What are you reading in February 2010?

Thought I'd add the year, just so people who are Googling, or using LT's own not-so-great search feature, will end up with the correct thread. (Hopefully.)

I decided to read one book each by the authors who passed away last week. I am about 30 pages into Salinger's Franny and Zooey and then I have The People's History of the United States ready to launch.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through The Magicians and Mrs Quent. It's an interesting mix of Pride and Prejudice and fantasy. So far, it's pretty good.

Just (10 minutes ago) finished Mortal Danger by Ann Rule.

In the middle of Heaven to Betsy by Maud Hart Lovelace.

I just started reading Wicked. It's pretty good so far.

2> I read The Magicians and Mrs Quent a while back - I liked it. It turns from P&P into Jane Eyre later in the book :)

I'm reading Spirit Lens by Carol Berg. Good so far.

I'm almost done with The Graveyard Book. I always enjoy Gaiman, even though he is hardly original.

I think I'll go back and finish Chronic City, which was one of the casualties during my "can't get into anything" phase around the winter solstice.

I just finished World Without End (I started it two years ago and set it aside. I don't know what I will starting next.

I'm reading Relentless by Dean Koontz. Creepy!

I'm still inching my way through The Civil War: Fort Sumter to Perryville by Shelby Foote. It's excellent, but by no means a fast read.

I'm reading a young adult novel called Before I Die and I'm also reading an Alice Sebold book. That's it for now!

I'm almost finished volume 2 of The Civil War:A Narrative.
jennieg, my fellow Foote-r...how are you enjoying it so far? I'm learning a lot, slowly. Sometimes I think he tried to account for every second of those four years!

He's an excellent writer. I find it very exciting often. I have a vague idea that the South looked like winning for the first year or two, but beyond that my knowledge is shaky, so I'm learning a lot.

My current pile of reads:

-Mary Magdalene by Bruce Chilton (from my pile of unread books)
-1001 Arabian Nights (banned books list)
-The Complete Kama Sutra (also from the banned books list)
-Modern English Drama (library book)
-Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by Frank Baum (NEH Children's Classics list)
-John Adams by David McCullough (Presidential Challenge)
-Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl (NEH list + read-aloud-to-family book)

Currently still trying to finish 'Dr Zhivago'. It's very interesting - taking me so long because it's a long book and I haven't got as much time to read as I'd like. Finding it interesting that the big love story the movie goes on about isn't really that big a part of the book.

I'm on page 40 of The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway and am really enjoying it. Only another 550 pages to go.

I started last night The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and I'm nearly 200 pages in I think and I'm hoping that it's going to kick up a notch or two as I found bits of the first part rather tedious (lengthy chapters on Swedish Politics is just not my thing). So hopefully what I read tonight will be much more gripping.

I'm re-reading Clash of Kings (perhaps a third of the way through it) and reading the second Codex Alera, Academ's Fury.

Hard to believe a Jim Butcher book is nearly as long as a GRRM book, argh. Next time I'll try for one short one and one long one rather than two tomes...

I just started Black Ships.

Just started Coastliners by Joanne Harris. I've only read the 5 page prologue so far but I am already hooked:-)

Ah, calm, I have enjoyed her books greatly. (Except for maybe one...) I own Coastliners, but haven't gotten to it yet. Keep us informed about it, please.

In the middle of The Adventures of Sayf Ben Dhi Yazan for one of my courses this semester. After that I'll take a short (short!) break from coursebooks to read something else and it'll be back into the fray with me!

Textbooks aside, I'm trying to stick with somewhat lighter reading: I started The Satanic Nurses last week, and last night in class another student just handed me The Eyre Affair. Hurrah for unexpected books to read!

Finished up The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which I liked very much, and Odd and the Frost Giants which I thought was so-so. Now I'm settling into a reread of The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay (whose new book is being released March 30. Woohoo!)

I'm reading Nation by Terry Pratchett and 59 Seconds by Richard Wiseman.

I'm starting a travel book , Round Ireland With A Fridge .

Reading Mammoth book of Historical Whodonits which was one of my SantaThing gifts. I am enjoying very much. 8^)

curse of chalion following Morphidae's recommendation last month. Really enjoying this, it is indeed much better than Hallowed Hunt which I also enjoyed.

I'm heading into week 2 of reading Blood and Iron by Elizabeth Bear. For someone who usually blows through books in a day or two I really seem to be stymied on this one. It's not that I don't like it, it just doesn't call to me to keep at it, so I keep reading all sorts of other things (mainly manga).

I guess I'm too easily distracted.

#28 - "it just doesn't call to me to keep at it"

I have the same issue, Jenson, and more often than I would like. I think this is worthy of a new thread.

Cool! Paladin of Souls is halfway between - not as good as Curse, not as bad as Hunt.

Clamairy - I think a "books that call to me all the time, and books that do not call to me, even tho I mean to read them..." thread might be great

I do not know exactly how to word it, but I think a thread that's just books that don't call to me...well, that is an infinite set..yes?

hmmm. I liked Hallowed Hunt better than either Paladin of Souls or Curse of Chalion. To each her/his own certainly.

I liked Curse better than Paladin, haven't read Hallowed Hunt yet. These books rate right up there with Robin Hobb to my mind.

I couldn't stay with Blood & Iron, either. I had no idea what was going on, but I didn't get very far.

God I am loving Chronic City. People who were expecting another Fortress of Solitude should have their attitudes adjusted. This one is lighter, what's wrong with that?

I'm listening to Paladin and I must confess if I were reading it, I'd probably have given up. It takes a long time for much to happen.

#31 - I don't know how to word that second category clearly enough to give it its own thread yet, maggie. LOL :oD

Understoood. I like the thread you did start, here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/83949#1766617

#36 - Gracias.

So far i've read:
One Second After

I'm currently working on The Best of C.L. Moore

Unfortunately I've sort of abandoned Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon in favor of helpful type stuff to get me through the newborn and baby time going on currently in my house. So far the most useful has been Juggling Twins by Meghan Regan-Loomis. I think I'm liking it mostly because she is a teacher like me (although high school and I'm elementary), and had 5 year old daughter when her identical twin boys came along, which is exactly my situation! She has a *great* sense of humor too! I'm also diving back in to my On Becoming Baby wise Book I book by Gary Ezzo from my daughter's time, also helpful but not as specifically since it focuses more on singleton babes and not my multiples.

One day I'll get back to real reading again!

I finished Black Ships, which I heard about first here on LT and absolutely loved! All about Aeneas and the founding of Rome, but much, much more. Today I started In the Woods - French which I am not loving, but I haven't decided to give up just yet. We'll see.

I'm currently at the castle of Hayholt, King John just passed away. People are gathering from all over the nation of Osten Ard to mourn his passing in Tad Williams The Dragonbone Chair. This is my second attempt at getting through this book. I tried reading it many years ago and ended up putting it down 3/4 of the way through. I decided to reread this book to determine whether its time for it to have a new home. Its a slow read so far I hope the story line picks soon.

I'm reading Let's Hear it For the Girls - 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14.

I am also juggling multiple coincidences in Lost in a Good Book.

Finished off Franny and Zooey last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Will be starting A People's History of the United States in a few minutes. :o)

I'm a Bujold fan, but I didn't like Paladin of Souls or Curse of Chalion much, and for me Hallowed Hunt came in below those two.

I finished Outlander, which was quite a different read for me and a good one, and Towards Zero, a re-read of an Agatha Christie. I'm a little over half-way through The Knife of Never Letting Go and Witchblade Compendium Volume 2.

Today I started reading my french copy of The Pawn of Prophecy partly cos it's a good way to practice my reading and partly for the enjoyment factor. I know they're not the greatest fantasy books out there but I do strangely like Eddings' Belgariad series.
Also nearly finished The Girl who kicked the Hornet's Nest I've got one section of that to go so I'll have finally finished a book in February.

I am reading Blackout by Connie Willis and am loving it.

I'm winding up what developed into a "Hoban Marathon." For my birthday I had gotten five of his books. Not yet finished reading them. Today is Hoban's birthday. Fans (especially in England) make a big deal of this. I'll try to do my part here ~~~ if you have "Frances books" in your kiddy corner, haul one out and share it. OR read a chapter or two of any of the grown-up novels!

Finished The Knife of Never Letting Go, which had me racing through the pages, and started When the Game was Ours and Passenger to Frankfurt.

Finished Chronic City. Loved it. Not sure what to read next, might be Dragon Keeper, might be Children of Men, might be Ubik.

Finally decided not to continue reading Memoirs of Cleopatra and listening to The Road. I realized how much I was dreading picking them up again after I'd put them aside for a bit.

Still reading, and loving, The Summer Tree and I've started listening to The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant.

I just finished The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. I absolutely loved it. I can't recommend it enough.

Still reading The People's History of the United States and I am getting a bit depressed. I might start making that my bedtime only read, and pick up something more cheerful for the day time. :o/

oh, clam, don't let it give you nightmares

Am reading The Fur Hat by Vladimir Vojnovitsj in parallel with The Gone-Away World by Nick harkaway.

Just cataloguing my books, so I thought I'd start at the beginning and work my way through (since there are some I haven't read in a decade or two). Just finished Joan Aiken's Wolves of Willoughby Chase and started on Lloyd Alexander's The Book of Three. Am also reading The Magicians, which I took out of the library.

I settled in on Dragon Keeper. It's so cool being back in the realm of the Elderlings.

Oh humouress, I love The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, it got me hooked on Joan Aiken. It's a great YA story isn't it?

I'm reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan at the moment, actually almost finished it. All about a friendship in 19C China, a unique language between women, footbinding, arranged marriage. Very good. I think I'll be finished it today and then I'm going to start Voyageurs, about the war of 1812 between Canada and the USA and a brother looking for his sister in the wilds of the "uncharted territories"

adding to >55 humouress: and >57 katylit: ~~~Three cheers for Joan Aiken and Lloyd Alexander!! If you haven't read these you MUST!!

>57 katylit: Katylit, have you read Native Tongue by Suzette Haden-Elgin? Also about a secret language among women and how it gradually changes a male dominated society. (SF) One of my all time favorites.

Just finished Academ's Fury and will now start The Difference Engine

Really enjoyed Academ's Fury. Will have to move the follow on books up in the TBR pile!

#52 - No, not nightmares. Just lots to mull over while dozing.

I've just started The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I'm also reading book 2 of Herodotus's The Histories.

I've finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog and snuck in Stitches, a graphic memoire by illustrator David Small. Both excellent.

A student loaned me Good Omens which is hard for me to read because of the font used. not astigmatism-friendly.

#62 - calm - I loved The Shadow of the Wind! I hope you like it.

I just finished The Help and may turn right around and reread it. I loved it! I'm doing a little reading for my classes now and debating on what to start next for pleasure.

Believe it or not...Christian Fiction. Never in a million years would I have picked up a book in that genre, but, I just finished Deeanne Gist's a Bride in the Bargain. Loved it!

#16 LadyViolet - I'm so jealous of your having The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest! It's not due to be published here in the US until May 25th. I will probably break down and just order it - I've been trying to not buy new books this year, but that will be an exception, I think.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through The Little friend byDonna Tartt and really enjoying it.

When I finish that, I'll be picking up The Conjurer's Bird by Martin Davies for my March Bookclub read.

#59 I haven't heard of Native Tongue KAzevedo, but now that you've mentioned it I've added it to my wish list, it sounds really good! Thanks :-) Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is great, the descriptions of foot binding had me exclaiming out loud.

> 67, Katylit, there are sequels if you like it. Let me know when you read it.

Just finished The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Now I'll have to look for the 2nd book!

It was in the list of January Early Reviewers but, alas, I was not one of the lucky chosen.

Me neither, but it sounds like it's a good follow up.

Hey all, long-time no-post around here for me. Finished Shakespeare's Landlord while we were snowed in here in Md. this week. It's the first in a series by Charlaine Harris (author of the Stookie Stackhouse books).

72 - How does it compare? As much as I like the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries, the blurbs her other fiction didn't really interest me much.

I just started Dog On It and am liking it more than I thought I would

#68, will do!

#69 & 70, cmbohn & mamzel, I enjoyed The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie so much I got copies for both of my sisters for Christmas. I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel. Flavia is such a wonderful character isn't she?

*waves at katylit*
Good to see you!
:o)

Since books and I aren't getting along right now, my February reading is ESPN's Bottom Line, Twitter, and crochet patterns.

I hope books apologize and come back home soon. I miss them.

73 -- the Lily Bard series doesn't have the fantasy component (at least not in the first one), but the storyline was similar (female character with a quirk making her way in an average town until she becomes embroiled in a mystery) -- you may enjoy it if you liked the Stackhouse books!

im haveing trouble finding something to read
any ideas ......i like starwars and dragonlance
so thats soomething but i dont want to read them again

*waves back at clam* :-D

Struggling my way through A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini as it's been on loan from a friend in England for almost a year now. Also reading Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult which is much more to my liking!

i could honestly use some help Earth blood was good any one know anything else by james alexander or any {starwars books i may not have read

>74 MadBluebird: I loved Dog On It and the sequel Thereby Hangs a Tail is waiting for me to read. What a wonderful pair of sleuths.

of course i could read earth blood again but i love garth nix especialy the seventh tower but i could realy use sugestions

I finished Wicked by Maguire. *makes disgusting gagging noises*

I started The Yearling by Marjorie Rawlings.

79 & 84 - I really liked The Hunger Games and the sequel. Just amazing. And I loved Unwind. Both are dystopian fiction, sort of geared towards teens, but as an adult, I loved them. There's another thread on here about Terry Pratchett and his Discworld books. He is my very favorite author, consistently good.

I am reading A Needle in the Hand of God. I got interested in the Bayeaux Tapestry after reading 1066, and now I want to read The Song of Roland after reading this one!

I am hoping to finish Danny Birts second book Beginning: Birt (only way to get the right one to touchstone), sometime later this week. I have to say it is certainly going much faster than the first book. I've been enjoying it quite a bit. I'll post a review after I finish.

Just finished Captain's Fury after rereading the first four Codex Alera books of Jim Butcher. Now off to Princeps' Fury.

Something funny going on with the Touchstones...

#87 I do want to get around to trying those they sounded fun.

I finihsed paladin of souls which was definetly the least best of the three - not bad, but without the joy of the other two, and then had a week off to catch up on my subscription reading - the beginning of the month always delivers too many magazines.

Now I'm onto a re-read of mistborn because I've bought the sequel.

@84 lovemademe
I have read Star Wars, but not the others you have mentioned. You have some classics in your catalog, but have you read Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter? You might also try Lois McMaster Bujold.

The Green Dragon group has voted on a list of fantasy book and Morphidae created a member library with all those books 1001Fantasy profile. There is also an essential SF books topic. You could also check out other topics from the Science Fiction Fans group, although you must join the group to post in their threads.

89 > The 1st 1/2 of the first book is really just a setup for the rest of the series, Danny warns it's not a 'normal' fantasy read and he is right, though I have found them worth the read so far.

@85 Morphy, here's a PGGB to get that taste out of your mouth. I tried Wicked twice and gave up. Is The Yearling a comfort read for you? 'Cause I would have picked something a little happier as a chaser...

no i havent read any harry poter
I didnt like them as a kid got two chapters in and quit

I started reading Harry Potter with The Prisoner of Azkaban after seeing the first two movies and think it made a big difference. When I went back and read the first two I didn't find them nearly as interesting as book three on.

I'm currently reading Dust by Elizabeth Bear and am liking it a bit better so far than Blood and Iron.

oh

This is my first time reading The Yearling. It's due back at the library soon. At least I like the characters in this one.

I started Assassin's Apprentice last night. Really good! I was tempted to stay up and finish it, but I really needed my sleep. So I'm about halfway done.

what is that book like cmbohn

It's a fantasy about a boy who is a royal bastard and is taken to the castle to learn from various masters. Shanra and WillSteed are the ones who told me about it. It's the first in a series, so I'm excited to find one that I like, because there will be plenty more to read!

I have had to put aside Howard Zinn's book so I can read The Grave Tattoo for my Library book club. It's okay so far. Not great.

99 - A lot more to read! Three big volumes to start, two follow-up trilogies and a third on the way.

ETA What I'm reading: I'm reading The Genius Wars (Catherine Jinks' latest) and The Gold Falcon by Katherine Kerr (in my re-read leading up to her latest one).

Finished The Best of C.L. Moore, it was a really fun book. I liked it so much, that I started another of hers Black God's Kiss.

I'm also back to The Bloody Crown of Conan, where I want to finish the Hour of the Dragon.

and, for my lunch time book, i've begun This Crooked Way.

I'm happily, happily listening to my audio version of Neverwhere on my way to work and back. That man, Gaiman, is a wonderful reader!

>74 MadBluebird: and 83 - Thereby Hangs a Tail was just as fun as Dog on It!

I'm reading Sarah Waters' Fingersmith and just love it. Yesterday I finished American On Purpose by Craig Ferguson. It was really a wonderful memoir.

LOTS of Russell Hoban (because I got several for birthday) and "One Amazing Thing" by Chitra Divacaruni (went to her reading last week.) When/if she is near you, do go! She is lovely, gracious, and a splendid author. (Tell her a fan from Danville CA sent you.)

I am reading Mrs. Mike, which looks like being another great book. I must be on a roll!

I'm finishing The Likeness but only because I want to see how the author gets herself out of this one. The improbability factor is too high for my taste.

Currently reading Who owns the world, it sounded a lot more interesting than it is turning out to be. I think the biggest problem is the author has an agenda, to try to spread land ownership evenly among the populace.

When I need a break from the Shelby Foote Civil War trilogy, I've been "bathroom reading" Selections from Science Fiction Thinking Machines.

In keeping with my library/history/library history reading jag of late, I'm starting A History of Reading tonight. Am also into Bozo Sapiens and enjoying it tremendously.

Probably, I will begin The Library: An Illustrated History next week.

And, there's always Volume one of The Muqaddimah just taunting me from the shelf. Blasted dense history...

Much joy to all in your reading!

I've gotten to reading Bellweather by Connie Willis. This woman is fabulous! I love her writing.

I'm reading Deer Hunting with Jesus while waiting for an inter-library loan book to show up. Then I'll go back to my buddy Shelby Foote.

Finished up Mary Magdalene: A Biography and am now moving on to The Boomerang Clue.

I resisted for a while and succumbed to buying the first Sookie Stackhouse book, Dead Until Dark and I could kick myself for not buying a set of them I saw in a used book store. Now I have a fun hunt for the rest of them.

I just finished Shards of Honor, which won't touchstone for some reason. It's my first Lois McMaster Bujold. I enjoyed it, but it was a lot more romance than it was sci-fi, IMO.

I've just started on The Three Musketeers . Really looking forward to this classic . Always enjoyed the many film versions .

I read a book! Just finished the first part of Kristin Lavransdatter.

Just started A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay... now I want to learn more about Lindsay himself.

#117 - Congrats!

I have just reread 8 of the 10 Foreigner books. Started some weeks ago when I had a headache and couldn't get my brain enough together and needed some comfort reading, and one lead to the other...

Next in line will be Green Mars, which is what I SHOULD had started, all those weeks ago. After that it's a choice between Consider Phlebas and Baudolino, the latter which I got on recommendation from a colleague.

#117 - YAY! :oD I'd join you, but it looks a bit intimidating for me right now!

#108 - That sounds interesting, readafew.

#110 - So does that first one you mentioned, WaxPoetic.

Love the fact that more than one person is reading Shelby Foote!!!

I'm just about finished with The Bridge of San Luis Rey, which is another one of the Pulitzer winners that I own but hadn't managed to read yet. I'm enjoying it, even if I'm not sure where he''s going with it. Didn't look up anything about it ahead of time.

117,120

Thanks guys, I feel like I climbed a mountain and survived without losing too many toes to frostbite. Seems silly, but me not being able to read was torture.

it looks a bit intimidating for me right now
Not at all! I've only read the first volume but it's a lot like Gone With the Wind, with nuns and snow and more sex. And, I'm reading the old translation which I've seen a lot of hate for but it's not causing me any grief.

#121 - What's the date published on that edition?

Mine is the 'Nobel Prize' edition, published in 1929.
It's in pretty sad shape. :o/

These are 1987 editions from the liberry. Same translation though (Archer). A newer translation wasn't put out until 2005 (Nunnally).

Oh, did you get yours in 'parts?'

All the library had was the 3 volume set: The Bridal Wreath - The Mistress of Husaby - The Cross

I have the 2005 Penguin edition on all my wishlists because I know when I'm done I'll be wanting to compare the two translations. You can read the intro to the new edition on Google Books.

Nice! Okay, I am going to give that book a shot this year. As dawg is my witness!

Hooray for peer pressure!

I tried to read them once, but didn't get far. My Norwegian grandmother is turning over in her grave.

I have vowed to give them another try, but I'm on book buying moratorium. They aren't public domain, are they?

I don't think so. Google only gives a limited preview and Project Gutenberg doesn't seem to have it.

Thanks. I would have checked myself, but Project Gutenberg is blocked here at work. I guess court employees are a literate bunch. (Although, they haven't blocked LT yet, thank god.)

#130 - Your library system doesn't have eBooks that you can 'return' when you are done?

#131 Actually, there is a site like that. He's got lots of great books on there, only lets you "borrow" a few books at a time (he keeps your IP address on file) and you agree to delete all copies of the book from your devices within 2 weeks. Just like a library.

I've read a few books that way. And yes, I deleted them. And no, I don't see a problem. I usually buy books so the authors can get paid, but there are a few titles that haven't been posted as eBooks any other way. If the book was good, I can still buy the paperback so the author gets paid, something which regular library patrons don't seem compelled to do. I wonder why people think it's ok to borrow a physical book, but not just the content?

Wait, there are people who have an issue with someone borrowing eBooks? Probably the same people who would have problems with me borrowing audio files from the library as well. Sheesh.

I've just finished up Two Medieval Outlaws which was quite a lot of fun. I've also read the Alliterative Morte Arthure and am about to dig into the Stanzaic Le Morte Arthur (and something lighter before I OD on medieval literature translations).

#133 I dunno, maybe because since you can't actually "return" it, it doesn't seem like borrowing, just "stealing." I hear people getting all up in arms about "breaking DRM" as if that's a sin, too. If I paid for a legitimate copy of an eBook prepared for a different platform, why should I feel like a criminal for making it readable on my device? What the hell is the difference? Except to amazon, that is.

I think technically DRM causes an illegal monopoly but we all know who has the money.

Finished off the Thornton Wilder book and I think I'm going to start The Birth House. (Which was recommended by katylit at some point last year.)

I started The Man in the Balcony, but it was a little too dark and messed up for me right now.

I've finished Bellwether (which was fantastic~!) and I'm just about finished The Gold Falcon, which means that The Spirit Stone is up next.

Over at the "Group Reads Sci-Fi" group, we are currently in the middle of the process for nominating our next book for the SF group read. People have voted for books they would like for the next group read, and now everyone in the group has the chance to vote for one of the short-listed books, with the top five books going to an online poll, the winner of which is the next book we all read and discuss.

If you have not yet joined the group, feel free to join in here:

http://www.librarything.com/groups/groupreadsscifi

There are also a variety of books which have already been discussed by our members, so feel free to join in any of the discussions of previous books, if you are interested.

After finishing Gang Leader for a Day, a memorable true story about a sociology student given an insider's view of a Chicago gang, and Along for the Ride, a well done YA novel about a teenage girl's transformation over the summer before college, I'm starting Yellowthread Street, a mystery recommended on LT, and Murder in the Marais, which looks good and is set in the area where my wife and I rented a flat last summer.

Just finished up Boneshaker (steampunk with zombies!) and The Anubis Gates while on various planes for a business trip. Probably going to pick up To Hell on a Fast Horse, Mark Gardner's new dual biography of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett.

Stayed up until 2 am reading part two of Kristin Lavransdatter: The Mistress of Husaby.

#143 - I guess that means you're enjoying it. Yay!

Books by Chitra Divacaruni and by Russell Hoban. ** Was at a reading by Chitra for her new book, "One Amazing Thing." Got a big batch of Hoban for birthday, most for a penny plus postage!!

I finished She Walks These Hills. Really good. Not quite what I expected from the cover "Haunting Terror and Suspense." It was suspenseful and haunting, but I wouldn't have said terrifying at all. Very well done.

I'm reading Wicked which came in this two-fer leather hardcover edition for the same price (perhaps less than, considering the price of even paperbacks in Australia) as getting the two books separately. I'm enjoying it, it seems to be to Wizard of Oz what that 90s Phantom novel was to The Phantom of the Opera.

I also got The Rocketeer which was pretty fun pulpy adventure. It was like an American 1940s version of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in feel, except without other people's fictional characters. The main dude has a girlfriend who looks like Betty Page, which makes sense since the artist/writer was dear friends with Betty Page in her final years.

Started part three of Kristin Lavransdatter on Saturday - The Cross.

Breezed through agent to the stars over the weekend. Surprisingly funny, as it's not really a style I'd normally enjoy. I might look up his normal books.

Started furies of calderon as a re-read now that I have another in the series.

Just finished Cursor's Fury and am now compelled to plunge into Captain's Fury. What a great series!

Must..not..buy..Sookie..Stackhouse..books...
Oh heck! Who am I fooling? Read the first one and have collected most of the rest of the series. I'm hooked. Sookie is a great heroine and Vampire Bill is a true Southern gentleman (he's had lots of practice).

I'll confess: I am reading Almost French rather than trying to get Wolf Hall completed before the book group. I've got 300 pages to read in 2 weeks and I know for some of you that is a piece of cake; but for me - it'll be a stretch. I like Almost French as it is light and fun loving. I am also listening to The Gril With The Dragon Tattoo on audio books whilst driving to and fro. I am enjoying that more than I imagined I would.

Needing comfort literature, I picked up Pigs Have Wings by P.G. Wodehouse. Dumped Dragon Hunter, which should have been a magazine article.

Read 1065 pages this month. Almost feel like a human again. (compare with 481 pages for December and January combined)

Listening to Something Wicked This Way Comes and I'm on disc 2 of 7. I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish it. If I wanted pages of metaphor and poetry to describe every moment/breath/sound/etc., I would have picked up a poetry book. I want STORY dammit.

Just finished The Complete Kama Sutra off of my Banned Books reading list. Now on to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer...

>156 scaifea: As they used to say on Monty Python, "...and now for something completely different..."

Lol - you've got that right!

a present for karenmarie (she knows why):

Let me just also mention there is so much to learn from that photo: notice how far in front of his body he's taking the ball. His eyes are glued to the ball. His wrist is just about to turn to put topspin on it. Perfect balance. And his hair looks fabulous.

Greatest player ever, people!

Now back to your regularly scheduled book talk.

um, who is it?

lg - you are the best!

My heart throb. I'm still excited abut the Australian Open.

He had to pull out of Dubai with a "lung infection" - hope it's just a blip in a super year.

jennieg - that gorgeous hunk in #159 is none other than Roger Federer and, as lg says, the greatest player EVER, people!

lg knows how much RF means to me.

And, once again, back to your regularly scheduled book talk.

oh, but this is sooooo much more fun! Thanks for the bit by bit commentary, LG, which made the picture so much better for me who knows nothing about tennis or Mr Federer, the handsome guy.

I am currently reading Terminal Neglect and I am finding it another dud. I am really hoping my next book Last Snow is better.

Thanks, karenmarie. My ignorance of sports (except the Chicago Cubs) is pretty much total.

You're welcome, jennieg. My knowledge of the Cubs is a play I went to one time in the Los Angeles area, called Bleacher Bums, about Cubs fans. :)

It's all true, karenmarie.

I just started The Civil War: Fredericksburg to Meridian by Shelby Foote, the latest in my Books Off the Shelf Challenge.

I'm struggling through The Trouble with Physics. My trouble is - I'm lost! The writing is clear enough; it's ideas I'm struggling with.

Maybe they should have called the book The Trouble with The Trouble with Physics? ;-)

Maybe if you set the book aside and let the information stew in your head for a while and come back to it things would make more sense.

PM me if you want to ask some questions. I'll do what I can. Multiverse and string theory aren't my field, but I've poked into 'em a bit.

I'm torn between two books at the moment, Voyageurs: A Novel by Margaret Elphinstone which I'd started just before receiving The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley, my latest ER book and the sequel to The Sweetness At the Bottom of the Pie. Voyageurs is really good, but I couldn't resist dipping into Hangman's Bag when it arrived and naturally it's really good too. So I'm sort of reading both of them, but also getting a little distracted by the Olympics and kinda having problems concentrating anyways by RL in general at the moment. So I'm not making a lot of progress.

I just finished reading Almost French which I completely enjoyed. It is a "memoir" (I guess) accounting a young woman's one week move to Paris at the invitation of a young man, which then turned into years in Paris, and being married to the young man. As an Australian she has very interesting commentary on Paris and its interesting, and occasionally infuriating, citizens. I really appreciated her reflections on learning how to live in an entirely different culture with a new language.

Unfortunately, it kept me away from Wolf Hall which I am still working my way through.

I am reading Nick Harkaway's The Gone-Away World. It is engrossing and has some very clever elements. There is a humerous explanation of how a nation's internal security organisation works. Seek ye the meaning of, "Stat fill".

Picked up The Children's Blizzard (story of the Jan. 12, 1888 blizzard that swept over the Plains) off one of my TBR shelves last night. Only a couple of pages in, but so far I like the author's writing style, storytelling with cold hard facts sprinkled in where appropriate.

Finally finished Dragon Keeper and it was ok, I guess. The story really didn't get going until the last 3rd and it ends on kind of a cliffhanger and the second book isn't due out til May. But it was diverting enough. The thing is, most of the world building was already done in previous books, so it needed some a really great story or exceptional characters to give it a wow factor. Didn't really have either, imo. Although the last chapter did make me want to read on.

(Hmmm, maybe that's my review. I guess I'll paste it in there.)

I'm now reading Ubik by Philip K. Dick. I've never read him before. Clunky writing style, in the manner of much late '60s scifi, but really compelling ideas. Enjoying it.

Thanks for the encouragement, mamzel and drneutron, but I finally gave up the fight. I'm fine with physics up till about Einstein, and even that is a bit tough, but this lost me. The writing was entertaining and pretty clear, but the concepts were mind-boggling. It would have helped if he had included a glossary of all those weird terms - Higgs boson, lepton, etc - and maybe a timeline of physicists and their discoveries, so I could reference all the names. But really, I just don't understand this string theory stuff, and the more I think about it, the more my brain hurts.

175 - @Littlegeek - The next one (Dragon Haven) starts sale at the Book Depository next week. I pre-ordered for about 10 pounds (it was Au$17).

#177 Ooh, I wonder if I can get an eBook that is readable on my Kindle. It's not out in the US til May.

You might have to go to amazon.co.uk for that one. They might be able to connect to your kindle.

I am reading a really not-very-good book right now. My sister gave me Charmed: The Book of Three as a gag gift a year or two ago (it had been donated to one of her libraries) and it's been sitting on my tbr shelf ever since. I finally picked it up this week and I didn't expect it to be good, but I also didn't expect it to be quite so badly written and so completely uninformative. It's basically stuff pulled word-for-word from the show, that's it. I'm going to keep reading it in hopes that there is some interesting stuff at some point, but I'm not sure how much more I can take. Sigh.

Today I finished Captain's Fury and will plunge on into Princep's Fury later. I'm beginning to panic. What to read after Codex Alera!

I began The Wee Musketeers yesterday, it's cute so far, but I'm glad the author set it in the '60s, most eleven year-olds today wouldn't go in for dressing up and playing Musketeers. Although, I think that was possibly the last year my son did anything like that.

I found a nice read for the bathtub and for a few minutes in the evening before falling to sleep, one which has short chapters and I can put it down yet it is nice.

Listening Is an Act of Love is the StoryCorps Project book and each chapter is a brief discussion between two regular people about life and history.

Finished The Children's Blizzard last night; made me want to read The Long Winter again even though they are about two different historical weather events. I'm also going to fire up my genealogy program to see if any of my homesteading ancestors were in the Dakotas during the 1888 blizzard. I have a suspicion they were still in Alberta, Canada though.

I further put off reading Green Mars (I have started it, but...) - now reading Oxford Shakespeare: Macbeth, instead. Somehow it fits well in context of my Foreigner marathon ;-)

Just finished Why Didn't They Ask Evans?. So good, I couldn't read it fast enough! Best Christie I've read so far.

Started Mock Stars: Indie Comedy and the Dangerously Funny to coincide with the start of Season Cinco of Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! on adultswim tonight.

I am enjoying "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" : Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard P. Feynman. Yes, THAT Feynman. It's a rambling 'as told to' style book, but I am loving it. :o)

#188 - I colleague just recommended it, it seemed very fun and I put it on my To Buy IMMEDIATELY list!
He had it with him to work and read parts of it... Maybe a 'bio' in my style ;-)

I listened to it on tape last year, ready by Feynman himself. It was fun, but had a few risque parts which made it a little tricky to listen to with the kids in the car. I loved learning about him as a kid. He must have been a handful.

>171 katylit: katylit - I'm so jealous you got the Bradley book. Of all the ERs I've requested that was the one I hoped for the most.

>172 maggie1944: maggie - I'm glad to hear you liked Almost French. I recently grabbed it as an impulse buy on the way out of our FOL book sale.

I'm another fan of the Richard Feynman book, and the James Gleick biography about him is good, too.

I'm rereading the hilarious Grease Monkey, and about to start John Marsden's novelisation of Hamlet (touchstone for play, novel touchstone is awol), about which I'm cautiously optipessimistic. That basically means that I have no idea what to make of it. Marsden's a good author, and Hamlet's one of my all time favourite plots, but novelising it in modern style makes me a little icky-feeling. Still, I'm going to give it a go.

Believe it or not, I am reading Dickens. I've never been able to get through more than a few chapters, but decided to give him another go since I haven't tried in like 30 years. I'm reading Bleak House and liking it so far.

#194 - Wow! Glad to hear it!

#189, 190 & 192 - I plan on reading his second book soonish, too. Just found out they are making a movie about Feynman's role in the investigation into the Challenger disaster. Looks like David Strathairn will be playing Feynman. Very interesting.

#191 - Does it help at all mamzel that I'm enjoying the Bradley book tremendously? It's an absolute delight. So rest assured that it's not being wasted on me.

193 - Let us know what you think of the Hamlet one. It sounds like an interesting idea.

I am reading Team of Rivals, about 300 pages in, and I just started Watcher in the Shadows. It sounds like it's going to be good.

New thread for March here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/85979