fox can tell a good story and he has knowledge to impart, but he can also digress into something that can only be of academic interest, surely. Also, I don't appreciate authors that put qualifiers on their opinions, another academic failing.

I haven't sold or given The Classical World away so I might try it again.

I hate working on second shift... I don't get as much time to read as I would like, but...

This week I will FINALLY finish Emperors of Chocolate and will ideally finish up Far Appalachia as well.

#107 and 109 are right. Really terrific site!

>107 richardderus:: great for mentioning Belletrista! It is fabulous.

I have finally gotten through the first 100 pages of Anna Karenina, which makes it sound like I'm slogging through it. But I am enjoying it and find it an easy read. I just can't find the time!

I had plans to run a short little 5K and then spend the rest of Saturday lazing on the couch with AK, but then got this wild hair to ride the bike 31 miles instead which took 2.5 hours, then required a nap, plus all the prep and clean-up and next thing you know it's time for dinner with friends.

Ah, for the days when I didn't have a life and could just read for long stretches of time :-)

Really interesting to hear the different POV's on The Time Traveler's Wife; like nannybebette (>74 rainpebble:) I loved it. For me it was moving and thought-provoking, and it made me think about my good fortune in my long marriage. (My wife also loved the book!)

Just finished Bachelor Brother's Bed and Breakfast by Bill Richardson, a good, light, restful read which felt like a relaxing visit to their bibliophilic B & B.

Just started The City and The City by China Mieville, a novel centered around overlapping alternate universes - quite different!

Reading the OED was pleasant enough. Ammon Shea has some insights that I haven't seen elsewhere, and the word lists are entertaining. When I finished it last night I wanted something a little more substantial, but not too difficult. I got a start on Why Does E=mc^2. I like their attitude and expect it to pay off.

Robert

*sigh* same as last week....

Guns, Germs and Steel ...which is starting to pick up, at least in the 20 or so pages I read towards the end of my commute this morning.

The Magicians which I have not cracked since Friday

and Bartleby the Scrivener which I read about 10 pages of when I was hiking this weekend...

I expect to finish them all probably by end of next week unless anything pops up to prevent that from happening.

I'm still reading And Only To Deceive by Tasha Alexander, a light but thoroughly enjoyable historical mystery. I've also started Hand of Isis by Jo
Graham so far it's about Cleopatra and her half-sisters in Egypt about 57 BC, another very good read.

I am reading Peony in Love by Lisa See

Finished Hattie Big Sky this weekend. Was listening to it in the car, and then started Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. I enjoyed listening to American Gods so hope this one is just as good.

>90 msf59:: msf59 : Will do. so far Motherless Brooklyn is pretty interesting. I will post a review when I'm done .. hoping to finish it by tonight.

I'm reading Shattered Mirror. Its a pretty good book. The author is: Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. If you havent read yet i think you should check it out. Also, it is another vamipre story. Ha, I love those.

laytonwoman3rd mentioned belletrista on facebook. After a quick glance, I bookmarked it. Will have to go back and take a longer look.

114 - I found Anna Karenina to be an easy read, but one taken in short bursts, so don't think you're sloughing.

Finished Gods and Generals yesterday. Started The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas A quick read with a lot of twists. Finished it this afternoon. Started The Boy in Striped Pajamas by John Boyne.

I have just finished reading at this very moment the book I love you Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle.

Three hours from now I am going to watch the movie version in a movie theater.

>Cindy- You are reading some good books! Are you onto The Last Full Measure? Nice job on the Vargas books. I need to get back to her.
I finished The Hummingbird's Daughter. What an excellent story by an amazing writer. I also wrapped up The Big Con by Jonathan Chait. A real eye-opener, superbly researched! A disturbing look at the Conservative Party. Wow, Obama is sure up against a formidable foe!

Finished Black Water Rising and Songs My Mother Never Taught Me over the weekend... Black Water Rising maintained the quick paced, fast read it started out as and provided an interesting snapshot of early 1980's. Songs My Mother Never Taught Me was... well, in a word... 'meh'.

I am now reading, and rather surprisingly, really enjoying Far Bright Star by Robert Olmstead. The story is set in 1916 in the southern US/ Mexico where the lead character, an aging cavalryman, is leading an expedition of inexperienced horse soldiers in the search for Pancho Villa. This is my first Olmstead novel so I am hoping the story will continue to captivate me.

#107 The Housekeeper and the Professor is my favorite of all the books I've read this year. Thank you for alerting me to Tui Menzies' review.

On Monday I finished up Honore de Balzac's Sarrasine and then almost too, too giddily started The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession by Allison Hoover Bartlett.

#35 I've nearly finished The Ladies of Grace Adieu and although it has been quite enjoyable it is nowhere near as good as Strange & Norrell.

>lkernagh- I immediately wishlisted Far Bright Star. I really enjoyed his Coal Black Horse a couple years ago.

I finished You Just Don't Understand last night, and now I'm taking a breather by reading What Would Dewey Do? before undertaking The Third Policeman which I will probably start later today.

Finished both Barrel Fever by David Sedaris and Freddy Goes Camping by Walter Brooks (reading to my daughter) yesterday. "Barrel" was not my favorite Sedaris, but still some laugh-out-loud moments. And you can't go wrong with a Freddy the Pig book. If you haven't read that series, I urge you to go to the library and check some out. I promise you won't be disappointed, no matter your age. My father read them and gave them to me. I read them all as a child. For a while it was difficult to find them and then Overlook Press started reissuing them, much to the delight of my children!

I'm about halfway through The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. The title was very off-putting to me - TCFW - too cute for words - but the story is wonderful and I am really enjoying the subtleties, historical detail, and epistolary style.

I've just started reading and am only a few pages into Margaret Atwood's Bodily Harm.

I've just started reading The Island of Dr. Moreau and The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde on Dailylit.com. This in addition to the books I'm already reading-
Jane Austen and the Unpleasantness at Scargrove Manor and The House of the Seven Gables.

Work has been kicking my butt lately so I'm still working slowly through The Thirteenth Tale. Slow actually feels like a good way to read this particular book; I'm emulating Margaret by getting it in sections ;-)

I really enjoyed The Thirteenth Tale and agree that it is a book to be savored. Enjoy, Jim!

I'm working right now on James Dashner's newest book, The Maze Runner.

#133-bell7,

I would be interested in your considered opinion of The Third Policeman.

The Thirteenth Tale is definitely one to be savored. I just finished a reread for a RL book club and read it much more slowly the second time around. I was amazed at the details and how much more meaning they took on. If you've only read it once, try one more time!

I also want to read "Infidel." I've heard her life is not safe. Sad.

I'm reading "Dragon House" by John Shors. It's just wonderful. I can't say enough about it. Takes place in Ho Chi Minh City.

I have been reading slowly too. I feel like everybody else just zips past me. I've been beating myself up about it.
I don't care. As long as I'm really enjoying what I'm reading.

I love the Jane Austen mystery series. I haven't read the whole series. I might have to start with book 1 again. Those books are really fun.

I still haven't read The Thirteenth Tale. Although, it's on my shelf. I know it's a really good book. At least, that's what I've heard.

Reading Perdido Street Station by China Mieville which was a Kindle freebie and at 5% read is mind blowing. I echo the recommendations to visit avaland's www.belletrista.com.

>145 Tea58: I get that feeling sometimes, too, Tea58. But I think it's largely because there are so many people posting about what they've just finished. We don't track individual reading rates--we just see all these other people finishing books while we're still working our way through something. Just have fun with what you're reading.

I have been hearing a lot about China Mieville lately and need to acquire some of his books!

Mark, Will probably start Last Full Measure for my October Civil War book.
Will now start something lite Bachelor Brothers Bed & Breakfast. Finished The Boy in Striped Pajamas. A good book that may haunt me for awhile. That is the reason for a lite read.

After finishing The Eyre Affair, I think Jasper Fforde is going to be my new go-to for light, fun reading. Not much time for it now -- classwork has left Beowulf, All My Sons, and The Rise of Silas Lapham on my plate -- but I'm slowly getting through Madame Bovary when my schedule allows. I'm fast becoming a Flaubert fan.

>kabrahamson- I just started The Eyre Affair and it's been a lot of fun. I was just introduced to a weasly character named Jack Schitt. You gotta love it!

Done with Two Little Girls in Blue and and 1/3 of the way through The Bible According to Mark Twain and will also now read A Singular Destiny and, I think, I shall also try and tackle Frankenstein.

I just finished the wonderful The Night Watch by Sarah Waters and am ready to settle in and enjoy the second in Louise Penny's Three Pines series A Fatal Grace.

I just finished The Princess Diaries-Volume I and am half way through Twilight. I'm also starting my ER book Gertruda's Oath.

I just finished Feminism and Suffrage on the way home today. Not sure what I'm starting next.

I finished Chasing the Devil's Tail and I'm almost done with What the Birds See. Next up: When the Whistle Blows by Fran Cannon Slayton.

#24 and #104: I had a strange experience with The Time Traveler's Wife which I read a few years back. I listenened to the audiobook, read by two actors. I really think that the two distinct voices of the husband and wife made the book a little more interesting. Having said that, I was pleased to have listened to rather than read it and I know I won't be looking for Niffenegger's next book.

finished The Rapture by Liz Jensen liked it gave it 4 stars...what a ride you take with it

started and almost half way through The Savage Garden by Mark Mills...really liking this book... don't know why I kept pushing it further down on my TBR pile, but Iam glad I chose it this time

I'm now finally getting around to reading Antony and Cleopatra by Colleen McCullough which I've put off for a year because there is no Caesar in it! (sob!)

msf59 - I finished Far Bright Star this evening, and I have to say the story continued to captivate me with Olmstead's descriptive character development and the vivid portrayal of the intensity of battle and survival. The only downside was I started to detect a number of grammatical errors in the copy I was reading.... a minor annoyance. In all, a riveting read.

Next up is Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks based on all great things I have heard about this one on LT.

I just finished My Lobotomy by Howard Dully a memoir by a man who was given a lobotomy at the age of 12. Very interesting and heartbreaking. I just started Cold Comfort Farm which seems enjoyable so far.

>162 lkernagh:: lkernagh- Thanks for the opinion on Far Bright Star. It sounds very good. Glad to see you are reading Geraldine Brooks. If you are interested, we are doing a Group Read of People of the Book on November 1st.

> 159 : one of the things that I didn't like in The Time Traveler's Wife was, precisely, the lack of definition between characters. They all sounded cardboard-ish and cliché to me, and I frequently couldn't say whether is was Henry or Clare speaking, as they equally lacked personality, in my opinion. So maybe yes, listening to them would have helped.
But, anyway, it wouldn't have done anything for all the other "problems" I had with the story (but I found the style not so bad, actually).

Last night I made a start on The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, I ended up reading into the early hours, I'm totally hooked.

msf59

So its alredy decided wich book is it? Can you tell me where the thread is? I'm afraid I'll miss it.

So far loving Sacred Hearts.

I'm reading Andrew Davidson's The Gargoyle and find it completely engrossing so far. Definitely the sort of book I was in the mood for.

Hello, I'm new to the board and new to the group. I've just finished reading Blue Bells of Scotland a brand new book about two men who switch times and lives. Shawn Kleiner, a self-centered modern American musician ends up in 1314 Scotland with the fate of the Scots resting on his shoulders. Niall Campbell, his fourteenth century look alike, gets trapped in Shawn's life, dealing with an angry girlfriend, amorous fans, and gambling enemies, while trying to get back to his vital mission to save Scotland.

I enjoyed it very much, love the characters and writing style, and the plot kept me guessing up to the end.

#169 harpwriter - hi and welcome. I just checked out Blue Bells of Scotland and it sounds interesting. I like time travel. I've put it on my wishlist.

# 135 - I loved the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I agree, the title didn't impress me much but a friend put her copy in my hand and said read it, so I did. Then I bought a copy and put it in my mother's hands and said read it - she loved it too!

I never could get the name of the book right until after I read it. Now that I understand the importance of the name and how it came about I get it right.

#169 - Blue Bells of Scotland sounds interesting. I'll have to look for that one.

I'm about 1/2 way through Part 2 of Anna Karenina - I am looking forward to a weekend all alone to do whatever I want, so of course I'll be reading.

I am currently reading Susan Wiggs's The Winter Lodge; her 2nd of the Lakeshore Chronicles series, just beginning War and Peace by Tolstoy for the group read that began in January on the 75 gig, (we shall see if I can catch up and finish with them at year end), and also beginning The Player of the Games for an "I'll Read Yours if You Read Mine" Challenge from inkspot. I am looking forward to finishing the first and getting on with the "work at hand".
belva

I just finished Justina Chen Headley's North Of Beautiful two nights ago -- AMAZING! Easily one of the best books I've read all year. Please don't let the fact that it's classified as "young adult" ever throw you . . . so many YA books are incredible for readers of all ages, and this is definitely no exception. Seriously -- read it!

I've moved on to Cassandra And Jane by Jill Pitkeathley, but after reading North Of Beautiful, it's totally letting me down!

Hello and welcome harpwriter!

I finished and reviewed The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier today (day off - yay!), and would like to say THANK YOU to jhedlund for the encouragement to press on through my irritation at the start of the book! It didn't blow my mind exactly, but it was quite haunting nonetheless.

Now I'm moving onto 'D' in my alphabet reading, and have settled on The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Ooooh! Do love Hounds of the Baskervilles. Enjoy! I'm trying to get back to The Master and Margarita, but am swept up in The Glass Room, which I should finish today.

#174 I've read every Sherlock Holmes story and novel there is and I must say The Hound of the Baskervilles is my favorite Sherlock Holmes novel. The other novels are just about o.k.

Oh excellent - it came down to a toss-up between The Hound of the Baskervilles and 'Waterlog' by Roger Deakin, so I'm glad I seem to have made a good choice! It's been on my shelves longest and the opening few pages made me chuckle, so it won out in the end...

Went to Minneapolis over the weekend for a "guys weekend" (four friends who meet every year in a different city to see baseball; we are trying to go to every stadium, one or two per year). Between the two plane trips and some down time during the weekend, I read all of The Black Flower by Howard Bahr. It's a novel of the American Civil War as seen through the eyes of foot soldiers and a few civilians just before and after a large, disasterous (for the Confederate Army of Tennessee) battle outside Nashville during the final year of the war. It is very, very good. The only quibble I have is that some of the characters are just a touch too eloquent to be believed, and some of the imagery is a little obvious. Nevertheless, the high quality of the writing, storytelling and dialogue do add up to a fine and powerful reading experience.

# 166 - my book The Lost symbol got shipped today and I am afraid that's what will happen to me as well once it arrives

Welcome harpwriter. As most of us here, your wishlist/TBR pile of books will grow substantially through Library Thing--just a warning!!

I finished Labor Day which I absolutely loved. Best book I've read in months. Started Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

Empty post. No substance. No feeling. No taste.

I finished a chapter in Why Does E=mc^2 last night and then opened up Home. I read enough pages to be in love with the writing. It may be that I felt that way about Gilead and Housekeeping, too, but I don't remember it. In any case, I'm hoping for a hat trick (did Kidzdoc use that about books a little while ago?).

Robert

I've finished Motherless Brooklyn and The Hummingbird's Daughter and really enjoyed both these different books.

Can you believe I've never read a single Sue Grafton book? Well, so I found "B" is for Burglar in a used bookstore and picked it up. I'll read that this evening after work. I suspect I will need a light read because I'm going to have a really long day and a dinner meeting to boot. *ugh* I HATE business travel sometimes.

momom248 - I finished Labor Day several weeks ago and loved it too!

I forgot I had The Housekeeper and the Professor checked out of the library until I got a reminder that it was almost due. So now I'm almost done with it. It's a quick read and very well done! Very different.

Can't wait to get back into Never Let Me Go. It started slowly but REALLY took off for me.

#173 writemeg - oops there goes another book onto my wishlist!

#174 elliepotten - so glad you ended up liking The Virgin Blue. I loved your review and thought it was spot on. It's interesting that you compared it to Labyrinth, because I too read that book before TVB. I really liked Labyrinth, but the crazy ending kind of did me in on it. When I read TVB though, it did remind me a lot of Labyrinth. Have you read Sepulchre? I have it in my tbr pile but haven't gotten around to it yet.

coppers I am happy to say I finished Labor Day on Labor Day (well the day after)!! I highly recommend it. It's been awhile since I loved a book this much.

On an airplane or in an airport all day today. It allowed me to finish Klondike. What a fabulous read. The authors voice is one of the best I've ever come across. A friend of mine said that his lectures and radio appearances were just as good. I wish I could have heard him speak. So its back to my bookclub House on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

I finished The Romanov Prophecy late last night, and I have started The Name of The Rose this morning. I love medieval history and medieval fiction, and I never read this book (nor seen the movie) before... I hope it doesn't disappoint...

I finished When the Whistle Blows by Fran Cannon Slayton and What the Birds See by Sonya Hartnett, both books for young people, though I must say that Hartnett's book is so powerful, such a beautifully written book that I would recommend it to anyone. This story of a nine-year-old boy who is so terribly alone and fearful -- who is getting so little support from the adults in his life -- in fact, is enduring both physical and emotional abuse -- is heartrending. All around him are other lost children -- lost families. Though it is recommended for middle schoolers, it is not a book I'd want them reading without some guidance. Hartnett's delicate and graceful writing takes us into the mind of that little boy -- so that we experience the world as he does -- living "between sheets of glass . . . struggling to see", to understand. It serves as a reminder of all the little lost souls so easily forgotten and overlooked. I think for those of us who were like Adrian as children -- who felt we had no one to talk to, no one who could ever understand -- who often sought companionship and comfort in books -- What the Birds See is especially meaningful.

Now I'm reading an autobiography written in the 1870s, Melinda Rankin's Twenty Years Among the Mexicans -- which is an account of her work as a missionary in the Rio Grande border areas in south Texas and northern Mexico.

Been in a reading rut for a while. Start reading a book and can't get interested in it. When this happens I usually revert to my old stand by's , Science Fiction or Naval books (fact or fiction).
So have added three more Naval books to my list ;

1. "In Harms Way" by James Bassett

This book about the early days of WW 2 right after Pear Harbor. This was made into an excellent movie in the early 60's. The book as usual was better with the characters more rounded out, more background etc.
If you only know it from the movie, do yourself a favor and read this. You won't be disappointed
Bassett also wrote another good book Commander. Prince, USN: a novel of the Pacific War which is about the Asiatic fleet in the early days of the war.

2. "Submarine" by Edward L. Beach.

This was Beach's first book. In it he tells not only his experiences during his ten war patrols but in alternating chapters tells the story of other famous Submarines and crews. Anyone who has read anything about submarines in the Pacific will recognize the names of Wahoo, Tang, Trigger, Batfish, Archerfish etc. In it you see the development of the tactics that were used so successfully in WW 2.
You can also see where he gets all his the material for Run Silent Run Deep, it's not just a novel but in many ways autobiographcal.
I think every script writer in Hollywood read this book. Because in it I can see every submarine movie that was made in the 50's

3. Mr. Roberts by Thomas Heggen

I decided to re-read this book after reading a bio of Heggen on line.
Mr. Roberts exploits on AKA 601, the USS Reluctant ( or the Bucket) was based on Heggen's life aboard the U.S. Navy attack transport USS Virgo (AKA-20).
The best parts of the book are all based on fact, even the palm tree which Heggen threw overboard twice in real life.
The book is made more poignant by the fact that Heggen committed suicide when he was only 30 years old.

Heres the link if anyone are interested in reading the article
(http://www.uss-virgo.com/wacky.htm)

Finished A Study in Scarlet the other day but due to internet failures I haven't been able to get online for a day or so.
I may have started to read The Sign of Four but i honestly can't remember at the moment but either way I will be starting it soonish.

Currently reading Seriously Funny, a series of profiles about groundbreaking comics of the fifties and sixties. Good book! My next will probably be Guernica--I snagged a copy of it in the early reviewer giveaway!

>191 usnmm2: Wow, what a story. I was bowled over. Thanks for putting in the link! Fiction means even more to me when I know at least some of the facts around it. The crew stories section was quite interesting!

ETA: Finishing up the latest Meg Langslow mystery, Swan for the Money, which is (as expected) very much a light and fun read.

194: richardderus
Glad you enjoyed the link. There is a whole body of literature that was written right after the War which are becomeing some of my favorite books;

Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener (Pulitzer Prize)
THE TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON by SNEIDER VERN
Mister Roberts by Heggen Thomas
King Rat by James Clavell
A Bell for Adano by John Hersey (Pulitzer Prize)

The one thing in common is that all these books are based on the authors own experiences, more autobiographical than novels.
I guess this was the way some men got rid of their ghosts.

Thanks for reminding me about Mister Roberts and Tales of the South Pacific. I've read both of them but somehow lot my copies over the years. Just bookmooched both of them!

>141 Smiley: Smiley, my considered opinion of The Third Policeman even 12 pages before the end would have been that it was, to borrow a word from the tale itself, buncombe. It was bizarre, hard going, and way outside of my "reading comfort zone." I persevered because of the references to Lost, and I'm glad I did. Though I didn't exactly like the story, I appreciated what the author was doing in the end. I almost felt like I would have liked it better if I had a book discussion or English class to discuss it with rather than just reading it on my own time.

I'm now reading Seeing Things by Patti Hill for Early Reviewers. It's so-so right now, but we'll see how things turn out.

I started The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard last night, looks to be a good one. I am also indulging in a historical romance by Charlotte Bingham called In Distant Fields about the English gentry during WW I.

>195 usnmm2: I've never read The Teahouse of the August Moon! Have you reviewed it yet? I'll have to look into it. I have to check so many things out of the liberry, what's one more?

I am about 3/4 of the way thourgh Confessions by St. Augustine. I do not like it as well as City of God. I think it is because I read the latter book first.

Still reading The Historian. What with family dinners and shopping trips and other stuff, I hardly get a minute to myself. But I am trying hard to finish it. So far I am fairly satisfied with the book.

Started The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown last night. If you loved The DaVinci Code, you'll like this, because it's essentially the same book. If you're expecting something better, or something different than The DaVinci Code, you'll be disappointed. I personally was not expecting different or better, so I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Finished another of my night table books: Witold Rybczynski's My Two Polish Grandfathers -- having enjoyed his writing on architecture and his extraordinary biography of Frederick Law Olmstead, A Clearing in the Distance, it was lovely to read this book of essays about his life and family.

Now I'll be reading Louise Erdrich's Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country.

>191 usnmm2:: usnmm2: joining others in a thank-you for the link to the Virgo and Mr. Roberts story. I think my appreciation of the Mr. Roberts story is based on Henry Fonda and James Cagney, so I will read the book. Thanks!

>198 DeltaQueen50:: DeltaQueen50- I found myself running in circles during Virgin of Small Plains, each time thinking I was getting closer to the solution- only to start running again. As you read along, perhaps you will understand what I mean.

Reading now Sanningen om IKEA by Johan Stenebo (translation: The Truth About IKEA). Stenebo worked in high-level positions within IKEA for 20 years, only recently leaving the company. Not your usual tell-all and delightfully free from sarcasm, Stenebo carefully presents each IKEA attribute and presents his own views and sometimes opinions on the founder Ingvar Kamprad and the company. I, for one, immediately recognize these attributes .

199: richardderus

No review. I read it about 5 years ago but I've dug out my old copy for a re-read.

>205 usnmm2: I hope you're moved to do one...I'll adopt the wait-and-see until then.

I've reviewed Swan for the Money by Donna Andrews in my thread and on the work page.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/72353

> 206 Richard

i notice that you are reading JOAN HESS...hmm..my faves are the ARLY HANKS series...maybe because i am a Hillbilly, too...but the series is fun, and Hillbilly (be warned)...with some neat plotlines (if you don't mind weird relatives)....and, a tad of ..Common
Sense.....

just a recommend.......

Have done two quick reads. Bachelor Brothers bed & Braekfast. something for fun. Almost finished with The Housekeeper and the Professor. Really enjoying this book it is really different.

I'm reading the long short story "Elsewhere: Something Like a Love Story" from the collection Bringing Tony Home by Sri Lankan author Tissa Abeysekara.

Just finished The Glass Room and have started The Little Stranger in my attempt to read at least some of the Booker nominees before the winner is announced. Also, picked up The Master and Margarita again.

Work reading:
Just finished Great Expectations by Dickens and next up is Song of Kahunsha by Anosh Irani.

Transit/Home reading:
Either A Nation of Farmers or Ubik depending on my mood.

>usnmm2- One of my customers, I think he's 96, served on the North Carolina, in the Pacific. We talk about books and I'm always trying to come up with Naval titles, for him to enjoy. Well sir, you supplied a few,thank you. He is currently reading my copy of The Horse Soldiers and seems to be really enjoying it!

>200 george1295: george1295 - I have plans to read both, but have scheduled Confessions by Augustine first, which now sounds like a good plan.

usnmm2

Odd fact, perhaps? every book in the list of war novels you posted has been made into a movie...

The one title I question, however, is Mr. Roberts. I'm guessing that it isn't the same movie I'm thinking about with Jack Lemmon and Henry Fonda.

Cos Tales of the Pacific became the movie South Pacific...

Still working on The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria. He's such a witty author so I'm really enjoying it.

I recently finished Grief by Andrew Holleran which was a very short novel. I didn't hate it, but it didn't have much in the way of plot development.

I'm now planning on starting the much-anticipated (for me) Lowboy by John Wray. I loved Canaan's Tongue so I'm hoping that I will enjoy his most recent work as well.

I finished The Housekeeper and the Professor today. What a wonderful, charming read! I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone.

I finished Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, am now reading The Neon Rain. This is going to be a bit of a challenge as I am not a huge fan of this kind of book.

212: msf59
Here are some more titles to consider;
South to Java:A Novel by William P, Mack
Delilah by Marcus Goodrich
Two others I know he would enjoy but are hard to get are
Now, Hear This! and Cap'n Fatso both by Daniel V Gallery.

214: morfam
Yes all these books mentioned were made into plays and movies. Some I knew of some I found out later. And Mr. Roberts is what you were thinking of. The movie does catch the "spirt" of the book very well.
As far as the Pulitzer Prize winning Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener the movie only has a very tenuous hold on the book (mostly names of the people). The book is much darker and oppressive and much much better.

I just reviewed "The Norman Kings" by James Chambers (touchstone's not working). Not recommended for text, but the pickchers is rite purty.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/72353

Our threadie rocketjk posted a really powerful review of The Black Flower by Howard Bahr...I'm not way into Civil War novels, but his review made me want to read this one.

>207 jdthloue: Jude my apple blossom, I lost steam on Hess's Maggody books after Maggody in Manhattan. Arly is a very appealing character, goodness knows, and the Buchanon clan is funny (Kevin and Dahlia! EWWW!). Brother Verber makes me laugh, too. But somehow, Claire Malloy is...well, I guess she's what I imagine myself to be, maybe? A hardworking bookseller in a rinky-dink li'l town, with a hot boyfriend who's wildly in love and pantingly passionate yet committed to Doing Good, and a (no-longer-)teenaged daughter.

*sigh* If only...but you see why I read the Claire Malloys, given all that. Plus the orderly side needs its fix of "bad-people-go-down" which it so, so seldom sees in Real Life.

I've just finished Veil of Roses by Laura Fitzgerald. I thought it'd be a skimpy thing to skip through, but it turned out to be more interesting than I expected.

Somehow A Separate Place by John Knowles popped into my pile of books to read this week. Whoopee... time for a re-read since I don't remember the whole thing.

Now that Fall is in the air and the nights are getting dark and cool I find myself attracted to mysteries. I am currently reading (and highly recommend) "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie" - Alan Bradley and in the wings, waiting patiently is "The Case of the Gilded Fly" - Edmund Crispin
I'm in seventh-heaven!

Just started The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan. Lots of potential here....

A couple of weeks ago some of us were raving about Attica Locke and her book Black Water Rising. She was interviewed on NPR this morning. NPR was doing a week long series from and about the city of Houston. This morning they were on the Black Bayou. This underground bayou is the setting for the events in Locke's book. The interview was very interesting. It, along with the raves from some of my fellow LTer's has caused me to put another book on my TBR list. Shame on all of you for doing that to me.

#173 writemeg

Many of the YA novels and even the non-fiction of today has much of substance in it. Last night I read a review of Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins in Time magazine. The review was very well done and praised the quality of the writing as well as the subject. This book has become somewhat controversial due to the content. The story is set in a dystopian future in which one young adult per district is selected to participate in the annual "Hunger Games." These games are a contest in which the last child left alive is the winner and gets to lead a life of luxury.

Basically the author of the Time review was rebutting the stance that young adults should be shielded from violence. Sorry to say, but violence is part of life and even young children know that. Oftentimes their solution to problems is violence. That's a scary thought. The reviewer thought that it was even scarier that adults would refuse to recognize violence and try to keep its existence from young people. It was altogether an interesting argument for a book review. I can't remember now what the name of the author was but it was a well known adult novelist.

Anyway, it is a heavy topic for a YA novel.

Finished The Bible According to Mark Twain, a rather irreverent but fun look at the Bible - typical Twain.

#182 rdurick

I loved Gilead!. It deserved every award it got. I have not read Housekeeping but have it on my TBR list. I also have Home on it.

When people ask me about Gilead I tell them it is one of those books were nothing happens and everything happens. It is a story about life that has lots of history in it. It is a quiet holy book. There are only a couple of other books I have ever described that way. ... And Ladies of the Club and Tenants of Time were the other two. When I am asked why I describe them that way I find it hard to say, but I think it has something to do with the writing. Quiet and flowing. Just wonderful.

Well, last night I wanted to read non-fiction for awhile, so I opened Knowing and read a hundred or so pages. At 10:30 I had had enough for awhile and thought that I might read a little bit in Home, but somehow the light got turned off, and I lay in the dark listening to classical music on the radio and dozing.

I am sold on Marilynne Robinson. Her writing has caught my attention more in Home than in others, but so far the characters have not engaged me as the others did. I'll read on.

Robert

The other day I was to return a book to the library for my better half. I needed an emergency book while waiting for my grandson. So I started the about to be returned book. Resurrection by Jim Dent. I cannot believe I am reading a book about football or actually the story of Ara Parseghian coming to Notre Dame to coach. Not too bad.

I'm currently reading Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham and Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Berry and Ridley Pearson.

This morning I read Eagle Island, Wreck and the classic Peter Pan. I've also started The Looking Glass Wars!

One more down in the Star Trek Destiny series - A Singular Destiny. Now onto Frankenstein and then Lost Symbol.

In the days since finishing Feminism and Suffrage (see #157), I read about a hundred pages of The Mill on the Floss. I gave it up, though. Somehow, I need a happy book.

I cracked open Pillars of the Earth yesterday. Our book club meets in a month and I've been putting off reading it because of its size. What if it's a tough slog and I hate every minute?

I've been pleasantly surprised by how easy it's been to get into the story. I'm sure by the end there will be hundreds of characters but I appreciate the author introducing them by telling their stories in detail. It means that when I encounter them later in the story, I'll be unlikely to forget them! I'm always wary of works of fiction that list characters at the beginning so that I can reference them while I'm plodding my way through the story.

AnneH, see message 236...new thread.

AnneH, thnx