What are you reading in March?

I started The Secret History about a week ago, and I think it could easily keep me occupied for the rest of the month. It's an interesting read, though. I'm also hoping to fit in The Glass Castle somewhere, for the Read YA Lit group discussion.

Mainly:
The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay and
Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't be Wrong by Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow
and an audiobook - Lord Peter views the body by Dorothy Sayers
Picking away at:
Wacousta by John Richardson and
The Gulag Acrhipelago Volume 1 by Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn

I purchased a new book, Victory at Vimy by Ted Barris, yesterday, and have already started dipping in it. Looks like an easy and interesting read.

The second summoning by Tanya Huff, Peeps by Scott Westerfeld, Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman and Ysabel by GGK. Also the ARC of The List by Tara Ison and the galley proofs for my own novel, Synergy :-)

Just finished On Beauty by Zadie Smith and Seven Lies. Am currently reading Arthur & George and Days that Changed the World

I'm planning to read Peeps sometime this year. I just read Westerfeld's Uglies trilogy in the past few months and thought he had some great ideas. I was a bit disappointed with his execution, though. I thought there was too much focus on action scenes (though I know some people prefer that), and sometimes the characters seemed to do stupid things just because it was necessary to move the plot forward. I still liked it enough that I'll read more books by the same author, though.

I'm starting Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan, and I also have on the go The Terminal Experiment by Robert J. Sawyer (for my Canadian content).

I'm halfway through Peeps and I find it fascinating. He's interspersed each chapter of his novel with a chapter on parasites (real ones). If you're squeamish, it's definitely not a book for you. However, in my writing, I'm always on the lookout for weird things I can use, and he's giving me plenty of ideas.

I just finished The Book of Shadows by James Reese and have started For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison since I am reviewing that for the first look program at Harper Collins. Yesterday I picked up Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill who is a Canadian Author. I can't wait to see what I think of that one. It looks like an interesting book.

Lullabies for Little Criminals. Just finished it and adored it. my full review of it is here

So far I've finished Children of Men by P.D. James and Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. I liked Good Omens better than I thought I would (I think Pratchett and Gaiman balanced each other, so the book wasn't too silly, but not too sombre either). And I liked Children of Men not as much as I thought I would. I thought this book would be more of a science fiction novel. I always want to know why things are the way they are and what people are doing to fix it, but we never find out what caused humans to become sterile in Children of Men and what they are doing about it. This book dealt more with the social aspects of a literally dying humanity.

I also read Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin which was okay, not great, but since it's the first in a series I'll give the next one a try and see if the characters grow on me. It's a mystery series I've been meaning to try out.

Next up is The Big Oyster by Mark Kurlansky and The Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay.

Just finished Giraffe by J.M. Ledgard, which was really good.

As soon as I stop typing this message, I'm going to read 26a because I noticed it was recommended by Mark Haddon, who wrote The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

Just finished Long Hot Summoning by Tanya Huff and Relative Danger by Charles Benoit (no relation). First wasn't that great (the middle one was the funniest, IMO) and second was great. Funny, and a good mystery.

Currently reading Letters from the Earth by Mark Twain, Consider the oyster by M. F. K. Fisher, and The interpretation of murder, by Jed Rubenfeld.

I'm about half-way through Lions of Al-Rassan. Haven't read it in ages and a member of The Green Dragon wanted to discuss it, so I thought I should refresh my memory. It's such a great book. And I'm reading Jane Austen, the world of her novels which is also very good. It gives lots of wonderful background information about the state of the world, political, ethical, behavioural, during Austen's lifetime. Interesting.

I saw the movie "Miss Potter" on the weekend and it's inspired me to re-read The Tale of Beatrix Potter too, 'cause I kinda think the movie took a few liberties with the facts and again, my memory needs refreshing! Good movie though.

sandragon, I haven't heard of The Big Oyster - you really are on an oyster kick aren't you ;-D, but I think you'll really enjoy The Last Light of the Sun

katylit,
Yup, I got both oyster books at the same time. This one combines a history of New York with some natural history of oysters. New York Harbour apparently used to have 50% of the world's oysters. They were so plentiful that they were being sold in oyster cellars/bars for $.06 all you can eat (I think this was early 1800s).

Craving oysters again. We went out for dinner last night to a restaurant that we knew served oysters on the half shell. But they were $2.95 EACH!!!. Couldn't do it, not after reading how they used to be so cheap. So I'm still craving oysters :o(

mdbenoit, how are you liking Consider the Oyster?

sandragon: It's a fun book. I'm not much of a recipe reader, so I tend to skip these, but the chapters in between are interesting. The style is so quaint, too. It totally dates the book, but that's what makes it charming.

Just finished Kilter 55 by John Gould. This 205-page book contains 55 very short stories (I call them micro-stories). They are amazing! The way the author can create a character and situation in so few words, yet have me nodding in recognition, shocked and/or amused was something I wasn't expecting at all. I'm not really a short story fan, but this is something unique.