What You're Reading the Week of 3 Mar 2007

The Square Egg Ronald Searle Disappointed with the end of The Impressionist by Hari Kunzru, as best I can make out he tried to close the circle when the plot needed to go off in a different direction and the consequence is struggle to make a poor fit. Then on to Brick Lane by Monica Ali a prize-nominated novel about a Bangaldeshi woman living in South London. Very different from The Impressionist even though there are some strong similarities in the roots and - metaphorically at least - in the story line.

Hooray - instant touchstones!!!

I did not have a good reason for not reading it, but I delayed. Yesterday, when the blizzard hit and I became snowbound I finally started Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I am still slowly plugging away at Crusaders in the Courts by Jack Greenburg and occasionally savoring a chapter from Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman.

I t has finally stopped blowing in Duluth and almost stopped snowing, so I had better think about shoveling out, but first, say, another hundred pages.

I am currently reading the 6th Work and the Glory book: Praise to the Man

I'm rereading The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette by Carolly Erickson for my book club this month. I'm enjoying this as much the second time as I did the first time around.

Well, I'm just about finished with The Awakening by Kate Chopin for my AP American Literature class, and I'm thinking about finally(!) reading Girls In Pants by Ann Brashares, although I've been in a very Edgar Allen Poe mood this week and might read some of his short stories occasionally, my favorites being The Tell-tale Heart and The Murders of Rue Morgue.

There were several times that I wanted to just toss Jane Smiley's bad idea of a novel Ten Days in the Hills and move on to something else, but I plowed through to the end of this bloated, plotless piece of tedium, and can only advise any other interested readers to avoid it at all costs. I've been a Smiley fan for a long time, but this unfortunate book seems to be a literary meltdown of some higher order, really just a crashing disaster, and Smiley's hard-won rep will probably suffer as a result.

At the moment I'm nearly a hundred pages into Anthony Trollope's 1875 bestseller The Way We Live Now and finding it all rather entertaining so far.

Farthing by Jo Walton. I've been waiting for this one...part of a mail-based book club I have with a couple of the prisoners I've been writing to for years.

So far, so good...characters with real, well-developed emotional lives. Yay!

I finished A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr yesterday, which was a lovely little gem of a book.

Now I'm reading Breakfast at Tiffany's (or, to be exact, I've finished Breakfast at Tiffany's and am now going to read the three short stories included in the volume).

I am almost finished with Hybrids by Robert J. Sawyer and Chill Factor by Rachel Caine. I will begin Perdido Street Station by China Mieville later today.

#6, Louis Branning, Thanks for the warning about Ten Days in the Hills. As I mentioned before, I too am a big Jane Smiley fan (although I have found her work a little uneven -- some books great, some less so), but I was discouraged by the reviews and now I will stay away (well, at least until paperback).

Last night, I finished Troubles by J.G. Farrell. What a wonderful book, and I would never have found it without the recommendations here. Thank you. I will now start The Siege of Krishnapur, although I am almost afraid to, since Troubles has been called Farrell's masterpiece, even though Siege won the Booker.

And I am still reading and enjoying Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra and will see if I continue to do so, given the warnings here.

Just finished The Secret Life of Bees last night. It was a quick read, a little sappy, but I did enjoy it. This week I'll read The Namesake.
I just got Colm Toibin's book, The Blackwater Lightship from bookins, but I've got a few on my list before I get to that one.

>9 GeorgiaDawn:, GeorgiaDawn, I loved Perdido Street Station and would love to hear your response! Is this your first read by Mieville? It was mine...and made me a fan. I hope you feel the same way.

#10, rebeccanyc--I do think Troubles is the best of the three, but I would definitely recommend reading all of them. I was a bit concerned at the beginning of The Siege of Krishnapur, but it won me over.

Appointment with death by Agatha Christie . I want to read all of her works, so I guess I have books to read til... 2020! Yes!

#14, My then-best friend and I read all the Agatha Christie in print in the US when we were in about 6th or 7th grade, so I don't think it will take you until 2020.

#'s 14 and 15- yeah, Agatha Christie wrote a lot of books, but they're all very quick reads. They just fly by!

#6 - LouisBranning - Thanks for the warning on the Jane Smiley novel. I have heard so many wonderful things about her works that I planned to start with her latest. Looks like I'll stick with The Greenlanders that I picked up today from the library.

But first, I hope to finish The Banished Children of Eve by Peter Quinn. It's a slow start - only about 40 pages in. Today's a rainy day in Florida, so I'll start a fire and get reading!

Happy Reading!

mrstreme, The Greenlanders is an excellent book, and I'd also especially recommend A Thousand Acres, Moo, and Horse Heaven as well.

#12 - richardderus - Yes, this will be my first book by Mieville. I'm very much looking forward to it.

I did pick up two more books by Robert J. Sawyer today - Mindscan and Illegal Alien. I hope I enjoy them as much as the The Neanderthal Parallax. I'm not sure when I'll begin reading them. I need more time!

I just started From Here to Eternity by James Jones. It is a long tome about Army life in World War II. For the life of me, I can't remember why I bought it. NOT my usual fare -- but it's growing on me. Reminds me of 'Band of Brothers.'

I didn't even know Jane Smiley has a new one out -- too bad it sucks; I usually like her. A Thousand Acres was amazing; but I hated Moo.

Last week I read Prisoner of Trebekistan by Bob Harris, which was about being a contestant on Jeopardy! and was really funny; I finished a re-read of The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan; and today I read Bloody Jack: by L. A. Meyer, which was nothing spectacular but was a fun nautical adventure.

I also listenend to Anansi Boys, The Golem's Eye, and (finally) the original Peter Pan (read by Jim Dale, which was great).

I'm currently listening to Ptolemy's Gate, reading In Search of the Golden Frog when I get a chance (I'm not much in the mood for non-fiction this week), and I got The Curse of Chalion from the library yesterday, and will probably start it later today.

I'm starting (The Heart-Shaped Box) by (Joe Hill) tonight. Stephen King's son - how bad can it be?! Has anyone else read it?

jhowell, James Jones' From Here to Eternity is a true blockbuster, the 1952 National Book Award winner, and one of my favorite novels ever. It's always touted as one of the 2 or 3 greatest WWII novels, which it certainly is, but it's really more about life in the peace-time Army prior to Pearl Harbor than the war itself, with the Dec.7, 1941 attack only coming in the last 100 pages. I envy anyone reading it the first time.

I'm reading Turow's Reversible Errors. It's a little confusing as it jumps back and forth between 1991 and 2001. I've just gotten a good start on it.

Have just finished my non-fiction London in the Nineteenth Century and am starting This Thing of Darkness by Harry Thompson which is half-fiction/half fact concerning voyages to South America in the first quarter of the 19th c. with Darwin, Captain Fitzroy et al. It's been highly recommended to me on my UK on-line book group: I must admit it's not something I would normally go for

I'm really not trying to harp on how unhappy I was with Jane Smiley's Ten Days in the Hills, because I truly admire Smiley and have recommended her work many times over the years, but perhaps the weakest aspect of her new book is in the portrayals of her Hollywood characters, all of which ring particularly false, every one seeming to lack any of the customary narcissistic tendencies or the steely hubris usually inherent in such successful types. Not a one of them seems to be fixated or more than mildly interested in their own careers, or their relation to the actual Hollywood movie community they're supposed to be part of, and I found many of their anecdote-peppered conversations not just tedious, but also laughably unreal. I noticed that in her acknowledgments, Smiley thanks "every director and commentator on every DVD who bothered to add 'Special Features'. I couldn't have done it without you". Well, if this is where Smiley gathered the majority her Hollywood lore, then it's a bit easier to understand why this very important aspect of her book came off as so profoundly bogus and unsatisfying.

I just finished The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette by Carolly Erickson, and am now starting another historical fiction book about her, Abundance by Sena Jeter Naslund.

Coming off the "high" of last week's Suite Francaise, I am now reading Never Let Me Go. I am about halfway through and am slightly underwhelmed.

--> 28

I'm sorry to hear about Never Let Me Go. I just bought it two days ago. I'm currently reading A Pale View of Hills by the same author, Kazuo Ishguro and like the autor's style of writing and story very much. I was told that Ishiguro's books vary a great deal from one to another. Have you read any other of his books?

I am also reading a *huge* book (over 600 pages) called Stories by T.C. Boyle. This book is a real treat. What a talented writer! It's funny. My first read by him was The Tortilla Curtain which I disliked very much--primarily for the Hispanic stereotypes. Since then, I've gone on to read more of Boyle's writing (Drop City, Riven Rock) and find I enjoy his writing very much but think his short stories simply shine.

I finished Breakfast at Tiffany's and the included short stories last night. I was very impressed with Breakfast at Tiffany's--I hadn't realized going in how ground-breaking it was.

I'm continuing to read very short books in anticipation of receiving in the mail the book I need to read for my book group (meeting this Thursday!), so I started Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde last night.

Just finished The Namesake. About to start The Year of Magical Thinking.

SqueakyChu, I've read Never Let Me Go twice and think it ranks right behind The Remains of the Day as one of Ishiguro's finest novels. And couldn't agree more that the 'huge' Stories by T.C.Boyle is just one short-story-treat after another, an irresistible collection.

#31 mary -- did you like The Namesake? I really did. I just loved Gogol's parents -- they broke my heart, especially his father. Apparently there is a movie adaptation soon to be released.

#23 Louis - thanks for the pep talk about From Here to Eternity. I am about ~ a third of the way through and I've found my groove. I love a long book where you can just get lost in another time and place. Army life couldn't be more foreign to a 30 something year old female peacenik like myself - yet I feel like I am right there scrubbing pots and pans on KP!

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Just finished The Namesake.

I'm about ready to send Interpreter of Maladies out as a bookray. It's even better than The Namesake. Interpreter of Maladies was Jhumpa Lahiri's debut book...a collection of short stories which landed her the 2000 Pulitzer prize in fiction. Please contact me by PM (private message) through BookCrossing if you'd like to be on this bookray.

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Thanks. I'm looking forward to reading another Ishiguro novel. Glad to know I picked a good one!

# 17 mrstreme --->

Banished Children of Eve by Peter Quinn is a stunning book once you get past the beginning. It's a bit hard to grasp what is going on in the first part of the book but soon you will realize that there are parallel experiences of a number of people that all converge at one point in history. I hope you will love it as I did. It made me obsessive about finding out more about the point in history the book talks about (don't want to spoil it for you) I was poring over old maps of New York City of the era online at 4 in the morning and reading everything I could about the political atmosphere and what was happening elsewhere. It was truly an education about how the Irish and the African
Americans were perceived at the time. I was stunned - being from Irish immigrant great great grands it made me wonder about what they had encountered when they immigrated here. It is stunning that any of them survived the "death boats" that brought Irish immigrants to Canada but that's another book in history LOL

# 27 - Retrogirl 85,
I'll be looking for The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette because I've just started a book about her. What got me started on these, was reading a series of books about Josephine (wife of Napoleon). I don't mean a series as in a literary series written by one author. I read one book and then searched for another about Josephine and so on until I had read about 5 different books. By the end I had a varied history of the woman, each which contradicted the other. But in each there was a common link that made me think that a bit of each one was accurate. I expect I'll do the same with Marie Antionette. I can't recall the title of the book I'm reading and it's upstairs, but it's the one the movie was based on. I'm sure I'll post a comment when I'm done, but I've found it a bit of a boring start.

>29 SqueakyChu:: SqueakyChu, it's not that I don't like Never Let Me Go, there's something about it that does keep calling me to sit down and read. And although I can't put words to it, I was somehow expecting something more.

>31 marymanhattan:: marymanhattan, I loved both The Namesake and Year of Magical Thinking. You're in for a treat!

Currently reading The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox. A Victorian Gothic, a great read. Also reading The Mask of Red Death by Harold Schecter. In this one, we have Edgar Allen Poe investigating a series of grisly murders. A great read. Lately it seems as if I have been into these historical mystery novels. The prose is prissy and elegant, but the murders are gruesome!

Detoured slightly from My name is red by reading The black book of secrets in the middle of the night, which pleased and surprised me by not being yet another standard questing fantasy novel. Some interesting discussion points concerning guilt and the easement of conscience - not perhaps standard food for children. Or at least not in the 21st century.

But back now to My name is red and of course, the on-going march of Mao the unknown story.

Tasha Alexander's And Only to Deceive

Kazuo Ishiguro is one of my all-time favorite authors. I've read all of his works except one (unfinished). His Artist of the Floating World was, for me, a stunning work. I have read it probably 6-8 times and will undoubtedly read it 6-8 times more.

Depends on what youmean by "vary"--his style does NOT. But even though you know the way in which he's going to develop the book, you never know what's at the end.

That said, I have to say I simply can't get through The Unconsoled, and I've tried twice.

#37 I know what you mean, Lin. The same thing happened with me when I read Never Let Me Go last year ~ it was a bit challenging for me to get through, though the writing was good and I actually got involved emotionally with the characters and the situation. But I'm glad I stuck with it, because it sure has stuck with me since I finished it. Very haunting and subtly thought provoking, and I can't seem to get it out of my mind. I'm planning to reread it, maybe on audio when I do, which sometimes helps me reach deeper levels of a book I've read on paper first (and that works the other way around, too ~ audio first and then on paper).

Caesar:Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy. I'm finishing this out of a sense of grim duty. Colleen McCullough has written an absolutely terrific, vastly entertaining--and historically accurate series of 5 novels on Caesar's life. She speculates on a few things but backs it up with research. Goldsworthy manages to make Caesar's Gallic Wars boring; until I read this book I didn't think that was possible. The book has merit in that it collects in one volume the history of the man and his times. But if you want the same and a terrific read as well, go to McCullough First Man In Rome, Grass Crown, etc.

I was able to finish reading on March 4, 2007 The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden.

Next I'll be reading Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter.

I just read Marie Antoinette: Portrait of an Average Woman by Stefan Zweig and thought it was fabulous. It is straight biography, but Zweig makes her character come alive and, though one knows how events unfold, this is a thoroughly engrossing book. If you like the diary you might like this.

I'm almost finished with Storm Front by Jim Butcher. It's the first book in the Dresden Files series and it's great :-)

Finished Farthing by Jo Walton and am now sending out my letters with questions for the guys in the club. I loved the book. I like English country house mysteries anyway, but this one adding the twist of an England under Fascist rule...well, how cool a subject is that?!

>19 GeorgiaDawn: GeorgiaDawn, may this be the first but not last China Mieville of your reading life.

>39 lizzier: Lizzier, back to work on My Name is Red!! ;-)

Today began reading a library book called Grape Man of Texas about the Texan horticulturist who led the fight against the phylloxera virus that was destroying French grapevines at a scary rate in the late 19th century. He also hybridized 300 grape varieties for the growing conditions here in the American Southwest...just in time for Prohibition. Rotten luck.

I'd never heard of the man until I ran across this book in the library. He sounded too strange and interesting not to learn about, so I embark...on this touchstoneless read.
edited/typo

I finished The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde today--it's a shame this story is so embedded in our consciousness before we actually read it. The relevations in it must have been so shocking! Knowing the basic storyline makes it much less suspenseful. I still enjoyed it, but, like Citizen Kane and Rosebud, something is lost with prior knowledge.

Now I'm starting Seize the Day, by Saul Bellow. I planned my reading very poorly this weekend. I didn't want to get involved in a long book because when my book-group book finally arrives in the mail, I need to gobble it down by Thursday, so I've confined myself to short books. At this rate, I won't have any short books left on my shelf!

I just started Out of the Silent Planet, by C.S. Lewis.

I've been reading The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor. I fully expected to like and admire them but never bargained for falling in love with them. These are true gems.

Just finished Never Let Me Go and despite my comments in previous posts today (#s 28, 37), in the end I really liked this book. This one will remain in my thoughts for a while ... quite haunting.

Just started Allegra Goodman's Intuition. My wife's been telling me to read it for ages, and I'm glad I finally got around to listening to her - I've been enjoying it very much so far.

Just started Ghost of Chance by William S. Burroughs. Won't take long. Not sure what's up next.

Stopped in the middle of Food for the Fishes this morning to read a YA Paranormal, Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace, because it's due back to the library tomorrow. A good, fast read. Different from MaryJanice Davidson's adult paranormal and other contemp. romances but I'm enjoying it a lot. Should be finished tonight or tomorrow after my 50 minute commute.

#51 ~ So glad you ended up enjoying Never Let Me Go. It wasn't until I finished it that the full impact hit me. I think maybe it's the deceptively simple way Kazuo Ishiguro writes. I've got his When We Were Orphans on my TBR pile and can't wait to get started, plus I intend to read The Remains of the Day sometime this year.

Edited to fix touchstones.

I just finished reading a book i got from the library yesterday, The Perfect Thing, a book about iPods!

From my own library I'm going to reread Herbert Spencer: A Renewed Appreciation by Jonathan Turner, perhaps give Prometheans Ancient and Modern, by Burton Rascoe a try.

#51, #55--I thought Never Let Me Go was one of Ishiguro's most disturbing books. He writes about moral choices, but in this one, the moral failure is on a frightening scale. My problem is that I could readily believe that society can make such choices. I wound up crying at the end.

He uses the same literary device every time but it is so powerful. You don't realize the cumulative effect the story has on you until the end when it hits you in the gut.

I'm still reading The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco and am enjoying it despite the many religious meanderings. I think I'll end up liking it quite a lot.

Once I've finished this, I'll be moving on to Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith which my friend has given to me. She thinks I'll like it, I guess I'll find out! At the same time, I'm going to start reading The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles for my literature class. I'm really looking forward to that one.

#29 Skeakychu
Add my name to the list of Never let Me Go fans. Kazuo Ishiguro writes in an economical and deceptively simple style. I can understand why the other reader lindascl (?) was concerned: first all the hype, then the relative simplicity of the book. I thought it was excellent - understated and moving.

When it comes to Kazuo Ishiguro, I've noticed very few people seem to like The unconsoled ... always surprises me because I loved that novel.

I'm about half way through Roderick Hudson by Henry James ... what an unbelievable writer he was.

>12 richardderus: richardderus, I'm also a fan of Mieville. Perdido Street Station was my first. I've read all of his now. The Scar wasn't as impressive (maybe because I was by now familiar with his style) but I found it much subtler. I preferred it to Perdido.

Reading The Second Summoning by Tanya Huff and giggling all the way. I'll finish The List by Tara Ison (not published yet) and probably start Peeps by Scott Westerfeld. Anyone read him?

#52 I read Intuition and very much enjoyed it. I enjoyed having a window in the world of scientific research and the very human people within it. I thought her characters were credible and the story engrossing.

I finally finished The Swamp : The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise by Michael Grunwald. It took me almost two weeks to read. It's amazing how little I know about my own childhood backyard. I was clueless. This is a really well done thorough book, but I don't have much a response yet. I read one book at a time, so something like this can drown me a bit. I'm just coming up for air now.

Next: I'm returning to Chicago in 1893 with The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.

(nice to see some swift touchstones!)

#35 warbridelass, I was not as big a fan of Banished Children of Eve as you were (as I recall, you might have been the person who recommended it to me), but if you are interested in the Irish immigration to Canada, and the boats, you shouldn't miss Alice Munro's The View from Castle Rock, in particular the title story.

I have just finished The Great Transformation by Karen Armstrong which was an intellectual feast so need to do some fun reading. Read Fireworks by Angela Carter which is 9 fables/magical realism stories but these felt like work in progress for me. They appeared to have been published after her death...

Now got to my real fun book of the week which is Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. He sits between fiction and non fiction in that he writes about his life and family but in a witty and humorous way and uses language in a polar opposite way to the pieces I have just read. So the wife is out on a weekend course(the goddess and the cave...don't ask), its raining and I have office work to avoid so back to bed with a cup of tea and book and the dog for company!

Well enjoyed Me Talk Pretty One Day but would not want to read another of his straight away. Most of the pieces were written as short stories for the New Yorker. Its like having some nice pudding, you enjoyed it but don't want seconds( no you don't!). Now for something different, The Historian : a novel by Elizabeth Kostova which is a retelling of the Dracula legend, promising start for the first few chapters.

Next up: The Noodle Maker by Ma Jian, then Four Hands by Paco Ignacio Taibo II.

I'm trying the Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

I am finally into Perdido Street Station. I'm also reading Lisey's Story by Stephen King and, on a lighter note, Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie. I read alot during the night when I can't sleep. King and Mieville aren't really "read in the middle of the night" books. I thought Christie might be a better choice.

>62 mdbenoit: - mdbenoit - I've read Westerfeld's Uglies Trilogy, and I read Peeps a few weeks ago, and really, really enjoyed it. It's fun and fast-paced, and his science is a) accurate, and b) a surprisingly plausible explanation for vampirism.

Just started Viva Mallorca!: One Mallorcan Autumn by Peter Kerr. Fourth part of a quadrolgy on the author's life as a Scottish expat orange farmer on Mallorca.

I've finished This Side of Paradise which was not my favorite Fitzgerald, but pretty good for a first book.
Now I'm reading Jane Eyre and Inventing the Abbots by Sue Miller. Actually I've read the above and am now reading the rest of the short stories in the book. I had seen the movie, which I hate to do before reading something, but it was completely different fromt he book anyway.
I'm loving Jane Eyre so far. I always thought I'd like Wuthering Heights better, but I've read that and half way through Eyre I already love it more.
I'm also reading Me Talk Pretty One Day and so far it's hilarious. I've read his work before and enjoy it.

I finished reading In the heart of the country by J.M Coetzee - a very distrubing, very puzzling novel with alternate stories right after you buy the one story that is presented and that happens throughout the book so that you don't know if the events are the products of daydreams or real occurrences - very interesting

I am now reading Choke by Chuck Palahniuk - I really enjoyed fight club and so far this novel is looking promising.

>61 mdbenoit: The Scar is indeed subtler, more accomplished, than Perdido Street Station in my opinion as well, mdbenoit. I don't really feel it would make as many converts as Perdido Street Station does, however, precisely because it's subtler. THe style is so much more raucous, more vivid, in Perdido Street that I think people will respond with stronger feelings.

And that's a GOOD thing.

Started Body Wars: Making Peace with Women's Bodies - An Activist's Guide by Margo Maine over the weekend. Full of some interesting data: the money we spend on beauty products in the U.S. would fund 400,000 full university scholarships a year.

However, I got off course a bit and made a dent in the piles of New Yorkers that have been collecting on the coffee table (and under the coffee table, and on the nightstand...I think they breed overnight).

I just started A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore today. So far, it seems like it will be good.

Piggybacking on the discussion regarding Jane Smiley. I had heard soooo many wonderful things about Moo that I finally bought it, but I could not make myself finish reading it. So, I have been afraid to try the new one.

I am reading Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. It is a quick read and a nice little romance.

I am reading Life's Ultimate Questions by Dr. Ronald Nash. It's my introduction to philosophy textbook. Not to dry - I read worse. :)

I just started reading A Long Shadow: an inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery by mystery writer Charles Todd. He writes historical fiction set in 1919.

I seem to be having a chicklit week, although that's totally out of character. I've finished 100 strokes of the brush before bed by Melissa P., safety by Tegan Bennett Daylight, and the bride stripped bare by Anonymous/Nikki Gemmell already, and now I'm reading Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi which is almost the opposite of chicklit, but is a good antidote, like the other side of the same story, or something.

After 300-plus pages I'm mightily enjoying Anthony Trollope's The Way We Live Now, and even if it's a bit wordy now and again, this really never detracts from the momentum of Trollope's scathing satire of the mid-Victorian English upper classes, and it's just a totally delicious novel so far.

Nevertheless, in the weekend's mail from Amazon, I got a copy of The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books, and have been hard-pressed to put it down since, quickly becoming an almost addictive nuisance. Edited by Peder Zane, the book draws from the responses of 125 leading writers who were asked "to provide a list, ranked, in order, of the ten greatest works of fiction of all time". Besides these compulsively-readable writers' lists, there's an extensive section with a one-paragraph summary of every work cited, plus the Top Ten Books ranked by century, race, nationality, and genre, and even a list of "one-hit wonders", books that appeared only once on a single list. And should anyone be curious, the highest-ranked work of fiction among all the various writers' lists is Tolstoy's Anna Karenina.

fyrefly98: Thanks. I'm at page 5 of Peeps. So far I like the tone.

1) Almost finished Mother's Milk by Edward St Aubyn, essentially a story about parents and their young children (with a bit more thrown in). Clever writing and I have enjoyed it. I must say that St Aubyn's portayal of a man falling apart is not as good as that of Martin Amis in The Information (hi Kromes).
2)Three chapters into The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard. I am liking the writing style very much BUT some of the metaphors, and even whole sentences don't make sense to me. If you compare Hazzard to, say, Virginia Woolf, or Thomas Mann, I believe she is an also-ran. As complicated as these writers can be, they always make perfect sense. I had the same problem with The Great Fire. NEVERTHELESS, I doubt that this little quibble will lessen my enjoyment of The Transit of Venus.

P.S. New members and topics needed for groups: Anglophiles; & Men are Not From Mars

LouisBranning (message 81): that top ten book sounds fascinating ... just out of curiousity, could you let us know a couple of the "one-hit wonders"?

amandameale (message 83): I especially loved the "oh, there's an interesting article in the Sunday Times you should check out" bit ... that book was just a classic.

I have a lot of catching up to do here...

First, me:

I finally finished The Master by Colm Toibin and although it was an odd read, I really did like it. This was for my book club that is meeting tonight and I am anxiously awaiting a great discussion (anyone have any good points to bring up to make me look smart?). Next month we are reading several stories by Henry James including The Turn of the Screw, Washington Square and others - I am really looking forward to it - I have not read anything by James and understand that he is brilliant (thank you, #60 KromesTomes).

I'd like to sneak in another book before the Henry James stories and I am looking for a Pulitzer winner that is a quicker read. Any suggestions? I really wanted to start The Known World by Edward P. Jones, but don't think I'll make it.

#34 SqueakyChu - I, too, loved Interpreter of Maladies and I am not a short story reader.

#39 Lizzier - I really enjoyed reading Mao the unknown story. Are you enjoying it? When I was in school I hated history and never really learned anything so I am now an "history-challenged" adult. When I read that book, I said to myself - why did I hate history, its so interesting. Then I went to a discussion about the book led by a history professor and I figured it out - It's not history that's boring, its history teachers (my advanced apologies to all you interesting history teachers out there, but Sister Margaret Rose just didn't cut it).

#64 dchaikin - The Devil in the White City is a GREAT book. It turned me on to reading again, which I stopeed doing after I had children - now I am addicted again. I also read Isaac's Storm by Eric Larson. Its definitely not as good, but I loved it, too, and recommend it if you like weather related topics at all.

#81 LouisBranning - I am online with my library right now trying to get my hands on that top ten book - I love stuff like that... Give us some highlights...

Hey Kromes & Concetta, a handful of the "one-hit wonders", and the authors who listed them, are John Crowley's Little, Big (by Haven Kimmel), G.B.Edwards' wonderful novel The Book of Ebenezer La Page (Reynolds Price), Katherine Dunn's Geek Love (Jennifer Weiner), Achebe's Things Fall Apart (Jim Crace), and David Mitchell's wild card Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner.

Thanks, LouisBranning!

#83, amandameale, Glad you're enjoying The Transit of Venus and interesting that you think Shirley Hazzard is an also-ran compared to Virginia Woolf (who I find almost unreadable) and Thomas Mann (who I do look forward to trying again, but couldn't read when I was younger).

I'm reading Sabriel by Nix. Interesting magical system, okay book.

Just finished A Student of Weather and started Mermaid Singing AND Labrador.

The latter is another story about orphaned sisters (similar theme as in A Student of Weather) , so that might take precedence over Mermaid Singing.

I'm currently reading A Little Piece of Cake. It's one of those true stories of abuse and hardship that I thought was going to be so-so, however, I am starting to get into it and surprising myself by enjoying it!

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom is a definite must read!

#83:amandameale:-do you find the style( The Transit of Venus )strangely old-fashioned considering it was written post WW11? I finished the book and thought it 'quite good' but no more than that.

Am nearing the half way point of The Secret History; I'm glad I took the advice of others here and powered through my initial intimidation; there's really nothing to be scared of. This author chose to give away the BIG ENDING in the first couple of pages (kind of like The Book Thief), and while it makes for great suspense, I'm not sure I like knowing what's going to happen from the beginning...hm.

I'm currently reading The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl. I've raelly gotten into it, and I want to start dante'sdivine comedy
afterwards. I've read Inferno, but I'd like to get to reading his other canticles as well.

I have been Reading Infinite Life by that most distinguished American and advocate of Tibetan Buddhism Robert A. F. Thurman.

Thurman who is a wonderful scholar/translator of Tibetan Buddhist texts summarizes the main thrust of Tibetan Buddhist teaching and distills it into precepts for living what he calls an infinite life. There is no proselytizing for Buddhism, which to Tibetan Buddhists in particular is not necessary nor in good taste.

For those who want a good overview of Buddhism without a case for Buddhism (it is a case for the ethical living advocated by the core of all wisdom traditions); and for those who want to read an engaging, cogent argument for living a creative, engaged and compassionate (to oneself and to others) book, this is definitely one to check out.

#39 re Mao - I am chugging steadily. I have until May to complete the book and juggle it with others I am reading. The research element is staggering. I understand it took over a decade to write and the management of the resources must have required considerable skill and expertise.
The picture emerging of the ordinary people has a grim familiarity. And they still queue up to see him.....

#85 Concetta: I have read Isaac's Storm… while evacuating Houston in front of Hurricane Rita (just after Katrina hit New Orleans). Timing was everything and the book was riveting. Had I read it another time I'm sure I still would have liked it, but not near as much. For that reason I didn't pick up The Devil in the White City until I saw all the good reviews. As an early impression, I agree that Devil is a much better book. I think Larson’s mixing of a somewhat random murderer and the 1893 world's fair is a brilliant decision, very clever. These seem like separate stories. But, by mixing them, he is able to capture so much more of the era. The fair of course provides the setting, and it also allows him to cover "high" society. The murderer opens our eyes to the world under high society, where Dr. Holmes lurked and where history only gives us scraps.

starting The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery. After I am Charlotte Simmons, I need to escape into another world.

just started Colour Scheme, got a bit tired of Poirot. After this I'll get myself a fantasy book, to escape in another world.

#92hazelk: Old-fashioned? Perhaps. Strange is probably more appropriate. I really do like this book and the style but Shirley Hazzard is certainly unique. A funny old bird, I'd say.

I knocked off Imperial Japanese Naval Aviator, 1937-45 while loitering in Borders yesterday. Revelation Space bogged down for me so I'm now reading The Philadelphia Campaign 1777-1778.

I finished Saul Bellow's Seize the Day last night. It left me feeling very sad, and not in the mood to start anything else (which was just as well--I went to bed).

Today I'll begin The Tale of a Dog by Lars Gustafsson, which finally came in the mail. And after that, I'm going to pick out a very long book to make up for all the short ones I've been reading while waiting for this book (for my book group).

Since I am, at the moment, still having a problem sinking into a novel, I thought I'd try some poetry and short fiction. So, I'm reading from poetry collections Crooked Inheritance by Marge Piercy, Some Other Garden by Jane Urquhart and Miracle Maker by Fadhil Al-Azzawi AND Burning Your Boats: The Collected Stories of Angela Carter AND Literary Theory A Guide for the Perplexed by Mary Klages. On Hold is the Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates
(sorry, no touchstones showing up for Al Azzawi's poetry...)

cabegley (#102): If you get a chance, let me know how that Lars Gustafsson book is ... I read his Bernad Foy's third castling about a million years ago and really liked it, but haven't seen any of his other books around.

This week I have read (Mrs. Kimble) by ((Jennifer Haigh)) for my book club, (The Year of Magical Thinking) by ((Joan Didion)), (About Alice) by ((Calvin Trillin)), (Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas) by ((James Patterson)) and have just started last night (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan) by ((Lisa See))for my book club. I am babysitting my two grandsons in Boston who go to bed early so I have had more time to read. All books were enjoyable by especially liked (About Alice)...oh, if only my husband could express himself this way. I am off to the easy chair. Good Reading.

Bettyjo -- What do you think of The Teahouse Fire? I have been wanting to read it, but haven't picked it up, yet. Just curious.

#96 lizzier, re Mao: the unknown story, I found it interesting -- especially because the author had access to previously unavailable material -- but also clearly (and perhaps understandably) biased. It made me go out and buy two other books on Mao to get a different perspective, but so far I haven't read them. I wonder if you have a similar reaction.

#103 avaland

Some Other Garden by Jane Urquhart is a favorite of mine - as well as her novels - The Whirlpool, especially (which I see we share!)

#106 Knittingfreak

I started The Teahouse Fire but put it down after the first chapter or so. It could be me, but I found it awkwardly written and disjointed in sequence.

I'm still reading Power Faith and Fantasy: America in the Middle East 1776-Present by Michael Oren. I'm nearly finished and am enjoying it very much. I'm also reading The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster out loud with my son. What a fun and witty book!

I will give you all my opinion of The Teahouse Fire once I get a little more into it.

Currently reading: The Black Echo - by Michael Connelly, Little Girl Lost - by Richard Aleas, and A Still Forest Pool: The Insight Meditation of Achaan Chah (Quest Book) - by Jack Kornfield & Paul Breiter

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters. So far I'm really enjoying it; I love Waters's style.

I finished Choke by Chuck Palahnuik and found it a great read but very very predicatble in terms of what the mother's great secret is. Very enjoyable read, I liked the characters - I also liked the way the protagonist would label himself the way he felt about himself - very touching story

I think the best part of the story is when this stripper dies her hair from blonde to black because she hears that blondes are more prone to skin cancer - I thought that that was priceless :)

I am now reading Junky by William S. Burroughs - so far so good

I took a class Nash taught when I was in Colorado a few years ago. He was something else.

Starting A Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion tonight. FINALLY got through Caesar Life of a Colossus. I was using it to cure insomnia! Although it did pick up toward the last part of the book. Still--same stuff in Colleen Mc Cullough, better read.

Started Senses working overtime by Naomi Nash at lunch today.

Started Daughter of Fortune the night before last. I read House of the Spirits some time ago and really enjoyed it, so I decided to try another of Allende's books. So far I'm enjoying it.

Haha! Finally finished The Awakening by Kate Chopin and Beach Road by James Patterson. Both had good stories, but horrible endings. I didn't like the "huge twist" at the end of Beach Road, personally.

I'm combing through my high school library for another book, which is becoming increasingly difficult, but I always find some of the best in the dusty nooks and crannies!

I have just finished The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards - and I would be interested in hearing other people's impressions of the book!

I'm now starting Marley & Me by John Grogan.

I like that people are reading more than one book at a time here - I tell my non-reading friends that I'm reading 3 or 4 books at the same time - and they look at me like I'm from a different galaxy..

>121 topcat21: topcat21, you ARE from a different galaxy, it's just that we are from the same galaxy and our takeover plot hasn't been revealed yet....

#107 Hello rebeccanyc. Yes, altho' I am steadily chugging, I agree, even at this stage, there is a pronounced bias in "Mao". His non-appearance at his mother's funeral suggests he didn't even love her enough to put himself out.

I don't want to be an apologist for Mao, and I have no intention of occupying such a role, but as yet he appears to lack even the simplest aspects of shared humanity.

I find the total lack of redeeming qualities an interesting perspective on the possible long term mythologisation of Mao.It's almost as tho' he, Stalin, Hitler belonged to a new race of amoral Titans.

Finished Marisha Pessl's Special Topics in Calamity Physics at lunch yesterday, and must admit that while I very much enjoyed the first 4/5 of the book, the plot became too far-fetched and disturbing in the final few chapters, then deflated completely with the "Final Exam", which left me feeling like I had to slog through the ending because after 400 pages of high engagement, I was duty bound to finish. Not a pleasant way to finish a book. For some quick enjoyment, I picked up Acqua Alta by Donna Leon.

#116 Joycepa: The Year of Magical Thinking was one of my top reads in 2006, and is among my favorite books of all time. Hope you enjoy!

>123 lizzier: lizzier, that's an interesting point...perhaps the minimum requirement for that kind of mythologization is a certain lack of human qualities.

#124 grkmwk: I'm about half-way through now with The Year of Magical Thinking and can hardly put it down. I never expected anything like it. I think that a good part of its power for me lies in Didion's very spare writing. And the way she uses her research techniques to, it seems to me, stay as sane as she can, such as her constant references to looking things up on the Internet. For some reason, I find that particularly compelling.

Also, I'm really struck with the similarities between The year of magical thinking and Isabel Allende's Paula. And the differences in their reactions. Didion is analytical, Allende more spontaneously emotional (if I remember correctly--it's been years since I've read Paula). Surely cultural differences.

Wow, what a read! Not a comfortable one.

As for Acqua Alta: IMHO, one of her best. The climax is so exciting it's painful. Have a wonderful trip with that one!

#120 Hi calvarez, I read The Memory Keeper's Daughter recently. It was beautifully written and compelling, but I felt the ending was a little disappointing... it felt rushed and sort of out of place...? What did you think?

I'm half way through Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin. First part has been very interesting but quite sad. I'm looking forward to the second half :)

>126 Joycepa:: Joycepa,
I loved The Year of Magical Thinking also. I did not expect to be so moved by it.

Thanks for the reference to Isabel Allende I'm reading another of her books right now (ref. #118) and really love her work. Just added Paula to my catalog as TBR ...

I finished The Tale of a Dog by Lars Gustafsson today, and I have to say I didn't get it. I think I understand the philosophy he was trying to get across, but I didn't understand how many of the narrative digressions tied together. And it was a very unsettling book--set in Texas, written by a Swedish author, and translated by a Brit. So the Texan narrator talked about queues at the charcuterie counter in the shop, and his grandson wandered through the house at night with a torch--all British English I am fully able to translate, but out of place in Texas.

I am now about to start Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a book I am eagerly looking forward to after the raves by people on LT whose opinions I respect.

#129 lindsaci:
I'm glad that you're enjoying Daughter of Fortune. I thought it was terrific.

>105 memasmb: Try using square brackets instead of round ones, if you're trying to use Touchstones. You're doing it right, just using the wrong brackets. :-)

About half way through The bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale ...

#130 cabegley, please let us know what you think about Half of a Yellow Sun when you've finished! (also, please, on the specific thread on the Reading Globally group)

~125 richardderus - you may well be right about the minimum requirement. Such pre-eminent dictators appear to have rejected elements of humanity that from one perpsective they could be Gods but from ours (I'm making an assumption here..) they are not.
Sorry - realise I am re-iterating what I said earlier.

It's rather a current pre-occupation and I think it's what we do with the history/narrative/story which is so fascinating and important. We're create it all the time to explain the everyday world. Using a little projection here and pre-supposing humanity lasts another 1,000 years, how will Mao et al be depicted?

I'm half way through From Here to Eternity at the moment and have just completely fallen in love with this book! As a 45 year old woman -- and pretty much a peacenik too! -- I am amazed by how the book has drawn me in. I had no idea it would be this good. I've been reading a number of books from the '50s lately, and one thing that is really impressive about Jones is that he is so bluntly honest. A lot of writers from that period claim to practise realism but when it comes right down to the nasty stuff they turn out to be ... well, coy. As a woman, I'm feeling like Jones is giving me real insight into a man's psyche, and his sexuality. In addition, despite the ubermasculine atmosphere of the book, Jones doesn't present his men like nonverbal grunts who can't communicate. I am getting a sense of how complex masculine communication is -- and how different from female communication. In short, this book is a real learning experience and every time I pick it up I am discovering new insights I never expected to get from an "army novel"!!! WOW. That's pretty much how I feel about this book -- just WOW.

#136, Don't miss the movie either, with its famous (notorious?) beach scene.

#136 I just this second finished it. One thing that has astounded me is the widespread patronization of whorehouses. Naivee I know, but I just think of military men from World War II as "the greatest generation" all clean cut and Ben Affleckish! Its just gross -- I never really thought about 'the clap' and 'the syph' before the days of antibiotics.

Anyway, I was suprised by how much I liked it as well -- it gets even better. Some of the inner monologue, stream of consciousness musings are unforgettable. Have to go dig up the old movie somewhere.

jhowell, even though the movie version of From Here to Eternity leaves out a lot of stuff that was in the book, it's still a terrific film. It won 8 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, and Montgomery Clift's portrayal of Robert E. Lee Prewitt remains the landmark performance of his career.

I am surprised by the fairly frank treatment of homosexuality in the book (for the time). I assume that was cut out of the film -- although it's been a while since I've seen it. I remember really enjoying the film, and always loved Montgomery Clift. (Patricia Bosworth's biography him is outstanding, BTW.) Bearing in mind that I'm only 439 pages into it, am I right in thinking that Jones has a theme about social conformity going on here? Given that his hero, Prew, is struggling to avoid being straightjacketed as a boxer, I'm really tempted to see Jones' sympathetic presentation of Hawaii's gay community as an example of this same criticism of society in another key. The scene between Prew, Angelo, Hal and Tommy really impressed me -- I kept thinking, for 1951 James Jones sure had his head screwed on pretty well. Yes, there's stereotyping, but in relative terms Jones is blessedly liberal.

I am reading Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov. It is excellent! I am almost finished after only a few days. Can anyone tell me: are the next 3 books in the Foundation trilogy better than, as good as, or worse than the prelude? Thank you!
PS I am so excited for harry potter and the deathly hallows!

We're into the week of the 12th, but what the heck. I'm reading Nixon and Mao, a new book by the author of Paris 1919. What a fascinating subject, Nixon's visit to China that reestablished US - Chinese relationship. Great background on all players involved on both sides. Given the current administration it makes one long for the past, even Richard Nixon! He had his issues but he did the right thing where China was concerned. I really recommend the book.

P.S. Nixon and Mao author is Margaret MacMillan.

>141 missmaddie:, well, of course, we all have our own opinions. Foundation and Earth has always been my favorite of all of the Foundation novels, although I haven't read any of them for a long time.

to #106 knittingfreak...I put The Teahouse Fire down as well...just could not get into it.

bettyjo, I felt the same way about the Teahouse Fire. It seemed so intriguing but fell so flat, Hoping not to offend, but I think Sarah Dunnat and Tracy Chevalier were as frustrating as well, catagorizing them in a similar fashion.

I'm so drawn to historical fiction - to take me so elsewhere, but when authors use contemporary language devices/situations/advanced & improbable knowledge, it shatters the entire atmosphere.