What are you reading the week of January 16, 2010?

I had to feature William Stafford this week since he was a Portland writer and I’m a Portland reader.

William Stafford (January 17, 1914 – August 28, 1993) was an American poet and pacifist, and the father of poet and essayist Kim Stafford.

In 1970, he was named Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a position that is now known as Poet Laureate. In 1975, he was named Poet Laureate of Oregon. He kept a daily journal for 50 years, and composed nearly 22,000 poems, of which roughly 3,000 were published. From Wikipedia

Reading Purple Hibiscus - another one for my Books of the Shelf challenge. I'm discovering so many great books I already own but hadn't quite got round to!

I hope to finish The Land of Little Rain by Mary Austin today.

I started the Group Read of World Without End. I'm also well into A Gate at the Stairs and it's been pretty good and nearly done with Eat, Pray, Love, which has been a terrific listen! It's read by the author and I love her voice! Mini-swoon!

My weekend reading is Wicked Lovely which I am hoping to finish today or tomorrow... Then it is time for either more SF or some non-fiction.. choices choices...

Later on today, when I'm more awake, I plan to start The Iliad. I've been wanting to read it for ages now but never got around to it, so I'm excited about finally getting a chance to read it.

I am still reading (and enjoying) Conversation in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa and, as my subway read, The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson.

I finished Gute gegen Nordwind by Daniel Glattauer this morning and still cannot decide whether I should like it or not. So, it's about a man and woman who got to know each other by chance via e-mail and are just communicating via e-mail and fell in love, that caused problem because the woman is married...
While reading I was ever on the edge between liking and disliking... They sometimes behaved so badly against each other then sometimes seemed to have a deep and wise insight to life and then again just seemed to be childish... Ugh difficult...

Finished Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie. My review here,

http://www.librarything.com/work/29915/reviews/50339813

Now I'm reading The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy for my Monthly Author Read group.

Early this morning I finished Oryx and Crake which was really good if not a wee bit disturbing in its themes. Later I shall probably read a bit more of World Without End as I want to get to the end of the second part. I also need to finish the The Lies of Locke Lamora which I've been reading in dribs and drabs for over a week now.

Almost through with Breath Winton - it's OK. Will then get to Catalyst McCaffrey - when my son gives it back to me, but at the rate I am reading the first book, he'll probably be done with the second and both will be done (by me) before the first one is due back at the library!

Let's see...

Just finished High Tension by William Wister Haines. Dragged off a dusty, dusty shelf of the Bangor (Maine) Public Library. Who knows if it's been out in the last forty years, but I'll be pick up another Haines in the future.

Been reading Don Quixote and will be for a while. Thought it would be a boring slog but make me feel literary. Wrong, it's beautiful.

Been reading various essays in Gay Spirit: Myth and Meaning. Had read a lot of it back in the '80s. Amazing how times change. The social/political climate I came out to is vastly different than today's. The book advocates the separate development of gay identity and culture vs assimilation into the mainstream. It meant a lot to me back in the day. Not so much anymore, but still, in theory it might be nice to disappear into the Vermont woods with the Radical Fairies as long as they weren't just haughty, holier-than-thou urbanites who cruise happily between gatherings, circuit parties and Burning Man.

OK, off the soapbox... also reading selections from Best American Mystery Stories - 2009.

I am still reading Eyes at the Window but should finish it either today or tomorrow depending on how much reading I fit in amongst the running around I need to do today. I am also still reading the non-fiction book about Tourette Syndrome but am not enjoying it very much so haven't decided if I will finish it or not. The book was written in the early 1990s and really seems to push the medication angle of treatment. Since I am really anti-pharmaceutical, the whole tone of the book is just rubbing me wrong. I will try to find some insights amongst this but may have to abandon it soon.

I am still reading Lovely Bones. I am on about chapter 8. I hope to get a lot of reading done this weekend in between doing laundry, dishes, housework and exercising.

Finished and reviewed Time Travelers Are Schizophrenic for the January "Take It or Leave It" challenge.

Now slogging through Purple Hibiscus.

Finished Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin, with its charming and different take on the afterlife, and started the cyberthriller Daemon by Daniel Suarez.

Hoping to finish The Reader this weekend and then make a start on a non-fiction read, One Dog At A Time: Saving The Strays of Helmand by Pen Farthing.

I'm reading Molly Fox's Birthday by Deidre Madden for Orange January. This book was on the 2009 shortlist.

I'm 30 pages from the end of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Maggie, who also wants me to read Rules by Cynthia Lord. She's trying cram a few books in before Thursday for Accellerated Reader points, so we'll be reading James and The Giant Peach and Nim's Island, as well.

As for my own reading, I'm almost halfway through Islands Apart, but I've been busy setting up

I just started Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by Heilemann and Halperin. It's OK if you're an inside-politics wonky type like I am. I think a better title might have been "Change Game." It's pretty horrifying that these people--any of them--are the best we can get to run our country. Anywho, the book is engaging and an easy read (it kept me up 'way too late last night), but Theodore White it ain't.

#14 Well, you can scrap that exercising as long as you're reading. Isn't turning pages enough for you?

#21: I guess it should be, for my arms especially. I will read while I ride the bike at the gym. So I can kill two things at once. Off to do some laundry and continue reading...

going to read child 44 by tom rob smith then i am all out of new books to read so will need to go to to the shop/library and am looking for recommendations.

p

Still working on House by Tracy Kidder. I am about halfway through, but then I stopped-- I plan to come back to reading soon!

Yesterday, I started Iron Lake and am engrossed in this first book of a series; an interesting, well written mystery with an ex-cop in the wilds of Minnesota.

I'll probably finish it today and start The Almost Moon. Both are for my 1010 challenge.

I finished Let the Great World Spin last night - what a great book. Now am quite involved in the story in Peace Like a River by Leif Enger.

I'm planning to start and finish at least two books this weekend: Amok and Other Stories by Stefan Zweig, and The Making of a Tropical Disease: A Short History of Malaria by Randall M. Packard. I'm also reading Small Island by Andrea Levy, the 2004 winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction, for Orange January.

I finished The Anglo Files and left a review. It's one that I wanted to spend the whole day reading, but then I am an Anglophile. I'll be starting In A Lonely Place today for a group read.

>26 teelgee: teelgee, I thought your review of "Let the Great World Spin" was wonderful. I added it to my WL for one of my 1010 categories. Thanks

Well, after richardderus commented on what I was reading last week I was a little intimidated. However I haven't been let down by my list yet and finished Vathek. I really enjoyed the journey. The story was very much Arabian Nights and the language lush.
This week I am reading Flaubert's Parrot for 1000 Novels and Galileo's Daughter for book club

I'm about halfway through Loving Frank by Nancy Horan.

>26 teelgee:, teelgee, Peace Like a River is a favorite of mine. Hope you're enjoying it!

I have just joined the libray Thing Site. Iam a great reader of Crime Fiction Just started reading Val Mcdermids .The Mermaid Sings

>29 KAzevedo: Thanks KAzevedo and >31 AMQS: AMQS!

Welcom IFish! Love McDermid. Hope you check out the crime/mystery threads.

Welcome IFish.

I have finished A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. It was for a RL book group. I enjoyed it much more than Kite Runner.

For LT group reads: I am going to continue with Triplanetary by E.E. 'Doc' Smith and then read more in The Histories by Herodotus.

Not sure what new book I will be starting, once my required reading is done/caught up with.

Just now finished Breath Winton for my non-American writer category in the 1010.

I guess I'l have to go back to Murder Most Divine Greenberg until my son finishes the library's copy of Catalyst McCaffrey.

Finished Purple Hibiscus and moved onto Yannis - one I've been looking forward to for a long time.

>30 libraryrobin: libraryrobin Wow, you *liked* Vathek! You have a high tolerance for baroque language. I am very impressed!

Trudging through Purple Hibiscus. Not enjoying it.

I've put aside Louise Penny's A Fatal Grace because there are only 5 of these books extant and I could gobble them down in a weekeend...then spend two years pining for more. Exercise of self-restraint, y'know.

#38 Must admit I found it a bit of a slog too, though it improved as it went on. I've only read her short stories before and thought they were wonderful. I won't go so far as to say I actually disliked PH but it was harder work than I'd exoected.

>38 richardderus: richardderus, I think if you just let go and enjoy the journey this book can be fun. Sure the language is a lot more florid but essentially its still a fairy tale. What did you think when you read it?

Working on Ill Wind still, this is a fun read! :)

Reading Richard Wright's Black Boy for class, as well as Dream Visions and other poems of Geoffrey Chaucer.

Plenty of Milton for my third class.

Also some Spenser and Virgil's Georgics IV for my thesis homework. My nose is staying in the books this week!!!

I have too many books going right now: Homer and Langley on audio, A Storm in the Blood by Jon Stephen Fink, and The Postmistress by Sarah Blake. Unfortunately, I'm not that impressed by Homer and Langley OR A Storm in the Blood. Want to hurry up and finish both and move on.

>39 Booksloth: I'm about done with this Hibiscus lady. This book isn't in any way any fun at all to read. Another 30pp, up to p88, and if I haven't turned a corner in my attitude, it's back to the liberry tout-suite.

>40 libraryrobin: Oh, I **loved** it! But I'm a weirdo. Beckford was a fascinating guy. I've always wondered if Mrs. Gaskell didn't base Lord Septimus (of Cranford fame) on him. Seems to me there was a novel written about him, Something Abbey...have to go poke the shelves, 'scuse me.

I am currently reading "Down The Great Unknown" by Edward Dolnick. It is about John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey through the Grand Canyon. I am over half way through and must say that this is one of the best books I have ever read.

#26 teelgee - I can't wait to hear how you like Peace Like a River. It was my favorite book of 2008, and, like AMQS, I always get excited when I see people reading it!

I have had woefully little time to read so far this year, but I hope that will change as of this week. I finished The Help, which was phenomenal. I'm now a short way into The Art of Racing in the Rain - so far, so good.

Julie, so far so great! I'm loving it. It has a flavor similar to To Kill a Mockingbird. Glad to hear you liked The Help - it was one of my favs last year.

I have about 100 pages left of The God of Small Things. I love the use of colors in this story...but what happens to Sophie Mol?!!! Wait, don't tell me.

#35 I agree A Thousand Splendid Suns was the more enjoyable of Husseini's books, possibly because it seemed more optimistic.

I am on with The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By by Georges Simenon which I picked up because I thought I was going to read a cosy Maigret, but it turns out this is not one of the series, so I am inside the mind of a murder instead.

Finished Michael J. Sandel's Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?. It did improve from my last post and while it still seems to me philosophy lite, It is a good starting point for dicussion of our shared civic life.

About 70 pages into Christ Stopped at Eboli by Carlo Levi. The book is a nonfiction account of Levi's internal exile in southern Italy for his opposition to Mussolini's 1935 war in Africa. Good and quite readable so far.

I'm about a third of the way through The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk. It's for my RL book group that meets next Sunday so I'll be done with no problem, which is not always the case. I'm enjoying it and even though it's a bit extreme in terms of the us versus them, the recent banking issues, food contamination stories, and just general environmental problems make it seem more probably than perhaps when it was written in the early 90s.

#35 FicusFan & #49 Cloud9,
I liked "A Thousand Splendid Suns", which I read in December '09, but also liked "The Kite Runner" (both the book and the film). Together they gave me some insight into the culture and recent history of Afganistan.

This week, I'm continuing with "The Book Thief" and with "The Once and Future King" (for different book discussion classes/groups.

Reading In the Fall by Jeffrey Lent. So far this one is hard to put down. Good thing it is a dreary day.

I'm reading Olympos by Dan Simmons. I've been working on it for a while, but I'm hoping to finish it this week! Just in time for my brand spankin' new book club (founded with one of my best friends and housemate) to start up.

Finished reading The Palace of Illusions which I've reviewed here

I've started Anna Karenina for the Group Read and if I can, I'll also get started on An Area of Darkness by V.S. Naipaul

I finally finished Cinnamon Kiss by Walter Mosley. I've started First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher.

I'm about three quarters of the way through For Whom the Bell Tolls, which I hope to finish tomorrow. After that, I'll be starting my ER book, Citizens of London which looks to be very interesting.

Cindy- I've had In the Fall sitting in my tbr forever! I hope you will bring me some well needed enthusiasm to move it up it on up!
Also a big fan of Peace Like a River! It made my top ten of the year. I've also have his follow-up novel in my tbr! I wish there were 48 hours in a day! I could use every extra second!

Just finished The Drowned Life and was really impressed. Now I've started on Queen of the Darkness, which I've been dying to get my hands on so I'm tearing through it pretty quickly.

I am still reading The Three Musketeers, but I am taking a break right now to read The Betrayal of the Blood Lily by Lauren Willig, which is the sixth book in her Pink Carnation series.

I finished Grafton's U is for Undertow which I thoroughly enjoyed -- sojourning in Kinsey-land is always a treat. I'm especially fond of her landlord, Henry -- though I may be overly influenced by his gifts as a baker.

Now I'm reading Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilych which I should finish tonight.

Next up: Elizabeth Inness-Brown's Burning Marguerite

Almost finished with One Foot in the Grave by Wm. Mark Simmons, the first in the series about a guy who is a semi-vampire. That is, he seems to be stuck somewhere in the middle of becoming a vampire. He finds himself in the middle of a vampire war, which is being waged between the NYC enclave and the Seattle and Chicago enclaves.

So far, it's pretty good. I kind of like the protagonist, Christopher Csejthe, a former English teacher who had to quit teaching because the he began having a difficult time being in the sun. He quotes Donne, Wordsworth, and others, even getting into a literary duel of sorts with the leader of the Seattle pack.

Different from most vampire fiction but with more violence (of the gangster type: firebombs, guns, car crashes) than I usually enjoy, although on second thought P.N. Elrod's series, which I also enjoy, is similar.

The cover blurb says: "Dracula Meets the Godfather." I think that sums it up nicely.

I've got to big books I'm slowly progressing on: Moby Dick and Arlt's Cuentos Completos. I'm also starting Museo de la Novela de la Eterna (Museum of the Novel of the Eternal) by Macedonio Fernandez.

I finished 31 Hours by Masha Hamilton this evening. I have a feeling I'll be thinking about it for the next couple of days. It was a fast read and really good. To me, the book ended up being more about the small slice of the character's lives revealed and less about the rush to the end and how it ended. I'm planning on picking A Confederacy of Dunces back up now and starting in on The Shipping News by Annie Proulx soon.

#52 Catgwinn,

I was hoping for more info about Afghanistan in both books, but didn't find anything I didn't already know. My parents met in Afghanistan, they were both stationed there (army, foreign service). I wanted some insight from an Afghani as to what happened.

I finished Triplanetary by E.E. 'Doc' Smith for the LT group read of The Lensman series (75 book challenge). I have read and re-read it before, don't quite remember it being such a slog. A patched together book (short stories) that explains the war between the Arisians and the Eddorians and how humans fit into the mix, and the set up for the founding of the Galactic Patrol.

Now starting The First Lensman book 2 of the group read.

Started with A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini. I enjoyed The kite runner and guess I will like this one as well.

Furthermore I'm busy with Don Quixote of which I almost finished volume 1 (after a year...).

I'm now reading Before the Dawn by Nicholas Wade as part of my continuing fascination of where we came from. I really need to move forward a few centuries and start looking at early civilizations, but I've also got The Cave Painters by Gregory Curtis on loan from the library, so that will be my next nonfiction read.

I am also reading World Without End by Ken Follett (75 Book Challenge Group Read).

I just began reading The Meaning of Night: A Confession by Michael Cox and find it hard to put down!

Today I'm finally starting to read Schnitzler's Century.

Still the same two books on the go for me - The Snow Tourist by Charlie English (a travel/science/memoir combination so far, rather beautiful) and Bonk by Mary Roach, which is rather fascinating and very funny! Not a good read for busy days in the shop though - try explaining THAT one to an old gentleman who peers at the cover, raises an eyebrow and asks what you're reading...

I have presently begun The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova, her sophomore novel, after her remarkable first novel, The Historian. So far I find the story interesting and somewhat compelling. But, a word of caution, to those expecting a plot, structure and narrative like The Historian. This is very different and clearly shows, as far as I can tell just a few chapters in, that Ms. Kostova is determined to remain versatile approach to writing and willing to pursue stories that offer the possibility of insight and character regardless of "genre."

Enjoying Honeymoon With my Brother by Frantz Wisner....great non-fiction

I am about to start Generosity by Richard Powers. From the posts of other reviewers, it seems like it is less character-driven than his other novels, but Powers is a tremendous and thought-provoking writer and I'm looking forward to reading it.

I am listening to Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy and I am reading The Magnetist's Fifth Winter by Per Olov Enquist.

Liked what you say about 31 Hours and have put it on my to read list

This week I am reading The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracey Chevalier

@71, RSFox, interesting to hear that The Swan Thieves is different than The Historian. I loved the last, so I am still interested in the first.

Meanwhile, I finished Wicked Lovely as my weekend read, and will start Excession by Iain M. Banks tomorrow in the train.

I am rereading Pride and Prejudice for a book group in RL and trying to work up some interest in some other books from the library. It is actually warm here and I want to be outside! But alas I am working and taking it very hard.

I have The Children's Book, The Gospel According to Coco Chanel, The Numbers Game, and some others waiting patiently for me at home.

Started A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane last night and am already halfway through, having stayed up until around 4 a.m. because I didn't want to put it down to sleep. Thanks to everyone on LT who has recommended this novel. It is so good!

Actually haven't started The First Lensman yet. Am now reading the first chapter of The Histories by Herodotus. I am about half way through. Very interesting. Will start on the Lensman book once I am done with chapter 1 of Herodotus.

I started The Girl Who Stopped Swimming this morning, and so far it is excellent. It's one of those books that manages to be a murder mystery, a character study, and an intelligent commentary as well.

Yay! I finished A Storm in the Blood and Homer and Langley, which weren't really pleasing me. I also finished The Postmistress,which was quite good. Now I've moved on to War Child for an online discussion and the audio of The Swan Thieves for a reread (I know it just came out, but I read the ARC in September).

I finished Loving Frank today -- a fictional biography of Frank Lloyd Wright and his mistress, Mamah Borthwick Cheney. The book started strong, foundered a bit in the middle (or perhaps I did,) and finished very strong. I'll be digesting it for a while.

I finished Olive Kitteridge this afternoon which I thought was fantastic! I am now reading Naming Maya.

I'm really enjoying Let the Great World Spin and then today I also started (because instead of glasses I had my contacts in and needed a book with larger print - sad, I know) Anne Tyler's Noah's Compass. It'll be a quick read and I don't think she has ever disappointed me.

>84 lkernagh: - I loved Olive Kitteridge too.

I'm finishing the Age of The Five series with Voice of the Gods by Trudi Canavan.

I loved Purple Hibiscus when I read it, was very impressed by her other two books as well.

I finished Denise Hamilton's Last Lullaby last night, very good crime novel, a page turner and quite sad - the character gets very caught up in her cases. I've found my copy of her next book in the series, Savage Garden so will try to fit that in somewhere soon. I also finished reading The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4 this morning.

Am still reading Black Hearts in Battersea and Dream Babies, have started Belinda Bauer's Blacklands and plan to start The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole soon.

I'm currently reading Rebecca and loving it so far!

I just started The Blue Lenses and Other Stories by Daphne Du Maurier. I really enjoyed a collection of her short stories that I read a few months ago, so I hope I'll like these just as much.

#89 I'm sure you will - it's another strong collection.

I hope to finish Stone's Fall by Iain Pears, and have already started The Simpkins Plot by George A. Birmingham. The latter was published in 1911 and is an hilarious tale of mistaken identity in Ireland of the early twentieth century. George A. Birmingham (real name, Rev. James Hannay) was a master of the tongue-in-cheek, and used his satirical skills to portray the politically & socially divided Ireland of the time in a humerous, yet realistic fashion.

I finished The Historian on Friday. Loved it. On Saturday I read my first Agatha Raisin book Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet. Loved it also. Now I'm reading The Tyrannicide Brief by Geoffrey Robinson. So far, loving it.

Read Swan Thieves this weekend, and it wasn't near as good as The Historian. I think the only reason I enjoyed it was because I also paint, and I enjoyed that aspect of it. But overall, it took some patience to work through and that was disappointing.

Just finished Where Men Win Glory, recommend it VERY highly. In the middle of Superfreakonomics, so far, it's OK, but not a must read.

Finished, finally, Murder Most Divine Greenberg and can go onto Catalyst McCaffrey if Scott has finished it. He said it was slow going at first but then got better and I have to get it back to the library on the 25th.

>>84 lkernagh: & 85 I am 2/3 of the way through Olive Kitteridge and it is a shoe-in for one of my top books in 2010. Absolutely wonderful.

>85 Copperskye:: Joanne, I had a bit of a mixed reaction (I know -- *blasphemy*) to Let The Great World Spin. I've had to let my thoughts settle before I write my review. Wish I had a little Anne Tyler about now. Comfort reading, as you know. Maybe I'll go with The Girls, my book for Orange January.

Nancy- "Olive" took the top spot for me last year! Amazing book!
Donna- I'm holding my breath....

I'm up to my old tricks, with a book for the bedroom, a book for the living room, and an audiobook for when I can't actually pick up a book. Ah, well, it could be worse. I've been known to have 5 books going at a time.

Anyway, in addition to A Drink Before the War (the bedroom book), I'm reading Interrupted Aria, a Baroque Mystery (the first of the series) by Beverle Graves Myers and listening to Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher.

Taking the week off and it's cold and raining here in sunny So. Cal., so I'll have lots of time for reading. Life is good.

I finished Eyes at the Window yesterday. I really enjoyed it and am saving it for my daughter for when she is a bit older - it is a little bit too complicated for her now.

I gave up on the book about Tourette Syndrome. The whole tone of the book just seemed to be pushing medication which is not a direction we plan to go with our daughter.

I am now reading The Calligrapher's Daughter and Shelf Discovery and am enjoying both of them immensely.

Just finished The Wrecker. It definitely puts you in the 20's mood. It seems a bit James Bond. Definitely not offputting for females. I read a section to my son who was all ears. If you like sherlock holmes this is like that, but fast. It is interesting. It definitely has suspense. A few short chapters. It ends like the 20's love/suspense/thriller that it is. I most completely recommend this book. Very enjoyable.

I finished both Conversation in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa and Where the God of Love Hangs Out by Amy Bloom -- very different but both excellent.

Yesterday I finished The God of Small Things. Very good and sad. Now I'm reading The Subtle Knife to take a little breather.

I finished Peace Like a River last night (review). Great book. Now reading Edwidge Danticat's The Dew Breaker, because I need to read something from Haiti. Also have her Krik? Krak! which I may dip into also.

I started Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott today. I was laughing out loud by page xiii, which I feel is a good sign :)

*deep breath*

Purple Hibiscus was boring, bad, and pointless. Men beat their wives and children. Politics is a dirty business. And the Catholic Church is bad. The end.

Who cares. It's like a Lifetime Movie Network World Premiere set in Africa. Hated, hated, hated it.

#100 bookaholicgirl
I wouldn't either go for medication for Tourette, I think there is no real method to 'heal' this. My boyfriend also suffers from this, he never took medication and he never will, but I cannot really give you advice or a good book to read. But I hope you'll find one and find a way to live with the Tourette.

I'm splitting my time between Tess of the d'Urberville and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

I finished East of the Sun by Julia Gregson. It was easy to get lost in the story and it earns an easy three and a half stars, pretty high for me. My review is on the book's page.

Started The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.

I just finished The Return of the Native, which I loved, and am starting The Moonflower Vine for the Missouri Readers group read.

Silly me accidentally posted this in last weeks thread when I was checking what I had posted there. Well I finished reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold today. I started reading The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen.

I've just read (and loved) Old Filth by Jane Gardam. What a magnificent writer! My review: http://www.librarything.com/topic/78888 (message #21)

Finished up Ship of Destiny this weekend. It was a great ending to the series. There were a couple character twists and the loose ends were tied up nicely. Now I'm starting on Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett.

>110 jfetting:, jfetting, I've heard wonderful things about The Moonflower Vine. I hope you enjoy it, and let us know what you think!

I just started Cutting for Stone. I'm only 50 pages in but so far it looks promising.

I finished Naming Maya this evening - a coming of age story about 12 year old Maya's summer trip to India with her mother to sell her grandfather's home and for a visit with her extended family. Overall, a good story that captures the sights and sounds of a bustling Indian town, insight into Indian culture and values, and a glimpse of mother-daughter relationships.

Next up is The Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger.

I am listening to The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham. I'm very impressed by Maugham's ability to write.

I just finished Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi and am about to start Invisible by Paul Auster. I'm also about halfway through the audio of La's Orchestra Saves the World by Alexander McCall Smith. I was never able to get into AMS's series but this book isn't bad.

Tallulah_Rose - Thanks for the post. I thought the book was going to be encouraging and offer support for parents of children with Tourette or, at the very least, offer case histories and outcomes. While it is each person's individual decision whether to medicate their child or not, I just don't feel that that should be the only option nor the first option offered especially in light of the fact that no one knows the long term effects of medicating children for such long periods of time. Luckily, my daughter's symptoms are not debilitating and are relatively mild. Hopefully, they will continue to be.

I am almost half way through The Book of Rapture by Nikki Gemmell. Very different layout in the telling of the story. Was a bit hard a first to get used to but I am almost there.

I am about half way through Saving CeeCee Honeycutt. I am liking it. not quite Secret Life of Bees but a good Southern based novel.

#114 AMQS - I love it so far. We have about a foot of snow up here in Portland, and the descriptions of Missouri in the hot muggy summer are exactly what I need right now. Beautiful writing and great characters.

Wrote Ghostwalk off..didn't like the Narrator/Narrative Device...
......am reading The Green and the Gray by Timothy Zahn...not my usual cuppa..but the story moves like Wildfire...here here

# 113 Narilka - Wish you fun with the Wyrd Sisters I read it just a few months ago and it was pretty good. It's even better when you read "MacBeth" by Shakespeare beforehead. My boyfriend loves the sisters, especially grandma weatherwax.

I just started my re-read on Gaining Ground and search it for evidence and possible quotations for my term paper. I discover even more levels in this novel, now I ahve thought about it and can read it in a different light. It's so amazing.

I recently finished Daniyal Mueenuddin’s mesmerizing first collection, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders. The book, deservedly so, was a finalist for a National Book Award (loosing out to Let the Great World Spin) and the Story Prize, which should be announced soon. The eight linked stories are set in Pakistan and follow the lives of the rich and powerful Harouni family and its employees: managers, drivers, gardeners, cooks, servants, and gives a vivid description of what life is like for both the rich and desperately poor. The stories are very “Chekovian” in that Mueenuddin will detail a character's past, zero in on the central crisis of his or her life and, just when you expect more development, suddenly find everything wound up in a paragraph or two. And Mueenuddin's sympathy for his characters and the dignity he gives them is palpable.

Bloody fantastic and highly recommended.

Right now while I await my library copy of Catalyst McCaffrey, I am slowly reading On Many a Bloody Field, about the Iron Brigade in the Civil War.

I'm reading Medieval People. Just not today: I forgot to put it back in my bag this morning (which sucks, since the office was without internet access for most of the day).

Soon I will be finishing up Because They Wanted To, a collection of excellent short stories by Mary Gaitskill. Shortly after that I'll be starting Charming Billy by Alice McDermott.

>127 AnnaClaire: AnnaClaire - doesn't that mean you get to go home?

I'm tempted to make a start on A Place beyond Courage in a min as I want to get it back to the library so I can concentrate on my TBR's.

I started two today, Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith, of which I have heard lots of good things about here on LT, and, Dear Irene a continuing series by Jan Burke.

I'm now beginning to listen to A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute on audio.

DQ- I just finished Child 44 and gave it a strong thumbs-up! Hope you enjoy it too!
I finished A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore and was disappointed. I hate being disappointed! I started listening to West With the Night by Beryl Markham and it begins beautifully. Also reading World Without End for the well-organized and cheery Group Read!

@132 - I just finished A Town Like Alice. Good book, I hope you enjoy it.

I just finished Excession by Iain M. Banks and will start Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir on my home. Time for some non-fiction :D

I finished Blacklands already - a very quick read! I wasn't at all sure about the subject matter - a small boy corresponding with a serial killer. The book was way out of my comfort zone but I'm sort of glad the TV Bookclub made me think of buying and reading it.

I recently started reviewing books for a friend's website and have just started reading Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad by Bee Rowlatt and May Witwit - this is an exchange of real letters between an Iraqui woman and a journalist in London which started in 2005, nearly 2 years into the war. It's very moving and interesting reading and I'm very pleased to have this one to read and review.

Scott finally finished Catalyst McCaffrey. It took him a week. In a couple of hours I was halfway through. Different strokes, I guess.

I am also slowly getting through On Many a Bloody Field. My husband, who has already read it, said it was one of those that was interesting and easy to read, but that you couldn't just read it through - you had to put it down once in a while. I find myself very interested but then I start to fall asleep.

I'm reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

I'm also working on Heresy by S. J. Parris that I recieved through the Early Reviews give away.

So far I'm enjoying both of them.

Got distracted while reading The Return of the Native and read The Tale of Terror: A Study of the Gothic Romance by Edith Birkhead instead. It is an interesting analysis about the beginning and progress of the Gothic Romance and of the growth of supernatural fiction in English literature. Now I’ll get back to The Return of the Native.

> 153, msf59, I just found West With the Wind at the thrift store yesterday, can't wait to start it. Who is reading yours?

Finished Superfreakonomics. Meh.

Time for some technical stuff. Wordpress for Dummies up first.

I am starting The Girl Who Played with Fire and A Good Fall today, as I alternate pretty often (usually 3 books going at once).

I adored The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo even though I was sure I'd hate it.

I finished Burning Marguerite by Elizabeth Inness-Brown, a book I'll be thinking about for some time to come. I appreciate a book that takes me somewhere, and the island in this book has become a part of my literary geography, a place I'll return to in my mind whenever I think of Tante or James Jack, or -- perhaps in some ways the most memorable character for me -- the sheriff.

Next up: Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro.

I finished Bonk by Mary Roach this afternoon - very funny, though definitely not for the prudish. Now I'm continuing my reading of The Snow Tourist by Charlie English, and 'Too Much Anger, Too Many Tears', the psychiatric memoir/critique by Janet and Paul Gotkin. Plus I'm FINALLY starting Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South, which has been languishing on my shelves for a whole five years! Hallelujah.

#145.. even better hearing her talk about her book Bonk and there were researchers from one of the sex research schools she mentioned in the audience. She said next up is a book of all the weird, crazy stuff you wanted to know about space but didn't want to ask or know who to ask.

>KAzevedo- You will love West With the Night! I'm halfway through it now! It is read by Julie Harris and she does a great job, especially when she speaks with an African or Indian accent. Perfection!
> BlackSheepDances- I recently finished A Good Fall and really enjoyed it! Hope you do too!
>Molly- I'm jealous about you starting the Munro book! I was planning on picking it from up from Borders last week but balked at the price. I guess I'll have to snag a copy from the library. I'll be watching for your review!

I've finished In A Lonely Place and left a review. It's a wonderful example of noir.
I'm still on Wide Sargasso Sea, which was put aside when I became entranced with the previous book.

#142 - I have Wordpress for Dummies and want to get to it soon, since I'm fairly new at blogging and know I could do much more. Can't wait to hear what you think of it.

This week it is I'll Take You There by Joyce Carol Oates...I'm not very far in, but so far the sorority house is not a place I would like to be...

Reading Dragonfly in Amber. I borrowed Voyager last year from the library. My mom actually gave me some of the paperbacks she was trying to get rid of, and she gave me like 3 or 4 in the series but not the first one. O_o LOL I may have to procure the first one at some point. Anyways, I picked it up and realized its almost 1,000 pages. That makes me nervous!! I don't think I've ever read something so long before!

I am about halfway through Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro which has been sitting on my TBR pile for ages. Very good so far.

I've also been reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with my 6-year-old, but it's slow going because my 3-year-old doesn't have much patience for books with that many words. ;) Previously we read James and the Giant Peach which went over better with both kids. :)

Re-Reading Angie Sage's Magyk, a very good book about....well, it's a little self-explanitory :) Lots of interesting brain food inside though. Great read.

In reference to mamajoan's post, I'm a homeschooler and my family, including a 6 year old boy, loved Bruce Coville's The Monsters ring. It's an entertaining read, but not that long so it holds younger ones attention longer. :) It's part of The Magic Shop series, all the books about children who accidentally stumble upon a magic shop, which pops up in the middle of nowhere sometimes. They are given items every time by the owner of the magic shop, and they have magic powers. For instance, in one, a boy with a lying problem goes into the shop and comes out with what he THINKS is a FAKE skull, which later comes to life, not anything scary, just a wisecracking head, that curses the boy so he can't lie while it's in his possesion. :) The skull is funny, and apparently was supposed to be the skull Shakespear used as a candle holder. :) All the books are entertaining.

I finished War Child which had an odd style, but is something I'm glad I read, and sped right through Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, which wasn't really a much lighter topic. Now I'm reading The Boleyn Wife by Brandy Purdy. I was hoping it would be more about Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, but it is mostly the same old Tudor story told through her eyes. It is well written, but there are a few odd places that pull me out of the time period.

Finished and reviewed Love in Tennessee by John Bowers which I really enjoyed. Though uneven at times, I found most of the writing quite good and worth the effort (especially since it's such a short book).

Now on to Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum which has been on my TBR pile forever! I'm looking forward to it!

Plodding my way through Musicofilia by Oliver Sakcs

I'm reading A year of wonders right now.

As a break from World Without End (so I don't get too far ahead on the group read) I read Elidor by Alan Garner. I don't think it is as good as I remembered but still want to re-read some of his other books. I have now started Rats and Gargoyles (Mary Gentle).

I'm reading Too Big to Fail by Anderw Ross Sorkin. It's great so far.

Even though I promised myself I'd get an early night's sleep my plan failed when I started to read A place beyond Courage obviously I read the whole book in one go and have subsequently only just got out of bed *sigh*
Tonight it'll be back on World without End to start on the next section and then I'll have to read something completely different I'm all medievaled out.

I read Impatient With Desire which is a book by Tamsen Donnor about the Donnor party but fictionalized. It actually stays as close to the truth as possible. The horror of all the children dying and what they had to do to stay alive would make this book a must read. It is graphic but in a reality based way. They are just telling what they had to eat to survive and if that gags you, so be it. I am sure they gagged too, but had no choice if they wanted to survive. In fact they tell how upset one of the children's stomachs was and that they gave her a pipe to smoke to quell her nausea and make her less hungry.

158> You reminded me I was interested in Musicophilia at the bookstore and I forgot to add it to my wishlist. I hope you like it and let us know what you think!

Finished Catching Fire last night. Why has it been sitting on my desk for a month before I got around to reading it?!? I seems appropriate to mention that the Scholastic website has a ticker counting down the hours / minutes until the release of the third book. What happens to Peeta?

Finally finished reading Wicked last night. I thought that deadly dull book would never end. It is hard to credit but the last 100 pages of the book went really fast and were very fun to read. However, it wasn't worth it reading the first 300 pages just to get there. Now I am going to finish Sweet Far Thing, which is a great read. Also am enjoying listening to Forgotten Garden. I really like the narrator and the story is interesting. This is a recorded book I will be passing along to my friends.

Did I hear correctly that Robert B. Parker died?

@167: Yes, see http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/books/view.bg?articleid=1226710

Now reading the second of Wm. Mark Simmons's the Halflife novels, Dead on My Feet. Not enjoying it (still at the beginning) as much as I enjoyed the first one but hoping it gets better as I go along.

#166 - benitastrnad - I recently listened to The House at Riverton by the same author and narrator, Caroline Lee, and I loved her. I'm looking forward to listening to The Forgotten Garden soon, I have it coming up on my TBL (to be listened) list!

Reading Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler. Very fast read, yet somehow minimally engaging characters. I almost dislike them.

Added "The Good Old Boys" by Elmer Kelton to my currently reading list. Alternating it with "The Once And Future King" by T.H. White and "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak

Finished and reviewed Sea of Poppies. Great read! Now I'm on to a book recommended by a friend, Blame.

>171 rubberstamper: I enjoyed Noah's Compass.

I have just finished rereading Black Hearts in Battersea and am speeding through Talking about Jane Austen in Baghdad.

Am also starting to read:
Dublin Noir, an anthology of short stories edited by Ken Bruen
Besotted by Joe Treasure, which is a book I'm going to review
Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant, a historical novel which I heard some of serialised on Woman's Hour last year and have been wanting to read, then it's been chosen for the TV Book Club and was new in paperback and on special offer - how could I resist?

I'm still on a medieval stint with Pagan's Vows which I started a little earlier and should no doubt finish tonight.

I'm continuing my own personal Neil Gaiman festival. Currently, I'm reading Stardust and loving it.

Continuing on LT group reads for Les Miserables, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and Anna Karenina. Great mixture!

Karen

#166> you might enjoy Wicked the musical. It moves quickly and is a fabulous production.

I've just started Charming Billy by Alice McDermott.

I gave up on The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy today for the second and absolutely the last time. I hate throwing in the towel with books, but life's too short for Sterne.

I just started The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce, Vol 1: The World of Horror. Bierce really knows how to tell a great ghost story with a minimum of verbiage. He also has a wicked sense of humor, so there's some good black comedy.

Finished In the Fall by Jeffrey Lent. Up next Every Boy's Got One by Meg Cabot. Need something light before starting Child 44 which is getting talked about a lot right now.

#177 hemlokgang

Several of my friends and relatives read Wicked and loved it. But just as many didn't like the book. However, out of those who read the book and saw the musical everybody said the musical was great. One erudite person told me that she thought the story was a better musical than a book. This lead us into a discussion of how books translate into movies, plays, and musicals. She thought that Wicked might just be one of those rare books that translates into another format in a better form than its original. She also thought that the popularity of the musical was feeding the continued popularity of the book and its sequels. Since I haven't seen the musical I can't address the translation issue, but I do know that I won't read another of these books until I am forced to do so by the tyranny of the book discussion group! (if there is such a thing as the tyranny of the group.)

#182: I agree benitastrnad. The musical "Wicked" is highly entertaining and is an adaptation - in the loosest sense of the word - of the book. It's one of the rare instances of the script improving on the original book. The idea of the good and wicked witches meeting in their youth comes directly from the book but the ensuing story is vastly different and much more entertaining and hopeful. The musical also resonates with young girls, who see Elphaba as the embodiment of a girl who rises above the persecution of her peers (because of her green skin) with intelligence and courage.

I'm really enjoying Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. We finished Magic by the Lake last night, and are now reading The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson aloud.

Magic By the Lake! Oh, how I love Edward Eager! Read them all as a child, them read them all again to my daughter when she was growing up.

#174 I would be interested to hear what you think of Dublin Noir. I read it and reviewed it a couple of years ago.

Just started the new-ish Lincoln Rhyme novel, The Broken Window by Jeffery Deaver

I finished ArchEnemy late last night and am continuing to read Crime and Punishment. Also listening to Emma and slowly reading through The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis Vol. 1.

Actually, since these three books are going to be kept going in the background for some time, I think I'll only post "new" reads until I finish those so I don't keep saying the same thing every week. :-)

Just finished Far From the Madding Crowd for one LT Group Read and I am beginning The Pickwick Papers for another! I continue reading The Magnetist's Fifth Winter.

I finally finished Islands Apart yesterday and finished a reread of Nim's Island with Maggie, my youngest the night before that. Now I'm about 10 or so pages into The Blue Notebook and I'm sickened and hooked and compelled to read on, all at the same time.

I'm getting close to finishing The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill. It's an excellent book.

I'm in the middle of Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell for my bookclub's February meeting. I am enjoying it too.

The problem is that most times when I go to the thrift store and find something, it doesn't matter what I'm reading, I have to put that down to start what I just bought. I could avoid the thrift store, but what if I missed out on the perfect book?

#191 karenmarie I read The Various Haunts of Men some time ago and wasn't that impressed by it, but I see it got really good reviews here. I would be impressed what you finally think about the book.

I finished and reviewed Keeper of Secrets... Translations of an Incident from the Member Giveaways. It's in my Homeless Reviews thread in post #32.

edited/add link

>185 theaelizabet:, we're really enjoying the Edward Eager books, too! I think my girls are the perfect age to read them and hear them.

>191 karenmarie: karenmarie - I'm glad to hear you like the Susan Hill book. I bought it because I thought it looked interesting but didn't know too much about it.

Have finished Catalyst McCaffrey - book where the main characters are cats - in space (Richard you may want to skip this one)

and now I can get this library books back to the library - but that may not happen until Monday (two days before it is actually due - late for me!)

*choo*

Thagks, k-bob, I will

I'm reading Middlesex on the bus, and the first volume of Charles le téméraire (hardcover, over 600 pages) at home. I was so into Charles le temeraire that it kinda pained me that it wasn't portable enough to take onto the bus, but Middlesex has equally drawn me in and I am enjoying them both. Since I won't be busing on the weekend, Charles will probably get my attention.

I just finished Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Not sure what will be next but I will probably finish Dirty Little Angels by Chris Tusa because I got it in the last member giveaway.

New thread for the week is up now. Happy birthday to Bobby.