What are you reading the week of April 10, 2010?

Today is the birthday of Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-American publisher best known for posthumously establishing the Pulitzer Prizes and for originating yellow journalism along with William Randolph Hearst.



Other author birthdays this week: Clare Booth Luce, David Halberstam, Paul Theroux, Beverly Cleary, Tom Clancy, Scott Turow, Samuel Beckett, Eudora Welty, Seamus Heaney, Henry James, Anatole France, Sir Kingsley Amis.

I finished my Early Reader book By Heart: Poetry, Prison and Two Lives by Judith Tannenbaum and Spoon Jackson and posted my review here
http://www.librarything.com/work/9587253/book/57737513
Anyone interested in art, education or prison reform will want to read this book.

I've just started World War Z by Max Brooks for the Green Dragon group read. It's a surprisingly good zombie novel. Zombies, sheesh, who knew I'd like that?

I'm a short way into The Hungry Moon, a horror novel by Ramsey Campbell which appears to involve Druidism and Christianity facing off on the English moors.

On the Spanish front, I've been reading the stories of Horacio Quiroga at the rate of one a day. I've also got Los gauchos judios (The Jewish Gauchos) burning a whole in my library, so we'll see how long I can stick with just two books.

Reading The Queen of Hearts by Wilkie Collins for my Monthly Author Reads group.

#2, World War Z is so much more than zombies, glad you like it.

My weekend read is Look to Windward by Iain M. Banks

Rather early this morning I finished the book I started yesterday - The White Mare which was a very enjoyable historical fiction story set in 1st Century Scotland.

>Citizenjoyce- I loved World War Z and I hope you do too!
I finished the audio of The Help and I cannot recommend it higher. She has created some unforgettable characters. This is one of those books that lives up to the hype! Also loved Horse Soldiers. If you are looking for non-fiction, that is exciting, informative, high-tech & low-tech, this is the ticket! Will be starting Catching Fire next, really looking forward to this one!

From the last thread: Richard: >202 Hence the "punk" part of the genre name...and yes, that's a big part of what makes me cringe. I seem to drift away from what I see as crudity for the sake of shock, and drug references didn't interest me much in Beat works so it's not likely they'll *gain* appeal as I get older.

I didn't think that had anything to do with the genre name though, otherwise Steampunk would have all that stuff too, and the 1 book I read didn't. But I see why you wouldn't like it. I, on the other hand, seem to be drawn by darker/cruder books like that. =/

Also, Smith's novels don't really seem crude for the sake of shock. Spares is one of those books where the main character is a drug addicted criminal who, at first glance, seems like someone you would never want to be around...but then turns around and has more honour and higher morals than "normal" characters. One of those likable, heroic bad guys. So I still highly recommend it. ...maybe you should look for it in that bookcloseouts sale. (No, it's not in there, I looked :|)

As for what I'm reading. I finished The Passage last night, and will be writing my review this morning. And then I need to take a trip to the library. (And yes, Richard, I'll probably be getting Brave New World...if it's in)

Finished The Island by Victoria Hislop last night, and started Airman by Eoin Colfer this morning.

I am on part three of The Passage. Is it gripping all the way through? So far I can't put it down. (Well, I actually can although I don't like to.)

Still working intermittently on Little, Big but putting that aside for Anubis Gates which is interesting. Not sure I have any idea what is going on right now in the book lol.

I finished Dreams in a Time of War, Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʾo's wonderful memoir of his childhood, and have started The Tale of the 1002nd Night by Joseph Roth and The Watchers: The Rise of America's Surveillance State by Shane Harris.

I stayed up until way too early this morning to finish reading The Moonstone, which, as wisewoman said over in the Monthly Author Reads group, is so good it almost reads itself. It is one fantastic mystery story - I couldn't put it down.

Next up will be a collection of natural history essays by the late, lamented Stephen Jay Gould called Ever Since Darwin, book 4 of Herodotus: The Histories, and The Brontes Went to Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson.

I finished Wolf Hall just in time for the book club meeting. To celebrate, I am giving away my copy. If you're interested, just follow this link for details. http://writeupmylife.com/2010/04/09/book-giveaway-wolf-hall/ I put my review there too. Also, if your book club read Wolf Hall, I'd love it if you'd drop by and comment on how it was received. I'm very curious. As always, all comments are welcome.

Our next book club read is The Zookeepers Wife, but I'm giving my brain a mini-break by reading Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin. I need a little cotton candy right now, and it fits the bill perfectly.

I just finished Open by Andre Agassi - good autobiography of an interesting person and tennis player.

I'm reading Horns by Joe Hill, Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose and The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry.

I haven't juggled so many books in quite a while.

I am currently reading In the Woods by Tana French and am really enjoying it. Sometimes I feel her language is a bit stilted or something but, other than that, it is wonderful.

>jhedlund, re Wolf Hall, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I found all the characters very vivid and really felt like I was visiting the place at that era. Also, very easy to read. I haven't read the rest of the Booker's shortlist, so I can't comment for its worth for the prize. I have to say that I'm not a big Hilary Mantel fan. I read Beyond Black, a few years ago, and I found myself wondering what the fuss is about, because that one had received very good reviews, as well. But Wolf Hall appealed to me much more. If there is a second volume, I'll definitely go for it.

I am reading All The Days and Nights by William Maxwell for my April RL book club selection, and I am listening to Lorna Doone.

Finishing up Noel Coward this weekend.

I finished Tonight I Said Goodbye and Sorrow's Anthem both by Michael Koryta

They are for a RL book group. They were good and seemed to really be riveting by the end.

First book had some howlers regarding mothers/children, but still good.

Now reading the last of the books for my group A Welcome Grave by Koryta.

All 3 are in the Lincoln Perry series.

>8 Ape: Stephen, the "punk" part in both names refers to an attitude, a kind of "oh yeah, says who, and screw you" to the Established Order...the rebellions are played out in different ways, and it seems to me that I dislike angry stuff not rebellious stuff. Cyberpunk seems angry to me, not that I'm surprised by that; the same generation gave rise to *shudder* rap.

I hate being yelled at.

My RL book circle chose two books for the May meeting, Lord of the Flies and John Dollar, for a compare-and-contrast session. Now I've read Lord of the Flies last night, for the first time since eighth grade. That was a strange experience.

Greetings, all! I'm still reading The Final Judgment by Richard North Patterson. The mystery parts of it are very entertaining. The excursions into the lawyer/protagonist's past are somewhat less so. Even though there is a connection between the mystery plot and the flashbacks, the latter go on too long. But, anyway, the book is keeping me reading.

I am currently reading The Soloist by Steve Lopez and plan to start reading The Broken Blue Line by Connie Dial

I finished How to Host a Killer Party by Penny Warner. Alas, I had to bring The Lady in the Tower back to the library so it is back on my list.

I started Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning. This series is addictive.

I'm reading V which I picked up used a few months ago. I loved the mini-series when I was a kid and after I got the book realized that they were remaking the tv show. I think the new show is ok, and the book is better than I expected.

#3: CarlosMcRey Let us know if you give in to the lure of The Jewish Gauchos. It looks like a very interesting book, I'm going to have to check it out.

My review for The Passage has been posted.

10: Yea, it's pretty exciting all the way through.

21: Ahhh, true. I think it would depend on the author on whether or not it sounds angry...but you're probably right. If nothing because of the setting. I imagine things like vulgar language would ruin the atmosphere of a steampunk novel, whereas futuristic books where the characters are "punks" are going to be dropping the F-bomb quite a bit.

Well, anyways, I'm kind of busy right now. We have this old, rotting, rusting, pile of junk of a trailor sitting on our property. It's been there since we bought the land. We hauled it off to the side with every inention of moving it, and never got around to it. Now it's falling apart, so we're helping it along with axes and sledge hammers (my eyes, nose, and throat are burning...I should really put on a mask)

Anyways, what I"m saying is, not much reading today. But tonight or tomorrow morning I plan to start When Elephants Weep by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson.

Editted to fix touchstones.

I've decided, for the first time, to read 2 books at once. Not 2 actual books, 1 is a book of poetry. I can't read at night, I just can't focus, so I plan to read a few poems each night before going to sleep and allow myself to mull them over...instead of just reading straight through it at a blistering pace. So, tonight I'll also be starting Jubilant Thicket by Jonathan Williams.

I just started Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden. I had too many library books, so just started this book, and it is already due back to the library. I can't renew it because there is a waiting list. So --- I went out and bought it. I love what this author writes, so I really should own some of his work. Now I'm going to read it and pass it on to a few friends.

Despite taking a few detours to the library since I started reading it, I'm within a hundred pages of finishing A Brief History of Stonehenge.

I finished reading The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster aloud to my kids. They loved it, and I am happy to say that I loved it as much as I did when I first read it about 30 years ago.

I am still reading Astrid and Veronika by Linda Olsson, although this book, along with my schoolwork and just about everything else has been put on hold by The Last Olympian, which we finally were able to get from the library.

Going to sleep last night after midnight LibraryThing time I couldn't keep my eyes open to finish the introductory article in Beyond Totalitarianism, and I was disappointed in my consciousness rather than in the book because of that. The book promises to be my first object of attention this week.

Robert

I just finished reading The Sleeping and the Dead by Ann Cleeves and just really loved it. She's such a talented crime writer and keeps me guessing all the way till the end.

I think I'm on a crime roll here, so I'll read Already Dead by Charlie Houston next.

I'm now starting Changeless by Gail Carriger, speaking of steampunk.

Finished reading this evening:

Joan Aiken, Dido and Pa
Back in England after some years away, Dido finally gets to meet up briefly with her friend Simon, before being kidnapped by her own dad and taken to live with his new family. Dido, Simon and his sister Sophie make some good new friends here, and we meet another girl, Is, who is the main character of the next book in the series.

Now reading:

Amanda Craig, Hearts and Minds
This novel about immigration in London shifts between viewpoints and storylines. Characters include an English immigration lawyer whose au pair girl has suddenly disappeared, a Russian teenage prostitute, a Zimbabwean minicab driver, an American working on an a literary magazine, and a white South African working in a difficult school in Hackney. I'm really enjoying reading this one.

Sue Townsend, Adrian Mole: The Cappucino Years
1997, and a Labour government has just been elected. Adrian's old flame Pandora is now an MP, and he's an untrained chef in a rather odd London restaurant specialising in badly prepared English food.

Iain Sinclair, Hackney, That Rose Red Empire
Non fiction stories of the area of London where Sinclair lives - fascinating but nearly 600 pages in hardback so too big to carry around

Cicely Hamilton, William: An Englishman
Persephone reprint of a 1919 novel about a young couple who are very active in suffragette and socialist politics

ed Denise Hamilton, Los Angeles Noir

Stella Gibbons, Nightingale Wood Virago Modern Classic reprint

Emily Barr, The Sisterhood

>33 cameling: Caroline - I have The Sleeping and the Dead lined up as my next Books Off the Shelf read. It's only been hanging around for about a year. Glad to hear you liked it!

I received an ARC of Keeper, a young readers book (not quite YA) by Kathi Appelt. I'm surprised by how much I am enjoying it - it's very good.

I'm also listening to A Brutal Telling in the car and it is wonderful - just as I had expected.

Reading my ER book.The Exile of Sara Stevenson by Darci Hannah.

It's been a very busy week at work, so I haven't had much time for reading. Still working my way through What Stalin Knew. I hope to finish it up this week. I've already started Rossokovsky's memoir, A Soldier's Duty.

On side note, I managed to find a DVD of Bertolt Brecht's Galileo which was filmed back in 1975. I just watched it this afternoon, and it was just as good I remembered it being. (I haven't seen it in 25 years.) Now, I've got to find a copy of the play.

I'm halfway through To Say Nothing of the Dog and absolutely loving this time travel tale. I swore I wouldn't read another one after The Time Traveler's Wife, but this is full of fun.

Started The Red Velvet Turnshoe by Cassandra Clark. It's the second of a historical mystery series that is new to me (I didn't realize there was a first book when I started reading it) by an author who is also new to me. Set in 1383 A.D., it's about a nun from the Abbey of Meaux (in the north of England) who is sent on a quest for a holy relic to Florence. Along the way, murder and mayhem ensue, and she and her mission seem to be the targets.

I'm about halfway through, and, though I'm enjoying it (it's an easy read with likeable characters and good descriptions of place), I'm finding the nun Hildegard to be just a little too modern for that time. Perhaps I will need to read the first book to understand why she is the way she is, so it isn't jarring to read about her independence and way of thinking.

I hope to finish The Forsyte Saga in the next day or two. I don't know what I'll read after that...

I just wrapped up A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott. Comtemplating what I should read next!!

I'm a third of the way through The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey, which is a finalist for this year's Orange Prize for Fiction. I'm also reading The Notebook, a collection of writings from 2008-09 by José Saramago, and Bicycles: Love Poems by Nikki Giovanni.

I finished A Welcome Grave by Michael Koryta. Really enjoyed his books, will keep reading the series. His last one is in HC, but I will get when it goes into paper.

Now reading The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner, an LT ER book.

Just finished Keep the River on Your Right by Tobias Schneebaum. The synopsis sounded like semi-dry anthropology describing an undocumented tribe in the Peruvian jungle. But Schneebaum is not and anthropologist, he's an artist. Rather than objectively documenting a culture, he strips down and joins them and is welcomed into their life. He joined the Akaramas for seven months in 1955. He indulges in cannibalism, but it's not meant to shock. His story about self-exploration and discovery. His sexuality is a subtext throughout. With no interest in the '50s mainstream culture, he craves exploration and escape into a world with no familiar rules. One of the final chapters is the text of a letter from another man engaging in similar explorations with a much different result. Deeper than the cover suggests.

Also finished The Road by Cormack McCarthy. Enough's been said about it, but the last paragraph is so beautiful I had to read it thee times.

And by no means least, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Loved it. Twists, turns, etc. Will say, revelations at the climax threw it off a little, but I'll be picking up the next one soon. Have really been on a Scandinavian crime jag lately.
..................

Oh, and....

Just picked up Last Rituals by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir to read at home. Yes, more Scandinavian crime.

And Tom Sawyer to carry around. 4th or 5th reading, but it's been years.

kidzdoc - I would be curious to hear your thoughts on The Notebook when you finish it. I have read only one of Saramago's works so far - Death with Interruptions - and was quite captivated by his writing style, choice of subject and witty commentary including the personification of death - spelt with a little 'd', not to be confused with 'Death' as it says in the story - was highly entertaining! I am just not sure if Death with Interruptions is representative of his works in general.

I have finished reading The Blackheath Poisonings and have to say I was a little disappointed with it. I found the story to be dry and rather pedantic about day to day activities.

Next up is The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi.

I just finished NurtureShock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman which is basically Freakonomics of child development. Very good read and accessible science.

I'm in the middle of The Little Disturbances of Man by Grace Paley and The Best of It by Kay Ryan for a 75ers challenge. Since neither short stories nor poetry come easily to me, I'm going to reward myself with Charlaine Harris's Shakespeare's Champion.

Just finished Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome by Anthony Everitt. Disappointing.

I am powering through Beyond the Shadows, trying to finish it tonight so I can get to the next books in the stack. Next I plan on reading The Assasin King (the touchstone didn't work) by Elizabeth Haydon and A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin.

I finished Half Broke Horses and enjoyed every page. I am rereading To Kill a Mockingbird as I needed an Atticus fix. Then I don't know. Maybe Shades of Grey or The Winter Queen.

>49 windlover26: Windlover I started Brent Weeks' trilogy ages back but for some reason got stuck about halfway through the first book and put it down. I keep meaning to go back to it one day - how are you finding it? I've also got A Clash of Kings on the TBR pile although I'm not gonna have much time to be reading chunky books over the next month.

I read all of The Forest of Hands and Teeth very early this morning (literally read it between 2am and 4:30am) and quite enjoyed it although I think I'm still puzzling over some things which I hope will be addressed in the next book.
Not sure what's next on the agenda since this is my last week of holidays and I've done hardly any of the work I should have done :S So it's likely I'm not going to get much reading done.

>36 Copperskye: : coppers - Glad you like A Brutal Telling ... it surprised me because it was a little different from the others in the series.

I need to look for more of Ann Cleeves that are not part of the Shetland Island series.

>44 FicusFan: : Ficusfan - I've heard some good things about Confessions of Catherine and it's on my wish list. I'll be interested to read your review when you're done with this.

I've just finished reading Madam Will You Talk by Mary Stewart and I'm in the mood for something light, so I think I'll read Cream Puff Murder by Joanne Fluke tonight.

im reading Chew On This. its a good book. its all about and every thing about fast food. and how all the fast food resturants, and foods where made and built, and the people who made them. please read this book! i promise that you will love it. its one of the best books i have ever read. the writter wrote this book very well. i hope you enjoy it very much. rember... read Chew On This!!!!
cya, 24owls

Deleted because I am not in that cranky a mood.

Robert

#51 LadyViolet
I read The Dead-Tossed Waves when it first came out, and thought it was even better than The Forest of Hands and Teeth. So I hope you can get to it soon!

I finally finished The Way of Shadows this morning. It came recommended by a friend, and while I liked it, I didn't love it. (The Name of the Wind still wins for best fantasy novel I've read in 2010 so far.) I just started The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong. I liked the first two books a lot, but it's been a long time since I read them. Hopefully I'll get through it quickly, and then City of Golden Shadow is up next.

>51 RLMCartwright:/55
I also though The Dead-Tossed Waves was much better than The Forest of Hands and Teeth, which actually sort of annoyed me because so many questions were unanswered.

I finished Look to Windward and started in The Return of Tarzan

I have just started The Book Of Saladin by Tariq Ali and it looks to be an interesting historical read. On the lighter side I am going to start This Year's Model by Carol Alt.

I just finished Mirror Mirror 1: Breaking Through by Louise Cooper over lunch, and am on the last two stories in The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Vol. 14 edited by Stephen Jones.

Over the weekend I finished Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (fascinating, have been tellling people about it ever since), and American Pastoral by Philip Roth (good, but still a bit undecided on whether the length made it compelling or tiresome).

I've started The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall, which is odd, but strangely interesting.

I'm enjoying The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams.

Just finished Is a short novel about a 12 year old girl who thinks she's the reincarnation of Isambard Kingdom Brunel by Derek Webb

I left The City of Falling Angels at my parent's home this weekend, which is so annoying since I was starting to really get into it.

In the meantime, while I wait for them to ship it back to me, I'm starting The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for a RL bookclub. I've heard nothing but praise for the novel, so I'm looking forward to it.

I am continuing with Gifted Hands with my class. It is an inspiring story! We should be finished this week.

I just finished Horns by Joe Hill this morning - what an excellent book! What a violent book! Here's my review: Horns

I'm still reading The Lace Reader and Undaunted Courage, but to tell the truth I brought Watchers of Time to work to start at lunch - another Ian Rutledge mystery by Charles Todd.

I am just not reading very much right now, in a bit of a bipolar 'wobble', and it is a teeny bit frustrating... DVD box sets are just easier to follow at the moment! Nevertheless I finally managed to finish a book - the rather good Madness: A Bipolar Life by Marya Hornbacher - and still have about six on the go for any mood and snatched moment, including Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana by Michael Azerrad, The Secret Shopper Unwrapped by Kate Harrison, The Christmas Letters: The Ultimate Collection of Round Robins by Simon Hoggart, Cobain Unseen by Charles Cross, and the poor old Count of Monte Cristo (which has been sorely neglected in recent weeks!)...

I finished The Plague for the Group Read and loved it; didn't review it because the conversation about the book is ongoing. I'm onto #3 in Louises Penny's Three Pines series, The Cruelest Month.

I am reading Saving CeeCee Honeycutt and enjoying the book!

I'm still reading Rebels and Redcoats. This is the first book I've read about the American war of independance so it's full of places and people I'm not familiar with. It's interesting though so I'll continue with it.

I have set aside The Civil War: Red River to Appomattox in favor of finishing The Language of Bees. The sequel, God of the Hive arrived Friday and I just can't wait.

I have started The Lizard Cage. I'm about 200 pages into it and it has been quite remarkable so far.

I enjoyed Halberstam's October 1964; now I'm reading The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley.

I started The Three Weismanns of Westport yesterday and am really enjoying it so far

I finished and reviewed After The Fall by Arthur Miller. I knew that many people disliked this one because of his treatment of Marilyn Monroe as a character, but even aside from that, he also cornered the market on selfishness with this one.
I've started Watching The English, which I've wanted to read for so long.

Finished another fast ride with Harry Dresden in Changes: The Dresden Files, and started The Fifth Floor by Michael Harvey, the sequel to The Chicago Way.

I was tired yesterday and couldn't handle anything too thought provoking, so I turned to Joanne Fluke and am now halfway through a very entertaining Cream Puff Murder ... although her books always make me crave cookies and now, cream puffs!

Finished The Withdrawing Room by Charlotte MacLeod. Just a nice cozy read. I would enjoy reading some off her other books.

I just finished In Defense of Food today. And now I can never eat low fat yogurt and have joined a CSA.

I think I'll start Lord Edgware Dies and then move onto something ridiculously fluffy.

#71 Good to hear you like The Lizard Cage because I just ordered a copy of it last week.

Finished Stones Into Schools and turned to fiction for the next with The Septembers of Shiraz. My train book is Travels With Charley for RL Book Club.

I received my early review copy of Every Last One by Anna Quindlen! I can't wait to start reading.

I just finished Margaret Atwood's The Robber Bride last night - terrific book! This morning I started the audio version of Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. So far I'm loving it - I can't wait to get to the Diego / Frida Kahlo bits.

My copy of Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons finally arrived and I am adding it to the list of books I plan on reading this week.

I finished The Return of Tarzan yesterday. I will start The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle on my way to work this morning.

I just picked and am almost finished The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon. It is really good- I don't know why I waited so long to read it. The book won the Writers' Trust Award in the fall.

I'm reading (The Magdalene Legacy) by ((Laurence Gardner)). A book on Jesus and Mary Magdalene, it's rivetting reading I must say.

To create touchstones you need square brackets instead of round ones - of course LT doesn't actually say that for some reason, I made the same mistake.

I just finished The Sisterhood by Emily Barr - late 30s Liz has just split up with her boyfriend when she realises she's pregnant but not by him, and then she meets Helen. 20 year old Helen believes Liz is her long lost sister and wants to reunite Liz and her mother. It took me a while to get into this one but I quite enjoyed it when I did - Emily Barr writes superior chicklit. Set in London and in France.

I'm now reading Ghosts and Lightning, a debut novel by young Irish writer Trevor Byrne, set in Dublin.

Just started one I probably wouldn't have bought but which I rescued from Mum's shelves while clearing her house - Case Histories by Kate Atkinson. I'm not usually much of a fan of her books but I'm actually finding this one quite fun in a fluffy kind of way.

#86 Isn't that weird about LT not mentioning the square brackets? I'd never noticed that before. It does demonstrate with square ones, to be fair, but now I understand why so many people get confused.

>81 callen610: You just reminded me why Lacuna is in my TBR pile. Maybe it will get bumped up.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman and The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie.

I finished New Moon by Stephenie Meyer and started Eclipse.

# 86, 87 I got it by reading the Example part of the message box (that opens when you click the Post a message sign) the first time I wanted to post a message. Actually LT is one of the most easy to navigate sites I’ve ever been to. Everything is so thoroughly explained that I almost never had to ask for the directions. Here the Help pages really do help which cannot be said about a lot of the sites out there. :-)

I am reading Gathering Storm, part of Winston Churchill's Second World War series.

The touchstone doesn't work for the book. It points to something else.

I finished Cold Comfort Farm last evening. I can't say I particularly liked the book. To me, the English Victorian novel does not seem an integral piece of society such that it's parody adds to an understanding of society or people. It seems merely an entertaining exercise which I did enjoy somewhat once the scene is set (the first half of the book) and actions begin.

I'm finishing up a few books that it seems I've been reading forever (and they're coming due at the library!)
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem is a wonderful science fiction book from the 1960s that reads a lot like a ghost story. I'm really enjoying it.

I've also got Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf almost done, but I had to go back and reread because I'd left it too long. This one is proving to be a little more work for me.

Karen O.

The Gathering Storm; you can click 'others' in the list of works to get the right touchstone (of course even then touchstones sometimes fails).

Those of us who are a certain age and paid attention in about fourth grade learned:

(in each case the right or closing instance)

) = parenthesis (plural parentheses)
] = bracket
} = brace

Wikipedia has some explanation. 'Bracket' means specifically the rectilinear version.

Robert

Hmm, I thought braces were suspenders.

They are. They suspend attention in a sentence above the third level.

Robert

I am reading 2666 and my ER book, The Auditon.

I finished The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley and am starting The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee for my RL book group.

I enjoyed Sweetness but I do think Flavia should have been written as either an older child or at least one a little less precocious. Once one gets past the knowledge of chemistry, it's still a pretty huge step to the depth of familiarity with Shakespeare, opera, and the classics for an eleven-year-old. However, I must remind myself that this is a work of fiction and flights of imagination are permissible.

I am going back and forth between Snow Flower and the Secret fan and The Black Tower.

>99 jbleil:: jbleil
I'm so glad you mentioned that about Flavia's age. So many people love The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie but I found her body of knowledge coupled by her adult-like empathy so unlikely for an eleven year old who is essentially raising herself, that I won't be reading the next book.

Started Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.

#50 - rockinrhombus, I love the idea of needing an 'Atticus fix'

#100: I loved Snow Flower and the Secret Fan!

#51 LadyViolet I enjoyed Brent Weeks' books immensely. He manages to give the reader just enough information to get you hooked and springs surprises on you the further into the plot you get. Don't worry. Just get through the first book and the second and third books get better and better.
I just finished Beyond the Shadows anyhow and am regretful the trilogy has to end. Luckily, on his website Brent Weeks mentioned that he would come back to Midcyru later. :)
I have also started 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and I have to admit it is very good so far, although I was never a fan of classics.
And lastly, a question to all of you LT veterans: What does TBR mean? I'm kind of ashamed I don't know about this, but I'm still kind of new to LT and book sites in general. Please help!

>104 windlover26: The only stupid question is the unasked one: To Be Read.

Read through the introductory material of Jewish Gauchos, but then opted to read up on Catholic Assassins in Our Lady of the Assassins. (It was due back at the library.)

"Catholic Assassins" Jewish Gauchos - where else but Librarything could life be so exciting?

#97 very cute Mr.Durick

I finished World War Z and feel I can live a long and happy life without reading another zombie novel. Then I read and reviewed Food Rules by Michael Pollan - must reading for everyone who eats food or food related products - and The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa. What a delightful book that was. It made me realize why the characters in The Elegance of the Hedgehog were so enamoured of all things Japanese. It's delicate, poignant, complex and simple all at the same time.

Now, finally, I get to read Alison Wonderland by Helen Smith. I do hope I haven't built it up too much in my mind.

Tonight I'll start Texasville by Larry McMurtry. I very much liked The Last Picture Show, which I read just a few months ago, so decided to read McMurtry's entire Thalia, Texas, series.

I finished The Patience Stone in one afternoon - found it to be quite insightful and recommend it highly. Dove back into my comfort zone of historical fiction with Rasputin's Daughter by Robert Alexander - book two in his three part Russian series. Found it to be an intriguing suspenseful read, but not quite on par with his first book The Kitchen Boy. Next up is The Gathering by Anne Enright.

I finished Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood and have moved into the past (11th century Ireland) in Lion Of Ireland by Morgan Llywelyn.

I just finished reading Appetite for America which covers Fred Harvey and his Harvey Girls who brougt civilization and a really good cup of coffee to tthe American West in late 19th century America. Very enjoyable read.

>101 NarratorLady: NarratorLady

I found it to be a distraction.

#81 I read The Robber Bride last year and loved it too. Happy reading!

#95 Mr.Durick - "rectilinear" - love that word! I will now try to find every opportunity to use it. :-)

I needed a brain break after Wolf Hall, and just finished Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin. It served up what was expected: a light, frothy, fun, if predictable read.

Next up is my March ER book Making Rounds with Oscar.

I will also finish Living Simply with Children this week. I've been reading it on and off for about a month now.

Having knocked back both The Language of Bees and The God of the Hive, I'm back to The Civil War: Red River to Appomattox.

Hmm, I thought braces were suspenders. (#96)

And I thought they were the metal things people have put on their teeth to straighten them. ;)

Finished reading The Queen of Hearts by Wilkie Collins for my Monthly Author Reads Group. I loved this excellent collection of short stories! My review is here,

http://www.librarything.com/review/56390989

Or my 50 book challenge thread,

http://www.librarything.com/topic/80925

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde.

A dystopia in which social class is based on the different colors people are able to distinguish.

#117 kittycatpurr, What a clever idea. But, shoot, now I have to add one more to my wish list.

#99 and #101

Your observations about Flavia in Sweetness in the Bottom of the Pie are spot on. A couple of years ago there was a book about a family who fled England in a car to escape the father. The family ended up in Rome and the book was narrated by a seven year old boy. (I can't remember the name of the book.) Many readers had the same problem with this book that you had with Sweetness. They found it hard to believe a seven year old would make the observations he did. If the believability of the narrator is in question how can the book be believable in any sense? If that is the case, even if it is fiction, doesn't that become part of the experience of reading that book and therefore change the intention of the interaction between author and reader? And as somebody pointed out does it matter if it is fiction?

On another level I wonder why Sweetness was published as an adult novel instead of a YA novel. If the protagonist and narrator is eleven years old shouldn't that be a YA novel?

#119 That was the discussion we had in my RL book club. The Book Thief was somehow labeled ya yet Sweetness was adult. It makes no sense.

Oh no The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is in my TBR pile and I was looking at it as my (possible) next read. Now, all this negativity about the book is putting me off.

Right now I'm re-reading The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins for my Monthly Author Reads Group.

#120, When I bought The Book Thief there was one copy in the YA section, which was not on sale, and two copies in the general Fiction section, which were 3 for 2. Weird.

I finished and loved The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, totally not what I expected, but great great great. I will start Frankenstein tomorrow morning on my way to work.

I'm currently reading my new purchase Beauty by Robin Mckinley and really enjoying it so far.

Taking a tiny bread from the Pargeter book to read Changes by Jim Butcher.

#120 and #122:
I loved The Book Thief! It has to be one of the best YA books I've ever read!

Resurrection Day, by Brendon DuBois, about how the Cuban Missile Crisis in the 1960s turned into a full blown war between the US and the Soviet Union.

>119 benitastrnad:: That precocious narrator was in When We Were Romans; I'm in agreement with your comments about believability.

I finished, abruptly, and reviewed Lisa See's Shanghai Girls and have started the audiobook of Louise Erdrich's Plague of Doves. Pretty good so far.

Reading Fragile by Lisa Unger and really, really love it. Never read her before (I don't really read thrillers) but this one is different, more psychological.

Caroline leavitt

I'm reading Descartes' Bones by Russell Shorto and so far it's really interesting.

#127 When We Were Romans is on my "shortly" stack, and now I'm conflicted! Oh, well, I'll just have to drag it off and see whether I agree or not.

I've finished Changes by Jim Butcher and gone back to the Pargeter.

Today I finished reading L. P. Hartley's The Go-Between. What an extraordinary book -- I see why so many of you recommend it. It's too early to make a list of my best books of 2010, but I think it's safe to say that this book will be on it.

Now I'm reading The Stories of Alice Adams -- many of them are familiar to me, but it's nice to revisit old friends (such as "Verlie" in "Verlie, I Say Unto You", one of my favorite Adams stories), and of course there are many others that I'm encountering for the first time.

I'm about halfway through Tinkers. It is lovely. I'd been checking it out from the library and then retuning it unread for the last six months or so. Now, of course, there is a hold list so I thought I should read it finally.

Finished Shades of Grey. It's a little darker than his other two series, but cleverly done.

Now starting Fair Game by Valerie Plame Wilson.

#132 Hi, Seitherin ~ What Pargeter are you reading?

I finished Forever Odd by Dean Koontz, which was very good and even funny, except the last villan took SO long to kill - of course he dies, it was him or Odd - but couldn't he just die in one chapter, like his cohorts, and not waste an extra hour of my life? Or maybe that's when Dean Koontz came up with the name of the book? So then I returned to Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - don't know why I waited almost five years. It was so good and now that You-Know-Who is back, life for wizards young and old, should get really interesting. And now, faithfully returning to my favorite genre, I've decided to finally tackle Jeffery Deaver. Long ago, having read and liked a couple of his earlier books, I began collecting all his books. Now that I have about 15 of them I've started The Coffin Dancer, a first Lincoln Rhyme for me, since I saw the movie of The Bone Collector, the actual first Lincoln Rhyme. So far I'm half way through, and I just started it this morning. Awsome pace, although I was surprised to find out that Linc is white, and I keep trying to clear my head when I read about his thin lips etc., since Mr. Denzel Washington is by no means pucker-challenged.

Wow, I had no idea there was a whole series about the quadriplegic detective. I saw the movie, pretty creepy. I'm sure I couldn't take the books.

I started the surpisingly short The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde yesterday, but I'm not sure if I'll stick with it. When I either finish or abandon it, I'll start my next Austen, Mansfield Park.

Just moved on to Snow Country - Yasunari Kawabata.

Just finished Frankenstein and will now start on Classical Mythology: A very short introduction

I just finished Gifted hands with my class. I have picked up So B. It from my TBR pile. It is keeping my interest.

I have just finished Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and now have started on A Place of greater Safety. I plan to read everything else she has ever written. The books are dense and reward slow reading so that the way she says things can be savoured, smiled at. I needed to keep going back to the list of characters - kindly supplied. Hillary Mantel puts a human face on historic characters.

I'm finishing up another Ian Rutledge mystery by Charles Todd - Watchers of Time. I do so love this series!

I'm about 60 pages into The Lace Reader but I've already read 3 books since I started it so am wondering if I'll be able to continue. It's just not grabbing me.

I have it in my book bag, but grabbed The Winshaw Legacy off my desk this morning - bought it at the Thrift Store yesterday.

After a quiet afternoon's reading I've finished Snow Country (just a quickie), which was rather dull and pointless, and have now made a start on The Elephant Keeper which, so far, I'm enjoying much more.

I finished Classical Mythology: A very short introduction on my way home, and for travelling I will start Under The Dome as my next read.

I finished A Brief History of Stonehenge the other day, and started Seeing in the Dark.

I've started After the Fire, A Still Small Voice by Evie Wyld. Wasn't this longlisted for some prize or other?

A YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi65rog37tI

It's got terrible sound. If you're going to publish a video, make sure we can understand the speaker!

Finished my February Early Reviewer book- Digitally Daunted....and posted my review here:

http://www.librarything.com/work/6435437/reviews/57383830

;-}

>149 jdthloue: Thumbs-upped!

I finished The Lions of Al-Rassan byGuy Gavriel Kay yesterday-sigh, so sad, want more.

Today, I'll start my March ER, The Vanishing of Katharina Linden whhich looks quite intriguing.

I finished Schachnovelle by Stefan Zweig today. I haven't made up my mind about it yet, but I think it is good. It reflects on the Nazi-time in Austria from a different angle, not just the Kzs but how they got information from higher ranking people or people how might be able to give them some information. A very different kind of torture. And what it made of the man... wow

Still clinging to The Mistress of the Pearl, the third part of the Pearl-Saga by Eric van Lustbader.
Besides I have taken up my reading in The Oxford History of Britain and am finally done with the chapter on Roman Britain, which was very difficult because I have a serious lack of knowledge about Rome and roman history in general. I think it'll be better know, for I know some of the history now coming and I think it'll be more interesting regarding Tudor and Stuart times somewhat in the middle of the book.

#136 Hi, Storeetllr ~ I'm reading The Brothers of Gwynedd Quartet. I'm just barely into the first of the four books. But I keep being distracted by other books in my TBR pile. I think I'm going to hold off on the Pargeter and do Dingo by Charles de Lint instead. It was sitting on my computer so I picked it up while waiting for my old dinosaur to boot up. I'm already about a quarter done with it.

>150 richardderus:

Merci Beaucoup!

;-}

Oh, no! Booksloth. I've read Snow Country twice and love it along with whatever else I've read by Kawabata. Of the many things I rue, never going into the Japanese Alps is one of the important ones.

Chacun a son gout.

Robert

Just finished Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning, and had to jump on the next in the series, Faefever.

This series is fun and quick to read. There were a few icky parts in Bloodfever but they were brief.

Since this is my last night at home before I go back to uni methinks I shall have a nice re-read of one of my favourite books Poison Study I really don't think I will tire of reading it even though I'm already on my fourth re-read.

Just finished Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and Fang, one of the Maximum Ride novels. Now I'm halfway through Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls.

#151 KAzevedo ~ Oh! I loved The Lions of al-Rassan! Was left feeling much the same as you when I finished it, desperately wanting more. Have you read Tigana yet? Loved it almost as much as al-Rassan. Unfortunately, others I've read by him don't compare. Though I seldom reread books anymore, it might just be time to reread al-Rassan and Tigana.

I finished Dingo by Charles de Lint and I'm about to start The Dragon Book edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Duzois.

@148 - Richard, After the Fire, A Still Small Voice is one of three books shortlisted for this year's Orange award for New Writers: http://www.orangeprize.co.uk/Award-for-New-Writers/Award-2010-shortlist

I haven't read it yet so I am curious to find out what you think of it.

LadyViolet, My daughter and I read the whole study series. Do you like them al or only Poison Study? We thought, as with most series, the first was the best because it introduces everything.

I am reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and now I know what all the hype was about! I love this book.

Well, I finally got started on Jewish Gauchos. It's part short story collection, part memoir about a Jewish settlement in the northern Argentine province of Entre Rios. The settlement was made up largely of emigrants from Tsarist Russia. It's interesting to read that the place was considered something of a promised land, at least compared to Russia. Full of slice-of-life moments and local color, Gerchunoff's book paints an interesting portrait of the relationship between the new immigrants and the older inhabitants.

I've also got A Game of Thrones going on audiobook. I confess epic fantasy is not one of my favorite genres, and for the first disc or so, I had to force myself not to quit the thing. After a while, I got more into it and am now enjoying it.

#155 I do apologise! I know how personal it feels when I hear someone say they didn't like Middlemarch. Put it down to my goût being a bit low brow at the moment. I may return to the Snow Country one day when I'm more in the mood.

Carlos- I see you have started A Game of Thrones. Is it read by one narrator? I hope you enjoy it. It is a great series!

I just started The Murderer's Daughters.

I finished So B. It yesterday so I am going to back and finish Leaving Protection.

#163 DeltaQueen50-I read that awhile back- it is a great book

I have just started reading Worry by Theresa Francis-Cheung which i got from the library yesterday and i am also reading Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

Finished The Fifth Floor by Michael Harvey, a very good Chicago noir that may be too strong for some, Erak's Ransom, a good new entry in the Ranger's Apprentice series, and Robot Dreams by Sara Varon, a charming graphic novel.

Started Zen and the Art of Faking It this morning.

>162 Citizenjoyce: CitizenJoyce - No i love all of Maria's books but Poison Study is my favourite, I'll probably re-read the other two Study books at some point and I'll most definitely be having a re-read of the first two Opal Cowan books for when Spy Glass comes out later this year!

Will most likely be starting my catch-up attempt for the Chronicles of Prydain group read tonight since I've now got a copy of The Black Cauldron to read.

The Murderer's Daughters was just reviewed on NPR, and it sounded very good. Please let us know, tammathau.

159 Storeetllr- No, Lions was my first Kay. Tigana is on my WL at Bookmooch, but probably won't come up for a while. I have A Song for Arbonne and 2 of the three Fionavar trilogy. I'm delighted that I have all his still ahead of me.

I finished Lord Edgware Dies and Jemima J. And I'm donating the second one.

I think I'll read another Agatha Christie and then move on to more substantial stuff.

Edited to correct touchstones.

I finished The Bounty by Caroline Alexander. Alexander has done her research. Great Book.
I just started Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret. Taylor was a Missionary in China in the 1800's.

We had our RL discussion of A Confederacy of Dunces today. Surprisingly (to me) it was not divided along gender lines. Everyone in the group, men as well as women, hated it equally except for the man who recommended it. Only 2 of us finished. I wonder if the division was political, because the man who recommended it is the most conservative of us, being very libertarian, and he saw in Ignatius a symbol of politicians and government employees who try to legislate social change without having any grasp of real life. He says it's being made into a movie with Will Ferrell as Ignatius.

I liked A Confederacy of Dunces because it depicted some poor schmuck like me up against the world. He, however, had the hopeful good fortune to have a girl friend watching out for him.

Robert

We are having a Group Read of Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. It begins May 1st. Come on down and join us! Plenty of time to find a copy! Here's the link to the General Thread: right here

Tried E.L.Doctorow's Homer and Langley but found I wanted to read the non fiction account. So picked up Ghosty Men: The Strange but True Story of the Collyer Brothers, New York's Greatest Hoarders by Franz Lidz and am thoroughly enjoying it.

Just added Ghosty Men to the wish list! Finished The Passage. Fabulous paranormal apocalyptic story. Five thumbs up or stars. Now reading The Bone Thief. I desperately want to keep this book, but it belongs to Chatterbox. At least she let me borrow it!

Finished reading this week:

Amanda Craig, Hearts and Minds
This novel about immigration in London shifts between viewpoints and storylines. Characters include an English immigration lawyer whose au pair girl has suddenly disappeared, a Russian teenage prostitute, a Zimbabwean minicab driver, an American working on an a literary magazine, and a white South African working in a difficult school in Hackney. Recommended.

Sue Townsend, Adrian Mole: The Cappucino Years
1997, and a Labour government has just been elected. Adrian's old flame Pandora is now an MP, and he's an untrained chef in a rather odd London restaurant specialising in badly prepared English food. This was a good time to reread this one, as we face the prospect of a new government (not a prospect I look forward to), and I liked it much more than I did first time round.

Cicely Hamilton, William: An Englishman
Persephone reprint of a 1919 novel about a young couple who are very active in suffragette and socialist politics. Moved from satirical to tragic very suddenly.

Emily Barr, The Sisterhood
Liz has just split with her long term boyfriend when she finds herself pregnant, while Helen has come to London to look for her long lost sister. Superior chicklit

Trevor Byrne, Ghosts and Lightning
To review for The Bookbag. A young man returns to Dublin after his mum's death to loaf around with his sister and their druggy friends while working out what to do with his life. Colloquial and lots of swearing. I quite enjoyed it.

Thomas Hubschman, Look At Me Now
An Early Reviewer book - a woman leaves her abusive husband. Strange.

Now Reading:

Kate Ellis, Seeking the Dead
First in English police procedural series - I've read about 7 of her other series featuring Wesley Peterson but so far I think this is much better written. Set in a fictitious town which sounds a bit like York.

Iain Sinclair, Hackney, That Rose Red Empire
Non fiction stories of the area of London where Sinclair lives - fascinating but nearly 600 pages in hardback so too big to carry around.

ed Denise Hamilton, Los Angeles Noir
Another Akashic anthology of crime/noir stories

Stella Gibbons, Nightingale Wood
Virago Modern Classic reprint

Joan Aiken, All But a Few
Children's book - collection of short stories about colllision of everyday life with magical happenings. Very funny and enjoyable reread.

Put aside Eye of Jade to read my March ER novel (novelette, more like, coming in at 185 pages), Time Among the Dead by Thomas Rayfiel. So far, am finding it exceptional. It's in the form of a journal being written by an old man of the Victorian era during the last days (presumably) of his life at the behest of his ne'er-do-well grandson & heir. The journal form works really well.

I'm almost finished with The Assassin King by Elizabeth Haydon, then I plan to start reading Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, then hopefully A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin. More books are already coming in to add to the pile. Eek! How am I to finish them all before they're due?

>161 lkernagh: Lori, I just finished and reviewed After the Fire, a Still Small Voice for the Orange Prize TIOLI challenge. Hated it.

#187 - Mark, yes, it is one reader, though he's pretty good. I believe he also read many, if not all, of the stories in the Dreamsongs: Volume II audiobook which was my first foray into GRRM.

@185 Richard, I have to say after reading your review and the other reviews posted it sounds like a rather grim story that I am not up for. I will give After the Fire, a Still Small Voice a pass.

> 55 Cameling,

I finished The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner. I enjoyed it. I have not yet written my review, but will probably do so this weekend.

I wrapped up Ask A Little Dare and The Taming Of Jessi Rose but I can't seem to motivate myself to read Leaving Protection.